Technologies

How Netflix Can Calm the Password-Sharing Outcry

Commentary: We have a quick solution for Netflix’s password sharing woes…

Your mom lives in Ohio. You live in New York but you share a Netflix account. The same is true for the family whose kids are in college and for the couple living apart while one’s stationed on a military base overseas.

I see your stories. I feel you. I’ve been in the same boat.

People are not happy about Netflix’s move to start charging members extra fees to share accounts. The company’s been called out for a 5-year-old tweet: «Love is sharing a password.»

Even the card game Uno joined the Twitter roast to point out the about-face. Swarms of vocal Netflix subscribers are venting on social media — Netflix’s comment sections are really feeling the burn — and vowing to cancel their accounts and questioning why they’re paying for multiple screens.

Netflix has dubbed viewers outside of the primary household as extra members, or subaccounts. In Canada, where the prices are $16.50 for a standard plan and $21 for premium, the cost of adding an extra member is $8 per person. If a single streaming service costing $30 a month to stream on two or four screens sounds like a lot to you, I agree.

In the US, we still don’t know how much it’ll cost each month for extra members. When Netflix finally decides to tell us, I think it should also announce a couple of smart discounts.

Netflix needs a cheaper plan for students

Among those who are unhappy about the new policy are parents and their college kids. If Netflix insists on charging for password sharing, I think it should offer a no-frills student subscription.

College kids love to stream, and they’re often doing it on their parents’ accounts. Not as freeloaders, but as members of the household — even if their school is five states away. When we drop our 17- or 18-year-olds off at college, I bet no one is saying, «Time for me to kick you off Netflix, ya mooch.»

Rather than blocking kids who are attending school far from home, Netflix should offer a student plan that’s priced lower than its basic ad-supported subscription. Hulu, Paramount Plus and Spotify do it, proving that a blueprint exists.

All three platforms use SheerID to verify eligibility for college and university students. Hulu charges eligible students $2 a month for its ad-based plan. Spotify’s Premium Student subscription is $5 per month with the first month free and the added perk of free access to Showtime and Hulu with ads. Paramount Plus provides a 25% discount on its Essential plan for college students that lasts for four years, even if they graduate early.

If Netflix followed suit, it could find the sweet spot between $2 and $5 a month to help a broke college kid out. The company rolled out its $7 ad-based tier in January, joining the ranks of Hulu, HBO Max, Peacock and others who conquered that frontier. Adding a new subscription option aimed at students is reasonably within Netflix’s capabilities. If the streamer wants to keep its subscriber numbers up, why not?

Members of the military should get a discount too

Along with students who spend months — or years — away from home are service members. It’s common for a loved one to be stationed abroad while sharing a single Netflix account with family in their home country or state. Rather than geo-blocking them, or tagging on account-sharing fees, why not offer a military rate for active-duty members? It’s something that streaming services like Disney Plus, Apple TV and Discovery Plus offer for customers.

Why is Netflix charging fees for subaccounts?

For Netflix, everyone has to pay to hit play, specifically if you’re not living under the same roof. From a business perspective, the company wants to tap into opportunities to make money on shared accounts. Meant to fund content creation and overall operations, it was discussed during the company’s first-quarter earnings call in 2022. «Another focus is how best to monetize sharing — the 100M+ households using another household’s account,» the streamer wrote in its letter to shareholders. According to Netflix, more than 30 million of those who believe sharing is caring live in the US and Canada.

The extra costs are currently active in countries including Canada, Spain, New Zealand and Portugal. In some regions, the added fees also come with added steps, like verifying your device is connected to your primary location or sending invites to extra members to use your account.

I like Netflix, but none of the other major streamers is doing this. And as Fox 9 TV host Jason Matheson points out, it’s mighty inconvenient.

Netflix could lose out to the competition

With such a crowded streaming service market, every price hike, add-on fee and inconvenience can make one platform less of a necessity. Netflix is aware that though it was a pioneer in this space, there are rivals that want to be on top. Long ago, it edged out Blockbuster, showing how a business model can make or break a company’s survival.

Let’s not forget that content availability plays a huge role too, because if there’s nothing to watch to justify the monthly rate you’re paying, it’s time to drop something. We rotate our streaming services to save money or if we’ve run out of stuff to stream. If the extra cost is too high, especially in the US, Netflix should expect customers to churn for months at a time. That’s not to say services like HBO Max and Disney Plus are immune to being dropped, because they’ve had to contend with frustrated customers over price increases and show cancellations too.

