Technologies

The Absolute Best Anime You Should Stream in December

Keep watching My Hero Academia, Blue Lock and these other titles this month.

The 2022 anime season is about to wrap up, but there is still time to enjoy this year’s releases on streaming. Perhaps you’ve already seen One Piece Film: Red at your local theater. And as an anime fan, you’re may be captivated by the weekly drops of Chainsaw Man right now. But December offers titles you can watch at home as we patiently wait for 2023 to bring us the Attack on Titan finale, Kaguya-sama: Love is War and a new season of Jujutsu Kaisen.

Here’s a look at what you can stream this month on Crunchyroll, Netflix and other streaming services.

My Hero Academia Season 6

With Shigaraki on a rage-filled mayhem mission using the Metahuman Liberation Army, the stakes are high for our beloved Izuku «Deku» Midoriya, U.A. High and the pro superheroes. New quirks, new challenges and a new war await us in My Hero Academia. This season is a must-see, and the show airs on Hulu or Crunchyroll on Saturdays at 2:30 a.m. PT (5:30 a.m. ET) with the dubbed version dropping at 12 p.m. PT (3 p.m. ET). Watch the latest installment into the spring of 2023.

Chainsaw Man

One of the most exciting arrivals this year, Chainsaw Man airs subbed episodes on Crunchyroll Tuesdays at 9 a.m. PT (12 p.m. ET) and the dubbed version debuts on Oct. 25, 12:30 p.m. PT (3:30 p.m. ET). The popular manga has finally been adapted for the small screen and is already earning high marks from critics and fans. Watch Denji become the hybrid devil hunter he was never meant to be and all the frenzied, bloody mess that’s attached to this wild story. Season 1 has 12 episodes that you can stream on Crunchyroll or Hulu into January.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean Part 3

The final batch of episodes for this story arc hit Netflix on Dec. 1, following the release of part 2 in September. Considered one of the most difficult manga storylines to adapt for the small screen, Stone Ocean draws to a close. All 14 episodes are available to binge now.

Blue Lock

Forget Ted Lasso. Blue Lock’s soccer saga pits the top high school players in Japan against each other in a rigorous program to find the nation’s greatest striker. Watch Yoichi Isagi on his journey each Sat. 11 a.m. PT (2 p.m. ET) on Crunchyroll. This season will feature 24 episodes total, broken down into two consecutive cours.

Dragon Age: Absolution

If you haven’t checked out Netflix’s series yet, you should add it to your binge list this month. Based on the video game, the six-episode show takes viewers to Tevinter, a place no one has seen on screen before. Dragon Age: Absolution premiered on Dec. 9.

To Your Eternity Season 2

To Your Eternity comes back with more melancholy and compelling storytelling about Fushi’s struggles as a shape-shifting immortal. This time, he can’t keep his commitment to solitude when he faces the Nokkers and needs help to do it. To Your Eternity season 2 will feature 20 episodes and begins streaming on Crunchyroll on Oct. 23 at 5:30 a.m. PT (8:30 a.m. ET).

Bocchi the Rock!

Since its debut on Oct. 8, Bocchi the Rock! has found a loyal audience on Crunchyroll. Adapted from the popular manga of the same name, the comedy series follows Hitori Goto, an introverted girl with super guitar-playing talents. She winds up forming a rock band but has to learn a few things about herself and interacting with those around her. If you prefer music-centric stories with a comical slant, check it out on Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. PT (12:30 p.m. ET).

Millennium Actress

An award-winning movie, Millennium Actress follows two documentarians Genya Tachibana and Kyoji Ida as they interview the actress, Chiyoko Fujiwara. The family-friendly oldie but goodie joins the Crunchyroll lineup on Dec. 15.

Mob Psycho 100 Season 3

It’s the final season of Mob Psycho 100, and fans get to see Shigeo — aka Mob — figure out the next stage of his life. That’s the overarching theme of this season, but the story will also carry him, Reigen, Ritsu and Teru into another adventure featuring a now-revered broccoli tree. Watch to find out how they handle the divine sprout. Mob Psycho 100 III kicked off on Oct. 5 and has 12 episodes that air Wednesdays at 9 a.m. PT. (12 p.m. ET). The season ends this month.

Lookism

A Korean anime, Lookism follows Daniel, a high school kid who is bullied for his appearance. After waking up in a new body, he explores and experiences «lookism,» a term that describes stereotypes, preferential treatment or discrimination based on looks. Season 1 debuted on Netflix on Dec. 8.

