ArduinoMania

A group of researchers covertly ran a months-long "unauthorized" experiment in one of Reddit’s most popular communities using AI-generated comments to test the persuasiveness of large language models. The experiment, which was revealed over the weekend by moderators of r/changemyview, is described by Reddit mods as “psychological manipulation” of unsuspecting users.

“The CMV Mod Team needs to inform the CMV community about an unauthorized experiment conducted by researchers from the University of Zurich on CMV users,” the subreddit’s moderators wrote in a lengthy post notifying Redditors about the research. “This experiment deployed AI-generated comments to study how AI could be used to change views.”

The researchers used LLMs to create comments in response to posts on r/changemyview, a subreddit where Reddit users post (often controversial or provocative) opinions and request debate from other users. The community has 3.8 million members and often ends up on the front page of Reddit. According to the subreddit’s moderators, the AI took on numerous different identities in comments during the course of the experiment, including a sexual assault survivor, a trauma counselor “specializing in abuse,” and a “Black man opposed to Black Lives Matter.” Many of the original comments have since been deleted, but some can still be viewed in an archive created by 404 Media.

In a draft of their paper, the unnamed researchers describe how they not only used AI to generate responses, but attempted to personalize its replies based on information gleaned from the original poster’s prior Reddit history. “In addition to the post’s content, LLMs were provided with personal attributes of the OP (gender, age, ethnicity, location, and political orientation), as inferred from their posting history using another LLM,” they write.

The r/chnagemyview moderators note that the researchers’ violated multiple subreddit rules, including a policy requiring the disclosure when AI is used to generate comment and a rule prohibiting bots. They say they filed an official complaint with the University of Zurich and have requested the researchers withhold publication of their paper.

The researchers didn’t respond to an email from Engadget. In posts on Reddit and in a draft of their paper, though, they say their research was approved by a university ethics committee and that their work could help online communities like Reddit protect users from more “malicious” uses of AI. 

“We acknowledge the moderators’ position that this study was an unwelcome intrusion in your community, and we understand that some of you may feel uncomfortable that this experiment was conducted without prior consent,” the researchers wrote in a comment responding to the r/changemyview mods. “We believe the potential benefits of this research substantially outweigh its risks. Our controlled, low-risk study provided valuable insight into the real-world persuasive capabilities of LLMs—capabilities that are already easily accessible to anyone and that malicious actors could already exploit at scale for far more dangerous reasons (e.g., manipulating elections or inciting hateful speech).”

The mods for r/changemyview dispute that the research was necessary or novel, noting that OpenAI researchers have conducted experiments using data from r/changemyview “without experimenting on non-consenting human subjects.” Reddit didn’t respond to a request for comment, though the accounts that posted the AI-generated comments have been suspended.

“People do not come here to discuss their views with AI or to be experimented upon,” the moderators wrote. “People who visit our sub deserve a space free from this type of intrusion.”

The extraction-shooter genre is getting a little more crowded and a lot more stylish with the announcement of Mycopunk, a four-player, first-person romp from indie studio Pigeons at Play and publisher Devolver Digital. Mycopunk is coming to Steam in early access this year.

Mycopunk stars four eccentric robots who’ve been hired by an intergalactic megacorporation to exterminate an invasive, violent fungus that’s taken root on a valuable planet. Each robot has a specific class and moveset, but players can use any weapon or loadout with any character — and that’s a huge benefit, because there are a ton of wacky guns, upgrades and ammo options in this game. For example, there are bouncing shotgun pellets, bullets that hover in place and then dive down when you press the trigger again, and a rocket launcher move that also makes you fly. Customization is a big part of the Mycopunk experience, and there are about 40 upgrades for every weapon, plus unique ability trees for each robot. A spatial upgrade system lets you activate abilities by placing their molecular strands on a honeycomb grid, combining effects in powerful and silly ways.

