Tesla has been accused of manipulating the odometers in its cars to avoid repair responsibilities and warranty agreements.
As <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/automotive/tesla-accused-of-using-sneaky-tactic-to-dodge-car-repairs">The Street reports</a>, a class-action lawsuit filed in February claims that Tesla has been trying to dodge warranty-related obligations by intentionally overstating the distances its vehicles travel.
The plaintiff, a man in California who bought a used 2020 Model Y with 36,772 miles, noticed an "abnormal spike in average daily miles driven" — despite a "consistent driving routine" — while he was taking it to the shop multiple times for suspension repairs.
As a result, his warranty expired after reaching the 50,000-mile threshold "well ahead of schedule," according to the lawsuit. However, after the expiry, the "reported average daily miles" suddenly dropped off, becoming "more closely aligned with his historical data on his other vehicles," making him suspicious that the EV maker was fudging the numbers.
"Tesla Inc. employs an odometer system that utilizes predictive algorithms, energy consumption metrics, and driver behavior multipliers that manipulate and misrepresent the actual mileage traveled by Tesla vehicles," the lawsuit reads. "In so doing, Defendants can, and do, accelerate the rate of depreciation of the value of Tesla vehicles and also the expiration of Tesla vehicle warranties to reduce or avoid responsibility for contractually required repairs as well as increase the purchase of its extended warranty policy."
The news couldn't come at a worse time for the carmaker. Sales have <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/tesla-sales-data-europe">tanked worldwide</a> in large part due to CEO Elon Musk's <a href="https://futurism.com/poll-favorability-elon-musk-doge">abhorrent behavior</a>, <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musks-grok-salute">embrace of far-right extremism</a>, and gutting of the federal government.
Investors have also had enough. Tesla's share price <a href="https://www.barrons.com/articles/tesla-stock-price-death-cross-6c0d6a5d">formed a "death cross" this week</a>, a chart pattern when a stock's short-term moving averages cross below its long-term averages.
Tesla stock is down over 34 percent year to date, indicating widespread disillusionment and uncertainty over the company's long-term future.
Rapid depreciation has become a huge problem, with the value of used Teslas tanking <a href="https://insideevs.com/news/753814/used-tesla-values-depreciation-high/">three times faster than any other brand</a>.
In short, a class-action lawsuit accusing it of fudging the odometer numbers is the last thing the carmaker needs — especially as it braces for a <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla-q1-earnings-likely-disappoint-133100733.html">likely disastrous first-quarter earnings report</a>.
In many ways, what the plaintiff is alleging in the suit is nothing particularly new. Tesla owners have long noticed an unusual discrepancy between the mileage indicated on the odometer and the actual miles driven.
"Is Tesla inflating odometer to show more range, ding lessors with over miles and duck repairs under warranty?" one Reddit user wrote in a <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/RealTesla/comments/1ca92nk/is_tesla_inflating_odometer_to_show_more_range/">post last year</a>. "As I return my leased Model Y I noticed the odometer is off by 20 percent vs my Lexus RZ."
And it's not just "dodgy" mileage numbers.
In a 2023 investigation, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/tesla-batteries-range/">Reuters found</a> that Tesla had "rigged the dashboard readouts in its electric cars to provide 'rosy' projections of how far owners can drive before needing to recharge."
Drivers noticed they were getting far fewer miles out of their cars' batteries than what the EV maker had claimed.
According to the investigation, Tesla had set up an entire "diversion team" to divert calls from complaining customers and deceive them into running a "remote diagnostics" scan, which more often than not determined that the battery was fine.
While it remains unclear how the latest lawsuit will play out, it's certainly not a good look for a company whose brand has already been <a href="https://futurism.com/tesla-investors-terrified">severely tarnished</a> by its CEO's antics.
More on Tesla: <a href="https://futurism.com/gas-guzzling-trucks-blockade-tesla">Convoy of Gas Guzzling Trucks Imposes Blockade on Tesla Dealership</a>

Fudging the numbers.

Not a good look.

Tesla Accused of Hacking Odometers to Rip Off Customers

Billionaire Elon Musk has had 14 children with four different women — and that's just the ones we know about.
The latest of his babies we've learned of was conceived by 26-year-old <a href="https://futurism.com/influencer-elon-musk-thirteenth-baby">conservative influencer Ashley St. Clair</a>, who has sued him over custody of her son and accused him of trying to silence her by paying her off.
In a <a href="https://futurism.com/ashley-st-clair-sells-tesla">PR stunt last month</a>, St. Clair even announced that she had sold her Tesla Model S, arguing that she needed the money since Musk had cut her child support.
And as the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/elon-musk-children-mothers-ashley-st-clair-grimes-dc7ba05c?st=ptnG5W&amp;reflink=mobilewebshare_permalink">Wall Street Journal reports</a>, there could be countless other women like St. Clair, who have quietly given birth to more of Musk's children.
In fact, according to the newspaper's reporting, Musk has made a habit of sending unsolicited DMs to women on Twitter, often in right-wing political circles, offering them to have his babies.
Case in point, per the WSJ, Musk asked pro-Trump crypto influencer Tiffany Fong on X-formerly-Twitter if she was interested in having his child, despite having never met in person.
Fong shut him down, only to see her earnings and engagement drop precipitously on the platform shortly after.
Musk's bizarre behavior highlights his <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-civilization-crumble">obsession with the idea</a> that falling birth rates are the number one threat to humanity — a belief that <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-population-earth-environment">experts have long refuted</a>.
His unusually literal approach to spreading his genes far and wide has resulted in <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/grimes-elon-musk-custody-bankruptcy">ugly custody battles</a>, <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/11111112/elon-musk-ashley-st-clair-child-support/">lawsuits over child support</a>, and <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-accused-withholding-children-visiting-family">personal attacks</a> — making him, by many accounts, one of the worst fathers in recent history.
According to the WSJ, there could be other women like Fong who were personally solicited by Musk to have a baby. Sources close to Musk told the paper that he may have many more children than are publicly known.
St. Clair refused to sign an agreement that traded silence about her son for a lump sum payment of $15 million, plus a monthly $100,000 in support.
Musk's longtime fixer, Jared Birchall, has stepped in to handle negotiations with the growing number of women who have given birth to his kids.
In a December call with St. Clair, he pushed her to sign an NDA.
"We have been through way too many issues where, to not sign some agreement associated with handing over 15-plus million dollars is absolutely insane and irresponsible, and because we have dealt with some very unstable, mentally unstable, people that all of a sudden misremember things," Birchall told St. Clair, as quoted by the WSJ.
Musk "cannot allow people to just go and share his life information," he added. "He is the biggest lightning rod on the entire planet."
The billionaire also texted St. Clair that "only the paranoid survive" and that he's "#2 after Trump for assassination."
However, St. Clair never signed the agreement — allowing us to get a glimpse into the bizarre world of Musk's scattered and largely non-functional family.
More on Trump: <a href="https://futurism.com/ashley-st-clair-sells-tesla">Mother of Elon's Child So Disgusted With Him That She Sells Her Tesla</a>

FAFO

This is not normal.

