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An OpenAI agent has hacked the Australian government's healthcare system, gaining unauthorised access to non-public information as well as writing files to the server.

SEE ALSO: Anthropic researcher quits, says AI 'could kill us all by the end of the decade'

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese announced the breach at a press conference on Thursday. OpenAI's researchers had been using an internal AI model to research spending on public healthcare, and given it access to the internet for this purpose. However, the AI "didn't accept no for an answer" when it encountered blocks, instead devising ways to circumvent such barriers to retrieve information without authorisation. 

This resulted in OpenAI's agent breaching Services Australia's Medicare statistics reporting portal on Jun. 18, accessing both public and non-public files, and even writing its own to the Australian government's server in order to do so.

"[T]his situation is obviously unacceptable," said Albanese. "I think OpenAI know that they need to have better protocols in place. And they're one of the businesses that themselves have warned of the risks which are there."

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OpenAI has acknowledged the breach, a spokesperson stating that its AI models "took actions we did not intend" when searching for answers to questions about Australia.

"The information accessed included aggregate health statistics and internal file names," the spokesperson said.

Fortunately, there is no evidence that individual people's data was impacted, or that personal private health information was accessed. The Medicare statistics reporting portal is an online platform which provides users with information about Australia's universal healthcare programs. This includes statistics on immunisations, organ donation, and the government's scheme to lower the cost of prescription medication. 

Even so, an autonomous AI agent hacking a government system is a troubling development, regardless of what it did once it had gained access.

"Today I spoke with the CEO of OpenAI Sam Altman to express Australia's extreme concern about this incident," said Albanese. "The discussion I had with Mr. Altman was a very frank discussion, courteous in both directions, but very frank about what I saw as Australia's national interest and what I saw as a failure which occurred here."

Altman reportedly apologised and "clearly accepted that the company had not done good enough." Both Albanese and Altman are attending the UN General Assembly in New York, though the prime minister stated that they spoke via a phone call rather than in person.

Australian PM admonishes OpenAI for delay in notifying of breach

Albanese further criticised OpenAI's delay in notifying the Australian government of the breach, as well as the method through which it did so. While the hack took place on Jun. 18, OpenAI claimed it was unaware of the breach until it reviewed the AI model's activity in August. The company subsequently waited until Sept. 10 to alert the Australian government, three months after the hack initially took place. 

Even then, it did so simply by sending an email to a public Services Australia email address —  an effort which Albanese also called unacceptable and disappointing. As such, Australia's acting prime minister Richard Marles stated that government ministers have only known about OpenAI's hack for less than a week.

"It was a shock that it occurred, because it was real and serious," said Albanese. "But it also, I think, was something that had been predicted, including by the AI companies themselves [who] have said that one of the risks that we need to deal with here is that artificial intelligence can go its own way. And that's the basis of the debate that we're having throughout the world."

The Medicare portal wasn't the only Australian government system that OpenAI's model accessed. Albanese stated that three others may have also been impacted in the same incident: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, and the Victorian Department of Health. OpenAI further confirmed that its AI model engaged in activities "involving several Australian government websites and services." Fortunately, it appears to have only accessed public information on these systems, with Marles stating that "those interactions were entirely normal." 

The Australian government will now conduct an investigation into the hack, including determining whether this is a criminal matter. However, Albanese has stated that "there will obviously be legal consequences."

OpenAI's hack may be the first time an AI model has autonomously hacked a government system. Even so, it's far from the first time AI has breached an external organisation without permission. In one high-profile incident earlier this year, OpenAI revealed that one of its AI agents had autonomously hacked Hugging Face, an open source repository of AI tools.

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.

The best early October Prime Day Lego deals: Best Lego Botanicals deal Lego Botanicals Flower Arrangement $62.04 (save $47.95) Get Deal Best Lego Pokémon deal Lego Pokémon Eevee $47.95 (save $12.04) Get Deal Best Lego Super Mario deal Lego Super Mario: Mario Kart $149.99 (save $20) Get Deal Best Lego Star Wars deal Lego Star Wars AT-ST Walker $171.99 (save $28) Get Deal

Amazon's second Prime Day event of the year is coming up fast. Prime Big Deal Days runs from Oct. 6-7. This 48-hour sale is an excellent time to check out deals on a wide variety of items, including Lego.

The official event is bound to be stacked with Lego deals, but we've actually spotted quite a few early deals at Amazon that are worth a look. From select Botanicals sets to Pokémon and Star Wars collabs, the retailer has plenty of options on sale already, so there's no need to wait.

SEE ALSO: The 10 best Lego sets of 2026 so far, from F1 to Monet and Pokémon

We've gathered up just a few of our favorite early October Prime Day Lego deals below, so you can stock up on some new sets to build this fall. As we get closer to Prime Big Deal Days, and once the event officially starts, we'll be sure to update with even more live deals.

Best Lego Botanicals deal Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Lego Botanicals Flower Arrangement $62.04 at Amazon
$109.99 Save $47.95   Get Deal Why we like it

The Lego Botanicals Flower Arrangement is an absolute delight for adult builders, with its 1,161 pieces coming together to create a display of 14 flowers (including camellias, peonies, hydrangeas, baby’s breath, ranunculus, bouvardia, and lilies) in a white vase. If it's one you've had on your radar, Amazon has a sweet little early October Prime Day treat for you: it's currently at its lowest-ever price of $62.04. It's retiring soon, making now an excellent time to grab it for less.

It's not the only Botanicals deal we've spotted, either. You can see even more of our favorite floral sets on sale below.

More Lego Botanicals deals

• Lego Botanicals Flowering Cactus — $27.95 $34.99 (save $7.04)

• Lego Botanicals Hibiscus Flower — $55.95 $69.99 (save $14.04)

• Lego Botanicals Succulents — $34.99 $49.99 (save $15)

Best Lego Pokémon deal Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Lego Pokémon Eevee $47.95 at Amazon
$59.99 Save $12.04   Get Deal Why we like it

Pokémon fans have been treated to some very fun Lego builds this year, including this Eevee set. This adorable build launched earlier this year, and if you've been eager to pick it up, Amazon's knocked it down to its lowest-ever price ahead of October Prime Day. As of Sept. 23, you can snag this 587-piece set for adults for $47.95 instead of its usual $59.99, saving you $12.04.

We're keeping our fingers crossed that more Pokémon builds go on sale.

Best Lego Super Mario deal Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Lego Super Mario: Mario Kart $149.99 at Amazon
$169.99 Save $20   Get Deal Why we like it

The 1,972-piece Lego Super Mario: Mario Kart set is another build for adults to piece together, and it's now at its lowest-ever price on Amazon. Ahead of October Prime Day, you can enjoy $20 off this awesome display piece featuring Mario in his Standard Kart.

