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Hellmann’s recently teased that it would be bringing a hot new mystery act dubbed Meal Diamond to Super Bowl 60. Now the man behind the sequins has been revealed as Lonely Island frontman and SNL alum Andy Samberg.The comedian and actor channels his inner Neil Diamond in the brand’s 30-second Big Game commercial, “Sweet Sandwich Time.”Like Hellmann’s 2025 Super Bowl spot, the ad is set in a deli and sees Samberg adapt the lyrics to Diamond’s 1969 hit “Sweet Caroline,” startling diners — including actor Elle Fanning — with a high-energy performance dedicated to his pre-show ritual: eating a sandwich…
RIP, Amazon convenience stores: gone and probably soon forgotten. Amazon announced on Tuesday that it will close its brick-and-mortar Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores and will instead expand its capacity for same-day grocery delivery, as well as its Whole Foods Market footprint. These stores were used to grow Amazon’s cashierless Just Walk Out technology, which tracks what items customers grab, allowing them to pay for their groceries without a more formal checkout process. The company is instead focusing on offering that technology to third parties, like concession stands at sports stadiums. “While we’ve seen encouraging signals in our Amazon-branded…
Pornhub is blocking itself in the United Kingdom on February 2, arguing that the country’s age verification laws are ineffective, the company announced on Tuesday.As of February 2, only users who have already registered with Pornhub and completed age verification will be able to access the site. New users will not be able to register.The move comes after a new set of provisions aimed at keeping minors from viewing porn kicked in last July, requiring adults to submit to age-estimating face scans, ID document uploads, credit card checks, and more, in order to verify that they are not minors.Pornhub said…
Academy Award-winning actress Emma Stone and director Yorgos Lanthimos are continuing their long-running creative collaboration, this time for Squarespace’s Super Bowl 60 ad.The ad marks Stone’s first Super Bowl appearance.Squarespace’s teaser for the campaign, titled “Unavailable,” offers a mysterious, emotional glimpse at its upcoming spot.Shot in black-and-white, the 15-second spot zooms in on Stone, who is in tears. Accompanying posters, also in black-and-white, build on the campaign’s cinematic tone and sense of intrigue. Squarespace’s Super Bowl 60 ad will air between the first and second quarters of the game on Feb. 8. This year marks the website-building and hosting service’s 12th appearance…
Help desk automation is a billion-dollar industry, and one of the most likely to be disrupted by tech built upon AI. Major players like Zendesk, ServiceNow and Freshworks currently dominate the space, but lots of smaller startups are betting that reshuffling workflows will give them a chance to cut in. Risotto is one of those startups, and after today, it will have plenty of runway to test its theory. The company on Tuesday said it has raised a $10 million seed round led by Bonfire Ventures, with participation from 645 Ventures, Y Combinator, Ritual Capital, and Surgepoint Capital. Designed to…
The newest humanoid robot on the scene, Sprout, is not designed to carry boxes or stack shelves. Instead, this charming and relatively cheap model, roughly the size of a 9-year-old child, is meant to help customers in hotels, shops, and restaurants.“We said, ‘What if we could build something lightweight, engaging, and safe to be around, and capable enough to do some exciting things?’” says Robert Cochran, cofounder and CEO of Fauna, the startup behind Sprout.Sprout is available to purchase starting today from $50,000. Cochran adds that his firm is already talking to hotels about using Sprout as a butler that…
Bowen Yang trades Rockefeller Plaza for sun and sand in Ritz’s Super Bowl ad, one of his first major appearances since leaving Saturday Night Live (SNL) in December.The Mondelēz International brand released a teaser today (Jan. 27) that reveals Yang as one of the stars of its upcoming Super Bowl 60 ad. The 15-second video shows the comedian settling into his next chapter. He lounges on a tropical beach, where he’s planning a party and snacking on the salty crackers.In a playful nod to his sketch comedy roots, Yang speaks to an unknown friend through a “shell” phone and promises not…
Luminar received an even higher bid for its lidar business as a court-run auction concluded on Monday, according to a new filing in the company’s bankruptcy case. MicroVision, a Redmond, Washington-based company that has been developing its own lidar sensors, submitted a $33 million bid, eclipsing the $22 million that Quantum Computing Inc. laid out a few weeks ago as the so-called “stalking horse” bidder. (Quantum Computing Inc. had upped its bid to $28 million but apparently was unwilling or unable to go higher.) The sale of Luminar’s lidar business will now be subject to approval by the judge in…