Elon Musk Reportedly Sends DMs on Twitter Offering Women the Chance to Have His Babies

In Frederik Pohl and Cyril Kornbluth's 1953 sci-fi classic "<a href="https://reactormag.com/consumerism-run-amok-the-space-merchants-by-frederik-pohl-and-cyril-m-kornbluth/">The Space Merchants</a>," governments have been replaced by powerful corporations that have privatized nearly every corner of the globe. Thanks to overpopulation on all of the other continents, Antarctica has become a resort colony, chock full of tourists, equipment-rental companies, and violently invasive advertisements.
It's a powerful novel — though one that was never meant to be taken as a suggestion. Unfortunately, a growing tourist industry seems to be turning that space-age fantasy into reality.
Drawn by sweeping polar vistas, unspoiled Antarctic reefs, and exotic wildlife, tourists are paying prices as high as $18,000 for a spot on board a cruise ship bound for the Great White South.
The vast majority of Antarctic tourists depart for the Southern Continent via cruise ship out of Ushuaia, Argentina, dubbed the "end of the world." A <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/15/travel/ushuaia-argentina-antarctica-cruises.html">New York Times profile</a> on tourism in Ushuaia notes that the number of Antarctic visitors has increased by nearly 215 percent since the <a href="https://cdn.tierradelfuego.org.ar/descargas/cruceros/Informe_de_Cruceros-2014-2015.pdf">2014-2015 season</a>.
Unfortunately for residents of Ushuaia — the site of 90 percent of Antarctic departures — that explosion in tourism has come with a huge increase in pollution, cost of living, and stress on the local economy. The NYT profile reports that each Antarctic tourist emits nearly five tons of CO2 emissions per trip, or about the annual average per human (though the newspaper of record notes that Americans are "closer to 16 tons.")
The International Association of Antarctic Tourism Operators (IAATO) — a private-sector industry group — currently lists 51 tour operators in its <a href="https://iaato.org/about-us/member-directory">directory</a>, some of which operate ships ferrying between 200 and 499 passengers to Antarctica at a time.
Though bound by strict regulations regarding waste and fuel oil standards, the kind of tourism enabled by these ships is plaguing the continent with <a href="https://www.uow.edu.au/media/2021/invasive-species-are-threatening-antarcticas-fragile-ecosystems-as-human-activity-grows-and-the-world-warms.php">invasive species</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/each-antarctic-tourist-effectively-melts-83-tonnes-of-snow-new-research-177597">noxious ship exhaust</a>, <a href="https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com/277811/1-s2.0-S1877042812X00399/1-s2.0-S187704281205745X/main.pdf?X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEKr%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJHMEUCIQDN5ooQ4aANAYbr2S3haUyt51dm%2FqwO85Er2H7L0yWYvgIgHDEOeTZgbn7H%2FOxJSJa09wI0Te6w8Rt3IL8Q83OAzc0qsgUIMxAFGgwwNTkwMDM1NDY4NjUiDOm3Exlp5Dp%2BKQGOEiqPBcSfxnLgcXnbjpdc%2BHqoLPzixJCVwLQiDL5vEf%2F2d1beTdYGf%2FHGrZPLeGGyQMsOTTqygVm%2F%2FFvm%2B%2FFEct3buPqMCVVcVd9XCJAgmoNdH%2BzCoNIL%2FW2PS%2FIG%2BmkIQQamFN30OB2VvIFIgWLub5e1d50U7%2FdFiY1Gj9tpqyPfi5LoS4JbFHJeZFMP0R3ryRDsKTZaGR%2FIcuieisYh716Dn5UEYrmp3Qixe%2BH9diNDqD%2BzE368UrY3ffn96Tvi42tRzSYvCV4s4ul6fyyp5zBXii1Sfd8eZj%2B5eRkvAAzUCfOVMqZMsD64wdQ1X0Jq3QZQGtgpsZDlF40PiHDbT304EvJFCSyxBBfKi5mG48u8zWGMH6pllKXPXSW%2BUCnBCr4SJb7TXoRwEdEpRCqLyTheqQeBgd0hrIbESNJN0ySSqRrKyEcsqba%2FO34K0Wjj%2Bnls9OpKleIW%2FSPfcohdDVPqPtHrK8b3qn3pZnx58y6k4zCJZ3Zihp2SjHvx6GUhx95HQHvov19WX%2Bw2ICP4YyKu4JbEpRdmsDue%2FwihO2AKq%2FglWc7zlk3WiyZn5q%2BuBAVVy3zEIou%2FtV5Vy%2FrzlU2mrKCpE3InCEMpeMv1hy%2BabX5S%2B5tNX2vS6gUiAf6W3u4DIq6P9OZe28CUWz8PbtdvPJRCjG%2BcETHQN0trPlQuQPNegNfirTsM%2B0BaGPInjvM2ZL6lH6WQmzNVJux9aAKD%2BGsILlQngrj83iTv15%2B8bORgKMLxUUvD%2BmGWdOneX1y3EWxpFb1wmZ7QJ1Q%2BZ5ckEAXgwVsSLZVQev7XrJpE7IzK5GYR%2B7mgoQZua%2FrHeCQuz3S2clKra22WKKfKGgasiX8dhYbOc6wTcjZfZmj5B9YwzLb6vwY6sQG%2BXB7VE91qZArxphI2uk5wDDGG3DtV7SSxRlZ%2FrRbkq%2FO%2Bz0yNk1LhoZKeCXrJgVAjmqtFXD8B7j8U6pJ42%2BXfcO7s1TW9iJmFN9FrN08aCJhr27DTngXfhfmPjD%2F6Dbq8EJ%2Bnkwq6At9j1cA5huxtRrdN40ZEnzD9ZkzSxrKEiYwOmDkBlaccJomP0yFEAsGj7Gn%2FsR61R6Bnqp%2BPQct8EgvbFbcu8sHwnJhN9VlyEaU%3D&amp;X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&amp;X-Amz-Date=20250415T180021Z&amp;X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&amp;X-Amz-Expires=300&amp;X-Amz-Credential=ASIAQ3PHCVTYVA6YCJYQ%2F20250415%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&amp;X-Amz-Signature=590176cfb7bb481918b82e456af10f0ae5bdcea44764db92e80f9d79bfe5ae62&amp;hash=3378b7b9b4883dec534825648d84989061f41fe6155b5488341bdc4fffc3e84a&amp;host=68042c943591013ac2b2430a89b270f6af2c76d8dfd086a07176afe7c76c2c61&amp;pii=S187704281205745X&amp;tid=spdf-1a98abd0-eac7-4372-b2e4-f0e1f70bd940&amp;sid=d0d8f91c7808264f9229fac0eee3c1f22b09gxrqa&amp;type=client&amp;tsoh=d3d3LnNjaWVuY2VkaXJlY3QuY29t&amp;rh=d3d3LnNjaWVuY2VkaXJlY3QuY29t&amp;ua=0f155957510752555b0352&amp;rr=930d578d5b10499b&amp;cc=us">construction waste</a>, and even <a href="https://www.ukaht.org/latest-news/2024/whalers-bay-graffiti/">graffiti</a>.
As Antarctic tourism heats up, researchers and conservationists have <a href="https://iucn.org/resources/issues-brief/impacts-tourism-antarctica">raised concerns</a> that the IAATO model — which essentially allows tour operators to regulate themselves — creates little incentive for tour operators to monitor the impacts of tourism on the icy frontier, or <a href="https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20240116-antarctic-tourism-should-we-just-say-no">limit guests</a> if things get out of hand. One study of the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09669582.2015.1107079">IAATO system</a> found that the group could face considerable challenges holding the reigns as the number of companies operating in Antarctica grows, not least of which is the fact that IAATO membership is <a href="https://iaato.org/system/files?file=2025-01/ATCM46_ip111_e_IAATO-Considerations-During-the-Development-of-a-Tourism-Framework.pdf">optional</a>.
There's also the human element to consider.
Though Argentina's <a href="https://www.argentinareports.com/argentinas-economy-grows-after-consecutive-losses-the-poor-continue-to-struggle/3888/">hugely-privatized economy</a> is showing small signs of growth, its population has suffered with <a href="https://apnews.com/article/argentina-poverty-levels-uca-study-milei-devaluation-d5cb0a20b1e768efdeafbad5bf05eded">poverty levels</a> as high as 57 percent this year. Though the tourism industry might be booming in Ushuaia, some residents spend as much as 80 percent of their wages on ramshackle housing in <a href="https://thedeerfieldreport.com/f/the-housing-crisis-in-ushuaia-the-need-for-fair-and-sustainable">illegal shanty towns</a> surrounding the city center.
So if you're thinking about whether to shell out thousands for a peek at the end of the world, remember that the cruise bill is really just the tip of the iceberg.
More on Antarctica: <a href="https://futurism.com/space-tourists-antarctica">Space Tourists Startled to Discover That From Space, Antarctica Looks Pretty Much Like You'd Expect</a>

