Google Photos adds a new AI Video Remix tool

Netflix is again experimenting with new types of content on its streaming service, as the binge model has grown dated. After expanding its service to include live content, video games, and, more recently, video podcasts, the streamer is now adding video content from publishers such as BuzzFeed Studios, Condé Nast, Hearst Magazines, People Inc., Tastemade, and various Penske Media PMX brands, like Variety, THR, Billboard, Eater, Rolling Stone, and Indiewire. Starting August 3, Netflix will offer video content from these publishers to subscribers in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, according to Netflix and other reports released on Tuesday by Netflix’s deal partners like Variety, Billboard, THR, Rolling Stone, and others. The new videos will vary widely in length — some run just 2 to 3 minutes, while others stretch past 20, the partners said. For Netflix, the deal is a low-risk way to test whether its audience has an appetite for the kind of content that’s typically native to the web, such as news, lifestyle, how-tos, and other short-form formats that tend to be cheaper and faster to produce than a scripted series. If it works, Netflix could eventually build similar content in-house, though the company hasn’t said that’s the plan. The line-up will include both licensed archival and ongoing series coming to Netflix, including BuzzFeed Celeb’s 30 Questions, Tasty Recipes, Vanity Fair’s Lie Detector, AD’s Walking Tour, Elle’s Where is the Lie, Harper’s Bazaar’s Burning Questions, Billboard’s 24 Hrs With, Variety’s How Well Do They Know?, PEOPLE’s My Life in Pictures, Travel + Leisure’s Travel Unfiltered, Tastemade’s Struggle Meals, and more. Netflix says other publishers will be added over time. The announcement follows a Bloomberg report this week which found that Netflix is struggling to retain fans between the first and second seasons of top shows. That trend has reportedly worried executives, though it’s largely explained by familiar culprits: high cancellation rates, long gaps between seasons, and inconsistent quality. The report suggests that Netflix is also facing a shift in consumer viewing habits, which sees the streamer now competing with YouTube and TikTok — arguably as much as it competes with traditional TV networks now. To court viewers drawn to short-form video, Netflix already added a TikTok-style feature called “Clips” that lets users scroll through short snippets from its library. But where Clips is designed to funnel viewers toward longer shows and movies, these new publisher deals go the other direction, bringing short-form content onto the platform in its own right. “Members don’t just want to watch a show or film and move on – they want to keep exploring the stories and personalities they love long after the final credits roll. These partnerships help us deepen fandom and create more ways for members to carry those stories with them throughout their day,” stated John Derderian, Netflix VP of Animation Series + Kids & Family TV, who is overseeing this project. When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence. Sarah has worked as a reporter for TechCrunch since August 2011. She joined the company after having previously spent over three years at ReadWriteWeb. Prior to her work as a reporter, Sarah worked in I.T. across a number of industries, including banking, retail and software. You can contact or verify outreach from Sarah by emailing sarahp@techcrunch.com or via encrypted message at sarahperez.01 on Signal. View Bio

In Brief Posted: 1:29 PM PDT · July 5, 2026 Image Credits:Mandel NGAN/AFP / Getty Images Nearly 1 million people have lost a total of $3.8 billion after buying President Donald Trump’s $TRUMP memecoin, according to cryptocurrency analytics firm Nansen. The New York Times reports that Nansen’s analysis is based on transactions that are publicly visible on the blockchain, showing that 988,905 accounts had lost money on the memecoin as of the end of June. That represents around two out of three $TRUMP buyers. On Sunday, $TRUMP was trading at $1.69, down nearly 98% from its high of $75.35. Trump announced the memecoin three days before his inauguration in 2025. He’d previously co-founded a crypto startup, World Liberty Financial, with his sons, and the $WLFI coin has also declined significantly in value. In a recent financial disclosure, the president revealed that he made $636 million from the memecoin, accounting for nearly half of the $1.4 billion that the president made from the crypto industry last year. Under the Trump administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission has said it will not regulate memecoins as securities and has dropped a number of lawsuits against crypto companies. A White House spokesperson told the NYT, “President Trump proudly made the United States the crypto capital of the world.” Topics Subscribe for the industry’s biggest tech news Latest in Crypto

