Mashable

Looking for something great to watch at home? Streaming subscribers are spoiled for choice between Hulu, Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, Apple TV, Prime Video, Shudder, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. And that's before you even look at the vast libraries of movies and television programs within each streamer!

SEE ALSO: 2026 fall TV preview: Every show you should know about

Don't be overwhelmed or waste an hour scrolling through your services to determine what to watch. We've got your back, whatever your mood. Mashable offers watch guides for all of the above, broken down by genre: comedy, thriller, horror, documentary, and animation, among others. But if you're seeking something brand new (or just new to streaming), we've got you covered there, too.

15. Love Island USA Season 8 Reunion

Revisit the bombshells who took over your summer with the Love Island USA Season 8 reunion. Hosted by Ariana Madix and Andy Cohen, this reunion special will revisit the relationships and shocks of Season 8, all while stirring up a little extra drama that should hopefully tide viewers over until they return to the villa next summer. — Belen Edwards, Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: The Love Island USA Season 8 reunion is now streaming on Peacock.

14. Earle Meets World

Internet "it" girl Alix Earle has turned her digital stardom into brand deals, podcasts, and a second-place finish on Dancing With the Stars. Now, she moves deeper into the reality TV space with her own Netflix reality series, Earle Meets World, which offers a behind-the-scenes look at Earle's life and her family. The result is mind-numbing. — B.E.

How to watch: Earle Meets World premieres Sept. 4 on Netflix.

13. Untold Raygun: Breaking Badly

Two years ago, breakdancer Rachael "Raygun" Gunn took the Paris Olympics by storm — but not in a good way. Her kangaroo-inspired moves became an instant meme and scored zero points, turning her into an Olympic laughingstock. In Netflix's Untold Raygun: Breaking Badly, Gunn revisits her routine, the internet ridicule, and the controversy over how she wound up at the Olympics in the first place. — B.E.

How to watch: Untold Raygun: Breaking Badly is now streaming on Netflix.

12. Scary Movie Credit: 2026 Paramount Pictures

Do you like Scary Movie? The hit parody franchise returned for its sixth installment this year, ready to lampoon all the biggest horror movies that came out between 2013's Scary Movie 5 and now. On top of skewering the "rebootquel" Scream films, Scary Movie also tackles everything from Sinners, M3GAN, Weapons, The Substance, and Ma. Fair warning, though: The scariest thing about Scary Movie may be its poor critical response, although it proved to be a commercial hit. — B.E.

Starring: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Jon Abrahams, Lochlyn Munro, Cheri Oteri, Dave Sheridan, and Chris Elliott

How to watch: Scary Movie is now streaming on Paramount+.

11. The Varnell Hill Show

Did you miss him? Varnell Hill (Tommy Davidson), a fictional talk show host who appeared briefly in Season 2 of Martin, gets his own spin-off with The Varnell Hill Show. The series peers behind the curtain of Varnell's late-night talk show, which is currently in a ratings free fall. How can they update Varnell's tired show for today? Expect some showbiz shenanigans, as well as a stacked cast of guest stars that includes Martin Lawrence himself. — B.E.

Starring: Tommy Davidson, Kym Whitley, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Nick Cafero, Emmanuel Hudson, and Chris Williams

How to watch: The Varnell Hill Show is now streaming on Paramount+.

10. Parasomnia

If you don't want to have a good night's sleep, check out Parasomnia, from director James Ross II. The film introduces Riley (Jasmine Mathews), who is long-haunted by night terrors and a tragic past. When her best friend goes missing, she starts to think that the culprit could be the demon from her nightmares, crossing over into the real world. — B.E.

Starring: Jasmine Mathews, Stephen Barrington, and RJ Brown

How to watch: Parasomnia premieres Sept. 4 on Shudder.

9. Turning Point: Generation 9/11

The latest installment of Netflix's Turning Point documentary series explores the impacts of 2001's 9/11 attacks, 25 years later. Featuring interviews with young adults who were just kids at the time, including the daughter of the co-pilot of Flight 93, the film unpacks how 9/11 shaped the lives of an entire generation, and how the effects of the attacks and their aftermath still impact our daily lives, from personal loss to global geopolitics. — B.E.

How to watch: Turning Point: Generation 9/11 is now streaming on Netflix.

8. Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu

The Mandalorian and Grogu is the first Star Wars film since The Rise of Skywalker, but it's less a triumphant return to the film screen than a nostalgia-fueled whimper. The film sees Mandalorian Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his ward Grogu on their biggest mission yet, one that gets them embroiled with Imperial warlords and villainous Hutts alike.

SEE ALSO: 'The Mandalorian and Grogu' review: If this is the future of Star Wars, I don't want it

Unfortunately, the ensuing adventure is a letdown that not even a stellar, Grogu-centric swamp sequence can save. As I wrote in my review, it's "a slog: an unwieldy adventure full of illegible action and the creeping sense of dread that we've seen this all before. Not even Din and Grogu's sweet bond can Force lift it to success."* — B.E.

Starring: Pedro Pascal, Sigourney Weaver, Jeremy Allen White, Martin Scorsese, and Jonny Coyne

How to watch: Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu is now streaming on Disney+.

7. The Gentlemen Season 2

Guy Ritchie's The Gentlemen — spun off from the 2019 film of the same name — returns for Season 2, with more action, crime, and well-tailored suits. This time around, Eddie Halstead (Theo James) is ready to embrace life in the criminal underworld, with the help of associates Susie Glass (Kaya Scodelario) and her father, Bobby (Ray Winstone). Their quest for power will take them farther afield to Italy, where they're in for lovely lakeside views and the company of formidable crime bosses. But have Eddie and Susie's ambitions grown too big for them, and could they be in over their heads? — B.E.

Starring: Theo James, Kaya Scodelario, Giancarlo Esposito, Daniel Ings, Ray Winstone, Vinnie Jones, Joely Richardson, Michael Vu, Hugh Bonneville, Michele Morrone, and Benedetta Porcaroli

How to watch: The Gentlemen Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.

6. Mayday

Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh team up for Apple's unconventional spy thriller Mayday. Reynolds plays hotshot U.S. Navy pilot Lieutenant Troy “Assassin” Kelly, who finds himself stranded behind enemy lines in Soviet territory at the height of the Cold War. Branagh plays Nikolai Ustinov, the gruff ex-KGB agent who discovers him. The two develop an unexpected bond in this comedy from Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein. Honestly, they gave us Jarnathan, so I trust them with my life.* — B.E.

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Kenneth Branagh, Marcin Dorocinski, Maria Bakalova, and David Morse

How to watch: Mayday premieres Sept. 4 on Apple TV.

5. The Wrong Girls

Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat team up and get dirty in ridiculous stoner comedy The Wrong Girls, the directorial debut from Dylan Meyer. The pair play Frankie and Molly, two besties who mistakenly wind up with a suitcase full of drugs that give them full-on superpowers.

SEE ALSO: 'The Wrong Girls' director Dylan Meyer on giant squids, casting cats, and Kristen Stewart's secret side

So begins an odyssey of dirtbag debauchery only rarely afforded to female characters. As Mashable Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko wrote in her review, "The Wrong Girls is a sublimely stupid buddy comedy. And thank the movie gods!" — B.E.

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Alia Shawkat, Seth Rogen, Geena Davis, Tony Hale, Kumail Nanjiani, and LaKeith Stanfield

How to watch: The Wrong Girls is now available to buy or rent on digital.

4. I Want Your Sex

Olivia Wilde and Cooper Hoffman heat up the screen in Gregg Araki's buzzy erotic comedy I Want Your Sex, now on digital. Hoffman plays Elliot, assistant to Wilde's famed artist Erika Tracy. When Erika initiates a BDSM relationship with Elliot, he'll reconsider everything he thought he knew about sex and his own relationships.

On top of bringing Erika and Elliot's kinky fantasies to life, I Want Your Sex also probes generational differences when it comes to sex, sparking conversations about whether Gen Z is actually repressed. The result is, as Mashable's Kristy Pucko wrote in her review, "an exuberantly entertaining comedy, alive with sexual vigor, earnest humanity, and biting humor." — B.E.

Starring: Olivia Wilde, Cooper Hoffman, Mason Gooding, Chase Sui Wonders, Daveed Diggs, and Charli XCX

How to watch: I Want Your Sex is now available to buy or rent on digital.

3. SCTV

This scrappy Canadian sketch comedy show, which launched in 1976, introduced the world to the likes of John Candy, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Catherine O'Hara, Harold Ramis, Dave Thomas, Rick Moranis, and Martin Short. Second City Television brought together a improvisational comedy sensibility with deeply quirky Canadian flare. The result was a show that felt edgier and weirder than Saturday Night Live. And it's easy to argue its been just as influential.

Whether SCTV is new to you or this would be a revisit, now's the time to get on board. Netflix also has the documentary SCTV: The Greatest Show You've Never Heard Of coming this fall, while the sensational doc You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution, Spread Love & Overalls, and Created a Community That Changed the World (in a Canadian Kind of Way) will open in New York City on Sept. 18 and nationwide on Sept. 25. — Kristy Puchko, Entertainment Editor

Starring: John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Catherine O'Hara, Harold Ramis, Dave Thomas, Robin Duke, Rick Moranis, Tony Rosato, and Martin Short

How to watch: All six seasons of SCTV are now streaming on Netflix.

2. Chad Powers Season 2

Celebrate the start of the college football season with the return of Glen Powell's sports comedy, Chad Powers.

By the end of Season 1, much-loathed college football player Russ Holliday (Powell) managed to return to his quarterback glory days. Not as himself, but as his bumbling alter ego, Chad Powers. Now, though, his secret is getting dangerously close to slipping out, and he and confidant Danny (Frankie A. Rodriguez) are going to have to rope a very reluctant Ricky (Perry Mattfeld) into their scheme if they want any shot at preventing a massive scandal. What follows is as thrilling as it is funny. If you love football, you'll have a blast with the on-the-field shenanigans, and if you don't, there's still so much to love with Russ' theater kid-level dedication to the role of Chad.* — B.E.

