• OpenAI is testing watermarks on ChatGPT 4o's image generation
• Found in the latest Android app beta, watermarks could affect free users
• Paid ChatGPT subscribers are likely to not see watermarking on images

ChatGPT 4o's image-generation capabilities have been the talk of the town over the last week or so, but it looks like free users might get hit with a downgrade very soon.

OpenAI is currently testing watermarks in a new version of the ChatGPT Android app and it looks like free users are going to be the ones to suffer.

Shared by @btibor91 on X, code in version 1.2025.0912509108 beta references "image-gen-watermark-for-free", hinting at upcoming watermarking presumably for users on the ChatGPT free plan.

This watermark implementation comes off the back of ChatGPT server overload following the release of 4o's impressive image-generation capabilities and the viral use of the platform to create Studio Ghibli-esque imagery.

Up until this point, the Studio Ghibli-style images have had no watermarking, causing huge concern among creatives as the ethics of AI image generation has once again been called into question.

Now it looks like you'll need to pay for ChatGPT Plus, which costs $20 / roughly £16 a month, in order to get full access to 4o's image-generation tool without watermarks and without a minuscule 3-a-day limit.

ChatGPT updates- Student Plus referral program now also available for Colombian students (Universidad Nacional de Colombia)- new mentions of "shared posts" in addition to shared conversation, canvas and deep research in the web app- the new ImageGen watermark is mentioned… pic.twitter.com/j4sYfWJXLBApril 5, 2025

Not confirmed, but likely

(Image credit: Future / ChatGPT)

While it's possible that OpenAI is just testing watermark capabilities in the beta release of the ChatGPT Android app, this implementation is likely to occur sooner rather than later.

There has been significant backlash following the viral trend of anime images that resemble Studio Ghibli, and this looks to be the first step in addressing those copyright concerns.

While ChatGPT Plus is already a compelling value proposition for those who use AI frequently, including a watermark on images generated by free users could see an increase in paid subscriptions.

That said, we don't know what these watermarks look like as of yet, and depending on how large they are it could be a positive step in regulating AI-generated images on social media.

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• Microsoft is deploying the monthly patch for Windows 11 24H2 today
• It’ll arrive with useful fixes, including the cure for a weird File Explorer bug
• A couple of problems with wake-from-sleep functionality have also been resolved, but Microsoft has taken some time to implement these fixes

Microsoft pushes out its monthly round of updates later today (likely imminently), and the patch for Windows 11 version 24H2 is set to come with some important fixes.

As Windows Latest reports, the cumulative update for April delivers the resolution of an annoying File Explorer bug, and more besides.

As a quick reminder, File Explorer is the app in Windows that powers the very folders and files you work with on the desktop likely on a daily basis. The bug means that when users click the three-dot icon in the top menu bar (to access extra options), the flyout menu extends upwards rather than down.

What this means is that if the File Explorer window in question is near the top of the screen, the menu actually goes off the top of the desktop, so you can’t click on some of those extra options, as they’re not visible.

Windows Latest further outlines some other fixes Microsoft is providing with the April update, and that includes the cure for a problem where a Windows 11 24H2 device would wake from sleep and immediately crash with a Blue Screen of Death. (Perhaps soon to become a Black Screen of Death).

Another issue with coming out of sleep mode, where a 2-in-1 laptop would change its screen orientation to portrait mode randomly, has also been remedied – likely a driver-related issue with the orientation sensors.

(Image credit: Future) Analysis: Fixing the holes

These are some useful fixes, then, and Microsoft will possibly deliver more with the April update for Windows 11 24H2, too. We shall have to see the full patch notes when the update actually lands.

The File Explorer issue may not have been a huge problem, as it was easy enough to work around. By this, I mean if a File Explorer window had a menu flying off the top of the screen, you could simply drag that window down lower on the desktop to see the full contents of the three-dot menu.

Still, that’s clunky, and not something you should have to do at all. What’s odd is the rather baffling nature of this bug – how did this go wrong in the first place? – and the time Microsoft took to fix it. This gremlin has been present in Windows 11 since November 2024, in fact.

On top of that, Windows Latest notes that Microsoft is currently deploying bug fixes (or at least some of them, including this one) as a controlled rollout. In other words, not every Windows 11 user will get this to begin with, and you may have to wait. Officially, this cure became available with the preview update of this imminent patch – released late in March – and the bug fix was only provided to a limited number of folks with that rollout.

Hopefully, from today, every Windows 11 user will see this problem - and the other aforementioned bugbears - ironed out in swift fashion.

