Researchers say they have found a hardware exploit with Tesla’s infotainment system that could unlock paid upgrades for free, including Full Self-Driving (FSD) and heated rear seats. They used a technique called voltage glitching, which involves tinkering with the supply voltage of the infotainment system's processor.

“If we do it at the right moment, we can trick the CPU into doing something else,” Christian Werling told TechCrunch. “It has a hiccup, skips an instruction and accepts our manipulated code. That’s basically what we do in a nutshell.”

Werling is one of three doctoral students at the Technical University of Berlin who found the exploit with the help of an independent researcher. The team will present its work at the Black Hat cybersecurity conference next week.

Since it’s a hardware exploit, the process requires physical access to a Tesla vehicle. The jailbreak could enable FSD and certain other features, including in regions where Tesla has not yet made them available, the researchers claim. However, they noted that more work would be needed to test those possibilities.

Still, the researchers claim to have obtained the encryption key that authenticates the car over Tesla’s network, which could lead to them being able to unlock more features. They noted that they were able to obtain personal information from the test car too, including its recent GPS locations, contacts, call logs and calendar appointments.

For several years, hackers have been attempting to unlock paywalled Tesla features, and some efforts have been successful. More recently, one discovered a so-called "Elon Mode" for hands-free FSD operations. Tesla has been playing a game of cat and mouse with these hackers for years.

However, it would be much more difficult for Tesla to revoke this exploit, according to the researchers, given that it’s a hardware-based approach. They claim the company would need physical access to the car. Tesla does not have a communications department that can be reached for comment.

Google has announced several updates to Search aimed at making it easier for people to control information about them that appears in results. The company released a tool last year to help people take down search results containing their phone number, home address or email. Now, the company has updated the "results about you" tool to make it more effective.

A new dashboard will become available in the coming days that will let you know when such personal information pops up in Search. When you get an alert, you'll swiftly be able to ask Google to remove those results.

Earlier this year, the company debuted a Google One feature that can scour the dark web to see if your information has been included in a data breach. This "results about you" update seems to work in a similar way. The fact that it proactively finds results containing your personal info and helps you remove them should make it easier to protect your privacy.

Google

You can access the tool from the Google app by tapping your profile photo and selecting "results about you" or from a dedicated webpage the company has set up. It's available in the US in English for now, but Google plans to offer the tool in other languages and regions soon.

Along similar lines, Google is updating a system that aids users in taking down explicit photos of them. The company has long provided the option for people to request the removal of non-consensual explicit images from search results. It's now expanding that policy to include consensual imagery.

Perhaps you uploaded explicit content of yourself to a website at one point, but decide you no longer want it to be available. If you delete the imagery from that website, you can now ask Google to remove it from search results if it has been published elsewhere without permission. The company notes that the policy doesn't apply to any content you're still commercializing. 

It's not exactly rare for owners of websites that deal in explicit imagery to report content from elsewhere. Removing such content from Google Search results won't scrub it from the web entirely, but that may make it more difficult for people to find. You can search for "request removals" in the Google help center to get started.

Google

On top of all that, Google is rolling out updates for parental controls and SafeSearch. Starting this month, Google is blurring explicit imagery (which it defines as adult or graphic violent content) in search results by default, a move it announced earlier this year. You'll be able to turn off SafeSearch blurring from your settings, unless a school network admin or a guardian has locked the setting on your account.

Last but not least, it'll now be much easier to access parental controls from Search. Punch in a query like “google parental controls” or “google family link” and you'll see an information box that explains how to adjust the settings.

Google

Folks on the lookout for the best wireless earbuds around should definitely consider what Bose has to offer. That's especially true if you want to block out as much environmental noise as possible when it's time to focus. The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II are your best option for noise cancellation right now and, as luck would have it, they're on sale. You can pick up a pair for $249, which is $50 off the regular price.

That's the same discount that was available during Prime Day last month, but it's not quite the lowest price we've seen. The earbuds briefly dropped to $229 during last year's holiday shopping season. However, the current discount is still a good deal on a pair of high-quality earbuds.

