The Take Is AI headed for a breaking point? From surveillance, job losses and resistance movements, what the next phase of AI could mean in 2026. Artificial intelligence is moving fast: from chatbots to autonomous systems and physical machines. As investment surges, so do concerns about job losses, surveillance, warfare and whether the boom can last. We take a look at where AI is headed in 2026 and the growing resistance against unchecked technological power.

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Critics have long warned that too much television rots your brain, but new evidence suggests at least time in front of the tube may actually benefit your mental health . In a study published in the, researchers combined their own investigations into leisure time with information from the United States Census Bureau on household size, stress levels, and screen usage. People who take some "Me Time" at home after work appear to have an easier time bouncing back to their daily responsibilities. "Household size is really about how many demands a person experiences when they go home," Soo Min Toh, a behaviorist at the University of Toronto Mississauga and study co-author, said in a university profile .

Character.AI and Google settle with families in teen suicide and self-harm lawsuits In one case, a 14-year-old bonded with a Daenerys Targaryen chatbot before taking his own life. Character.AI lets you create and share custom chatbots. Character.AI and Google have reportedly agreed to settle multiple lawsuits regarding teen suicide and self-harm. According to, the victims' families and the companies are working to finalize the settlement terms. The families of several teens sued the companies in Florida, Colorado, Texas and New York. The Orlando, FL, lawsuit was filed by the mother of 14-year-old Sewell Setzer III, who used a Character.AI chatbot tailored after Daenerys Targaryen.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. The company's vibrant sports car-like aesthetic remains fully intact in these upgraded underwater scrubbers. Household robot manufacturer iGarden unveiled its new M1 series of robotic pool cleaners at CES today, complementing its existing K series line of underwater scrubbers. And much like the K series, these four new models are distinguished almost exclusively by their battery size and resulting operating time. The M1 series showcases a revamped design that features four wheels instead of treads, with a bulbous section in the center of the robot that makes it look like the cockpit of a race car.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. New 2WD and AWD models promise 8-hour runtime, LiDAR mapping, and hands-free mowing without perimeter wires. Smart garden tech brand iGarden introduced two new robotic lawn mowers at CES this week, expanding its lineup with 2WD and AWD models aimed at homeowners seeking low-maintenance lawn care. Part of iGarden's growing AI-powered ecosystem, the L Series and L AWD Series mowers feature an 8-hour runtime, smart LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and AI vision, and a 1080p HD camera with a wide-angle field of view to support real-time terrain mapping and obstacle avoidance. Both models are designed for quick setup, requiring no perimeter wires or complex antenna systems like RTK (real-time kinematic) positioning, which is often used for precision navigation in high-end robotic mowers.

Science Archaeology World's oldest poison-tipped arrow discovered in South Africa The 60,000-year-old relic contains traces of a toxic onion. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. For thousands of years, hunters around the world have employed poison-tipped arrows to assist in taking down prey. For example, the curare plant poisons used by South and Central American hunters paralyzes the respiratory system. Meanwhile, inhabitants of the Kalahari Desert have relied on the toxins harvested from beetle larvae .

An AI model that learns without human input--by posing interesting queries for itself--might point the way to superintelligence. Even the smartest artificial intelligence models are essentially copycats. They learn either by consuming examples of human work or by trying to solve problems that have been set for them by human instructors. But perhaps AI can, in fact, learn in a more human way--by figuring out interesting questions to ask itself and attempting to find the right answer. A project from Tsinghua University, the Beijing Institute for General Artificial Intelligence (BIGAI), and Pennsylvania State University shows that AI can learn to reason in this way by playing with computer code.

The future of boating is here, but it ain't cheap. If you've never docked a boat before, consider yourself lucky. There are plenty of popular TikTok channels devoted to shaming those who bring their craft back home clumsily or berth them with something less than finesse. Tricky crosswinds, unpredictable surf and even the jeers of passersby can make it a stressful experience at the best of times. Brunswick, which owns more than 50 water-borne brands like Sea Ray, Bayliner and Mercury Marine, has a solution. It's demonstrating some self-docking tech called AutoCaptain at CES 2026 that makes this process a cinch, plus a fleet of other innovations that, in some cases, leave some of the smart cars on the show floor looking a bit remedial.

LG's CLOiD robot can fold laundry and serve food very slowly LG's vision for a zero labor home feels more aspirational than actually possible. When LG announced that it would demo a laundry-folding, chore-doing robot at CES 2026, I was immediately intrigued. For years, I've wandered the Las Vegas Convention Center halls and wondered when someone might create a robot that can tackle the mundane but useful tasks I despise like folding laundry. With CLOiD (pronounced like Floyd), LG has proven that this is theoretically possible, but probably not likely to happen any time soon. I went to the company's CES booth to watch its demonstration of CLOiD's abilities, which also include serving food, fetching objects and fitness coaching. During a very carefully choreographed 15-minute presentation, I watched CLOiD grab a carton of milk out of the fridge, put a croissant in an oven, sort and fold some laundry and grab a set of keys off a couch and hand them to the human presenter.

Scientists develop method to convert discarded plastic water bottles into high-performance supercapacitors, potentially reducing pollution while advancing clean energy.