The Verge

Photo by Parker Ortolani / The Verge Hats! Stickers! Mugs! Questions about org charts! Continue reading...

Image: AP Several media organizations called for rules protecting copyright in data used to train generative AI models.The open letter urged lawmakers around the globe to consider regulations that require transparency into training datasets and consent of rights holders before using data for training. They also request allowing media companies to negotiate with AI model operators, identifying AI-generated content, and mandating AI companies eliminate bias and misinformation in their services.Signatories of the letter include Agence France-Presse, the European Pressphoto Agency, the European Publishers' Council, Gannett, Getty Images, the National Press Photographers Association, the National Writers Union, News Media Alliance, The Associated... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge YouTube is taking preventative measures to tackle the increase in scams and spam appearing across its TikTok rival, YouTube Shorts. Starting August 31st, YouTube will gradually make links across Shorts comments, descriptions, and the vertical live feeds unclickable to prevent users from potentially being exposed to malware, phishing scams, and other harmful scam-related content.YouTube says that it's planning to introduce a new, safer way for creators to link their Shorts viewers to other YouTube content by the end of September." Image: YouTube A new, safer way for creators to direct their Shorts viewers to other YouTube content will be introduced by the end of September. The video streaming giant will also... Continue reading...

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is calling for stricter SIM swapping protections and the transition to a passwordless future following last year's Lapsus$ attacks. In a lengthy report released on Thursday, the agency details the teen hacking group's key techniques and provides recommendations to prevent similar attacks going forward.Lapsus$ made headlines last year after it took credit for the cyberattacks affecting major tech companies like Nvidia, Samsung, Ubisoft, T-Mobile, Uber, and Microsoft. The group also managed to steal and leak 90 videos containing gameplay footage from Rockstar's upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI game. Seven teenagers connected to the group were arrested in London last year.

A Skydio drone | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Skydio is done making drones for consumers. Though the self-flying drone startup has been denying for years it would pivot to enterprise, it confirmed on Thursday that it's sunsetting its consumer business in favor of creating drones for use by commercial businesses and the public sector.Skydio began shifting its focus toward government and military use in 2020 with the launch of its self-flying X2 model. In an interview with The Verge at the time, Skydio CEO Adam Bry said that the company had more consumer-facing drones on the way. The only consumer drone it's released since was a minor hardware update to the Skydio 2 that addressed some big shortcomings.Our drones are making the core industries that our civilization runs on -... Continue reading...

Image: Chris Welch / The Verge I bought a Sonos Arc soundbar and an LG OLED G2 six months ago to use with my Xbox Series X thinking it would be the most convenient way to expand my existing Sonos setup to handle Dolby Atmos audio from apps like Netflix, Apple TV Plus, and Disney Plus. Now, however, my Sonos Arc soundbar sounds like it's exploding with a startling loud bang and a series of audio pops when I try to use Dolby Atmos content. I'm not alone, either. I was shocked to learn that hundreds of Sonos Arc owners have experienced these extremely loud audio pops for nearly three years without a fix.Sonos markets its Arc soundbar as being able to bring all your entertainment to life and experience breathtakingly realistic spatial audio powered by Dolby Atmos." The... Continue reading...

A display showcasing the Cadillac's 55-inch screen and driver controls, but there's no room made for CarPlay here. | Image: Umar Shakir / The Verge There will be no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto in Cadillac's new ultra-luxury Escalade IQ. Despite the huge new 55-inch pillar-to-pillar infotainment screen in the new EV revealed yesterday, compatibility for the popular phone projection features is completely gone.GM said earlier this year that it would restrict access to CarPlay and Android Auto in its future electric vehicles. In April, GM's VP of software, Scott Miller, shared some reasons for the decision, including allowing more EV-centric functionality like battery preconditioning when navigating to a charging station.Tesla offers a similar feature and also does not have CarPlay or Android Auto options. But customers nowadays expect these features in new vehicles. Even Apple... Continue reading...

It's been 20 years since the final flight of one of the most beautiful planes ever made - the supersonic Concorde - and you'll soon be able to buy one in Lego form.The $200 Lego Icons Concorde is nearly three and a half feet long, has a 17-inch (43cm) wingspan, and three neat tricks up its sleeve. Not only does it capture many of the real plane's iconic curves, but it's also got an incredible Lego mechanism hidden inside to raise and lower its landing gear with a twist of the tail cone on the end. Photo: The Museum of Flight The real plane: compare to the Lego thumbnail atop this story. Image: Lego So sleek. Click for larger image. The hidden gears run nearly the full length... Continue reading...

