Quordle, a Wordle-style word game, has a fitting new owner in the shape of Merriam-Webster. The game's URL now redirects to a page on the company's website, as TechCrunch spotted. The Merriam-Webster logo appears at the top of the page too.

"I'm delighted to announce that Quordle was acquired by Merriam-Webster! I can't think of a better home for this game," Quordle creator Freddie Meyer wrote in a message on the game's help tab. "Lots of new features and fun to come, so stay tuned!"

Quordle is a supercharged version of Wordle. Instead of giving folks six guesses to find a single five-letter word, Quordle challenges players to simultaneously figure out four of them in nine guesses or fewer. The color-coded approach is the same. If a letter is the correct place, it turns green, and if it's elsewhere in a given word, it turns yellow. As with Wordle, there's one daily batch of four words.

Merriam-Webster scooped up Quordle a year after Wordle took the world by storm and got snapped up by The New York Times. Heardle, a music-themed clone, also has an apt owner after Spotify bought it last summer.

Some players (hi) have been annoyed by Quordle reusing certain words. On a few occasions, the same word has popped up two days in a row. With a dictionary company now in charge, here's hoping Quordle will freshen things up.

Earlier this month, Amazon confirmed plans to lay off around 18,000 workers. The move has hit certain divisions hard, including Comixology and Prime Air. The latter's drone delivery program was just starting to gain traction after commencing deliveries in test markets and unveiling a new model, but the layoffs have reportedly had a significant impact on that team.

Prime Air employees learned about the cuts on Wednesday, according to CNBC. Employees in the drone delivery department's design, maintenance, systems engineering, flight testing and flight operations teams are said to have been laid off. Workers at multiple locations have been dismissed, it has been claimed, including at Amazon's Seattle headquarters and a drone testing facility in Oregon. Around half of the employees at the test site were reportedly let go.

Headcount reductions were seemingly expected given the many struggles that the drone delivery group has endured over the years. In 2013, Amazon founder CEO Jeff Bezos announced a plan to start delivering packages by drone within 30 minutes. After years of testing, the company finally gained approval from the Federal Aviation Administration in 2020 to start delivering orders by drone. Amazon began doing so in Lockeford, California, and College Station, Texas, just a few weeks ago.

A spokesperson declined to tell CNBC how many Prime Air workers Amazon has let go. The layoffs come only two months after the company unveiled a redesigned drone that could fly further than its predecessor and withstand light rain.

In recent months, Amazon executives have laid off workers from the hardware, Alexa, robotics and physical store divisions. CEO Andy Jassy said in early January that the company was “prioritizing what matters most to customers and the long-term health of our businesses.”

It seems Google is feeling the heat from OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The artificial intelligence-powered chatbot has taken the tech world by storm over the last couple months, as it can provide users with information they're looking for in an easy-to-understand format. Google sees ChatGPT as a threat to its search business and has shifted plans accordingly over the last several weeks, according to The New York Times.

The report claims CEO Sundar Pichai has declared a "code red" and accelerated AI development. Google is reportedly preparing to show off at least 20 AI-powered products and a chatbot for its search engine this year, with at least some set to debut at its I/O conference in May.

According to a slide deck viewed by the Times, among the AI projects Google is working on are an image generation tool, an upgraded version of AI Test Kitchen (an app used to test prototypes), a TikTok-style green screen mode for YouTube and a tool that can generate videos to summarize other clips. Also in the pipeline are a feature titled Shopping Try-on (perhaps akin to one Amazon has been developing), a wallpaper creator for Pixel phones and AI-driven tools that could make it easier for developers to create Android apps.

Pichai reportedly brought in Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin last month to meet with current leaders, review AI plans and offer input. The duo hasn't had much day-to-day involvement with the company since 2019, as they're focusing on other projects.

Google has attempted to speed up product approval processes, including checks to ensure that AI-driven tech is fair and ethical, it's claimed. In addition, the company is said to be adjusting the risk levels it's prepared to take on as it rolls out such tech. Priorities for a demo of the search chatbot seemingly include safety, accuracy and blocking out misinformation. However, for the other products and tools Google is working on, it has "a lower bar and will try to curb issues relating to hate and toxicity, danger and misinformation rather than preventing them," the Times reported.

