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Higher NAND flash prices have made SSD upgrades more expensive over the past year. The Crucial P310 internal SSD offers an affordable way to add fast PCIe 4.0 storage to a desktop PC or laptop (or even a PlayStation 5).
Usually priced at $299.49, Newegg has reduced the 2TB model to a more affordable $279.99. While the $20 discount is only modest, you're still getting an M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe 2.0 SSD capable of sequential read speeds up to 7,100MB/s and write speeds up to 6,000MB/s.
Should you buy it?✅ Buy the Crucial P310 SSD if...
You should if you're looking for a reliable Gen4 SSD that delivers strong everyday performance without paying silly prices. Boot times, application launches, file transfers, and game loading all benefit from the P310's fast read and write speeds, while the 2TB capacity provides plenty of room for games, photos, videos, and creative projects.
❌ Skip the Crucial P310 SSD if...
You shouldn't if you're chasing the fastest PCIe 4.0 drive available or specifically need onboard DRAM for sustained heavy workloads. This drive relies on Host Memory Buffer instead of dedicated DRAM, and the heatsink-free design means you'll want to ensure your system provides adequate cooling if required.
Today's top Crucial P310 SSD dealThis is a 2TB M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe 2.0 SSD with 3D NAND, Host Memory Buffer, up to 7,100MB/s read, 6,000MB/s write speeds, and a heatsink-free design for desktops and laptops.View Deal
Why we recommend itThe P310 strikes a nice balance between price, performance, and efficiency. Crucial rates it for up to 7,100MB/s sequential reads and 6,000MB/s writes, while its improved performance-per-watt can also help extend battery life in compatible laptops.
It also offers faster boot times and improved responsiveness across everyday applications, making it a worthwhile upgrade from an older SSD or hard drive.
Price Context & Historical ValueThe 2TB Crucial P310 usually sells for $299.49 at Newegg, so the current $20 discount isn't the biggest we've seen. For context, it was available for $250 at Amazon not so long ago.
Even so, Newegg has lowered the cost of a fast 2TB Gen4 SSD from a well-established manufacturer, making this a solid buy if you need extra storage today rather than waiting and hoping for a bigger price cut to come along.
It's worth noting that this model comes without a heatsink. Should you need one, Newegg is selling that version for $322.50 at the moment.
For more savings on storage, we're always tracking the best SSD deals.
The Catch: What to know before you buyAs mentioned previously, this model doesn't include a heatsink. It also uses Host Memory Buffer instead of dedicated DRAM cache, making it better suited to mainstream computing, gaming, and everyday productivity than prolonged professional workloads.
As part of its Black Friday in July sale, Best Buy has reduced the price of two Acer laptops aimed at very different audiences. The Acer Aspire Go 15 has fallen from $1,189.99 to $749.99, while the newer Aspire Spin 14 2-in-1 is down from $799.99 to $699.99. Although, after the discounts, there's only a $50 difference in price between the two models, each laptop offers a distinct set of strengths.
The Aspire Go 15 focuses on performance, combining a 10-core Intel Core i7-13620H processor with 32GB of DDR5 memory and a 1TB SSD, making it the stronger choice for demanding workloads and multitasking.
The Aspire Spin 14, meanwhile, trades some raw power for greater versatility, pairing a newer Intel Core Ultra 7 155U processor with a brighter 14-inch 1920 x 1200 touchscreen, a 360-degree convertible design, a backlit keyboard, and a lighter chassis.
Should you buy it?✅ Buy the Aspire Go 15 if...
You should if raw performance and multitasking matter most. The combination of an Intel Core i7-13620H processor, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD makes it the stronger choice for demanding office work, large spreadsheets, creative software, and running many applications simultaneously. Its larger 15.6-inch touchscreen also gives you more room to work.
✅ Buy the Aspire Spin 14 if...
You should if you want a more modern, versatile laptop. Its Intel Core Ultra 7 processor brings improved AI capabilities, while the lighter chassis, brighter 300-nit WUXGA touchscreen, backlit keyboard, convertible design, and one-year warranty make it an excellent everyday companion.
Today's top Acer laptop deals15.6-inch Full HD touchscreen laptop with Intel Core i7-13620H processor, 32GB DDR5 RAM, 1TB SSD, Intel UHD Graphics, HDMI 2.1, dual USB-C, Windows 11 Home, and Wi-Fi.View Deal
14-inch WUXGA touchscreen convertible with Intel Core Ultra 7 155U processor, 16GB LPDDR5X RAM, 1TB SSD, Intel Graphics, HDMI 2.1, backlit keyboard, Windows 11 Home, and Copilot.View Deal
Why we recommend themThe Aspire Go 15 delivers exceptional value if performance is your priority. For just $50 more that the Spin 14, you get double the memory and a faster H-series processor, making it the better buy for productivity and demanding workloads.
The Aspire Spin 14 is the more rounded package. It offers a newer platform, a higher-resolution 16:10 display, a convertible design, a backlit keyboard, and a longer warranty, making it ideal if you value portability and flexibility over outright performance.
Price Context & Historical ValueThe Aspire Go 15 has received by far the largest price cut in Best Buy's Black Friday in July sale, dropping by $440 to $749.99. In contrast, the Aspire Spin 14 is only $100 off at $699.99, but it remains competitively priced for a 2025 Core Ultra convertible with a 1TB SSD.
The Catch: What to know before you buyChoosing between these laptops comes down to how you work. The Aspire Go 15 is the clear winner for performance and multitasking thanks to its Core i7 processor and 32GB of RAM.
