Tesla has sued a former employee who it is accusing of stealing trade secrets related to its supercomputer project, Bloomberg reported on Friday. According to a filing in the U.S. District Court in San Jose, thermal engineer Alexander Yatskov quit on May 2 after having joined the company only a few months earlier, in January. According to Tesla, Yatskov admitted to transferring confidential information to his personal devices and later handing over a "dummy" laptop after company officials confronted him on suspicion of theft.

In addition to breaching a non-disclosure agreement intended to protect trade secrets, Bloomberg reports that Tesla is also accusing Yatskov of misrepresenting his experience and skills on his resume. Bloomberg also says that Yatskov declined to comment. 

“This is a case about illicit retention of trade secrets by an employee who, in his short time at Tesla, already demonstrated a track record of lying and then lying again by providing a ‘dummy’ device to try and cover his tracks,” Tesla wrote in the filing, reports Bloomberg.

CEO Elon Musk has been teasing Tesla's supercomputer project, called "Dojo," since at least 2019. Last summer, the company finally explained the project in more detail, laying out a goal of using AI to analyze massive amounts of vehicle data, ideally resulting in a safer, more refined autonomous driving experience. The computer, which offers 1.8 exaflops of performance and 10 petabytes of NVME storage running at 1.6 terabytes per second, trains itself using video from eight cameras inside Tesla vehicles running at 36 frames per second. 

Tesla claimed last year that although this approach generates a tremendous amount of data, it is still more scalable than building high-definition maps around the world. At the time, Tesla indicated that the system was most successful in sparsely populated areas where cars could mostly drive uninterrupted. Even so, the company also touted some early successes in denser areas, including Dojo's ability to learn new types of traffic warnings, pedestrian collision detection and pedal misapplications (accidentally hitting the gas instead of the brakes). 

Xbox users hoping to enjoy some solid playtime over the weekend were stymied on Saturday, following an outage that lasted about nine hours. Microsoft issued a tweet around 4pm ET on Saturday, acknowledging that some users were unable to purchase and launch games or join Cloud Gaming sessions. The service Downdetector also logged a spike in error reports around that time.

Players could have switched to physical discs (if they owned a console that even had a disc slot) or, in theory, they could have played offline. But, as The Verge reports, even offline play wasn't working for some users.

Microsoft posted an update around 1am ET on Sunday, saying users should no longer be experiencing those issues, though Downdetector notes a trickle of new complaints that has continued into Sunday morning. 

Adding to players' frustrations, this was in fact the second Xbox Network outage so far this weekend. Xbox suffered a similar outage that began late Friday afternoon and extended into Saturday morning, with Microsoft then, too, warning of problems with launching and buying games, and starting Cloud Gaming sessions. In addition, Microsoft admitted, some users were also struggling during the earlier outage accessing streaming apps such as Netflix and Disney+. 

Microsoft only claimed to have fully resolved the Friday outage at 1pm on Saturday, about three hours before user complaints began to spike again. 

The tone is almost apologetic. "I have some important news," says Ewan McGregor, star of the upcoming Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi. "Our premiere date is moving just a couple of days." His hands are raised, as if to say "don't be mad!" Indeed, Disney is pushing the show's launch back by two days, from Wednesday, May 25th to Friday, May 27th. 

That's a shame mostly because the 25th would have been exactly 45 years since the original Star Wars opened. But, as McGregor's body language suggests: don't be mad. As penance for the grave inconvenience, Disney will now be releasing the first two episodes that day instead of just one. 

For fans of the franchise, this newest series starring McGregor has been a long time coming. The series was first announced in summer 2019, and Disney has since revealed that other big names are attached, including Rosario Dawson and Hayden Christensen reprising his trilogy role as Darth Vader.

Every healthy relationship is built on compromise. Which is why there probably isn’t room in my boyfriend’s apartment for both my slow cooker and Instant Pot. Before we met, I had been living in my studio for almost eight years – plenty of time to accumulate all manner of cooking gadgets, tools and appliances. I purchased the slow cooker first, with a clear sense of what I wanted to make: soups, chili, maybe some bolognese. 