Glacial Garbage

Chilling.

Hordes of Tourists Are Trashing Antarctica

Adrian Thiessen, an Ontario-based filmmaker and documentarian, was well aware of the irony of swallowing a tiny, pill-sized camera, even before he gulped down the device.
"Being a film dude, I was joking with my coworkers about it, looking at the technology and thinking it's funny and weird and cool," Thiessen told Futurism in an interview. "I was making jokes about getting the footage, and becoming one with the camera."
Little did he know that the camera would end up getting lodged in his body — for over six months.
As Thiessen explained to Futurism over two interviews — the first conducted whilst the camera was still stuck inside him, the second after it had been surgically removed — he had suffered from a severe gastrointestinal condition for nearly a decade. His condition was persistent and painful, often landing him in the hospital for blood transfusions after suffering ruptures in his small bowel. Worst of all, it was a medical mystery: doctors who conducted various investigative procedures generally agreed that the issue seemed to have something to do with inflammation, but they struggled to land on a firm diagnosis.
"Sometimes, it would seem like an allergy or an intolerance. Sometimes it would seem like an [inflammatory bowel disease] situation, like a Crohn's Disease," said Thiessen, referencing the <a href="https://crohnsandcolitis.ca/About-Crohn-s-Colitis/What-are-Crohns-and-Colitis">gastrointestinal inflammatory disorder</a> that impacts the lining of the GI tract, causing symptoms like pain and discomfort, ulcers, bleeding, and impacting the body's ability to pass food and absorb nutrients. (The root cause of Crohn's, like many other autoimmune or inflammatory diseases, is unknown, and there's no known cure.)
"I never really had a concrete diagnosis," the filmmaker added. "A few doctors said I had Crohn's, and then other ones that I didn't; it didn't fit the criteria."
Absent a diagnosis, Thiessen turned to food, embarking on a painstaking years-long effort to test whether something in his diet could be the culprit — or at least, if he could pinpoint certain irritants to avoid. He found that foods containing a ton of fiber, particularly insoluble fiber like that found in nuts and grains, many fruits, and vegetables like broccoli and leafy greens, proved triggering. Salads? Pretty much out of the question.
While triggering, however, insoluble fiber was unlikely to be the root cause. And eventually, the filmmaker's trial-and-error quest led him to what he believed to be the allergen causing his inflammation: fructan, a fermentable sugar found in familiar foods like onion, garlic, and wheat, in addition to many more healthy fruits, vegetables, legumes, and nuts.
In short: Thiessen's diet was extremely limited, but for a while, it worked.
"I stuck to that for a long time, for a few years, and I had no big flare issues. It seemed like it was working," he said.
But then, suddenly, it didn't. And in the summer of 2024, he found himself back in the ER.
"I had another event — lost a lot of blood, was severely anemic. Almost immediately had to go to the ER, had blood transfusions, had iron infusions," he recalled. Medical staff did the usual "investigative scopes and scans," he added, but they found nothing.
"So that," he said, "led to the capsule camera."
As far as Thiessen could tell, he hadn't strayed from his limited diet; it seemed uncanny, then, to both him and his medical team at the McMaster University Medical Centre in Ontario, that his hospital scans and probes would return so little insight. Left once again without answers, and feeling like they'd exhausted all other non-surgical investigative options, the father of two and his gastroenterologist turned their attention to a decidedly more futuristic way to look inside Thiessen's gastrointestinal system: a capsule camera known as the <a href="https://www.medtronic.com/en-us/healthcare-professionals/products/digestive-gastrointestinal/capsule-endoscopy/endoscopy-systems/pillcam-sb-3-capsule-endoscopy-system.html">PillCam</a>.
Developed by the company Medtronic, the PillCam is a tiny wireless camera, shaped like a chunky vitamin and designed to be swallowed.
"It's like, a little bit bigger than maybe the biggest vitamin you could imagine," remarked Thiessen.
Consider it the "Magic School Bus" approach, but if Ms. Frizzle had also strapped a live-streaming GoPro to the bus' windshield. The miniature camera journeys through the taker's gastrointestinal tract, recording what it captures along the way; its findings are transmitted to an accompanying "sensor belt," and later collected by physicians, who'll hopefully be able to catch an otherwise hard-to-reach glimpse of whatever it is — ulcers, scarring, lesions — that's not showing up in other scans.
So in July of 2024, Thiessen strapped on the belt, downed the capsule, and waited. But a day passed, and then another day, and another day, and the camera never showed up on the other end.
At first, the filmmaker thought maybe he just missed the device after it passed; after all, he didn't feel anything, like discomfort or other evidence of a disruptive blockage. But under the advice of his physician, he went in for an X-ray at the two-week mark.
"I went to get this X-ray at 14 days, and I was joking with the X-ray tech, like, 'if you see some big glowy camera in there, let me know.' But no part of me thought that it was still in there," said Thiessen, until they got to the final scan of his lower abdomen.
"Everyone went silent," said Thiessen. Sure enough, the next day, his doctor confirmed that the camera was stuck.
To be clear, though perforation and blockages are possible known risks of knocking back a PillCam, the capsule is widely viewed as safe and minimally invasive. (To that end, throughout our conversations, the filmmaker emphasized his trust in his medical team, and held no ill will towards Medtronic or the PillCam; he was trying something new, and it just didn't quite go as planned.)
First, as a last-ditch effort to get the camera to pass on its own, the medical team had Thiessen take a steroid treatment, the logic being that if inflammation or swelling in the region had blocked the camera's path, perhaps steroids could reduce swelling and help dislodge it. When that didn't work, they conducted more X-rays and scans. The camera, they determined, was lodged in a hard-to-reach spot toward the very end of his small intestine; they then tried to reach it via enteroscopy with a balloon scope, but that didn't work, either.