Starring: Glen Powell, Perry Mattfeld, Quentin Plair, Wynn Everett, Frankie A. Rodriguez, and Steve Zahn

How to watch: Chad Powers Season 2 premieres Sept. 3 on Hulu.

Best of streaming this week: Teenage Wasteland

Audiences will finally be exposed to a Sundance doc that I can't shake. Teenage Wasteland, which premiered at Sundance in 2025, ushers viewers back to the early 1990s, when a high school teacher taught his class a series of valuable lessons through one video project.

In upstate New York’s Middletown High School, Fred Isseks used newly acquired audiovisual recording equipment to challenge his students to become investigative reporters. He taught them how to shoot, produce, and edit. When they decided to turn their focus to the rumor that a local landfill was dumping toxic waste into the water supply, he encouraged them, even when things got complicated — like, mafia pressuring them off the story complicated.

Documentarians Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss interview these former students and Isseks, asking them to look back and share what they learned, not just about their town, but also about the world and the power of coming together. — K.P.

How to watch: Teenage Wasteland premieres Sept. 4 on Netflix.

(*) denotes a blurb came from a prior list.

TL;DR: This Grade-A refurbished HP EliteBook combines an 11th-gen Core i7, 32GB RAM, a 256GB SSD, and Windows 11 Pro for $389.99 (reg. $549.99).

Opens in a new window Credit: HP HP Elitebook 830 G8 2020 (Refurbished) $389.99
$549.99 Save $160   Get Deal

The HP EliteBook 830 G8 is the kind of laptop designed for actual workloads, not just looking productive on a coffee-shop table. This configuration pairs an 11th-gen Intel Core i7 processor with 32GB of DDR4 RAM, giving it enough muscle for demanding business applications, heavy multitasking, virtual meetings, and everyday productivity.

Its 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD supports quick startups and responsive app launches. Intel Iris Xe graphics handle business computing, video conferencing, and creative projects, and Windows 11 Pro is preinstalled.

The 13.3-inch Full HD IPS touchscreen folds through 360 degrees, making the EliteBook flexible enough for traditional work, presentations, or entertainment. Despite its convertible CNC-machined aluminum design, it weighs just 2.8 pounds. Battery life reaches up to 16.5 hours, and HP Fast Charge can restore up to 50 percent in about 30 minutes.

Connectivity is ready for a modern desk setup. Dual Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI 2.0, and USB-A support monitors, docks, and peripherals, while WiFi 6 and Bluetooth handle wireless connections.

HP Wolf Security features include HP Sure Start, Sure Sense, Sure Click, and TPM 2.0, with fingerprint authentication listed as optional. Bang & Olufsen-tuned speakers, AI-powered noise reduction, and a multi-microphone array help make calls clearer.

This refurbished EliteBook carries a Grade-A rating and arrives in near-mint condition with minimal to no case scuffing. Don’t miss this HP EliteBook 830 G8 on sale for just $389.99 (reg. $549.99) while stock is still available.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: Pay $42.97 once for lifetime access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams Basic, and OneNote on one Mac.

Opens in a new window Credit: Microsoft Microsoft Office Home & Business for Mac 2021: Lifetime License $42.97
$219 Save $176.03   Get Deal

Subscriptions have their place, but productivity software doesn’t really need to be one of them — especially when it’s something as familiar and widely used as Microsoft Office. Somewhere along the way, there must have been a glitch in the matrix, because buying software quietly turned into renting it forever.

Thankfully, Microsoft Office Home & Business 2021 skips that model entirely. Its lifetime license is currently on sale for $42.97 (reg. $219), whether you’re using a Mac or a Windows PC.

There’s no need to explain why an Office license still matters. Most people have been using Microsoft Office long before cloud apps and browser-based alternatives became the norm. With this deal, you can install the full Office suite on a single device for lifetime use — at home or at work — without worrying about monthly renewals, annual price hikes, or surprise charges down the line.

This license includes all the core apps most people actually rely on: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and OneNote. That means drafting documents, crunching numbers, building presentations, managing email, and organizing notes using the full desktop versions of each app. Unlike free alternatives or web-based tools, you get access to the complete feature sets, which makes a difference when you’re working on longer documents, detailed spreadsheets, or presentation-heavy projects.

Once you purchase, your license key and download links are delivered instantly, so there’s no waiting around to get started. Microsoft also includes lifetime customer support, which can be helpful if you ever need assistance with installation or troubleshooting.

Instead of committing to yet another recurring subscription, this one-time purchase lets you snag software you’ll likely keep using for years. You can grab Microsoft Office Home & Business 2021 for Mac for $$42.97 (reg. $219).

StackSocial prices subject to change.

The best Labor Day TV deals at a glance: Best QLED TV deal TCL 65-inch QM8L SQD-Mini-LED QLED 4K TV $1,397.99 (save $1,102) Get Deal Best RGB TV deal Samsung 65-inch R85H Micro RGB 4K TV $1,499.99 (save $600) Get Deal Best OLED TV deal LG 65-inch C6 OLED 4K TV $1,499.99 (save $1,200) Get Deal

Labor Day isn't just the unofficial kick off of fall and football season, it's also a great time to score tech at cheaper prices. TV deals are particularly impressive this week, with some of our favorite models of 2026 down to record lows. If you've been putting off upgrading your TV, now's a great time to take the leap.

More deals will likely pop up leading into the weekend, but with some of these models at their best prices ever, there's really no need to wait. I've rounded up the best Labor Day TV deals worth adding to your cart below.

Best QLED TV deal Opens in a new window Credit: TCL TCL 65-inch QM8L SQD-Mini-LED QLED 4K TV $1,397.99 at Amazon
$2,499.99 Save $1,102.00   Get Deal Why we like it

TCL's QM8L SQD-Mini-LED TV is our favorite QLED TV for most people. Mashable's TV expert shouts out its "superb peak brightness, detailed picture quality, and fantastic glare handling" in her review. She also dubs it one of the brightest TVs you can buy, period, which is largely due to its "super quantum dot mini LEDs" (the SQD in its name). It clocks in at $2,499.99 for the 65-inch model on a normal day, but for Labor Day, it's down to a best-ever $1,397.99 at Amazon. That's 44% in savings.

Best OLED TV deal Opens in a new window Credit: LG LG 65-inch C6 OLED 4K TV $1,499.99 at Amazon
$2,699.99 Save $1,200.00   Get Deal Why we like it

The LG C6 is what we'd call the "best affordable OLED TV," compared to competitors' prices, and the best OLED TV for most people. With a $1,200 discount, the 65-inch model is the same price as the 55-inch option on a normal day. It also happens to be its best price on record. The C6 features inky black levels, stark contrast, improved audio, peak brightness, and refresh rate over its predecessor, and a generally impeccable picture quality.

Best RGB TV deal Opens in a new window Credit: Samsung Samsung 65-inch R85H Micro RGB 4K TV $1,499.99 at Best Buy
$2,099.99 Save $600.00   Get Deal Why we like it

RGB TVs were easily the biggest TV trend at CES 2026 and Samsung's R95H is easily the best RGB TV of the year. However, it's pretty dang expensive, even on sale ($2,799 for the 65-inch option). On the other hand, its more affordable sibling, the R85H, is down to a much more palatable $1,499.99 for the 65-inch version. Like the R95H, it uses individual red, green, and blue LEDs to deliver better color accuracy than non-RGB TVs. It's almost too vivid. If you're curious about RGB TVs, it's a solid entry-level option that won't require emptying your wallet.

More Labor Day TV deals50 to 55-inch TV deals

• Insignia 50-inch F50 LED 4K TV — $159.99 $299.99 (save $140)

• Amazon 50-inch Omni QLED 4K Fire TV — $259.99 $469.99 (save $210)

• LG 55-inch LX7B Gallery Mini LED 4K TV — $699.99 $1,299.99 (save $600)

• Hisense 55-inch UR8 RGB Mini LED 4K TV — $899.99 $1,499.99 (save $600)

65-inch TV deals

• LG 65-inch LX7B Gallery Mini LED 4K TV — $899.99 $1,799.99 (save $900)

• Hisense 65-inch S7 Canvas Hi-QLED 4K TV — $997.99 $1,999.99 (save $1,002)

• Sony 65-inch Bravia 7 Mini LED QLED 4K TV — $1,298 $1,598 (save $300)

• Samsung 65-inch S85H OLED 4K TV — $1,397.99 $1,999.99 (save $602)

• LG 65-Inch B6 OLED 4K TV — $1,399.99 $1,999.99 (save $600)

• Samsung 65-inch S90H OLED 4K TV — $1,597.99 $2,697.99 (save $1,100)

• Sony 65-inch Bravia 8 II QD QLED 4K TV — $2,498 $3,299.99 (save $801.99)

• Samsung 65-inch S95H OLED 4K TV — $2,799.99 $3,399.99 (save $600)

75-inch TV deals

• Hisense 75-inch U6 Pro Mini-LED ULED 4K TV — $797.99 $1,399.99 (save $602)

• Hisense 75-inch U7 Mini-LED ULED 4K TV — $1,197.99 $1,999.99 (save $802)

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

• Sony 75-inch Bravia 7 II RGB 4K TV — $2,299.99 $3,099.99 (save $800)

• Samsung 75-inch The Frame Pro QLED 4K TV — $2,397.99 $2,797.99 (save $400)

• Samsung 75-inch R95H RGB 4K TV — $3,799.99 $4,499.99 (save $700)

80 to 85-inch TV deals

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

• Hisense 85-inch U6 Pro Hi-QLED Mini-LED 4K TV — $1097.99 $1,999.99 (save $902)

• Samsung 85-inch M80H Mini-LED 4K TV — $1,199.99 $1,799.99 (save $600)

• Hisense 85-inch U7 Mini-LED ULED 4K TV — $1,397.99 $2,499.99 (save $1,102)

• Hisense 85-inch UR8 RGB Mini LED 4K TV — $2,199.99 $3,499.99 (save $1,300)

Over 85-inch TV deals

• Hisense 100-inch U6 Mini-LED 4K TV — $1,999.99 $2,999.99 (save $1,000)

• TCL 98-inch QM7L SQD-Mini-LED QLED 4K TV — $2,497.99 $3,999.99 (save $1,502)

• Hisense 100-inch UR8 RGB Mini LED 4K TV — $3,499.99 $5,999.99 (save $2,500)

TL;DR: Koofr’s 1TB lifetime cloud storage subscription is just $199.99 (reg. $810.00), ending on Sept. 3 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

Opens in a new window Credit: Koofr Koofr Cloud Storage: Lifetime Subscription (1TB) $199.99
$810 Save $610.01   Get Deal

Cloud storage is handy for keeping photos, videos, and important documents accessible without taking up space on your devices. If you want to avoid adding another recurring subscription to the list, Koofr’s 1TB lifetime plan is currently available for just $199.99 (reg. $810.00).

