The Verge

All year on The Vergecast, we've been tracking the many bizarre and problematic actions of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. There has been a lot to discuss! Then, this week, ahead of one of our last episodes of the year, Carr appeared in front of the Senate Commerce Committee and spent three hours explaining how he [...]

A year or two ago, when a phone showed up at my door for review, I could pretty much count on it being black, gray, or maybe (as a treat) white. But in 2025, that hasn't been the case. Phones I reviewed this year featured everything from real wood grain back panels to deep blue [...]

If there's one thing Republicans and Democrats came together on in 2025 - at least at the local level - it was to stop big, energy-hungry data center projects. For communities sick of rising electricity bills and pollution from power plants, data centers have become an obvious target. Fights against new data centers surged this [...]

Things might finally be looking up. In the penultimate episode of Pluribus' first season, Carol (Rhea Seehorn) actually seems to be happy. That's a pretty big deal for someone the show describes as the "most miserable person on Earth," who also happens to be living through an odd sort of apocalyptic scenario that she is [...]

A new company called BMX, founded by accessory royalty, has emerged from Kickstarter to make its SolidSafe semi-solid state power banks available to the general public. Like the Kuxiu semi-solid state power banks I've recently reviewed, BMX's promise to have twice the longevity and be safer than traditional power banks, which have been the subject [...]

SpaceX says it has lost control of a Starlink satellite that's now falling back to Earth after suffering an anomaly. The sudden loss of communications, drop in altitude, "venting of the propulsion tank," and "release of a small number of trackable low relative velocity objects," suggests the anomaly was some kind of explosion. SpaceX says [...]

After briefly going dark in the US to comply with the divest-or-ban law targeting ByteDance that went into effect on January 19th, TikTok quickly came back online. It eventually reappeared in the App Store and Google Play as negotiations between the US and China continued, and Donald Trump continued to sign extensions directing officials not [...]

TikTok has finalized a deal to sell enough of its US business satisfy the divest-or-ban law, as initially reported by Axios, The Hollywood Reporter, and CNBC. According to a memo sent from CEO Shou Zi Chew to employees (included in full below) on Thursday, they are targeting a closing date of January 22nd, 2026. Once [...]

This is an excerpt of Sources by Alex Heath, a newsletter about AI and the tech industry, syndicated just for The Verge subscribers once a week. By all measures, Meta's Threads app had a very good year. The app was Apple's second-most-downloaded iOS app of the year, trailing only ChatGPT. Threads now has 400 million [...]

In 2022, we called a simple magnetic ring from Anker the best MagSafe phone grip, but things have evolved dramatically since then! You can buy two or even three magnetic rings joined at the hip these days to wield your iPhone, recent Pixel, or really any phone if you stick a magnetic case or included [...]

If you're lucky enough to have a bit of time off around the holidays, we have great news: Steam's annual winter sale kicked off today, and will run through Monday, January 5th at 1PM ET. Now's a great time to stock up on some of the best games of 2025 at a solid discount, or [...]

OpenAI and Anthropic are rolling out new ways to detect underage users. As OpenAI has updated its guidelines on how ChatGPT should interact with users between the ages of 13 and 17, Anthropic is working on a new way to identify and boot users who are under 18. On Thursday, OpenAI announced that ChatGPT's Model [...]

If you're tired of seeing Instagram posts with a seemingly endless list of hashtags, Instagram is making a change to stop that. In a post today, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri said that the platform will now cap hashtags to five per post. "While I know it can be tempting to use more, a few specific [...]

LG says it will let users delete the Microsoft Copilot shortcut it installed on newer TVs after several reports highlighted the unremovable icon. In a statement to The Verge, LG spokesperson Chris De Maria says the company "respects consumer choice and will take steps to allow users to delete the shortcut icon if they wish." [...]

Google expanded Gemini's AI verification feature to videos made or edited with the company's own AI models. Users can now ask Gemini to determine if an uploaded video is AI-generated by asking, "Was this generated using Google AI?" Gemini will scan the video's visuals and audio for Google's proprietary watermark called SynthID. The response will [...]

Between all the new phones, smartwatches, and laptops we see throughout the year, it often feels like we're constantly being nudged toward shinier, more expensive gadgets. And I get it. As a self-professed gadget nerd, few things are more exciting than unboxing and setting up a new device. But the truth is, you can still [...]

