Technology
- Microsoft finally open-sources (most of) Windows Subsystem for Linux May 21, 2025The announcement closes a nearly nine-year-old request from the developer community, and signals a new era of collaboration between Microsoft and open-source contributors.
- I tried Google's XR glasses and they already beat my Meta Ray-Bans in 3 ways May 21, 2025I had the opportunity to wear Google's XR glasses for 5 minutes. As a Ray-Ban user, I now wish my Meta pair had these features.
- Your Oura ring just got a major upgrade that fixes its biggest flaw – for free May 21, 2025It should solve Oura users' issues and significantly reduce errors.
- I tested Acer's $349 smart monitor, and it's a tariff-smart option I can get behind May 21, 2025Acer's 27-inch Nitro GA271U P smart display compares to more premium options, but with a much more accessible price point.
- The five coolest gadgets announced at Computex 2025 (and they're actually affordable) May 21, 2025Many new gadgets and products debuted at the world's biggest computing event, but these were my favorites.
- Acer just announced a smart ring, and it's half the cost of the Oura Ring 4 May 21, 2025Taking aim at the Galaxy Smart Ring and Oura Ring 4, Acer's first-ever health wearable, the FreeSense Smart Ring, will start as low as $199.
- 3 ways Google's AI Mode will change how you shop online – if it works May 21, 2025The new AI Mode features announced at I/O will fundamentally shake up how people search for products and shop online.
- I'm an AI expert, and these 8 announcements at Google I/O impressed me the most May 21, 2025New AI features are coming to Search, Workspace, Gemini, and more. Here's my pick of the best AI news at Google I/O 2025.
- This solar GPS tracker has exceptional location accuracy, plus an infinite battery life May 21, 2025Impressive battery life, broad GNSS support, and an affordable price make Garmin's eTrex Solar a top-notch GPS tracker.
- Google's new AI shopping tool just changed the way we shop online – here's why May 21, 2025You may never miss a product discount again with the improved AI Mode for searching.
- Everything Google unveiled at I/O 2025: Gemini, AI Search, smart glasses, more May 21, 2025Here's the rundown of every major announcement at the annual developer conference yesterday.
- Is Google's $250-per-month AI subscription plan worth it? Here's what's included May 21, 2025Google's ultra-premium AI subscription is intended for those who truly need its best services – and rely on them often.
- I tried Samsung's Project Moohan XR headset at I/O 2025 – and couldn't help but smile May 21, 2025From the comfortable design to the AI-driven software experience, this already feels more polished than Apple Vision Pro.
- Google's upcoming AI smart glasses may finally convince me to switch to a pair full-time May 21, 2025At Google I/O 2025, the company shared more about how Android XR will be integrated into the smart glasses form factor, including practical Gemini features.
- The best smart glasses unveiled at I/O 2025 weren't made by Google May 21, 2025Project Aura, made by Xreal, will harness Google's new Android XR platform to provide a more immersive and mobile entertainment experience.
- Google just gave Gmail a major AI upgrade, and it solves a big problem for me May 20, 2025The new Workspace features coming to Gmail, Google Docs, Meet, and Vids can actually help take a task off your plate.
- Your Google Gemini assistant is getting 8 useful features – here's the update log May 20, 2025At Google I/O 2025, the company teased upcoming features coming to its latest AI assistant. Here's the rundown.
- I recommend this budget OnePlus phone over most low-cost devices – especially at $70 off May 20, 2025The OnePlus Nord N30 is a solid smartphone for budget shoppers. During the Memorial Day sales event, it has been discounted to $230.
- Save $750 on the HP Envy Laptop 17 when you buy directly from HP May 20, 2025The HP Envy Laptop 17 is a great choice for students and remote workers, and right now, you can save $750 at HP.
- The Lenovo desktop PC I'd actually use at the office – even if it's for gamers May 20, 2025The Lenovo LOQ Tower 17IRR9 is a gaming PC with a subtle design that won't distract. Its small size allows it to fit even in tight spaces
Technology
- Filed, which uses AI to automate tax professionals' low-value tasks, raised $17.2M across seed and preseed led by Northzone, Day One Ventures, and others (Mike Wheatley/SiliconANGLE) May 21, 2025Mike Wheatley / SiliconANGLE: Filed, which uses AI to automate tax professionals' low-value tasks, raised $17.2M across seed and preseed led by Northzone, Day One Ventures, and others — Tax software startup Filed Inc. said today it has raised $17.2 million in funding to try and fix what it says is the accounting …
- Singapore-based business banking and payments startup Airwallex raised $150M at a $6.2B valuation, up from $5.6B in October 2022, and debuts a $150M share sale (Emily Mason/Bloomberg) May 21, 2025Emily Mason / Bloomberg: Singapore-based business banking and payments startup Airwallex raised $150M at a $6.2B valuation, up from $5.6B in October 2022, and debuts a $150M share sale — Business banking and payments firm Airwallex raised $150 million in fresh equity financing to increase its investment …
- After a protest disrupted a Build talk, Microsoft's head of security for AI Neta Haiby accidentally revealed confidential messages about Walmart's AI usage (Tom Warren/The Verge) May 21, 2025Tom Warren / The Verge: After a protest disrupted a Build talk, Microsoft's head of security for AI Neta Haiby accidentally revealed confidential messages about Walmart's AI usage — Internal messages were displayed after two former Microsoft employees disrupted a Build session.
