Technology

CachyOS has earned a reputation for being fast, but because speed is easiest to benchmark in frame rates, it’s often discussed in the context of gaming too.

Have an Amazon Fire TV device? Well, you just got Alexa+, Amazon's AI assistant, for free — whether you like it or not.

On Wednesday, Amazon announced that the company would now include Alexa+ at no cost with every Fire TV device.

This includes the current-generation Amazon Fire TV Sticks, the Fire TV Cube, Amazon Ember smart TVs, as well as other smart TVs by third parties, such as Hisense, TCL, and Panasonic TVs running on the Fire TV operating system.

Amazon says Alexa+ will roll out to all U.S. customers with a Fire TV device automatically. Users will not have to take any action or download any additional apps.

Previously, the only way for users to access Alexa+ was to subscribe to Amazon Prime or pay $19.99 per month specifically for the AI assistant service.

The Alexa+ AI assistant provides users with ways to interact with the movies and TV shows that they are watching or find new content based on their entertainment preferences. Users can ask Alexa+ for specific film and television recommendations based on genre, cast, year of release, and more. Users can also ask Alexa+ questions regarding the content they are currently viewing. 

Alexa+ can also perform other tasks, such as providing real-time weather updates or sports scores. Users can connect Alexa+ to other smart home devices. With this utility, Alexa+ can broadcast your Ring camera feed on your smart TV or even lock a door with a paired smart lock.

According to Amazon, Alexa+ is already a hit with users. Amazon says that Alexa+ customers "have nearly twice as many conversations on Fire TV as they did with the original Alexa." The company claims that millions of customers already use the service. Amazon says that Alexa+ recommendations have improved too, with customers picking the AI assistant's top recommendations "over 40% more than they were with the original Alexa."

Amazon is now looking to expand on that user base exponentially with the new rollout to all Fire TV users. In doing so, Amazon follows in the footsteps of other Big Tech companies like Google, which also grew its Gemini user base by rolling out its AI features to its existing product offerings at no additional cost to users.

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Meta’s smart glasses have officially become so controversial that even Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) doesn’t want them around. Well, at least not the consumer version.

In a memo issued Aug. 18, acting ICE Director David Venturella told employees that Meta’s camera-equipped glasses count as personal body-worn cameras and therefore cannot be worn in federal workplaces.

"The use of Meta Glasses or similar devices could unintentionally capture, record or transmit sensitive information, potentially compromising privacy and legal protections," Venturella wrote, according to The New York Times.

The rule applies to all ICE employees, not only agents conducting raids or interacting with the public. It also covers similar personal devices capable of recording audio or video.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson emphasized that the agency is not introducing a new policy. "Personally owned body-worn cameras and unauthorized recording are prohibited, as they always have been," the spokesperson told The Times. Meta declined to comment.

SEE ALSO: Meta’s smart glasses have a new look and the same privacy problem

ICE and Border Patrol personnel have repeatedly been spotted wearing their own Meta smart glasses during immigration operations and protests. A March investigation by The Independent found sightings of DHS agents wearing the glasses in at least six states. In some cases, agents appeared to use them to photograph or record members of the public.

Footage examined by 404 Media showed a Border Patrol agent recording an immigration raid with the glasses’ indicator light illuminated, despite DHS rules that bar employees from recording with personal devices.

The issue isn’t simply that the glasses contain a camera. ICE already has an official body-camera policy that governs when agency-issued devices should be activated, how their footage is stored, and when employees can review recordings.

The problem with employees bringing their own smart glasses is that ICE loses control of the footage. Recordings could end up on a personal phone or pass through Meta’s platform, leaving the agency with little oversight of who can access them, whether they are preserved as evidence, or what other sensitive information they might capture.

Those concerns are hardly unique to ICE. Meta's glasses look similar to ordinary Ray-Bans but can capture photos and video from the wearer’s point of view. A small white light is supposed to signal when the camera is recording, though critics argue that the indicator is easy to overlook — and can potentially be circumvented.

That discreet design has helped turn the glasses into a privacy nightmare. Creators and pickup artists have used them to film strangers for social media content, sometimes attracting millions of views before the person recorded knows the video exists.

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The backlash has moved beyond angry comment sections (where many have dubbed the glasses as "pervert glasses"). Businesses, court systems, and conferences have begun restricting camera-equipped glasses, while Apple has reportedly delayed introducing its own version as it develops additional privacy protections and tries to distinguish its product from Meta’s.

The irony is that DHS wants smart glasses of its own. Its fiscal 2027 budget proposal sought $7.5 million for new enforcement technologies, including prototypes capable of providing agents with real-time information and biometric identification. Democratic senators urged the department to abandon the plan, citing the risk of agents scanning people without their knowledge. DHS has not detailed how the glasses or their data would be managed.

For now, ICE employees will have to leave Meta’s glasses at home. But the next pair agents wear could come directly from the government...and know far more about the people standing in front of them.

You no longer need a subscription just to make use of advanced AI on your Amazon streaming stick or TV set. Amazon is making Alexa+ available on Fire TV devices for free, saving you the expense of either a Prime or Alexa+ subscription.

With AI chatbots like Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini becoming our go-to thinking partner/co-worker, more often than not, we use them extensively. Like many, I love using Claude (web or app), especially for high-value tasks such as brainstorming ideas, solution architecture for apps, document generation, or data analysis. However, as a free-tier user, I frequently hit the rolling 5-hour session limits.

20 years ago, the computers in your car mostly handled fuel injection and ignition timing, shifted the transmission, and triggered the anti-lock brakes when something went wrong. Each one ran on a dedicated chip, wired to do exactly one job, and nothing changed unless a mechanic swapped the part.

If your For You page has recently started whispering about a creek, don’t worry: You have not accidentally wandered onto FishingTok.

"Quiet on the creek" is the latest TikTok catchphrase to escape the app. People are whispering it, dancing to it, and dropping it into comment sections whenever someone reveals a little too much information. But where did it come from, and what does it mean?

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The sound comes from rapper Saucy Santana, who turned a resurfaced livestream clip into a song. In the original video, Santana is eating snapper with his friend, rapper Yung Miami, when he recalls fishing with his family as a child.

"I used to go fishing when I was a little girl," Santana says. "You gotta be real quiet on the creek."

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As Santana explained during an Aug. 13 appearance on The Breakfast Club, his grandmother warned the children not to stomp, throw rocks, or make enough noise to scare away the fish.