Samsung's head start in foldables is paying off, but it'll have to do more next time around to stay in front. Continue reading...

Image: Television Academy The 75th annual Emmy Awards have officially been postponed. Instead of taking place in September, the Television Academy says the ceremony will now air on January 15th, 2024, marking the first time the Emmys have been delayed in over 20 years.While the Television Academy doesn't mention why the awards have been delayed, it's because the show would look rather empty without all the Hollywood writers and actors who are currently on strike. The rules of the strike prevent unionized writers and actors from accepting awards for struck work and also bars them from attending events that promote it.Last week, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) held its first meeting with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) in... Continue reading...

Image: Samar Haddad / The Verge As explained in a recent article, Meta has rolled out the ability to verify a link to your Threads profile on social media platforms like Mastodon, according to a Threads post from Instagram head Adam Mosseri. In other words, the Mastodon account on your profile will show a verified checkmark for a Threads profile - so you're using your Threads account to signal to people looking at your profile on Mastodon that you own the Threads link you're pointing to.It's a pretty straightforward process. However, while it worked for us, at least one Verge staffer had problems with it, as did some others who tried it, so there's a chance it may not work for you.Here's how we were able to do it: Screenshot by Jay Peters / The... Continue reading...

Yup, even the building signs are up for grabs. Providing you're the one arranging the grabbing'. | Photo by David Odisho/Getty Images Now that Elon Musk's plan to rebrand Twitter to X is in motion, the company is looking to sell a bunch of stuff tied to its previous image in what feels like a comically unhinged estate sale. Hundreds of items from X's San Francisco headquarters will be available to buy via an online auction next month that's running from September 12th to 14th.Everything currently has an opening bid set at $25 so there's the potential to grab some real bargains here. Most of the listings are for the kind of office equipment you'd expect from a big corporation, like desks, printers, and laptop docking stations. Several of the lots being advertised - such as soundproof office booths and designer chairs - were also listed in an auction back in January.... Continue reading...

The end call button now sits much closer to the rest of the call controls. | Screenshot by Jess Weatherbed / The Verge Apple looks set to be moving one of the most well-used buttons in iOS; the Phone app's red end call button. Beta versions of iOS 17, which will likely get an official release this fall alongside the forthcoming iPhone 15, feature a redesigned call interface that shifts the red button down and to the right, and eliminates the distance between it and the rest of the call controls.The new interface was technically made available with the very first developer beta of iOS 17, but it hadn't been widely spotted until this week when the likes of CNBC and Gizmodo covered the change. Here's a before and after comparison of the call interface between iOS 16 and beta iOS 17:To me, it looks like Apple has made the change to account for iOS 17's... Continue reading...

Users will be able to request full signatures or initials, with the ability to auto-generate a date for when it was signed. | Image: Google Google is adding native support for eSignatures to Docs and Drive in an attempt to make it easier for users to request signatures and sign documents from within its cloud-based productivity software, the company has announced. Google is now releasing the ability to request and leave eSignatures in beta, after more than a year of testing the feature in alpha.There are plenty of pieces of software that already offer eSignature support, ranging from cloud-based options like Dropbox through to local programs like Adobe Acrobat. So Google's addition of this feature is more about offering parity with its competitors rather than forging new ground, and means user's shouldn't have to switch between different apps and tabs as much while working... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A woman in British Columbia, Canada, has received over 50 Amazon packages that she's never asked for, as reported by CBC. As a result of getting these shipments, which she hasn't had the chance to refuse upon arrival, the United Parcel Service (UPS) has sent her customs bills for more than $300.They keep coming and it just doesn't end," Anca Nitu said to CBC. Nitu told the news outlet that it's somehow tied to her own Amazon account - one that she said has been sitting dormant.Amazon told CBC in a written statement that Nitu's case has been addressed and corrective action" is being taken. The company advises anyone receiving packages unexpectedly to report it using the Report Unwanted Package form online.This isn't the same glitch... Continue reading...

