Six decades after it was created by Congress, the nonprofit that brought America Mister Rogers Neighborhood and Sesame Street will shut down for good.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced this week that it would officially shut down, ushering in an uncertain new era for the future of public broadcasting. The organization historically administers funds for NPR, PBS, and more than 1,000 local TV and radio stations nationwide.
The nonprofit entity was signed into law by the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 to manage federal funds for educational TV and radio shows, but it fell victim to a defunding campaign initiated by the Trump administration and approved by a Republican-led Congress.
For more than half a century, CPB existed to ensure that all Americansregardless of geography, income, or backgroundhad access to trusted news, educational programming, and local storytelling, CPB president and CEO Patricia Harrison said in a press release. Harrison said that the CPB decided to dissolve the organization as its final act instead of keeping the nonprofit on life support, which could make it susceptible to additional attacks.
The Trump administration asked for the cuts to the public broadcasting organization, along with a sweeping pullback in foreign aid spending, earlier this year. Congress ultimately complied and in July voted to cut $1.1 billion in federal funds, with no Democrats voting in support.
The public broadcasting fallout begins
The Trump administrations decision to defund the countrys largest public broadcasting organization will likely echo for years to come, but were already starting to see some of its effects.
In early December, a commission that oversees public educational TV in Arkansas voted to part ways with PBS, citing the shortfall of federal funds. That group framed the decision as a cost-saving measure, arguing that it relied on federal funding to pay annual dues of around $2.5 million to PBS in exchange for the broadcasters programming. The organizations commissioners, who voted 6-2 in favor of parting with PBS, are appointed by the governor.
The Arkansas PBS network, now rebranded as Arkansas TV, struck an optimistic tone in its announcement, pointing to a slate of new programming it plans to develop to replace PBS, including two shows for children, two food series, and two new history-focused shows. Public television in Arkansas is not going away, Arkansas TV executive director and CEO Carlton Wing said.
In spite of the states upbeat tone around its new brand and bespoke programming, Arkansas residents broadly support PBS and will likely feel the absence of its long-running educational shows. More than 70% state residents said that PBS is an excellent value to their community in recent surveys. The commissions decision to drop PBS membership is a blow to Arkansans who will lose free, over-the-air access to quality PBS programming they know and love, a PBS spokesperson told Fast Company. It also goes against the will of Arkansas viewers.
Arkansas was the first state to sever its ties with PBS, but more could follow. Public TV and radio stations in rural parts of the country lack the donor base that their urban counterparts rely on and may be particularly vulnerable to new shortfalls in federal funding.
Public support for public broadcasting
The Trump administration has made dismantling public broadcasting a priority in its first year, but that position looks out of step with most of the country. President Trump has expressed his personal ire for public broadcasting, referring to PBS and NPR as two horrible and completely biased platforms and calling on Congress to defund what he characterized as a scam perpetrated by the Radical Left.
Unlike the Trump administration, most Americans approve of the public broadcaster, which has long been funded through the now-shuttered Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In the U.S., 58% of households with a TV reported watching public programming through PBS in the course of a year. PBS consistently ranks as the most trusted source in America for news and public affairs, besting cable and broadcast networks, newspapers, and streaming services.
In 1969, Fred Rogers, the creator and host of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, famously testified before Congress to defend the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which was facing a major budget cut from the Nixon administration just after its creation. His testimony was initially met with a chilly reception, but within the span of six minutes, Rogers won over the senator questioning him. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting went on to secure its full $20 million in federal fundinga comeback story the nonprofit wont be telling in 2026.
What has happened to public media is devastating, said CPB board chair Ruby Calvert. Yet, even in this moment, I am convinced that public media will survive, and that a new Congress will address public medias role in our country because it is critical to our children’s education, our history, culture, and democracy to do so.
Elon Musk took over X and folded in Grok, his sister companys generative AI tool, with the aim of making his social media ecosystem a more permissive and free speech maximalist space. What hes ended up with is the threat of multiple regulatory investigations after people began using Grok to create explicit images of women without their permissionand sometimes veering into images of underage children.
The problem, which surfaced in the past week as people began weaponizing the image-generation abilities of Grok on innocuous posts by mostly female users of X, has raised the hackles of regulators across the world. Ofcom, the U.K.s communications regulator, has made urgent contact with X over the images, while the European Union has called the ability to use Grok in such a way appalling and disgusting.
