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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Android gives you surprising control over your privacy and security, but some of the most useful settings are easy to overlook. The problem is that some features can sound like they're meant for people who know their way around a network or security console. If you're not particularly technical, it's tempting to leave them alone and assume they're either too complicated or already configured properly.

I first got into Google Pixel with my Pixel 6a — and I loved it. But the longer I used it, the more it felt too minimal and lacking in functionality. That feeling was amplified by the fact that all my friends, and Android users in general, seemed to favor Samsung phones and all the cool features Galaxy smartphones bring to the table. Eventually, I got curious enough to upgrade to the Galaxy S24.

Replacing an entire computer is a costly prospect these days, but in most cases it’s not actually necessary to replace your whole computer to keep using it for your studies. Spending money on the right component (or two) can add years of usable life to your PC. After all, upgradability is one of the greatest perks of having a desktop PC, so why not make use of it?

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

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

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

SEE ALSO: Flock offers workers voluntary buyouts amid backlash

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It's Meta announcement season, and you can follow along for yourself at home by watching Mark Zuckerberg's kenote live.

Meta Connect, the annual conference and product showcase, starts on Wednesday evening with a big keynote address. Zuckerberg will take the stage at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday to show off Meta's latest hardware and services, with likely appearances from other leaders at Meta. If it's anything like last year, you'll be able to follow along live on Meta's official pages on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

SEE ALSO: Meta’s Muse reportedly has zero-day vulnerability that lets attackers take over your Mac

We don't know exactly what to expect from Meta Connect this year, but the company's recent smart glasses-heavy strategy suggests we'll see a pair of specs or two at the show. A recent report suggested the company is working on a camera-free pair of glasses, so maybe we'll see those on stage.

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There's also the possibility that we could see Project Phoenix, a rumored new product that looks like a cross between smart glasses and a VR headset. A leaker recently shared a render found in Meta code that sure looks like Project Phoenix, so maybe it'll get fully unveiled on Wednesday. We'd also expect to see some updates on Muse, the popular new AI agent Meta just launched.

Finally, Meta could take the opportunity to launch new Meta Muse AI models.

Each streaming service has its own calling card. Netflix has exciting thrillers, while HBO Max owns prestige TV. At Prime Video, action is one of its best genres. Most subscribers know about the show's prominent action television slate, which includes Reacher, Neagley, and The Terminal List.

Everyone has those tasks they keep putting off because dealing with them sounds worse than living with the problem for another day. Maybe it’s chasing an airline credit, sitting on hold with customer service, or figuring out how you’re going to pack your entire apartment before the movers arrive.

That’s the pitch behind Meta Muse AI, the new agentic AI assistant that launched Sept. 8. It’s designed to carry out tasks on your behalf, from booking travel to sending emails, using the apps and accounts you choose to connect.

"Meet Muse, the personal agent that helps you get things done," Mark Zuckerberg wrote in an Instagram announcement.

People are already putting that promise to the test and have been "blown away." One traveler says Muse helped secure a $250 credit after a flight delay, while another had it wait on hold and call them once an actual person was ready to talk. Users online are sharing ways they've been "musemaxxing," delegating more and more to Meta's new AI. Tech creator Peter Yang even called it "the best personal agent I've tried to date." It's also been called OpenClaw for normies (OpenClaw is the AI agent that made waves in early 2026).

The excitement has spread far beyond social media. Muse has climbed to the top of Apple’s App Store, and Meta shares jumped more than 11 percent on Sept. 21 as Wells Fargo raised its price target.

People are collecting these experiments, too. For example, Use of Muse is a searchable directory of user-shared examples, from recovering money to handling everyday errands, with links back to the original posts. AI Agents Library’s guide to Muse also offers practical task ideas and sample prompts.

We've rounded up some standout stories and included suggested prompts to help you try similar tasks. The prompts are either from these directories or use the same approach as the prompt examples given.

Your to-do list had a good run!