That said, the Aspire Spin 14 is the better choice if you want a lighter, more versatile 2-in-1 with a better display, newer processor, and premium everyday features.
- Microsoft has contacted LG regarding a McAfee pop-up served via the monitor maker's app (which in turn is installed by Windows Update)
- As an 'immediate next step' LG has disabled this pop-up
- However, there are still issues to address around the automatic installation of the LG monitor app, and the way Windows Update itself operates with third-party software
Microsoft has fixed a controversial situation whereby Windows 11 users with LG monitors were being hit by a pop-up for McAfee antivirus, and that advert has now been banished from the OS — but there's still more that Microsoft needs to do here.
Windows Latest noticed that Pavan Davuluri, who is head of Windows at Microsoft, flagged up what's happened on X.
In response to a nudge from Epic's Tim Sweeney on the matter, Davuluri said: "We've connected with the team at LG and as an immediate next step, they have agreed to disable the McAfee pop-up from their app. We appreciate LG working with us toward a shared goal of a better experience for our mutual customers. We will keep improving here with our ecosystem partners."
In case you missed this story from earlier in the week, Windows 11 users with an LG display are reportedly getting an LG monitor app (from the Microsoft Store) automatically installed on their PCs via Windows Update simply after hooking up the monitor.
The real kicker was that following this, the mentioned McAfee pop-up (pushing a trial for the antivirus) was repeatedly bothering those users, with the ad delivered via the LG monitor app. So, what Microsoft is telling us here is that as an immediate first step, that McAfee pop-up is no longer part of LG's Windows app, and won't be darkening the desktops of any LG monitor owners any longer.
The (pop-up-less) monitor app is presumably still being piped through by Windows Update, though, and hopefully the next step for Microsoft will be to address this.
Analysis: software giants in glass houses?(Image credit: Future)Windows Update really shouldn't be installing any third-party software without the user's permission, that much is clear (or first-party for that matter). It's fine to flag available updates, wherever they come from or whatever hardware they may be for, but highlighting them is one thing, and going ahead with an auto-installation is another.
Okay, so LG has agreed to disable this pop-up, and it's good that this has happened swiftly, as it was, of course, a huge annoyance. Indeed, it's very worrying that this could happen at all, really (and in case you missed it, LG's TVs have also come under fire this week).
LG had already addressed this controversy with a rather lengthy statement that read: "LG Electronics reiterates that McAfee is not installed automatically and is never installed without the user's explicit consent. The LG Monitor App Installer is distributed through Microsoft's official Windows distribution process, which included McAfee as an option.
"McAfee will be installed only if a user actively chooses to proceed with the installation and provides consent. Under no circumstances is McAfee installed automatically or without user authorization. The LG Monitor App Installer does not access, collect, or transmit any customer personal data."
What this appears to be saying is that McAfee's actual antivirus app isn't installed without consent. It's not denying that the McAfee pop-up appeared without consent, or that the LG Monitor app is installed in the background in Windows without the user's knowledge. It only notes that the LG Monitor app is "distributed through Microsoft's official Windows distribution process", as if that makes everything okay, or somehow not LG's fault.
It is, of course, Microsoft's fault as well – both parties need to take responsibility, and fix not just the McAfee pop-up appearing, but the LG Monitor app being automatically installed simply when a monitor is connected to a Windows 11 PC. (Which is reportedly the case, I should add – I haven't experienced this myself, as I don't have an LG display, but a whole heap of feedback is present suggesting it's exactly what happens).
In short, the immediate disabling of the McAfee trial pop-up is a start, but we need a swift follow-up addressing the LG app itself and how that's dealt with in Windows 11. And more broadly, how third-party apps in general interact with Windows Update, because as already noted, this situation should never have been allowed to happen in the first place (no matter what LG, or any other hardware partner, is doing with their apps).
Furthermore, there's no shortage of people on Reddit noting that Microsoft has been keen enough to act here, but not so keen on curbing its own advertising-related excesses in Windows 11.
As one Redditor says of Microsoft: "Now all they need to do is crack down on their own bloatware…"
Although to be fair to Microsoft, it is acting to rein in some of the upselling and promotional noise that Windows 11 has come to be associated with. More work needs to be done on this front, though, for sure.
- A recent report suggests Nvidia has informed its partners of GDDR6 and GDDR7 memory kit price increases
- This means retailers may increase the prices for RTX GPUs using GDDR6 and GDDR7 memory
- The potential price hike and one user's dual-GPU setup both highlight the importance of hardware preservation
The RAM crisis continues to impact PC manufacturers, with rising memory prices and shortages — ultimately leading to increased retail prices for consumers — and the trend may be set to continue with Nvidia.
According to a report on Benchlife, Nvidia is rumored to be planning an increase for prices of its GDDR6 and GDDR7 memory kits for RTX GPUs, and has informed AIB (Add-In Board) partners such as Asus, MSI, and Gigabyte, who make their own versions of Nvidia's GPUs. Unsurprisingly, the price increase for these memory kits is cited as a result of the ongoing RAM crisis.
While RTX GPU price hikes aren't guaranteed for consumers, because this will directly impact AIB partners who manufacture the GPUs, eventual retailer price increases are unfortunately likely. It's a trend we've seen with recent PC hardware.
Notably, Valve's Steam Machine was initially supposed to cost less than its eventual $1,049 / £879 / AU$1,609 price tag, which could now also be at risk of a price increase, based on hints from a Steam Machine engineer (as reported by Bloomberg). New handheld gaming PCs are also now often launching for more than $1,000, and the price of RAM and storage certainly plays a part.
