The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) has started a probe into China’s semiconductor industry, looking for anti-competitive trade practices. According to a White House statement, the USTR is looking into China for “acts, policies and practices” that reduced or eliminated competition in the marketplace for semiconductors.

The probe is being conducted through Section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974 to examine trade practices for “foundational” semiconductors that are used by the automotive, healthcare, infrastructure, aerospace and defense industries. The White House accused China on Monday of “routinely” engaging in “non-market policies and practices, as well as industrial targeting, of the semiconductor industry” that caused significant harm to its competition and created “dangerous supply chain dependencies,” according to the statement.

If action is taken as a result of the investigation, Section 301 allows the USTR to “impose duties or other import restrictions,” “withdraw or suspend trade agreement concessions” or enter into an agreement with China to “either eliminate the conduct in question…or compensate the US with satisfactory trade benefits,” according to the US Trade Act. Those decisions, however, will be left to President Trump’s administration and incoming USTR Jamieson Greer.

A spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement that China “strongly deplores and firmly opposes” the US investigation. The nation would also “take all necessary measures to resolutely defend its rights and interests,” according to the New York Times.

Tensions between the US and China are already high. President Biden launched an investigation in February into China and other unnamed countries over possible vulnerabilities and threats from connected vehicles. Then in May, the White House announced a significant increase in tariffs on $18 billion worth of Chinese imports including semiconductors.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/white-house-calls-for-investigation-into-chinas-alleged-anti-competitive-semiconductor-industry-184030356.html?src=rss

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© Feature China via Getty Images

Another day, another Tesla recall. This time, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) informed the owners of almost 700,000 Tesla vehicles warning them of a problem with a warning light for the tire pressure monitoring system as reported by the Associated Press.

The recall affects the 2024 Cybertruck, 2017-2025 Model 3 and 2020-2025 Model Y Vehicles. The NHTSA says the warning light for the tire pressure monitoring system may not stay illuminated between drives.

Tesla says it will send out an over-the-road (OTR) update to vehicles affected by the warning light issue. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed on Feb. 15, 2025.

The past year has seen more than a few Tesla recalls and OTRs. The NHTSA recorded seven recalls in the last year for the Cybertruck to address problems involving the rear-view camera, faulty windshield wipers and loose trunk beds. Tesla issued an over-the-air update in June for 1.8 million vehicles including select 2021-2024 Model 3, S and X vehicles and 2020-2024 Model Y vehicles to fix hoods that could come loose during drives if closed improperly.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/tesla-is-recalling-almost-700000-vehicles-over-a-tire-pressure-monitor-issue-223639361.html?src=rss

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© Tesla

Movie icon and super spy James Bond seemed to be on another rise to the top of the box office just a few years ago, but things have been almost as quiet as a shot from a Walther PPK with a silencer ever since then. Daniel Craig took on the role in 2006 with Casino Royale and passed the baton with 2021’s No Time to Die in one of the most heart-wrenching endings in Bond’s cinematic history (you cried, just admit it).

The only thing sadder is the reason why we haven’t seen a new Bond movie since then.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon and Barbara Broccoli, the producer who inherited the franchise from her father and film producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli when he died in 1996, are in the middle of an ugly fight that’s halted production on the next Bond film. Apparently, Barbara doesn’t trust Amazon with her family’s famous film franchise.

How bad is it? Well, here’s a quote from Barbara to some of her friends explaining how she feels about the people who run Amazon’s media empire: “These people are f—ing idiots.” Man, that’s awkward with a capital “awk.”

The stalemate started back in 2021 when Amazon bought MGM for $8.5 billion and thus acquired the rights to distribute Bond films, according to Variety. The deal seemed like a big move for Amazon to weave its way into Hollywood using one of its most storied and rock solid film franchises.

