Author: Gesi Lloyd

Meta has launched Muse Spark, its first major AI model since the company overhauled its artificial intelligence division from scratch. The release, announced Wednesday, is the flagship product of Meta Superintelligence Labs, the unit led by Alexandr Wang, who joined the company in June as part of a $14.3 billion investment tied to his former company, Scale AI. The launch sent Meta’s stock up nearly 9%, its sharpest single-day rally since January. Muse Spark, which was internally codenamed Avocado during development, is the opening entry in a new product line Meta is calling the Muse series. The company said its…

More than 71 million Americans receive Social Security benefits each month, but not all of them get paid on the same day. In April 2026, the timing of your payment comes down to one thing: the date you were born. The Social Security Administration began sending out the first round of April payments Today, April 8. Two more disbursement dates follow over the next two weeks, completing the month’s full payment cycle by April 22. The April Social Security payment schedule For recipients who began receiving benefits after May 1997, the April payment dates are structured around birth dates. Those…

For anyone still logging into an email address they made as a teenager, Google has some overdue news. Starting in April, Gmail users in the United States can change their primary email address without opening a new account or losing a single message. The announcement came through a video posted to Google’s official YouTube channel, where a spokesperson explained that the company is making it possible to update a Google Account username from scratch in just a few steps. No data migration. No awkward forwarding setup. Just a new address attached to everything you already have. How the Gmail address…

What began as an April Fool’s Day joke spiraled into one of the most hotly contested documentary deals in recent streaming history. Hulu has officially won the rights to a three-part docuseries on Curtis Jackson, the man the world knows as 50 Cent, beating out Netflix, Starz, and Apple in a competitive bidding war. The project, still untitled, will span 50 Cent’s full arc. That means his childhood in South Jamaica, Queens, his near-fatal shooting in 2000, the seismic cultural arrival of Get Rich or Die Tryin’ in 2003, and his eventual transformation into a television and film producer with…

Shaquille O’Neal spent years watching the NBA’s Slam Dunk Contest lose its footing. The biggest names in basketball stopped showing up, the creativity faded and what was once one of the most electric nights in sports became something fans largely tuned out. Rather than continuing to voice his frustration from the inside, O’Neal did something about it. Warner Bros. Discovery officially announced Dunkman on Tuesday, confirming that O’Neal has partnered with Authentic Brands Group, TNT Sports and Eli Lilly and Company to launch what is being billed as the world’s first professional dunking league. The inaugural season is scheduled for…

John Legend has a new management team. The singer has parted ways with longtime manager Ty Stiklorius and her firm Friends at Work, with Roc Nation now handling his music career, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The timing of the switch is unclear. Legend was still listed on Friends at Work’s roster as recently as last month, and Stiklorius had discussed her work with him as recently as February during a panel at a Global Citizen event in Beverly Hills. Roc Nation did not respond to a request for comment from The Hollywood Reporter, though the company shared an image…

Cardi B performed her diss track aimed at fellow rapper BIA in front of a packed Boston crowd on April 2, then stopped to tell the audience something that did not quite fit the moment: leave BIA alone online. The request came mid-concert during the Boston stop of her ‘Little Miss Drama’ tour, where Cardi performed ‘Pretty & Petty,’ the track widely understood to be directed at BIA. After the song, she addressed the crowd directly, making clear that whatever exists between her and BIA belongs on wax, not in the comment sections of social media. She told fans the…

A performance by Miami rapper Trick Daddy at the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority’s 73rd South Atlantic Regional Conference was cut short after he ignored a set of requirements the organization said had been communicated to him in advance. Tiffany Moore Russell, the South Atlantic Regional Director for Alpha Kappa Alpha, confirmed she personally ended the performance. In a statement directed to sorority members, Russell said her team had met with Trick Daddy’s camp multiple times before the event to outline expectations around attire, language and specific song selections. He did not follow them. Russell described the rapper’s language, lyrics and…

U.S. special operations forces rescued a second American airman from Iranian territory Saturday night, completing a two-day operation that senior officials described as one of the most complex search and rescue missions in recent military history. President Donald Trump announced the rescue Sunday on Truth Social, confirming that the service member had sustained injuries but was expected to recover fully. The airman had been airlifted to Kuwait for medical treatment, according to the New York Times. The rescue came days after a U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down over Iran on Friday, the first American aircraft lost since the…

Few reality television careers have produced as many quotable moments as Porsha Williams’ run on ‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta.’ Since joining the Bravo series in season 5, Williams has built a reputation for unfiltered honesty, sharp instincts and a talent for turning even the most mundane scene into something the internet will discuss for years. Season 17 premiered Sunday, April 5 at 8/7c on Bravo, with new episodes streaming the following day on Peacock. The new cast includes Drew Sidora, Pinky Cole, K. Michelle, Angela Oakley, Shamea Morton and Kelli Ferrell. Williams told Us Weekly that viewers can expect…