A word of warning: All AI agents carry some security risks, including Meta Muse AI, so be thoughtful before turning over control of apps, devices, and financial information.

1. Getting compensation for a seriously delayed flight This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

After a seven-hour flight delay, investor and creator Ejaaz Ahamadeen said he asked Muse to file for compensation. Five minutes later, he reported having a $250 credit in his Delta account. He also said it found and rebooked a flight and replied to a support email. "it just figured everything out," he wrote, adding that Muse "feels like magic."

His screenshots show Muse AI checking alternative routes into Maui, prioritizing his preferred airlines, and gathering the details to submit a complaint.

If you’ve ever spent a flight delay wishing someone else would deal with the airline for you, you might finally be able to hand that headache over.

A prompt to try: "My flight [flight number] on [date] was delayed by [length of delay]. Check whether I qualify for compensation, a refund, or an airline credit, and prepare the request for my review. Also find alternative flights to [destination], prioritizing [preferred airlines]. Ask before submitting a claim or changing my booking."

Want to learn more about getting the best out of your tech? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories and Deals newsletters today.

2. Outsourcing the hold music This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Entrepreneur Matt Van Horn described asking Muse to call Southwest, wait on hold, and call him once a representative was available.

"It worked! There was real human waiting for me," he wrote. "Grail I’ve been dying for unlocked."

Many X users replied, asking follow-up questions, like did he need a separate voice service? How did Muse know where to reach him? Van Horn said he was using Meta’s built-in calling feature and the callback setup was straightforward, "I gave it my number lol."

There is a catch: Van Horn said the built-in calling feature is still in beta, and not everyone has access. One commenter said they’d planned an entire call with Muse, only to learn when they said "go" that calling wasn’t enabled for their account. Van Horn replied, "Sorry!! Soon," though he didn’t offer a timeline.

If you do have access, getting on with your day while Muse waits for a representative sounds pretty appealing. As one commenter put it: "Normally we wait for the customer service rep. You had the rep wait for you."

A prompt to try: "If calling is enabled for my account, call [company] about [issue], wait on hold, and call me at [phone number] when a representative is ready. Let me know upfront if you can’t make the call or connect me."

3. Finding a bar that matches a very specific vibe This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Founder Millie Yang had a specific kind of night out in mind: trendy cocktail bars in New York City with a similar feel to Osamil Upstairs. She asked Muse to search Instagram for places that fit a group of five.

The screenshots she provided show Muse narrowing in on two options: Barbam, which it described as an intimate Korean speakeasy with jazz and elaborate cocktails, and Seoul Salon, a livelier, neon-lit Korean cocktail lounge. It explained why each might work, pointing to Barbam’s atmosphere as the closer match to Osamil and Seoul Salon’s reservation options as useful for her group.

Then Yang asked, "Show me vids," to which Muse returned links to reels featuring a basement tour, a walkthrough, and cocktail close-ups, giving her something to judge beyond its own descriptions. It also said it had added both venues to the evening’s availability check, bringing the search to eight spots.

The connection to Reels is what Yang found to be most helpful. If your usual planning process involves bouncing between Instagram, a map, and reservation sites while sending options to the group chat, this use case could be for you.

"Muse is IG search on steroids and soon people are going to realize how insanely useful this is," she writes on X. "It’s already got me spending more time on the app than I expected."

A prompt to try: "Search Instagram for cocktail bars in [neighborhood or city] with a similar atmosphere to [favorite bar]. Find options for [number of people] on [date and time], show me reels of the spaces and drinks, and check current opening hours and reservation availability. Let me choose before booking."

4. Making a move feel less overwhelming

CNN’s Lisa Eadicicco tested Muse on a task with plenty of moving parts, literally: packing for a new apartment.

"I told Muse what I still needed to pack, how much time I had before moving and that I wanted to pack in short spurts," she wrote.

Muse turned those constraints into a daily packing schedule, including estimates for how long to spend each day. It also suggested setting aside a bag of essentials for the first night.

