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by Sean Hollister on (#6PPQV)
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images The CrowdStrike global IT outage that downed some 8.5 million Windows PCs, halting flights and affecting hospitals, banks and more, is now apparently also a scapegoat for the terrible conditions at the set of a reality game show competition put on by mega-popular YouTuber MrBeast, aka Jimmy Donaldson, with $5 million on the line.The New York Times is reporting that after 2,000 contestants arrived at Allegiant Stadium this July, they were barely fed and didn't receive their prescription medication or clean underwear on time - despite providing it to the organizers themselves. (The 1,000 contestants who make it through can return for the Beast Games Amazon show, but this segment is for Donaldson's YouTube channel.)The Times' story is... Continue reading...
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The Verge
| Link | https://www.theverge.com/ |
| Feed | http://www.theverge.com/rss/index.xml |
| Updated | 2025-07-09 03:48 |
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by Umar Shakir on (#6PPPK)
The Ford Explorer's new Digital Experience software. | Image: Ford Ford's new Android-powered infotainment system is finally coming to a Ford-branded vehicle. The automaker's so-called Digital Experience, which debuted with the 2024 Lincoln Nautilus earlier this year, will power the new 2025 Ford Explorer SUV, the company announced today.The 2025 Ford Explorer includes many of the Digital Experience's main features, including built-in Google Maps, Google Play Store, Google Assistant, wireless CarPlay and Android Auto, and digital HVAC controls. It doesn't have the extravagant 48-inch panoramic screen setup that the Lincoln Nautilus has, but from the looks of it, the main 13.2-inch touchscreen has the same interface. And the Explorer's 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster can project maps for the first... Continue reading...
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by Umar Shakir on (#6PPMB)
The Escape Connector sits between the car's port and the EV charger's plug. | Image: EVject Tesla suing a company that makes a MagSafe-style connector designed to let EV owners make a quick escape from a charging stall if they feel their safety is threatened.The automaker alleges that the Escape Connector by company EVject is highly unsafe and poses a high risk of injury to person and/or property," according to the lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California last week.Tesla is calling on the court to block EVject from calling the product safe, ban the import of the adapter in the US, and make the company pay no less than $75,000 in damages. GIF: EVject You can't exactly just drive away; you first need to use your touchscreen to stop the charging session. In the... Continue reading...
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by Lauren Feiner on (#6PPMC)
Image: The Verge The Department of Justice is suing TikTok for allegedly letting kids under 13 make accounts without their parents' permission and collecting extensive data" on them, in violation of US child privacy law.The DOJ claims that TikTok knowingly let kids onto its platform through its Kids Mode," collected their information, and failed to delete their accounts at their parents' requests, in violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). When a kid under 13 entered their age on the app, they'd be prompted to enter a username, which doesn't contain personal information, and it would create a Kids Mode account for the user. But the app wouldn't notify parents or get their consent. Kids can't upload videos in that mode, but... Continue reading...
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by Gaby Del Valle on (#6PPMD)
Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Scott Olson, Getty Images Former President Donald Trump has expressed a newfound fondness for Mark Zuckerberg, after years of railing against him.In an interview with Fox that aired on Friday, Trump said Mark Zuckerberg recently called him to apologize" after Meta's AI assistant falsely said the assassination attempt on Trump didn't happen. (A company blog post written by Joel Kaplan, Meta's global head of policy, attributed the erroneous responses to hallucinations" in the system.) In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump claimed that both Meta and Google were RIGGING THE ELECTION!!!" by suppressing information about the shooting.Zuckerberg's apology could help thaw his contentious relationship with Trump, who has long held a public... Continue reading...
by Victoria Song on (#6PPME)
The Dear Sydney" ad did not go over well with Olympics viewers. | Screenshot: Google Google is not winning any gold medals for its Olympics ads this year. After days of backlash, the company has decided to pull its controversial Dear Sydney" ad from Olympic coverage.In the 60-second ad, a father seeks to write a fan letter on behalf of his daughter to her Olympic idol, US track star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. The premise is the sort of treacly ad you'd expect to see at the Olympics, but things take a twist when instead of helping his daughter write a letter, he just has Gemini do it for them. This has to be just right," he says, before prompting Gemini to tell Sydney how inspiring she is, that his daughter plans to break her record one day, and to add a sorry, not sorry" joke at the end.From the get-go, the ad has... Continue reading...
