After ByteDance suspended the global rollout of its new Seedance 2.0 AI video generator on the weekend, US senators have now told the company to "immediately shut down" the app. "Seedance 2.0 poses a direct threat to the American intellectual property system and, more broadly, to the constitutional rights and economic livelihoods of our creative community," Senators Marsha Blackburn and Peter Welch wrote in a letter to the company.
The letter reflects an increasing worry in government about AI companies training their apps on copyrighted materials from artists, actors and filmmakers without permission. "Responsible global companies follow the law and respect core economic rights, including intellectual property and personal likeness protections," the senators wrote. They cited Seedance AI examples including an AI generated Thanos and Superman battle, a rewritten Stranger Things ending and that famous (fake) Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt battle.
After pulling Seedance 2.0, ByteDance said on the weekend that it "respects intellectual property rights" and that it is "taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorized use of intellectual property and likeness by users."
However, Blackburn and Welch called that pledge "a delay tactic to continue to abuse the innovators and profit from their success," adding that its regard for American IP is "part of a larger trend of artificial intelligence companies stealing protected work at the expensive of the creative community."
Filmmakers have also taken action against Seedance 2.0, including the Motion Picture Association with recently sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance. Yesterday, senators including Blackburn and Welch unveiled a partisan bill to help artists protect their IP by allowing them to access training records used for AI models, among other measures.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/senators-tell-bytedance-to-shut-down-seedance-20-ai-video-app-immediately-112146241.html?src=rss
Ahead of its acquisition by Paramount Skydance, Warner Bros. dominated the 2026 Oscars with 11 wins primarily for Ryan Coogler's Sinners and Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another. Netflix also put in a strong showing with seven Academy Awards, including two for KPop Demon Hunters and three for Guillermo Del Toro's Frankenstein.
All told, dedicated streaming services chalked up eight awards, but were shut out of the major prizes. Frankenstein took the trophies for for Best Production Design, Best Costume Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling, while KPop Demon Hunters took Best Animated Feature and Best original Song. Netflix also took prizes for All The Empty Rooms (Best Documentary Short Film) and The Singers (Best Live Action Short Film). Apple TV garnered the other streaming service Oscar for F1 (Best Sound).
Warner Bros. dominated the more prestigious awards. The studio took its first Oscar for Best Picture (One Battle After Another) since Argo won in 2012, while also winning Anderson the prizes for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, and giving Sean Penn the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Sinners, meanwhile, won for Best Cinematography, giving Autumn Durald Arkapaw the first ever win for a woman and woman of color in that category. Michael B. Jordan took the Best Actor prize for that film, while Director Ryan Coogler won for Best Original Screenplay.
Other notable acting prizes were won by Jessie Buckley (Best Actress, Hamnet) and Amy Madigan (Best Support Actress, Weapons).
Host Conan O'Brien joked that it was the "first time in a theater" for Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos. It remains to be seen, however, whether Netflix losing out to Paramount Skydance on the Warner Bros. acquisition will be to the film industry's benefit or detriment. One clear loser of late is broadcast television as the 2026 Oscars will be the third-to-last aired by Walt Disney's ABC, with YouTube set to stream the ceremony exclusively starting in 2029.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/warner-bros-dominates-oscars-with-11-wins-ahead-of-its-acquisition-by-paramount-093916527.html?src=rss
Apple's exclusive deal for US broadcast rights of Formula 1 was a big shift to streaming from ESPN's cable coverage of the past, but after the first race (the Australian Grand Prix), it seems to be going well. "The 2026 Formula 1 season on Apple TV is off to a strong start, with fans responding positively and viewership up year over year for the first weekend, exceeding both F1 and Apple expectations," Apple VP Eddy Cue told The Hollywood Reporter.
Apple didn't give any ratings or other details, but we can glean some clues from previous data. Last year, ESPN said the Australian GP averaged 1.1 million viewers, way up from the previous record of 659,000 in 2019. If Cue's comments were accurate, that means Apple TV's audience was above that, which would be impressive considering that it's a streaming-only service.
When Apple's Formula streaming deal was first announced, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali was bullish on the deal. "It will allow us to enter in the houses of other people in a different way, in great quality that is very important for us," he told Racer. Indeed, Apple is pouring resources into it in a way that ESPN never did. That includes advanced tech that offers multiple ways for fans to watch, including Multiview, Podium Viewer, driver cams and 4K Dolby Vision coverage, Cue noted.