Speaking of ironing, there’s still work to be done smoothing out further wrinkles with Windows 11 24H2 – some of which have been very weird affairs indeed – but hopefully Microsoft will start to get fully on top of all the issues for the latest incarnation of its desktop OS as we come towards the middle of 2025.

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With inauguration donations and Mar-a-Lago visits, leaders of the biggest tech companies sought favor with the president in an attempt to steer regulation and tariffs, to little avail.

• Google’s AI Mode now lets users upload images and photos to go with text queries
• The feature combines Google Gemini and Lens
• AI Mode can understand entire scenes, not just objects

Google is adding a new dimension to its experimental AI Mode by connecting Google Lens's visual abilities with Gemini.

AI Mode is a part of Google Search that can break down complex topics, compare options, and suggest follow-ups. Now, that search includes uploaded images and photos taken on your smartphone.

The result is a way to search through images the way you would text but with much more complex and detailed answers than just putting a picture into reverse image search.

You can literally snap a photo of a weird-looking kitchen tool and ask, “What is this, and how do I use it?” and get a helpful answer, complete with shopping links and YouTube demos.

AI Eyes

If you take a picture of a bookshelf, a plate of food, or the chaotic interior of your junk drawer, the AI won’t just recognize individual objects; it will also explain their relationship to each other.

You might get a suggestion of other dishes you can make with the same ingredients, whether your old phone charger is in the drawer or what order you should read those books on the shelf. You can see how it works above.

Essenitally, the feature fires off multiple related questions in the background about the entire scene and each individual object. So when you upload a picture of your living room and ask how to redecorate it, you’re not just getting one generic answer. You’re getting a group of responses from mini AI agents asking about everything in the room.

Google isn't unique in this pursuit. ChatGPT includes image recognition, for instance. However, Google’s advantage is decades of search data, visual indexing, and other data storage and organization.

If you're a Google One AI Premium subscriber or are approved to test it through Search Labs, you can test out the feature on the Google mobile app.

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The Silicon Valley giant had ordered employees to stay silent on the landmark case before reaching a settlement with a workers’ union over the issue.

• Midjourney has released a new AI model for producing images, Midjourney V7
• The model features improved image quality, prompt understanding, and personalization
• The new Draft Mode generates lower-quality images far faster and cheaper to allow testing

Midjourney has a new model to show off to fans of the AI image generator. Midjourney V7 is the company's first new AI image model in nearly a year, and it comes with some significant upgrades and additional features.

The company claims the new model is much smarter at turning your words into the images you envision, with higher-quality results that evade many of the telltale signs of artificial origins. The new model is also very focused on adapting to your personal taste.

So much so that you can't even use it before you first-rate about 200 images to teach the model your aesthetic unless, of course, you've already done so.

We're now beginning the alpha-test phase of our new V7 image Model. It's our smartest, most beautiful, most coherent model yet. Give it a shot and expect updates every week or two for the next two months. pic.twitter.com/Ogqt0fgiY7April 4, 2025

Once you've navigated through your own uncanny valley, the images Midjourney V7 serves up should appeal to you without as much massaging of your prompts.

This is the first Midjourney model to have this feature on by default, as well.

"[Midjourney V7 is] much smarter with text prompts, image prompts look fantastic, image quality is noticeably higher with beautiful textures, and bodies, hands and objects of all kinds have significantly better coherence on all details," Midjourney founder David Holz wrote on Discord. "We think personalization raises the bar for how well we can interpret what you want and what you find beautiful."

Draft the future

The new Draft Mode is Midjourney’s version of rough sketches on a napkin. The feature promises results fast, cheap, and just good enough to get your idea down without burning through your credits.

It works like this: You type a prompt, and Midjourney will have an image for you in seconds. The image might be a bit lower-res or slightly less polished, but you can enhance it later with one click. It’s AI for impatient people.

Notably, Draft Mode positions Midjourney as a viable tool for professionals who need speed and the option to iterate on their ideas. This kind of flexibility could make Midjourney appealing well beyond its Discord silo.

V7’s boost in prompt understanding, improved anatomy, and Draft Mode all suggest that Midjourney plans to increase its efforts to compete with other AI image generators as well.

It won't be as fast as Draft Mode image creation, though. OpenAI’s DALL·E has deep integrations with ChatGPT and Microsoft tools, as Google's Gemini does with its ecosystem.

Even so, Midjourney has always had a certain cult appeal that could mesh with its speedier model to entice many more users. If Midjourney can keep improving its speed, clarity, and output quality while keeping its signature flair, it might go mainstream without losing its indie cred.