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by Brandon Widder on (#6PPJ2)
Google's high-end flagship is colorful, capable, and loaded with plenty of AI tricks. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Google's next Pixel hardware event is less than two weeks away, which, in turn, means the Pixel 9 lineup is nearly upon us. That being said, you don't need to wait for the debut of Google's next handset on August 13th if you want a future-proofed Android phone chockful of premium specs and newfangled AI capabilities. That's because the Pixel 8 Pro - Google's current high-end flagship - is on sale at Amazon and Best Buy with 128GB of storage starting at $699 ($300 off), an all-time low.If the recent rumor mill is to be believed, Google's next pro-grade smartphone will feature several distinct design changes and a modest performance boost thanks to its G4 Tensor chip. But the third-gen chipset in the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro is still plenty... Continue reading...
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by Umar Shakir on (#6PPJ3)
It looks like the SQ8 E-tron, but it's not. | Image: Audi Audi is giving its all-electric Q8 E-tron some premium add-on packages across the lineup as the automaker's overall EV sales are falling quarter over quarter this year.The 2025 Audi Q8 E-tron SUV and Sportback now have a sportier" S line competition appearance package that feels a bit like a parts bin consolidation. It adds body components from the $90,000 SQ8 E-tron, making the vehicle wider, and includes a body-color Singleframe and special 21-inch five-spoke black wheels. It also gets black-painted brake calipers with S branding and door projection lights for the edition.While the package is only launching in Europe right now, the company is evaluating" bringing it to the US as well, according to Audi's product communications... Continue reading...
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#6PPJ4)
Image: Apple Following backlash criticizing an Apple ad's outdated and stereotyped portrayal of Thailand, Apple has removed it and issued an apology. The negative attention follows Apple's apology for the Crush" iPad Pro ad and its removal from broadcasts in May after it attracted widespread criticism among the creative community.Thai people are deeply unhappy with the advertisement," Thai lawmaker Sattra Sripan said in a statement reported by Bloomberg. I encourage Thai people to stop using Apple products and change to other brands."The 10-minute ad, titled OOO (Out of Office)," was the latest in Apple's The Underdogs comedy series depicting a recurring cast of coworkers as they use Apple products to resolve issues within their workplace.The... Continue reading...
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by Jay Peters on (#6PPEZ)
Image: Game Informer Game Informer, one of the last remaining gaming magazines, is shutting down after 33 years, the GameStop-owned publication announced on Friday. The magazine's entire staff is being laid off, Kotaku reports.In its statement posted to X, the publication didn't give a reason for the shutdown. GameStop didn't immediately reply to a request for comment. Last year, GameStop CEO and chairman Ryan Cohen told staff that every expense at the company must be scrutinized under a microscope and all waste eliminated," according to an email obtained by Kotaku.In March, Game Informer introduced out a way to subscribe to the magazine directly - previously, you could only get the magazine by buying issues on their own or through a GameStop Pro... Continue reading...
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by Tom Warren on (#6PPF0)
Image: Riot Games Riot Games is surprise launching Valorant on Xbox Series S / X and PS5 consoles today. After a brief beta period in June, the console version of Valorant will be available in the US, Canada, Europe, Japan, and Brazil and features all the same gameplay, heroes, and abilities as the PC version.Valorant on console won't have crossplay support because Riot Games wants to maintain competitive integrity." That means PC players won't be getting controller support, either. The game will support cross-progression, so any skins and progression will carry over between PC and console. Both PC and console players will also receive simultaneous platform releases, including balance patches, new agents, map updates, premium content, and more. ... Continue reading...