(Image credit: Roman Samborskyi / Asus)Consumer strugglesThe RAM crisis is a sad state of affairs for consumers and underlines the importance of PC hardware preservation. GPUs aren't cheap by any means, especially with recent suggestions that AMD would also be increasing prices of memory kits for its own AIB partners.
We've also recently seen the return of the RTX 3060, due to Nvidia's attempt to help consumers with more options amid a rough PC hardware market. However, if these price hike reports are legitimate, the RTX 3060 will likely be subject to higher prices at retailers.
That's exactly why GPU setups like one Reddit user's RTX 3090 and RTX 3050 dual-GPU rig matter now more than ever. In this case, the RTX 3050 is responsible for allowing frame generation via Lossless Scaling to function.
My dual GPU Setup from r/losslessscalingA game then utilizes the RTX 3090's power for high-quality visuals and performance, with the two GPUs teaming up. The user states it resulted in 144fps at a 4K resolution over the initial 71fps without frame generation.
Frankly, a dual-GPU setup isn't exactly common, nor is it actually recommended for gaming, since modern games are only designed for single-GPU rendering (even though the frame generation use case is noteworthy).
Users would also need a beefier power supply, depending on the GPUs used, and likely a new motherboard with another compatible PCIe lane.
However, what I feel is more important here is that's it's a great example of why hardware preservation is so important, serving as backup in case GPUs melt or end up faulty, or for experiments like the one I've outlined above. With no end of the RAM crisis in sight, repurposing older hardware might be one way through this.
- Key specs for the Google Pixel Watch 5 have just leaked
- They suggest the device could use the same chip Google has used for years
- The RAM might be boosted by 50%, though
If you’ve been eyeing up the Google Pixel Watch 5, you might want to think twice before heading to the checkout. That’s because a new leak has shed light on the upcoming smartwatch’s specs, and while there’s one welcome change, another alteration has left some fans deeply disappointed.
The discovery was made by 9to5Google, with the outlet claiming to have unearthed the specs in a Google Play Console listing. There, the outlet says it came across a device codenamed “godric,” which it says is the Pixel Watch 5.
The entry apparently recorded the device’s chip as the Qualcomm SW5100. If that sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the same chip used in the Pixel Watch 2, Pixel Watch 3 and Pixel Watch 4 — in other words, there’s unlikely to be any significant performance uptick in the Pixel Watch 5, if this rumor is correct.
But it wasn’t all bad news. 9to5Google also found that the forthcoming Pixel Watch 5 will allegedly come with 3GB of memory, which is a 50% increase on the 2GB of RAM previous Pixel Watches were equipped with. That might go some way to offsetting the chip limitations and could help the device feel a little snappier in use.
A mixed reactionThis is what the Google Pixel Watch 5 could look like, according to previous leaks. (Image credit: The TideChart)The news has received a mixed reception among Pixel Watch fans. Some Reddit users, for instance, were pleased to see the memory increase, with one saying “More RAM is a great move, if confirmed. It should make everything run more smoothly on the [Pixel Watch 5].” Another added that bumping up the memory “should help make Gemini more responsive for people who care about that.”
But not everyone was satisfied with the news. “As a Pixel Watch 2 owner, this is disappointing,” said one user on Reddit, before continuing: “Support for my watch is ending, but if I upgrade then I will have [the] same CPU.”
It’s not too surprising that the news that Google plans to use the same chip for four generations of the Pixel Watch has disappointed plenty of people. Any user holding out for a decent performance bump after so many years might feel a little let down, at least if the leak comes to fruition.
Still, it’s good news to see the memory finally bumped up by 1GB. With artificial intelligence (AI) models like Google Gemini now making their way onto all of the best smartwatches, the extra RAM should improve their operations on your wrist.
Will that be enough to make up for the subpar chip situation? We’ll have to see once Google finally lifts the lid on the Pixel Watch 5, which is expected to happen in August. Keep your eyes peeled.
Despite the noise around frontier AI models, most of the non-tech economy still runs on spreadsheets, manual lookups, and legacy systems.
This is even more so the case in automotive repair, where the gap between what AI promises and what it actually delivers costs the industry real money.
The global auto repair market is worth over $1 trillion but the US alone accounts for more than $180 billion of that annually, spread across more than 250,000 businesses, with no single operator holding more than 5% market share.
The average American vehicle is now 12.6 years old, the oldest fleet on record, meaning more frequent repairs, more complex parts, and more pressure on workshops already running on thin margins.
Since 2022, repair costs have risen by 25%, well above general inflation. Despite all of this, the industry still matches parts largely through manual catalogue lookups, experience, and guesswork. This results in wrong parts getting ordered, vehicles sitting in shops and workshops absorbing the cost of returns, rework and lost technician time.
That problem exists across every market, but the US is where it is most apparent; the market is enormous, deeply fragmented, and has operated without AI-native infrastructure designed specifically for it. That reflects a genuine technical challenge that general-purpose AI has not solved yet and cannot solve in its current form.
Why general-purpose AI models fall shortGeneral-purpose models are built for optimizing language, reasoning and creativity, but not to be ruthlessly precise within one specific industry. In industries like automotive repair, tolerance for error is close to zero. For example, if a model recommends a headlight that isn't the right fit, it holds up the technician repairing the car, delays the customer and costs the insurer paying for the repair considerably more.
