Bobby Kotick, the former CEO of Activision Blizzard who stepped down at the end of last year, is apparently interested in buying TikTok as a new bill in the US threatens to ban the app or force its sale. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Kotick mentioned the idea of partnering on such a purchase to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and others seated with him at a conference dinner last week, and brought it up with ByteDance Executive Chair Zhang Yiming. If TikTok is sold, the WSJ notes, it would likely go for hundreds of billions of dollars.

Kotick led Activision for over 30 years but didn’t exactly leave on a good note. In a 2021 lawsuit that was settled last year, the company was accused of fostering sexual harassment and gender discrimination under his leadership, in what was described as a “pervasive frat boy workplace culture.” The Wall Street Journal soon after reported that Kotick was aware of misconduct and assault allegations over the years and did not properly disclose some of these instances to the board. He was also accused of harassment himself, The Verge noted at the time. Activision Blizzard called the report “misleading.”

After the information came to light, Activision Blizzard employees walked out and demanded Kotick resign, but that did not happen. Kotick ultimately stayed on as head of Activision Blizzard until the completion of Microsoft’s acquisition in 2023.

Kotick’s alleged interest in TikTok comes at a tumultuous moment for the immensely popular platform after lawmakers introduced the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” last week, which President Biden said he would sign, if it passes. Under the bill, which goes to the House floor on Wednesday for a vote, TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, would have to sell the app within six months. Otherwise, it’ll be banned from US app stores.

TikTok has been trying to get its millions of US users to rally behind it in wake of the bill’s sudden momentum, and sent out push notifications last week asking users to call their representatives. After the House vote, where it’s expected to be approved after clearing the Energy and Commerce Committee in a unanimous vote last week, the bill would move on to the Senate. While lawmakers’ concerns about TikTok center on fears of data privacy and its connection to China, WSJ notes that involving Altman in its purchase could open the app up to the possibility of being used by OpenAI to train its AI models, which doesn't exactly sound ideal for users, either.

Nintendo packed a whole bunch of news into Mario Day this year, including the announcement of release dates for two classics that have been modernized for the Switch: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD. Both titles were announced last fall during Nintendo Direct. Paper Mario will drop first, on May 23, followed by Luigi’s Mansion on June 27, but both are available for pre-order now on the Nintendo Switch store for $60.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door was first released for the GameCube (deep breath) 20 years ago, and Nintendo says the new Switch version will have “revamped graphics, and a suite of additional changes that make the game easier than ever to enjoy.” Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, which you may remember as Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, originally came out for the 3DS in 2013. Now that just leaves the first Luigi’s Mansion that we’re still waiting on for Switch...

Alongside the games’ release dates, Nintendo also announced that it’s working on a followup to last year’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie. That’s set to come out in 2026. Lego and Nintendo also announced three new Mario-themed Lego sets that will be released this year — the Bowser Express Train, King Boo’s Haunted Mansion and Battle with Roy at Peach’s Castle — and a Mario Kart set that will drop in 2025.

Riding the success of 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Nintendo and Illumination are releasing a second animated film in the franchise that’s expected to come out April 3, 2026. The news comes from series creator Shigeru Miyamoto himself, who tweeted it from the Nintendo of America X account on Sunday as part of the ongoing Mario Day celebrations. Details are so far scant, but Miyamoto says the team is “thinking about broadening Mario's world further, and it'll have a bright and fun story.”

Based on his description, it doesn’t seem like it will be a direct sequel to the first, though that remains to be seen. In an announcement video also featuring Miyamoto, Chris Meledandri from Illumination said the team is already “storyboarding scenes and developing set designs for new environments.” Animations are due to begin soon. The next movie set in the Super Mario Bros. world will be released in the US and other areas on April 3, 2026 before coming to other regions later that month.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie absolutely crushed at the box office when it was released last April, becoming the highest-grossing video game movie at opening. It hit $1.3 billion worldwide by the beginning of June, Variety reported. If you didn’t get a chance to catch it in theaters then — or you’re just dying to see it on the big screen again — AMC Theaters is bringing The Super Mario Bros. Movie back to theaters this year on June 28, as spotted by GoNintendo.

Dyson’s higher-end vacuums might normally feel like a bit too much of a splurge, but a deal for today only brings the V15 Detect down to a more manageable price. The Dyson V15 Detect is $180 off in a deal from QVC. Normally $750, the V15 Detect is going for just $570 right now — almost as low as we saw it go during Black Friday, when it dropped to $550. But the deal will only last until the end of the day, so don’t take too long mulling it over. Dyson’s V15 Detect is a cordless, stick vacuum with an LED light on its head to expose all the unseen dirt hanging around your floors.

