Tag Archives: author_name|Matt Tate

US and China agree to one-year pause on punitive tariffs

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Donald Trump and China’s leader, Xi Jinping, have agreed to a one-year pause on the punitive Trump-instated tariffs that are at the heart of the ongoing trade war between the two superpowers. Among the issues discussed when the two leaders met face-to-face in the South Korean city of Busan were China’s chokehold on rare earth metals and the export restrictions on NVIDIA’s AI chips.

Trump had previously made some characteristically explosive threats that he would impose new 100 percent tariffs on imports from China as a retaliation to Xi’s tightening grip on rare earths, the processing of which is almost entirely controlled by China. These materials are essential for manufacturing everything from smartphones and EVs to military equipment. As part of the (for now) temporary truce, China reportedly agreed to pause the new measures for the next 12 months in exchange for Trump lowering Chinese tariffs by 10 percent.

According to The New York Times, Trump said he had discussed semiconductors during his talks with Xi, and “did not rule out” the possibility of allowing NVIDIA to sell AI chips to China. The American company was allowed to resume selling its H20 chips in China in July after an initial ban earlier in the year, only for Beijing to reportedly respond by instructing its largest tech companies not to do business until a national security review had been completed. The leaders did not discuss the possible availability of Blackwell chips — NVIDIA’s most advanced AI chip to date that is currently in development and possibly a motivating factor in China’s apparent indifference to the H20 architecture — at their meeting in South Korea.

There was also no resolution on TikTok and its future in the US. The last we heard, the Trump administration claimed to be close to agreement that would see the US gain majority ownership of the Chinese-owned social media giant where it was operating on home soil, but nothing has been finalized at the time of writing.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/us---china-trade-talks-see-one-year-pause-on-punitive-tariffs-140550358.html?src=rss

Just Dance Now is coming to LG smart TVs

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LG and Ubisoft have teamed up to bring the motion-controlled rhythm game Just Dance Now to LG Smart TVs. The game will be available from December in the LG Gaming Portal for LG TV users in the US and Europe running webOS 22 or later, with no additional hardware required.

Just Dance Now originally launched in 2014 as a mobile app for iOS and Android, before Ubisoft brought the game to Apple TV a year later. A main series spinoff aimed at people who don't own a console, Just Dance Now offers a library of hundreds of songs that span decades of music, which you'll be able to access for free for a limited time each day. If that just isn’t enough dancing time to satisfy you, you can subscribe to one of Ubisoft's paid plans or purchase song packs.

Just Dance Now was originally designed to be played using your phone as a controller, with your handset of choice functioning much like the Wii Remote did in the very first Just Dance game back in 2009. In the LG Gaming Portal version of the game, the motion-sensing LG Magic Remote becomes the peripheral, so you really don't need any extra gear.

Ahead of the December launch, the Just Dance Now app will be available in beta, allowing players to try three songs on the first day, followed by one daily for the remainder for the two-week trial. Ubisoft hasn’t announced the release date for the beta yet.

The LG Gaming Portal is gradually becoming a viable alternative to a console for people with a casual interest in games. The cloud version of Xbox Game Pass joined the platform back in April, and the new and improved GeForce NOW app introduced up to 4K 120Hz game streams on LG TVs a few months ago.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/just-dance-now-is-coming-to-lg-smart-tvs-140042944.html?src=rss

Character.AI to ban teens from talking to its chatbots

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Character.AI will no longer permit teenagers to interact with its chatbots, as AI companies face increasing pressure to better safeguard younger users from harm. In a statement, the company confirmed that it is removing the ability for users under 18 to engage in any open-ended chats with AI on its platform, which refers to back-and-forth conversations between a user and a chatbot.

The changes come into effect on November 25, and until that date, Character.AI will presents users with a new under-18 experience. It'll encourage its users to use chatbots for creative purposes that might include, for example, creating videos or streams, as opposed to seeking companionship. To manage the transition, under-18s can now only interact with bots for up to two hours per day, a time limit the company says it will reduce in the lead-up to the late November deadline.

Character.AI is also introducing a new age assurance tool it has developed internally, which it says will "ensure users receive the right experience for their age." Along with these new protections for younger users, the company has founded an "AI Safety Lab" that it hopes will allow other companies, researchers and academics to share insights and work collaboratively on improving AI safety measures.

Character.AI said it has listened to concerns from regulators, industry experts and concerned parents and responded with the new measures. They come after The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently launched a formal inquiry into AI companies that offer users access to chatbots as companions, with Character.AI named as one of seven companies that had been asked to participate. Meta, OpenAI and Snap were also included.

Both Meta AI and Character AI also faced scrutiny from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the summer, who said chatbots on both platforms can "present themselves as professional therapeutic tools" without the requisite qualifications. Seemingly to put an end to such controversy, Character.AI CEO Karandeep Anand told TechCrunch that the company’s new strategic direction will see it pivot from AI companion to a "role-playing platform" focused on creation rather than mere engagement-farming conversation.