Of late, Google has exercised some caution when it comes to unveiling new products. The slide deck reportedly mentioned "copyright, privacy and antitrust" as the main risks of AI tech. It's said to have noted that solutions were needed to keep out copyrighted material and prevent personally identifiable information from being shared.

Over the last few years, there has been a backlash against Google's handling of AI ethics. Timnit Gebru and Margaret Mitchell, two leading AI ethics researchers, said Google fired them. Gebru and Mitchell accused Google of censoring research that criticizes AI language-learning models, including concerns that they encode biases found in training data. That can result "in models that encode stereotypical and derogatory associations along gender, race, ethnicity, and disability status," the researchers wrote in a paper. Training datasets can include false information as well. Two other prominent ethics researchers left Google early last year, after Gebru and Mitchell's departures.

It's not difficult to understand why Google is said to be in panic mode over ChatGPT. For one thing, earlier this month, reports suggested that Microsoft (an OpenAI investor) plans to incorporate some of the tech powering ChatGPT into Bing. The company said this week that it will soon integrate ChatGPT into the Azure OpenAI Service.

The latest report over Google's response to ChatGPT comes just after the company announced it's laying off 12,000 people. "I am confident about the huge opportunity in front of us thanks to the strength of our mission, the value of our products and services, and our early investments in AI," Pichai wrote in a memo to staff. "To fully capture it, we’ll need to make tough choices."

The CEO added that the company is preparing to unveil "some entirely new experiences for users, developers and businesses. We have a substantial opportunity in front of us with AI across our products and are prepared to approach it boldly and responsibly."

It's been over 12 years since Tron: Legacy debuted and those who've been longing for a third entry in the classic sci-fi series may have wished for it on a monkey's paw. Tron: Ares, as the film may be called, could start filming this August with Jared Leto, ol' Morbius himself, reportedly set to star. Joachim Rønning (Maleficent: Mistress of Evil and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales) is in talks to direct, according to Deadline.

As Variety notes, Leto first signed on back in 2017, but Disney has had a third movie on the backburner since long before then. Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski (who went on to make Top Gun: Maverick) said in an interview that he wrote and storyboarded a sequel "that takes place on the internet with Yahoo and Google and all those sites." Kosinski said he was close to moving forward with it in 2015 but suggested Disney "pulled the plug" as it had bigger, Marvel- and Star Wars-sized fish to focus on.

This time around, Tron: Ares could finally be happening. Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that Daft Punk will return to deliver another banger of a score. The iconic duo split up in 2021.

Sony will start shipping PS VR2 in little over a month and it has revealed more details about games coming to the platform as well as the launch lineup. The company has confirmed 13 additional titles for PS VR2, all of which are already available on PS VR or other platforms.

Tetris Effect: Connected, Rez Infinite and Thumper are among the original PS VR titles that will hit the new headset. Those who already own Tetris Effect or Rez Infinite for PS4 and PS VR will be able to upgrade to the PS5 (they're playable without the headset) and PS VR2 version for $10 — PS VR versions aren't compatible with the new hardware.

In Rez Infinite, you'll be able to track and aim at enemies using your eyes. PS VR2's eye tracking will also be at the forefront in Before Your Eyes, a game that advances time when you blink.

NFL Pro Era, multiplayer shooter Pavlov VR, the impressive-looking Kayak VR: Mirage and What The Bat? (from the folks behind What The Golf?) are also coming to PS VR2. If you own 3D jigsaw title Puzzling Places or rhythm game Synth Riders for PS VR, you'll get a free upgrade. Rounding out the latest announcements are Song in the Smoke: Rekindled, Creed: Rise to Glory – Championship Edition and The Last Clockwinder.

