The Verge - All Posts

The Cybertruck prototype was first revealed onstage in 2019. | Photo by Sean O'Kane / The Verge Tesla is about to deliver the first Cybertrucks to buyers at an event on Thursday, November 30th, starting around 3PM ET / 2PM CT / 12PM PT in Austin, Texas.The electric pickup truck, with a jarringly polygonal design, was first revealed in November 2019 by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The Cybertruck's unique design helped it make its mark, and many people immediately plunked down $100 to hold a place in line to get one. Even the botched armor glass" demonstration, in which Tesla's lead designer smashed the driver side window with a metal ball, did little to deter interest.Little did the reservation holders know that key Cybertruck targets would keep shifting, well after Musk's original delivery goal of late 2021. The Cybertruck is difficult... Continue reading...

Illustration by Haein Jeong / The Verge OpenAI didn't mean to kickstart a generational shift in the technology industry. But it did. Now all we have to decide is where to go from here. Continue reading...

The update is available now for some users, with a full rollout expected over the coming days/weeks." | Image: The Verge A critical security update is now available for some Chrome users on Mac, Linux, and Windows that patches a zero-day vulnerability that could make systems susceptible to data theft and other cyber attacks. On Tuesday, Google confirmed in a Chrome stable channel update that it is aware that an exploit for CVE-2023-6345 exists in the wild." The vulnerability was discovered on November 24th by two security researchers working within Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG).Google hasn't released many details about the CVE-2023-6345 exploit yet, but that's to be expected. As Android Central notes, Google, like many tech companies, often opts to keep information about vulnerabilities under wraps until they've been largely addressed, as... Continue reading...

Sam Altman. Clearly our governance structure had a problem," according to Altman. Continue reading...

Illustration by William Joel / The Verge Until today, we'd never heard of Project Boston". It was Activision Blizzard King's big plan to earn more money from its mobile games by changing its relationship with Google. And if things had gone differently, it would have given Activision Blizzard its own app store on Android.In late 2019, according to internal emails and documents I saw today in the courtroom during the Epic v. Google trial, the company decided it was going to dual-track two intriguing parallel plans.The first plan was to build its own mobile game store - either in partnership with Epic Games and Clash of Clans publisher Supercell or all by itself - to bypass the Google Play Store. You'd download it from a website, sideload it onto your Android phone, and then... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Sam Altman is officially OpenAI's CEO again.Just before Thanksgiving, the company said it had reached a deal in principle for him to return, and now it's done. Microsoft is getting a non-voting observer seat on the nonprofit board that controls OpenAI as well, the company announced on Wednesday.I have never been more excited about the future," Altman said in a memo to employees shared with The Verge. I am extremely grateful for everyone's hard work in an unclear and unprecedented situation, and I believe our resilience and spirit set us apart in the industry. I feel so, so good about our probability of success for achieving our mission."With three of the four board members who decided to suddenly fire Altman now gone, OpenAI's new... Continue reading...

Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images Elon Musk took the stage at the DealBook conference on Wednesday evening with nervous laughter and a cascade of jokes about himself and his companies. But the interview quickly turned to the more serious subject of Musk's recent antisemitic posts on X and whether his company can survive the advertiser boycott. On that matter, Musk seemed alternatingly apologetic and defiant - acknowledging his mistakes, then doing everything in his power to push advertisers away.I hope they stop. Don't advertise," Musk told interviewer Andrew Ross Sorkin. If somebody is going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, go fuck yourself. Go fuck yourself. Is that clear? I hope it is." He singled out Disney CEO Bob Iger, who... Continue reading...

Noah Berger Amazon wants users to evaluate AI models better and encourage more humans to be involved in the process.During the AWS re: Invent conference, AWS vice president of database, analytics, and machine learning Swami Sivasubramanian announced Model Evaluation on Bedrock, now available on preview, for models found in its repository Amazon Bedrock. Without a way to transparently test models, developers may end up using ones that are not accurate enough for a question-and-answer project or one that is too large for their use case.Model selection and evaluation is not just done at the beginning, but is something that's repeated periodically," Sivasubramanian said. We think having a human in the loop is important, so we are offering a way to... Continue reading...

