Mashable

SAVE $200: As of Aug. 5, the Google Pixel 9 Pro is on sale for $799 at Amazon. That's a 20% saving on list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Google Google Pixel 9 Pro $799 at Amazon
$999 Save $200 Get Deal

If you're in the market for a new smartphone, you have to check out this latest Amazon deal on the Google Pixel 9 Pro, currently reduced by $200. As of Aug. 5, this impressive model is now just $799. This deal is for the 128GB option and comes in the colors obsidian and hazel.

It's a great cell, for many reasons. Display-wise, you'll enjoy a 6.3-inch OLED display with vibrant colors. It also benefits from the latest Google Tensor chip for fast, non-laggy performance.

SEE ALSO: I tested Grok Imagine, and it's no match for Google Veo 3 or Sora

And if camera quality is important to you, this model ticks all the boxes. It has triple rear cameras, making it the most powerful pixel camera yet, so you can enjoy high-quality video and even enhance your videos up to 8K with the video boost tool.

This smartphone also features Gemini, Google's AI technology. You can use this for things like advanced photo editing, such as Magic Eraser and Face Unblur, and enhanced voice recognition for dictation. It also uses real-time translation to allow for language support in messaging or live conversations, and it even powers predictive text.

Sounds like a good deal, right? But it won't be around for long. Amazon has marked this one as "limited-time" only, so head to Amazon without delay.

FREE LEGO: On Aug. 10, build a Lego Boombox model at participating stores and take it home with you for free. Find participating stores here.

Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Free Lego Boombox Learn More

Lego has been hosting make and take events all year, but we've had to remain patient over the last month or so. The gap in the schedule has been tough for the dedicated fans out there, but the good news is that the wait is almost over.

Following on from the Steering Wheel, Valentine's Day Heart, Mother's Day Bouquet, and Grogu events, you can now build a Lego Boombox model at participating stores and take it home with you for free. Visitors to select Lego Stores on Aug. 10 (from 12-2 p.m.) will have the chance to participate in this special event. This event is intended for participants aged 6+ years, and the model will be available on a first-come-first-serve basis while supplies last. You can check participating stores in the U.S. and Canada here.

SEE ALSO: Building the 'Twilight' Lego set was the therapy session I didn’t know I needed

This fun Boombox model is not available for purchase, so participants are getting their hands on an exclusive item for absolutely nothing. The only catch is that you can't stock up on these exclusive items. You are limited to one build per participant, but that seems fair. Leave some for the rest of us.

Build and take home an exclusive Lego Boombox model for free on Aug. 10.

SAVE $110: As of Aug. 5, the Amazon Fire TV 4-Series is on sale for $289.99 at Amazon. That's a 28% saving on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Fire TV 50-Inch 4-Series $289.99 at Amazon
$399.99 Save $110 Get Deal

Looking for a new TV? Consider your search over, because the 50-inch Amazon Fire TV 4-Series is back on sale at Amazon. As of Aug. 5, you can save $110 on this great TV, now just $289.99.

With 4K Ultra HD, HDR10, HLG, and Dolby Digital Plus, you're getting stunning clarity, vibrant colors, and rich detail that brings your favorite shows and movies to life. Like most Amazon devices, it comes with Alexa built in, so you can easily search for content, launch apps, and control playback using just your voice. You’ll have instant access to all the major streaming platforms too, including Netflix, Disney+, and Prime Video.

SEE ALSO: Get $20 off the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K

The Fire TV can also connect with your smart home Alexa devices, including doorbells, lightbulbs, and speakers. For example, pair up your TV with your Echo speakers to create an immersive home theater atmosphere for your next movie night. Plus, there are four HDMI inputs to connect gaming devices, sound accessories, cables, and other equipment seamlessly.

This deal has a "limited-time" stamp, so get it before it runs out.

Stephen King likes to split his time on social media between slamming Donald Trump and recommending horror movies, including those that are based on his own stories.

His latest? Writer/director Michael Shanks' Together, a body horror about a struggling couple (real life couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie) who start quite literally getting stuck to one another.

SEE ALSO: Stephen King posts a book update that could be huge for all fans

"Dave Franco and Alison Brie are great--and brave--in TOGETHER," King wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday. "Horror movies work when you care about the people. This one works."

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

It's worth noting that Mashable's Kristy Puchko wasn't quite as unambiguous in her praise of the film.

"To the credit of Shanks, what he has scripted is a compelling tale of co-dependency with a mix of the occult and body horror," she wrote in her review. "Together is a wickedly entertaining movie. But watching it in the wake of The Substance, Sinners, Bring Her Back, and 28 Years Later, it's not a winner, but an also-ran."

Together is now playing in theaters.

Here's the thing: I actually don't want or need budget earbuds to attempt to perform the same as $450 flagship headphones.

Still, as someone who tests the gamut of headphones and earbuds for a living, I know that the cheaper options out there are certainly going to try. While some punch above their weight class in some areas, they almost certainly fall flat in others, trying to pack in premium features like 20 equalizer settings that all sound the same or overly sensitive touch controls that are more trouble than they're worth. So when I saw the Raycon Everyday Earbuds start popping up in many a YouTube sponsorship, I figured they might fall into that class of budget earbuds. I was wrong.

Raycon Everyday Earbuds Classic $79.99 at Amazon
Shop Now

The Raycon Everyday Earbuds succeed because they know exactly what they are: relatively affordable earbuds, meant not to wow, but to be reliable and convenient to use. With them clocking in at $79.99 (or $63.99 if you can grab them on sale), I don't need these earbuds to offer a super-involved app experience or the best active noise cancellation on the market. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised when I found out these earbuds didn't even have a companion app.