Riot Games says a security flaw in many recent motherboards could be exploited by cheaters undetected, and now companies including Asrock, Asus, Gigabyte, and MSI have released BIOS updates to address the issue. According to Riot, "had this issue gone unnoticed, it would have completely nullified all existing DMA detection and prevention tech currently on [...]

Netflix is bringing ESPN host Elle Duncan onboard to become the voice of its growing roster of live events. Duncan, who has appeared on SportsCenter, College GameDay, and WNBA Countdown, will make her debut on Netflix with next year's Skyscraper Live broadcast. During the livestream, free solo climber Alex Honnold will attempt to ascend the [...]

Smart home products are all about making everyday life a little easier, which is why they're some of the best and most thoughtful gifts you can give. Some people go all out building a multi-gadget IoT kingdom (like our resident smart home expert, Jen Pattison Tuohy), but a smart home is whatever your recipient wants [...]

Kia and Hyundai will offer free repairs for millions of cars that lack anti-theft technology as part of a settlement with dozens of US states. The automakers agreed to outfit the roughly nine million eligible cars sold between 2011 and 2022 with a zinc sleeve installed around the ignition cylinder to prevent the viral "Kia [...]

The news that the maker of the Roomba robot vacuum, iRobot, filed for bankruptcy this week came as no surprise. Its CEO, Gary Cohen, had been warning investors all year that the company could run out of cash unless a buyer was found. When its last potential deal fell through, bankruptcy became inevitable. But Cohen [...]

This is Lowpass by Janko Roettgers, a newsletter on the ever-evolving intersection of tech and entertainment, syndicated just for The Verge subscribers once a week. Atlas Obscura has been crowdsourcing strange and wonderful places from all around the world since its founding in 2009. To date, the site's users and editorial staff have collected and [...]

Microsoft is at it again with another round of ads showing people talking to Copilot AI on their computers. This time it's holiday-themed, including a cameo from the big man in red. The 30-second TV spot asks if you're "ready for the holidays" and features actors in various festive home settings asking Copilot for some [...]

Micron, one of the three biggest memory suppliers in the world, forecasts rough months ahead for the global RAM supply. As part of its earnings report released on Wednesday, Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said "tight industry conditions" across DRAM and NAND flash memory are expected to "persist through and beyond" 2026 as AI drives up [...]

Welcome to our end-of-year Decoder special! Senior producers Kate Cox and Nick Statt here. We've had a big year, including nearly 100 episodes, a new YouTube channel, an ad-free podcast feed, and a slate of great guest hosts while Nilay was on parental leave. It's been a lot. We've also had a lot of great [...]

If you have $400 and want an iPad, your options are usually kind of limited to either just the base iPad, or better yet, the latest iPad Mini - if it happens to be on sale when you're shopping (it is now, but that's not always the case). But right now, you should consider getting [...]

What do you get the man who says he has everything? It's a tough question - and one you have a limited amount of time to answer, given the holidays are nearly upon us. You could try dropping subtle hints or asking friends and family for suggestions, but they might save their best ideas for [...]

Much like the audio industry's compression-driven loudness war, which reached its distortion-fueled apex (and not the good kind) with Metallica's Death Magnetic in 2008, the television industry has been having its own battle the past couple of years: the brightness war. Sparked by the introduction of HDR and its higher brightness mastering levels, brands began [...]

Trump Media, the company that runs social network Truth Social, is pivoting to nuclear fusion. It has announced a merger with California-based fusion power company TAE Technologies and plans to start construction on a fusion power plant in 2026. Trump Media & Technology Group will become the holding company of the new organization, though shareholders [...]

The cringe comes for us all, and for all our hot new turns of phrase. "Rizz" lost its luster when grandparents started asking about its meaning. Teachers who dressed up as "6-7" on Halloween drove a nail into the coffin of Gen Alpha's rallying cry. And tech CEOs who once trumpeted the quest for "artificial [...]

Apple has announced the changes it's making to the iOS App Store in Japan in order to comply with recent legislation in the country. It will allow third-party app stores and payment processing options, though is introducing new commission fees for those transactions. Developers in Japan will now be able to distribute apps on alternative [...]

Kuxiu is back with a new S3 portable battery that addresses most of the issues I had during my review of the S2, aka the "world's first" semi-solid state power bank. It also introduces a few new ones, while adding useful features like a kickstand and integrated USB-C cable. As a reminder, these are not [...]

