NYT Connections hints and answers for Monday, June 2 (game #722)

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Sunday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, June 1 (game #721).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #722) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• SPHYNX
• TREASURE
• MARKDOWN
• ODYSSEY
• JACKPOT
• FRANKINCENSE
• MYRRH
• VALUE
• NYMPH
• JOURNEY
• ESTEEM
• NICKNAME
• VOYAGE
• PRIZE
• RHYTHM
• QUEST

NYT Connections today (game #722) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: An epic trip 
• GREEN: Cherish
• BLUE: Why not?
• PURPLE: Okay then

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #722) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: EXPEDITION 
• GREEN: HOLD DEAR
• BLUE: WORDS WHOSE ONLY VOWEL IS "y"
• PURPLE: NAMES ENDING IN "K" PLUS WORD

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #722) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #722, are…

• YELLOW: EXPEDITION JOURNEY, ODYSSEY, QUEST, VOYAGE
• GREEN: HOLD DEAR ESTEEM, PRIZE, TREASURE, VALUE
• BLUE: WORDS WHOSE ONLY VOWEL IS "y" MYRRH, NYMPH, RHYTHM, SPHYNX
• PURPLE: NAMES ENDING IN "K" PLUS WORD FRANKINCENSE, JACKPOT, MARKDOWN, NICKNAME

---

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

---

As someone who considers going to the supermarket akin to a mythical QUEST, the four words that made up the yellow EXPEDITION group were an easy spot. The rest of today’s puzzle? Less so.

The letter Y isn’t strictly a vowel, but is classified as such when there is no other vowel or when it is found at the end of a word. I looked this up afterwards as the only reason I got MYRRH, NYMPH, RHYTHM, SPHYNX as a group is that they had a Y in the middle of the word.

By the same reasoning I should have also gotten NAMES ENDING IN "K" PLUS WORD but by this point I was done – or donezo as they say on reality TV. 

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

---

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Sunday, June 1, game #721)

• YELLOW: LOCAL WATERING HOLE DIVE, ESTABLISHMENT, HAUNT, JOINT
• GREEN: COMPETE IN A MODERN PENTATHLON FENCE, RIDE, SHOOT, SWIM
• BLUE: ENSURE, AS A VICTORY CINCH, GUARANTEE, ICE, LOCK
• PURPLE: ___ FUND HEDGE, MUTUAL, SLUSH, TRUST

---

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

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NYT Strands hints and answers for Monday, June 2 (game #456)

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Sunday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Sunday, June 1 (game #455).

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #456) - hint #1 - today's theme

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… On the vine

NYT Strands today (game #456) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• LOOM
• MOOR
• KEEP
• LICE
• BLUB
• CLUE

NYT Strands today (game #456) - hint #3 - spangram letters

How many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 6 letters

NYT Strands today (game #456) - hint #4 - spangram position

What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: left, 4th row

Last side: right, 4th row

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #456) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #456, are…

• PLUM
• CHERRY
• BEEFSTEAK
• HEIRLOOM
• JUBILEE
• LUNCHBOX
• SPANGRAM: TOMATO

---

• My rating: Easy
• My score: 1 hint

---

I thought the “on the vine” theme was referring to grapes originally, so I began by looking for varieties of wine. Finding none, I took a hint and was given a PLUM. Next I found CHERRY. At this stage I thought we were searching for fruit (not that either cherries or plums grow on vines).

The penny – or should I say plum – finally dropped when I saw BEEFSTEAK and thought “that’s no fruit”. That said, two of these types of TOMATO were new to me as I had not heard of either JUBILEE or LUNCHBOX. 

All of this got me wondering what type of tomatoes people throw at each other at the annual La Tomatina festival in Spain and the answer is a Valencian pear variety that is over-ripe for extra softness. Rock up with some supermarket cherry toms and you’ll be banned for life.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

---

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Sunday, June 1, game #455)

• BAIL
• COURTROOM
• ALIBI
• MOTION
• OBJECTION
• SPANGRAM: YOUR HONOR

---

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

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NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, June 1 (game #721)

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Saturday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, May 31 (game #720).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #721) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• DIVE
• SLUSH
• FENCE
• LOCK
• SWIM
• HEDGE
• ICE
• HAUNT
• MUTUAL
• GUARANTEE
• JOINT
• RIDE
• CINCH
• SHOOT
• TRUST
• ESTABLISHMENT

NYT Connections today (game #721) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: A bar you know 
• GREEN: Multi-sport
• BLUE: In the bag 
• PURPLE: A pool of money