The Dyson V15 Detect doesn’t just suck up the dirt in your home, but it analyzes it to give you a report on what it cleaned, too. It has a LCD display on the back end that will show you a particle count and a breakdown of the different particle size groupings. The display will also let you know how much run time it has left before it needs to be recharged. Dyson says it runs on average for up to 60 minutes, and optimizes the suction and run time based on the level of mess it’s tasked with cleaning.

Fancy extra features aside, it’s a real powerhouse when it comes down to the cleaning. Engadget’s Mat Smith reviewed the Dyson V15 Detect and said it was the most powerful vacuum he’d ever used, even rivaling heavier plug-in vacuums. It has three cleaning modes to choose from: Eco, Auto and Boost. The vacuum’s brush bar has an anti-tangling design to better cope with things like hair that tend to get caught up. There’s also a separate hair screw tool that’s included with the V15’s accessories for those households that need to tackle the problem with more muscle.

The Dyson V15 Detect comes with a crevice tool to help you get into hard-to-reach areas, and it can be converted to a handheld vacuum for smaller jobs. In the box, it also comes with a wall dock, combination tool and charging adapter.

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Mario Day, otherwise called MAR10 Day or just March 10, is upon us. This is the date to celebrate Nintendo’s iconic plumber. It’s not his birthday or anything, but rather a random day on the calendar that sort of looks like his name when spelled in a certain way. You know, like how Star Wars Day falls on May 4.

Still, Nintendo has been putting its corporate might behind the celebration since 2015, offering up Mario-themed experiences at the company’s official store, discounts on games and various contests. Retailers have also been following suit in recent years, marking down Nintendo products to coincide with March 10. With that in mind, here are the best deals for MAR10 that could very well elicit a “wahoo” or two.

One of the marquee deals is for the Switch itself. There’s no actual discount on the console, but each purchase includes a $25 gift card from the retailer you bought it from. Participating retailers include Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop and Target and the promotion goes from March 10 through March 16. This deal applies to the OLED Switch, Nintendo’s latest and greatest console iteration, the original Switch and the Switch Lite. It’s the perfect way to catch up on Metroid Dread, Super Mario Wonder and, of course, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

There’s a major caveat here. The Switch is on its way out, with a replacement likely headed our way in the beginning part of next year, and we don't know how long Nintendo intends to support the original hybrid console for after that. Still, the Switch has a massive back catalog worth exploring.

Speaking of that back catalog, many retailers are offering $20 discounts on a number of first-party Nintendo games. These include Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Mario Party Superstars, Luigi's Mansion 3, and more. This brings the price down to $40 per game. There’s also a cool bundle available that includes a tropical-themed Switch Lite and a digital copy of Animal Crossing: New Horizons for $200, available at both Target and Walmart. It’s not part of the MAR10 festivities, but it’s a good deal nonetheless.

The company has also doubled the free trial period for Nintendo Switch Online, from seven days to 14 days. This lets people play online, as the name suggests, but also opens up its catalog of retro NES and SNES games. Switch owners have until March 17 to activate the trial and it's even available to people who have already tried the service in the past.

Finally, there are some real-world events for Nintendo die-hards. There’s a meet-and-greet with Mario and Luigi at the Nintendo Store in New York City, complete with plenty of giveaways and a screening of The Super Mario Bros. Movie. GameStop is also doing in-person giveaways on March 16.

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An update to Google Wallet has further simplified the process of getting all your passes in one place. Per this week’s release notes for Wallet, spotted by Android reporter ​​Mishaal Rahman, Google says movie tickets and boarding passes will now be surfaced automatically after purchase, as long as the confirmation email has made it to the user’s Gmail inbox. It might not work for every theater chain or airline just yet, but Google says the feature is live for “some” and more should be added in time.

Google little by little has been tweaking Wallet to make it more useful. The company last month expanded Wallet passes to WearOS so Android smartwatch users could have easy access to their tickets from their wrist. That includes boarding passes, event tickets, gym memberships, loyalty cards and more. Per the latest release notes, Google has also added a way for users to manually archive most of their passes from either their smartphone or smartwatch. These will be moved to a section called Archived Passes, where users will be able to undo the action if they’ve made a mistake or need to refer to an old pass.

Lego and Nintendo are releasing a Mario Kart-themed set, but you’ll have to wait quite a while until you can actually get it. The companies announced the upcoming addition to their collaborative line in a brief teaser today ahead of Mario Day (March 10), which said only “Mario Kart — Ready, set, build! Racing in 2025.” That’s a long way off for anyone whose immediate reaction was, “I need this now.” In the meantime, though, Lego has three other sets coming to its Super Mario collection before that: the Bowser Express Train, King Boo’s Haunted Mansion and Battle with Roy at Peach’s Castle.

Those three sets will be available starting August 1 of this year from $64-$120, with the Bowser Express Train being the most expensive of the batch. If you want a better look at what they’ll include, check out the announcement video from Lego, which goes in-depth on each build.

