Blogroll

President Donald Trump is siding with tech companies in the hotly contested AI copyright battle.

On Wednesday, the president outlined his AI Action Plan in remarks at the AI Summit, an event hosted by the All-In podcast and the Hill and Valley Forum. In announcing the plan, Trump called for a "common-sense application" of AI and intellectual property rules (starting at minute 19:48 in the video).

"You can't be expected to have a successful AI program when every single article, book, or anything else that you've read or studied, you're supposed to pay for," the president said. "When a person reads a book or an article, you've gained great knowledge. That does not mean that you're violating copyright laws or have to make deals with every content provider." Notably, he also said, "China’s not doing it."

The rhetoric reflects the stance big tech companies like Meta and OpenAI have taken when it comes to AI model training and copyright infringement.

AI companies say copyright law is slowing them down

A fierce legal debate is raging that pits copyright holders against AI companies. Authors, musicians, and artists have sued OpenAI, Meta, Anthropic, and others, claiming the use of their creative works (some of which were pirated) as training data is copyright infringement. For instance, in its suit against Midjourney, Disney called the AI image generator "a bottomless pit of plagiarism." However, AI companies claim they are protected by the fair use doctrine, which allows the unlicensed use of copyrighted works in specific circumstances.

In its March recommendations for development of an AI Action Plan, Meta said, "the Administration should clarify that the use of publicly available data to train models is unequivocally fair use." OpenAI similarly argued that "applying the fair use doctrine to AI is not only a matter of American competitiveness — it’s a matter of national security," in their submitted recommendations. Companies like OpenAI have claimed they need the green light to use copyrighted works without consent to win the AI race against China.

SEE ALSO: Trump's AI Action Plan revives regulation showdown between states, feds

As part of its AI Action Plan, the White House also issued a trio of executive orders about AI, which Trump signed after giving his remarks. There was no explicit mention of copyright issues or fair use in these orders, but Trump's comments clearly signal that the administration is siding with big tech on this issue. The action plan also calls for easing regulations on tech companies in general. "To maintain global leadership in AI, America’s private sector must be unencumbered by bureaucratic red tape," said the AI Action Plan.

Fact check: You do have to pay for knowledge

Trump's comments about not having to pay for gaining knowledge is actually a common argument. Tech companies have claimed that because their AI models are generally learning from the data, they are not subject to copyright laws.

However, many copyright lawyers disagree.

"When the president raises the difficulty of paying for every 'single article, book, or anything else,' – that’s legit," said Justin Hughes, a law professor at Loyola Law School. "But nothing in that is inconsistent with the AI companies licensing large repositories of copyrighted materials – as they are doing, AI companies reaching settlements with certified classes of copyright owners in litigation – as they should, and AI companies paying exemplary damages when they rapaciously copy stuff without permission."

In a previous interview with Mashable about the Kadrey v. Meta case, Hughes also pointed out that "people pay to learn and they have to buy copies of books to learn."

Dozens of AI copyright cases are making their way through the courts right now. AI blog ChatGPT Is Eating the World counts 47 active cases. Recently, Anthropic and Meta both won their fair use rulings, but the judge presiding over the Meta case had this to say: "As should now be clear, this ruling does not stand for the proposition that Meta’s use of copyrighted materials to train its language models is lawful," and even postulated that "it will be illegal to copy copyright-protected works to train generative AI models without permission."

It's unclear how Trump's copyright remarks will turn into concrete action. But he seems to be out of sync with the U.S. Copyright Office's position on AI training and fair use, according to a pre-publication version of its AI Copyright Report. That report concluded that fair use likely doesn't provide a blanket exception for AI companies using copyrighted works. In Congress, Senators Josh Hawley and Richard Blumenthal recently introduced a bipartisan bill that would ban AI companies from training on copyrighted works and allow people to sue tech companies for the use of their personal data for model training.

And then there's the possibility that Trump's stance might change, as Hughes theorized. "I think the president may feel very differently if and when he learns about AI companies training on episodes of The Apprentice without paying a dime."

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.

Paid apps can be a bit tricky to commit to, especially when you don't know what you're getting into. But many premium iPhone apps come with big advantages, like a one-time purchase for all your Apple devices, iCloud sync, and unlimited access to features, which skips any ongoing subscriptions.

