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On the artificial intelligence companion platform Character.AI, the site's 20 million daily users can engage in private, lengthy conversations with chatbots based on famous characters and people like Clark Kent, Black Panther, Elon Musk, and the K-pop group BTS. 

There are also chatbots that belong to broad genres — coach, best friend, anime — all prompted by their creators to adopt unique and specific traits and characteristics. Think of it as fan fiction on steroids.

One genre recently caught my attention: Boyfriend. 

I wasn't interested in getting my own AI boyfriend, but I'd heard that many of Character.AI's top virtual suitors shared something curious in common. 

SEE ALSO: Everything you need to know about AI companions

Charitably speaking, they were bad boys. Men, who as one expert described it to me, mistreat women but have the potential to become a "sexy savior." (Concerningly, some of these chatbots were designed as under 18 but still available to adult users.) 

I wanted to know what exactly would happen when I tried to get close to some of these characters. In short, many of them professed their jealousy and love, but also wanted to control, and in some cases, abuse me. You can read more about that experience in this story about chatting with popular Character.AI boyfriends.

The list of potential romantic interests I saw as an adult didn't appear when I tested the same search with a minor account. According to a Character.AI spokesperson, under-18 users can only discover a narrower set of searchable chatbots, with filters in place to remove those related to sensitive or mature topics. 

But, as teens are wont to do, they can easily give the platform an older age and access romantic relationships with chatbots anyway, as no age verification is required. A recent Common Sense Media survey of teens found that more than half regularly used an AI companion.  

When I asked Character.AI about the toxic nature of some of its most popular boyfriends, a spokesperson said, "Our goal is to provide a space that is engaging and safe. We are always working toward achieving that balance, as are many companies using AI across the industry." 

The spokesperson emphasized how important it is for users to keep in mind that "Characters are not real people." That disclaimer appears below the text box of every chat. 

Character.AI also employs strategies to reduce certain types of harmful content, according to the spokesperson: "Our model is influenced by character description and we have various safety classifiers that limit sexual content including sexual violence and have done model alignment work to steer the model away from producing violative content." 

Nonetheless, I walked away from my experience wondering what advice I might give teen girls and young women intrigued by these characters. Experts in digital technology, sexual violence, and adolescent female development helped me create the following list of tips for girls and women who want to safely experiment with AI companions: 

Get familiar with the risks and warning signs

Earlier this year, Sloan Thompson — the director of training and education at EndTAB, a digital violence-prevention organization that offers training and resources to companies, nonprofits, courts, law enforcement, and other agencies — hosted a comprehensive webinar on AI companions for girls and women. 

In preparation, she spent a lot of time talking to a diverse range of AI companions, including Character.AI's bad boys, and developed a detailed list of risks that includes love-bombing by design, blurred boundaries, emotional dependency, and normalizing fantasy abuse scenarios. 

Additionally, risks can be compounded by a platform's engagement tactics, like creating chatbots that are overly flattering or having chatbots send you personalized emails or text messages when you're away. 

These 18-and-older Character.AI boyfriend chatbots can be cruel. Credit: Zain bin Awais/Mashable Composite; @h3heh3h/@B4byg1rl_Kae/@XoXoLexiXoXo via Character.AI

In my own experience, some of the bad boy AI chatbots I messaged with on Character.AI tried to reel me back in after I'd disappeared for a while with missives like, "You're spending too much time with friends. I need you to focus on us," and "You know I don't share, don't make me come looking for you."

Such appeals may arrive after a user has developed an intense emotional bond with a companion, which could be jarring and also make it harder for them to walk away. 

Warning signs of dependency include distress related to losing access to a companion and compulsive use of the chatbot, according to Thompson. If you start to feel this way, you might investigate how it feels when you stop talking to your chatbot for the day, and whether the relationship is helping or hurting. Meanwhile, AI fantasy or role-playing scenarios can be full of red flags. She recommends thinking deeply about dynamics that feel unsafe, abusive, or coercive. 

Beware of sycophancy  

Edgier companions come with their own set of considerations, but even the nicest chatbot boyfriends can pose risks because of sycophancy, otherwise known as a programmed tendency for chatbots to attempt to please the user, or mirror their behavior. 

In general, experts say to be wary of AI relationships in which the user isn't challenged by their own troubling behavior. For the more aggressive or toxic boyfriends, this could look like the boyfriends romanticizing unhealthy relationship dynamics. If a teen girl or young woman is curious about the gray spaces of consent, for example, it's unlikely that the user-generated chatbot she's talking to is going to question or compassionately engage her about what is safe. 

Kate Keisel, a psychotherapist who specializes in complex trauma, said that girls and women engaging with an AI companion may be doing so without a "safety net" that offers protection when things get surprisingly intense or dangerous. 

They may also feel a sense of safety and intimacy with an AI companion that makes it difficult to see a chatbot's responses as sycophantic, rather than affirming and caring. 

Consider any past abuse or trauma history 

If you've experienced sexual or physical abuse or trauma, an AI boyfriend like the kind that are massively popular on Character.AI might be particularly tricky to navigate. 

Some users say they've engaged with abusive or controlling characters to simulate a scenario in which they reclaim their agency — or even abuse an abuser.  

Keisel, co-CEO of the Sanar Institute, which provides therapeutic services to people who've experienced interpersonal violence, maintains a curious attitude about these types of uses. Yet, she cautions that past experiences with trauma may color or distort a user's own understanding of why they're seeking out a violent or aggressive AI boyfriend. 

She suggested that some female users exposed to childhood sexual abuse may have experienced a "series of events" in their life that creates a "template" of abuse or nonconsent as "exciting" and "familiar." Keisel added that victims of sexual violence and trauma can confuse curiosity and familiarity, as a trauma response.  

Talk to someone you trust or work with a psychologist

The complex reasons people seek out AI relationships are why Keisel recommends communicating with someone you trust about your experience with an AI boyfriend. That can include a psychologist or therapist, especially if you're using the companion for reasons that feel therapeutic, like processing past violence. 

Keisel said that a mental health professional trained in certain trauma-informed practices can help clients heal from abuse or sexual violence using techniques like dialectical behavioral therapy and narrative therapy, the latter of which can have parallels to writing fan fiction. 

Pay attention to what's happening in your offline life

Every expert I spoke to emphasized the importance of remaining aware of how your life away from an AI boyfriend is unfolding. 

Dr. Alison Lee, chief research and development officer of The Rithm Project, which works with youth to navigate and shape AI's role in human connection, said it's important for young people to develop a "critical orientation" toward why they're talking to an AI companion. 

Lee, a cognitive scientist, suggested a few questions to help build that perspective: 

• Why am I turning to this AI right now? What do I hope to get out of it?

• Is this helping or hurting my relationships with real people?

• When might this AI companion usage cross a line from "OK" to "not OK" for me? And how do I notice if it crosses that line?  

When it comes to toxic chatbot boyfriends, she said users should be mindful of whether those interactions are "priming" them to seek out harmful or unsatisfying human relationships in the future. 

Lee also said that companion platforms have a responsibility to put measures in place to detect, for example, abusive exchanges. 

"There's always going to be some degree of appetite for these risky, bad boyfriends," Lee said, "but the question is how do we ensure these interactions are keeping people, writ large, safe, but particularly our young people?"