In the three years since the release of ChatGPT, generative AI has faced numerous regulatory challenges, many of which are still being litigated, including alleged copyright infringement in the training of AI models. But the use of AI in such a harmful way to target women poses a major moral moment for the future of the technology.This is not about nudity. It’s about power, and it’s about demeaning those women, and it’s about showing who’s in charge and getting pleasure or titillation out of the fact that they did not consent, says Carolina Are, a U.K.-based researcher who has studied the harms of social media platforms, algorithms and AI to users, including women.
For its part, X has said that Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content, echoing the wording of its owner, Elon Musk, who posted the same thing on January 3.
The fact that its at all possible to create such images suggests just how harmful it is to remove guardrails on generative AI to allow users to essentially do whatever they want. This is yet another example of the wild disparities, inequalities, and double standards of the social media age, particularly during this period of time, but also of the impunity of the tech industry, Are says.
Precedented
While the scale and power of AI-created images feels unprecedented, some experts disagree that theyrepresent the first real morality test for generative AI.
AIIm using it here for an umbrella termhas long been a tool of discrimination, misogyny, homophobia and transphobia, and direct harm, including encouraging people to end their lives, causing depression and body dysmorphia, and more, says Ari Waldman, professor of law at the University of California, Irvine.Creating deepfakes of women and girls is absolutely horrible, but it is not the first time AI has engaged in morally reprehensible conduct, he adds.
But the question of who bears legal responsibility for the production of these images is less clear than Musks pronouncements make it seem.
Eric Goldman, a professor at Santa Clara University School of Law, points out that the recently enacted Take it Down Act which requires platforms to have, in the coming months, measures to take down illegal or infringing content within 48 hours added new criminal provisions against intimate visual depictions, a category that would include AI-generated images. But whether that would include bikini images of the type Grok is making by the load is uncertain.This law has not yet been tested in court, but using Grok to create synthetic sexual content is the kind of thing the law was designed to discourage, Goldman says. Given that we don’t know if the Take It Down Act has already put in place the regulatory solution necessary to solve the problem at hand, it would be premature to make yet more laws.
Experts like Rebecca Tushnet, a First Amendment Scholar at Harvard Law School, say the necessary laws already exist. The issue is enforcing them against the wrongdoers when the wrongdoers include the politically powerful or those contemptuous of the law, she says.
In recent years, many new anti-deepfake and explicit-image laws have been passed in the U.S., including a federal law to punish the distribution of sexually explicit digital forgeries, explains Mary Anne Franks, an intellectual property and technology expert at George Washington Law School. But the recent developments with Grok show the existing measures arent good enough, she says. We need to start treating technology developers like we treat other makers of dangerous products: hold them liable for harms caused by their products that they could and should have prevented.
Ultimate responsibility
This question of ultimate responsibility, then, remains unanswered. And its the question that Musk may be trying to head off by expressing his distaste for what his users are doing.
The tougher legal question is what, if any, liability Grok may have for facilitating the creation of intimate visual imagery, explains Goldman, pointing to the voluntary imposition of guardrails as part of firms trust and safety protocols. It’s unclear under U.S. law if those guardrails reduce or eliminate any legal liability, he says, adding that its unclear if the model’s liability will increase if a model has obviously inadequate guardrails.
Waldman argues that lawmakers in Washington should pass a law that would hold companies legally responsible for designing and building AI tools capable of creating child pornography or pornographic deepfakes of women and girls. Right now, the legal responsibility of tech companies is contested, he adds.
While the Federal Trade Commission has statutory authority to take action, he worries that it won’t. The AI companies have aligned themselves with the president and the FTC doesn’t appear to be fulfilling its consumer protection mandate in any real sense.
Morgan Stanley is seeking regulatory approval to launch exchange-traded funds tied to the price of cryptocurrency tokens, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, the first such move by a big U.S. bank.
The bank is looking to launch ETFs tied to the price of cryptocurrencies bitcoin and solana, according to the filings, aiming to deepen its presence in the cryptocurrency space.
Regulatory clarity under U.S. President Donald Trump has encouraged mainstream finance companies to embrace digital assets, which were once considered merely speculative instruments.
In December, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency also allowed banks to act as intermediaries on crypto transactions, narrowing the gap between the traditional sector and digital assets.
Several investors prefer holding crypto via ETFs, which provide greater liquidity and security, and simplified regulatory compliance compared to managing the underlying asset directly.