Apple's next software updates are shaping up. WWDC saw the introduction of both iOS 26 and macOS 26 Tahoe, which will make their way to iPhones and Macs by the end of this year. Now, the first actual beta is here, giving us a look at a slightly more polished product.

One of the best services Microsoft offers is the “Link to Windows” app for Android devices. It allows you to seamlessly sync a bunch of stuff from your phone to your PC. Now, Microsoft is making it even better for controlling your computer from your phone.

When people think of retro gaming, they often picture CRT TVs and retro consoles with stacks of dusty cartridges, or perhaps a complicated Raspberry Pi build. But the truth is, you already own a capable retro gaming device—it's in your hands or on your desk right now.

President Donald Trump says that "woke AI" is a pressing threat to truth and independent thought. Critics say his plan to combat so-called woke AI represents a threat to freedom of speech and potentially violates the First Amendment.

The term has taken on new significance since the president outlined The White House's AI Action Plan on Wednesday, July 23, part of a push to secure American dominance in the fast-growing artificial intelligence sector.

The AI Action Plan informs a trio of executive orders:

• Promoting the Export of the American AI Technology Stack

• Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure

• Preventing Woke AI in the Federal Government

The action plan checks off quite a few items from the Big Tech wishlist and borrows phrasing like "truth-seeking" directly from AI leaders like Elon Musk. The executive order about woke AI also positions large-language models with allegedly liberal leanings as a new right-wing bogeyman.

So, what is woke AI? It's not an easy term to define, and the answer depends entirely on who you ask. In response to Mashable's questions, a White House spokesperson pointed us to this language in a fact sheet issued alongside the woke AI order: “biased AI outputs driven by ideologies like diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at the cost of accuracy.”

What is Woke AI? Unpacking the White House's definition

Interestingly, except for the title, the text of the woke AI executive order doesn't actually use this term. And even though the order contains a definitions section, the term itself isn't clearly defined there either. (It's possible "woke AI" is simply too nebulous of a concept to write into actual legal documents.) However, the fact sheet issued by The White House states that government leaders should only procure "large language models (LLMs) that adhere to 'Unbiased AI Principles' defined in the Order: truth-seeking and ideological neutrality."

And here's how the fact sheet defines "truth-seeking" and "ideological neutrality":

Truth-seeking means that LLMS shall be truthful and prioritize historical accuracy, scientific inquiry, and objectivity, and acknowledge uncertainty where reliable information is incomplete or contradictory.

Ideological neutrality means that LLMs shall be neutral, nonpartisan tools that do not manipulate responses in favor of ideological dogmas like DEI, and that developers will not intentionally encode partisan or ideological judgments into an LLM’s outputs unless those judgments are prompted by or readily accessible to the end user.

So, it seems the White House defines woke AI as LLMs that are not sufficiently truth-seeking or ideologically neutral. The executive order also calls out specific examples of potential bias, including "critical race theory, transgenderism, unconscious bias, intersectionality, and systemic racism." Obviously, there is a culture-wide dispute about whether those subjects (including "transgenderism," which is not an accepted term by transgender people) are inherently biased.

Critically, AI companies that fail to meet the White House's litmus tests could be locked out of lucrative federal contracts. And because the order defines popular liberal political beliefs — not to mention an entire group of human beings — as inherently biased, AI companies may face pressure to adjust their models' inputs and outputs accordingly.

The Trump administration has talked a big game about free speech, but critics of the action plan say this order is itself a major threat to free speech.

"The part of the action plan titled 'Ensure that Frontier AI Protects Free Speech and American Values' seems to be motivated by a desire to control what information is available through AI tools and may propose actions that would violate the First Amendment," said Kit Walsh, Director of AI and Access-to-Knowledge Legal Projects at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, in a statement to Mashable. "Generative AI implicates the First Amendment rights of users to receive information, and typically also reflects protected expressive choices of the many human beings involved in shaping the messages the AI writes. The government can no more dictate what ideas are conveyed through AI than through newspapers or websites."

“The government has more leeway to decide which services it purchases for its own use, but may not use this power to punish a publisher for making available AI services that convey ideas the government dislikes," Walsh said.

Is Woke AI a real problem? President Trump has said the U.S. will do "whatever it takes" to win the AI race. Credit: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Again, the answer depends entirely on where you fall along the political fault line, and the term "woke" has become controversial in recent years.

This adjective originated in the Black community, where it described people with a political awareness of racial bias and injustice. More recently, many conservatives have started to use the word as a slur, a catch-all insult for supposedly politically correct liberals.

