Meta has introduced a new “live chats” feature to Threads, enabling people on the platform to participate in real-time conversations about live events they’re interested in. Live chats can be hosted within Threads communities, the topic-specific social spaces that Meta last year.

The new feature sounds a bit like Threads’ take on Instagram’s broadcast channels, but the latter only allows for one-way messaging. Live chats can be hosted by select creators, including Community Champions — users highly engaged within specific communities — and media personalities. Once a chat is launched or scheduled, the host chooses who is invited to contribute and can then share the link publicly.

You can post photos, videos, links and emoji reactions as well as text-based messages. If you’re unable to send messages in a live chat that is at capacity, you can still watch it, react to others messages and vote in polls. Live chats remain open to view after they’ve ended, and you don’t need to be part of a community to join.

Meta is debuting its new social feature in the NBAThreads Community during the Playoffs, with Malika Andrews, Rachel Nichols, Trysta Krick, David Rushing and Lexis Mickens named as hosts. Live chats will appear at the top of the NBAThreads Community feed, and can also be shared in a post that might appear on your main feed in Threads. You’ll also see a red ring around a host’s profile photo when they’re live.

Meta says live chats will gradually be rolled out to more communities on Threads, with features like co-hosting, lock screen widgets and the ability to quote and share messages from a chat on your feed coming soon.

Meta has been steadily expanding its X rival’s features since it launched in 2023. It started small with (note: not hashtags) and , before rolling out communities last year. It also started long-form text posts and just gave Threads a long-overdue facelift on web. Back in October, the company that its text-based social media platform now has 150 million daily users.

New York has banned state employees from using insider information to trade on prediction markets. In an executive order signed today and viewed by WIRED, Governor Kathy Hochul forbade the state’s government workforce from using “any nonpublic information obtained in the course of their official duties” to participate on prediction market platforms, or to help others profit using those services.

“Getting rich by betting on inside information is corruption, plain and simple,” Hochul said in a statement provided to WIRED. “Our actions will ensure that public servants work for the people they represent, not their own personal enrichment. While Donald Trump and DC Republicans turn a blind eye to the ethical Wild West they’ve created, New York is stepping up to lead by example and stamp out insider trading.”

The order was not spurred by any specific insider trading incidents involving New York state employees. “There are no known instances of this behavior to date,” says New York State Executive Chamber deputy communications director Sean Butler.

This is the latest in a wave of initiatives meant to curb insider trading on prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket, the two most popular of these platforms in the United States. California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a similar executive order last month, banning Golden State employees from prediction market insider trading. Yesterday, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker followed suit.

In addition to these executive orders, Congress has also introduced several bills intended to curb market manipulation and corruption in the industry, including legislation barring elected officials from participating in prediction markets. Some individual politicians are discouraging or outright barring their staff from buying event contracts on those platforms. According to CNN, the White House recently warned executive branch staff not to trade on prediction markets. When WIRED asked the White House about its policies on these markets earlier this year, it pointed to existing regulations prohibiting gambling activity but did not respond to requests for clarification on whether it considered prediction market participation to be gambling.

The Commodity Exchange Act, which covers derivative markets, does already prohibit insider trading, which means that both public servants and people in the private sector are breaking the law if they enact insider trades on event contracts. Rather than establishing new rules, the New York executive order serves primarily to underline the state’s commitment to enforcing existing laws and to clarify how these laws and its Code of Ethics for employees apply to prediction markets.

However, with so many high-profile examples of suspected insider trading on Polymarket focused on geopolitical events, from the capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro to strikes in the ongoing Iran war, many onlookers—including prominent lawmakers—see this as such a combustible issue. They’re racing to write laws and orders restating and emphasizing existing rules.

“This makes sense, and we already do this. At Kalshi, insider trading violates our rules, and we enforce them when we catch insiders,” Kalshi spokesperson Elisabeth Diana says. “Government employees should be aware that trading on federally regulated markets using material nonpublic information violates the law.” (Polymarket did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)

Facing backlash, Polymarket and Kalshi have recently announced new initiatives to combat insider trading.

In February, Kalshi publicized its decision to suspend and fine two individuals for violating its market manipulation policies; the company also confirmed that it had flagged the cases to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal agency overseeing prediction markets. In March, it rolled out a beef up market surveillance arm, preemptively blocking political candidates from trading on markets related to their campaigns.

Following our hands-on coverage at CES 2026, where LG Electronics showed just how far it could push OLED design, the company has now confirmed pricing and availability for the 2026 OLED evo W6 Wallpaper TV series.

The W6 does not just lean into the wallpaper concept, it fully commits to it. These panels are incredibly thin to the point where they almost disappear once mounted, turning the display into something that feels more like part of the wall than a traditional television. Now available for pre-order in 77-inch ($5,499.99) and 83-inch ($7,499.99) sizes – that is $1,000 more than LG’s G6 Series OLED evo AI 77 and 83-inch TV prices. The W6 moves from CES showpiece to something you can actually bring home, assuming your wall and your budget are ready for it.