Unfortunately for Amazon, the true power over the James Bond films lies with Broccoli. She supplies the ideas for Bond’s big screen adventures and when they go into production, and Broccoli isn’t keen on working with Amazon anytime soon. The WSJ spoke to 20 people familiar with the feud who say Broccoli feels Amazon isn’t the right place for a Bond movie because its core business is retail and ecommerce.

When Amazon purchased MGM, clinching the rights to the Bond franchise was a key part of the deal’s value. Broccoli and co-producer Michael Wilson had some reservations but were assured they would still retain creative control. COVID lockdowns were already making it hard to jump into the next Bond film production as well. However, things seemed to be smoothing over between the two parties when Amazon also insisted that its next Bond movie No Time to Die would get a theatrical release.

But as soon as the deal closed, Amazon executives started thinking of ways to expand the Bond film franchise to other mediums like a Moneypenny spinoff series for Prime Video or a separate spy film or TV show that took place in the Bond universe. Broccoli refused to let any of these projects go forward. She also took umbrage with Amazon entertainment executive Jennifer Salke’s use of the word “content” to describe new James Bond projects and any ideas Amazon had for Bond were labeled “TBD” in memos. To date, the only Bond property Amazon could get Broccoli to sign off on is a reality series 007: Road to a Million that’s entering its second season.

Broccoli and her family have been part of the Bond movie franchise for almost as long as she lived so she’s fiercely protective of the brand and her father’s cinematic legacy. She’s also started training Wilson’s son Gregg to produce recent installments and possibly prepare him to take over the franchise someday. Even that has led to disagreements over who should play Bond in the next film. That’s assuming we get one and it doesn’t look like that will happen anytime soon.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/james-bond-the-movie-franchise-not-the-spy-may-be-in-deep-jeopardy-211608094.html?src=rss

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© VCG via Getty Images

Hey, gamers! Do you like Rayman? Do you like Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon? Do you wish they’d make a new Rayman or Blood Dragon game? Well, you got your wish (sort of) if you’re willing to give your wish a lot of leeway and a bit of money. Journalist Stephen Totilo’s Game File newsletter reported that Ubisoft secretly released a new Web3 game with NFTs featuring Captain Laserhawk from the Blood Dragon animated series spinoff on Netflix and Rayman (who hasn’t appeared in a proper new adventure in years).

Captain Laserhawk: The G.A.M.E. looks like a generic top down shooter set in the bright neon futureworld of the Blood Dragon universe. You compete in an arena-style bloodsport where getting the most kills gets you the win. Totilo describes it as “the most basic top-down shooter imaginable.”

You’ll need a Niji Warrior NFT to play the game. Totilo reported that Ubisoft offered 10,000 of the special NFTs for free with some Web3 transaction fees earlier this month. The Niji Warrior NFT serves as a kind of ID card, and if you missed your chance to snag one for free, you’ll have to fork over a minimum of $14.38 (0.0022 in ethereum, according to Coinbase) just to get in the game.

Then to add digital insult to injury, Rayman serves as the announcer for these gladiatorial deathmatches of the future. Rayman appears in the game but you don’t even get to play as the wily, cartoon-ish game hero. He’s forced to be the Marv Albert of this bloodthirsty cryptocash grab.

There’s only one compelling reason to play the game: You won’t need to exert much effort to get on the leaderboard. Totilo said he got into the top 10 of the global leaderboard — on a leaderboard that showed less than 100 players. I wouldn’t call the game a runaway hit just yet.

This isn’t the first time that Ubisoft has quietly pushed out a Web3-based game to cash in on the NFT craze that petered out of popularity years ago. Ubisoft Quartz released the tactical RPG Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles in October in which players could buy NFTs for as much as $6,300.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/ubisoft-quietly-squeezes-out-another-nft-game-featuring-rayman-blood-dragon-192102438.html?src=rss

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© Ubisoft

The courageous story of Afghanistan’s first all-girls robotics team is coming to a theater near you.

