Be careful what you share with ChatGPT these days: It’ll remember everything you say.

That’s because OpenAI is rolling out a new update to ChatGPT’s memory that allows the bot to access the contents of all of your previous chats. The idea is that by pulling from your past conversations, ChatGPT will be able to offer more relevant results to your questions, queries, and overall discussions. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, announced the changes on X, touting the usefulness of AI systems that know everything about you:

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ChatGPT’s memory feature is a little over a year old at this point, but its function has been much more limited than the update OpenAI is rolling out today. ChatGPT could remember preferences or requests of yours—perhaps you have a favorite formatting style for summaries, or a nickname you want the bot to call you—and carry those memories along from chat to chat. However, it wasn’t perfect, and couldn’t naturally pull from past conversations, as a feature like “memory” might imply.

Previously, the bot stored those data points in a bank of “saved memories.” You could access this memory bank at any time and see what the bot had stored based on your conversations. It’s a bit weird to see these entries when you didn’t specifically ask ChatGPT to remember something for you—as if you found out a new friend was jotting down “useful facts” about you from past conversations. It’s weird.

As this feature is rolling out now, it isn’t clear yet how it will affect these saved memories. In all likelihood, they’ll disappear, as there’s no need for a bank of specific memories when ChatGPT can simply pull from everything you’ve ever said to the bot.

I don’t personally use ChatGPT all that much outside testing new features to cover here, so I can’t say whether I find this feature particularly useful or not. I can imagine how it might be helpful to be able to reference something you told the bot in a past conversation, especially without needing to establish the bot actually remembers that fact first, but I also don’t love the idea of a chatbot “remembering” everything I’ve ever told it. Maybe that’s because I’m not sold on the idea of generative AI as a personal assistant, or maybe it’s because I’m sick of tech companies scooping so much of my data. We’ll just have to see how useful this expanded memory turns out to be as users get their hands on it.

This feature will roll out first to ChatGPT Plus and Pro subscribers, but there’s no word at this time as to when free users can expect to try it out. Users in the U.K., EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland will need to wait to use the feature as well, as local laws force extra reviews before it can launch. (Maybe all countries should force AI companies through extra reviews before shipping features.)

How to disable ChatGPT’s memory

If you, like me, have reservations about your chatbot accessing every word of your past conversations, there is a way to disable this memory feature.

I don’t have the new feature yet, so it’s possible this might change slightly. But at the moment, you can head to Settings > Personalization > Memory, then disable the toggle next to Reference saved memories.

If you want to keep the memory feature on, but don’t want ChatGPT to remember one chat in particular, you can launch a “temporary chat” to make sure the conversation is quarantined. (Just know OpenAI may still hold onto the transcript for up to 30 days.)

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You’ve probably heard a thing or two about the ongoing tariff situation. You might know the Trump administration has been imposing tariffs on countries around the world since February. What started as a 10% tariff on China, for example, has multiplied more than tenfold. Other countries have had tariffs threatened, imposed, then paused, all seemingly at random. It’s chaotic, and it’s having real-world implications on the stock market, businesses, and consumers.

It’s tough to keep track of each development, but you’ve probably heard talk about increased prices—especially when it comes to consumer goods. Perhaps you’ve heard products like the iPhone are going to jump in price, and if you want to avoid it, you should buy a new iPhone today. You might feel the pressure when you read a headline about Apple flying plane-loads of iPhones in before tariffs take effect. Again: chaos.

Are devices going to get more expensive?

Here’s the thing: No one knows exactly what’s going to happen here. No one even know which tariffs are here to stay, and which are up for discussion: As I was writing this piece, Trump announced a 90-day pause on nearly all the reciprocal tariffs he imposed across the globe—save for China, which he raised from 104% to 125%. That said, the blanket 10% tariffs are still in effect here.

That might mean the situation isn’t quite so dire for products and goods that are manufactured or originate from countries where the pause is in effect. If your goods are coming from India, for example, you don’t have to worry about the 27% tariffs that started Wednesday at midnight—just the original 10%. The same goes for Vietnam, which was slapped with a 46% tariff.