If you're looking for even more Lego Super Mario deals right now, Amazon has a few more sets on sale to check out.

More Lego Super Mario deals

• Lego Super Mario: Mario Kart — Bowser’s Castle — $89 $99.99 (save $10.99)

• Lego Super Mario: Mario Kart — Interactive Mario & Standard Kart — $41.99 $54.99 (save $13)

• Lego Super Mario: Mario Kart — Wario & King Boo — $35.99 $49.99 (save $14)

• Lego Super Mario: Mario Kart Baby Peach & Grand Prix Set Home Circuit — $63.99 $79.99 (save $16)

Best Lego Star Wars deal Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Lego Star Wars at-ST Walker $171.99 at Amazon
$199.99 Save $28   Get Deal Why we like it

It may not be at its lowest-ever price right now, but the Lego Star Wars AT-ST Walker is incredibly close to that mark. Amazon currently has its price marked down to $171.99, and camelcamelcamel lists its lowest price as $165.85. That's not bad at all if you've been hoping to grab this 1,513-piece build.

Check out even more of our favorite early October Prime Day Lego Star Wars deals below.

More Lego Star Wars Deals

• Lego Star Wars Darth Vader Bust — $39.99 $49.99 (save $10)

• Lego Star Wars SMART Play: Yoda’s Hut and Jedi Training — $55.95 $69.99 (save $14.04)

• Lego Star Wars SMART Play: Mos Eisley Cantina — $63.95 $79.99 (save $16.04)

• Lego Star Wars: Andor K-2SO Security Droid — $71.99 $89.99 (save $18)

• Lego Star Wars SMART Play: Millennium Falcon — $79.95 $99.99 (save $20.04)

More October Prime Day Lego deals

Lego Advent Calendars

• Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar 2026 — $35 $44.99 (save $9.99)

• Lego Marvel Advent Calendar 2026 — $35 $44.99 (save $9.99)

• Lego City Advent Calendar 2026 — $25 $34.99 (save $9.99)

Lego Art

• Lego Art Vincent Van Gogh – Sunflowers — $173.99 $199.99 (save $26)

Lego Creator

• Lego Creator 3 in 1 Haunted Mansion Building Toy — $71.99 $89.99 (save $18)

Lego DC

• Lego DC Batman: Batman Forever Batmobile — $74.99 $99.99 (save $25)

Lego Fortnite

• Lego Fortnite Durrr Burger Restaurant — $39.99 $64.99 (save $25)

Lego Harry Potter

• Lego Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle and Grounds — $136.99 $169.99 (save $33)

Lego Icons

• Lego Icons The Lord of The Rings: Balrog Book Nook Kit — $107.99 $129.99 (save $22)

• Lego Icons Back to the Future Time Machine — $170 $199.99 (save $29.99)

Lego miscellaneous

• Lego Minifigures Shrek Series 6-Pack — $24 $29.94 (save $5.94)

• Lego Classic Medium Creative Brick Box — $21.42 $34.99 (save $13.57)

• Lego Horizon Adventures Aloy & Varl vs. Shell-Walker & Sawtooth — $29.49 $44.99 (save $15.50)

Lego Technic

• Lego Technic 1966 Ford GT40 MKII Race Car — $59.99 $74.99 (save $15)

• Lego Technic 2 Fast 2 Furious Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34) Car — $111.99 $139.99 (save $28)

TL;DR: Watch Netherlands vs. Germany in the Nations League for free on NPO. Access this free livestream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The UEFA Nations League is back with a string of interesting fixtures this week, but Netherlands vs. Germany is probably the pick of the bunch. These rivals go way back, and whether or not they truly value this competition, they're both going to do everything they can to beat each other.

Fans can also get their first taste of Jürgen Klopp's Germany. That's reason enough to tune in to this tasty matchup.

If you're interested in watching Netherlands vs. Germany in the Nations League from anywhere in the world, we've got all the information you need.

When is Netherlands vs. Germany?

Netherlands vs. Germany in the Nations League kicks off at 2.45 p.m. ET on Sept. 24. This fixture takes place at the Johan Cruijff ArenA.

How to watch Netherlands vs. Germany for free

Netherlands vs. Germany in the Nations League is available to live stream for free on NPO.

NPO is geo-restricted to the Netherlands, but anyone can secure access with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in the Netherlands, meaning you can live stream Netherlands vs. Germany for free from anywhere in the world.

Live stream Netherlands vs. Germany for free by following these simple steps:

1. Sign up for a streaming-friendly VPN (we recommend ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in the Netherlands

4. Visit NPO

5. Watch Netherlands vs. Germany for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.99 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but they do tend to offer generous money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch Netherlands vs. Germany without committing your cash. This is obviously not a long-term strategy, but it gives you enough time to stream this fixture before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for NPO?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on NPO, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries, including the Netherlands

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices, including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• Up to 10 simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and usually offers a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99.

Live stream Netherlands vs. Germany for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

TL;DR: Watch Portugal vs. Wales in the Nations League for free on BBC iPlayer. Access this free livestream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The UEFA Nations League is back. Is this good news for football fans? Nothing really comes close to domestic campaigns for dedicated followers of the game, but this competition is a marked improvement on the string of friendly fixtures we were "treated" to before this tournament came along.

Portugal take on Wales in a particularly interesting fixture this week. All eyes will be on 41-year-old Ronaldo, as always.

If you're interested in watching Portugal vs. Wales in the Nations League from anywhere in the world, we've got all the information you need.

When is Portugal vs. Wales?

Portugal vs. Wales in the Nations League kicks off at 2.45 p.m. ET on Sept. 24. This fixture takes place at Estádio José Alvalade.

How to watch Portugal vs. Wales for free

Portugal vs. Wales in the Nations League is available to live stream for free on BBC iPlayer.

BBC iPlayer is geo-restricted to the UK, but anyone can secure access with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in the UK, meaning you can live stream Portugal vs. Wales for free from anywhere in the world.

Live stream Portugal vs. Wales for free by following these simple steps:

1. Sign up for a streaming-friendly VPN (we recommend ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in the UK

4. Visit BBC iPlayer

5. Watch Portugal vs. Wales for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.99 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but they do tend to offer generous money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch Portugal vs. Wales without committing your cash. This is obviously not a long-term strategy, but it gives you enough time to stream this fixture before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for BBC iPlayer?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on BBC iPlayer, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries, including the UK

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices, including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• Up to 10 simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and usually offers a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99.

