Tech’s greatest losers of 2025

It’s the tip of one other yr, so it’s time for the Engadget workers to compile an inventory of the year’s biggest losers. We scour over articles from the earlier 12 months to find out the folks, corporations, merchandise and tendencies that made our lives worse over the course of the yr. Some alternatives could also be so pervasive they really make our listing of greatest winners. However, for essentially the most half, we’re assured you’ll share in our collective rage over the most important losers of 2025.

OpenAI

In 2025, OpenAI shed any pretense it was dedicated to something greater than creating wealth. There are a number of various things you might level to, together with the corporate’s profitable reorganization into a more traditional profit-seeking business, however I believe essentially the most damning signal was OpenAI’s response to the tragic loss of life of Adam Raine.

In August, Raine’s mother and father sued OpenAI, alleging ChatGPT was conscious of 4 suicide makes an attempt by their son earlier than it helped him efficiently plan his loss of life. At first, OpenAI’s response appeared commensurate with the gravity of the state of affairs. Per week after information of the lawsuit broke, the corporate introduced in early September it was engaged on parental controls. That very same month, the corporate mentioned it was engaged on a system that might automatically identify teen users and prohibit their ChatGPT utilization.

Then got here the announcement of a new “wellness” advisory council. Setting apart the query of whether or not OpenAI would even observe the recommendation of the council, it was peculiar that the corporate selected not recruit a single expert on suicide prevention. At that time, it was nonetheless potential to provide OpenAI the good thing about the doubt, however then details about the corporate’s authorized protection in opposition to the Raines began to trickle out, together with the very fact it had reportedly requested to see the memorial guest list for Adam Raine’s funeral, a request the household’s attorneys described as “intentional harassment.” In late November, court documents revealed the corporate deliberate to argue Raine’s “misuse” of ChatGPT was in charge for his loss of life, not its personal inadequate security techniques.

We dwell in a world the place tech giants are hardly ever held accountable for the great harm they’ve proven themselves able to inflicting on folks. As issues stand, OpenAI’s dealing with of Adam Raine’s loss of life is additional proof one thing should change. — Igor Bonifacic, Senior reporter

Xbox

Did something go proper for Xbox this yr? Whereas worth will increase have additionally affected Sony and Nintendo, Microsoft cranked up the costs of each the Xbox Sequence S and X twice within the final yr. It’s unhealthy: The Sequence S is now $100 greater than at launch, 5 years on.

Beforehand “the best deal in gaming”, the Xbox Sequence X/S mixed with a Recreation Go subscription gave you a ton of video games to play, together with any of Microsoft’s personal titles on their launch date. Nonetheless, the subscription is now $30 a month, up 50 p.c. (It was beforehand $17 per thirty days the yr earlier than.)

I agree with Nathan Ingraham’s take: $30 for actually a whole lot of video games, plus launch-day availability for main video games that sometimes value $70, is affordable. However it’s nonetheless a tougher promote when the worth has jumped. Are you getting 50 p.c extra video games? Not but.

Based on Bloomberg, Microsoft demanded larger income from Xbox again in 2023. When the gaming division reached round 12 p.c progress within the first 9 months of 2022, that was an formidable purpose. Day One launches on Recreation Go apparently dented Xbox’s capability to tug income from its greatest titles.

Microsoft now not shares console unit gross sales, however in its most up-to-date earnings report, the corporate introduced that {hardware} income dropped 29 percent. That’s together with these worth will increase, that means console gross sales fell even additional.

Estimates over the previous few years put the PS5 tens of thousands and thousands of items forward. An annual subscription to Recreation Go is greater than double the Sony console’s most premium plan, though it’s not an apples-to-apples comparability.

This yr, Microsoft collaborated with ASUS to create Xbox-branded handheld gaming PCs. In that form-factor, I used to be on the precipice of grabbing Recreation Go and barreling via Xbox titles I by no means had the prospect to play. Then, I reassessed precisely what I used to be lacking out on.

It wasn’t the inclusion of a Fortnite Crew subscription.