The White House is easing restrictions on Anthropic’s most advanced AI models weeks after ordering the company to suspend access for foreign nationals.Photograph: Dominique Jacovides/AP PhotoThe Trump administration is expected on Tuesday night to lift export controls on Anthropic’s two most powerful AI models after the company reached a deal with the Commerce Department, according to a person familiar with the matter.The department will lift restrictions on both the Fable 5 model and the more powerful Mythos 5 model, which has so far been approved for release only to select companies and government agencies, the person said.The move is expected to be communicated in a letter to Anthropic cofounder Tom Brown sent by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who has led the Trump administration's efforts to resolve the dispute with Anthropic alongside the national cyber director Sean Cairncross.The developments come as Anthropic has been working with the Commerce Department and the White House, the people say, to strengthen safeguards against users bypassing Fable's safety restrictions to access restricted capabilities, especially those related to cybersecurity.Anthropic originally contended that the administration’s jailbreak concerns were overblown. The company said it was impossible to ensure there were zero jailbreaks that could unlock the more powerful capabilities of the company’s restricted Mythos model, which was approved for limited release to select companies and government agencies last week.In recent weeks, Anthropic changed tack to try to get Fable back online, which has also meant changing the company’s communication style with the administration. WIRED previously reported that Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei was recently replaced in meetings with cofounder Tom Brown, who officials liked more on a personal level.Anthropic also assured the administration that it would try to reduce the number of jailbreaks by building more robust safeguards, effectively telling the administration what it wanted to hear rather than relitigating the conceptual issue of whether jailbreaks can be stopped, the people said.Meta’s CTO admits the company’s reorg was ‘atrocious’Hugo Lowell is a senior political correspondent at WIRED, where he anchors the weekly newsletter Inner Loop from Washington, DC. Previously, he was a White House correspondent for The Guardian and is the 2022 recipient of the National Press Club award for political reporting. He is originally from New York. ... Read MoreRead More

A sweeping warrantless surveillance authority remains on track to expire Friday, with no clear path to a deal, after President Donald Trump refused this week to abandon his pick of housing official Bill Pulte to temporarily lead the US intelligence community—even tasking Pulte with gutting the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in a DOGE-style “downsizing“ before a permanent director is named.In a Truth Social post after his second White House meeting in two days with House speaker Mike Johnson, Trump called Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act “very important to our military, and keeping the American people safe” and asked Congress for a short-term extension to give him time to find a permanent director of national intelligence.Section 702 lets the government collect the communications of foreign targets abroad without a warrant, sweeping in an unknown volume of Americans’ messages that the FBI can later search. It faces a first-ever lapse in its legal authorization if Congress does not act by the end of Friday, June 12. Any renewal needs 60 votes in a Senate where Republicans hold 53 seats.The director of national intelligence oversees the program, and Pulte’s appointment as acting DNI has become the major sticking point. Reauthorization had been on a workable path until Trump named him as Tulsi Gabbard’s replacement early last week. Senate leaders then could not muster enough votes to pass even a motion to begin debate on the program, with seven Republicans breaking from the party to join Democrats. The Republican holdouts want a warrant requirement to query Americans’ data, which the administration rejects; Democrats refuse to advance the bill while Pulte is in line for the job.As head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Pulte has sent the Justice Department criminal referrals alleging mortgage fraud by Trump critics including New York attorney general Letitia James, Senator Adam Schiff, and Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook—nearly identical allegations, which all have denied, against three of Trump's highest-profile critics. He has no intelligence background, despite a post-9/11 statute requiring the director to have “extensive national security expertise.” Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee and a coauthor of last week’s stalled bipartisan compromise, said someone with a history of weaponizing confidential information should not be handed the role.House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries has drawn a hard line over the appointment. Negotiations were “already in a very sensitive place,“ he told reporters Monday, when “Donald Trump, as he often does, tosses a hand grenade” by elevating Pulte. In a separate interview, Jeffries called Pulte “deeply unqualified” and “deeply dangerous,” with no national security, military, or law enforcement background and a demonstrated willingness to “weaponize the federal government against Donald Trump’s perceived adversaries.”Withdrawing the appointment, he said, was a necessary but not sufficient condition for a deal: “That’s a starting point, not an ending point,” he said. “And then we can see if we can responsibly get to a place where there are enough reforms built into the law to provide guardrails and protect the American people.”GOP leaders have pressed the White House for an off-ramp. Senate majority leader John Thune said the administration was “weighing seriously“ naming a permanent, Senate-confirmed director, while claiming the program is essential heading into the World Cup and the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations—framing the president echoed on Truth Social on Wednesday. Senator John Cornyn was more direct: “I’m still seeking any evidence of qualifications. And Democrats are not going to vote to pass 702 until he’s withdrawn.”Cornyn said materials from Section 702 generate roughly 60 percent of the President’s Daily Brief, a figure Senate Judiciary chairman Chuck Grassley has also cited.Some Republicans d