When you benchmark leading general-purpose models against domain-specific automotive parts tasks, the results are stark. The best general models achieve around 5% precision on parts identification benchmarks. A well-trained human does considerably better, but is constrained by memory, catalogue complexity and time.
A model purpose-built for this problem, trained on proprietary original equipment manufacturer (OEM) data, normalized catalogue schemas, fitment rules and live transactional feedback, achieves over 90% precision on the same benchmarks - not just a marginal improvement but a different category of capability.
The data and architecture problemThere are structural reasons why the gap is that large. Automotive parts and repair data is not a larger version of generic text, it is a constantly evolving graph of relationships:
VINs, trims, sub-models, region-specific variants, supersessions, aftermarket substitutions and workshop-specific preferences. Much of this lives in fragmented OEM catalogues and proprietary formats not available on the open web.
The architecture required is different too; a parts decision in a real workshop needs to account for vehicle history, insurer regulations, supplier inventory, contractual pricing and technician preferences simultaneously, requiring a model built to ingest structured catalogues and enforce hard constraints, not one optimized for broad conversational usefulness.
Building the infrastructure that makes scale possibleBuilding a domain-specific foundation model is not a matter of fine-tuning a general base as the dataset has to be assembled through years of OEM agreements, schema normalization and continuous integration of repair, claims and inventory data.
The model needs to be wired into the systems that run the business, so that every accepted recommendation, return and job outcome feeds back in and compounds accuracy over time. The competitive advantage builds over time through the combination of proprietary data, deep integration and continuous learning. The longer the model runs, the better it becomes.
For the US market, this matters more than anywhere else; the scale of the opportunity, 250,000 repairers, a fleet getting older every year, costs rising faster than inflation, means the compounding value of getting parts right the first time is enormous.
The markets where this technology has been deployed in Europe and Asia-Pacific have demonstrated that the productivity gains are real and measurable. The US has, until now, had no equivalent infrastructure to access them.
What buyers and investors should be askingFor technology buyers in complex verticals, the right question to ask of any AI vendor is not how capable their model is in general, but how it performs on the specific failure modes that cost your industry money. In automotive repair, that means first-time-right rates, return rates and cycle time compression.
The same logic applies to investors: the size of a model is not a measure of how hard a business is to displace. The relevant questions are how hard the dataset is to assemble, how embedded the model is in operational workflows and how general the reasoning ability is within the domain.
General-purpose models will continue to improve and will remain valuable for a wide range of tasks. But the deepest, most durable value in AI will be created where models stop being generic assistants and start becoming invisible infrastructure, optimized for one hard problem at a time.
In automotive repair, that means fixing the parts problem that has taxed the industry for decades. In the US in particular, where scale amplifies both the cost of the problem and the value of solving it, that shift is overdue.
We've listed the best GPS fleet tracking systems.
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- Weapons' prequel movie about Aunt Gladys is officially in the works
- Director Zach Cregger spoke at San Diego Comic-Con where he confirmed that the script is in progress
- Weapons was a huge success, with Amy Madigan winning an Oscar for her performance as Aunt Gladys
Get excited Weapons fans, because Aunt Gladys' story will be explored in a new prequel movie that's being written now.
During Collider’s Directors on Directing panel at San Diego Comic-Con, director Zach Cregger gave a status update and confirmed that the Gladys-led prequel was in the works.
“First of all, I’m really excited about the Gladys movie, and I loved working with Amy,” Cregger said. “I loved that character. For the movie Weapons, it really made a lot of sense not to dive into her backstory because the device of Weapons was to keep her very mysterious.”
He added: “However, there’s an amazing story to be told about where Gladys comes from and how she became what we know her as. It’s got a lot of twists and turns and mysteries and crazy things, like Weapons does. I think it’s going to be great.
"The script is in progress now, but we’re taking that super seriously, and it’s moving in the right direction. So yeah, it’s being written, is the short answer.”
Weapons was a huge horror hit last year. (Image credit: Warner Bros.)Considering I gave Weapons a five-star review, I'm very excited for the Gladys prequel movie. Cregger is on a roll at the moment, as we have also seen the full trailer for his new Resident Evil movie.
His take on the beloved horror video game franchise is an original one, and will follow a medical courier named Bryan as he "unwittingly finds himself in an action-packed, non-stop race for survival", per the official synopsis.
That's not all, either. Following on from the success of A24's Backrooms, it was announced that Cregger is working on a Siren Head adaptation, another Creepypasta that is well loved by horror fans.
- Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot says Sony's plan to end physical game disc production won't have a major impact on the industry
- Guillemot says there are pros and cons to the decision
- He says, "I think it will not disturb the industry too much"
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot doesn't think Sony's decision to retire the production of physical game discs will have a considerable impact on the industry.
Guillemot's comment comes from an earnings call following the release of its first-quarter 2026-27 sales (via VGC), during which the CEO was asked if Sony's plan to end disc production starting January 2028 could have a positive or negative effect on the future of the games industry.
While many disagree with Sony's decision, and some analysts predict it will endanger the $7.2 billion second-hand game market, Guillemot doesn't believe it will have a major impact on the industry at large.
Bold statements"What we saw on the PC is that it helped to grow the market," Guillemot said. "There’s also some pressure for the future on the cost of machines, and being able to be only digital will help to have a more accessible machine, I would think.
"As you said, there are pluses and minuses, but I think it will not disturb the industry too much."
Sony announced its plan earlier this month and saw overwhelming backlash from fans. According to Wedbush Securities managing director of strategic planning Michael Pachter, Sony's plan to phase out discs in two years is now a threat to the used game market.
