The Verge

Image: Rivian Rivian is pulling the cover off its latest electric vehicle today, and unless you live anywhere near Laguna Beach, California, you'll probably be watching the livestream.The event starts at 10AM PT/ 1PM ET. According to details that leaked from the Laguna Beach City Council, the company plans to hold the event in the park adjacent to the former South Coast Theater, now named the Rivian South Coast Theater, which serves as the company's first flagship retail location."The event will be livestreamed on YouTube (embedded above). Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe will introduce the R2, a compact SUV that is expected to have broader appeal than the company's $70,000-plus R1T truck and R1S SUV. There may be other products introduced as... Continue reading...

Firefighters battle flames from the Smokehouse Creek fire on March 03, 2024 near Sanford, Texas. | Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images Electric utility Xcel Energy admits that its equipment likely helped ignite the devastating Smokehouse Creek Fire that's blazed across Texas since last week.Xcel Energy has been cooperating with the investigations into the wildfires and has been conducting its own review. Based on currently available information, Xcel Energy acknowledges that its facilities appear to have been involved in an ignition of the Smokehouse Creek fire," the company said in a statement today.The blaze has grown into the largest in state history, consuming more than a million acres, killing at least two people, and destroying hundreds of structures. It was still only 44 percent contained as of Thursday morning.Xcel Energy acknowledges that its facilities... Continue reading...

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge Discord says it will sell official game-themed items in its store soon. Discord launched its in-app store in November with avatar decorations and profile effects available for anyone willing to buy them. Anime and fantasy effects have proved popular, so now, Discord is partnering with game developers to create game-themed versions.We've heard a lot of feedback on the kinds of decorations that you'd like to see, including cosmetics themed to the games you love," says the Discord team in a blog post. We've come up with a way to make this happen by working with developers to bring themed profile effects and avatar decorations to the Shop. And most importantly, we'll be sharing the revenue of those purchases with developers so they can... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Our Thursday episodes of Decoder are all about big topics in the news, and this week, we're wrapping up our short series on one of the biggest topics of all: generative AI.In our last couple of episodes, we've talked a lot about some of the biggest, most complicated legal and policy questions surrounding the modern AI industry, including copyright lawsuits and deepfake legislation. But we wanted to end on a smaller, more emotional note: How is AI making people feel? And in particular, how is it affecting how people communicate and connect?Verge reporter Emilia David has covered AI chatbots, specifically AI romance bots, quite a bit. So, we invited her on the show to talk about how generative AI is finding its way into dating because... Continue reading...

Photo by Al Bello / Getty Images Netflix's foray into sports is going in a new direction. Today, the streamer announced that its next major event will be a fight between YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul and former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson that will stream live on Netflix. The bout will take place on July 20th at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.The move is part of a steady expansion into sports from Netflix. So far, that has meant going all in on sports documentaries - including a doc about Paul's fledgling boxing career - as well as a handful of live events featuring golf and tennis. But two headline (if controversial) names duking it out in an NFL stadium that seats 80,000 marks arguably the biggest bet from the company yet. (And it comes at a time when other b... Continue reading...

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge I used to enjoy sharing my favorite new music with friends and family via a carefully compiled piece of physical media. Sadly for those of us above a certain age, the switch to digital and streaming music has made the mixtape (or the mix CD) redundant. However, while streaming music apps may have killed off the mixtape, they've brought with them collaborative playlists: being able to easily compile a list of tunes with other people, even if those people aren't in the same physical place you are.This is a feature that's been in Spotify for years, but it's now arrived in Apple Music with iOS 17.3 and macOS 14.3. (So make sure the software on your devices is up to date before you get started).Collaborative playlists on iOS ... Continue reading...

The new $6,995 Leica SL3 has a 60-megapixel sensor. | Image: Becca Farsace / The Verge Today, Leica announced the new SL3, the latest version of its full-frame mirrorless camera system that succeeds the SL2 from 2019. Inside its all-metal body are the guts of the Leica Q3 that launched last spring. It includes a 60-megapixel sensor, improved autofocus, and the ability to shoot video in 8K. But what sets the SL3 apart is hardware that's better suited for pros, including a very large hand grip for extended use and IP54 water resistance for more peace of mind out in the elements. There is no mistaking that the SL3 is a Leica with that huge logo on the front. Outside of specs, what sets the SL3 apart from the SL2 is a slightly smaller size, although it's still very large and in charge, and hardware tuned... Continue reading...