In truth, both liberals and conservatives are concerned about bias in large-language models.

In November 2024, the Heritage Foundation, a conservative legal group, hosted a panel on YouTube on the topic of woke AI. Curt Levey, President of the Committee For Justice, was one of the panel's experts, and as a conservative attorney who has also worked in the artificial intelligence industry, he had a unique perspective to share.

I think it's interesting that both the left and the right are complaining about the danger of bias in in AI, but they're…focused on very different things. The left is focused mainly on the idea that AI models discriminate against various minority groups when they're making decisions about hiring, lending, bail amounts, facial recognition. The right on the other hand is concerned about bias against conservative viewpoints and people in large language models like ChatGPT.

Elon Musk has made it clear that he thinks that AI models are inheriting a woke mindset from their creators, and that that's a problem if only because it conflicts with being, what he calls, maximally truth-seeking. Musk says that companies are teaching AI to lie in the name of political correctness.

Levey also said that if LLMs are biased, that doesn't necessarily mean they were "designed to be biased." He added, the "scientists building these generative AI models have to make choices about what data to use, and you know, many of these same scientists live in very liberal areas like the San Francisco Bay area, and even if they're not trying to make the system biased, they may very well have unconscious biases when it comes to to picking data.”

A conservative using the phrase "unconscious bias" without rolling his eyes? Wild.

LLMs have biases because we have biases Credit: Cheng Xin/Getty Images

Ultimately, AI models reflect the biases of the content they're trained on, and so they reflect our own biases back at us. In this sense, they're like a mirror, except a mirror with a tendency to hallucinate.

To comply with the Executive Order, AI companies could try to tamp down on "biased" answers in several ways. First, by controlling the data used to train these systems, they can calibrate the outputs. They could also use system prompts, which are high-level instructions that govern all of the model's outputs.

Of course, as xAI has demonstrated repeatedly, the latter approach can be... problematic. First, xAI's chatbot Grok developed a fixation on "white genocide in South Africa," and more recently started to call itself Mecha Hitler. Transparency could provide a check on potential abuses, and there's a growing movement to force AI companies to disclose the training data and system prompts behind their models.

Regardless of how you feel about woke AI, you should expect to hear the term a lot more in the months ahead.

Yahoo Mail and AOL's email service appeared to have crashed on Thursday.

Users reported a "temporary Error: 15" message that kept them from accessing their email through Yahoo or AOL, which are part of the same overall company.

Down Detector showed spikes in user-reported issues starting in the mid-morning for both Yahoo and AOL. Those reports appeared to be going down Thursday afternoon, though it is not clear if the issues are resolved. (Disclosure: Down Detector is owned by Ziff Davis, the same parent company as Mashable.)

Both Yahoo and AOL acknowledged there appeared to be a problem via identical posts on X.

"We understand some users are currently experiencing difficulties accessing their accounts," the posts read. "We are actively investigating this issue and will provide updates as soon as more information becomes available. We appreciate your patience and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause."

Users online both complained about the email services being down and made jokes about folks still using AOL or Yahoo as their email provider in 2025.

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

This story is developing and will be updated as necessary...

On Thursday, July 24, Apple officially opened the public beta for the hotly anticipated iOS 26 update, along with beta programs for macOS Tahoe, iPadOS, tvOS, and watchOS. Interested users with compatible iPhones and Apple devices can sign up to try the new operating systems at the Apple Beta Software Program website.

When Apple hosted its annual Worldwide Developers Conference on June 9, the company revealed that one of its biggest redesigns in years would be arriving in the fall with iOS 26. Dubbed Liquid Glass, the new visual design language incorporates transparent elements and new animations for a more modern aesthetic. Liquid Glass will be arriving with the official launch of iOS 26, iPadOS, and macOS Tahoe later this year, but now that the public beta is live, early adopters don't need to wait.

We have a pretty good idea of what to expect from the iOS 26 beta. Previously, Apple made the beta available to users with a developer account, and Mashable has reported previously on some of the initial changes made so far. Those updates include tweaks to the Control Center, which proved polarizing among early testers. Mashable reporters will be testing iOS 26 throughout the year. We'll share more features and updates as we find them.

iOS 26 lets you personalize your display in new ways. Credit: Apple How to sign up for iOS 26 and the other public betas

First, head to the Apple beta website and sign into your Apple account. If you've never signed up for a beta before, you'll also need to enroll your device. Once that's done, Apple says, "You will get a notification when a new beta is available and can install it from Software Update on your iOS device." (On your iPhone, follow this path: Settings > General > Software Update > Beta Updates.)