While the drastic tariffs are off the table for most countries for now, most of the U.S.’s trading partners are still dealing with tariffs of some kind—including, of course, China. That means that companies may pass on the costs of these tariffs to consumers, whether it’s because of a 10% tariff, or 125%.

If an iPhone 16e you’re eyeing is coming from India, for example, that $599 price tag could rise 10% to roughly $660. If it’s coming from China, however, that 125% tariff could add about $749 to the total, or raise the price somewhere around $1,348. Suddenly, Apple’s “budget” iPhone is anything but.

Of course, that assumes a company like Apple passes along every cent of the tariff to consumers. This is where things continue to get messy: There’s no predicting how companies will respond to these tariffs until they act. In fact, instead of raising prices, some companies are pausing sales in the U.S. altogether.

However, experts do expect companies to raise prices as tariffs make importing goods and products more expensive. Some companies have already confirmed as much. Acer announced it would be raising prices by 10% back in February: How do new tariffs affect that price hike? I can’t guarantee if that iPhone 16e is going to more than double in price, but it probably won’t be $599 in the near future.

You probably don’t need to buy something new

Reading the above, it might seem like now’s the time to buy something brand new. It’s always temping to buy the latest and greatest tech on the market—especially when that tech could skyrocket in price at any given moment. But in all likelihood, you don’t actually have to buy a new device right now.

I mean this in a couple of important ways. First, if the tech you already own is working for you, don’t feel the pressure to buy something just because the upgrade is going to cost more in the near future. If your smartphone, computer, tablet, TV, what have you is running fine and serving your needs as-is, there’s really no need to upgrade at all. You probably spent a considerable amount of money on the device you’re reading this on right now: If you weren’t going to buy a replacement before tariff fears, better to hold onto it for a while longer.

Even if your tech is on the older side, there are things you can do to boost its longevity. For example, if you’ve had your smartphone for a while, and it’s slowing down while lasting fewer hours on a single charge, replace the battery. A fresh battery can obviously boost overall battery life, but it can also improve performance, since some smartphones slow down their processors to compensate for aging batteries. Win-win. Another quick tip? Mind your storage: Maxing out the internal storage of any device can cause issues, so make sure you’re giving your device’s internal drive some room to work with.

For a complex piece of tech like a laptop, there are plenty of steps you can take to boost performance. You can wipe your system and start fresh, in case any bloat was weighing your computer down; you can take advantage of features in power-hungry apps like Chrome to manage performance; and, if you’re technically inclined, you can even crack it open, cleaning out the fans and reapplying thermal paste. You might be surprised how some simple maintenance can improve the performance of an older laptop.

Shopping for a new device

However, the other side of the coin here is when you really do need to buy something new. Maybe you smashed your smartphone, or your laptop kicked the bucket, and a new device is the best solution. Or, maybe you just want a new device, and you’re trying to figure out the best way to buy it with the threat of price increases on the horizon. Before you go to the store and buy the newest device, however, I strongly encourage you to consider a new device that isn’t so new.

There has arguably never been a better time to buy last year’s tech, or a device secondhand. Tech across the board has gotten so good, not only will it likely last longer than devices used to, but year over year updates just aren’t that massive. The iPhone 15 Pro isn’t that much slower than the iPhone 16 Pro, and the 14 Pro isn’t that much slower than the 15 Pro, let alone the 16 Pro. Side by side, sure, you may notice some performance gains. But unless you really care about the Camera Control button, Apple Intelligence support, or the latest and greatest hardware, the iPhone from last year (or the year before) might be the move.

Smartphones really are a good example of this new age of technology longevity. Companies like Samsung and Google used to support their smartphones for only a few years at a time. Now, both guarantee software updates for seven years. While Apple never offers any official guarantees for how long it will support any given iPhone, the company tends to support its devices for many years as well. The iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max, for example, are over six years old, but still run the latest versions of iOS. That’s not to say you should pick up an iPhone XR and expect the same experience as an iPhone 16; rather, these devices last a lot longer than they used to.