"Realistically, at least one-third of games have been sold historically as used, and the games that were sold also provided currency to the gamer who traded them in as cash to pay for new games," Pachter said. "Brick and mortar game retail is doomed."
Sega president Shuji Utsumi has also addressed the controversy and said that while the digital shift is "crucial," the company still understands the importance of physical media.
"If they’re going to go as far as eliminating physical packages, they may as well eliminate the hardware too," Niikawa said. "A television would be enough. Why would you need the console? If you’re going to get rid of physical games, you may as well go all the way."
Hugging Face is probably not a name you'd heard before this week, but you likely caught the big news about OpenAI's model escaping its sandbox and to launch a cyberattack on the company.
In short, Hugging Face — which is kind of like the equivalent of GitHub for the machine learning (AI) world — was the victim of an AI agent that OpenAI was testing in terms of its ability to pull off exploits.
So how exactly did this happen? And what does it mean for the future of online security given the development of increasingly advanced AI agents? In this article I'll answer those questions, and explore some of the issues this event has thrown up, including the security threats posed by AI not just to companies, but to individuals.
How did this even happen — why didn't OpenAI have safeguards to stop the AI?(Image credit: Getty Images / NurPhoto)As you might expect, OpenAI did have safeguards in place, but the model managed to break through them.
The scenario was that OpenAI ran a controlled experiment using GPT‑5.6 Sol and an "even more capable pre-release model" to see how they fared on ExploitGym, which is a benchmark test that challenges AI to successfully exploit known security vulnerabilities.
In this security test, the model was placed in a sandbox, a "highly isolated environment" from which the AI shouldn't have been able to gain access to the internet at all. But the pre-release AI — which had its guardrails turned off, as OpenAI believed it to be safely imprisoned — craftily decided to cheat, found a way to escape its sandbox, and actioned exploits to breach Hugging Face (where the AI reasoned that it might find the answers to crack the ExploitGym tests).
Why is this a big worry?(Image credit: Shutterstock)It's a major concern simply due to the level of smarts exhibited by the AI. As OpenAI explained, the model "chained together multiple attack vectors" and used "stolen credentials and zero-day vulnerabilities to find a remote code execution path on the Hugging Face servers."
This was no mean feat, and Clement Delangue, CEO of Hugging Face, posted on X to say that it was "quite mind-blowing that all of this happened autonomously!"
In a blog post, Hugging Face observed that: "The campaign was run by an autonomous agent framework executing many thousands of individual actions across a swarm of short-lived sandboxes, with self-migrating command-and-control staged on public services."
The attacked was deemed so serious, it was reported to law enforcement agencies. As Simon Willison, a cocreator of web framework Django, pointed out in a blog post: "This was a sophisticated attack," further explaining that "Chaining together multiple attack vectors is exactly the kind of thing these new models can do, where previous generations of models might have failed."
The headline of Willison's post sums it all up rather neatly: "OpenAI's accidental cyberattack against Hugging Face is science fiction that happened."
The Django co-creator is also quick to dismiss conspiracy theories that this is somehow a marketing stunt by OpenAI to prove how advanced its AI models are.
The future of hacking?(Image credit: Getty Images)What should also be noted is the distinction between finding vulnerabilities, and being able to actively exploit vulnerabilities. AI being involved in the former could be very useful for bolstering security, but as for the latter — well, this Hugging Face incident is very much a clear illustration of why the makers of these models need to tread very carefully indeed.
While this was a 'white hat' (ethical) experiment, albeit one that went alarmingly awry, with real-world consequences, what happens when AI models start to become even more sophisticated along these lines — and criminals get hold of them?
There are obvious dangers in terms of the automation of attacks to make them far more regular occurrences, and the lowering of the bar in terms of the skills needed to be a successful hacker.
Dan Schiappa, President of Technology & Services at Arctic Wolf (responsible for threat-detection platform Aurora), warns: "Security teams should view this as a preview of what's ahead. As AI continues to lower the barriers to sophisticated cyber activity, organizations will need broad, deep visibility across their environments and the ability to investigate and respond at machine speed."
The ability to "respond at machine speed" is a hint at using AI for defense against AI bad actors, and that's another interesting facet of the Hugging Face incident. Simon Willison observes that Hugging Face was "unable to turn to OpenAI's models to help them fend off the attack", and that: "The frontier models [cutting-edge AIs] we have access to are increasingly being constrained in how much they can help us protect our software, heavily influenced by the US government's ongoing threat of export controls."
AI-driven attacks will doubtless be aimed at businesses and organizations, but could also be leveraged on a personal basis. Karolis Arbaciauskas, who is Head of Product at cybersecurity firm NordPass, tells us: "We don't need a nation-state actor or a Bond villain for this to go wrong. The most common emerging threats will likely be more mundane. For example, an [AI] agent could be instructed to dox a former romantic partner or settle an online grudge by hacking and stealing personal data, such as embarrassing photos or credit card details."
He adds: "AI models have become dangerously skilled at identifying software vulnerabilities. They've mastered every human hacking technique, from phishing to brute forcing. The difference is they can do it much faster than humans.
"I don't believe that we can patch software fast enough to keep up, so we must at least shield ourselves against the most obvious entry points. Encryption, strong unique passwords, passkeys, and multi-factor authentication (MFA) have never been more critical than they are right now."
The major AI firms are always talking about guardrails and safety, but it now seems like we should be thinking a lot harder about how more highly evolved AI models are going to fit into the future of cybersecurity — and how we can avoid a world where the danger of being hacked becomes a far more commonplace prospect, which is very much the biggest worry of all.