“It’s interesting to see Morgan Stanley move into a commoditized market, and I suspect that means they want to move clients that invest in bitcoin into their ETFs, which could give them a fast start despite their late entrance,” said Bryan Armour, ETF analyst at Morningstar. “A bank entering the crypto ETF market adds legitimacy to it, and others could follow.”
In the two years since the SEC approved the first U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETF, a wide array of financial institutionsmostly asset managershave stepped up to issue such funds.
U.S. banks, which have mostly only acted as custodians of client investments, are looking to evolve from cautious facilitators to active advisers.
In October, Morgan Stanley expanded access to crypto investments to include all clients and types of accounts, according to media reports.
Bank of America followed suit, allowing its wealth advisers to recommend allocations to crypto in client portfolios from January, without any asset threshold.
By Arasu Kannagi Basil and Ateev Bhandari, Reuters
In moments of political chaos, deepfakes and AI-generated content can thrive. Case in point: the online reaction to the US governments shocking operation in Venezuela over the weekend, which included multiple airstrikes and a clandestine mission that ended with the capture of the countrys president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife. They were soon charged with narcoterrorism, along with other crimes, and theyre currently being held at a federal prison in New York.
Right now, the facts of the extraordinary operation are still coming to light, and the future of Venezuela is incredibly unclear. President Donald Trump says the U.S. government plans to run the country. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has indicated that, no, America isn’t going to do that, and that the now-sworn-in former vice president, Delcy Rodriguez will lead instead. Others are still calling for opposition leaders María Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonalzez to take charge.
Its in moments like this that deepfakes, disinformation campaigns, and even AI-generated memes, can pick up traction. When the truth, or the future, isnt yet obvious, generative artificial intelligence allows people to render content that answers the as-yet-unanswered questions, filling in the blanks with what they might want to be true.
Weve already seen AI videos about whats going on in Venezuela. Some are meme-y depictions of Maduro handcuffed on a military plane, but some could be confused for actual footage. While a large number of Venezuelans did come out to celebrate Maduros capture, videos displaying AI-generated crowds have also popped up, including one that apparently tricked X CEO Elon Musk.
At least anecdotally, deepfake content related to Venezuela has spiked in recent days, says Ben Colman, the cofounder and CEO of Reality Defender, a firm that tracks deepfakes. Those narratives arent tied to any movement and run the gamut from nationalist to anti-government, pro-Venezuela, pro-US, pro-unity, anti-globalization, and everything in between, he says.
The difference between this event and events from even a few months ago is that image models have gotten so good in recent days that the most astute fact-checkers, media verification experts, and experts in our field are unable to manually verify many of them by pointing to specific aspects of the image as an indicator for validity or lack thereof, Colman explains. That battle (of manual, visual verification) is pretty much lost.”
OpenAI told Fast Company that its monitoring how Venezuela is playing out across its products and says it will take action where it sees violations of its usage policies.The State Department’s Global Engagement Center, a federal outfit established to monitor disinformation campaigns aboard, would have previously tracked the situation, a former employee says.
For instance, within the Russian war in Ukraine, the State Department saw deepfakes of leaders trying to convince soldiers to lay down their arms, and fake narratives about additional entrants into the war. During political chaos, its common for online actors to try to disincentivize opposing factions, the person adds. That center was later shut down, after Republicans accused the outfit of censoring Americans. The State Department did not respond to a request for comment by time of publication.
‘Accelerants’
Political deepfakes and AI-generated content are now commonplace. A few years ago, AI-generated TV anchors spreading pro-government talking points, seemingly intended to promote the idea that Venezuela’s economy and security were generally good went viral across the country. In 2024, a party affiliated with former president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, shared a deepfake video featuring an AI-generated Donald Trump endorsing their platform (that was far from the only example in the country). As even the recent New York City mayoral election showed, AI is often deployed during tense campaign seasons.
The Knight First Amendment Institute, which analyzed the use of AI in elections back in 2024, found that many deployments of AI, especially during election time, arent necessarily meant to deceiveand that misinformation isnt always created from AI. The problem isnt just that its easy to make disinformation with AI, but that people are open to ingesting disinformation. In other words, theres demand for this kind of content.
