Blogroll

SAVE $0.96: As of Aug. 14, the Pokémon TCG White Flare Elite Trainer Box is $83.99 at TCGPlayer, compared to $84.95 at Amazon. Plus, key singles from Black Bolt and White Flare are now cheaper than launch.

Opens in a new window Credit: The Pokémon Company Pokémon TCG White Flare Elite Trainer Box $83.99 at TCGPlayer
$84.95 Save $0.96 Get Deal

If you have been holding off on picking up the Scarlet & Violet White Flare Elite Trainer Box, the price gap between TCGPlayer and Amazon is not huge right now, but it is still in TCGPlayer’s favor at $83.99 vs. Amazon’s $84.95. Every dollar counts, especially if you are also looking to grab a few singles while the market is soft.

Amazon’s listing is already heavily discounted from the $109.99 list price, but what is interesting is that we are now seeing both sealed product and the set’s most valuable cards trending downward in price since launch. That is great news for collectors aiming to lock in their chase cards before they rebound.

SEE ALSO: Save over $16 on the Pokémon TCG Black Bolt Binder Collection when you skip Amazon’s markup

The ETB comes loaded with nine Scarlet & Violet White Flare booster packs, a full-art Tornadus promo, 65 matching sleeves, 45 Energy cards, a player’s guide, six damage-counter dice, a coin-flip die, two plastic condition markers, and a collector’s box with dividers. There is also a code card for Pokémon TCG Live.

For players, it is a well-rounded package with both cards and accessories for league play. For collectors, it is a chance to get the promo and themed storage while the singles market is favorable. Buying both sealed product and high-value singles right now could be the best play if you want to avoid paying more later.

With prices easing on the biggest pulls from Black Bolt and White Flare, this could be the perfect time to build your collection without breaking your budget.

Most valuable Black Bolt and White Flare Pokémon cards Credit: The Pokémon Company

Here are the most valuable cards you can pull in Black Bolt and White Flare right now. Don't want to leave it to chance? You can just buy them for the best price on TCGPlayer right now:

1. Victini – 172/086 – SV: White Flare
   Near Mint Holofoil: $450
   Market price: $474.25
   Value at launch: $500

2. Reshiram ex – 173/086 – SV: White Flare
   Near Mint Holofoil: $420
   Market price: $445.20
   Value at launch: $488.50

3. Zekrom ex – 172/086 – SV: Black Bolt
   Near Mint Holofoil: $400
   Market price: $406.80
   Value at launch: $499.50

4. Victini – 171/086 – SV: Black Bolt
   Near Mint Holofoil: $430
   Market price: $430
   Value at launch: $440

5. Zekrom ex – 166/086 – SV: Black Bolt
   Near Mint Holofoil: $203
   Market price: $208.05
   Value at launch: $210.56

6. Reshiram ex – 166/086 – SV: White Flare
   Near Mint Holofoil: $190
   Market price: $203.13
   Value at launch: $210.56

SAVE $10.66: As of Aug. 14, the Pokémon TCG Black Bolt Elite Trainer Box is $88 at TCGPlayer, compared to $100.66 at Amazon.

Opens in a new window Credit: The Pokémon Company Pokémon TCG Black Bolt Elite Trainer Box $88 at TCGPlayer
$100.66 Save $12.66 Get Deal

If you’ve been waiting for the right moment to grab the Scarlet & Violet — Black Bolt Elite Trainer Box, this might be it. TCGPlayer is offering it for $88, coming in $10.66 cheaper than Amazon’s $100.66 listing. That’s enough savings to put toward extra packs, a playmat, or some upgraded sleeves.

Amazon’s price is already lower than the $109.99 list price, but TCGPlayer still takes the lead for the best price on a sealed ETB. With this set’s popularity, shaving another 10% off is a win for both players and collectors.

SEE ALSO: Save over $16 on the Pokémon TCG Black Bolt Binder Collection when you skip Amazon’s markup

Inside, you’ll find nine Scarlet & Violet — Black Bolt booster packs, a full-art foil promo featuring Thundurus, 65 matching card sleeves, and 45 Energy cards. It also comes with a player’s guide to the set, six damage-counter dice, a coin-flip die, two plastic condition markers, and a collector’s box with dividers. A code card for Pokémon TCG Live rounds out the package.

For players, the ETB provides a solid stack of boosters to build from and plenty of accessories to keep your cards organized for league night. For collectors, the Thundurus promo and themed sleeves make it a must-have display piece.

Given the contents and the current savings, now’s a smart time to pick up a Black Bolt ETB before prices climb or sell out entirely.

Most valuable Black Bolt and White Flare Pokémon cards Credit: The Pokémon Company

Here are the most valuable cards you can pull in Black Bolt and White Flare right now. Don't want to leave it to chance? You can just buy them for the best price on TCGPlayer right now:

1. Victini – 172/086 – SV: White Flare
   Near Mint Holofoil: $450
   Market price: $474.25
   Most recent sale: $450

2. Reshiram ex – 173/086 – SV: White Flare
   Near Mint Holofoil: $420
   Market price: $445.20
   Most recent sale: $418

3. Zekrom ex – 172/086 – SV: Black Bolt
   Near Mint Holofoil: $400
   Market price: $406.80
   Most recent sale: $445

4. Victini – 171/086 – SV: Black Bolt
   Near Mint Holofoil: $430
   Market price: $430
   Most recent sale: $438.60

5. Zekrom ex – 166/086 – SV: Black Bolt
   Near Mint Holofoil: $203
   Market price: $208.05
   Most recent sale: $199.95

6. Reshiram ex – 166/086 – SV: White Flare
   Near Mint Holofoil: $190
   Market price: $203.13
   Most recent sale: $188.99

SAVE $4.73: As of Aug. 14, the Pokémon TCG Prismatic Evolutions Eevee two-pack blister is $29.03 at TCGPlayer, compared to $33.76 at Amazon.

Opens in a new window Credit: The Pokémon Company Pokémon TCG Prismatic Evolutions Eevee 2-Pack Blister $29.03 at TCGPlayer
$33.76 Save $4.73 Get Deal

If you want a quick hit of the Scarlet & Violet — Prismatic Evolutions expansion without committing to a bigger box, the Eevee two-pack blister is a great entry point. Right now, TCGPlayer has it for $29.03, which is $4.73 cheaper than Amazon’s $33.76 listing. That’s enough of a gap to make it worth skipping the Prime checkout button.

Amazon’s price is already slightly discounted from its typical $35.88, but TCGPlayer still wins out here with a better per-pack value and the same contents. If you’re collecting the promos, you won’t miss anything by choosing the cheaper option.

SEE ALSO: Save over $16 on the Pokémon TCG Black Bolt Binder Collection when you skip Amazon’s markup

This blister comes with a foil Eevee card stamped with the Pokémon Day 2025 logo, a metallic coin, two booster packs from Prismatic Evolutions, and a code card for Pokémon TCG Live.