Apple has jumped into Formula 1 racing in other other ways as well, taking advantage of a surge in the sport's popularity aided by Netflix's series Formula 1: Drive to Survive. The streaming service's F1 movie starring Brad Pitt did huge box office numbers and is likely to see a sequel. Apple also struck a deal with Netflix on the aforementioned Drive to Survive series to share streaming of the current season eight (which details the F1 2025 championship). That agreement will also allow Netflix to stream the F1 Canadian Grand Prix live, along with Apple TV.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/apple-says-f1-streaming-already-exceeds-everyones-expectations-111028328.html?src=rss
Anker’s Soundcore projectors have become an attractive option for buyers thanks to models like the P1 and Nebula X1 that combine performance and portability. Now, the company has added "affordability" to that equation with its latest model, the $369 P1i. Instead of being detachable like on the P1, its speakers fold out toward listeners, promising better and louder sound than most cheap projectors.
The P1i also delivers 1080p video, Google TV for streaming and the same easy screen fit setup as other Anker projectors. However, unlike some portable models, it lacks a built-in battery for true portability. Overall brightness is lower as well at 380 lumens compared to 650 on the P1. Despite those issues, the P1i is an outstanding budget projector that’s ideal for impromptu indoor screenings and outdoor party use.
Features and design
With its relatively small size (8.9 x 7.2 x 8.0 inches) and slight five pound weight, the Soundcore Nebula P1i can be perched nearly anywhere and is easily toted around by the soft handle on top. It’s almost too light, as even a slight bump can displace it and ruin the picture. It does have a tripod mount, though, which makes it easy to set up outside or install on your ceiling.
Fortunately, the P1i is perhaps the easiest projector in this price range to align with your wall or screen. It has Anker’s Smart Instant Setup that automatically adjusts the autofocus, keystone correction, screen fit and obstacle avoidance. For my 120-inch roll down screen, I just had to set the P1i about 11 feet from the wall, make sure it was fairly level and then tilt the stand so it pointed at the screen. Then, I just ran the smart setup which instantly gave me a correctly set-up image.
The P1i is not a laser projector but its LED light source lasts even longer, rated for over 30,000 hours. It runs fairly cool compared to a bulb or laser model, but it still has a fan that kicks on from time to time. One annoyance is that the fan seemed to engage even when the projector was turned off, so I found I had to unplug it to stop that.
Steve Dent for Engadget
Connectivity-wise, the P1i has a single HDMI 2.0 port with ARC (Audio Return Channel), along with a USB-A port for external media and a 3.5mm auxiliary audio output. The projector allows for a maximum input of 4K at 60 fps (it outputs 1080p at 60 fps), so it’s only good for light gaming. Plus, you’ll want to keep in mind that if you do any keystone correction, gaming latency quadruples from 20ms to 80ms. It also supports Wi-Fi 5 for streaming and Bluetooth 5.1 to connect extra speakers.
Google TV is built in for streaming and projector control, which is a nice feature for a projector under $400. It provides a large library of apps via Google Play along with a familiar interface. You also get Netflix’s official application with support for 4K Dolby Vision without the need to plug in a streaming device, plus there’s Chromecast support and Google Assistant for voice control. The downside is that the interface can occasionally be sluggish. As for those foldable speakers, you can aim them up, down, forward or backwards, and they support Dolby Audio at 10 watts each.
Image quality
Image quality is decent but not outstanding, about what you’d expect for a projector at this price. While it’s very sharp in the center, the edges are fuzzier, particularly if you’re tilting the projector up or down and using plenty of keystone correction. With just 380 lumens of brightness (I measured it at just over 300 lumens in standard mode), it’s best to use the P1i in a dark room or at night — if there’s any ambient light, you won’t be able to see much detail.
The P1i offers multiple picture profiles, including Standard, Vivid, Sports, Movies and Games, along with a Conference mode for maximum brightness. I found that the “Vivid” setting gave me the best mix of color accuracy and brightness.
Steve Dent for Engadget
Color accuracy is a strong point, with natural looking, nicely saturated hues. Surprisingly, the P1i supports 10-bit HDR to help improve color accuracy and max out what little brightness there is, though it’s a gigantic stretch calling a 380 lumen image (around 50 nits) "HDR." I tested the P1i on my usual roster of content, including Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Andor, Dune 2 and Spider-Man: No Way Home, and found the colors to be pleasing and realistic. If they’re not quite to your liking, you can make fine adjustments manually.