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Although several early explanations described the clip as coming from a July 2026 TikTok Live, Santana said it was recorded about two years earlier, likely during an Instagram Live at Yung Miami’s house. After someone resurfaced it this summer, viewers began flooding Santana’s livestreams with references to the creek.

Once he realized how far the joke had traveled, Santana decided to capitalize on it, he said.

"People pay to go viral, people pray to go viral, and I’m doing it authentically," he told The Breakfast Club. "This moment is so big, though. Let me do something about it."

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Santana called producer Tre Trax and livestreamed much of the process of choosing a beat, writing and recording the song, and developing its dance. He said he finished the track in a few hours, and clips from the studio session had already taken over his For You page by the time he got home.

"Quiet on the Creek" arrived July 17, only days after the phrase began spreading far and wide.

What does 'quiet on the creek' actually mean?

Online, the fishing advice has become a metaphor for moving in silence.

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Someone might stay quiet on the creek about a new relationship, an upcoming promotion, or any other good news they do not want to announce prematurely. Think "keep it on the down-low," "don’t jinx it," or "stop telling everybody your business."

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Santana offered the example of knowing that a promotion is coming but keeping it private until the official announcement. He also acknowledged that one verse applies the phrase to a discreet relationship with a man who already has a partner. However, Santana rejected the idea that “quiet on the creek” refers exclusively to closeted men, saying it can describe any situation in which sharing too much might spoil a good thing.

Creators perform its simple dance by bouncing their shoulders, covering their mouths, and putting a finger to their lips. Others pair the sound with scenes of people sneaking around, stealing a late-night snack, or trying not to get caught doing something naughty.

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Celebrities soon joined in. Lizzo, Monica, Da Brat, Ice Spice, and Judy Dupart, and Love Island USA alum Serena Page participated in versions of the trend. Damon Wayans even revived Blaine Edwards, his In Living Color character, for an Instagram video.

Santana said the TikTok audio generated over 200,000 creations in one day and remained the platform’s No. 1 song when he appeared on The Breakfast Club in August. "Quiet on the Creek" debuted at No. 45 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, marking his first Billboard appearance since 2022. As of Aug. 19, it had accumulated more than 3.6 million Spotify streams, while its audio and official music video had each attracted millions of YouTube views.

The success follows a familiar pattern for Santana, whose songs "Material Girl" and "Walk" also found enormous audiences through social media. This time, all it took was an old fishing story and an internet incapable of keeping quiet.

Everything and everyone has a story. But not all of them are true.

I still remember my first undergraduate journalism class when I heard the famous phrase "he who controls the media, controls the mind." Ever since, I have stayed acutely aware not only of the narratives directed at me, but also of those I tell myself about who I am.

I started my career at the epicenter of the greatest storytelling genre of all time; Hip Hop. First as an assistant at Def Jam Records, then into management at Universal Music Group and Atlantic Records. A scrawny kid from Long Island with deep roots in Queens, where I was born, I realized I was standing on the side of the industry that kept telling the story wrong. The lyrics called for community infrastructure, better schools, and economic justice. We were selling the opposite, packaged in staged photoshoots and videos.

A young person who never sees himself represented with dignity learns to price himself accordingly. That is the machinery of a culture quietly deciding who counts, and I have watched it up close. That instinct never left me, and it surfaced again in the spring of 2020, watching an industry perform enlightenment with its eyes closed.

What started as a simple text to a few friends, "do you see what's happening? We need to do something. These black squares are stupid!" turned into the Black Owned Media Equity and Sustainability Institute (BOMESI). The first person to raise their hand was Rhonesha Byng, founder of Her Agenda, and now cofounder of BOMESI Foundation serving as its Chief Mission Officer.

By the summer of 2020, we were done watching a market be mistaken for a favor. Diverse publishers were stronger as one voice than as hundreds fighting alone for scraps. One of our first projects was a verified directory of Black-owned publishers: 50 names then, nearly 400 now, including Blavity, The Root, and Her Agenda.

SEE ALSO: How Black Girls Code is preparing underrepresented kids for the AI revolution

Here is the math we couldn't unsee. There is a multicultural consumer market in this country worth trillions, and Black-owned media receives roughly two percent of total advertising spend, about the same share it held decades ago, despite everything that has supposedly changed. Diverse-owned publishers who spent generations earning the trust of their audiences watch the dollars that trust generates flow somewhere else. In any other category, a gap that wide between market size and investment would be called an arbitrage opportunity, and capital would rush to close it. Because this one wears the label "diversity," the industry treats it as a liability to manage instead of what it is: the most underpriced audience relationship in American media.

We built BOMESI to correct that error at the root. Reaching the fastest-growing audiences in America is not a favor; it is a distribution strategy. Buying media from the outlets those audiences trust is marketing, the plain arithmetic of reach, resonance, and return. For too long, that work lived on a special budget, reported to a special officer, insulated from the core business, so it could be deleted the moment the political weather turned.

In the aftermath of 2020, it was. I watched the pledges arrive with fanfare and leave through the service entrance, and sympathy dollars dry up the instant sympathy became inconvenient. Sympathy carries no contract and no renewal clause, a poor foundation for anything durable.

BOMESI stands on sturdier ground. We unite more than 300 Black-owned and 2,200 diverse-owned publishers into a powerhouse network reaching roughly 100 million households a month, and put that scale to work three ways. We build the ecosystem: shared ad technology, collective sales, first-party data no platform can take away. We provide the education and resources publishers need to scale their businesses and stand their ground. And we drive economic empowerment by moving real advertising dollars to the outlets that earn them; through deals, not penance. Penance expires; contracts renew.

Let me be precise: BOMESI operates as an advocacy and strategic-resource organization, and I correct anyone who reaches for the word charity, because it misreads the enterprise. The systemic underinvestment that made this organization necessary is real, and we name it plainly rather than soften it.

The wins belong to the publishers' own resilience; the coalition supports that resilience rather than taking credit for it. The humanity of these communities does not depend on a business case, though the business case has always held up on its own terms. The moral argument was sufficient long before I learned to lead with the economic one. The moral case tells you what is right; it has never once told a CFO what is durable.

BOMESI was created because the moral case and the economic case point in the same direction, and the only thing standing between a company and acting on both is some nerve. The audiences are still here. The publishers are still building. The trillions in spending power never moved. What went missing was the industry's courage to act on what it already knew. BOMESI exists to make that courage structural, to build infrastructure that outlasts any single news cycle and keeps diverse-owned media telling its own stories, in its own voice, for the decade ahead.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This article represents the opinions of its writer.