The Instant Pot, on the other hand, was an impulse buy. I didn’t actually know what I would do with this multipurpose cooker, marketed as a “7-in-1” device. But seemingly everyone else was buying one. And it was on sale for Black Friday, as it always is. I paid $67.99 for the six-quart Duo 60 and, according to my Amazon order history, threw in a 9-inch springform pan and reversible cast iron grill/griddle pan. I somehow doubt those will make the journey over to my boyfriend’s either.

So, of the Duo 60’s seven functions (pressure cooking, slow cooking, rice, yogurt, steaming, sautéing and warming), slow cooking was clearly my comfort zone. The problem is, the Instant Pot is not very good at that, at least not out of the box. The same sealed lid that makes the IP so adept at pressure cooking rice, beans and meat is poorly suited to the task of slow cooking, which requires a meaningful amount of evaporation to be successful. While there’s a steam tray latched to the back of the Instant Pot, a traditional slow cooker would have a glass lid with at least one hole for steam to escape. What’s more, the sealed design rules out the possibility of inserting a probe thermometer, something all conventional slow cookers offer.

Read any number of articles or Reddit threads and you’ll see two pieces of advice repeat themselves: adjust the amount of liquid, or increase the cooking time. My issue with that approach is that I’m not much of an improvisational cook to begin with, and I’d rather not learn after three-plus hours of cooking that my meal is a bust.

Eventually in my research I found this $18 tempered glass lid, made by Instant Pot itself. The company isn’t so cheeky as to acknowledge the lid improves a flawed slow cooking experience, but needless to say, it does recommend the accessory for that purpose, not to mention sautéing, serving and keeping food warm. Though I purchased the Duo 60 in 2017, Instant Pot claims the six-quart lid should fit, well, any six-quart Instant Pot model. As a bonus, it's dishwasher safe, though I definitely hesitated after seeing at least two Amazon reviewers report their wash cycles ended in glass shards. (Mine survived just fine.)

My first test of the new setup was my favorite slow-cooker chili recipe. (As a tip, if you’re new to slow cooking in the Instant Pot, treat the “Normal” setting as the equivalent of low, and “More” when the recipe calls for high. Like any slow cooker, the Instant Pot defaults to a warming mode after the cooking time is up.) After four hours of cooking on low, the chili tasted the way I remembered it: sweet, spicy and certainly not too soupy. And I was grateful to not have had to reduce the liquid by 15 to 20 percent, especially with so many different kinds of fluids required for this particular recipe. Another day, I cooked a vegetable-tortellini soup on high for five hours. (This recipe also gave me an excuse to try some sautéing too.)

Over the long hours each recipe was cooking, I noticed more and more condensation clinging to the underside of the lid. Though the Instant Pot itself got quite warm on low (and close to hot on high), the handle remained more tepid to the touch, which I was able to grab with bare hands without burning myself. As a tip, if you want to remove the lid without dripping all the condensation back into the dish, flip it toward you when removing it instead of lifting it straight up.

Another tip: the lid is also excellent for covering leftovers in the Instant Pot’s inner pot. Just stick the covered stainless steel bowl in the fridge and worry about cleaning it another day. (Yes, my “tip” here is really just punting on doing the dishes.)

In the end, I’m still not sure what will become of my standalone slow cooker. Will I sell it on the cheap? Donate it? Gift it to my mom, who has never used a crock pot? TBD. But now that my Instant Pot is actually the multipurpose cooker I originally wanted, I suspect I won’t be bringing that second appliance to the new apartment.

CES might look a little different this year, but that hasn't stopped Lenovo from doing what it does best: using the industry to event to launch many, many new products. In addition to the usual laptops, the company is showing off a new smart clock, the Smart Clock Essential with Alexa. Aside from a minimalist cloth design that clearly borrows from last year's Smart Clock 2, the new Essential improves on the old by adding a pogo docking pin at the bottom and, well, support for Amazon Alexa. The original Essential clock only worked with Google Assistant, and while I was hoping this new device could handle both, the new Essential with Alexa truly is Alexa-only, while the original remains available as a Google smart clock.

