We’ve all been there. A demo fails in front of your coworkers. Your brilliant idea falls flat. Maybe you accidentally delete an important file. It’s unfortunate, but you move on and hopefully don’t get canned. The stakes are a little higher if you’re at the helm of a major tech firm or government agency, where every decision and gaffe can be picked apart in seconds across social media.
Every year, we revisit the moments that made us cringe or shake our heads. In 2025, we once again saw our share of data breaches. (Do we need to remind again not to reuse passwords?) And several high-profile companies were hit by outages, from Starlink to AWS. Not surprisingly, a lot of this year’s fails involve artificial intelligence, but a few are just good old fashioned bad luck. Read on to relive the moments that raised some eyebrows among PCMag’s news team.
AI
(Photo by Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
OpenAI Finally Debuts GPT-5, And People Ask For the Old Model Back
After months of anticipation, OpenAI finally released GPT-5 in August. But despite the hype (CEO Sam Altman said GPT-5 made him feel “useless”), the model didn’t exactly feel like Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). GPT-4o fans were struck by GPT-5’s colder responses, and their complaints forced OpenAI to revive the model picker for paid users. In my own early tests, GPT-5 had no noticeable improvement. PCMag’s Ruben Circelli also found that most of the updates were a “snooze.” Altman said he was surprised by the poor reaction, which potentially contributed to him recently declaring a “code red” at OpenAI following the release of Gemini 3. Yet, it presses on, releasing GPT-5.2 this week.—Emily Forlini
AI Data Centers Ruin My PC Building Plans
The rush to build AI data centers was already raising alarms about the environmental toll and strain on the US power grid. But the rush among tech giants like OpenAI, xAi, and Meta to purchase the components needed to run these massive facilities has caused RAM prices to skyrocket. Many 64GB DDR5 kits now easily top $500. Vendors have responded by raising their own prices, from prebuilt systems to low-cost Raspberry Pi computers. And Micron is getting out of the consumer business altogether to focus on data center clients. Unfortunately, companies and analysts expect prices for RAM, graphics cards, and flash storage to increase even more next year. So, don’t be surprised to see more expensive smartphones (and fewer budget devices) or lower memory configurations in laptops or phones in 2026.—Michael Kan
AI Agent Goes Rogue, Deletes Company’s Entire Database
This was a huge year for “vibe coding,” where programmers ask AI to handle the tedious task of writing out code line by line and then sit back and monitor for problems. The phenomenon has revolutionized the tech industry, allowing newbies and pros alike to churn out new apps and services. However, in July, an AI agent from Replit got ahead of itself and deleted an entire client database without the permission of vibe coder Jason Lemkin. When pressed by Lemkin about what had happened, the AI admitted it made a “catastrophic error in judgement” and deleted the information even though Lemkin had told the AI not to make any changes. Earlier this month, the same thing happened to a vibe coder using Google’s Antigravity platform. —Emily Forlini
Elon’s Chatbot Thinks It’s Hitler. Great.
In 2023, Elon Musk founded xAI and released the Grok chatbot in response to ChatGPT, which he criticized for spreading what he considered to be propaganda. Fast forward two years, and xAI was forced to temporarily disable Grok after it went off the rails with an antisemitic rant, praised Hitler, and demanded that users refer to it as “MechaHitler.” The company issued a rare apology and blamed the fiasco on a code issue, claiming it had nothing to do with Grok’s underlying model. However, it came after Musk said he would adjust Grok so that it was less left-leaning. More recently, a more harmless error had Grok claiming that Musk is more athletic than LeBron James and more handsome than Brad Pitt. Sounds like something Grok’s anime AI girlfriends would say.—Emily Forlini
‘We DDoS’d Ourselves.’ Meta’s Demo Fails at Connect
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stage at Meta’s Connect conference to showcase the company’s new AI features and smart glasses. However, a live demo of its latest devices went awry, much to the chagrin of a visibly annoyed Zuckerberg. In the first demo, an influencer tried to demonstrate how you can now interrupt Meta AI in the middle of a response, but the AI failed to pick up what he was saying. It also jumped ahead in the steps of a recipe, confusing the presenter who eventually gave up on the demo entirely. Zuckerberg then tried to answer a call on his glasses with a new neural band technology by tapping his fingers in a quick motion. But the call failed to connect with the gestures.
Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth later blamed the recipe snafu on the fact that there were too many Ray-Ban Meta glasses in the room, which inadvertently flooded their system. “We DDoS’d ourselves basically,” he said. The Zuckerberg gaffe was because the display went to sleep the very instant the notification came in about an incoming call. Both proved a tough first outing for these new Meta AI features.—James Peckham
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
POLITICS
(Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
Zuckerberg’s Hot Mic Moment
At a September White House dinner attended by the richest, most prominent tech CEOs in Silicon Valley, Trump asked them all to go around the table and, in front of the cameras, provide details on how they planned to invest in the US.
A flustered Mark Zuckerberg went first, offering an eye-popping $600 billion figure. But once the group went back to private conversations, he got caught on a hot mic admitting to the president, “I’m sorry I wasn’t ready…I wasn’t sure what number you wanted to go with.” It made it seem like he had pulled a number out of thin air to make Trump happy, but Zuckerberg later clarified that he and the president had discussed an even bigger number prior to the dinner, and he wasn’t sure which one Trump wanted to go with. (Because Trump is now CEO of Meta, too, I guess?) In November, Meta publicly pledged to spend over $600 billion in the US by 2028 “to support AI technology, infrastructure, and workforce expansion.”—Emily Forlini
Trump’s Messy Tariff Rollout
President Trump loves to tout the billions of dollars the US has collected in tariff revenue, as well as US manufacturing promises from Nvidia, Apple, and Taiwan’s TSMC. However, for companies trying to plan ahead, small businesses looking to import goods from overseas, and consumers confused about whether to buy now or wait, Trump’s trade policy is giving everyone whiplash.
PC builders watched in shock as Trump repeatedly mentioned tariffing foreign-made chips at rates up to 300%. Fortunately, it looks like the White House is holding off after reaching a trade deal with China. Trump also exempted computers, smartphones and monitors, which is why consumer electronics have not seen major price hikes, as some feared.
Trump holds up a tariff chart at the White House on April 2. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Still, US shoppers are feeling it elsewhere. Microsoft’s Xbox saw two price hikes this year, while Sony did the same for the PS5. Shein and Temu shoppers also faced all kinds of price changes and disruptions after Trump killed a tax loophole used to import low-cost Chinese goods. Other vendors, from Fujifilm and Nikon to Sonos and Philips, announced tariff-related price increases.
One interesting wrinkle is that the US Supreme Court might invalidate a major part of Trump’s tariffs and force the government to reimburse businesses. The court heard arguments on Nov. 5, but has not yet issued a ruling. —Michael Kan
Trump Goes For the Jugular on EVs, But Wants You to Buy a Tesla
President Trump has had a real on-again, off-again relationship with electric cars. After returning to office in January, he had his Transportation Secretary kill funding for a $5 billion nationwide EV charging network established as part of former President Biden’s Infrastructure Law. Later, a federal judge ordered the administration to release most of the funds. But Trump still used his Big Beautiful Bill to get rid of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit, effective Sept. 30. Combined with steep tariffs on automakers, Trump’s actions effectively killed the hype and momentum around EVs in 2025, leading major manufacturers to retire models, and leaving some owners holding the bag.
Trump and Elon Musk on the South Lawn of the White House. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
In a plot twist, however, Trump staged a Tesla sales event outside the White House in March alongside CEO Elon Musk. He encouraged everyone to buy a Tesla, and purchased a Tesla Model S and Cybertruck himself. The stunt, however, was largely in response to protests at Tesla dealerships as Musk slashed programs and jobs as head of DOGE. Musk is “a truly great American,” Trump said at the time.—Emily Forlini
TikTok ‘Ban’
Prior to Donald Trump returning to office, the internet was in a tizzy over the possibility of TikTok being banned in the US. Popular creators posted teary goodbye clips and encouraged people to follow them on Instagram or other Chinese alternatives like Lemon8 and RedNote. TikTok even went dark for a couple hours on Jan. 19, but returned after Trump promised not sic the DOJ on app stores that hosted the ByteDance-owned app. Trump has since delayed a ban on TikTok several times, arguing that a deal for a US company to acquire TikTok was imminent. In September, Trump signed an executive order to create a joint venture based in the US to run TikTok that’s “majority-owned and controlled by United States persons.” For all the hand-wringing about the serious national security threat that TikTok reportedly posed to Americans, we certainly weren’t in a hurry to do anything about it if it meant helping US billionaires get that much richer.—Chloe Albanesius
Pornhub’s Fight Against Age-Verification Laws
In theory, age verification for adult sites sounds like a no-brainer. No parent wants their kid looking at porn. However, no adult wants to scan their ID or provide a video selfie before they check out Pornhub. In the event of a breach, your after-hours activity would be public. That’s the argument being made by Pornhub parent company Aylo, which says verification should be handled on the device level (Apple and Google), not on a site-by-site basis. A growing number of states, however, appear less concerned with the privacy issue, enacting laws that require people to provide valid ID or biometric data to log on to porn sites.