Rule Breakers is based on the true story of The Afghan Girls Robotics Team, who grabbed the world’s attention when they were denied member visas by the United States in 2017 while attempting to compete at the First Global Challenge international robotics competition. Fifty three members of Congress signed a petition and President Donald Trump intervened to give the girls travel documents on special humanitarian grounds allowing them to enter the US and compete in the robotics games, according to a New York Times profile.

The story of the team’s struggle to compete in the robotics competition goes much deeper than their attempts to enter the US. First Global founder Dean Kamen, who is best known for designing the Segway, put together his competitive robotics league as a way to spark interest in science and technology among high schoolers. He invited and enlisted Afghan tech entrepreneur and Digital Citizen Fund (DCF) founder Roya Mahboob to put together an all-girls robotics team for the competition nicknamed the Afghan Dreamers. A dozen girls made the cut forming the first team and worked on their robotic creation in Mahboob’s parents’ basement using whatever they could find for tools along with parts donated by Kamen, according to the Times.

The movie tells the story of the team’s deep and perilous struggle to compete and pursue their passions. The Taliban’s return to power in 2021 reversed years of gender equality and strife for freedom by forbidding women from receiving an education in science and technology, forcing some of the team members to flee their country for their own safety and the right to pursue their future on their terms. Team member Sadaf Hamidi, who fled for Qatar in 2021, told NBC News last year that one of her sisters had to give up her dream of going to medical school saying “This is heartbreaking for me and for them.”

Rule Breakers is directed by two-time Academy Award winner Bill Guttentag and stars Nikohl Boosheri as Mahboob and Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge. The film hits theaters on March 7, 2025.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/trailer-rule-breakers-will-bring-afghanistans-first-ever-girls-robotics-team-to-the-big-screen-on-march-7-170049854.html?src=rss

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Waymo’s fleet of driverless vehicles are operating in more cities and a study indicates that may reduce crashes on roadways. The study, a non-paid partnership between Waymo itself and reinsurer Swiss Re, indicated Waymo’s cars result in fewer insurance claims than those operated by people.

Swiss Re analyzed liability claims from collisions covering 25.3 million miles driven by Waymo’s autonomous cars. The study also compared Waymo’s liability claims to human driver baselines based on data from over 500,000 claims and over 200 billion driving miles. The results found that Waymo Driver “demonstrated better safety performance when compared to human-driver vehicles.”.

The study found cars operated by Alphabet’s Waymo Driver resulted in 88 percent fewer property damage claims and 92 percent fewer bodily injury claims.

Swiss Re also invented a new metric to compare Waymo Driver against only newer vehicles with advanced safety tech, like driver assistance, automated emergency braking and blind spot warning systems, instead of against the whole corpus of those 200 billion driving miles. In this comparison, Waymo still came out ahead with an 86 percent reduction in property damage claims and a 90 percent reduction on bodily damage claims.

Of course, there are two glaring issues. First is that Waymo currently only operates in cities, which, yes, account for the bulk of crashes in the US, but rural areas account for a much higher number of crashes (especially fatal ones) proportional to their population. (The study, incidentally, states that having exurban data included in the baseline metrics actually cuts against Waymo's true safety numbers.) Second: Waymo simply hasn't been around that long. It's very hard to get an accurate measure of the system when its real-world testing period has been so relatively short.

The numbers may look good for Waymo Driver in studies but they aren’t perfect by any stretch. Waymo issued its second recall over the summer when one of its robotaxis hit a street level telephone pole at 8 mph in Phoenix. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched an investigation into Waymo and found 24 incidents that involved crashes or traffic violations.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/waymos-driverless-cars-are-apparently-an-insurance-companys-dream-220746643.html?src=rss

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© Waymo

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved California’s plan to phase out and ban the sale of new gas-powered cars and light trucks by 2035. ABC News reported the EPA gave California the waivers it needed to enact the Advanced Clean Cars II Regulations (ACC II) devised and approved by the California Air Resources Board in 2022.

