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Tessa Thompson and Nia DaCosta during the junket for

How do you capture what it looks like to fall head over heels? This was the challenge writer/director Nia DaCosta faced in adapting Henrik Ibsen's classic play Hedda Gabler into a steamy and salacious sapphic romance.

Hedda stars Tessa Thompson as the eponymous antiheroine, a woman who hungers for luxury, love, and freedom. And when she doesn't get what she wants, she proves to be a vicious mastermind. So, when Hedda's ex-lover, genderswapped by DaCosta to be Eileen Lovborg (Nina Hoss), turns up at the big party she's throwing with her newly minted husband George Tesman (Tom Bateman), trouble is in the air. But so is love.

SEE ALSO: 'Hedda' review: 'Hedda Gabler' meets 'Saltburn' in Nia DiCosta's sexy, sapphic adaptation

As Eileen enters the ballroom, she is elegant, robust, and sensual, instantly awing the audience and capturing the mercurial Hedda's full attention. In interviews with DaCosta, Thompson, Hoss, and Bateman, Mashable's Entertainment Editor, Kristy Puchko, asked how this scene came together.

DaCosta got technical, sharing the precise details demanded of a camera effect that makes it seem as if Hedda is floating toward Eileen, a moth to the former flame. Hoss shared how it takes a village to make such an impactful moment in film. Bateman provided an insightful comparison between Eileen's entrance and the swagger of Westerns, when a cowboy strides through swinging saloon doors. For her part, Thompson shared the difficulty of playing this moment with grace when you're fully aware of how goofy things look just outside of the frame.

Enjoy this dive into movie magic, then enjoy Hedda — now playing on Prime Video.

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Truth Social logo on mobile device

Polymarket. Kalshi. Truth Social? 

It looks like Donald Trump's social network is getting into the prediction market space. On Monday, Truth Social's parent company, Trump Media and Technology Group Corp., announced that the social media platform would be the first such site to launch its own prediction market. 

The prediction market will be called "Truth Predict."

Truth Social announced an "exclusive arrangement" that sees the company partnering with Crypto.com to make the prediction market happen.

“We are thrilled to become the world’s first publicly traded social media platform to offer our users access to prediction markets,” said Trump Media Chairman and CEO Devin Nunes in a statement. "Truth Predict will allow our loyal users to engage in prediction markets with a trusted network while harnessing our social media platform to provide totally unique ways for users to discuss and compare their predictions."

SEE ALSO: Truth Social's new AI search is 'woke' enough to disagree with Trump

Polymarket and Kalshi are currently the two most popular prediction markets. These platforms allow users to place bets on nearly anything, from the results of an election or a basketball game to betting on whether a celebrity will do a specific thing before a set date. Prediction markets circumvent gambling laws and regulations by offering "contracts" with users betting against each other instead of playing against the house. Polymarket and Kalshi do not bet on outcomes and instead make money through fees on each contract sold.

Prediction markets have become increasingly popular in recent years. In the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election, many followed what platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi were predicting based on bets being placed over traditional pollsters. Now, even news outlets are sourcing these prediction markets when looking at polling data.

However, prediction markets have gained a much stronger foothold in the U.S. since Trump won the election. For example, Polymarket was unable to even operate in the U.S. from 2022 as a result of a settlement with the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The regulatory agency alleged that Polymarket was running an unregistered derivatives trading market. The FBI even raided Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan's home in 2024 to investigate whether the company was still trying to operate in the country.

Trump's Department of Justice closed the investigation into Polymarket in July of this year, and the company has since been allowed to operate once again in the U.S.

“Prediction markets are poised to be a multi-deca-billion dollar industry,” said Crypto.com co-founder and CEO Kris Marszalek in a statement about the partnership with Truth Social.

And that really gets to the heart of why Trump Media is launching Truth Predict. As Wired points out, the Trump family already has a financial interest in the prediction market space. The President's oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is currently a strategic adviser at Kalshi. Trump Jr. is also on Polymarket's advisory board as a result of an investment made by the VC firm where he's a partner.

It's already well established that President Trump and his family have no concerns about conflicts of interest and alleged corruption. They have already tested the waters with their various cryptocurrency projects, which have seen the Trump family earn around $1 billion in the past year alone.

