~theverge | Bookmarks (636)

Twitch is announcing a bunch of updates at TwitchCon Europe, including the ability to host a vertical livestream and an open beta test that lets creators stream at a higher quality. The rollout of vertical streams should make livestreams easier to watch in portrait mode on your phone. Down the line, streamers won't be forced […]

Thanks to the legal discovery process, Google's antitrust trial with the Department of Justice has provided a fascinating glimpse into the future of ChatGPT. An internal OpenAI strategy document titled "ChatGPT: H1 2025 Strategy" describes the company's aspiration to build an "AI super assistant that deeply understands you and is your interface to the internet." […]

A group of young people — as young as 7 and as old as 25 — are suing the Trump administration to stop its assault on renewable energy and climate action.  Executive orders President Donald Trump signed to promote fossil fuels amount to an “unconstitutional” overreach of power, they allege in a complaint filed Thursday at […]

Grindr has always excelled at helping its users find folks looking to spend some quality time together, but the hookup app is looking to speed up the “looking?” process even more with its latest feature. Today, Grindr announced that Right Now, its social media-like live feed feature, is rolling out to all of the platform’s […]

Elon Musk appeared alongside President Trump for a press conference in the Oval Office Friday, perhaps for the last time, with a noticeable black eye that he says he got from his young son. "I said, 'Go ahead, punch me in the face.' And he did," he said. Musk is emerging from his five-month stint […]

Tile trackers are getting more deeply integrated with the Life360 app. In a blog post published this week, Life360 announced that you’ll now be able to set up and manage the handy Bluetooth location trackers without using the Tile app at all.  Life360, a family safety and location app, purchased Tile’s Bluetooth device-tracking business for […]

Like Amazon and Apple, Netflix is also looking to cash in on the story of how Sam Bankman-Fried and Caroline Ellison managed to steal billions from the FTX cryptocurrency exchange. Variety reports that Anthony Boyle (Tetris, Manhunt) and Julia Garner (Ozark, The Fantastic Four: First Steps) have been cast in Netflix’s upcoming drama series, The […]

Amazon has a new ZeroOne team focused on “breakthrough” devices, and it’s led by Xbox cofounder and former Microsoft executive J Allard, CNBC reports. Based on a job listing for the team, one of those products is a smart home device. J Allard was one of the main faces of the original Xbox and Xbox […]

In dribs and drabs, we’re starting to get a better idea of what Tesla’s robotaxi service will look like when it launches in Austin, Texas, in just a few weeks. But it’s not nearly enough given what’s at stake. The company is considering June 12th as a possible date to launch its robotaxi service in […]

AI could soon surpass Bitcoin mining in energy consumption, according to a new analysis that concludes artificial intelligence could use close to half of all the electricity consumed by data centers globally by the end of 2025. The estimates come from Alex de Vries-Gao, a PhD candidate at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Institute for Environmental Studies […]

YouTube is bringing Lens to Shorts. The feature, which will roll out in beta in the coming weeks, will let you search for more information about the animals, plants, and items you spot within a video. If you’re watching a Short with a landmark in the background, for example, YouTube says you can use Lens […]

Instagram now supports photos that have a 3:4 aspect ratio, meaning that when you upload a photo with that ratio, “it’ll now appear just exactly as you shot it,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri says in a Threads post. He also notes that “almost every phone camera defaults to” that format. An image from Instagram’s broadcast […]

The legal battle between two Amazon influencers with unsettlingly similar styles and vibes is nearing resolution. On Wednesday the two influencers asked a judge to dismiss the copyright case, more than a year after it was initially filed and six months after I wrote about it in The Verge.  The lawsuit was simultaneously disconcerting and […]

If you’re looking to upgrade your work-from-home setup, the Insta360 Link and Link 2 are gimbal-equipped 4K webcams packed with features to improve how you present in video calls. Now through June 8th, both are down to all-time low prices, with the original Link selling for $149.99 (typically priced at $179.99) at Amazon, B&H Photo, […]

Apple plans to announce an app focused on video games for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV at its Worldwide Developer Conference next week, according to Bloomberg. The app will let you launch games you’ve installed on your devices and serve as a hub for things like achievements and leaderboards. Apple is expected to […]

We don’t typically report on monthly sales data for one car company in one market, but this one seems particularly notable given all that’s going on in the world. In another sign that Elon Musk’s company is in a real tough spot, Tesla is getting absolutely demolished in Europe. The company’s sales in the EU, […]

Razer’s powerhouse Blade 18 portable gaming desktop replacement is launching today with a surprise price hike from its originally advertised $3,199.99 tag. The company has quietly raised the cost of the base spec, which features an RTX 5070 Ti graphics card, to $3,499.99 — a $300 jump from its CES reveal earlier this year. The […]

eBay is slashing the jobs of 220 workers at TCGplayer’s card authentication center in Syracuse, New York, as reported earlier by local news outlet LocalSyr. eBay will move the online trading card marketplace’s operations to a warehouse in Kentucky — a decision TCGplayer’s union claims is eBay’s attempt to “evade its bargaining obligations.”  eBay acquired […]

In New York court on May 20th, lawyers for nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety argued that Meta, Amazon, Discord, Snap, 4chan, and other social media companies all bear responsibility for radicalizing a mass shooter. The companies defended themselves against claims that their respective design features - including recommendation algorithms - promoted racist content to a […]

More upgraded blue slimes are on the way: Square Enix just announced that remakes of Dragon Quest 1 and its sequel are launching on October 3oth. The two games will be bundled together under the name Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake and will be available on the PS5, Xbox, PC, and both the Nintendo […]

It is as inevitable as a sunrise that in the hours after the Switch 2 launch next week, third-party sites like eBay will be filled with listings for the new console. But in Japan, Nintendo has announced a new partnership with Japanese third-party retail sites to combat fraudulent Switch 2 listings. Mercari, Yahoo Auctions and […]

The price of the excellent 20th anniversary collection of Scott Pilgrim graphic novels is only going in one direction: down — way down. That’s good news for anyone who’s looking for an affordable way to get every installment, whether you first got into the series through the 2010 live-action movie, the stellar animated series on […]

HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter series is about to introduce the world to a new group of kids tasked with saving the world. Today, HBO announced that newcomers Dominic McLaughlin (Grow), Arabella Stanton, and Alastair Stout have been cast in the new JK Rowling-produced Harry Potter series. McLaughlin will play Harry, Stanton will portray Hermione Granger, […]

Disney Plus will become the new home of CoComelon outside of YouTube starting in 2027, according to Bloomberg. All eight seasons will move over from Netflix, which has hosted the absurdly popular kids’ show since 2020. CoComelon, essentially a series of mind-numbingly plotless, CG-animated vignettes set to karaoke-quality nursery rhymes, is a giant in the […]