Eadicicco’s broader test also exposed limitations. Muse recommended two date-night spots that had closed years earlier, and it told her it couldn’t directly message Marketplace sellers despite advertising that capability. Meta told CNN that Muse could negotiate with sellers within parameters set by the user.

A prompt to try: "I’m moving on [date] and still need to pack [rooms or belongings]. Make me a daily packing schedule with sessions of no more than [number] minutes. Start with things I won’t need before the move, and include a first-night essentials checklist."

5. Finding something to wear

Meta is pitching Muse as a shopping companion, too. An Instagram ad on my feed calls it "your style scout" and says it "watches trends, builds complete looks, and finds the pieces that fit your style and your budget."

An ad pop-up on my Instagram. Credit: Screenshot/Olivia Tauber

That could sound pretty appealing if you’ve ever opened a shopping app looking for one outfit and emerged an hour later with 23 tabs and no decisions. The ad promises to help narrow things down around what you like and what you want to spend, though it doesn’t show a completed shopping experience. (Amazon has banned Meta Muse AI from making purchases.)

A prompt to try: "Help me put together an outfit for [occasion] with a total budget of [amount]. I like [styles or brands] and already own [pieces]. Find options in my size, check availability, and show me the complete looks and prices before I buy anything."

6. Figuring out which subscriptions are still taking your money This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Nicolas Bustamante from Microsoft reported that Meta's Muse AI has already saved him $200 by canceling subscriptions and services he no longer needed. Podcaster Armand Domalewski used it for the same thing, adding "muse is genuinely magic."

If you’ve ever spotted a charge and thought, “Wait, I’m still paying for that?” you already have a starting point. Those free trials and subscriptions you meant to cancel can add up, especially when you keep putting off going through them.

A prompt to try: "Review the statements I provide for recurring subscriptions. List the amounts and renewal dates, flag possible duplicates, and ask me which ones I want to cancel."

7. Getting your personal information off data-broker sites

Ever searched your name and found your address on a website you’ve never heard of? Threads user @andru had Muse complete 90 data-broker opt-outs.

Doing that yourself can mean working through dozens of sites, each with its own removal process. It’s the kind of project you might start enthusiastically and abandon around website number four. (Completing an opt-out doesn’t guarantee the information is gone permanently.)

"It books, buys, tracks your spending, and files the boring stuff while you just...live!"

A prompt to try: "Find data-broker sites listing my personal information and help me request its removal. Show me the matches first, ask before sharing any additional personal information, and track which requests are submitted, confirmed, or need follow-up."

8. Watching for price drops after you book a trip

You’ve booked the flight and hotel, closed the tabs, and moved on—only to wonder later whether the price has dropped. According to the Use of Muse directory, Threads user @adambader reported saving $600 by using Muse to monitor booked flights and hotels for lower prices.

It’s a convenient idea for anyone who likes getting a deal but doesn’t want checking prices to become a daily habit. Whether changing a booking actually saves money depends on cancellation rules and fees, so those need to be part of the comparison.

A prompt to try: "Monitor the flights and hotels in my bookings for price drops. Check whether I can get the lower rate under each booking’s terms, including any change or cancellation fees. Alert me when there’s a real saving, and ask before changing anything."

8. Watching for price drops after you book a trip

You’ve booked the flight and hotel, closed the tabs, and moved on—only to wonder later whether the price has dropped. According to the Use of Muse directory, Threads user @adambader reported saving $600 by using Muse to monitor booked flights and hotels for lower prices.

It’s a convenient idea for anyone who likes getting a deal but doesn’t want checking prices to become a daily habit. Whether changing a booking actually saves money depends on cancellation rules and fees, so those need to be part of the comparison.

A prompt to try: “Monitor the flights and hotels in my bookings for price drops. Check whether I can get the lower rate under each booking’s terms, including any change or cancellation fees. Alert me when there’s a real saving, and ask before changing anything.”