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #721) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: LOCAL WATERING HOLE 
• GREEN: COMPETE IN A MODERN PENTATHLON 
• BLUE: ENSURE, AS A VICTORY 
• PURPLE: ___ FUND 

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #721) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #721, are…

• YELLOW: LOCAL WATERING HOLE DIVE, ESTABLISHMENT, HAUNT, JOINT
• GREEN: COMPETE IN A MODERN PENTATHLON FENCE, RIDE, SHOOT, SWIM
• BLUE: ENSURE, AS A VICTORY CINCH, GUARANTEE, ICE, LOCK
• PURPLE: ___ FUND HEDGE, MUTUAL, SLUSH, TRUST

---

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: Perfect

---

As a big fan of multi-sport competitions I got COMPETE IN A MODERN PENTATHLON quickly, as these are all events in that particular Olympic sport.

It’s called the modern pentathlon to distinguish it from the ancient pentathlon, but in truth it’s not very modern anymore. It’s a bit like someone calling a typewriter a modern pencil. 

In my opinion there should be more of these tests of sporting ability – I remember a brief attempt at marketing a chessboxing hybrid a while back and there is of course the triathlon, but why stop there?

Combining table games, athletics and martial arts creates hundreds of watchable possibilities; who wouldn’t want to watch Jenga-Pole Vault-Judo? 

Getting the hardest group, comprising of four funds, early was a thrill for me today, tempered slightly by the fact that I don’t understand the blue group ENSURE, AS A VICTORY at all – just like I didn’t understand it a year ago when the exact same group appeared in Connections #340.

Back then, in May 2024, it was a green group so I don’t think I’m alone in struggling to see where ICE fits in.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

---

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Saturday, May 31, game #720)

• YELLOW: ALCOVE CAVITY, HOLLOW, NOOK, RECESS
• GREEN: WAYS TO RECOGNIZE ACHIEVEMENT CERTIFICATE, MEDAL, PLAQUE, TROPHY
• BLUE: VERBS IN BREADMAKING FERMENT, PROOF, REST, RISE
• PURPLE: THINGS YOU CAN BLOW BUBBLE, FUSE, KISS, RASPBERRY

---

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

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NYT Strands hints and answers for Sunday, June 1 (game #455)

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Saturday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Saturday, May 31 (game #454).

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #455) - hint #1 - today's theme

What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… All rise

NYT Strands today (game #455) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• RATION
• THIN
• YOUR
• ATOM
• COIN
• BROOM

NYT Strands today (game #455) - hint #3 - spangram letters

How many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 9 letters

NYT Strands today (game #455) - hint #4 - spangram position

What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: left, 4th row

Last side: right, 5th row

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #455) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #455, are…

• BAIL
• COURTROOM
• ALIBI
• MOTION
• OBJECTION
• SPANGRAM: YOUR HONOR

---

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 1 hint

---

The theme “All rise” immediately had me thinking we were searching for terms connected to judges, juries and trials. I couldn’t see any search words, so I used a hint to begin the hunt. BAIL didn’t exactly open up the board – but seeing COURTROOM did.

After a few easy editions, this Strands was much more of a challenge – OBJECTION was my final word, but it took a while to unpick the anagram and then connect the letters.

Today’s spangram – YOUR HONOR – is also the title of a TV show that has an excellent opening episode about a crime, a compromised judge, and the manufacture of an ALIBI. The jury is out on the rest of the series.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

---

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Saturday, May 31, game #454)

• SCRUNCHIE
• CLAW
• CLIP
• BARRETTE
• HEADBAND
• SPANGRAM: HAIR ACCESSORIES

---

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

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This movie is fully AI-generated and has a fully SAG-AFTRA cast – here’s 3 things you need to know about Echo Hunter

• Echo Hunter is a new, fully AI-generated sci-fi short film created using Arcana AI
• The cast is SAG-AFTRA actors led by Breckin Meyer
• The film blends traditional voice performances with AI-rendered visuals

---

There’s a memorable moment in the new sci-fi short film Echo Hunter where a clone hunter starts questioning his place in a morally bankrupt world with blurred lines between man and machine. It feels particularly pointed since AI models generate all of the footage for Echo Hunter.

Echo Hunter was created by Arcana Labs and written and directed by filmmaker Kavan Cardoza (better known as “Kavan the Kid”). However, unlike any other major AI-produced film, it features a fully unionized cast of SAG-AFTRA actors. You can see a bit of how it came together in the behind-the-scenes video below, but there are a few key things to know about Echo Hunter and its AI origins.