From left to right: Conrad Kramer, Kim Beverett, and Ari Weinstein of Software Applications Incorporated. AI chatbots like ChatGPT have, to date, been fairly impersonal, existing outside of the apps and data that we use every day. A new startup by three ex-Apple employees called Software Applications Incorporated hopes to change that.The company's CEO, Ari Weinstein, is a repeat founder, having sold his last startup, the iOS automation app Workflow, to Apple in 2017 alongside co-founder and CTO Conrad Kramer. This time, the two have been joined by Kim Beverett, a 10-year Apple vet who was onstage at this year's WWDC and previously oversaw product management for various teams, including Safari, Messages, FaceTime, and user privacy.In their first interview since leaving Apple to start something new, the trio tells me that their focus is on... Continue reading...

Photo by James Bareham / The Verge Evernote is going to limit new and existing free users to a maximum of just 50 notes and one notebook starting December 4th, the company announced in a blog post on Wednesday. The change, which Evernote had been testing, means that free users who have a high volume of notes may have to consider paying for one of Evernote's other plans or switching over to another note-taking platform.If you currently have more than the allotted 50 notes or one notebook, Evernote says that you'll still be able to view, edit, export, share, and delete existing notes and notebooks." But it seems like if you want to create any new notes or notebooks, you're going to have to delete notes or notebooks to fall under the limit. We've asked Evernote if that's... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft is adding an energy saver mode for Windows 11 Insiders (Build 26002) that extends and enhances" the existing battery saver option. The new mode doesn't apply to just laptops like battery saver does - you can also use energy saver on a desktop computer if you want to conserve electricity, too.Aside from availability on both desktop devices and laptops (even when they're plugged in), energy saver works pretty much the same as battery saver mode. The new feature also helps save energy by trading off some system performance," so you might not want to use it if you're gaming. Image: Microsoft You can enable energy saver from the Quick Settings menu, or you can configure it from the Settings menu by heading to... Continue reading...

Why draw the pixel cat in MS Paint when Cocreator can just make it for you? | Image: Microsoft Microsoft is officially launching its Cocreator image-generating AI feature within the Paint app for Windows 11, as reported by Windows Latest. The new integrated text-to-image generator, powered by OpenAI's DALL-E 3 model, was previously available only to Windows Insiders. As Windows Central points out, the new Cocreator button in Microsoft Paint has now been widely released, giving all users the ability to enter a description of something they're visualizing and get three generated images to choose between.While the image generator is a new addition to Microsoft Paint, the company has already sprinkled the DALL-E 3 text-to-image-making capability into its other services. Microsoft's Bing search chatbot was where users initially... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Google announced today that it won't pull links to Canadian news outlets after all, thanks to an agreement with the government of Canada over the contentious Online News Act or Bill C-18. Google and Alphabet president of global affairs Kent Walker published a statement saying that following extensive discussions, we are pleased that the Government of Canada has committed to addressing our core issues with Bill C-18," a rule designed to make large web platforms pay news outlets for using their content. While the exact terms have yet to be published, Walker says the government addressed Google's previous concerns about creating uncapped financial liability" for linking to articles, and a report indicates it will pay millions of dollars... Continue reading...

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge Last May, Google announced it was planning to delete any accounts that hadn't been used in two years (with a few exceptions, such as accounts that have YouTube videos). And sure enough, about two months after that, I got an email from Google warning me that accounts that have not been accessed for two years will indeed be eligible for deletion starting on December 1st, 2023.I've been wandering around Google's apps for some time now, and it occurred to me that I could have Google accounts I haven't used for years - and which, if I didn't check them, might have content I'd want to save. I knew I had three active Google accounts, and suspected I had at least one other I hadn't visited in a while, but I wasn't quite sure if there were any... Continue reading...