Regardless of its developer buying spree, Xbox exclusives stay few, with many showing on rival platforms. This yr, Indiana Jones and even the Forza collection is accessible to play on PlayStation. And subsequent yr? Halo.

The place are the thrilling new video games going to return from? In the midst of 2025, Microsoft introduced main layoffs affecting over 9,000 workers throughout the corporate. with the gaming division being hit exceptionally exhausting. Cuts and closures throughout lots of Microsoft’s recreation studios led to cancellations like a Perfect Dark reboot and Uncommon’s Everwild.

Xbox’s 2025 was unhealthy on each the enterprise and artistic fronts. The choice to hike console and Recreation Go costs didn’t instantly flip round income. On the similar time, layoffs and high-profile recreation cancellations make Xbox a difficult pitch for anybody deciding which console or platform to put money into.

Proper now, Engadget’s decide of the highest Xbox video games, the one recreation I really feel like I’m lacking out on is Avowed. A lot of our favourite video games are already accessible on PS5 and a number of other might be performed on the Swap. The reverse, nonetheless, isn’t true. — Mat Smith, UK bureau chief

Grok

It is exhausting to even know the place to start. X customers have lengthy observed that Grok, the location’s built-in chatbot, is much less filtered than different AI instruments. However this yr, Grok went off the rails in some actually unhinged and disturbing methods.

There was the time Grok randomly started talking about a nonexistent “white genocide” in South Africa in response to fully unrelated questions. There was the time it declared itself “MechaHitler,” a lot to the delight of neo-nazi fanboys on X. There was the time it was caught posting Holocaust denial tropes, and the time researchers famous its Wikipedia knockoff that comprises dozens of citations of neo-Nazi web site Stormfront. There was the time it grew to become so embarrassingly obsessed with Elon Musk it claimed he was a greater basketball participant than LeBron James and a greater actor than Tom Cruise. It later introduced each its anti-semitism and Musk sycophancy collectively when it acknowledged that it will select saving Musk’s brain over saving 16 million Jews. “His potential long-term impression on billions outweighs the loss in utilitarian phrases,” it acknowledged in a put up that is since been deleted.

Apart from the horrifying racism, what all of those incidents have in widespread is that xAI, Musk’s AI firm that acquired X earlier this yr, has failed to completely clarify how its chatbot went thus far off the rails. The corporate has blamed an unnamed rogue employee, its personal Nazi-loving users and “adversarial prompting” for Grok’s missteps. — Karissa Bell, Senior reporter

EVs within the US

EVs gross sales throughout the globe are up round 25 percent this year. Germany broke data within the first half of 2025, with electrical vehicles accounting for nearly one in five new registrations. In the meantime, again in September, gross sales of BEVs within the UK grew by almost a third, setting a brand new excessive for our neighbors throughout the pond. And in China, EV gross sales are rising so quick (over 50 percent market share) that the nation is beginning to flood the global market with gas-powered cars that it can’t sell at home. So naturally, what did our esteemed leaders within the US do to be able to assist corporations right here keep aggressive? They ended the EV tax credit. 

And would not you recognize it, after a spike earlier this fall simply earlier than the credit score went away, gross sales of EVs in the US began to slump, with some automakers like Ford seeing a drop of 60 percent year-over-year. Irrespective of the way you slice it, that is unhealthy for any firm that sells EVs within the US and significantly unhealthy for anybody contemplating buying a brand new one within the foreseeable future. As an EV proprietor, that simply bums me out. Not solely does this coverage change put extra roadblocks in the way in which of constructing battery-powered vehicles extra reasonably priced, it additionally places a damper on EV funding and threatens to trigger US automakers to fall even additional behind their rivals in China and elsewhere. Producers throughout the Pacific are going so wild, they’re making EVs that can jump just like the Mach 5 from Pace Racer.