While buying last year’s model is a great move, the secondhand market is also an excellent place to look. There are stores that sell certified refurbished devices—like Amazon, Best Buy, even Apple—that come with limited warranties. You may find even steeper deals on used markets like Reebelo or Back Market. As long as the device you’re eyeing can handle the tasks you need it to, this can be a great way to save money on a new purchase.

These devices are going to be cheaper than the new devices are now, but tariffs could affect their prices, too. If the latest tech skyrockets in price, the older or used models may become more valuable, and their prices could inflate. Still, a laptop from last year sitting in an Amazon warehouse has already passed through customs, and will not be directly affected by increased tariffs on any country.

Sometimes, new is best

That’s not to say you should never buy the newest device. There are plenty of times when it makes the most sense: I wouldn’t be so frugal with smart tech, for example, considering the track record companies have for ditching their older devices entirely. You also wouldn’t want to buy the older version of a device that’s incompatible with newer devices you do own. Don’t spend money on an outdated router that can’t offer you the internet speeds you’re paying your ISP for.

New tech is also, well, new: You don’t have to do the mental math to think about how long it might be supported based on its original release date, nor do you need to worry about compatibility issues. If you were considering buying secondhand, there are zero concerns about whether the previous owner wrecked something the reseller overlooked (or neglected to mention). It’s the latest thing the company offers—bells, whistles, and all.

It also helps when it makes financial sense to buy the latest piece of tech on the market. If your carrier offers you a deal that offers no financial difference between the latest smartphone or one from a previous year, of course you should go for the new one. Who knows what they’ll offer you once smartphone manufacturers raise prices.

In fact, as great as Apple’s M-series line is, I do recommend the latest M4 MacBook Air for most people. The $999 price tag for the latest hardware (and 16GB of RAM) makes it a fantastic value, enough so that I’d usually suggest it over an M2 or M3 Air. That said, Apple could easily raise the price of the MacBook Air due to tariffs. If so, poof! There’s goes that great value.

Should you rush to buy something new? Probably not

Let’s use the above as an example here: If you need a new MacBook right now, I’d say buy the M4 MacBook Air while it’s still $999. If you’re thinking about buying a new Mac, but your current laptop is working just fine, hold off. Even if Apple ends up raising the prices, there’s an excellent M2 or M3 MacBook Air that will be worth the money you pay for it.

That’s how I think you should approach this current tariff situation. These devices may get more expensive—but you shouldn’t spend money on things you don’t need for the sake of beating that inflation. Buy it if you need it, wait if you don’t. If the price jumps, consider an older model instead. You’ll get a great deal, and you can upgrade your tech when you actually need to.

Whether you’re filling a prescription, rebooking a flight, or asking a question about your taxes, it seems like the first line of defense between you and any sort of real human helper is a never-ending string of automated prompts. But not all questions can be answered by a computer—especially when it comes to your taxes.

The IRS expects more than 140 million individual tax returns for 2024 to be filed this season, which has a deadline of April 15, 2025. That’s a lot of taxpayers on hold. Over the past few years, the IRS has certainly made improvements on its phone service, as well as expanding online tools. Still, anyone who has tried calling the IRS knows it can seem impossible to get a real human to take your call.

Of course, the IRS recommends checking its online resources before calling. It has a list of common issues that might answer your question about your tax return, payments, or identity theft concerns. But sometimes you need to talk to a real person. To do this, I used what I like to call the “1-2-3” hack to reach an actual agent within 60 seconds. Here’s how you can reach someone that quickly, too.

How long will you have to wait to talk to someone at the IRS?

Most callers either get frustrated with the long waits or fed up with the complicated phone tree that only leads from one automated message to another, so they simply hang up. If you do stick it out, the IRS claims this year’s wait times average 12 minutes. That’s a significant improvement from the 27-minute average from the past few years, but still—it’s a headache. Plus, some phone lines may have longer wait times. The IRS also says the longest waits typically fall on Mondays and Tuesdays.

