I saw the Surface Laptop Ultra at Computex and it's clear: Microsoft has gone beastmode

Constantly being plugged into the news grind is mentally exhausting. Sometimes we just need to take a break, unwind, and do something fun. That’s why we’ve built up a collection of distracting time-wasters for when we need a break from being obsessively online. We figured you might enjoy these harmless rabbit holes, mildly addictive browser games, and internet curiosities, too, so we’ve been writing about them when we find them. Can you beat our score in I’m Not a Robot or did you find a gem of

Aitana Lopez, AI avatar by creative agency The Clueless. | Image: The Clueless This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on AI confusion, follow Robert Hart. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started At first, AI influencers were relatively easy to identify - and to ignore. Aside from the occasional bursts of hype, they didn't seem to change much about the way social

Few smart speakers have assistants with as much potential as Siri. A meaningful upgrade would make the HomePod my first choice.

How accurate does an AI system need to be?