However, the cost of password-sharing fees may be too high. Only time will tell if this new setup is worth it to Netflix, but it’s going to be an uphill battle to get customers around the world on board. One discount plan could help cushion the blow.

Netflix did not respond to a request for comment.

See at Netflix

Technologies

You’ll Soon Be Able to Buy Walmart Products Through ChatGPT

OpenAI’s chatbot already connects to Etsy and Shopify. Now you can buy bananas too.

OpenAI and Walmart will soon offer shopping via AI through ChatGPT, the retail giant said in a press release on Tuesday.

While using ChatGPT’s Instant Checkout feature, customers can buy groceries, electronics or other essentials within the chatbot interface.

Walmart has its own AI assistant in its app named Sparky. With Sparky, customers can ask questions about products and get summaries of reviews to find the best item.

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«For many years now, e-commerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses. That is about to change,» Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a statement. «There is a native AI experience coming that is multi-media, personalized and contextual. We are running towards that more enjoyable and convenient future with Sparky and through partnerships including this important step with OpenAI.»

When asked for comment, Walmart referred to its press release. Walmart also said it wouldn’t discuss the financial terms of the agreement at this time.

«We’re excited to partner with Walmart to make everyday purchases a little simpler. It’s just one way AI will help people every day under our work together,» OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a press release.

OpenAI referred to Walmart’s press release when asked for comment.

The latest deal with Walmart comes as OpenAI tries to make ChatGPT an all-in-one shopping experience. AI chatbots are increasingly being used as vehicles for online shopping. They can synthesize reviews from across the internet and give people direct answers to shopping questions. Already, ChatGPT connects with Etsy and Shopify with its Instant Checkout feature, allowing people to buy directly. OpenAI also added more shopping features in ChatGPT Search earlier this year.

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

Technologies

OpenAI Will Loosen ChatGPT’s Mental Health Guardrails and Allow Erotica for Adult Users

Sam Altman said the company will ease limits for adults after rolling out age verification.

ChatGPT is treading cautiously right now, but the chatbot may become more risqué by the end of the year.

In recent weeks, the generative AI chatbot has been operating under somewhat stringent limitations, as OpenAI tried to address concerns that it was not handling sensitive mental health issues well. But CEO Sam Altman said in a post on X Tuesday that the company would ease some of those restrictions because it’s «been able to mitigate the serious mental health issues.»

Though Altman didn’t elaborate on what tools are being used to address the problem, OpenAI recently announced new parental controls in ChatGPT.

CNET reached out to OpenAI for details, but the company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

Other changes are also expected. Altman said the company could allow «erotica» for verified adult users as it implements an «age-gating» system, or age-restricted content, in December. The mature content is part of the company’s «treat adult users like adults» principle, Altman said.

Altman’s post also announced a new version of ChatGPT in the next few weeks, with a personality that behaves more like the company’s GPT-4o model. Chatbot users had complained after the company replaced 4o with the impersonal GPT-5 earlier this year, saying the new version lacked the engaging and fun personality of previous chatbot models.

«If you want your ChatGPT to respond in a very human-like way, or use a ton of emoji, or act like a friend, ChatGPT should do it (but only if you want it, not because we are usage-maxxing),» Altman wrote.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

After OpenAI was sued by parents who alleged ChatGPT contributed to their teen son’s suicide, the company imposed an array of new restrictions and changes, including parental controls, alerts for risky behavior and a teen-friendly version of the chatbot. In the summer, OpenAI implemented break reminders that encourage people to occasionally stop chatting with the bot.

On Tuesday, the company also announced the creation of a council of experts on AI and well-being, including some with expertise in psychology and human behavior.

This comes as lawmakers and regulators are ringing the alarm on the risks AI tools pose to people, especially children. On Monday, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed new restrictions on AI companion chatbots into law. Last month, the Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation into several AI companies, including OpenAI.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Oct. 15 #591

Here are hints — and the answers — for the NYT Strands puzzle for Oct. 15, No. 591.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is a fun one, once you understand the theme. Some of the answers are a bit tough to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Going up?

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Not an escalator, but…

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

ROTATE, LOBE, NOPE, RATS, STAR, SAME, LOSE, VOTE, BUTTE, SAMS, BAMS

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

ALARM, OPEN, CLOSE, LOBBY, GROUND, BASEMENT

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is ELEVATORBUTTONS. To find it, look for the E that’s three letters to the right on the bottom row, and wind straight up, and then straight down.