The case does two things: charges the earbuds and tells me roughly how much battery life it has left via the front lights. Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable

This is where I'm going to say something radical: I don't think every device in our lives needs a companion app. I imagine part of the appeal of wired headphones is that you can plug and play. For me, the Raycon Everyday buds get as close as you can to that experience. You open the case, they connect to your device, and you use them. Revolutionary!

SEE ALSO: How we test headphones and earbuds

That doesn't mean they're short on features: They have decent ANC, preset equalizer options, and the ability to activate a phone's voice assistant. You just access all those features via the tactile on-earbud controls, which is a genius decision for budget earbuds — I've seen too many under-$100 buds fall victim to wonky touch controls (including my favorite budget earbuds) to believe it can be done well.

The Raycon case was even smaller than my gen one AirPods Pro case. Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable

Their battery life is also excellent, lasting eight hours per charge (and 32 hours with the case). The IPX4 rating and lower price point mean you can wear them while working or working out without worries, and the five gel tips allowed me to find a comfortable fit. The sound quality and ANC, while nothing incredible, are just solidly good. Honestly, they showed their lower price most in their lack of Bluetooth button, which means that without an app, you need to unpair them from any devices if you want to connect them to other devices. My slight annoyance from that was alleviated by the fact that they switched between two paired devices better than headphones twice their price. And as a bonus, they're incredibly compact — like small enough to fit into nearly any pocket.

With the Raycon Everyday Earbuds, you get what you pay for — but in the best way possible.

TL;DR: A lifetime license to Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac is on sale for $39.99 — enjoy permanent access to essential productivity tools.

Opens in a new window Credit: Retail King Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac: Lifetime License $39.99
$229 Save $189.01 Get Deal

Get a lifetime license to Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac on sale for $39.99 (reg. $229).

What you get:

• Lifetime access to Microsoft Office Home & Business 2019 you only pay for once

• Includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and OneNote — all optimized for Mac

• Perfect for creating polished documents, crunching numbers, and managing emails

• Designed for business and personal use with seamless integration into macOS 13, 14, and 15

• Instant download so you can start using it right away

• Continuous updates to keep your software fresh, plus lifetime customer support

Streamline your work and personal projects with a lifetime license to Microsoft Office Home & Business 2019 for Mac for just $39.99 (reg. $229).

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.

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

A sore.

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

ULCER

Hurdle Word 2 hint

Hairy.

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

FURRY

Hurdle Word 3 hint

Strength.

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

VIGOR

Hurdle Word 4 hint

Separate.

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

APART

Final Hurdle hint

To stoop down.

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

DEIGN

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 moon looks almost full tonight, but it's not quite there. We've even got a few more days before we hit that part 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. 5?

What is today’s moon phase?

As of Tuesday, Aug. 5, the moon phase is Waxing Gibbous. According to NASA's Daily Moon Observation, the moon will be 85% lit up tonight, the 12th day of the lunar cycle.

With each night we progress through the lunar cycle, there is more visibility for us on Earth. With your unaided eye, you'll be able to spot many things tonight, but most notably the Mare Vaporum, the Mare Tranquillitatis, and the Tycho Crater.

Pull out the binoculars to add the Mare Humorum, the Apennine Mountains, and the Archimedes Crater, which, according to NASA, is about 3/4 the size of Washington, DC. And with a telescope, enjoy glimpses of the Schiller Crater, the Descartes Highlands, and the Gruithuisen Domes, something NASA calls a "geologic mystery." One mile tall, these volcanic mountains are steeper than normal lunar volcanoes, despite missing water and plate tectonics that help volcanoes form on Earth.

When is the next full moon?

The next full moon will be on August 9. The last full moon was on July 10.

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.

We get it — buying a new mattress kinda sucks. It’s a decision that relies on dozens of prior discussions, like memory foam or hybrid, and a budget analysis. This also gets compounded by the question of, “Does a higher price make for a better bed?” Plus, there’s the knowledge that you’ll be sleeping on this thing every night for the next 10-ish years. The stakes are high for making the right choice.

The DreamCloud lineup of mattresses promises a lot in terms of comfort and support, and they claim to be made from high-quality materials. But they’re priced at a much more affordable level than many competitors that offer a similar product. Since I’m always on the lookout for a good deal, I knew I needed to test out the DreamCloud Premier Hybrid. It’s the brand's most popular mattress, and when on sale, you can snag a queen-size for about $950. That’s significantly more affordable than many luxury hybrid options, so I was curious to see how it felt.

SEE ALSO: I tested sleep earbuds for over a month: Here are the 3 I'd buy

In good news for everyone, I absolutely loved every night of rest I got on the DreamCloud Premier during my month of testing. It’s the closest I’ve ever come to recreating a luxury hotel-like experience at home. 

First impressions

Shockingly, mattresses come with instructions. As someone who’s researched, tested, and written about mattresses for over half a dozen years, I can tell you that often, these instructions are buried in an impossible-to-find corner on the manufacturer’s website. So when DreamCloud sent me an instruction email days before the mattress arrived, I had a good feeling.

The email told me not to get rid of my old mattress yet (makes you question why this needs to be stated), but the email also told me I’d need someone to help me haul the mattress inside once it’s delivered on account of the weight (yeah, it’s about 90 pounds). It also said the bed would come with a brochure that told me how to unbox and care for my new bed. 

Unboxing the hybrid bed-in-a-box was a breeze, and with one slight cut into the plastic, the mattress expanded with a mesmerizing quickness.