The new retrofit smart door lock from SwitchBot has a sleeker look than its predecessor. | Image: SwitchBot SwitchBot has launched a new version of its retrofit smart lock. The SwitchBot Lock Pro ($119.99) offers a few upgrades over the company's first lock, the SwitchBot Lock, including an aluminum alloy body, a more secure installation, and a new quick key lock / unlock mechanism.The SwitchBot Lock Pro costs $119.99 (139.99 / 139.99) - or $199.99 (239.99 / 239.99) if you want the keypad and Matter hub bundle. This adds fingerprint, NFC tag, and keypad unlocking via the Bluetooth keypad, plus the hub brings compatibility with all the major smart home platforms through Matter and control of the lock when you're away from home.Rather than replacing your entire deadbolt, as most smart locks do, a retrofit lock turns the existing mechanism... Continue reading...

Nikon will now own RED's catalog of professional film cameras, like the V-RAPTOR XL platform (pictured). | Image: RED Nikon is acquiring RED Digital Cinema, the company founded by Jim Jannard (founder of Oakley) and best known for digital cinema cameras including the RED One 4K and V-Raptor X. Exact terms of the deal were not disclosed in Nikon's press release, which outlined how RED will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the camera company.Nikon hopes to use the deal to expand into the professional digital cinema camera market, drawing from RED's knowledge in cinema cameras, including unique image compression technology and color science." RED boasts that its cameras have been used to film numerous major films and TV shows, including multiple Marvel productions like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Captain Marvel, nature documentaries like Planet... Continue reading...

SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, in 2021. | Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images A SpaceX employee says that she spent seven years working at the company's headquarters in Hawthorne, California enduring sexual abuse, unequal pay, discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation, in a new lawsuit against the company. But her story paints a much graver picture than those individual words can convey, describing widespread harassment and coordinated action to not only enable but also later give cover for sexual coercion, by a man she says was her direct supervisor.The employee, Michelle Dopak, also claims that SpaceX's president and vice president of the company ignored her pleas for action. The details of her complaint are especially grim; while they echo the 2021 stories of five former SpaceX employees and eight... Continue reading...

Target is launching Target Circle 360, a $99 annual subscription that will offer free, unlimited delivery and rush shipping on online orders. First announced during Target's earnings call on Tuesday, the new plan will rival similar offerings by Walmart and Amazon that axe shipping costs for an annual fee. Target Circle 360 members will receive free two-day shipping and free same-day delivery on orders $35 and up. The plan will debut on Aprill 7, and will be priced at $49 until May 18 as a launch promotion.This isn't Target's first entry into paid subscriptions. In fact, Target Circle 360 doesn't appear to be a new plan as much as a rebranding and upgrade of its current delivery offerings. Shipt, which is owned by Target, already offers... Continue reading...

Ira Glass and Ariel Shapiro on stage at Hot Pod Summit. | Alexa Hoyer This is Hot Pod, The Verge's newsletter about podcasting and the audio industry. Sign up here for more.Hello! I have almost recovered from Hot Pod Summit. Thank you so much to everyone who came out this year. People from across the industry showed up ready to talk business, and we had a lot of lively and challenging discussions about advertising and business models. Did we solve all of the podcasting's troubles? Hardly, but I know I am feeling more optimistic about the future of the industry. Below, I have some key takeaways from the events of the day.I also made my first appearance at On Air Fest interviewing Freakonomics Radio host Stephen Dubner. It was a lot of fun to talk craft (plus business, obviously) and get his perspective... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A federal grand jury has indicted a Google engineer, Linwei Ding, aka Leon Ding, for allegedly stealing trade secrets around Google's AI chip software and hardware on March 5th, before he was arrested Wednesday morning in Newark, California. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement that Ding stole from Google over 500 confidential files containing AI trade secrets while covertly working for China-based companies seeking an edge in the AI technology race."Much of the stolen data allegedly revolves around Google's tensor processing unit (TPU) chips. Google's TPU chips power many of its AI workloads and, in conjunction with Nvidia GPUs, can train and run AI models like Gemini. The company has also offered access to the... Continue reading...

