After suggesting a version of AMD's FSR 4 could be ported to the PS5 Pro last year, it looks like Sony is finally rolling out an update with the upscaling tech in March. Mark Cerny, the lead architect of the PS4, PS5 and PS5 Pro, shared via a blog post that the PS5 Pro will be updated with a new version of the company's PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution) upscaling tech next month, and Resident Evil Requiem is one of the first games to use it.PSSR is "an AI library that analyzes game images pixel by pixel as it upscales them," Cerny says, which boosts the visual fidelity of games on the PS5 Pro, while running them at a less demanding resolution. The upgraded version of PSSR "takes a very different approach to not only the neural network but also the overall algorithm," and is now able to keep both framerate and image quality high when it's enabled.Cerny's blog post includes comparison images if you're curious about the visual differences the new PSSR is able to achieve. Masaru Ijuin, a Senior Manager from Capcom's Engine Development Support Section R&D Foundational Technology Department, also provided comments on how the new upscaling tech improves Resident Evil Requiem:With Resident Evil Requiem, we focused on enhancing the presentation quality of the protagonist through an upgraded version of RE Engine to deepen the players immersion in horror. For example, each individual strand of hair and beard is rendered as a polygon, allowing it to move realistically in response to body motion and wind. The way light passes through his hair changes depending on how the strands of hair are overlapped as well. This detailed expression of texture is one of the many details that we would especially love for our fans to see.The upgraded PSSR has allowed us to elevate our expressiveness by successfully processing these details and textural particularities, which are traditionally difficult to upscale because of their intricacy. We hope you will experience this unprecedented level of horror and visual fidelity, and the new gameplay feel it delivers.Sony and AMD formally announced "Project Amethyst," their collaboration to develop machine-learning technology to improve graphics and gameplay, in 2024. The partnership has already benefitted both companies: Cerny says Sony contributed to the development of AMD's FSR 4 and similar improvements are now trickling back to the PS5 Pro. Both companies' plans to improve everything from upscaling performance to energy efficiency could also pay further dividends in future consoles and GPUs. Sony Interactive Entertainment The upgraded PSSR will roll out to PS5 Pro owners as part of a software update in March, and will be able to be toggled on and off in the console's settings, according to Cerny. Around the same time, multiple PS5 games are also supposed to be updated to support the upscaling tech. While the graphical improvements are still incremental over a normal PS5, the fact that Sony's still squeezing more performance out of its console should at least be reassuring to anyone who spent $700 (or now $750) on a PS5 Pro.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/the-ps5-pro-is-getting-upgraded-upscaling-tech-in-march-200105816.html?src=rss
Hundreds of employees at Google and OpenAI have signed an open letter urging their companies to stand with Anthropic in its standoff with the Pentagon over military applications for AI tools like Claude.
The letter, titled We Will Not Be Divided, calls on the leadership of both companies to put aside their differences and stand together to continue to refuse the Department of Wars current demands for permission to use our models for domestic mass surveillance and autonomously killing people without human oversight. These are two lines that Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has said should not be crossed by his or any other AI company.
As of publication, the letter has over 450 signatures, almost 400 of which come from Google employees and the rest from OpenAI. Currently, roughly 50 percent of all participants have chosen to attach their names to the cause, with the rest remaining anonymous. All are verified as current employees of these companies. The original organizers of the letter arent Google or OpenAI employees; they say are unaffiliated with any AI company, political party or advocacy group.
The open letter is the latest development in the saga between Anthropic and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who threatened to label the company a supply chain risk if it did not agree to withdraw certain guardrails for classified work. The Pentagon has also been in talks with Google and OpenAI about using their models for classified work, with xAI coming on board earlier this week. The letter argues the government is "trying to divide each company with fear that the other will give in.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told his employees on Friday that the ChatGPT maker will draw the same red lines as Anthropic, according to an internal memo seen by Axios. He told CNBC on the same day that he doesn't "personally think the Pentagon should be threatening DPA against these companies."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-and-openai-employees-sign-open-letter-in-solidarity-with-anthropic-194957274.html?src=rss
With the likes of The Last of Us and Fallout out of the way for a bit, Amazon has seized its opportunity to put the spotlight on the next big video game adaptation, its currently-in-production God of War show. Today we got our first look at Ryan Hurst and Callum Vinson as Kratos and Atreus.