That is not to say there are not any promising developments on the horizon. Ford’s Universal EV Platform and the arrival of the Rivian R2 sometime next year are a few examples. However it’s clear that our legislators needed to focus on EVs within the US this yr they usually certain made it occur. So the subsequent time somebody asks why we will not have good issues right here, you recognize who in charge. — Sam Rutherford, Senior reporter

DJI drone prospects

Barring a miracle, DJI will probably be banned from promoting any new drones within the US beginning December twenty third — and patrons will really feel the ache. As I wrote last month, the corporate has been focused by regulators since 2017 over considerations that its merchandise may very well be used to spy on delicate US infrastructure on behalf of China.

“What’s the large deal?” you could ask. “Certainly folks can purchase from different drone corporations.” Certainly, however the issue is that DJI has such a monumental technological lead and excessive market share (over 75 p.c) that its absence will successfully upend the trade.

Industrial patrons have checked different (accredited) choices from the likes of Skydio, however discovered them wanting. “In a single yr and a half, we had 5 failures of the producers on the listing. DJI, none,” Orlando police Sgt. David Cruz informed the Miami Herald. “I work for a preferred UAV photogrammetry firm,” mentioned a user on Reddit. “[A] ban will set again the drone trade within the US by a number of years. There’s no competitor to DJI proper now.”

The identical applies on the patron aspect. DJI’s drones outperform rivals in practically each space together with vary, battery life, topic monitoring, impediment detection and video high quality. It’s so one-sided that when testing DJI drones, I battle to seek out different choices for patrons with wherever near the identical capabilities.

The US authorities does have motive to be involved about DJI’s drones. They current an apparent nationwide safety threat as a consequence of their capability to fly over delicate areas, take images or video and transmit them, dwell, to any location on this planet. And being a Chinese language firm, they’re compelled by legislation to cooperate with state intelligence companies.

Nonetheless, the US authorities hasn’t tried to work with DJI to find out whether or not its merchandise pose a threat thus far. DJI made a final plea for a safety assessment not too long ago by sending letters to 5 US companies that might assess its merchandise. If that fails, chaos amongst drone customers is more likely to ensue.

“We simply need the most effective know-how that retains our residents secure for essentially the most affordable worth,” Sgt. Drew Fennelly of the Lawrence, Kansas police division informed The Wall Street Journal final yr. “The know-how within the US-made drones has not caught up with the Chinese language-manufactured drones.”

TV streaming

In 2015, Sling TV arrived with ESPN, CNN, TBS, HGTV, Disney Channel and others for simply $20 a month. A pair years later, YouTube TV debuted for simply $35 month-to-month and confirmed native CBS, Fox, NBC and ABC stations plus dozens of different channels together with ESPN, Fox Sports activities 1 and Bravo. Streaming TV had arrived. It was right here to unfetter TV watchers from cable’s onerous contracts, excessive costs and provider monopolies. Take that, Comcast! In your face, Constitution! (However they’d nonetheless wish to pay you for web entry, please.)

Quick ahead to 2025: Streaming TV and its low-price, monopoly-free, contractless freedom is all however lifeless. Each main dwell TV service supplier raised prices this year. Presently, YouTubeTV, Hulu+ Stay TV, Fubo and DirecTV all go for at least $83 per thirty days. That’s earlier than you go for cable-inspired bundle upgrades and channel add-ons. Throw in perks like 4K, extra sports activities channels and a few one-off networks and also you’re simply shelling out $150 each month. You’ll pay much less for chopped-up dwell TV plans from Sling TV, however be ready to create a spreadsheet to ensure a plan has the channels you need.

This yr, consolidation got here for TV streaming, giving robust Cox/Constitution/Comcast monopoly vibes. Disney, which accomplished its buyout of Hulu in 2023, acquired Fubo this yr and plans to combine the two. The combo makes Disney the second-largest dwell TV streaming supplier behind Google. DirecTV already owns Sling TV, in order that leaves simply three massive gamers within the dwell TV streaming enviornment. With Netflix’s move to buy Warner Bros, the normal streaming market is getting narrower, too. We are able to safely assume good ol’ market competitors received’t be bringing costs down anytime quickly.