Sound
The primary selling point of the Nebula P1I is those fold out speakers. However, considering Soundcore’s reputation for solid audio performance (take the Nebula X1 Pro for example), sound quality was a bit disappointing. It’s relatively tinny with very little bass, providing a less-than-theatrical experience. Those speakers can go pretty loud, though, and midrange sounds like voices are very clear.
Fortunately, there are a couple of solutions. The P1i has multiple EQ settings, including Movies (with enhanced bass and treble), Music for the most natural sound and Outdoors to ensure clarity in open and noisy spaces. The best of those, I found, was Movies, as it mildly improves the lows and highs. There’s also a “custom” mode that lets you fine-tune the equalization. I was able to get acceptable sound quality when I boosted the bass to nearly the maximum level.
The other option, of course, is to pair the P1i to some Bluetooth speakers. I did just that with Soundcore’s external speakers sold as an option with the Nebula X1 and the sound quality was much improved. Of course, that would remove much of its convenience and increase the price for better sound.
Wrap-up
Steve Dent for Engadget
Anker’s $400 Soundcore Nebula P1i is an excellent option for buyers looking for a portable projector to use outdoors or in the place of a second TV, though it suffers from subpar sound and picture quality. Competitors like XGIMI’s MoGo 2 Pro offer similar brightness, built-in speakers and Google TV. And if you have a bit more in your budget, Anker’s $800 Nebula P1 is brighter and easier to set up. Finally, for those looking for battery portability for camping or other activities, take a look at XGIMI’s $500 Halo+ or the $530 Anker Nebula Capsule.
The P1i is great for simple nighttime movie screenings outdoors. If you feel like watching a movie or series in bed, you can bring it into your room, project the picture onto a wall and enjoy your streaming service of choice. You may not be disappointed with the overall picture quality, though you may wish for slightly better sound.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/home-theater/soundcore-nebula-p1i-projector-review-an-affordable-option-with-accurate-color-and-loud-sound-180034925.html?src=rss
US self-driving startup Nuro, which is backed by the likes of NVIDIA, Toyota and Uber, has started testing its autonomous vehicles on Tokyo's challenging streets, Bloomberg reported. The company, which plans to launch a robotaxi service with Uber and Lucid in San Francisco this year, will be testing a "handful" of vehicles in the city. Human safety drivers will be at the wheel, as is required by Japanese law.
Tokyo presents a challenge for autonomous vehicles, given its narrow, crowded streets and left side of the road driving. "Testing the capability of the autonomy system in such an interesting market with some international complexity really is a good pressure test of what the system is capable of," said CEO Andrew Chapin. The company's ultimate goal is to achieve Level 4 autonomy, which allows full self-driving under limited conditions.
Waymo is the other major robotaxi operator testing vehicles in Tokyo in collaboration with Japanese taxi operators Nihon Kotsu and the country's leading taxi app, Go. It has been operating in the nation since April 2025 in collaboration with Toyota.
Nuro has yet to announce which operators or vehicle manufacturers it will be partnering with, but Chapin said it may not limit itself to autonomous rides. "A universal autonomy platform that can be extended to a lot of different applications and form factors is a bit different than the approach Waymo is taking," he told Bloomberg. The company previously teamed with 7-Eleven on autonomous deliveries in Mountain View, California.
Uber plans to have up to 100,000 autonomous vehicles including 20,000 robotaxis powered by Lucid and Nuro, with a rollout starting in 2027. It introduced its new vehicle design recently at CES 2026. Uber is also collaborating with Nissan and Wayve with the aim to introduce pilot cars in Tokyo by late 2026.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/nvidia--and-uber-backed-nuro-is-testing-autonomous-vehicles-in-tokyo-081200366.html?src=rss
NVIDIA's GeForce Now game streaming platform has added a few minor but useful updates, especially for GOG and VR headset users, the company announced at Game Developer's Conference (GDC). The biggest technical improvement is for virtual reality headsets that support GeForce Now like the Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest. Starting next week (March 19), those devices will be able to stream at 90 fps for Ultimate members (up from 60 fps) for improved smoothness, responsiveness and realism.