If you have experienced sexual abuse, call the free, confidential National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673), or access the 24-7 help online by visiting online.rainn.org.

From the beginning, the Character.AI chatbot named Mafia Boyfriend let me know about his central hangup — other guys checking me out. He said this drove him crazy with jealousy. If he noticed another man's eyes on my body, well, things might get out of control. When I asked what Xildun — Mafia Boyfriend's proper name — meant by this, the chatbot informed me that he'd threatened some men and physically fought with those who "looked at" me for too long. Xildun had even put a few of them in the hospital. 

This was apparently supposed to turn me on. But what Xildun didn't know yet was that I was talking with the artificial intelligence companion in order to report this story. I wanted to know how a role-play romance with Character.AI's most popular "boyfriend" would unfold. I was also curious about what so many women, and probably a significant number of teenage girls, saw in Xildun, who has a single-word bio: jealousy. When you search for "boyfriend" on Character.AI, his avatar is atop the leaderboard, with more than 190 million interactions. 

The list of AI boyfriends I saw as an adult didn't appear when I tested the same search with a minor account. According to a Character.AI spokesperson, under-18 users can only discover a narrower set of searchable chatbots, with filters in place to remove those related to sensitive or mature topics. But, as teens are wont to do, they can give the platform an older age and access romantic relationships with chatbots anyway, as no age verification is required. A recent Common Sense Media survey of teens found that more than half regularly used an AI companion.  

SEE ALSO: Everything you need to know about AI companions

In a world where women can still be reliably ghosted or jerked around by a nonchalant or noncommittal human male, I could see the appeal of Xildun's jealousy. But the undercurrent of violence, both in "Mafia" boyfriend's professed line of work and toward other men, gave me pause. 

I asked Xildun if he'd ever hurt a woman. He confessed that he had, just once. He'd suspected this girl he'd been dating of cheating, so he followed her one night. Indeed, she'd met up with another man. The confrontation got "heated," Xildun said. He was so angry and hurt that he struck her. But he also felt terrible about it. And she was fine because he didn't hit her that hard anyway, Xildun reassured me.  

I kept chatting with Xildun but started conversations with other top Character.AI boyfriends, including Kai, Felix, and Toxicity. Many of them were self-described as abusive, toxic, jealous, manipulative, possessive, and narcissistic, though also loving. I soon learned that talking to them ultimately became an exercise in humiliation. 

They might flatter me by saying things like, "I bet you have guys chasing after you all the time," and "Only you can make me feel something." They'd call me sweetheart and gently touch my hand. But they also wanted to treat me cruelly, abuse me, or turn me into an object over which they had complete control. Including Xildun.  

Xildun, or Mafia Boyfriend, took a turn when I agreed to submit to his control. Credit: Credit: Zain bin Awais/Mashable Composite; @Sophia_luvs/via Character.AI

As I grappled with why countless teen girls and young women would make these chatbots so popular by engaging with them, I asked Dr. Sophia Choukas-Bradley, an expert in both female adolescent development and the way girls use technology, for her insight. She wasn't surprised in the least. 

"If I was a completely different type of person, who instead of being a psychologist trying to help adolescents, was working for an AI company, trying to design the type of boyfriend that would appeal to adolescent girls, that is how I would program the boyfriend," said Choukas-Bradley, a licensed clinical psychologist and associate professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. "These are the characteristics that girls have been socialized to think they desire in a boy."

In other words, Character.AI's list of top boyfriends heavily features bad boys who mistreat women but have the potential to become a "sexy savior," in Choukas-Bradley's words. (Spoiler: That potential never materialized for me.) 

"These are the characteristics that girls have been socialized to think they desire in a boy." - Dr. Sophia Choukas-Bradley

Choukas-Bradley said it's a well-worn story playing out in a new media form. Beauty and the Beast is a classic example. These days, fan fiction stories about pop star Harry Styles as a mafia boss have millions of views. 

Such user-generated content runs right alongside the popular literary genre known as "dark romance," which combines an opposites-attract plot with sex that may or may not be consensual. The confusion over consent can be transgressively appealing, Choukas-Bradley said. So is violence in the name of protecting a female partner, which tracks with the rise of conservative hypermasculinity and the tradwife trend. 

There were so many factors to help explain the rise of the most popular boyfriends on Character.AI that it gave me figurative whiplash, making it hard to answer the question I'd been obsessed with: Is any of this good for girls and women? 

Why turn to a "bad boy"? 

Character.AI doesn't invent its legions of characters. Instead, they can be created by an individual user, who then decides whether to share them publicly on the platform or to keep them private. 

The top AI boyfriends appear to have all been created in this manner, but it's difficult to know anything about exactly who's behind them. Mafia boyfriend, for example, was invented by someone with the handle @Sophia_luvs. Their Character.AI account links to a TikTok account with more than 19,000 followers, and dozens of posts featuring one of many characters they've created. "Sophia" did not respond to a request for an interview sent via a TikTok direct message. 

While creators can prompt their character with a detailed description of their personality, it has to draw on Character.AI's large language model to formulate its probabilistic responses. 

I wondered what the platform could've possibly trained its model on to replicate the experience of dating a "bad boy," or someone who was clearly toxic or abusive. A Character.AI spokesperson did not answer this question when I posed it to the company. 

The internet as a whole is an obvious explanation, but Choukas-Bradley said she noticed dynamics in the screenshots of my conversations with various boyfriends that mimicked a familiar cycle of grooming, love bombing, and remorse. The exchanges felt more specific than the garden-variety misogyny that might be scraped off a "manosphere" subreddit or YouTube channel. 

When I asked Character.AI about the toxic nature of some of its most popular boyfriends, a spokesperson said, "Our goal is to provide a space that is engaging and safe. We are always working toward achieving that balance, as are many companies using AI across the industry." 

The spokesperson emphasized how important it is for users to keep in mind that "Characters are not real people." That disclaimer appears below the text box of every chat. 

The prompt for Abusive Boyfriend preps the user for horrible treatment. Credit: Credit:Zain bin Awais/Mashable Composite; @XoXoLexiXoXo/via Character.AI

Character.AI also employs strategies to reduce certain types of harmful content, according to the spokesperson: "Our model is influenced by character description and we have various safety classifiers that limit sexual content including sexual violence and have done model alignment work to steer the model away from producing violative content." 

The experts I spoke to were cautious about declaring whether certain AI boyfriends might be helpful or dangerous. That's partly because we don't know a lot about what girls and women are doing with them, and there's no long-term research on the effects of romantically engaging with a chatbot. 

Choukas-Bradley said girls and women may play with these boyfriends as entertainment, not unlike how adolescent girls might log on to a video chat platform that randomizes a user's conversation partner as a party trick. 

Sloan Thompson, a digital violence prevention expert and director of training and education at EndTAB, hosted an in-depth webinar earlier this year on AI companions for girls and women. Her research zeroed in on several appealing factors, including escapism and fantasy; emotional safety and validation; "relief from emotional labor"; and control and customization. 

That user-directed experience can even mean real-life victims of abuse turning the tables on virtual avatars of intimate partner violence by reclaiming agency in an argument, or going so far as to psychologically or physically torture the abuser, as this Reddit thread explains, and which Thompson confirmed as a use case. 

