Honestly, compiling the biggest losers for Engadget is more fun than talking about the winners. While we didn’t review anything as atrocious as those ill-fated AI assistant gadgets of 2024, AI companies and services took over both the winner’s and loser’s stages.
You, the American consumer, may be the loser. (Sorry.) In the US, anyone wanting a drone will have to find something that’s not made by DJI. The company has been in the crosshairs of regulators since 2017 over concerns that its products could lead to China spying on sensitive US infrastructure.
The problem is that DJI’s market share is so high (over 75 percent) that its absence would effectively devastate the industry. Oh, and its drones are consistently the best, too. The US government has not yet attempted to work with DJI to assess whether its products pose a risk. DJI recently filed a final petition for safety review by sending letters to five US agencies that can evaluate its products. If that fails, U.S. drone options will be massively diminished.
In the same 12 months this year, EV sales worldwide have increased by nearly 25 percent. Germany set a record in the first half of 2025, with almost one in five new registrations being of electric cars. In China, EV sales are growing so fast (over 50 percent market share) that the country is flooding the global market with gas-powered cars it can’t sell at home. However – remember this is about the losers – in the US, the Trump administration eliminated EV tax credits. And shock! EV sales in the US declined, with some automakers like Ford seeing sales decline as much as 60 percent year-over-year.
As Sam Rutherford says, this policy change puts more obstacles in the way of making affordable battery-powered cars (his unintentional words, not mine). It also hurts EV investment and could mean U.S. automakers fall even further behind their rivals elsewhere.
We also point and shake our heads at Xbox, Grok, and TV streaming. See it all right here.
– Matt Smith
This morning’s other big stories (and deals).
News, Trailers and Award Winners. Most of which are claire obscura.
treatment
If you missed The Game Awards 2025, you missed Sandfall Interactive’s historic sweep Claire Obscure: Campaign 33The Belle Époque saga, which was expected to win in several categories, also won Game of the Year and ultimately won more titles than any other title in the show’s 12-year history,
Naturally, there were also trailers and game reveals, which were pleasantly notable. we got to see for the first time Control sequel, resonant, Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic Coming under the leadership of Mass Effect veterans, Larian Studios returns to the Divinity series following the success of baldur’s gate 3Heck, if you want a good chance of winning at The Game Awards, hire Jennifer English to voice one of your main characters – she was in both bg3 And Claire vague.
continue reading.
Slop Wars, Toy Sloppy and more!
Disney announced a three-year licensing agreement with OpenAI to bring more than 200 of its characters, including Star Wars and Pixar, to the Sora app and ChatGPIT. With the agreement, OpenAI users will be able to inspire ChatGPT to generate images covering costumes, props, vehicles and environments that utilize Disney’s intellectual property. Additionally, Disney will invest $1 billion in OpenAI, with an option to purchase additional equity in the future.
continue reading.
Learn about tennis from Serena Williams or music from John Legend.
If you’re struggling to find a good gift for the holidays, MasterClass has discounted its memberships by up to 40 percent. I secured a similar deal for myself and was pleasantly surprised by the solid interface and number of courses. I also forgot to update my subscription, oops. Maybe this offer will get me back on board.
continue reading.
It’s already misrepresenting its own show.
Amazon’s plan to offer AI-generated recaps of Prime Video shows isn’t off to a good start. Recap of the first season of Company Controversy There are many errors. First, the AI-generated recap incorrectly identifies the era of the show’s Los Angeles-set flashbacks as the 1950s — they’re actually 2077. Perhaps more critically for the recap, it misunderstands the end of the first season, which sets up a season two partnership between vault resident Lucy and The Ghoul.
continue reading.
<a href