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by Andrew Webster on (#6PPC2)
Image: Puzzmo / Angie Wang Everyone seems to want in on newspaper-style casual gaming. While The New York Times is leading the way with Wordle and its iconic crossword, major companies ranging from Netflix to LinkedIn are trying to carve out a place as well. So, when game designer Zach Gage, cofounder of the Hearst-owned site Puzzmo, started exploring the space, he knew the project needed more than great games. He says the goal was to design a website that isn't just links to games but is in fact a deeper community experience." That's why Puzzmo launched last year with a handful of titles and multiplayer features like leaderboards.Now both of those aspects are expanding with a new game that's also introducing new ways to play - inspired by some of the biggest... Continue reading...
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by Nathan Edwards on (#6PP9A)
Microsoft's latest 2-in-1 is all in on Arm, and it's the closest the company's come to merging the power of a laptop with the battery life and flexibility of a tablet. Continue reading...
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#6PP9B)
Image: The Verge / Shutterstock Several weeks after being targeted with copyright infringement lawsuits, AI music startups Suno and Udio have now accused the record labels that filed them of attempting to stifle competition within the music industry. Both companies admitted to training their music-generating AI models on copyrighted materials in separate legal filings, arguing that doing so is lawful under fair-use doctrine.The lawsuits against Suno and Udio were raised in June by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), a group representing major record labels like Universal Music Group (UMG), Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Records. Both cases accuse Suno and Udio of committing copyright infringement involving unlicensed copying of sound... Continue reading...
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by Jay Peters on (#6PP7P)
Image: Squid Shock Studios Humble Games restructured" and reportedly laid off its 36-person team last week. The publisher, which is part of the IGN-owned Humble Bundle, started helping developers release games in 2017 and published notable games like Slay the Spire and Signalis. The resulting fallout from the layoffs has left developers working with the publisher uncertain about many plans for future games, leaving their console ports in jeopardy.Amir Fassihi, studio director of Dead Mage, the team behind the in-development Wizard of Legend 2, is worried that the restructuring could impact their project. We do not want to make any changes," Fassihi tells The Verge. However, we're unsure what changes will be forced on us because everyone in the publisher we... Continue reading...
by Gaby Del Valle on (#6PP7Q)
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images Inside the MAGA-fueled fever dream of the 2024 Bitcoin Conference. Continue reading...
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#6PP5Q)
Cath Virginia / The Verge The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has reportedly launched two separate probes into Nvidia regarding antitrust concerns about the computing giant's AI-focused business dealings. The first investigation, reported by Politico, will see the DOJ examine Nvidia's buyout of Run:ai, while the second, as reported by The Information, will assess if Nvidia abused its dominance in AI chips to discourage customers from using competing products.In April, Nvidia reportedly spent $700 million to acquire Run:ai, the Israeli startup specializing in GPU management software. While specific concerns surrounding the Run:ai purchase haven't been disclosed, both US and international regulators have closely scrutinized big tech acquisitions of late over issues... Continue reading...
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by Jay Peters on (#6PNXQ)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Although there's no fix for Intel's crashing 13th and 14th Gen Intel Core processors, the company is trying to make things somewhat better for customers who are stuck with potentially damaged chips by extending their warranty for two additional years.Intel is committed to making sure all customers who have or are currently experiencing instability symptoms on their 13th and / or 14th Gen desktop processors are supported in the exchange process," reads a statement from Intel's Thomas Hannaford to The Verge. We stand behind our products, and in the coming days we will be sharing more details on two-year extended warranty support for our boxed Intel Core 13th and 14th Gen desktop processors."Intel's boxed CPUs already have a three-year... Continue reading...