The new model has two main versions: Turbo and Relax. Turbo costs more but delivers results much faster. Relax mode, meanwhile, takes its time but is cheaper.

Some features haven’t made the jump to V7 just yet. There’s no upscaling, inpainting, or retexturing. Holz says those will return soon, maybe within a couple of months.

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Manus, the much-hyped Chinese AI, seen by some as the ‘next DeepSeek’ has opened up public access, giving you 1,000 credits to try it out for free.

Manus is the latest Chinese AI, capable of deep research and agentic usage, so it can perform whatever tasks you set while you’re free to go off and do something else. Initial users reported problems with signing up, and for most people access had been restricted.

I’d been on the waitlist since Manus was announced, and got access last Friday, but it also looks like public access is now available to anybody who downloads the iOS or Android app or signs up at its website.

Many people have described Manus as the best experience of AI they’ve had so far, and I can see why - the reports it produces are incredibly detailed and feel like they’re well-researched.

Not enough credits

Manus is not offering anything particularly new that you can’t get ChatGPT to do, but it does feel like its research is really thorough, and the range of things it can do is impressive, from making games out of current news scenarios to data analysis and education applications.

The bad news is that 1,000 credits don’t last very long, and you’ll need to sign up for a paid-for account if you want more credits.

By the time I’d got Manus to answer two queries I’d used up about 500 credits. The first question I asked (“What does the future look like for Tesla?”) was far from trivial and required a lot of research, but to its credit, Manus did all the necessary research, telling me what it was doing at every step, and produced four different reports for me.

Since DeepSeek was noted for refusing to answer questions relating to events that the Chinese government is sensitive about, I took advantage of the free access to Manus to ask it to compile a report into what happened in the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.

DeepSeek simply refuses to acknowledge the protests, but Manus appears to have no censorship issues at all. It produced a full report into the protests from several different sources who disagree with the official verdict on things like the death toll, including the Red Cross.

(Image credit: Shutterstock/ DIA TV) Paid-for options

So, it looks like you can get about four queries out of Manus for free with your 1,000 credits, until you have to sign up for a paid plan to use it any further.

Manus Starter costs $39 a month (about £30 / AU$65) and gives you 3,900 credits, the ability to run two tasks concurrently, while Manus Pro costs $199 a month (about £156 / AU$334) and gives you 19,000 credits a month and the ability to run five tasks simultaneously.

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• Apple has released its iOS 18.4 software update, which includes 8 new emojis
• The new emojis come at the same time as iOS 18.4's Ambient Music feature and new Photos tool
• Since being released, users have taken to the new additions well, especially Apple's new smiley emoji

It’s been a week since Apple released its latest iOS 18.4 update, and despite its rather rocky rollout of Apple Intelligence, the new software update packs some redeeming features - one of them being the addition of eight new emojis.

Apple’s library of emojis is extensive to say the very least, offering small visual elements that iPhone users including myself rely on to bring a text message or group chat to life.

Although the company has introduced only eight new ones, each is unique, and there’s one in particular that’s far too relatable. It’s easily the best one of the bunch.

Yes, new emojis are the most basic feature iOS 18.4 introduces – it also brings a new Photos tool and Ambient Music feature – but that doesn’t mean we’re not allowed to be excited about them.

I’ve had a real hard look at the eight new additions to Apple’s range of emojis and already I know which ones I’ll be using the most, and the ones I could do without - here’s my verdict.

8. Root vegetable

(Image credit: Unicode / Emojipedia)

Is it a turnip? Is it a radish? I don’t know. But what I do know is that this is the emoji I will be using the least. There are enough food emojis out there already, so what impact is this one having?

7. Bare tree

(Image credit: Unicode / Emojipedia)

I use Apple's nature emojis quite often, especially when captioning a photo with a picturesque natural landscape or quirky plant. The new bare tree emoji just looks a little sad, though.

The only instance where I would maybe use this is during autumn or even Halloween, but it’s not one I’m itching to use right now.

6. Spade/ shovel

(Image credit: Unicode / Emojipedia)

Let’s call a spade a spade. This one is on the more boring side of Apple’s iOS 18.4 emojis. If you have a particular attachment to spades or shovels, then perhaps you’ll find yourself visiting this emoji over and over. For me, not so much.

5. Flag of Sark

(Image credit: Unicode / Emojipedia)

Like most flag emojis, you’d only use them in very specific contexts or if you’re expressing national pride (I use the Welsh flag emoji constantly). That aside, it’s a pretty neat-looking flag, and it's nice to see Apple bring more national flags to its library.