Remember: We recommend backing up your devices before trying out a new beta. Beta versions of software can have bugs. In fact, that's kind of the point — to find problems before the wide release.

Here's how Apple describes iOS 26:

iOS 26 is a major update that helps you do more with your iPhone, with a new yet instantly familiar design that delivers a more expressive and seamless experience, Apple Intelligence features integrated across the operating system, and meaningful improvements to the things you do every day.

The top features to try after downloading iOS 26

Liquid Glass is the most obvious feature to explore once you've equipped your phone with the iOS 26 preview. In addition to the transparent elements and animations, you can also adjust the transparency settings and personalize the look of app icons on your phone.

If you use Apple Music, you should also check out the new playlist folders, which brings some much-needed organization to the app. That's one of the lesser-known iOS 26 features we're most excited about.

The new mobile OS also debuts some new Apple Intelligence features, including:

• Live translation in Messages, FaceTime, and Phone

• Shortcuts actions with AI powers

• Reminders, suggestions, and organization powered by Apple Intelligence

• AI-generated news summaries

Unfortunately, the new AI features won't be available to everyone. To support Apple Intelligence, you need to have one of these devices: "iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPad mini (A17 Pro), and iPad and Mac models with M1 and later. You also need to enable Apple Intelligence and use a supported language.

Which iPhones support the iOS 26 beta?

To participate in the iOS 26 beta, you'll need an iPhone 11 or newer device (second-generation and later iPhone SE devices are also eligible).

Is iOS 26 free?

Yes, the public beta for iOS 26 is free to try. The full update will be available as a free upgrade in the fall, although the exact launch date hasn't been announced yet.

UPDATE: Jul. 24, 2025, 4:06 p.m. EDT This story has been updated with additional information about the iOS 26 beta.

Whether you're installing Linux on a new system or adding new storage, there are plenty of commands to manage the disks on your system. These commands can help you get a handle on your hard drives and SSDs in Linux.

A lot of Google's AI browsing experiments are not experiments anymore—AI Overviews and the new AI Mode are as prominent as they get, and Google is pushing them a lot. Now, the company is looking to remake one of the few parts of the search experience that remain untouched by AI: search results.

Samsung has been busy releasing a slew of One UI 8 betas based on Android 16 for phones and Wear OS 6 for Galaxy watches. While the last One UI 8 beta for the Galaxy S25 series was back in June, today we learned that the fourth and likely final beta could arrive next week.

TL;DR: Streamline your workflow with instant access to multiple AI tools in one place with 1min.AI’s Advanced Business Plan lifetime subscription for just A$123 (reg. A$834) through 3 August.

Opens in a new window Credit: 1minAI 1min.AI Advanced Business Plan Lifetime Subscription AU$123
AU$834 Save AU$711 Get Deal

Tired of juggling multiple AI tools? 1min.AI brings ChatGPT, Gemini, Midjourney, and more into one easy-to-use platform that lets you take advantage of their individual strengths without the chaos of constantly switching tabs.

Right now, a lifetime subscription to 1min.AI’s Advanced Business Plan can be yours for only A$123 (reg. A$834).

Put AI to work for you with this handy platform

Overwhelmed by AI? If you’re new to this booming technology field, keeping up with all the various platforms and their individual perks can be tough. That’s where 1min.AI really shines, consolidating them all in one convenient spot. Create images, optimize your website, or get help with text-based tasks on one platform, as 1min.AI takes advantage of platforms like Google AI, Meta AI, Gemini, Mistral, ChatGPT, and more.

This lifetime subscription to the Advanced Business Plan is an excellent option for helping you tackle work tasks. You’ll gain unlimited access to the prompt library, brand voice options, storage, and collaboration features for up to 20 colleagues.

An Advanced Business Plan also includes 4,000,000 monthly credits, which is enough to generate up to 1,112,500 words, create 1,186 images, upscale 741 photos, remove backgrounds from 74 images, transcribe more than 14,000 seconds of audio, and produce up to 37 videos each month.