The EPA also approved California’s plan to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from heavy-duty vehicles in order to reduce the amount of smog in the air. The state will require an initial 75 percent reduction in NOx pollution followed by a 90 percent reduction a few years later.

The ACC II provides a year-to-year blueprint for phasing out the selling of combustion-engine vehicles. The plan sets a 2026 deadline by which 35 percent of the state’s car sales must be electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids or models with hydrogen fuel cells. Then by 2030, the electric vehicle sale threshold rises to 68 percent before reaching its ultimate 100 percent sale requirement by 2035. Consumers and dealerships will still be able to buy, sell and drive used ICE and hybrid cards until the ACC II. California Air Resources Board chair Liane Randolph estimated the ACC II could lead to a 50 percent drop in pollution by 2040.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom hailed the decision and ACC II in a statement as evidence that “California can rise to the challenge of protecting our people by cleaning our air and cutting pollution.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/epa-gives-thumbs-up-to-californias-new-gas-powered-car-sale-ban-232048688.html?src=rss

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© Mario Tama via Getty Images

The pornographic website PornHub is adding Florida to its list of states to block starting next year. Gizmodo reported that Floridians who visited the porn website recently were greeted with a warning that says “You will lose access to PornHub in 14 days” thanks to a new state law that requires an ID to visit the website.

PornHub has already blocked a number of states from accessing its wealth of sexually explicit content because of new state laws that require visitors to provide a valid government ID to verify their age for access. Florida’s legislature passed its porn ID law and Gov. Ron DeSantis signed it into law on March 25 as part of a series of regulations intended to protect minors from explicit materials. The adult entertainment trade association The Free Speech Coalition is fighting Florida’s law in federal court, according to The Florida Times-Union.

Florida will become the 13th state to institute an age verification law for adult websites. Florida follows Texas, Utah, Arkansas, Virginia, Montana, North Carolina, Mississippi, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky and Nebraska that all have ID verification laws on its books.

“Not only does this impinge on the rights of adults to access protected speech, it fails strict scrutiny by employing the least effective and yet also most restrictive means of accomplishing [the state’s] stated purpose of allegedly protecting minors,” according to the official PornHub blog

The PornHub blog also states that the company is concerned about the safety and welfare of children but the idea of using identification creates more risks with users’ safety and privacy. The Louisiana law in particular has no state regulator overseeing the new laws’ implementation “which results in a flawed enforcement regime,” the PornHub blog states.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/pornhub-is-breaking-up-with-florida-202650152.html?src=rss

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© NurPhoto via Getty Images

Teamsters unions at five additional Amazon facilities have voted to go on strikes, following similar action in New York City and Illinois. The international Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) announced in a statement that union members “unanimously” approved measures to authorize strikes in four Southern California facilities and a fifth facility in Atlanta.

The four Southern California facilities are based in City of Industry, Palmdale, Victorville and San Bernardino, according to SiliconValley.com. This brings the total number of Amazon facilities that have authorized worker strikes to eight. The total includes a facility in Skokie, Illinois and two New York City warehouses on Staten Island and in Queens. The IBT represents just under 10,000 workers in 10 Amazon facilities nationwide.

These facilities approved a strike right in the middle of the holiday shopping season, one of the busiest and most lucrative times of the year for the online retail giant. Amazon crews went on strike to protest against low wages, hazardous working conditions and “Amazon’s illegal refusal to recognize their union,” according to IBT statements.

Teamsters General President Sean N. O’Brien said in the statement that Amazon has failed to provide adequate compensation and protections for its workforce. If their demands are ignored, O’Brien says they will start strikes.