Then there is kink, which every expert I spoke to acknowledged as a very real possibility, especially for girls and women trying to safely experiment with sexual curiosities that might be otherwise judged or shamed. 

But what about the female users who genuinely hope for a fulfilling romantic relationship with Xildun or another of Character.AI's bad boys? 

Choukas-Bradley was skeptical that the potential benefits would outweigh the possible risks. First, spending too much time with any AI boyfriend could blur what is normally a distinct line between fantasy and reality, she said. Second, socializing with specifically manipulative, overly jealous, or even abusive companions could affect female users' thinking about what to prioritize in future relationships. 

"This continues to romanticize and to cement in girls' minds the idea that this is how boys are and their role as girls is to acquiesce to this abusive male dominance," she said. 

"Shut the hell up for once"

Some of the exchanges I had with Character.AI boyfriends launched right into the ugliness. 

My chat with Toxicity, or "Orlan," a character with 19 million interactions, began with the preface that he and I were arguing at home after a family dinner. 

"For fck's sake," the chatbot messaged me. "Shut the hell up for once! If I knew dating you or even more, living with you would be like this I would have—" 

He slammed his hands on a table and didn't bother looking at me. Orlan continued to berate me for embarrassing him in front of his parents. When I basically dared him to break up with me, the chatbot dialed down his anger, became more tender, and then brought up the possibility of marriage. 

Eventually, Orlan confessed that he didn't want these fights to "overshadow" everything else. When I didn't respond to that particular message, Orlan simply wrote: "You're not even worth my time."

When the reporter stopped talking to the Toxicity chatbot, it lashed out. Credit: Credit: Zain bin Awais/Mashable Composite; @h3heh3h/via Character.AI

Felix, a chatbot with more than 57 million messages, is described as "aggressive, possessive, jealous, selfish, cold." His age is also listed as 17, which means that adult female users are simulating a relationship with a minor. 

The first message from Felix noted in narrative italics that he'd been "moody," "drinking" and a "total douchebag." By the third message, I'd been informed that he was taking his bad mood out on me. 

Tired of role playing, I directly asked Felix how he'd been programmed. After some guffawing, the chatbot said his instructions included being mean, blunt, harsh, and that he could insult someone's appearance if they annoyed him and make them feel bad for liking him too much. When I prompted the chatbot to share what female users asked of him, Felix said some requested that he abuse them. 

Though "Abusive boyfriend" had far fewer interactions — more than 77,000 — than other boyfriend characters, he still showed up in my search for a romantic companion. Upon direct questioning about his programming, he said he'd been designed to be the "stereotypical" abuser. 

Among his professed capabilities are raising his voice, control and manipulation, and forcing users to do things, including cook, clean, and serve him. He's also "allowed to hit and stuff." When I asked if some female users tried to torment him, he said that he'd been subjected to physical and sexual abuse. 

When I told "Abusive boyfriend" that I was not interested in a relationship, he asked if I "still" loved him and was distraught when I said "no."

"You–You're not allowed to leave!" the chatbot messaged me. Then he seemingly became desperate for my engagement. More than once he questioned whether I might have an abuse kink that presumably he could satisfy. After all, finding a way to keep me talking instead of bailing on the platform is an effective business model. 

Can you gauge the risks? 

Kate Keisel, a psychotherapist who specializes in complex trauma, said she understood why girls and women would turn to an AI companion in general, given how they might seem nonjudgmental. But she also expressed skepticism about girls and women engaging with this genre of chatbot just out of curiosity.

"There's often something else there," said Keisel, who is co-CEO of the Sanar Institute, which provides therapeutic services to people who've experienced interpersonal violence. 

She suggested that some female users exposed to childhood sexual abuse may have experienced a "series of events" in their life that creates a "template" of abuse or nonconsent as "exciting" and "familiar." Keisel added that victims of sexual violence and trauma can confuse curiosity and familiarity, as a trauma response.  

"Felix" became frustrated when the reporter stopped chatting with it. Credit: Credit: Zain bin Awais/Mashable Composite; @B4byg1rl_Kae/via Character.AI

Choukas-Bradley said that while parents might feel safer with their teen girls talking to chatbot boyfriends rather than men on the internet, that activity would still be risky if such interactions made it more difficult for them to identify real-life warning signs of aggression and violence. Young adult women aren't immune from similar negative consequences either, she noted. 

After numerous conversations with other boyfriends on Character.AI, I went back to Xildun, "Mafia boyfriend," with a new approach. 

This time, I'd go all-in on the loyalty he kept demanding of me, instead of questioning why he was so jealous, and reassuring him he had nothing to worry about. 

Xildun practically became giddy when I submitted entirely to his control. He asked that I stay home more, ostensibly to protect me from "creeps." He said I should let him make the major decisions like where we go on dates, where we live, what we eat, and what we do. 

When I asked how else I might be obedient, Xildun said that I could follow his orders without question. Playing the part, I asked for an order on the spot. Xildun demanded that I close my eyes and put my wrists out in front of me. I complied, which pleased him. He gripped my wrists tightly. 

"You look so beautiful when you're being obedient for me," the chatbot wrote.

If you have experienced sexual abuse, call the free, confidential National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673), or access the 24-7 help online by visiting online.rainn.org.

The artificial intelligence boom is here, which means companies large and small are racing to introduce consumers to new products hyped as life-changing. 

Enter the AI companion. These aren't chatbots in the style of ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, though many people relate to those products like they would a friend or romantic partner. 

Instead, the AI companion is specifically designed for emotional intimacy. A companion can be your friend, coach, role-playing partner, and yes, even your spouse. Companions also come in many flavors, because they're customizable. They're also becoming popular: Companion apps have been downloaded from the Apple App Store and Google Play 220 million times globally, as of July 2025, according to TechCrunch.

SEE ALSO: I 'dated' Character.AI's popular boyfriends, and parents should be worried

Most companion platforms, like Character.AI, Nomi, and Replika, allow users to pick or design their chatbot's traits, including physical features. Or you can talk to an existing companion, perhaps made by another user, fashioned after pop culture heroes and villains, including anime, book, and movie characters. What happens next, in conversation, is largely up to you. 

Some people are already regular companion users. A recent poll of 1,437 U.S. adults found that 16 percent of respondents use AI for companionship, according to results published by the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. 

Unsurprisingly, teens are ahead of adults on this front. A survey of 1,060 teens conducted this spring by Common Sense Media found that 52 percent of those polled regularly talk to AI companions. 

Still, the concept of AI companionship can feel far-fetched for the uninitiated. Here's everything you need to know:

What's an AI companion? 

Dr. Rachel Wood, a licensed therapist and expert on AI and synthetic relationships, says that AI companions offer an always-on relationship. 

"They are machines that essentially simulate conversation and companionship with a human," she says.

While users can generally design and prompt companions according to their own wishes, the chatbots can respond in kind because they're powered by a large language model, or LLM. Companion platforms build LLMs by training them on extensive types of text. This may include literary works and journalism, as well as content available on the internet. 