As an object that's meant to sit on your bedside table, there really isn't much to the new Essential. The fabric comes in either a muted "Clay Red" or pale "Misty Blue," with the entire front face given over to the 4-inch LED display. The interface is just white text on a deep black background; in addition to the time, you'll see the day and real-time decibel levels (an interesting touch). If you expected a display for streaming video, a la the Amazon Echo Show 5, you'd be mistaken. There's also a mic switch and no built-in camera, a design choice that many people will surely find welcome.

On the top edge there are just four buttons: volume buttons, a button for activating the assistant, and another for setting an alarm. There's also a USB port for charging.

Although optional, those docking accessories are actually an important part of the story. In addition to a basic pad with room for both the clock and another wireless-charging like a phone, the company is selling what it calls the Ambient Light Dock, which doubles as a nightlight. Available in two whimsical designs — a sea lion and a squid — it has eight different lighting modes and a rainbow of colors, plus the clock's screen shows a cute anthropomorphic face when you press the assistant button. Now, why a sea lion and squid, specifically? Why not, we say. (And a canny choice if this low-tech, low-cost product is largely meant to occupy kids' rooms anyway.)

The Lenovo Smart Clock Essential goes on sale this month for $60, with the docks available at the same time for $30 apiece. Though Lenovo ultimately decided to pull its in-person exhibit at CES, we still got to see the company's new products at a socially distant briefing in New York this month. Check out our hands-on video (coming soon) for a first look.

It's not the lowest price we've ever seen on an Apple Watch Series 7, but it's close. Here at Engadget, our sharp-eyed commerce team noticed that Amazon is selling Apple's latest smartwatch for $349, or $50 off the normal starting price. This time around, it's the Product RED and green models specifically that are on sale. Though we've seen the green variant on sale for $10 less, this is the lowest price we've seen on the red edition, if that's the color you happen to have been eyeing. 

For the money, you're looking at an entry-level aluminum model with GPS connectivity and a 41mm screen (the smaller of the two sizes, with the larger measuring 45mm). Indeed, it's mostly that slightly larger and therefore more user-friendly display that distinguishes it from the previous-gen Series 6. You'll also appreciate the 33-percent faster charging speeds in your day-to-day use. (Can confirm, as a Series 7 owner myself.)

Otherwise, the Series 7 offers everything we already loved about the Apple Watch, including a wide selection of apps and watchfaces, automatic workout detection and a mix of health and safety features including a heart rate sensor, blood oxygen readings and fall detection. 

For the past month, AT&T and Verizon have been holding off on rolling out potentially faster C-band 5G service, due to safety concerns from the Federal Aviation Administration. Now, it looks like an additional delay could be in store, once again over FAA concerns. The two major carriers had been scheduled on December 5 to use newly purchased frequencies to roll out C-band service, but delayed the launch to January 5 after the Department of Transportation raised concerns related to possible interference. According to a letter obtained by Reuters, the Transportation Department and FAA are now asking for up to two more weeks to study the issue.

In the letter, sent by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and FAA Administrator Steve Dickson to the CEOs of AT&T and Verizon, the pair asked for a delay of "no more than two weeks." The two framed the request as part of a "proposal as a near-term solution for advancing the co-existence of 5G deployment in the C-Band and safe flight operations," according to Reuters. 

At issue until now has been the possibility that pilots will use poor-weather safety system that could conflict with this new C-band 5G technology. The FAA would ultimately like to enact regulations that bar pilots from using such systems, The Wall Street Journal reported in November. Aviation officials have claimed that C-band 5G has the potential to interfere with flights in and around the nearly four dozen cities where C-band towers are located. Telecoms have claimed there is no evidence that C-band 5G will jeopardize flight safety.

In the framework that Reuters describes in its report, the FAA would designate "priority" airports where "a buffer zone would permit aviation operations to continue safely while the FAA completes its assessments of the interference potential."

Reuters says that both companies say they have received the letter. But they have so far stopped short of agreeing to an additional two-week delay. Needless to say, this postponement would come as unwelcome news to both carriers. Reuters reports that on Friday, the companies accused the aviation industry of holding the C-band expansion "hostage until the wireless industry agrees to cover the costs of upgrading any obsolete altimeters."