For collectors, the Pokémon Day-stamped Eevee makes for a fun keepsake tied to the set’s launch. For players, the blister offers a low-cost way to crack packs and test your luck on some of the set’s high-value cards.

With prices on sealed product always creeping up after release, grabbing these at under $30 is a nice move, especially if you’re chasing one of Prismatic Evolutions’ big-ticket pulls.

Most valuable Prismatic Evolutions Pokémon cards Credit: Mashable Photo Composite / The Pokémon Company

Here are the most valuable cards you can pull in Prismatic Evolutions right now. Don't want to leave it to chance? You can just buy them for the best price on TCGPlayer right now:

1. Umbreon ex – 161/131 – SV: Prismatic Evolutions
   Price: $875
   Market price: $850
   Most recent sale: $860

2. Sylveon ex – 156/131 – SV: Prismatic Evolutions
   Price: $284.75
   Market price: $365.38
   Most recent sale: $359.44

3. Leafeon ex – 144/131 – SV: Prismatic Evolutions
   Price: $206
   Market price: $280.35
   Most recent sale: $285.26

4. Vaporeon ex – 149/131 – SV: Prismatic Evolutions
   Price: $203.78
   Market price: $241.38
   Most recent sale: $243.04

5. Espeon ex – 155/131 – SV: Prismatic Evolutions
   Price: $201.27
   Market price: $210.57
   Most recent sale: $271.30

SAVE $100: As of Aug. 14, the Anker Solix C300 portable power station is on sale for $149.99 at Amazon. This is 40% off its list price of $249.99, allowing you to save $100.

Opens in a new window Credit: Anker Anker Solix C300 DC Power Bank Station $149.99 at Amazon
$249.99 Save $100 Get Deal

The weather is still perfect for an outdoor adventure, and if you're looking to get in a little camping trip before cooler weather blows in, it helps to have a portable power station with you. With this, you can keep all of your devices charged up in case you're not ready to go fully off-grid just yet. And thankfully, there are some great deals available on various models right now, including the Anker Solix C300 portable power station.

The Anker Solix C300 portable power station is usually listed for $249.99, but right now it's marked down 40% to $149.99. This allows you to save $100. It's currently listed as a limited-time deal, meaning it might not stick around for long. Act fast to grab it at this price.

SEE ALSO: Record-low price alert: The 40-liter Anker Solix EverFrost 2 electric cooler is under $630 at Amazon

This power station offers 288Wh of power for all your devices, alongside multiple ports for charging. The Anker Solix C300 portable power station actually comes with seven ports, including a car socket, two 140W USB-C ports, one 100W USB-C port, one 15W USB-C port, and two 12W USB-A ports. And with its helpful portable design, it's easy to pack up and take on your travels.

Don't miss out on this limited-time deal on the Anker Solix C300 portable power station at Amazon. And if you're looking for a bit more power to take on your journeys, you can also save on the hefty Jackery Solar Generator 2000 Plus right now at Amazon.

In yet another rambling press conference, President Donald Trump has announced that he will be hosting the upcoming Kennedy Center Honors, telling a story about how he kept being asked to host the awards ceremony and kept saying no before finally caving in.

Reacting to the clip on Late Night, Seth Meyers was anything but convinced.

"Well, I think you deserve the award for best original screenplay, because that's definitely a fake conversation that did not happen," Meyers says, before launching into his Trump impression. "They said 'Sir, we want you to host,' and I said 'You're fools, I'm so busy,' and they said 'The ratings will be huge because everyone loves you!' and I said 'That's true,' and I said 'What'll I wear?' and they said 'Don't worry, we'll make a special tuxedo that's big enough for your incredibly large penis — their words, not fools on that, they wised up — and I said 'OK, if you say so.'"

It's not the first time Meyers has roasted a Trump press conference and it probably won't be the last.

SAVE $90: As of Aug. 14, the Jackery Explorer 300 is on sale for $169 at Amazon. That's a 35% saving on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Jackery Jackery Explorer 300 $169 at Amazon
$259 Save $90 Get Deal

A portable power station is always something to have on hand. Whether you want to stay connected on camping trips or just want to be prepared for power cuts, having something stashed away is always a good idea. And this latest deal on the Jackery Explorer 300 is well worth a look if you're in the market for a reliable option that doesn't break the bank.

The Jackery Explorer 300 is a handy, portable option. At just 7.1 pounds, this is perfect for camping, roadtrips, or on the go connection. There are enough ports to keep several devices going at once, boasting two AC outlets, a PD 60W USB-C port that works for both input and output, a fast charge 3.0 port, a standard USB-A port, and a DC car port. That’s enough for your phone, laptop, camera, drone, and more.

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

Recharging is pretty quick too: about two hours to get to 80% if you use a wall outlet and the 60W PD USB-C port at the same time. You can also charge it from a car outlet while on the road, an AC adapter at home, or via a Jackery SolarSaga 100 solar panel.

Get this deal from Amazon before stock drops.

The Xenomorph isn't the only powerful being in FX's Alien: Earth series, with the heads of five major corporations calling the shots on our planet and its neighbours. The newest of these organisations, Prodigy, is led by young founder Boy Kavalier, a bratty trillionaire with a massive ego played to perfection by Mary and George, Black Mirror, and The French Dispatch star Samuel Blenkin.

Though Blenkin told Mashable that Boy Kavalier isn't based on anyone from real life, he said it was a wildly fun exercise to play someone who can do whatever they damn well want.

SEE ALSO: 'Alien: Earth' review: Xenomorphs get upstaged in this sci-fi treat

"I was so excited to play this role, because I don’t normally get to play people who have this kind of massive ego," he said. "I tend to play young people who are pretty broken and vulnerable in some way, so the fact that Noah [Alien: Earth creator, writer, and director Noah Hawley] gave me a chance to inhabit somebody who can walk into a room and do literally whatever he wants, I just tried really hard to get on set and embody that."

Samuel Blenkin as Boy Kavalier in "Alien: Earth." Credit: FX

In Blenkin's hands, Boy Kavalier intentionally uses disrespectful body language and behaviour as a power play. He refuses to wear shoes as he wanders around his secret Neverland facility, helming a complex and dangerous science project. He puts said bare feet up on desks while pushing his staff's ethical boundaries, takes an extremely important business call with rival corporation Weyland-Yutani in bed (holding the tablet with his feet), and generally throws his authority around with the click of his fingers.

"That feeling of freedom and collaboration meant that I could go on set and say, 'Well, yeah, you know what? I think I will hold it with my feet.' But that was not planned," says Blenkin. "There were so many moments that weren’t planned that I just was cheeky and asked. And that feeling of freedom and collaboration only comes from being on a really generous set."

"That feeling of freedom and collaboration meant that I could go on set and say, 'Well, yeah, you know what? I think I will hold it with my feet.'"