Online, DreamCloud says the Premier Hybrid measures 13 inches in height, which seems like a nice medium level these days. It’s not so high that I’ll need to do a little hop to get on, but it’s not so low that I'd feel like a college student with my mattress on the floor. Within minutes of cutting the plastic away from the mattress, it had expanded to almost 13 inches.

A slight but noticeable smell

DreamCloud says you can sleep on the mattress that same night, but I left it to air out in another room. This is not the recommended strategy since it involves hauling the fully expanded mattress into the bedroom eventually, and that’s not the easiest task. But this did afford me insight into how the mattress off-gassed. 

It took a few days for my DreamCloud Premier to get rid of a slight chemical smell. It wasn’t offensive, but it was present, and it might be bothersome for people who are especially sensitive to smells. But after three days, when I finally lugged the mattress onto my bed frame, the scent was gone.

So many layers of support with the DreamCloud Premier

The DreamCloud Premier is a hybrid mattress, which means it uses both memory foam and innerspring coils. If we break down the layers, the mattress first uses a quilted Euro Top that includes cooling fibers.

A quilted, cushioned cover with cooling fibers. Credit: Lauren Allain / Mashable

Below this are two layers of foam. The upper layer is memory foam and is designed to help with pressure relief, while the lower layer is adaptive foam that’s supposed to help with ergonomic support. Then, an eight-inch layer of individually wrapped innerspring coils forms the bed’s solid support system. The entire perimeter of this layer is reinforced to help with stronger edge support. Lastly, there’s a layer of dense foam that helps with the bed’s stability.

In total, you’re getting four layers of support below a quilted cover. 

How does the DreamCloud Premier Hybrid feel?

For starters, I adore this bed’s quilted cover. It both feels and looks expensive. It gives the bed a comfortable initial layer of pressure relief without making it feel like it’s swallowing its occupants. It’s a cushioned sleeping-on-top-of-the-bed feel that I prefer with mattresses. 

I’m a multi-position sleeper, switching from my stomach to my side and occasionally sleeping on my back. This isn’t a great combination for finding a suitable mattress because I need it to be both firm for when I sleep on my stomach and soft for when I’m on my side. Magically, the DreamCloud Premier Hybrid was comfortable in all positions. I always felt supported, never noticed any pressure points, and didn’t wake up with a sore neck or back.

SEE ALSO: Optimize your REM sleep with the best sleep tracker of 2025

Unfortunately for me and my partner, I’m a light sleeper and I wake up easily. This is one of the reasons I’ve always opted for an all-foam bed, assuming foam can absorb motion better than coils. But the DreamCloud Premier proved me wrong. It did a better job at isolating motion than my cheap all-foam bed. I stopped noticing when my partner got up before me or came to bed after me. I think this feature alone could make this bed perfect for couples who are easily disrupted by a partner’s movement or who have differing sleep/wake schedules.

Stable edge support around the entire perimiter means you can put on socks without falling off. Credit: Lauren Allain / Mashable Medium-firm but maybe not

DreamCloud says the Premier Hybrid is a medium-firm bed. They place it at a 6.5 on the mattress firmness scale of one to 10, with 10 sitting as the firmest option. Politely, I disagree. The mattress felt a lot more like a medium to my firm-mattress-loving self. However, I’m not mad about the firmness level here. In fact, I love it and it’s made me wonder if I really do prefer firm mattresses. The medium/medium-firm level on this bed felt great to me. I could have gone for firmer, but I never felt stuck in the bed and always felt like I was on top of the mattress but comfortably supported. If you think medium-firm sounds too firm for you, I wouldn’t count this mattress out. 

Does the DreamCloud Premier live up to its premier name?

Since the mattress has “premier” in the name, it’s only fair that we assess it as a premium product. For the most part, the mattress lives up to its name. The memory foam paired with the quilted cover is impressive when it comes to gentle pressure relief without feeling like the bed is losing its stability. The motion isolation is superior to even some all-foam beds. Plus, the flame barrier DreamCloud uses does not contain fiberglass, which is a big plus for most of us who are pretty grossed out by thinking about sleeping on fiberglass.

In terms of cooling, the DreamCloud Premier slept temperature-neutral for me. I sleep hot. I’ve showered at 3 a.m. on account of waking up far too sweaty to find being in my bed acceptable. But I never once woke up sweaty on the DreamCloud Premier. I’ve slept on cooler mattresses, like the Brooklyn Bedding CopperFlex Pro, but the DreamCloud did an adequate job of preventing my sweat tendency. I woke up feeling hot and took a layer of bedding off a few times, but I didn’t break a sweat. Come morning, I was never mad about the temperature of last night’s sleep, especially when I thought about the serious level of comfort.

SEE ALSO: The cult-favorite Loftie alarm helped me kick my nighttime phone habit

I tested the DreamCloud Premier with cooling percale sheets from Naturepedic and my absolute favorite pillow, the Purple Harmony Pillow, and it felt like I had unlocked some kind of magical recipe for superior sleep. It was a five-star hotel-like experience each night, which felt like an incredible treat given that the mattress leans on the budget-friendly side.

Supportive while asleep and awake

Every sleep expert says we’re only supposed to use the bed for sleep and sex. And yeah, we’re all looking to get better sleep, but everyone except Bryan Johnson and those sleep doctors do other things in bed. A strong case in point is that The White Lotus season 3 aired while I tested the DreamCloud, so of course I tuned in every Sunday night to watch the new episode, and I did this while sitting in bed, naturally.