How to reach an actual person at the IRS: Use the 1-2-3 hack

The IRS telephone number is 1-800-829-1040, and is available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time, Monday through Friday. To speak with someone at the IRS, you have to call, navigate through a menu, and eventually get routed to find an agent if one is available. Here’s how I reached an agent as soon as possible.

1. The first question the automated system will ask you is to choose your language. Press 1 for English.

2. Once you’ve set your language, press 2 to select “For answers about your personal income taxes…” instead.

3. Next, press 3 once you hear “for all other questions.”

I didn’t listen to any of the full prompts, enter my SSN or EIN, or waste any time at all, really. Instead, as soon as I heard an automated voice start the next prompt, I hit the next number. I pressed 1-2-3, and I was speaking with a real person within the minute.

At this point, this real person you’ve reached is the operator who will direct your call to the right department. My operator estimated it would take me about five minutes to reach a real human agent in the right department, and they were right. I didn’t have to waste any of my precious time listening to all those damn automated options, either.

Make sure you’re prepared before you call the IRS with questions

Before you call, make sure you’ve gathered everything you might need while talking with the agent. The IRS recommends having the following items ready:

• Social Security numbers (SSN) and birth dates

• Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) for taxpayers without a Social Security number

• Filing status (single, head of household, married filing joint, or married filing separate)

• Prior-year tax return

• The tax return you’re calling about

• Any correspondence from the IRS

What to do if you can’t get in touch with anyone at the IRS

If you live near a local IRS office, you may want to skip the main phone line and call it directly. They probably can’t answer your questions by phone, but your Taxpayer Assistance Center (see the state-by-state directory here) can schedule an appointment.

If you’re still having a hard time getting help from a real live person, try contacting the Taxpayer Advocate Service. It’s an independent office within the IRS that exists to help people with their ongoing tax issues.

“Tariff” might be the defining word of 2025. The Trump administration’s crusade to tariff trading partners around the world has upended markets and shaken trust in the United States. The situation isn’t resolving anytime soon, either: Following the U.S.’s decision to impose a 104% tariff increase on Chinese goods, China reciprocated by raising its tariffs on American goods from 34% to to 84%.

In short? It’s a mess, and no one can predict where we go from here. Markets, of course, loathe uncertainty, so when the global economy gets this shaky—especially when that instability is the direct result of one administration’s actions—companies act to protect their interests.

If you, like me, are an American, it’s our country that’s throwing these tariffs at nations around the world. As such, it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise to see companies pause sales and business in the U.S. for the time being. While there aren’t a ton of organizations running with this playbook, there are some notable names that have done so already.

Nintendo

Last week was like Christmas Day for us Nintendo fans. The company spent an hour walking gamers through the new Switch 2, announcing new games, upgraded play styles, and, for the first time, in-game chat (including video calls).

Switch 2 preorders were scheduled to start April 9, and seeing as the console has been hyped for years, preordering the console would be your best chance of picking one up.

That’s no longer the case. Following the tariffs, Nintendo announced Switch 2 preorders were delayed in the U.S., though the console’s official June 5 release date remained unchanged. It’s not clear if or when Nintendo plans to make preorders available to Americans, or whether the company will hike the price of the Switch 2, but seeing as the console alone starts at $450, any increases will make this an expensive handheld.

Framework

Framework makes laptops you can easily mod and upgrade yourself—the antithesis of most tech companies these days. Unfortunately, U.S. customers are going to have a hard time getting these machines in the near future.

Following Nintendo’s lead, Framework announced on Tuesday a pause on sales for specific laptops. The company says that, following the April 5 tariffs, they will not sell some of the base-model Framework Laptop 13 machines in the U.S., including the Ultra 5 125H and Ryzen 5 7640U models.

Then on Wednesday, the company announced a pause on U.S. preorders for the new Laptop 12. Framework is also holding back on announcing a price for this machine, as it will likely cost more than originally intended.