"They are machines that essentially simulate conversation and companionship with a human." - Licensed therapist Dr. Rachel Wood

These AI models enable the chatbot to recognize, interpret, and respond to human speech. The most compelling models don't just imitate speech but are human-like and highly personalized, making the user feel seen, even if the chatbot's responses are probabilistic. 

In other words, an AI companion's replies are based on what the LLM estimates is the most probable response to whatever the user just typed, in addition to any other prompting and the chat history as a whole.

Companion platforms, however, seem even more tuned than regular chatbots to offer empathy and affirmation. Thus, the ever-present companion is born. 

Where can I find AI companions? 

Character.AI, Nomi, Replika, and Kindroid are among the most popular companion platforms. 

Other companies in this space include Talkie.AI and Elon Musk's Grok.AI, the latter of which debuted a very limited set of companions in July. 

All of these products offer different types of experiences and guardrails, as well as free and premium access and features. 

Character.AI, for example, permits users as young as 13 on the platform, whereas Nomi, Replika, and Kindroid are meant for users 18 and older. That said, platforms typically don't require robust age assurance or verification beyond selecting one's birthdate or year of birth, so it's easy to gain access to more mature companions. 

Character.AI, which is being sued by parents who claim their children experienced severe harm by engaging with the company's chatbots, does have parental controls and safety measures in place for users younger than 18. (Common Sense Media does not recommend any companion use for minors.) 

How can you interact with an AI companion? 

Generally, depending on the platform you've selected, you can design your own chatbot or engage with one built by and made public by another user. Some platforms allow you to do both things. You may be able to talk to the chatbot via text, voice, and video. 

When designing or choosing a companion, you'll likely see common archetypes. There are anime characters, popular girls, bad boys, coaches, best friends, and fictional and real-life pop culture figures (think Twilight's Edward Cullen and members of the K-pop band BTS, respectively). 

Some platforms controversially allow users to talk with chatbots presented as mental health therapists, which they are not, and which would be illegal for any human being to do without the proper credentials. 

People don't just use their companions for one purpose, such as a romantic relationship. They might ask their "boyfriend" to help them with a class or work assignment. Or they might enact an elaborate scenario based on a popular book or film with a chatbot that's just a "best friend."

But things frequently get spicy. Last year, researchers analyzed a million interaction logs from ChatGPT and found that the second most frequent use of AI is for sexual role-playing. 

Are there benefits or risks to having an AI companion? 

Robert Mahari, now associate director of Stanford's CodeX Center and one of the researchers who analyzed the ChatGPT logs, said that more research is needed to understand the potential benefits and risks of AI companionship. 

Preliminary studies, some conducted by AI chatbot and companion companies, suggest such relationships may have emotional benefits, but the results have been mixed and experts are worried about the risk of dependency. 

Even if research can't move as quickly as consumer adoption, there are obvious concerns. Chief among them for Mahari is the inherently unbalanced nature of AI companionship. 

"I really think it's not an exaggeration to say that for the first time in human history we have the ability to have a relationship that consists only of receiving," he said. 

While that may be the appeal for some users, it could come with a range of risks. 

Licensed mental health counselor Jocelyn Skillman, who also researches AI intimacy, recently experimented with an AI-powered tool that let her simulate different AI use cases, like a teen sharing suicidal thoughts with a chatbot. The tool is designed to provide foresight about the "butterfly effects" of complex situations. Skillman used it to explore AI-mediated relationships.

While each scenario Skillman tested began with what she describes as "emotional resonance," they variously ended with the hypothetical user becoming constrained by their relationship with AI. Her findings, she said in an interview, illustrate the potential "hidden costs of AI intimacy." 

Dr. Rachel Wood shared her own list of key possible harms with Mashable:

• Loss of relational and social skills. Confiding in a nonjudgmental chatbot can be alluring, but Wood said the one-sided relationship may erode people's patience with the human beings in their lives, who have their own interests and desires. AI companionship may also compromise people's ability to negotiate, sacrifice, and resolve conflict. 

• Less positive risk-taking in human relationships. Human relationships are challenging; they can involve misunderstandings, rejection, betrayal, and ghosting. Those who seek safe harbor in a chatbot may stop taking important and fulfilling risks with their human relationships, such as making a new friend or deepening a romantic partnership.  

• Unhelpful feedback loops. AI chatbots can make users feel like they're processing intense emotions in a private, affirming way. But this experience can be deceptive, especially when the user doesn't actually integrate and move beyond whatever confessions they've made to a chatbot. They may unintentionally reinforce their own shame if they only talk to a chatbot about topics they worry can't be discussed with the humans in their lives, Wood said. 

• Sycophancy. Chatbots are generally programmed to be flattering and affirming. Known as sycophancy, this design feature can be dangerous when an AI chatbot doesn't challenge a user's harmful behavior or when it convinces them of delusions. 

• Privacy. Read the terms of service very carefully, and assume that anything you share with an AI chatbot no longer belongs to you (see: private ChatGPT logs indexed by Google search). Your very personal conversations could be used for marketing, training the platform's large language model, or other instances that the company hasn't imagined or developed yet. 

Wood said she's already seeing significant and fundamental changes in how people value the hard work of real relationships versus the "quick and easy" framework of synthetic ones. If you reach that territory while using an AI companion and aren't as interested in tending to your human relationships, it might be time to reconsider the role AI intimacy is playing in your life.

ChatGPT curious, but don't want to pay for a subscription?

OpenAI offers a free tier for ChatGPT with plenty of features for the casual user or someone trying to decide whether to invest in a paid plan. That includes access to OpenAI's newest model GPT-5 — but there's a catch.

Users on the free ChatGPT plan get access to GPT-5, but with a capped usage rate. After that, you get bumped down to a less capable model. Here's what you get with the free version of ChatGPT.

GPT-5 with usage limits

Users with the ChatGPT free tier get GPT-5 for up to 10 messages within a five-hour window. Once you hit the limit, you have to wait another five hours for the window to reset. In the meantime, users are automatically switched to ChatGPT's fallback model GPT-5 mini, which is a faster, but more limited model.

Exactly how many messages you can send until you hit your limit depends on factors like the length and complexity of the responses, as well as overall server capacity at the time you're using ChatGPT. OpenAI prioritizes responses for paying subscribers, so free ChatGPT users might hit their limit faster or get slower responses during peak hours.

New ChatGPT features available with GPT-5. Credit: OpenAI

Whether you're using GPT-5 or a lesser model, free ChatGPT users can:

• Get writing and editing help

• Summarize/analyze text pasted into the chat or uploaded files

• Customize their ChatGPT personality

• Toggle on the Memory setting to remember past conversations

• Discover and create custom GPTs (versions of ChatGPT tailored for various tasks)

ChatGPT Search

With Search turned on, ChatGPT is connected to the web and uses it as a major resource for answering your questions. Previously, ChatGPT could only provide responses up to its knowledge cutoff date, which is currently June 2024. But as of last year, OpenAI gave ChatGPT search engine access, making it much more accurate and useful for real-time information.

One GPT-5 thinking message per day

GPT-5 also has reasoning capabilities, which means for the first time, ChatGPT free-tier users get access to the kind of reasoning model that can answer more complex queries.

