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Have you ever gone to use an extension and suddenly been unable to access it without warning? Google is attempting to make this a little less of a surprise by notifying you when it removes an extension from the Chrome Web Store. Of course, this will only be for ones you currently have installed, not just anytime the store's offerings change.

With this new update, you should receive a notification if one of three things occurs: A developer unpublished an extension you use, if it's marked as malware or if it's removed from the Chrome Web Store due to policy violations — such as hate speech or spyware. You won't receive a notification if Google has given a developer time to fix or appeal a possible violation. Google already had steps in place to protect users if the company found an extension to be malware. As before, once marked as such, the extension should be automatically disabled and unable to cause harm.

These new notifications will appear in the "privacy and security" tab of Chrome's settings under a section called "safety check." You'll be told how many extensions Google removed from the store and have the option to review more details. The new feature will be available in Chrome 117, which is set to come out in early September. Other updates will accompany it, such as a tune icon replacing the current lock symbol next to the search bar.

Newly unsealed court filings reveal how much data Xwitter has handed over to the January 6 investigation. This includes all tweets sent, drafted, liked and retweeted – even if they were subsequently deleted – by Donald Trump’s official account. This cache also included DMs sent, received or stored in draft form, as well as linked accounts used on the same device. Even more interesting is the company handed over records of all searches made by the account, too.

We already knew Xwitter had fought the order tooth-and-nail, leading to a court battle and a hefty fine. But the list of what was available should also serve as a warning to everyone else that the platform stores a lot more data on its users than you might expect. The fact it could serve up location history, deleted DMs and a list of searches might make you wonder what else it has on you.

– Dan Cooper

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Scientists recreate an iconic Pink Floyd song by scanning listeners' brains

It could eventually help people with speech challenges.

Researchers claim to have found a way to extract a song from a person’s brain by analyzing their neural activity. A group of test subjects with drug-resistant epilepsy, who already have implants in their brains, were played Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall, Part 1. Using the implants, the team monitored how the brains responded to the stimulus and used AI to recreate what they heard. The result is a bit like listening to a Pink Floyd cover band playing down the street while you’re swimming, but it’s recognizable enough. It’s hoped the discovery could be used as a jumping-off point to develop tech to help people with atrophied speech communicate.

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Intel walks away from its $5.4 billion takeover of Tower Semiconductor

Rumors suggest Chinese regulators were slow to agree to the deal.

Intel Corporation

Intel has withdrawn its $5.4 billion offer to buy Israeli chip fabricator Tower Semiconductor after failing to get regulatory approval. Tower is not a bleeding-edge manufacturer; it makes chips for industrial and automotive applications using older processes. Intel wanted it as part of its plan not to just make its own chips but to manufacture third-party designs in its facilities. It’s thought the major roadblock was China, which refused to give its blessing in a “timely manner.” It’s not clear if China’s inaction was part of the current geopolitical brouhaha over the future of chip making, but it probably hasn’t helped.

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GM’s latest investment could speed development of cheaper EV batteries

It is putting $60 million into a US-based battery company.

Karl Nielsen for General Motors

GM has a vested interest in making batteries both cheaper and more efficient, which is why it just dropped $60 million into Mitra Chem’s pocket. Mitra Chem is working on a US-made battery using cheaper, more common metals than are presently employed. It’s also looking to speed up research into new battery technologies using software that could eliminate much of the early gruntwork.

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Google is working to improve Bard's soulless life advice

But not everyone on the project thinks it’s a good idea.

A Google contractor developing Bard, the search giant’s AI chatbot, has enlisted a score of experts to improve the system’s ability to dole out life advice. It’s in response to users asking the platform for help with intimate issues, like how to back out of a destination wedding. The work has caused alarm in some parts of the company, where workers feel people shouldn’t be asking an AI those sorts of questions.

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Snapchat's My AI chatbot glitched so hard it started posting Stories

It shouldn’t be able to do that.

Snapchat’s in-app digital assistant experienced a malfunction so great it started posting its own stories. My AI is a chatbot you can access if you subscribe to Snapchat Plus for $3.99 a month, but it shouldn’t have access to your stories at all. In a statement, the company explained the system had a “temporary outage” and there’s nothing to worry about. For now, at least.

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Lenovo may soon release a gaming handheld to rival Windows models like the Steam Deck and ASUS ROG Ally, while offering removable controls like a Switch, according to a leak from Windows Report. Called the Legion Go, it will reportedly run Windows 11 and pack AMD's new Phoenix processors, while offering features like a kickstand, microSD slot and a pair of USB-C ports. 

No specs were leaked, but the Legion Go shows back, shoulder and side triggers, plus a wheel hidden under the top right trigger. It also offers a headphone port, volume buttons and a large cooling vent at the back. Given the detachable controls (and extra touch-friendly Windows 11 OS), the display (said to be 8 inches in size) is likely touch sensitive as well. 

Windows Report

According to a previous rumor, Lenovo built a prototype gaming handheld called the Legion Play it never released. It does makes sense for the PC-oriented company to offer a handheld Windows gaming device, though, and the detachable Switch-like controls will help separate the Legion Go from the competition. Along with the aforementioned competition, it will go up against Ayaneo's many handhelds including its latest model, the 2S.

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If you missed out on grabbing one of Amazon's Fire TV devices during Prime Day, then you're in luck: Most of the lineup is currently marked down, and they're each only a tiny bit more than they were during the site's big sale. The cheapest option is Amazon's Fire TV Stick Lite, with a 33 percent discount cutting its price from $30 to $20. 

Amazon's Fire TV Stick Lite is a great entry point into the series, giving you all the basics for the price of two movie tickets (or, let's be real, basically one at this point). It works with TV streamers like Netflix and Disney+ alongside Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also watch live TV and have Alexa Voice Remote Lite control your smart home devices to dim the lights. 