Here is what the LG OLED evo W6 series offers.

Wallpaper Design

The defining feature of the W6 series is its ultra thin Wallpaper design. The LG OLED evo W6 is built to sit nearly flush against the wall with a roughly 9 mm class profile and a mounting system designed to minimize any visible gap. The goal is straightforward. Once installed, it looks less like a television and more like part of the wall itself.

Zero Connect Box

To support the Wallpaper design, all physical connections except the power cable are handled by LG’s Zero Connect Box. This external hub manages both wired and wireless sources and transmits 4K video and audio to the display from up to 32 feet away.

The result is a cleaner installation. The LG OLED evo W6 can sit flush on the wall without the usual tangle of cables pulling it back into reality, which is the whole point of the design.

OLED Performance

The OLED evo W6 incorporates LG’s RGB Tandem OLED panel with additional support from LG’s Alpha 11 AI Processor Gen3, which delivers advanced picture and sound optimization through AI-driven processing, including Hyper Radiant Color Technology. This elevates brightness, color accuracy, and contrast across a wide range of lighting conditions. With Brightness Booster Ultra, the W6 achieves luminance levels up to 3.9 times brighter than conventional OLED displays.  

Reflection Handling, Black Levels, and Color Performance

The LG OLED evo W6 adds some real substance behind the design. It carries an industry first Reflection Free Premium certification aimed at reducing glare and reflections in brighter rooms, which has always been a weak spot for OLED in everyday spaces.

LG also leans on its Perfect Black and Perfect Color claims, both verified by UL Solutions. In practice, that translates to consistent black levels and stable color performance regardless of ambient light. The benefit is not subtle. Better contrast, more accurate color, and a picture that holds together whether you are watching during the day or at night.

Premium Gaming Support

Meeting the needs of gamers has become a very important selling point for TVs, and the LG OLED evo W6 Wallpaper TVs fill the fill. The W6 supports 4K resolution at up to 165Hz with variable refresh rate (VRR) technology, NVIDIA G-SYNC compatibility, and AMD FreeSync Premium. These features are designed to support ultra-smooth, high-bandwidth gameplay with minimal lag, making the W6 a capable display for competitive gaming as well as cinematic viewing. 

webOS Platform 

The W6 incorporates LG’s latest version of its webOS platform to provide personalized user experiences through AI-powered features, including Voice ID, Multi-AI integration, and an upgraded AI Concierge for intuitive content discovery and navigation. In addition, LG Channels is also included – providing lots of free ad-supported content. 

LG Gallery+

New for 2026, Gallery+ transforms the W6 into an art display when not viewing TV or gaming. Gallery+ allows users to display curated artwork, personal photos, and ambient visuals. Not only does art look great, but displaying artwork on the W6 takes full advantage of the TV’s flush-wall design and OLED picture quality. 

The Bottom Line 

We spent time with the LG OLED evo W6 at CES 2026 and it made a clear case for itself. This is not just another premium OLED. The near flush 9 mm class panel and the Zero Connect Box change how a large screen TV lives in a room. It is one of the few designs that actually reduces visual clutter instead of adding to it, and that matters if the TV shares space with everything else in your home.

It is not perfect. You are paying a premium for the form factor and installation approach. The Zero Connect Box solves cable management but adds another component that has to be placed somewhere. And while the wireless link is a real advantage for clean installs, some buyers will still prefer a traditional wired connection for peace of mind.

Who is this for? Not the budget crowd and not the spec chasers looking for the absolute brightest panel at any cost. This is for buyers who care as much about how a TV fits into a space as how it performs. Interior designers, custom installers, and anyone trying to avoid turning their living room into a black rectangle showroom will get it immediately. Everyone else will look at the price first and then decide how much that disappearing act is worth.

Price & Availability

The LG OLED evo W6 Wallpaper TVs are available for pre-order on LG’s website at the following prices: 

• 77-inches – $5,499.99 at LG.com
• 83-inches – $7,499.99 at LG.com

Related Reading:

For more insight into LG’s OLED evo W6 series Wallpaper TVs, check out previous reports and hands-on video from CES 2026: 

The advent of AI hacking tools has raised fears of a near future in which anyone can use automated tools to dig up exploitable vulnerabilities in any piece of software, like a kind of digital intrusion superpower. Here in the present, however, AI seems to be playing a more mundane, if still concerning, role in hackers’ toolkit: It’s helping mediocre hackers level up and carry out broad, effective malware campaigns. That includes one group of relatively unskilled North Korean cybercriminals who’ve been discovered using AI to carry out virtually every part of an operation that hacked thousands of victims to steal their cryptocurrency.

