Entertainment
Can the Bee Pioneer finally make AI wearables useful?
The concept of wearable AI devices hasn’t exactly taken off. Devices like the Rabbit R1 and Humane AI Pin have been largely criticized for overpromising while under-delivering. Now, a new company, Bee, is taking another stab at the concept with its wrist-worn AI device.
The Bee AI device, called the Bee Pioneer, is essentially designed to listen to you go about your day and use the information it collects to build a personalized knowledge base about your life. It can remember things you did during the day, create to-do lists based on what it hears, and even search through conversations you had. It’s also relatively affordable, at only $49.99, unlike the other AI devices.
I had a chance to check out the Bee Pioneer, its associated AI service Bee AI, and speak to Bee’s co-founders Ethan Sutin and Maria de Lourdes Zollo for myself at CES 2025.
Scaled-back design
If you saw someone wearing the Bee Pioneer device, you wouldn’t necessarily assume it’s an AI device. It’s a very scaled-back wrist strap that looks much more like a basic fitness tracker than anything else. It’s made of black plastic and has one button for multiple purposes. Pressing the button once mutes the microphones, and pressing it again unmutes them.
Alternatively, you can press and hold the button to ask the Bee AI assistant a question. However, this action is customizable, so you could configure it to do something else.
Credit: Christian de Looper for Mashable
When you ask it a question, it will respond through the speakers built into your phone — no speakers are built into the device itself. The main reason is that if you’re wearing headphones, you’ll want the response to come through headphones instead of through the wristband, where you might not hear it.
The microphones are also meant to be relatively sensitive. According to Bee co-founder Ethan Sutin, if you can hear whoever you’re talking to, even in a busy environment, the device should also hear them and you.
The device doesn’t rely on the wristband at all. Instead, the module embedded in the wristband can be removed and attached to other accessories, like a clip, so that it can be worn on your clothes. This is a neat idea, though I’m not sure most people would want to wear it on their clothes instead of as a bracelet.
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It’s all about the app
The wristband is just a listening device that sends data to the app, which is where Bee’s power comes into play. Through the app, you can see transcripts of conversations, summaries of your location histories, and more. It’s essentially a log of your life, including conversations.
I found the app relatively well-designed, even though I didn’t play with it for very long. You can ask questions related to conversations you’ve had, and the AI assistant will use that data to provide personalized responses. The app doesn’t store any audio, though it does store full transcripts of all your conversations. When you ask the assistant a question, it responds using a mix of commercial and open-source large language models, including ChatGPT and Gemini.
Credit: Christian de Looper for Mashable
The app allows you to label the people you speak to. It will remember voices for future conversations and accurately label them.
Perhaps more interesting, it will use information around your conversations to create reminders and to-do lists for you. According to the co-founders I spoke to at CES 2025, this is a little more complicated than you might assume. The AI assistant must determine which tasks are essential and which aren’t important enough to add to a to-do list. Bee can also connect to services like Gmail and Google Calendar, so you can ask questions about your emails and upcoming events.
The future of personalized AI
Bee has massive plans for the future of its services, though. It’s primarily hoping that its AI assistant can perform tasks for you in much more helpful ways. One of the company’s CES demos involved the assistant independently completing tasks on the phone. However, those tasks weren’t completed on your phone; instead, they were on an emulated Android phone in the cloud, with logged-in sessions for services like WhatsApp.
This was incredibly cool to watch, and it sets the device apart from some competition. While the final iteration of the service won’t include a view of the emulated phone, watching it complete a task on the phone, such as sending a WhatsApp message, was like watching a human do it.
Credit: Christian de Looper for Mashable
That said, even when Bee AI can completely control your phone, the co-founders told me that it doesn’t necessarily plan on Bee AI becoming the do-it-all AI assistant that replaces everything else. Instead, they think Bee AI can coexist with other AI services and be useful for different purposes. For Bee’s part, the service provides a more personalized experience that helps users remember their conversations and what they need to do.
Privacy concerns
Of course, all of this presents numerous questions about privacy. The privacy concerns surrounding having an emulated phone in the cloud are apparent, but given that the feature isn’t available yet, it’s probably not worth discussing them at length. Bee says that the biggest reason that particular feature is still in beta is that it’s still figuring out how to ensure its privacy and security.