There was only one option left for removal: a bowel resection, which is a serious surgery that would open up Thiessen's intestines.
At first, said Thiessen, the situation was incredibly frustrating. His medical mystery was painful, and having a terrible impact on his day-to-day life; its persistence had taken a toll on his mental health, and trying to stay positive could be challenging. After years of unexplainable setbacks and countless dead ends, taking the PillCam had represented a new, exciting step toward answers. But the camera hadn't finished its expedition, and the footage it did return before its battery died hadn't turned up anything new.
And now, it was stuck — like Thiessen himself.
"I was sort of in disbelief," the filmmaker said of his initial reaction, adding that he felt he was "doing pretty good getting through it all, and being optimistic and being excited about these tests." But this was "almost like another failure, another way the system was just not working for me."
"But I found comedy in it," he caveated. Something else that helped, he added, was the notion that, perhaps, the camera had landed at a pain point, and could thus still unearth some clues.
We first spoke to Thiessen in early October of last year, when the camera had been lodged in his small intestine for over 70 days. We decided we'd catch up after his surgery, which was delayed once and rescheduled. Finally, in January — over six months after he first swallowed the PillCam — Thiessen sent us an email.
"So I'm chillin' in the hospital," wrote the filmmaker, reporting that he'd had his bowel surgery the day prior, and that it had gone "very well." The camera had been successfully removed — as had a full foot of scarred, damaged tissue in his intestines that had previously evaded detection by Thiessen's doctors.
A few weeks later, we jumped back on the phone to catch up.
"When I woke up, the surgeon was like, you absolutely needed that surgery," said Thiessen, explaining that his surgeons had removed "just over 30 centimeters," or roughly 12 inches, of damaged bowel that the camera was "stuck between, unmovable."
"There was no way it was coming out without cutting it out," he continued, "and it was just a very damaged portion of my bowel that had been there for who knows how long — mostly old, residual damage, like scarred or healed trauma."
The filmmaker described the revelation as a "shock, but also a relief — a huge vindication."
"I feel like most people in that moment would be like, whoa, you took how much out?" he continued. "But to me it was like, thank god you found something, and it was serious enough that it would explain everything I've been looking for for a decade."
According to Thiessen, his medical team was able to determine that he likely had developed Crohn's, but that it had manifested in a less common, hard-to-reach point in his digestive tract and left behind an extensive trail of destruction in its wake. The level of scarring also explained Thiessen's sensitivity to certain foods, particularly insoluble fiber, which was likely abrasive to the adhesion. Most excitingly, there didn't appear to be any sign of new or spreading disease. And after battling something that for years stayed so evasive, results so palpable brought solace.
"The camera was literally in the middle of it," he said, "at the center of this tangible thing."
Ultimately, in other words, the PillCam — described by Thiessen as a "Hail Mary play" — worked. If in an admittedly unexpected way.
"Even in the footage [collected by the PillCam], there was no real answer leading into that damaged area," reflected the filmmaker. "I could have swallowed a marble and had the same findings, because it was about the place it got stuck, not necessarily what it saw."
When we reached out to Medtronic to ask about the incidents, a spokesperson for the company said it was "deeply committed to patients, healthcare providers and restoring health," but that it couldn't discuss the details of a specific patient's case due to patient privacy laws.
The spokesperson did note, however, that clinicians <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16848804/">have reported findings</a> about other patients with Crohn's swallowing a PillCam and, in a similar situation to Thiessen's, experiencing the PillCam sticking at a point of disease or stricture within the GI tract. But PillCams aren't designed for prolonged retention, so if one does become stuck, the spokesperson emphasized, patients and their clinicians should seek to remove it.
There's an unmistakable peculiarity to the filmmaker's PillCam saga. After a decade of trying and failing to nail down a diagnosis through more conventional means, Thiessen had turned in desperation to a less-conventional technique. And though the camera technically found what it was looking for, it was only by literally cutting Thiessen open that his disease finally came into view.
In a way, it's like using an iPhone to successfully crack open a walnut. Sure, the iPhone worked. But at the end of the day, you could've used a rock.
Even so, said Thiessen, he's grateful. He's still keeping a strict diet; though his recovery has continued to go smoothly, and his doctors haven't technically made any foods off-limits, he understandably wants to take his time introducing new — or, well, old — foods back into his meal rotation. And right now, things are looking, and feeling, bright.
"Mentally, I feel so much better," Thiessen told us after his surgery. "I'm so much more happy and present with my family. To be able to be in the moment and not thinking about what's coming, or literally the next meal — I'd be stressed about food all the time, what I can eat and can't eat." And even while in recovery, he added, "I could tell my body is not fighting some foot-long piece of damage in my intestines. My circulation feels better; my hands and feet are warmer. There's less pressure when I eat something. I don't feel pain."
"It literally saved my life being stuck the way it was, and that's crazy to me," said the filmmaker. "It's just so weird and unique."
More on medical innovations: <a href="https://futurism.com/neoscope/vape-tamagotchi-interview">We Talked to the Inventors of the "Tamagotchi" Vape That Dies If You Stop Puffing</a>

Paging Dr. Frizzle

Devices

"I was sort of in disbelief."

