Author Archives: Mariella Moon

Anthropic will ask Claude users to verify their identities ‘for a few use cases’

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Anthropic has started rolling out identity verification on Claude “for a few use cases.” The company didn’t list out those use cases in its announcement, but we’ve asked it for details and will update this post when we hear back. Anthropic says you might see a verification prompt upon “accessing certain capabilities,” asking you to verify your identity. You would have to show a valid and physical government-issued photo ID. You’d also have take a selfie with your phone or computer camera that the system will compare against the ID you present. 

The news, as you’d expect, wasn’t well-received. Many users are questioning the necessity of identity verification to be able to use an AI chatbot, especially if Anthropic already has their credit cards on file as paying subscribers. People are also criticizing Anthropic’s decision to use Persona Identities, which also provides age verification services for OpenAI and Roblox. One of Persona’s major investors is venture firm Founders Fund, which was co-founded by Peter Thiel, who’s also the co-founder and chairman of surveillance company Palantir. 

Palantir’s customers are mostly federal agencies and government offices, including the FBI, the CIA and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Most criticisms against the company center around the services it provides those customers, as they’re mainly used to expand government surveillance using its facial recognition and AI technologies. 

In its announcement, Anthropic said that Persona will be the one handling your IDs and selfies. It will not copy and store those images. It also said that Persona is “contractually limited” in how it can use your data and that all data passing through its process is “encrypted in transit and at rest.” Anthropic emphasized that it will not use your identity data to train its models and that it will not share your data with anyone else. 

Update April 16, 2026, 11:35AM ET: Reached for comment, an Anthropic spokesperson told Engadget that "this applies to a small number of cases where we see activity that indicates potentially fraudulent or abusive behavior, which violates our usage policy."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/anthropic-will-ask-claude-users-to-verify-their-identities-for-a-few-use-cases-115754092.html?src=rss

YouTube now lets you hide Shorts

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You now have the power to remove short-form videos from your YouTube feed if you don’t want to see them. YouTube has rolled out the capability to set your Shorts feed limit to zero minutes, which could help you stop doomscrolling, at least on mobile. The video-sharing platform originally launched a Shorts feed limit back in October last year, but the lowest option you could choose was 15 minutes. Once 15 minutes are up, you’ll get a pop-up reminding you to take a break.

Earlier this year, it integrated the feature with parental controls, allowing guardians to set time limits for younger users. YouTube said back then that parents will soon see the option to set the timer to zero. Now, the Shorts timer is live not just for parents, but for all users. We can confirm that we’re now seeing the zero minutes option in our (adult) account and were able to activate it for ourselves. When you select it, you may see a notice that says “Scrolling is paused but you may still see individual Shorts.” You may also have to refresh your app before short-form videos disappear from your feed.

To be able to block stop Shorts from showing up for you, go to your Setting page in the YouTube app for mobile. Look for “Time management” and scroll down to “Daily limits,” where you can find the “Shorts feed limit” section. If you don’t want to get rid of Shorts altogether, you can choose from any of the other options, with two hours being the maximum time available.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/youtube-now-lets-you-hide-shorts-085538825.html?src=rss

Godzilla goes to New York in ‘Minus Zero’ teaser trailer

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Japanese entertainment company Toho has released a teaser video for Godzilla Minus Zero, the upcoming sequel to the award-winning film Godzilla Minus One. The teaser shows the famous monster next to the Statue of Liberty as it rampages across New York. Godzilla Minus Zero is set in 1949, two years after the events of the first film, and will be a direct sequel. You’ll see familiar faces from Minus One in the short trailer, as well, namely Koichi Shikishima and Noriko Oishi, two of the first movie’s main characters.

The kaiju flick was filmed specifically for IMAX with high-definition digital cameras. Even its audio was optimized for the massive screen’s immersive cinema experience. Minus One won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects, so expectations are high for this sequel. The good news is that this movie is also helmed by Takashi Yamazaki, who wrote, directed and oversaw the visual effects for Minus One. Godzilla Minus Zero is heading to cinemas in Japan on November 3 and in the United States on November 6 this year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/godzilla-goes-to-new-york-in-minus-zero-teaser-trailer-015029346.html?src=rss

Godzilla goes to New York in ‘Minus Zero’ teaser trailer

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Japanese entertainment company Toho has released a teaser video for Godzilla Minus Zero, the upcoming sequel to the award-winning film Godzilla Minus One. The teaser shows the famous monster next to the Statue of Liberty as it rampages across New York. Godzilla Minus Zero is set in 1949, two years after the events of the first film, and will be a direct sequel. You’ll see familiar faces from Minus One in the short trailer, as well, namely Koichi Shikishima and Noriko Oishi, two of the first movie’s main characters.