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by Lauren Feiner on (#6PNXR)
Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images Net neutrality is officially on hold after the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the rule from taking effect.The court granted a stay, extending an earlier temporary pause. This time, net neutrality will be blocked until the court says otherwise after reviewing the petitions from broadband providers who opposed the rule. Those internet service providers (ISPs) successfully showed they would likely succeed on the merits of their challenge, the panel of judges wrote.The American public wants an internet that is fast, open, and fair," Federal Communications Commission Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement on the stay. Today's decision by the Sixth Circuit is a setback but we will not give up the fight for net neutrality."T... Continue reading...
by Antonio G. Di Benedetto on (#6PNXS)
Image: NZXT Want to get into PC gaming and feel like you don't have enough pricey subscriptions in your life? Desktop PC builder and retailer NZXT can ship you a whole gaming rig for as little as $59 per month - as long as you provide your own mouse, keyboard, and monitor.The Flex subscription program has been available for at least several months, based on NZXT's posts, and the pricing and specs of the machines listed have changed over time. Now, it's updating its three-tiered approach to PC renting with new specs, with its base Player: One entry-level sub running $59 per month for a tower running an Intel Core i5 14400F and Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU. Stepping up to the mid-tier Player: Two costs $119 per month for an AMD Ryzen 5 5600X CPU and RTX 4070... Continue reading...
by Chris Welch on (#6PNVK)
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Apple announced its latest iPad Pro and iPad Air tablets a few months ago, and after several quarters of soft sales, the new products led to a significant boost for the company's iPad division. Combined with strong performance in services and Mac, Apple posted quarterly revenue of $85.8 billion, up 5 percent from the year-ago quarter. iPhone and wearables revenue was relatively flat as consumers await a new wave of products soon.By the time Apple reports its next earnings, the company will have introduced the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max. Among other improvements, the Pro models will have slightly larger displays, while the standard iPhones will pick up the Action Button that debuted last year. Those... Continue reading...
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by Sheena Vasani on (#6PNVM)
The Twelve South AirFly Duo has dropped to $29.99, which is a new all-time low. | Image: Twelve South When you're flying, noise-canceling earbuds like the AirPods Pro are great for tuning out the world, but they come with one drawback: they don't work with the in-flight entertainment systems on airplanes. Luckily, Bluetooth transmitters like Twelve South AirFly Duo exist that solve that problem for you, and right now, you can buy one for an all-time low price of $29.99 ($15 off) at Amazon and Best Buy.With its integrated 3.5mm cable, the Duo is dead simple to use: just plug into the headphone jacks on seatback entertainment systems, pair up your Bluetooth-equipped wireless headphones or earbuds, and you're good to go. The beauty of this is that you'll probably end up enjoying even better audio quality, too, as in all likelihood, your... Continue reading...
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by Sean Hollister on (#6PNRP)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Intel's on a long, long road to recovery, and over 15,000 workers will no longer be coming along for the ride. The chipmaker just announced it's downsizing its workforce by over 15 percent as part of a new $10 billion cost savings plan for 2025, which will mean a headcount reduction of greater than 15,000 roles, Intel tells The Verge. The company currently employs over 125,000 workers, so layoffs could be as many as 19,000 people.Intel will reduce its R&D and marketing spend by billions each year through 2026; it will reduce capital expenditures by more than 20 percent this year; it will restructure to stop non-essential work," and it'll review all active projects and equipment" to make sure it's not spending too much.This is... Continue reading...
by Lauren Feiner on (#6PNRQ)
Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo by Bloomberg, Getty Images Apple has asked a federal judge to dismiss the Justice Department's antitrust case against it, claiming that the government is asking the court to sanction a judicial redesign of one of the most innovative and consumer-friendly products ever made: iPhone."The DOJ and 16 state and district attorneys general claimed in their March lawsuit that Apple has illegally monopolized the US smartphone market. The government claimed Apple broke the law by maintaining a closed ecosystem for the iPhone in pursuit of profits and at the expense of consumers and innovation. The government pointed to several examples in its complaint, including allegedly suppressing message quality between iPhones and competing platforms like Android and preventing... Continue reading...