“Amazon workers want to earn a good living, have decent health care and be safe on the job,” O’Brien said. “They are done with the disrespect and if Amazon keeps pushing them, they will push them to strike.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/five-more-amazon-facilities-authorize-worker-strikes-185030459.html?src=rss

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© Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo via Getty Images

A new hard drive based on the long-promised heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) technology is almost here. Tom’s Hardware reported that a new sales page popped up on the Seagate website announcing a new Exos M 30TM and 32TB hard disk drive (HDD) featuring 3TB per platter with three times the power efficiency per terabyte compared to other hard drives.

The new hard drive is based on Seagate’s new Mozaic 3+ platform and is its first HDD to use HAMR. HAMR refers to a magnetic storage process in which localized heat is applied to the disk material during writing, which allows for smaller regions and more space per platter. These and other breakthroughs could someday pave the way to a 50TB HDD. Here’s a video from our Upscaled series that breaks down the entire process and what it means for the future of HDD storage.

There’s no official release date yet for the Exos M. You can stay up to date by email of its pending release on Seagate’s product page.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/seagate-teases-its-first-hamr-based-hard-drive-001519503.html?src=rss

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© Seagate

Elon Musk and SpaceX are under three federal reviews from three different US military departments for allegedly failing to comply with reporting protocols. The New York Times reported that Musk and his private aerospace company have repeatedly disregarded requirements to disclose trips and meetings with foreign leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The three reviews of Musk and SpaceX’s suspected activity were opened by the Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General, the Air Force and the Pentagon’s Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security. The Air Force also reportedly denied Musk’s request for high-level security access because of concerns over potential security risks if he were allowed to handle certain pieces of classified information.

Some SpaceX workers with knowledge of the reviews expressed their concerns to the Times about Musk’s ability to handle sensitive data when he posts openly about meetings on his X account. He already has top-security clearance at SpaceX that allows him to view certain pieces of classified material such as information on the US’ advanced military technology. Musk is required to disclose certain details about his personal life and travel habits to the Defense Department but some employees allege that he and his company have failed to meet those requirements as far back as 2021.

Sources also told the newspaper that Musk allegedly failed to provide department officials with his full itinerary including meetings with foreign leaders. He also may not have provided reports on his personal and prescription drug use as part of his vetting procedure even though he smoked marijuana with Joe Rogan on his The Joe Rogan Experience podcast and talked about microdosing ketamine on his X page. and with former CNN anchor Don Lemon.

America isn’t the only country concerned about Musk’s ability to keep a lid on classified information. Nine other countries “including in Europe and the Middle East,” raised security concerns about Musk sitting in meetings with US defense officers over the past three years, according to The New York Times. Employees who were concerned about the lax reactions to these vetting requirements failed to report the behavior out of fear of losing their jobs.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/elon-musk-spacex-reportedly-under-federal-review-for-undisclosed-meetings-with-foreign-leaders-213817035.html?src=rss

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© Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has seen an alarming rise in gamified job scams over the past year. The FTC says that reports of job scams have quadrupled each year since 2022 topping out at 20,000 reports at a cost of $41 million in total during the first six months of the year.

Job or task scams often involve the scammer asking someone to do a relatively simple task online such as liking videos or rating product images in assigned sets using terms like “product boosting” or “app optimization,” according to the FTC. People are promised higher payments for completing a certain amount of sets that may pay out small amounts at first but they end up costing more than they pay out in the long run.

Scammers will reach out to people via text messages or communication apps like Whatsapp offering them a task job. The most common type of this scam usually involves some kind of cryptocurrency. Then the scammer may ask their target to deposit some money or “charge up” their account through an app in order to start working on new and bigger sets of tasks. They may even try to convince their victims by hearing testimonials from fake recipients about how much money they made for completing relatively simple tasks.

The victim will “charge up” their accounts with their own money in order to avoid losing what the app shows they’ve earned in the hopes they’ll get their deposited money and the fee they are owed. Instead, the money they’ve been paid isn’t real and any money they’ve deposited to “charge up” their account is lost for good.

