The Verge

Daniel Moreno-Gama is now facing federal charges after allegedly traveling from Texas to California with the intent to kill OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. On April 10th, he was arrested after throwing a Molotov cocktail at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's home and attempting to break into OpenAI's headquarters. According to prosecutors, at the HQ, "Moreno-Gama attempted [...]

A year ago, Mercedes-Benz did the prudent thing and paused its EQ lineup of electric vehicles in the US. With customer demand drying up for luxury EVs, and federal incentives getting axed by vengeful Republicans, Mercedes put its first-generation EVs on ice. But then, in January, Mercedes quietly reintroduced the EQS brand in the US, [...]

This past Saturday at the Coachella music festival, Justin Bieber played the first of two headlining sets in a deal reportedly worth $10 million. It was his most significant solo performance in years. But Bieber spent some of his time on stage the way many of us do on Saturday nights: on YouTube. For some [...]

Microsoft just raised the prices across its line of Surface devices amid the global RAM shortage. Now, the 13-inch Surface Pro 11 and the 13.8-inch Surface Laptop 7 cost $500 more than their original starting price, going from $999 to $1,499, as reported earlier by Windows Central. Last year, Microsoft stopped selling the $999 versions [...]

NZXT and its business partner Fragile have agreed to pay $3.45 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that accused the companies of attempting to "scam" consumers through their Flex PC rental service. The preliminary settlement was filed in a California District Court on April 7th to close a civil RICO case against the Flex program [...]

Coachella kicked off on Friday, and as usual, it's the place to be for online influencers looking to show off their memorable experiences at the festival. A quick scroll through my social media feeds has already shown me many uncannily attractive figures in glitzy outfits, posing for perfectly staged photographs with celebrities. Only some of [...]

If you're still holding onto an older Apple Watch, now might be a good time to upgrade. Right now, the 42mm Apple Watch Series 11 with GPS is on sale for around $299 ($100 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target, which is its best price to date. If you prefer a larger size, the [...]

Microsoft's new Xbox chief, Asha Sharma, has signaled that Xbox Game Pass pricing is about to change. In an internal memo to Xbox employees, obtained by The Verge, Sharma admits that "Game Pass has become too expensive for players" and that Microsoft needs "a better value equation." "Game Pass is central to gaming value on [...]

If you're having trouble deciding on a color for a new MacBook Neo, you might not have to choose just one. The folks over at MacWorld found that Apple doesn't appear to limit the colors of spare parts you can buy for your Neo, potentially allowing you to deck out your indigo laptop with pink-tinted [...]

OpenAI's chief revenue officer, Denise Dresser, sent a four-page memo to employees on Sunday about the company's strategic direction, emphasizing the need to lock in users and grow its enterprise business. The memo, which was viewed by The Verge, repeatedly underlines the importance of building a moat around its AI products, to combat how easy [...]

Slate Auto, the EV startup backed by Jeff Bezos, raised $650 million to fund its effort to build an affordable electric pickup truck expected to start in the mid-$20,000s. The company plans on delivering its first EV later this year. The Series C round was led by TWG Global, headed by Guggenheim Partners founder and [...]

Microsoft is looking into ways it can integrate OpenClaw-style features into its Copilot AI assistant, according to a report from The Information. The test reportedly comes as part of efforts to make Microsoft 365 Copilot "run autonomously around the clock" while completing tasks on behalf of users. Omar Shahine, Microsoft's corporate vice president, confirmed to [...]

If it's time for you to upgrade your phone, it's worth considering the Pixel 10A, Google's latest midrange phone that has some (but not all) of the new software features of the pricier $599 Pixel 10. Every color of the 128GB 10A - including the alluring berry" tone - is down to $449 ($50 off) [...]

Over the last few years, Capcom has done an exceptional job of solidifying its lineup of big, long-running franchises. The likes of Monster Hunter, Resident Evil, and Street Fighter have all been on strong and consistent runs, an impressive thing given the current strain of uncertainty that runs through the games industry. And now the [...]

SwitchBot is introducing a new version of the tiny button-pressing robot that helped launch the company a decade ago. The functionality of the new SwitchBot Bot is exactly the same as the original that the company will continue to sell, but comes with a rechargeable battery instead of a disposable one. The SwitchBot Bot Rechargeable [...]

Today, I'm talking with Sarah Personette, CEO of Puck, which is a fancy new media company that's been around for just about five years now. Puck hires big stars and gives them newsletters that are all mostly part of a subscription bundle. These newsletters are often must-reads in their categories - everyone in Hollywood reads [...]