Need help with SEO? You can research up to 5,933 SEO keywords per month with this plan. And if you need more credits, it’s easy to earn them — just visit the app, leave a review, or refer a friend.

Let AI help you take a load off with 1min.AI’s Advanced Business Plan lifetime subscription, only A$123 (reg. A$834) now through 3 August at 11:59PM PT.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

SAVE $28: The Mashable-approved JLab JBuds Lux ANC headphones are on sale for just $51.99 (in all colors) as of July 24. That's 35% off their usual sticker price of $79.99.

Quick links: Amazon JLab JBuds Lux ANC $51.99 (save $28) Get Deal Best Buy JLab JBuds Lux ANC $51.99 (save $28) Get Deal Walmart JLab JBuds Lux ANC $51.99 (save $28) Get Deal

ICYMI, the JLab JBuds Lux ANC were crowned our new favorite budget headphones at the tail end of June (much to my own approval: I own a pair and love 'em). "They have functional ANC, decent comfort, great sound balance, and a killer battery life, all with a design that doesn't feel overtly budget-friendly," wrote Mashable's Bethany Allard, one of our in-house headphones experts. It also helps that they frequently go on sale for around $50 — like right now.

As of July 24, the JBuds Lux ANC are on sale for just $51.99 at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart — a 35% discount on their $79.99 MSRP. (That deal applies to all four colors, too: Choose from Graphite, Sage, Mauve, or Cloud.) Meanwhile, they're still stuck at full price on the JLab website, which is showing an inflated list price.

Bear in mind that the JBuds Lux ANC have been cheaper before. They were only $29 at Walmart last Black Friday. But this is a decent discount to snag if you don't want to wait until November to see if that all-time low gets matched. (It's also just $4.50 away from their Prime Day price in mid-July for those who missed out.)

Makes me want want neapolitan ice cream real bad. Credit: JLab

During her testing period, Allard's favorite thing about the JBuds Lux ANC was their balanced sound (once she found the right equalizer setting). "Every part of Panic! At The Disco's 'Northern Downpour' shone through, from the vocals, lead guitar, bass, and piano," she said. "For budget headphones, we might expect some muddying through these elements, but the JLab JBuds held up great." She was also impressed by their battery life: They lasted 40 hours on a single charge with their noise cancellation on.

My personal favorite thing about the JBuds Lux ANC is their fit. I have a really hard time finding headphones that don't squeeze my head, and I can wear these comfortably for hours at a time. (They usually come with me to the gym because I don't want to sweat on my nice Bose QuietComfort 45s.) In contrast, Allard found them to be a little tight, so be sure to give them a proper trial before your return period ends to determine how they sit on your head.

Check out Mashable's guide to the best headphones for Allard's full list of pros and cons.

SAVE $70: As of July 24, get the Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ (4GB RAM, 64GB SSD) for $149.99, down from its usual price of $219.99, at Amazon. That's a discount of 32%.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ (4GB RAM, 64GB SSD) $149.99 at Amazon
$219.99 Save $70 Get Deal

If you're ready to add a new tablet to your tech stack, you've got plenty of options. An iPad could serve you well, but if you're looking to remain within the Android ecosystem, a Samsung tablet is a fantastic choice. And right now, you can get the Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ for a price that almost matches its all-time low.

As of July 24, take $70 off the Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ at Amazon. Get it for just $149.99, down from its usual price of $219.99, for a discount of 32%.

SEE ALSO: The best tablets in 2025

This 11-inch tablet is a speedy and slim option that boasts a 1920 x 1200 resolution with a 90Hz refresh rate and 480 nits of brightness. Paired with Dolby Atmos speakers and a Snapdragon 695 chipset, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage, you've got a firecracker of a tablet for under $200.

Not only do these specs make this tablet well worth investing in to watch your favorite shows and movies, play games, or get some work done on the go, but it's also a reliable tablet for the older kids in your life who have outgrown the "kiddie" tablets and are ready to move on to something more substantial.

Whatever you plan on using it for, this is a solid deal worth picking up, especially when it's only about $10 above its lowest price ever. Grab one before they're all gone.

Best tech deals

• Apple AirTag (4-Pack) — $79.98 (List Price $99.00)

• Apple 2025 MacBook Air 13-inch Laptop — $849.00 (List Price $999.00)

• Apple AirPods Pro 2 ANC Earbuds With USB-C Charging Case — $169.00 (List Price $249.00)

SAVE $25: A two-pack of Tile Pro Bluetooth trackers is on sale at Woot for $34.99, down from the list price of $59.99. That's a 42% discount, and a sale price that's better than the lowest ever offered at Amazon.