“Deepfakes in this context aren’t just misinformation, they are accelerants, Emmanuelle Saliba, chief investigative officer at GetReal Security, another firm that tracks deepfakes, told Fast Company. “While some of the fabricated content we’ve seen circulating is created to feed meme culture, some of it has been created and disseminated to confuse and destabilize people during an already volatile climate. Trust is hanging by a thread.”
Kim Kardashians apparel brand Skims is outfitting American athletes at the Olympics for the fourth time in a row, and this years collection is its cheekiest one yet.
Skims and Team USA have established something of an annual tradition. The brand has dressed Olympic and Paralympic athletes in new loungewear-slash-underwear capsules at the Tokyo 2020, Beijing 2022, and Paris 2024 Gamesand now, its back for Milano Cortina 2026.
This years collection includes everything from Americana-themed panties to cozy pajama sets, tasteful sweaters, menswear, and accessories. The collection will be available to average folk starting on January 8 at Skims.com and some Skims flagship stores, with prices ranging between $20 and $88.
From left: Dani Aravich, Kaysha Love, Madison Chock. [Photo: Skims]
Compared to previous collaborations, this years launch isnt exactly reinventing the wheel. However, sprinkled throughout the more standard offerings are a few items that feel like Juicy Couture turned sportyand for Skims, those pieces make complete sense.
Skims Team USA serves up business in the front, party in the back
For years, Team USAs Olympic aesthetic has largely been defined by its ultra-preppy, buttoned-up collaboration with Ralph Lauren, which has officially helmed the countrys ceremony outfits since 2008. Other brands, like J. Crew, have worked on more casual takes on Olympic apparel (see this years 70s-inspired collection), but Skims has led the charge on some of the most approachable Team USA gear in recent years, bringing its quintessential focus on minimalist silhouettes and soft fabrics to each new collection.
This years Skims Team USA capsule is largely in line with years past. Staples include basic Team USA-themed ringer tees, undies, and tank tops, paired with flannel sleep shorts and wooly crewneck sweatersessentially, exactly what one might imagine from a Skims x Team USA collab.
But a couple of the pieces seem to wink at a slightly more experimental direction. At least one of the pairs of underwear includes the phrase Team USA emblazoned in bold retro lettering across the bum. And in one photo, the Skims team styled this design quirk with a pair of white, over-the-knee socks, also featuring Team USA lettering. Its a shot that feels like a glimpse of how y2k Juicy Couture mightve handled Olympic outfitting; and it brings a sexier design ethos to prepand the worlds most anticipated athletic event.
It makes sense that Skims Team USA might try something a bit more out-of-the-box this year, given that its cachet in the athleisure and brand collaboration spaces has expanded massively since its first Olympic partnership in 2020, including official partnerships with the NBA, WNBA, Nike, and North Face.
If any brand could get away with bringing a bit of lighthearted levity to the Games apparel, it would be Skimsand as long as it doesnt verge into nipple bra or merkin territory, well take it.
A golden phone that President Donald Trump‘s family business promised to release last year remains mysteriously under wraps as the technology industry serves up a glut of new gadgets at CES in Las Vegas this week.
When the Trump Organization launched a mobile phone service last June, it was supposed to be a stage setter for a new smartphone bathed in gold with a $500 price tag a bargain compared to Apple’s latest iPhone models that sell for anywhere from $800 to $1,200. The newly formed Trump Mobile targeted its T1 phone for an August or September release.
What’s more, Trump Mobile initially hailed T1 as a device that would be proudly designed and built in the United States for customers who expect the best.”
But both the T1’s shipping date and U.S. manufacturing ambitions gradually began to shift, even as Trump Mobile continues to accept $100 deposits for the device.
Not long after announcing the device, Trump Mobile pivoted from describing it as a phone that would be made in the U.S. to framing it as a device that would be proudly American. Trump Mobile’s website now touts the T1 as having an American-proud design, with no further explanation.
Analysts believed that the shift stemmed from a recognition that the U.S. lacked the supply chain and other logistics required to make a smartphone for less than $1,000 the same hurdles that made it implausible for Apple to acquiesce to President Trump’s demands that the company move its iPhone manufacturing from China and India.
Later in the summer, Trump Mobile also became more vague about when the T1 would become available, but still indicated it would be delivered to customers who paid the $100 deposit by the end of 2025. Trump Mobile’s website continues to list the T1’s targeted release date as later this year.