When we first meet the prodigious leader, Boy Kavalier is helming the company's hybrid project, one that transfers the consciousness of terminally ill children into synthetic bodies. We see the character become a kind of Peter Pan figure, naming his facility Neverland, developing his hybrid troupe of "Lost Boys" led by Wendy (Sydney Chandler), and reading J.M. Barrie's story to them each night. Blenkin said he worked with costumer designer Suttirat Anne Larlarb to craft playsuits for Boy Kavalier to complete the show's Peter Pan theme: "Originally we were almost going to go for pyjamas, going full Peter Pan vibes, and we came up with these brilliant playsuits."

Exactly what drives Boy Kavalier will be unravelled over the course of Alien: Earth. We get a small clue in episode 2, when he describes his need to win the "intelligence race." "People always think it's about money with trillionaires. Or ego. You know what I really want? I want to talk to somebody smarter than me," he says in a scene, munching away at an apple. "At the very least my hope is that by giving Wendy a supercomputer for a brain and training by the best geniuses money can buy, I'll finally be able to have an interesting fucking conversation."

You can watch Mashable's interview with Blenkin, as well as Hawley's insight into the opening scene of Alien: Earth, below:

Alien: Earth premieres Aug. 12 at 8 p.m. ET on Hulu and FX with two episodes, then weekly on Tuesdays.

Connections: Sports Edition is a new version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections Sports Edition?

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

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

Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

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

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

SEE ALSO: NYT Mini crossword answers, hints for August 14, 2025 Here's a hint for today's Connections Sports Edition categories

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

• Yellow: Regionally specific athletics

• Green: Same state

• Blue: Gaming names

• Purple: Same second word

Featured Video For You Connections: How to play and how to win Here are today's Connections Sports Edition categories

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

• Yellow: SEC teams

• Green: Georgia teams

• Blue: Video game namesakes

• Purple: ___ Corner

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

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections Sports Edition #325 is...

What is the answer to Connections Sports Edition today

• SEC teams - ARKANSAS, AUBURN, MISSISSIPPI, VANDERBILT

• Georgia teams - BRAVES, DREAM, GEORGIA, GEORGIA TECH

• Video game namesakes - HAWK, MADDEN, SLATER, WOODS

• ____ corner - AMEN, COFFIN, HOT, PENALTY

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

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

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Connections.

The Mini is a bite-sized version of The New York Times' revered daily crossword. While the crossword is a lengthier experience that requires both knowledge and patience to complete, The Mini is an entirely different vibe.

With only a handful of clues to answer, the daily puzzle doubles as a speed-running test for many who play it.

So, when a tricky clue disrupts a player's flow, it can be frustrating! If you find yourself stumped playing The Mini — much like with Wordle and Connections — we have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable

Here are the clues and answers to NYT's The Mini for Thursday, August 14, 2025:

AcrossAnimals holding "Eat Mor Chikin" signs, in a classic ad campaign

• The answer is Cows.

Suffix with Beatle or Wrestle

• The answer is Mania.

"Au revoir!"

• The answer is Adieu.

Ugly poster?

• The answer is Troll.

Be likely (to)

• The answer is Tend.

DownCore group

• The answer is Cadre.

Vegetable combined with celery and carrot to form "mirepoix"

• The answer is Onion.

Handle, as a sword

• The answer is Wield.

"Better Call ___" ("Breaking Bad" spinoff)

• The answer is Saul.

Damon of "Oppenheimer"

• The answer is Matt.

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

Featured Video For You The Wordle Strategy used by the New York Times' Head of Games

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to the latest Mini Crossword.

AI-generated video has gotten way too good. Scary good, actually. Because of that, our feeds are flooded with suspiciously perfect clips — like impossibly cute animals bouncing on trampolines — racking up millions of views across TikTok, Shorts, and Reels.

With AI content blending seamlessly into our scroll, it's not always easy to know what’s real. So, how can you tell if a viral video is AI-generated?

Truth be told, there’s no perfect checklist for spotting an AI-generated video. “Even if I don’t find the artifact, I cannot say for sure that it’s real, and that’s what we want,” Negar Kamali, an AI research scientist at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, told Mashable Tech Reporter Cecily Mauran last year.

SEE ALSO: How to identify AI-generated videos

The old giveaways — warped faces, mangled fingers, impossibly smooth textures — are getting harder to catch as the tech improves. Temporal inconsistencies are being cleaned up. But just like with those surreal animal clips captured on fake doorbell cams, the truth still lives in the little details. That’s where the synthetic mask always slips.

The rise of ultra-realistic AI video tools

Part of the challenge is the technology itself. Tools like OpenAI’s Sora and Google Veo 3 can now generate cinematic clips with complex camera movements, realistic lighting, and believable textures. These platforms aren’t just toys — they’re edging into professional-grade filmmaking territory, making the gap between human-shot footage and AI-generated content thinner than ever. This means spotting the "tells" in viral AI videos takes sharper eyes and a bit more skepticism.

Take the video above, for example, an entire workshop’s worth of bunnies bouncing in perfect rhythm. It's absolutely adorable (and easy to make), but it’s also deeply suspicious when you look a little closer.

With that in mind, here are the best ways to identify AI-generated viral videos.

1. Look at the context first

Many AI videos are staged in oddly specific scenarios — often at night, using onyx-filter night vision. That’s not just for "aesthetic."

Dark filters conveniently hide the small glitches and frame-to-frame inconsistencies common in AI footage.

2. Check for missing device hallmarks

If the video claims to come from a doorbell cam or security feed, look for timestamps, brand logos, and interface overlays. A total absence of these is suspicious. At the same time, the presence of these hallmarks doesn't necessarily mean the video is real.

3. Watch the physics

Real-world motion obeys real-world rules. Animals, for example, don’t execute perfectly timed, repetitive jumps for 10 seconds straight. Look, for example, at the tip of this whale, which literally sucks a worker into the deck of this ship.

4. Mind the runtime

Shorter clips give AI less opportunity to reveal its flaws. That’s why so many viral synthetic videos cut off right before something looks “off.”

“If the video is 10 seconds long, be suspicious. There’s a reason why it’s short,” Hany Farid, a UC Berkeley professor of computer science and digital forensics expert, said to Mashable.

Likewise, if a longer video is made up of very short clips stitched together, be suspicious. Most AI video generators can only produce short clips. Google Veo 3, the most advanced generative AI video model, produces 8-second clips. Sora, by ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, produces videos between one and 20 seconds long.

5. Listen for sound (or the lack of it)

Synthetic clips often have strangely clean audio, mismatched ambient noise, or none at all. “Fabrication coming from them, distorting certain facts…that’s really hard to disprove,” Aruna Sankaranarayanan, a research assistant at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, said to Mashable. Silent or overly clean soundscapes can be a big clue.

6. Spot AI-text artifacts

AI still struggles with legible writing. Check clothing, signage, or packaging in the frame — warped letters, random symbols, or gibberish text are persistent giveaways. “If the image feels like clickbait, it is clickbait,” Farid said to Mashable.