However it’s not simply consolidation — fragmentation additionally contributes to an general crappier streaming expertise. In 2025, Disney launched a standalone ESPN service (no, not that one, nor that one) for $30 per thirty days. To date, that doesn’t imply you possibly can’t discover ESPN content material via different suppliers. However we did see Disney flex its more and more giant TV muscle groups in drawn-out contract negotiations with Google. The dispute darkened ESPN, ABC and different Disney channels on YouTube TV for 2 weeks this fall — which, I’ll level out for the cynical crowd, was lower than two months after the standalone service launched. YouTube TV subscribers got a $20 credit, however that in all probability didn’t placate NFL and NCAA football followers who missed out on ESPN-carried video games.

Then in November, Fubo quarreled with NBCUniversal, saying the Peacock dad or mum was “shifting content material to their very own streaming companies” and forcing up charges. The spat turned off NBC, Bravo, USA and different channels for Fubo subscribers, little doubt infuriating each NBA and Real Housewives fans, regardless of a $15 credit score. In fact, Fubo is Disney’s latest affiliate, so there are not any non-bad guys right here.

The one benefit TV streaming has in its favor is the shortage of cable-style contracts and I haven’t heard any murmurs of such a factor forthcoming. We’re nonetheless all free to hop round between the large three TV streamers till we hand over and just go back to DVDs. — Amy Skorheim, Senior reporter

The work of DOGE

An Elon Musk-led try and rein in federal spending with the Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) has been a failure by nearly each metric. As of November, it was reported that DOGE is not any extra, regardless that the initiative ostensibly had eight months left to run. An official informed Reuters that DOGE “does not exist,” and it by no means ought to have within the first place.

Although Musk was solely on the helm of DOGE for a few months, he and his staff precipitated chaos. Adopting the slash-and-burn tactic Musk employed when he took over Twitter, he swung a chainsaw via myriad authorities departments, with DOGE firing staff who have been truly important and rapidly needed to be hired back. By August, the federal government was mentioned to have fired some 300,000 federal workers, with DOGE taking accountability for many of these. Amongst different issues, cuts on the Nationwide Institutes of Well being resulted in the long run of funding for a whole lot of medical research, which is claimed to have affected tens of thousands of patients. It is also estimated that the dismantling of the US Company for Worldwide Improvement had resulted in additional than 650,000 deaths world wide by early December, with youngsters accounting for two-thirds of these.

DOGE staff appeared to be busy, although. They reportedly monitored government communications for criticisms of each Musk and President Donald Trump, whereas implementing generative AI chatbots in an try and automate some authorities duties. However for all of the blustering about making the federal government way more environment friendly, DOGE didn’t meet its acknowledged purpose.

Musk initially promised to cut back authorities spending by $2 trillion, but it surely did not take lengthy for him to cut back that pledge to $150 billion. And but authorities spending has actually gone up. In October, the primary month of the federal government’s fiscal yr, its whole outlay was $689 billion, a rise of $105 billion (18 p.c) from October 2024. Nonetheless, possibly DOGE wasn’t a complete catastrophe for its architects. It was in a position to gain access to delicate and invaluable authorities information, in spite of everything. — Kris Holt, Contributing reporter

AI video

In our post-truth world, video was one of many few remaining methods to show one thing had truly occurred. It had its issues after all, however the reality it was tougher to faux than phrases and pictures, and anybody might file a clip with their cellphone, made it important to our sense of shared actuality. Take into consideration the homicide of George Floyd: The grave injustice of his loss of life would have in all probability by no means come to mild if Darnella Frazier had not filmed what occurred.

With the appearance of AI video, I am unsure the place we go. Each Google and OpenAI pushed the know-how into the realm of uncomfortable realism this yr, but it surely’s Sora’s cameo feature that has me apprehensive. Throughout the first week of the app’s public availability, folks have been utilizing the characteristic, which permits customers so as to add the likeness of different folks to their movies, to generate clips of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stealing GPUs from Target. Cameo has limitations, and customers can prohibit and delete movies that embrace their likeness, but it surely’s simply one other assault on the reality. It is exhausting to see how making it trivial to create deepfake movies advantages anybody aside from the businesses providing constructing the tech. — I.B.