4. Splatter

(Image credit: Unicode / Emojipedia)

From its design, the purple splatter emoji is another one that I would’ve thought was always part of the emoji gallery. But alas, it’s shiny and new.

This is another one that looks good, but the only thing that lets it down is the lack of different color options, which would entice me to use it more.

Perhaps the next iOS update will fix this?

3. Fingerprint

(Image credit: Unicode / Emojipedia)

The fingerprint emoji is just cool to look at. Is it as exciting as the new smiley emoji? I wouldn’t say so, but design-wise, it still packs a punch and is a solid addition to the emoji library.

2. Harp

(Image credit: Unicode / Emojipedia)

It’s strange that a harp emoji is one of the new additions to iOS 18.4 because I would’ve assumed that this was always there. That shows how often I use musical instrument emojis.

Though this is a very specific emoji, it’s very summery. With all the summer photo dumps I have planned for the coming months, I could definitely see myself using this in an Instagram caption somewhere.

1. Undereye bags face

(Image credit: Unicode / Emojipedia)

Okay, so Apple does have a sense of humor after all. The new emoji face with undereye bags wins by a landslide, not because it’s particularly inventive or creative, but because it’s the most relatable.

Since iOS 18.4 was released, this emoji has received a lot of praise from Apple users for the reason above alone. This shows that relatability is everything when it comes to emojis, and there’s no doubt this one will be a hit with users.

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• Microsoft looks to be mulling a redesign for the Start menu
• We saw that last week, hidden in testing, and now we’ve caught a glimpse of what it looks like with the Phone Link side panel enabled
• This configuration of the Start menu takes up most of the desktop, but there’s a switch you can flick to change this

If you saw the major revamp that could be in the works for Windows 11’s Start menu – though note it’s still only hidden in testing – we’ve caught another look at it, this time with the Phone Link side panel active.

As a quick refresher, Phone Link is Microsoft’s app that hooks up your Android smartphone so you can use the device for various functions (texts, notifications, or even some apps) on the Windows 11 desktop. The mentioned side panel puts all the relevant details relating to your phone in a box, floating off to the right of the Start menu.

As you can see below, known leaker PhantomOfEarth on X has shown us what the Start menu redesign will look like with that side panel active (as highlighted by Windows Latest).

New Start menu, follow up: here's how Companions look, Phone Link one used for the demo. The companion panel is a bit wider, and you can now quickly hide/show companions with a button at the top, next to the search box. pic.twitter.com/hMS7E56KIuApril 4, 2025

The key point to remember here is that Microsoft’s proposed redesign makes the Start menu wider, which is part of a move to condense the layout from two separate sections to one, and accommodate this (all of this is in theory, of course).

Not only is the Start menu wider, as PhantomOfEarth makes clear, but the Phone Link panel is also a bit wider here, meaning that 75% (maybe even slightly more) of the desktop is obscured by this configuration of the Start menu. That’s pretty much the entire screen eaten up, in other words.

However, as PhantomOfEarth also points out in the above post (watch the video clip), there’s a button you can click to hide (or show) the companion panel. Meaning it only takes a click to retract this additional piece of the interface, and trim down the Start menu (although it’s still notably more expansive than it was before).

(Image credit: George Dolgikh / Shutterstock) Analysis: Windows 8 flashbacks aside, the overall direction Microsoft is heading in feels positive

Does this bother me at all? No, in a word. As noted, you don’t need to have the side panel for the Phone Link app active. And, of course, there are a good deal more folks who don’t use this Android smartphone hookup than the people who do use it – actually, I’d like to know what kind of percentage usage Phone Link has. I don’t have this app set up for now, but I’m mulling it over and will likely take the plunge in the future.

Still, for those who are in this scenario where the Start menu unfurls to cover most of the desktop, is that even a problem? Again, not for me. I guess the unfortunate aspect here is that it sort of feels like a full-screen Start menu in some ways, and that might give some users flashbacks to the days of Windows 8 (which had an actual full-screen Start menu – well, technically it was a Start screen, one that nobody really used or liked).

But again, you can just disable the Phone Link panel if the new layout bugs you that much. Besides, I must underline (strongly, in bold red pen) that this work on the Start menu redesign – which also comes with a huge, red tick, in the form of an option to turn off Microsoft’s recommendations – is not even in testing yet. It’s hidden in the background of preview builds, so nothing may happen with all these concepts. Or, if they are realized, Microsoft might implement them differently from what we see here.

All that said, the changes happening hidden away in the background do seem to be relatively polished – given their totally unofficial status – and this is one to keep an eye on.