For example, this viral video of an emotional support kangaroo. Look closely at its vest as the video zooms in.

7. Watch for impossible movements

Humans and animals have subtle weight shifts, irregular gait patterns, and micro-movements. AI creations often lack these subtleties. And if you look closely, you can often spot bizarre inconsistencies, such as multiple figures melting into one, or vice versa.

“The building added a story, or the car changed colors, things that are physically not possible,” Farid said to Mashable, describing temporal inconsistencies.

8. Look for (or notice the absence of) watermarks

Some AI video generators — including Sora and Veo 3 — automatically embed watermarks or metadata to identify synthetic content. These marks can appear in corners, as faint overlays, or as hidden digital signatures in the file. While digital watermarks like SynthID from Google DeepMind are promising, watermarks can also be removed or cropped out of viral videos.

9. Check the account's history

Many AI videos are churned out en masse by AI slop farmers. If you see a video that seems off, check the account behind the video. Often, you'll find they've posted dozens — or even hundreds — of nearly identical AI videos in a short period of time. That's a big red flag that the video you just watched was generated by AI.

As scientists delve deeper into a star system with seven rocky worlds, the prospect of one being a habitable planet seems to be quickly fading. 

Researchers who used the James Webb Space Telescope, a joint partnership of NASA and its European and Canadian counterparts, determined the third planet from the TRAPPIST-1 star is unlikely to have air. For anyone keeping count, that's strike three for the system, which lies about 40 light-years away from Earth in space. 

The new findings on exoplanet TRAPPIST-1d, published in The Astrophysical Journal on Wednesday, mirror similar results for TRAPPIST-1b and TRAPPIST-1c, which orbit closer to their red dwarf host, a tiny-yet-violent type of star found throughout the galaxy.

"On a personal level, of course, there's a part of me that would have loved to see signs of air on TRAPPIST-1d," Caroline Piaulet-Ghorayeb, a University of Chicago fellow and lead author of the paper, told Mashable. "Science isn't about hoping for a yes, it's about finding what's real. So here we've learned that TRAPPIST-1d is not an Earth twin." 

SEE ALSO: Scientists find temperate planet in nearby system full of rocky worlds

Astronomers discovered the TRAPPIST-1 system about eight years ago with the now-retired Spitzer Space Telescope. Soon they made the swarming exoplanets a priority for investigating their potential for life, with all seven roughly the size of Earth.

Scientists were particularly interested in finding out whether the TRAPPIST planets have atmospheres, because red dwarfs are the most ubiquitous kind of star in the Milky Way. If these planets can retain atmospheres, even while subjected to close-range blasts of stellar radiation, perhaps an abundance of other worlds out there could, too.

Scientists are trying to determine whether any of of the rocky worlds orbiting TRAPPIST-1, a red dwarf star about 40 light-years away from Earth, could have an atmosphere. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech illustration

When TRAPPIST-1b and TRAPPIST-1c didn't appear to have atmospheres, the research community wasn't deterred, as neither sibling planet was predicted to have one, given how close they are to the star. 

But TRAPPIST-1d, which circles the star every four days, is a different story. This exoplanet is on the cusp of the star’s theorized habitable zone — the region of space where worlds might be able to have lakes and oceans on their surfaces.

"Science isn't about hoping for a yes, it's about finding what's real."

Webb observed TRAPPIST-1d with a method called transmission spectroscopy. When a planet crosses in front of its host star, starlight should shine through its atmosphere, if there is one. Molecules within an atmosphere absorb certain light wavelengths, or colors, so astronomers can look for missing segments of the rainbow to figure out chemicals in its composition. The researchers looked for things like water vapor, methane, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide.

But first, the team had to account for so-called "stellar contamination." Just like the sun, red dwarfs can get sunspots, so their starlight isn't completely uniform. Variability in the light signals can obscure or even imitate signals coming from a planet. After correcting for this problem in the data, the researchers found no clear signs of gases.

That means scientists can rule out certain types of atmospheres, like the thick hydrogen-rich atmosphere of Neptune, or a cloud-free atmosphere akin to that of early Earth. But a few other potential scenarios could explain the results without the planet having to be a barren rock. It could have an extremely thin atmosphere, sort of like Mars, that would be difficult to detect with this method, Piaulet-Ghorayeb said, or it could have thick, high-altitude clouds blocking atmospheric signatures, perhaps like Venus.

"We also learned something about what the best way to even look for water in the atmosphere of these temperate planets might be," she said. "Maybe transmission spectroscopy isn't it."

Whether red dwarf stars, sometimes called M-type, can harbor planets with atmospheres is a key question for Webb to answer. The observatory has begun a massive study of rocky worlds, first reported by Mashable, specifically to figure out if planets orbiting closely around them could have air. Rather than transmission spectroscopy, the survey will rely on a different method, called the secondary eclipse technique, which avoids some of the stellar contamination issues. 

The team says not to give up on the TRAPPIST system just yet. After all, planets E, F, G, and H could have a better chance of holding onto their atmospheres because they're farther from the star's flares, which can strip away a planet's atmosphere. In particular, TRAPPIST researchers are looking forward to studying E, the fourth planet from the star. 

The challenge for Webb will be overcoming the planets' more extreme distance and colder environments, which make atmospheric readings more difficult. 

What makes Piaulet-Ghorayeb hopeful about the continued quest for rocky worlds with water and air is the milestone achieved. 

"For the first time, if there had been an Earth-like atmosphere on a temperate terrestrial planet, we could have found it," she said. "And I don't think that in any study before, with any instrument that we had before, we could really get to that level of precision."

The Supreme Court has been asked to take up a case that could overturn the 2015 ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, and Tefi Pessoa, a lifestyle creator with 1.9 million TikTok followers, can't understand why more LGBTQ+ creators aren't talking about it.

"How is anyone LGBTQIA+ in America right now and not talking about gay marriage?" she posted to her Instagram Stories on Tuesday.

In another corner of the internet, Israel's actions in Gaza — which Amnesty International and the UN have described as genocide — prompted music creator Zay Dante (1.8 million TikTok followers, plus sizable audiences on YouTube and Instagram) to post a video five weeks ago questioning the silence of his peers.

"I was under the impression that we are gathering community to help better people's lives," Dante said, "but I’m realizing that a lot of you [sic] get into this job so you can be posted up on a brand trip and get paid $10,000 to say 'I love Sprite.'"

Earlier this summer, Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids swept through Los Angeles. Lifestyle, beauty, and comedy creator Jenny Solares — who has 3 million followers on TikTok — broke from her usual content to share a raw message about how "families are being torn apart."

"It was word vomit," she told Mashable at VidCon 2025 in June. "It was this thing I had to say: Look what's happening." 

"It was word vomit," Solares told Mashable at VidCon 2025. Credit: Instagram screenshot / Tefi Pessoa / Zay Dante / Jenny Solares

These creators don't typically make political content, but they're speaking out anyway. Many others remain quiet. Is it shame over their political leanings, as Pessoa suggests in her Stories? A lack of confidence in understanding a complex news story, as Solares noted? Or fear of losing income, as Dante argued?