DéVon Christopher Johnson is a media entrepreneur and a marketing expert with over 19 years of experience in creating and leading diverse and inclusive multimedia platforms. He is the Founder and CEO of BOMESI, a non-profit organization that supports and empowers underrepresented media outlets to thrive and grow. He is also the founder and CEO of BleuLife Media Group, a full-scale media company that speaks to the modern and aspirational multicultural male audience through print, digital, podcasts, events, and influencers.

TL;DR: T-Mobile is offering the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 when you trade in an eligible device on a qualifying Experience Beyond plan, with credits paid out over 36 months.

Opens in a new window Credit: Samsung Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Claim by trading in an eligible device on the Experience Beyond plan. Get Deal

Samsung's summer Unpacked event didn't hold back. Alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 8, the company introduced a wider, more productivity-focused Z Fold 8 Ultra, the pocket-sized Z Flip 8, an updated set of Galaxy Watches, and its first-ever pair of smart glasses built around Gemini AI — a full Unpacked lineup with something for every kind of Samsung fan.

The Z Fold 8 has garnered a lot of attention, and T-Mobile is backing it with one of its best offers of the year: the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is yours with an eligible trade-in on the Experience Beyond plan, no matter what condition your old phone is in.

Here's how to qualify for the deal:

Trade in an eligible device and add a line on the Experience Beyond plan, and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 (256GB, normally $1,899.99) is paid off through up to 36 monthly bill credits. There's also a $35 device connection charge, plus applicable taxes and fees, so it's not entirely cost-free, but the device itself is covered.

If Experience Beyond isn't the plan for you, T-Mobile has scaled-down versions of the same offer:

• Experience More, with trade-in: up to $1,100 off

• Most other plans, with trade-in: up to $500 off

• Simple Choice plans, with trade-in: up to $250 off

All of these pay out the same way, as monthly bill credits over up to 36 months rather than an instant discount, so the savings only fully materialize if you stay on the plan for the full term.

There's also a separate switcher incentive: trade in your phone, activate a new line, and port your number over from another carrier, and T-Mobile will send up to $800 via a prepaid Mastercard — on top of whatever device discount you already qualify for.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is available in cream, lavender, and graphite, and you can upgrade from the base 256GB to 512GB for more storage.

You might not have to buy a Google Pixel to get an Android smartphone with Qi2 magnetic wireless charging built-in. Well-known leaker Evan Blass has revealed that Motorola is working on a Moto Snap charger that hints at Qi2 coming to its broader phone lineup.

As districts across the country debate the efficacy of tech-enabled classrooms, Google wants to upgrade the average students' school supplies with new AI features. And they don't even need to leave the Google homepage to find them.

SEE ALSO: What parents should know about ChatGPT for Teens Google Search becomes a study helper

Announced today, Google is refashioning Search and AI Mode into a one-stop shop for homework help. When users turn to Google's query box for questions, they will also be able to ask the search engine to come up with visuals to understand tricky concepts — much like Gemini's interactive visuals announced last year — or create practice quizzes across a variety of subjects.

Search can help students study for standardized tests in collaboration with education companies The Princeton Review, Careers360, PhysicsWallah, and Akira Enem.

Users can also upload images of assignments and study guides to get detailed help using Lens and AI Overview, or connect Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) while in AI Mode to further personalize homework help. With all this data in hand, Search can leverage AI Mode conversations, files, and more to generate entirely personalized study documents, the company explained.

Is Google Search safe for kids?

Google has spent the last year overhauling the classic Search experience with the help of AI.

Last month, child safety watchdog Common Sense Media declared Google's AI-powered Search posed an "unacceptable risk" to minor users. Across the country, students have access to Google's AI features, including Search, through the company's Classroom suite and Google devices like Chromebooks. At the time of the report, Google had blocked access to Gemini for users under 18, but many K-12 students could still interact with the AI model indirectly through Search.

In the weeks following, Google reportedly opened up Gemini access to minors using its Classroom app. Via a new Gemini tab on student accounts, users could ask the chatbot for help with assignments, create study resources, and generate images linked to materials provided by teachers, the New York Times reported.

Google told Mashable that Common Sense Media's study of AI Overviews and AI Mode was flawed. "Our AI Search features are an incredibly useful way for kids and teens to learn, explore and make sense of information and the world," the company said. "This report tests a narrow set of ambiguous and contrived queries that don’t reflect how people use Search and aren't an effective way to measure product safety and helpfulness."

More Back to School upgrades

Google's homework features aren't limited to Search, however. The company is also upgrading Gemini with a brand new student hub, centralizing its school-focused AI tools. Intended to help users manage their customized study resources, users can have Gemini automatically sync study dates, assignment deadlines, and test notifications to Google Calendar.

Google will be adding visualizations, like graphs and charts, to Notebook lesson plans over the coming months. They will also be able to access Google's Deep Research mode while using Gemini Live voice chat.

Google AI Pro for free

Starting today, U.S. college students can get a free year of Google AI Pro or bundle Google subscriptions (like Google AI Pro and a YouTube Premium) at a discount. Students outside the U.S. are eligible for 12 months of Google AI Plus, the company's lower tier subscription, at no cost.

In some ways, your GPU is just an expensive and fancy way to turn electricity into heat and noise. These high-performance components try to squeeze every possible frame out for you, but the cost of the last few frames is much higher than the first few.

Google Maps is great for finding the quickest way from point A to point B. However, when I choose a specific route and share it with someone else, it sometimes sends them on a different path. I found a simple workaround that keeps shared journeys much closer to the route I originally chose.

Used EVs are becoming some of the best bargains on the market, with steep early depreciation putting vehicles that once cost close to $60,000 within reach for around the price of a new Toyota RAV4. This particular luxury SUV is a perfect example. At just three years old, well-cared-for models can be found for roughly $35,000, giving buyers access to a genuinely upscale interior, more than 300 miles of driving range, and the kind of technology usually associated with far more expensive vehicles.

Most of us have had an app freeze at exactly the wrong moment. I used to open Task Manager, hunt through the list, and force it to close. Windows 11 has a much quicker option, though, and it takes seconds to enable.

Tickets for IMAX 70mm screenings of Dune: Part Three, including early showings, went on sale on Aug. 18. What followed was chaos.