Bluetooth trackers come in all shapes and sizes. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge For those of us who don't ever seem to know where our keys, wallets, and remote controls have gone. Continue reading...

This is an official press screenshot from TinyLetter. Throwback! | Image: TinyLetter Mailchimp is shutting TinyLetter, a service that I loved that let individuals easily write and publish simple but nice-looking email newsletters. The service will be discontinued on February 29th, 2024, according to a message I see when logged into my TinyLetter account.A user on X (formerly Twitter) shared a screenshot of what looks to be a message from Mailchimp that provides some additional context about the shutdown. Since Mailchimp acquired TinyLetter in 2011, our business priorities have evolved, and we've been laser focused on building tools to serve marketers and help small businesses grow," according to the message. The TinyLetter community's needs have changed too, with some customers moving to Mailchimp to scale and... Continue reading...

Illustration: Samar Haddad / The Verge Google Drive users on Android have had the ability to scan documents and save them as PDFs for a while now. However, recently Google has upgraded that feature for Android users, adding automatic captures, among other upgrades, and is also rolling out the feature for iOS users.As soon as it is available on my iPhone, I will add directions for the iOS version. Meanwhile, here's how you can scan to a PDF using Google Drive. This example was done on a Google Pixel 6 running Android 14.

Photo by Noah Berger / Getty Images for Amazon Web Services Amazon is joining the AI image generation fray with the release of its Titan text-to-image AI model. Announced during the AWS re:Invent conference, Titan Image Generator can create realistic, studio-quality images" and is supposed to have built-in guardrails against toxicity and bias. Titan isn't a standalone app or website but a tool that developers can build on to make their own image generators powered by the model; to use it, developers will need access to Amazon Bedrock.Swami Sivasubramanian, AWS vice president of database, analytics, and machine learning, previewed Titan Image Generator during his keynote, pointing to the model's ability to not just create an image from a natural language prompt but also change out backgrounds.... Continue reading...

Image: Netflix Netflix is adding the Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition to its ever expanding, ever impressive roster of games just in time for the holiday need-a-20-minute-break-from-the-family season.Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition (which we're going to call the GTA Trilogy for simplicity's sake) is a remaster of GTA III, GTA: Vice City, and GTA: San Andreas. Players can pre-register for the games starting today on iOS and Google Play. It will be available both in the Netflix mobile app and offered separately to Netflix subscribers in the App Store and Google Play.Netflix can't stop, won't stop offering some of the biggest titles on its streaming service. We've got Kentucky Route Zero, Before Your Eyes,... Continue reading...

Here's a photo of compact mode on a ROG Ally. | Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge Microsoft's new compact mode" that makes the Xbox PC app a little easier to use on handheld gaming PCs is now available. The company had been testing the compact mode, but thanks to an update to the Xbox PC app, you can now try it for yourself, according to an Xbox Wire blog post.The big change for compact mode is that the sidebar collapses down into icons, meaning that the sidebar takes up less real estate. The new mode should work well with devices like Asus' ROG Ally and Lenovo's Legion Go, and Microsoft says that it's working with Asus and other manufacturers" to ensure that Compact mode is enabled by default on your handheld devices." Image: Microsoft Here's an image from Microsoft showing what compact... Continue reading...

Lights illuminate application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) devices used for Bitcoin mining. | Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg via Getty Images Bitcoin mines aren't just energy-hungry, it turns out they're thirsty, too. The water consumption tied to a single Bitcoin transaction, on average, could be enough to fill a small backyard pool, according to a new analysis. Bitcoin mines are essentially big data centers, which have become notorious for how much electricity and water they use.Bitcoin's water footprint is growing, according to the analysis published today in a commentary in the journal Cell Reports Sustainability. That's an issue to watch as the price of Bitcoin recovers from a spiraling crypto winter.Bitcoin mines are essentially big data centers, which have become notorious for how much electricity and water they use.The study was conducted by Alex de Vries, a PhD... Continue reading...