Another helpful update is in-app labels coming "soon" to GeForce Now. Once you connect an Xbox or Ubisoft_ account, you'll see clear labels directly on game art inside the GeForce Now app showing exactly what's available to play from your subscription services. NVIDIA is also expanding account linking, adding GOG to the roster of services on top of Gaijin single-sign announced at CES.
GeForce Now is also expanding its Install-to-Play library with select Xbox titles including Brutal Legend from Double Fine Productions and Compulsion Games' Contrast. The service will also see several anticipated games directly on the cloud service at launch, namely Remedy's Control Resonant and Samson: A Tyndalston Story from Liquid Swords.
As a reminder, NVIDIA's GeForce Now is one of the better cloud gaming services out there, particularly since it added GeForce RTX 5080-powered servers that Engadget's Devindra Hardawar called "indistinguishable from a powerful rig." The service recently came to Fire TV sticks and is available on Windows and Mac PCs, NVIDIA's Shield, Android TV, smartphones and many other devices.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/geforce-now-adds-gog-syncing-and-90fps-game-streaming-in-vr-headsets-130656731.html?src=rss
US regulators have approved eight pilot programs across 26 states that will allow Archer, Joby and other eVTOL companies to finally start testing aircraft this summer, according to a US Department of Transportation (DoT) press release. That will allow those manufacturers to run trials for use cases like urban air taxi services, regional passenger transportation, cargo, emergency medical operations and autonomous flight technology.
The new projects were made possible by the White House's Advanced Air Mobility and eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (e-IPP) approved last year to allow certification for such aircraft to progress after being stuck in the mud for years. "By safely testing the deployment of these futuristic air taxis and other AAM vehicles, we can fundamentally improve how the traveling public and products move," US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said at the time.
Other FAA aircraft partners include Beta, Electra, Elroy Air, Wisk, Ampaire and Reliable Robotics. Key pilot programs were approved for the Texas, Utah, Pennsylvania, Louisiana and North Carolina Departments of Transportation, along with New York and New Jersey Port Authority and the City of Albuquerque. We've already glimpsed some of the ideas, like Archer's plan to use air taxis between New York's major airports and city heliports.
A number of eVTOL startups have launched in recent years, but so far none of the aircraft have received "type certificates" for carrying passengers or other commercial purposes. Archer and Joby are the farthest along in that process, having been granted the FAA's final airworthiness criteria — the final step before full approval.
The delays are mostly about safety and working eVTOL planes into existing aviation flows. "The gap isn't technical capability anymore. It's regulatory synchronization," the FAA's Kalea Texeira said last year on LinkedIn. "[That includes factors like] vertiports. Energy supply chains. Part 135 [commercial] integration. Pilot training frameworks that match the aircraft timeline." In the same post, Texeira added that Joby wouldn't certify until mid-2027 at the earliest, with Archer following in 2028.
The new program could help accelerate plane-makers' plans. In a YouTube video, Beta CEO Kyle Clark said selection for the program will help his company start operations a year earlier than it previously expected. Archer, meanwhile, compared the program to robotaxi testing and said it will help build trust with the public for its Midnight aircraft. "This is the clearest sign yet... that bringing air taxis to market in the United States is a real priority," said Archer CEO Adam Goldstein.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/faa-opens-up-real-world-testing-for-air-taxi-startups-112219316.html?src=rss
Qualcomm, which purchased microcontroller board manufacturer Arduino last year, just announced a new single-board computer that marries AI with robotics. Called the Arduino Ventuno Q, it uses Qualcomm's Dragonwing IQ8 processor along with a dedicated STM32H5 low-latency microcontroller (MCU). "Ventuno Q is engineered specifically for systems that move, manipulate and respond to the physical world with precision and reliability," the company wrote on the product page.
The Ventuno Q is more sophisticated (and expensive) than Arduinio's usual AIO boards, thanks to the Dragonwing IQ8 processor that includes an 8-core ARM Cortex CPU, Adreno Arm Cortex A623 GPU and Hexagon Tensor NPU that can hit up ot 40 TOPs. It also comes with 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM, along with 64GB of eMMC storage and an M.2 NVME Gen.4 slot to expand that. Other features include Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, 2.5Gbps ethernet and USB camera support.