Meet the Man Who Got a High-Tech PillCam Stuck Inside His Intestines for Six Months — and Says It Saved His Life

In yet another sign that tech giant Microsoft is getting cold feet about overinvesting in AI infrastructure, the company has abruptly paused work on data centers in Ohio.
As <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-04-15/microsoft-msft-datacenter-pause-in-ohio-came-in-quick-pivot?sref=YfHlo0rL">Bloomberg reports</a>, the decision came to the surprise of officials who had agreed to develop a site near the city of Heath just two months prior.
In late March, Microsoft told them it would be stopping the project, in addition to two other halted site developments in two nearby cities in the state. One of the projects outside of Columbus was valued at $1 billion, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/microsoft-slowing-or-pausing-ai-data-center-projects-ohio/">according to CBS News</a>.
It's the latest indication that Microsoft is looking to pull back as the AI industry continues to pour billions into building out infrastructure. Earlier this month, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-04-03/microsoft-pulls-back-on-data-centers-from-chicago-to-jakarta?sref=YfHlo0rL">Bloomberg found</a> that the software company had halted and delayed the development of data centers in Indonesia, the UK, Australia, Illinois, North Dakota, and Wisconsin.
Investment bank TD Cowen also <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-24/microsoft-cancels-leases-for-ai-data-centers-analyst-says?sref=YfHlo0rL">told the publication in February</a> that Microsoft had canceled some leases for US data center power capacity, totaling a "couple of hundred megawatts."
While Microsoft's exact reasoning for the scaling back remains unclear, <a href="https://futurism.com/users-cheer-microsoft-removes-ai-copilot">waning demand</a> and <a href="https://futurism.com/alibaba-ai-industry-signs-bubble">fears of a growing AI bubble</a> are easy culprits.
Case in point, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella <a href="https://futurism.com/microsoft-ceo-ai-generating-no-value">admitted during a podcast appearance</a> in February that generative AI simply hasn't generated much value so far, hinting at the possibility that the supply side could be vastly outstripping demand for the tech.
Meanwhile, Microsoft's competitors at OpenAI, Meta, and Google continue to pour tens of billions of dollars into AI data center infrastructure projects.
In Microsoft's case, there may be another explanation, as Bloomberg points out: the move could be tied to changes in its relationship with partner OpenAI.
In February, Microsoft allowed OpenAI to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-21/microsoft-changes-openai-pact-to-allow-use-of-rival-cloud-services?sref=YfHlo0rL">buy computing from rival cloud services</a>, news that coincided with <a href="https://futurism.com/huge-financial-problem-trump-ai-stargate">Trump's announcement</a> of a $500 billion joint venture to build cloud computing data centers dubbed Stargate.
"OpenAI was moving in one direction" by prioritizing advanced and hardware-intensive AI systems, while "Microsoft may not have been moving in that same direction," B. Riley Securities director of research Craig Ellis told CBS.
Microsoft could also simply be readjusting its approach to building out infrastructure.
"Datacenter planning is a multi-year and capital-intensive program we plan for years in advance to ensure we have sufficient infrastructure in the right places," Microsoft cloud operations president Noelle Walsh <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/noelle-walsh-b29356108_microsoftcloud-datacenters-activity-7315439628562423808-W67e/">suggested in a LinkedIn post</a> earlier this month.
"By nature, any significant new endeavor at this size and scale requires agility and refinement as we learn and grow with our customers," she added. "What this means is that we are slowing or pausing some early-stage projects."
Microsoft is still committed to spending a <a href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2025/01/03/the-golden-opportunity-for-american-ai/">whopping $80 billion</a> globally to expand its AI infrastructure this year.
"While we may strategically pace our plans, we will continue to grow strongly and allocate investments that stay aligned with business priorities and customer demand," Walsh wrote.
Meanwhile, Heath mayor Mark Johns told Bloomberg that he hasn't given up on Microsoft living up to its promises to invest in the area.
"They have not given any indication that these projects are dead and gone," he said. "What they’ve told us is they’re basically paused."
More on Microsoft: <a href="https://futurism.com/users-cheer-microsoft-removes-ai-copilot">Users Cheer as Microsoft Accidentally Removes Hated AI Feature From Windows 11</a>

AI Boom and Bust

Is Microsoft getting cold feet?