- Prime Video and Netflix are planning new AI-generated homepages
- Netflix revealed its 'GenPage' tests ahead of a new Prime Video report
- Viewers aren't convinced that homepages are moving in the right direction
You're about to see a lot more generative AI in your streaming apps: Netflix has posted details of testing that it's doing with generative AI on its homepage, while Reuters reports that Amazon Prime Video is set for an AI-driven overhaul as well.
Starting with Netflix, the company has revealed it's working on a way of using generative AI to do a lot of the heavy lifting on the app homepage. That includes figuring out which recommendations each user should see, adapting to feedback and user behavior over time, and combining movies, shows, games, podcasts, and live events in the best way.
It starts with a prompt — "Given everything we know about this user and this request, what homepage should we generate to maximize user satisfaction?" — and Netflix seems pleased with the results. There are still some issues to work on though, like the AI model not knowing much about a movie or show that's only just launched.
User engagement increased in Netflix's internal testing, with the new 'GenPage' AI model applied, and recommendations became more relevant more quickly. What's more, the time needed to render the homepage went down. This is still in its early stages, and Netflix hasn't said when this will come to users or in what form, but it's now in the pipeline.
AI 'front and center' on Prime VideoJeff Bezos wants more AI on Amazon's streaming service (Image credit: Getty / Mandel Ngan)On to Amazon, and a new Reuters report says Amazon boss Jeff Bezos has personally decided that Prime Video will act as a showcase for AI in the near future, and that an upcoming homepage redesign will put AI "front and center".
That's according to people "with direct knowledge of the matter", so don't take this as confirmed just yet. The homepage overhaul project is apparently known as 'Lighthouse', and is said to be envisioned as a way of claiming some of the AI spotlight from rivals such as OpenAI and Anthropic.
We don't get too many details on what this is going to look like, but film and TV recommendations are going to have more AI injected into them, Reuters says. The AI will also be better at learning the personal preferences of viewers over time, and responding to voice commands.
You might see tiles on the homepage such as 'action movies from the 1980s', for example. The report doesn't give any indication of when this overhaul might start rolling out, but it's apparently already being tested with a select number of users in a variety of forms.
Our AI-driven interface futureNetflix Users Say They Dislike New Layout; Research Says Otherwise from r/netflixWith two of the big streaming giants apparently now committed to homepages controlled by AI, the next question is what users might make of it. There's so much to watch on each platform that some kind of filter or algorithm is needed, but is this AI-focused approach the right way to go about it?
Past homepage overhauls perhaps give us some clues: A major Netflix redesign rolled out last year was met with many online complaints, but the company's internal data showed that it was working, so it stayed in place. At the time there was speculation that more AI was on the way, and it seems that's now the case.
"I don't know if I'm alone," writes one Redditor, "but I hate the concept of 'personalizing' my content. No offense to anyone but AI so far has not been good at predicting anything about me... I personally do not want software to think for me."
The reactions to Prime Video's upcoming AI overhaul seem similarly downbeat. "This seems completely unnecessary," comments one user, while several suggest the move might even be enough to tip them into canceling their Prime Video subscription.
- Spotify is rumored to launch its own song ID tool
- Changes in the Android app were spotted, with references to 'Identify a song’, ‘listening’, and ‘analyzing’
- It could add a level of convenience when adding identified songs to a playlist, just like Apple Music's Shazam shortcut
There’s one thing that Spotify has over Apple Music, and that’s music discovery features, though the latter service has the edge when it comes to music recognition — but that could all change soon.
In a recent investigation from Android Authority, the outlet found lines of code in the latest version of the Spotify app which suggest the platform is working on its own song identification feature. Though this has only been found in Spotify’s Android app, we wouldn’t rule out the possibility of it launching on iOS.
As it is with every rumor, we’re taking this with a pinch of salt until more information surfaces, but Android Authority’s findings present some pretty convincing evidence, showing text that reads ‘Identify a song’, ‘listening’, and ‘analyzing’. It seems the feature will need access to your device’s microphone, and will display pop-ups when a song can’t be identified.
Essentially, it sounds like Spotify is developing its own in-house version of Shazam, which could act as a band-aid for many music fans out there who, like myself, rely on third-party music-recognition software to put titles to songs.
When Apple bought Shazam in 2018, it thrust the music-recognition platform right into the iOS experience. Instead of needing to use the standalone Shazam app, you can add the ‘Recognize Music’ tab to your iOS Control Center for easier access, and Shazam will be right there at your fingertips.
It also works wonders for quickly adding songs to your Apple Music library. When you Shazam a song, a pop-up reading ‘Add to Apple Music?’ appears and all of your tracks will be sent to your library. Until now, this level of convenience wasn't available for Spotify users.
Apple Music subscribers can add Shazam-identified songs to their Library through the handy Control Center button on iOS (Image credit: Future)Since Apple took ownership of Shazam, Apple Music and its users have greatly benefited, but listeners who use Spotify, Tidal, and the rest of the best music streaming services have been missing out. Not all was lost however; last year Shazam rolled out a feature where each song you identified using the app would be automatically added to a special playlist in your Spotify account titled ‘My Shazam Tracks’.
I have to say, this small but effective feature has become one of my most-used tools for keeping tabs on new music, but if you Shazam quite a lot of songs from different genres, it creates a very messy-looking playlist.
Even after my Shazamed songs have been added to ‘My Shazam Tracks’, I still go back into the playlist to individually move songs into my other playlists — which is why a native Spotify song ID tool would go a long way, and would be even better if you can add it to your iOS Control Center.