Former tech executive and VC Sriram Krishnan is leaving the Trump administration at the end of June. “It is hard to express how big a privilege it has been to serve the American people and how grateful I am to have had the opportunity to do so,” Krishnan said in a post on X. “First and foremost, it has been an honor to serve under President [Donald Trump]. Without his leadership, we would not be leading in the AI race.” Krishnan, who’s been serving as a senior policy advisor on artificial intelligence at the White House, was one of a number of tech industry figures to take roles in the second Trump administration. Krishnan has led product teams at Microsoft, Twitter, Yahoo, Facebook, and Snap, and he was most recently a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, a firm whose founders threw their support behind Trump during the 2024 election. In his post, Krishnan highlighted some “key public accomplishments,” starting with the administration’s AI Action Plan, which prioritized data center construction over regulation and safety. Since then, Trump has signed several executive orders around AI, including one that seeks to challenge state-level AI regulations and another focused on oversight that was delayed and narrowed after industry pushback. Trump has also endorsed the idea that the government could take an equity stake in major AI companies. Krishnan noted that the person he “worked [most] closely with over the last 18 months” was David Sacks, the investor and podcaster who stepped down as AI and crypto czar earlier this year and became co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. “[Sacks’] continuing advocacy for America winning on AI has been and continues to be crucial,” Krishnan said. Next, Krishnan said he will be “building institutions” that tackle big challenges for “America and its allies.” According to The Washington Post, he’s planning to start an outside institution that will still give him a role in influencing Trump’s AI policy. “Whether it is energy, data centers or a clear path for Americans to experience the benefits of AI, there are many tough issues we all need to navigate together,” Krishnan said. When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence. Anthony Ha is TechCrunch’s weekend editor. Previously, he worked as a tech reporter at Adweek, a senior editor at VentureBeat, a local government reporter at the Hollister Free Lance, and vice president of content at a VC firm. He lives in New York City. You can contact or verify outreach from Anthony by emailing anthony.ha@techcrunch.com. View Bio

