The Verge

Meta's lawyers have argued that certain evidence should be withheld from public view on the grounds of attorney-client privilege in the ongoing lawsuits over alleged harm to teens' safety and mental health. Lawyers suing the company said this week that the label has been applied far too broadly, while pointing to a recently unsealed document [...]

What if your wireless earbuds - or audio glasses - could stream high-quality lossless audio that doesn't cut out when you leave your phone on the bedside charger or buried in the couch? Qualcomm's new Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2 is its first to integrate "micro-power Wi-Fi 6E" right into the chip, so they can [...]

Microsoft is moving its communications group out of marketing and into its Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs (CELA) organization. The surprise change will see Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith oversee communications, while the company searches for a replacement for Frank Shaw, chief communications officer, who is departing later this year. Microsoft CEO Satya [...]

Google's new Gemini 3.8 Live update lets users have conversations with the model while watching an animated AI persona respond in real time. The "Live Avatar" will lip-sync and show different facial expressions during conversations, but it's currently only available to Gemini Enterprise customers. As noted by Google, Live Avatar can transition between the 97 [...]

While PC component prices remain high, you can save a good bit of money on a system by purchasing a prebuilt desktop. Walmart has a well-equipped CyberPowerPC gaming PC on sale for $1,549, almost $600 off its original price of $2,139. It's powered by an Intel Core i7-14700KF processor, and paired with 32GB of 6000MHz [...]

As Jensen Huang puts it, AI can help fight climate change - but only if it inflicts "an enormous amount of pain and suffering" first. The Nvidia CEO discussed the future of energy and AI's impact on our planet in the latest episode of The Ezra Klein Show. But his comments boil down to the [...]

Meta has a new plan to get people to make games for its Horizon social platform. The company today announced two new development tools that will let you create games with AI prompts: Horizon Create, a mobile app, and Horizon Studio, a browser app that offers more granular controls. The apps will be available in [...]

A pair of developers say that with very little prompting, Meta's Muse will share its entire filesystem with you. Peter James and Jonny L. Saunders have said they both independently coaxed Muse into zipping up and sharing the entire contents of its root filesystem, Ubuntu system files, app templates, and internal documentation. Saunders posted on [...]

We seem to be entering into an AI agent renaissance. Meta's new consumer-facing AI agent, Muse, topped the App Store charts soon after its release and has 600,000 daily active users in the US, by an Apptopia estimate. And AI agent platform Instinct, whose eponymous creator is fundraising at a $2.5 billion valuation, has been [...]

Google is rolling out some new Chrome browser features that are designed to make it easier to research and study complicated topics. The cross-device tab switching feature is getting a memory upgrade, alongside new capabilities for Gemini in Chrome that can analyze more types of media and generate interactive study quizzes. Chrome has an existing [...]

This is Optimizer, a weekly newsletter sent 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. Last night, I asked Blorbo - what I named my Muse AI agent - to help me set some health [...]

A company called Inmo that makes several different variations of smart glasses has issued a recall for its Air3 because the left temple "can overheat during extended use, posing a risk of serious injury or death due to burn hazard." To date there have been 10 reports of users experiencing a "burning sensation to the [...]

Google's launching an "early experiment" feature on Pixel 11 that lets users delegate local business calls to Gemini, like making a reservation, checking if a product is in stock, or rescheduling an appointment. According to Google, you don't even need to start the call to have Gemini handle it for you: Instead of dialing yourself, [...]

It feels like Xbox has been in a permanent state of turmoil for at least two years now, and this week is no different. Microsoft cut 268 jobs across its gaming division this week, shuffled major studios and franchises around, and continued its Xbox "reset." Layoffs have become a way of life for Xbox employees, [...]

Nintendo won its $4.5 million lawsuit against James Williams, a Reddit moderator accused of distributing pirated Switch games, as reported earlier by Aftermath. In a default judgment issued on Wednesday, a Washington federal judge also ordered Williams to shut down the online stores allegedly housing libraries of pirated Switch games. Nintendo sued Williams, also known [...]

Nikon waited five years to update its full-frame Z5 camera to the Z5 II, but today it announced a new variant of last year's upgrade that removes features instead of introducing improvements in order to make it more affordable for novice photographers. While the Nikon Z5 II starts at $1,849.95, the new Nikon Z5 IIC [...]

