On March 8th, AI-powered app builder Lovable is making its platform entirely free for 24 hours to mark International Women's Day.The initiative, dubbed SheBuilds and offered in partnership with Anthropic and Stripe, pairs free platform access to Lovable with USD 100 in Claude API credits and USD 250 in Stripe fee credits per participant. It's a package designed to remove the financial friction that might keep aspiring builders from experimenting. Over 30 community-hosted events across 17 countries will offer in-person support from experienced users, while an online track connects participants globally through Lovable's Discord server.Lovable is a "vibe coding" platform, a tool that lets users describe what they want in plain language to generate functional web applications without requiring traditional coding skills. Why it's a good match for Women's Day? The persistent gender gap in tech. Women make up roughly a quarter of the global tech workforce and an even smaller share of technical and leadership roles.By stripping away both the cost barrier and the coding prerequisite, SheBuilds is essentially proposing a shortcut around the traditional tech route one that sidesteps gatekeeping and asks: what would you build if technical barriers didn't exist? (As coding automation ramps up at smoldering speeds, it's uncertain what "tech work" will even mean in a year or two. Areas where women already perform strongly, like product thinking, user empathy, problem framing and communication, might actually become more valuable.)TREND BITESheBuilds is part of a broader shift in how to approach inclusion moving from symbolic gestures toward initiatives that hand people tangible tools and agency. Rather than hosting a panel discussion or releasing a branded social post, Lovable is betting that the most empowering thing it can do is get its product into more hands and let the results speak for themselves. Access, not just awareness, drives change. Takeaway for other brands: pair a cause with some genuine utility for outcomes that extend well beyond a day on the calendar.
For anyone who has been following the soap opera unfolding between Netflix and Paramount Skydance over the past few months in their financial brinksmanship to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, the saga may be nearing its end. Today, WBD said its board of directors have determined that the latest offer from Paramount Skydance amounted to the better proposal. The media outfit gave Netflix four business days to match Paramount's terms, but the streamer didn't waste any time in declining to raise its own bid. "We believe we would have been strong stewards of Warner Bros.' iconic brands, and that our deal would have strengthened the entertainment industry and preserved and created more production jobs in the US," the statement from Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said. "But this transaction was always a 'nice to have' at the right price, not a 'must have' at any price." In addition to the purchase price of $31 per WBD share, Paramount's latest offer also included a provision that it would cover the $2.8 billion termination fee that WBD would owe to Netflix for dissolving the existing merger agreement between the businesses. So rather than paying $82.7 billion to acquire the Warner Bros. part of the operation, it appears Netflix may walk away with no new content but padding its coffers with an extra nearly $3 billion. After Netflix's initial offer, Paramount Skydance swooped in with a hostile takeover attempt of the entire Warner Bros. Discovery business. WBD rejected it, Paramount tried again. Several additional volleys between the involved parties occurred over the past few weeks. While WBD has not yet formally accepted Paramount's offer which will be subject to long-winded regulatory approvals sure to spark more drama it seems the dust will soon settle for this chapter.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/netflix-backs-out-of-warner-bros-discovery-bidding-war-233117188.html?src=rss
Audio company iFi just introduced a new DAC (digital-to-analogue converter) that's both smaller and lighter than its previous model, and only costs $59. The iFi GO Link 2 connects to a smartphone or other audio-playing device over USB-C and can instantly improve the listening experience on wired headphones.Wireless earbuds and music streaming services have normalized listening to your favorite songs at a lower quality. For anyone who doesn't consider themselves an audiophile, that might not matter, but now that several streaming services offer higher sample rates and lossless audio, you might consider other ways of listening. In order to experience all the benefits of high-res or lossless audio, you need wired headphones, something that's increasingly difficult when most smartphones only have a USB-C port. That's where the iFi GO Link 2 comes in. The dongle plugs into a USB-C port and lets you connect a pair of wired earbuds while preserving your high quality audio at the same time.iFiiFi's new DAC is eight percent smaller than the previous GO Link and 29 percent lighter, approaching the size of Apple's USB-C to 3.5mm Headphone Jack dongle. The GO Link 2's built-in ESS Sabre DAC chipset is supposed to add "6dB of dynamic range between the loudest and quietest moments" and reduce distortion for clearer sound by up to 62 percent when compared to the original GO Link.Via iFi's companion Nexis app on Android, the GO Link 2 can also be updated on the go and further customized with digital filters. The GO Link 2 supports two digital filters one hybrid and one linear so that you can adjust things to your preferred sound profile. You can also use the Nexis app to set volume limits when you're listening with the DAC attached.The previous GO Link made it on Engadget's list of the best DACs for Apple Music Lossless, and at the same price, the GO Link 2 seems like it could, too. The iFi GO Link 2 is available to purchase now for $59.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/ifis-new-go-link-2-dac-is-a-cheap-way-to-reap-the-lossless-benefits-of-your-spotify-plan-231535369.html?src=rss