PS VR2 will arrive on February 22nd. The base package, which comes with Sense controllers and stereo headphones, costs $550. You'll also need a PS5 to use the headset. Sony expects that more than 30 titles will be available for the platform by the end of March, including:

• After the Fall

• Altair Breaker

• Before Your Eyes

• Cities VR

• Cosmonious High

• Creed: Rise to Glory – Championship Edition

• The Dark Pictures: Switchback

• Demeo

• Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate

• Fantavision 202X

• Gran Turismo 7 (free update to PS5 version)

• Horizon Call of the Mountain

• Job Simulator

• Jurassic World Aftermath

• Kayak VR: Mirage

• Kizuna AI – Touch the Beat!

• The Last Clockwinder

• The Light Brigade (purchase includes both PS VR and PS VR2 versions)

• Moss 1 & 2 Remaster

• NFL Pro Era (free upgrade)

• No Man’s Sky

• Pavlov VR

• Pistol Whip (free upgrade)

• Puzzling Places (free upgrade)

• Resident Evil Village (free update for the PS5 version)

• Rez Infinite

• Song in the Smoke

• Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge

• Synth Riders (free upgrade)

• The Tale of Onogoro

• Tentacular

• Tetris Effect: Connected

• Thumper

• The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners: Ch. 2: Retribution

• Vacation Simulator

• What the Bat?

• Zenith: The Last City (free upgrade)

This list suggests you'll need to wait a while longer for the likes of Among Us VR,Beat Saber and Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord. There's still no word if or when Half-Life: Alyx is coming to PS VR2, unfortunately.

Meanwhile, Polyphony revealed a few more details about the free PS VR2 update for Gran Turismo 7, which should be available on launch day. You'll be able to play almost the entire game, including online races, in virtual reality. However, you won't be able to enjoy splitscreen two-player races while you have the headset on.

Sega has at last revealed when folks will be able to snap up Endless Dungeon. The action-packed game is coming to Steam, Epic Games Store, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on May 18th. A Nintendo Switch version will be available later.

Endless Dungeon, from developer Amplitude Studios, was previously slated for a 2022 debut. It's a squad-based blend of a tower defense game and a twin-stick shooter. Players are tasked with both protecting a so-called crystal bot and progressing further into a dungeon.

You can team up with three friends or go it alone and control three characters by yourself (you'll have direct control over one and bark orders at the other two). Endless Dungeon is a roguelite, so you'll gradually unlock persistent upgrades, weapons and characters.

Alongside the release date announcement, Sega opened up pre-orders for most platforms. You'll get early access two days before the official launch, as well as some extra goodies, by pre-ordering the “Last Wish” digital edition. A physical Day One edition with a card game and art book is available too. Sega also released a new trailer which shows some more chaotic gameplay:

Samsung says it's bringing more smart home features to Galaxy Watch devices. It will enable users to view live feeds from home and doorbell Ring and Nest cameras on their smartwatch. Ring camera owners can also use the two-way intercom feature from their Galaxy Watch. Samsung first brought Nest integration to the SmartThings ecosystem in early 2021.

Users will soon be able to control a broader selection of devices from their wrist as well, including smart air purifiers, thermostats and blinds. This builds on existing Galaxy Watch support for TVs, air conditioners, lights and other devices.

Samsung says users won't need to open the SmartThings app to control their smart home devices. They can swipe right from the watch face to access those functions. The company didn't reveal exactly when the update will be available, but we could learn more details at Unpacked on February 1st.

Adobe's Camera to Cloud system, which can upload footage from cameras to the cloud (shockingly enough), is now available without the need for additional hardware. In what the company is calling an industry first, the tech is integrated into RED's V-Raptor and V-Raptor XL cinema camera systems, which can directly upload 8K RAW footage to Frame.io. The only other thing you'll really need is a high-bandwidth internet connection.

Swift cloud uploads should let post-production teams start work on the footage quickly, wherever they may be located. Adobe suggests this can save production companies time and money. It previewed the RED Camera to Cloud integration at Adobe Max in October, noting at the time that Fujifilm's X-H2S mirrorless camera would also be able to upload RAW photos to Frame.io directly.