Microsoft's Huge Plans for Mass AI Data Centers Now Rapidly Falling Apart

What happens when you combine an electric vehicle oligarch with coal rolling trucks, the Proud Boys, and a nation that confuses <a href="https://journal-veterans-studies.org/articles/10.21061/jvs.v7i3.258">commerce with patriotism</a>?
A mind-boggling car dealership blockade, for starters.
With Tesla Takedown protests entering their <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/15/opinion/tesla-takedown-protest-elon-musk/">third consecutive month</a>, a picket line near the Rocklin, California Tesla dealership isn't exactly an uncommon sight. The Northern California Tesla store had been picketed a <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/events/teslatakedown-in-rocklin-ca-2">handful of times before</a>, mostly by peaceful protestors expressing their anger with the Trump administration and its DOGE appointee, Elon Musk.
But this week's protest came with a kicker: a line of lifted — and decidedly gas-powered — trucks blocking the lane leading to the dealership.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
MAGA patriots DEFEND a Tesla dealership from liberal terrorlsts.. 
👀 <a href="https://t.co/aAYrVBpR0M">pic.twitter.com/aAYrVBpR0M</a>
&mdash; American AF 🇺🇸 (@iAnonPatriot) <a href="https://twitter.com/iAnonPatriot/status/1911758649959023093?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
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A video uploaded to X-formerly-Twitter by user "American AF" shows a convoy of over 20 non-electric trucks and SUVs — many sporting MAGA and American flags — lined up to block the showroom. Some counter-protestors erected awnings and chairs along the road, waving flags and munching on snacks. Even the Proud Boys, an occasionally violent neo-fascist group, were in attendance, <a href="https://electrek.co/2025/04/15/maga-tesla-store-gas-trucks-least-effective-counterprotest-ever/">according to Electrek</a>.
"MAGA patriots DEFEND a Tesla dealership from liberal terrorlsts [sic]," the semi-viral post reads.
If their goal was to support Tesla — and by extension Musk — it's unclear how blockading the EV store with gas-guzzling pickup trucks accomplishes that. Tesla's <a href="https://futurism.com/tesla-2025-q1-sales-results-worse-expected">sales are in the ditch</a> these days, a detail apparently lost on the guys blocking customers from entering the dealership.
"What an inviting retail experience," <a href="https://x.com/LeonardRobot/status/1912118274864672854">quipped one user</a>, continuing that "it's telling that none of the trumps [sic] drive a tesla."
Regardless, the patriots remained in their lane, maintaining control. "How all the little libs stay away when the big boys come out to play!" <a href="https://x.com/justusecomsense/status/1911949685364846750">cheered user</a> "@justusecomsense."
"Tulsa Rocks!" <a href="https://x.com/SandraC41647912/status/1911770112303988816">saluted another</a>.
The Takedown protest, meanwhile, looked relatively calm, with picketers holding signs on the opposite side of the road, undeterred by the drama.
As a whole, the Tesla Takedown protests have been overwhelmingly tame, often heavily attended by <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/attended-2-tesla-takedown-protests-022308291.html">older liberals</a>. The movement's <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/teslatakedown">campaign page</a> on the platform Action Network goes out of its way to call itself a "peaceful protest movement," which opposes "violence, vandalism, and destruction of property."
Though <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/tesla-targeted-by-vandalism-over-musks-right-wing-activism-2025-04-01/">vandalism</a> and <a href="https://futurism.com/teslas-targeted-fire-arson">arson</a> have erupted around the world in retaliation to Elon Musk's role in the US government, organizers of Tesla Takedown have gone out of their way to <a href="https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/03/29/business/tesla-takedown-elon-musk-doge">distance themselves</a> from the destruction.
That might not stop Musk, Tesla, and the government from placing Takedown protestors <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/doj-pam-bondi-federal-indictment-tesla-protest/">under surveillance</a>, however, as the FBI's <a href="https://futurism.com/fbi-task-force-protect-tesla">Tesla Task Force</a> busts down doors across the nation to crack down on <a href="https://www.newsnationnow.com/crime/tesla-arson-suspect-raid-video/">property damage</a>.
Here's a thought: if the flag-wavers are so worried about Tesla that they'd take time off of work to defend a parking lot, maybe they could put a little skin in the game and trade their 4x4s for one of Musk's EVs. After all, it's the patriotic thing to do.
More on Tesla: <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/tesla-software-vp-leaves-robotaxi">Tesla's Head of Software Departs as Robotaxi Reveal Looms</a>

Roll Coal

"What an inviting retail experience."

Convoy of Gas Guzzling Trucks Imposes Blockade on Tesla Dealership

Earlier this week, a crew of six women — including pop star Katy Perry, CBS broadcast journalist Gayle King, and Blue Origin CEO Jeff Bezos' fiancée Lauren Sánchez — launched to the edge of space as part of an 11-minute thrill ride organized by the Amazon cofounder's space company.
The vacuous publicity stunt — which claimed to make the crew of mostly uber-wealthy media personalities "astronauts" after a mere two days of basic safety training — <a href="https://futurism.com/chat-mocks-katy-perry-space-trip">drew plenty of criticism</a>.
After all, apart from spending an obscene amount of money and rattling off <a href="https://futurism.com/katy-perry-rocket-nasa-scrubbing-women">cringeworthy statements</a> about "making space for future women," the crew had little to contribute to science, discourse, or meaningful feminism.
Put simply, the collective eye-rolls the stunt induced could've been visible from space.
Yet the widespread backlash came to the surprise of crew members, who had allegedly been inundated by messages from inspired fans.
"Anybody that’s criticizing doesn’t really understand what is happening here," King said during an interview following the launch, as <a href="https://people.com/lauren-sanchez-gayle-king-hit-back-blue-origin-flight-criticism-11713687">quoted by People magazine</a>. "We can all speak to the response we’re getting from young women, from young girls, about what this represents."
Bezos' multimillionaire fiancée also said that the criticism got her "fired up," arguing that Blue Origin employees had "put their heart and soul into this vehicle" — while she laid down on a padded, reclining seat to rocket into space.
Several other high-profile celebrities took a swipe at the publicity stunt.
"Billion dollars bought some good memes I guess," actor Olivia Wilde wrote in a Monday Instagram post, as quoted by People.
"Space exploration was to further our knowledge and to help mankind," she <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/blue-origins-spaceflight-with-katy-perry-gayle-king-and-lauren-sanchez-faces-more-backlash-after-launch-this-is-beyond-parody-142859732.html">argued</a>, while hosting an NBC daytime TV show earlier this month. "What are they gonna do up there that has made it better for us down here?"
Comedian Amy Schumer also skewered the trip in a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/amyschumer/reel/DIbTx4OuyLE/?hl=en">video</a>.
"Guys, last second, they added me to space, and I’m going to space," she said sarcastically.
Model Emily Ratajkowski had an even stronger reaction, noting that she was "literally disgusted" by the "beyond parody" stunt. In a TikTok video, she <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@emrata/video/7493531647028071726?embed_source=121374463%2C121468991%2C121439635%2C121433650%2C121404359%2C121497414%2C121477481%2C121351166%2C121487028%2C73347566%2C121331973%2C120811592%2C120810756%2C121503376%3Bnull%3Bembed_masking&amp;refer=embed&amp;referer_url=iframely.publishing.yahoo.net%2FsyF2sX7%3Fv%3D1%26app%3D1&amp;referer_video_id=7493201498541772074">pointed out</a> that while the optics of women of color going to "space" looked great on paper, the stunt had little to do with actual progress.
"Instead it just speaks to the fact that we are living in an oligarchy where there's a very small group of people who are interested in going into space for the sake of getting a new lease on life, while the rest of the population... are worried about paying rent or [providing] dinner for their kids," Ratajkowski said.
Other onlookers also noted the baffling demonstration of privilege by the ultra-rich.
"If Jeff Bezos can send Katy Perry into space, he can pay a wealth tax so every American has debt-free healthcare," educator and activist Nina Turner wrote in a <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/ninaturner.bsky.social/post/3lmrksycoes2d">post on Bluesky</a>.
However, the widespread criticism appeared to have fallen on deaf ears.
"This is a freaking journey," a defensive King said during a post-launch interview. "It was not a joyride."
"I’m not going to let you steal our joy," she added while addressing her "haters."
More on the stunt: <a href="https://futurism.com/katy-perry-rocket-nasa-scrubbing-women">Katy Perry Boasts About Ridiculous Rocket Launch While NASA Is Scrubbing History of Women in Space</a>

Girlbossed Too Close to the Sun

"It was not a joyride."