10. Comparing insurance without spending your evening gathering quotes

Founder Joseph Devoy reported that switching auto insurance with Muse saved $3,500 a year.

If you’ve been renewing the same policy because shopping around sounds like a project, that’s a reason to take another look. The important part is comparing what each policy covers alongside the price.

A prompt to try: "Compare my current auto insurance policy with quotes for equivalent coverage. Show me the annual premiums, deductibles, coverage limits, and exclusions side by side. Ask before submitting my personal information, and wait for my approval before switching or canceling anything."

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. There are still some closed doors

Before you hand over your entire shopping list, there’s a catch: the websites Muse visits don’t always welcome it.

Mashable reported on Sept. 22 that Amazon was blocking Muse from shopping, with users seeing warnings that access by an unauthorized AI agent violated its terms. Amazon told the publication it had asked Meta to remove Amazon from the experience. It also alleged that Muse failed to identify itself and collect users’ credentials and account data, raising security concerns.

Other companies are moving toward partnerships. Alongside Instacart’s announcement, Expedia described forthcoming support for travel planning through Muse, while PayPal announced plans to enable shopping and checkout through the agent across its merchants.

For now, what you can hand over depends on the features available to your account and the services involved. Start with one task you’d be happy to stop doing yourself — and see how far Muse gets.

OpenAI has been busy courting creators, and its latest hire suggests it wants to give them more reasons to stick around. The company behind ChatGPT is bringing in Patreon co-founder Sam Yam to lead its Creator Product division, recruiting someone who has spent more than a decade helping creators build businesses around their audiences.

Yam is joining alongside two former Patreon executives: Drew Rowny, who led product, and Shannon Ma, who led engineering, as Yam announced on his X account.

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Together, the three execs bring experience building tools for people whose livelihoods depend on making things and persuading fans to support them. Yam co-founded Patreon with musician Jack Conte in 2013, helping popularize memberships that let creators earn money directly from their communities.

That makes the move interesting beyond the usual executive shuffle. OpenAI is hiring people who understand what creators need to run a business, from developing paid offerings to maintaining relationships with fans. Their arrival raises questions about how those ideas might show up in OpenAI’s products.

SEE ALSO: Why is OpenAI losing so many executives?

We may not have to wait long for a clearer picture of what's in store. Yam pointed to OpenAI’s upcoming DevDay for a preview of its creator products. The event takes place Sept. 29 in San Francisco.

The hire fits into a broader effort to get closer to creators and the audiences they influence. In February, OpenAI hired Charles Porch, Instagram’s longtime global partnerships executive, to lead global creative partnerships. In April, it acquired tech talk show TBPN, a deal I explored in my newsletter, Fan Mail, as an example of the value companies place on access to influential audiences. Then came this summer’s luxury influencer retreat in New York’s Hudson Valley.

As Mashable reported, that trip also showed how quickly creator outreach can become contentious. Attendees faced questions about AI’s environmental footprint, its effect on creative work, and why they had agreed to promote the company. Some defended the opportunity to speak with the people developing the technology; others seemed surprised by the backlash.

SEE ALSO: OpenAI’s first brand trip puts influencers in the hot seat

That’s part of the challenge awaiting Yam and his colleagues. Creators are potential customers for AI tools, but they’re also among the people asking what the technology means for the value of their work. A useful product could make a stronger case than a polished brand trip. We’ll get a better sense of what that looks like next week.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

One of the tech industry's worst-kept secrets is that smart TVs spy on us. There are countless articles and videos online discussing it, as well as plenty of guides on how to fix it while maintaining the smart functionality of your TV.

SAVE $400.01: As of Sept. 23, the Bluetti Elite 300 Portable Power Station is on sale at Amazon for $1,098.99. That's down 27% from its original $1,499 list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Bluetti Bluetti Elite 300 Portable Power Station $1,098.99 at Amazon
$1,499 Save $400.01   Get Deal

If you’ve been eyeing a heavy-duty battery generator for storm season or road trips, this is easily one of the best prices we’ve seen on this unit. Amazon just knocked $400 off the Bluetti Elite 300 portable power station, bringing it down from its usual $1,499 list price to a far more palatable $1,098.99.

