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OpenAI Just Teased a New ‘Open-Weights’ AI Model: Here’s What That Means

You still won’t be able to see what ChatGPT is trained on, though.

OpenAI, the company behind the popular chatbot ChatGPT, is building a new AI model. The model will be an «open-weights» language model with reasoning, according to CEO Sam Altman who tweeted about the development on Monday.

An «open-weights» AI model is a kind of middle ground between open- and closed-source approaches. Weights are how AI models learn and make connections — certain characteristics or connections are given more weight in an effort to reinforce specific information. An open-weights model means that its weights are publicly available, as the Federal Trade Commission puts it. That means that users would be able to see these weights and change them without retraining the model on new data. 

Open-weights models are usually cheaper for companies to use and allows them to customize the models. For example, a business could upload its internal documents to an existing open-weights model to incorporate that information in its results without having to build the whole thing from scratch.

But open-weights models are not the same thing as open-source models. Like the name implies, an open-source model lets you see what it’s made of, the source code, sometimes in addition to how it’s trained and weighted. In an open-weights model, you can see how the model makes connections but not necessarily its underlying code or training content. It’s all about the degree of openness. Given OpenAI’s track record of not disclosing what it uses to train ChatGPT, the new open-weight model is likely to give folks a glimpse behind the curtain, but not much else.

AI companies are in a heated race as they each develop a variety of models for different uses. OpenAI’s new model is primed to be a competitor to Meta’s Llama models, which are open-source. Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly said that open-source is the correct path forward for AI development. The new model also comes as Chinese AIs like DeepSeek fight for the top spot. DeepSeek’s newest V3 model is reportedly leading the pack, and it’s also an open-weights model. Open-weights and open-source models could threaten OpenAI’s subscription models by providing businesses with cheaper, more customized AI tools, so the company appears to be making moves to catch up to its competition.

It’s unclear exactly when the new model will be released. For now, OpenAI is inviting developers to submit feedback about what would make the model the most useful for them. You can contribute that feedback in this form on OpenAI’s website.

For more, check out the Studio Ghibli-esque AI images made with ChatGPT’s new image generator and our full review of the chatbot.

Technologies

The Best Sony Wireless Earbuds We Tested Are on Sale for $102 Off for Memorial Day

The Sony WF-1000XM5 wireless earbuds impressed us with their sound quality and noise-canceling performance. Grab them while this Memorial Day sale lasts.

Memorial Day weekend is practically here, and the sales are already piling in. Plenty of retailers have kicked off their Memorial Day sales, including many people’s online shopping go-to, Amazon. We spotted a deep discount on our favorite Sony wireless earbuds on Amazon. The Sony WF-1000XM5 wireless earbuds are currently just $198. This is a discount of 34%, and saves you $102. The discount applies to all color options too, so you can pick which one you like best. 

The Sony WF-1000XM5 wireless earbuds sit at the top of CNET’s list of the best wireless earbuds for 2025. They offer true noise cancellation, so you can focus on your favorite audio. They’re equipped with an AI algorithm that blocks out distractions whenever you’re making phone calls, so you won’t miss calls from loved ones or colleagues when you’re on the go. Need to take these earbuds on a long trip? Their battery lasts 8 hours on a single charge, and up to 24 when you take your charging case with you.

Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money.   

These earbuds are equipped with Bluetooth for easy pairing, but they also work with Alexa for added voice control options. Even better, they’re made with recyclable materials, so you can be confident that you’re making a more environmentally-friendly purchase than some alternatives.

Why this deal matters 

These Sony earbuds offer premium features and normally come with a premium price tag to match. We haven’t seen these earbuds drop down to this price since the holiday season last year. They were discounted a little during Amazon’s Big Spring Sale, but not all the way down to this low price. This Memorial Day deal can end at any time, so don’t wait too long if you’re interested in saving over $100 on these Sony earbuds. 

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Signal Will Black Out Windows Recall Screenshots to Preserve Privacy

It’s a whole different kind of dark mode for the paparazzi-like AI feature in Windows 11.

The privacy-minded Signal messaging service is putting a blindfold on the prying eyes of the newly returned Windows Recall, Microsoft’s AI-powered feature that will take a screenshot of whatever you’re doing on your computer every few seconds to give your PC the «photographic memory» you never asked for.

In a blog post Wednesday, Signal announced a new «screen security» feature for its Windows 11 app so that said screenshots will appear as a black screen when it tries to snap what you’re doing, much like what happens if you try to take a screenshot of DRM content from Netflix and the like.

