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When X's engineering team published the code that powers the platform's "for you" algorithm last month, Elon Musk said the move was a victory for transparency. "We know the algorithm is dumb and needs massive improvements, but at least you can see us struggle to make it better in real-time and with transparency," Musk wrote. "No other social media companies do this." While it's true that X is the only major social network to make elements of its recommendation algorithm open source, researchers say that what the company has published doesn't offer the kind of transparency that would actually be useful for anyone trying to understand how X works in 2026. The code, much like an earlier version published in 2023, is a "redacted" version of X's algorithm, according to John Thickstun, an assistant professor of computer science at Cornell University. "What troubles me about these releases is that they give you a pretense that they're being transparent for releasing code and the sense that someone might be able to use this release to do some kind of auditing work or oversight work," Thickstun told Engadget. "And the fact is that that's not really possible at all."Predictably, as soon as the code was released, users on X began posting lengthy threads about what it means for creators hoping to boost their visibility on the platform. For example, one post that was viewed more than 350,000 times advises users that X "will reward people who conversate" and "raise the vibrations of X." Another post with more than 20,000 views claims that posting video is the answer. Another post says that users should stick to their "niche" because "topic switching hurts your reach." But Thickstun cautioned against reading too much into supposed strategies for going viral. "They can't possibly draw those conclusions from what was released," he says. While there are some small details that shed light on how X recommends posts for example, it filters out content that's more than a day old Thickstun says that much of it is "not actionable" for content creators. Structurally, one of the biggest differences between the current algorithm and the version released in 2023 is that the new system relies on a Grok-like large language model to rank posts. "In the previous version, this was hard coded: you took how many times something was liked, how many times something was shared, how many times something was replied and then based on that you calculate a score, and then you rank the post based on the score," explains Ruggero Lazzaroni, a pHD researcher at the University of Graz. "Now the score is derived not by the real amounts of likes and shares, but by how likely Grok thinks that you would like and share a post."That also makes the algorithm even more opaque than it was before, says Thickstun. "So much more of the decisionmaking is happening within black box neural networks that they're training on their data," he says. "More and more of the decisionmaking power of these algorithms is shifting not just out of public view, but actually really out of view or understanding of even the internal engineers that are working on these systems, because they're being shifted into these neural networks."The release has even less detail about some aspects of the algorithm that were made public in 2023. At the time, the company included information about how it weighted various interactions to determine which posts should rank higher. For example, a reply was "worth" 27 retweets and a reply that generated a response from the original author was worth 75 retweets. But X has now redacted information about how it's weighing these factors, saying that this information was excluded "for security reasons." The code also doesn't include any information about the data the algorithm was trained on, which could help researchers and others understand it or conduct audits. "One of the things I would really want to see is, what is the training data that they're using for this model," says Mohsen Foroughifar, an assistant professor of business technologies at Carnegie Mellon University. "if the data that is used for training this model is inherently biased, then the model might actually end up still being biased, regardless of what kind of things that you consider within the model." Being able to conduct research on the X recommendation algorithm would be extremely valuable, says Lazzaroni, who is working on an EU-funded project exploring alternative recommendation algorithms for social media platforms. Much of Lazzaroni's work involves simulating real-world social media platforms to test different approaches. But he says the code released by X doesn't have enough information to actually reproduce its recommendation algorithm. "We have the code to run the algorithm, but we don't have the model that you need to run the algorithm," he says.If researchers were able to study the X algorithm, it could yield insights that could impact more than just social media platforms. Many of the same questions and concerns that have been raised about how social media algorithms behave are likely to re-emerge in the context of AI chatbots."A lot of these challenges that we're seeing on social media platforms and the recommendation [systems] appear in a very similar way with these generative systems as well," Thickstun said. "So you can kind of extrapolate forward the kinds of challenges that we've seen with social media platforms to the kind of challenges that we'll see with interaction with GenAI platforms."Lazzaroni, who spends a lot of time simulating some of the most toxic behavior on social media, is even more blunt. "AI companies, to maximize profit, optimize the large language models for user engagement and not for telling the truth or caring about the mental health of the users. And this is the same exact problem: they make more profit, but the users get a worse society, or they get worse mental health out of it."