The Trump Organization didn’t respond to inquiries from The Associated Press about the delays or when the device is now expected to be shipped. The Financial Times recently reported that it was told by a customer representative for Trump Mobile that the phone will be shipped in late January and attributed its delayed release to the 43-day shutdown of the federal government last year.
Whatever the reason, the T1’s ongoing absence from the smartphone market didn’t come as a surprise to International Data Corp. analyst Francisco Jeronimo.
We have always been quite skeptical about this phone, Jeronimo said. They are probably finding that it is harder to build a phone than they thought it would be. Let’s see if this thing comes to life or not.
While the T1 has remained in a holding pattern, Trump Mobile has been selling its wireless service for $47.45 per month a price tied to Donald Trump’s titles as the 47th and 45th President. For customers looking for a smartphone that they can use sooner rather than later, Trump Mobile is also selling refurbished versions of older iPhones and Samsung’s Galaxy models at prices ranging from $370 to $630.
Maybe they changed their strategy and figured out they are better off just selling refurbished phones, Jeronimo said.
Michael Liedtke, AP technology writer
Pipeline safety regulators on Monday assessed their largest fine ever against the company responsible for leaking 1.1 million gallons of oil into the Gulf off the coast of Louisiana in 2023. But the $9.6 million fine isn’t likely to be a major burden for Third Coast to pay.This single fine is close to the normal total of $8 million to $10 million in all fines that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration hands out each year. But Third Coast has a stake in some 1,900 miles of pipelines, and in September, the Houston-based company announced that it had secured a nearly $1 billion loan.Pipeline Safety Trust Executive Director Bill Caram said this spill “resulted from a company-wide systemic failure, indicating the operator’s fundamental inability to implement pipeline safety regulations,” so the record fine is appropriate and welcome.“However, even record fines often fail to be financially meaningful to pipeline operators. The proposed fine represents less than 3% of Third Coast Midstream’s estimated annual earnings,” Caram said. “True deterrence requires penalties that make noncompliance more expensive than compliance.”The agency said Third Coast didn’t establish proper emergency procedures, which is part of why the National Transportation Safety Board found that operators failed to shut down the pipeline for nearly 13 hours after their gauges first hinted at a problem. PHMSA also said the company didn’t adequately assess the risks or properly maintain the 18-inch Main Pass Oil Gathering pipeline.The agency said the company “failed to perform new integrity analyses or evaluations following changes in circumstances that identified new and elevated risk factors” for the pipeline.That echoed what the NTSB said in its final report in June, that “Third Coast missed several opportunities to evaluate how geohazards may threaten the integrity of their pipeline. Information widely available within the industry suggested that land movement related to hurricane activity was a threat to pipelines.”The NTSB said the leak off the coast of Louisiana was the result of underwater landslides, caused by hazards such as hurricanes, that Third Coast, the pipeline owner, failed to address despite the threats being well known in the industry.A Third Coast spokesperson said the company has been working to address regulators’ concerns about the leak, so it was taken aback by some of the details the agency included in its allegations and the size of the fine.“After constructive engagement with PHMSA over the last two years, we were surprised to see aspects of the recent allegations that we believe are inaccurate and exceed established precedent. We will address these concerns with the agency moving forward,” the company spokesperson said.The amount of oil spilled in this incident was far less than the 2010 BP oil disaster, when 134 million gallons were released in the weeks following an oil rig explosion, but it could have been much smaller if workers in the Third Coast control room had acted more quickly, the NTSB said.
Josh Funk, AP Transportation Writer
Workplace training invites are dropping in many employees inboxes now that the new year is underway. Most employers require staff to complete multiple HR modules annually: training on harassment, workplace relationships, or conflicts of interest, for example, followed by a quick quiz.
Recently, however, a new TikTok trend imagining fake workplace training modules is going viral.
Its 5 pm and you notice one of your colleagues is crying at their desk, creator @pepsimasc posted in November. Do you A: check in and ask how theyre doing, or B: tell them to shut the fuck up? the skit begins.
He continues on to the next imaginary scenario: Youre in a meeting and notice one colleague bullying another. Do you A: stand up for them, B: report it to HR, C: offer them a lift home and crash the car, or D: all of the above?
In the final scenario, he explains: Youre walking to the lunchroom and notice someone has smashed a glass on the floor and left it there. Do you A: contact facilities, B: clean it up immediately, or C: spill baby oil around it so someone can fall onto the glass?
For those well-acquainted with this type of training, the multiple-choice framing should be painfully familiar.