Because the DreamCloud Premier is a medium to medium-firm hybrid mattress, it’s a nice bed for sitting in to watch a show or type out some emails at midnight. The reinforced edge support also comes into play here, offering a stable surface along the sides and the foot of the bed.

A warning if you move often

I didn’t expect six layers of support in a premium hybrid mattress to be lightweight, but this mattress is a beast of a bed, weighing about 90 pounds in a queen size. That means I absolutely needed help with moving it from the driveway into the house. That’s a lot heavier than many all-foam beds. For some people, the weight of the mattress won’t be much of an issue since you’ll lug it into the bedroom once and then likely won’t move it out until it’s time for a new bed. But if you move apartments often, this mattress might be a pain. 

Two handles on each side make for easier moving, but it still weighs 86 pounds. Credit: Lauren Allain / Mashable

A nod to DreamCloud though because the Premier Hybrid has two handles on each side, which can make moving the mattress a bit easier. Those are also great for rotating the mattress, which DreamCloud says you should do every six months to help with both comfort and longevity.

A loveable 365-night sleep trial

I loved the DreamCloud Premier Hybrid, but will you? Mattress preferences are subjective, and it’s totally fair if you’re not convinced you’ll love the bed as much as I did. But that’s where DreamCloud’s generous sleep trial comes into play. You get 365 nights to try out the mattress at home while still remaining eligible for a return with a full refund. DreamCloud covers the return shipping fee.

Sleep on the mattress during August to make sure it sleeps cool enough for your preferences, and sleep on it during half-marathon training in the spring to make sure your bad hip gets enough support. The year-long sleep trial allows you to try the bed during all seasons and phases of life that come your way within that year. That’s reassurance I can’t offer from my personal perspective, but a major benefit that comes from opting for a DreamCloud mattress.

Is the DreamCloud Premier Hybrid mattress worth it?

Considering many luxury hybrid mattresses cost $1,500 or more for a queen size, the much more affordable DreamCloud Premier Hybrid is a really fantastic deal. At the time of writing this in mid-2025, the mattress was consistently on sale for $950. If you keep this mattress for 10 years, the $950 price works out to about $8 per month. For sleep that’s both comfortable and supportive, we’d pay way more. And honestly, the DreamCloud Premier Hybrid feels like it costs much more than $950.

Unless you’re outfitting a guest room or looking for something that’s under $500, the DreamCloud Premier Hybrid offers an incredible value for the construction, material, and overall feel of the mattress.

DreamCloud Premier Hybrid mattress $999 at Amazon
Shop Now

SAVE $60: The DJI Mini 3 drone is on sale at Amazon for $359, down from the normal price of $419. That's a 14% discount.

Opens in a new window Credit: DJI DJI Mini 3 drone $359 at Amazon
$419 Save $60 Get Deal

If you're in the market for a drone but haven't been ready to commit, you might want to ditch those cold feet and go for it. Come December, who knows what'll happen to drone sales in the U.S., and so to avoid any disappointment, it's best to get one soon. Thankfully, Amazon has a DJI model in stock today and it's even on sale.

As of Aug. 4, the DJI Mini 3 drone is on sale at Amazon for $359, marked down from the standard price of $419. That works out to a savings of $60 from a 14% discount.

The DJI Mini 3 means business when it comes to being small, weighing under 249 grams or about half a pound. The compact size and weight mean this is a great option for taking on adventures, out on creator projects, or packing along on a camping trip. Of course, the foldable design only further lends itself to the portability.

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

In terms of performance, DJI upgraded the battery life on the Mini 3 drone so you'll be able to get 38 minutes of standard intelligent flight battery or 51 minutes of intelligent flight battery plus. The gimbal design means you can capture true vertical footage while shooting in 4K HDR. All-in-all, the DJI Mini 3 features and functionality are awesome for beginners or advanced drone operators who want something super portable.

Keep in mind this sale is offered from a third-party seller. Mashable typically discourages buying from third-party sellers on Amazon, but given recent stock issues with DJI drones, this might be an option. The seller has a 76 percent positive rating over the last year, and most unhappy reviews are related to slow shipping.

Before it goes out of stock, snag the DJI Mini 3 from Amazon while saving $60. Since there's no telling what tomorrow holds in terms of tariffs or security regulations, it's best too snag the DJI today and rest assured those issues won't bother your holiday shopping list.

Over the weekend, Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI released Grok Imagine, a new generative AI tool for generating images and videos. Grok Imagine is available now to paid xAI subscribers in the Grok iOS and Android apps.

Musk has been hyping up the project on X, sharing photos and videos from Grok users. This includes some mildly NSFW content, which the Grok app labels as "Spicy."

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

AI video is an exciting — and frankly terrifying — new frontier for the AI industry. To proponents, this technology gives artists a new medium for creativity and could reduce the costs of animation and filmmaking. To critics, AI video poses serious risks for sexual deepfakes and misinformation.

Putting aside that debate for the moment, I wanted to see how well Grok Imagine compares to xAI's biggest rivals. As I've written previously, Google's Veo 3 AI video model currently leads with field with surprisingly lifelike video. Then there's Sora, from ChatGPT-maker OpenAI. Additionally, the popular AI image generator Midjourney recently introduced its own generative AI video tool.

So, how does Grok Imagine compare to its competitors? To be blunt, I'm not impressed.

Yes, Grok Imagine is brand new, and Musk recently said on X that it "should get better every day." However, as of this writing, it seems to lag far behind its rivals.

Let me show my work.