We gave the Bose QC Earbuds II a score of 87 in our review last September. Along with excellent active noise cancellation (ANC), the earbuds boast good sound quality. We found that the smaller size compared with the previous model made for a better fit, while Bose improved the ambient sound.

The QC Earbuds II lack multipoint connectivity and wireless charging, which might be dealbreakers for some. We found call quality to be somewhat mediocre too. Still, if ANC is your top concern, these earbuds are worth your attention.

Elsewhere, Bose's QuietComfort 45 over-ear headphones are also on sale. They have dropped to $279, which is $60 off the usual price of $329.

We gave the headset a review score of 86. These cans also deliver great ANC performance, along with clear and balanced audio. They have a long battery life (over 22 hours on a single charge in our testing) and Bose says a 15-minute charge adds three hours of listening time.

Although the QC45 headphones are comfortable to wear, the design isn't much to write home about, while the lack of automatic pausing and some niggles with multi-device connectivity may cause some frustration. Those are relatively minor quibbles, though, given the overall performance.

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ByteDance is facing a class-action lawsuit over claims that its CapCut video-editing app is vacuuming up data from its more than 200 million active users without consent. Among other things, the lawsuit, which was filed in Illinois, claims that CapCut violates the state's Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by collecting data like face scans and voiceprints without informing users or getting express permission.

The app also allegedly collects details about a user's location, date of birth and gender as well as their photos and videos. Much of this is said to be in service of delivering targeted ads. In addition, the suit claims that the app is capable of harvesting data from user devices, including the MAC address and SIM serial number.

The lawsuit, which The Record unearthed, asserts that CapCut's privacy policy was designed to make it hard for people to understand or to give the app “meaningful, express consent.” One plaintiff who started using the app while in the seventh grade was allegedly able to use CapCut without having to sign up for an account, reviewing a privacy policy or having parental consent.

Moreover, the suit points out that, since ByteDance is headquartered in Beijing, the company may be compelled to share CapCut data with the Chinese government. It claims that a former ByteDance official revealed publicly that the Chinese Communist Party can use a “backdoor channel code" to access data on users based outside of the country, including those in the US.

ByteDance, of course, owns TikTok, which has long been the subject of claims that the Chinese government can access US user data. The company has been trying to convince US regulators that TikTok doesn't pose a threat to national security. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew claimed at a congressional hearing earlier this year that "ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country."

Since last year, TikTok has been routing all US user data to Oracle servers based in the country. That initiative, called Project Texas, also included the goal of removing US users' private TikTok data from ByteDance's own data centers.

Nonetheless, Montana legislators have passed a bill to ban TikTok outright in the state. Many other jurisdictions, including the federal government, have prohibited the app on nearly all state-owned devices. The Justice Department is reportedly looking into claims that four ByteDance employees used TikTok to snoop on the locations of two US journalists.

The class-action suit asks a district court to block ByteDance from sending CapCut user data and content to China, and from collecting users' biometric information and other data without consent. The plaintiffs asked the court to compel ByteDance to delete any user data and content it unlawfully obtained through CapCut as well. In addition, the suit seeks unspecified damages.

Engadget has asked ByteDance for comment.

With artificial intelligence becoming increasingly prominent, Kickstarter wants you to know if and how it’s being used in any projects on the platform. The company will soon require creators to disclose any use of AI in their projects. The policy will apply to every project that’s submitted on or after August 29th.

“We want to make sure that any project that is funded through Kickstarter includes human creative input and properly credits and obtains permission for any artist's work that it references,” Kickstarter’s director of trust and safety Susannah Page-Katz wrote in a blog post. “The policy requires creators to be transparent and specific about how they use AI in their projects because when we’re all on the same page about what a project entails, it builds trust and sets the project up for success.”

The project submission process will soon include a new set of AI-related questions. Creators will have to disclose if their project generates outputs using AI, if it primarily concerns the development of generative AI tech or if it uses AI in another way. They'll need to reveal which parts of their projects feature entirely original work.