Adobe says more than 6,000 productions are already using Camera to Cloud, which until the RED integration required another piece of gear. Now, anyone who happens to have a V-Raptor camera can try it out. Direct Camera to Cloud uploads will likely remain the domain of professionals for now (the V-Raptor starts at $24,500), but here's hoping Adobe brings the integration to other cameras soon.

In addition, Adobe announced at the Sundance Film Festival that a beta version of an AI-powered video editing tool is opening up to more users, but not everyone just yet. The web-based Project Blink pinpoints people, objects, dialogue, actions and sounds in video and makes them all searchable. When the AI finds the relevant section, it creates a new clip. You can copy and paste text and the tool will slot in that part of the video.

Among the new features and upgrades include more audio tags (which flag elements like applause and laughter) and the option for users to upload as many files as they wish thanks to infinite scrolling in the library. Project Blink isn't the only text-based video editing tool around, however. Other companies, such as Descript and Runway, have developed their own versions.

Researchers say they have determined a way to make agrivoltaics — the process of growing crops underneath solar panels — more efficient. They found that red wavelengths are more efficient for growing plants, while the blue part of the spectrum is better for producing solar energy. Solar panels that only allow red wavelengths of light to pass through could enable farmers to grow food more productively while generating power at the same time.

Previous studies have found that agrivoltaics can reduce the amount of water required for crops, since they're shaded from direct sunlight. Researchers at Michigan Technological University determined in 2015 that shading can reduce water usage by up to 29 percent. Majdi Abou Najm, an associate professor at University of California, Davis' department of land, air and water resources, told Modern Farmer that by splitting the light spectrum, crops can get the same amount of carbon dioxide with less water while shielding them from heat.

The researchers put the idea to the test by growing tomatoes under blue and red filters, as well as a control crop without any coverings. Although the yield for the covered plots was about a third less than the control, the latter had around twice the amount of rotten tomatoes. Abou Najm noted that the filters helped to reduce heat stress and crop wastage.

Majdi Abou Najm/UC Davis

For this approach to work in practice, though, manufacturers would need to develop translucent solar panels that capture blue light and allow red light to pass through. Matteo Camporese, an associate professor at the University of Padova in Italy and lead author of a paper on the topic, suggested that translucent, carbon-based organic solar cells could work. These cells could be applied onto surfaces such as glass.

There are other issues, including the fact wavelength-selective agrivoltaic systems may need to account for different crop types. Harvesting those crops efficiently might require some out-of-the-box thinking too. Still, the research seems promising and, with a growing global population, it's important to consider different approaches to using our resources more productively.

“We cannot feed 2 billion more people in 30 years by being just a little more water-efficient and continuing as we do,” Abou Najm said. “We need something transformative, not incremental. If we treat the sun as a resource, we can work with shade and generate electricity while producing crops underneath. Kilowatt hours become a secondary crop you can harvest.”

The next former PS5 exclusive that Sony is bringing to PC is Returnal, as the bullet hell roguelike will hit Steam and the Epic Games Store on February 15th. That's just a couple weeks before The Last of Us Part I lands on PC on March 3rd. 

Alongside the release date, Sony-owned Housemarque revealed more details about the PC version. There's support for NVIDIA DLSS and AMD FSR upscaling, as well as NVIDIA's image-scaling tech. Climax Studios, which supported development of Returnal, added support for ray-traced reflections to go along with the existing RT shadows.

Returnal has two new wide-resolution formats on PC, Ultrawide 21:9 and Super Ultrawide 32:9. On the audio side, you can expect Dolby Atmos, two 3D audio options and 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound. You can plug in a DualSense controller for haptic feedback and adaptive trigger support, or you might prefer to try and survive the deadly alien planet of Atropos using a mouse and keyboard.

To play Returnal on PC, you'll need at least an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (6GB) or AMD Radeon RX 580 (8GB) GPU, Intel Core i5-6400 (four-core 2.7GHz) or AMD Ryzen 5 1500X (four-core 3.5GHz) processor, 16GB of DDR4 memory and 60GB of storage. Naturally, you'll need a more powerful rig to get the full impact of Returnal's impressive visuals and neon bullets. The PlayStation Blog has more details on the specs.