The image released by Amazon shows the eponymous God of War standing next to a tree as he watches his son who notably looks a bit younger than the video game version of 11-year-old Atreus we first met in 2018s God of War take aim with his bow. Exactly what theyre hunting is unclear, but we know that the developing relationship between father and son that was such a big part of the PS4 game is also going to be at the heart of the show.
Whether Sony Pictures Television and Amazon MGM Studios have nailed the looks of its central characters is a matter of opinion. Personally I think Hursts Kratos in particular looks a little bit off here, but theres every chance it all comes together later in production. Or when we first hear him angrily exclaim "boy!"
The Sons of Anarchy star was cast as Kratos back in January, and earlier this week we learned that Deadpools Ed Skrein will play Baldur in the Amazon show. The rest of the cast includes Mandy Patinkin as Odin, Max Parker and Heimfall, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Thor, Teresa Palmer as Sif, Alastair Duncan as Mimir, Jeff Gulka as Sindri and Danny Woodburn as Brok.
No release date has been announced yet, but a second season of God of War has already been confirmed.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/heres-your-first-look-at-kratos-and-atreus-in-amazons-upcoming-god-of-war-tv-adaptation-172251366.html?src=rss
OpenAI just announced a massive funding round of $110 billion, which is one of the biggest investment rounds in Silicon Valley history. The investors feature many of the usual suspects, including Amazon with $50 billion, NVIDIA with $30 billion and SoftBank with $30 billion. This investment brings OpenAI to a $730 billion valuation
"Were super excited about this deal," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told CNBC. "AI is going to happen everywhere." That last statement seems more like a threat than a boast, but I digress.
Beyond the funding round, OpenAI has announced strategic partnerships with both NVIDIA and Amazon. This will involve Amazon Web Services (AWS) running OpenAI models for enterprise customers to "build generative AI applications and agents at production scale." It also names AWS as the exclusive third-party cloud distribution provider for OpenAI Frontier, which is an agentic enterprise platform.
OpenAI has also committed to consuming 2 gigawatts of Amazon's Trainium capacity, which is the company's custom-designed AI training accelerator. In other words, Amazon is spending a lot of money on OpenAI and then OpenAI will turn around and spend a lot of money with Amazon. The AI funding ouroboros continues.
It's also worth noting that Amazon's investment in OpenAI will be staggered. The funding begins with $15 billion, but the remaining $35 billion will only be invested when certain conditions are met.
Oddly, it's been reported that one condition is that OpenAI achieves artificial general intelligence. AGI is when AI evolves to or beyond human-level abilities, at which point the entire world turns into rainbows and everyone gets a pony. This could happen later this year, according to those bullish on the technology, or never, according to many researchers. Sam Altman said it was coming in 2025 but has since grown weary of the term.
The new partnership with NVIDIA evolves the long-standing collaboration between the two companies. OpenAI has pledged to consume 2 gigawatts of training capacity on NVIDIA's Vera Rubin systems and an additional 3 gigawatts of computing resources, likely in the form of GPUs, to run specific AI inference tasks. In other words, NVIDIA is spending a lot of money on OpenAI and then OpenAI will turn around and spend a lot of money with NVIDIA. The ouroboros must feed.
