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Burger King will use AI to monitor employee 'friendliness'

Burger King will use AI to monitor employee 'friendliness'

Burger King, the chain that leans into creepy when others don't dare, is at it again. The Verge reported on Thursday that the company is rolling out a new voice-controlled AI chatbot for its workers. That may sound like business as usual in 2026, but this assistant doesn't just help with meal prep and monitor inventory. It also has an unsettling habit of surveilling employees' voices for "friendliness." The voice-controlled chatbot will live inside employees' headsets. The company said the AI is trained to recognize when its low-paid workers utter phrases like "welcome to Burger King," "please" and "thank you." Managers can then keep tabs on their location's "friendliness" performance. "This is meant to be a coaching tool," Thibault Roux, Burger King's chief digital officer, told The Verge . However, he added that the company is also "iterating" the system to detect tone in conversations. Is there a chatbot that can warn Burger King executives about off-putting ideas? Burger King retired its Creepy King mascot in 2025. Burger King / YouTube (Commercial Ads) The OpenAI-powered assistant's other duties sound potentially useful (and decidedly less creepy). It can answer workers' meal prep questions, like how many strips of bacon to put on burgers or instructions for cleaning the shake machine. It's also integrated into the chain's point-of-sale system, so it can tell managers when items are out of stock or machines are down. The "Patty" chatbot is part of a broader BK Assistant platform the company is launching. It will roll out to all US locations by the end of 2026. Meanwhile, its "restaurant maintenance with a side of mass surveillance" chatbot is currently being piloted in 500 restaurants. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/burger-king-will-use-ai-to-monitor-employee-friendliness-173349148.html?src=rss

Sources: US semiconductor companies face worsening rare earth shortages, as shipments still rarely make it to the US despite an October 2025 detente with China (Reuters)

Sources: US semiconductor companies face worsening rare earth shortages, as shipments still rarely make it to the US despite an October 2025 detente with China (Reuters)

Reuters : Sources: US semiconductor companies face worsening rare earth shortages, as shipments still rarely make it to the US despite an October 2025 detente with China —  Suppliers to U.S. aerospace and semiconductor firms face worsening rare earth shortages, with two turning away some clients …

Netflix's F1 'Drive to Survive' will stream on Apple TV in world-first deal

Netflix's F1 'Drive to Survive' will stream on Apple TV in world-first deal

The popular Netflix Foruma 1 docuseries "Drive to Survive" will be available to stream on Apple TV in the United States as part of a surprise content-sharing deal. Apple has big plans for its F1 streaming service. Image source: Apple Beginning with the season eight premiere on February 27, 2026, Apple TV subscribers will be able to watch "Drive to Survive" without a Netflix subscription. The move marks the first of its kind for Netflix, a company that normally offers its content exclusively on its own platform. As part of the deal, The New York Times reports , Apple will allow one of its live F1 Grand Prix to air on Netflix. The Canadian Grand Prix will be offered to Netflix customers in the United States as well as on Apple TV. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Baseus 100W USB-C cable for $8: Super-fast charging for your devices

Baseus 100W USB-C cable for $8: Super-fast charging for your devices

Everybody needs at least one properly fast USB-C cable for charging, whether it’s for your phone, tablet, laptop, or what have you. If you’re still wasting your life waiting on slow charge times, you owe it to yourself to get a fast cable— like this one by Baseus that’s now on sale for $7.99. That’s a small price to pay for super-fast charging! This Baseus USB-C cable supports up to 100 watts of power, which is fast enough for most laptops while in use. Of course, you’ll need an equally powerful charger block to supply that much power, but I’m assuming you have that already. If you do, then a slow cable will be the bottleneck that throttles your charging time, in which case you’ll need this. Need it for data transfers, too? No problem. This cable also supports data speeds up to 480 Mbps, which isn’t the fastest on the market but still plenty fast for the occasional transfer of documents, photos, and even videos. But it doesn’t support video output, so don’t expect to use this cable for connecting, say, your laptop to a USB-C monitor. And it’s designed for longevity. This cable has a nylon-braided exterior to resist wear and tear, and it will endure thousands of bends as you coil it up and toss it into your bag, drawer, or pocket. At 6.6 feet long, this cable is convenient to use anywhere, even in bed without having to hang over the edge while your phone is plugged to the wall. What are you waiting for? If you don’t have a fast-charging USB-C cable yet, now’s a great time to pick this one up for cheap on Amazon . Get this 100W USB-C cable on sale for just $7.99 Buy now at Amazon