Mark Chen, the chief research officer at OpenAI, sent a forceful memo to staff on Saturday, promising to go head-to-head with the social giant in the war for top research talent. This memo, which was sent to OpenAI employees in Slack and obtained by WIRED, came days after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg successfully recruited four […]
Plantaform Smart Indoor Garden Review: Rewarding but Risky
This past winter, Plantaform’s new smart indoor garden arrived at my Brooklyn home. I was excited at the prospect of growing heads of leafy green lettuce, channeling my inner Mark Watney, the left-on-Mars botanist in The Martian. Like many apartment dwellers, I don’t have access to a backyard garden, and even if I did, it […]
I Let AI Agents Plan My Vacation—and It Wasn’t Terrible
Trains booked, Operator thinks its job is done. But I’ll need somewhere to stay, I remind it—can it book a hotel? It asks for more details and I’m purposefully vague, specifying that it should be comfy and conveniently located. Comparing hotels is perhaps my least favorite aspect of travel planning, so I’m happy to leave […]
Fairphone Has a New Plan to Get You to Care
“I can’t see any significant growth over the next few years,” says Stryjak. “Other companies have caught up a little bit in terms of making things more durable and sustainable and repairable, and with consumers a key driver is still pricing and brand. Fairphone will have its loyal fan base, but I can’t see that […]
Student Solves a Long-Standing Problem About the Limits of Addition
The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. The simplest ideas in mathematics can also be the most perplexing. Take addition. It’s a straightforward operation: One of the first mathematical truths we learn is that 1 plus 1 equals 2. But mathematicians still have many unanswered questions about the kinds of patterns that […]
The Best Printers for Home and Office: Brother, HP, and More
Before anything else, you’ll have to decide between ink and laser. I’ll get into the details when it comes to each model, but the most important consideration is paper type, because it’s a limitation rather than a benefit. Laser printers use heat in the bonding process, which means if you regularly print on windowed envelopes […]
38 Best Early Amazon Prime Day Deals On Products We’ve Tested (2025)
Amazon Prime Day 2025 is fast approaching, and the sale is already underway on some items. To help you find the best early Prime Day deals, we’ve scoured Amazon for deals on the tech we love. As always, every deal we recommend here is on a product our reviewers have personally tested and approved—you won’t […]
ICE Rolls Facial Recognition Tools Out to Officers’ Phones
WIRED published a shocking investigation this week based on records, including audio recordings, of hundreds of emergency calls from United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers. The calls—which include reports of incidents of staff sexual assaults, suicide attempts, and head injuries—indicate a system inundated by life-threatening incidents, delayed treatment, and overcrowding. In a […]
The AI Backlash Keeps Growing Stronger
Before Duolingo wiped its videos from TikTok and Instagram in mid-May, social media engagement was one of the language-learning app’s most recognizable qualities. Its green owl mascot had gone viral multiple times and was well known to younger users—a success story other marketers envied. But, when news got out that Duolingo was making the switch […]
Breville Luxe Brewer Review (2025): Good Drip, Real Cold Brew
The new Breville Luxe Brewer is designed for hot coffee. It makes excellent, subtle, hot drip coffee. But it also does something that almost no other fancy coffee maker on the market achieves. It makes real cold brew coffee—the sweet and gentle stuff, the cool elixir of smooth summers and milky heaven. The Luxe is […]