The kaiju flick was filmed specifically for IMAX with high-definition digital cameras. Even its audio was optimized for the massive screen’s immersive cinema experience. Minus One won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects, so expectations are high for this sequel. The good news is that this movie is also helmed by Takashi Yamazaki, who wrote, directed and oversaw the visual effects for Minus One. Godzilla Minus Zero is heading to cinemas in Japan on November 3 and in the United States on November 6 this year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/godzilla-goes-to-new-york-in-minus-zero-teaser-trailer-015029346.html?src=rss

You can attend Pokémon EDM shows in Los Angeles and London

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If you love Pokémon and electronic dance music, the Pokémon Company made the perfect event for you. As part of Pokémon’s 30th anniversary festivities, the company is holding EDM concert experiences called “Pokémon Night Out” in Los Angeles and London. American DJ Marshmello, known for wearing a marshmallow-like mask on stage, will be headlining the events, with Australian DJ Alison Wonderland as a supporting act. The experiences will feature custom sets and Pokémon-inspired visual storytelling.

The events will be open to fans 16-years-old and up. It will be held at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles on October 24, 2026, and at the O2 arena in London on November 10. You can get tickets for both concerts starting on April 18 at 10AM Pacific time for the Los Angeles concert and at 10AM British time for the London experience.

In addition to holding EDM concerts, Nintendo and the Pokémon Company re-released the Game Boy Advance remakes of Pokémon Red and Blue on Nintendo Switch Online for the franchise’s 30th anniversary. They also released a Game Boy-shaped portable Pokémon jukebox, little music players that can be loaded witha different melody or sound effect from the original games' soundtracks.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/you-can-attend-pokemon-edm-shows-in-los-angeles-and-london-120405128.html?src=rss

Sony is developing a Bloodborne animated film adaptation

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An R-rated animated film adaptation of Bloodborne is currently being developed by Sony, according to Variety. Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group held a presentation at CinemaCon, where the division’s president said that the adaptation will be “very true” to the violent and graphic nature of the game. Bloodborne was created by Japanese studio FromSoftware and was published by Sony back in 2015. The critically acclaimed title is an RPG in the style of Dark Souls, featuring heavy blood splatters during combat and other body horror elements. Its director, Hidetaka Miyazaki, said his biggest inspiration for the game was HP Lovecraft’s works.

Bloomberg had reported in February that Bluepoint Games, the now-defunct Sony studio behind many PlayStation remakes, wanted to work on a new version of the classic Gothic horror RPG for modern consoles. However, FromSoftware blocked the project. Miyazaki reportedly wanted to work on the remake himself. Despite being too busy to do it, he said during an interview that he "doesn't want anyone else to touch it."

The Bloodborne film adaptation will be co-produced by PlayStation Productions, Lyrical Animation and Seán McLoughlin, a gaming YouTube known by his pseudonym jacksepticeye. It seems to be early stages at this point, and Variety doesn’t have a target release date for it yet.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/sony-is-developing-a-bloodborne-animated-film-adaptation-110421866.html?src=rss

X’s messaging app, XChat, may be available soon

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XChat is now on the App Store, where its listing says that it’s expected to be available for download on April 17. This isn’t the same IRC app from the early aughts, which you may remember if you’re of a certain age. This is a messaging app specifically for X users. X chief Elon Musk first talked about rolling out a new version of his social network’s direct messaging feature in mid-2025. In a series of posts back then, he said the new version would be encrypted and would feature a “whole new architecture.” He also said all X users were getting XChat in June last year, but Musk is pretty infamous for being overly optimistic about timelines.

Now, instead of an upgraded DM feature on X, users are getting a standalone app. It allows them to chat with anybody on X and call each other across devices. The app is end-to-end encrypted and will let users edit and delete their messages for all participants in the conversation. It will also allow users to block screenshots and enable disappearing messages if they want the sensitive details they send in-chat to vanish within five minutes. The app allows users to create massive group chats with up to 481 members, as well. X promises in the App Store listing that XChat will not have ads and will not be tracking users.

Users can now pre-order XChat for iPhones and iPads so that it automatically downloads on their device when it comes out.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/xs-messaging-app-xchat-may-be-available-soon-114722904.html?src=rss

X’s messaging app, XChat, may be available soon

Posted on by

XChat is now on the App Store, where its listing says that it’s expected to be available for download on April 17. This isn’t the same IRC app from the early aughts, which you may remember if you’re of a certain age. This is a messaging app specifically for X users. X chief Elon Musk first talked about rolling out a new version of his social network’s direct messaging feature in mid-2025. In a series of posts back then, he said the new version would be encrypted and would feature a “whole new architecture.” He also said all X users were getting XChat in June last year, but Musk is pretty infamous for being overly optimistic about timelines.