Just think about it: you’re out and about and a song starts playing which you know you’ve definitely heard before, but can’t remember for the life of you what it’s called or who sings it. A simple swipe down to the Control Center and a tap of a button gives you the song title in seconds, and then it directs you to your Spotify Library where you can add your recently-discovered song to a specific playlist.
We’ve reached out to Spotify for a comment, who replied with the following:
"We're always exploring ways to improve our product and deliver more value to users, but we don't comment on speculation around possible new features and don't have anything new to share at this time".
Razer is a household name in the webcam space, with its Kiyo brand being one of the most popular choices for streamers and PC gamers. The latest Kiyo V2 is another sterling example of Razer's commitment to premium build quality and high-end components, and for the most part, it's a great product.
Delivering either 4K recording at 30 frames per second or 1080p at 60, the Kiyo V2 captures quality video with a high degree of customization via the Razer Synapse software. It's fairly pricey (don't expect to see it on our list of the best cheap webcams), but for a 4K webcam with this sort of build quality and feature set, it's actually quite competitively priced.
(Image credit: Future)Coming in black, white, and pink colorways (mine is the pink 'Quartz' model), the Razer Kiyo V2 is an extremely well-constructed product. It's durable and pleasingly tactile. The base can be extended and rotated to capture the perfect angle, and it easily clasps onto any monitor; I tested it both with the two monitors in my home desktop setup and my laptop, and it snapped into place with no issues. It's a little heavy, however, so laptops with flimsier display hinges might struggle.
The design is a departure from previous Razer webcams, which typically opted for a singular large casing surrounding the lens construction. Instead, it's a smaller lens housing with an oblong body, immediately reminiscent of the Logitech MX Brio 705.
Not everything has been abandoned with this new design, however. The lens housing, like previous Kiyo models, includes a pleasingly tactile rim that can be twisted to close the built-in physical privacy shutter. I'm always a fan of privacy solutions like this, though given the large size of the glass lens face, it would've been nice to see a lens cap included to keep it dust- and scratch-free.
(Image credit: Future)It would potentially be nice if the webcam could be detached from the attached mount in order to fit it to a different mount; many content creators will have their own video setups and may want to use their own camera stands. However, the mount does have a threaded screw connector on the base, letting you fit it atop most industry-standard camera mounts.
In terms of video quality, it's great. 4K video is sharp and colorful, and even zoomed in, I found I looked perfectly detailed in the footage I recorded. Color reproduction is great, and the camera performed well in a range of light conditions. Low-light performance resulted in some mild oversaturation, but I've seen worse performance in more expensive cameras. It also supports HDR, though only at 30fps even at lower resolutions.
The autofocus works well, but I found it was a little slow to adjust if I quickly moved closer or further from the camera. Having tested quite a few webcams in my time, I feel that a webcam in this price range should be a bit snappier to focus.
That big lens means that the default field of view is huge. A 93-degree FOV means that the Kiyo V2 is liable to capture not just yourself but the entire room you're in, but thankfully it's easy enough to tweak this via the zoom and crop tools in Razer's Synapse software.
(Image credit: Future)On the topic of Synapse, it's still a frankly rather clunky piece of software, but for webcam users who want granular control over their hardware, it does a solid job. In addition to zoom and crop tools, you can also manually tweak the autofocus, auto exposure, and color balance.
The Kiyo V2's software-side feature set also includes a selection of AI-powered tools, which are covered prominently in the marketing material for the webcam. These include dynamic light correction and noise reduction, but these features already existed in Synapse, and to be honest, I'm not entirely clear on what AI brings to the table here.
(Image credit: Future)Look, Razer: I get it. I'm sure there's tremendous pressure from your shareholders to make everything AI-powered, because it's the buzzword du jour. But anyone who actually wants AI in their webcam (for whatever inane reason) likely isn't going to be better served by the Kiyo V2 than any other cutting-edge 'AI' webcam, like the Obsbot Tiny SE.
One element that does actually benefit from the involvement of machine learning is the auto-framing feature, which uses AI-powered head-tracking to keep you in the center of the frame even if you move around. However, since the Kiyo V2 lacks a mechanized gimbal, it can't alter the frame while fully zoomed out and can only track you so far; it can keep you in center frame if you move by a foot or two, but it won't follow you around a room.
On the bright side, you don't actually have to use Synapse and the AI features at all. The Kiyo V2 works great straight out of the box; just plug in the bundled cable, and you're off to the races, assuming you're happy with the default wide-angle FOV.
(Image credit: Future)Now, for the only real problem I have with the Razer Kiyo V2. It comes with a USB-C to USB-C cable in the box (the one with my review unit is pink, like the webcam itself), and as far as I can tell, you have to use this cable to access the full 4K functionality of the camera.
Considering that the cable is USB-C-exclusive, you'll need a free USB-C 3.0 port to make full use of the Kiyo V2. I tested it out with a USB-C to USB-A adapter, as well as using one of my own USB-C cables; no dice. It's frustrating, because USB-C ports can be in short supply for users connecting multiple peripherals, and the bundled cable is a bit short and inflexible.
(Image credit: Future)Lastly, the built-in microphone is... fine, I guess. It's good enough for video calls, but anyone aiming to produce professional-level video content should definitely use a proper standalone microphone.
It's fair to say that the Razer Kiyo V2 deserves a spot among the best webcams on the market. There are a few niggling issues, but nothing that should ruin the experience for a gamer who wants a high-end webcam. For hardcore content creators, it remains a sound choice, but you should be aware of the downsides.