The dangers of young people relying on AI chatbots for guidance has been the subject of extensive reporting in recent months. Last week, the family of Adam Raine, who claim that ChatGPT enabled their 16-year-old son to take his own life, filed an amended lawsuit against OpenAI for allegedly weakening its self-harm safeguards in the lead-up to his death.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/characterai-to-ban-teens-from-talking-to-its-chatbots-180027641.html?src=rss

Grammarly has rebranded to Superhuman

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Grammarly is no more, at least with regards to its name. The AI-powered writing assistance tool founded in 2009 has been absorbed into a new software platform called Superhuman. It follows Grammarly’s acquisition of Superhuman Mail earlier this year, with the former taking the somewhat unusual step of adopting its newly obtained company’s name, rather than the other way around.

Superhuman unites Grammarly, Superhuman Mail and the AI work assistant Coda (also acquired by Grammarly in 2025) in one productivity suite, allowing users to access all three tools as part of a single plan. The company has also launched a new AI assistant called Superhuman Go that is included in every Superhuman plan tier and is baked into the Grammarly browser extension for Chrome and Edge.

Superhuman Go’s capabilities include assisting with professional-sounding email responses, fetching information and scheduling meetings. At launch it can connect to your Google Workspace apps and Microsoft Outlook, with the idea being that the AI is always there making suggestions in the background, rather than you needing to ask it for assistance.

Superhuman plans to add additional functionality to Coda and Superhuman Mail, such as turning ideas from meetings into drafts and more effectively organizing your inbox according to your schedule. Its vision for the rebrand is that instead of thinking of Grammarly as a writing agent alone, you utilize all of its different agents and platforms to work more productively.

Anyone previously using Grammarly can now use Superhuman Go, and the Superhuman suite is being bundled into a number of different plans. The $12 per month (billed annually) Pro plan offers unlimited paragraph rewrites and translations in 19 languages — a feature Grammarly added earlier this year — while the Business plan costs $33 per month (billed annually) and includes Superhuman’s mail client.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/grammarly-has-rebranded-to-superhuman-151001417.html?src=rss

Pick up Baseus’ magnetic power bank while it’s on sale for only $36

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The last thing you want during a long day is your phone dying at the most inopportune moment. Having a portable battery that can stay on your person without weighing you down is crucial for the busiest among us. Some of the best options for that are magnetic power banks, since they're typically very slim and can top up your phone without adding much bulk to your everyday carry. Baseus’ Picogo 5K falls into that category, and right now you can pick one up for $36, which is a record low price.

While this particular accessory only made it into the "others we tested" section in our guide to the best MagSafe power banks for iPhone, that’s only because it was slightly beaten in the slimness department by the Anker Nano. However, as we noted in the guide, the Nano doesn’t have a stand, and the Picogo 5K does, so if you like to be able to prop up your phone while it’s charging, it might be the better pick for you.

As you can probably guess from its name, Baseus’ power bank has a 5,000mAh capacity and is Qi2-certified. In our testing. It gave our tester iPhone 15 a 43 percent bump in battery in 42 minutes, which returned the phone to 91 percent. It has a curved design and is wrapped in soft silicone, making it easy to grip in a pinch.

As a reminder, MagSafe charging is supported on iPhone 12 models and later, though you’ll need an iPhone 13 or later to reach the 15W charging speed on a third-party Qi2 accessory such as the one featured in this deal. If you don't need the built-in stand, Baseus has a similar magnetic power bank without it on sale for only $20. You can also upgrade to a 10K bank with the same design for only $40.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/pick-up-baseus-magnetic-power-bank-while-its-on-sale-for-only-36-164814229.html?src=rss

Google is once again disputing Gmail was breached

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Not for the first time this year, Google has been forced to reassure its users that it has not suffered a large-scale data breach that could affect their Gmail accounts. A few months ago the company released an unusual statement intended to put to bed allegations that its email service had been hit with a serious security issue. And it did so again this week, after numerous news outlets published stories suggesting that 183 million passwords may have been compromised in a new breach.

Google has since claimed that this isn’t true in posts on X. It says the listed accounts are likely not fresh victims of an attack, but instead recent additions to the Have I Been Pwned data breach search engine’s database. The website is a free resource that can quickly tell users if their personal data has been hacked. As noted by Bleeping Computer, HIBP’s creator, Troy Hunt, has said in a blog post that over 90 percent of the millions of stolen credentials have been seen before, so are in no way new (16.4 million of addresses were however showing up for the first time in a data breach, according to Hunt).

"Reports of a 'Gmail security breach impacting millions of users' are false," Google said in a statement. "Gmail’s defenses are strong, and users remain protected. The inaccurate reports are stemming from a misunderstanding of infostealer databases, which routinely compile various credential theft activity occurring across the web. It’s not reflective of a new attack aimed at any one person, tool, or platform."

Google does use compilations of open credentials like the one recently uploaded to HIBP to alert its users of possible breaches, and has advised users that turning on 2-step verification and adopting passkeys is more secure than relying on passwords alone, which it notes should always be reset immediately if compromised.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/google-is-once-again-disputing-gmail-was-breached-180031380.html?src=rss