As for revenue, OpenAI has forecast a massive loss of $14 billion in 2026. It lost around $5 billion in 2024 and reports estimate a loss of $8 billion in 2025. Despite this trajectory, the company claims it'll be raking in $100 billion in revenue by 2029.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-secures-another-110-billion-in-funding-from-amazon-nvidia-and-softbank-171006356.html?src=rss
NASA is making major changes to its Artemis Moon program. On Friday, Administrator Jared Isaacman announced the space agency would carry out an additional flight in 2027 to test commercial lunar landers from SpaceX and/or Blue Origin. The new mission will take the place of Artemis 3, which previously would have seen NASA attempt to land on the Moon for the first time since 1972. The flight will also see the agency test a new spacesuit made by Axiom Space. As part of the new plan, the redesigned Artemis 3 mission will give NASA the chance to test at least one lander in the relative safety of low Earth orbit. NASA will attempt to return humans to the Moon during Artemis 4 sometime in 2028, with the potential for another mission as early as later that same year. Per CBS News, the decision comes after NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Plan said the agency's existing mission plan was too risky. "NASA must standardize its approach, increase flight rate safely, and execute on the Presidents national space policy. With credible competition from our greatest geopolitical adversary increasing by the day, we need to move faster, eliminate delays, and achieve our objectives," said Isaacman. "Standardizing vehicle configuration, increasing flight rate and progressing through objectives in a logical, phased approach, is how we achieved the near-impossible in 1969 and it is how we will do it again."The change of plan also comes as Artemis 2 has faced multiple delays in recent months. The Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket has, once again, proven to be temperamental. NASA had planned to launch Artemis 2 in early February, but pushed the flight back after it caught a hydrogen leak during a fueling test. More recently, NASA delayed the mission to give its engineers time to fix a helium pressurization issue in the upper stage of the SLS. At the earliest, the mission can now get underway on April 1. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/nasa-overhauls-artemis-program-delaying-moon-landing-to-2028-164255318.html?src=rss
Pokémon celebrates its 30th anniversary today, and as youd expect, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are cranking up the nostalgia in every possible way. In addition to re-releasing the Game Boy Advance remakes of Pokémon Red and Blue on Nintendo Switch Online, theyre also selling us a Game Boy-shaped portable Pokémon jukebox.
Officially titled the Pokémon Game Music Collection, the little music player is palm-sized and can be loaded up with 45 different cartridges, each featuring a different melody or sound effect from the original games' soundtrack. The device was announced by longtime series composer Junichi Masuda during todays anniversary Pokémon Presents livestream, where he said that special care has gone into the audio sounding like it did on the Game Boy.
Each cartridge also features a screenshot from the games, so when you slide it into the devices display slot it looks like youre playing as well as listening. Put one of these next to last years equally charming Lego Game Boy on a shelf and youve got two entirely non-playable replicas of the iconic handheld, which is sure to confuse and disappoint your guests in equal measure.
The Pokémon Game Music Collection is available to buy from Pokémon Center starting today, but US pricing is yet to be confirmed.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/celebrate-pokemons-30th-anniversary-with-this-game-boy-shaped-music-player-154644225.html?src=rss
The Pokémon leakers were right: the Gen 10 games are called Pokémon Wind and Pokémon Waves. The Pokémon Company confirmed the titles during a 30th anniversary stream on Pokémon Day. The games are set to hit Nintendo Switch 2 in 2027. (A Game Freak leak last October suggested Wind and Waves would be out this year with DLC to follow in 2027.)According to the Pokémon account on X, in Wind and Waves, youll travel across beautiful windswept islands and a vast ocean with glittering waves that ebb and flow. Youll also team up with Pokémon to overcome challenges and even the forces of nature! Theyll be playable in 11 languages, including Brazilian Portuguese.Introducing the first partner Pokémon from #PokemonWindsWaves! Say hello to Browt , Pombon , and Gecqua . Who will you partner with on this adventure, Trainers? pic.twitter.com/UfKtE5lszu Pokémon (@Pokemon) February 27, 2026