Comparing Grok Imagine AI video to the competition

Mashable recently wrote about a viral AI video trend — security camera footage of animals jumping on trampolines and engaging in similar antics. So, I used a simple prompt to test Grok Imagine, Veo 3, Sora, and Midjourney: "Security camera footage of rabbits jumping on a trampoline at night." Simple enough, right?

First, I should note that there's a big difference between Veo 3 and Grok Imagine. Google's Veo 3 model can generate videos based on a text prompt. Simply describe the video you want, and Veo 3 will do the rest. However, tools like Midjourney and Grok Imagine only offer text-to-image generation. After generating or uploading an image, users can then animate it, transforming it into a short video clip. In this sense, Grok Imagine is already on the back foot compared to OpenAI and Google.

With those caveats, let's dive into the results, which I've also shared on X.

I put my test prompt into Grok, and it returned these disappointing images.

Credit: Screenshot courtesy of Grok / Timothy Beck Werth Credit: Screenshot courtesy of Grok / Timothy Beck Werth

I selected the least bad of these images and created this short video:

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

It's...fine? Kind of mid, or meh, as the kids say.

But it also suffers in comparison to other AI video tools.

As the video shows, Google Veo 3 and Sora did much better with the same prompt:

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

Finally, Midjourney, which animates images similar to xAI, was able to produce better images and videos, though it took two attempts. The image and video it produced have the grainy look of surveillance footage.

AI-generated image. Credit: Timothy Beck Werth / Midjourney This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Audio is also a major disadvantage with Grok Imagine. While Veo 3 can produce sound effects and coherent dialogue in sync with the video, the audio I've found on Grok Imagine videos is limited to rough sound effects and gibberish.

Musk compared Grok Imagine to a modern-day Vine app, writing on X, "Grok Imagine is optimized for most fun and shareable content."

And in my initial tests, Grok Imagine seems optimized for creating two types of images and videos: memes and anime. If you want to animate memes — or create sexually suggestive videos of anime girls — then Grok Imagine will do the trick, I guess. But beyond that, I can't say I'm impressed.

There is one area where Grok Imagine does shine, and that's in terms of speed. So far, I've found it produces both images and videos significantly faster than its rivals.

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

Mashable reached out to xAI, and we'll update this story if we receive a response.

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

ChatGPT is getting a health upgrade, this time for users themselves.

In a new blog post ahead of the company's reported GPT-5 announcement, OpenAI unveiled it would be refreshing its generative AI chatbot with new features designed to foster healthier, more stable relationships between user and bot. Users who have spent prolonged periods of time in a single conversation, for example, will now be prompted to log off with a gentle nudge. The company is also doubling down on fixes to the bot's sycophancy problem, and building out its models to recognize mental and emotional distress.

SEE ALSO: An Illinois bill banning AI therapy has been signed into law

ChatGPT will respond differently to more "high stakes" personal questions, the company explains, guiding users through careful decision-making, weighing pros and cons, and responding to feedback rather than providing answers to potentially life-changing queries. This mirror's OpenAI's recently announced Study Mode for ChatGPT, which scraps the AI assistant's direct, lengthy responses in favor of guided Socratic lessons intended to encourage greater critical thinking.

"We don’t always get it right. Earlier this year, an update made the model too agreeable, sometimes saying what sounded nice instead of what was actually helpful. We rolled it back, changed how we use feedback, and are improving how we measure real-world usefulness over the long term, not just whether you liked the answer in the moment," OpenAI wrote in the announcement. "We also know that AI can feel more responsive and personal than prior technologies, especially for vulnerable individuals experiencing mental or emotional distress."

Broadly, OpenAI has been updating its models in response to claims that its generative AI products, specifically ChatGPT, are exacerbating unhealthy social relationships and worsening mental illnesses, especially among teenagers. Earlier this year, reports surfaced that many users were forming delusional relationships with the AI assistant, worsening existing psychiatric disorders, including paranoia and derealization. Lawmakers, in response, have shifted their focus to more intensely regulate chatbot use, as well as their advertisement as emotional partners or replacements for therapy.

OpenAI has recognized this criticism, acknowledging that its previous 4o model "fell short" in addressing concerning behavior from users. The company hopes that these new features and system prompts may step up to do the work its previous versions failed at.

"Our goal isn’t to hold your attention, but to help you use it well," the company writes. "We hold ourselves to one test: if someone we love turned to ChatGPT for support, would we feel reassured? Getting to an unequivocal 'yes' is our work."

Were you tricked by the video of a bunch of bunnies jumping on a trampoline on TikTok? Well, nearly 230 million people were — and plenty of those viewers had no idea that it was actually AI. In response, the creator who brought us the Punxsutawney Phil musical, Oliver Richman (or @olivesongs11), wrote and recorded a 30-second song about the AI video, also for TikTok. He wrote the song on day 576 of an ongoing project, where he writes a new song each day.

"That project has changed my life in so many ways," Richman told Mashable, adding that it brought him "back to the joy of creating." He scrolled across the viral video of the bunnies jumping on the trampoline and said he was "certainly fooled" and "thought they were real."

"So when I learned that they weren't, I was like, 'Oh, I think this is today's song."

The unknowing bunny song on TikTok now has over 3.8 million views, 600,000 likes, and hundreds of comments like, "Bo Burnham! At The Disco" and "Wait until you see the bear on a trampoline. Spoiler: also AI."

The song goes like this:

There were bunnies that were jumping on a trampoline

And I just learned that they weren't real

If a bot can inhabit

An unknowing rabbit

It might manufacture the way you make me feel

How do I know that the sky's really sunny?

