Engadget Podcast: iPhone 16e review and Amazon's AI-powered Alexa+

The keyword for the iPhone 16e seems to be "compromise." In this episode, Devindra chats with Cherlynn about her iPhone 16e review and try to figure out who this phone is actually for. Also, [...]

Grok's AI chatbot now includes companions for you to 'romance'

Grok, xAi's chatbot most famous for going on an antisemitic spree last week, has now added the ability to perform as a synthetic companion for your enjoyment. Elon Musk announced the new feature, [...]

Avowed review: Elder Scrolls? I don’t know her

Sorry, beefcakes, but this review isn’t for you. All the fighters and rangers out there will still get a sense of how phenomenal Avowed is, the lushness of its environments, the clarity of its comba [...]

Engadget's favorite games of 2025

From indies like Silksong, to AAAs like Ghost of Yotei, and everything in between, 2025 truly had it all, and is likely to go down in the history books as one of the best years in gaming. But these ar [...]

Razer put a waifu in a bottle at CES 2026

Last year Razer showed off Project Ava as a digital assistant that lived inside your computer to help adjust settings or provide gaming tips. But now at CES 2026, the company’s AI companion platform [...]

Doubao’s AI companions are gone. Users get 3 months to screenshot what is left.

The notice read like housekeeping. Take screenshots while you still can, ByteDance told Doubao users, or export the text. On 15 July the custom agents they had built stopped working, and what is left [...]

China is banning AI-generated companions to encourage users to form real-life relationships, sparking nationwide virtual breakups — and therapists think it's for the best

The Chinese government has issued new regulations to ban services allowing you to create AI companions. [...]

This startup hired a sci-fi novelist to give its AI companions a soul

Startup Portola is treating its AI companions like characters in a novel, complete with lore, emotions, and personal lives. The experiment raises the question: Can fiction make better AI companions? [...]

The Biggest AI Companies Met to Find a Better Path for Chatbot Companions

In a closed-door workshop led by Anthropic and Stanford, leading AI startups and researchers discussed guidelines for chatbot companions, especially for younger users. [...]