Kickstarter will also ask creators to state whether they have permission to use works or data that are employed in AI-generated aspects of their projects. They'll need to provide a sense of how their sources of data deal with consent and credit. "If the sources don’t have processes or safeguards in place to manage consent, such as through an opt-out or opt-in mechanism, then Kickstarter is unlikely to allow the project," Page-Katz wrote. 

If creators don't properly disclose their use of AI during the submission process, Kickstarter may suspend the project. Those who try to bypass Kickstarter's policies or purposefully misrepresent their project won't be allowed to submit another one.

Human moderators will review submissions and, if they're accepted, Kickstarter will disclose any use of AI in a new section on applicable project pages in the creator's own words. The company suggests its approach will help mitigate the community's concerns over AI. It formulated the policy with the help of input from its staff, creators and backers, as well as "other platform leaders." AI technologies will keep evolving quickly and as such, Kickstarter plans to revisit the policy and modify it if necessary.

As promised, Meta has begun blocking news content in Canada. Starting today, Facebook and Instagram users in the country will no longer be able to view or share news links or see videos and photos posted by publishers and broadcasters. The company, which has threatened to make the drastic move for several months, said it will take a few weeks for the change to come into effect for all users in the country.

"News links and content posted by news publishers and broadcasters in Canada will no longer be viewable by people in Canada," Meta said. "We are identifying news outlets based on legislative definitions and guidance from the Online News Act." Any content shared by international news organizations won't be visible on Facebook and Instagram in Canada either.

Meta made the decision in response to Canadian legislators passing the Online News Act. The law requires certain platforms to negotiate revenue-sharing agreements with news organizations. The aim is to address the collapse in advertising revenue that news outlets have struggled with over the last two decades amid the growth of online services.

The CBC has noted that Facebook and Google soak up some 80 percent of digital advertising revenue between them. Google also plans to stop users in Canada from accessing links to news stories across several of its products in response to the legislation.

Meta has previously played hardball with a government over news content. In early 2021, it stopped users in Australia from sharing news links on Facebook. However, Meta, Google and other platform holders relented and eventually reached an agreement to pay publishers there for posting news links and snippets.

Behaviour Interactive is bringing yet another classic horror franchise to Dead by Daylight. Not long after the publisher added Nicolas Cage to the game as a playable character, Behaviour revealed in a teaser video that a crossover with the Alien series is coming very soon.

The clip includes several shots of what looks like the Nostromo, the spaceship from the original movie, as the Alien logo is gradually revealed. That suggests the chapter includes a new map set on the ship. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the iconic Xenomorph is featured as well. Given the terrifying creature's troubled history with humans and the fact it lunges toward the camera here, the smart money is on the Xenomorph being the game's latest killer.

According to the DbD roadmap, Behaviour plans to release a new chapter this month, suggesting the Alien DLC is only a few weeks away at most. The roadmap also indicates the chapter includes a survivor. What are the odds that individual turns out to be Ripley? In any case, we won't have to wait long to find out, as more details about the Alien chapter will be revealed on August 8th.

Dead by Daylight has many original survivors, killers and maps, but crossovers with major horror franchises help to bring more attention to the game. Over the years, Behaviour has secured collaborations with the likes of The Ring, Resident Evil, Silent Hill and Stranger Things, to name but a few.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating Tesla following a dozen reports about 2023 model year Model 3 and Model Y vehicles encountering steering issues. The agency opened a preliminary evaluation (PE) after drivers claimed they were either unable to steer their vehicle or that they suffered a loss of power steering.

"Five reports indicate an inability to steer the vehicle. Seven additional reports cite loss of power steering resulting in increased effort to control the vehicle," the NHTSA said. "A PE has been opened to assess the scope, frequency, manufacturing processes and severity associated with this condition."

No deaths or injuries were reported in connection with these incidents, as Electrek notes, but one led to a crash or fire. Some 280,000 vehicles are included in the scope of the investigation, which could result in a recall. Tesla doesn't have a communications department that can be reached for comment.

This is hardly the first time that the NHTSA has looked into Tesla safety issues. In March, the agency opened a separate investigation following reports of steering wheels falling off while Model Y vehicles were on the road. The company has also caught the attention of the Department of Justice. In January, Tesla confirmed that the DOJ requested documents related to Tesla's Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features.