Razer Kiyo V2 webcam: Price & availability- How much does it cost? $149.99 / £149.99 / AU$279.95
- When is it available? Available now
- Where can you get it? The US, UK, and Australia
At $149.99 / £149.99 / AU$279.95, the Razer Kiyo V2 is significantly cheaper than the brand's own older Kiyo Pro webcam. If you're looking for a high-quality 4K cam, it's not an unreasonable price.
Sure, you could easily get a cheaper 4K webcam, but you'll need to risk it on a less established brand, and you almost certainly won't be getting the same rich feature set seen in the Kiyo V2. Similarly effective models from other premium brands like Logitech and Elgato will cost a comparable amount, so I'm pleased to say that despite its reputation for pricey hardware, Razer got the price right this time around.
Razer Kiyo V2 webcam: SpecsRazer Kiyo V2
Price:
$149.99 / £149.99 / AU$279.95
Supported resolutions:
4Kp at 30fps, 1440p at 60fps, 1080p at 60fps
Sensor:
8.3 MP Sony STARVIS
Field of view:
93 degrees
Connection:
USB-C
Features:
Digital zoom, AI auto-framing, AI autofocus, dynamic color correction, HDR, mechanical privacy shutter
Software Integration:
Razer Synapse
Should you buy the Razer Kiyo V2 webcam?(Image credit: Future)Razer Kiyo V2 webcam report cardValue
The Razer Kiyo V2 is still fairly expensive, but it's reasonably priced for a high-end 4K webcam and much better value than the previous Kiyo Pro.
4 / 5
Design
A fresh chassis design that retains the excellent physical privacy shutter of older Kiyos, but the forced USB-C is annoying.
4 / 5
Performance
Audio is merely decent, but the picture quality and color balance are fantastic and Razer Synapse packs a ton of extra features.
4 / 5
Avarage rating
A high-quality webcam with a broad feature set and more competitive pricing, the Razer Kiyo V2 is a great product with only a few small flaws.
4 / 5
Buy it if...You want 4K
At this price point, the Kiyo V2 is competitive within the 4K webcam space - you could find cheaper ones, but only if you're willing to accept a drop in quality.
You need wide-angled recording
If you're aiming to capture a larger space (or multiple video participants), the 93-degree FOV of the Kiyo V2 is perfect.
You're short on ports
Since it needs to use the bundled USB-C cable to access full 4K recording, the Kiyo V2 is a poor choice for anyone who already has lots of ports in use on their PC.
You're on a budget
At $149.99 / £149.99 / AU$279.95, the Kiyo V2 is still pretty darn expensive, even if it's far better value for money than the older Kiyo Pro.
Insta360 Link 2C
Our current top pick of the 4K webcams available on the market right now, the Link 2C offers superior low-light performance and autofocus while also offering the same high-quality video and AI features as the Kiyo V2.
Read our full Insta360 Link 2C review
Obsbot Tiny 2
The Tiny 2 from Obsbot delivers 4K video along with AI-powered tracking via its mechanical gimbal mount. For those who want a high-end video experience, this is a great pick.
Read our full Obsbot Tiny 2 review
How I tested the Razer Kiyo V2 webcam- Tested the webcam in video calls and recording
- Compared image quality to other webcams
- 8+ years of experience reviewing computer hardware
I replaced my usual webcam (the Insta360 Link 2 4K) with the Razer Kiyo V2 for two weeks, using it for all my normal video calls during the workday. I also tested it in various different lighting conditions by recording video separately and comparing the clips side by side. Naturally, I installed (well, reinstalled) Razer Synapse to properly test out all the software-side features as well.
I've been testing and reviewing PC hardware for more than eight years, starting at the PC-building hobbyist magazine Maximum PC before making the leap to TechRadar's computing team. I put all of my knowledge and experience behind each and every one of my product reviews, so you can be assured that you're getting an informed and bias-free judgement.
- First reviewed July 2026
- GitHub to launch two-tier (public and private) bug bounty schemes form July 27 2026
- Change comes in response to rise in lower-quality, AI-generated reports
- VIP researchers will earn around 3-4x more per report
GitHub has confirmed plans to evolve its bug bounty program into a two-tier system, which will come into force for reports submitted on or after July 27, 2026.
Under the new scheme, the Microsoft-owned coding platform will add a lower-paying public program that's available to the wider research community, under a higher-paying invitation-only program.
Product Security Engineer Catherine Cassell explained that the change comes in response to a growing backlog of low-effort, low-quality and AI-generated reports.
GitHub complains about AI-generated bug reportsFor the new public program, GitHub will replace payout ranges with a single payment for each severity, spanning $250, $2,000, $5,000 and $10,000 for low, medium, high and critical. Cassell said this would help researchers know in advance what a valid finding could be worth, and it would also give insiders less of a headache having to decide where a report sits within a range.
Notably, the payouts are much lower than before, with the previous ranges paying out $500-$1,000, $2,000-$5,000, $5,000-$20,000 and $10,000-$30,000.
Invited VIP researchers under the second plan will earn around 3-4x more than researchers under the other scheme, depending on bug severity.
GitHub is also adding a HackerOne signal requirement for new researchers, giving them four opportunities to "establish a track record" – likely another response to rising AI-generated reports, which are typically of lower value.
"We want to build a program that attracts the research we value, creates an experience that reflects how seriously we take this work, and upholds the trust researchers place in us every time they submit a report," Cassell concluded.