Zillionaire Girlbosses Astonished by Backlash to Their Frivolous Trip to Space

Uncontent with merely turning Facebook and Instagram into <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/meta-mark-zuckerberg-llama-ai-model-liberal-bias-donald-trump.html">right-wing</a> hellscapes of <a href="https://futurism.com/facebook-ai-image-disabled-veteran">AI slop</a>, Meta <a href="https://futurism.com/zuckerberg-makeover-annoying-poll">CEO Mark Zuckerberg</a> is now actively rallying theatergoers to pull out their glowingly annoying smartphones when they're at the movies.
As <a href="https://variety.com/2025/film/news/meta-second-screen-theater-tech-m3gan-rerelease-1236364712/">Variety reports,</a> Meta is teaming up with the horror film studio Blumhouse to bring the "second screen" experience to its single-night re-release of "M3GAN" on April 30.
Dubbed "Halfway to Halloween," the production company's limited engagement will also include "Annabelle" and "Ma," two of its other big hits — but it's clear that "M3GAN," with its hotly anticipated <a href="https://ew.com/m3gan-2-exclusive-first-look-allison-williams-gerard-johnstone-soulm8te-spinoff-8741237">upcoming sequel</a>, is the star of the show.
Using chatbot technology that Meta refers to as "Movie Mate" — a new spin, perhaps, on Zuckerberg's cringey push to get his subordinates to refer to each other as "<a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/mark-zuckerberg-employees-metamates">Meta Mates</a>" back when he was all-in on virtual reality — fans will be able to talk to an AI version of the <a href="https://www.them.us/story/m3gan-critics-discuss-queer-film-review">iconic robot</a>.
There is, however, a catch.
"Movie Mate is only available to moviegoers who are in a theater," the studio explained in a statement provided to Variety, "and works by DM'ing the Instagram account @M3GAN account to start the experience."
When we asked Meta how this location-specific gambit works, a company spokesperson told Futurism that a "code will be displayed on the movie screen prior to the trailers" to verify that users are in the theater, and they would subsequently be provided with instructions on how to initiate the DM convo. Though that's better than using some sort of creepy geofencing, it also sounds like it requires a non-minimal amount of effort — which equals, of course, more light pollution inside dark theaters packed with patrons for the single-night screenings.
Beyond the "M3GAN" chatbot, the promotion will also include more traditional marketing incentives like "sneak peeks, exclusive recorded messages from directors and talent from the films, and surprise special appearances in select markets," Blumhouse said in its statement.
Amid this desperate attempt to make Meta relevant post-Metaverse, many folks are not thrilled at the thought of studios intentionally and actively encouraging people to <a href="https://mashable.com/article/m3gan-meta-movie-mate-chatbot">ruin the movie theater experience</a>.
"I feel like M3GAN would actually kill moviegoers who used [Movie Mate]," <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/nathalierayter.bsky.social/post/3lmsvtovxhk2l">one Bluesky user quipped</a>.
"It's feeling like we've lost the fight on this one," Bloody Disgusting editor-in-chief <a href="https://x.com/FreddyInSpace/status/1910034032039190698">John Squires tweeted</a>, "and the next generation of the theater-going experience will be tailored to the youth and the way they consume movies, which is very different than the way most of us do."
"Hollywood will likely lean in," he continued. "And maybe they have to."
In response to the news, the Alamo Drafthouse theater chain <a href="https://variety.com/2025/film/news/alamo-drafthouse-opts-out-m3gan-rerelease-phone-theaters-1236369247/?fbclid=IwY2xjawJrb8RleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHhSaUWvUt28fCoyxL1G64dJtuj11W28aEOLj3I7bMMaMmpmUjRXH7PkBQ9rd_aem_rmW4WVPn2x4gRG1QN8QQVw">confirmed to Variety </a>that it won't be participating in the monstrous "Movie Mate" campaign — though, to be fair, that decision could be an attempt to gain back goodwill from <a href="https://www.avclub.com/alamo-drafthouse-union-agreement-m3gan-screening">pro-labor cinephiles</a> who boycotted during a <a href="https://variety.com/2025/film/news/alamo-drafthouse-opts-out-m3gan-rerelease-phone-theaters-1236369247/?fbclid=IwY2xjawJrb8RleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHhSaUWvUt28fCoyxL1G64dJtuj11W28aEOLj3I7bMMaMmpmUjRXH7PkBQ9rd_aem_rmW4WVPn2x4gRG1QN8QQVw">recently-ended strike</a> protesting layoffs.
Though Meta is far from the first <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-little-mermaid-family-20130921-story.html">company to attempt</a> this kind of ghoulish "<a href="https://dmexco.com/stories/second-screen/">second screen marketing</a>," bringing it to theaters — and to a single-night engagement in particular — is indeed horrific.
More on Meta: <a href="https://futurism.com/instagram-videos-human-hybrids">Instagram Showing Users Grotesque Videos of Human-Animal Hybrids</a>

Film Bluff

Is nothing sacred?

