SAVE 320: As of April 8, the Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 robot vacuum and mop is on sale for 379.99 at Amazon. This saves you 46% on the list price. Anything that reduces your chore list is a plus in our book, so we're big fans of robot vacuums. With that being said, you need to check out this latest deal on this Shark Robot Vacuum and Mop Combo. As of April 8, you can take home this impressive model for 320 less than usual, now 379.99.

I am a forty-five-year-old journalist who, for many years, didn't read the news. In high school, I knew about events like the O. J. Simpson trial and the Oklahoma City bombing, but not much else. In college, I was friends with geeky economics majors who read The Economist, but I'm pretty sure I never actually turned on CNN or bought a paper at the newsstand. I read novels, and magazines like Wired and Spin. If I went online, it wasn't to check the front page of the Times but to browse record reviews from College Music Journal. Somehow, during this time, I thought of myself as well informed.

SAVE 200: As of April 8, the Google Pixel 9 is on sale for 699.99 at Amazon. Amazon's Daily Deals is the perfect place for discounts and deals. You'll find lots of great bargains on anything from TVs to smartphones. But we really love this latest deal on the Google Pixel 9. It's a great all-rounder -- just check out our review to see what we thought. As of April 8, you can find this model at Amazon for 22% off, now just 699.99. This deal is for the 256GB option is available across all colorways.

The U.S. military will deploy several long-range surveillance drones to Okinawa Prefecture, near Japan's far-flung southwestern islands area near Taiwan, as the allies seek to counter China's ramped-up drone presence in the same area. Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said Tuesday that the U.S. MQ-4C Triton drones will be sent to the U.S. air base in Kadena, on Okinawa's main island, in the coming weeks. "This deployment is expected to enhance the Japan-U.S. alliance's intelligence-gathering capabilities and, by extension, the alliance's deterrence and response capabilities," Nakatani told a news conference.

You might think that such AI companionship bots--AI models with distinct "personalities" that can learn about you and act as a friend, lover, cheerleader, or more--appeal only to a fringe few, but that couldn't be further from the truth. A new research paper aimed at making such companions safer, by authors from Google DeepMind, the Oxford Internet Institute, and others, lays this bare: Character.AI, the platform being sued by Garcia, says it receives 20,000 queries per second, which is about a fifth of the estimated search volume served by Google. Interactions with these companions last four times longer than the average time spent interacting with ChatGPT. One companion site I wrote about, which was hosting sexually charged conversations with bots imitating underage celebrities, told me its active users averaged more than two hours per day conversing with bots, and that most of those users are members of Gen Z. The design of these AI characters makes lawmakers' concern well warranted.

China is using generative artificial intelligence (AI) to ramp up disinformation against Taiwan to "divide" Taiwan's public, the island's National Security Bureau said. Taiwan has accused China of stepping up military drills, trade sanctions and influence campaigns against the island in recent years to force the island to accept Chinese sovereignty claims. Taiwan strongly rejects China's sovereignty claims. China staged two days of war games and live-fire drills near the democratically governed island this month, triggering concern by the United States and many of its allies.

TL;DR: The Luminar Neo Lifetime Bundle is the perfect gift for photo lovers -- 89.99 gets them editing magic for life. The Luminar Neo Lifetime Bundle is on sale for 89.99 for a limited time. With its innovative AI-powered photo-editing tools and plenty of add-ons, it's everything they need to transform everyday photos into stunning works of art -- no complicated learning curve required. Luminar Neo makes photo editing effortless. The AI-powered tools allow users to replace skies, enhance lighting, and even retouch skin with ease.

A University of Tokyo team has said that it has managed to rapidly identify from photographs the size, location and shape of some 200,000 rocks on two asteroids using artificial intelligence technology. The photos of asteroid Ryugu were taken by Japan's Hayabusa2 unmanned asteroid probe, while those of asteroid Bennu were taken by the U.S. probe Osiris-Rex. The findings were published Monday in the British journal Scientific Reports. The team, including university project researcher Yuta Shimizu and professor Hideaki Miyamoto, hopes to apply its findings not only to planetary science but also the fields of civil engineering and disaster prevention on Earth.

Rumors circulated today that robotaxi company Waymo might use data from vehicles' interior cameras to train AI and sell targeted ads to riders. However, the company has tried to quell concerns, insisting that it won't be targeting ads to passengers. The situation arose after researcher and engineer Jane Manchun Wong discovered an unreleased version of Waymo's privacy policy that suggested the robotaxi company could start using data from its vehicles to train generative AI. The draft policy has language allowing customers to opt out of Waymo "using your personal information (including interior camera data associated with your identity) for training GAI." Wong's discovery also suggested that Waymo could use that camera footage to sell personalized ads to riders. Later in the day, The Verge obtained comments on this unreleased privacy policy from Waymo spokesperson Julia Ilina.

Apple typically pushes out major iOS upgrades every September, alongside new iPhones--you may recall the launch of iOS 18. Those big software upgrades are followed by'point' releases that squash outstanding bugs, improve security and stability, and occasionally introduce new features. That's the case with iOS 18.4, which brings more with it than most minor iOS updates. From extra tools in Image Playground, to ambient music to relax you or send you off to sleep, here's what's new in the iOS 18 update. Apple Intelligence can now prioritize iPhone notifications, selecting which you need to see first and create AI-written summaries.