Quizlet, a tool that helps personalize studying for students, recently released a set of new AI-powered features.Quizlet is one of the many educational platforms embracing generative AI to facilitate learning, despite consternation from teachers when ChatGPT first burst into the scene. I no longer have assignments to read, but to do my job, I have to read tons of news articles, reports, and research papers fairly quickly. I wondered: can I use Quizlet to make my job easier and test how much of my beat I actually understand?Oh man, it didn't turn out well for me.Quizlet released several AI-powered tools on August 8th. Memory Score schedules reviews and tracks scores to help users remember the material. Quick Summary takes key... Continue reading...

Whitney Wolfe Herd, the founder of Bumble. | Photo: Ramona Rosales Bumble founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd is coming to the Code Conference, where she'll be interviewed on stage by CNBC senior media and tech correspondent Julia Boorstin.Wolfe Herd's company has moved quickly to adopt AI in targeted ways to help daters. Last year, the company open-sourced an AI tool that Bumble had been using since 2019 to detect - and then blur - nude photos. Bumble's president, Tariq Shaukat, has also said the company is using AI to remove some of the friction" of dating. For Bumble, that means improving early interactions by helping people choose better profile pictures or stopping them from sending rude messages.Bumble also operates Badoo, Fruitz, and Official. The company is also starting to branch out beyond... Continue reading...

Image: The Verge Meta has rolled out the ability to verify a link to your Threads profile on social media platforms like Mastodon, according to a Threads post from Instagram head Adam Mosseri. To be clear, this isn't a free way to get a blue checkmark next to your Threads name; you'll probably need to pay Meta to get one of those. Instead, this new feature helps you prove on other platforms that a Threads profile that you link to is one that you own. But it also represents something bigger: an actual Threads feature from Meta that connects with decentralized social media.I got this to work in just a few minutes on my Mastodon profile, meaning that a URL to my Threads account now has a green checkmark. I'll explain how I got this set up a bit later in... Continue reading...

Image: Google Google has launched a new tool that lets you create AI-generated poem postcards based on a piece of artwork and a subject of your choice. The addition of poem postcards comes as part of Google's broader redesign of its Arts & Culture app and its rollout of generative AI features across its other services, like text creation in Docs and the ability to generate code with AI in Sheets.Poem postcards live within Google's Arts & Culture app and website, where you can choose from various types of poems to generate, including a sonnet, limerick, ode, elegy, haiku, and others. The AI will base the contents of the poem on the subject you type into the generator, like ocean" or spring," as well as the painting you want on the cover of the... Continue reading...

A plane flying over Barcelona airport in March 2023. | Photo by Urbanandsport/NurPhoto via Getty Images Google has been working with American Airlines and Bill Gates' climate investment fund, Breakthrough Energy, to chart more sustainable flight routes. The aim is to help pilots limit a flight's impact on the climate by avoiding routes that create contrails, those white streaks in the sky that planes sometimes leave behind.Contrails are a big problem for the planet because they trap heat, accounting for about 35 percent of aviation's global warming impact. Using satellite imagery and AI, they developed a way to forecast where contrails are most likely to form. That could give pilots a chance to avoid them and minimize aviation's environmental footprint in the process.Contrary to what conspiracy theorists say, the streaks behind are not... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Roblox CEO David Baszucki envisions that its generative AI systems might someday work in a way that's somewhat similar to what you might have seen on the sci-fi show Westworld, based on comments during Roblox's Q2 2023 earnings call on Wednesday.The Westworld comparison came up as part of a longer answer about how AI might be able to help Roblox developers.

Image: GM For no reason at all, today seemed like a good day to reflect on where our obsession with supersized SUVs and trucks has taken us and where it's headed with the shift to electric vehicles.I'm kidding, of course. Because today was the day that GM unveiled a brand-new Cadillac Escalade - only this one is electric! The Escalade IQ looks every bit as stately and luxurious as its gas-powered predecessor and is sure to be the EV of choice for wealthy people to be chauffeured around their city of residence.But big SUVs like the Escalade come with major tradeoffs. And when you throw an equally large lithium-ion battery into the mix, those tradeoffs start to erode the environmental benefits of driving an electric vehicle.Big SUVs like the... Continue reading...