Opens in a new window Credit: Tile by Life360 Tile Pro Bluetooth tracker (2 pack) $34.99 at Woot
$59.99 Save $25 Get Deal

Summer travel is still in its prime, and if you're taking off anytime soon, there's an essential you need to pack. Sure, it's smart to toss in extra socks (and don't forget your chargers), but we also recommend packing Bluetooth trackers. If you don't own any yet, or you need a few more, check out this awesome deal at Woot.

As of July 24, a two-pack of Tile Pro Bluetooth trackers is just $34.99 at Woot. That's a 42% discount that takes $25 off the normal price of $59.99. The Woot sale price is lower than any price we've seen at Amazon before, and Amazon currently lists a single Tile Pro for $34.99 which means this deal is basically two for the price of one.

On Mashable's roundup of the best Bluetooth trackers for travel and lost luggage, the Tile Pro earns the spot as the best Apple AirTag alternative. Mashable's review from Tech Editor Timothy Beck Werth explains they're even better at finding lost items compared to the ever popular AirTag. "If you’re using them for item finding, then we actually recommend them over Apple AirTags," Beck Werth says. "That’s because they can be used with both iOS and Android devices, come with a user-friendly app, and offer extremely detailed location tracking."

SEE ALSO: The Kindle is my ultimate travel essential — here's why

The overall design is also convenient for attaching a Tile Pro to your keyring, purse, wallet, and plenty of other handy spots. Tile mentions the Pro model comes with a battery that'll last for about a year, so scoring this deal likely means you can use them for summer travel in 2026.

While they're 42% off, snag the two-pack of Tile Pro Bluetooth trackers and travel with the reassurance that you'll always be in the know of your bag's location.

The best tech deals to shop this week

• Apple AirTag (4-Pack) — $79.98 (List Price $99.00)

• Apple 2025 MacBook Air 13-inch Laptop — $849.00 (List Price $999.00)

• Apple AirPods Pro 2 ANC Earbuds With USB-C Charging Case — $169.00 (List Price $249.00)

The original Kindle Colorsoft was a slam-dunk despite its $280 price tag. Now, Amazon is introducing a cheaper 16GB model for $250—it's almost identical to the standard 32GB Colorsoft, just with half the storage space and fewer quality-of-life features. Plus, the first-ever Kindle Colorsoft Kids bundle is now available for $270.

More research has been published about AI Overviews' effect on declining publisher traffic, athough Google continues to deny it.

A study from the Pew Research Center found that the appearance of Google's AI-generated summaries at the top of the search page significantly impacted outbound clicks to other websites. A group of 900 U.S. adults participating in the study agreed to share their browsing activity. Here are some of the findings from the Pew study:

• Google users served an AI Overview clicked on links to other websites 8 percent of the time, nearly half as often as users without an AI Overview (15 percent).

• Users were more likely to end their browsing session after encountering an AI Overview. Users ended their sessions on 26 percent of the pages, compared to 16 percent of pages without the AI summaries.

• Only 1 percent of users encountering an AI Overview clicked on a cited link in the summary.

The study, which was first published in May and republished earlier this week with additional analysis, echoes what publishers have been saying ever since AI Overviews launched last year. The advent of AI-generated summaries gathered from web data has radically upended the need for users to click to sites in Google search results to find the information they need. That the summaries are sometimes wrong or hallucinated is an entirely different can of worms.

Organic search traffic from major news sites including the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Washington Post has declined according to SimilarWeb data. And smaller, independent sites say the rollout of AI Overviews has forced them to shut down their sites or entirely reinvent their distribution model as a result of declining traffic, according to a Bloomberg report. Other reports from SEO analysts found the presence AI Overviews reduced clicks to sites, compared to traditional search results.

Google leadership has repeatedly refuted these claims, saying they have not seen a change in outbound clicks. "For any individual publisher, there's lots of reasons why something could fluctuate," Robby Stein VP of product for Google Search said in a May interview with Mashable. "We don't really look at specific publishers in that way. We think about it really in the aggregate."

In an interview with The Verge, CEO Sundar Pichai addressed claims of declining traffic, saying "we are sending traffic to a broader source of people. People may be surfacing more content, looking at more content, so someone may individually see less."

