Month: May 2025

Google has built an enormously successful business around the idea of putting ads in search results. Its most recent quarterly results showed the company made more than $50 billion from search ads, but what happens if AI becomes the dominant form of finding information? Google is preparing for that possibility by testing chatbot ads, but you won't see them in Google's Gemini AI—at least not yet.

A report from Bloomberg describes how Google began working on a plan in 2024 to adapt AdSense ads to a chatbot experience. Usually, AdSense ads appear in search results and are scattered around websites. Google ran a small test of chatbot ads late last year, partnering with select AI startups, including AI search apps iAsk and Liner.

The testing must have gone well because Google is now allowing more chatbot makers to sign up for AdSense. "AdSense for Search is available for websites that want to show relevant ads in their conversational AI experiences," said a Google spokesperson.

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Vox Media has sold video game specialist website Polygon to Internet brand aggregator Valnet, the publisher of content-churning sites including Game Rant, OpenCritic, Android Police, and Comic Book Resources. The move comes alongside significant layoffs for veteran journalists at the 13-year-old outlet, including co-founder and editor-in-chief Chris Plante and Senior Writer Michael McWhertor.

The sudden job cuts appear to have been completely unexpected for those affected. Polygon Senior Reporter Nicole Carpenter, for instance, published a story about the Epic vs. Apple case at 10 am Eastern time this morning before sharing news of her layoff less than two hours later on Bluesky.

"Along with just about everyone else at Polygon, I am now out of a job, ending over a decade at Vox Media for me," Curation Editor Pete Volk wrote on Bluesky. "Working at Polygon was a wonderful experience, and I'm proud of the work we did there."

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Vox Media has sold video game specialist website Polygon to Internet brand aggregator Valnet, the publisher of content-churning sites including Game Rant, OpenCritic, Android Police, and Comic Book Resources. The move comes alongside significant layoffs for veteran journalists at the 13-year-old outlet, including co-founder and editor-in-chief Chris Plante and Senior Writer Michael McWhertor.

The sudden job cuts appear to have been completely unexpected for those affected. Polygon Senior Reporter Nicole Carpenter, for instance, published a story about the Epic vs. Apple case at 10 am Eastern time this morning before sharing news of her layoff less than two hours later on Bluesky.

"Along with just about everyone else at Polygon, I am now out of a job, ending over a decade at Vox Media for me," Curation Editor Pete Volk wrote on Bluesky. "Working at Polygon was a wonderful experience, and I'm proud of the work we did there."

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It's time again to honor the winners of the annual Dance Your PhD contest, where eager young scientists attempt to convey the concepts of their doctoral theses through dance. This year's overall winner is the University of Helsinki's Sulo Roukka, who researches chemesthesis, specifically how people experience different sensory food compounds like capsaicin (hot) or menthol (cool).

As we've reported previously, the Dance Your PhD contest was established in 2008 by science journalist John Bohannon, who is now a data scientist at South Park Commons. Bohannon told Slate in 2011 that he came up with the idea while trying to figure out how to get a group of stressed-out PhD students, who were in the middle of defending their theses, to let off a little steam. So he put together a dance party at Austria's Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, including a contest for whichever candidate could best explain their thesis topics through interpretive dance.

The contest was such a hit that Bohannon started getting emails asking when the next one would be—and Dance Your PhD has continued ever since. It's now in its 17th year. There are four broad categories: physics, chemistry, biology, and social science, with a fairly liberal interpretation of what topics fall under each. All category winners receive $750. Roukka won the chemistry category and, as the overall champion, will receive an additional $2,750.

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It's time again to honor the winners of the annual Dance Your PhD contest, where eager young scientists attempt to convey the concepts of their doctoral theses through dance. This year's overall winner is the University of Helsinki's Sulo Roukka, who researches chemesthesis, specifically how people experience different sensory food compounds like capsaicin (hot) or menthol (cool).

As we've reported previously, the Dance Your PhD contest was established in 2008 by science journalist John Bohannon, who is now a data scientist at South Park Commons. Bohannon told Slate in 2011 that he came up with the idea while trying to figure out how to get a group of stressed-out PhD students, who were in the middle of defending their theses, to let off a little steam. So he put together a dance party at Austria's Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, including a contest for whichever candidate could best explain their thesis topics through interpretive dance.

The contest was such a hit that Bohannon started getting emails asking when the next one would be—and Dance Your PhD has continued ever since. It's now in its 17th year. There are four broad categories: physics, chemistry, biology, and social science, with a fairly liberal interpretation of what topics fall under each. All category winners receive $750. Roukka won the chemistry category and, as the overall champion, will receive an additional $2,750.

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Mike Waltz, nationaler Sicherheitsberater von US-Präsident Donald Trump, hat seinen Posten verloren. Waltz und sein Vertreter müssen ihre Ämter abgeben. (Donald Trump, Instant Messenger)

Tesla today denied a report that its board contacted executive search firms to find a replacement for CEO Elon Musk. The Wall Street Journal reported last night that about a month ago, "Tesla's board got serious about looking for Musk's successor" and that board "members reached out to several executive search firms to work on a formal process for finding Tesla's next chief executive."

Tesla's official X account then posted a statement attributed to board chairperson Robyn Denholm saying that "there was a media report erroneously claiming that the Tesla Board had contacted recruitment firms to initiate a CEO search at the company."

"This is absolutely false (and this was communicated to the media before the report was published). The CEO of Tesla is Elon Musk and the Board is highly confident in his ability to continue executing on the exciting growth plan ahead," Denholm's statement said.

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Tesla today denied a report that its board contacted executive search firms to find a replacement for CEO Elon Musk. The Wall Street Journal reported last night that about a month ago, "Tesla's board got serious about looking for Musk's successor" and that board "members reached out to several executive search firms to work on a formal process for finding Tesla's next chief executive."

Tesla's official X account then posted a statement attributed to board chairperson Robyn Denholm saying that "there was a media report erroneously claiming that the Tesla Board had contacted recruitment firms to initiate a CEO search at the company."

"This is absolutely false (and this was communicated to the media before the report was published). The CEO of Tesla is Elon Musk and the Board is highly confident in his ability to continue executing on the exciting growth plan ahead," Denholm's statement said.

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Viele Unternehmen setzen auf Microsoft Copilot, um Prozesse zu vereinfachen und produktiver zu arbeiten. Wie der KI-Assistent sinnvoll eingeführt und genutzt werden kann, zeigt dieser praxisnahe Online-Workshop. (Golem Karrierewelt, KI)

Microsoft is increasing the recommended asking price of Xbox hardware and accessories worldwide starting today and will start charging $79.99 for some new first-party games this holiday season. The announcement comes after "careful consideration given market conditions and the rising cost of development," Microsoft said.

In the United States, this means Microsoft's premiere Xbox Series X will now cost $599.99 for a unit with a disc drive (up from $499.99), while the Digital version will cost $549.99 (up from $449.99). On the lower end, a 1 TB Xbox Series S will now cost $429.99 (up from $349.99), while a 512GB unit will cost $379.99 (up from $299.99).

The new prices are already reflected on Microsoft's official online store, and Microsoft says it will "provide updated recommended pricing to local retailers." That might leave a small window where you can get Xbox hardware and accessories from those retailers at the older, lower price while supplies remain available.

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