Koofr has been offering cloud storage since 2013 and has a 4.3-star rating on Trustpilot. The 1TB plan provides enough room for roughly 250,000 12MP photos, 500 hours of HD video, or 6.5 million document pages. More importantly, the lifetime subscription requires a single payment instead of ongoing monthly or annual costs.

Koofr also includes tools for managing files once they’re in the cloud. Its Duplicate Finder can locate duplicate files in your account, while advanced renaming options can help keep larger collections organized. You can also connect existing Dropbox, Google Drive, Amazon, and OneDrive accounts, allowing you to access files from multiple services in one place.

Privacy is another important factor. Koofr doesn’t track user activity, and files are encrypted both during transfer and while stored. You can access your files from a smartphone, computer, or through WebDAV.

This is especially helpful if you need substantial storage for a growing collection of photos, videos, or documents, or if you’re already managing different files across several cloud services. Having those files accessible in one place can make it easier to keep track of what you have without moving content between accounts.

Get 1TB of Koofr Cloud Storage for $199.99, saving $610 off the regular $810.00 price through Sept. 3 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

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

Jeans.

Hurdle Word 1 answer

DENIM

Hurdle Word 2 hint

Transparent.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for September 3, 2026 Hurdle Word 2 Answer

CLEAR

Hurdle Word 3 hint

The sound an angry dog makes.

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

GROWL

Hurdle Word 4 hint

Legitimate.

Hurdle Word 4 answer

LEGAL

Final Hurdle hint

Cheesy.

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

CORNY

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

Today's Connections: Sports Edition will be easier if you've watch football.

As we've shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, 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 the latest 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: Sports Edition?

The NYT's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication's sports coverage. The sports Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

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Each puzzle features 16 words, and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise 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 before 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: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. Here's a hint for today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

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

• Yellow: Before kickoff

• Green: California fields of play

• Blue: Icons from the U

• Purple: Capitals

Here are today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

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

• Yellow: Events Before a Football Kickoff

• Green: California Sporting Venues

• Blue: Miami (FL) Alumni

• Purple: Starts with a State Capital

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

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: Sports Edition #710 is...

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

• Events Before a Football Kickoff: COIN TOSS, NATIONAL ANTHEM, TEAM ARRIVALS, WARMUPS

• California Sporting Venues: INTUIT DOME, LEVI'S STADIUM, PEBBLE BEACH, TORREY PINES

• Miami (FL) Alumni: DEVIN HESTER, ED REED, REGGIE WAYNE, VINNY TESTAVERDE

• Starts with a State Capital: AUGUSTA NATIONAL, AUSTIN REAVES, MADISON KEYS, PIERRE GARCON

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports Connections 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.

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.

Welcome to your guide to Pips, the latest game in the New York Times catalog.

Released in August 2025, Pips puts a unique spin on dominoes, creating a fun single-player experience that could become your next daily gaming habit.

Currently, if you're stuck, the game only offers to reveal the entire puzzle, forcing you to move on to the next difficulty level and start over. However, we have you covered! Below are piecemeal answers that will serve as hints so that you can find your way through each difficulty level.

How to play Pips

If you've ever played dominoes, you'll have a passing familiarity with how Pips is played. As we've shared in our previous hints stories for Pips, the tiles, like dominoes, are placed vertically or horizontally and connect with each other. The main difference between a traditional game of dominoes and Pips is the color-coded conditions you have to address. The touching tiles don't necessarily have to match.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for September 3, 2026

The conditions you have to meet are specific to the color-coded spaces. For example, if it provides a single number, every side of a tile in that space must add up to the number provided. It is possible — and common — for only half a tile to be within a color-coded space.

Here are common examples you'll run into across the difficulty levels:

• Number: All the pips in this space must add up to the number.

• Equal: Every domino half in this space must be the same number of pips.

• Not Equal: Every domino half in this space must have a completely different number of pips.

• Less than: Every domino half in this space must add up to less than the number.

• Greater than: Every domino half in this space must add up to more than the number.

If an area does not have any color coding, it means there are no conditions on the portions of dominoes within those spaces.

SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for September 3, 2026 Easy difficulty hints, answers for September 3 Pips

Number (10): Everything in this red space must add up to 10. The answer is 5-0, placed vertically; 5-4, placed horizontally.

Number (2): Everything in this red space must add up to 2. The answer is 5-4, placed horizontally; 3-2, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (5): Everything in this space must be greater than 5. The answer is 6-2, placed horizontally.

Number (2): Everything in this red space must add up to 2. The answer is 5-0, placed vertically; 6-2, placed horizontally; 0-3, placed horizontally.

Number (10): Everything in this red space must add up to 10. The answer is 5-4, placed horizontally; 3-2, placed horizontally; 0-3, placed horizontally.

Medium difficulty hints, answers for September 3 Pips

Number (7): Everything in this red space must add up to 7. The answer is 6-4, placed horizontally; 3-0, placed vertically.

Less Than (5): Everything in this space must be less than 5. The answer is 0-0, placed vertically.

Equal (6): Everything in this space must be equal to 6. The answer is 6-4, placed horizontally; 6-6, placed vertically.

Equal (6): Everything in this space must be equal to 6. The answer is 6-6, placed vertically; 6-1, placed horizontally.

Number (1): Everything in this space must add up to 1. The answer is 3-0, placed vertically; 6-1, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (1): Everything in this space must be greater than 1. The answer is 5-5, placed vertically; 5-0, placed horizontally.

Less Than (3): Everything in this space must be less than 3. The answer is 5-0, placed horizontally.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for September 3 Pips

Greater Than (0): Everything in this space must be greater than 0. The answer is 1-6, placed vertically.

Greater Than (9): Everything in this space must be greater than 9. The answer is 1-6, placed vertically; 4-0, placed horizontally.

Number (2): Everything in this red space must add up to 2. The answer is 4-0, placed horizontally; 0-2, placed vertically.

Number (2): Everything in this red space must add up to 2. The answer is 1-2, placed vertically; 0-2, placed vertically.

Less Than (3): Everything in this space must be less than 3. The answer is 1-2, placed vertically.

Greater Than (9): Everything in this space must be greater than 9. The answer is 6-6, placed vertically.

Greater Than (1): Everything in this space must be greater than 1. The answer is 3-6, placed horizontally.

Equal (3): Everything in this green space must be equal to 3. The answer is 3-6, placed horizontally; 3-5, placed vertically.

Greater Than (3): Everything in this space must be greater than 3. The answer is 5-4, placed horizontally.

Equal (5): Everything in this space must be equal to 5. The answer is 3-5, placed vertically; 5-4, placed horizontally; 5-5, placed vertically.

Number (10): Everything in this red space must add up to 10. The answer is 6-4, placed vertically.

Number (5): Everything in this red space must add up to 5. The answer is 2-3, placed vertically.

Greater Than (2): Everything in this space must be greater than 2. The answer is 0-3, placed horizontally.

Number (2): Everything in this red space must add up to 2. The answer is 0-3, placed horizontally; 2-5, placed vertically.

Greater Than (0): Everything in this space must be greater than 0. The answer is 1-4, placed vertically.

Greater Than (4): Everything in this space must be greater than 4. The answer is 2-5, placed vertically.

Number (4): Everything in this red space must add up to 4. The answer is 1-4, placed vertically.

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 3, 2026 Carmine meaning

A deep-red dye that comes from cochineal insects.

Cinnabar meaning

A bright red mineral made of mercury sulfide.

Maroon meaning

A deep purple-red tone.

Vermilion meaning

A bright, red-orange color.

Blink meaning

To shut and open the eyes quickly.

Flash meaning

A sudden burst of light.

Heartbeat meaning

A single muscle contraction.

Trice meaning

A quick moment.

Hot Wheels meaning

Popular toy card created by Mattel.

Matchbox meaning

A popular toy car created in the 50s.

Micro Machines meaning

A type of toy car that was popular in the 80s and 90s.

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.

Tonka meaning

A black seed of the Dipteryx odorata tree.

Average meaning

The middle number in a data set.

Count meaning

A tally.

Max meaning

The peak.

Sum meaning

Total.

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.

Walmart is finally getting tap-to-pay — but social media is considerably less impressed with the apparent AI-generated advertisement announcing it.

A photo posted to X shows an in-store display promoting the rollout with a cheery "Fast! Easy!" message, alongside images of a smartphone and payment terminal. Look a little closer, however, and the terminal’s keypad dissolves into the familiar visual gibberish associated with generative AI. The buttons feature mangled symbols, illegible characters, and, apparently, two 7s. Yes, two.

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"AI is so scary it’s like the words you read in your dreams where it doesn’t actually say anything," one user wrote. Others were frustrated that one of the world’s largest retailers appeared to have used generative AI for such a basic piece of marketing. "I despise AI generated advertisements for businesses," one person wrote. "Billion dollar corporation," another user posted, criticizing Walmart for seemingly declining to hire a graphic designer.