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Just one day after Meta's network went offline for a while, LinkedIn was inaccessible around the world, cutting off job listings, resumes, and even influencers. DownDetector started noting reports of problems after 3:45PM ET.Both the apps and website went offline temporarily, while LinkedIn's status page confirmed the issues with a message posted at 4:04PM ET saying, Some members may be experiencing issues on LinkedIn. We're actively working on this and will provide updates as we have them. Thanks for your patience!" As of 5:05PM ET, the most recent message says, This has now been resolved and we're back up and running. Apologies for any inconvenience caused and thanks for your patience!"

Illustration: The Verge Now that the EU's new rules for digital gatekeepers" are live, Meta is ready to tell everyone how WhatsApp and Messenger will offer end-to-end encryption (E2EE) while complying with the Digital Markets Act's (DMA) third-party chat requirements.The DMA requires that Meta must be ready to enable interoperability with other services within three months of receiving a request," but according to the blog post, actually turning it on for public use could take longer than that. The requirements also only mandate support for one-on-one chats and sharing files like images, videos, or voice messages in year one" of the new regulation before they expand over time to include group chats and calls.Meta says third-party providers will have to... Continue reading...

The M2 MacBook Air is still a great value when it can be had for under $1,000. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge With the launch of the M3 MacBook Air, Apple is finally phasing out the aging M1 model. The latter has arguably been Apple's best product from a value standpoint over the past few years, and now, the M2 MacBook Air seems poised to pick up where it left off. We're already seeing retailers like B&H Photo offering the best price we've seen on the 13-inch base model with 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and an eight-core M2. It's down to $899, which is $200 off the original MSRP and $100 cheaper than its new $999 starting price. You can also step up to 16GB of RAM for $1,149 ($150 off) or get it with 512GB of storage and 16GB of RAM for $1,299 ($200 off).The M2 MacBook Air isn't majorly different from its predecessor (save for ditching the t... Continue reading...

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler participates in a meeting of the Financial Stability Oversight Council at the U.S. Treasury on July 28, 2023 in Washington, DC. | Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted new rules that compel large companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and tell investors how their business is affected by climate change.The new rules are weaker than what the SEC initially proposed in March 2022, which would have included a fuller picture of a company's carbon footprint. Initially, it wanted each company to share pollution stemming from its operations, as well as emissions from its supply chain and the use of its products. Under the rules finalized today, companies won't have to measure and disclose pollution from their supply chain and products - even though those emissions are often the biggest chunk of a company's carbon footprint.As a result,... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Epic's plans to release its own third-party app store on iOS in the EU could be in trouble after Apple terminated the developer account it planned to use. In a blog post published today, the company shared a letter sent by Apple's lawyers, which called Epic verifiably untrustworthy" and said Apple does not believe that Epic will comply with its contractual commitments under its developer agreement.Please be advised that Apple has, effective immediately, terminated the Developer Program membership of Epic Games Sweden AB," the letter - which is dated March 2nd - states. It cites Apple's contractual right" to terminate its Developer Program License Agreement with the company at Apple's sole discretion."

Illustration: The Verge A Microsoft engineer is bringing safety concerns about the company's AI image generator to the Federal Trade Commission, according to a report from CNBC. Shane Jones, who has worked for Microsoft for six years, wrote a letter to the FTC, stating that Microsoft refused" to take down Copilot Designer despite repeated warnings that the tool is capable of generating harmful images.When testing Copilot Designer for safety issues and flaws, Jones found that the tool generated demons and monsters alongside terminology related to abortion rights, teenagers with assault rifles, sexualized images of women in violent tableaus, and underage drinking and drug use," CNBC reports.Additionally, Copilot Designer reportedly generated images of Disney... Continue reading...

Lake Borgne on August 23, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Louisiana's combination of rising waters and sinking land give it one of the highest rates of relative sea level rise on the planet. | Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images America's coastal cities are sinking, putting more people at risk for flooding than urban planners might have expected with sea level rise alone.The gradual sinking of land, also known as land subsidence, could cause flooding to reach far more communities than previously anticipated, according to new research published today in the journal Nature. The study looked at 32 major cities along the US shoreline, and forecasted future flooding with climate change. In a worst-case scenario without adequate flood defenses, up to one in 50 people and one in 35 properties in those cities could face flooding during high tide by 2050.Cities need to prepare for the double whammy, the researchers contend. The problem is twofold - sinking cities and... Continue reading...