The main loop in Mycopunk involves gathering your team, setting mission modifiers, and then dropping onto a planet to kill hordes of massive, tentacled fungus monsters. With each run, you have to accomplish your corporate-directed goal, collect resources for future upgrades and generally survive the onslaught. Missions are fast-paced and the action shifts throughout, dropping new enemies, minibosses and environmental dangers until your final escape.

The hub world, where you hang out between missions, is surprisingly vast and packed with surreal touches, like a giant TV screen that only shows a sitcom about roaches. All abilities are unlocked in the hub so you can freely test out your character, plus there are vehicles to drive around, a sparring area, a recreation sphere, snack machines, and secret passageways to explore. It also has Roachard, your mission control contact who happens to be a big roach.

Devolver Digital

Visually, Pigeons at Play took inspiration from your coolest friend’s favorite comic book artist, Moebius, which lends the game a gritty, hand-drawn vibe. Mycopunk looks like a living graphic novel, blending retrofuturism with slick mechanics to create a rich, tactile experience. It specifically reminds me of Rollerdrome, a gorgeous game that I will never stop talking about.

Mycopunk started out as a senior thesis project for the Pigeons at Play crew, but it’s transformed into something much larger (kind of like a well-fed fungus). Mycopunk is charming and surprisingly deep, with dozens of cute touches that come straight from the developers’ history of playing co-op shooters together. For instance, to revive a teammate you have to literally find and reconnect two halves of their broken robot body, instead of just pressing X over their corpse in the middle of a hectic battlefield. Each character also has their own dance moves, and one of the available upgrades lets you move a swarm of bullets through the air like a murderous orchestra conductor.

A demo for Mycopunk went live on Steam today and the game is set to enter early access later in 2025.

There are plenty of good reasons to delete your X account, whether it's because of a general desire to not do anything to help Elon Musk, a distaste for the curdled culture of the platform or the allure of greener social pastures like Bluesky or Threads. Whatever your reason, the process of deleting your account is simple, and by design, pretty hands-off. In order to get rid of your X account, you'll first have to deactivate it. Once you go 30 days without logging in, it will be permanently deleted.

How to deactivate your X account

Ian Carlos Campbell for Engadget

Deactivating your X account makes your profile page, posts and associated username disappear, though posts you were tagged in before you shutdown in your account will still be viewable. Deactivating also makes it impossible for you to post or view your timeline, unless you reactivate. It's one of the strongest ways to "take a break" from X, but also the only way you can get your account permanently deleted.

If you need any of your data before you deactivate and delete, you'll want to make sure you initiate that process and receive your archive before you deactivate. X says it can't send an archive from an account that's been deactivated.  

1. Open X.

2. Click on the More section in the sidebar menu.

3. Click on Settings and Privacy.

4. In the Your account section of Settings, click on Deactivate your account.

5. Read through X's warnings and then click on Deactivate.

6. Enter your account password to confirm you want to deactivate, then click Deactivate.

Now just make sure that you don't log in for 30 days, and your account will be permanently deleted. This won't necessarily delete web search results that mention your X account or your posts, but it will eliminate records of you on X itself.

FAQs

How do you reactivate your account?

If you have a change of heart before your 30 days are up, it is possible to reactivate your account so you can use it again. To reactivate your account, head to X.com or the X app and login with your credentials. You'll be asked if you want to reactive your account. Once you confirm that you do, you'll be logged in and be able to post and view your timeline. X notes that some of your account features like followers and likes may take a while to fully restore.

Is all of your information actually deleted when your X account is deleted?

While deactivating your X account and letting it be deleted does remove all of the public-facing parts of your social media presence, X does keep some of your information to "ensure the safety and security of its platform and people using X." The full list of data X collects and how it uses it is available in X's data processing explainer, as far as you should be concerned, though, a deleted account is gone.

Spain, Portugal and parts of France have experienced a massive power outage. The interruption of service extends to the capital cities Madrid and Lisbon, both of which have been left without electricity and internet. Seville, Barcelona and Valencia have also been impacted.