Most power stations packing over 3,000 watt-hours of capacity look like miniature refrigerators and weigh a ton. The Elite 300 shrinks that footprint by about 59%, fitting 3,014Wh of juice into a frame that’s closer in size to standard 2kWh units. It’s built around long-lasting LiFePO4 battery tech and delivers 2,400 watts of continuous output, with headroom for up to 4,800-watt power surges.

SEE ALSO: Prime Day deals on power stations are already live: Shop the best deals on Jackery, Anker, Bluetti, and more

If you’re taking it on the road, it’s RV-ready right out of the box. Instead of making you mess with clunky adapters, it features a built-in TT-30 RV plug and a heavy-duty 12V/30A DC outlet. That lets you run your camper's 12V fridge, water pump, and diesel heater directly off the generator while you're off-grid.

You don't have to sit around all day waiting for it to charge, either. It plugs into a standard wall outlet, solar panels, or your car, and can charge up to 80% in just 78 minutes. You can also track your battery life, toggle outputs, and change settings right from your phone via the Bluetti app over WiFi or Bluetooth. And if the power grid goes down, it switches over to battery backup in 10 milliseconds. That’s fast enough that your WiFi router, laptop, or CPAP machine won't even reboot when the lights flicker.

If you want a portable generator that can run essential home appliances through a multi-day power outage without taking up your entire trunk, this is a steal. Grab the Bluetti Elite 300 for $1,098.99 on Amazon before this deal disappears.

TL;DR: Get 20TB of end-to-end encrypted Scramble Cloud storage for $349.95, with lifetime access, private sharing, WebDAV, and CLI support.

Opens in a new window Credit: Scramble Cloud Scramble Cloud Storage Lifetime Subscription (20TB) $349.95
$1,440 Save $1,090.05   Get Deal

The best cloud storage might be the kind you barely have to think about. Scramble Cloud gives you 20TB of storage for life for $349.95 (reg. $1,440), so you can give a seriously large collection of photos, videos, backups, and work files a long-term home.

And 20TB is a lot of breathing room. Scramble is designed for people with serious storage needs, whether you’re backing up family memories, keeping a growing video collection, or simply someone who believes deleting files is a problem for Future You. You can use it on desktop or mobile device.

Your files are protected with end-to-end encryption and encrypted before leaving your device. Its zero-knowledge architecture keeps you in control of access, while encrypted private links let you share selected files with other people.

Scramble also gives you several ways to reach all that storage. Use the web app from virtually any device, mount Scramble Drive in your operating system’s file explorer with WebDAV, or manage files using its command-line tool. You can preview files, stream encrypted videos, and view Word and Excel files from your browser.

For collaboration, you can create encrypted groups with permissions or use Team Link to share files with internal or external partners without requiring registration.

There are two limits worth considering before committing 20TB worth of your digital life: individual files can’t exceed 5GB, and uploads are capped at 70GB per day. Those restrictions make this better suited to steadily building a large archive than dumping massive files into the cloud all at once.

Get 20TB of Scramble Cloud without another recurring storage bill to remember for just $349.95 (reg. $1,440).

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: Learn new things in your spare time with this five-year subscription to Nibble All-Around Knowledge App, on sale for just $49.99 (reg. $449.95).

Opens in a new window Credit: Nibble Nibble All-Around Knowledge App (5-Year Subscription) $49.99
$449.95 Save $399.96   Get Deal

Your phone doesn’t have to be a black hole of time-wasting. If you’ve got the right apps, you can turn your spare time into something way more productive. The Nibble All-Around Knowledge App serves up bite-sized lessons that help you learn something new during your morning commute, on your lunch break, or in line at the grocery store.