by Richard Lawler on (#6PNRR)
Image: The Verge In an interview with CNBC, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said the July 19th outage caused by a CrowdStrike update cost his company half a billion dollars in five days. Delta canceled more than 5,000 flights that weekend and had blue error screens still visible at airports days after the initial crash. Among the costs Bastian said Delta incurred were more than 40,000 servers that we had to physically touch and reset" as well as compensation payments to travelers left in the lurch.Asked about a continuing relationship with Microsoft after the crash, Bastian said he regards it as probably the most fragile platform" and asked the question, When was the last time you heard of a big outage at Apple?" He placed some blame on the valuations... Continue reading...
by Quentyn Kennemer on (#6PNRS)
Now that you can actually buy it, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better option for Fortnite Festival than PDP's Riffmaster. | Image: PDP With secondhand Fender Stratocaster guitars for Rock Band 4 still fetching high prices on the resale market nearly a decade later, it's no surprise that PDP's recent Riffmaster controller has been challenging to find. Thankfully, after months of quickly selling out, I'm here to tell you that the PlayStation version is now readily available at Amazon, Best Buy, and GameStop for its full retail price of $129.99. The Xbox-licensed version, which works with both Xbox consoles and PC, is also available at Amazon, Best Buy, and GameStop for the same price.With an edgier appearance that makes it look like a Brutal Legend weapon, the Riffmaster replicates the functionality of the original Rock Band 4 guitar while sprinkling in some unique... Continue reading...
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by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#6PNRT)
Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP via Getty Images Mitsubishi signed a memorandum of understanding with Nissan and Honda to join their pre-existing partnership to jointly develop electric vehicles and other related tech. The hope is that by working together, the three Japanese automakers can catch up to their rivals in the race to introduce more technologically advanced vehicles in the future.It's another example of big, global automakers pooling their resources in the interest of defraying costs and finding more efficient ways to introduce new EVs to the marketplace. The inclusion of Mitsubishi will not only add new knowledge and strengths but will also provide further synergies that can only be generated by the three companies," Nissan and Honda said in a statement.It's another... Continue reading...
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by Andrew J. Hawkins on (#6PNP3)
Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP via Getty Images Mitsubishi signed a memorandum of understanding with Nissan and Honda to join their pre-existing partnership to jointly develop electric vehicles and other related tech. The hope is that by working together, the three Japanese automakers can catch up to their rivals in the race to introduce more technologically advanced vehicles in the future.It's another example of big, global automakers pooling their resources in the interest of defraying costs and finding more efficient ways to introduce new EVs to the marketplace. The inclusion of Mitsubishi will not only add new knowledge and strengths but will also provide further synergies that can only be generated by the three companies," Nissan and Honda said in a statement.It's another... Continue reading...
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by Emma Roth on (#6PNP4)
Image: Google Google will soon let parents limit the functionality of their child's phone or tablet while at school. The company announced on Thursday that it's expanding its School time" feature to select Android phones, tablets, and Samsung Galaxy Watches over the next year.The company first rolled out School time on its Fitbit Ace LTE smartwatch in May, and bringing the feature to a wider range of devices should help keep any additional distractions out of the classroom. Along with letting parents prevent their children from accessing certain apps, School time can also limit phone calls and message notifications from certain contacts. Parents can adjust these settings through Google's Family Link app. GIF: Google As noted by... Continue reading...
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by Umar Shakir on (#6PNP5)
The 2025 Ford Maverick Lariat in green. | Image: Ford Ford updated its midsize Maverick truck lineup for 2025, including new looks, updated infotainment, and - by popular demand - a hybrid all-wheel-drive option.The hybrid Maverick originally only came with front-wheel drive, so you previously had to opt for the gas-only version if you needed to play pretend F-150 for some tasks (and didn't want to change your whole personality).The new hybrid Maverick still has the same power capabilities as the previous year, even with AWD. It has a 2.5-liter hybrid engine with a 94kW electric motor that outputs 191 horsepower and 155lb-ft of torque. The AWD model gets 40 miles per gallon in the city, while the FWD version gets 42. The truck can hold 13.8 gallons of fuel.The cheapest Maverick, the XL,... Continue reading...