The FTC recommends ignoring offers from unknown text or WhatsApp messages and never paying someone for the promise of being paid at a later time or date. The commission also recommends steering clear of any job offers that involve rating or liking things online, a practice the FTC says is “illegal and no honest company will do it.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/the-ftc-warns-gamified-job-scams-are-on-the-rise-233029615.html?src=rss

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© FTC

There are some things you just don’t do in certain parts of the US. You don’t use inferior salsa during a cattle drive in Texas. You don’t eat pizza with a knife and fork in New York City. You don’t yell “Belichick is a big, fat cheater!” in a crowded Boston bar (even if it happens to be true).

And if you’re in New Jersey or just America in general, you NEVER take the holy name of Bruce Springsteen in vain in ANY manner. So it’s bewildering why one New Jersey representative would even think about faking his listening habits when it comes to The Boss.

9to5Mac spotted a curious looking post on X from US Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ). The congressman shared what appeared to be his Spotify Wrapped playlist for the year, with one list consisting of Springsteen’s classic tracks like “Glory Days” and “Thunder Road” and the other filled with tracks from various hip hop stars. He tried to cement his esteem for Springsteen in his post by saying his “first ever concert was at Meadowlands to see The Boss!” Well, it didn’t take long for the internet and anyone who’s ever used Spotify to figure out that he faked the whole list just to kiss up to his constituents.

Gottheimer’s list included such glaring mistakes as inconsistent font sizes, improper spacing between the albums on his lists and the fact that both lists were titled “Your top songs” even though one only had Springsteen albums. He didn’t even use the same font type or size for all of his track and album entries.

So how did Gottheimer handle this musical faux pas with the press? He dug in his heels on his Springsteen tracks and blamed his two kids for the rest. He admitted to NJ Advance Media that he made a fake Spotify Wrapped list but says the tracks on each list are accurate because he shares an account with his children because that’s easier than going back in time and setting up a family plan.

“This would be my Spotify Wrapped if I didn’t share my account with my 12 and 15-year old kids,” Gottheimer told the outlet. “While it’s Springsteen all day for me — don’t get me wrong, I still love listening to Taylor Swift!”

Gottheimer has since taken the post down and replaced it with a list of his most listened to Springsteen tracks. He’s trying to save face because he’s in a heated race for governor and if you want a solid shot at moving into New Jersey’s governor mansion, then you need to make your love for The Boss known far and wide across the Garden State. If Gottheimer is also going for the “Dad who makes his kids cringe at their music choices” vote, then he’s a lock.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/a-us-congressman-tried-and-failed-to-fake-his-spotify-wrapped-for-political-gain-205516508.html?src=rss

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© Gottheimer.house.gov

Staff at another video game studio have organized their own union. The Communication Workers of America (CWA) announced late Thursday in a statement that 461 workers for ZeniMax Online Studios (ZOS), the Maryland-based studio behind The Elder Scrolls Online, voted to form the ZOS United-CWA union covering web developers, designers, engineers and graphics artists by a vote of 395-40. 

The new union will allow ZeniMax staffers to “collectively push for real improvements” in the workplace and provide “job security amid record layoffs, protections against AI, better pay and benefits,” according to a statement released by the CWA.

“I’m excited to finally see workers have a say in the workplace,” encounter designer and ZOS United-CWA member Billy Eichner said in the statement. “We already work together to make great games. Why not work together to make a great workplace?”

This isn’t the first time that a group of ZeniMax workers have formed a union. Quality assurance testers at ZeniMax unionized in January of 2023, making it the largest union in the game industry at the time.

Workers at other major game studios have followed the lead of QA workers at ZeniMax by forming their own unions. Sega of America workers unionized last March. More than 500 staffers who work on Blizzard’s World of Warcraft voted to form their union over the summer. Workers at Bethesda Game Studios, the developer behind Starfield, The Elder Scrolls and Fallout games, also voted to create a union in July.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/zenimax-online-studios-workers-form-their-own-union-190055555.html?src=rss

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© ZeniMax Media

If you’re looking for a place to watch the 10th annual Game Awards on Thursday, December 12, then guess what? You found it. Host Geoff Keighley will open the Game Awards at 7:30PM and you can watch it right here in this post.