A grid operator in Portugal has attributed the outage to “extreme temperature variations” in a statement given to the Independent. Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has offered a slightly different take, stating that there is no “conclusive information” regarding the cause of the blackout.

The aforementioned grid operator also warned that it could take up to a full week to restore power, though others have suggested things could be up and running within ten hours. Spanish power company Red Electrica has stated that it has already restored power to some northern parts of the Iberian Peninsula.

Due to the outages, airports have been disabled and events like the Madrid Open have been cancelled. Spain’s major railway operator Renfe has noted that trains are stuck at stations or along their routes due to the lack of electricity.

How exactly would extreme temperature variations cause such a severe blackout? It has been reported that the grid experienced “anomalous oscillations” that led to fluctuations in the amount of voltage carried to power lines. This could have forced these power lines out of sync with one another, according to a professor who spoke to The Times.

“These oscillations reportedly caused ‘synchronisation failures’ between the electrical systems, leading to successive disturbances across the interconnected European network,” Professor Chenghong Gu said. “This is why we are seeing many customers in different parts of the EU grid being cut off.”

Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders are technically open in North America, but if you haven't managed to grab one already, you may have a tough time doing so before the console's June 5 release date. After what felt like a long delay from Nintendo's original April 9 pre-order date, the company finally opened up pre-orders in the US and Canada on April 24. A couple of (technically messy) hours later, stock at third-party retailers such as Walmart, Target and Best Buy promptly sold out. GameStop opened up its pre-orders later that morning and quickly met the same fate, with the company later confirming its online stock had dried up as well. 

Some users were reportedly able to order through Walmart as late as Saturday, April 26, but as of our latest update, the retailer has taken down one of its Switch 2 pre-order pages entirely. Another listing is still live but out of stock. For now, none of the other aforementioned retailers are currently accepting pre-orders either.

We'll update this post if that changes — particularly as Walmart opens up "Walmart+ Week" sales event — but right now the only other retailer confirmed to accept pre-orders is Nintendo itself. That said, the device maker is only offering the Switch 2 through an invite system, for which it began accepting registrations on April 2. The first wave of those invites will go out on May 8, though the company recently updated its pre-order page to say that some may not receive their pre-order email until after the June 5 launch date. 

How to pre-order the Nintendo Switch 2

As noted above, third-party retailers like Best Buy, GameStop, Walmart and Target opened their pre-orders on April 24 as scheduled. Best Buy, Walmart and Target pre-orders opened at midnight, while GameStop's in-person and online pre-orders started at 11am. However, all of those retailers have either sold out of their stock or list the console as "coming soon" as of this writing. 

We also expect the Switch 2 to be available from Amazon some time in the future, but links are not live on the site yet, and there's been no indication as to when that might change. Other membership-based retailers like Costco and Sam's Club have posted Switch 2 listings as well, though it doesn't appear as if those stores will accept pre-orders. Newegg has also added a Switch 2 page but isn't offering an option to buy just yet.

At this point, we recommend signing up via Nintendo's website if you haven't already. It's free to register and you'll eventually get an email that will allow you to order the console, even if you have to wait until after the June 5 launch day. However, note that Nintendo says it will prioritize invites "on a first-come, first-served basis" to those who've paid for its Switch Online service for at least 12 months and logged at least 50 hours of total Switch gameplay time. (You'll also need to have opted into sharing gameplay data with Nintendo, which you can confirm in your account's privacy settings.) So if you're just registering with Nintendo today, don't be surprised if it takes some time for your invite to arrive. 

Either way, if you're desperate to catch a restock, it's a good idea to create accounts with each of the retailers above and ensure all of your shipping and billing info is correct. Downloading each store's mobile app and signing up for notifications may help too, though that could get annoying fairly quickly. We'll continue to update this post as time goes on with the latest Switch 2 pre-order information.