Block is the latest business to announce layoffs, with the operator of payment platforms Square and Cash App opting to cut jobs in favor of using more AI tools. The financial tech company, helmed by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, is slashing its current staff of 10,000 to "just under 6,000." CNBC highlighted a letter Block sent to shareholders announcing the decision to nearly halve its workforce. According to the message from Dorsey: "The core thesis is simple. Intelligence tools have changed what it means to build and run a company. We're already seeing it internally. A significantly smaller team, using the tools we're building, can do more and do it better. And intelligence tool capabilities are compounding faster every week."We learned last year that Block had developed an AI agent called "codename goose" for interacting with LLMs. Leadership is clearly putting high expectations on that project and any other in-house tools to fill the shoes of thousands. "intelligence will be at the core of how the entire company works. How we make decisions, how we build trust and manage risk, how we build products, and how we serve customers," the shareholder letter states.Block also reported its latest financial results today. It finished the 2025 financial year with operating income (profit after expenses) of $1.71 billion.This isn't the first time the fintech company has made deep cuts in its employee count. Layoffs numbering about 1,000 were rumored both in 2024 and 2025. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/block-the-parent-of-square-and-cash-app-is-laying-off-over-4000-people-223343068.html?src=rss
RedOctane Games, a relaunched version of one of the studios behind the very first Guitar Hero, has shared a first trailer for its new music game, Stage Tour. The original RedOctane was shut down by Activision in 2010, and only recently reformed under Embracer Freemode to create a new music game franchise in August 2025. Stage Tour is playable solo or with other players in a band, according to RedOctane, and supports inputs from a keyboard and mouse on top of the expected guitar, drums and microphone accessories. The studio plans to primarily offer the game digitally, but hopes to also sell a bundle with a guitar controller and a download code because "that just feels right." As far as ongoing support goes, whereas games like Guitar Hero or Rock Band included a set tracklist and support for song DLC, it sounds like RedOctane could be taking an approach more inspired by Epic's regular updates to Fortnite. "The plan is regular special events that are more than just music drops," RedOctane writes. "Real moments. Real themes. Real updates. We want to evolve the game alongside the fans who support it. Improve it. Expand it. Keep it alive." RedOctane and Harmonix created the first Guitar Hero in 2006, before RedOctane was acquired by Activision to continue the franchise in 2006, and Harmonix went on to start the Rock Band series. Development of Stage Tour is currently being led by RedOctane, with Eidos Montréal helping with motion capture and QA, and Third Kind Games providing additional development support. Conveniently, RedOctanes owner Embracer Freemode also already owns CRKD, a video game accessory maker that has experience building controllers for rhythm games.Sign-ups to play an alpha of Stage Tour will open soon, and RedOctane plans to "kick off closed alpha testing late spring/early summer." We're long past the peak popularity of games like Guitar Hero, but rhythm and music games never went away. Players have had Clone Hero and more official experiences like Fortnite Festival to get their Guitar Hero or Rock Band fix, but Stage Tour could be a more than welcome third option when it launches later this year.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/guitar-hero-vets-redoctane-reveal-their-new-music-game-220809719.html?src=rss
Apple's mobile devices are secure enough for NATO. Following extensive testing by the German government, the iPhone and iPad are now considered secure enough for the NATO-restricted classified level.Germany's Federal Office for Information Security (Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik, or BSI) tested the devices. BSI first approved the iPhone and iPad for governmental use by German authorities in 2022. To take the additional step of NATO approval, Apple says BSI conducted exhaustive technical assessments, comprehensive testing and deep security analysis.Unless you work for NATO, this won't mean a thing to you. But at least it appears to bolster some of Apple's marketing claims about security. (As for its privacy claims, well, that depends on which kind you mean.) Apple's press release emphasized that these are the first consumer devices to receive the certification, and they did so without any special software or settings. It applies to iPhones and iPads running iOS 26."Secure digital transformation is only successful if information security is considered from the beginning in the development of mobile products," BSI president Claudia Plattner is quoted as saying in Apple's press release. "Expanding on BSI's rigorous audit of iOS and iPadOS platform and device security for use in classified German information environments, we are pleased to confirm the compliance under NATO nations' assurance requirements."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/nato-approves-the-iphone-and-ipad-for-classified-use-200857276.html?src=rss
Review aggregator Metacritic has removed a review of Resident Evil Requiem because it was AI-generated, Kotaku reports. The review was published by UK gaming site VideoGamer, but appears to be "written" by a fake AI journalist rather than a real person.While it's unfortunately difficult to confirm with 100 percent accuracy whether a piece of text is AI-generated, you don't have to read VideoGamer's review for long to notice all the ways it feels off. The biggest giveaway, beyond heavy use of contrived metaphors, is a striking lack of detail beyond what you could glean from a trailer for the game. Embargoes covering what parts of a video game can come up in a pre-release review can be strict, but a good critic usually finds a way to describe their experience without being vague. VideoGamer's review, written by one "Brian Merrygold," really doesn't.It's bleak. I was reading some RE Requiem reviews and found this thing published by videogamer. Can't find anything about the writer, everything about it reeks AI (dead giveaway being the image). Low effort, gargabe.Mind you, this review made its way to Metacritic. https://t.co/4STN8DjAwe pic.twitter.com/awk26P9wSA Andrés (@Andrew_east) February 26, 2026