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/xs-open-source-algorithm-isnt-a-win-for-transparency-researchers-say-181836233.html?src=rss
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The Pixel 10a is official, though details are limited. On Wednesday, Google posted a teaser video showing the mid-range phone dancing around colorful backgrounds. You can pre-order the Pixel 10a on February 18. Google hasn't yet revealed the phone's specs. In the short video, we can see a blue model that's virtually indistinguishable on the outside from the Pixel 9a. And alleged leaks point to a phone with few changes on the inside. That (unconfirmed) list includes a 6.285-inch display, dual rear cameras (48MP wide and 13MP ultra-wide) and a 5,100mAh battery. Google The teaser's tagline appears to be an attempt to assure Pixel fans that there will, in fact, be meaningful upgrades. "A phone with more in store, in store soon," it reads. Hopefully, its pricing and specs will be "in store" for us soon as well. In the meantime, you can visit the Google Pixel website to register for more info. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/you-can-pre-order-the-pixel-10a-on-february-18-180712018.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
Anthropic has announced that its chatbot Claude will remain ad-free. This is in direct contrast to rival company OpenAI, which recently brought ads to ChatGPT for many users. The company says that "including ads in conversations with Claude would be incompatible" with the chatbot becoming a "genuinely helpful assistant for work and for deep thinking." The reasoning here is rather simple. People tend to share personal details with chatbots, for better or for worse, and getting ads based on that stuff would be creepy. Imagine asking for mental health advice and getting an ad for St. John's wort or something. Anthropic notes that other conversations "involve complex software engineering tasks, deep work or thinking through difficult problems. The appearance of ads in these contexts would feel incongruousand, in many cases, inappropriate." The company said that integrating advertising would "work against" the Claude Constitution, which counts "being generally helpful" as a core principle. "Introducing advertising incentives at this stage would add another level of complexity. Our understanding of how models translate the goals we set them into specific behaviors is still developing; an ad-based system could therefore have unpredictable results," it writes in a blog post. There are some real world concerns here. AI companies gobble up all money in sight and the returns haven't exactly been stellar. Ads are an easy way to recoup some of that investment, which is likely why OpenAI went that route. Engadget reached out to Anthropic to inquire about any kind of forthcoming financial hurdles that could force it to change course. A representative pointed to today's blog post and said it's "all the information we have to share at this time." We do know that Anthropic remains committed to commerce-based agentic AI. It said it will "continue to build features that enable our users to find, compare or buy products, connect with businesses and more."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/anthropic-says-it-wont-bring-ads-to-claude-unlike-rival-chatgpt-171243642.html?src=rss
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You can find a lot of good deals for Presidents Day, but to say its a tech-deal boon would be an overstatement. The best Presidents Day deals are usually on mattresses, appliances and furniture, but you can find some decent tech sales thrown in as well. This year, Presidents Day comes right after Valentines Day and Super Bowl 2026, which means there are even more chances to save as sales and discounts overlap. If youre looking for a new streaming device, a fresh iPad or an upgraded vacuum so you can enter the spring-cleaning season properly, we have you covered. These are the best President Day sales on tech we could find this year. Presidents Day deals under $50 Roku Streaming Stick Plus 2025 for $24 (40 percent off): This is one of the most affordable ways to get 4K streaming on almost any TV set. The dongle has a sleek design, it comes with handy remote that can also control your TVs power and volume and the device gives you access to Rokus TV operating system, which has tons of ways to watch free content. Anker Nano 45W USB-C charger for $30 ($10 off): Ankers latest 45W charger has a small smart display on it that