SEE ALSO: 4 big mistakes creators made — and what they did to fix them

For creators, silence can be strategic. Speaking out on politics can alienate followers, trigger harassment, and scare off brand deals that pay the bills. But silence carries its own cost: missing the engagement that comes with topical discourse, feeling complicit in injustice, or losing the trust of an audience. This is one of the central tensions influencers and content creators face — the constant calculation between moral obligation and professional survival. Every post is work, and each decision to speak is shaped by the same forces that govern any workplace: risk, reward, and job security.

Audiences are right to want influencers who reflect their values. But until creators are treated as workers with rights, every political post is a gamble with their income and safety — not just a moral choice, but a labor rights issue.

Why the stakes are so high now

If there was ever a time to signal to your followers where your politics — and by extension, your morals — lie, it’s now. President Donald Trump expanded deportation efforts, ordering ICE officers to "do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History." Protests erupted across Los Angeles, New York City, and other cities across the country. Creators’ silence or outspokenness about human rights violations in Gaza has been a constant undertone online, and during elections, influencers are implored to speak out in favor of their candidates of choice. 

This public expectation isn’t new, says Emily Hund, the author of The Influencer Industry: The Quest for Authenticity on Social Media and a research affiliate at the Center on Digital Culture and Society at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication. She told Mashable that it began in the late 2010s as audiences became more aware of how the influencer economy worked, then spiked in 2020 as political unrest collided with the pandemic’s surge in online engagement. The result: speaking on current events began to feel urgent, and conspicuous silence more suspicious. Staying quiet started to look like taking a side.

SEE ALSO: Why pro-Palestinian content is at the center of the TikTok ban

The mounting pressures influencers face to speak up about political crises aren’t just about morality or authenticity. It’s a question of labor. These are workers navigating a new and volatile industry without collective bargaining power, industry standards, or platform accountability; for many, their livelihoods depend on algorithms, brand deals, and audience approval. The question of whether influencers should speak up — about politics, really, about anything — is inseparable from the question of whether they’re allowed to safely do so at work. 

The expectation of political engagement despite labor

There’s a joke to be made about how influencers are basically the personality hires of the internet, and while sharing that personality has some risks, it’s also the job.

The influencers are pulled between their many bosses — tech platforms, algorithms, brand partners, and audiences. Tech platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok limit the spread of political content, making it a difficult tool for creator growth. Some users have complained that the algorithm punishes them for talking about politics, going so far as to claim shadowbanning. And brands don't want to partner with anyone who might be considered partisan. All the while, audiences want creators to be funny, relatable, transparent about their political leanings, and to use their platforms in ways that reaffirm the viewers’ beliefs. There is no HR department.

Take Madison Humphrey, for example. She has never spoken about politics overtly — in fact, none of the content that has garnered her 3.8 million followers on TikTok has much to do with her own personality at all. 

But the suggested search term in a recent video about her engagement was "Madison Humphrey MAGA." 

Click on the search, and you'll see dozens of videos worrying that she doesn't align with her fans' political views — in one case, to the tune of 24,000 views. There's an expectation for creators, even those like Humphrey and Brittany Broski who aren't explicitly political, to inform their viewers where they stand politically. That's part of the job now.

Hund pointed out that taking a stand on anything "means risking a lot," both by alienating brands or followers. 

"Alienating either can result in a financial hit. In the case of alienating followers, there are also personal consequences in the form of dealing with hate messages or worse," Hund said.

SEE ALSO: Zay Dante on the Drake vs. Kendrick beef, music fandom, and going full-time on TikTok

Audiences demand authenticity, but the brands that pay creators want that authenticity with boundaries: Be yourself, but only if that self is as palatable as possible. Dante told Mashable that he missed out on brand deals because he's been so outspoken on Palestine. But this, too, is difficult to track outright. No one said they wouldn't partner with him once he started speaking out — the well simply dried up. He said that losing money is "what I ended up having to do. Was it hard for maybe a little bit? Yeah. But was it harder than working a 9-to-5 job? Absolutely not."

Power without protections

It's hard to measure exactly how much power influencers have, but even a mild understanding of the grassroots campaigns that political parties stage every year to fundraise, get out the vote, and ultimately shift elections is a good indicator. During the 2024 election, for example, influencers became integral to the success of political campaigns. 

Think about Taylor Swift: After she posted on Instagram encouraging her fans to register to vote in 2023, there was a 22.5 percent increase in registrations compared to the previous year, and a 1,226 percent jump in participation in the hour following the post, according to NPR. Of course, the influencers we follow online don't have the same impact as Swift, but that doesn't mean their impact is negligible.  

"Influencers are increasingly integral to election campaign strategies," The Conversation wrote in April. "Political campaigns work with influencers to reach audiences traditional media often misses, or to target specific groups with tailored messaging."

Beyond swaying votes, influencers also spread news. The Pew Research Center reports that nearly 40 percent of young Americans say they regularly get their news from TikTok and are as likely to trust information from social media as from national news outlets. Unlike journalists, influencers and content creators are allowed and encouraged by their viewers to share opinions, too, which can lead to raising money for those in need.

"I feel a personal responsibility to be vocal and be on the right side of history and do good because I'm lucky enough to have this platform." - Ayamé

While many influencers monetize their content to pay their own bills, some creators also use their influence to fund causes. Three creators — Ayamé, Yuval, and Oliver — created a faux love triangle to raise huge funds for families in Palestine. Ayamé told Mashable in April that raising over a million dollars for Palestinian families made it clear to her the reality of how much power and influence she holds, and how much good she could do with her platform.

"I feel a personal responsibility to be vocal and be on the right side of history and do good because I'm lucky enough to have this platform," Ayamé said. "I'd feel almost irresponsible not using it for good on some level. I'm not a political creator. I don't do a lot of political content, but when there are things that are screaming at you to speak on, I think a lot of other people in the industry also do the same."

But even that reach doesn't come with the benefits or job security that usually accompany high-impact work. Political speech from influencers isn't just "using their platform"— it's labor performed without the wage protections, benefits, or rights that other workers leverage when their jobs intersect with politics.

A labor rights issue

The disconnect between public expectation and system protection is stark. Influencers are, in effect, gig workers in an unregulated industry. Freelancers have some protections in some states, but the Department of Labor doesn’t even consider influencing a job in the same way it does other gig workers and independent contractors. According to the Washington Post, there’s no specific date for when the Department of Labor began considering influencing a job, but in 2024, the DOL did write that “potentially some content creators” are indexed under gig workers. 

Influencers have some protections. Tech companies and platforms have implemented protections for creators’ mental health, like the ability to block accounts, automatically filter hate comments, or disable them altogether. SAG-AFTRA, the labor union that represents actors and other workers in the media, has an influencer agreement, but it’s still in the early stages. 