On Wednesday, cybersecurity firm Expel revealed what it describes as a North Korean state-sponsored cybercrime operation that installed credential-stealing malware on more than 2,000 computers, specifically targeting the machines of developers working on small cryptocurrency launches, NFT creation, and Web3 projects. By using the AI tools of US-based companies, including those of OpenAI, Cursor, and Anima, the hacker group—which Expel calls HexagonalRodent—“vibe coded” almost every part of its intrusion campaign, from writing their malware to building the fake websites of companies used in its phishing schemes. That AI-enabled hacking allowed the group to steal as much as $12 million in cryptocurrency from victims in three months.

What’s most striking about the HexagonalRodent hacking campaign isn’t its sophistication, says Marcus Hutchins, the security researcher who discovered the group, but rather how AI tools allowed an apparently unsophisticated group to carry out a profitable theft spree in the service of the North Korean state.

“These operators don’t have the skills to write code. They don’t have the skills to set up infrastructure. AI is actually enabling them to do things that they otherwise just would not be able to do,” says Hutchins, who became well-known in the cybersecurity community after disabling the WannaCry ransomware worm created by North Korean hackers.

Emoji-Littered, AI-Written Code

HexagonalRodent’s hacking operation focused on tricking crypto developers with fraudulent job offers at tech firms, going so far as to create full websites for the fake companies recruiting the victims, often created with AI web design tools. Eventually, the victim was told they’d have to download and complete a coding assignment as a test—which the hackers had infected with malware that infiltrated their machine and stole credentials, including those that in some cases could grant access to the keys that controlled their crypto wallets.

Those parts of the hacking operation appear to have been well-honed and effective, but the hackers were also clumsy enough to leave parts of their own infrastructure unsecured, leaking the prompts they used to write their malware with tools that included OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Cursor. They also exposed a database where they tracked victim wallets, which allowed Expel to estimate the total amount of cryptocurrency the hackers may have stolen. (While those wallets added up to $12 million in total contents, Hutchins says the company couldn’t confirm for each target whether the entire sum had already been drained from the wallets or if the hackers still needed to obtain keys to the victim wallets in some cases, given some may have been protected with hardware security tokens.)

Hutchins also analyzed samples of the hackers’ malware and found other clues that it was largely—perhaps entirely—created with AI. It was thoroughly annotated with comments throughout—in English—hardly the typical coding habits of North Koreans, despite the fact that some command-and-control servers for the malware tied them to known North Korean hacking operations. The malware’s code was also littered with emojis, which Hutchins points out can, in some cases, serve as a clue that software was written by a large language model, given that programmers writing on a PC keyboard rather than a phone rarely take the time to insert emojis. “It’s a pretty well-documented sign of AI-written code,” Hutchins says.

Control is one of my favorite adventure games of the last decade or so, a mind-bending trip through an ever-changing building where you get to use telekinesis to battle some pretty freaky enemies. It was a graphically-demanding game when it was released in 2019, but a lot can change in less than six years: Control: Ultimate Edition is now available on the iPhone and iPad for a mere $5, following its announcement last October. It’s a universal purchase, which means if you buy it it’ll work on the iPad, iPhone and Mac as well.

Developer Remedy promises that it’s the full Control experience, with the DLC episodes included. Remedy rebuilt the UI and controls to make it work on touchscreen devices; the company says that it has tweaked aiming and the various puzzles to make them work better for the iPad and iPhone. But naturally, the game also works with controllers. If you’re serious about having the best experience with the game, finding a way to play with physical controls is probably a good idea.

The game will run on iPhones with at least an A17 Pro chip. That includes the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, as well all of the iPhone 16 and iPhone 17 series. Plenty of iPad models can run the game, as well — any iPad with an M-series chip or the A17 Pro will work. That means the current basic iPad, with its A16 processor, is left out of the fun. But any iPad Air or Pro from the last four years or so should be good to go.

I tried a test version of Control when I reviewed the new iPad Air recently and, unsurprisingly, the tablet’s M4 chip was more than powerful enough to make for a smooth experience. My main gripe is that when sprinting, you have to hold down the L3 button the entire time you’re running rather than just click it once, which is how it works on other platforms. Otherwise it looks and plays smoothly, though I can’t vouch for how it’ll perform on hardware older than the M4 from 2024.

Control marks the latest “AAA” title to hit the iPad and iPhone. Apple has aggressively courted developers for its platforms in recent years, and while most games don’t hit the Mac or iOS when they launch, more and more are showing up eventually. There are multiple recent Resident Evil titles for the iPad, and other games like Death Stranding and Assassin’s Creed Mirage have been ported recently as well. There are others on the Mac as well, including demanding titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Lies of P. Apple’s platforms aren’t going to be an avid gamer’s first stop still, but having high-profile games to supplement the many indie titles available helps round out the options for Apple users.