Arknights: Prelude to Dawn

An adaptation of the popular video game, Arknights: Prelude to Dawn premieres on Crunchyroll on Oct. 28. Meet the Rhodes Island team and a slew of other characters from Terra as they navigate conflict, disease and power in their dystopian world.

Technologies

New California Law Wants Companion Chatbots to Tell Kids to Take Breaks

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the new requirements on AI companions into law on Monday.

AI companion chatbots will have to remind users in California that they’re not human under a new law signed Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The law, SB 243, also requires companion chatbot companies to maintain protocols for identifying and addressing cases in which users express suicidal ideation or self-harm. For users under 18, chatbots will have to provide a notification at least every three hours that reminds users to take a break and that the bot is not human.

It’s one of several bills Newsom has signed in recent weeks dealing with social media, artificial intelligence and other consumer technology issues. Another bill signed Monday, AB 56, requires warning labels on social media platforms, similar to those required for tobacco products. Last week, Newsom signed measures requiring internet browsers to make it easy for people to tell websites they don’t want them to sell their data and banning loud advertisements on streaming platforms.

AI companion chatbots have drawn particular scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators in recent months. The Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation into several companies in response to complaints by consumer groups and parents that the bots were harming children’s mental health. OpenAI introduced new parental controls and other guardrails in its popular ChatGPT platform after the company was sued by parents who allege ChatGPT contributed to their teen son’s suicide.

«We’ve seen some truly horrific and tragic examples of young people harmed by unregulated tech, and we won’t stand by while companies continue without necessary limits and accountability,» Newsom said in a statement.

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One AI companion developer, Replika, told CNET that it already has protocols to detect self-harm as required by the new law, and that it is working with regulators and others to comply with requirements and protect consumers.

«As one of the pioneers in AI companionship, we recognize our profound responsibility to lead on safety,» Replika’s Minju Song said in an emailed statement. Song said Replika uses content-filtering systems, community guidelines and safety systems that refer users to crisis resources when needed.

A Character.ai spokesperson said the company «welcomes working with regulators and lawmakers as they develop regulations and legislation for this emerging space, and will comply with laws, including SB 243.» OpenAI spokesperson Jamie Radice called the bill a «meaningful move forward» for AI safety. «By setting clear guardrails, California is helping shape a more responsible approach to AI development and deployment across the country,» Radice said in an email.

One bill Newsom has yet to sign, AB 1064, would go further by prohibiting developers from making companion chatbots available to children unless the AI companion is «not foreseeably capable of» encouraging harmful activities or engaging in sexually explicit interactions, among other things.

Technologies

Slack Is Transforming Slackbot Into an AI Assistant

Enhancements will make the simple bot act more like an AI chatbot.

Slackbot, the assistant within the team communication platform Slack, is getting AI enhancements and integrations with other AI chatbots to become more agentic, Slack said in a presentation at Dreamforce, a tech conference in San Francisco, on Monday.

Slackbot works as a simple assistant, sending people reminders, notifications or updates about their colleagues. It isn’t conversational in the same way ChatGPT is. With these AI enhancements, Slackbot will soon function more like an AI chatbot, able to do things on a person’s behalf.

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Enterprise users will soon be able to converse with Slackbot, asking it to help with projects or analyze documents. Slack will also integrate with Google Drive, One Drive, and Salesforce. OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity, and others are bringing their agents into Slack as well. For example, you can ask @Claude to do a web search or scan your workspace to find new insights.

At the moment, the AI version of Slackbot is in beta and limited to 70,000 users. However, it will be released to all users in January 2026. Slack will then roll out the feature broader later this year. Companies can also turn off Slackbot.

A representative for Slack referred reporters to its blog post.

The AI-ification of apps has been a common trend since the release of ChatGPT. Apps like Duolingo, Canva, Phot,oshop, and others have all added AI features to make things easier for users and to attract investor dollars. Slack’s biggest competitor in the space, Microsoft Teams, has been integrating more AI features recently.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Oct. 14, #856

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Oct. 14, No. 856.

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

NYT Connections fans, we’re used to this. The purple category today requires you to remove the starting letter of four words, and spot their connection once you’ve done that. If you need help, you’re in the right place. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Dazzle, entrance.

Green group hint: Short version.

Blue group hint: Stop!

Purple group hint: Not humans, and remove one letter.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Captivate.

Green group: Summary.

Blue group: Halt.

Purple group: Animals minus starting letter.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is captivate. The four answers are absorb, engage, hold and occupy.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is summary. The four answers are brief, digest, outline and review.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is halt. The four answers are check, curb, staunch and stem.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is animals minus starting letter. The four answers are anther, easel, hark and lama. (Panther, weasel, shark and llama. Yes, «anther» is a real word.)