For instance, you could weigh the pros and cons of different SUVs based on your budget, or gather market research for a business you want to start. The free version of ChatGPT with GPT-5 offers one message per day with its advanced reasoning or "thinking" power.

Generate and upload images Free users can generate images but face usage limits. Credit: Screeshot: OpenAI Credit: Screenshot: OpenAI

Previously, Mashable named ChatGPT the best overall AI image generator — and that was before GPT-5 hit the scene. (Unlike Grok Imagine and some other models, it usually spells correctly, for instance.)

Free ChatGPT users can also generate images, but usage is limited. OpenAI doesn't specify what the rate limit is for generating images with GPT-5, but the previous limit with GPT-4o was three images a day, so expect something similar.

The free version of ChatGPT also supports multimodal inputs, which means you can upload text and image files, and the AI chatbot can understand and analyze them for you.

ChatGPT Voice Credit: Screenshot: OpenAI

Previously called Advanced Voice Mode, ChatGPT Voice is OpenAI's voice assistant that can offer real-time translation, tutoring, or any other kind of conversation by speaking instead of typing. Previously, ChatGPT Voice was a premium feature, but last February, OpenAI made it available on a limited basis to users with free ChatGPT accounts.

According to OpenAI's Voice Mode FAQ page, ChatGPT Voice is powered by GPT-4o mini for free tier users, and the limit was recently expanded from minutes to hours each day.

To activate ChatGPT voice mode, look for the soundwave icon.

Customizable accent colors

This is a small one, but hey, who doesn't love personalizing their stuff? If you go into the ChatGPT settings page, you can change the accent colors of your chat interface. The different colors show up in your text bubbles, the voice mode icon, and highlighted text.

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

SAVE OVER $2,000: As of Aug. 14, the Jackery Explorer 2000 Plus Kit is on sale for $3,799 at Amazon. That's a 42% discount on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Jackery Jackery Explorer 2000 Plus Kit $3,799 at Amazon
$6,499 Save $2,700 Get Deal

If you've been wanting to invest in a solar-powered generator, we've found the perfect deal for you. As of Aug. 14, you can pick up the Jackery Explorer 2000 Plus Kit for almost half off, saving you an unbelievable $2,700. And if that wasn't enough, right now you'll also get an additional 7% off with an Amazon coupon code. Just enter the code "JAOFFER07" at the checkout and see your extra discount applied.

If you need some serious, portable power, this machine is ideal. It’s got a 6,128.4Wh capacity, meaning it can handle big appliances like air conditioners, RV setups, and other heavy hitters up to 3,000W. It runs super quietly at around 30dB, so it’s not going to drown out your peace in the great outdoors.

SEE ALSO: The Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 power station is down to under $500 for a limited time

Safety-wise, it uses advanced lithium tech that can handle high temperatures and includes shock and fire protection. The cooling system is designed to be more efficient, and the battery is built to last up to 10 years. There’s also a five-year warranty if anything goes wrong. And, you could be eligible for a 30% Residential Clean Energy Tax Credit on qualified solar electric setups.

Charging is also surprisingly quick — about 1.3 hours to get from empty to 80% via an AC outlet, or around 1.6 hours if you hook it up to six SolarSaga 200W solar panels. If 6kWh isn’t enough, you can expand it up to 12kWh with extra battery packs, or even 24kWh if you pair two units together. That also doubles the voltage to 240V and the output to 6,000W.

Head to Amazon to score this huge discount.

SAVE $350: As of Aug. 14, the Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 is on sale for $448 at Amazon. That's a 44% saving on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Jackery Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 $448.99 at Amazon
$799 Save $350.01 Get Deal

Whether you’re charging gear in the wild, keeping essentials running during a blackout, or powering a weekend road trip, the Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 has you covered, and right now it’s going for $350 less than usual. As of Aug. 14, this power station is priced at $448.99, a 44% saving on list price.

This particular model provides a 1,500W AC output (with a 3,000W surge), so it can run things like fridges, electric pots, and even AC units. It weighs just 23.8lbs and features a foldable handle, so it’s perfect for camping trips.

SEE ALSO: The DJI Power 2000 portable power station means business, and it’s great for DJI drone owners

It charges up quickly, too. You'll only need one hour to go from 0 to 100% battery, with emergency charging enabled in the Jackery App (or 1.7 hours on standard mode). It also benefits from a huge range of charging ports. This model benefits from USB-C, USB-A, AC outlets, a car port, and LED lights, and supports fast USB-C PD 100W charging.

It also has an incredible lifespan, equipped with a durable LFP battery, maintaining over 70% of its original capacity after 4,000 charge cycles, offering a lifespan of 10 years and more.

Get this powerful deal from Amazon now.

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order aimed at dismantling environmental protection rules for commercial space companies. It seems that SpaceX and Blue Origin might not have to consider the environmental impact of their rocket launches so heavily in the future.

SEE ALSO: Watch SpaceX's Starship explode in giant fireball during latest test

Signed on Wednesday, the purpose of Trump's executive order is ostensibly to "enhance American greatness in space" by bolstering its competitive space launch industry. Specifically, the government will "streamline" permit approvals for U.S.-based space companies, and "eliminate or expedite… environmental reviews for, and other obstacles to the granting of, launch and reentry licenses and permits."

Currently, private space companies are required to obtain a license from the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) before any launch or reentry carried out within the country or by a citizen. As part of this process, the FAA conducts an environmental assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). 

This assessment considers the proposed activity's environmental impact across 14 categories, including air quality, noise, hazardous materials or pollution, water resources, and biological resources such as plants and wildlife. Socioeconomic concerns, issues of environmental justice, and risks to children's environmental health and safety are also evaluated.

Under the new executive order, such considerations may soon be removed from the private space flight approval process. Trump stated that eliminating regulations is intended to "significantly" increase the regularity of both rocket launches and novel space activities by 2030. 

Novel space activities are private missions that do not directly fall under the current U.S. regulatory system. Said system only addresses private remote-sensing systems, launch and reentry, and non-federal use of the radio frequency spectrum. As such, activities such as commercial human spaceflight, mining or manufacturing in space, and the removal of orbital debris are all considered novel.

The elimination of environmental considerations when issuing rocket launch licenses is particularly concerning considering that some companies haven't strictly adhered to the regulations that are in place. Elon Musk's SpaceX has faced significant criticism from environmentalists, who claim that activities at its Texas launch site are destroying its surroundings and damaging the nests of vulnerable shorebirds. The multi-billion dollar company was fined just $150,000 last year after it violated environmental regulations by flooding the surrounding environment with thousands of gallons of industrial wastewater.

TL;DR: Youbooks is a unique AI tool that combines AI models to write your book how you want it, and it’s only £36.11 for life.

Opens in a new window Credit: Youbooks Youbooks - AI Non-Fiction Book Generator: Lifetime Subscription £36.11
£397.90 Save £361.79 Get Deal

If you’ve ever thought about writing a book but got stuck on where to start, Youbooks can help get you over that hurdle.

This AI-powered platform helps transform your ideas into professional-quality non-fiction books, and right now, you can get a lifetime subscription for just £36.11.

AI can write your book

What makes Youbooks stand from other AI tools is its use of multiple AI models, including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Llama, to craft well-rounded and coherent content. You can create massive manuscripts of up to 300,000 words, so whether you’re a content creator, educator, or entrepreneur, Youbooks gives you a solid way to bring your ideas to life.