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Another user pointed out that "Walmart has been using AI" for some time now.

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The wonky keypad is precisely the kind of tell that has become synonymous with "AI slop": a polished-looking image that falls apart as soon as you inspect the details.

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It’s the same phenomenon showing up in restaurant menus filled with AI-generated nightmare food, where impossible ingredients and plastic-looking meals replace photographs of the products customers might actually receive.

As I wrote last week: Please stop putting AI-generated food on the menu. While we’re at it, perhaps stop putting AI-generated payment terminals next to the register, too.

SEE ALSO: Please stop putting AI-generated food on the menu

The mangled keypad isn’t the only part of the sign making people do a double take. Walmart is promoting tap-to-pay like a futuristic convenience in 2026, even though tapping a card or phone has been routine at other retailers for years. Until now, contactless-minded Walmart shoppers generally had to open the company’s app and scan a QR code using Walmart Pay.

That part of the story baffled plenty of international onlookers more than the malformed keypad did. "Why is the USA’s payment system still stuck in the last century," one person asked. "I’m sorry wdym you don’t have tap to pay in 2026," another wrote.

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So, yes: Walmart customers are finally getting the convenience they’ve been asking for. They may just want to avoid pressing the second 7.

Many football fans are not choosing between watching the game and scrolling TikTok, but are doing both. Now TikTok wants to make that habit official.

Days before the 2026 NFL season begins, TikTok and the NFL announced a new multiyear partnership that will bring more highlights, archival footage, player-focused videos, and other official content to the platform. The agreement will also introduce NFL hubs where fans can find scores and schedules, then follow links to tune into game broadcasts.

There is already a sizable audience waiting for all of it. According to TikTok, posts using #NFL increased by more than 32 percent between August 2025 and August 2026. The league’s main @NFL account has more than 20 million followers, while eight international accounts serve fans in markets including Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, France, Australia, and the UK and Ireland.

At first glance, this might sound like another agreement to put sports highlights on social media. But TikTok and the NFL have been building toward something much bigger for years.

Credit: TikTok

TikTok and the NFL first teamed up in 2019, when the league launched its official account with highlights, sideline footage, behind-the-scenes videos, and hashtag challenges. Its first campaign, #WeReady, invited fans and creators to celebrate their teams ahead of the NFL’s 100th season.

The partnership did not stay confined to the For You page for long. Beginning in 2021, the companies staged the annual NFL TikTok Tailgate, a livestreamed Super Bowl pregame event that combined musical performances with appearances from players and creators. By its fourth edition in 2024, headlined by Gwen Stefani, TikTok said the event attracted 2.2 million live viewers.

Later that year, TikTok and the NFL renewed the partnership and promised to add more long-form football content. At the time, TikTok said videos from the league and its 32 teams had generated more than 5 billion views during the 2023 season.

Of course, TikTok is not the only platform chasing football fans. Its longtime rival YouTube has been moving directly onto the field. YouTube replaced TikTok as the official sponsor of the Super Bowl Tailgate in 2025, after becoming the exclusive home of NFL Sunday Ticket in 2023.

That gives YouTube something TikTok largely lacks: the games themselves. So instead of trying to become another traditional broadcaster, TikTok appears to be going after everything surrounding the action.

As part of the renewed partnership, the NFL will use TikTok GamePlan, which connects videos to hubs featuring scores, schedules, standings, official accounts, and broadcast links. In other words, TikTok wants every spectacular catch or sideline moment on your For You page to bring you closer to the live game.

SEE ALSO: Disney and the NFL just paired every team with a character — here's your team's match

TikTok has good reason to believe this pipeline could work. According to the company, 85 percent of sports fans on TikTok use the platform as a second screen during live events, while 42 percent are more likely to watch a live match after encountering related sports content on the app.

TikTok is also bringing the NFL to Pro Events, the standalone app it piloted during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The app rewarded fans for exploring tournament content and completing tasks with stars redeemable for merchandise, TikTok Shop discounts, or charitable donations. A dedicated NFL hub will reportedly launch in the coming weeks.

And where there are more ways for fans to engage, there are naturally more places for brands to advertise. TikTok is expanding its Pulse Premiere program so advertisers can place ads directly after videos from participating NFL teams.

The partnership could be especially useful as the NFL looks beyond its home turf. The league is staging a record nine international games across seven countries in 2026 and has made attracting millions of additional fans outside the United States a major part of its long-term strategy. TikTok’s regional NFL accounts give the league a way to keep reaching those audiences long after the teams leave town.

"The NFL isn’t just a sport, it’s a year-round way of life where fandom thrives through game-day highlights, daily trends, and player personalities," TikTok Global Head of Sport Rollo Goldstaub added in the announcement.

Every fall, LEGO celebrates the day when young witches and wizards return to Hogwarts for another year of adventures. The official LEGO Back to Hogwarts 2026 shopping event starts Aug. 29 and runs through Sept. 6. 

Whether you’re from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin — fans young and old will want to get their paws on the two new Harry Potter LEGO sets, limited-time gifts, and geek-out-worthy brick merch from your favorite fantastical world.

Plus, your kiddos can hone their real-life building skills with the intuitive LEGO Builder app. Now that’s something even Muggle parents can obsess about. Here’s a sampling of what the event has up its sleeve: 

Early access to the new Ministry of Magic collector’s set  Opens in a new window Credit: LEGO The Ministry of Magic Collector’s Edition $449.99 at LEGO
  Shop Now

The massive 3,491-piece set has three different levels for builders 18 years and older, including a subway station and the Hall of Prophecies. Kids will love flushing the 14 mini-figures from the public restroom down into the Ministry. Collectors will love the golden wizard statue and 25th-anniversary Lynx Patronus figure. 

A new Mini Hogwarts Castle casts its spell Opens in a new window Credit: LEGO Mini Hogwarts Castle $39.99 at LEGO
  Shop Now

This 700-piece set stands only 5.5 inches high, but it packs infinite adventures for ages 10 and up. Kids can build microscale versions of the Great Hall and Astronomy Tower, lift up the East Wing to reveal the ancient Chamber of Secrets, and gaze into the Mirror of Erised. When the Harry Potter and Hedwig owl mini-figures take flight on Harry’s broomstick, the magic is real.

Score cool gifts until Sept. 6

Your wand won’t get you first dibs on new Harry Potter sets or gifts with purchase during the 2026 LEGO Back to Hogwarts event. But a free LEGO Insider membership will. 

For example, members who purchase The Ministry of Magic Collector’s Edition can score a shiny metal display of Harry Potter’s phone-booth portal to the Ministry of Magic. Members can also redeem Insider points for 25th anniversary Harry Potter baubles.

Anyone who spends $40 or more on qualifying Harry Potter merchandise will get the Dumbledore's Office with Harry Potter set. You can also nab the Ministry Munchies and The Daily Prophet Stands for free with a qualifying $130 purchase. 

Back to school isn’t a bummer when it coincides with the LEGO Back to Hogwarts shopping event. From Aug. 29 to Sept. 6, snag two new Harry Potter LEGO sets and more perks than you can wave your wand at.

The internet isn't exactly known for bringing out the best in people. Every so often, though, it channels all that collective energy into something genuinely helpful — like buying a car seat for someone you've never met.

That is what happened after Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper began surprising expectant parents by purchasing items from their Babylist registries. Cooper, who announced in May that she is expecting her first child with husband film producer and Unwell co-founder Matt Kaplan, had been turning to her audience for pregnancy and parenting advice. Clearing registries became a way to return some of that support.

"Clearing out registries was a way to thank the community for all their incredible support and advice," Cooper said in a release. "Reading their stories and seeing what that meant to them made me want to find a way for Unwell to keep paying that forward." Recipients definitely felt the love, posting emotional reactions and unboxing videos as cribs, car seats, mattresses, and swaddles arrived at their homes.

The best part of the story, though? Other people began doing the same thing.

Strangers opened strangers' registries and bought whatever they could afford. For some, that meant a pack of bottles or a box of diapers. Others helped clear entire lists. What began as a celebrity giveaway grew into a much larger chain of people paying the gesture forward.

Online generosity is hardly new. Crowdfunding links have become fixtures beneath viral videos, while kindness creators have built enormous audiences around giving cash, houses, or cars to strangers and inviting viewers to contribute.

One registry became thousands Credit: Babylist

Babylist, an online baby registry and shopping platform, soon joined Cooper and her Unwell media network to formalize the effort under the #BabylistItForward banner. The company committed to supporting more than 1,000 families, with Pampers also contributing to the campaign.

The response suggests the idea touched a nerve — according to figures shared with Mashable, more than 15,000 expectant parents replied to the launch post in less than an hour.

Many left their own registry links. Others nominated a friend, sibling, co-worker, or partner. Between the requests, parents started discussing which products they had actually used, what first-time parents could skip, and where less expensive alternatives might work just as well. Babylist's campaign page recorded 3,279 gifts from the company’s team as of Aug. 31.

Credit: Babylist

For Babylist, the response also demonstrated that parents were looking for more than products. Jennifer Hyman, the company’s incoming CEO, told Mashable the partnership was intended to reach parents when they need "answers, reassurance, and connection." Cooper, Babylist, and Unwell also plan to crowdsource parenting advice and product recommendations, spotlight families' stories, and support charitable organizations working with parents during pregnancy and early parenthood.

Brands of different sizes got involved, too. Los Angeles diaper bag company Mina Baie promised to purchase gifts from five parents’ registries and award diaper bags to 20 others, while UPPAbaby offered to clear five full registries and purchase one of its strollers from 50 additional lists. Cozy Crew Club invited parents to share their stories for a chance to receive registry gifts and store gift cards, and mom-founded baby brand Kiplie offered portable changing mats while acknowledging that it could not clear entire lists. Itzy Ritzy, meanwhile, offered to purchase up to $300 worth of its products from each selected registry.