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg could soon have an AI clone of himself to interact with and provide feedback to employees, according to a report from the Financial Times. Sources tell the outlet that Meta is training the AI avatar on Zuckerberg's image and voice, along with his mannerisms, tone, and public statements, "so that employees [...]

Farmers are very busy in the spring, under pressure to get crops into the ground just as the Northern Hemisphere begins to thaw. But this year has been different for many, thanks in large part to the escalating war in Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz is a [...]

Roblox is about to make a big change to how you can access games on its platform: If you want to play any game that's intended for users nine or older, you will have to complete an age verification process. The shift is happening as part of a rollout of new Roblox Kids and Roblox [...]

Roblox is making a subtle but notable change. After swapping the word "game" for "experience" all over its website and mobile apps in 2021 while the Epic Games v. Apple trial was taking place, Roblox is getting more comfortable with using the term "games" once again. "Over time, we've learned that 'experiences' isn't an intuitive [...]

Elon Musk promised Neuralink would bring superhuman abilities and minds merged with AI. Then he fueled a runaway hype train for his brain implant technology, which ended up with a grisly record for implants in monkeys and some success with human subjects. But for all of the hype, he's still further away than Mars from [...]

Microsoft has started testing its own virtual mouse cursor inside its Xbox mode for Windows-based handhelds. The new Gamepad Cursor option provides a quick way to turn the left stick of a handheld like the Xbox Ally X into a virtual mouse. While Asus has its own cursor as part of Armory Crate, Microsoft's Gamepad [...]

Sam Altman was seemingly targeted by a second attack on Sunday morning, with two suspects arrested following a shooting at his Russian Hill residence, The San Francisco Standard reports. The suspects were arrested and charged with negligent discharge, according to a police report on the incident, citing surveillance footage that appears to show a vehicle [...]

Apple and Samsung have both been strongly linked with plans for foldable phones in a boxy, wide aspect ratio, but it looks like another company will get there first. Huawei has just revealed the design of the Pura X Max, a new foldable it's launching in China next week, and its passport-esque form factor is [...]

For obvious reasons, I've had Moon on the mind all week. So I was trying to figure out what I should recommend this week that would thematically fit. Brian Eno's Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks is incredible, and if you haven't listened to it, go do that now. But it also seemed a bit on the [...]

Rockstar confirmed on Saturday that some of its data was compromised in a breach of a third-party provider. The group ShinyHunters claimed responsibility, saying it had gained access to the company's Snowflake instances (a cloud-hosting provider popular with enterprise customers) via Anodot, a cost-monitoring and analytics service. The group is demanding a ransom by April [...]

In celebration of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie coming to theaters, Nintendo is making it a little cheaper to get both Super Mario Galaxy games when you buy a $449.99 Nintendo Switch 2 console. Now through May 9th, you can buy a Switch 2 with Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 for $499.99 [...]

We spend a lot of time at The Verge waxing poetic about the latest gadgets, but sometimes it's the last-gen devices from several years ago that offer the better value. The 2021 Kindle Paperwhite is a great case in point - especially since you can grab it at Woot in refurbished condition with lockscreen ads, [...]

RGB LED TVs have been the talk of the TV world this year, with models coming from all the manufacturers, and the first one of 2026 is here - the Hisense UR9. It's the first look at the viability of the new backlight technology outside of demo rooms, and it's a step above the traditional [...]

For years, even decades, virtually everyone in the United States had the same phone. Nobody really thought about it, it didn't even matter what it was called - it was just The Phone. Well, The Phone was called the Western Electric 500, and when landline phones ruled the world, the Western Electric 500 ruled the [...]

This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on the AI coding and vibe-coding booms, follow David Pierce. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started Writing code was a killer app for AI [...]

I love black-and-white photography. I also adore compact cameras you can always have by your side. So I'm a total mark for the Ricoh GR IV Monochrome, a fixed-lens camera that can't zoom and can't record color - at all. It's a formula that makes the average person ask, "Why?" I've tested the GR IV [...]

Dutch regulators, the RDW, announced that after over a year and a half of testing, it has officially approved Tesla's Full-Self Driving (FSD) Supervised. This makes the Netherlands the first European country to authorize the use of FSD on its roads. This could open the door to wider adoption throughout the EU. Tesla's European headquarters [...]