The Mill is a smart kitchen trash can that grinds up food scraps and uses sensors and AI built into its bin to manage your food waste efficiently. | Image: Mill Industries Last year when I reviewed Nest co-founder Matt Rogers' new project, the Mill smart trash can, I was impressed with its food-grinding prowess. But I disliked its monthly subscription and that it wasn't actually making chicken feed out of my food waste as promised.A year later, the company is out with the second generation of the Mill, and it's addressed both those issues. They've also made the bin faster and quieter. However, it's still silly expensive.The second-generation Mill looks similar from the outside, but its internals have had a complete redesign. According to a press release, the Mill can now grind your leftovers up into a substance resembling coffee grounds in two and a half hours, much faster than the 10 hours it took when... Continue reading...

Tesla's Gigafactory has been targeted by environmental activists who oppose plans to expand the facility. | Photo by Sean Gallup / Getty Images A group of left-wing extremists has claimed responsibility for the suspected arson attack that shut down the Tesla Gigafactory outside of Berlin on Tuesday.The group, which calls itself Vulkangruppe Tesla Abschalten" (also known as Vulcan Group" or Volcano Group"), said in a statement posted to Kontrapolis.info that it aimed to cause the largest possible blackout of the Gigafactory," citing environmental and labor concerns as motivations behind the attack. (Google Translate was used to translate the letter from German to English. All quotes in this article are from that translation.)Production was halted at the factory after the attack on a nearby electricity pylon cut power to the facility. Reuters reports that production isn't... Continue reading...

Can the Rivian R2 save the day? | Image: Rivian The company's promise - and its future - rests with its next product, the more affordable R2 vehicle. Continue reading...

The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. facility under construction in Phoenix, Arizona, US, on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022. | Caitlin O'Hara/Bloomberg via Getty Images A new report warns that a boom in computer chip manufacturing in the US could fuel demand for dirty energy, despite companies' environmental claims. The solution for manufacturers, surprisingly, might be to act more like other big tech companies chasing climate goals.New semiconductor factories being built in the US by four of the biggest manufacturers - Intel, TSMC, Samsung, and Micron - could use more than twice as much electricity as the city of Seattle once they're operational. These companies claim to run on renewable energy, but according to an analysis by nonprofit Stand.earth, that's not entirely true.Semiconductors happen to make up a big chunk of a device's carbon footprint. And unless companies turn to clean energy, they... Continue reading...

Cath Virginia / The Verge The European Union is attempting to loosen the grip that companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Google have over the digital economy. Tech giants targeted by the Digital Markets Act (DMA) - a law passed in 2022 aiming to make the tech industry less monopolistic - are required to remove unfair competitive advantages that have let them dominate their respective markets by March 6th.But some experts believe the status quo is unlikely to shift. Many of these companies have announced compliance plans in response to the DMA, and for the most part, these changes - as one might expect from a plan crafted by the company itself - are unlikely to result in a loss of power. And then there's Apple, which appears to be engaging in outright malicious... Continue reading...

Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images The Digital Markets Act's deadline for compliance is imminent. Its six designated gatekeepers" have fought the rules, but also bent to them. Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge CEO Sam Altman has returned to OpenAI, and Elon Musk is suing the company he helped to start. Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge The VCR will always invoke a sense of nostalgia, but Microsoft hopes it can help in court; it's citing the tech in its attempt to dismiss three claims in The New York Times' copyright infringement lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft.The Times sued Microsoft for allegedly copying its stories and using that data to mimic its style, but Microsoft's lawyers are now arguing that OpenAI's large language models are just the latest in a long line of technologies that are considered legal despite their potential for copyright abuse. Despite The Times's contentions, copyright law is no more an obstacle to large language model than it was to the VCR (or the player piano, copy machine, personal computer, internet or search engine)," reads one... Continue reading...

Image: The Verge The music labels suing Twitter - now X - for copyright infringement can move forward with parts of their lawsuit. In a filing on Tuesday, US District Judge Aleta A. Trauger partially denied X's motion to dismiss the lawsuit, saying it's still not clear to what extent X Corp. may be liable for the infringing acts of users on its platform."Last year, the National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA) sued X for $250 million on behalf of Universal Music Group, Concord Music Group, Sony Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, and other major publishers.The lawsuit alleges that X breeds massive copyright infringement that harms music creators" by failing to take action against posts containing copyrighted music. Copyright issues on X have... Continue reading...