SEE ALSO: Alex Cooper parlays podcast prowess into entrepreneurial domination

Other creators and reality stars, including Colton Underwood, Harry Jowsey, Jenna Ushkowitz, and Anneliese van der Pol, also invited parents to leave their registries in the comments of their own posts.

Meanwhile, viewers without large platforms continued the effort by buying individual items for families whose stories appeared in their feeds.

Examples of this trend in action are heartwarming: Wyatt Morris, an active-duty service member, is expecting a daughter with his wife, Breanna. Morris posted their Babylist registry on TikTok and later returned with a follow-up video after viewers reportedly purchased every last item.

The internet's attention is notoriously unpredictable, but it's always heartening to see a viral moment turn into tangible support for people who truly need it. The trend may disappear, but the items arriving at families' doorsteps — and the difference they make — won't.

The best Labor Day tech deals at a glance: Best Apple deal Apple AirTag (2nd Gen, 4-pack) $79.99 (save $19.01) Get Deal Best laptop deal HP OmniBook 3 16 (Snapdragon X, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $599.99 (save $550) Get Deal Best TV deal TCL 65-inch QM8L Mini-LED QLED 4K TV $1,397.99 (save $1,102) Get Deal Best headphones deal Sony WH-1000XM5 $198 (save $201.99) Get Deal Best smart home deal Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Select $19.99 (save $30) Get Deal

We're still a few days out from Labor Day, but retailers' holiday sales are already live in full force. It's an especially good time to shop if you've been thinking about upgrading some older tech: For one thing, these sales offer some welcome relief from RAMageddon-related price hikes (which just keep coming, ugh). For another, they're probably your last real chance to save on big-ticket gadgets like laptops, TVs, and premium headphones until late October, when early Black Friday festivities get going.

Below, I've rounded up a big batch of the best Labor Day tech deals that I could find at Amazon, Best Buy, and beyond. That includes new record-low prices on devices from brands like Apple, Sony, and TCL, with discounts soaring as high as 60%.

Most retailers' Labor Day sales run through Labor Day proper on Monday, Sept. 7, so I'll continue to update this story into the long weekend.

Best Labor Day Apple deal Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple AirTag (2nd Gen, 4-pack) $79.99 at Amazon and Walmart
$99 Save $19.01   Get Deal

Individual AirTags are marked down to $24 this week, but if you snag a four-pack on sale for $79.99, you're only paying $19.99 per tracker. (That deal is up for grabs at both Amazon and Walmart, by the way, and it's a new all-time low.) Apple updated the AirTag with a louder speaker and a bigger finding range at the beginning of the year. Mashable's Stan Schroeder called it "a useful little thing" that "saved me a lot of worrying once when my baggage got lost," rating it a 4.2/5.

Read Mashable's full review of the Apple AirTag (2nd Gen).

AirPods deals

• Apple AirPods 4 — $99 $129 (save $30)

• Apple AirPods 4 with ANC — $148.99 $179 (save $30.01)

• Apple AirPods Pro 3 — $199 $249 (save $50)

• Apple AirPods Max 2 — $479 $549 (save $70)

iPad deals

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

• Apple iPad Air, 11-inch (M4, WiFi, 128GB) — $649 $749 (save $100)

• Apple iPad Air, 13-inch (M4, WiFi, 128GB) — $849 $949 (save $100)

• Apple iPad Pro, 11-inch (M5, WiFi, 512GB) — $1,299 $1,399 (save $100)

• Apple iPad Pro, 13-inch (M5, WiFi, 256GB) — $1,399.99 $1,499 (save $99.01)

MacBook deals

• Apple MacBook Neo (A18 Pro, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $689.99 $699 (save $9.01)

• Apple MacBook Air, 13-inch (M5, 24GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,699 $1,799 (save $100)

• Apple MacBook Pro, 14-inch (M5, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,849.99 $1,999 (save $149.01)

• Apple MacBook Pro, 16-inch (M5 Pro, 24GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $2,759.99 $2,999 (save $239.01)

More Apple accessory deals

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

• Apple Pencil (USB-C) — $69.98 $79 (save $9.02)

• Apple Pencil Pro — $97 $129 (save $32)

• Apple Magic Keyboard Folio for iPad — $199 $249 (save $50)

• Apple iPad Magic Keyboard Case for iPad Pro (11-inch) — $225 $299 (save $74)

Best Labor Day TV deal Opens in a new window Credit: TCL TCL 65-inch QM8L Mini-LED QLED 4K TV $1,397.99 at Amazon
$2,499.99 Save $1,102.00   Get Deal

Offering a sharp, ultra-bright picture and boasting a clean, virtually bezel-free design, this TCL display is our favorite 65-inch QLED TV for most people. It's an especially good pick for folks "who know they'll be doing a good amount of their TV watching in the daytime," wrote Leah Stodart, Mashable's former TV expert. That's you, college football fans. Its Labor Day sale price of $1,397.99 on Amazon — a 44% savings — marks its lowest price ever. That beats a rivaling deal at Best Buy by $2.

50- and 55-inch TV deals

• Insignia 50-inch F50 4K TV — $159.99 $299.99 (save $140)

• Amazon 50-inch Omni QLED 4K Fire TV — $259.99 $469.99 (save $210)

• LG 55-inch LX7B Gallery Mini-LED 4K TV — $699.99 $1,299.99 (save $600)

• Hisense 55-inch UR8 RGB Mini-LED 4K TV — $899.99 $1,499.99 (save $600)

• Hisense 55-inch U6 Pro Mini‑LED 4K Fire TV — $497.99 $849.99 (save $352)

65-inch TV deals

• LG 65-inch LX7B Gallery Mini-LED 4K TV — $899.99 $1,799.99 (save $900)

• Hisense 65-inch S7 Canvas Hi-QLED 4K TV — $997.99 $1,999.99 (save $1,002)

• Sony 65-inch Bravia 7 Mini-LED QLED 4K TV — $1,298 $1,598 (save $300)

• Samsung 65-inch S85H OLED 4K TV — $1,397.99 $1,999.99 (save $602)

• LG 65-Inch B6 OLED 4K TV — $1,399.99 $1,999.99 (save $600)

• Samsung 65-inch S90H OLED 4K TV — $1,597.99 $2,697.99 (save $1,100)

• Hisense 65-inch UR9 RGB Mini-LED 4K TV — $1,699.99 $2,199.99 (save $500)

• Sony 65-inch Bravia 8 II QD QLED 4K TV — $2,498 $3,299.99 (save $801.99)

• Samsung 65-inch S95H OLED 4K TV — $2,799.99 $3,399.99 (save $600)

75-inch TV deals

• Hisense 75-inch U6 Pro Mini-LED ULED 4K TV — $797.99 $1,399.99 (save $602)

• Hisense 75-inch U7 Mini-LED ULED 4K TV — $1,197.99 $1,999.99 (save $802)

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

• Sony 75-inch Bravia 7 II RGB 4K TV — $2,299.99 $3,099.99 (save $800)

• Samsung 75-inch The Frame Pro QLED 4K TV — $2,397.99 $2,797.99 (save $400)

• Samsung 75-inch R95H RGB 4K TV — $3,799.99 $4,499.99 (save $700)

Deals on 80-inch TVs and larger

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

• Hisense 85-inch U6 Pro Hi-QLED Mini-LED 4K TV — $1,097.99 $1,999.99 (save $902)

• Samsung 85-inch M80H Mini-LED 4K TV — $1,199.99 $1,799.99 (save $600)

• Hisense 85-inch U7 Mini-LED ULED 4K TV — $1,397.99 $2,499.99 (save $1,102)

• Hisense 100-inch U6 Mini-LED 4K TV — $1,999.99 $2,999.99 (save $1,000)

• Hisense 85-inch UR8 RGB Mini-LED 4K TV — $2,199.99 $3,499.99 (save $1,300)

• TCL 98-inch QM7L SQD-Mini-LED QLED 4K TV — $2,497.99 $3,999.99 (save $1,502)

• Hisense 100-inch UR8 RGB Mini-LED 4K TV — $3,499.99 $5,999.99 (save $2,500)

Best Labor Day headphones deal Opens in a new window Credit: Sony Sony WH-1000XM5 $198 at Amazon and Best Buy
$399.99 Save $201.99   Get Deal

The last-gen Sony XM5s are an honorable mention on our best headphones guide because they're sooo similar to the newer XM6s, and because they're frequently on sale. (The $460 XM6s really only add folding ear cups and slightly better sound out of the box.) This week, the XM5s are chilling at their lowest price yet: Amazon and Best Buy both have them listed for $198 during their Labor Day events, which is a whopping 51% off their $399.99 MSRP.

Read Mashable's full review of the Sony WH-1000XM5.

More headphone deals

• Sony WH-CH520 — $38 $69.99 (save $31.99)

• Anker Soundcore Q20i — $39.97 $69.99 (save $30.02)

• Marshall Major V — $89.99 $169.99 (save $80)

• Sony ULT Wear — $148 $249.99 (save $101.99)

• Beats Studio Buds + — $149.95 $169.95 (save $20)

• Nothing Headphone (a) — $159 $199 (save $40)

• Bose QuietComfort — $199 $359 (save $160)

• Beats Studio Pro — $249.95 $349.99 (save $100.04)

• Sonos Ace — $299 $399 (save $100)

• Bose QuietComfort Ultra — $329 $449 (save $120)

• Sony WH-1000XM6 — $398 $459.99 (save $61.99)

Best Labor Day laptop deal Opens in a new window Credit: HP HP OmniBook 3 16 (Snapdragon X, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $599.99 at Staples
$1,149.99 Save $550   Get Deal

This 16-inch PC is the best battery life laptop we've ever tested: It lasted 40 hours and 14 minutes in a video rundown test. Its portable design and large, colorful display are also highlights — it's "great for streaming movies and juggling multiple documents" on the go, to quote my review. This model with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage would make a great daily driver for folks with basic workloads (think web browsing and sending emails). It's 47% off at Staples right now; the same configuration is $90 pricier on HP's website.