Choose a lens shape: Cylindrical lenses look flat and are curved around the face on the vertical axis. These are cheaper to manufacture than spherical lenses, and when used on a large pair of goggles can offer a vast field of view. Spherical lenses are curved both vertically and horizontally and give the goggles a bug-eyed look. Spherical lenses help to open up more of the view, especially the up and down aspects. You’ll pay more for spherical lenses, but they can be truly impressive.From an aesthetic point of view, cylindrical lenses are more popular, but the latest (and most…
Space is an increasingly crowded place thanks to the constant influx of new satellites and it’s only to get more cramped as the cost to get to orbit falls. Those dynamics have brought attention to startup Northwood Space, which has spent the last few years developing more modern and efficient ground-based communications infrastructure. The startup capitalized on that interest in two ways this week. The El Segundo, California-based company announced on Tuesday it has closed a $100 million Series B funding round, led by Washington D.C.-based firm Washington Harbour Partners (which has been on a run of space investments) and…
Just before 8am one day last April, an office manager who went by the name Amani sent out a motivational message to his colleagues and subordinates. “Every day brings a new opportunity—a chance to connect, to inspire, and to make a difference,” he wrote in his 500-word post to an office-wide WhatsApp group. “Talk to that next customer like you’re bringing them something valuable—because you are.”Amani wasn’t rallying a typical corporate sales team. He and his underlings worked inside a “pig butchering” compound, a criminal operation built to carry out scams—promising romance and riches from crypto investments—that often defraud victims…
A new risk assessment has found that xAI’s chatbot Grok has inadequate identification of users under 18, weak safety guardrails, and frequently generates sexual, violent, and inappropriate material. In other words, Grok is not safe for kids or teens. The damning report from Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that provides age-based ratings and reviews of media and tech for families, comes as xAI faces criticism and an investigation into how Grok was used to create and spread nonconsensual explicit AI-generated images of women and children on the X platform. “We assess a lot of AI chatbots at Common Sense Media,…
Listen up, nerds. Newegg currently has promo codes and deals on gently used, refurbished, new and hard-to-find electronics, gaming products and more. Remaining one of the biggest online-only retailers in the US for the last 20 years, Newegg is a leading global online retailer for PC hardware, home appliances and all things tech, as well as providing help with businesses’ e-commerce needs. In the last decade, Newegg has expanded its online retail presence, selling everything from PC parts to refurbished vacuum cleaners. So, whether you’re wanting to build your own PC or just looking to upgrade your laptop, Newegg has…
To understand the stance of an unwavering Trump loyalist after a federal border patrol agent shocked the nation this weekend by shooting an American citizen in Minneapolis, look no further than Khosla Ventures partner Keith Rabois. Rabois’ public support for Border Patrol’s actions in the killing of Alex Pretti, made via posts on X, was so vehement that Khosla Ventures partner Ethan Choi and firm founder Vinod Khosla both publicly disavowed it. Rabois argued that Pretti was at fault, writing that the protester was committing a “felony.” One of Rabois’ posts said, “no law enforcement has shot an innocent person.…
TurboTax has been my go-to for self-filing taxes for years. It’s good enough for me—and literally millions of other users. TurboTax has quickly become a favorite among users for its easy-to-use self-filing services, along with easy access to assistance from tax professionals. TurboTax has free self-service for qualifying people, and TurboTax Live Assisted, where you file online with tax expert help if needed, and TurboTax Full Service, where a tax expert will do your taxes and review them with you before filing.To help you figure out the often confusing process of filing taxes, I’ve written a guide on How to…
The 2026 Game Developers Conference is shaping up to be a little less international this year if commentary on social media platforms like LinkedIn is an indicator. Many members of the international games industry have announced they will skip the event, mainly over concerns about safety, tougher U.S. immigration rules, and a stronger immigration and Customs Enforcement presence. Developers, past GDC attendees, and other industry professionals have taken to platforms like LinkedIn to publicly voice their concerns. ICE activity in numerous U.S. cities as well as the recent fatal shootings in Minneapolis involving ICE agents have compounded concerns. Renee Nicole Good…