On the more technical side, The Fire TV Stick Lite has 8GB of storage, HDMI passthrough of Dolby-encoded audio and Wi-Fi 5 compatibility. However, unlike the classic Fire TV Stick, the remote doesn't include TV controls like volume. The Fire TV Stick is $5 more than its Lite counterpart thanks to the sale dropping its price from $39 to $25. It also includes Alexa Voice Remote and Dolby Atmos. Both devices have a quad-core CPU 1.7GHz and a GPU 650MHz. 

The Fire TV Stick 4K Max has the biggest sale of all, with a 51 percent discount bringing its price from $55 to $27. For $2 more than the classic, you can get 4K Ultra HD, Dolby Vision and Wi-Fi 6 support. It also has live view picture-in-picture and a quad-core CPU 1.8GHz and a GPU 750MHz. Then there's the big one, the Fire TV Cube, which has a 14 percent discount cutting its price from $140 to $120. It's significantly more expensive than its counterparts but also comes with many more features, like an octa-core 4x 2.2GHz 4x 2.0GHz and a GPU 800MHz. Plus, Amazon's Fire TV Cube has 16GB of storage, hands-free control with Alexa and Wi-Fi 6E support with an Ethernet port. Oh, and you can connect all your devices to it, like game consoles and webcams. 

Are you just looking for some high-tech control? Amazon's Alexa Voice Remote Pro is also on sale, dropping from $35 to $30. This device is a good option if you tend to lose things as you can tell Alexa, "find my remote," and it will ring. 

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

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Earlier this year, Pew Research reported that a majority of US Twitter users reported spending less time on the platform since Elon Musk’s takeover last year. Now, new data suggests another important group of users are also pulling back from the service now called X.

More than half of scientific researchers who use Twitter report they’ve reduced the amount of time they spend there or have left altogether, according to a survey of thousands of scientists conducted by Nature. And nearly half of those polled said they’ve turned to alternative social networks like Mastodon

Of the 9,200 researchers polled, more than 47 percent said they had decreased their usage of the site, while nearly 7 percent reported quitting the site altogether. Notably, almost the same number said they had started an account on at least one new platform over the last year.

Of these, Mastodon, which has seen significant growth since Musk’s takeover of Twitter was announced, was the most widely used. About 47 percent of researchers said they had started using the open-source platform in the past year. LinkedIn and Instagram were the next most popular, drawing 35 and 27 percent of researchers, respectively. Interestingly, Meta’s Twitter competitor, Threads, took the number four spot even though the app launched only days before Nature conducted the poll.

As with the earlier data from Pew, Nature’s findings suggest that Twitter usage is down among those who were once active on the platform. It also highlights how much the dynamics of Twitter have changed over the last year.

Twitter, as Nature points out, has historically been an important platform for researchers and scientists. It’s been used to publicize research and promote scientific debate. And Twitter’s researchers have served as an important source of authoritative information on a platform that's long struggled to combat misinformation. Twitter has also been a valuable source of data for countless researchers studying everything from public health to linguistics.

But much of that has now changed. Many users now feel that their voices are drowned out on a platform that prioritizes content from those with paid verification. And the company has made its API for researchers so expensive that most can no longer access it. So while not all the researchers that spoke to Nature were ready to give up on Twitter entirely, it does seem the company’s tactics have alienated large swaths of the scientific community.

X didn't respond to a request for comment. 

The Associated Press published standards today for generative AI use in its newsroom. The organization, which has a licensing agreement with ChatGPT maker OpenAI, listed a fairly restrictive and common-sense list of measures around the burgeoning tech while cautioning its staff not to use AI to make publishable content. Although nothing in the new guidelines is particularly controversial, less scrupulous outlets could view the AP’s blessing as a license to use generative AI more excessively or underhandedly.

The organization’s AI manifesto underscores a belief that artificial intelligence content should be treated as the flawed tool that it is — not a replacement for trained writers, editors and reporters exercising their best judgment. “We do not see AI as a replacement of journalists in any way,” the AP’s Vice President for Standards and Inclusion, Amanda Barrett, wrote in an article about its approach to AI today. “It is the responsibility of AP journalists to be accountable for the accuracy and fairness of the information we share.”

The article directs its journalists to view AI-generated content as “unvetted source material,” to which editorial staff “must apply their editorial judgment and AP’s sourcing standards when considering any information for publication.” It says employees may “experiment with ChatGPT with caution” but not create publishable content with it. That includes images, too. “In accordance with our standards, we do not alter any elements of our photos, video or audio,” it states. “Therefore, we do not allow the use of generative AI to add or subtract any elements.” However, it carved an exception for stories where AI illustrations or art are a story’s subject — and even then, it has to be clearly labeled as such.

Barrett warns about AI’s potential for spreading misinformation. To prevent the accidental publishing of anything AI-created that appears authentic, she says AP journalists “should exercise the same caution and skepticism they would normally, including trying to identify the source of the original content, doing a reverse image search to help verify an image’s origin, and checking for reports with similar content from trusted media.” To protect privacy, the guidelines also prohibit writers from entering “confidential or sensitive information into AI tools.”

Although that’s a relatively common-sense and uncontroversial set of rules, other media outlets have been less discerning. CNET was caught early this year publishing error-ridden AI-generated financial explainer articles (only labeled as computer-made if you clicked on the article’s byline). Gizmodo found itself in a similar spotlight this summer when it ran a Star Wars article full of inaccuracies. It’s not hard to imagine other outlets — desperate for an edge in the highly competitive media landscape — viewing the AP’s (tightly restricted) AI use as a green light to make robot journalism a central figure in their newsrooms, publishing poorly edited / inaccurate content or failing to label AI-generated work as such.