SEE ALSO: 'The Odyssey' has made IMAX 70mm a status symbol

On social media, fans scrambling to buy tickets online lamented that sites like Fandango and AMC were crashing. If you were actually able to make it onto a site, chances are you were met with a virtual queue with a long wait time, as if you were waiting to snag Taylor Swift concert tickets on Ticketmaster instead of plan a night at the movies.

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In a statement on X, AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron addressed the "crushing volume" that caused AMC's online ticketing systems to glitch, saying that ticketing traffic "reached levels approximately three times higher than what we experienced during the Spider-Man: Brand New Day ticket launch, which itself followed strong advance sales for The Odyssey ticket launch before that."

Dune: Part Three ticket pandemonium wasn't just online. At New York City's Lincoln Square AMC location, home to one of the largest IMAX screens in the U.S., a line to buy IMAX 70mm Dune: Part Three tickets wrapped around the block, with people camping out beforehand. According to social media users, someone in line even bought 80 tickets.

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On resale sites, scalpers are now listing tickets for hundreds of dollars. AMC terms and conditions prohibit the resale of any ticket for over face value. AMC did not immediately respond to a request for comment about how it enforces this rule.

This fervor doesn't just stem from excitement about Dune: Part Three, although that is certainly high. It also comes down to the exclusivity of the IMAX 70mm format, which became a major talking point in the lead-up to The Odyssey's release. Only 41 theaters in the world are capable to showing movies in this format, 25 of which are in the U.S.

Despite the scarcity of theaters that can actually show films in IMAX 70mm, the format has become tied to the marketing of two of the year's buzziest films. In The Odyssey's case, director Christopher Nolan has long been a champion of the IMAX 70mm format. In 2023, he said it the "best possible" way to see Oppenheimer. That goes double for The Odyssey, which is the first movie to be shot entirely with IMAX film cameras, meaning if you see it in any other format, you lose a sizable amount of the frame.

Dune: Part Three is taking a similar approach to The Odyssey with its emphasis on seeing the film in premium formats. In April, tickets for opening weekend IMAX 70mm screenings sold out in minutes. In July, IMAX theaters hosted fan screenings of the trailer and footage. Said footage screened before The Odyssey, but only before IMAX 70mm screenings.

A press release from IMAX tied to yesterday's ticket release states that "Dune was, in director Denis Villeneuve’s own words, 'dreamed, designed, and shot' for the format, making IMAX the definitive way to experience the film as he intended."

Both campaigns aren't just telling audiences to see these movies. They're saying that they need to see them in the way that best matches the director's vision, which just so happens to be the most exclusive fashion. That emphasis on IMAX 70mm stokes the high demand that inevitably leads to site crashes, scalpers, and FOMO for people who aren't close to a theater. Because nowadays, just seeing an event movie like The Odyssey or Dune: Part Three isn't good enough. How you see it is just as important.

Dune: Part Three hits theaters Dec. 18.

This week's launch of ChatGPT for Teens may be welcome news to parents concerned about the role of artificial intelligence in their child's life.

OpenAI positioned its new product as a learning partner for students. The company said ChatGPT for Teens limits the emotional and intimate exchanges between young people and AI that have driven concerns about well-being and mental health.

In some tragic cases, that dynamic has allegedly led teens and young adults to attempt or die by suicide after heavy engagement with ChatGPT, according to lawsuits filed against OpenAI.

SEE ALSO: What to do when your teen replaces you with a chatbot

So parents who know their teen is using ChatGPT, or who want their child to safely access AI, may see OpenAI's teen product as the answer.

Yet experts who spoke to Mashable about ChatGPT for Teens urge parents to remain cautious. They say more independent testing is needed before concluding that ChatGPT is an effective study aid, and that its safeguards against emotional dependence hold up under everyday teen use.

"I think that like OpenAI's teen experience makes some really important safety commitments," Robbie Torney, head of AI and digital assessments at the Youth AI Safety Institute at Common Sense Media, told Mashable. "What we really need now is evidence that they work, and we need this evidence, including our testing and the testing of others, before anyone, including parents, puts real trust in ChatGPT for Teens."

What should parents know about ChatGPT for Teens?

Importantly, Torney said parents shouldn't assume their child is using ChatGPT for Teens. While OpenAI uses age estimation to place users in the age-appropriate version of ChatGPT, it can still mistake a user as older.

Why you still need parental controls

Parents can be sure their child is using the teen version by linking their ChatGPT account to their child's and implementing OpenAI's parental control features. If a teen has previously lied about their age — and plenty do — they may continue to access the adult version of ChatGPT.

Parental controls allow caregivers to limit sensitive content and turn on Study Mode and Quiet Hours. The former restricts ChatGPT to learning content, while the latter shuts down ChatGPT altogether.

Torney said caregivers must enact parental controls to receive notifications from OpenAI should their teen discuss suicide, self-harm, or acts of violence in immediate or dangerous ways.

Even then, Torney said notifications may not reach parents immediately or quickly. Previous research conducted by the Youth AI Safety Institute at Common Sense Media designed to test notifications for self-harm and suicidal content found that such messages arrived a day or two after the exchange, or not at all.

An OpenAI spokesperson said every notification is reviewed by a trained human before it's sent. The company strives to review notifications in under one hour.

"You can view these features as backup, but they're not a replacement for your continued involvement in how your child is using the product, because we don't have confirmation or independent verification that they work," Torney said.

Teens still may turn to ChatGPT instead of humans first

Given the growing concern over teens replacing human relationships with AI chatbots, it's unsurprising that OpenAI launched ChatGPT for Teens as a product it claims supports real-world connections.

"Supporting children’s cognitive development in the age of AI will require asking not only whether a product can be made safer for young people, but what role we want AI to play in their development in the first place," Camille Carlton, senior director of strategy and impact at the Center for Humane Technology, said in a statement. "Some of the most critical capacities children develop are not learned by interacting with a machine, but by spending time without one."

Lauren Jonas, head of youth and families at OpenAI, told Mashable that ChatGPT for Teens would redirect personal or emotional conversations back toward task-oriented discussions.

"If they are not engaging in learning-focused content, the goal is to continue to bolster the age-appropriate experience and the safeguards," she said.

However, Torney said Youth AI Safety Institute researchers conducting preliminary testing of ChatGPT for Teens were still able to have "personal support conversations" unrelated to learning.

He said parents should watch for exchanges that feel more like companionship or mimicking of human connection, even if OpenAI believes ChatGPT for Teens shouldn't behave in that manner.

Can ChatGPT really help with learning and studying?

Though OpenAI said ChatGPT for Teens will stick to learning, the tool's ability to foster that is still up in the air, according to experts.