A trailer for the two games revealed the three new starter Pokémon: Browt, Pombon and Gecqua. As suggested by their colors and environments theyre shown in, they are grass, fire and water types, respectively. Other Pokémon that were featured include Pikachu (sporting fetching beachwear) and Oddish. The trailer, which reveals a new region for the series, ends by taking us into the ocean to gawk at an number of water Pokémon. The Pokémon Presents stream on Friday included updates for many other games in the franchise, including the battle-focused Pokémon Champions (a modern spin on the likes of Pokémon Stadium). That will debut on Nintendo Switch in April before arriving on iOS and Android later this year. Cross-play will be available between the three platforms. It was also confirmed that Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness will hit the GameCube library on Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack on Switch 2 in March.Pokémon Day marks the 30th anniversary of the series debut with the 1996 release of Pocket Monsters Red and Pocket Monsters Green (later released as Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue in the West) on Game Boy in Japan. The games were remade for GameBoy Advance in 2004 as Pokémon FireRed Version and Pokémon LeafGreen Version. Starting today, those are available on Switch and Switch 2 for $20 each. Meanwhile, Pokémon Pokopia, a cozy life sim spin-off, will hit Switch 2 on March 5.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/pokemon-winds-and-waves-are-coming-to-switch-2-in-2027-152248895.html?src=rss
This week, we're diving into the big changes at Xbox and what it all means for Microsoft's gaming future. Phil Spencer, the longtime face of Xbox, announced he's retiring last week. He'll be replaced by Microsoft's former CoreAI CEO Asha Sharma, instead of his longtime deputy Sarah Bond, who plans to leave the company. Will this change actually help the beleaguered Xbox division, or is it another example of Microsoft shoving AI into everything? Also, Samsung held its latest Unpacked event this week to announce its new Galaxy S26 family. They look pretty much the same as last year, but the Ultra model includes a unique privacy feature that can instantly make the screen unreadable to bystanders. It's one of those features we expect to see in every phone eventually.Subscribe!iTunesSpotifyPocket CastsStitcherGoogle PodcastsTopicXbox leadership falls apart. what happens next with Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond out? 1:53Samsung Unpacked: Privacy display on the S26 Ultra looks amazing 27:27U.S. Defense leadership gives Anthropic a Friday deadline to let it use Claude as it sees fit 42:38MrBeast editor accused of insider trading on Kalshi 50:40Discord delays age verification program after user revolt 54:09Around Engadget 1:04:04Working on 1:05:16Pop culture picks 1:08:21CreditsHosts: Devindra Hardawar and Igor BonifacicProducer: Ben EllmanMusic: Dale North and Terrence OBrienThis article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/engadget-podcast-xboxs-leadership-shakeup-and-samsungs-galaxy-s26-150000180.html?src=rss
Samsungs Unpacked event midweek revealed three new phones and two sets of earbuds, but the real standout, as usual, is the Galaxy S26 Ultra. This year, the Ultra actually features a bit of genuine tech innovation and no, we dont mean it folds.
Lets talk about its new Privacy Display. This isn't a shimmery, holographic screen protector thats hard to read and constantly peels off at the corners; this tech is engineered directly into the S26 Ultras OLED display.
Samsung Display revealed its Flex Magic Pixel technology back in 2024. The S26 Ultras Privacy Display is built off the back of this. It controls the direction of light emitted from the AMOLED at the pixel level, integrating wide-angle and narrow-angle pixel arrays so the display can switch between a wide-angle viewing experience and more private, straight-on views.
While HPs SureView tech is similar, the amount of customization possible is incredible and we all have our phones out in public much more than our HP laptops. It could be perfect for keeping prying eyes off your banking apps, messaging apps and even dating apps.
Otherwise, the rest of the S26 series offers incremental updates with better cameras and newer processors. This makes the base S26 and S26+ a harder sell unless your current Galaxy phone is several years old. Also, following the 2026 trend, they are all pricier this year.
Make sure you check out our early impressions (S26 Ultra, S26, Galaxy Buds 4); reviews are coming soon.
Mat Smith
The other big stories (and deals) this morning
Apple and Netflix are teaming up to share Formula 1 programming
Burger King will use AI to monitor employee friendliness
Canadian government demands safety changes from OpenAI
Amazon introduces three personality styles for Alexa+
Ambient Dreamie bedside companion review
How much for a good nights sleep? $250?
Cheyenne MacDonald for Engadget
Ambients dedicated alarm clock offers many of the conveniences of your smartphone alarms highly customizable alarm schedules, a library of soundscapes and noise masks and even Bluetooth so you can connect earbuds. Theres no subscription, it sounds great and sleep insights are supposedly incoming. However, $250 is a lot. Check out our full review.
Continue reading.
An AI-generated Resident Evil Requiem review briefly made it on Metacritic
By a video game news site owned by ClickOut Media.
Review aggregator Metacritic has removed a review of Resident Evil Requiem because it was AI generated. Kotaku explained the review was published by UK gaming site VideoGamer, but appears to be written by a fake AI journalist rather than a real person. Brian Merrygold doesnt seem to exist.
The authors profile on VideoGamer is just as awkwardly written as the review, and the profile picture of the account also appears to be AI-generated. Literally, the file name includes ChatGPT-Image.
ClickOut Media, the company that owns VideoGamer and a collection of other publications, reportedly laid off the staff of its gaming sites earlier this month to pivot to AI-generated content. Here it is.
Continue reading.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-144951777.html?src=rss