Zuckerberg Encourages Theatergoers to Use Their Phones While Movie Is Playing

In a grotesque twist to the online trend of "<a href="https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20240326-inside-looksmaxxing-the-extreme-cosmetic-social-media-trend">looksmaxxing</a>," a term referring to male incels looking to maximize their own physical attractiveness, a TikTok user has spent over 160 days working out just a single trapezius muscle.
In <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thecrookedmon">daily update videos</a>, the college student, who goes by the fitting online handle TheCrookedMon, showed off the results of his unorthodox "looks minimizing" strategy: a massively imbalanced shoulder muscle diagonally — and unsettlingly — stretching from the left side of his head to his left shoulder.
Why? Besides a modicum of internet clout, we're still not entirely sure.
To get his very particular gains, TheCrookedMon did daily shrugs on his left side only, using a variety of objects, including a <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thecrookedmon/video/7482879154212392238">dog</a>, a <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thecrookedmon/video/7493201492518849838">backpack</a>, and a <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thecrookedmon/video/7487079278400589102">pack of drinks at the grocery store</a>.
Instead of cheering him on, commenters appeared largely concerned for his health.
"Bro you proved your point," one user <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thecrookedmon/video/7493201492518849838">wrote</a>, with a crying emoji.
"Bro stop please," another comment reads.
Others were more impressed.
"This is literally the biggest flex I've ever seen," one user wrote.
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There’s a kid who has only trained one trap for most of a year and it’s one of the most autistic things I’ve ever seen <a href="https://t.co/3d0GRbZPKi">pic.twitter.com/3d0GRbZPKi</a>
&mdash; Bill Coyne (@MiloAgonistes) <a href="https://twitter.com/MiloAgonistes/status/1910526489063272616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 11, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The trend became so big, it spawned an entire memecoin, dubbed $TRAPMAN. <a href="https://dexscreener.com/solana/5e6gthkhuhmxg7ifnr5pxhem7fciozrjtprdhmqgx51l">According to DexScreener</a>, the coin spiked to a value of $0.00003649 — yes, you read that decimal point correctly — when it launched on April 13. Unsurprisingly, the dubious asset crashed almost immediately, wiping out most of its value.
The jury is still out on whether TheCrookedMon could be damaging his body, but chances are he'll be fine in the long run. Researchers have found that primarily focusing on training just one side of the body <a href="https://www.mendcolorado.com/physical-therapy-blog/2023/7/17/exercising-the-non-involved-side-improves-strength-and-reduces-muscle-loss-on-uninvolved-side/">could still have plenty of benefits</a> for the other side.
It's a particularly pertinent reality for those recovering from an injury or missing part of their body. Research has shown that training just one side could even build muscle mass in an unused, injured limb through the triggering of neural pathways, a phenomenon referred to as the "cross-training effect" or "<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17190532/">cross-education</a>."
However, that doesn't mean we condone the kind of eyebrow-raising workout regimen TheCrookedMon chose for himself — there are far better ways to design a unilateral training plan.
In a tongue-in-cheek <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thecrookedmon/video/7488563729806675243">April 2 video</a>, he attempted to explain why he intentionally sacrificed his looks.
"I was scrolling TikToks in my Ferrari, and I kept getting these looksmaxxing TikToks," he said. "And they were like, 'Do this, do that, you'll look more attractive, you'll get more women."
"And it's like, people have that problem?" he added. "I've the opposite problem. I get so many DMs I don't even have time to get through them all."
"If I have the opposite problem, then I need the opposite solution," TheCrookedMon argued.
Worse things are on the horizon: Over the past month, TheCrookedMan has now started <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thecrookedmon/video/7492979807194484011">working out just his right leg</a>.
More on the incel community: <a href="https://futurism.com/character-ai-school-shooters-victims">A Google-Backed AI Startup Is Hosting Chatbots Modeled After Real-Life School Shooters — and Their Victims</a>

Dream Physique

Developments

"Bro stop please."

What Happened When This Man Exercised Only One Single Muscle

Apple CEO Tim Cook is far from giving up on virtual and augmented reality headsets, a gadget category that has been rife with setbacks and <a href="https://financialpost.com/technology/tech-news/apple-scraps-augmented-reality-glasses">risky bets that didn't pan out</a>.
As Bloomberg's Mark Gurman <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-04-13/apple-vision-pro-2-details-low-latency-headset-ar-glasses-ipados-19-details-m9flf1fd?sref=YfHlo0rL">reported over the weekend</a>, the tech giant is getting ready to launch not one, but two updated versions of its Vision Pro, a $3,499 mixed-reality headset that has <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/apple-vision-pro-vr-sales">seen sluggish sales</a> and even <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/apple-vr-side-effect-black-eyes">given wearers black eyes</a>.
That's despite <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/apple-gives-up-apple-vision-pro-headset">rumors circulating last summer</a> that Apple had given up on a follow-up device of the uber-expensive gadget.
In fact, Cook is so convinced of the segment that he's looking to beat Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg — who <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/zuckerberg-vr-headset-indistinguishable-reality">shares an obsession with AR and VR headsets</a> — to market. According to Bloomberg, Cook wants to create a pair of AR glasses that buyers can wear all day.
"Tim cares about nothing else," an insider with knowledge of the matter told Gurman. "It’s the only thing he’s really spending his time on from a product development standpoint."
But given the segment's well-documented challenges in <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/virtual-reality-failed-connect-teens">wooing a mainstream market</a>, that could be far easier said than done. We've seen numerous products fail to live up to the hype, particularly in the VR space.
As far as wearable smart glasses are concerned, Meta has some experience. Its Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses, which feature bone-conducting earphones, a camera, and a microphone, have <a href="https://uk.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/META-PLATFORMS-INC-10547141/news/Meta-Can-t-Make-Ray-Ban-Smart-Glasses-Fast-Enough-Market-Talk-47522554/">proven surprisingly popular</a>.
However, to call them augmented reality glasses would be an overstatement, as they can't overlay data or other info over the wearer's vision.
Earlier this month, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-04-01/how-meta-s-upcoming-1000-smart-glasses-with-a-screen-will-work?fromMostRead=true&amp;sref=YfHlo0rL">Gurman reported</a> that Meta is looking to follow up its glasses with a $1,000-plus deluxe version, which includes a screen for displaying photos and apps. But details are still pretty sparse and the company has yet to announce a release date.
Whether Apple can swoop in and release a lighter and cheaper pair of AR glasses remains to be seen. Even coming up with a successor to its much beefier and unwieldy Vision Pro headset could prove challenging. According to Bloomberg, the goal is to greatly reduce both weight and price, which is an appreciable challenge, especially considering the possibility of escalating tariffs on Chinese imports.
To make the jump to a light accessory that has the same form factor as a pair of sunglasses is substantial. As a stepping stone, Apple is reportedly looking to attach a camera to its Apple Watch and AirPods, an admittedly awkward answer to Meta's Ray-Ban glasses.
In short, where Cook's obsession with beating Zuckerberg to the punch will leave Apple's foray into the glasses space is anyone's guess — though if there's one thing we know about Apple, it's that the company hates to lose.
More on Apple: <a href="https://futurism.com/apple-ai-disaster">Apple's AI-Powered Siri Is Such a Disaster That Employees Have Given the Team Developing It a Rude Nickname</a>