Image: Ubisoft A cult classic is getting a makeover next year. Ubisoft announced today that it's working on a 20th anniversary rerelease of Beyond Good & Evil that's expected to launch in early 2024. The news comes after details of the release were posted early to the Xbox store; not only that but Ubisoft also accidentally uploaded an unfinished version of the game to Ubisoft Plus. This version is not indicative of the final game," the company says.As for what the anniversary release will entail, Ubisoft says only that our commitment to delivering a game that meets the high expectations of our fans is unwavering" and we're dedicated to making it an experience that truly honors the legacy of the original." The now-deleted Xbox listing said that the... Continue reading...

New York Times CEO Meredith Kopit Levien in 2022. | Photo by Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images We're reporting live from DealBook Summit 2023, where leaders in tech, media, and policy are sitting for interviews. Continue reading...

The Move makes a great indoor or outdoor speaker you can take all around the house. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge The sun may be setting on availability for the original Sonos Move portable smart speaker. The newer Move 2 is in the process of replacing it, but that means there are some good deals to be had on the first-gen model before its gone. Sonos is selling the Move for $299 ($100 off) in new condition, which matches its Black Friday / Cyber Monday low, and it's also offering a refurbished b-stock model for $239 ($160 off).It's hard to say how much longer these speakers from 2019 will still be available, as other retailers like Best Buy have cleared out remaining stock. But if you choose to go with Sonos' last-gen model you're still getting a formidable speaker that connects via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. The 6.6-pound obelisk is a bit more fit for... Continue reading...

Image: Samar Haddad / The Verge One of the more popular end-of-year items is Spotify Wrapped, where the music service puts together a roundup of everything you listened to that year in various statistical formats, wrapped up (well, that's what it's called, right?) in bright, fun graphics. You can see what music categories you followed, get a playlist of your top 100 songs, see where you stand compared to others, and find out what your listening personality is.It's easy to find Spotify Wrapped - and this year, you can do it using the mobile app or on the web.The simplest way is to just open your Spotify mobile app. If you don't immediately see a banner labeled your 2023 Wrapped," then just look at the top menu - if you scroll left, you should find a Wrapped button... Continue reading...

Image: Getty General Motors is dealing with a lot right now: a slowing EV business, delays in battery manufacturing, a safety crisis with its robotaxi unit, Cruise, and financial headwinds from the monthslong autoworker strike. On top of it all, its stock price is still struggling to get back to where it was this summer before the strike started.With all that in mind, GM CEO Mary Barra hopped on a call with investors early Wednesday to address these compounding challenges and assure them that they have a number of fixes in mind. Costs will be reined in, factories will be delayed, and stock buybacks will recirculate cash to shareholders. It's a crucial moment for GM, which is locked in a tight race with Ford, Tesla, and others to develop EVs and... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge DoorDash is partnering with Best Buy to offer customers on-demand delivery for tech products like headphones, game controllers, tablets, and more. Going live today, users can find Best Buy in the DoorDash marketplace, alongside other non-restaurant businesses like Lush, Victoria's Secret, and Party City.Best Buy, which already has a similar arrangement with Instacart, is the first national consumer electronics retailer" to join DoorDash, which is particularly notable after the delivery service's arrangement with Walmart ended last year.Although many holiday shoppers choose Amazon as their main destination, DoorDash could get products to your door in under an hour, on average" by picking up from any one of Best Buy's 900 stores in... Continue reading...

The Verge / Photo by Bloomberg, Getty Images The long-delayed electric truck has finally arrived - sort of. Ten trucks are slated for delivery, but Tesla's problems extend far beyondthis first batch. Continue reading...