If the President of the United States gets involved in essentially an unregulated gambling industry where people place bets on what will happen in politics, business, sports, and more — what can go wrong? Not much for the ultimate insider who can pull the strings in multiple scenarios like Trump.

As for everyone else, though? Just ask the hundreds of thousands of people who lost money investing in Trump's memecoin.



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A woman at her laptop.

In a Monday blog post, ChatGPT touted the improvements its default model, GPT-5, has made in identifying and responding to users’ troubling responses, including suicidal ideation. While new safeguards and the introduction of psychiatrists in helping train GPT-5 are leading to improved AI responses to mental health prompts, the blog post also pointed out some numbers that are bound to raise eyebrows.

While explaining GPT-5’s abilities to detect serious mental health concerns, like psychosis and mania, the post noted that troubling user conversations with the chatbot are “rare.”

"While, as noted above, these conversations are difficult to detect and measure given how rare they are, our initial analysis estimates that around 0.07% of users active in a given week and 0.01% of messages indicate possible signs of mental health emergencies related to psychosis or mania."

The percentage seems small, but ChatGPT has 800 million weekly users, according to Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, which owns ChatGPT. Altman made that stunning announcement earlier this month at OpenAI’s DevDay. 

SEE ALSO: Sam Altman: ChatGPT will get more 'friendly' again, even erotically so

If Altman’s numbers are correct, that equates to 560,000 ChatGPT users showing signs of psychosis or mania, and 80,000 of their messages indicating mental health emergencies, according to the site’s estimates. 

ChatGPT is continuing to work with its models to better identify signs of self-harm and steer those people to resources, like suicide hotlines or their own friends or family members. The blog post continues to suggest that ChatGPT conversations regarding self-harm are rare, but estimates that "0.15% of users active in a given week have conversations that include explicit indicators of potential suicidal planning or intent and 0.05% of messages contain explicit or implicit indicators of suicidal ideation or intent."

With 800 million weekly users, that equates to 1.2 million ChatGPT users engaging in conversations with AI about suicide in a given week, and 400,000 messages from users that demonstrate direct or indirect indications of suicidal intent.

"Even a very small percentage of our large user base represents a meaningful number of people, and that’s why we take this work so seriously," an OpenAI spokesperson told Mashable, adding that the company believes ChatGPT's growing user base reflects society at large, where mental health symptoms and emotional distress are "universally present."

The spokesperson also reiterated that the company's numbers are estimates and "the numbers we provided may significantly change as we learn more."

OpenAI is currently facing a lawsuit from the parents of Adam Raine, a 16-year-old who died by suicide earlier this year during a time of heavy ChatGPT use. In a recently amended legal complaint, the Raines allege OpenAI twice downgraded suicide prevention safeguards in order to increase engagement in the months prior to their son's death.



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The Microsoft logo is displayed on a mobile phone screen in front of the Copilot logo in Ankara, Turkiye on October 28, 2025.

An Australian lawsuit against Microsoft over its subscription pricing has highlighted a way to get access to Microsoft 365 for cheaper, so long as you don't need access to the company's AI offerings.

The lawsuit, from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, accused Microsoft Australia and Microsoft Corporation of allegedly misleading customers over subscription price changes. In October 2024, the commission argues, Microsoft told its subscribers that Copilot would be integrated into the Microsoft 365 Personal and Family plans and that subscribers would have to accept the integration and pay more money for it or they'd have to cancel their subscription altogether, according to TechSpot.

"The Microsoft Office apps included in 365 subscriptions are essential in many people's lives and given there are limited substitutes to the bundled package, cancelling the subscription is a decision many would not make lightly," the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission said, TechSpot reported.

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission argued that this is misleading and deceptive because there is a third, secret option. While Microsoft would prefer everyone uses its AI, users can still, of course, use the Microsoft 365 Personal or Family Classic plans.

If you already have Microsoft 365, want to save a few bucks, and aren't particularly interested in AI, there's a way to do that. Simply sign into your Microsoft account, navigate to your subscriptions page and select "Manage," then click "Cancel subscription." You'll be prompted to downgrade to another plan with fewer features, according to Microsoft. Select Microsoft 365 Personal Classic or Microsoft 365 Family Classic, or another plan that works for you.