Meanwhile, last month, Tesla issued a voluntary recall for more than 1,300 Model S, X and Y vehicles it built this year due to misaligned cameras. The company said the issue "may cause certain active safety features to be unavailable, including automatic emergency braking, forward collision warning and lane keeping assist, without alerting the driver to their unavailability."

There’s some positive news for those who have been holding off from buying a new gaming console, as well as folks who had trouble finding a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X since the systems arrived in late 2020. Not only are both consoles more readily available these days after Sony and Microsoft resolved some of their supply issues, they're each available for $50 less than usual. That means the disk version of the PS5 has dropped from $500 to $450, which is the console's first discount in the US outside of bundles that include a game.

When the PS5 debuted, we gave it a score of 87 in our review, but Sony has improved the experience since then by rolling out many new features. For instance, in a new beta version of the PS5 firmware that just went live, Sony added support for Dolby Atmos, increased the additional M.2 SSD storage capacity up to 8TB and introduced a welcome controller accessibility feature.

The PS5’s DualSense controller is an excellent bit of kit. It deepens the feeling of immersion thanks to features like adaptive triggers (which add tension to things like pulling back a bow’s drawstring) and haptic feedback, which can replicate sensations like falling rain or footsteps through vibration tech.

None of this would matter without great games and the PS5 now has many of them, including Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, Horizon Forbidden West, Elden Ring and many more. Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is right around the corner as well. The PlayStation Plus program now includes an extensive library of games you can access for a monthly or annual fee on the Extra and Premium tiers, while all but a few PlayStation 4 games work on the system as well.

As for the Series X, that's compatible with hundreds of Xbox games going all the way back to Microsoft's original 2001 console. Xbox Game Pass is a major selling point for the system, as the subscription offers access to all of Microsoft's first-party games on the day of release (perhaps soon to include Activision Blizzard titles like the Call of Duty series), as well as a wide range of third-party games.

The Xbox Series X, which is also on sale for $50 off at $450, is the most powerful gaming console around (we initially gave it a review score of 87). It too has its fair share of quality console exclusives, from the Halo series and Microsoft Flight Simulator to Hi-Fi Rush and Forza Horizon 5. The hotly anticipated Starfield is on the horizon too, while of course a host of major third-party games are available on the system, such as the afore-mentioned Elden Ring.

In truth, both are arguably the best gaming consoles out there. It’s worth considering whether the PS5 or Xbox Series X’s exclusives are more compelling to you, how invested you are in the PlayStation or Xbox ecosystems already and if the lure of PlayStation Plus or Xbox Game Pass is compelling enough to pull you in either direction. Perhaps you already have one console and were waiting for a deal on the other. Nonetheless, these are solid discounts on two consoles that have actually become more expensive in many markets over the last year.

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AMD has revealed its first mobile gaming processor with 3D V-Cache. As the name suggests, 3D V-Cache enables AMD to stack more cache on top of the CPU. The tech arrived on desktop processors last year, and soon you'll be able to pick up a laptop with a 3D V-Cache CPU.

This approach allows AMD to cram extra 64MB of L3 cache onto the Ryzen 9 7945X3D. For a total of 144MB. That helps mitigate the chances of cache miss. If your system can't find information it's looking for in the cache, it has to go to system memory. That could result in processes taking 10 times longer to carry out, according to AMD. The company claims its 3D V-cache approach can help increase the frame rates of games.

By moving vertically instead of padding more cache onto a CPU's typical 2D plane, AMD is able to increase the size of the cache without having to make the chip wider or longer. In essence, the company can get more performance out of a CPU while avoiding any increase to the horizontal real estate it takes up on a motherboard.

The company claims this is the fastest mobile gaming processor on the planet, and that it's more than 15 percent faster than the Ryzen 9 7945HX on average. It has 16 cores, 32 threads, up to 5.4 Ghz boost speeds and 55W+ TDP. The CPU is built on the Zen 4 architecture.

You won't have to wait too long to get your hands on a laptop that uses the Ryzen 9 7945X3D. ROG's Strix Scar 17 X3D machine will be available on August 22nd.