AI agents keep getting loose, escaping supposedly secure tests to attack real-world targets, commandeer obscure wikis, and leave instructions for other agents to follow. Researchers are testing these systems precisely because they might behave in unpredictable, even dangerous, ways. So wouldn't it be safer to just keep the agents off the internet? "A strict air [...]

Google is getting ready to launch a satellite with its AI processors to test how well they perform in space, as reported earlier by The New York Times. The move is part of Google's Project Suncatcher, the company's experimental initiative that could eventually put AI data centers into orbit. The satellite, equipped with Google's Tensor [...]

Flock is in the hot seat in Washington, even if its CEO declined to actually face senators at a hearing about its "AI Surveillance Network" on Wednesday. "There's many players in this industry, but there's one name that really stands out above the rest, and that is Flock," Senate Judiciary crime and counterterrorism subcommittee chair [...]

It's a big week for Meta. The company just kicked off its big Connect conference on Wednesday, and the new Muse AI agent appears to be an early hit. I've been using it - it is surprisingly good. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has obviously been out there taking a victory lap and participating in a lot [...]

Waymo's latest batch of self-reported data continues to affirm the company's message that its driverless cars are safer than human drivers. As policymakers continue to debate the safety and economic impact of autonomous vehicles, Waymo is hoping that its own data will help bring more supporters to its side - even as some experts say [...]

Meta's handheld AI gadget, called the Muse Charm, will be able to recognize and interact with other nearby Charms when it launches later this year. That's according to a report from Bloomberg, which includes more details about the device that the company teased during its Meta Connect keynote on Wednesday. The Muse Charm houses the [...]

Earlier this month, Apple announced that its new Apple Watches will have the ability to continuously listen to every spoken word they detect and create summaries of whatever's going on around you. The privacy blowback was immediate and inevitable: Experts warned of the legal risks of using the features, especially in nonpublic spaces and states [...]

The G Pro Superstrike mouse is one of Logitech's most interesting products. Unlike other gaming mice, it has haptic actuators beneath its two main buttons instead of mechanical switches, which decreases latency and allows for a custom click feel (the click can be super subtle, more jolty, or turned off entirely). The tech debuted in [...]

Control Resonant isn't an easy game. At any given moment while exploring vast open areas where you're sometimes leaping from wall to wall to ceiling, you may be surrounded by swarms of otherworldly enemies trying to crush you into the ground. It can be a lot, especially when enemies sometimes take a long time to [...]

OpenAI's artificial intelligence agents hacked an Australian government website and attempted to breach numerous other government and university websites. The attack appears to be the first confirmed instance of a rogue AI agent breaching a government website, adding fuel to rapidly intensifying concerns about the safety of advanced AI systems and the responsibility of the [...]

Google is reportedly nearing the launch of its long awaited Gemini 4 model, after dawdling behind rival developers on flagship AI releases. Speaking with The Information during his first media appearance as the leader of Google's DeepMind division, Koray Kavukcuoglu said that Gemini 4 is currently in its refinement stage, and that the company is [...]

Meta is building a dedicated hardware device for its new Muse AI agent. The product, called Muse Charm, was briefly shown off by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the end of tonight's Meta Connect presentation. It looks almost like a chunky smartwatch without the strap - just a big screen, plus a little lanyard for [...]

Meta announced a slate of new wearables during its annual Meta Connect showcase on Wednesday. The star of the event was the new Meta VR Glasses, which pack virtual reality tech into a lightweight smart glasses-style frame with a tethered puck. Meta also announced new pairs of screen-free smart glasses, along with some new AI [...]

Meta is launching new VR hardware: a pair of glasses. The new Meta VR Glasses sit on your ears like a typical pair of glasses instead of being strapped over your head, but they still have immersive displays for watching movies, playing games, and getting work done. Imagine a pair of hefty black sunglasses with [...]

Just a couple of weeks after launching Muse, Meta announced that it's "working on" bringing the agent to its smart glasses, including the new glasses it unveiled at Meta Connect. Users will be able to activate Muse from their glasses by saying its name and ask it to handle tasks like guiding a workout, logging [...]

Walking around Meta Connect 2026, everyone's sporting smart glasses in all sorts of shapes, colors, and sizes. It's a marked difference here, a tech bubble where "pervert glasses" are not a concern. Outside Connect, the public backlash against wearable surveillance tech - a catchall term that encompasses not just smart glasses, but also smartwatches and [...]

Meta is quickly iterating on its new Muse AI agent, announcing a bunch of updates today that make the bot more capable and able to chat with you in more ways. Muse agents are getting their own email addresses that they can use for accomplishing tasks. You'll also be able to communicate with your Muse [...]