Rest assured, though, that the idea very much appears to be to give Windows 11 users more control over what they see in their Start menu, including taming it from any excesses of expanding across the whole desktop in certain scenarios. And that has to get a big thumbs-up, surely?

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• Meta has released three new Llama 4 LLMs
• Download Llama 4 Scout and Maverick from llama.com or Hugging Face today
• You can try Llama 4 right now in WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram Direct

Meta has released what it’s calling a new “herd” of Llama 4 models. There are three flavors of the new Llama 4, called Scout, Maverick and Behemoth, and two are available right now for you to try in your Meta apps like Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp.

Llama 4 is the latest flagship version of Meta’s open source Llama AI, and the new release comes almost exactly a year after the release of Llama 3 in 2024.

Inspired by the training advancements made by DeepSeek, the new Llama 4 has been trained using the more efficient ‘mixture of experts’ methodology.

As the names suggest, Scout is the most lightweight model, with 109 billion parameters, while Maverick has 400 billion parameters. Both of these models are available right now for developers to download, and are also used in the popular Meta consumer apps.

Education-heavy

Llama 4 Behemoth is a teacher-focused model, which Meta claims out performs GPT-4.5, Claude, Sonnet 3.7 and Gemini 2.0 Pro on STEM-focused benchmarks such as MATH-500 and GPQA Diamond. Currently there is no access to Llama 4 Behemoth, as Meta says it is still "in training".

Meta's new models keep it at the forefront of competitive open source LLMs. While the benchmarks are impressive, the current consumer experience of using Meta AI still lags far behind using ChatGPT or Gemini.

For example, while both the two available Llama 4 AIs are multimodal, there is still no way to upload an image via meta.ai, or in one of the many Meta apps. You can ask Meta AI to look at the URL of an image and analyze what is sees, but direct upload isn’t supported.

Equally, Meta AI lacks other chatbot extras we’ve come to think of as standard these days, like AI search and deep reasoning, and its image generation capabilities lag behind the most recent ChatGPT update.

(Image credit: Meta/Apple) Copyright issues remain

The new Llama 4 models are accessible to developers, who can download the open source models to use at competitive token rates at llama.com and Hugging Face.

Alternatively the new Llama 4 LLMs are available right now to use at Meta.ai or in the Meta apps like Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram Direct.

It's worth noting that the new Llama 4 LLMs remain part of an ongoing copyright dispute between Meta and several famous authors after court documents alleged that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had approved the use of the LibGen data set, amongst other shadow libraries, in training its Llama LLM.

The Atlantic recently published a searchable database of titles contained in LibGen, enabling many authors to see if Meta could have been training its AI on their work without permission.

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• An AI-generated version of Quake II is available to try
• Created by Microsoft's Muse AI, the tech demo is playable in browser
• Quake II is one of the best video game shooters of all time

Have you ever played an AI-generated video game? If not, now's your chance, as Microsoft has created a playable AI version of Quake II using Copilot.

Quake II, one of the best shooters of all time, was released in 1997 and was developed by id Software, creators of Doom.

The AI-generated version of Quake is running on Microsoft's Muse AI model which can generate gameplay from prompts and is fully playable in a web browser.

While the gameplay is pretty laggy and not going to be anywhere near as good as playing Quake II on original hardware, it's insanely impressive to see AI's game development capabilities.

The game runs at 640 x 360 and I'd estimate the frame rate is at around 15fps. I did find that the frame rate fluctuated depending on each playthrough, and while one attempt was very laggy, another was almost passable.

I did notice, however, that enemies were incredibly blurry, causing the horror element of the game to largely lose its intended effect.

Microsoft is limiting the amount of time you can play Quake II via Muse AI, so don't expect to finish the whole game with this tech demo.

Play AI-generated Quake II in your web browser

(Image credit: Future)

To play Quake II in your web browser, simply head to the Copilot Gaming Experience website.

From there, you'll need to confirm you're over the age of 18, and then Quake II will load. I've tested the game in Firefox and Chrome and found the results to be of a similar nature.

Controller input is shown to the left of the game, and when you reach your allotted time limit for gameplay, you can simply start a new game.

While I don't think anyone is going to get a great gaming experience out of this tech demo, it's so cool and nostalgic that it's worth testing out.

This isn't the first time we've seen AI recreate iconic video games. Last year, Google's AI gaming engine, GameNGen, recreated DOOM in real time.

I wonder what's next for AI game development. Maybe we'll see the recreation of Pokemon Red or Blue next, although I doubt Nintendo would be happy about that...

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