Real film with real actors

Clocking in at under 30 minutes, Echo Hunter isn’t just a tech demo; it's an actual story with a narrative, cohesive visual style, and directorial control. The plot isn't exactly unique; shades of Blade Runner, Ghost in the Shell, and The Matrix are hard to avoid in a story about a clone hunter in a dystopian future who begins to unravel when memories of a forgotten life start surfacing. Existential thrillers with sci-fi flavor and a moody synth score are familiar, but the entire thing being generated using AI models is not.

Arcana Labs developed the eponymous AI model behind the film. The idea was to demonstrate that a high-quality movie could be made without hundreds of millions of dollars and a year in Atlanta. The director and his team fed performance data, audio, and prompts into the system, and Arcana AI did the heavy lifting of designing visuals, rendering scenes, and creating a coherent movie.

Echo Hunter's producers are keen to say they aren't trying to replace actors or sidestep their union. Breckin Meyer leads a fully paid-up group of union performers, including Taylor John Smith, Danielle Bisutti, Gedeon Burkhard, Hanna Balicki, and Xander Bailey. Their voices, performances, and likenesses are central to the experience. Their voices are attached to AI-generated virtual versions of themselves.

Kavan collaboration

If Kavan the Kid rings any bells, you may be familiar with his pioneering experiments with AI-produced short films. He's gone viral with very unauthorized but still impressive-looking shorts like Star Wars: The Ghost Apprentice and Batman: A Face of Clay, each seen by millions of people and propelling him to notoriety for AI-based filmmaking, for better or worse. Echo Hunter fits well with both his style and technical expertise, which makes sense since he both directed and wrote the film.

But it's far from a one-man show this time. Arcana produced Echo Hunter in collaboration with Phantom X, with Arcana co-founder Jonathan Yunger as executive producer. Counting them and the cast, it's still a fraction of the hundreds of people necessary for an equivalent production without AI. Arcana argues this is a positive as it reduces the amount of money and resources that prevent filmmakers from making the kinds of movies they want to make.

But, while it's good that the cast is unionized and paid and treated accordingly, it raises questions about the future of the many other hard-working and talented people who make epic, large-scale films. That's something to consider, even if AI flawlessly executed filmmaking requests every time without plenty of the finessing and fine-tuning that made Echo Hunter look as good as it does.

Future films

And Echo Hunter, flaws and all, shows that this isn't a far-off theoretical question to consider. Studios won't shut down all their productions in favor of AI-created films (with or without human actors) tomorrow or even in the next few years, but there's no way meetings about doing so aren't happening. The ethical implications are real and worth wrestling with, but on the optimistic side, smaller, independent creators now have a lot more options for making films without spending half a million dollars for a five-second shot of a futuristic skyline. And lack of corporate coffers doesn't have to stop a Phoenix-based director from adding rain-slicked streets to their noir film.

Including real actors in the union does show that synthetic productions aren't automatically soulless. The human performances, writing, and direction are what make the film engaging. Some might argue that AI just helps fill in the blanks between the dream and the budget. And no AI could perfectly mimic how one of the stars from Franklin & Bash delivers an emotional monologue about lost identity in a clone apocalypse.

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Still on Windows 11 23H2 because you’re worried 24H2 is a disaster for PC gaming? Microsoft’s latest update could persuade you to finally upgrade

---

• Latest update for Windows 11 24H2 packs a couple of nifty fixes for gamers
• One of those is the crucial cure for some PC games locking up completely
• The other fix is more tenuous, but a patched memory leak may also be related to issues with some games

---

Windows 11 24H2 just got a vital fix for gamers in its latest optional patch, and Nvidia GPUs should now be more stable with the operating system, as it irons out problems with certain PC games crashing.

This is KB5058499 which is a preview (optional) update and brings with it a ton of new features, as I discussed yesterday.

More important than any of that for gamers, though, are a couple of fixes tucked away at the bottom of the release notes which I overlooked and Windows Latest was keen-eyed enough to spot.

The most important cure here is a patch for the graphics kernel in Windows 11 24H2, of which Microsoft observes: “Fixed: An issue where some game titles become unresponsive after upgrading to 24H2.”

The bug in question causes some games to simply lock up when they are launched, a nasty glitch indeed for affected titles.

As for the other remedy related to gaming, that’s a more tenuous one, but it involves a memory leak bug in the ‘Input Service’ which according to Microsoft affects remote desktop usage and other situations that aren’t likely to be encountered by the average Windows 11 user.