Pre-order Nintendo Switch 2

• Nintendo

• Walmart

• GameStop

• Best Buy

• Target

• Amazon*

Pre-order Nintendo Switch 2 + Mario Kart World bundle

• Nintendo

• Walmart

• GameStop

• Best Buy

• Target

• Amazon*

*As of 1:40pm ET on Monday, April 28, Amazon has not listed either Switch 2 console package for sale. We will update this article with direct links if they arrive; until then, we're linking to the site's Nintendo-focused hub.

How to pre-order Switch 2 accessories

The Switch 2 has a number of accessories that you can buy separately. While the console didn't get a price adjustment when Nintendo announced the new pre-order date, many of these accessories did. The new Switch 2 camera now costs $55 instead of the original $50 price tag; the new Switch 2 Pro controller costs $85 instead of $80; an extra pair of Joy-Con 2 controllers will set you back $95 instead of $90 and a Joy-Con charging grip is going for $40 instead of $35. Check out Nintendo's official statement for all of the accessory price adjustments. You can still pre-order many of these devices now, though stock has become spottier at certain retailers.

Samsung microSD Express Card – 256GB for Nintendo Switch 2 for $60

• Nintendo

• Walmart

• GameStop

• Best Buy

• Target

• Amazon*

Joy-Con 2 bundle for $95

• Nintendo

• Walmart

• GameStop

• Best Buy

• Target

• Amazon*

Switch 2 Pro Controller for $85

• Nintendo

• Walmart

• GameStop

• Best Buy

• Target

• Amazon*

Switch 2 camera for $55

• Nintendo

• Walmart

• GameStop

• Best Buy

• Target

• Amazon*

Hori Nintendo Switch 2 Piranha Plant Camera for $60

• Best Buy

• Target

Joy-Con 2 charging grip for $40

• Nintendo

• Walmart

• GameStop

• Best Buy

• Target

• Amazon*

Joy-Con 2 Wheels (set of 2) for $25

• Nintendo

• Walmart

• GameStop

• Best Buy

• Target

• Amazon*

Switch 2 all-in-one carrying case for $85

• Nintendo

• Walmart

• GameStop

• Best Buy

• Target

• Amazon*

*As of 1:40pm ET on Monday, April 28, Amazon has not listed any first-party Switch 2 accessories or games for sale. We will update this article with direct links if they arrive; until then, we're linking to the site's Nintendo-focused hub.

More Switch 2 details

We knew from the teaser trailer for the Switch 2 that Nintendo's new hardware would be bigger and would have a new approach to the detachable Joy-Cons. The new Joy-Con 2 have a new C button, mouse controls and a built in gyroscope for tilt control. The console has a built-in mic to support a new feature called Game Chat that will let you communicate with friends in-game. The device is indeed a bit larger, with a 7.9-inch LCD screen that supports a 120Hz refresh rate, HDR and a 1080p resolution.

When docked, you'll be able to play at up to 4K on your TV, and Nintendo says it improved the consoles internal speakers as well. The new dock also has a built-in fan to keep the console cool and help maintain performance during long play sessions. The Switch 2 has dual USB-C ports for charging, and the base storage amount has increased to 256GB. The Switch 2's storage can be expanded like the previous model, but it will only work with newer microSD Express cards.

Tariffs and the Nintendo Switch 2

During its most recent Direct presentation at the start of April, Nintendo showed off more of the Switch 2 than it ever had before. That included the reveal of the April 9 pre-order opening date, in addition to the original $450 starting price. Shortly after, President Trump announced sweeping tariffs on China and other countries, prompting Nintendo to delay pre-orders in the US and Canada.

In a reversal, President Trump then announced a 90-day pause on steep tariffs affecting 75 countries, but also announced that the tariff imposed on China will go up even further (right now, it sits at 145 percent).

We now know that the original $450 price for the Switch 2 will remain the same in the US and Canada, but based on its official statement, it appears Nintendo is leaving the door open for potential future price increases.

