• X restricts Grok’s image generation to paying subscribers only after drawing the world’s ire

    January 9, 2026

    Elon Musk’s AI company has restricted Grok’s controversial AI image-generation feature to only paying subscribers on X, after the tool invited heavy criticism from across the world for letting users generate sexualized and nude images of women and children. In replies to users on Friday, Grok said only paying subscribers on X would be able to generate and edit images on the platform. Notably, these limits do not apply to the Grok app, which, at the time of publication, was letting anyone generate pictures without having to pay for a subscription. Initially available to anyone with daily limits, Grok’s image…

  • 2026 Bentley Flying Spur review: Quick drive

    January 9, 2026

    Bentley is a brand known for producing truly special cars, and this – the Flying Spur sedan – is the most exclusive of them all. Starting from just under $500,000, the Flying Spur is the most expensive Bentley you can buy right now, at least in base specification. It’s also the rarest on Australian roads – just 10 were sold last year to the end of November, in which time the Continental coupe/convertible and Bentayga SUV chalked up 58 sales each. Nevertheless, Bentley has tinkered with the Flying Spur lineup for 2026. You can no longer buy the V6 plug-in…

  • Kia’s budget EV2 arrives with up to 240 miles of range

    January 9, 2026

    Kia has unveiled its new entry level electric vehicle, the EV2. The boxy model strongly resembles the company’s Soul (Kia did make an electric Soul at one point) and has very similar dimensions, though it’s slightly shorter in height and length. It’s not exactly a range monster and will charge a bit slower than the competition. The EV2 launched at the Brussels Motor Show and the company said it has no plans for US availability at this point. The EV2 uses Kia/Hyundai’s E-GMP platform and slots into the bottom of its EV lineup as an “entry point to electric mobility,”…

  • The venture firm that ate Silicon Valley just raised another $15 billion

    January 9, 2026

    Andreessen Horowitz just announced the firm has just raised a little more than $15 billion in new funding. The haul represents over 18% of all venture capital dollars allocated in the United States in 2025, according to firm co-founder Ben Horowitz, but even more jaw-dropping is that it brings the organization to more than $90 billion in assets under management, putting it neck-and-neck with Sequoia Capital as among the largest venture firms in the world. Which is fitting, since a16z appears to be very friendly with actual sovereign wealth funds, including at least one from Saudi Arabia. The firm, which…

  • Xbox is bringing Avowed to PS5

    January 9, 2026

    Another first-party Xbox game is making the leap to PlayStation 5. This time around, Obsidian’s Avowed — one of our favorite games of last year — is crossing the great divide. The fantasy action RPG will hit Sony’s console on February 17, one day shy of the game’s first anniversary. As it happens, an anniversary update is set to go live on all platforms at the same time. This includes a new game+ mode (allowing those who have beaten the RPG to replay it with all their gear and upgrades from their previous run), a photo mode, a new weapon…

  • Missing NBC on Fubo? Here’s how to watch Sunday Night Football, figure skating, and more this week

    January 9, 2026

    It’s been almost two months since Fubo has stopped carrying NBCUniversal-owned channels, and there’s still no sign of them coming back to the streaming service. Customers have had to find alternate methods of watching Sunday Night Football, all the latest episodes of the Real Housewives franchise, and so much more because of Fubo and NBCUniversal’s contract dispute, so channels like NBC, USA Network, Telemundo, and Bravo have been unavailable on Fubo since Nov. 21. A message released by Fubo to their customers explains, “Fubo believes customers should have the option to choose among multiple distributors to access the content they…

  • Go-to-market strategies for an AI era 

    January 9, 2026

    In the season finale of Build Mode, Isabelle Johannessen sits down with Paul Irving, partner and COO of GTMfund, to discuss go-to-market strategies for the AI era. Paul shares specific, actionable advice on how early-stage startups can win even when facing well-funded competitors who iterate at lightning speed. He also explains why distribution has become the final remaining moat when technical advantages disappear in months instead of years, and why every company needs a unique go-to-market motion tailored to their specific ICP.  They also dive into the power of warm-introduction mapping and building authentic relationships with operators who can open doors. Irving highlights one of the best parts of the…

  • The 7 best cordless vacuums for 2026

    January 9, 2026

    Old-school, upright vacuums left a lot to be desired, and cordless models are here to right many of those wrongs. These types of vacuums tend to be thinner, lighter and easy to maneuver around a home, and you don’t really have to sacrifice suction power anymore to get those benefits. Dyson isn’t your only option anymore either — like the robot vacuum space, there are dozens of cordless vacuums to choose from today. Variety is great, but it can also lead to decision fatigue and confusion. We at Engadget can help make that decision a bit easier. After testing a…

  • Anthropic adds Allianz to growing list of enterprise wins

    January 9, 2026

    AI research lab Anthropic continues to land sizable enterprise deals. Its latest entails bringing its large language models to a legacy German insurance giant. Anthropic on Friday announced a deal with Munich, Germany-based global insurance conglomerate Allianz to bring “responsible AI” to the insurance industry. The parties declined to share financial terms of the deal. The partnership is made up of three specific initiatives. The first is making Claude Code, Anthropic’s AI-powered coding tool, available to all of Allianz’s employees. Anthropic and Allianz will also build custom AI agents for Allianz employees that can execute multi-step workflows with a human…

  • All the new tech that caught our eye in Las Vegas

    January 9, 2026

    This year, over 4,000 exhibitors descended on Las Vegas, Nevada to showcase their wares at CES, and the Engadget team was out in full force. The week started with press conferences from the biggest companies at the show, which were often a flurry of AI buzzwords, vague promises and very little in the way of hard news. More than one company even decided to forgo announcing things during their conferences to make way for more AI chatter, only to publish press releases later quietly admitting that, yes, actually, they did make some consumer technology. It’s appropriate, I guess, that as…