Jessica Allain as Lou, Hubert Point-Du Jour as Miles, Colin Woodell as Winston, Adam Shapiro as Lemmy. | Peacock While the very first teaser for Peacock's forthcoming The Continental series was rather light on details, the latest trailer definitely makes it seem like the John Wick prequel is going to live up to the films' action-packed reputation - or die trying.Set in 1970s New York City, The Continental revolves around younger versions of Winston Scott (Colin Woodell) and Charon (Ayomide Adegun) as the two become entangled in an intricate war of assassins that's fated to end with them coming into power at the series' titular hotel. Though Winston's seemingly no stranger to what sort of business goes down at the Continental, the new trailer establishes how it isn't until his brother Frankie (Ben Robson) runs afoul of the hotel's then-head Cormac... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge If you haven't changed your Verizon data plan in a few years, take note: starting August 29th, the company is increasing the cost of its Mix and Match" unlimited plans that debuted in 2018. They had truly confounding names like Go Unlimited, Beyond Unlimited, and Above Unlimited. I had some feelings on Verizon's perplexing branding at the time.If you've held onto one of those legacy plans in the years since, you can expect a rate increase of $3. The Mobile Report first reported on the news, which Verizon has since confirmed on its website. During a conference interview this morning, the company's chief financial officer, Tony Skiadas, also mentioned the pending hikes.There were changes both on the single line and multi line for the... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Elon Musk's Twitter was fined $350,000 for refusing to comply with a search warrant on Donald Trump's Twitter account earlier this year, according to new court documents unsealed Wednesday. The warrant was issued as part of a Justice Department special investigation.In January, special counsel Jack Smith obtained a search warrant for former President Trump's Twitter account, @realDonaldTrump, as part of his investigation into Trump's role in interfering with the peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 presidential election.X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The unsealed opinion says Twitter, which is now known as X, objected to producing the information demanded in the warrant on February 1st, arguing that its... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Newegg's new AI-generated review summaries could make it easier to sift through user feedback while you search for PC parts and other tech. In addition to providing a short summary of what people are saying about a product, the AI also picks out pros and cons based on user reviews.The feature leverages the technology behind OpenAI's ChatGPT and lives within the Reviews" tab toward the bottom of a product's page. There, you'll see a list of pros and cons that you can click on, allowing you to filter reviews by specific keywords and see where the AI got its information from. Below that, you'll also see an AI-generated summary that combines all the key pieces of feedback into a short paragraph. Screenshot: Emma Roth /... Continue reading...

Image: The Verge The Biden administration is partnering with four top artificial intelligence companies to sponsor a new cybersecurity challenge aimed at protecting the US's critical infrastructure.The AI Cyber Challenge," announced at the Black Hat USA conference in Las Vegas Wednesday, is meant to pair experts with AI models produced by Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI to develop systems to identify and fix software vulnerabilities. The challenge, hosted by DARPA, includes $20 million in prizes for the best systems that could be used in protecting the government infrastructure running everything from transportation to electrical grids.They don't have the tools capable of security at this scale."In an increasingly interconnected world,... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Threads, Meta's Twitter competitor, is getting some new features this week," according to a post from CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The new features include the ability to share a Threads post to your Instagram DMs, a way to add custom alt text to photos and videos that you include in posts, and a new mention button" that lets you easily mention someone's account in your Thread," Zuckerberg says. (For some reason, this link only works for me on mobile.)To share a post via Instagram DMs, tap the paper airplane-like icon on a post. To add alt text, start a post, attach photos or videos using the paperclip icon, and then tap the Alt" button that appears on the image. I don't appear to have the mention button - maybe I'm missing it! - but you... Continue reading...

The ongoing PlayStation promo drops the price of nearly every color, including the classic white model. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge The PlayStation 5 is fun to play by yourself, but nothing beats some local co-op with a friend. Like most gaming consoles, however, Sony's next-gen offering only comes with a single controller - which is what makes Sony's ongoing summer sale worth checking out. Now through August 19th, you can pick up a second DualSense Wireless Controller for $49 (up to $25 off) at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy.Sony's default controller for the PS5 adds an immersive element to your gaming thanks to its terrific haptics and adaptive triggers, which make it one of the best controllers around. It also features a built-in mic so you can chat online, along with a 3.5mm headphone jack for plugging in a headset or a pair of wired earbuds if you prefer to go... Continue reading...