We also know that Nintendo started moving some of its Switch console manufacturing to Vietnam in 2019. The increased tariff for Vietnam was set to be 46 percent, but that appears to be on hold for now in favor of a 10 percent tariff that’s now in effect for the 90-day pause period.

It has been speculated that Nintendo will boost production of Switch 2 consoles in Vietnam so it can stay on schedule, even if it sells the console at a loss in the short term. It appears the company will have to seriously ramp up production to keep up with Switch 2 demand: according to Nintendo, 2.2 million people entered the pre-order lottery in Japan alone, which is far more devices than it is expected to deliver in that region on launch day.

The consequences of President Trump’s tariff policies are starting to kick in. Crowdfunding platform Kickstarter just announced something called a "Tariff Manager Tool" that lets creators add new surcharges to funded projects. This should help these creators deal with the unexpected costs of Trump’s global trade war.

Here’s how it works. Creators will be able to apply per-item surcharges to account for tariff-related cost increases. These charges will appear as a separate line item on the payment page for folks who have funded the project. It only applies to items heading to US-based shipping addresses. 

Not everyone will want to, or be able to, pay an additional fee for something they backed months or years ago when the economy was stronger. Backers will be given the option to decline the surcharge, in which case a creator can issue a refund. A blog post does suggest that backers and creators could find "another resolution," beyond a refund, but didn’t get into specifics.

"We understand that asking backers to pay an additional fee—especially after a campaign has ended—can be sensitive," Kickstarter said. "Our goal is to provide you with the flexibility and transparency necessary to navigate those conversations with clarity and care."

Many Kickstarter projects rely on parts manufactured in China, Vietnam and other places that are now subject to exorbitant tariffs. This is poised to be exceptionally brutal for American small businesses, but Kickstarter creators face another hurdle. Backers typically fund a project months or years before fulfillment. It’s going to be unpleasant to find a new surcharge for something funded back in 2023 or whenever.

A tabletop game maker called Stonemaier Games is suing President Trump over these tariffs. The small Missouri-based company has joined an upcoming lawsuit that alleges the president’s actions have put the livelihood of its employees in jeopardy. The suit challenges the constitutionality of the tariffs and noted that they will cost the company $1.5 million in additional import fees. Stonemaier is primarily known for the excellent Wingspan, which made our list of the best board games.

Retailers across the country, both large and small, have been warning consumers that prices are about to shoot up in May and that many products could become totally unavailable. This is due to both the tariffs and a recent executive order by Trump that eliminated a loophole that allowed small packages to avoid additional import charges. If you’ve been eyeing a particular gadget, you should probably get on that sooner rather than later.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 is back on sale, this time for the lowest price we've seen since Black Friday. This particular deal is for the 40mm model and only for the green colorway, but you can always swap out the strap if that's not quite your style. This variant is 30 percent or $90 off the usual price of $300. In other words, it can be yours for $210. 

Perhaps a cream strap is more of a match for your look. In that case, you can save on a version of the Galaxy Watch 7 with that too as it has dropped to $240. For the same price, you can get a 44mm Galaxy Watch 7 in green (which has a slightly larger, 1.5-inch screen). That also marks a discount of $90.

Samsung hasn't rocked the boat much with the last few iterations of the Galaxy Watch, but it's largely a case of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" — even if we do have some reservations about the latest generation of the wearable. We gave the Galaxy Watch 7 a score of 85 in our review. The always-on display's impact on battery life is our main bugbear, while running a finger along the bezel for navigation feels clunky.

That said, the Galaxy Watch 7 offers reliable activity tracking (with automatic logging for walks) and it delivers speedy performance. We appreciate that it looks more like a traditional watch than much of the competition too. While the Google Pixel Watch 3 is our pick for the best smartwatch for Android users, there's still a lot to like about the Galaxy Watch 7 — especially at this price.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

LG’s 2025 lineup of its QNED Evo premium LCD TVs will be available to buy starting in May, following an initial reveal at the end of 2024 ahead of CES. The flagship QNED9M is the first QNED (Quantum Nano-Emitting Diode) TV capable of leveraging LG’s True Wireless tech to wirelessly transmit and display 4K content, a feature previously exclusive to the company’s more premium OLED TVs.