The videos even share that familiar elevator music that plays in the background as you click your way through the slides. (Listen long enough, and you can feel your brain slowly powering down.)
Across TikTok, creators are posting their own parody HR trainings, riffing on the fact that after years of mandatory workshops and assessments, theyve got the scripts practically memorized and the tone down to a T.
Another creator parodies a common phishing prompt. You get an email with a link that you think might be a scam. Whats the appropriate course of action? A: tell HR, or B: throw out your laptop.
Another, in a video watched more than 8.2 million times, asks viewers to select the example of harassment. Option one: Jane gives you a high five. Option two: Marcus gives you a pat on the back. Option three: John runs at you fully erect.
The comments are filled with corporate workers who feel seen by the skit. One said: And then theyre like, actually its ALL of them.
This is so funny, another wrote. And unfortunately, accurate.
Its not just XRP that is having a good 2026 so far. One of the worlds oldest assets, gold, is also having a good run in the first week of the year. Heres where the precious metal stands, and why its price is rising.
An ounce of gold is close to its all-time high
The price of one ounce of gold reached $4,497.20 on Tuesday, according to data from Yahoo Finance. That price represents a 1% gain for the precious metal for the day so far, or an increase of $45.70 per ounce.
At over $4,497, gold is now near its all-time high of $4,549.74, which it reached just weeks ago on December 26.
Since the year began, gold has now risen about 2.8%. As Reuters notes, 2025 was a phenomenal year for gold. The precious metal rose 64% in the yeara gain of that magnitude has not been seen since 1979.
Why is gold rising?
That gold is up again near an all-time high is of little surprise given the investment history of the metal.
Gold has traditionally been a safe-haven asseta resource people turn to when there is volatility or uncertainty in the markets or the world.
And 2026 has kicked off with a high level of geopolitical volatility and uncertainty thanks to America’s attack on Venezuela over the weekend to forcibly extradite its president, Nicolás Maduro.
The U.S government has indicted Maduro on a number of charges, including drug trafficking.
The foreign intervention from the United States has left governments around the world uncertain about Americas next steps under President Trumps leadership. The forcible extradition of a sitting head of stateand apparent threats to use force against more countrieshave many wondering if America may be on the cusp of a new doctrine that prioritizes military might over international rules-based norms.
Such a shift in policy would have wide geopolitical and economic ramifications, and the uncertainty about how far the Trump administration is willing to go down this new path has sent many investors seeking relatively safe-haven assets like gold, which generally fluctuates less in times of uncertainty than other assets, such as stocks.
Venezuela isnt the only reason gold is up
Yet Americas strike on its South American neighbor isnt the only reason gold is rising.
Several economic factors are also driving people to the safe-haven asset, Reuters points out. Those factors include U.S. manufacturing activity contracting more than expected in December and the chance Americas jobless rate could increase in the near future.
Both those factors can have negative consequences for the broader economy and signal a potential economic downturn. Safe-haven assets are a way for investors to hedge against such downturns.
Other precious metals up, too
Gold isnt the only precious metal rising.
The price of platinum is currently up more than 5% today to $2,404.
Silver is also up significantly, rising by more than 4.6% today as of the time of this writing. The metal had a somewhat volatile December, rising and then falling at various points throughout the month. But it’s up more than 161% over the last year.
Interestingly, all this comes as traditional stock markets also continue to perform well. The S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq Composite are all in positive territory for the week so far and close to record highs.
While the Lego Group has dipped its toes into tech waters before, the company hasnt strayed far from its analog roots. But on Monday, the 94-year-old company unveiled a new product line that embraces the digital age, without abandoning its core business.
At CES, Lego announced the upcoming launch of the Lego Smart Play system, an interactive technology that lets users Lego creations respond to player actions with tailored sounds, lights, behavior, and more. The company says its a way to further engage digital native kids without having them stare at yet another screen.
While the toy market has struggled for the past few years, sales at the Lego Group have remained strong; 2024 was a record year, with revenues of $10.8 billion, and the first half of 2025 showed further growth. But the competition for kids’ attention continues to grow. Through Smart Play, the company hopes to keep younger Lego enthusiasts engaged.
[Image: Lego]
Everything that we do is driven with an appetite for innovation, says Julia Goldin, chief product and marketing officer of the Lego Group. It took a long time to craft the technology that would enable us to do it in a way that’s also lesson-based.