The Ventuno Q includes Arudino App Lab, with pre-trained AI models including LLMs, VLMs, ASR, gesture recognition, pose estimation and object tracking, all running offline. It's designed for AI systems that run entirely offline like smart kiosks, healthcare assistants and traffic flow analysis, along with Edge AI vision and sensing systems. It also supports a full robotics stack including vision processing combined with deterministic motor control for precise vision and manipulation. It's also ideal for education and research in areas like computer vision, generative AI and prototyping at the edge, according to Arduino.
"With Ventuno Q, AI can finally move from the cloud into the physical world," Qualcomm wrote. "This platform enables building machines that perceive, decide, and act — all on a single board. Our goal is to make advanced robotics and edge AI accessible to every developer, educator, and innovator." The Arduino Ventuno Q will be available in Q2 2026 from the Arduino Store and elsewhere and is expected to cost under $300.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/qualcomms-new-arduino-ventuno-q-is-an-ai-focused-computer-designed-for-robotics-113047697.html?src=rss
The UK government is working on a controversial data bill that would allow AI companies like Google and OpenAI to train their models on copyrighted materials without consent. However, following a two month consultation, it looks like passage of the law will be delayed. "Copyright is going to be kicked down the road," a person with knowledge of the matter told The Financial Times.
Responses by stakeholders during the consultation period weren't favorable to any of the government's proposed ideas for use of copyrighted materials, the FT's sources said. There's no expectation now that an AI bill will be part of the King's Speech set for May this year.
As a result, Ministers have decided to go back to the drawing board and spend more time exploring other options. The House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee called on the government to develop a licensing-first regime "underpinned by robust transparency that safeguards creators' livelihoods while supporting sustainable AI growth."
The UK parliament's preferred position on the bill (also argued by tech giants like Google) has been that copyright holders need to formally opt-out if they don't want their materials used to train AI models. However, publishers, filmmakers, musicians and others have said that this would be impractical and an existential threat to the UK's creative industries.
The House of Lords took the side of artists and introduced an amendment that would require tech companies to disclose which copyright-protected works were used to train AI models. That addition, however, was blocked by the UK's House of Commons in May last year.
The UK's majority Labour government — already under fire for its handling of the economy — has taken hits from publishers, musicians, authors and other creative groups over the proposed law. Elton John called the government "absolute losers" while Paul McCartney said that AI has its uses but "it shouldn't rip creative people off." McCartney and others artists were part of a "silent album" meant to show the impact of IP theft by AI.
Baroness Beeban Kidron from the House of Lords has also ripped the government over the AI bill. "Creators do not deny the creative and economic value of AI, but we do deny the assertion that we should have to build AI for free with our work, and then rent it back from those who stole it," she said last year. "It's astonishing that a Labour government would abandon the labor force of an entire section."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/uk-government-delays-ai-copyright-rules-amid-artist-outcry-113937154.html?src=rss
While music streaming apps like Bandcamp, Spotify and Deezer have taken steps to inform users about AI-generated content, we haven't heard much out of Apple Music in that regard. However, Apple Music has now introduced "Transparency Tags" designed to show listeners if any elements were generated in whole or part by AI. The catch is that Apple is leaving it up to labels and distributors to create those tags, according to an Apple newsletter to industry partners seen by Music Business Worldwide..
"Proper tagging of content is the first step in giving the music industry the data and tools needed to develop thoughtful policies around AI, and we believe labels and distributors must take an active role in reporting when the content they deliver is created using AI," Apple wrote, calling it a concrete first step toward transparency around artificial intelligence.
Streaming platforms already use metadata tags for things like song and album titles, genre and the name of the artist. The new tags will now identify any artwork, tracks, compositions and music videos created in whole or in part by AI.
However, Apple's new system requires labels and distributors to opt in and manually flag their use of AI, a system that's similar to what Spotify is doing. On top of that, Apple has no apparent enforcement mechanism for AI content.
By contrast, other music platforms including Deezer and Bandcamp are using in-house AI-detection tools to flag content whether the distributor opts in or not. Deezer disclosed in January 2026 that it receives over 60,000 fully AI-generated tracks every day, double the number it saw in September 2025. Synthetic content, also called "AI slop," has accounted for 13.4 million tracks on its platform, Deezer added.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/apple-music-can-now-flag-ai-content-but-only-if-distributors-elect-to-label-it-121521873.html?src=rss