The company's first attempt to turn ChatGPT into a homework helper was "fairly weak," explained Dr. Hamsa Bastani. Bastani is an associate professor of Operations, Information, and Decisions at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and a leading researcher into AI's potential learning gains. 

OpenAI launched Study Mode for ChatGPT over a year ago, amid a major push to get the company's AI tools in the hands of students around the country. In Mashable's own testing, ChatGPT Study Mode still provided answers to homework questions when prompted and failed to generate appropriate study tools.  

Bastani reviewed Mashable's tests at the time, as well as our comparisons with competitors Google and Claude. She noted that many AI learning tools were repackaged Large Language Models (LLMs) with additional backend prompts to curb cheating. Bastani and her team had yet to find an effective AI tutor on the market as of last year.

Bastani and her colleagues published their first, genuinely positive AI learning result just five months ago, long after Study Mode's launch. Bastani has not yet tested the upgraded version for teens, which now includes additional notifications to complete homework "responsibly." Jonas told Mashable that OpenAI is conducting randomized, controlled trials of Study Mode in a number of countries.

Trusting teens to keep themselves on track

The increasingly personalized, frictionless assistance provided by universal chatbots is counter to the principles of learning, some experts say.

"This is especially important for teens, who may over-rely on general-purpose AI tools for tasks that should help them build their own skills," said Dylan Arena, chief data science and AI officer at education solutions company McGraw Hill. "It also matters in social contexts, where teens are still developing the skills and confidence to navigate real-world interactions. To be built for learning, [chatbots] must be dependable, repeatable, and safe."

Arena agreed that an AI learning tool that attempts to form a relationship with the student is a red flag.

The best educational tools — designed with limited use cases, safety guardrails, and measurable learning outcomes — often come with their own crash courses on how to actually use them effectively. Learners, in turn, have to be committed to sticking to those recommendations. That's a tall order for a teen just trying to get a bit of help with their schoolwork.

"It seems like OpenAI is trying to put responsibility on teens to have agency and say, 'This is how I want to learn,'" said Torney. "Putting that responsibility on a still-developing brain that may be frustrated or stuck may lead to different outcomes that undermine learning."

Bastani recently co-authored a study that explored this concept of "self regulation," which has become a key component in the AI in education debate. Researchers compared learning outcomes from chess academy students who received automatic, pre-programmed hints from AI versus students who could request help from AI at any time.

"Poor self-regulation caused students to increasingly over-rely on AI assistance even when they expressed that they were worried it would harm learning," she said of the findings.  

A recent Common Sense Media report on teen AI use for schoolwork found another noteworthy pattern: A majority of students still lean on AI for answers, even those who use chatbots in appropriate, recommended ways.   

Torney said a number of questions remain unanswered about learning and ChatGPT for Teens, including the efficacy of its step-by-step guidance and responsible homework reminders.

"How much does this prevent kids from taking shortcuts when we know that those shortcuts undermine learning?" Torney asked.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

Shop the best deals of Best Buy's 60th Anniversary Sale: Best Apple deal Apple iPhone Air (256GB, Unlocked) $839.99 (save $160) Get Deal Best TV deal Hisense 65-inch U6 Pro Mini LED QLED 4K TV $598.99 (save $501) Get Deal Best Windows laptop deal Asus Zenbook A14 (Snapdragon X2 Elite, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $999.99 (save $350) Get Deal Best robot vacuum Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum & Mop $349.99 (save $350) Get Deal Best earbuds deal Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 $199.99 (save $50) Get Deal Best headphones deal Beats Studio Pro $159.99 (save $190) Get Deal Best Lego deal Lego Animal Crossing Blathers’ Museum Collection $55.99 (save $24) Get Deal Best Pokémon TCG deal Pokémon TCG Scarlet & Violet Destined Rivals Elite Trainer Box $112.50 (save $207.50) Get Deal

Best Buy's 60th Anniversary Sale is happening this week, which is great news for anyone who's missed out on the loads of tech deals we've seen so far this summer. (It's probably the biggest sale we'll get until Labor Day.) The event runs through Sunday, Aug. 23, and My Best Buy Plus and Total members earn 10% back in rewards on most purchases.

While the sale is live both online and in stores, it would behoove you to visit your nearest brick-and-mortar Best Buy this Saturday, Aug. 22. That day, in-person shoppers will be able to score $100 Best Buy gift cards for only $60 (while supplies last), among other exclusive deals. We can see people camping out for that one.

As things currently stand, the sale involves some pretty great deals on RGB and OLED TVs, Apple gadgets, Windows laptops, headphones, and even collectibles like Lego sets and Pokémon cards. We've done a little digging and rounded up a list of our favorite deals below. Make sure you check back later this week: Best Buy is planning on dropping another round of discounts on Friday, Aug. 21.

Best Apple deal Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple iPhone Air (256GB, Unlocked) $839.99 at Best Buy
$999.99 Save $160   Get Deal Why we like it

It's not every day that you can score a discount on an iPhone with no strings attached. But during Best Buy's 60th Anniversary Sale, you can nab an unlocked iPhone Air with any storage capacity for $160 off. That means you can bring it to any provider without having to navigate a trade-in. Mashable's reviewer called the iPhone Air the "sexiest iPhone" he's ever tested. It's incredibly thin and light, has a gorgeous OLED display, and its camera performs better than you'd expect. It may not be the phone for everyone, but it's the iPhone with the best value.

More Apple deals

AirPods

• AirPods 4 without ANC — $99.99 $129.99 (save $30)

• AirPods 4 with ANC — $149.99 $179.99 (save $30)

• AirPods Pro 3 — $189.99 $249.99 (save $60)

• AirPods Max — $429 $549 (save $120)

AirTags

• Apple AirTag (2nd gen) — $24 $29 (save $5)

• Apple AirTag, 4-pack (2nd gen) — $89 $99 (save $10)

iPads

• Apple A16 iPad, 11-inch (WiFi, 128GB) — $399 $449 (save $50)

• Apple M4 iPad Air, 11-inch (WiFi, 256GB) — $749 $849 (save $100)

• Apple M5 iPad Pro, 13-inch (WiFi, 512GB) — $1,599 $1,699 (save $100)

iPhones

• Apple iPhone 16e (128GB, unlocked) — $489.99 $599.99 (save $110)

• Apple iPhone Air (512GB, unlocked) — $1,039.99 $1,199.99 (save $160)