Image: Hugo Herrera / The Verge The Pokemon tabletop card game has radically evolved since its debut, but Nintendo's Game Boy adaptation is still a phenomenal crash course in learning how to play. Continue reading...

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge Slack is many things. Which is kind of the problem. The Salesforce-owned company has spent years building a team chat app alongside an alerts system, a file storage system, a knowledge base, and all the other things encompassed by Slack's digital HQ" motto. Over time, though, Slack ran out of space, and too many of those features became either cluttered, buried, or both. Eventually, that even affects the talk to your team" part of Slack, which itself can be harder to manage when you're in lots of workspaces, channels, and group chats.So Slack is changing. It's about to roll out its biggest-ever redesign, changing both the look and the layout of the app to hopefully make things easier to find and easier to manage. It's designed... Continue reading...

Photo by INA FASSBENDER / AFP via Getty Images For years, Tesla was synonymous with everything cool, high tech, and futuristic. But is it still today?Teslas used to look cool and now they don't," said Jessica Resler, a Brooklyn resident recently shopping for an EV who eventually settled on a BMW i4. And they've become the Uber car of the city."In case it wasn't clear, no one wants to be known as the Uber car of the city." Previous designees include various Toyotas - Prius, RAV4, etc. - a brand that's more synonymous with terms like functional" and within my budget" than cool."But maybe it's a good thing, a sign of forward progress, that Tesla is shedding its cool persona and becoming more of a car for the masses. After all, the goal is to get more people into EVs, not... Continue reading...

ESPN Bet pitch and app mockup | Image: Penn Entertainment As ESPN's future drifts in the direct-to-consumer wind, a deal with Penn Entertainment will let the sportsbook rename existing properties, like its Barstool Sportsbook, to ESPN Bet. In return, Penn is scheduled to pay ESPN $1.5 billion over the next ten years, as well as $500 million in warrants to buy shares of the operation and, potentially, the ability to appoint a board member.In early 2022, then-Disney CEO Bob Chapek said Disney's opportunity extends to sports betting, gaming, and the Metaverse." Now, Chapek is gone, the metaverse team is dismantled, and new/old CEO Bob Iger described its gambling strategy in an interview as ...we're not actually causing the bets to be made. We're just enabling people to link to companies that do... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Verizon is shutting down BlueJeans, its Zoom competitor it acquired in the early days of the covid pandemic, as reported by 9to5Google.9to5Google shared the text of an email received by BlueJeans customers that said that we have made the difficult decision to sunset our suite of BlueJeans products." BlueJeans' recently introduced free Basic plan and free trial offerings will be discontinued on August 31st, according to the email. That email doesn't say how long people on BlueJeans' paid offerings will have access to the company's services. Verizon didn't immediately reply to a request for comment.BlueJeans was a huge acquisition for Verizon; when the deal was announced in April 2020, CNBC reported that Verizon was going to pay around $... Continue reading...

Wells Fargo will pay the biggest fine in recent US regulatory enforcement actions. | Photo illustration by Rafael Henrique / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images Several US financial firms, including multiple Wells Fargo companies, will pay a combined $549 million in fines after admitting they couldn't produce discussions about company business from smartphone messaging apps used by their employees, including those at senior levels."Both the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) fined banks for being unable to produce discussions going back to at least 2019. The regulators say employees used their personal devices to discuss official company business via apps like iMessage, WhatsApp, or Signal and that those off-channel communications" weren't maintained or preserved."Not keeping records of those conversations violates the 1934... Continue reading...

Image: Larian Studios I love it when games give you the ability to choose your genitals. Not because of the glaringly obvious horny reasons but because, when games give you the ability to customize The Goods, it almost always leads to patch notes like the one we got in the latest Baldur's Gate 3 hotfix.Warning, this will be slightly Not Safe For WorkBy Larian Studios' count, the hotfix addresses over 300 bugs and issues, including one it put right at the top of the Gameplay" section, letting you know this particular issue was at the tip top of developers' minds. The hotfix reads:Penises C and D no longer clip through some githyanki clothing."Well, thank Tyr! I mean, really, how am I supposed to get anything done around Faerun if penises C and D keep... Continue reading...