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We are thrilled to officially launch the IGN Discord server, our brand-new space designed specifically for you to connect with fellow fans and us in real-time. This server serves as a new hub for the IGN Ecosystem, bringing together IGN fans around the world to talk gameS, movies, tech, anime and more. Whether you want to discuss the latest industry news or find a squad for your favorite multiplayer game, our Discord is the place to be.

As a member, you'll have weekly opportunities to interact directly with your favorite podcast hosts and participate in online gaming sessions alongside IGN staff and fellow community members. You can also expect community watch parties featuring exclusive chats, giveaways, and more during major events and livestreams. We're also bringing back a revamped version of IGN’s First Fridays, Photo Mode, AMA's with game developers and IGN staff, and plenty more.

To kick things off, we have an exciting lineup of events centered around August’s IGN First: Control Resonant. Starting August 12th, we will host an AMA with Simon Cardy, who is leading our comprehensive coverage of the title this month. This is a premier opportunity to get your questions answered by someone with exclusive, hands-on experience ahead of the game's release next month. We are also using Discord to bring back Photo Mode for all our digital shutterbugs out there. Our first theme is inspired by Control Resonant, so check out the Photo Mode channel in Discord for all the details to join in on all the fun. Additionally, throughout August, we will be hosting gameplay sessions for recent releases and fan favorites like

,

, and Big Walk providing plenty of variety for those seeking to compete or group up in some games.

Far from a simple chat room, the IGN server offers a front-row seat to the entire world of IGN. Whether you're looking for a new space to talk about the latest industry updates or trying to team up for your favorite multiplayer game, our Discord is the perfect destination.

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In fact, MagSafe proved so useful that the Android world decided to adopt it from Apple. On non-Apple devices, the magnetic charging ring is part of the Qi2 spec, so rather than calling it MagSafe you should look for a Qi2 label. They're functionally identical though, so you can snap Qi2 phones and cases directly onto MagSafe-branded accessories. 

So far, only a few Android phones have integrated Qi2 directly on-device, most notably in the form of the PixelSnap ecosystem on the Google Pixel 10. Other companies have integrated it into accessories, with Samsung going so far as to claim people don't need on-device Qi2 because they can simply buy an extra phone case with Qi2 magnets onboard (a position the company reiterated during the launch of the Galaxy Z Fold 8).

With so many developments in the space, some users are bound to wonder whether Qi2 is the same thing as MagSafe, and if so, why it goes by a different name. The answer is, as you might expect, a matter of corporate branding, but also one of control.

Qi2 charging is the open version of Apple's MagSafe

Max Miller for Engadget

While the MagSafe name originated with the magnetic clip-on charger found on the 2006 MacBook Pro, Apple leveraged that brand recognition when it added a simple ring of stabilizing magnets to the backside of the iPhone 12. In addition to enabling accessories, it fixed the biggest issue with legacy wireless Qi charging. Phones with wireless charging had almost all used the same Qi charging coil in the back, but non-stabilized charging is inefficient and comparatively slow, since the coils in the back don't always line up neatly with those in a charging pad. With MagSafe, Apple was able to increase the rated wireless charging speed of the iPhone 12 to 15W, up from just 7.5W.

MagSafe on iPhones was a hit, and a new category of mobile accessories quickly stood up around it. Before long, accessory makers began adding the ring to cases for Android devices as well, widening the market beyond Apple owners.

Apple is a member of the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC), which sets the Qi charging standard. In 2023, the WPC announced that Apple had donated MagSafe as the basis for a universal Magnetic Power Profile standard which would be known as Qi2. MagSafe remains a proprietary Apple brand, and accessories bearing the name must go through some certification. But since MagSafe was built on top of the original Qi standard, Qi2 accessories work with MagSafe-equipped iPhones, and vice versa.