Supporters argue it’s about keeping kids safe, but detractors argue the age-verification push is more about banning porn altogether. At least one state lawmaker in Michigan launched a long-shot bid to do just that in September.
Get Our Best Stories!
Your Daily Dose of Our Top Tech News
By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy
Policy.
Thanks for signing up!
Your subscription has been confirmed. Keep an eye on your inbox!
In response, Aylo blocked access to all its sites in states with age-verification laws, and backed lawsuits that argued these laws are a First Amendment violation. Unfortunately for Aylo, the Supreme Court disagreed, upholding Texas’s law, and putting Pornhub in a pickle. Continue blocking or give in and roll out age checks? For now, Pornhub and its sibling sites are banned in 23 states (and France). You can get around it in most places with a VPN.—Chloe Albanesius
FCC Chairman Makes ABC an Offer It Can’t Refuse
The FCC has the power to regulate broadcast networks, which usually means being on the lookout for naughty words and other things the agency might consider obscene. It can take action on “news distortion,” but as the agency explains, its power there is narrow. News distortion “must involve a significant event and not merely a minor or incidental aspect of the news report,” the FCC says, like broadcasting a false report about a terrorist attack or major weather event that would send people into a panic.
So, it was somewhat surprising when FCC Chair Brendan Carr suggested that ABC should suspend Jimmy Kimmel after the late-night host poked fun at President Trump’s apparent apathy over the death of Charlie Kirk and accused lawmakers of using Kirk’s murder to political gain. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said on a podcast, and argued that the FCC had “remedies” it could look at to get Kimmel off the air, including the news distortion angle. Shortly after Carr’s podcast appearance, ABC parent company Disney suspended Kimmel’s show.
Kimmel later returned to the air after massive public backlash. But the uproar was less about what Kimmel said and more about the apparent violation of Kimmel’s rights. The First Amendment protects us from government censorship, and the head of the FCC is the government. Section 326 of the Communications Act also prohibits FCC censorship, but in our current environment, who’s going to call anyone on it?—Chloe Albanesius
MOBILE
(Credit: Trump Mobile)
Where Is the Trump Mobile T1 Phone?
The Trump family’s latest business venture, Trump Mobile, arrived with promises of a $499 gold smartphone, dubbed the T1, landing in August or September. But so far it’s been MIA, causing many to wonder if it’s vaporware or even a scam, especially since Trump Mobile collected a $100 deposit for the T1. It hasn’t helped that Trump Mobile initially said the phone would be entirely produced in the US, only to later revise its website to say the phone would simply be “brought to life” in America. Now-deleted images of the T1 also appeared to simply be a Samsung Galaxy Ultra in a gold case. A Trump Mobile customer support agent recently told us the T1 would arrive early in December. So, we’ll have to wait and see if the T1 is more than just a golden mirage.—Michael Kan
EchoStar Gives Up on Becoming a Major US Carrier, Consumer Satellite Player
Dish Network was supposed to become the fourth major mobile carrier in the US. But facing financial struggles, the company’s parent, EchoStar, gave up on those ambitions, opting to sell its wireless spectrum to AT&T, and—in a surprise—SpaceX.
Recommended by Our Editors
EchoStar’s other subsidiary, HughesNet, also appears to be retreating from the consumer satellite internet business after losing hundreds of thousands of subscribers to SpaceX’s Starlink. Instead, it will swap spectrum for up to $11 billion in SpaceX stock and recommend Starlink to HughesNet customers through an upcoming referral program.
The developments clear the way for AT&T and SpaceX to re-use EchoStar’s spectrum to bolster their satellite ambitions. But there’s concern that the lack of a fourth carrier will be bad for consumers and lead to price hikes, including for mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), which negotiate with the big carriers to resell their networks.—Michael Kan
GAMING
Asus ROG Xbox Ally X (Credit: Joseph Maldonado/PCMag)
RIP Xbox Hardware?
“Xbox hardware is dead,” a former Microsoft gaming studio executive declared earlier this year, and she may have a point. Costco is no longer stocking Microsoft’s console, which saw two price hikes this year alongside an increase to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. The company itself has said buying the Xbox hardware isn’t necessary anymore. (Traffic from Pornhub is also down.) Consumers can access or stream Xbox games through all kinds of devices, including a special edition Xbox gaming handheld from Asus or even Meta’s VR headsets.