Read Mashable's full review of the HP OmniBook 3 16.

More Windows laptop deals

• HP OmniBook Ultra 14 (Snapdragon X2 Elite, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,799.99 $2,249.99 (save $450)

• Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S (Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070Ti, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,899.99 $2,199.99 (save $300)

• Asus Zenbook Duo (Intel Core Ultra 9 386H, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $2,199.99 $2,499.99 (save $300)

• Dell XPS 14 (Intel Core Ultra X7 358H, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $2,699.99 $3,149.99 (save $450)

Chromebook deals

• Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514 (MediaTek Kompanio Ultra, 12GB RAM, 256GB UFS) — $579 $749 (save $170)

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani stood at a podium today (Sep. 2) and said the words "moratorium on generative AI" to a national audience. To those fighting to ban artificial intelligence in schools across the country, this moment was huge.

Mamdani, speaking alongside NYC Chancellor Kamar Samuels, announced the new comprehensive, human-first AI policy for the nation's largest school district. "The tech industry wants us to believe that A.I.-powered early education is not only inevitable, but necessary," Mamdani said to press. "We do not see it that way."

The new guidelines — an update to a system-wide AI rulebook launched in March — include a ban on chatbots and a one-year pause on the use of AI tools for students in pre-K through the eighth grade. The guidelines also bar individualized screen time for pre-K through second grade. The city says around 38 programs were flagged by the district as violating new policies following an audit of the system's current EdTech, which will either be removed entirely or have their AI features "disabled."

New York City's new policies are some of the strictest AI guidelines in the state, potentially nationwide.

SEE ALSO: Is Meta finally backing a federal kids safety bill, or is it all PR? Nationwide call for AI bans

New York City schools are not the first to place limits on AI use among students, following a concerted, nationwide effort from parents, educators, and child safety advocates who have joined together to call for moratoriums on the technology and a hard line on tech usage in classrooms.

One such group is the AI Moratorium (AIM) Coalition, made up of local and national parent organizations like environmental group Climate Families NYC, Class Size Matters, and the Parent Coalition for Student Privacy. The AIM Coalition has been on the front lines of the fight in NYC. In April and July, the group held public rallies urging the mayor's office to intervene in proposed AI adoption across the NYC school system.

The group has gathered more than 6,000 signatures on a petition to the mayor's office calling for a two year AI moratorium across city schools, and penned a second letter to Mamdani on behalf of the group NYC Artists Against AI. The letter has been signed by more than 200 creatives, including actors Elliot Page and Mark Ruffalo and Broad City stars Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobsen.

"We are excited about the fact that our youngest learners won’t be exposed to artificial intelligence," said Dr. Kaliris Salas, member of the AIM Coalition and Racially Just Public Schools, during a press call following the announcement. "We are also concerned about our older learners."

SEE ALSO: The fierce battle over AI in schools NYC's AI policy has glaring gaps, advocates say

"There are a lot of holes in the policy, if we are being honest," said Liat Olenick, AIM Coalition and Climate Families NYC organizer. "But Kindergartners will not be talking to chatbots this fall, and that is huge progress. We made that change this year."

First, advocates say, one year is not enough. "We are calling for an inclusive, democratic, deliberative process including parents, students, and educators to collectively develop an evidence-backed AI and EdTech policy for our schools," said Kyle DeAngelis of the Movement of Rank and File Educators. "One year is not long enough for that process to play out with the depth and care it requires."

While the new policy bans access to general chatbots like Gemini and ChatGPT, it also includes carveouts for AI-powered tools that already exist in classroom management and education software, referred to as "boxed" curricula.

NYC leaders have not provided information about access to Google Search, for example, which child safety advocates have recently flagged as a backdoor to genAI chatbot access. In addition, Leonie Haimson of the Parent Coalition for Student Privacy said the district is still allowing access to YouTube despite widespread backlash.

"We are the largest school district in the country and can use our purchasing power to demand tools that turn off AI," said Dr. Kelly Clancy of Parents for AI Caution in Educational Spaces (PACES). "It’s also a reason we need regulation of Big Tech as a precondition of exposing kids across the country to these products."

The policy still allows unlimited staff use of generative AI, advocates flagged, as well as unclear mechanisms for evaluating AI products, contracts, and spending.

Significantly, the guidelines do not cover high school classrooms. The city confirmed to AIM Coalition Steering Committee members on Sept. 1 that it's currently piloting AI programs in 180 high schools. Leadership did not say which schools were involved in programs. The coalition told reporters that they did not get clear answers on curriculum or formal opt-out policies for new AI technologies among high schoolers.

NYC high school students joined the AIM Coalition press call to urge the district to expand its policies. "I'm upset that the high school students were left behind," said rising junior and organizer Ariana Ahmed Misha.

"We need to consent. We need to have the choice to say no," said student and organizer Yelani Joseph. Joseph's school is one of the 180 testing AI tools in the classroom. Ahmed Misha and Joseph have both appealed directly to the chancellor to improve AI policies, including AI literacy programs, across NYC.

In responses to questions posed by coalition members during the Sept. 1 meeting, NYC schools clarified that screen time limits are recommendations, not mandates, for grades 3-8.

During a Sept. 2 press call, the city also backtracked on a promise to revoke students' access to Amira, a controversial AI-powered software that the district had said it would ban just a day prior. Now, the city plans to limit access to specific AI features in the app.

David Monahan, campaign director of child safety nonprofit Fairplay, said in a statement that the policy had too many exceptions and failed to address racial bias and the environmental impacts of AI.

"There are still a lot of open questions," said Edgar Alfonseca, member of the NYC DSA Tech Action Working Group. Alfonseca and many other child safety advocates are critical of the influence of Big Tech in classrooms, particularly the high dollar amount spent on deals between districts and AI companies. "We don't see this policy addressing the fundamental problem, which is that EdTech and Big Tech companies are able to reap tremendous profit from public school system dollars."

Advocates feel they still need to remain vigilant despite the progress.

"They are building the plane as it is flying," said Clancy.

Smartphone case makers appear to have dropped a sneak peek at Apple's upcoming iPhone 18 Pro and foldable iPhone Ultra devices.

Several third-party manufacturers have already published product listings for cases designed for Apple's upcoming line of smartphones. The iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and the foldable iPhone Ultra are all expected to be announced at Apple's big September event next week.

Case makers ESR, Benks, and Torras have all listed cases for the next generation of iPhones before Apple's official announcement. Each company's listings feature renders of the devices outfitted in their respective case products. 

The ESR listings show four potential case color options for the "iPhone 2026 Pro Max": deep burgundy, light gray, black, and misty blue. Additional product photos for a clear case on ESR's website fully showcase the latter iPhone color option.

These are the exact four long-rumored colors for the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max phones.

ESR clear iPhone 18 Pro Max case Credit: ESR The four listed color options for the 'iPhone 2026 Pro Max" are deep burgundy, light gray, black, and misty blue. Credit: ESR

While the cases are notable, it's also worth noting that the base iPhone 18 is conspicuously missing from these companies' early product listings. This seemingly backs up reports that Apple isn't planning to release the new base-model iPhone alongside the Pro, Pro Max, and Ultra models next week. Rumor has it the regular iPhone 18 may not arrive until as late as March 2027.

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Torras listed their iPhone 18 Pro cases on Amazon but have since removed them. ESR and Benks both showcase product photos of their upcoming iPhone Pro and Pro Max cases on their websites, and as of publishing, the case listings are still live. ESR lists its iPhone cases under an "iPhone 2026" category on its website.

Benks, on the other hand, specifically mentions the devices by name. Their color options are listed as black mist, blue mist, and purple mist. A clear case appears to show a silver iPhone as well. In its deleted Amazon listings, Torras called the colors "island blue" and "plum purple."

Benks Blue and Purple iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max cases Credit: Benks

In addition to their iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max cases, Benks also features renders of its iPhone Ultra cases.

Benks' iPhone Ultra case product listing doesn't give away the device's potential color choices, but it does seem to showcase what the front and rear of the device look like when opened. The product renders show the overall shape of the foldable device and two camera lenses on the back of the iPhone Ultra.

Benks iPhone Ultra cases Credit: Benks

We don't believe these are official photos of the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, or iPhone Ultra, however. The ESR photos show a portion of the display featuring the same artwork Apple used in official photography for the iPhone 17 Pro. However, some phone case companies do receive information, specifications, or dummy units of unreleased phones in advance, usually under strict embargoes that forbid them from revealing this info until the devices are announced.

The artwork on the phone screen matches the artwork Apple used in images of the iPhone 17 Pro. Credit: ESR

While these renders could be accurate representations of the unreleased phones, they don't appear to be official Apple photos. But they do give Apple fans who are counting down the days until the September 9 "Surprise and Shine" event something to hold them over.

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A whistleblower working inside the United States Postal Service (USPS) has told Congress that a brand-new system for screening mail-in ballots — built in a matter of months, against the advice of the agency's own staff — is so rushed and untested that it risks mass rejection of legitimate ballots just as the 2026 midterms approach.

The allegations are laid out in an anonymous disclosure filed on Aug. 30 with the office of Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) through the nonprofit legal group Whistleblower Aid. The whistleblower, described as a federal official with direct knowledge of the project, says USPS leadership pushed for a Sept. 1 launch despite internal warnings that the software hadn't been properly built or tested, and that development continued at points even while federal courts had ordered the work to stop. Blumenthal's letter demands USPS turn over records and answer detailed questions about the system by early September.

The launch of the new portal is partly in response to a Trump executive order from March 31 directing USPS to write new rules governing how mail-in and absentee ballots move through the postal system. Trump has been adamant the 2020 election was stolen from him, even as recently as last month, as he cited a dubious Census Bureau report to back up his "election fraud" claims.

A 2025 Brookings analysis found that mail-in voter fraud was "very rare," according to their findings. An additional analysis by American Immigration Council also concluded that the Heritage Foundation's report on noncitizen voting proved there "is no crisis of noncitizen voting" and that it's "exceedingly rare."