LG might be best known for its OLEDs these days, but the trickling down of the wireless functionality it first introduced back in 2023 with the Zero Connect Box is proof that the company isn’t forgetting about its more affordable LCD sets. LG claims that with devices like game consoles or set-top boxes plugged into that external box, you can expect to transmit 4K content at up to 144Hz with no latency or loss in picture and audio quality. In a win for clutter-haters (and who isn’t one of those), the only cable you’ll need to plug into the TV itself is its power cord. It’s worth noting that models 55-inch and below top out at a refresh rate of 120Hz.

The QNED Evo lineup is powered by LG’s Alpha AI processor. The updated TVs also benefit from LG’s Dynamic QNED Color solution, replacing quantum dot tech, which produces more vivid and lifelike colors. QNED TVs combine quantum dot and nanocell technology with Mini LED backlighting that employs thousands of dimming zones. As a result, you get brighter images and higher contrast compared to a more traditional LCD panel, even if it’s still a step down from the self-lit pixels on an OLED display.

The new AI Magic Remote you get in the box has a dedicated AI button, which when pressed allows you to make personalized voice requests. The baked-in AI tech can also tweak the TV according to your personal audio and visual preferences, enhance faces and key scene elements, and produce virtual 9.1.2 surround sound from the built-in speakers.

The TVs also double as smart home hubs, offering multi-platform connectivity through LG ThinQ and Google Home. AirPlay and Google Cast are from your iPhone or Android device of choice.

With sizes ranging from 50 to 100 inches, the refreshed QNED Evo models roll out next month in the US, but prices still haven’t been announced.

Google I/O is where we learn about many major features and updates that are coming to the company’s ecosystem, including on the Android front. The company is doing something a little different this year. Just ahead of I/O, it will provide a deep dive into the future of Android with a special edition of The Android Show.

This is the first time that Google has held such a showcase before I/O. The company says that people have been asking for more ways to learn about how the Android experience is changing and giving the ecosystem its own spotlight ahead of the main event is one way to do that. 

Google says it has “so many new things to share" regarding Android, hence this edition of The Android Show (a series that the company has been running for developers on YouTube for a while). The presentation will feature Android Ecosystem president Sameer Samat. Android will still be featured at I/O, where Google is promising to reveal “even more special announcements and surprises.” Multiple Android keynotes are scheduled for the event.

The Android Show: I/O Edition will air on May 13 at 1PM ET. Google I/O takes place a week later, starting on May 20. As ever, we’ll bring you all the important news and updates you need to know from the event right here on Engadget.

Apple’s AirPods 4 earbuds are on sale via Amazon for $100. This is a record low price and a discount of $30. This particular deal is also available at Walmart and Best Buy.

These earbuds are considered some of the best AirPods available for purchase. The sound quality has been improved over the previous generation, which is nice. The big selling point to me, however, is the refined design. The AirPods 4 feature a legitimately comfortable fit, which is pretty rare in the earbud space. They don’t even fall out when moving around, which is something we noted in our official review.

This model features the H2 chip that was originally introduced with the AirPods Pro. The chip allows for some advanced features, like Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking. The earbuds also offer Adaptive EQ and 48kHz audio for video calls. Apple has even included the newly-developed Voice Isolation feature that removes ambient noise when talking on the phone.

The AirPods 4 earbuds do not have onboard volume controls and there’s no option for wireless charging. Also, this model doesn’t include ANC. The ANC-equipped version is on sale today for $149, which is a discount of 17 percent. The high-end AirPods Pro 2 earbuds are also on sale right now for $169. This is a discount of 32 percent, as the regular price is $249.

Check out our coverage of the best Apple deals for more discounts, and follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.