It's nearly summer. Birds are migrating, flowers are blooming, and REI is kicking off its annual anniversary sale.It’s the outdoor retailer’s biggest sale of the year. This year’s REI sale starts May 15 and runs through Memorial Day, May 25. Many items are up to 30 percent off, but REI Co-op members save up to 20 percent on any full-price item and an extra 20 percent off any REI Outlet item. To get the discount, add the promo code ANNIV26 at checkout.We’ve highlighted the best deals on gear we’ve loved over our years of testing. There’s something for nearly all our favorite summer activities: tents, stoves, sleeping bags, and plenty of outdoor apparel. Be sure to look at our guides to outdoor gear, like the Best Tents, Best Sleeping Bags, Best Backpacking Sleeping Pads, Best Rain Jackets, Best Backpacking Water Filters, Best Merino Wool, and Best Binoculars.WIRED Featured DealsA power station for going off grid: Goal Zero Yeti 1500 Portable Power Station for $1,125 ($375 off)Recharge your watch with the sun: Garmin Instinct 3 Solar for $400 ($100 off)The best value backpacking tent: REI Co-op Half Dome 2 Tent With Footprint for $197 ($132 off)A comfy backcountry sleeping pad: Therm-a-rest Neoloft Sleeping Pad for $195 ($65 off)The best value puffy jacket: REI Co-op 650 Down Jacket for $90 ($30 off)Deals on Camping Gadgets and GearPhotograph: Scott GilbertsonGoal Zero's new Yeti 1500 is one of the best camping and overlanding power stations we've tested. The new LiFePO4 chemistry battery is rated for 4,000 charge cycles (about 10 years of average use) and there's a new high amp output (30 A) for tying into van and overlanding setups. Goal Zero also engineered it to be able to handle the high vibration environment of off-roading. With 4 AC outlets and USB charging at up to 140 watts, the Yeti 1500 can keep your wired world running for well over a week, no grid required.Yes your phone has some features of a dedicated satellite messenger, but we still think you're better off with a dedicated device. Garmin's new inReach Mini 3 now offers some of those phone features—like voice and photo messaging—along with the emergency features and excellent service world wide. It's also still tiny, well built, and has great battery life. The cheaper Garmin Inreach Mini 3 (which does not have the new photo sharing features) is also on sale for $400 ($50 off).The Garmin Instinct Solar is our favorite rugged and affordable outdoor watch powered by the sun. It has long battery life and yes, recharges any time it's in the sun. GPS is enabled and there's tons of sports tracking and navigation features. It's cheaper than a Fenix and just as reliable.Courtesy of ColemanMy favorite of Coleman's current lineup, the Cascade 3-in-1 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) features heavy-duty cast iron grates, comes with a cast-iron griddle and grill, and can fit a 12-inch pan and a 10-inch pan side by side. It's sturdier and all-around more robust than other Coleman stoves, well worth the extra money if you're serious about camp cooking. That said, the much cheaper stove below will get you by if you're only using it a few nights a year.This is our favorite camp stove for most people. Technically this version is a little fancier than our top pick, with electronic ignition and a nice pale green paint job. Is it worth an extra $30? That's up to you. If it's not, snag the less fancy version for $59 at Walmart.The thing to keep in mind when you shop REI brand gear is the company's basic proposition: you get 90 percent of the designer item, for 70 percent of the price. It's a strategy that works quite well and has generated some really great, affordable gear. This chair is a good example of that. It's not as nice as the Nemo above, but it's still comfortable (it does wobble a little, side to side when you move) and nearly half the price.Photograph: Scott GilbertsonWhenever I can, I like to cook over open flame using my firebox stove, which often means cutting wood. The best por

A new video game about President Donald Trump’s war in Iran features fights with the pope and New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani. It’s impossible to win, and that’s the point.The game, Operation Epic Furious: Strait To Hell, was developed by Secret Handshake, an anonymous group of artists behind a handful of satirical works mocking the Trump administration. The group previously installed a gold statue of Trump and Jeffrey Epstein on the National Mall; it portrayed Trump holding onto Epstein in a pose reminiscent of Jack and Rose from the movie Titanic.The game is available to play online, but three fully functional arcade cabinets are currently installed at the Washington, DC War Memorial and will remain there for the next few days, Secret Handshake said in a press release on Monday. Near the installation, a plaque reads: “The Trump administration knows that the best way to sell combat is by making it a video game, that’s why they’ve been pumping out the ‘sickest’ Iran War video game hype reels. But why stop at clips when you could go full throttle? Introducing Operation Epic Furious: Strait to Hell, a high-octane, flag-waving, boots-on-the-ground simulator where freedom isn’t debated, it’s deployed. No briefings, no hesitation; just pure pixelated patriotism. Strap in and play hard, because this game may never end.”A still from Operation Epic Furious: Strait To Hell. Courtesy of The Secret HandshakeIn the game, which is visually reminiscent of classic role-playing games like Chrono Trigger, Trump is the playable character, who is on a quest to collect barrels of oil and ideas for Truth Social posts with the goal of reopening the Strait of Hormuz and winning the war. The game features appearances from current and former Trump administration officials like FBI director Kash Patel, secretary of state Marco Rubio, vice president JD Vance, and Elon Musk. These officials aid Trump, who builds strength through combat with enemies like the “Iranian schoolgirl” and “DEIyatollah”, during which he can perform special moves like “Mar-a-Lazer”. Throughout the game, Trump’s social media posts do little to move the needle, creating an endless cycle of tasks and threats that ultimately lead nowhere.Even if the game is unwinnable, players can lose, and do so abruptly. The game opens up in the White House, where Trump can speak with his wife Melania. “I WAS NEVER ON THE EPSTEIN JET,” she announces with no provocation before asking, “Did you burn the files yet?” The sequence is seemingly poking fun at a surprise press conference the first lady gave addressing the Epstein Files last month. The player, as Trump, can tell her that they are in the process of burning the files—something they can, in fact, do—or ask if they can hold hands. If the player selects the second option, the game ends.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appears in Operation Epic Furious: Strait To Hell. Courtesy of The Secret Handshake