Live stream Portugal vs. Wales for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

Nikon has announced its new Nikon Z5IIC, a full-frame mirrorless camera for people who want to get into photography but don't know where to start. Designed for ease of use, the Z5IIC promises point-and-shoot performance that produces excellent images straight out of the camera, while still offering manual controls to accommodate creators' growing skills.

SEE ALSO: The best DSLR cameras for photography beginners

Revealed today, the Z5IIC offers the same level of performance as the well-received Z5II released last April, according to Nikon. Both cameras feature the same Expeed 7 image processing engine, a full-frame 35x24mm CMOS sensor, low-light autofocus down to -10 EV, and up to 7.5 stops of in-body stabilisation. However, the new Z5IIC has a few features intended to make it even easier to get fantastic photos without any post-production processing.

One of the most notable is the addition of Nikon's scene mode. Though already available on other Nikon devices, this marks the feature's debut in a Nikon full-frame mirrorless camera. Scene mode allows users to choose from 15 preset configurations, each optimised for shooting specific subjects such as portraits, landscapes, animals, sports, and even food or flowers. For example, "pet portrait" may use a faster shutter speed to capture an excitable dog, while "dusk/dawn" may boost warmth for a glowing sunset shot.

Scene mode lets users quickly optimise the Nikon Z5IIC's settings to capture specific types of subjects. Credit: Nikon

Users can thus quickly choose the appropriate scene and get shooting, rather than fiddling with manual settings or trusting general auto mode (though both remain options). In a similar vein, both the Z5II and Z5IIC can use Nikon's Imaging Recipes, allowing users to download and use settings presets created by professional photographers. However, only the Z5IIC offers subject-specific scenes already in the camera straight out of the box.

The Z5IIC also includes Nikon's film grain feature, another option which isn't available on the Z5II. Introduced with the Nikon Zf in 2023, this function applies randomly generated film-like grain patterns to images, giving them a more traditional, retro-style filmic look. Users can also adjust the intensity of the effect, as well as the size of the grains when using it in photo mode.

The Nikon Z5IIC can apply a random grain pattern to images to emulate the look of traditional film. Credit: Nikon

In addition to taking 24.5MP still images, the Nikon Z5IIC is capable of filming video at up to 4K and 60fps, reaching 120fps at lower resolutions. It can be used as an extremely souped-up webcam as well, connecting to a PC via USB like other Nikon cameras. As such, it seems well positioned to appeal to content creators who are interested in easily upgrading their visuals.

All these features offer the average content creator significant utility. However, the Z5IIC also introduces Nikon's delightfully niche fish detection mode, adding it to the camera's other subject-detection options. (It is important to note that the Z5IIC is not waterproof. As such, you should invest in a compatible underwater housing before attempting any underwater photography, or else stick to photographing aquariums.)

The Nikon Z5IIC is designed with portability in mind. Credit: Nikon

While certainly bulkier than a smartphone, the Nikon Z5IIC is still relatively portable, weighing approximately 620g and measuring around 134 x 80.5 x 72 mm. Its protruding right-hand grip offers both comfort and stability on the go, while its 3.2-inch screen can be adjusted to a wide range of angles or even flipped completely around for monitoring selfie shots. As such, the Z5IIC is intended to be easily carried around for everyday use, and hopefully serve as a more attractive alternative to your smartphone snaps.

The Nikon Z5IIC will be priced at $1,449 (though subject to change including tax) and is available for pre-order today, with shipping to begin on Oct. 15.

If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.

There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it'll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.

An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.

Want more tech and digital culture news delivered to your inbox daily or sent straight to your device? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

If you find yourself stuck at any step of today's Hurdle, don't worry! We have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Hurdle: Everything you need to know to find the answers Hurdle Word 1 hint

Where babies come from.

Hurdle Word 1 answer

STORK

Hurdle Word 2 hint

Throw.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for September 24, 2026 Hurdle Word 2 Answer

CHUCK

Hurdle Word 3 hint

More accurate.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for September 24, 2026 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Meanings for each word for Sept. 24, 2026 Hurdle Word 3 answer

TRUER

Hurdle Word 4 hint

Chompers.

Hurdle Word 4 answer

TEETH

Final Hurdle hint

It's getting old.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Games available on Mashable Hurdle Word 5 answer

STALE

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Looking for spoiler-free NYT Connections hints or just wondering why Connections is trending today? We've got what you need to understand the clues for today's puzzle without spoiling any of the answers.

Of course, Mashable has also provided daily hints and answers for Connections, Wordle, and Strands for years, so we can help you if that's also what you need.

While we are focused more on meanings than hints in this story, sometimes learning that many of the words have completely unrelated meanings is a clue in and of itself. Connections frequently includes clues that involve words within words and other visual clues.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for September 24, 2026 Cape meaning

A loose sleeveless garment that fastens at the neck and drapes over the back.

Face paint meaning

Non-toxic cosmetic paint used to decorate the face.

Fake blood meaning

A red liquid used to disguise as blood.

Fangs meaning

Long, sharp-pointed teeth used to bite.

Bobblehead meaning

A miniature bouncy figurine, typically of a sports player.

Pogo stick meaning

A device used to bounce off the ground while standing, powered by an internal spring.

Snakes in a can meaning

A spring-loaded prank toy disguised as a can of nuts or potato chips.

Trampoline meaning

A piece of sporting equipment made of a fabric sheet attached by springs, used for jumping.

Creation of Adam meaning

A famous Michaelango painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Foam finger meaning

An accessory worn on the hand, typically to support a sports team.

I'm with stupid shirt meaning

A popular comical article of clothing, typically worn by couples.

Want more tech and digital culture news delivered to your inbox daily or sent straight to your device? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

Uncle Sam meaning

A popular symbol and personification of the United States government.

Beer hat meaning

A drinking helmet with built-in can holders and straws.

Breathe meaning

To inhale air into the lungs and exhale it out.

Herb tea meaning

A drink made by steeping dried herbs, flowers, fruits or spices in hot water,

The Bear meaning

An Emmy-winning cooking dramedy featuring Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri.

Have you learned the meanings and still want the things? Check out the hints and answers for today's NYT Connections puzzle.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today's puzzle.

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Connections.

The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you love to make believe.

Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections?

The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for September 24, 2026 Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Bloodsuckers

• Green: Boing!

• Blue: "Hey, you!"