Sometimes it feels like your love is as real as

An unknowing bunny

The video has inspired covers and renditions, stop-motion videos, reactions, and a variety of other really cool human-made art. As one creator wrote on a TikTok video using the sound, "The fact that this song written about AI is going viral is incredibly healing. Especially because us as artists and songwriters are being threatened of our livelihoods due to the use of AI. And AI could never create something this unique with this much feeling."

Richman said the response to his video has been "the most surreal thing ever."

"Every piece of art that I've seen, I like get emotional," he said. "It certainly made me feel connected to the beauty of the messiness of being a human. And the imperfections that AI tends to delete or perfect — seeing all of this human art has just been a very emotional and cool experience."

As Mashable's Tim Marcin recently wrote about the influx of faux surveillance footage of animals, it "seems to be a new genre of AI slop." But give the internet slop, and creators might make porridge (is that a saying?).

In the face of all the AI slop we see online, creators like Richman are staying positive. "Art is so cool. Human art is so cool, and that really excites me."

Updated on Aug. 4 at 3:00 p.m. ET — This story has been updated to include an interview with creator Oliver Richman. Some quotes have been lightly edited for clarity and grammar.

Verizon customers reportedly got double bad news this week: the phone carrier is raising fees and removing loyalty discounts.

According to users on the Verizon subreddit, several customers reported receiving an email from Verizon informing them their account discounts are ending. "We are writing to let you know that a discount on your account will soon end," the email said, according a redditor. "This discount will be removed no sooner than September 1, 2025." Several other redditors chimed in on the thread, saying they had a received the same email about losing loyalty perks offered to longstanding customers. Mashable has reached out to Verizon for comment and will update this story with a response.

Reddit

A few days earlier, Verizon confirmed to Tom's Guide that the company is increasing fees for activations, phone lines, and tablet plans by Sept. 1.

SEE ALSO: The fastest mobile services have been ranked, and there’s a clear winner

Verizon customers are understandably unhappy about the changes. Some commented that they might change phone carriers to T-Mobile or AT&T as a result. "They just keep finding ways to crap on loyal customers," commented one redditor, underscoring the general sentiment of the thread that loyal customers are being penalized for their loyalty.

According to Tom's Guide, Verizon is reportedly trying to persuade customers on older plans to switch to its newer myPlan subscription. "We want to ensure you get the best value and experience from Verizon and encourage you to check out our myPlan options for the plan that works best for you," the email to customers reportedly said.

Cutting loyalty discounts and upping fees is a bold way to do that, since it seems to be alienating customers even more.

Over the weekend, xAI released an updated version of the Grok iOS app with a new tool called Grok Imagine, which lets users quickly create AI images and videos. On X, excited Grok users are eagerly sharing their creations, and xAI founder Elon Musk is retweeting user posts.

Grok Imagine is available now to Heavy and Premium+ subscribers on the Grok iOS app, and to Heavy users on the Android app.

Grok Imagine features generative AI with text-to-image capabilities as well as the ability to turn images into short video clips with sound. In this way, it's similar to the new Midjourney AI video tool. Rival AI companies have AI tools that allow users to generate original videos based solely on text prompts, such as Veo 3 from Google and Sora from ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.

Musk praised Grok Imagine on X, calling it a "meme motherlode." He also teased the NSFW capabilities of the model and said Grok Imagine "should get better almost every day."

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Earlier this month, xAI released Grok 4, the company's latest and most intelligent model to date. In our previous testing, Grok lagged behind other popular AI image generators, particularly when it comes to preventing deepfakes.

How to try Grok Imagine

While Grok Imagine initially launched solely within the Grok iOS app, the DogeDesigner X account, which Musk often retweets, reported that it's now available on Android as of Monday for SuperGrok Heavy users.

Mashable tested Grok Imagine using the iOS app, and found it easy to start creating images and videos there.

After opening the Grok app, users should see two tabs at the top of the screen: "Ask" and "Imagine."

Tap on either the "Imagine" tab or the "Create Image" button and you will enter Grok Imagine.

Left: The Grok iOS app. Credit: xAI Right: Features AI-generated images. Credit: xAI

How to create images with Grok Imagine:

1. Type in a text-to-image prompt, upload an image, or use the voice mode by tapping "Speak"

2. Grok will generate the image and some variations.

3. Keep scrolling to automatically generate additional images

4. Share or download the images

How to create videos with Grok Imagine:

1. Tap on an image and select "Make video"

2. Choose from the options: Custom, Spicy, Fun, Normal

3. Your video will automatically generate and appear on the app

How to turn images into video with Grok Imagine

1. At the bottom of the app, tap the photo icon with a plus sign

2. Upload an image from your phone

3. Your video will automatically generate and appear on the app

Mashable is still in the process of testing Grok Imagine for ourselves, but the initial results seem to be... fine. As with other Grok tools, Grok Imagine seems to be lacking in safeguards that are commonplace in the AI industry. We've reached out to xAI for comment.

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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.

Pro wrestling — especially WWE — has always thrived on shocking swerves to keep fans tuning in week after week. It's part Dragon Ball Z, part soap opera, and all spectacle. But based on the backlash erupting across social media, it seems there’s one swerve that isn’t sitting right with fans: the surprise return of Brock Lesnar.

Known to casual fans as the Beast Incarnate, Lesnar has spent the past year as persona non grata in the internet wrestling community. In Jan. 2024, just weeks before the Royal Rumble, former WWE employee Janel Grant filed a lawsuit alleging that then-CEO Vince McMahon coerced her into a sexual relationship and trafficked her to another executive and an "unnamed WWE wrestler." That wrestler was later identified as Lesnar. The lawsuit alleges McMahon offered sexual favors from Grant to Lesnar as a bargaining chip in ongoing contract negotiations.