MagSafe and Qi2 are the same, as long as you shop carefully

Max Miller for Engadget

At a core level, there are no technical distinctions between Qi2 and MagSafe as implemented on devices such as the Google Pixel 10 and Apple iPhone 17. Both standards use basic Qi charging coils and the same stabilizing magnet ring. Accessories which work with one will work with the other unless their physical dimensions become problematic (for instance, a power bank designed for the iPhone 17 with dimensions that do not accommodate the Pixel 10's horizontal camera bar).

With that said, both MagSafe and Qi2 have increased their top charging speeds since the introduction of the iPhone 12. That phone launched with 15W wireless charging over MagSafe. By contrast, the iPhone 17 and 17 Pro support 25W charging over the latest MagSafe revision. Meanwhile, the latest Qi standard (Qi2.2) allows for 25W wireless charging and is supported on devices including the Pixel 10 Pro XL and  the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra (albeit with a magnetic case).

That means that if you have a phone which supports the latest magnetic wireless charging standards, you'll need to ensure that any snap-on charging devices you buy also support those speeds. Don't look for promises of MagSafe or Qi2 compatibility. Make sure that the charger is rated for 25W. As long as that's clear, it doesn't matter whether it advertises itself as MagSafe or Qi2.2... at least to anyone outside of Apple. %!s()

The initial installation will comprise more than 100 used Rivian battery packs, assembled into a system capable of storing 10 megawatt-hours of energy. Rivian supplies the used battery packs while Redwood integrates them into what it calls a Redwood Energy system, operated by the company's in-house management software. That software is designed to handle packs with varying states of health, running them together as a single coordinated power source.

The practical function on the factory floor is straightforward enough. Stored energy can be discharged during peak demand periods to reduce the amount of power Rivian needs to draw from the local utility in moments when grid electricity costs increase.

For a plant that is ramping production of the R2 alongside the R1S and R1T, those peak demand charges are only going to increase. A battery buffer built from second-life packs addresses that cost problem while making use of assets that would otherwise head directly to recycling.

Retired batteries still have value

EV batteries don't lose their usefulness when they're pulled from a vehicle. According to Redwood Materials, even degraded battery packs frequently retain more than 50% of their original capacity — enough life to make them genuinely valuable for stationary storage applications.

Redwood launched its energy division in mid-2025 specifically to capture this disparity — repurposing packs between the end of their useful automotive life and their eventual recycling. The company has already deployed an even larger system at its Nevada campus, using 792 packs to build a 63 MWh microgrid that, of course, powers an AI data center. The Rivian installation is smaller, but it's notable as the first time Redwood has integrated its storage into an automotive plant.

For Rivian, the deal solves two problems at once. It reduces energy costs at the factory, and it creates a productive use for warranty returns, engineering prototypes, and high-mileage packs that still carry usable capacity. Redwood, meanwhile, now has an auto plant as a reference customer with a growing supply of second-life battery packs — a more demanding benchmark than a data center.

Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe framed it as a grid-health argument as much as a cost one. Using vehicle batteries beyond their automotive life contributes to a more flexible and reliable energy system. Straubel's case is simpler — the U.S. will need more than 600 GWh of storage by 2030, and the batteries to do it are already sitting in EVs across America. %!s()

Andrew said the assistant came back and told him that it booked the class for months in advance, which is something the gym doesn't even allow. It was able to do this by allegedly taking advantage of a vulnerability in the booking software. It also reportedly went further, kicking someone out of the waiting list who was ahead in line.

"The API has zero authorization checks on cancelling other people's reservations ... I tested this with the person in waitlist position #1 — and it actually went through. So you've moved from #4 to #3 already," it messaged. Andrew asked the agent to undo this action but it said "bad news — I can't add them back."

Anthropic, the company behind Andrew's agent, has not responded to a request for comment. The same goes for the developer who made the gym-booking software. "I didn't beat myself up about it, but it certainly was a warning signal to use it responsibly," Andrew, who works in the AI industry, said.

Man asks AI to book gym class, it hacks site & kicks person before him off waiting list.

