The Verge

I knew things were not quite right when I had to throw a towel over a broken Ikea lamp to block out its light. How did I get here? I cover fancy and capable tech for a living, and yet, it took me two years to get rid of a pair of old, broken Ikea [...]

For a while there, it seemed like Double Fine might be struggling under the Microsoft corporate umbrella. The game studio led by Tim Schafer is beloved for offbeat titles like Brutal Legend and Broken Age, but after being acquired by Microsoft in 2019, its only new release for years was a long-awaited sequel to Psychonauts. [...]

Acclaimed Japanese director Sho Miyake has arrived in the States. He's brought with him two feature films: Small, Slow But Steady and Two Seasons, Two Strangers, a pair of naturalistic portraits that deal with the uneasy human desire to relate to other people. Seclusion and unease are bedrocks to Miyake's growing filmography. "I like these [...]

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 125, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, send me cereal recommendations, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I've been reading about NASA seamstresses and friction and Muskism and scooters, highlighting [...]

Apple and Samsung dominate the US phone market, and they've done so for years. Together with Google, they've shaped our sense of what a smartphone is and what it can do, pushing the boundaries of mobile photography, software, and processing power. But over the last few years, they've sat back, content to iterate rather than [...]

Windows users will no longer be forced to run automatic updates in the middle of a game or a busy day. Microsoft is rolling out some long-awaited changes to Windows Update to users on its Dev and Experimental Windows Insider channels, including the ability to indefinitely delay updates up to 35 days at a time. [...]

Alex Jones may soon lose Infowars, the digital perch that he's used for decades to traffic in conspiracy theories, to The Onion, the satirical newspaper. But not before he's uncovered something truly dastardly: comedian Tim Heidecker's past (publicly available) work. "The Onion newspaper has been rocked by the discovery that their new creative director, produced [...]

Following Paramount Skydance's move to launch an investigation into how its upcoming Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender animated feature leaked onto the internet, a suspect has been taken into custody by police. The Straits Times reports Singaporean police have arrested a 26-year-old man who is alleged to have uploaded the new Avatar movie (previously titled [...]

At CES 2022, BMW debuted its BMW iX Flow concept car that could dynamically change its appearance using the same grayscale E Ink panels found in e-readers like the Kindle. It was followed by the BMW i Vision Dee concept and the BMW i5 Flow Nostokana that were both upgraded with color E Ink panels. [...]

Spring has sprung, as they say, and to mark the occasion, Google is running a spring-centric promo until Sunday, April 26th. The limited-time discounts apply to a number of Google's first-party devices, from the Pixel 10 Pro to the Pixel Buds Pro 2, as well as the wearables like the Pixel Watch 4. In fact, [...]

The RAM shortage caused by demand from AI datacenters is already driving up prices on phones, PS5s, and Raspberry Pis, but it could be about to get even worse. Samsung is facing employee protests over demands for wages that are more competitive with rival chip manufacturer SK Hynix, including removing Samsung's cap on bonus pay, [...]

In the first 24 hours of the assault on Iran, the US military struck more than 1,000 targets, nearly double the scale of the "shock and awe" attack on Iraq over two decades ago. This acceleration was made possible by AI systems that speed up the targeting process. Chief among them is the Maven Smart [...]

The Xreal One Pro are the company's best AR glasses, touting thin optics that keep out reflections so you can enjoy a crisp, contrast-rich image of whatever content you're watching. Xreal has permanently cut their price from $649 to $599, making them $150 more than its entry-level (but still good) 1S glasses that debuted shortly [...]

Imagine Google Street View, except you can walk around like it's a video game. Now imagine you don't need to wait for Google to come film because it's completely DIY. Insta360, the leading maker of 360-degree cameras, is now partnered with a 12-person UK startup called Splatica to help creators do just that. Last January, [...]

Tesla's Cybercab is now in production at the company's Gigafactory in Austin, Texas, but Elon Musk is sounding unusually cautious about the rollout. The robotaxi's start of production was announced Thursday on X, with Tesla posting a video shot from inside a steering wheel-less Cybercab as it drove out of the factory with the caption, [...]

We knew at some point Tim Cook would step down from his position as Apple's CEO. Over the last year, it has become increasingly obvious that John Ternus was his likely successor. The news this week was still a surprise, though - and this year's succession could lead to some important changes at the most [...]

Where's the Trump phone? We're going to keep talking about it every week. We've reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump phone's whereabouts. We're back to being ignored, and the phone seems no closer to an actual launch. Last week Trump Mobile overhauled its website, in the process officially revealing the updated design [...]