Last year, Microsoft pulled Recall from new Copilot Plus PCs in response to backlash over security and privacy concerns, which continued to plague it in the ensuing months as Microsoft worked through revisions. 

Neither Signal nor Microsoft immediately responded to a request for comment. 

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I’ve Been Tracking Tariff Price Impacts Every Day: Some Are Steady, But Don’t Get Comfy

CNET is keeping track of prices for several key products as prospects for the months ahead remain uncertain.

Amazon this week claimed that is prices were remaining steady, but the news about President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the economic fallout isn’t getting any rosier: Just this week, Subaru announced that prices on certain models were getting hiked soon. While the Japanese firm didn’t explicitly call out tariffs as the reason, the fact that the increases were only coming for the US market was telling.

This followed on the heels of perhaps the largest retailer to issue a price increase warning: Walmart. During a May 15 earnings call, the country’s largest grocery chain said that prices for things like toys, tech and food would be going up by the summer. This prompted a response from Trump, who demanded that Walmart not increase prices and eat the costs themselves. This wouldn’t be the first time that the president has lashed out against a company for potentially telling the truth about his tariff’s inflating prices — which, as I’ve written about extensively here on CNET, is absolutely the case.

In this article, I’ve been tracking just that: the daily effect of Trump’s tariffs on the prices of 11 popular products you might want or need to buy, whether it be a new phone, laptop or your daily coffee. So far, we’ve seen notable price hikes for the flagship Xbox game console, while everything else has, as Amazon claimed, remained steady aside from occasional fluctuations that might not be tariff-related. That sort of consistency is far from certain, however, especially with new reports emerging that Apple might be looking to make iPhones more expensive this year.

CNET Tariff Tracker Index

Above, you can check out a chart with the average price of the 11 included items over the course of 2025. This will help give you a sense of the overall price changes and fluctuations going on. Further down, you’ll be able to check out charts for each individual product being tracked.

A recent tariff agreement with China, much-hyped by the White House, did significantly cut tariff rates against the US’s biggest trading partner. The new 30% rate is only temporary, however, and still historically high. It just looks more reasonable next to the ludicrous 145% rate that was previously in place. As those negotiations move along, companies continue to warn of impending price hikes in order to deal with the new tariffs, including Sony, which could potentially mean a price hike for its ever-popular PlayStation 5 consoles.

We’ll be updating this article regularly as prices change. It’s all in the name of helping you make sense of things, so be sure to check back every so often. For more, check out CNET’s guide to whether you should wait to make big purchases or buy them now and get expert tips about how to prepare for a recession.

Methodology

We’re checking prices daily and will update the article and the relevant charts right away to reflect any changes. The following charts show a single bullet point for each month, with the most recent one labeled «Now» and showing the current price. For the past months, we’ve gone with what was the most common price for each item in the given month. 

In most cases, the price stats used in these graphs were pulled from Amazon using the historical price tracker tool Keepa. For the iPhones, the prices come from Apple’s official materials and are based on the 128-gigabyte base model of the latest offering for each year: the iPhone 14, iPhone 15 and iPhone 16. For the Xbox Series X, the prices were sourced from Best Buy using the tool PriceTracker. If any of these products happen to be on sale at a given time, we’ll be sure to let you know and explain how those price drops differ from longer-term pricing trends that tariffs can cause.

The 11 products we’re tracking

Mostly what we’re tracking in this article are electronic devices and digital items that CNET covers in depth, like iPhones and affordable 4K TVs — along with a typical bag of coffee, a more humble product that isn’t produced in the US to any significant degree. 

The products featured were chosen for a few reasons: Some of them are popular and/or affordable representatives for major consumer tech categories, like smartphones, TVs and game consoles. Others are meant to represent things that consumers might buy more frequently, like printer ink or coffee beans. Some products were chosen over others because they are likely more susceptible to tariffs. Some of these products have been reviewed by CNET or have been featured in some of our best lists.

Below, we’ll get into more about each individual product.

iPhone 16

The iPhone is the most popular smartphone brand in the US, so this was a clear priority for price tracking. The iPhone has also emerged as a major focal point for conversations about tariffs, given its popularity and its susceptibility to import taxes because of its overseas production, largely in China. Trump has reportedly been fixated on the idea that the iPhone can and should be manufactured in the US, an idea that experts have dismissed as a fantasy. Estimates have also suggested that a US-made iPhone would cost as much as $3,500.