However, Windows Latest argues that this memory leak might be the cause of input lag with the keyboard and mouse in some PC games, too – or at least that this bug could be part of the reason for that.

This issue with input lag can also provoke blue screen crashes with ‘memory management’ errors, we’re told, but it’s basically guesswork that the fix implemented with this optional patch for Windows 11 is part of the cure here. That could be the case, though, and if so, this is a handy double-whammy of useful patching for gamers.

---

Analysis: Nvidia’s not to blame (this time)

(Image credit: Future)

What’s interesting here is that the blame for the bug which causes games to lock up with Windows 11 24H2 was placed at the door of Nvidia by many. As Windows Latest points out, even when Nvidia released a new graphics driver that cured ‘stability issues’ with Windows 11 24H2 – back in April – problems with games becoming unresponsive continued, and Team Green caught the flak for not resolving the situation.

It turns out, then, that this was a problem in the Windows 11 kernel (the central code for the OS) that Microsoft needed to tinker with, so those venting their wrath directly at Nvidia weren’t being fair to the GPU maker. Although that said, it’s understandable why folks jumped to conclusions, seeing as Team Green has undoubtedly had huge problems with its graphics drivers ever since the release of the latest Blackwell generation – and the thorny issues plaguing those GPUs continue.

At any rate, hopefully this will be the end of the matter, at least as far as the 24H2-related crashing goes (fingers and toes very tightly crossed). If you’ve been suffering at the hands of these bugbears, the only way you’ll find out is by installing the optional update.

Of course, preview updates can be fickle themselves, and potentially still buggy, which is why they’re optional. So, you can wait until this preview update becomes the full June cumulative update, which will be released on June 10. Or, if one of your favorite games is bugged so it doesn’t work at all, you’ll likely want to risk it and grab the preview update for May right now.

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UK retailer Game is canceling some Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders, so you may want to check yours

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• UK retailer Game has announced the cancelation of some Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders
• The reasoning is unclear, but it's likely the company doesn't have enough stock to fulfil all orders
• The retailer took to social media to encourage those affected to visit its support page

---

If you're in the UK and got a Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order from high street retailer Game, then you may want to check your emails.

That's because the retailer, as reported by Eurogamer, has confirmed that it has canceled an unspecified number of Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders. The reason why is unclear, but it's usually down to a retailer fulfilling more orders than it realistically has stock for.

In a post on X / Twitter, the official Game account released a statement regarding the cancelations. "We're currently working hard to reinstate as many affected pre-orders as possible," the statement reads. "If your order was impacted, please know that we're doing everything we can and will be in touch with further updates and next steps."

You can see the full post below. Game also encourages those who have experienced a pre-order cancelation to visit its customer support page.

Statement regarding Nintendo Switch 2 online pre-order cancellations.Contact GAME customer services here 🔗 https://ift.tt/6lz9rAx pic.twitter.com/BV0JtpeMuUMay 29, 2025

The cancelation of Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders has been a surprisingly common occurrence recently. Over in the US, customers who pre-ordered the console at Walmart, Target and GameStop have reported cancelations on social media sites like Reddit.

It isn't all doom and gloom as some retailers, including CostCo in the US and Smyths Toys in the UK, are currently confirming they will have launch day stock and - in the case of the latter - a midnight launch for the Nintendo Switch 2.

If you have been affected by Game's Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order cancelations, be sure to hit up the retailer's support page or visit our own how to pre-order a Nintendo Switch 2 guide advice on what to do next.

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• Nintendo has updated its Switch 2 game compatibility page, identifying over 100 titles with 'start up issues' on the upcoming console
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I used Veo 3 to recreate the first YouTube video, and the results are almost too good

We all know the story of the first YouTube video, a grainy 19-second clip of co-founder Jawed Karim at the zoo, remarking on the elephants behind him. That video was a pivotal moment in the digital space, and in some ways, it is a reflection, or at least an inverted mirror image, of today as we digest the arrival of Veo 3.

Part of Google Gemini, Veo 3 was unveiled at Google I/O 2025 and is the first generative video platform that can, with a single prompt, generate a video with synced dialogue, sound effects, and background noises. Most of these 8-second clips arrive in under 5 minutes after you enter the prompt.

I've been playing with Veo 3 for a couple of days, and for my latest challenge, I tried to go back to the beginning of social video and that YouTube "Me at the Zoo" moment. Specifically, I wondered if Veo 3 could recreate that video.