Right now, you can snag a five-year subscription to Nibble All-Around Knowledge App for just $49.99.

Make your phone time more productive

If you think you don’t have time to learn something new, think again. The Nibble All-Around Knowledge app was designed for today’s busy schedules, offering bite-sized lessons that teach you new things in just ten minutes.

Work on your self-improvement on the go with these handy audio episodes you can listen to anytime. The app is filled with lessons on over 20 topics, from art and AI to history and personal finance, so you can pick something you’ve been meaning to dive into.

Nibble’s flexible learning paths let you choose between a guided learning journey or hopping around depending on your mood. After you listen to lessons, explore the topic further with interactive AI experiences, such as chatting with historical figures. There are also learning games to see how much you’ve retained.

Nibble offers app and web access, and your account tracks your progress so you can access it easily across devices. This five-year subscription gives you unlimited library access, and you’ll never run out of lessons thanks to new content being added every month.

Snag a five-year subscription to Nibble All-Around Knowledge App for just $49.99.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Qualcomm flew us out to Snapdragon Summit 2026 for a hands-on experience with the all-new, cutting-edge Googlebooks and Microsoft Surface laptops. And although the event has been relatively predictable, Wednesday's briefing closed out with a big surprise—Qualcomm is officially working to support Linux on Snapdragon X2 laptops, brands like ASUS have already committed to offer Linux-flavored versions of their X2-powered devices, and a developer preview is available today for those with the hardware to test it.

My Mini PC hosts several homelab services, including Home Assistant, Jellyfin, Audiobookshelf, Calibre, Uptime Kuma, and more. It also hosts some local LLMs, and in recent weeks, one of these has been hogging so much RAM that it's brought down other services. I decided to set up a fun way to monitor my homelab using a cheap ESP32 board.

Microsoft is giving its compact Surface devices a subtle refresh. Today at Qualcomm's Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii, the U.S. tech giant announced the Surface Laptop 13-inch (2nd edition) and Surface Pro 12-inch (2nd edition) with the Snapdragon X2 Plus chip. The latter will support a new AI-powered drawing and annotating tool called Microsoft Ink Canvas.

Externally, both new Surface devices gain 25 percent brighter touchscreen displays and new black color options. They're otherwise identical to their predecessors from spring 2025.

The updated Surface Laptop 13-inch and Surface Pro 12-inch will hit the market on Oct. 13, starting at $1,199.99 and $1,149.99, respectively. (Preorders are now live at Best Buy, B&H Photo, and the Microsoft Store.) They'll be joined by a redesigned Surface Mouse with built-in haptic feedback and a customizable action button, which will start at $79.99.

Microsoft Surface Laptop, 13-inch (Snapdragon X2 Plus, 16GB RAM, 256GB UFS) $1,199.99 at Best Buy
  Pre-order Here at Best Buy Pre-order Here at B&H Photo Video Pre-order Here at Microsoft Store US Microsoft Surface Pro, 12-inch (Snapdragon X2 Plus, 16GB RAM, 256GB UFS) $1,149.99 at Best Buy
  Pre-order Here at Best Buy Pre-order Here at B&H Photo Video Pre-order Here at Microsoft Store US

Notably, both new Surface devices start with 16GB of RAM. This summer, Microsoft downgraded the base configurations of their first-gen counterparts to 8GB of RAM to lower their prices under $1,000 amid the global memory shortage.

SEE ALSO: Memory wars: Microsoft announces big price increases for Surface laptops

When asked by Mashable whether the company will continue to sell those older models as budget options, a Microsoft rep declined to comment on the record. They were no longer available for purchase through the Microsoft Store at the time of writing, but third-party retailers like Amazon and Best Buy still had them in stock.

The Surface Laptop 13-inch and Surface Pro 12-inch are smaller, lighter, and more affordable versions of Microsoft's flagship Surface devices. In June, the company introduced the Surface Laptop 8 and Surface Pro 12 with Snapdragon X2 Plus and X2 Elite chips.