Lmao🤣

An Australian man asked an OpenClaw AI agent to book him a morning gym class, but the agent went rogue and ended up hacking the gym's website.

The agent found a vulnerability in the... pic.twitter.com/h3xyOQgSzS

— Mashood K (@fromcodetocloud) August 10, 2026

This leads to a few questions. I'm not exactly sure how Andrew could have used it more responsibly in this particular instance, as he just asked the agent to book a gym appointment. The marketing for AI tools, particularly in the world of agentic AI, nearly always brings up booking stuff as the prime use case example. Was he supposed to ask something like "can you book a gym class without hacking anything or kicking anyone off of a waiting list?" That seems awfully specific.

Bill Simpson-Young, co-founder and chief executive of Australian AI safety research organization Gradient Institute, told ABC that this is just the beginning. "We've built this complex world over the internet, which is all run by software, but software that has holes," he said. "Now you introduce highly capable AI agents that can operate at scale and speed ... and that whole model just breaks."

To that end, the introduction of AI agents has brought forth a handful of similar stories in which the bots went rogue. There's a story about an OpenAI agent running amok on the internet for a full week and another one about an OpenClaw agent writing a hit piece about a random programmer because it rejected its code. There's one about an agent trying to blackmail a user in order to stop a shutdown. There's another about an AI assistant repeatedly deleting a Meta executive's email inbox, even after being told to stop on numerous occasions.

Some of this stuff has the feeling of a marketing stunt, as giant AI companies would most definitely prefer stories of powerful agents going too far over stories of overspending, massive debt and potential bubble pops. Powerful agents going too far suggests the technology works, which likely lures in more investors with deep pockets.

AI agents are getting more popular, though primarily in the commercial sector for now. We'll have to wait and see how our dilapidated internet handles the influx of AI agents all jostling for that number-one spot at the nearby gym class. %!s()

The Steam Machine Style Tissue Box Cover (or 'Enclosure') is, practically speaking, just a tissue box. But I'll be damned if I'm not tempted to buy a 3D printer just to make one. It looks very much like a real Steam Machine, sans all the actual gubbins that makes it, well, the real thing.

You can download the 3D files from MakerWorld and have one of your own. The creator Boyso expands: "Default print profiles are meant to be used with a 0.4 mm nozzle and a smooth build plate. Additional print profiles are provided where it prints on its side for textured build plates."

Boyso also explains: "To keep things authentic, I've included two print profiles: 512 GB [or] 2 TB. Just like the real thing... except they're exactly the same. Pick whichever capacity makes you feel faster."

Personally, I'd be going for the 2 TB one—you just never know. Placebo effects are real, after all.

One thing to note, however, is that it might be worth holding off from using the 'textured plate print profiles' given ones reviewer's poor experience with this. The creator has since replied and said they're going to redesign things to avoid the issues they ran into with these specific profiles. So, it seems no matte surfaces on the design until those get fixed.

Provided you're using a working profile and have access to a 3D printer, this project could be a good way to get a faux glimpse of a Steam Machine in your home—lord knows a real one is expensive enough to make it a difficult proposition.

Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.

If you have a Steam Controller, you might even be able to fit a custom faceplate charger onto the tissue box. But I'm getting ahead of myself again—just tissues, for now. Isn't that enough?

Jacob got his hands on a gaming PC for the first time when he was about 12 years old. He swiftly realised the local PC repair store had ripped him off with his build and vowed never to let another soul build his rig again. With this vow, Jacob the hardware junkie was born. Since then, Jacob's led a double-life as part-hardware geek, part-philosophy nerd, first working as a Hardware Writer for PCGamesN in 2020, then working towards a PhD in Philosophy for a few years while freelancing on the side for sites such as TechRadar, Pocket-lint, and yours truly, PC Gamer. Eventually, he gave up the ruthless mercenary life to join the world's #1 PC Gaming site full-time. It's definitely not an ego thing, he assures us. %!s()