As I've written, the key to a good Veo 3 outcome is the prompt. Without detail and structure, Veo 3 tends to make the choices for you, and you usually don't end up with what you want. For this experiment, I wondered how I could possibly describe all the details I wanted to derive from that short video and deliver them to Veo 3 in the form of a prompt. So, naturally, I turned to another AI.

Google Gemini 2.5 Pro is not currently capable of analyzing a URL, but Google AI Mode, the brand-new form of search that is quickly spreading across the US, is.

Here's the prompt I dropped into Google's AI Mode:

(Image credit: Future)

Google AI Mode almost instantly returned with a detailed description, which I took and dropped into the Gemini Veo 3 prompt field.

I did do some editing, mostly removing phrases like "The video appears..." and the final analysis at the end, but otherwise, I left most of it and added this at the top of the prompt:

"Let's make a video based on these details. The output should be 4:3 ratio and look like it was shot on 8MM videotape."

It took a while for Veo 3 to generate the video (I think the service is getting hammered right now), and, because it only creates 8-second chunks at a time, it was incomplete, cutting off the dialogue mid-sentence.

Still, the result is impressive. I wouldn't say that the main character looks anything like Karim. To be fair, the prompt doesn't describe, for instance, Karim's haircut, the shape of his face, or his deep-set eyes. Google's AI Mode's description of his outfit was also probably insufficient. I'm sure it would have done a better job if I had fed it a screenshot of the original video.

Note to self: You can never offer enough detail in a generative prompt.

8 seconds at a time

The Veo 3 video zoo is nicer than the one Karim visited, and the elephants are much further away, though they are in motion back there.

Veo 3 got the film quality right, giving it a nice 2005 look, but not the 4:3 aspect ratio. It also added archaic and unnecessary labels at the top that thankfully disappear quickly. I realize now I should have removed the "Title" bit from my prompt.

The audio is particularly good. Dialogue syncs well with my main character and, if you listen closely, you'll hear the background noises, as well.

The biggest issue is that this was only half of the brief YouTube video. I wanted a full recreation, so I decided to go back in with a much shorter prompt:

Continue with the same video and add him looking back at the elephants and then looking at the camera as he's saying this dialogue:

"fronts and that's that's cool." "And that's pretty much all there is to say."

Veo 3 complied with the setting and main character but lost some of the plot, dropping the old-school grainy video of the first generated clip. This means that when I present them together (as I do above), we lose considerable continuity. It's like a film crew time jump, where they suddenly got a much better camera.

I'm also a bit frustrated that all my Veo 3 videos have nonsensical captions. I need to remember to ask Veo 3 to remove, hide, or put them outside the video frame.

I think about how hard it probably was for Karim to film, edit, and upload that first short video and how I just made essentially the same clip without the need for people, lighting, microphones, cameras, or elephants. I didn't have to transfer footage from tape or even from an iPhone. I just conjured it out of an algorithm. We have truly stepped through the looking glass, my friends.

I did learn one other thing through this project. As a Google AI Pro member, I have two Veo 3 video generations per day. That means I can do this again tomorrow. Let me know in the comments what you'd like me to create.

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Telegram gets some AI integration but you may not love the source

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• Telegram is adding xAI's Grok chatbot to its app
• Grok will be embedded into chat features like the search bar and pinned chats
• The deal has xAI paying Telegram $300 million to become a part of the app

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Telegram messages will have a sarcastic extra presence now, thanks to a deal made by the messaging app to bring xAI’s Grok chatbot to its platform.

xAI’s flagship chatbot is known for a snarkier – and occasionally unhinged – approach to user interactions. That attitude will now be available to all users, having previously been limited to some premium Telegram users.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov shared a video on X showing how users will be able to pin Grok to the top of chats, summon it from the search bar, and use it to do all sorts of activities; from writing messages and summarizing group chats to creating stickers, answering trivia, and even serving as a moderator in community groups.

Elon Musk’s AI company signed a deal with Telegram to embed Grok as a feature throughout the platform, paying $300 million for the privilege. Telegram is also getting 50% of the revenue from any Grok subscriptions purchased through the app, which could turn this into one of the most lucrative crossovers in chatbot history.

🔥 This summer, Telegram users will gain access to the best AI technology on the market. @elonmusk and I have agreed to a 1-year partnership to bring xAI’s @grok to our billion+ users and integrate it across all Telegram apps 🤝💪 This also strengthens Telegram’s financial… pic.twitter.com/ZPK550AyRVMay 28, 2025

Grok at work

If this all sounds vaguely familiar, that’s because it sounds a lot like Meta's strategy for Meta AI. The AI assistant has become part of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp in a similar fashion to Grok in Telegram. Grok serves as Telegram’s answer to Meta AI, encouraging people to stay on the platform rather than look elsewhere for help from an AI source.