Razer

Razer, a major laptop manufacturer, has taken things even further: The company has essentially stopped all laptop sales to the U.S., and has paused sales on some of its accessories as well. If you browse the various laptops for sale on the company’s site, you’ll only find “Notify Me” buttons, rather than any option to purchase.

You can still purchase Razer laptops from other vendors, but I imagine those machines could sell out quickly given the company’s sales pause, or even jump in price.

Jaguar Land Rover Automotive

If you’re in the market for a luxury vehicle, you might want to hold off on buying a Jag or a Land Rover. Jaguar Land Rover Automotive is pausing shipments of vehicles to the U.S., following Trump’s 25% import tax on vehicles entering the country.

Basic Fun

You might not know the name Basic Fun, but you probably know its products. The company makes toys like Care Bears, Lincoln Logs, K’nex, and Tonka Trucks, but has paused shipments of its products that are made in China. The company’s chief executive, Jay Foreman, told the New York Post that he “cannot risk putting any product on the water that might incur [high] tariffs as implemented and threatened by the president.”

Swiss watches

The Post also reports that Swiss watchmakers, such as Audemars Piguet, Breitling, and Rolex, are pausing shipments as well. For context, Trump imposed a 31% tariff on Switzerland.

Small businesses

The big-name businesses like Nintendo will make headlines, and will be easy to track when they pause sales or preorders to the U.S. But what’s more difficult to identify are the number of small business pausing or stopping their sales due to these tariffs.

In general, these tariffs are going to hit the smaller players in our economy hardest. These companies don’t have the capital to either pay the higher fees on goods they’ve purchased from other countries, or to stop sales while they figure out their next moves. They’ll have to raise prices to stay afloat, but then contend with consumers who may be hesitant to shop, since, well, everything is getting more expensive.

Many of these companies have placed orders before the tariffs went into effect, but by the time the goods arrived in the U.S., multiple rounds of tariffs ballooned the fees. Sarah Wells, founder of Sarah Wells Bags, owed an additional $15,000 just to get her goods from customs. On the other hand, Emily Ley, owner of Simplified, has sued the Trump administration over these tariffs. Ley says the tariffs will cost her an extra $630,000 in fees this year.

This is an ongoing situation. I will continue to add companies to this list as they announce pauses in sales and business.

Google has released its April 2025 Android Security Bulletin, which includes patches for 62 vulnerabilities affecting Android devices. Two of the fixes address critical zero-day flaws that may have been exploited in “limited, targeted” attacks, according to Google. Zero-days are security vulnerabilities that are exploited before the software developer can identify the flaw and issue a patch.

The security update for April includes fixes for a range of issues, many of which elevation of privilege flaws, as well as vulnerabilities with Qualcomm, MediaTek, Arm, and Imagination Technologies components.

Two serious exploits

One of the zero-day exploits (labeled CVE-2024-53197) is an elevation of privilege flaw in the Linux kernel’s USB-audio driver for ALSA Devices. According to Bleeping Computer, this vulnerability was identified by Amnesty International’s Security Lab in 2024 as part of a chain—along with one flaw fixed in February and another in March—used by Serbian police to target activists.

The other zero-day (labeled CVE-2024-53150) is an information disclosure vulnerability in the Android kernel that permits local attackers to gain access to data without the device user’s input.

If you’re an Android user, you should be sure your device is up to date with this latest patch.

How to update your Android

Google issues patches for both its Pixel phones and the core Android Open Source Project (AOSP) code and gives manufacturers of other devices—like Samsung, Motorola, and Nokia—advance notice so they can push updates around the same time. If you have an Android, you should get a notification to install an update when one is available.

You can also go to About phone or About tablet > Android version to ensure your device is up to date and check your update status (under System > Software update or System update). If a patch is required, follow the prompts to download and install updates.

Any device running Android 10 or later may receive both security updates and Google Play system updates. This round of patches applies to AOSP versions 13, 14, and 15 and is split into two parts, the most recent of which is dated 2025-04-05.