Entertainment
Google invented new ways to alter movies with AI for The Sphere. Its sure to be controversial.
This summer, The Sphere in Las Vegas is going to debut a new experience: The Wizard of Oz at Sphere. And it’s doing so with the help of Google and AI.
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“The power of generative AI, combined with Google’s infrastructure and expertise, is helping us to achieve something extraordinary,” said Sphere Entertainment Executive Chairman and CEO Jim Dolan in a statement provided to Mashable. “We needed a partner who could push boundaries alongside our teams at Sphere Studios and Magnopus, and Google was the only company equipped to meet the challenge on the world’s highest resolution LED screen.”
Regardless of whether you’ve been to Vegas, you’re likely familiar with The Sphere. It’s constantly going viral with its 580,000 square feet of LED displays wrapped around the venue. The inside of the one-of-a-kind venue, which seats nearly 17,600 people, also features wrap-around LED screens with an eye-popping 16K resolution.
The Sphere has previously shown films made specifically for the venue. However, this year, it will show an existing movie for the first time, the classic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. As the Wall Street Journal reports, doing so isn’t such a simple task; it’s actually quite the process.
“Very, very, very big and very, very difficult,” the Wall Street Journal reported Google’s director for AI foundation research Steven Hickson as saying. “There are scenes where the scarecrow’s nose is like 10 pixels.”
Why is that a problem? The Sphere’s indoor display has more than 170 million pixels.
To reformat The Wizard of Oz for the world’s biggest screen, The Sphere brought in the Google Deepmind team to help create an all-new experience with AI.
Generative AI remains controversial among cinephiles
The obvious use of AI here is to upscale the picture, which Google did. AI upscaling enhances an image’s resolution by not just resizing the image to make it larger, but also by filling in any missing details from the original image. This helps with the resolution issue. While AI upscaling is probably the least controversial use of artificial intelligence in art or filmmaking, it can also produce some disastrous results. Take, for example, this AI upscaling screenshot taken from an episode of I Love Lucy on Blu-Ray (click the image below to see what we mean).
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With Google’s AI team working on this big project, alongside input from The Wizard of Oz rights-holder Warner Bros. Discovery, it’s unlikely that we will see any AI upscaling issues like this. However, the Wall Street Journal report also includes a small before-and-after sample of Google’s AI work on The Wizard of Oz for The Sphere, and minor glitches such as AI artifacts can be clearly seen.
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However, the Sphere experience also takes things much further than video upscaling.
As the Journal reports, Google used generative AI models from its Gemini family, including Veo 2 and Imagen 3, to reimagine entire shots with extended backgrounds and to include characters missing from view. That means audiences will see beyond what the cameras originally caught in frame. Google’s AI technology will generate these extensions based on what it believes could be there, taking into account the entirety of the full-length film.
Again, this goes beyond enhancing an image to show an artist’s work on a larger screen. Filmmakers shoot and frame shots in specific ways for artistic purposes, and generative AI could compromise the original vision.
Earlier this month, a similar generative AI recreation went viral on social media for all the wrong reasons. A user on X uploaded a video of AI recreations of shots from filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky. For example, in one scene, generative AI recreated a still shot so that the camera moved 360 degrees around the actor. The post received over 4,000 likes.
However, another X user criticized the use of AI to recreate Tarkovsky’s vision.
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“If the camera was supposed to move, then Tarkovsky would have had the camera move,” said user The Kino Corner.
The critique received more than 305,000 likes.
Generative AI is still a very controversial subject in the film industry and the art community as a whole. Mashable has previously reported on the backlash against the use of AI in movies like The Brutalist and Late Night with the Devil.
However, it does seem like The Wizard of Oz at Sphere is unlikely to cause too much controversy, as it’s being created for a very specific event that can only be experienced at one venue in Las Vegas.
With that said, the success of The Wizard of Oz at Sphere could help mainstream the use of AI in filmmaking and lead to wider adoption in the industry. Expect there to be a lot of eyes on Oz at The Sphere, even if they aren’t physically there to experience it.
The Wizard of Oz at Sphere opens on August 28, 2025.
Entertainment
Best Mothers Day gifts: Show mom some love
Mother figures are the backbone of the world. Yours may be your biological mother, or maybe she’s your mother-in-law, your best friend’s mom, or simply someone whose motherly instinct has helped you through hard times.
Moms teach you the adulting necessities, give advice even if the problem is your fault, and above all, they put up with your shit and (almost) never complain.
The game plan here isn’t just to snag the last bouquet at CVS just so you’re not the kid who forgot Mother’s Day (but definitely also get flowers). And you don’t even need to spend a lot of money. (Peep our list of Mother’s Day gifts that cost less than $50. Want even more cheap gift ideas?
Skip the generic mugs and show your appreciation with a gift picked just for her: Whether it’s something to make a part of her life easier, something she’s mentioned wanting in passing, or simply something to make her feel like a damn queen, you can’t put a price on everything she’s done for you, but heartfelt gifts certainly help.
After all, they say “No matter how hard you try, you always end up like your mother.” But is that even a bad thing?
Entertainment
Ban subscriptions and get Microsoft Office 2024 for life for just £121
TL;DR: Grab Microsoft Office 2024 Home and Business for PC or Mac for just £120.54 through June 1.
You wouldn’t keep paying for Netflix if you could own your favorite shows, right? So why are you still subscribing to Office apps you use every day? Microsoft 365’s price keeps going up, but there’s finally a way to break free — and it’ll cost you way less in the long run.
Microsoft Office 2024 is the answer you’ve been looking for. Instead of monthly payments, simply pay £120.54 once and be set for life (reg. £188.37). It’s that simple. And, yes, this lifetime download works for PC or Mac.
What’s included?
This license comes with:
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Word
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Excel
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PowerPoint
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Outlook
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OneNote
The newest version of Microsoft Office is a little different from Microsoft 365. But just because you’re switching to a lifetime license doesn’t mean you’ll miss out on some of the most recent updates. Word and Excel both still have AI integrations for text suggestions and smart data analysis, and PowerPoint still has improved tools for recorded presentations.
Once you’ve redeemed your purchase, you can install your apps on one computer. After that, they’re yours to use however you want. No more subscription fees or sudden price hikes to worry about.
Why rent when you can own?
Mashable Deals
Get a Microsoft Office lifetime license on sale for £120.54 with no coupon needed.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
Entertainment
Wordle today: Answer, hints for May 9, 2025
Oh hey there! If you’re here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we’re serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today’s answer.
If you just want to be told today’s word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today’s Wordle solution revealed. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
Where did Wordle come from?
Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once.
Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.
What’s the best Wordle starting word?
The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.
What happened to the Wordle archive?
The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website’s creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.
Is Wordle getting harder?
It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn’t any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle‘s Hard Mode if you’re after more of a challenge, though.
Here’s a subtle hint for today’s Wordle answer:
Gibberish.
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Does today’s Wordle answer have a double letter?
There are no recurring letters.
Today’s Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with…
Today’s Wordle starts with the letter T.
The Wordle answer today is…
Get your last guesses in now, because it’s your final chance to solve today’s Wordle before we reveal the solution.
Drumroll please!
The solution to today’s Wordle is…
TRIPE.
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.
Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Wordle.
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Best Mothers Day gifts: Show mom some love