There’s been a lot of discussion in recent years about the practice of capitalizing on celebrities’ digital likenesses without their consent, whether after they die or while they’re still alive. Zelda Williams, for one — the Lisa Frankenstein director and daughter of Robin Williams — slammed the “disturbing” trend of people trying to recreate the voices and faces of the deceased last year, as striking actors fought for, among other things, better protections around studios’ potential use of AI clones. Yet despite the obvious ethical issues, companies keep doing it. The latest? Soul Machines just unveiled “Digital Marilyn,” an AI chatbot designed to look and talk just like Marilyn Monroe.

The company, which specializes in what it refers to as Biological AI-powered Digital People, debuted the Marilyn bot at SXSW on Friday in a partnership with Authentic Brands Group. ABG owns the rights to Monroe’s likeness and those of numerous other celebrities both dead and living, including Elvis Presley and Shaq. Digital Marilyn, powered by GPT 3.5, is “hyper-real” and capable of responding with “emotions and nuanced expressions,” Soul Machines says in a press release. She can hold a roughly 20-minute conversation.

“More than just an impressive impersonation, Digital Marilyn is an autonomous Digital Person capable of engaging in natural, dynamic conversations that feel authentic and responsive,” Soul Machines wrote in a blog post. “It’s as if the spark of Marilyn herself has been translated into the AI age, offering a unique and deeply personal connection for both devoted fans and curious newcomers.” Anyone else’s skin crawling?

Soul Machines touts its digital celebrities (there are others, including an upcoming Carmelo Anthony bot) as a way for famous people to “engage 1-on-1 with their fans, without limits” and “deliver 24/7 connection.” Notably, all of the other AI celebrities the company currently offers chats with — Mark Tuan, Francis Ngannou and Jack Nicklaus — are men who are alive and thus able to weigh-in on their inclusion. Soul Machines introduced its Marilyn Monroe AI to the public with an Instagram post for International Women’s Day, because nothing says “celebrate women” like exploiting the likeness of a female celebrity who is no longer around to give permission.

The number of unionized workers for Microsoft's video game subsidiaries keeps growing, and the latest group to join the pool is the largest one yet. Approximately 600 quality assurance workers at Activision have joined the Communications Workers of America (CWA), making them the biggest certified union in the US video game industry. They're also the first Activision workers to organize under the agreement between Microsoft and the CWA. If you'll recall, Microsoft agreed to respect the right of Activision Blizzard workers to unionize as part of its efforts to secure regulatory approval for its $68.7 billion takeover of the video game developer. 

CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. said Microsoft kept its promise to let workers decide for themselves whether they want a union. Part of Microsoft's pledge when it agreed to make a pact with the CWA was that it would take neutral approach during a union campaign, and the company said it didn't interfere or influence people's votes. 

Another element of their agreement was giving employees access to "innovative technology-supported and streamlined process for choosing whether to join a union," which includes not having to petition the National Labor Relations Board for an election. In this instance, the workers only had to sign a union authorization card or to vote online. According to The New York Times, 390 workers voted in favor of forming a union, while eight people were opposed to it. Around 200 more didn't cast their vote. 

In early 2023, Microsoft also recognized a union with 300 workers for Zenimax, the owner of Bethesda and another one of the company's video gaming subsidiaries, which was the largest one for the video game industry at the time. Those workers also unionized under the simpler process enabled by the company's agreement with CWA. By the end of the year, Microsoft agreed to hire 77 temporary QA contractors as full-time unionized Zenimax employees, which was a welcomed win for workers in an industry beset by layoffs.  

Sonos has been excluding its first music speaker designed for spatial audio from previous sales events since it was released last year, so listen up: The company is selling refurbished units of the Era 300 for $359, or $91 less than retail. Yes, it's not brand new, but Sonos' refurb program has a good track record. At the moment, only the white Era 300s are available at a discount — the black version is sold out — but if you don't care about color, then you will get three free months of Apple Music with your purchase. 

We found the Era 300 to be one of the best-sounding speakers Sonos has made when we reviewed it. The model's spatial audio experience can be a hit or miss in that sometimes, the Atmos versions of songs could sound like they have too much reverb that the vocals get lost in the mix. But overall, it exhibited excellent sound quality and can make songs shine by reproducing bass, vocal and instrumentation in great detail. It makes songs sound rich, crisp and vibrant. We advised not buying the Era 300 only for the sake of spatial audio in our review, since the library of tracks that support the feature remains quite small. That could change in the future, though, especially if Apple truly does start rewarding artists for offering their music in spatial audio.

It's worth noting that Sonos recommends pairing two Era 300 speakers for "mind-bendlingly realistic surround sound," and getting the cheaper versions would make that a more affordable prospect. The model is pretty easy to set up anyway — just add the speaker to your Sonos app and then pair it with your music services of choice — so having two or more won't be an issue. In case you're looking for something else, though, Sonos is selling more refurbished devices on its website.

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