• Apple iPhone Air (1TB, unlocked) — $1,239.99 $1,399.99 (save $160)

MacBooks

• Get a free $25 Starbucks gift card with purchase of Apple MacBook Neo — starting at $699

• Apple MacBook Air, 13-inch (M5, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,499 $1,599 (save $100)

• Apple MacBook Pro, 14-inch (M5, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,849 $1,999 (save $150)

• Apple MacBook Pro, 16-inch (M4 Pro, 48GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $2,499 $2,899 (save $400)

• Apple MacBook Pro, 16-inch (M4 Max, 36GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $2,999 $3,399 (save $400)

• Apple MacBook Pro, 16-inch (M4 Max, 48GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $3,399 $3,899 (save $500)

Best TV deal Opens in a new window Credit: Hisense Hisense 65-inch U6 Pro Mini LED QLED 4K TV $598.99 at Best Buy
$1,099.99 Save $501   Get Deal Why we like it

We can't stop raving about the Hisense U6 Pro. We named it our favorite budget TV of 2026, as it lands perfectly in the sweet spot of performance and value. And during Best Buy's Anniversary Sale, it's even more of a steal; the 65-inch model is down to a record-low $598.99. That's cheaper than it was on Prime Day. While it's not an OLED display, it does offer an impressive full-array local dimming setup, vibrant quantum-dot color, and deep black levels, an anti-glare coating for minimal reflections, and a peak brightness of 1,200 nits. It also packs a native 144Hz refresh rate, AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, and two HDMI 2.1 ports for gamers. Every size is currently discounted, but the 65-inch model is what we'd recommend for most people.

More TV deals

60-inch and under

• Hisense 58-inch QD50 Hi-QLED 4K TV — $189.99 $399.99 (save $210)

• Insignia 55-inch F50 LED 4K TV — $199.99 $349.99 (save $150)

• Hisense 43-inch QD6 QLED 4K Fire TV — $209.99 $299.99 (save $90)

• Samsung 55-inch M70H Mini LED 4K TV — $349.99 $449.99 (save $100)

• LG 55-inch 75B QNED 4K TV — $379.99 $599.99 (save $220)

• Hisense 55-inch S7 Canvas QLED 4K Art TV — $799.99 $1,499.99 (save $700)

• Hisense 55-inch UR8 RGB Mini LED 4K TV — $999.99 $1,499.99 (save $500)

• Sony 55-inch Bravia 7 II RGB 4K TV — $1,499.99 $2,099.99 (save $600)

65-inch TVs

• LG 65-inch 75B QNED 4K TV — $479.99 $699.99 (save $220)

• TCL 65-inch QM6K QD-Mini LED 4K TV — $699.99 $999.99 (save $300)

• Hisense 65-inch S7N Canvas QLED 4K Art TV — $800.99 $1,299.99 (save $499)

• Hisense 65-inch U7 Mini LED QLED 4K TV — $899.99 $1,499.99 (save $600)

• Samsung 65-inch S90F OLED 4K TV — $1,399.99 $2,499.99 (save $1,100)

• TCL 65-inch QM8L SQD-Mini LED 4K TV — $1,399.99 $2,499.99 (save $1,100)

• Hisense 65-inch UR8 RGB Mini LED 4K TV — $1,499.99 $1,999.99 (save $500)

• LG 65-inch C5 OLED 4K TV — $1,499.99 $2,699.99 (save $1,200)

• LG 65-inch B6 OLED 4K TV — $1,699.99 $1,999.99 (save $300)

• Samsung 65-inch S85H OLED 4K TV — $1,699.99 $1,999.99 (save $300)

• LG 65-inch C6 OLED 4K TV — $1,799.99 $2,699.99 (save $900)

• Sony 65-inch Bravia 7 II RGB 4K TV — $1,799.99 $2,599.99 (save $800)

75-inch to 77-inch TVs

• Samsung 75-inch U7900 LED 4K TV — $399.99 $649.99 (save $250)

• LG 75-inch 75B QNED 4K TV — $649.99 $999.99 (save $350)

• Hisense 75-inch U7 Mini LED 4K TV — $1,199.99 $1,999.99 (save $800)

• TCL 75-inch QM7L SQD-Mini LED 4K TV — $1,299.99 $1,999.99 (save $700)

• LG 77-inch B5 OLED 4K TV — $1,399.99 $2,999.99 (save $1,600)

• Hisense 75-inch UR8 RGB Mini LED 4K TV — $1,899.99 $2,499.99 (save $600)

• Samsung 77-inch S90F OLED 4K TV — $1,999.99 $3,499.99 (save $1,500)

• LG 77-inch C5 OLED 4K TV — $1,899.99 $3,699.99 (save $1,800)

• Samsung 75-inch R85H Micro RGB 4K TV — $1,999.99 $2,799.99 (save $800)

85-inch TVs

• Insignia 85-inch Class F50 Series 4K Fire TV — $599.99 $899.99 (save $300)

• Insignia 85-inch QF QLED 4K TV — $659.99 $1,099.99 (save $440)

• Hisense 85-inch UR9 RGB Mini LED 4K TV — $3,999.99 $4,499.99 (save $500)

Best Windows laptop deal Opens in a new window Credit: ASUS Asus Zenbook A14 (Snapdragon X2 Elite, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $999.99 at Best Buy
$1,349.99 Save $350   Get Deal Why we like it

Mashable's laptop expert named the Asus Zenbook A14 the "best Windows laptop for most people" in 2026 for a few reasons. It's ultraportable, packs an amazing battery life of over 27 hours (!), a stunning OLED display, a lightweight build, and impressive performance that rivals the MacBook Air. While the 2026 version got a price bump, this discount at Best Buy knocks it back down below $1,000.