Now, instead of an upgraded DM feature on X, users are getting a standalone app. It allows them to chat with anybody on X and call each other across devices. The app is end-to-end encrypted and will let users edit and delete their messages for all participants in the conversation. It will also allow users to block screenshots and enable disappearing messages if they want the sensitive details they send in-chat to vanish within five minutes. The app allows users to create massive group chats with up to 481 members, as well. X promises in the App Store listing that XChat will not have ads and will not be tracking users.

Users can now pre-order XChat for iPhones and iPads so that it automatically downloads on their device when it comes out.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/xs-messaging-app-xchat-may-be-available-soon-114722904.html?src=rss

The Artemis II astronauts are back after a 10-day journey around the moon

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The Orion capsule carrying the Artemis II astronauts has successfully splashed down off the coast of San Diego at 8:07PM Eastern time on April 10. It signals the conclusion of Artemis II’s 10-day journey around the moon, which is meant to be a test flight for a future mission that would bring humanity back to the lunar surface. The Orion crew module carrying the mission’s astronauts separated from the service module at 7:33 PM. While the service module was designed to burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere, the crew capsule was built to bring the astronauts back home safely.

By 7:53 PM, Orion reached our planet’s upper atmosphere, where a six-minute communication blackout occurred due to the capsule heating up as it started its guided descent. The capsule has 11 parachutes, with its drogue parachutes being deployed at 23,400 feet to stabilize and slow it down. When Orion reached 5,400 feet above the ground, the drogue parachutes were cut off so that the three main parachutes could be deployed. That decreased the capsule’s velocity to 200 feet per second, enabling a safe splashdown.

NASA’s engineers conducted several tests while the capsule was in the water before the recovery team headed to the capsule on inflatable boats to extract the crew from Orion. By 9:34 PM, all four crew members were out of the capsule. They were then hoisted into helicopters and flown to the USS John P. Murtha dock ship, where doctors will assess their health.

Artemis II launched on April 1 with four astronauts on board: NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen. They traveled around the moon for almost 10 days, reaching distances no other crewed mission has before it. The astronauts took photos of the far side of the moon, the side we don’t see from our planet, including amazing closeups of the lunar surface using their smartphones. That makes them the first humans to directly and personally view the lunar far side.

During NASA’s post-splashdown news conference, the agency said it will announce the Artemis III crew soon. Artemis III will rendezvous with one or both commercial landers being developed by SpaceX and Blue Origin in low Earth orbit, which will take humans to the lunar surface. It will test the lander’s ability to dock with Orion before NASA lands humans on the moon again.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/the-artemis-ii-astronauts-are-back-after-a-10-day-journey-around-the-moon-033800654.html?src=rss

The Artemis II astronauts are back after a 10-day journey around the moon

Posted on by

The Orion capsule carrying the Artemis II astronauts has successfully splashed down off the coast of San Diego at 8:07PM Eastern time on April 10. It signals the conclusion of Artemis II’s 10-day journey around the moon, which is meant to be a test flight for a future mission that would bring humanity back to the lunar surface. The Orion crew module carrying the mission’s astronauts separated from the service module at 7:33 PM. While the service module was designed to burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere, the crew capsule was built to bring the astronauts back home safely.

By 7:53 PM, Orion reached our planet’s upper atmosphere, where a six-minute communication blackout occurred due to the capsule heating up as it started its guided descent. The capsule has 11 parachutes, with its drogue parachutes being deployed at 23,400 feet to stabilize and slow it down. When Orion reached 5,400 feet above the ground, the drogue parachutes were cut off so that the three main parachutes could be deployed. That decreased the capsule’s velocity to 200 feet per second, enabling a safe splashdown.

NASA’s engineers conducted several tests while the capsule was in the water before the recovery team headed to the capsule on inflatable boats to extract the crew from Orion. By 9:34 PM, all four crew members were out of the capsule. They were then hoisted into helicopters and flown to the USS John P. Murtha dock ship, where doctors will assess their health.

Artemis II launched on April 1 with four astronauts on board: NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen. They traveled around the moon for almost 10 days, reaching distances no other crewed mission has before it. The astronauts took photos of the far side of the moon, the side we don’t see from our planet, including amazing closeups of the lunar surface using their smartphones. That makes them the first humans to directly and personally view the lunar far side.

During NASA’s post-splashdown news conference, the agency said it will announce the Artemis III crew soon. Artemis III will rendezvous with one or both commercial landers being developed by SpaceX and Blue Origin in low Earth orbit, which will take humans to the lunar surface. It will test the lander’s ability to dock with Orion before NASA lands humans on the moon again.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/the-artemis-ii-astronauts-are-back-after-a-10-day-journey-around-the-moon-033800654.html?src=rss