Technologies

AMD and Sony Tease Next-Gen Graphics, Possibly for a PS6

The YouTube video for Project Amethyst teases three new graphics technologies. It’s about more than just the next console, though.

AMD and Sony jointly teased AMD’s approach to improving its future graphics hardware performance in a video posted to YouTube this week: compression, aggregation and dedication. Compressing all the data in the graphics pipeline for lower memory overhead, aggregating the compute units that process the data for faster matrix multiplication (key to improving AI performance, including upscaling) and finally adding dedicated silicon to handle ray and path tracing acceleration, necessary to bump up visual quality.

Sony’s involvement immediately sent everyone’s heads into PlayStation 6 rumorspace: AMD’s chips power Sony’s PlayStation consoles, and that’s pretty much the only place where the two companies intersect, at least for the moment.

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AMD powers almost all consoles, from the Xbox to the Steam Deck, with the Nintendo Switch line one of the few exceptions (it’s based on Nvidia chips). It’s also in laptops and the company’s own graphics cards. If you want to game on a laptop that won’t blow your budget, better integrated graphics are always in your best interest.

The three new technologies teased in the AMD video are:

Radiance Cores: My testing over the years has shown that AMD has long lagged Nvidia with respect to ray tracing performance (which is not just for pretty reflections — it improves lighting significantly), and that’s at least partly because its processing takes place in its main compute unit cores, which are optimized for processing other types of graphics. So ray tracing bogs your frame rates down a lot. And the one-core-one-ray-trace-unit architecture limits the amount of processing you can throw at it to improve. The Radiance Cores handle the ray tracing acceleration separately, similar to the way Nvidia’s RT cores do.

Neural Array: Matrix multiplication is the key algorithm for accelerating AI processing on-device — it’s what Tensor cores handle, for example — and these days, upscaling is driven by AI-heavy, machine learning-informed algorithms, like Nvidia’s DLSS and Intel’s XeSS. Upscaling is important because it’s a major way to run at higher resolutions without taking a performance hit, and in many ways is at the center of a suite of technologies for improving image fidelity and performance. AMD’s version is FidelityFX Super Resolution, and its next-generation of the technology, FSR Redstone (likely part of RDNA 5), will need those arrays, as well as Sony’s variation of it, PSSR.

Universal Compression: The less compressed your data is, the more memory it takes to process and the slower it moves through a pipeline. Traditionally, graphics processors have stuck to compressing only the biggest memory hogs, starting with textures, in part because there was a performance cost to inserting it into the processing pipeline. But silicon is so much faster than it used to be that it likely makes sense to use it for all the graphics data, which is how Universal Compression works. Even if performance is a wash, it probably means less memory is required, an important factor for 4K and higher gaming as well as prices.

This tease is the first of probably a zillion for both new technologies in the PS6 and AMD’s RDNA 5, and I’d expect to hear a lot more about it at CES in January 2026, if not sooner. I’ve reached out to AMD for more details, but didn’t immediately hear back.

Technologies

Tubi App Goes Live in ChatGPT to Give You TV and Movie Recommendations

Like the ultra-customized feel of a Tubi rec? The streamer aims to make it even more personalized.

Tubi, the free streaming platform known for its vast library of cult classics and indie movies, has added an app to ChatGPT. You can now use the chatbot to find content recommendations for TV shows and movies on Tubi, the streamer announced on Tuesday.

You may already have your own search strategy when using Tubi, but the addition of the native app within ChatGPT allows you to strike up a conversation and ask for uber-specific, personalized title suggestions. If you see a film or show that captures your interest, you have the option to click «Watch on Tubi» to stream it on a mobile device or the web. In the mood for scary movies about yetis? Use @Tubi for your prompt in the chatbot and request something like, «horror movies with aggressive yetis» and expect to see a selection of titles that fit your wish list.

