When is a friendly wager between athletes just that — a friendly wager?
In the aftermath of a year marred by a string of betting scandals, investigations, and allegations of game manipulation across the NBA, MLB, and college sports, even a seemingly friendly side bet can make headlines.
That’s what happened when WNBA stars Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers were filmed making a $400 bet during All-Star Weekend on an upcoming game between their teams, the Atlanta Dream and Dallas Wings.
X is piloting a new transparency tool called Under the Hood that lets eligible users see whether visibility-related labels have been applied to their accounts or posts.
The social media giant introduced the tool on August 13, along with the release of a much larger portion of the code behind its For You feed, including details about how posts are ranked and filtered.
The news will likely come as a relief for X users who’ve wondered whether the platform was limiting the reach of their posts or if they’d been shadowbanned. Continue reading “X Lets Users Under the Hood to See If They’ve Been ‘Shadowbanned’”
After more than a decade, Bumble has ended the women-message-first rule that had come to define the app. The company announced the decision on August 11, saying that now either men or women could make the first move after a match.
On any other dating app, a small change in how users communicate wouldn’t be big news. However, the company had made the policy central to its identity. Upon launch, it branded itself as the only dating app on the market that puts women in the driver’s seat.
Prohibiting unsolicited messages from men had been what set Bumble apart from competitors like Tinder. However, it turned out that many women didn’t like having to act first. Reversing that policy means the company will need to find a new differentiator. Continue reading “Bumble Removes Women-First Messaging Policy, Leaving Itself With an Identity Problem”
OpenAI announced on August 6 that free ChatGPT users will get unlimited everyday text chats with GPT-5.6 Luna.
Luna is becoming the default model for the free tier, and OpenAI’s announcement means ChatGPT is about to become a lot more useful for people who don’t have a subscription.
The company is also adding a Think button to Luna to give it more time to work through all those tough questions users ask it.
While users are getting unlimited text chats, OpenAI will continue to limit file uploads, images, and other tools for free users.
Even with those limits in place, if you mostly use ChatGPT to ask questions, brainstorm ideas, write or edit text, or just to get help with everyday tasks, you’ll soon be able to keep the conversation going without running into a text-chat limit. Continue reading “Now That ChatGPT Offers Free Unlimited Chat, Is the Paid Tier Still Worth $20 a Month?”
Google Maps now has AI integration that allows users to do a whole lot more with the app than just navigate. The new capabilities include things like checking on hotel availability, comparing prices, and even placing food delivery orders.
On August 6, Google announced new capabilities, which build on the Gemini-powered Ask Maps experience it introduced earlier this year.
Ask Maps uses Gemini to understand your multi-step requests, search across Maps for the information it needs, and help you get things done.
For example, if you ask Maps to find a restaurant that serves Chicago-style pizza on your way home, it can search for options along your route, take your preferences into account, and add a pie to your cart. You still get to review and complete the order yourself.
Continue reading “AI-Powered Google Maps Can Order Food and Find Hotel Rooms for You”