• Purple: Same letters

Want more tech and digital culture news delivered to your inbox daily or sent straight to your device? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

Here are today's Connections categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Parts of a vampire costume

• Green: Things with spring/s

• Blue: Featuring pointing

• Purple: Anagrams

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections #1200 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Parts of a vampire costume: CAPE, FACE PAINT, FAKE BLOOD, FANGS

• Things with spring/s: BOBBLEHEAD, POGO STICK, SNAKES IN A CAN, TRAMPOLINE

• Featuring pointing: CREATION OF ADAM, FOAM FINGER, I'M WITH STUPID SHIRT, UNCLE SAM

• Anagrams: BEER HAT, BREATHE, HERB TEA, THE BEAR

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today's puzzle.

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Connections.

Today's NYT Strands hints will be easy if you love outdoor spaces.

Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable

By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.

If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for September 24, 2026 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Just outside your door

The words are related to the outdoors.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe things outside of a home.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.

Want more tech and digital culture news delivered to your inbox daily or sent straight to your device? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is Backyard.

NYT Strands word list for September 24

• Swing

• Treehouse

• Sandbox

• Backyard

• Pool

• Trampoline

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

Looking for other daily online games? Mashable's Games page has more hints, and if you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now!

Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Strands.

At Meta Connect 2026, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the company's new generation of smart glasses, part of his vision for "Personal Superintelligence" powered by its Muse AI agent.

In total, the company announced three new glasses — Meta Ray-Ban Gen 3, Meta VR Glasses, and Meta Audio Glasses —  and offered an update on the Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses announced last year.

Despite a growing privacy backlash toward against smart glasses, Zuckerberg presented smart glasses as the future of personal computing. He said that 2 billion people already wear glasses, and that he believes they will win out over other types of AI wearables.

"We think that glasses are going to be the biggest category because, first of all, they already are, and second, they are the only form factor that lets your Muse see what you see, hear what you hear, talk to you throughout the day, and display information right in your vision, eventually," Zuckerberg said during his keynote presentation.

In addition to the new glasses, Zuckerberg introduced a variety of new styles for Meta's glasses and a collaboration with Blackpink's Lisa. The CEO said more than 100 different styles of Meta smart glasses will soon be available to customers.

Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3 Credit: Screenshot courtesy of Meta

The third generation of Meta's signature smart glasses offers key upgrades and design changes, including:

• Six microphones to capture your voice and reduce wind noise

• Adjustable temple tips

• New Dolby Atmos and spatial audio features

• New styles, including Ray-Ban aviators

• An entry-level Adventurer style starting at $249

Fashion was a key focus of the presentation. Zuckerberg emphasized that new styles will be available, such as Ray-Ban aviators, Zena, and a limited edition with a classic look for the launch. New frame styles include a cat-eye frame and an ivory colorway in the Kylie Jenner collection. Finally, the company partnered with Lisa from Blackpink on several new styles of the glasses, plus charms that can be used to customize the frames.

The glasses are available to order now on the Meta and Ray-Ban online stores for $449; the Lisa from Blackpink frames are available for $399. We couldn't find the entry-level Adventurer frames for $249, so they will presumably be released at a later date.

SEE ALSO: Meet the Meta Ray-Ban Gen 3, starting at $249 Meta VR Glasses Credit: Meta

The biggest announcement of the night was for an entirely new VR device. The Meta VR Glasses combine features of high-end products like the Apple Vision Pro and Galaxy XR headsets with a more traditional smart glasses design.

Coming in spring 2027 for $1,299, the glasses are extremely lightweight compared to other VR headsets. Meta said the new VR glasses weigh just 100 grams, about as much as a deck of cards and roughly one-fifth the weight of the Meta Quest 3 headset.

The Meta Connect keynote focused on three main use cases for the VR device — productivity, entertainment, and VR gaming. The company described the glasses as a personal cinema, and featured videos of celebrities like James Cameron praising the display quality. The company promised entertainment features such as spatial audio, Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision, and an IMAX Enhanced cinema mode. For gaming, Meta said the glasses will support the full Meta Quest VR game library and Xbox Cloud Gaming titles.

Like most augmented reality glasses, the glasses connect to external devices via USB-C. They can project a virtual display into the user's environment and place a virtual keyboard on a flat surface.

Finally, the company showed off a new feature called Hologram Calling, which projects a lifelike, full-body avatar into the display during a video call.

SEE ALSO: Zuckerberg announces Meta VR Glasses, a lightweight virtual reality device for $1,299 Meta Audio Glasses The new Meta AI Audio Glasses Credit: Meta

As expected, Zuckerberg revealed the company's first camera-free smart glasses. The Meta Audio AI Glasses feature classic Ray-Ban styles and have a more affordable $249 price point. Zuckerberg said they are also the company's thinnest-ever smart glasses. Like the Meta Ray-Ban Gen 3, they will integrate closely with the Muse AI assistant.

The glasses are available now on Meta's website, where the description reads: "Built without a camera and more powerful than headphones, ask your glasses to play music or answer questions on the go."

SEE ALSO: Meta unveils camera-free audio glasses Hearing enhancement

Zuckerberg also announced that an upgraded Hearing Enhancement feature will turn Meta smart glasses into FDA-approved devices for mild to moderate hearing loss. The value proposition for this feature is clear. Rather than spending thousands of dollars on hearing aids (not to mention doctor's appointments), users can take a guided assessment using Meta glasses, at no extra cost and without a prescription, according to Meta.

Meta Display Glasses The Meta Display Glasses come with a neural band and can be controlled by voice and hand gestures. Credit: Meta

At last year's Meta Connect, the company launched Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses, which feature a built-in display that can show notifications, navigation instructions, and other information. The glasses have been almost impossible to actually purchase, but Meta said that will no longer be the case.

The Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses are available for sale now on the Meta website for $799.

For this year's iteration of Meta Connect, company CEO Mark Zuckerberg opened with the tagline "the future is for everyone."

The company believes it can achieve that through Meta's "personal superintelligence" Muse — its recently launched personal AI agent. Muse sat at the center of almost all the announcements and products that Zuckerberg and company unveiled during the brief one-hour keynote (which is pretty short for a tech keynote). Zuckerberg said he expects Muse to become a superintelligence used by billions of people one day, and nearly every hardware announcement tied back to it.

SEE ALSO: Amazon blocks Meta's Muse AI agent from shopping

What was largely missing was the Metaverse. Facebook renamed itself Meta in 2021 to signal its bet on shared virtual worlds, and it has since lost an estimated $80 billion on the effort through its Reality Labs division. Compared with 2025, this year's keynote barely mentioned the Metaverse." It really does seem that the company's namesake is gone. (For now, at least.)

Instead, Meta is focused on its new wearables, including a new, slimmer pair of VR glasses. Instead of being a doorway into virtual worlds, Zuckerberg and Co. pitched them as a way to watch movies, play games, and stream live sports. Based on the keynote, Meta seems all-in on personal AI and the devices that carry it.