Polymarket bets started popping up in Google News alongside legitimate news articles. But now those results aren't showing, and Google says they were never supposed to. Spokesperson Ned Adriance told The Verge that "Google News is designed to show sources that create content about current issues, events, and important topics, and we have policies for [...]

Like many live-service games before it, Pokemon Champions' launch has been messy. The free-to-start battle sim, which is out now on the Switch and Switch 2 (and also coming to mobile later this year), is plagued with bugs, some of which cause issues with basic battle mechanics - not great for a game that's only [...]

The illustration for The New Yorker's profile of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is a jump scare. Altman stands in a blue sweater with a blank expression. Around his head hovers a cluster of disembodied faces - creepy alt-Altmans, their expressions ranging from anger to open-mouthed woe. Some barely look like Altman. One final face rests [...]

If you've ever worried about porch pirates stealing packages while you're away, a video doorbell can offer some peace of mind, letting you keep tabs on deliveries no matter where you are. Google offers some of the best around, and right now, its battery-powered, second-gen Nest Doorbell is available for $129.99 ($50 off) fromAmazon and [...]

Two weeks ago, I was getting ready to log off work when I got a text message. "Oh wow, I was checking out Mitski. did you know people are saying her Dad was a CIA operative?" Normally, that kind of out-of-the-blue text from a friend wouldn't faze me. This time, my eyes bugged. The unprompted [...]

Nintendo seemingly designed its latest console to be a mystery for third-party accessory makers. With the Switch 2, the company changed the wireless protocol for connecting controllers to the new system, as well as how it outputs video over USB-C, making it clear at launch that every third-party manufacturer needed to start over from scratch. [...]

There's one very specific reason I keep a Wii U handy, and that's so that I have an easy way to play the classic pinball game Devil's Crush. Over the years, it has become a comfort game for me. I'm not entirely sure what it is, but there's something about the combination of familiar pinball [...]

In the early days of the war on Iran, while the White House was busy posting Call of Duty memes and AI slop of dancing bowling pins, the Iranian regime's state media was flooding the zone with video after video of what was happening on the ground: Explosions over Tehran. Smoke billowing in the sky. [...]

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 123, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, which Artemis photo did you make your wallpaper, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I've been reading about Sam Altman and Satoshi Nakamoto [...]

Earlier this year, a relatively unknown startup from Finland made a startling announcement: It had finally solved solid-state batteries. Not only that, but Donut Lab, a spinoff of Verge Motorcycles, said that its solid-state battery - long considered the "Holy Grail of batteries" for their high-density, durable, fast-charging abilities - would go into production later [...]

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has struggled for years to have enough air traffic controllers to address shortages, with the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) saying in January that the number of people in the job in the US has declined by around 6 percent "in the last decade." Now the Trump administration is rolling [...]

San Francisco police have arrested a 20-year-old man suspected of throwing a Molotov cocktail at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's Russian Hill house early Friday morning, The San Francisco Standard reports. The incident was caught on surveillance cameras shortly before 7AM ET. Later that morning, someone matching the suspect's description was seen making threats outside OpenAI's [...]

The Orion capsule, carrying Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, is expected to land back to Earth after a nine-day mission that set a record for the farthest distance humans have ever traveled from our planet. After making a high-speed re-entry through the atmosphere, [...]

Microsoft is finally allowing Windows 11 testers to get access to experimental features without having to download a third-party app like ViVeTool. The changes are part of making the Windows Insider Program (WIP) less confusing, with Dev and Canary testing rings simplified into a new Experimental Channel alongside a refresh of the existing Beta Channel. [...]

Fanttik, like Hoto, is quickly becoming a household name. The tool brand's cordless wares are quiet, capable, and certainly more stylish than anything you'd find at your local Ace Hardware or neighborhood tool library. The S1 Pro electric screwdriver is a great example of the company's penchant for attractive design, one you can currently grab [...]

Amazon Luna announced a big change on Friday that will prevent players from purchasing third-party games and subscriptions. The cloud gaming service will remove previously purchased games on June 10th, 2026, though they'll still be available to play on other platforms through the EA, GOG, or Ubisoft accounts players used when purchasing the title. In [...]

Donald Trump has spun the recent rescue of a downed airman whose fighter jet was destroyed behind Iranian borders as a resounding success. But the story is very different in one of the many viral, AI-generated Lego videos that have been produced by Iranian content creation group Explosive Media in the weeks since the US [...]