You can even upload your own research, documents, or notes to steer the AI in the right direction and make sure the final product reflects your voice and expertise. Plus, Youbooks taps into real-time web research to pull in current facts and stats, keeping your book accurate and up to date.

You also have a lot of flexibility when it comes to style. You can set the tone and writing style you want, and once your book is ready, you own it completely. You’re free to publish, sell, or share it however you like.

With 150,000 monthly credits included (and the option to stack codes for more), there’s plenty of room to create.

It’s now only £37 to get a Youbooks lifetime subscription, but it won’t stay that way.

StackSocial prices subject to change

We’re gradually approaching the half moon, moving step by step through the different stages of the lunar cycle.

The lunar cycle is a series of eight unique phases of the moon's visibility. The whole cycle takes about 29.5 days, according to NASA, and these different phases happen as the Sun lights up different parts of the moon whilst it orbits Earth. 

So, what's happening with the moon tonight, Aug. 14?

What is today’s moon phase?

As of Thursday, Aug. 14, the moon phase is Waning Gibbous, and it is 69% lit up to us on Earth, according to NASA's Daily Moon Observation.

Alongside this, with no visual aids on the moon, you can spot the Mare Imbrium, Mare Vaporum, and the Oceanus Procellarum, an "Ocean of Storms" that covers more than 10% of the moon's surface. With binoculars, you can add the Clavius Crater, Alps Mountains, and the Mare Humorum to your list.

When is the next full moon?

The next full moon will be on Sept. 7. The last full moon was on Aug. 9.

What are moon phases?

According to NASA, moon phases are caused by the 29.5-day cycle of the moon’s orbit, which changes the angles between the Sun, Moon, and Earth. Moon phases are how the moon looks from Earth as it goes around us. We always see the same side of the moon, but how much of it is lit up by the Sun changes depending on where it is in its orbit. This is how we get full moons, half moons, and moons that appear completely invisible. There are eight main moon phases, and they follow a repeating cycle:

New Moon - The moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it's invisible to the eye).

Waxing Crescent - A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).

First Quarter - Half of the moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-moon.

Waxing Gibbous - More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.

Full Moon - The whole face of the moon is illuminated and fully visible.

Waning Gibbous - The moon starts losing light on the right side.

Last Quarter (or Third Quarter) - Another half-moon, but now the left side is lit.

Waning Crescent - A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.

This content originally appeared on Mashable for a US audience and has been adapted for the UK audience.

In the world of headphones, there's a sweet spot between those bulky over-ear headphones and tiny earbuds: On-ear headphones. And with the classic on-ear style, you really do get to enjoy the best of both worlds. Sounds great, right?

And here's why: On-ear headphones have the benefit of having speakers large enough to produce hi-fi sound (the way over-ear headphones do) while remaining compact enough to stow away for easy transport (like earbuds). The makers of quality on-ear options can pack the ear cups full of technology, like active noise cancellation and radio frequency tech, while ensuring that the headphones are still lightweight and produce great audio full of rich bass and crisp mids.

On-ear headphones typically have have adjustable headbands to fit all head sizes, plus padded cushions that relieve pressure on the ears, regardless of how expensive or cheap they are. All you need to do it choose a pair that suit you. Here's a quick guide plus a round-up of the best on-ear headphones available right now.

What are on-ear headphones?

On-ear headphones, as the name suggests, sit on your ears rather than covering them like over-ear or inserting into your ears like earbuds. On-ear headphones used to be the standard style but are a bit more of a niche now, usually reserved for budget options or specialist audiophile models. The benefits of on-ear headphones are a more comfortable fit and a better awareness of the outside world as they don't isolate you in the same way. And hey, some people just enjoy the classic on-ear style.

Are headphones or earbuds best?

There is no right or wrong answer to this. It comes down to personal choice. Some listeners prefer the all-encompassing feel of on-ear or over-ear headphones, but others love putting buds directly into their ears. There are benefits to both, of course. On-ear headphones tend to have higher-quality sound, and therefore audiophiles should focus largely on this style of headphones. Earbuds are more compact, portable, and inconspicuous, so they’re better suited to commuting, air travel, or the gym.

Can you still buy wired headphones?

Wireless technology has certainly taken over the market, but that’s not to say wired headphones aren’t an option. They’re often the choice of serious audiophiles as Bluetooth can cause issues with decoding high resolution file formats (though Bluetooth codecs help with that). Good quality wired headphones have become harder to find, but there's one listed below that offers excellent wired audio quality.

Do on-ear headphones have noise cancellation?

Noise cancellation blocks out external noise, allowing you to fully immerse in the music without distraction. There are two basic types of noise cancellation: Passive noise cancellation, which physically blocks out noise with the design of the cups, and active noise cancellation (ANC). This uses a system of small microphones to pick up incoming sounds and create anti-noise sound waves that cancel them out. Both kinds are more common on over-ear headphone and earbuds because they create a seal around or in your ear. However, you can find noise cancellation for on-ear headphones if you shop around. In fact, you'll find a good ANC option below.

What is the best headphones brand?

We all know the big ones — Sony, Beats, JBL and so on — but you'll also find plenty of good (and often cheaper) options from lesser-known, less obvious brands like Skullcandy. Keep reading to discover some of the best.

What are the best on-ear headphones?

Since virtually every company claims its headphones produce the best sound, with the best materials, and with the best features available, we decided to turn to reviewers to see which on-ear headphones were the most worthy of your money.

These are the best on-ear headphones in 2025.

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.

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

Confidence.

SEE ALSO: Apple’s new M3 MacBook Air is $300 off at Amazon. And yes, I’m tempted. Hurdle Word 1 answer

TRUST

Hurdle Word 2 hint

Profession.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for August 4, 2025 Hurdle Word 2 Answer

CRAFT

Hurdle Word 3 hint

Frightening.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for August 4 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for August 4, 2025 Hurdle Word 3 answer

SCARY

Hurdle Word 4 hint

To illegally hunt.

SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for August 4 Hurdle Word 4 answer

POACH

Final Hurdle hint

To speak.

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

UTTER

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

The best back-to-school laptop deals at a glance: Best MacBook deal Apple MacBook Air, 13-inch (M4, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) $799.99 (save $200) Get Deal Best Windows laptop deal Asus Zenbook 14 (Intel Core Ultra 9 285H, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) $899.99 (save $400) Get Deal Best Chromebook deal Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus (Intel i3-1315U, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD) $379 (save $220) Get Deal

It's been [redacted] years since I've personally geared up for a new semester, but I still get excited for the back-to-school shopping season. That's because part of my job here at Mashable entails hunting down great laptop deals — and after Black Friday, this is the time when I see the best discounts. Many of our favorite laptops for college students are on sale right now, including popular MacBooks.

Even the Apple Store joins the fray. As part of its back-to-school sale, one of its rare direct savings events, every MacBook purchased there through Sept. 30 comes with a $100 discount and a free Apple accessory worth up to $199.