The first three products, launching March 1, will be Star Wars-themed: Luke Skywalker’s 548-piece X-Wing ($100), Darth Vader’s TIE Fighter (743 pieces, $69), and a 962-piece set that includes the Emperor’s Throne Room and an A-Wing for $160.
[Photo: Lego]
Lego showcased the technology in demos at CES, showing how Smart Play could work in a number of scenarios. When a Lego minifigure robber tried to steal a police car, for instance, an alarm sounded, but when the police minifigure sat in the drivers seat, it triggered a siren. Lego ducks quacked. And car wheels squealed when players took sharp turns with their Lego creations.
Those were just tech demos and not something Lego plans to release. The Star Wars sets will mark the debut of Lego Smart Play at retail. Like the demos, though, the X-Wing and TIE Fighter make the same sounds fans know from the big screen as players pretend to fly them through the air. Crash the X-Wing (or turn it upside down) and R2-D2 will scream in terror.
[Photo: Lego]
Lego will begin taking preorders on Jan. 9 through its website and retail stores. (Other retailers will as well.) And while the initial focus is on kids, Goldin says, based on early feedback, she’s confident the technology will find its way to larger Lego kits tailored to adults.
A long time coming
Work on Lego Smart Play started eight years ago, with more than six years of technological development. The result is a system that incorporates three interactive elements: Lego Smart Tags, Lego Smart Bricks, and Lego Smart Minifigures.
Those three elements work in tandem. Smart tagsflat-topped two-by-two pieces that sit atop the Smart Brickscontrol the sounds, lights, and behaviors that are performed. And multiple smart tags can interact with each other, making for a more complex (and interactive) experience. The Smart Brick itself is loaded with sensors, accelerometers, a mini speaker, and moreand powered by a newly created silicon ASIC chip that’s smaller than one standard Lego stud. Smart Minifigures, meanwhile, have their own personalities, with programmed moods and reactions that are heard through the Smart Brick’s speaker.
[Image: Lego]
The Smart Brick reacts differently depending on how its moved, twisted, and turned. And because it has a synthesizer embedded, it can create any sound the programmers want, versus a limited set. In total, Lego has filed 25 patents for the new technology, and the company says at its peak, the production line for the Smart Brick was as long as seven school buses.
Some of the interactive elements almost didn’t happen. Lego spent years developing the positioning system that lets Smart Bricks know precisely how close they are to other Smart Bricks, Smart Tags, and Smart Minifigures and react appropriately. Deadlines came and went. Finally, just as executives decided to scrap the concept, the team tweaked the system one last timeand managed to get it working
One of the key factors in designing and building the new type of Lego brick, says Lego Group senior vice president and head of Creative Play Lab Tom Donaldson, was to create something that would have the same longevity as the classic bricks (which were introduced in 1958).
“We want to [build] a platform that lasts for a period of time,” he says. “If you have a Lego brick from this year, it works with a Lego brick from 10 or 30 years ago. We spent a lot of time thinking how do we build a system that lasts rather than a system that you have to upgrade? We don’t expect consumers will have to replace their bricks every two years. We want them to keep the same bricksand that brings a lot of challenges.”
That doesn’t mean the technlogy won’t improve. Donaldson says the company will push software upgrades in years to come, rather than update the hardware, giving players new abilities without having to invest in new technology.
The Lego Smart Bricks will come with a wireless charger. Battery life will vary depending on how hard users play with the bricks. Times can range from roughly 40 minutes to a couple of hours, says Soren Holme, a design director at Lego. They can interact with each other from as far as 23 feet away in open spaces, he adds.
[Photo: Lego]
And to ensure the Smart Bricks can be played with for years, they hold their charge in a coil, much like an electric toothbrush. That not only makes them easier to charge wirelessly, it ensures a longer lifespan.
The new bricks are loaded with all manner of tech, but what you won’t find included is artificial intelligence. While so many other products at CES are hopping on board the AI bandwagon, Lego decided to abstain with its new productfor now, at least.
When we first started, we expected to bring in AI at some point, but it wasn’t the first thing to bring in, says Donaldson. At the moment, we think we have some tremendous opportunities that don’t require AI and that’s where we really want to focus today.
Should we see an opportunity where AI can play a role, it’s possible to integrate and evolve it in the future, adds Goldin. But we wanted to design an experience the consumers would really loveand we didn’t think we needed AI for that experience.