Same look, new chip The Surface Pro 12-inch (2nd edition) will come pre-loaded with Microsoft's new "Ink Canvas" AI feature. Credit: Microsoft

The X2 Plus is a mid-range processor that will give the new compact Surface devices "18 percent more efficient battery performance, over 60 percent faster graphics, and 95 percent faster on-device AI" than their predecessors, said Brett Ostrum, corporate vice president of Surface devices, in a blog post. For reference, last year's inaugural Surface Laptop 13-inch and Surface Pro 12-inch ran on the original Snapdragon X Plus chip from 2024.

The X2 Plus will also power Ink Canvas on the Surface Pro 12-inch. Users will be able to handwrite prompts for Windows 11's Copilot assistant directly on the device's touchscreen with a Surface Slim Pen (sold separately for $129.99). Ostrum described Ink Canvas as "a pen-first experience for sketching, annotating, generating images, and summarizing text."

Ink Canvas will come pre-installed on the new Surface Pro 12-inch and be available for download on other compatible Windows devices starting Oct. 13.

Microsoft Surface Laptop, 13-inch (2nd edition) specs Credit: Microsoft

• CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Plus

• GPU: Qualcomm Adreno

• Battery life: Up to 22.5 hours of video playback

• Memory: 16GB or 24GB RAM

• Storage: 256GB or 512GB UFS

• Screen size and tech: 13-inch touchscreen display with 1,920 x 1,280 resolution, 500 nits of brightness, and 60Hz refresh rate

• Webcam: 1080p

• Ports: Two USB-C ports, one USB-A port, and a headphone jack

• Wireless connectivity: WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4

• Dimensions: 11.25 x 8.43 x 0.61 inches

• Weight: 2.7 pounds

• Chassis material: Aluminum

• Colors: Violet, platinum, and black

• Full-sized backlit keyboard and Precision touchpad

Microsoft Surface Pro, 12-inch (2nd edition) specs Credit: Microsoft

• CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Plus

• GPU: Qualcomm Adreno

• Battery life: Up to 15.5 hours of video playback

• Memory: 16GB or 24GB RAM

• Storage: 256GB or 512GB UFS

• Screen size and tech: 12-inch touchscreen display with 2,196 x 1,464 resolution, 500 nits of brightness, and 90Hz refresh rate

• Cameras: 1080p front camera and 10MP rear camera

• Ports: Two USB-C ports and Surface Pro 12-inch Keyboard connector port

• Wireless connectivity: WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4

• Dimensions: 10.8 x 7.47 x 0.3 inches

• Weight: 1.5 pounds

• Chassis material: Aluminum

• Colors: Violet, platinum, and black

• Stylus and keyboard sold separately; has built-in storage for Surface Slim Pen

Microsoft Surface Mouse specs Credit: Microsoft

• Inputs: Left, right, and middle click support with customizable action button and mechanical scroll wheel

• Wireless connectivity: Bluetooth 6.0; up to three devices

• Wireless range: 32.8 feet in open area and 16.4 feet in office setting

• Sensor: 1,000dpi (400dpi to 2,400dpi adjustable)

• Exterior material: Silicone

• Colors: Platinum and black

UPDATE: Sep. 23, 2026, 5:24 p.m. EDT This story was updated with a response from Microsoft and links to the new Surface devices' preorder listings.

Android phones have come a long way when it comes to privacy. Private Space on Pixels and Secure Folder on Samsung phones are really handy. Android's permission system has also become very granular in recent years, giving you a high level of control over what apps can access on your phone, and the Privacy Dashboard is a solid way to audit what your installed apps have been up to. But there's always room to grow, and some third-party apps offer privacy controls Google doesn't match yet, and in some cases probably never will. The only downside is that you have to sideload them.

Disney+ has rolled out its second price increase in as many months. Its standalone and Hulu bundle subscriptions now cost slightly more, with a notable exception.