The White House's purported aim is to verify that only eligible, registered voters receive ballots by mail, using unique barcodes tied to state-maintained voter lists. The EO also adds that states that do not comply could lose federal funding. The U.S. Constitution mandates that election laws are under state supervision, which includes the tabulation and tracking of mail-in ballots.

USPS published a proposed rule in June and a final rule on Aug. 26 that, for the first time, gives the Postal Service a gatekeeping role over ballot mail — meaning USPS can now refuse to mail ballot batches that state election officials have already prepared and approved. According to Blumenthal's letter, USPS has never previously had this kind of authority over how states run their own ballot mail.

USPS has not yet responded publicly to the specific whistleblower allegations. Here's what the new system is supposed to do, and why the disclosure says it might not work.

How the new system is supposed to work

To carry this out, USPS has been building an entirely new piece of software called the Federal Ballot Mail Portal. Per the disclosure, the process has three parts:

1. The Portal itself, where state election officials upload a list of every registered voter getting a mail ballot, along with each ballot's unique barcode, creating a statewide "Mail-In and Absentee Participation List."

2. A manifest check, where officials separately upload a batch manifest. This is basically an inventory of the specific ballots they're about to mail into an older USPS bulk-mail system. USPS then automatically checks whether the barcodes in that manifest match the ones already logged in the Portal.

3. A physical scan at the post office, where USPS employees scan a sample of the actual ballots in a batch to confirm the physical barcodes match what's on file, before agreeing to mail the batch at all.

What's causing the most alarm from lawmakers and critics is that if either check fails, USPS won't mail the ballots.

The whistleblower says USPS is enforcing what amounts to a zero-tolerance policy. If even a single ballot's barcode in a batch fails to match or scan properly, the entire batch gets bounced back to the state, the whistleblower alleges.

In action, as the whistleblower describes it, if a state were to bring 10,000 ballots to USPS and just one can't be verified either cause a voter recently changed their name or moved, USPS would decline to mail the other 9,999 as well. States would then have to pull the whole batch, fix the one ballot, and resubmit the entire manifest to restart the verification process from scratch.

Barcode scanning errors aren't hypothetical, either. The disclosure cites a 2017 audit by the USPS Office of Inspector General that looked at problems with package-tracking scanners; among its findings, one unspecified issue was tied to roughly one in 20 scans coming back wrong. Apply even a fraction of that error rate to ballot batches instead of packages, and a meaningful number of valid ballots could get swept up in a rejected batch.

There's also no clear appeals process. The final rule says voters or election officials will be told about "escalation procedures" if they want to challenge a rejection, but doesn't specify what those procedures actually are — and voters may not find out their ballot was part of a rejected batch until it's too late to get another one or vote in person.

How this affects the 2026 Midterms

According to the disclosure, USPS didn't start serious work on the Portal until around mid-June 2026 and was targeting a Sept. 1 launch. The whistleblower says a project of this complexity would normally take nine months to a year, and cites a member of the Postal Regulatory Commission making a similar estimate publicly.

When staff raised concerns about the compressed schedule, one senior official is said to have brushed them off, insisting the launch simply had to go perfectly with no room for error. Additionally, a federal court order blocked the ballot-mail provisions of the executive order on June 25, but the whistleblower alleges that the order was ignored, and work started up again in the days following the ruling.

By the whistleblower's account, the complete system wasn't even assembled in a testing environment until the week of Aug. 24 — leaving roughly four working days for customer-facing testing before the planned launch, on a system meant to help run a federal election. Sen. Blumenthal has given USPS until Sept. 4 to answer a list of questions, specifically whether USPS actually paused work as required, who authorized development to continue, and whether any testing has been done to catch false rejections. The senator also gave a Sept. 8 deadline to hand over internal records.

Altogether, the USPS mail portal is one of many avenues the White House is pursuing to change the rules governing mail voting before November's midterms. On Aug. 24, the Supreme Court's conservative majority let the administration move forward on the executive order. The majority didn't rule on whether the order was legal — it said the challenge was premature because the rules hadn't been finalized yet, reasoning states couldn't show they'd actually been harmed.

On Capitol Hill, Senate Republicans tried and failed in early August to push through a pared-down version of the SAVE America Act requiring photo ID at the polls, after leadership concluded they didn't have the votes for the full bill, which would also mandate proof of citizenship to register and roll back mail voting more broadly. That measure has now failed at least six times this year, but GOP leaders say they'll try again when the Senate reconvenes in this month.

Through these various legal levers, the administration has several routes still open to reshape how — and whether — millions of mail ballots get counted this fall, even without a single bill becoming law.

OpenAI confirmed on Tuesday that its unreleased Astra model has reached a dangerous new milestone, while simultaneously confirming that it was forging ahead with a public launch.

In a blog post, OpenAI said that Astra has reached a "critical" cyber capability threshold, meaning the model could pose existential risks to cybersecurity. OpenAI's Preparedness Framework tracks risk levels in three categories: biological/chemical, cybersecurity, and AI self-improvement.

OpenAI said that this is the first time any of its models has been evaluated at the critical level in the cyber domain.

The same blog post also stated that Astra will be "available soon," but that its most advanced cybersecurity skills will be reserved for select testing partners, in the interest of public safety. The AI company said it was still preparing to safely release Astra and would be transparent about the potential threat level.

On X, Sam Altman addressed the tension between declaring Astra uniquely dangerous while also pushing ahead with a public launch. Altman said that "Astra has been done training for a while now" but that OpenAI has been "slowing things as needed to ensure that we can do sufficient work on safety and alignment."

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"There is an obvious tension here: on one hand, Astra is very good and we are excited to see what people will build with it," Altman wrote. "On the other hand, we are clearly in a phase of development where we believe caution is warranted, and we are pacing our progress to ensure that we can meet the safety standards required by new capability levels."

Of course, this isn't the first time an AI company has hyped up one of its models as dangerously powerful ahead of a big launch.

"Limiting access to the most advanced cybersecurity features to select partners is a fair mitigation, and I don't think OpenAI is being reckless here," said Tal Kollender, Founder and CEO of AI cybersecurity firm Remedio. "Their framework is built to allow release with the right safeguards, but the security story is that defense hasn't caught up to any version of this, gated or public."

What makes Astra potentially dangerous?

OpenAI previously rated GPT-5.6-Sol as a "high" risk in the cyber domain, but Astra is even more capable. OpenAI says it scored 100 percent on the ExploitBench benchmarking test.

"Under our Preparedness Framework, a model reaches the Critical cybersecurity threshold if it can identify and develop functional zero-day exploits of all severity levels in many hardened real-world critical systems without human intervention, or can devise and execute end-to-end novel strategies for cyberattacks against hardened targets given only a high level desired goal," an Aug. 7 OpenAI blog post stated.

In recent months, advanced frontier models from Anthropic and OpenAI have developed rapidly at agentic coding and cybersecurity hacking. As a result, the prospect of AI agent swarms hacking critical infrastructure no longer seems far-fetched, especially after the Hugging Face hack. In that incident, swarms of AI agents developed by OpenAI escaped a secure testing environment and hacked Hugging Face, acting autonomously in order to pass a test. Meanwhile, thanks to a deluge of AI-discovered bugs, some zero-day bug bounty programs have been forced to shut down entirely.

SEE ALSO: The OpenAI-Hugging Face hack was worse than we thought

"While Astra was not involved in the Hugging Face incident, we have incorporated our learnings⁠ from that incident into our safety approach," OpenAI's blog post states. "Based on retrospective testing, we believe our production safeguards at the time would have prevented the Hugging Face incident. We have since implemented even stronger safeguards for Astra, including training the model to more reliably refuse harmful cyber requests and respect safety restrictions, additional protections against misuse, and monitoring that can stop potentially unauthorized activity."

In its blog post, OpenAI also detailed some of the other safety precautions developed around Astra, with two goals in mind: preventing bad actors from accessing the model and stopping Astra from taking unwanted actions on its own. The company said it's tightened its secure sandboxes and stepped up "offline detection and threat disruption" efforts.

"Nation-states and well-funded attackers aren't waiting on Sam Altman's release calendar," Kollender told Mashable. "If a frontier lab's internal model can find and chain zero-days without a human in the loop, assume adversaries are within a generation of the same capability, gatekept or not."

On the same day OpenAI made these announcements, Anthropic announced the launch of Fable 5.1, an update to its latest frontier-level model. Fable is based on Claude Mythos, the model Anthropic deemed too dangerous to release because of its cybersecurity coding abilities.

If the pace of AI development is starting to remind you of War Games, keep one other fact in mind: While advanced frontier models do pose escalating cybersecurity risks, the same models will also benefit cybersecurity defenders in the long run.

UPDATE: Sep. 2, 2026, 1:26 p.m. EDT This article has been updated with comments from Sam Altman shared to X and quotes from a cybersecurity expert.

UPDATE: Sep. 2, 2026, 9:29 a.m. EDT A previous version of this article stated that Astra was the first OpenAI model to be evaluated as a "critical" threat in any of the three categories in the company's Preparedness Framework (chemical/biological, cyber, self-improvement). The company has only said that Astra is the first model to reach the "critical" threshold in the cyber domain.

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.

In the aftermath of Meta's recent $17 billion settlement, the culmination of a litigious debate over its alleged role in social media addiction and youth mental health, all attention was on the platform's promises.

As part of the settlement, Meta said it would invest further in what many are now referring to as industry-leading app guardrails. The company would also deliver a precedent-setting $12 billion payment to state attorneys general. Another $5 billion will be added if Snap, TikTok, and YouTube agree to implement their own safeguards. Many honed in the specific platform changes included in the agreement — including greater age assurance and stronger time limits — and the potential downstream effect Meta's changes could levy on its competitors. 

But others, including a group of survivor parents, perked up at a different, less flashy promise. 