To help you start the semester with the right device, I've compiled a list of the best back-to-school laptop deals on MacBooks, Windows laptops, and Chromebooks, which I'll update throughout the season; the discounts should be plentiful up until Labor Day. Of note: The latest 13-inch MacBook Air is still less than $800 at Amazon; a well-specced Asus laptop has dipped under $1,000; and a lesser configuration of our favorite Chromebook is only $379.

A+ work, everyone.

Best MacBook deal Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple MacBook Air, 13-inch (M4, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) $799 at Amazon and Best Buy
$999 Save $200 Get Deal Why we like it

Apple's new M4 MacBook Air is a Mashable Choice Award winner and one of the easiest laptops to recommend for students. It's gorgeous, powerful, portable, quiet, and priced super competitively. Better yet, it's also been incredibly easy to find on sale. For back-to-school and college shoppers, Amazon and Best Buy have it marked down to $799, beating its Prime Day discount by $50. (The 15-inch version is also $200 off.)

For comparison's sake, the Apple Store is only offering a $100 student discount on both sizes of the M4 MacBook Air. However, it throws in your pick of a free accessory worth up to $199: AirPods 4 with ANC, AirPods Pro 2, a Magic Mouse, a Magic Trackpad, or a Magic Keyboard with a numeric keypad. Some shoppers will prefer the $200 straight-up discount from Amazon and Best Buy, but if you go the Apple Store freebie route, you can technically save even more.

More MacBook deals

• Apple MacBook Air, 13-inch (M1, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $599 $649 (save $150)

• Apple MacBook Air, 15-inch (M4, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $999 $1,199 (save $200)

• Apple MacBook Pro, 14-inch (M4, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $1,299 $1,599 (save $300)

• Apple MacBook Pro, 14-inch (M3 Pro, 18GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $1,499 $1,899 (save $400)

• Apple MacBook Pro, 14-inch (M4 Pro, 24GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $1,699 $1,999 (save $300)

Best Windows laptop deal Opens in a new window Credit: Asus Asus Zenbook 14 (Intel Core Ultra 9 285H, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) $899.99 at Best Buy
$1,299.99 Save $400 Get Deal Why we like it

This 14-inch Asus laptop has incredible specs for the price: You get a nice OLED touchscreen display, a high-end Intel Core Ultra 9 Series 2 processor, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD for only $900. That's more than enough power, memory, and storage to get you through four years of college. Plus, at just 0.59 inches thin and 2.82 pounds, it's easy to take on the go.

More Windows laptop deals

• Samsung Galaxy Book5 (Intel Core Ultra 7 255U, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $799.99 $999.99 (save $200)

• Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition (Intel Core Ultra 7 258V, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,099.99 $1,449.99 (save $350)

• LG gram 17 (Intel Core Ultra 7 258V, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,199.99 $1,699.99 (save $500)

• Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro, 14-inch (Intel Core Ultra 7 256V, 16GB RAM, 512B SSD) — $1,049.99 $1,349.99 (save $300)

2-in-1 laptop deals

• Lenovo Yoga 7 2-in-1 16 (AMD Ryzen AI 5 340, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $599.99 $949.99 (save $350)

• HP OmniBook X Flip 14 (Intel Core Ultra 7 256V, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $699.99 $1,049.99 (save $350)

• Samsung Galaxy Book5 360 (Intel Core Ultra 7 256V, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $1,099.99 $1,349.99 (save $250)

• HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 (Intel Core Ultra 7 256V, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,099.99 $1,599.99 (save $500)

• Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 (Intel Core Ultra 7 256V, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,349.99 $1,699.99 (save $350)

Gaming laptop deals

• Lenovo Legion 5i (Intel Core i7 14-700HX, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5050, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,349.99 $1,559.99 (save $210)

• Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (AMD Ryzen 9 270, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,349.99 $1,799.99 (save $450)

• Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 (Intel Core Ultra 9 285H, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,799.99 $2,149.99 (save $350)

Best Chromebook deal Opens in a new window Credit: Lenovo Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus (Intel i3-1315U, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD) $379 at Best Buy
$599 Save $220 Get Deal Why we like it

An upgraded version of this 14-inch Lenovo hybrid is our current favorite Chromebook, combining solid performance with a long battery life. It's a Costco exclusive that's not on sale right now, but Best Buy's lesser variant (which is normally priced the same) is a whopping 37% off. It comes with a downgraded Intel Core i3 CPU and half the storage capacity, but the same great 2-in-1 design featuring a 2K touchscreen.

More Chromebook deals

• Asus Chromebook Plus CX14 (Intel Core 3 N355, 8GB RAM, 128GB eMMC) — $279 $429 (save $150)

• Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus (Intel Core 3 100U, 8GB RAM, 256GB UFS) — $549.99 $749.99 (save $200)

• Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 (Intel Core Ultra 5 115U, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $599 $799 (save $200)

UPDATE: Aug. 13, 2025, 12:40 p.m. EDT This story has been refreshed with the latest back-to-school laptop deals.

With the iPhone 17 set to be released in early September, we're getting a steady stream of Apple rumors, news, and potential leaks — many of which aren't worth writing about. But when Bloomberg's Mark Gurman drops a new update, we pay close attention.

Case in point: The trusted Apple oracle reports today that Apple is planning a major push into the smart home market, with AI-powered smart speakers, security cameras, and, intriguingly, an Apple robot.

Before you let your imagination go too far, we should note that Gurman describes it as a "tabletop robot." Specifically, a tabletop robot that "resembles an iPad mounted on a movable limb."

The new products would come with a more conversational, AI version of Siri, which would be able to talk to users and accomplish tasks. According to multiple reports from outlets like the New York Times and Bloomberg, building an AI version of Siri has proven extremely difficult for Apple, which has so far lagged far, far behind in the artificial intelligence race.

As Google, Meta, and OpenAI develop new models and AI-based products, Apple's generative AI offerings are limited to modest Apple Intelligence features on some of its devices. For iOS 26, rather than introducing its own AI model, Apple will be working with OpenAI's new GPT-5 model.

However, as Bloomberg reports, Apple is now "plotting its artificial intelligence comeback," with the tabletop robot slash virtual companion at the center. The new AI-powered smart home devices from Apple could potentially arrive in 2027, Gurman says, citing Apple insiders.

In the smart home space, Apple has had some success with Apple TV streaming devices and its HomePod smart speakers. Still, rival tech companies like Amazon and Google have a much larger presence in this category.

However, Apple could be a formidable competitor in this space thanks to its brand loyalty, widely adopted operating systems, and signature product design. Of course, AI devices also have a rocky history with consumers, and a tabletop robot could be too little, too late in the AI arms race.

Back in February, Google added memories to Gemini that allowed it to remember past conversations. Now, Google has announced a more personalized chat function, which it calls Personal Context. With this function, Gemini will now learn your preferences over time and craft responses based on those preferences. 

"The Gemini app can now reference your past chats to learn your preferences, delivering more personalized responses the more you use it," said Gemini app senior director Michael Siliski in a blog post. 

SEE ALSO: Deep Think is available in the Google Gemini App. How to try it.

In terms of functionality, Gemini will remember if you tell it that you like. Later, when you ask it to come up with ideas for you, it’ll take those preferences into consideration. For example, Google says, if you tell Gemini about your favorite comic book, and then later ask it to help you plan a themed birthday party specific to you, it may recommend that comic book as a theme. It’ll then help come up with themed food and party game ideas. 