can show you real-time charging stats. Its compact design is great for travel, as are its foldable prongs. Blink Mini 2K+ 2 cameras for $45 (50 percent off): Blinks latest plug-in security cameras support 2K video and improved audio quality. Like previous versions, these cameras have two-way talk, motion alerts and support for Alexa voice commands. TurboTax Deluxe for $45 (44 percent off): While it pains us to recommend Intuits software, it may be the best (and cheapest) option for some this tax season particularly those who don't qualify for Free File. Anker Nano 5K ultra-slim magnetic power bank for $46 (16 percent off): This Qi2 power bank measures less than a half inch thick and snaps onto the backs of the latest iPhones for wireless charging. Its 5K capacity will be enough to top up your phone when its close to empty, preventing you from searching for a charger or outlet. Presidents Day deals on Apple devices Apple iPhone Air MagSafe battery pack for $79 (20 percent off): This magnetic power bank will add up to 65 percent additional battery charge to the iPhone Air, but note that it only works with Apples new, ultra-slim smartphone. Weve tested plenty of others that also work with other iPhone and smartphone models. Apple Watch Series 11 for $299 ($100 off): The latest flagship Apple Watch has excellent performance, a boosted battery life and a lightweight design that you can comfortably wear all day long and even into the night to track sleep. iPad mini (A17 Pro ) for $399 ($100 off): The updated iPad mini runs on the A17 Pro chip for improved performance, plus it has an 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display, a 12MP ultra wide camera with Center Stage, USB-C charging and compatibility with the Apple Pencil Pro. Beats Studio Pro for $170 (51 percent off): Beats updated these cans to have improved sound quality, and you can really hear the difference from models that came before it. These headphones also have solid Transparency mode, good voice performance and USB-C audio. Beats Solo 4 headphones for $130 (35 percent off): These on-ear headphones support spatial audio and dynamic head tracking, and they have up to 50 hours of battery life. The fast fuel feature allows them to get up to five hours of playback time with just a quick 10-minute power-up. More Presidents Day deals on tech Disney+ and Hulu bundle (one month) for $10 ($3 off) Shark Steam & Scrub steam mop for $125 (22 percent off) Levoit LVAC-200 cordless vacuum for $150 (25 percent off) Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 earbuds for $179 (22 percent off) Roku 55-inch 4K smart TV for $248 (29 percent off) Sonos Beam Gen 2 soundbar for $369 ($130 off) Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones for $398 (13 percent off) Anker Nebula Capsule 3 projector for $540 (28 percent off) Hisense 75-inch QD7 Mini-LED 4K smart TV for $548 (16 percent off) DJI Mini 3 Fly More Combo drone bundle for $575 (20 percent off) Google Pixel 10 Pro for $899 (18 percent off) Sony 55-inch Bravia XR8B 4K smart TV for $998 (9 percent off) This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/presidents-day-sales-2026-the-best-tech-deals-from-apple-sony-roku-and-others-163000379.html?src=rss
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Egyptian regulators have banned Roblox, a popular children's video game, Bloomberg reports. The nation's Supreme Council for Media Regulation is coordinating with the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority on the decision to ensure its enforcement. The state-owned outlet reported that Senator Walaa Hermas Radwandid had proposed regulation of the platform to protect childrens moral and educational values." The senator outlined his concerns with the nature of the Roblox platform, including the ability to communicate directly with strangers as well as "potential psychological and behavioral effects on young users." In a statement to Bloomberg, Roblox stated that it has "built rigorous safeguards that go beyond those of many other platforms." Egypt joins others including Iraq, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and the UAE that have banned or heavily restricted the US-based gaming platform; Turkey and Russia also enacted blanket bans on Roblox recently, citing the "promotion of homosexuality" and "LGBT propaganda." Roblox has a significant presence in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The company's most recent economic impact report claims it added $15 million to total GDP across Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Qatar and the UAE between 2021 and 2024. Roblox recently tightened its age verification requirements for certain in-game features following pressure from numerous US state attorneys general over child safety, though the new system is reportedly a mess. All of this comes against the backdrop of globally internet restrictions, especially for social media services. A raft of nations including Australia, Spain and Denmark have moved to ban social media entirely for children.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/egypt-to-block-roblox-for-all-users-161343443.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
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