Technologies

NFL Sunday Ticket Rights May Be Heading to Google’s YouTube TV, Report Claims

YouTube TV may soon become the exclusive home of the NFL’s valuable Sunday Ticket package.

Google could be ready for a lot of football. According to a report Tuesday night from The Wall Street Journal, the search giant is in «advanced talks» to acquire the rights to NFL Sunday Ticket. The report says that a deal could be announced as soon as Wednesday.

The NFL declined to comment. Google did not immediately respond to a CNET request for comment.

If the deal does come to fruition, Google would be taking over the Sunday Ticket rights from DirecTV, which has been the exclusive home of the package since 1994. The satellite provider has paid the league over $1.5 billion annually in recent years for Sunday Ticket, often using the NFL games as a way to lure and retain subscribers.

The Journal reports that the Sunday Ticket package would be available to stream as an add-on either through YouTube TV, Google’s $65-per-month streaming TV service, as well as through YouTube Primetime Channels. Announced in November, the latter service is Google’s way of offering premium content from providers like Starz, Showtime, Epix and Paramount Plus directly on YouTube.

It is unclear what Google might charge for Sunday Ticket. For a full season, DirecTV has previously priced the service at roughly $300 for the base Sunday Ticket service, or $400 for a «Max» version that included extra channels like RedZone.

Reports have previously indicated that the NFL was looking for $2.5 billion annually for Sunday Ticket in its new deal, and while that’s a lofty sum for content, the high price tag reportedly didn’t stop Apple, Amazon or Disney from joining the bidding for the rights. Amazon is said to be paying the NFL $1 billion per year to be the exclusive home for Thursday Night Football games this fall.

Unlike the Amazon deal, which streams its games on Amazon-owned Prime Video and Twitch platforms, Sunday Ticket does not stop you from watching your local CBS or Fox Sunday broadcasts on TV.

As an out-of-market option, it allows for watching games that are being broadcast in other parts of the country but are not necessarily on your local stations. If you live in Miami, for example, and the Chargers game against the Broncos isn’t airing on your local CBS affiliate, you can watch it on YouTube through Sunday Ticket.

Like DirecTV, YouTube TV is a live television service and offers all the major local channels including ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC as well as the NFL Network. While Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV won’t let you get the games that air on streaming services like Amazon or ESPN Plus, it could make Google’s television service a go-to destination to stream nearly all the NFL action you want.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Tuesday, Oct. 14

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Oct. 14.

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

Today’s Mini Crossword has an odd vertical shape, with an extra Across clue, and only four Down clues. The clues are not terribly difficult, but one or two could be tricky. Read on if you need the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Smokes, informally
Answer: CIGS

5A clue: «Don’t have ___, man!» (Bart Simpson catchphrase)
Answer: ACOW

6A clue: What the vehicle in «lane one» of this crossword is winning?
Answer: RACE

7A clue: Pitt of Hollywood
Answer: BRAD

8A clue: «Yeah, whatever»
Answer: SURE

9A clue: Rd. crossers
Answer: STS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Things to «load» before a marathon
Answer: CARBS

2D clue: Mythical figure who inspired the idiom «fly too close to the sun»
Answer: ICARUS

3D clue: Zoomer around a small track
Answer: GOCART

4D clue: Neighbors of Norwegians
Answer: SWEDES

Technologies

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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.