The $300 million being paid by xAI may sound over-the-top, but it makes sense when you consider what xAI gets out of it. Telegram is one of the most-used messaging apps on the planet. Getting even a fraction of the more than 900 million monthly active Telegram users to try Grok would be a massive boon for the chatbot. And that's not even considering the value of the data Grok will get from Telegram users. It's a massive pool of real-time interaction data, which could fuel Grok's development in ways xAI is eager to pursue.

Since the real power of AI data comes from how real people interact, $300 million might end up being a bargain. Grok can learn a lot from what hundreds of millions of people ask, how they phrase things, and what tone they use, depending on whether they're happy, mad, flirty, or confused. xAI now has a front-row seat to that data firehose.

Naturally, the Grok integration will raise a few eyebrows when questions of privacy, data ownership, and how our data is used are brought up. Neither xAI nor Telegram has provided much detail about how Grok will handle user data or whether any of that data will be used to further train the model, which one must assume will be the case.

Grok may become the helpful assistant it's pitched as, or it could be another feature that people Google how to turn off, just like Meta AI. There’s also the question of moderation.

Durov demonstrated how Grok might help clean up spammy group chats, but Grok's tone would likely clash with a Telegram group discussing sensitive issues, and things could go very wrong if Grok misinterprets the context in a heated argument.

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Microsoft wants to simplify all Windows updates, and it could make everyone’s life easier

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• Microsoft has a grand vision of Windows Update delivering updates for all software installed on the PC
• This is mainly aimed at the business world to begin with, but there’s no reason why consumers won’t eventually benefit as well
• Developers will need to be persuaded to hook up their apps to Microsoft’s new unified delivery platform, though

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Microsoft plans to have Windows 11 itself handle all software updates via the Windows Update system, or that appears to be the idea for the future.

The Verge spotted a Microsoft blog post that outlined a vision of the “unified future for app updates on Windows,” as penned by product manager Angie Chen.

While this is a post on the IT Pro blog, and as such it’s targeted at IT admins and organizations, as Microsoft pushes forward in this direction, there’s no reason why consumers won’t benefit from this too.

This is surely the plan, even if it isn’t mentioned explicitly, as the post announces that a private preview of the new system is now kicking off, which any app developer can join to start getting their software ready for Microsoft’s brave new world of updates.

As it stands now, Windows Update provides relevant updates for the operating system itself (of course) and related frameworks, as well as drivers sometimes. When it comes to individual apps – or suites of software – you are reliant on the developer to deliver these through their own mechanisms.

Microsoft wants to change this by introducing a “Windows-native update orchestration platform” that allows any app developer to make use of Windows Update to deliver patches for their software alongside regular Windows 11 updates.

As Microsoft explains, there are several benefits to working in this way, not the least of which is that it keeps things simple and streamlined to get all your updates from one source.

Additionally, you’ll be able to view a history of all updates across your entire PC via the update history in the Windows 11 Settings app. Furthermore, developers will be able to use the operating system’s powers in terms of deciding when to apply updates, such as obeying the user's or admin’s time windows for updating, for example.

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Analysis: A sensible path forward

(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

All this makes some sense, and the convenience of combining all updates under one hub managed by Windows itself is surely taking a step forward.

After all, with updates reliant on the delivery methods of individual software developers, it can be easy to fall behind, especially if the update mechanism is tucked away somewhere and doesn’t happen automatically. Or indeed, if you don’t run a piece of software for ages, it could be hanging around in the background in a miserably unpatched state.

With Windows Update handling all this, you’d be on top of your software updates consistently, at least in theory. That said, cynics might be quick to pounce on the reliability of Windows Update.

Failed installations of updates are not exactly uncommon and are reported with some regularity. However, remember that these are updates for Windows 11 itself – more complex, knotty OS upgrades – and small app updates are unlikely to suffer any such wrinkles. And whether they do, or not, will presumably be down to the devs anyway, to a large extent.

It’s worth noting that you do get updates piped through to Windows apps automatically with software installed via the Microsoft Store, but of course, far from every developer wants to use that store.

Worried about app support, and some software being left out? Every base should be covered, with support for all common app types (not just Microsoft’s own creations, such as MSIX apps), as outlined in the blog post.

However, there could still be a catch here, namely that it’s up to software developers to use Microsoft’s new platform. And nothing is forcing them to hook up to the system, so will they bother?