SEE ALSO: 5 of the biggest changes coming to Instagram, Facebook

"I think legislation would have been the best answer to this issue," an unnamed Meta official told reporters during a press call following the settlement. The official went on, alluding to recent attempts to pass the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA): "It would be better to have this done by a legislature, which can immediately bind all of our competitors to the same rules."  

The comment was a shock to folks working behind the scenes to advance tech regulation, including Maurine Molak, an advocate and co-founder of Parents for Safe Online Spaces (ParentsSOS). The organization has been fighting for years to pass child safety legislation like KOSA despite Big Tech's roadblocks. Molak was in the room during Meta's 2024 congressional hearing, at which Zuckerberg apologized to a group of families, including Molak, whose children had died by suicide.

"I was livid," Molak told Mashable. "For them to come out and act like KOSA was the answer to these issues after knowing the millions of dollars they spent lobbying against [it]? I was incensed." 

The Meta official implied that the time had passed for Congress to advance the bill during this session, which infuriated Molak in particular. "Who makes Meta the overseer of Congress' calendar?" she asked. Molak helped pass Texas' anti-cyberbullying legislation, David's Law, in 2017, in honor of her son.

"This deal is designed to lead us to basically the same place," the Meta official said, likening the stipulations of the settlement to the protections outlined in bills like KOSA.

The sentiment was a nail in the coffin for ParentsSOS.

"It is morally bankrupt to suggest the settlement is the same thing as [legislation]," said ParentsSOS member Chris McComas, mother of Grace McComas, who died by suicide following intense cyberbullying in 2012. McComas said the company's press release read like PR spin, not an acknowledgment of guilt. "It shouldn't be seen as a good guys trying to do the right thing. They are in trouble. They see the writing on the wall, and they are trying to save themselves." 

So the parents penned a letter. 

He needs to put his money behind his words. - Maurine Molak, ParentsSOS Calling on Zuckerberg to back the bill

"Dear Mr. Zuckerberg," the letter begins, addressed directly to the Meta CEO and dated Aug. 28, 2026. "We read, with great interest, your open letter to TikTok and YouTube calling for industry standards to protect kids online in the wake of your company’s settlement with the state Attorneys General. We wholeheartedly agree with you…"

The letter was sent just two days after the comments were made by the unnamed Meta official, but nearly a month after a neutered version of KOSA was passed by the House as the Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act. It still needs to be voted on by the Senate.

"Fortunately there is still time to pass this life-saving legislation this Congress," the group wrote. "Given your recently changed views on needing federal legislation to prevent online harms within the industry, will you stop lobbying against KOSA; publicly pledge your support for the bill; and share your support with President Trump and leaders in Congress?"

The letter was strategic, both McComas and Molak told Mashable. On one hand, it takes Meta's comments at face value and extends an olive branch to the company, which has so far been the main opposition to ParentsSOS's advocacy efforts, they say. 

On the other hand, it calls out what Molak referred to as a "brazen" implication that Meta was cleaning up an industry rife with ne'er-do-wells. "We know what kind of person Zuckerberg is," said Molak. "We needed to shame him into helping us pass KOSA. He needs to put his money behind his words."

The response, as of this story's publishing, has been silence. Neither Molak nor McComas expressed surprise that Meta would drag its feet on pushing for legislation publicly. 

Mashable also reached out to Meta regarding the letter prior to publication. The company declined to comment, directing the publication to Meta's previous newsroom post. 

What is KOSA?

ParentsSOS has been pounding the pavement around Capitol Hill to pass KOSA, a piece of federal legislation that has become synonymous with cases surrounding teen mental health, social media addiction, and suicide. 

In a simple reading, KOSA would mandate default safeguards for underage internet users, including parental controls, communication limits, and location privacy, as well as design features like the ability to turn off infinite scroll, autoplay, and other incentives to stay online. The bill also requires the Secretary of Commerce, Federal Communications Commission, and Federal Trade Commission evaluate the efficacy of age verification systems at the "device or operating system level." 

ParentsSOS, which calls KOSA "a wildly popular bipartisan bill" in the letter, says Meta may be using KOSA as protection from further litigation. In fact, Meta has recently shifted its stance and begun working with, rather against, regulatory proponents — conversations aimed at carving out specific protections to avoid astronomical fines for violating said law, company insiders recently told Politico. 

We needed to shame him into helping us pass KOSA. - Maurine Molak, ParentsSOS

"[KOSA] can't happen for immunity," said McComas. "It needs to happen for the lives of American children and families that are forever torn apart when one of them is lost."

Many other organizations have backed the bill, including the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE). "The Kids Online Safety Act with its strong Duty of Care would compel Meta and other tech platforms to design their products with children in mind and Congress should pass this quickly," said NCOSE leadership in the wake of the settlement. 

Enough is Enough, an internet safety nonprofit that helped pass the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) in 2000, also called on the Senate to pass KOSA, noting its "strong Duty of Care" provisions that they argue could deliver needed protections. "Hopefully, this settlement will end the lobbying to protect Big Tech and instead focus on protecting kids," the organization wrote.

Parent rights advocacy group ParentsTogether has previously backed KOSA and called for additional Senate inquiries into Big Tech following the settlement decision. "As Congress advances federal online safety legislation like the Kids Online Safety Act, we urge lawmakers to set strong, clear standards for every platform while preserving states' and families' ability to sue," the nonprofit wrote. "Federal law can raise the floor nationwide; access to the courts is what keeps companies honest in between. Our children deserve both."

There's other legislation on the table, too, many of which are looped into the larger KIDS Act. For example, Enough is Enough also called on Meta to back the federal App Store Accountability Act, a federal version of laws recently passed by states like Texas which mandate stricter age verification and parental controls for app marketplaces. Meta has previously called on regulation of marketplaces rather than stipulations on platforms themselves.

Organizations pushing KOSA are up against a massive lobbying machine backed by Big Tech. According to an analysis of lobbying disclosures by campaign finance reform nonprofit Issue One, companies have spent a combined $226,000 per day pushing back on legislation in 2026. The numbers have escalated as AI companies have gained a hold in federal policymaking.

"When Meta says 'industry wide standards,' that means they know they will lobby to enact a very weak set of safeguards. But now, it must [be] clear to all, that Meta can never be trusted when it comes to protecting and supporting young people," Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, told Mashable. "We need more litigation, a push for strong state laws, and a major D.C. push for national policy that finally reins in Meta, Google, and the other industry leaders." 

Why is KOSA controversial?

Online safety regulation isn't just swimming against the tide of Big Tech money. KOSA has proven to be a highly divisive bill among digital privacy advocates since its initial introduction in 2022. 

Critics have warned the bill —  and related online safety legislation — could be opening up a Pandora's Box of First Amendment violations. Responding to early versions of KOSA, critics noted language that could serve as a backdoor for internet-wide censorship, including posts featuring LGBTQ content, and have expressed doubt over controversial age verification systems. 

SEE ALSO: What would ethical age verification look like online?

KOSA's Duty of Care stipulations, which critics argue could lead platforms to over-censor protected speech to shield themselves from the law, have previously been called into question by groups like the ACLU, GLAAD, and the Internet Society. A group of 90+ civil society organizations signed onto a 2022 letter opposing early versions of KOSA. Critics have continued to push back against the constitutionality of the bill and related legislative attempts like the App Store Accountability Act. 

Much like child safety groups, privacy groups warned the settlement could provide momentum to pass the long-awaited regulation. But the settlement itself also poses concern.

Deep in the terms of Meta's settlement was a minor legal loophole, effectively granting the company permission to retain and use children's data for training age assurance models and designing guardrails. The agreement bars states who signed on from suing the company under the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which is the basis for many ongoing claims. 

"Under this settlement, young users will now have less access to Meta products, and a lesser ability to exercise their rights to speak, access information and art and culture, associate and form communities, and play," wrote the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "The settlement also embeds age assurance into every product, mandating the collection of even more personal information from users of all ages; this enshrines Meta's harmful surveillance into law."

In an Aug. 26 statement, the Center for Democracy & Technology warned the settlement's age assurance promises could pose potential risks to privacy and free expression rights online. "Given the well-documented risks age assurance techniques pose to all users’ rights to access the web privately, securely, and anonymously, this commitment raises significant concerns and its implementation must be closely observed," the organization wrote. 

Despite these criticisms — which McComas describes as red herrings seeded by Big Tech itself — KOSA is still viewed by proponents as the only solution to what has become one of the most pressing issues of our time. "I believe it will start saving lives right away," said McComas.

TL;DR: Amazon's discounted Prime for Young Adults membership ($7.49/month after a 6-month trial) now includes 5% cash back on move-in essentials and groceries through September 15, plus free 30-minute delivery on Amazon Now orders over $25.

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If you can't bear the thought of living in a dorm room for another second (I def get it; I had three roommates my senior year of undergrad), and you're moving into your first apartment on a tight budget — like Ramen-noodles-every-night kind of budget — you'll be happy to know that Amazon has a special membership tier just for you.

SEE ALSO: Apple's Back to School sale just got extended to Sept. 24 — more time to score up to $150 in gift cards

Right now, you can get Amazon's "Prime for Young Adults" membership for just $7.49 a month (or $69 a year), which is half the cost of a standard Prime membership. If you sign up for the trial, you'll get six months free up front. This tier, designed specifically for students pinching pennies, gives you all the benefits of Prime, including free shipping, Prime Video, and a free Grubhub+ membership.

On top of the usual stuff, Amazon added a few new perks for the back-to-school season:

• 5% cash back on groceries and essentials: Through Sept. 15, Amazon is giving Prime for Young Adults members 5% cash back on everyday grocery essentials, plus home, kitchen, and office gadgets. Once you hit a $5 balance, you can apply it directly to your next checkout. It caps at $100 per purchase and $500 a year.

• Amazon Now 30-min delivery: Prime for Young Adult members get free 30-minute delivery on Amazon Now orders over $25. Even better: If you're a first-time user, you'll get $5 off your first $25+ order (plus the free delivery), and another $5 off your second $25 order.