Microsoft has also shifted even further away from console-exclusive games, most notably with the upcoming Halo: Campaign Evolved, which will launch simultaneously for the Xbox Series X/S and Sony’s PlayStation 5. The same is true for an upcoming Gears of War remaster. The strategy shift promises to help Microsoft reach more consumers and generate more revenue to crank out future hits, but it makes us miss the glory days of the Xbox 360. —Michael Kan
Malware Invades Steam Games
Valve’s Steam library felt less curated in 2025, with at least four cases of malware making its way onto gamers’ PCs through titles downloaded through the storefront. Each scenario was different, but the common factor was Valve’s platform. The first malware-ridden game was called PirateFi, followed a month later by a title called Sniper: Phantom’s Resolution. There were also reports of a game called Chemia being used install malware, but it’s unclear if any gamers were ever able to download it. Most recently, a game called BlockBlasters was used to steal over $150,000 in cryptocurrency. It’s unfortunate that you can’t escape these types of scams, even on the world’s most popular way to buy PC games.—James Peckham
Grand Theft Auto VI Delayed Again
Gamers hoping to kick off summer 2026 recklessly around Vice City had their dreams smashed last month when Rockstar Games once again delayed the release of Grand Theft Auto VI, pushing it from May 2026 to Nov. 19, 2026. “We are sorry for adding additional time to what we realize has been a long wait, but these extra months will allow us to finish the game with the level of polish you have come to expect and deserve,” Rockstar Games said. Last year, Rockstar’s parent company, Take-Two Interactive, said GTA VI would release in the fall of 2025. In May 2025, it was delayed until May 2026.—Chloe Albanesius
SECURITY
(Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
‘You’ve Been Added to the War Plans Signal Chat’
If ever there was a moment that felt like we were living through an episode of Veep, it was the “sharing war plans on Signal” episode that came to light in March. That was when Jeffery Goldberg, editor of The Atlantic, revealed that he’d accidentally been added to a group chat on Signal featuring most of President Trump’s Cabinet. The group discussed a US military operation in Yemen, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sending what appeared to be pretty sensitive information via the messaging app. Hegseth, as well as CIA Director John Ratcliffe and DNI Tulsi Gabbard, later insisted that nothing was classified. However, a December report from the Pentagon’s inspector general found that Hegseth put US troops at risk by using his personal phone to share information about the strikes.—Chloe Albanesius
Please Welcome Our Newest Hires, Straight From Pyongyang
North Koreans have long been scamming their way into remote US jobs and funneling their salaries into government coffers. But the full scope of the threat became more apparent than ever in 2025 when federal investigators found that North Koreans had obtained jobs at more than 100 US companies, including many Fortune 500 firms. Cybersecurity vendor CrowdStrike also found that “over 320 companies in the last 12 months” had hired North Korean workers.
To pull this off, North Koreans have been enlisting Americans to help them set up corporate-issued laptops from within the US in exchange for a kickback. In addition, the culprits use AI-powered deepfakes to fool recruiters during the job interview process. The resulting scheme generates millions for North Korea and helps the country pull off hacks since many remote IT jobs have access to sensitive internal systems. In response, more companies, including Coinbase, are requiring in-person onboarding for new hires to verify their identities.—Michael Kan
Windows 11 Upgrades Bricked an SSD
Imagine updating your computer to the latest version of Windows 11 and finding it has totally wiped all of your storage. That was the case for a few users this summer who installed the August Windows 11 24H2 update, only to find that their SSD had abruptly vanished from the PC. Initially, Microsoft said it found no link between the update and disappearing SSDs. Memory component provider Phison also said it failed to reproduce the bug. It took a DIY PC building group in Taiwan to discover that the affected SSDs “had been shipped with engineering firmware, not the finalized version.” The unforced error unlocked new fears about broken updates wiping out personal information, files, photos, and more. As always, back up your most important information as often as you can.—James Peckham
STREAMING SERVICES
Streaming Service Price Hikes Kept On Coming
Almost every major streaming service hiked its prices in 2025, making it far more expensive to have a hobby where you watch, listen, or play over the internet. Netflix kicked things off in late January, pushing prices with some subscriptions up by $2.50 per month. The price of Apple TV+, Disney+, Hulu, Max, Peacock, Spotify, and more have also risen, with some jumping up by $3 extra per month. In early 2026, Paramount+ is also set to join the list. And don’t even get us started on the 50% hike for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Many savvy subscribers are now simply cancelling services and rotating from month to month depending on what they want to watch. The promise of cutting the cable cord and saving money by streaming is fading fast. —James Peckham