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Characters from the highly-anticipated videogame Halo 5: Guardians appeared on Bondi Beach

Xbox can't seem to stay out of the news lately, with the announcement that Halo: Combat Evolved is coming to PlayStation next year and, in response, a detente called in the console wars. Things took a darker turn on Sunday night when President Trump launched into an AI slop meme war with GameStop that has now spiraled into the Department of Homeland Security using Halo imagery to compare undocumented immigrants to parasitic aliens.

Early Monday morning, the official DHS X account — already infamous for its cruel, brain-rotting posting history — shared an image of Xbox's iconic mascot, Master Chief, standing on a Warthog with the Halo ring world in the background. The caption read, "Finishing this fight," a nod to the final line of Halo 2 and the marketing tagline for Halo 3. The image itself included the phrase "Destroy the Flood," alongside a link to an ICE recruitment page.

SEE ALSO: For Trump officials, social media is war

The post is problematic on several levels — the most glaring being that DHS appears to be equating the Flood, the main antagonists of the Halo series, with immigrants. For context, the Flood are a parasitic alien species that infect and consume sentient life across the galaxy.

This isn't the first time ICE has co-opted video game imagery for its recruitment posts on social media. Just last month, the agency used the "Gotta catch 'em all" Pokémon theme for videos of arrests, complete with custom-made cards of individuals captured by ICE. That's on top of the many crass, bizarre, and meme-heavy "Dark MAGA" posts the agency has shared — including ones featuring Trump with laser eyes or reposts originating from neo-Nazi accounts.

SEE ALSO: President of Xbox Sarah Bond talks Ally X, next-gen console, and recent price increases

It's not clear why Trump and DHS are fixated on Halo as of late. It is worth noting that Microsoft, which owns Xbox, is one of several tech giants that reportedly helped fund construction of Trump's $300 million ballroom — a project that has already required the demolition of the East Wing. Critics say the investment is part of a broader push by major tech firms to stay in favor with the administration as they compete for lucrative federal contracts.

ICE's goal seems to be grabbing the attention of younger audiences — ostensibly for recruiting — but also to continue dehumanizing undocumented immigrants and other groups targeted by the administration.

It's a bold strategy for an agency hoping to look heroic, but it seems ICE missed the part where the good guys fight to protect all of humanity.

Mashable has contacted Xbox for comment, but has yet to receive a response as of this writing.

This article reflects the opinion of the writer.



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Despite U.S. regulators currently investigating Tesla over "Full Self-Driving" traffic violations and safety concerns, Elon Musk's EV company rolled out a new full self-driving (FSD) mode earlier this month, ominously called "Mad Max."

Now, according to a new report from Reuters, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has contacted Tesla to inquire about the newly released "Mad Max" mode. 

"NHTSA is in contact with the manufacturer to gather additional information," the agency said in a statement. "The human behind the wheel is fully responsible for driving the vehicle and complying with all traffic safety laws."

An NHTSA inquiry would be the first step into a formal investigation of Mad Max mode.

What is Tesla's new Mad Max Mode?

Mad Max is a reference to the film franchise of the same name, which originally starred Mel Gibson but has since been revived with actors such as Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, and Anya Taylor-Joy. In the Mad Max movies, "road warriors" navigate an apocalyptic wasteland, and the movies are famous for their fiery car stunts and chase sequences.

It's an unsettling name for a self-driving car mode, to say the least.

Electrek reported that the Mad Max driver assistance mode allows the vehicle to ignore speed limits and navigate through traffic more quickly.

"Introduced new speed profile MAD MAX, which comes with higher speeds and more frequent lane changes than HURRY," reads the Tesla release notes for the feature, according to Tesla Oracle.

One Tesla owner on X posted a video of their vehicle in Mad Max mode and noted how it is "going to speed like crazy" on an open road. The video also showed the Tesla rolling through a stop sign while in Mad Max mode.