In response, WWE quickly removed Lesnar from the Royal Rumble and scrapped plans for his WrestleMania XL match. He was also removed from the WWE 2K24 special edition cover and edited out of TV intro packages — effectively erased from the spotlight. It should be noted that at the time of this writing, although Lesnar was named 44 times in the suit, he is not a defendant in the case, nor has he been charged with any crime.

But now, it seems WWE is ready to move past the controversy — even if fans aren’t. At WWE's SummerSlam night two event, in what was billed as John Cena’s final SummerSlam match before retirement, Lesnar made a surprise return to confront him. While the pop from the crowd in attendance was thunderous, both fans and wrestlers online voiced frustration.

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Brock Lesnar’s return to WWE programming follows a string of controversial decisions by the company over the past week. The biggest of which was WWE abruptly announcing that press conferences with independent media would no longer take place. The timing raised eyebrows, as the announcement came shortly after top WWE executive Paul “Triple H” Levesque appeared at the White House alongside President Trump for the signing of a new executive order to expand the Presidential Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition.

Per Wrestling Observer Radio, journalist Dave Meltzer notes that WWE canceled the press conferences to avoid having to answer questions about Lesnar.

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Two of NASA's historic data-collecting missions — used by scientists and earthbound agriculturalists to track carbon dioxide and crop health — may be permanently grounded as the Trump administration looks to shrink the agency's spending.

When they launched over a decade ago, the satellites known as the Orbiting Carbon Observatories (OCOs) revolutionized the collection of carbon data and greenhouse gas science. To put it simply, the OCOs changed how we understand our impact on the planet. Experts rely on the data for studies on greenhouse gases and severe weather and climate disasters, as well as other practical uses, including modeling the effectiveness of eco-friendly transportation on carbon dioxide emissions and even mapping plant photosynthesis and crop failures around the world.

SEE ALSO: This Webb photo didn't just see galaxies. It changed their place in time.

OCO-2 has been orbiting Earth since 2014, designed initially to measure regional carbon dioxide sources and natural "carbon sinks" that absorb greenhouse gases. OCO-3 was launched in 2020 to supplement previous OCO missions, and is attached directly onto the International Space Station. The satellites run the government around $15 million in annual maintenance costs, reports NPR.

The equipment was expected to last in space for several more years, NPR reports, but NASA employees have recently been tasked with drawing up plans to terminate their use.

The agency has been looking to private scientific partnerships to keep its missions running, as the Trump administration and other Republican leaders double down on attacks against climate change science. President Trump shut down the federal climate.gov website in June, following a May executive order that outlines a new "gold standard" for federal scientific research and enables agency heads to deem research that fails to align with the stipulation of the order as "scientific misconduct." The site now redirects visitors to the climate page of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Compared to his first term, Trump has slowed the federal government's investment in its space program. But the president's stance on proactive climate policy has remained the same across administrations: In 2019, Trump issued orders to withhold climate modeling research in federal assessments, following the deletion of federal climate change websites hosted by the EPA.

In the last month, Sean Duffy, secretary of transportation and acting NASA administrator, and other agency leaders have preemptively begun scaling back NASA's workforce and structure in order to align with a proposed 2026 budget cut that would see $6 billion of excised funding and the termination of dozens of science programs and missions, reports Reuters.

Dozens of NASA employees signed a letter in protest of the proposed budget, writing: "We are compelled to speak up when our leadership prioritizes political momentum over human safety, scientific advancement and efficient use of public resources. These cuts are arbitrary and have been enacted in defiance of congressional appropriations law. The consequences for the agency and the country alike are dire." The letter explicitly calls out the irreversibility of decommissioned spacecraft and the loss of mission observations, as well as cuts to research in "space science, aeronautics, and the stewardship of the Earth."

SEE ALSO: Live from space! Watch Earth live streamed on Mashable.

Illinois is officially staking its claim in the wild west of AI regulation. In a landmark move, state lawmakers have passed a bill banning AI from acting as a standalone therapist and placing firm guardrails on how mental health professionals can use AI to support care. Governor JB Pritzker signed the bill into law on Aug. 1.

The legislation, dubbed the Wellness and Oversight for Psychological Resources Act, was introduced by Rep. Bob Morgan and makes one thing clear: only licensed professionals can deliver therapeutic or psychotherapeutic services to another human being.

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"We have already heard the horror stories when artificial intelligence pretends to be a licensed therapist. Individuals in crisis unknowingly turned to AI for help and were pushed toward dangerous, even lethal, behaviors," said Rep. Morgan in a statement to Mashable. "Every day, AI develops further in our country without the guardrails necessary to protect people. By passing HB 1806, we are taking action to pause the unchecked expansion of AI in mental healthcare and putting necessary regulation in place before more harm is done."

Under the new state law, mental health providers are barred from using AI to independently make therapeutic decisions, interact directly with clients, or create treatment plans — unless a licensed professional has reviewed and approved it. The law also closes a loophole that allows unlicensed persons to advertise themselves as "therapists."

Violating the act could cost up to $10,000 per offense, with fines scaling based on the severity of the infraction. The law went into effect immediately.

Illinois is now the first state to regulate the use of AI in mental healthcare. It joins a growing list of AI-related laws already on the books, including recent amendments to the state’s Human Rights Act. Those changes make it a civil rights violation to use AI in ways that result in discriminatory treatment of employees — such as using zip codes as a proxy for protected classes — or to deploy AI tools without notifying employees.