Image: Spotify This year's Spotify Wrapped roundup is live. As was the case with previous years, it features a bundle of shareable stats that break down the most-listened artists, songs, and podcasts for 574 million users. But there are also some surprises, too, including a new system that assigns you a city based on your listening habits.Although Spotify Wrapped largely features the same basic listening stats every year, it seems to always find fun new ways to serve them up. That element of fun is still missing from the competition like Apple Music Replay, which remains largely unchanged from last year, or YouTube Music's seasonal / annual Recap breakdowns. Image: Spotify Here are some of the characters you might get assigned... Continue reading...

Robert De Niro, appearing onstage at the 2023 Gotham Awards in New York. | Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Gotham Film & Media Institute Robert De Niro slammed Apple and the Gotham Film & Media Institute this week after claiming his speech for the Gotham Awards had been censored - allegedly by an Apple employee just minutes before the show started, according to Variety's sources - to remove criticisms about Donald Trump and the entertainment industry.The actor appeared onstage at the ceremony on Monday night for the presentation of the Gotham Historical Icon and Creator Tribute to Martin Scorsese's Killers Of The Flower Moon, a film distributed by Apple that focuses on a series of murders targeting the Osage people in Oklahoma during the 1920s after oil was discovered on tribal land.At first, De Niro said there was a mistake on the teleprompter, before realizing that... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google Drive users on iOS are getting a new scanning feature that lets them quickly photograph documents and add them to their libraries, the search giant has announced. The feature has been available for Android for over a decade, but until now iPhone and iPad users haven't had the same option. Google has also upgraded the scanner in Drive's Android app.iPhone users in the US will also benefit from a new title suggestion feature that attempts to auto-generate a document title based on text it recognizes in the scan. The feature previously came to the Android version of Drive earlier this year. Google also says it's improving document scanning on Android, adding similar features like the option to automatically capture documents when... Continue reading...

Photo by Mike Kemp / In Pictures via Getty Images Uber notched another win in its effort to win over the beleaguered taxi industry, announcing a plan to start listing London's famed black cabbies in its app.The service won't roll out until early 2024, but some London cabbies have already begun to sign up. Uber says all 15,000 of London's cab drivers will now have the opportunity" to sign up for Uber trip referrals. The company recently brokered deals with taxi fleet owners in New York City, Paris, Rome, and Los Angeles to list drivers in its app.Next to New York's yellow cabs, the black cabbies of London are arguably the most iconic taxis in the world. Not only is this a symbolic victory for Uber but also it could help build trust with taxi owners who may still be wary of Uber's... Continue reading...

It's a Macintosh! Only smaller! And made by Ayaneo! | Image: Ayaneo Ayaneo, which is mostly known for making handheld gaming consoles, just fully revealed the new Retro Mini PC AM01 after teasing it a few weeks ago. It says it plans to ship the AM01 before the end of the year - and I'd be lying if I said I'm not tempted to get one. The AM01 won't win any benchmarking contests, but it'll almost certainly be the best-looking computer you own.Let's just state the obvious here: Ayaneo says it's paying homage" to the Macintosh, which is a kind way of saying, We copied the thing pretty much exactly." This device is the spitting image of Apple's '80s-era computer, right down to the floppy drive and the rainbow sticker. (Ayaneo made the sticker a flag shape instead of an apple, though - there's paying homage... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon has shared some new AI-focused offerings at its annual AWS conference. Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge If you ever wanted to make your website sound a little more silly, now's your chance. Google Registry just released a new top-level domain that lets you slap a big ol' .meme at the end of your website.The new .meme domains are available to register right now as part of an early access period for an additional one-time fee." If you don't want to pay extra, you can wait until they become publicly available on December 5th at 4PM UTC (12PM ET) to pay just the base annual price.There are already a handful of sites that are embracing the .meme domain, some of which are dedicated to memes from the days of yore, including grumpycat.meme, nyancat.meme, and keyboardcat.meme. The meme tracker knowyour.meme even adopted the new domain. However,... Continue reading...