Tech

Sora 2, Vibes, Feed: How much AI video do we need?

Published

8 months ago

October 2, 2025

Vicky

Never mind the debate over whether OpenAI's GPT-5 release is disappointing, or whether it can revitalize the failing world of AI Agents. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has already moved on — to releasing Sora 2, the next generation of its text-to-video engine. And to Sora by OpenAI, a new iPhone app that shot to #1 in the App Store Wednesday. Not too shabby, especially considering access to the Sora app is still invite only.

"Explore, play, and share your imagination in a community built for experimentation," the App Store description for Sora by OpenAI says. Essentially, OpenAI is about to enter the social media business the same way Facebook did — with a velvet rope around the service, and a cutting-edge feed within. OpenAI also highlighted how easy it is to insert yourself, your friends, and, well, deepfakes of just about anyone you want (including Altman, it turns out) in Sora's shortform videos.

But OpenAI is a little late to the social AI video feed app game. Since Character.AI launched Feed, which it called "the world's first AI-native social feed" in August, AI makers have begun what you might call the new pivot to video. Meta's Vibes arrived on the Meta AI app in September: Like Feed, like Sora, it's an endless scroll of shortform videos, under 10 seconds, from a creator community. (Midjourney has a similar AI video web feed, though no Midjourney smartphone app has dropped yet.)

In all cases you're invited to remix these videos and add your own. You're not invited to ask how sustainable these endless-scroll services are, given the still untold amounts of energy that every AI video creation eats.

Character.AI CEO Karandeep Anand put a spin on Feed worthy of Altman's brightest predictions: "The boundary between creator and consumer is disappearing," he wrote. Come for a traditional social media "lean-back experience," stay to create a "new epic adventure," Anand added. "Doomscrolling is dead. We're ushering in the future of AI-powered entertainment."

That's one way of putting it. Another is to say these companies are competing to build the most popular "infinite slop machine," to use one description of Meta Vibes. It isn't enough that social media services like Facebook are filled with AI-generated art of dubious quality; now we're about to be inundated with so much AI video slop they'll need apps of their own to contain the flow.

Which is the one AI video feed to rule them all?

Oceans of AI slop, ironically, could help our real-world oceans to rise. Video feeds like Feed, Sora, Vibes, and Midjourney require more than their fair share of data center usage — and for many data centers around the world, that means burning carbon in one form or another. That's why once-green tech giants like Google and Microsoft are quietly walking back their commitments to renewable energy.

Are we doomed to a different kind of doomscrolling, then? One where multiple endless-scroll feeds are lighting up our brains and stroking our egos by sticking virtual versions of us in them?

There is hope, however, that we're simply going through the part of the tech product cycle known as the Cambrian Explosion.

The original Cambrian Explosion, half a billion years ago, was a relatively tiny million-year chunk of evolutionary time. During that period, most of the major forms of life on Earth that we know today emerged — in large part because they had eyes to see. It was followed by an extinction event — a crash in the levels of atmospheric oxygen that ended many species.

Likewise, we've seen this movie before in the tech world, where one product sucks all the oxygen out of the room.

There was a Cambrian Explosion of personal computer operating systems in the early 1980s. Microsoft Windows won in the early 1990s. Apple's MacOS barely survived, even though it was widely judged to be better-designed software. Users simply wanted what everyone else was using. (Even now, MacOS barely has a 15 percent market share; Apple got where it is now by dominating the smartphone market instead.)

The proliferation of search engines in the 1990s — remember Alta Vista and Ask Jeeves? — very quickly gave way to Google standing alone in the 2000s. Why? Because users simply wanted the search engine with the best secret sauce, which turned out to be PageRank.

We've also seen this movie in the social media world itself. Friendster and MySpace were part of the Cambrian Explosion of the 2000s; when the smoke cleared in 2010, Facebook was on top. The network effect kicked in. You were on Facebook because everyone else was on Facebook.

It's way too soon to judge which AI video feed will win the coming war, and not just because barely anyone can use the Sora app yet. OpenAI, Character.AI, Meta, or Midjourney are all taking slightly different approaches to video presentation and remixing, with different LLMs underpinning them.