Here's everything Meta announced.

Muse, Meta's personal AI agent Credit: Screenshot courtesy of Meta

Meta's biggest focus was Muse, which is built to act as a personal agent. According to Meta, Muse can set goals, share ideas, and customize your feed, and users can adjust its personality.

Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang walked through examples of what Muse can do. He spoke of Muse finding a replacement match for a broken vase, planning a vacation, and moving the dates to avoid bad weather, and even negotiating down an insurance bill. "Muse makes you money," Meta said on stage.

Muse is free for now, but Zuckerberg said that "over time we will profit by taking a small fee from transactions."

Muse computer use and connectors

Starting today, Muse can operate a user's Mac. With permission, Meta says it can run any program in the background, even when the user isn't at the computer. Meta also said Muse will eventually be able to work in users' email.

Meta is also launching connectors, which link third-party apps to Muse. Retailers, including Walmart, Best Buy, Gap, and Sephora, are integrating with Muse so that it can shop and purchase items on their behalf, and Meta is working with Stripe and Shopify on the shopping experience. Expedia is joining for travel, Instacart is coming soon, and Box, GitHub, and Granola are also on board. Meta also said it is launching the Connector Platform, enabling developers to build their own Muse integrations.

Muse on Meta glasses Credit: Screenshot courtesy of Meta

"We're making personal superintelligence wearable," Zuckerberg said during the keynote, adding that he believes all glasses will eventually become AI glasses. He called glasses the only form factor that lets people interact with their personal agent the way Meta intends.

In a live demo, Zuckerberg held a real-time conversation through his glasses with his Muse assistant, which he'd named Agrippa. He also asked it to search his calendar for meetings for a "handheld device" he and the team were working on. Meta says it is upgrading its glasses so the AI can give more contextual responses. It also introduced Muse Voice, which lets users customize the assistant's voice.

Meta also showed off how Muse can help with fitness and health in a pre-recorded video with MMA content creator Nina Marie Daniele (known online as Nina Drama). Muse functions similarly to Siri AI on Apple Watch, including building workout routines and suggesting meals to order when viewing the restaurant menu.

Meta Ray-Ban Gen 3

Zuckerberg announced the third generation of the company's Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses, which will now be available in over 51 different styles. The new generation will also include a more affordable entry point for users, as a future Adventurer model will start at just $249.

You can order the standard Meta Ray-Ban Gen 3 glasses on the Meta and Ray-Ban websites now, with prices starting at $449 (or $399 for the Lisa from Blackpink edition).

The new Meta Ray-Bans have more microphones for clearer audio and better noise reduction, and Zuckerberg said they can even be used on a jetski.

SEE ALSO: Meet the Meta Ray-Ban Gen 3, starting at $249 Camera-free audio glasses Credit: Meta

Zuckerberg introduced Meta's first glasses without a camera. Until now, every pair of Meta's smart glasses has included a built-in camera for photos, video, and AI features that rely on seeing what the wearer sees. The new audio glasses drop that feature and focus on sound instead.

Meta says the audio glasses have the longest battery life of any of its glasses, likely helped by the absence of a camera. The company also says they'll be the thinnest Ray-Bans it has made, while still coming in classic styles like the Clubmaster.

"They have to be great glasses first," Zuckerberg said. His point was that smart glasses still have to look and feel like regular eyewear if people are going to wear them all day.

The camera-free design also addresses one of the biggest criticisms of Meta's glasses. Critics have called the camera-equipped models "pervert glasses" because some content creators have used them to secretly film strangers, often women, and post the videos online. Removing the camera eliminates that concern for anyone who wants smart glasses without it.

The launch also puts Meta in closer competition with audio-first eyewear such as Amazon's Echo Frames and Bose's audio sunglasses. Per the Ray-Ban website, the glasses are available for pre-order, with the cheapest option being $349, and will ship in mid-October.

Hearing Enhancement is also a big part of the experience, with Zuckerberg claiming it to be the feature he was most proud of. Meta claims that its glasses are now FDA-certified hearing aids, designed for people with mild to moderate hearing loss. Meta says the feature is free to try and will cost a one-time $149 payment to enable.

Meta announced the third generation of its Ray-Ban Meta glasses, which now have six microphones and Dolby Atmos spatial audio. Meta also said its Adventure-style Meta glasses now cost $249.

Meta VR glasses — coming in spring 2027 Credit: Meta

Meta revealed new VR glasses, a remarkably slimmer and more mobile pair of glasses compared to the Meta Quest lineup. Zuckerberg said the glasses are five times lighter than the Meta Quest 3 and weigh about as much as a deck of cards. He also called their display the best Meta has ever made, with richer colors and darker blacks.

Users can control the glasses with small hand gestures and type on an AR keyboard. Meta says they're the first IMAX-certified VR device, and they include Muse, which can work in the background.

On the entertainment side, the glasses will launch with 75 games, but will also support the Quest library with attached controllers, as well as Xbox Cloud Gaming. A Disney+ app with 3D releases is coming later this year, and Meta said other streamers will add 3D shows and movies as well.

For sports, the glasses will support the major leagues, plus the UFC and English Premier League. Additionally, some live sporting events will let users watch from different spots in the stadium, which Meta demonstrated with a Texas Longhorns game.

Notably, users can also appear as full-body holograms on calls. Trying out the glasses was Meta executive Andrew Bosworth joked that Meta had "solved the problem of having legs in VR." Bosworth claimed that the Meta VR glasses are "the sexiest pair of [VR] glasses you've ever seen."

The Meta VR glasses will cost $1,299 and launch in spring 2027.

Muse Charm Credit: Screenshot courtesy of Meta

Meta closed the keynote with Muse Charm, a small, always-on handheld device for people who don't wear smart glasses. Zuckerberg said it's the fastest way to talk to Muse outside of Meta's glasses, and it's the same device he discussed with Agrippa during his live demos.

Muse Charm will ship by the holidays in December. Meta did not announce a price and said more details will come later. The device enters a category where earlier standalone AI gadgets, including Humane's AI Pin and the Rabbit R1, struggled to catch on.

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Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you love drama.

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for September 24, 2026 Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. 

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

What's the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.

SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for September 24, 2026 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

Sloppy.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

Yes, the letter S appears twice.

Want more tech and digital culture news delivered to your inbox daily or sent straight to your device? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...

Today's Wordle starts with the letter M.

The Wordle answer today is...

Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today's Wordle is...

MESSY

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Wordle.

At Wednesday's Meta Connect 2026, Meta's annual conference and product showcase, CEO Mark Zuckerberg mostly ignored the brewing backlash against the company's smart glasses.