The role of AI in mental health care is still hotly contested. On one hand, the appeal is clear: with the high cost of care leaving millions of Americans without access to therapy, turning to AI can seem like a practical alternative. But warnings from mental health professionals, researchers, and even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman point to serious concerns. At best, AI-driven therapy poses major privacy risks. At worst, it could exacerbate a person’s mental health crisis, especially when vulnerable users mistake a chatbot for professional care.

"By clearly defining how AI can and cannot be used in mental health care," Morgan's statement reads. "We’re protecting patients, supporting ethical providers, and keeping treatment in the hands of trained, licensed professionals."

Save $50: Grab the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 on sale for $199.95 at Amazon as of Aug. 4. This deal saves you 20% on the normally $249.95 earbuds.

Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 $199.95 at Amazon
$249.99 Save $50.04 Get Deal

There's nothing that kills the momentum of a good workout quite like earbuds that refuse to stay put.

That's one problem Beats set out to fix with their workout earbuds, but they didn't stop there. The result is the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2, and as of Aug. 4, you can grab them for $50 off their retail price at Amazon at just $199.95.

If your eyes popped out at the sale price, hear me out: these earbuds are a big upgrade over any cheap pair you might bring with you to the gym. Let's start with the fit: in my experience, they're a little awkward to put in at first, but once you find the right ear tip size and figure out the best angle to put them in at, Beats achieves something difficult — they give you a secure fit thanks to the ear hook, along with solid sound and ANC, thanks to the in-ear buds.

Open earbuds, another popular option for working out, can clip around the ear but sit outside of your ear canal, meaning you'll always hear the world around you. You can achieve the same effect with the Powerbeats' transparency mode.

Beats smartly opts for a tactile on-ear button controls that are way less likely than sensitive touch controls to get accidentally activated mid-workout. Naturally, they also have an IPX4 water- and dust-resistance rating, so you don't have to worry about getting too sweaty. The brand could've stopped here, but they also built a heart rate monitor into these earbuds, which according to our sister site PCMag (also owned by Ziff Davis), works about as well as the monitor on the Apple Watch. These Apple-owned earbuds also pair just as quickly and as well as a pair of earbuds, making them an especially convenient workout option.

Considering their biggest con is their higher price point, it's worth grabbing them on sale. Though $199.95 isn't their lowest price ever — that would be their Prime Day price of $179.95, these earbuds don't go on sale that often, making this a deal worth jumping on.

The best Apple deals you can shop this week Best AirPods deal Apple AirPods Pro 2 $169 (save $80) Get Deal Best MacBook Air deal Apple MacBook Air, 13-inch (M4, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) $799 (save $200) Get Deal Best MacBook Pro deal Apple MacBook Pro, 14-inch (M4, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $1,299 (save $300) Get Deal Best iPad deal Apple iPad 11-inch (A16, WiFi, 128GB) $299 (save $50) Get Deal

If you checked our Apple deals last week, you'll find that not much has changed, but we're not really complaining. Several record-low prices are still available, so if you weren’t able to take advantage last week, now’s your chance. (I’ll admit, I’m a little curious to see what happens during Black Friday this year, considering all of the dirt-cheap deals we’ve seen since Prime Day.)

Here are the best Apple deals you can still get for the week of August 4.

Best AirPods deal Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple AirPods Pro 2 $169 at Amazon
$249 Save $80 Get Deal Why we like it

While the AirPods Pro 2 aren’t as cheap as they were over Prime Day, they’re still on sale. Right now, you can get the Apple AirPods Pro 2 for $169, down from $249, at Amazon. (Pretty good for earbuds with ANC.) The discount applies to the USB-C versions of the earbuds.

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

The Apple MacBook Air, 13-inch (M4, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) is surprisingly still at its record-low price. That's right: You can get the MacBook Air M4 (in any color) for just $799. That's a 20% discount and a $200 savings.

Best MacBook Pro deal Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple MacBook Pro, 14-inch (M4, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $1,299 at Amazon
$1,599 Save $300 Get Deal Why we like it

If you'd rather have a Pro, the 14-inch Apple MacBook Pro (M4, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) is still sitting at $1,299.00. This is the lowest price we've tracked for this model and a full $300 off its list price.

More MacBook deals

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

• Apple MacBook Air, 13-inch (M4, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $999 $1,199 (save $200)

• Apple MacBook Air, 15-inch (M4, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $1,199 $1,399 (save $200)

• Apple MacBook Air, 15-inch (M4, 24GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $1,399 $1,599 (save $200)

• Apple MacBook Pro, 14-inch (M4, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,499 $1,799 (save $300)

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

Best iPad deal Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple iPad 11-inch (A16, WiFi, 128GB) $299 at Amazon
$349 Save $50 Get Deal Why we like it

You can still get the 11-inch Apple iPad 11-inch (A16, WiFi, 128GB) for $299. Honestly, for a do-everything tablet that's perfect for back-to-school or just watching Netflix, it's a tough price to beat.

Deals on Apple accessories and more

• Apple AirTag — $24 $29 (save $5)

• Apple Pencil (USB-C) — $69 $79 (save $10)

• Apple AirTag (4-Pack) — $79.98 $99 (save $19.02)

• Apple Pencil Pro — $99 $129 (save $30)

• Apple Pencil (2nd Generation) — $99 $129 (save $30)

• Apple Magic Keyboard and Case (iPad Air 13-inch) — $287.09 $319 (save $31.91)