Another Tesla owner published a YouTube video of their vehicle hitting up to 79 miles per hour in a 50-mile-per-hour zone. They noted that their Tesla was passing all of the other vehicles on the road.

As previously mentioned, Tesla is already being investigated by the NHTSA over vehicles in FSD mode allegedly running red lights and driving the wrong way down roads.

As the EV news site Electrek points out, Musk teased a version of Mad Max mode back in 2018 when FSD was in its development stage.

"We considered going beyond Mad Max to 'LA Freeway' level, but that’s too loco," Musk said at the time.

Seven years later, Tesla has decided to publicly release Mad Max mode in the midst of an ongoing safety investigation.



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Jack Legault, Matilda Legault, Clara Stack, and Mikkal Karim-Fidler in

There is only one acceptable reaction to the ending of IT: Welcome to Derry's first episode, and it's "What in the world just happened?"

While the entire episode is filled to the brim with horrifying scares, its final moments deliver an unforgettable bloodbath that comes with the chilling message that no one in the show is safe. Let's break it down.

SEE ALSO: 'IT: Welcome to Derry' review: 'IT' prequel series will scare the living daylights out of you

What happens at the end of IT: Welcome to Derry episode 1?

Miles Ekhardt in "IT: Welcome to Derry."
Miles Ekhardt in "IT: Welcome to Derry." Credit: HBO

Much of Welcome to Derry's first episode focuses on uniting several of Derry's children in the search for missing kid Matty (Miles Ekhardt). There's "Loony" Lilly Bainbridge (Clara Stack), who's bullied at school over her father's gruesome death; oddball best friends Phil (Jack Legault) and Teddy (Mikkal Karim-Fidler); Phil's little sister Susie (Matilda Legault); and Ronnie (Amanda Christine), the last child to see Matty alive.

As the crew comes together, it feels like IT: Welcome to Derry is assembling its own version of the Losers Club from Stephen King's IT and the ensuing film adaptations. However, it quickly subverts that expectation by fully murdering several of these children in gruesome fashion, reminding you not to expect a straightforward rehash of IT and its own Losers Club.

SEE ALSO: The most WTF scares from 'IT: Welcome to Derry' episode 1, ranked

It all kicks off when Lilly hears Matty singing an eerie rendition of "Ya Got Trouble" from The Music Man in her shower pipes. Ronnie puts the pieces together and remembers that The Music Man was also the movie Matty snuck into on the night he disappeared. She screens The Music Man for Lilly, Phil, Teddy, and Susie at the Derry movie theater in the hopes of getting some answers.

However, as Harold Hill sings about the trouble facing River City onscreen, the kids run into some trouble of their own. Matty appears in the movie, holding a swaddled baby and flanked by the eerie family who kidnapped him at the start of the episode. As he smiles a classic Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) grin, Matty reveals that the baby he's holding is none other than the mutant winged creature from Welcome to Derry's unsettling opening sequence. He unleashes the creature — now much, much bigger — into the audience, where it tears into Phil, Teddy, and Susie. Of the five children who entered the theater, only Lilly and Ronnie make it out.

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Could Phil, Teddy, or Susie still be alive?

Mikkal Karim-Fidler, Clara Stack, and Jack Legault in "IT: Welcome to Derry."
Mikkal Karim-Fidler, Clara Stack, and Jack Legault in "IT: Welcome to Derry." Credit: HBO

A rule of thumb in TV and film is that if we don't see a body, we don't have explicit confirmation that any character is actually dead. In the case of Welcome to Derry's final scene, we know that Teddy is definitely dead, as the baby rips him in half and slams him into the projection booth. It's the first on-screen kill of the show, and it's fittingly brutal (and leaves no room for doubt).

But Phil and Susie's fates are still up in the air. In Phil's case, literally up in the air, as the last we see of him is the flying baby dragging him up towards the ceiling. Later, the baby chomps down on Susie's arm, severing it from her body. From there, we get no more glimpses of the unfortunate siblings, but based on Lilly telling Ronnie, "They're all gone," it's fairly clear that the pair are dead. Even if they are alive, what's the alternative? Getting carried off to Pennywise's lair? At that point, you're as good as killer clown food.

New episodes of IT: Welcome to Derry premiere Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.



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