The one with the better technology may not be the same one that wins all the users. You can have the best AI video in the world on Sora, for example, but if the world is flocking to Vibes, no one's going to see it.

But tech history — not to mention the financial cost of data center usage, which is why OpenAI has burned through more than $250 million in operating costs this year already — tells us this Cambrian Explosion won't last long. Collectively, eventually, users will choose one Infinite Slop Machine to rule them all.

And for the sake of the planet, and our survival on it, we'd better choose sooner rather than later.

Tech

NYT Strands hints, answers for April 24, 2026

Published

4 weeks ago

April 25, 2026

Vicky

A game being played on a smartphone.

Today's NYT Strands hints are easy if you're rowdy.

Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.

By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.

If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.

SEE ALSO:

Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 24, 2026

Table of Contents

NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Hullabaloo

The words are related to sound.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe ruckus.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is Lets Get Loud.

Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today

NYT Strands word list for April 24

Shout
Holler
Clamor
Lets Get Loud
Bellow
Whoop
Caterwaul

Looking for other daily online games? Mashable's Games page has more hints, and if you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now!

Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Strands.

Tech

Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 24, 2026

Published

4 weeks ago

April 25, 2026

Vicky

Wordle game on a smartphone

Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you love a good drink.

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

Table of Contents

Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once.

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

What's the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.

SEE ALSO:

NYT Pips hints, answers for April 24, 2026

Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

Intoxicated.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no recurring letters.

Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today

Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with…

Today's Wordle starts with the letter D.

The Wordle answer today is…

Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today's Wordle is…

DRUNK

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints. Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Wordle.

Tech

FCC challenges gender identity themes on kids TV

Published

4 weeks ago

April 25, 2026

Vicky

A young girl watches TV with remote in her hand.

The Federal Communications Commission is using the presence of "controversial gender identity issues" in children's television programming as a pretense for questioning how TV ratings are developed and enforced, according to a notice published Wednesday by the federal agency.

The notice generally assesses TV ratings, but specifically points out that these industry guidelines have rated shows featuring "transgender and gender non-binary programming" as appropriate for children. It argues that parents aren't provided this information, "thereby undermining the ability of parents to make informed choices for their families."

In the document, the FCC poses a series of open-ended questions about TV ratings development, including whether the board responsible for the guidelines is "sufficiently balanced" with viewpoints outside of the entertainment industry and if faith-based organizations should be represented in the body.

"What more could the board do to include family-oriented perspectives — which are not well represented in the media industry — in its ratings process?" the notice asks.

SEE ALSO:

What's new to streaming this week? (April 24, 2026)

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced the public notice on X, explaining that "parents have raised concerns with the industry's approach." He added that these parents believe "New York & Hollywood programmers" promote objectionable content in kids programming without disclosing that to parents. Carr didn't mention gender identity in his X post.

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TV parents guidelines can include both a rating as well as descriptors for content that includes crude language, sexual situations, and violence.

LGBTQ+ advocates criticized the public notice, arguing that it amounted to discrimination and censorship.

"Trump's FCC is trying to turn transgender people into a warning label," Tyler Hack, executive director of the transgender rights advocacy group Christopher Street Project, said in a statement. "It is dehumanizing, and it is part of a broader political strategy to stigmatize LGBTQ+ people in every corner of public life."

Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, described the notice as government overreach.

"Media companies must be allowed to create and broadcast stories that reflect one-quarter of their audience without interference from a government agency with its own anti-transgender political agenda," Ellis said in a statement.

This isn't the first time Carr has been accused of censorship. Carr has claimed broadcasters air "hoaxes" and "news distortions" that also happen to be unfavorable to President Trump. Carr has suggested the licenses of such broadcasters won't be renewed.

In March, dozens of free speech experts argued in an open letter to Carr that his threats against broadcasters are "unlawful jawboning" and his vague characterization of "fake news" violates the First Amendment. The authors called on Carr to "withdraw" his threats.