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by Justine Calma on (#6PNP6)
A dirt road leads to a forest clearance concession in Mayumba, Gabon. | Photo: Getty Images A major watchdog for corporate sustainability is warning that carbon offset credits are a risky tactic for tackling climate change. The nonprofit organization had faced pressure to soften its stance on carbon credits, which many companies promote as a way to deal with pollution. This week's findings seem to refute that effort.Plenty of brands have tried to sell themselves as climate-friendly, but consumers struggle to know whether those companies are actually having a positive impact. That's where the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) steps in, developing standards for climate goals and assessing companies based on those guidelines.The SBTi is in the process of updating its standards, which could have a big impact on the... Continue reading...
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by Gaby Del Valle on (#6PNP7)
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo by STR / NurPhoto, Getty Images Don Lemon is suing Elon Musk and X over the abrupt cancellation of his deal with the social media platform, alleging fraud, negligent misrepresentation, misappropriation of his name and likeness, and breach of express contract. Lemon's show was canned in March of this year after a contentious interview with Musk - who, according to the complaint, had promised Lemon he'd have free rein over the content on the show.The complaint - filed on August 1st in the Superior Court of California for San Francisco County - claims that after advertisers fled Twitter in the wake of Musk's takeover, Musk and other X executives began courting Lemon with the goal of publicizing a partnership between X and Lemon" that would associate the X brand with... Continue reading...
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by Sean Hollister on (#6PNJX)
Spectre Divide. | Image: Mountaintop I am getting absolutely stomped in Spectre Divide, the just-revealed 3-on-3 online shooter from a new game studio staffed by talent from Oculus VR, Valorant, Apex Legends, Halo Infinite, and more. I am not good at this free-to-play PC game. But I can't stop thinking about how I might get good - by intelligently swapping between two bodies to outmaneuver my enemies.If only I'd placed my doppelganger here instead of there, I could've had my own back. What if I had teleported my clone behind enemy lines to flank them while I drew their attention elsewhere? Maybe if I'd planted the bomb with one body while camping that door with the other, I'd have caught them unawares?I've never played a shooter like this before - even if, at first, it... Continue reading...
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by Jay Peters on (#6PNJW)
Image: Google Google wants to help ease the pain of comparison shopping across multiple tabs in Chrome with a new AI-powered tool that can summarize your tabs into one page.The tool, which Google is calling tab compare," will use generative AI to pull product data from tabs you have open and collect it all into one table. Assuming it works and pulls accurate information, the tool seems like it could be a handy way to look at a number of different products in one unified view.But while it's potentially useful, the tool could also take away traffic from sites that collect and compare product information - which might be especially worrying for independent publishers that are already struggling to be seen on Google. I'm also skeptical that Google... Continue reading...
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by Jay Peters on (#6PNJV)
Illustration: The Verge Google Lens in desktop Chrome is getting an AI-powered upgrade that could make it feel like a desktop version of Circle to Search. As part of a Chrome update, Google will let you click a new button right in the search box to activate Google Lens so you can select things that you want to search for. Then, thanks to a sidebar that pops up right within the tab you're looking at, you'll be able to do a multisearch," or a search containing both text and the image that you found with Lens.The feature could prove to be a more useful way to search, especially since you won't have to navigate away from the page you're looking at by doing a separate Google search or opening a new tab.(Note that you've already been able to activate Google Lens... Continue reading...
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by Lauren Feiner on (#6PNJY)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A federal judge in California dismissed a lawsuit from the Republican National Committee that claimed Google's Gmail inappropriately filtered its emails to users' spam folders leading up to the 2022 midterm elections.The case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning that the RNC can't bring its claims to another court, though it can appeal the district court's opinion. District Court Judge Daniel Calabretta said that the RNC failed to state a claim under California's Unfair Competition Law and that while the RNC may be correct that Google's alleged conduct (if proven) is unfair' in a colloquial sense, the RNC is unable to point to any legislative policy that is implicated by the alleged conduct." Calabretta also said the RNC couldn't... Continue reading...
