Don't expect the next Clair Obscur, though. Google's at it again, once more insisting that AI is something people need or want more of in their lives. The latest move comes from YouTube Gaming, which announced an open beta for a project called Playables Builder. This allows select YouTube Creators to use a prototype web app built using Gemini 3 to make bite-sized games, no coding required. YouTube is launching a closed Beta test for Playables Builder, a prototype web app built using Gemini 3 where users create games with short text, video or image prompts. YouTube was testing the addition of small-scale games to its desktop and mobile platforms back in 2023, then added multiplayer capability to Playables last year.

You can get a year of the ad-free Fan subscription for $67. If you're looking for something to watch during a holiday break from work or school, you can't go wrong with anime, and right now you can sign-up for for as low as $65. Holiday discounts running through December 29 bring the anime streaming service's year-long Fan subscription from $80 down to $67 and its Mega Fan subscription from $120 down to $100. While both the Fan and Mega Fan plans are ad-free, you do get some different benefits depending on which you decide to pay for. Fan subscribers get full access to Crunchyroll's library, new episodes shortly after they air in Japan and five percent off select purchases in the Crunchyroll Store.

Former chancellor George Osborne is joining artificial intelligence (AI) giant OpenAI. He will lead its OpenAI for Countries programme, which is aimed at helping governments increase their AI capacity. Announcing his new London-based role, Osborne said it was a privilege to be joining the company. I recently asked myself the question: what's the most exciting and promising company in the world right now? The answer I believe is OpenAI, he said on X.

Grindr Goes'AI-First' as It Strives to Be an'Everything App for the Gay Guy' After controlling shareholders failed to take Grindr private and controversies over data and the banning of the phrase "No Zionists," Grindr's CEO opens up about AI, privacy, and big expansion plans. Every Grindr user is unique. South Koreans prefer open relationships. The highest percentage of self-proclaimed "daddies" call the US home, and Switzerland is overrun with twinks. Delivered by annual trend report Grindr Unwrapped, those critical insights offer the type of information that will help usher the company into its "AI-first" era where it's "the everything app for the gay guy," CEO George Arison tells WIRED. Grindr was the first to leverage geo-location tech when it burst onto the scene in 2009. Arison arrived at the company in 2022 from the world of automotive ecommerce.

Science Space Solar System Mars NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter snaps 100,000th image A high school student suggested the steep sand dunes of Syrtis Major for the milestone image. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) officially went into service above the Red Planet in November 2006. The spacecraft has since spent nearly 20 years circling Earth's closest neighbor, studying its geology and identifying icy evidence of a once watery world . After already sending back more than 450 terabits of data over the course of its ongoing mission, the orbiter recently passed a major milestone: its 100,000th image of the Martian surface.

The updates will be available first to those enrolled in the company's early access program. Back in September during Meta Connect, the company previewed a new ability for its smart glasses lineup called Conversation Focus. The feature, which is able to amplify the voices of people around you, is now starting to roll out in the company's latest batch of software updates. When enabled, the feature is meant to make it easier to hear the people you're speaking with in a crowded or otherwise noisy environment. You'll hear the amplified voice sound slightly brighter, which will help you distinguish the conversation from ambient background noise," Meta explains .

Expect big announcements from the likes of Samsung, Sony, NVIDIA and many more. CES doesn't start until January, but whispers of the products and announcements that could be in store for tech's biggest annual conference have already started to take shape. The CES 2026 show floor is officially open from January 6 through 9, although the show kicks off with events on Sunday January 4 and a host of press conferences on Monday. As always, product demos, announcements and networking will be happening at the Las Vegas Convention Center and surrounding hotels all over the city. As usual, Engadget will be covering the event in-person and remotely, bringing you news and hands-ons straight from the show floor.

Chrome for Android now uses Google Gemini to convert webpages into podcast-style summaries with virtual hosts for hands-free browsing during commutes.

Plus, there's a new dedicated sidebar with presets and prompt suggestions. ChatGPT is available on both iOS and Android. Following the release of GPT-5.2 last week, OpenAI has begun rolling out a new image generation model . The company says the updated ChatGPT Images is four times faster than its predecessor. If you're a frequent ChatGPT user, you'll know it can sometimes take a while for OpenAI's servers to create images, particularly during peak times and if you're not paying for ChatGPT Plus.

As OpenAI scrambles to improve ChatGPT, it's ditching a feature in its free tier that contributed to last summer's user revolt. OpenAI has quietly reversed a major change to how hundreds of millions of people use ChatGPT . On a low-profile blog that tracks product changes, the company said that it rolled back ChatGPT's model router--an automated system that sends complicated user questions to more advanced "reasoning" models--for users on its Free and $5-a-month Go tiers. Instead, those users will now default to GPT-5.2 Instant, the fastest and cheapest-to-serve version of OpenAI's new model series. Free and Go users will still be able to access reasoning models, but they will have to select them manually.