In response to the Pew findings, Google told The Register that they believe the study "uses a flawed methodology and skewed queryset that is not representative of Search traffic," before adding "We consistently direct billions of clicks to websites daily and have not observed significant drops in aggregate web traffic as is being suggested."

SAVE $25: As of July 24, the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K is back down to just $24.99 with code 4KWINFTV. That's 50% off the list price of $49.99.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K $24.99 at Amazon
$49.99 Save $25.00 with code 4KWINFTV Get Deal

Life hack: bring your favorite shows and movies with you on your next vacation by grabbing yourself a streaming stick. These compact, portable gadgets can fit in your suitcase, and you won't have to log into a stranger's TV in your Airbnb. Plus, you can pick up exactly where you left off on whatever you're watching. Genius, right? You have plenty of options to choose from, but we recommend grabbing the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K since it's on sale for half price.

As of July 24, the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K is only $24.99 with code 4KWINFTV. That's not the lowest price on record; that honor goes to the Black Friday 2024 deal, when it dropped all the way down to $21.99. But still, $24.99 matches its recent Prime Day price and is 50% off its list price. We deem that a helluva deal.

SEE ALSO: This stunning 4K Samsung monitor is still at its lowest-ever price at Amazon

While it's not actually our top pick for a streaming device, the Fire TV Stick 4K is a solid budget streamer. For just shy of $25, it gives you easy access to all of your favorite streaming apps. And if you're a big fan of Prime Video, it's definitely the best device for you, as it puts Prime content front and center. It will also highlight all of your recently watched shows in a convenient tab to continue watching without having to cycle through all of the apps.

Feature-wise, the Fire TV Stick 4K is equipped with cinematic 4K Ultra HD, as well as support for Dolby Vision, HDR10+, Dolby Atmos, and WiFi 6. Its quad-core 1.7 GHz processor delivers faster app starts and more fluid navigation, although we have noticed a bit of lag from time to time. Plus, it allows you to play Xbox games without a console. For only $24.99 (with code 4KWINFTV), that's a pretty solid value.

Best TV deals

• Roku Ultra 4K Ultimate Streaming Player (2024 Release) — $90.00 (List Price $99.99)

• Amazon Fire TV 4-Series (43 inches, 2024) — $329.99

• 55-inch Sony Bravia 3 4K LED Smart Google TV (2024 Model) — $599.99 (List Price $699.99)

• Hisense 85-Inch Class U8 Series Mini-LED ULED 4K UHD Google Smart TV — $1,568.93

• LG 65-inch Class UR9000 Series 4K Smart TV   — $496.99 (List Price $629.99)

The racing genre has come to define many eras of gaming, from the top-down pixelated efforts of yore to the photorealistic system-sellers that adorn modern consoles. The good news is that many of these games have stood the test of time, and are worth digging out and playing again (as long as you can find them).

What's better than one internet boyfriend in a movie? Two internet boyfriends in a movie! That's the case in The History of Sound, a romantic drama that stars Paul Mescal (Aftersun, All of Us Strangers) and Josh O'Connor (Challengers).

SEE ALSO: The 10 best movies of 2025 (so far), and where to watch them

Directed by Oliver Hermanus (Living, Moffie) and based on the short story by Ben Shattuck (who also wrote the screenplay), The History of Sound premiered at 2025's Cannes Film Festival, where it received favorable reviews.

The History of Sound transports viewers to the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston in 1917. There, Kentucky-born singer Lionel Worthing (Mescal) crosses paths with music composing student David White (O'Connor). From their first encounter it's clear they have chemistry — both musical and romantic. The two embark on a relationship, but it's cut short when David is drafted into World War I.

Years later, in 1920, the pair reconnects and travels around Maine. They collect and preserve folk songs for future generations. Years after that, Lionel lives a successful life in Europe, complete with new romantic partners. Yet memories of his time with David constantly draw him back to that Maine trip, and to his great love for him.

The first trailer for The History of Sound teases these different stages of Lionel's life, along with both Mescal and O'Connor singing their share of American folk songs. Separately, each actor has proven themselves as exciting forces to watch, with Mescal earning an Academy Award nomination for his work in Aftersun, and O'Connor taking home an Emmy for his work on The Crown. Watching the pair come together for The History of Sound is sure to be a treat.

The History of Sound hits theater Sept. 12.