‘Palworld 1.0’ Is Putting Up Enormous Steam Player Numbers At Launch

Palworld

Pocketpair

It is hard to recall many viral, out-of-nowhere sensations on the scale of Palworld, as when it launched in Early Access in January 2024, it exploded. Everyone was talking about “Pokémon with guns,” the take on the monster-hunting genre that blended battling and capturing with survival base-building. And…guns.

The Tech Download: Teen social media bans miss a key part of the puzzle: AI chatbots

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A new addiction is quietly taking hold among teenagers.

They're not just doom-scrolling social media anymore. They're increasingly locked into conversations with AI chatbots that seem endlessly knowledgeable, supportive and ever-validating. And they're struggling to break up with it.

OpenAI exec Fidji Simo says she's stepping down due to chronic illness, will transition to advisor

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Fidji Simo, OpenAI's product and business chief, on Thursday announced she is stepping down from her role at the artificial intelligence company to focus on recovery after a "severe exacerbation of a chronic illness."

Cyclosporiasis Is Spreading Across The United States—Here’s What To Know

Commack, N.Y.: Vegetables are stacked neatly inside the produce area at a Whole Foods Market in Commack, New York. Contaminated produce can cause cyclosporiasis. (Photo by Steve Pfost/Newsday RM via Getty Images)

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Top OpenAI executive Fidji Simo is stepping down, citing a 'disabling disease that still has no cure'

Top OpenAI executive Fidji Simo is stepping down, citing a 'disabling disease that still has no cure'

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Stephen Council

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New Fed task force members share Chairman Kevin Warsh's embrace of AI

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A series of task forces designed to bring outside thinking to the Federal Reserve will include the "best minds," Chairman Kevin Warsh said Thursday. For a task force that could be especially consequential for the Fed's management of the economy — on artificial intelligence — those outside minds all seem to lean in the same direction. 

Why A Record-Hot Ocean Is Supercharging The El Niño Effect

The ocean covers about 71% of the planet, from the Pacific side, Earth is almost nothing but water.

getty

A strengthening El Niño is forming over the hottest ocean ever recorded. After absorbing more than 90% of the excess heat from global warming, the ocean is beginning to release some of that energy back into the atmosphere. The consequences could shape weather around the world. Here’s why the ocean, not the air, is the climate story everyone should be watching.

This month a heatwave emptied Fourth of July parades across the eastern United States. In June, deadly heat gripped Europe, where Western Europe went on to record its hottest June ever measured. The two were reported as separate emergencies. They were not wrong to be. But both are part of a bigger story that we are still barely telling.

These 10 states are best positioned to land AI data center deals despite rising public opposition

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Say what you will about whether artificial intelligence is good for humanity. It is undoubtedly worth billions of dollars — and then some — to the states that can attract AI business.

Latino Trump Voters Twice As Likely To Describe Themselves As ‘American’ Than By Ethnicity

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Ethnic identity appears significantly less important to the identities of Latinos who voted for President Donald Trump than those who voted for Kamala Harris, according to a new Pew Research poll, which suggests the fastest-growing U.S. voter bloc is starkly divided in its politics.

Here's how Trump Account assets may affect your college aid eligibility

President Donald Trump speaks at the launch of Trump investment accounts in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, July 6, 2026.

Mandel Ngan | Afp | Getty Images