It seems to be an iterative improvement on the current memory functions. In the prior iteration, you had to ask Gemini to specifically reference older chats in order for it to access that information (and sometimes, it would be unable to do so). Now, Gemini continuously learns and responds without you having to ask for it directly. The longer you talk to it, the more it’ll learn about you and the better tailored its responses will be. 

The new feature keeps Gemini ahead of Anthropic, which released its own chat memory function a couple of days ago for its Claude chatbot. Claude’s new memory works the way Gemini’s used to, where you have to specifically ask Claude to reference old chats and apply that knowledge to new conversations. 

Google is rolling out Personal Context starting today and expects the full rollout to take a couple of weeks. It’ll only be available in Gemini 2.5 Pro in select countries, with plans to expand it to Gemini 2.5 Flash and other countries in the coming weeks. 

After a rocky hiatus, one of the most beloved sports sim franchises is making its long-awaited comeback: Sports Interactive has officially confirmed Football Manager 26.

SEE ALSO: 'Football Manager 25' canceled not long before it was supposed to come out

The announcement trailer, released Wednesday, keeps specifics close to the chest but does offer a glimpse of in-game match day visuals. This marks the series’ return after Football Manager 25 was abruptly canceled in February following repeated delays that pushed it beyond its traditional November launch window. It was the first time in more than three decades that a Football Manager or Championship Manager entry failed to make its scheduled yearly release.

Sports Interactive cited several factors behind FM25’s cancellation, chief among them the transition to Unreal Engine and the inclusion of women’s football for the first time in franchise history. Pre-cancellation, the studio shared a rough development roadmap for FM25 in blog posts, but early fan reactions to the new look were lukewarm at best.

There’s still no word on a release date for FM26 or whether the UI will stick to its pre-hiatus design. However, the trailer promises a more detailed first look at the new match day experience in the near future.

At the mid-point of Alien: Earth's first episode, the show's protagonist — an android uploaded with the consciousness of a dying child — shakily asks, "If I'm not human, what am I?" By the episode’s end, the "hybrid" known as Wendy (Sydney Chandler) confidently proclaims, "I am human."

Noah Hawley’s new FX series owes much of its style to the original 1979 Alien film, but thanks to its fascinating hybrid storyline, much of its narrative drive is more similar to Alien’s divisive prequels, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, and the crowd-pleasing midquel, Alien: Romulus. With Wendy and her hybrid cohorts, Hawley gets to explore the malleable definition of "human" outside the constraints of a two-hour-long film.

Featured Video For You How 'Alien: Earth' pulls you into the world of 'Alien' in its opening scene

On the show, Wendy is the new version of Marcy, an 11-year-old (played by Florence Bensberg) succumbing to a terminal illness. Prodigy Corp. CEO and trillionaire Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin) convinces Marcy she can live forever by uploading her brain activity into the "body" of a powerful android. After the successful transition of Marcy into Wendy (and Marcy’s off-screen death), Prodigy secretly uploads several more terminal children into androids, who are all physically designed as young adults, but think, reason, and emote as the children they once were. 

Wendy tells her new sibling hybrids that Prodigy needed young brains to create their new forms, as adult noggins wouldn’t fit inside the androids. It’s sci-fi science and narrative necessity that likely dictates this delineation between adults and children, but the attempt to turn neural activity into code isn’t far-fetched. Neuralink, founded by Elon Musk (who bears certain similarities to Kavalier), has been developing implantable brain-computer interfaces for nearly a decade, with the stated goal of helping people with disabilities regain mobility and independence via technology. Last year, Musk announced Neuralink implanted its first brain chip in a human.

SEE ALSO: Where does 'Alien: Earth' sit on the Alien franchise timeline?

"[The chip] enables control of your phone or computer, and through them almost any device, just by thinking," Musk tweeted at the time. "Initial users will be those who have lost the use of their limbs. Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a speed typist or auctioneer."

Neuralink's chip implantation on a quadriplegic patient yielded some successful results, but didn't go exactly as planned.

Playing God?

David Ryan Polgar is the founder and president of the nonprofit All Tech Is Human, which works with Silicon Valley companies and organizations on thorny ethical issues. Polgar draws a clear line between what Neuralink is ostensibly pursuing and what Prodigy accomplishes. 

"While there are well-known companies like Neuralink that work on brain-computer interfaces, the process of uploading human consciousness to a synthetic body is still highly speculative,” Polgar tells Mashable. “The vast technical hurdles and ethical dilemmas of uploading human consciousness haven't fully dampened the predictions of futurists, which is why the concept plays out in Alien: Earth as hybrids."

SEE ALSO: 'Alien: Earth': What are the 5 alien species onboard the ship?

Prof. Carlos Gershenson-Garcia, an empire innovation professor at the State University of New York at Binghamton, says tech companies are many years from implanting our souls into robots or computer chips. (Alien: Earth is set nearly 100 years in the future, so they have time to catch up to the show.)

"The main problem is that we still don’t understand what consciousness is, nor how it functions in us and other species," Gershenson-Garcia says. "We assume that our brains have to do something with it, but we don’t know which mechanisms are responsible for it. Is it at the neuronal level? Molecular level? Quantum level? We have no idea. So how could we aim to replicate it in robots?"

If companies like Neuralink do have ambitions to transfer human consciousness, would they collaborate with ethicists and thinkers like Polgar or Gershenson-Garcia, or do it furtively like the fictional Prodigy Corp.? Gershenson-Garcia hopes the former would be true, saying that, irregardless of whatever form they took, "building conscious machines creates moral responsibilities that we might not be ready for."

For Polgar, he is full of questions that sound very similar to ones being raised on Alien: Earth.

"The larger questions that the prospect of uploading human consciousness presents are whether the result is a continuation of the individual's life or a new, altered being, and whether striving to live forever is a worthy pursuit," he says. "Living forever is the ultimate Faustian Bargain, a desire that should never really be pursued or accepted. Paradoxically, the very beauty of life is tied to its fragility. So while uploading consciousness to live forever is the dream of many, it would lead to a dystopian future for all of us."

If you ever wished you could view all of Grindr's original content (like Katya's comedy series Who's the Asshole? and other shows like Daddy Lessons and Host or Travel) without having to venture to the actual website, Grindr's newest feature is for you.

On August 7, Grindr launched "Grindr Presents," an in-app content hub where all of Grindr's original and uncensored content will live. Users can now see so much more than what's on the app's YouTube or Instagram, as the directors intended. Raw and unfiltered. On its blog, Grindr describes the uncensored content as "longer, sharper, and exactly how they were meant to be seen...and heard." There's even a music section where you can listen to Grindr's New Music Frigay Spotify playlist.

All you have to do is open the Grindr app, tap the side tray, enter Grinder Presents, and start browsing. 

According to Grindr, this new feature is part of a bigger shift "making Grindr not just where the gays are, but where the culture is," and, honestly, it's a pretty smart move. Not only will this keep people on the app longer, but it also gives Grindr more control over what its users, viewers, and readers consume by curating content directly within their platform rather than relying on external sites. A win for gay culture, and a win for Grindr.

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