Without established industry standards, creators are forced to navigate public scrutiny and brand politics alone.

Dante hopes for a world in which creators can band together — like a union — to demand respect and protections from the tech companies that make money from their content. This would allow creators to feel more comfortable speaking their minds without fearing backlash from the platforms themselves.

And, as Hund says, "systems, not individuals, need to hold influencers accountable."

"Social media platforms, brands, marketing agencies, and influencers need to come together as an industry and set some shared standards of the trade, as other media industries do," Hund said. "There needs to be a better shared understanding of what it means to be an influencer, both in practical terms and in terms of their social role."

Whether or not it is important to you that a creator speaks out about politics, human rights violations, or genocide is a remarkably similar argument to separating the art from the artist. Do that, or don’t do that. But perhaps there’s a way to give creators space to speak up if they want to.

"At the end of the day, if we bog ourselves down with fear about the algorithm and with fear about what it's gonna do to our money, then I question where our humanity is gone," Dante said.

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

SEE ALSO: The 10 best TV shows of 2025 (so far), and where to stream them

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

Mashable's entertainment team has scoured the streaming services to highlight the most buzzed-about releases of this week and ranked them from worst to best — or least worth your time to most watchable. Whether you're in the mood for Alien prequels, the new Superman, or incredible action, we've got something just for you.

Honorable mention: Stand Up to Cancer 2025 Telecast

Cancer charity Stand Up to Cancer's ninth televised fundraising special airs this week, with the goal of continuing to raise funds for cancer research. Filmed in Nashville, Tennessee, the Stand Up to Cancer special is hosted by Sheryl Crow, and will feature appearances from artists like Dolly Parton and the Jonas Brothers. — Belen Edwards, Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: The Stand Up to Cancer special will air on ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC at 8 p.m. ET. It will also be streaming live across major streaming platforms, including Disney+, Hulu, Peacock, and Prime Video.

11. And Just Like That..., Series Finale: Part 2

And just like that, it's come to an end. Again. Sex and the City spinoff And Just Like That… will air its very last episode on Aug. 14, after showrunner Michael Patrick King announced Season 3 would be its last. The second of a two-part finale, this week's episode will be a farewell to Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) and her well-dressed New York friends and lovers. It's been a wild ride, through the series' engagement with modern dating, vaginal suppositories, new tech, and making a mess of Diwali — and all the wild cameos they could muster. Though it's tested us at times, the spinoff has shown how much Sex and the City fans will do for real love. Ridiculous, inconvenient, consuming, can't-live-without-each-other love.* — Shannon Connellan, UK Editor

Starring: Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis, Mario Cantone, Sarita Choudhury, Evan Handler, David Eigenberg, Nicole Ari Parker, John Corbett, Sebastiano Pigazzi, Dolly Wells, Mehcad Brooks, Jonathan Cake, and Logan Marshall-Green

How to watch: The series finale for And Just Like That... premieres Aug. 14 on HBO Max.

10. Love Is Blind: UK Season 2

Ready for more juicy reality TV mess? Love Is Blind: UK Season 2 is heading back to the pods, continuing Netflix's "experiment" of seeing if people can fall in love without ever having seen one another. Does this experiment work? Not often. Does it provide viewers with delicious drama? You bet. — B.E.

How to watch: The first four episodes of Love Is Blind: UK Season 2 are now streaming on Netflix, with new episodes dropping Wednesdays.

9. Butterfly

Daniel Dae Kim jumps into spy mode in thriller series Butterfly, where he plays a retired agent named David Jung. Despite leaving the game years ago, David jumps back into action for a highly important mission. This is not your typical spy mission, like preventing nuclear codes from falling into the wrong hands or assassinating any dangerous figures. Instead, David wants to save his daughter Rebecca (Reina Hardesty), who's joined the spy business herself.

There's just one problem: Rebecca believes that David died. So when he bursts back into her life, she has a tough time accepting that he's back. Expect plenty of spy thriller action, along with a large share of father-daughter fights. — B.E.

Starring: Daniel Dae Kim, Reina Hardesty, Louis Landau, Piper Perabo, Kim Tae-hee, Park Hae-soo, Charles Parnell, and Kim Ji-hoon

How to watch: Butterfly is now streaming on Prime Video.

8. Night Always Comes

Need a Vanessa Kirby fix after her turn as Sue Storm in The Fantastic Four: First Steps? Then check out Night Always Comes. Based on the novel by Willy Vlautin, this gritty crime drama sees desperate anti-heroine Lynette (Kirby) set off on a harrowing one-night quest through Portland's criminal underbelly, all in the hopes of getting enough money to keep her family from eviction. Brace yourselves: Based on the trailer, it looks like things are going to get dark. — B.E.

Starring: Vanessa Kirby, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Zack Gottsagen, Stephan James, Randall Park, Julia Fox, Michael Kelly, and Eli Roth

How to watch: Night Always Comes hits Netflix Aug. 15.

7. Eddington

Ari Aster has birthed a barrage of mind-blowing cinema, ranging from the heart-wrenching horror of Hereditary and Midsommar to the gnarly humor of Beau Is Afraid. His latest is the weird Western Eddington. 

SEE ALSO: 'Eddington' review: Ari Aster misfires as Pedro Pascal and Joaquin Phoenix face off

Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal face off in as the sheriff and mayor of the titular small town, waging a war of ideas at the start of the COVID-19 lockdowns in the U.S. The result is a film that's at times funny and thrilling, but most often frustrating, which is kind of the point. In my review for Mashable, I wrote, "While the cast is committed to Aster's vision of this New Mexico town, the depth is lacking. That a cop has a thirst for control, that a smiling politician has a dark side, that a depressed woman has a hidden heartache — none of this is a surprise. Yet Eddington treats each reveal with a ghoulish giddiness, as if they're all deeply transgressive. The result is a movie that feels passionate, but is ultimately shallow and messy." – K.P. 

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, Luke Grimes, Austin Butler, Deirdre O’Connell, Micheal Ward, Clifton Collins Jr., William Belleau, Cameron Mann, Matt Gomez Hidaka, and Amélie Hoeferle

How to watch: Eddington is now available to rent or buy on Prime Video.

6. Fixed

Animation legend Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack) delivers an outrageous comedy with his extremely NSFW new film, Fixed. The movie centers on a dog named Bull (voiced by Adam DeVine), who learns he's about to be neutered. With that awful news hanging over his head, he embarks on one last night of debauchery with his doggie friends — and his balls.

SEE ALSO: 'Fixed' fulfills the promise of the 'Cats' butthole cut: Review

Those balls are on full display throughout the film, which leaves little about dog genitalia (or dogs' sex lives) to the imagination. (If you've ever clamored for the Cats "butthole cut," then Fixed is for you.) The movie only ups the crassness from there, but it also sprinkles in some surprisingly touching discoveries about friendship and self-esteem. As I wrote in my review, Fixed features, "an earnest, sweet message in a purposefully crude package, and one that leaves room for more character development and self-discovery than Fixed's initial premise may have you think." — B.E.