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by Mia Sato on (#6PNJZ)
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images At prime time each night, NBC airs the day's highlights from the Paris Olympics to tens of millions of people. Viewers have watched the US women's gymnastics team clinch gold in a redemption tour" after winning silver in Tokyo; they've been in awe when US swimmer Katie Ledecky finished a race, her competitors so far behind her that they're not even in the frame.But the most fascinating and eccentric Olympics coverage is happening on TikTok.The appetite for Olympics content was evident before the opening ceremony. For weeks, the official Olympic and Paralympic accounts shared videos meant to get people excited across different social media platforms. The Olympics (and other sporting big events in general) thrive on the storylines:... Continue reading...
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by Emma Roth on (#6PNK0)
The roof of the stadium is made with polygonal shapes. | Image: Saudi 2034 Saudi Arabia has revealed the 11 soccer stadiums it plans to build as part of its bid to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup - and one of them looks like it came out of a video game. The Neom Stadium would be located within the country's dystopian smart city at more than 350 meters (383 yards) above the ground.You'll instantly notice the polygonal shapes making up the roof of the stadium, with the fractured pieces creating a mirror above those seated within the beehive-like setup. The Neom Stadium will be able to hold 46,000 people and run entirely on renewable energy, generated primarily from wind and solar sources." Construction is expected to be completed in 2032. Image: Saudi 2034 How can you focus on the game with... Continue reading...
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by Andrew Webster on (#6PNFH)
Stranger Things. | Image: Netflix San Diego Comic-Con may have just wrapped up, but there's still more entertainment news on the way - this time from Netflix. The streamer has confirmed that its now-annual Geeked Week event will take place the week of September 16th, wrapping up with some kind of in-person event in Atlanta, Georgia, on the 19th. There aren't a lot of details right now, but Netflix did release a short teaser video.Last year's Geeked Week included the first trailer for Avatar: the Last Airbender, along with news about 3 Body Problem, Rebel Moon, and games like Hades. Looking at Netflix's upcoming lineup, this year will likely feature Arcane season 2, Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft, and the return of Squid Game, which just got a December premiere... Continue reading...
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by Charles Pulliam-Moore on (#6PNFJ)
Image: Marvel / Nick Dragotta, Steve Epting, Chris Sotomayor, Paul Mounts Victor von Doom is one of Marvel's most iconic characters for a reason, and his MCU debut could easily be Kevin Feige's most fantastic or dreadful idea yet. Continue reading...
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by Antonio G. Di Benedetto on (#6PNFK)
Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge We may be well into the M3 generation of Mac laptops (and even M4 for iPad Pros), but if you're on a budget, the M2 MacBook Air is a great deal for $799 ($200 off) - available now at Best Buy and Amazon.This is the base model of Apple's laptop from 2022, which comes equipped with 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, two USB-C ports, a headphone jack, and a handy MagSafe charger. If 256GB is a little light on storage, the 512GB upgraded model is also on sale for $999 ($200 off) at Amazon and Best Buy.A big part of what makes the MacBook Air so great is its excellent battery life and standby time. Combine that with its speedy performance and revised design from the M2 generation that adds MagSafe to free up one of its ports from charging... Continue reading...
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by Nilay Patel on (#6PNFP)
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge We've been talking about AI a lot on Decoder lately; it's unavoidable. But there's one piece of feedback we've gotten that I really wanted to spend some time on: how the lightning-fast explosion of AI tools affects the climate.After all, to run AI at scale, we need to build a lot of data centers and pack them full of power-hungry GPUs. That takes a lot of energy, and whether using all that juice is worth it comes up frequently when we talk about AI. It's both a matter of practical concern - can our aging grid support all of this?" - and a moral objection - we shouldn't build these systems because they'll wreck the planet."What's particularly complicated is that big tech companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have spent the... Continue reading...
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by Lauren Feiner on (#6PNFN)
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images Over 300 high school students converged on Congress to urge lawmakers to vote against KOSA. The bill passed in a landslide. Continue reading...