And in a statement to Insider on Saturday, a Verizon spokesperson said: "If the airlines are so concerned about flight cancellations related to 5G, they should really look at their track record over the past two weeks," referring to a wave of recent cancellations amid a surge in COVID-19 cases. "This industry which got a $54 billion taxpayer-funded, government bail out over the past couple years clearly has much bigger issues to worry about."

As frustrated as executives from the two carriers might be, however, as Reuters notes the companies agreed to six months of precautionary measures when they purchased the C-band spectrum in early 2021.

The United States is extending its operations aboard the International Space Station through 2030, NASA confirmed Friday in a blog post. “The International Space Station is a beacon of peaceful international scientific collaboration and for more than 20 years has returned enormous scientific, educational, and technological developments to benefit humanity," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement. 

Though it was never in doubt that the US would continue its near-term commitment to the ISS, NASA's announcement comes amid heightened tensions with Russia, one of several nations sharing access to the Space Station. 2021 also saw Russia deepen its cooperation in space with China, another US adversary, as The New York Timesnoted in June.

Fall 2021 saw multiple emergencies aboard the ISS, both of which the US blamed on Russia. In October, surprise test fire from a docked Russian spacecraft caused the ISS to tilt out of its normal position, leading personnel on board to briefly evacuate. (A fun footnote: The spacecraft that caused the incident had been in space so that a Russian crew could film the first feature film aboard the Space Station.) Then, in November, satellite debris forced ISS astronauts to seek shelter on the day as a Russian missile attack. The US condemned Russia for the attack. Russia did not acknowledge any wrongdoing. 

Later that month, in an unrelated episode, Russia's space agency, Roscosmos, left the door open for possible criminal charges related to a 2018 incident involving a hole in one of its spacecraft, which Russian media insinuated could have been the result of US sabotage. "These attacks are false and lack any credibility," Nelson told Ars Technica in November.

In its statement on Friday, NASA highlighted among its continuing projects sending humans to Mars, as well as Project Artemis, an effort to send the first woman and the first person of color to the Moon. Indeed, NASA underwent a reorganization in September that seemed to specifically reflect its priorities around the Moon and Mars.

If you still haven't pulled the trigger on a pair of Apple's AirPods Pro, Amazon has them on sale for the first time since Christmas, as far as we can tell. You can currently get them for $180, down from their normal price of $250. That's not as good as the $159 price advertised for Black Friday, but considering the price spiked to $197 around Christmas, $180 is still an improvement over recent listings. 

Among Apple's AirPods lineup, the AirPods Pro offer the best audio quality. That, plus active noise cancelation and a better fitting design earned it a strong score of 87 in our 2019 review. iPhone and Mac owners in particular will appreciate the buds' H1 chip, which allows for easy pairing, hands-free Siri access and the seamless transfer of audio between iOS and macOS devices. Included in the box, too, as you can see in that top photo, is Apple's MagSafe charging case. 

If you're still in the mood for some post-holiday gifts-to-self, Microsoft has cut the price on its high-end Xbox Elite Series 2 controller to $140. That's almost as low as the Black Friday price of $135, in case you missed out on that sale in late November. Normally $180, the highly customizable Elite Series 2 is positioned as an upgrade for avid gamers, with a slew of premium features including a set of six adjustable-tension thumbsticks, four paddles, two d-pads, shorter hair trigger locks, rubberized wraparound grips, a carrying case and up to three custom profiles — a handy thing if your attention is typically divided between several titles. 

As for battery life, the controller is rated for 40 hours of wireless play time, and there's also a charging dock in the package in addition to the charging case. In addition to wireless connectivity via Bluetooth, there's also the option of plugging in a USB-C cable. Either way, the controller is compatible not just with Xbox games, but PC titles too.

If you've been eyeing the Series 2, it's worth noting we don't see it on sale that often. In fact, stock itself seems to be low right now — as of this writing, Amazon doesn't even have inventory of the Series 2, so the fact that Microsoft has it at all, let alone at a close-to-Black Friday price, seems notable.