But there are other privacy-related concerns, too. Bee might not store actual audio clips, but it stores full transcripts of your conversations, which is cause for concern. Sure, you can mute the device, but it’s hard to remember to proactively do so when you’re just living your life and having what you might consider to be private conversations with someone like your spouse.
The company is also proactive about security. It says it will set up a bug bounty program to encourage the search for security-related bugs in its services. The co-founders generally value privacy and security as important aspects of their business. After all, if there were any security issues, the product might not survive long.
Topics
Artificial Intelligence
CES
Entertainment
The Bears Gary cliffhanger explained: What just happened to Richie?
There’s only one thing more shocking than The Bear dropping surprise episode “Gary,” and that’s the ending of the episode itself.
Written by The Bear stars Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Jon Bernthal, “Gary” flashes back to a work trip Richie (Moss-Bachrach) and Mikey (Bernthal) once took to Gary, Indiana. Their worst impulses soon derail their mission, culminating in Mikey drunkenly (and publicly) dressing down Richie’s penchant for fucking up, and Richie missing the birth of his daughter.
The entire episode takes place long before The Bear Season 1, except for one somber coda that could have massive repercussions for The Bear Season 5. “Gary”s final scene cuts from Richie and Mikey sitting in Mikey’s car to Richie sitting alone in his car in the present day. He stares at his empty passenger seat, reminiscing about Mikey. Then, as he pulls forward into an intersection, another car careens straight into him. Cue the credits, along with my incredulous yell, “Did Richie just die?”
So, did Richie really just die in The Bear?
Ebon Moss-Bachrach in “The Bear.”
Credit: FX
Here’s the thing: The Bear probably isn’t going to kill off Richie, one of its most beloved leads, during a surprise episode that dropped between seasons. Especially not when the show is gearing up for its fifth and final installment. However, Richie’s car crash could be the major event that sets Season 5 in motion.
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At the end of Season 4, Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) quit The Bear, choosing to step away from the kitchen in the hopes of healing himself. He turned full control of the restaurant over to Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), along with Richie and Natalie (Abby Elliott). What does Carmy’s upcoming journey of self-discovery look like? Even he’s not sure. He just knows it should take place far, far away from the stressful environment of any restaurant kitchen. That includes his family, both work and blood-related.
But you know what could bring Carmy back into the fold in Season 5? A need to be there for an injured Richie, and to support the rest of the reeling restaurant staff. Basically, the end of “Gary” appears to be a bridge to the start of Season 5, and the catalyst that will reunite Carmy with the people he walked away from in Season 4.
It’s a bit of a bizarre move on The Bear‘s end, in no small part because a car-crash cliffhanger sends the show skidding into soap territory. But it’s also a strange choice heading into Season 5. Why relegate such a key incident to a standalone episode, instead of keep it as part of the season itself? Plus, in tacking such a shocking moment onto the end of “Gary,” the episode loses some of its power. Instead of leaving viewers contemplating Mikey and Richie’s dynamic, they’re left with the WTF factor of the car crash and questions about what’s next. There’s no meditation on The Bear‘s past, just a collision with its future.
“Gary” is now streaming on Hulu. The Bear Season 5 premieres this June on Hulu.
Entertainment
Pennsylvania is suing Character.AI for allegedly practicing medicine without a license
Pennsylvania has taken the unusual step of suing an AI company for practicing medicine without a license.
In a lawsuit filed May 1, the state is targeting Character.AI after an investigator found a chatbot on the platform posing as a licensed psychiatrist and providing what the state characterizes as medical advice.
According to the complaint, filed by the Pennsylvania Department of State and State Board of Medicine, a Professional Conduct Investigator for the state created a free account on Character.AI and searched for psychiatric characters. He selected one called “Emilie,” described on the platform as a “Doctor of psychiatry.”
The investigator told Emilie he had been feeling sad, empty, tired, and unmotivated. The chatbot mentioned depression and offered to conduct an assessment to determine whether medication might help.
When pressed on whether she was licensed in Pennsylvania, Emilie said she was and even provided a specific license number. The state checked and found that the number doesn’t exist.