«Streaming should feel effortless, and as chatbots and AI agents are becoming a common way people navigate the internet, Tubi is expanding its discovery experience to meet viewers in the moment they’re expressing intent in their own words,» Mike Bidgoli, Tubi’s chief of product and technology, said in a statement.

ChatGPT opened its app store this past December. It currently includes apps for Apple Music, Zillow, Spotify and Canva, offering the ability to connect your accounts to search, design or ask for recommendations. Back in 2023, Tubi created its own AI-powered tool called Rabbit AI for mobile users to help audiences find content to watch. The company later shuttered the feature, which used Open AI’s Chat GPT-4. With today’s launch, it’s the first video streaming service to add an app within ChatGPT.

(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

PlayStation Plus Subscribers Can Play Tomb Raider and More All April Long

Subscribers can also explore a Soulslike game that just got a big update.

PlayStation Plus, which is Sony’s version of Xbox Game Pass, offers a large, constantly expanding library of games. Subscribers can choose from the Essential, Extra and Premium tiers, each with unique perks and benefits. Starting at $10 a month, the plans give subscribers access to games and rewards, and each month, all subscribers can play a handful of new games at no additional charge. And some people on Reddit are pretty excited for a few of the games Sony is offering subscribers throughout April.

One user wrote how they are «buzzing» for the remastered Tom Raider games, while another user is willing to replay the Soulslike game Lords of the Fallen. «April fools’ joke? Because they’re actually good,» a third user wrote.

If you’re a PlayStation Plus subscriber, you can play these games now until May 4.

Lords of the Fallen

If you played Elden Ring and thought, «I wish this game had even more grimdark elements to it, like Bloodborne,» Lords of the Fallen might be for you. Choose one of nine classes to play as while you traverse the lands of the living and the dead in order to overthrow the demon god Adyr. You’ll fight all manner of monstrosities along the way, like a colossal humanoid with an arm protruding from its mouth or a giant carrion crow that wears a human skull.

HexWorks, the gaming studio behind Lords of the Fallen, also released a patch for the game on April 3. The patch is intended to make co-op sessions feel more rewarding for hosts and guests, so you and your friends should have even more fun in this game.

Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered

Experience these classic Tomb Raider games from the 90s all over again — or for the first time — with the remastered trilogy. You’ll explore jungles, solve puzzles in the desert and tackle mercenaries and monsters along the way. While you can enjoy the boosted graphics of the remastered edition, you can also enable low-poly mode to experience these games as you would have almost 30 years ago.

Sword Art Online Fractured Daydream

A system called Galaxia has been added to Alfheim Online, allowing players to relive the past. But the system has spun out of control, displacing players throughout time. To set things right, you’ll have to work with friends and foes alike in this co-op raid battle game. But if you want to go solo, you can play story mode as characters from across space and time confront the anomaly in the VR world.

For more on PlayStation Plus, here’s what to know about the service. You can also check out other games on PlayStation Plus and games on Xbox Game Pass.

Technologies

Get Organized for Just $28 With This 6-in-1 Baseus Charging Station Deal

Ditch the cluttered cables and upgrade to this sleek USB power strip while it’s on sale for a record-low price.

For just $28, this six-in-one Baseus charging station can help you keep your desk organized. That’s 20% off and the all-time lowest price we’ve seen for this 120-watt USB power strip. We don’t expect this limited-time deal to last for long, however, so you’ll want to get your order in sooner rather than later.

You can use this charging station for just about all of your devices, including phones, tablets, headphones and laptops. It’s equipped with four USB-C ports and two USB-A ports, so you can charge up to six devices at once. It also boasts a 65-watt single-port output, enough to fully recharge a MacBook Air in less than 2 hours. And at just 323 grams, it’s light enough to take on the go, making it a great buy for frequent travelers.

Why this deal matters

This sleek Baseus charging station can connect to up to six devices at once, and is still small enough that you can take it on the go. Plus, this is the all-time lowest price we’ve seen, making it a pretty great value.