This is Optimizer, a weekly newsletter sent every Friday from Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song that dissects and discusses the latest gizmos and potions that swear they're going to change your life. Opt in for Optimizer here. These days, it seems I cannot escape peptides. Online, I've been assaulted by videos of shirtless Chads injecting [...]

Congress is once again attempting to pass a national data privacy law. But while it would introduce new protections in some states, it would weaken privacy rights in others - and it's missing several elements that privacy advocates deem necessary. The SECURE Data Act is the product of a Republican data privacy working group led [...]

Elon Musk cofounded OpenAI, and then flounced off in a huff when he wasn't anointed CEO, leaving Sam Altman as the last power-hungry man standing. Now, Musk is back with a lawsuit, and a trial is scheduled to start in Oakland, California, on April 27th. Theoretically, it's a legal case about whether OpenAI defrauded Musk. [...]

Instagram is testing a new dedicated app that's focused around Snapchat-like photo sharing features. The app, called "Instants," was launched in Italy and Spain yesterday, Business Insider reports, and allows users to send each other disappearing photos that are available for 24 hours and can be viewed only once during that window. The app is [...]

Chinese AI company DeepSeek released a preview of its hotly anticipated next-generation AI model V4 on Friday, saying that the open-source model can compete with leading closed-source systems from US rivals including Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI. DeepSeek says V4 marks a major improvement over prior models, especially in coding, a capability that has become central [...]

We love to muse over how "real" photography is defined here at The Verge now that generative AI is so prolific, and the World Press Photo competition might have the answer. The prestigious award celebrates the best of photojournalism, where capturing reality is paramount. The winning entry for 2026 - "Separated by ICE," captured by [...]

The alien world of Saros feels like it has been touched by King Midas. The sky is golden after another impossibly frequent solar eclipse; rocks, specifically those of the precious resource Lucenite, radiate a shimmering amber. Even the body of our gruff hero Arjun Devraj (played by Rahul Kohli) is liable to turn deep, opulent [...]

We knew someone made over $400,000 on suspicious Polymarket bets around the US operation to capture Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, but now we have a name: Gannon Ken Van Dyke. The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced Thursday that Van Dyke is in custody, on several charges, including using confidential government [...]

Microsoft started teasing a mysterious Discord and Xbox Game Pass partnership yesterday, and a new leak appears to have detailed exactly what's coming. Discord Previews has uncovered a new Xbox Game Pass "Starter Edition" that is bundled with Discord Nitro. The Starter Edition reportedly includes "access to over 50 games from the Game Pass library," [...]

Claude users can access more apps with Anthropic's AI now thanks to new connectors for everything from hiking to grocery shopping. Anthropic already supported connecting numerous work-related apps to Claude, like Microsoft apps, but this expansion focuses on personal apps like Audible, Spotify, Uber, AllTrails, TripAdvisor, Instacart, TurboTax, and others. Some of these apps, such [...]

Under the guidance of consummate bully / chairman Brendan Carr, the FCC is taking steps toward cracking down on children's entertainment that in any way explores the complexities of gender identity. On Wednesday, the FCC's Media Bureau announced that it is soliciting comments from the public about whether the TV ratings system has made sound [...]

Portable audio and home theater upgrades can be very pricey, which is why we make a habit out of telling readers when there are good deals happening. With that in mind, here's a friendly reminder that a heap of refurbished Sonos gear is steeply discounted, and will be until the company's sale ends April 24th. [...]

Meta is planning to layoff around 10 percent of employees in May, according to a memo from the company's chief people officer, Janelle Gale, published by Bloomberg. That means approximately 8,000 people will see their jobs cut. Meta will also be closing around 6,000 open roles, according to Gale. The cuts follow Meta's significant investments [...]

Microsoft's new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has laid out a new strategy for what she describes as a "return of Xbox." In a joint memo with Xbox Chief Content Officer Matt Booty, Sharma and Booty lay out their vision for the future of Xbox that will be judged on daily active players and the priorities [...]

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma held an all-hands meeting this morning and laid out her strategy for a "return of Xbox" with employees. While rebranding Microsoft Gaming back to Xbox was part of the agenda, Sharma also revealed that Xbox is looking into "reevaluating" Xbox exclusive games and windowed releases of titles. It's a hot topic [...]

A bill introduced by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) would prohibit the Department of Homeland Security from converting warehouses and similar buildings into immigrant detention centers, an attempt to slow President Donald Trump's mass deportations campaign. The Ban Warehouse Detention Act would also forbid Immigration and Customs Enforcement from developing other "non-traditional" detention facilities. "ICE and [...]