Starring: Adam DeVine, Idris Elba, Kathryn Hahn, Fred Armisen, Beck Bennett, Bobby Moynihan, Michelle Buteau, River Gallo, Grey DeLisle, and Aaron LaPlante

How to watch: Fixed is now streaming on Netflix.

5. The Legend of Ochi

Feast your eyes on one of 2025's most visually stunning movies: The Legend of Ochi. The feature directorial debut from Isaiah Saxon transports viewers to the island of Carpathia, where locals live in fear of creatures known as the Ochi. (Think of them as Grogu from The Mandalorian meets real-life golden snub-nosed monkeys.) But when young Yuri (Helena Zengel) runs across a baby Ochi, she embarks on an epic journey to reunite it with its family — and she may just learn something about her own splintered family in the process.

SEE ALSO: 'The Legend of Ochi' is a miracle of puppeteering

While The Legend of Ochi's story occasionally falters, the film itself is a miracle of craft, boasting gorgeous matte paintings and handmade set pieces that call to mind classic fantasy adventures like Labyrinth and The NeverEnding Story. The stars of the show are undoubtedly the Ochi puppets, though, which are truly movie creatures for the ages. As I wrote in my review, "I hope that young audiences have the same reaction to The Legend of Ochi as I did to films like Labyrinth: one of pure awe, and of appreciation for the practical magic of moviemaking." — B.E.

Starring: Helena Zengel, Willem Dafoe, Finn Wolfhard, and Emily Watson

How to watch: The Legend of Ochi hits HBO Max Aug. 15.

4. The Woman King

Director Gina Prince-Bythewood's The Woman King returns to streaming this week, and if you like historical epics, then this banger is a must-watch. Viola Davis stars as General Nanisca, the leader of the real-life Agojie, an all-female regiment of warriors who defended the West African kingdom of Dahomey. As Dahomey is threatened by the Oyo Empire and Portuguese slave traders, Nanisca must train new warriors in order to protect their home. (Although it was critically acclaimed, The Woman King also earned criticism for its softened portrayal of Dahomey's actual role in the Atlantic slave trade.)

SEE ALSO: 'The Woman King' review: Viola Davis leads a groundbreaking and glorious action epic

Anchored by a career-high performance from Davis (whose work, like the film, was snubbed at the 2023 Oscars), The Woman King delivers blazing action and a whole army's worth of characters to care deeply about, from new recruit Nawi (Thuso Mbedu) to seasoned warrior Izogie (Lashana Lynch). As Mashable Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko wrote in her review, "Gina Prince-Bythewood has once more created an astonishing action movie, which dazzles with ferocious fight sequences but hits hardest because of its heartfelt storytelling." — B.E.

Starring: Viola Davis, Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim, John Boyega, Jordan Bolger, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Masali Baduza, and Jayme Lawson

How to watch: The Woman King is now streaming on HBO Max.

3. The John Wick series

Yeah, I'm thinking I'm back… to rewatching the John Wick series. All four films hit Hulu Aug. 15, giving you the perfect opportunity to check out (or revisit) one of the greatest action franchises of all time, all in one place.

What begins as the story of former hitman John Wick (Keanu Reeves) avenging the death of his dog spirals out into a global epic of vengeance, redemption, and so, so much ass-kicking. Every movie somehow manages to level up on the action of the last, to the point that you'll finish the series somehow both exhausted and so amped up you'll feel like you can run through a wall. — B.E.

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, Lance Reddick, and Laurence Fishburne

How to watch: All four John Wick films hit Hulu Aug. 15.

2. Superman

Now you can catch one of 2025's biggest films (and dare I say, its best superhero film) at home, as Superman hits digital Aug. 15. Directed by James Gunn, this reboot reintroduces all the Superman staples: Clark Kent/Superman (David Corenswet), Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), and Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), along with the film's animal MVP, Krypto the superdog.

SEE ALSO: 'Superman' review: Can James Gunn's reboot get DC back on track?

Gunn doesn't hem and haw over Superman's origin story, instead launching viewers straight into an action-packed adventure. Does it occasionally move too fast? Sure. But the film's optimism and the cast's exquisite chemistry help smooth out even the bumpiest of stretches. Look, I left the theater wanting to work at the Daily Planet, hug my dog, and save a squirrel, and you can feel that way too, with the help of Superman.

However, not everyone is as psyched about the film as I am. In his Mashable review, Siddhant Adlakha wrote, "Superman is big summer fun, with just enough laughs and action to get by. However, it also makes several lofty promises, by way of narrative and theme, that it doesn't always keep. It's a grand old time (until it isn't). But its off-kilter visual approach is surprisingly effective, shaping the contours of a detailed, politically charged comic book universe that, for better or worse, never slows down." — B.E.

Starring: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced, Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, and Nicholas Hoult

How to watch: Superman will be available to rent or buy on Prime Video Aug. 15.

1. Alien: Earth

In space, no one can hear you scream. But in reading this article, you can hear me scream about how awesome Alien: Earth is. Set just two years before the events of the original Alien, creator Noah Hawley's (Fargo) prequel series brings the Xenomorphs to humans' home turf. They, along with four other terrifying alien creatures, are part of the cargo of a Weyland-Yutani spaceship that crash-lands on Earth. 

SEE ALSO: 'Alien: Earth' review: Xenomorphs get upstaged in this sci-fi treat

Following the crash, trillionaire Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin) sends in a squad of soldiers to extract the specimens, but these are no ordinary specimens. They're hybrids: super-strong, super-fast robot bodies with the consciousnesses of human children. How will they fare when they come face to face with their alien foes?

While the Xenomorphs remain awesome (and terrifying) as usual in Alien: Earth, they somehow manage to be the least interesting part of the show, as Hawley expands on the Alien franchise in fascinating new ways. Between the hybrids and the show's new alien beasties, there's so much to love about Alien: Earth, along with plenty of great nods to the original and existential questions about what makes us human. As I wrote in my review, "Unsettling, bizarro, and contemplative in equal measures — just how I like my Alien! — Alien: Earth proves an exciting new entry in the franchise. Come for the Xenomorph, but stay for all the exquisite nightmares Hawley is cooking up." — B.E.

Starring: Sydney Chandler, Timothy Olyphant, Alex Lawther, Samuel Blenkin, Essie Davis, Adarsh Gourav, Kit Young, David Rysdahl, Babou Ceesay, Jonathan Ajayi, Erana James, Lily Newmark, Diêm Camille, Adrian Edmondson, Moe Bar-El, and Sandra Yi Sencindiver

How to watch: The first two episodes of Alien: Earth are now streaming on Hulu. New episodes air Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hulu and FX.

(*) denotes a blurb comes from a previous list.