Apple has made several moves this year to protect its prices in the US as much as possible, like flying in bulk shipments of product ahead of the tariffs taking effect and working to move production for the American market from China to India, where tariff rates are less severe. This latter move provoked a response from Trump, given his noted fixation on the iPhone, saying on Thursday that he «had a little problem» with Tim Cook over the move, claiming without evidence that the Apple CEO pledged to bring more manufacturing to the US. Cook and others close to the company for years say that the supply chains for its products are too complex to move manufacturing entirely to the US.

Duracell AA batteries

A lot of the tech products in your home might boast a rechargeable energy source but individual batteries are still an everyday essential and I can tell you from experience that as soon as you forget about them, you’ll be needing to restock. The Duracell AAs we’re tracking are some of the bestselling batteries on Amazon.

Samsung DU7200 TV

Alongside smartphones, televisions are some of the most popular tech products out there, even if they’re an infrequent purchase. This particular product is a popular entry-level 4K TV and was CNET’s pick for best overall budget TV for 2025. Unlike a lot of tech products that have key supply lines in China, Samsung is a South Korean company, so it might have some measure of tariff resistance. 

Xbox Series X

Video game software and hardware are a market segment expected to be hit hard by the Trump tariffs. Microsoft’s Xbox is the first console brand to see price hikes — the company cited «market conditions» along with the rising cost of development. Most notably, this included an increase in the price of the flagship Xbox Series X, up from $500 to $600. Numerous Xbox accessories were also affected, and the company also said that «certain» games will eventually see a price hike from $70 to $80.

Initially, we were tracking the price of the much more popular Nintendo Switch as a representative of the gaming market. Nintendo has not yet hiked the price of its handheld-console hybrid and stressed that the $450 price tag of the upcoming Switch 2 has not yet been inflated because of tariffs. Sony, meanwhile, has so far only increased prices on its PlayStation hardware in markets outside the US.

AirPods Pro 2

The latest iteration of Apple’s wildly popular true-wireless earbuds are here to represent the headphone market. Much to the chagrin of the audiophiles out there, a quick look at sales charts on Amazon shows you just how much the brand dominates all headphone sales. 

HP 962 CMY printer ink

This HP printer ink includes cyan, magenta and yellow all in one product and recently saw its price jump from around $72 — where it stayed for most of 2025 — to $80, which is around its highest price over the last five years. We will be keeping tabs to see if this is a long-term change or a brief uptick.

This product replaced Overture PLA Filament for 3D printers in this piece, but we’re still tracking that item.

Anker 10,000-mAh, 30-watt power bank

Anker’s accessories are perennially popular in the tech space and the company has already announced that some of its products will get more expensive as a direct result of tariffs. This specific product has also been featured in some of CNET’s lists of the best portable chargers. While the price has remained steady throughout the year, it is currently on sale for $16 on Amazon, but only for Prime members.

Bose TV speaker

Soundbars have become important purchases, given the often iffy quality of the speakers built into TVs. While not the biggest or the best offering in the space, the Bose TV Speaker is one of the more affordable soundbar options out there, especially hailing from a brand as popular as Bose.

Oral-B Pro 1000 electric toothbrush

They might be a lot more expensive than their traditional counterparts, but electric toothbrushes remain a popular choice for consumers because of how well they get the job done. I know my dentist won’t let up on how much I need one. This particular Oral-B offering was CNET’s overall choice for the best electric toothbrush for 2025.

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook

Lenovo is notable among the big laptop manufacturers for being a Chinese company making its products especially susceptible to Trump’s tariffs.

Starbucks Ground Coffee (28-ounce bag)

Coffee is included in this tracker because of its ubiquity —I’m certainly drinking too much of it these days —and because it’s uniquely susceptible to Trump’s tariff agenda. Famously, coffee beans can only be grown within a certain distance from Earth’s equator, a tropical span largely outside the US and known as the «Coffee Belt.» 

Hawaii is the only part of the US that can produce coffee beans, with data from USAFacts showing that 11.5 million pounds were harvested there in the 2022-23 season — little more than a drop in the mug, as the US consumed 282 times that amount of coffee during that period. Making matters worse, Hawaiian coffee production has declined in the past few years.

All that to say: Americans get almost all of their coffee from overseas, making it one of the most likely products to see price hikes from tariffs.

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