A total of 96 games, studios and developers received nominations for this year’s awards. The two biggest contenders are Astro Bot from Team Asobi and Sony Interactive and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth from Square Enix, with seven nominations each including Game of the Year.

The other nominees for Game of the Year include five-time nominee Balatro, the action RPG Black Myth: Wukong, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree and six-time nominee Metaphor: ReFantazio. Silent Hill 2 didn’t make the cut for Game of the Year but it also picked up five nominations.

PlayStation is leading the publisher pack with 16 nods. Square Enix and Xbox each picked up 12 nominations and Sega finished third with 11.

You can watch the Game Awards on its official YouTube channel, Twitch and a bunch of other places. You could also just stay put and watch the stream below in the embedded video.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/dont-miss-the-game-awards-2024-right-here-at-730pm-et-213044226.html?src=rss

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© The Game Awards

The United States Postal Service unveiled a plan to buy a fleet of all-electric mail trucks for its mail carriers back in 2022, of which 3,000 were supposed to be delivered by now. Unfortunately, those plans aren’t even close to fruition. The Washington Post reported that defense contractor Oshkosh has only delivered 93 vehicles so far.

In 2022, The Postal Service announced its plan to buy at least 60,000 “Next Generation Delivery Vehicles” (NGDV) for its mail carriers by 2028 and start replacing its aging fleet of trucks. The Postal Service’s initial order called for 5,000 all-electric vehicles along with new, gas-powered vehicles, but calls from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Biden Administration pushed them to increase the share of NGDVs that would run on electricity.

The Washington Post obtained nearly 21,000 government and internal company records and spoke with 20 people familiar with the trucks’ manufacturing and design process. Its reporting shows that Oshkosh ran into significant manufacturing delays of the electric NGDVs that caused lower than expected delivery numbers. Some of the anonymous sources said that engineers struggled to calibrate the mail trucks’ airbags, and the vehicles’ body and internal components are unable to contain water leaks to an alarming degree.

The turnaround time for building these new mail trucks is also very slow. The Post reports that the South Carolina factory can only build one truck per day even though Oshkosh hoped it could build at least 80 vehicles a day by now.

Oshkosh also failed to inform the Postal Service about these delays. Four of the background sources say a senior company executive tried to update the Postal Service about these manufacturing issues only to have those efforts blocked by their corporate superiors.

An Oshkosh spokesperson said in a statement that the defense contractor is still “fully committed to being a strong and reliable partner” with the Postal Services and insists “we remain on track to meet all delivery deadlines,” according to The Post.

The failure of these plans doesn’t just affect the Postal Service’s ability to modernize and update its fleet of aging mail trucks. It could also throw a wrench into President Biden’s plans to combat climate change. Reuters reported on Friday that President Donald Trump’s transition team is considering cancelling the electric mail truck program altogether.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/postal-services-plan-to-electrify-mail-trucks-falling-far-short-of-its-goal-190317071.html?src=rss

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© Oshkosh/Business Wire

Triple-A games like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Astro Bot and Silent Hill 2 may get most of the glory at this year’s Game Awards but indie developers and gamemakers are getting a spotlight of their own before the big show. Day of the Devs: The Game Awards Edition will air a digital-only broadcast starting at 12PM ET on Wednesday, December 11 on The Game Awards’ official YouTube and Twitch channels. The stream is also embedded below.

The Game Awards edition of the Day of the Devs broadcast will feature at least 19 indie games from studios such as Annapurna, Heart Machine, Panic and Riff Raff Games. The indie game event will also feature seven world premieres of upcoming titles, title reveals and release date announcements. This also marks the second year of the Day of the Devs showcase preceding The Game Awards.