- China threatens legal action against anyone enforcing US restrictions on Huawei's chips, escalating the US-China tech dispute as the two countries hold meetings (Bloomberg) May 21, 2025Bloomberg: China threatens legal action against anyone enforcing US restrictions on Huawei's chips, escalating the US-China tech dispute as the two countries hold meetings — US-China tech tensions are flaring again, with Beijing threatening legal action against anyone enforcing Washington's restrictions …
- Google expands its sovereign cloud options in the EU, including a new "data shield" that provides additional cyber security protections to European clients (Barbara Moens/Financial Times) May 21, 2025Barbara Moens / Financial Times: Google expands its sovereign cloud options in the EU, including a new “data shield” that provides additional cyber security protections to European clients — Tech giant offers additional data security protections in EU as local customers express concern over reliance on US tech
- Distributed Denial of Secrets: the TeleMessage hacker stole messages from 60+ US government users covering about one day ending on May 4, including travel plans (Reuters) May 21, 2025Reuters: Distributed Denial of Secrets: the TeleMessage hacker stole messages from 60+ US government users covering about one day ending on May 4, including travel plans — A hacker who breached the communications service used by former Trump national security adviser Mike Waltz earlier …
- Maine AG filing: Coinbase says its recent data breach impacted 69,461 individuals; stolen data included government IDs, account info, and personal identifiers (Sergiu Gatlan/BleepingComputer) May 21, 2025Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer: Maine AG filing: Coinbase says its recent data breach impacted 69,461 individuals; stolen data included government IDs, account info, and personal identifiers — Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange with over 100 million customers, revealed that a recent data breach in which cybercriminals stole customer …
- Volvo expands its Google partnership to integrate Gemini across its model lineup, the first automaker to do so, hoping to ease a driver's "cognitive load" (Andrew J. Hawkins/The Verge) May 21, 2025Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge: Volvo expands its Google partnership to integrate Gemini across its model lineup, the first automaker to do so, hoping to ease a driver's “cognitive load” — Gemini can ease a driver's “cognitive load” so they can keep their eyes on the road, the automaker says.
- AI startup Crusoe secures $11.6B in debt and equity to expand a Texas data center it is building for OpenAI, set to open in 2026 and host up to 400K Nvidia GPUs (Berber Jin/Wall Street Journal) May 21, 2025Berber Jin / Wall Street Journal: AI startup Crusoe secures $11.6B in debt and equity to expand a Texas data center it is building for OpenAI, set to open in 2026 and host up to 400K Nvidia GPUs — The eight-building Texas project is a central piece of OpenAI's efforts to reduce its reliance on […]
- Baidu reports Q1 revenue up 3% YoY to ~$4.5B, above ~$4.3B est., and a ~$1B net profit, as the Chinese search giant fends off intensifying competition in AI (Bloomberg) May 21, 2025Bloomberg: Baidu reports Q1 revenue up 3% YoY to ~$4.5B, above ~$4.3B est., and a ~$1B net profit, as the Chinese search giant fends off intensifying competition in AI — The company's shares rose more than 2% in US pre-market trading. It reported a 3% rise in revenue for the three months ended March …
- Microsoft files an amicus brief supporting Epic Games' App Store fight and blames Apple for delaying the Xbox mobile gaming store, first announced in May 2024 (Tom Warren/The Verge) May 21, 2025Tom Warren / The Verge: Microsoft files an amicus brief supporting Epic Games' App Store fight and blames Apple for delaying the Xbox mobile gaming store, first announced in May 2024 — Microsoft has filed support for Epic Games' fight with Apple, as it wants to launch new Xbox mobile improvements.
- Amazon issues refunds for purchases as far back as 2018; CFO Brian Olsavsky said on May 1 that Amazon took a ~$1B charge over "some historical customer returns" (Spencer Soper/Bloomberg) May 21, 2025Spencer Soper / Bloomberg: Amazon issues refunds for purchases as far back as 2018; CFO Brian Olsavsky said on May 1 that Amazon took a ~$1B charge over “some historical customer returns” — Amazon.com Inc. customers are suddenly getting refunds for products they purchased and returned as far back as 2018 …
- A look at the Coller Dolittle challenge, modeled on the Turing test with a $10M equity investment prize to decipher an animal's language and elicit a reply (Anjana Ahuja/Financial Times) May 21, 2025Anjana Ahuja / Financial Times: A look at the Coller Dolittle challenge, modeled on the Turing test with a $10M equity investment prize to decipher an animal's language and elicit a reply — A prize aimed at cracking interspecies communication could make humans think differently about the welfare of other creatures
- Analysis: AI's energy consumption is exploding, with data centers' electricity use doubling from 2017 to 2023, accounting for 4.4% of all US energy consumption (MIT Technology Review) May 21, 2025MIT Technology Review: Analysis: AI's energy consumption is exploding, with data centers' electricity use doubling from 2017 to 2023, accounting for 4.4% of all US energy consumption — The emissions from individual AI text, image, and video queries seem small—until you add up what the industry isn't tracking and consider where it's heading next.
- Google Meet's AI translator hands-on: emulates voice and tone, translating with a few seconds of lag, similar to watching an overdubbed foreign-language speaker (Nicole Nguyen/Wall Street Journal) May 21, 2025Nicole Nguyen / Wall Street Journal: Google Meet's AI translator hands-on: emulates voice and tone, translating with a few seconds of lag, similar to watching an overdubbed foreign-language speaker — New AI speech translation in Google Meet video chats can mimic the speaker's voice, tone and emotion.