The Brussels-based electric bike company has officially closed its deal to be acquired by ReBirth Group Holding, which also owns cycling brands Peugeot, Gitane, and Solex. The transaction includes new, undisclosed funding from ReBirth as well as 15 million ($17.6 million) from existing shareholders. The funding will be used to restart production and deal with [...]

On Wednesday evening, OpenAI launched an App Directory to browse all the tools currently available and opened its SDK for developers to build new interactive experiences that operate within the bot's UI. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said last month that "We are planning to build the obvious features that you would expect for a robust [...]

In July, Sony sued Tencent to prevent the release of Light of Motiram, a game Sony alleged was a "slavish clone" of its popular Horizon series. But the legal battle is already over; the two companies have reached a "confidential settlement" and the case has been dismissed with prejudice, according to a court document filed [...]

Dolby Atmos FlexConnect technology debuted this year with the TCL Z100 speakers, and now we're getting our first FlexConnect soundbar thanks to LG. The new H7 soundbar - which runs on the same Alpha 11 Gen 3 chip as LG's OLEDs and new Micro RGB LED - is a part of the LG Sound Suite, [...]

Snap just launched a new Quick Cut video editing tool right inside Snapchat that "helps Snapchatters turn their favorite Memories into beat-synced, ready-to-share videos in seconds." With Quick Cut, you can select multiple photos or clips and then "instantly preview a rendered video," and the feature is accessible from multiple places in the app, including [...]

Your mom deserves the best, and we're going to help you get them something special. The right gift can make family or friend time more valuable, after all, or it can greatly enrich time spent alone. If your mom says that she has all that she needs, don't take her word for it and show [...]

The Senate confirmed Jared Isaacman's appointment as the head of NASA on Wednesday, a decision that comes just months after President Donald Trump pulled his nomination before picking him yet again in November, as reported earlier by CNBC. Isaacman, the founder and CEO of a payments platform called Shift4, has flown to space twice through [...]

A defiant Brendan Carr testified before the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday in his first public appearance before lawmakers since threatening broadcasters who aired comedian Jimmy Kimmel's show. Over the course of nearly three hours, the Federal Communications Commission chairman ping-ponged between heated exchanges with Democrats and largely muted questions from Republicans. But at least [...]

Meta has "paused" its program to license its VR operating system to other hardware companies so they could build their own headsets using the platform, as reported by Road to VR . With the program, announced in April 2024, Meta announced that it would be licensing the Quest OS headset - which, at the same [...]

Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) fired off a letter on Tuesday to Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and several major data center developers to investigate the impact they're having on Americans' utility bills. The move comes as rising electricity rates became an increasingly hot-button issue in the US, which [...]

If you're looking for a gadget to get as a last-minute Christmas gift, we've got your back. The Beats Solo 4 are among the best on-ear headphones we've tested in the last year or two, and they're currently down to a new low of $79 ($120 off) in select colors at Walmart. If you prefer [...]

Amazon's head of artificial general intelligence (AGI), Rohit Prasad, is leaving the company next year as it reaches an "inflection point" in its development of the technology, CEO Andy Jassy announced on Wednesday. As part of the change, Peter DeSantis, a senior vice president at Amazon Web Services, will helm a new division focused on [...]

Spending on video game hardware during November totalled $695 million, a drop of 27 percent compared to last year, according to market analyst company Circana, "This is the lowest video game hardware spending total for a November month since the $455M reached during the November 2005 tracking period," Circana says. In addition, 1.6 million units [...]

Sexual fetish content. How to light a match. Where to find knives in the home. These are all conversation topics that recently-recalled children's toys - built atop AI chatbots like OpenAI's GPT-4o - are capable of bringing up to children. On Tuesday, U.S. senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) sent a letter to [...]

The Oscars are headed to YouTube - in a few years. "Beginning in 2029, the Oscars will broadcast exclusively on YouTube for free globally and on YouTube TV in the U.S.," YouTube announced. YouTube's coverage will include the red carpet, behind the scenes content, and Governors Ball access. The deal runs through 2033, according to [...]

As we tuck into Fallout season 2, eager to see Amazon bring New Vegas to life, there's one person who stands out - and not just because of his power armor. Knight Maximus of the Brotherhood of Steel is the most important of Fallout's three main characters, and I'm glad the new season is finally [...]

Tesla and other automakers working on Level 2 and higher driving systems would be required to restrict their vehicles to specific road types or clearly defined operational domains under a new bill introduced today by Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey (D). Operational design domains, or ODDs, are a set of conditions, either geographic or weather-related, in [...]