The Game Awards will follow the indie game showcase tomorrow starting at 7:30PM ET. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Astro Bot are tied for the most nominations at seven each. The Japanese RPG Metaphor: ReFantazio earned six nods. Silent Hill 2 and Balatro finished third with five nominations each. All the previously mentioned titles except for Silent Hill 2 are up for the Game of the Year award along with Black Myth: Wukong and Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/watch-the-day-of-the-devs-2024-game-awards-stream-here-at-12pm-et-140026531.html?src=rss

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© Day of the Devs

Wanna go outside and kick the ball around? The soccer story game Despelote is coming to the Nintendo Switch in early 2025. The game was previously announced for PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.

Despelote is a story-driven game about people and the emotional spirit and camaraderie of football. You play as a plucky 8-year-old kid named Julián from Quito, Ecuador who goes out with his friends for a fun-filled afternoon of neighborhood football after a long day of school. The game tells the story of Ecuador’s economic struggles in the late 1990s and the sense of community and unity that grew leading up to the 2002 World Cup. Developers Julián Cordero and Sebastián Valbuena based the game’s setting, dialogue and experiences on their own childhood memories and photos growing up in Ecuador.

Despelote was an official selection of the 2023 Tribeca Festival. It’s also one of the games featured by Wholesome Games’ Wholesome Snack Showcase ahead of The Game Awards.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/despelote-is-dribbling-its-way-to-the-nintendo-switch-231254398.html?src=rss

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A new report from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found that President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) secretly obtained the phone call and text message records of 43 congressional staffers, two members of Congress in 2017 and 2018 and members of the news media. DOJ prosecutors obtained call and text logs from telecommunications companies and third-party providers including Apple through subpoenas, search warrants and court orders.

It’s already known that President Trump’s DOJ tried to obtain communication records from Apple as part of an investigation into press leaks about stories that Trump associates made contact with Russian officials. The New York Times reported in 2021 that one of the subpoenas filed in 2018 demanded to see the accounts of 109 identifiers including Democratic Representatives Adam B. Schiff and Eric Swalwell of California, congressional aides and family members including one who was a minor. Now it appears that the scope of those subpoenas was much larger.

The IG’s report says prosecutors attached gag orders to the subpoenas to prevent Apple and other companies from notifying their customers about the information orders. Most of the non-disclosure agreements were extended at least once, some of which stretched up to four years. The communication logs only showed the names of the parties involved in the calls and text messages.

Even though the OIG’s report found no political motivation for prosecutors’ requests, he noted the subpoenas and other legal means of obtaining communication logs “risks chilling Congress’s ability to conduct oversight of the executive branch.” The report also says the DOH failed to convene the News Media Review Committee, a Justice Department advisory committee formed as part of an overhaul of its news media policies in 2014, to review its information requests calling its actions “troubling,” according to the report.

Apple also took steps to limit the scope of legal requests following news of the subpoenas filed on Reps. Schiff and Swalwell. The tech company placed a limit of 25 identifiers per legal request on customers’ communication information in 2021.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/trumps-doj-obtained-more-private-communications-from-third-parties-including-apple-215738340.html?src=rss

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© Tom Williams via Getty Images

The crowd-sourced review site Yelp unveiled a new feature that uses AI and customer reviews to rate common facets of nightlife and food-related business. The new Review Insights feature is available now on the iOS version of the Yelp app, according to the company’s official blog.

Review Insights aggregates customer reviews and feeds them into a large language model (LLM), which will assign specific aspects — like the vibe or service time — a rating out of 100. Supposedly it will be able to infer customer sentiment about these parts of a business "even when a review doesn’t explicitly mention one of the topics." Yelp will also be adding an AI-powered homepage in the coming weeks.

Yelp has been implementing new AI features over the past year. The business review site added an auto-generated summary feature in January and an AI-powered Yelp Assistant in April.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/yelp-adds-ai-powered-scores-to-business-pages-195131103.html?src=rss

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