More Windows laptop deals

• HP Omnibook 3 16 (AMD Ryzen 5 40, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $399.99 $779.99 (save $380)

• HP OmniBook X 14 (Snapdragon X Plus, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $699.99 $1,099.99 (save $400)

• HP OmniBook X Flip 16 (Intel Core Ultra 7 256V, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $749.99 $1,199.99 (save $450)

• Lenovo Yoga 7a 2-in-1 14 (AMD Ryzen AI 5 430, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $749.99 $1,299.99 (save $550)

• Microsoft Surface Pro, 12-inch (Snapdragon X Plus, 8GB RAM, 256GB UFS) — $749.99 $849.99 (save $100)

• Acer Swift Go 16 (Intel Core Ultra 7 355, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,199.99 $1,549.99 (save $350)

• Microsoft Surface Laptop 13 (Snapdragon X2 Elite, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,599.99 $1,999.99 (save $400)

• Asus ROG Flow Z13 (AMD Ryzen AI Max+, 64GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $2,099.99 $2,999.99 (save $900)

• Lenovo Legion Pro 7i 16 (Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $2,899.99 $4,249.99 (save $1,350)

Best robot vacuum deal Opens in a new window Credit: Shark Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum and Mop $349.99 at Best Buy
$699.99 Save $350   Get Deal Why we like it

This robot vacuum combines powerful vacuuming with sonic mopping, so it can clean carpets and hard floors in a single run. Its Matrix Clean technology makes multiple passes over dirt and debris, and the CleanEdge Detect targets dust and hair around corners and edges. It also features a self-cleaning brushroll, HEPA filtration, and a bagless self-emptying base that can hold up to 60 days of dirt. And right now at Best Buy, it's $350 off — an impressive 50% savings.

More robot vacuum deals

• Roborock Q10 Series — $299.99 $399.99 (save $100)

• Ecovacs DEEBOT T80S Omni — $479.99 $649.99 (save $170)

• Roborock Qrevo Series — $499.99 $629.99 (save $130)

• Dreame X40 — $499.99 $799.99 (save $300)

• Shark PowerDetect — $749.99 $1,199.99 (save $450)

• Roborock Saros Z70 — $999.99 $1,999.99 (save $1,000)

Best earbuds deal Opens in a new window Credit: Beats Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 $199.99 at Best Buy
$249.99 Save $50   Get Deal Why we like it

For working out, these are some of the best earbuds available. With a secure hook fit and built-in heart rate monitoring, workout earbuds can't get any better than this. In fact, when given the full review treatment, they were described as "ideal for all workouts, especially running."

More earbud deals

• JBL Tune 245NC — $49.95 $109.95 (save $64)

• JBL Tune Flex 2 — $69.95 $109.95 (save $40)

• Sony WF-C710N— $89.99 $129.99 (save $40)

• Beats Powerbeats Fit — $169.99 $199.99 (save $30)

• Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 — $189 $229 (save $40)

Best headphones deal Opens in a new window Credit: Beats Beats Studio Pro $159.99 at Best Buy
$349.99 Save $190   Get Deal Why we like it

These headphones have Personalized Spatial Audio and dynamic head tracking for a 360-degree listening experience. They also have impressive noise cancellation that helps block out distractions, with different modes to keep you aware of your surroundings. They offer up to 40 hours of battery life, USB-C, Bluetooth, and 3.5mm connectivity, plus compatibility with both Apple and Android devices. This week, the Black/Gold pair is a whopping 54% off at Best Buy. They're only $159.99; the other colors cost $10 extra.

More headphone deals

• Sony WH-CH520 — $39.99 $68 (save $28.01)

• Marshall Major V — $89.99 $159.99 (save $70)

• Beats Solo 4 — $129.99 $199.99 (save $70)

• Sony WH-1000XM6— $399.99 $458 (save $58.01)

Best Lego deal Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Lego Animal Crossing Blathers’ Museum Collection $55.99 at Best Buy
$79.99 Save $24.00   Get Deal Why we like it

This Animal Crossing-themed Lego set builds into a brickified replica of Blathers’ Museum, where players complete exhibits by donating fish, fossils, and art. It's geared toward ages seven and up, and contains 543 pieces — including minifigures of Blathers himself and Lily, a frog villager. Best Buy's Anniversary Sale deal takes 30% off its list price, leaving you to pay just $55.99. FYI: It sold out at Target at the same price.

More Lego deals

• Lego Minifigures Series 29 — $3.49 $4.99 (save $1.50)

• Lego Friends Horse & Baby Foal Trailer — $20.99 $29.99 (save $9)

• Lego Disney Minnie’s Pet Hotel — $27.99 $39.99 (save $12)

• Lego Super Mario: Mario Kart Toad's Garage — $27.99 $39.99 (save $12)

• Lego DREAMZzz Nightmare Scorpion Digger — $34.99 $49.99 (save $15)

• Lego Friends Beach House with Seals — $34.99 $49.99 (save $15)

• Lego Friends Heartlake City Fashion Show — $34.99 $49.99 (save $15)

• Lego Technic Chevrolet Corvette Stingray — $41.99 $59.99 (save $18)

• Lego DREAMZzz Crocodile Submarine — $48.99 $69.99 (save $21)

• Lego Friends Horse Stable and Riding Academy — $62.99 $89.99 (save $27)

• Lego Star Wars Grogu with Hover Pram — $89.99 $99.99 (save $10)

• Lego Ideas BTS Dynamite — $119.99 $126.99 (save $7)

• Lego Editions Lionel Messi Celebration — $179 $199.99 (save $20.99)

Best Pokémon TCG deal Opens in a new window Credit: The Pokémon Company Pokémon TCG Scarlet & Violet Destined Rivals Elite Trainer Box $112.50 at Best Buy
$320 Save $207.50   Get Deal Why we like it

This Elite Trainer Box contains nine Destined Rivals booster packs, 45 energy cards, foil promo art of Team Rocket's Wobbuffet, six damage-counter dice, and other accessories. Best Buy has it marked down to $112.50 during its 60th Anniversary Sale — a whopping 65% off its regular price there — which is only a couple bucks above its current market price. For comparison's sake, it's currently going for around $130 at Amazon and Walmart.

More Pokémon TCG deals

• Pokémon TCG Mega Moonlit Tin (Mega Clefable ex) — $39.99 $59.99 (save $20)

• Pokémon TCG Scarlet & Violet 151 Booster Pack — $44.77 $59.99 (save $15.22)

• Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Chaos Rising Build & Battle Box — $49.99 $69.99 (save $20)

• Pokémon TCG Paradox Clash Tin (Walking Wake ex) — $49.99 $64.99 (save $15)

• Pokémon TCG Scarlet & Violet Surging Sparks Booster Bundle — $89.97 $115 (save $25.03)

• Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Elite Trainer Box (Mega Gardevoir) — $149.99 $165 (save $15.01)

• Pokémon TCG Charizard ex Super-Premium Collection — $179.97 $200 (save $20.03)

Wattpad readers, cancel the emergency evacuation. Your mafia bosses, K-pop idols, vampires, and emotionally unavailable fictional boyfriends are safe for now.

Despite the panic spreading across TikTok, X, and Reddit, Wattpad says it has not banned smut. The storytelling platform updated the language in its Content Guidelines on Aug. 10, prompting users to fear that sexually explicit stories were about to disappear and begin plotting a move to Archive of Our Own, better known as AO3.

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According to Wattpad, however, the rules themselves have not changed.

"We recently updated some of the language in our Content Guidelines to make our policies clearer and easier to understand, adding more specificity about what has always been allowed and not allowed on our platform," a Wattpad spokesperson told Fast Company on Aug. 18, following the backlash. "Our policies, content categories, and how we moderate haven't changed."

The company also tried to extinguish the rumor in a post to users, writing that Wattpad remains a home for stories that are "steamy, complicated, romantic, weird, emotional, and everything in between."

"This isn’t changing," Wattpad said.

Under Wattpad’s clarified guidelines, stories may contain explicit sexual content when the people involved are at least 18 years old and the content supports a larger story rather than serving as its primary purpose. Those stories must be marked Mature.

Wattpad prohibits pornography or material created primarily for sexual arousal, sexual content involving anyone under 18, sexual solicitation and roleplay, illegal sexual acts, and sexual exploitation, coercion, or nonconsensual behavior that is glorified. Stories involving intense violence, self-harm, and other sensitive subjects may also require a Mature rating.

That means Wattpad is not banning every story that contains sex. Its rules do, however, draw a line between sexual content that is part of a broader narrative and content that exists mainly to be erotic.

The update may affect "porn without plot" (PWP) — a long-established fanfiction category where the explicit encounter is very much the point — as well as dark romance and other genres involving coercion, power imbalances, or taboo scenarios. Wattpad maintains that these boundaries existed before the update and that any recently removed stories would have already violated its policies.

With a global community of 94 million users, it appears even policy changes can become an enormous game of telephone, and through the grapevine, users heard the words "smut ban" and ran with it. "BEING SOLD TO ONE DIRECTION IS NOW AGAINST THE TERMS OF SERVICE ON WATTPAD??? this is the start of the end," one X user wrote. A reply warned, "We’re about to lose the ancient texts." Another user argued that Wattpad "would be NOTHING without one direction smut," while someone else compared the supposed ban to "the forest banning trees."

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To understand the level of alarm, it helps to remember what Wattpad has meant to a generation of young internet users, including me. (Writing One Direction fanfiction there helped inspire me to become a professional writer, after all.)

Since launching in 2006, Wattpad has allowed aspiring authors to publish stories chapter by chapter, hear directly from readers, and build audiences without first securing an agent or publisher. Some of those stories eventually became major screen adaptations, including After, The Kissing Booth, Through My Window, and My Life With the Walter Boys.

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The exchange between writers and readers can also function as an informal writing workshop: A 2016 study of online fanfiction communities identified a process called "distributed mentoring," where authors received encouragement, corrections, and suggestions from numerous community members instead of a single teacher or editor. The authors interviewed believed this process helped them become better writers.

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Continuing interest in websites like Wattpad is especially relevant as concerns about youth literacy grow. Average U.S. reading scores for fourth- and eighth-graders fell again in 2024 and remained below 2019 levels. Though fanfiction writing can't solve that problem alone, a platform that motivates young people to spend hours reading long-form stories, writing their own, and responding to one another shouldn't be dismissed.

Why are Wattpad users really fleeing to AO3?

Archive of Our Own has emerged as an escape route for Wattpad users online. TikToks with instructions for Wattpad users preparing to move their stories have emerged, along with guides explaining everything from AO3’s search filters to its fandom etiquette.

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Unlike Wattpad, AO3 is a nonprofit, noncommercial archive operated by the fan-run Organization for Transformative Works. It has no advertising, paid tier, or algorithmic recommendation feed; readers find stories by searching fandoms, relationships, characters, and tags.

That search system supports the organization’s commitment to "maximum inclusiveness of fanwork content," even when a story may be offensive or disturbing. Rather than removing fiction based on its subject, AO3 expects authors to label their work and gives readers filters for avoiding material they do not want to see.

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That difference became the focus of the migration discourse. TikTok users posted tutorials telling Wattpad arrivals to read tags before opening a story. Others explained the "Dead Dove: Do Not Eat" tag, which warns readers that the disturbing or taboo material listed in a story’s description will appear exactly as advertised.

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Some users joked that AO3 was experiencing its annual season of welcoming people who had fled another platform, except this group was arriving shortly before Kinktober, a fandom tradition built around publishing kinky stories throughout October. The resulting culture shock, the post predicted, would be "Olympic-level."

And since this is the internet, not everyone is welcoming.

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"They’re trying to gentrify AO3," one commenter wrote on the subreddit r/AO3 with 366,000 weekly visitors. Another responded, "This is our ecosystem, not yours. Adapt or perish." Some complained that an influx of fan-fictions were being reported on AO3 since the announcement.

Why is everyone talking about fanfiction again?

The scramble, and attention, comes at a particularly buzzy moment for fanfiction. AO3 passed 18 million fanworks in July, only a few months after the archive officially exited beta following 17 years of operation.

In August, model and actor Kaia Gerber revealed on Jake Shane’s Therapuss podcast that she privately writes fanfiction for fun. (Hint: The main character is "not a human.") Gerber isn't alone; fans now openly trade recommendations for Dramione, Reylo, Marauders, BTS, Supernatural, Marvel, and anime stories across TikTok and other social platforms.

Fanfiction is only one part of the current enthusiasm around reading. TikTok reported that more than 80 million posts used #BookTok as of June 1. Meanwhile, U.S. print romance sales rose 3.9 percent in 2025 to nearly 44 million copies. Earlier Circana data identified romance as the print market’s leading growth category, with especially fast gains for romantasy, sports romance, and darker stories.

SEE ALSO: 'Adults' creators Rebecca Shaw and Ben Kronengold react to fan fiction about the show

All of that means there are more public conversations about tropes, ships, spice levels, and formerly niche fandom terminology on social media — at least in Gerber's timeline. For the moment, though, Wattpad readers do not need to flee anywhere. The platform says its smut rules remain the same as before; there are just a few more boundaries.

And anyone who still decides to visit AO3 is welcome to browse its 18 million works. Just read the tags carefully.

BMW's X5 has the badge, the reputation, and the luxury-car credentials, but you don't necessarily have to spend BMW money to get a family SUV that feels genuinely upscale. The Mazda CX-90 takes a different approach, pairing a premium-looking cabin with strong driving dynamics and the practicality of three rows.