As at least one user on X has pointed out, its worth` being suspicious of Merrygold, too. The author's profile on VideoGamer is just as awkwardly written as the review, and the profile picture of the account appears to be AI-generated. When you try to save the image locally, its file name, "ChatGPT-Image-Oct-20-2025-11_57_34-AM-300x300," also seems like a dead giveaway. Kotaku looked at the X accounts of several other recent bylines at VideoGamer and found similar results. All their profile pictures appear to be AI-generated, and all the accounts were created around the same time in October 2025.Metacritic relies on reviews written by real publications to create a score representing the overall critical sentiment towards a game or movie, not unlike Rotten Tomatoes. While there's disagreement whether it's a good thing that a popular site strips out the nuance of written reviews to make a number people can argue over, everyone can probably agree that Metacritic incorporating fake, AI-generated reviews is a bad idea. In response to the discovery that VideoGamer's review is likely AI-generated, Metacritic has removed it from its Resident Evil Requiem page. "The RE Requiem review and a handful of other VideoGamer reviews from 2026 have been removed from Metacritic, Marc Doyle, Metacritic's co-founder, told Kotaku. Metacritic has also emailed all games sites and publishers that it aggregates with information on its policy towards AI-generated reviews, according to Alex Donaldson, founder and publisher of RPG Site.Alex DonaldsonOur policy is that we will never include an AI-generated review on Metacritic, the aggregator says, and that if we subsequently discover that one has been posted we will remove it immediately and sever ties with that publication upon an investigation.A news site publishing an AI-written review is just as dire as Metacritic aggregating it, and that appears to be what VideoGamer is doing. ClickOut Media, the company that owns VideoGamer and a collection of other publications, reportedly laid off the staff of its gaming sites earlier this month to pivot to AI-generated content. Sifting through AI slop, whether on social media or Pinterest, is increasingly necessary online. Now apparently Metacritic is another place where readers should have their guard up.Update, February 26, 2:58PM ET: Added information about Metacritics email to publishers on its policy for AI-generated reviews.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/an-ai-generated-resident-evil-requiem-review-briefly-made-it-on-metacritic-194414929.html?src=rss
Were still waiting for releases dates for Remedys in-development Max Payne remakes, but if youre in need of a noir fix sooner than that, keep an eye on Liquid Swords Samson: A Tyndalston Story, which just got a release date of April 8.
The debut game from a new studio formed by Just Cause creator Christofer Sundberg, Samson looks like a tighter, more narrative-led experience than Avalanches proudly ridiculous open-world series, but no less packed with over-the-top action. You play as the eponymous Samson McRay, a man down on his luck and seriously in debt in the punishing city of Tyndalston.
"Samson is built on a simple, brutal truth: every day has a cost," said the developer in a press release. "Debt grows with interest, and time is not on your side. Each job burns a limited pool of Action Points, and every decision shifts how the city treats you there are no do-overs. Players have to move forward because standing still makes everything worse."
Sundberg, who by his own admission has spent much of his career making "massive" games and sounds a bit worn out by it all, says his studio set out to make a bloat-free experience for "fans of gritty 90s action flicks," which will be music to the ears of anyone who likes blasting through a game in a handful of weekends. For more on gameplay, check out this recent developer diary focused on combat and driving sections.
Samsons brevity is seemingly also reflected in its $25 price tag. It will be a PC exclusive at launch (via Steam and the Epic Games Store), with no word on a console release right now.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/the-new-25-action-game-from-the-creator-of-just-cause-arrives-on-april-8-193058294.html?src=rss
Apple and Netflix have entered into a rather surprising partnership. The dynamic streaming duo will share Formula 1 programming, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The deal allows Netflix to stream the F1 Canadian Grand Prix in May, along with Apple TV. On the flipside, Apple TV and Netflix will both air season eight of the docuseries Drive to Survive.
The Netflix-created series spotlights various F1 drivers and their teams. The season premieres at midnight on both platforms. Eddy Cue, Apples senior VP of services, said that Netflix "has played a pivotal role in growing F1 since the launch of Drive to Survive, and we're thrilled to make F1 content more broadly available to new and existing US fans."
It seems like both companies stand to gain from this deal. Apple gets related F1 programming to air alongside the live races, and an expanded reach for these races. Netflix gets F1 races in the US, continuing the platform's strategy of frequently airing live events.
Apple secured the rights to stream F1 races last year in a deal believed to be valued at around $150 million per year. The company has since been trying to expand the reach of the sport, and this Netflix deal is part of that effort. Apple has inked a deal with IMAX to simulcast some races live in theaters. It's also been reported that Tubi, Comcast, DirecTV and Amazon Prime Video will all have some access to select F1 content.
This aggressive approach by Apple has led F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali to say that the sport will become bigger than it ever was while airing on ESPN. "It will allow us to enter in the houses of other people in a different way, in great quality that is very important for us. So, that is what I believe the Apple relationship will bring to us in the American market," he told Racer.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/apple-and-netflix-are-teaming-up-to-share-formula-1-programming-192829498.html?src=rss