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by Becca Farsace on (#6PNFM)
Jacques Slade is a sneaker influencer and content creator. I met sneaker influencer and creator Jacques Slade at a party to celebrate The Verge's 10th birthday. Immediately, I was struck by his radiant joy. He had a huge smile on his face as he told me I could totally rock a pair of cool sneakers instead of the secondhand dress shoes I was wearing. And although I never got the kicks he recommended, I was determined to hit him up when the opportunity to collaborate via my Full Frame: Creators series arose.Jacques has been making sneaker-centric YouTube and social content for over 10 years. From unboxings and interviews with athletes to giving clues on Jeopardy!, there simply isn't a part of online sneaker culture that he hasn't touched. But recently, he has begun pursuing a new audience.What... Continue reading...
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by Emma Roth on (#6PNCS)
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Venu Sports, the upcoming live sports streaming service from Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery, will cost $42.99 per month. The three companies say anyone who signs up for the service at launch will be able to lock in this price for one year, hinting at the potential for a price increase down the line.Venu Sports will offer a seven-day free trial and the ability to cancel at any time. It's expected to launch this fall, giving viewers access to numerous linear sports networks, including ESPN, ABC, Fox, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, TNT, and others, with coverage spanning the NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA, and more."We're building Venu from the ground up for fans who want seamless access to watch the sports they love, and we will launch at a... Continue reading...
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by Victoria Song on (#6PNA8)
Functionally, copying Apple works for the Galaxy Watch Ultra. It's just disappointing. Continue reading...
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by Jess Weatherbed on (#6PNA9)
Image: The Verge It's been a couple of days since OpenAI rolled out ChatGPT's new advanced voice mode, and the small group of ChatGPT Plus subscribers given access to it seem pretty impressed so far. Various clips of the feature in action have appeared online, demonstrating its ability to sing, imitate accents, correct language pronunciation, and perform narrative storytelling.An example of the latter can be seen in the below videos, in which X user @nickfloats asks ChatGPT to tell me a story as if you're an airline pilot telling it to passengers on a flight." The chatbot jumps into action barely a second later, and even alters the audio to sound more like it's coming from an intercom. ChatGPT struggled to accommodate more complex requests like... Continue reading...
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by Jay Peters on (#6PMYQ)
Image: Netflix Squid Game's second season will debut on December 26th with a newly-announced final season" to follow sometime in 2025, Netflix said on Wednesday. Netflix also shared a brief trailer to accompany the news.It's been nearly three years since the first season of Squid Game premiered on Netflix, and the show has gone on to be a humongous success for the streaming service. Netflix is staying pretty tight-lipped about the plot for what's to come, but here's a brief plot synopsis from a Netflix PR email:
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by Alex Heath on (#6PMYR)
Mark Zuckerberg. | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images Meta's second quarter earnings continue the same story from the previous quarter: generative AI may be here, but it's going to take a long time to make money.The good news for Meta is that, unlike pretty much every AI startup, it already makes a lot of money. Last quarter, the company made just over $39 billion in revenue, up 22 percent from a year ago, and about $13.5 billion in profit, up 73 percent. 3.27 billion people use at least one of Meta's apps every day. That kind of scale and money buys the ability to make big bets, which Zuckerberg is famous for doing.On Meta's Wednesday earnings call, CFO Susan Li reiterated to investors that financial returns from its recent AI investments will come in over a longer period of time."... Continue reading...
by Emma Roth on (#6PMW6)
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge A source told The Information that TikTok was paying Microsoft almost $20 million per month to access OpenAI's models as of March, making up nearly a quarter of the revenue generated by its increasingly lucrative cloud division.Microsoft's cloud AI business was on track to earn $1 billion in annual revenue, according to The Information, but the report notes that TikTok may not need these capabilities this heavily if it develops its own large language model (LLM).Last year, my colleague Alex Heath reported that TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, was secretly using" OpenAI's technology to create an LLM of its own: