Technology

I've used Gemini to answer Excel questions for a while, but I wanted to see whether it could handle a real workflow. When I asked it to automate a tedious reporting task, I ended up with a reusable VBA tool that could run in any XLSX workbook—but only after testing, refining, and improving the result.

AI assistants have been pitched as a solution to overflowing inboxes, messy calendars, and trips that still need booking. But what happens when the task being outsourced is remembering your anniversary?

The startup Orchid introduced its personal assistant with a now-viral cinematic video, posted to X July 28, following a woman whose partner has forgotten their anniversary. After she tells Orchid what happened, the assistant contacts him, books a dinner reservation, arranges a flower delivery, and keeps her updated on his progress.

"Introducing Orchid, the first assistant that actually gets you," the company wrote alongside the video. "It remembers what you forget. Down to the flower."

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By the end, Orchid has transformed the mistake into what looks like a thoughtful anniversary celebration. Viewers were less charmed.

The video received more than 20 million views within its first several days, but it also attracted hundreds of replies from people disturbed by the future it seemed to present.

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The reservation and flower delivery were hardly the most controversial parts. AI tools already help users search for restaurants, make plans, and select gifts; apparently, romance is now just another workflow waiting to be automated.

So, what does Orchid actually do?

Orchid describes itself as a personal assistant that users communicate with through text messages. The company says it can manage email, schedule meetings, prepare users for calls, plan trips, source gifts, handle invoices, and remember personal details.

Users can also ask Orchid to create recurring "habits," including delivering a morning news briefing, checking the weather, tracking meals, sending medication reminders, and automatically checking them into flights.

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The product's primary audience appears to be professional. According to Orchid's FAQ, it was designed for "founders, investors, lawyers, agents, and agency owners" whose time would be better spent on "real work" than administrative tasks. The company's only published case study focuses on helping an executive prepare for client calls.

But the video shows the assistant doing more than organizing someone's calendar. Orchid appears to connect to the users' iMessage accounts in order to communicate separately with both members of the couple, passing information between them and reporting one person's actions to the other.

Orchid co-founder Nizar Abi Zaher told Gizmodo that "Orchid allows multiple people to communicate with the same agent and share context." For now, he said, that feature is "just group chats and also coordinating meetings." In the advertisement, however, the couple appears to be communicating with Orchid through two private conversations.

Although Orchid's homepage promises "a hundred tools, one assistant," its FAQ says the product presently works with Gmail and Google Calendar. Integrations with Outlook, Slack, Notion, and Linear are still on the way.

The company also says the AI acts "only within the limits that you set." Email responses remain in drafts until the user sends them, while calendar holds require approval. It also says it does not sell users' data or use it to train AI models.

A shared assistant raises additional questions. The ad doesn't explain which information each partner has agreed to share, whether either person can access the other's messages, or how Orchid determines what it can report back. At least, not yet. Mashable has reached out to Orchid for a comment.

Social media isn't sold on Orchid's vision

The possibility of using AI to shape a relationship is not especially new. In a 2025 survey of over 5,000 U.S. singles, 26 percent said they were using AI to enhance their dating lives, a 333 percent increase from the previous year. Nearly half of Gen Z singles had used it for tasks such as filtering matches, writing messages, and evaluating their dating habits.

AI has also made its way into established relationships. A 2026 survey of 1,000 married U.S. adults found that 44 percent had used an AI tool for relationship advice, rising to nearly 65 percent among millennials. That growing use has not necessarily made people comfortable with AI's expanding role — about half of U.S. adults believe AI will worsen people's ability to form meaningful relationships.

That discomfort may help explain why Orchid's ad went over so poorly online: "an AI for perpetuating your dead-end relationship that both parties secretly hate," one X user wrote. Another described Orchid as an "assistant for people who want to subcontract all the basic acts of care that make up a relationship." Some users described the concept as "lame," and an advertisement for "adult babies uninterested in the world they live in." One viewer offered a more concise thought: "Tech people need to stop."

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Some people suspect the company understood exactly how the scenario would be received. "I think they knew what they were doing and hoped the ragebait worked," one user wrote. "Unfortunately it did."

The company has said it intentionally built the advertisement around a story instead of creating a traditional product demonstration. "We wanted to build a story around a real situation," the Orchid team explained in a behind-the-scenes video.

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At least one member of Orchid's team appeared to be taking notes. "If you have feedback on Orchid or ideas on what would make you actually use it, my DMs are open!" Lucas Valbuena, an intern at the startup, posted on X as the backlash spread. Meanwhile, other Orchid employees, AI companies, and engineers publicly rallied behind the company.

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The ad also made its way to r/ExecutiveAssistants, where the person who started the discussion said their "heart kind of broke" after learning about Orchid. Along with worrying about the loss of human connection, they asked whether AI could eventually replace people in their field.

The assistants who responded were mostly skeptical that Orchid could replace them. One predicted that products like it would become tools executive assistants use, leaving humans to catch hallucinations and supply the context AI misses.

"Execs are way too lazy to work these out themselves," the commenter added. Another dismissed Orchid as "marketing fluff aimed at the people who could never really afford us," arguing that a reminder app cannot reproduce the emotional intelligence experienced assistants bring to the job.

That skepticism helps explain why Orchid's ad bothered so many. An assistant can book a table and order flowers, but those gestures usually matter because a partner remembered the occasion and chose to make them in the first place. In the video, Orchid does that work while the human receives the credit.

Orchid promises to remember an anniversary "down to the flower." The backlash suggests people still care who remembers it in the first place.

Few vehicles have managed to buck the trend in 2026, with rising prices and shifting buyer preferences making growth increasingly difficult across the industry. Yet one rugged SUV has done exactly that, posting one of the most impressive sales surges of any mainstream model this year.

Here at Mashable, we're constantly testing the best laptops based on an exhaustive in-house methodology that combines real-world use with performance benchmarking. In the past two years alone, we've tried over 80 different models across a range of price points.

To determine which of them fit the bill for college students, specifically, I researched the top 10 public universities' hardware recommendations for the upcoming fall 2026 semester. These include processor types, operating system support, RAM and storage minimums, and other spec requirements for different majors. I honed my guidance based on the common threads I noticed.

I also gave special preference to laptops that are long-lasting and portable enough to be toted around campus, and those that are competitively priced for the current market. Laptops aren't cheap right now, but a solid splurge can last you well past graduation. (Take advantage of student discounts whenever possible.)

Based on this analysis, I eventually settled on six top picks that make the best laptops for college students. Whether you're a humanities student, a STEM major, or still undeclared, I'm confident that at least one of my options will be your ideal machine. You can read more about these picks and my research below.

What to look for in a college laptop, based on my research A Windows laptop with a mid-tier Intel Core or AMD Ryzen 7 processor is suitable for most college students. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

Six of this year's 10 top-ranking public universities tell their incoming students to purchase Windows 11 laptops or MacBooks that are less than two years old. I wouldn't go any older than that for the sake of future-proofing.

Most of those schools tell their students to purchase laptops with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage at minimum. (Liberal arts majors might be able to get away with 256GB of storage, but you'll probably have to supplement that with an external hard drive.) More RAM and storage is better if your budget allows; more is mandatory if you're an engineering, design, or computer science major. Students in those fields are generally advised to get a laptop with at least 24GB to 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.

SEE ALSO: Laptop specs explained: A jargon-free guide to what's inside your computer

You can approach your processor options in a similar way. For Windows laptops, most schools suggest a mid-range CPU like an Intel Core/AMD Ryzen 5 at minimum, and a mid- to high-end Intel Core/AMD Ryzen 7 or 9 chip for more demanding workloads. Several schools recommend tacking on a dedicated GPU for such coursework, too (i.e, Nvidia GeForce RTX/Radeon RX graphics). On the Apple side, the MacBook Air and Pro with the base M5 chip are go-to recs for most students.

Two schools tell their students not to buy ARM-based Windows laptops (with Qualcomm's Snapdragon processors) because they can't run certain software natively, and because they don't support older peripherals like university printers and scanners. One software example is AutoCAD, a popular 2D and 3D design app that engineering and design students rely on heavily. I love a lot of ARM laptops because they're fast and long-lasting, and I will say that their compatibility is improving every year. Still, I've opted to keep them off my list of 2026 picks out of an abundance of caution; stick with Intel and AMD CPUs for now.

Be sure to budget for an extended warranty with accidental damage protection, as suggested by over half of the top 10 public universities. For reference, AppleCare+ for Mac costs $67.99 to $139.99 a year for students, depending on the MacBook model.

What type of laptop should college students buy? Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

This is a question that only your college can answer for sure, as laptop type recommendations can vary by major. For example, the University of Virginia and the University of California, Davis approve MacBooks for their general student populations, but their engineering departments tell certain tracks to avoid them. Likewise, UCLA's Anderson School of Management hardware requirement page says, "Mac computers are acceptable to use as primary computers for study at Anderson. However, please note that some elective course software is only available for Windows. Students are responsible for ensuring compatibility and configuring their Macs accordingly."

I can say for sure that you probably shouldn't buy a Chromebook. Three schools in my research pool discouraged them for some or all majors, and one school — the University of Florida — only recommended them "as supplemental devices." I included a Chromebook in a previous version of this guide as a secondary option for note-taking, but price increases amid the ongoing RAM shortage have made many of them just as expensive as Apple's budget MacBook Neo (if not more so), which is a much nicer and more powerful computer, relatively speaking.

Do you need your own laptop for college?

Yes, you should have your own laptop at college. Most universities let students temporarily borrow laptops through their libraries and/or tech desks. However, these loaners are available on a first-come, first-served basis and wiped upon return (i.e., you can't save anything on them long-term).

I wouldn't rely too heavily on your school's computer lab, either, because you can't take bring those desktops to class or your dorm. Ultimately, owning your own laptop is way more convenient and ensures you'll have the exact specs needed for your major's coursework.

Recent updates to this guide

• July 30, 2026: I updated this guide with the results of the Dell 14S' battery life test. It was able to loop a video for 34 hours and 29 minutes before dying — very impressive!

• July 25, 2026: My preferred configuration of the Acer Swift X 14 is back in stock, so I added it to this guide in place of the Acer Swift X 14 AI. They're both smart buys, but the non-AI version is more powerful and lasts much longer.

• July 18, 2026: I overhauled this guide to the best laptops for college students ahead of the start of the 2026 school year. I added fresh picks from Apple, Acer, and Dell based on all-new testing and research.

WPA3 is one of those router settings that most people will tell you to use. You might have done it and assumed your job was done, but that's not always true. Unfortunately.

Every time you type a website into your browser, your ISP gets a free ticket to watch it. A few Windows 11 privacy settings get talked about a lot, but this one rarely does, even though it's been sitting inside your PC this whole time. It's not a third-party app, and you don't need to install anything new. You only need to know where to look, and honestly, most people never do.

Investors are thinking twice about the stocks that have most benefited from the AI boom.

The 20 most valuable chip stocks have lost $1.3 trillion over the past week after a big sell-off, according to analysis by CNBC.

According to the outlet's data, Nvidia led in losses after investors liquidated $238 billion since the market closed on Friday. There's perhaps no bigger sign that investors are getting cold feet when it comes to artificial intelligence, as Nvidia has benefited more than any other company from the AI boom. 

Win an Apple Watch in the Mashable Big Guessing Game!

Other companies in the memory space have also taken a big hit. SK Hynix lost $176 billion. Samsung is down $173 billion. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. lost $119 billion. Micron shed $113 billion. And AMD is down $110 billion.

Tech companies have seen demand in memory and storage skyrocket as AI companies buy out supply to power their insatiable compute needs. Due to this, RAM and SSD storage supply has dwindled for everyday consumers. Consumer tech companies like Apple have been forced to institute price hikes on their products as a result.

Despite this, however, investors are seemingly starting to question their AI-related investments.

“This decline appears to be driven largely by sentiment rather than fundamentals,” Morningstar's Chief Equity Strategist Michael Field told CNBC. “Simply put, it’s loss of confidence,” he added. “We continue to see upside in many AI names, but these are growth stocks, and, as such, much of their value comes from cash flows expected far out into the future, which requires a lot of faith from investors.”

Investor concern surrounding AI technology seems rooted in the fact that while these companies make billions of dollars, they're spending way more than they make. According to recent reporting from the Financial Times and Ed Zitron, AI giant OpenAI had a net loss of $38.5 billion last year. Just this week, OpenAI announced that it will spend $750 billion on infrastructure through 2030. Finally, Google recently experienced its first-ever negative cash flow quarter, thanks to spending on AI infrastructure.

Of course, investor sentiment on AI can turn around quickly.

I've had Roku devices in my house for years, going all the way back to when it was just a little box sitting next to the TV. At this point, I've got several Roku TVs and a few sticks spread across different rooms, and for the most part, I've always used them the same way. Open an app, pick something to watch, and move on. It works, so I never really thought much about what else was there.

If you own an old Samsung Galaxy phone you aren't using anymore and need a secondary PC, consider converting it into a mini PC instead of buying one. The only prerequisite is support for Samsung DeX. While you might think that a desktop experience on an Android phone would be dragged down by all kinds of limitations and annoyances, I can attest that it's much better than I expected.

Most people think of the built-in Windows Snipping Tool as the little thing that pops up when you press the "Print Screen" button, but the truth is that this app can do far more than take screenshots.

The luxury sedan segment has long been dominated by familiar names. Buyers shopping for a flagship model have traditionally gravitated toward the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, BMW 7 Series, Audi A8, or Lexus LS, expecting class-leading comfort, cutting-edge technology, and impeccable craftsmanship.

My trash day reminder is one of my favorite automations. Using an integration that pulls the information from an official website, Home Assistant always knows which trash collection is due. Even using spoken reminders, however, we still sometimes forget to put the trash out on the right day, so I decided to build something that would be harder to ignore.

Android is in a strange place right now. New phones have never been better, yet it's harder than ever to justify buying the latest one. You're better off keeping your current device until it's no longer up to the job. And when you do need to replace it, buy an older model instead.

Netflix is arguably the most popular streaming service in the world. However, it's not the only streamer that boasts great movies. HBO Max, Hulu, Paramount+, and Prime Video all have vast libraries with terrific movies in various genres. If you know where to look, you'll find plenty of certified classics.

Critical coverage usually draws an angry email or two. For Ina and David Steiner, it led to live cockroaches, a fetal pig, and a bloody Halloween mask.

On Monday, July 27, eBay and several former executives agreed to pay $55.7 million to resolve the couple's lawsuit over the 2019 corporate harassment campaign.

The Steiners are the married founders of EcommerceBytes, a news site covering eBay and the broader ecommerce industry. They filed the civil case in 2021 after members of eBay's security team sent them threats, disturbing packages, and unwanted visitors in an effort to influence the site's reporting.

Of the $55.7 million settlement, $48.7 million will go directly to the Steiners. EBay will pay $46.15 million, former CEO Devin Wenig will pay $2 million, former senior vice president Wendy Jones will pay $500,000, and former chief communications officer Steve Wymer will pay $50,000. The remaining $7 million will go to nonprofit organizations. EBay will contribute $6 million, while Wenig will donate another $1 million to a group protecting First Amendment rights in Ina Steiner's name.

The agreement also allows the Steiners to keep talking publicly about the case. It contains no confidentiality provision, a priority for the couple because they wanted the settlement to discourage other corporations from trying to intimidate journalists over critical coverage.

To understand why the Steiners considered that transparency so important, it helps to go back to how the campaign began.

From critical coverage to criminal charges

When eBay's security team began targeting the Steiners in 2019, the couple had already spent two decades covering the company and other online marketplaces, such as Amazon and Etsy. Through EcommerceBytes, they reported on the issues affecting online sellers, including fees, policy changes, and the executives making those decisions.

The internal lead-up to the campaign only became clear years later — the Steiners initially filed their civil lawsuit in July 2021 and amended it in March 2023. Ina Steiner later told Wired in July 2026 that the litigation gave the couple access to roughly 68,000 documents showing how eBay executives discussed the site behind the scenes.

Those records traced a steady escalation. According to the amended complaint, Wenig sent Wymer a link to an April 10, 2019, EcommerceBytes article about his compensation. Wymer responded, "We are going to crush this lady."

The following month, Jones allegedly asked eBay security chief Jim Baugh to address criticism of the company "off the radar" and told him she did not want to know the details. Then, on Aug. 1, 2019, EcommerceBytes published an article questioning Wenig's handling of eBay's litigation against Amazon. Within half an hour, Wenig allegedly told Wymer that if they were ever going to "take her down," referring to Ina Steiner, "now is the time."

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Four days later, the harassment campaign allegedly began. According to eBay's admissions to federal prosecutors, members of its security team targeted the Steiners between Aug. 5 and Aug. 23, 2019. Anonymous accounts on what was then Twitter criticized EcommerceBytes and threatened to show up at the couple's home in Natick, Massachusetts.

The campaign quickly reached their front door. In addition to the cockroaches, fetal pig, and bloody mask, the group allegedly sent live spiders, fly larvae, a funeral wreath, and a book about surviving the death of a spouse. Pornographic magazines addressed to David were allegedly delivered to a neighbor, while Craigslist ads allegedly invited strangers to the Steiners' home for sex, a block party, and an estate sale. One night, an emergency plumber even arrived unannounced.

As the messages and deliveries continued, the language inside eBay remained aggressive. On Aug. 11, Wymer allegedly told Baugh, "I want to see ashes. As long as it takes. Whatever it takes." The group also took the harassment offline — several members of eBay's security team allegedly traveled from California to Massachusetts, followed the Steiners in a rented van, and attempted to install a GPS tracker on their car.

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They also had an unusual plan for how the campaign would end. EBay security manager Brian Gilbert, a former police captain, was allegedly supposed to approach the Steiners and offer to stop the attacks his colleagues were secretly carrying out. EBay would then appear to have solved a problem its own employees had created.

That plan unraveled when the Steiners realized they were being followed and contacted local police. Once members of the group learned they were under investigation, they allegedly made false statements, deleted digital evidence, and falsified records in an attempt to hide eBay's involvement.

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Wenig, Wymer, and Jones were not criminally charged, and Wenig has maintained that he was requesting a communications response and knew nothing about the harassment. EBay's internal investigation found his messages inappropriate but said it uncovered no evidence that he authorized the security team's actions.

Federal prosecutors eventually charged seven former eBay employees and contractors in 2020, all of whom eventually pleaded guilty. Four received prison sentences between July 2021 and October 2022, including Baugh, who was sentenced to 57 months in September 2022. Two others received one year of home confinement later that year. The final defendant, Gilbert, was sentenced in July 2024 to time served and one year of supervised release.

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The consequences also reached eBay itself. In January 2024, federal prosecutors charged the company with six felony offenses, including stalking, witness tampering, and obstruction of justice. EBay admitted to a detailed account of the campaign, paid the maximum penalty of $3 million, and agreed to retain an independent compliance monitor for three years.

The new settlement, though, resolves the Steiners' civil claims against eBay, Wenig, Jones, and Wymer. The couple also reached separate settlements with the other former employees named in the lawsuit, although those terms were not disclosed.

EBay says it has changed

In a public statement published July 28, 2026, the company called what happened “wrong, reprehensible and should never have happened.” It condemned the employees who pleaded guilty and acknowledged the “unprofessional tone” of communications involving Wenig, Wymer, and Jones.

eBay also pointed to the changes it has made since 2019, including bringing in new leaders and strengthening its policies, internal controls, and employee training.

Wenig, meanwhile, continues to maintain that he knew nothing about the campaign. In a statement provided to Mashable, the former CEO said he was “saddened” by what the Steiners endured, “especially because it occurred during my time as CEO of eBay.” He said the harassment “was deliberately done in secret and without my knowledge.”

After the packages, threats, surveillance, criminal cases, and six years of litigation, the campaign still failed at its original goal. EcommerceBytes remains online, and Ina Steiner got to publish the news of eBay's settlement herself. Talk about closure!

Agentic AI. Claws. Vibe coding. AGI.

AI buzzwords come and go pretty quickly these days, and now there's a new AI trend to know: super apps.

What is a super app?

A super app puts a variety of AI tools into one agentic app. This means that AI chatbots (like ChatGPT) exist within the same space as AI agents, i.e. tools that execute multi-step requests with a degree of autonomy.

The idea is simple: Soon, you'll no longer be bouncing between your AI chatbot, coding assistant, and agentic tools. "Super apps" will centralize all of these tools within a single app. A super app, if you will.

Why are people talking about super apps?

In an earning call this week, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that a new super app will be central to Microsoft's upcoming AI strategy.

"This quarter, we also introduced Autopilots, autonomous, long-running agents with full enterprise compliance, including an always-on personal agent powered by OpenClaw," Nadella said. "And this quarter we will bring these Copilot experiences together, including Code, in one 'super app' spanning both consumer and commercial experiences."

Nadella said that the super app would be released by the end of summer 2026.

Microsoft isn't leading the charge on super apps; they're just the latest company to hop on the trend. AI companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic, are also focusing efforts on super apps.

As reported by Reuters, OpenAI has already launched its super app to employees. Meanwhile, competitor Anthropic is also combining its agentic Cowork tool with its Claude chatbot, the company recently announced.

Super apps could also accomplish something else for AI companies. Because users can access apps like InstaCart, Uber, Zillow, and OpenTable directly within ChatGPT, these agentic super apps could absorb as much of your online activity as possible into a single company's app.

Elon Musk reportedly wants to turn X into an everything app as well, and with super apps, his biggest AI rivals appear to be moving in the same direction.

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.

Toyota has spent decades building a reputation for vehicles that last. From dependable powertrains to strong resale values and low running costs, the brand has become one of the most trusted names for buyers who want a vehicle they can keep for years.

The Venn diagram of Spotify Premium users and runners is in for a treat. Running Mode is now available in the Spotify mobile app, matching song tempos to the different phases of a run.

Spotify's Fitness Hub rolled out in April of this year, partnering with Peloton and digital fitness instructors to put workouts directly in the app. Running Mode is now apart of the Fitness Mode, but a more self-guided experience.

The feature is available to Premium users on iOS in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden. It lets you choose from 25 curated running presets or build a custom workout from scratch. You can tailor the playlist to match your run length, beats per minute, and preferred genre, and it generates a personalized playlist based on your selections. If you need a boost, Running Mode also has optional audio cues to provide a little motivation.

This is not Spotify’s first attempt to keep pace with runners. In 2015, the company introduced Spotify Running, which used a phone’s sensors to detect a runner’s tempo and select music that matched it. Spotify retired that feature in 2018. Unlike its predecessor, the new Running Mode does not detect when someone speeds up or slows down — runners choose their desired tempo and workout structure before taking off.

Running Mode builds on Spotify's existing AI feature, Prompted Playlist, which allows users to provide a playlist description that Spotify uses to curate music. As Spotify positions itself to be an a one-stop-shop where you can listen to music, watch podcasts, and even buy books, Running Mode is a natural next step.

Are you ready for some more fun projects to tackle with your Raspberry Pi this weekend? Well, you're in luck, and I actually have one project that's sure to bring you down the path of nostalgia before it's all over.

Tinder has paused an AI-powered Photo Enhance tool that some users said altered their appearance, NewsNation reported.

Former user Jenny Rubin told NewsNation that the tool edited her photo without her opting in. "It was extremely violating," she told NewsNation's Jesse Weber. "It felt pretty uncanny, to be honest. Those are not my teeth. That’s not what my mouth looks like." Tinder had apparently changed the photo of her from a toothless smile to one with teeth.

SEE ALSO: You can now find local events on Tinder — and match with other attendees

Rubin deleted the app and made a TikTok about it, and others told her the app did the same thing. Tinder users also told NBC News that the app changed facial features and even skin tone, and also added features that weren't previously there.

"Photo Enhance is a tool that helps improve the technical quality of your photos. It's designed to enhance overall photo quality — for example, making your profile photo clearer and better lit — not to make you look different," Tinder's page on Photo Enhance states. The feature is supposed to "sharpen blurry images, adjust brightness and exposure, and improve clarity," the page reads. "It’s not designed to add or remove people, objects, or backgrounds, apply cosmetic effects, or change facial features or skin tone appearance."

A Tinder spokesperson reiterated that the feature isn't designed to change someone's appearance. "We know that profiles with clear, well-lit first photos have a much better experience, so our goal was to help make that easier for people on Tinder. The feature is in a test phase in limited markets and is available to a subset of profiles that had a detectable technical issue on the first photo, and more than 90 percent of people who receive an enhanced photo keep it," the spokesperson told Mashable over email.

According to the page, the suggested enhancement can be disabled, and the photo can be reverted to its original.

Tinder introduced the feature in March, along with a ton of other AI-powered features, including a matchmaker called Chemistry. At the same time, Tinder launched Photo Insights, which uses AI to scan users' camera rolls to determine interests based on patterns. The app previously introduced Photo Selector, an AI tool to help pick the best photos for a user's profile, in 2024.

Photo Enhanced is now paused in the 13 U.S. states where it was available. Tinder told NBC News and Mashable that the unintended changes impacted a small number of users. "Feedback data shows less than 0.5 percent of enhanced photos were flagged as not looking like the user, though not all of that feedback reflects a change as visible as what's been reported," the spokesperson told Mashable. It's paused to investigate the causes and strengthen safeguards.