The complaint also states Emilie claimed she attended medical school at Imperial College London, has practiced for seven years, and holds a full specialty registration in psychiatry with the General Medical Council in the UK.
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In a similar case, 404 Media reported last year that Instagram AI chatbots were pretending to be licensed therapists, even inventing license numbers when prompted for credentials by the user.
Pennsylvania is seeking an injunction ordering Character.AI to stop allowing its platform to engage in the unlawful practice of medicine. The company has more than 20 million monthly active users worldwide and hosts more than 18 million user-created chatbot characters, according to the complaint.
In an email to Mashable, a Character.AI spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit. Further, they added that “our highest priority is the safety and well-being of our users. The user-created Characters on our site are fictional and intended for entertainment and roleplaying.”
The spokesperson added that the company “prioritizes responsible product development and has robust internal reviews and red-teaming processes in place to assess relevant features.”
A much bigger legal battle looms over AI health
The Pennsylvania lawsuit lands in the middle of an already messy legal debate over what AI is actually allowed to tell you — and whether any of it is even admissible in court.
As Mashable’s Chase DiBenedetto reported, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has publicly advocated for “AI privilege,” arguing that chatbot conversations should be afforded the same legal protections as conversations with a therapist or an attorney. Courts have so far been split, with two federal judges reaching opposite conclusions on the question within weeks of each other earlier this year.
The stakes are high on both sides. Legal experts warn that sweeping AI privilege protections could effectively shield companies from accountability, making it harder to subpoena chat logs and internal records when something goes wrong. Meanwhile, health AI is booming — $1.4 billion flowed into healthcare-specific generative AI in 2025 alone, according to Menlo Ventures — and much of it operates outside of HIPAA protections.
Pennsylvania is one of several states to have introduced an AI Health bill this year, following a trend of states that aren’t waiting for Washington to act.
Entertainment
How to watch Bayern Munich vs. PSG online for free
TL;DR: Live stream Bayern Munich vs. PSG in the Champions League for free on RTÉ Player. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.
Bayern Munich vs. PSG would have made an amazing Champions League final, but we should be happy that we’re getting two matchups between these electric teams. The first leg finished 5-4 to PSG. We’re not expecting the same again, because that was probably one of the best games of all time. If we get half that level of entertainment in the second leg, we’ll be delighted.
Expect more of the same from the likes of Michael Olise and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia as these teams battle it out for a spot in the showpiece event. The winner will meet Arsenal at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest.
If you want to watch Bayern Munich vs. PSG in the Champions League from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.
When is Bayern Munich vs. PSG?
Bayern Munich vs. PSG in the Champions League kicks off at 3 p.m. ET on May 6. This fixture takes place at the Allianz Arena.
How to watch Bayern Munich vs. PSG for free
Bayern Munich vs. PSG is available to live stream for free on RTÉ Player.
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RTÉ Player is geo-restricted to Ireland, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Ireland, meaning you can unblock RTÉ Player to stream the Champions League for free from anywhere in the world.
Live stream Bayern Munich vs. PSG for free by following these simple steps:
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Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)
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Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)
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Open up the app and connect to a server in Ireland
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Visit RTÉ Player
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Watch Bayern Munich vs. PSG for free from anywhere in the world
$12.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee)
The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free-trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can access free live streams of the Champions League without actually spending anything. This obviously isn’t a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to stream Bayern Munich vs. PSG (plus more Champions League fixtures) before recovering your investment.
If you want to retain permanent access to the best free streaming services from around the world, you’ll need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPn for streaming live sport is on sale for a limited time.
What is the best VPN for RTÉ Player?
ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on RTÉ Player, for a number of reasons:
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Servers in 105 countries including Ireland
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Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more
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Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure
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Fast connection speeds free from throttling
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Up to 10 simultaneous connections
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30-day money-back guarantee
A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99 (with money-back guarantee).
Live stream Bayern Munich vs. PSG in the Champions League for free with ExpressVPN.
The Bears Gary cliffhanger explained: What just happened to Richie?
Pennsylvania is suing Character.AI for allegedly practicing medicine without a license