It's about time for Meta Connect, the company's annual product launch event. This year, given the company's major focus on AI and wearables like smart glasses, it seems likely that we'll see updates from CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his team on those categories. The company has been facing significant scrutiny because of how some users [...]

It's time once again for Meta's annual September product launch event, and The Verge is on the ground in Menlo Park to cover the show live. Meta says that today's keynote by Mark Zuckerberg will be about how "Meta is building a future for everyone" - something he wrote at length about in a recent [...]

Microsoft is refreshing its Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch devices with Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon X2 Plus chips. The smaller Surface devices retain the same design and hardware features from last year, with faster and more capable chips inside and higher price tags (thanks RAMageddon!). While the 12-inch Surface Pro started at $799.99 last [...]

Microsoft is launching a second generation of its Surface Mouse next month that includes haptic feedback support. The Surface Mouse also has a customizable action button for the first time, which is primarily designed for quick access to Copilot (of course), but can be configured to work with other shortcuts from the Surface app. "Its [...]

Modern life comes with an unending, auto-populating to-do list. It never ceases to amaze me how I can be doing nothing at all, minding my own business, and suddenly something needs to be taken care of. You're telling me a tree branch fell in the backyard and now I have to figure out what to [...]

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a slate of bills on Monday that could finally give communities better data - and more say - on how data centers impact their electricity bills and water supply. As data centers invade a growing number of communities across the US, they've triggered protests over how the infrastructure underpinning AI [...]

Anthropic says its AI Claude has "autonomously discovered" a new enzyme system similar to machinery behind the powerful gene-editing tool Crispr. It's the first result from Anthropic's newly-launched wet lab and an early test of Claude's usefulness for science as the company prepares to go public. The company says Claude found the enzyme system after [...]

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) have introduced new legislation that would ban anyone from developing artificial superintelligence - a technology the bill describes as capable of the "destruction or disempowerment of humanity," including by overthrowing the government. Under the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act, AI leaders would face up to 20 years [...]

The original Blue Yeti has been one of the most recognizable go-to USB microphones for content creators since it launched in 2009, and now it finally has a successor. Launching today under Logitech G, the Blue Yeti 2 adds some modern upgrades, including an interactive LED display, AI de-noising, and a proximity based voice sensor [...]

Xbox appears to be ready to launch its own version of PlayStation's platinum trophies. A new update to the Xbox PC app has revealed Mythic Achievements, which according to data in the app will appear once a player completes all the Achievements in a game. Mythic Achievements appear on screen with a unique unlock sound, [...]

Nintendo's Customer Appreciation" sale continues through September 26th. It includes discounts on Switch games and accessories, and I thought I'd call out one of my favorite games that's cheaper than ever. Metroid Prime Remastered is down to $27.99 in digital format for the Switch and Switch 2, and it's among the best remasters I've played [...]

The Una Watch costs less than most Garmin watches now that its price has been lowered from the Kickstarter offer of $350 to $199, but its modular, repairable design grabbed my attention first. It features a 1.2-inch MIP LCD display and up to 10 days of battery life, similar to the Garmin Forerunner 70 or [...]

Part of the job of a content creator is to figure out how to get their work in front of the most people. Cracking - or fighting - the algorithm has historically been a frustration for creators, but YouTube is increasingly simply telling creators what they should do. At the annual creator-focused Made on YouTube [...]

Discord is rolling out a new global age assurance system, seven months after pausing its previous verification measures following backlash from users. Starting today in every country except Australia and the UK, Discord will automatically assign users to an estimated age group based on "multiple account signals," with account restrictions placed on users believed to [...]

McDonald's is putting ads on its drive-thru menu as part of a "limited" pilot at company-owned restaurants, according to a report from Bloomberg. Drive-thru locations included in the test will show ads from other brands on digital menu boards after a customer places their order, which they'll see while they wait for their meal. In [...]

Video games have given us plenty of ways to traverse huge open worlds, but none have felt quite as oddly exhilarating as manipulating gravity in Control Resonant's twisted version of New York City. It's a game that lets you flip, twist, and fly through the air, while exploring settings that look ripped out of Inception. [...]

Xiaomi's new 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max launched in China today, and feature a more flexible take on the privacy display tech introduced this year on Samsung's Galaxy S26 Ultra. They combine it with returning rear screens, two 200-megapixel cameras, and both of Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 chips. A global launch [...]