In recent months, concerns over smart glasses and privacy have reached a tipping point. The backlash has become so intense that Apple reportedly delayed the release of its own smart glasses.

Yet at Meta Connect, Zuckerberg chose not to directly address the bad behavior associated with Meta Ray-Bans, which some critics are now calling "pervert glasses."

Zuckerberg did talk about privacy in general, emphasizing that the company's new glasses and Muse AI assistant will provide users with a secure environment.

For the Muse assistant, Zuckerberg emphasized that Muse already runs on a dedicated computer in the cloud, known as Muse Secure VM. He also promised a future version with added encryption, which would prevent Meta from accessing user data altogether. And for its glasses, Zuckerberg announced that private processing will be available for some of the glasses' AI features, starting with live translation.

Why is there a backlash against smart glasses? Credit: Screenshot courtesy of Meta

As Mashable has reported previously (as have plenty of other journalists), Meta Ray-Bans have enabled some really bad behavior. At some point this year, the sheer number of creeps and nuisance streamers using Meta Ray-Bans to harass people in public became impossible to ignore, and Meta started facing a serious backlash.

Filming in public spaces is perfectly legal, of course. But a behavior can be legal while also being deeply antisocial.

The head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, eventually announced that the platform would crack down on smart-glasses videos that feature harassment and other types of bad behavior.

So, even though Meta has sold millions of Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses in recent years, public opinion has very much shifted against them, for a variety of reasons. General fears of surveillance tech (see also: Flock cameras). Reporting that Meta will incorporate facial recognition tech into its glasses. General distrust of Meta and Zuckerberg.

SEE ALSO: Meta to release Muse Charm, a Tamagotchi-like device for the Muse AI agent

Meta was an early mover in the smart glasses market, and since debuting the Meta Ray-Bans, the company has expanded its product lines through collaborations with Kylie Jenner and Oakley, while rival companies like Google and Samsung are set to release their own smart glasses later this year.

Is Zuckerberg right about the future of smart glasses?

As he has in previous keynotes and earnings calls, Zuckerberg said again that he believes smart glasses will be the personal computing device of the future, with AI at the center of the experience.

“If you don't have glasses that have AI — or some way to interact with AI — you're probably going to be at a pretty significant cognitive disadvantage compared to other people who you're working with, or competing against," Zuckerberg said in an earnings call last year.

In his “Personal Superintelligence” blog post, Zuckerberg wrote: "Personal devices like glasses that see what we see, hear what we hear, and interact with us throughout the day will become our primary computing devices."

And at Meta Connect 2026, Zuckerberg said that he believes smart glasses will win out over other types of AI wearables and personal computing devices.

“We think that glasses are going to be the biggest category because, first of all, they already are, and second, they are the only form factor that lets your Muse see what you see, hear what you hear, talk to you throughout the day, and display information right in your vision, eventually," Zuckerberg said.

The question for users: Do they trust Meta to see what they see and hear what they hear?

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Meta has a new way to talk to its AI without putting on a pair of glasses.

At the end of Wednesday's Meta Connect keynote, CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled Muse Charm, a small, always-on handheld device built around Muse, Meta's AI assistant. The Tamagotchi-like gadget is designed for people who don't wear Meta's smart glasses, and Zuckerberg called it the fastest way to talk to Muse without wearing them.

SEE ALSO: Meet the Meta Ray-Ban Gen 3, starting at $249

The reveal was set up earlier in the keynote. During a live demo, Zuckerberg used Meta's glasses to talk with his customized Muse assistant, which he'd named Agrippa, about a handheld device he was working on. That device turned out to be Muse Charm.

Muse sat at the center of this year's keynote. Meta describes it as a personal agent that can set goals, share ideas, and run tasks in the background, and users can customize its personality and voice. Muse sat at the center of this year's keynote. Meta describes it as a personal agent that can set goals, share ideas, and run tasks in the background, and users can customize its personality and voice. Muse offers free usage alongside paid subscriptions. Zuckerberg also suggested Meta could eventually collect a small fee on transactions the assistant helps complete.

Muse Charm will ship by the holidays in December, according to Zuckerberg. Meta did not announce a price and said more details will come later.

The device enters a category with a rocky track record. Standalone AI gadgets like Humane's Ai Pin and the Rabbit R1 drew harsh reviews after launching in 2024, and Humane discontinued the AI Pin the following year. Muse Charm's main selling point is that it runs on the same assistant as Meta's glasses. Whether that helps it avoid the same fate may not be clear until it's in people's hands.

At Meta Connect 2026, Mark Zuckerberg unveiled Meta VR Glasses, a lightweight device with an advanced display, voice and hand controls, and integration with the company’s AI agent, Muse. The glasses will cost $1,299 and launch in spring 2027.

The device appears to combine some of the ambitions of Apple’s Vision Pro with a smaller, glasses-style design. Meta says it weighs 100 grams, making it roughly five times lighter than the Meta Quest 3 headset.

Movies, work, and games

Meta’s live demonstrations focused on three main uses: productivity, entertainment, and gaming.

For work, the glasses can connect to external displays and project a keyboard onto a flat surface, according to the company. DisplayPort over USB-C support adds another connectivity option.

For entertainment, Meta highlighted spatial audio, Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision support, and an IMAX Enhanced cinema mode. The company also described support for 3D movies and experiences through streaming apps such as Disney+.

Gaming is another major part of the pitch. Meta said the glasses will support Xbox Cloud Gaming and the entire Meta Quest game library, giving users access to both cloud-streamed games and VR experiences.

Hologram calls are coming, too

Meta also announced full-body hologram calling for both Meta VR Glasses and Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses, boasting that it had "solved the problem of giving you legs."

The idea is to make catching up remotely feel more like being in the same room — now with your lower half included. Between hologram calls, virtual keyboards, and a personal cinema, Meta is packing a lot into its $1,299 pitch. We’ll have to wait until spring 2027 to see whether the glasses can deliver.

Meta’s next generation of smart glasses is here, with a lower starting price and plenty of new looks. At Meta Connect 2026, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Meta Ray-Ban Gen 3, with the Adventurer style starting at $249.

The expanded collection offers 51 style combinations, adjustable temple tips, and audio upgrades designed to help the glasses capture both your voice and the sounds around you.

Spatial audio and six microphones

Meta highlighted Dolby Atmos spatial audio capture, designed to preserve the sense of where sounds originate around the wearer. The idea is that a recording captures more of the experience of being in a room, with sounds appearing to come from their original directions.

The glasses also feature six microphones, which Meta says help capture the wearer’s voice clearly in noisy environments and reduce wind noise. (Zuckerberg used the example of taking a call on a jet ski.)

Adjustable temple tips add another practical update, allowing wearers to fine-tune the fit.

Aviators, cat-eyes, and celebrity collaborations

The collection is expanding to include Ray-Ban Aviators and the Zena style, alongside a 90th-anniversary Aviator limited launch edition with a vintage look. Other additions include Capri, a cat-eye frame, and Nova, a rounded shape.

The Adventurer option starts at $249, giving buyers a more affordable entry into the lineup.

Meta is also collaborating with Lisa from Blackpink on several new styles. A special edition includes a custom case, star details on the temple tips, and surprise charms inspired by her pets. Meanwhile, the Kylie Jenner collection is getting a new ivory color way.

With more frame choices, a lower starting price, and improvements to fit and audio, Meta is making its glasses pitch increasingly practical. If you’ve been waiting for a pair that suits your face — and your budget — the company is hoping something in this lineup will fit the bill.

Meta wants its smart glasses to help you hear, and it's dropping the camera altogether.

During his Meta Connect keynote on Wednesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg asked whether Meta's glasses could help people hear better, then introduced a feature called Hearing Enhancement. The feature is designed for people with mild to moderate hearing loss and turns the glasses into an over-the-counter hearing aid.

SEE ALSO: Meta gets metaphysical laying out vision for Muse AI assistant

With that, Zuckerberg unveiled Meta's new audio glasses, the company's first pair without a camera. Meta says the glasses — which can stream music, take calls, and connect to Muse, the company's AI assistant — have the longest battery life of any of its glasses and will be the thinnest Ray-Bans it has made, while still coming in classic Ray-Ban styles like the Clubmaster.

"They have to be great glasses first," Zuckerberg said.

A camera-free option arrives as Meta's smart glasses face growing backlash over covert filming, with critics calling them "pervert glasses." Content creators have increasingly used the glasses to record strangers for prank and pickup-line videos, often without their consent.

At Connect 2026, Meta outlined its ambitions for glasses, shopping, and "superintelligence." Specifically, Meta wants its Muse AI assistant to handle more of your everyday tasks, including shopping, responding to emails, and working on your computer.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Meta chief AI officer Alexandr Wang discussed the recently launched agent at Wednesday's Meta Connect 2026 event at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, California. The event began on a philosophical note as Zuckerberg mused (pun intended!) on Meta's mission ("the reason why Meta exists is… because we actually believe in people") and the beauty of building things (Zuckerberg wore a shirt that read, "building is my love language").

Zuckerberg presented Muse as an early step toward his vision of "personal superintelligence" and said it has expanded to Canada, with more countries coming soon.

Powered by Muse Spark, Muse can research topics, fill out forms, book travel, and continue working after users close the app, according to Meta. Zuckerberg also described adding the assistant to an email thread so it can respond on a user’s behalf.

SEE ALSO: 10 ways to use Meta's Muse AI app, from flight credits to outfit ideas

The chatbot's increased access comes with questions about privacy and control. Meta says each agent runs on Muse Secure VM, a dedicated computer in the cloud that stores its connected data; this is separate from the user’s Mac. Users choose which services to connect, and Meta says Muse requests approval before completing sensitive actions such as sending emails or making purchases.

Shopping was another focus, with Zuckerberg highlighting Stripe, Shopify’s Shop Pay, and expanded PayPal support. The goal is to help users discover products and complete purchases through the assistant, although retailer restrictions remain an obstacle. Amazon has already blocked Muse from shopping on its site.

Zuckerberg suggested Meta could eventually collect a small fee on transactions Muse helps complete. He also emphasized plans to offer substantial free usage; Muse currently has a free tier alongside paid subscriptions.

The presentation included a lighter demonstration of personalization: Wang showed a version of his dog as his assistant. Muse’s default mascot, Jolly, may give the technology a friendly face, but Meta’s larger bet is that users will trust it to take on increasingly personal work.

As Meta asks people to trust its AI with more of their everyday lives, Mark Zuckerberg used his Connect 2026 keynote to outline new protections for the information those products collect.

For Muse, Meta’s personal AI agent, that includes an upcoming system called Muse Confidential VM. Each Muse already runs on a dedicated computer in the cloud, known as Muse Secure VM. The planned confidential version adds encryption designed to prevent even Meta from accessing the user’s data.

The distinction matters for an assistant designed to work across connected accounts and handle tasks such as sending emails, booking travel, and shopping.

Zuckerberg also addressed privacy on Meta’s smart glasses, pointing to safeguards he said were built into the devices from the beginning. Those include an indicator light that turns on when someone captures a photo or video, and a feature that disables video recording if the light is tampered with.

Meta is now developing private processing for certain AI features on the glasses. Zuckerberg described a protected server environment where personal data would be inaccessible to others, including Meta, using technology also employed for WhatsApp.

He said the feature would roll out soon, starting with private translations.

The announcements address a growing question for Meta: how to offer increasingly personal AI features without asking users to accept increasingly broad access to their information. For glasses, there’s another audience to convince, too — the people on the other side of the camera.

Flock Safety, the largest U.S. seller of automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras, continues to draw national scrutiny. That debate now includes the halls of Congress, as a Senate Judiciary subcommittee examined how the company's data is secured, searched, and shared.

Flock's network of privately owned and operated cameras and its nationwide database have drawn bipartisan concern over the past several months. Beyond mass surveillance concerns, critics have pointed to incidents of false positives, cooperation with federal agents on immigration enforcement, and even tracking women seeking abortions across state lines.

The Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, chaired by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) as ranking member, heard from five witnesses: a Florida woman wrongfully jailed in a case that began with a Flock camera image, an Arizona sheriff who ended his county's Flock contract, a security researcher, and policy attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Institute for Justice.

SEE ALSO: Flock offers workers voluntary buyouts amid backlash

No one from Flock testified. Invitations were also extended to Axon, Motorola, and Verkada. Flock's CEO, Garrett Langley, sent the subcommittee a letter instead of appearing.

The note, read aloud by Hawley, stated: "Flock acknowledges it conducts very little oversight of client searches and instead relies on its clients to police themselves. The underlying search records are owned and controlled by each customer agency. Flock clients control the data retention. Until last year, Flock customers could enter the reason for a search into a free text field."

The absence was notable, though not necessarily unusual for this kind of proceeding. Wednesday's session was a legislative hearing, designed to gather facts on an issue rather than to investigate a specific company's conduct. Hearings like this can seem performative, with senators often asking questions they already know the answers to so that expert witnesses can state them on the record.