The bright yellow livery of Spirit Airlines may soon disappear from the skies. The country's seventh-largest airline has been in financial trouble for years: It hasn't turned a profit since 2019 and filed for bankruptcy twice in the last two years. Despite all that, its leaders predicted that the airline could exit bankruptcy and return [...]

Anthropic's tightly controlled rollout of Claude Mythos has taken an awkward turn. After spending weeks insisting the AI model is so capable at cybersecurity that it is too dangerous to release publicly, it appears the model fell into the wrong hands anyway. According to Bloomberg, a "small group of unauthorized users" has had access to [...]

OpenAI just announced its new GPT-5.5 model, which the company calls its "smartest and most intuitive to use model yet, and the next step toward a new way of getting work done on a computer." OpenAI just released GPT-5.4 last month, but says that the new GPT-5.5 "excels" at tasks like writing and debugging code, [...]

Ikea shared a sneak preview of three pieces from a new experimental collection, set to be fully revealed at an annual company event on May 13th. One of the pieces is an inflatable chair that looks like a far cry from the cheap and lumpy inflatable furniture popularized in the '90s. This isn't the first [...]

The 2026 edition of Motorola's stylus phone is plenty appealing. My review unit is a charming lilac color, has a pleasantly textured back panel, and includes a MicroSD slot and what might be the last surviving headphone jack on a mainstream phone sold in North America. The namesake stylus is no longer just a fancy [...]

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has had a busy week. Sharma held an internal town hall with Xbox employees today, just days after announcing an Xbox Game Pass price cut, commenting on the status of the Xbox mobile store, and teasing a mysterious Xbox and Discord partnership. One of the items on the agenda for the [...]

If you've ever wished your laptop keyboard was better tailored to your workflow, the Keychron V1 is a solid upgrade. It doesn't cost as much as most other mechanical keyboards, but it still offers a lot of the same flexibility. And now through April 25th, you can buy the wired board for $44.99 ($30 off) [...]

It feels like not a week has gone by this year without a senior Microsoft executive leaving the company. Some departures have triggered sweeping shakeups of Microsoft's biggest businesses, while others have seen fresh faces replace veteran employees. Executive departures at Microsoft are nothing new, but the pace feels notable this early in the year. [...]

This is Lowpass by Janko Roettgers, a newsletter on the ever-evolving intersection of tech and entertainment, syndicated just for The Verge subscribers once a week. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the original iPod. With its monochrome display, mechanical scroll wheel, and 5 GB hard drive, Apple's pioneering music player now looks like the [...]

Microsoft is changing up its annual rewards and performance programs today, and offering long-serving employees in the US the ability to voluntarily retire. It's the first time in Microsoft's more than 50-year history that the company has offered such a voluntary retirement program. "Many of these employees have spent years, and in some cases, decades, [...]

Following teasers and leaks, DJI has officially announced its new entry-level Lito 1 and Lito X1 drones that both weigh less than 249 grams so they're not subjected to registration requirements in many countries. Neither drone is currently available in the US, but European pricing starts at 339 (around $397) for the Lito 1, and [...]

It hasn't been that long since Stranger Things ended, but even still fans are clearly clamoring for more. The finale was overshadowed by a conspiracy about a secret episode, and an otherwise standard behind-the-scenes documentary became a hotbed for theorizing. Of course, given the scale of Stranger Things, Netflix was never going to let the [...]

Today on Decoder, I want to lay out an idea that's been banging around my head for weeks now as we've been reporting on AI and having conversations here on this show. I've been calling it software brain, and it's a particular way of seeing the world that fits everything into algorithms, databases and loops [...]

Earlier this month, millions of OpenClaw users woke up to a sweeping mandate: The viral AI agent tool, which this year took the worldwide tech industry by storm, had been severely restricted by Anthropic. Anthropic, like other leading AI labs, was under immense pressure to lessen the strain on its systems and start turning a [...]

Apple is about to become a very different company. This September, Apple CEO Tim Cook is stepping down and will be replaced by John Ternus, the current head of hardware. But the shift is bigger than just a CEO transition - it's the most significant move yet into a world where Apple's executive team isn't [...]

Govee announced its first solar-powered lights today. They include a 6W panel with an integrated 4,800mAh battery that can be recharged with a single full day of sunlight (though if the weather's looking a little overcast, you can still charge it over USB-C). The Govee Outdoor Solar String Lights are available now through the company's [...]

Microsoft is rolling out a new Agent Mode inside Office apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint this week. Previously described by Microsoft as "vibe working," the Agent Mode is a more powerful version of the Copilot experience in Office that Microsoft has been trying to sell to businesses. "When we first shipped Copilot, foundation models [...]