That’s the multi-million-dollar question, but from my perspective, it all seems a sensible enough idea. While this may be a plan targeting the business world initially, I can envision a broader move towards this model of Windows updates for all kinds of app developers eventually. And as more make the leap, others could be persuaded to follow…

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Nvidia RTX 5050 GPU spotted in Acer gaming laptops, so it could arrive soon – but I’m becoming more doubtful about a desktop variant

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• Acer accidentally listed RTX 5050 GPUs in some gaming laptops
• The spilled details showed power usage and clock speeds
• We didn’t get any other specs shared, though, and chatter about the desktop variant of the RTX 5050 has gone quiet, too

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Acer has leaked the Nvidia RTX 5050 mobile GPU, giving us a glimpse of some of the key specs of this laptop graphics card.

Not so long ago, Nvidia introduced RTX 5060 models (the 5060 Ti spin came first), and before those arrived, there were rumors flying around about them and the RTX 5050, too.

While the RTX 5050 hasn’t been officially announced, we’ve been seeing numerous leaks about it recently. VideoCardz reports that the latest leak comes from Acer, courtesy of a list of GPU specs for Predator and Nitro gaming laptops.

This mentioned an RTX 5050 in quite a few of the Nitro notebooks, and I use the past tense there because Acer has caught the error and deleted the offending listings – but not before VideoCardz took a screenshot as evidence. Other sources have also taken note, so this is likely genuine – although still take it with a grain of salt, as with all rumors.

We can see from this screengrab that Acer is set to offer the RTX 5050 in five different power options, ranging from 50W up to 100W, with correspondingly faster clock speeds for each, from 1500MHz up to 2550MHz. Note that there’ll also be an ‘Acer OC’ (overclocked) boost of 15W with these models, meaning the most powerful model will be able to provide 115W in a pinch.

Sadly, we don’t see any specifications other than power usage and clocks, which are tied together in a direct relationship – the faster the clocks are pushed, the more wattage the GPU will consume.

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Analysis: A laptop RTX 5050 feels imminent – but what about the desktop model?

(Image credit: Peter Hoffmann)

The specs we see here don’t give us much of a clue as to how powerful the RTX 5050 will theoretically be. That said, the maximum power envelope advertised is quite substantial at 115W, but we don’t know enough about this mobile GPU to draw any definitive conclusions. Key factors will include the core count, which isn’t disclosed, and the type of video memory (VRAM) used.

I should note that on the latter front, there were rumors that Nvidia could opt for slower GDDR6 VRAM, rather than the GDDR7 employed elsewhere with the Blackwell generation. However, more recent rumors have suggested Nvidia will stick with GDDR7 (8GB of this VRAM, which is an expected configuration for an entry-level GPU).

At any rate, what this apparent mistake from Acer does indicate is that the RTX 5050 laptop graphics card could be close to arriving, otherwise it wouldn’t be popping up on spec sheets – and this is backed up by the fact that we’ve had a lot of leaks around this GPU recently. Indeed, one of those mentioned a planned launch date of Q2 for the RTX 5050, and so a June release appears to be a distinct possibility at this point.

In other words, we might be seeing the revelation of the Nvidia RTX 5050 for laptops in the next week or two. What about the desktop RTX 5050? Yes, it’s rumored Nvidia is going to produce a desktop flavor of this bottom-tier Blackwell GPU, which runs counter to what happened with the previous Lovelace generation (there was no desktop RTX 4050, only a laptop variant).

However, any gossip around the desktop RTX 5050 seems to have dried up, giving me pause for thought on whether Nvidia might have abandoned that idea, at least for the time being. Or maybe it was never happening in the first place; we never know with rumors.

I’m really hoping Nvidia can provide a more affordable desktop GPU for budget gaming PCs this time around, though, but whether that’ll actually happen is something I’ve always been doubtful about. Simply because of how Nvidia has neglected the budget end of the graphics card spectrum in more recent times.

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• AMD could be working on a faster RX 9070 Extreme graphics card

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Someone just built the world's smallest working Mac – and at this price, I desperately want one

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• 1-bit Rainbow is offering the tiniest classic Mac on the market
• It has a two-inch display and is powered by a Pico Zero Raspberry Pi
• You can buy a fully assembled unit for just $59

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You might have heard the phrase “small form-factor PC” to describe computers that are smaller than the average rig, but someone has just taken the SFFPC concept to a whole new level with a working Mac that features a display measuring just two inches across.