TL;DR: Refurbished Apple Watch Series 7 for $154.99 (68% savings) gives you all the premium features without the premium price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Refurbished Apple Watch Series 7 (GPS + Cellular, 45mm) $154.99
$499 Save $344.01 Get Deal

Want the Apple Watch experience without the Apple Watch price tag?

A refurbished Apple Watch Series 7 (GPS + Cellular, 45mm) gets you all the features you love — plus a few upgrades you didn’t know you needed — for just $154.99 instead of $499. That’s a massive 68 percent savings, but only while stock lasts.

The Series 7 is bigger, tougher, and smarter than its predecessor, thanks to a nearly 20 percent larger display, thinner borders, and crack-resistant glass that’s built to handle life’s bumps and scrapes. It’s also dust-resistant and water-resistant, so it’s ready whether you’re heading to the office, the gym, or the pool.

Performance-wise, you’ll get 33 percent faster charging, an always-on Retina display that’s brighter indoors, and a redesigned interface that makes tapping, swiping, and typing even easier — and yes, there’s a full QWERTY keyboard now. Health-wise, Series 7 packs advanced sensors for ECG, blood-oxygen monitoring, fall detection, and workout tracking, so you can keep tabs on your wellness without carrying your phone.

And speaking of phones, you won’t always need yours. With cellular capabilities, Series 7 can keep you connected to calls, texts, notifications, and music, even when your phone’s at home.

This model is Grade B refurbished, meaning it may have minor cosmetic imperfections but performs like a champ. For an Apple Watch that still looks and feels cutting-edge, the price is hard to beat.

Get this refurbished Apple Watch Series 7 while it’s just $154.99 (MSRP: $499) and stock is still available.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: MacPilot gives you lifetime access to 1,200+ hidden Mac features for $29.97 with code MAC10 (MSRP: $99) through September 7.

Opens in a new window Credit: MacPilot MacPilot Lifetime License $29.97
$99 Save $69.03 with code MAC10 Get Deal

Your Mac is capable of so much more than what you see on the surface — it’s just hiding the good stuff behind menus you’ve never opened and settings you didn’t know existed. That’s how MacPilot can open up a whole new world for you.

Get a lifetime license to MacPilot while it’s just $29.97 (MSRP: $99) with code MAC10 — but only through September 7.

With over 1,200 features tucked inside an easy, familiar interface, MacPilot lets you customize, tweak, and optimize your Mac without touching Terminal or memorizing cryptic commands. Want to display hidden files in Finder? Disable the startup chime? Add spacers to your Dock for better organization? Change your screenshot format? It’s all just a click away.

You also get tools to keep your Mac running smoothly, like built-in maintenance scripts to repair and optimize your system. Dig deep into system info—from graphics card details to RAM bus speeds to network ports—and access pro-level tweaks like showing the file path in window title bars or using your screensaver as your desktop background.

This is a lifetime license that includes all future updates, so your Mac-tweaking powers grow as macOS evolves.

For Mac owners who want full control without the hassle, MacPilot is like having a cheat code for your computer.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: 18 courses. 132 hours. Lifetime access. Learn ethical hacking at your own pace for just $34.97.

Opens in a new window Credit: StackCommerce The All-in-One Super-Sized Ethical Hacking Bundle $34.97
$1,098 Save $1,063.03 Get Deal

If you’ve ever wanted to break into ethical hacking — or just sharpen your cybersecurity chops — this All-in-One Super-Sized Ethical Hacking Bundle delivers exactly what you need, on your schedule, from your own space.

With 18 courses and 132 hours of expert-led training, you’ll cover everything from the fundamentals of penetration testing to advanced Python scripting for custom security tools. And because you get lifetime access, there’s no rush. You can revisit lessons, try new techniques, and keep your skills sharp as the security landscape evolves.

One standout in the lineup is the Complete Python 3 Ethical Hacking Course: Zero to Mastery. You’ll skip the fluff and dive straight into actionable projects — like building your own penetration testing tools, creating a virtual hacking lab, scanning networks, and coding advanced backdoors (for authorized testing, of course).

You’ll also get hands-on with the Website Hacking in Practice: Hands-On Course 101, which walks you through 21 real-world hacking techniques — plus how to spot and stop them. It’s not just theory; you’ll set up a safe training environment and learn using real code examples, from SQL injection to cross-site scripting.

Whether you’re aiming to launch a cybersecurity career, add new credentials to your résumé, or simply understand the threats out there, this bundle covers it all. You’ll be learning skills that companies pay top dollar for — skills that can help protect networks, secure applications, and stop malicious hackers in their tracks.

And for a limited time, you can get this ethical hacking bundle for just $34.97 through September 7 — that’s an investment that pays off in knowledge, career opportunities, and the ability to think like a hacker (ethically).

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: A sleek, foldable MagFold 3-in-1 Qi2 Magnetic Wireless Charging Pad that powers your phone, watch, and earbuds at once — fast, safe, and travel-ready.

Opens in a new window Credit: Rochas Divine Mart MagFold 3-in-1 Qi2 Magnetic Wireless Charging Pad (Grey) $39.99
$59.99 Save $20 Get Deal

If your nightstand or desk looks more like a spaghetti plate of tangled charging cables than a piece of furniture, the MagFold 3-in-1 Qi2 Magnetic Wireless Charging Pad is here to clean things up — literally. This foldable charging station powers your phone, smartwatch, and earbuds at the same time with perfectly aligned magnetic charging spots.

Thanks to Qi2 technology — the latest in wireless charging — your devices get an efficiency boost. That means faster charging speeds (up to 15W for phones), safer charging with smart chip protection, and no more guessing if your phone is positioned “just right.” The magnetic alignment locks it in place for optimal performance every time.

The travel-ready foldable design means you can pack it in a bag without it taking up more space than a sunglasses case. Whether you’re working remotely, traveling for business, or just like a clutter-free nightstand, MagFold delivers incredible convenience.

Built with premium aluminum alloy and soft silicone, it’s as durable as it is good-looking. And thanks to universal Qi compatibility, it plays nicely with Apple, Huawei, Samsung, and all other Qi-enabled devices.

You get one charger that replaces three, looks sleek on your desk, and makes charging one less thing to think about. Not really much else to say.

Pick up this 3-in-1 Qi2 Magnetic Wireless Charging Pad for just $39.99 (MSRP: $59.99) for a limited time.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

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

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

One genre recently caught my attention: Boyfriend. 

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

SEE ALSO: Everything you need to know about AI companions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Get familiar with the risks and warning signs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Beware of sycophancy  

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

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

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

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

Consider any past abuse or trauma history 

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

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

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

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

Talk to someone you trust or work with a psychologist

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

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

Pay attention to what's happening in your offline life

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SEE ALSO: Everything you need to know about AI companions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Why turn to a "bad boy"? 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Shut the hell up for once"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Can you gauge the risks? 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What's an AI companion? 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Where can I find AI companions? 

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

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

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

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

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

How can you interact with an AI companion? 

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

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

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

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

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

Are there benefits or risks to having an AI companion? 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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