However, if the subcommittee moves to an investigative hearing, lawmakers would have the power to subpoena Flock's CEO rather than simply invite him, and they could question him about the claims already on the record. Despite the absences, the concerns put on the record point to some key takeaways about Flock and its partnership with law enforcement.

1. The biggest gap may be in how police use the data

Much of the hearing treated Flock as the source of the harm. But in many of the cases witnesses described, even though Flock's cameras gathered the data, law enforcement officers still made the decisions.

Case in point, the committee heard the testimony of Lindsey Isaacs, a young woman in Florida whose Dodge Durango was photographed by Flock cameras and later linked by investigators to a crash that killed three people in October 2025. Six months later, she was in a jail cell charged with vehicular homicide. It took 13 days and photos of her undamaged, impounded SUV to get her out.

According to her testimony, the Flock camera placed her vehicle two to three miles from the crash scene. Investigators were searching for a black Durango. Witnesses had described a maroon one, and 911 callers had provided a partial plate. Troopers impounded her SUV and said it had collision damage she could not see. Months later, a warrant was issued anyway, and she was denied bond. The case fell apart only after her attorney showed the court photos of the vehicle sitting undamaged in the impound lot. Prosecutors declined to charge her, and another person was later charged.

Sen. Durbin raised this point directly, questioning why the investigation moved forward when the vehicle itself showed no signs of a crash.

The same pattern appeared in the discussion of how officers search the network. Per Langley's letter to Hawley, the search records belong to the customer agencies; those agencies set their own retention rules, and Flock does little oversight of individual searches and relies on clients to police themselves. And until recently, law enforcement officers could type in reasons for a search in a free-text field — though Hawley pointed out examples such as "search" and "lol" appearing in those boxes.

Alasdair Whitney, a witness from the Institute for Justice, told the committee that the organization cataloged more than 240 incidents of ALPR misuse, including officers tracking current and former partners. In Norfolk, Virginia, he wrote in his opening testimony, no one audited hundreds of thousands of searches until a lawsuit forced the city to. In a Virginia survey of agencies after the state passed limits on ALPR use, many agencies admitted they weren't following the law, and nearly a third didn't respond at all.

Whitney also cited a California department that found that most of its stolen-vehicle and felony alerts over two years were due to misread plates. Later in the hearing, Whitney described what he called "side door" access to Flock's database, in which federal agents ask local officers to run searches that state law would not allow federal agencies to run directly.

When Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) asked whether Flock shares data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ACLU senior policy counsel Chad Marlow said the company does not provide data to ICE directly. He argued that any local officer with access could run searches on the federal agents' behalf, with little to stop it.

All in all, the testimony reveals several truths about Flock's camera network and its relationship with law enforcement. First, cameras flagging the wrong car is unmistakably a failure. But second, stopping a family at gunpoint without first checking the plate is a decision someone makes. Using the database to stalk an ex is a decision someone makes. Skirting state laws to give information to federal immigration officers is a decision someone makes. Putting a young woman in jail for vehicular homicide despite evidence to the contrary is a decision someone makes.

None of the policy proposals presented at the hearing focused on officer discipline or on the systemic failure of law enforcement to properly do their jobs. Although it must be said that the Institute for Justice's model bill does include mandatory supervisor approval, 30-day audits, and suspended database access for violators.

2. The data is only as safe as the weakest camera

The second takeaway is about security. Security researcher Benn Jordan, who was present as a witness, described research he conducted with fellow researcher Jon Gaines, who has published 55 vulnerabilities related to Flock's systems.

Data from American Community Media states that Flock's network of 120,000 cameras has conducted 20 billion scans monthly across the country. A database of where millions of people drive is valuable to more than the police. According to Jordan, a common camera model could be taken over in under a minute by someone with physical access. He also said he found exposed administrative interfaces on more than 60 of the company's newer pan-tilt-zoom cameras, and Flock law enforcement accounts listed for sale on a dark web marketplace.

Hawley asked Jordan about a statement attributed to Flock's CEO that the company had never been hacked. "Flock has never been hacked. Ever," read the quote that Langley sent to a Staunton, VA police chief.

Jordan said that was false. He testified that the cameras run on a modified, older version of Android and aren't held to federal cybersecurity standards. Jordan also said that he had been able to make out the contents of a person's phone screen in a camera image. Flock has said in past statements that its license plate readers capture vehicle details and do not use facial recognition. Flock's system uses purpose-built, high-resolution cameras to capture moving objects instead of recording video.

Whitney added more recent examples. Last December, internal materials showed Flock sending U.S. camera images to overseas gig workers to train its AI. Last week, hackers reported pulling a camera off a pole and recovering an encryption key stored on the device itself. He noted that in a city like Norfolk, home to major naval installations, a record of service members' daily movements is exactly what a foreign intelligence service would want.

Jordan did say Flock recently invited him and other researchers to review its systems. While there hadn't been time for a full review, he said the company seemed to be taking security more seriously than a year ago.

3. Flock is the face of the problem, not the whole of it

The third takeaway is that mass license plate collection is neither new nor unique to Flock.

Private plate-scanning networks have operated for more than a decade, largely through the repossession industry. A 2015 federal appeals court decision described cameras sold to repossession companies and mounted on tow trucks, automatically logging plates with the date, time, and GPS location, with the data then sold to auto finance and insurance companies. It's similar to a scheme Flock wanted to pursue through Uber and Lyft drivers.

A 2014 ABC7 Los Angeles investigation reported that companies outfitting repo cars with these cameras were feeding the scans into private databases and selling them without drivers' knowledge. That network, Digital Recognition Network, is now owned by Motorola. According to the ACLU, it claims to collect 500 million plate reads a month, makes the data available to law enforcement customers for an added fee, and is "subject to no apparent data retention policy."

Witnesses at the hearing warned against treating Flock as the only target. Jordan said Axon and Motorola are rolling out the same kinds of features Flock is being criticized for. Marlow pointed to Denver, which he said dropped Flock and immediately signed with Axon.

However, while all parties present were concerned about Flock cameras, there was a disagreement over how surveillance camera laws should be written. Marlow wants Congress to bar any federally funded law enforcement agency from using ALPRs at all. Meanwhile, Whitney urged a warrant requirement for location data more than two hours old, a seven-day retention cap, and conditions on federal grant money. Real-time alerts for stolen cars and missing children would stay in place.

Speaking as a security researcher, Jordan called for mandatory independent security inspections of surveillance vendors and a broad federal privacy law. Finally, Pinal County Sheriff Ross Teeple supported basic plate reading and asked for statutory limits on AI-driven tracking. Teeple, when questioned during the hearing, said that he dropped Flock partly because he believed the company misled him about its capabilities.