Appropriately dubbed the Pico-Mac-Nano, this tiny computer from 1-bit Rainbow features a 3D printed chassis that faithfully recreates the classic Macintosh look from the 1980s, albeit on a minute scale.

On the inside, the device is powered by a Pico Zero Raspberry Pi, while it packs in a two-inch 480p display for somewhat uncomfortable reading, plus 512MB of memory, a microSD card slot for storage, and a three-volt CR2 battery. It runs the MicroMac 128K emulator, which provides the vintage Mac operating system flavor. That means it’s a fully working computer, although whether it’s actually practical is another matter.

You can buy the fully assembled Pico-Mac-Nano for a mere $59 (around £44 / AU$92) – so much for the Apple tax. Alternatively, 1-bit Rainbow has supplied the 3D printing files if you want to print your own case and flash a regular Pico Raspberry Pi yourself.

There’s even a special Collectors Edition of the Pico-Mac-Nano that comes in a small-scale replica of Apple’s original ‘Picasso’ Macintosh shipping box. This version will set you back a modest $78 (or about £58 / AU$122).

A true small form-factor Mac

(Image credit: 1-bit Rainbow)

As someone who loves and owns both a SFFPC and a Mac, I’m always keeping an eye out for fascinating projects that can bridge the gap between both worlds.

This device, though, might be taking it a little too far even for me. I can’t imagine I’d be able to run many of the best Mac games on it – never mind “can it run Crysis?,” perhaps we should be asking “can it run Chess?”

Still, there’s no doubt that this product is an incredible achievement and shows just what can be done with modern hardware and software. Whether or not you want to 3D print it yourself, you’ll still be getting your hands on a neat little project that makes a faithful nod to the Macs of old.

So, if the miniscule M4 Mac mini isn’t quite small enough for you, perhaps the Pico-Mac-Nano will do the trick. Just don’t expect it to handle DeepSeek R1’s large language model any time soon.

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Opera rethinks the role of the browser with Neon, the first AI agentic web browser that will do tasks for you

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• Opera Neon is a new fully agentic browser capable of performing tasks
• The new premium browser is subscription-only and coming soon
• You can join the waitlist today

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Opera Neon is a new premium subscription web browser that can understand your commands in natural language thanks to AI while also performing a variety of tasks for you.

For instance you could ask Opera Neon to produce a detailed report, make a website or even code projects like games, all in the browser.

“We’re at a point where AI can fundamentally change the way we use the internet and perform all sorts of tasks in the browser. Opera Neon brings this to our users’ fingertips,” said Henrik Lexow, Senior AI Product Director at Opera.

“We see it as a collaborative platform to shape the next chapter of agentic browsing together with our community.”

Opera Neon keeps its complexity hidden by offering you a simple choice between Chat, Do and Make. (Image credit: Opera)

Fully agentic on the web

Of course, you can currently chat with AI in the standard Opera browser, which has access to Aria AI and ChatGPT in the sidebar, but Opera Neon is a fully agentic browser, which means you can ask it to perform tasks for you as well as chat or search with AI.

That could include filling out a form that appears in the website you’re viewing, making a hotel reservation, or even going shopping. Best of all, it does all this locally in the browser, without risking your privacy or security.

The AI agent inside Opera Neon has previously been showcased by Opera as Browser Operator and you can give it tasks with simple prompts like “Keep me updated on the latest breakthroughs in artificial intelligence,” and it would regularly collect and summarize the most relevant articles.

So, instead of wading through an endless news feed, you’d get just what matters to you the most, neatly packaged.

You can also chat with Opera Neon as if it were an AI chatbot, just like ChatGPT, and it can also search the web for you to find answers.

(Image credit: Opera)

Chat, Do and Make

Opera Neon boils its core functionality down to three main options: Chat, Do and Make.

Chat is the chatbot function. Here you can ask the AI contextual questions about the web page you are viewing and search the web.

Do is where Opera Neon can interact with the website you are viewing. We're talking about things like filling in forms, booking reservations and shopping. This is the technology we've previous known as Bowser Operator.

Make is the truly new part of Opera Neon. Here you can ask the browser to make you something, and it will interpret what you mean, then go away and do it for you. Once you've tasked it with making something you're free to go off and do something else.

Opera Neon looks like being one of the most exciting uses of AI I’ve seen in a while. The prospect of being able to ask the AI questions about the website you’re currently viewing in the browser and getting reliable answers back isn’t new, but the agentic qualities of the browser sound incredibly valuable.

Opera Neon isn’t out yet, but Opera says you can join the waitlist today. In the meantime, Opera has made this video to explain what an AI agent is:

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