01-26-26 -

All the ways TikTok is broken:hereswhats realand whatsnot
While social media rumors have suggested the errors are examples of censorship, more than a day after the issues began, TikTok USDS says the problems are the result of a power outage at a data center that it is working to resolve. Rumors ...

01-26-26 -

X faces EU investigation over Groks sexualized deepfakes
X is facing an investigation from the European Commission over the sexualized deepfakes generated by its Grok AI chatbot. In its announcement, the Commission says it will evaluate whether X "properly assessed and mitigated risks"...

01-26-26 -

OpenAIs president is a Trump mega-donor
OpenAI's co-founder and longtime president, Greg Brockman, didn't just make a run-of-the-mill donation to the main pro-Trump super PAC - together, he and his wife Anna's September 2025 donations equaled the largest of them all, totaling $...

01-26-26 -

Google will settle its Assistant spying lawsuit for $68 million
Google could owe you some money, now that it's moving to settle a class-action lawsuit over how it handled recordings captured when its devices were activated by something other than Google Assistant's actual trigger word, "Ok Google...

01-26-26 -

Apples luxe AirPods Max have dropped to one of their lowest prices ever
All colors are on sale right now, including the attractive blue shade. If you prefer over-ear headphones to earbuds and own an iPhone or another Apple device, the AirPods Max with USB-C are worth a look, especially now that you can buy the...

01-26-26 -

Even the big dick subreddit is mad about ICE
"Fuck ICE first, second, third, and fourth. Then worry about fucking me," a Reddit post reads. "Immigrants of any status are my friends, neighbors, and colleagues." Across the internet - and in the streets - the senti...

01-26-26 -

Tattle TV has turned a Hitchcock classic into a vertical video microdrama
Most vertical video microdrama apps have been focused on putting out newly-produced series meant to be watched on your phone. But Tattle TV thinks that people might also be interested in checking out bite-sized pieces of cinematic history...

01-26-26 -

MCP unites Claude chat with apps like Slack, Figma, and Canva
Anthropic's Claude got a bit livelier today thanks to a new extension to MCP, the open-source protocol that allows AI agents to easily access tools and data across the internet. Users will now be able to interact with apps directly inside...

01-26-26 -

TikTokers are heading to UpScrolled following US takeover
TikTok's takeover in the US has prompted users to join an alternative social platform called UpScrolled. The app, which is available on Android and iOS, currently holds the 12th spot in Apple's App Store, and it's struggling to keep up wi...

01-26-26 -

Internal chats show how social media companies discussed teen engagement
Recently released documents show the big business opportunity that social media companies saw in recruiting teens to their platforms and how they discussed risks that heavy digital engagement could pose. The documents were released last ...

01-26-26 -

OpenAI is working out how much to charge for ChatGPT ads
OpenAI is reportedly asking a high price to advertise on ChatGPT, around $60 per 1,000 views, or triple what ads on Meta's platform usually cost, according to The Information. Despite the higher price, OpenAI won't be offering advertiser...

01-26-26 -

Payment processors were against CSAM until Grok started making it
For many years, credit card companies and other payment methods were aggressive about policing child sexual abuse material. Then, Elon Musk's Grok started undressing children on X. The Center for Countering Digital Hate found 101 sexualiz...

01-26-26 -

TikTok blames its US problems on a power outage
TikTok says a power outage is causing ongoing issues and outages that started in the US early Sunday morning. In an email to The Verge, TikTok USDS spokesperson Jamie Favazza pointed to a statement posted to the joint venture's newly-crea...

01-26-26 -

A powerful AMD gaming desktop is hundreds off at Costco
Given that RAM has become so expensive to buy recently, you might have considered buying a prebuilt desktop computer. If so, and you’re leaning toward a high-end gaming model, Costco has a model that’s an impressive value at $1,999.99...

01-26-26 -

Microsofts latest AI chip goes head-to-head with Amazon and Google
Microsoft is announcing a successor to its first in-house AI chip today, the Maia 200. Built on TSMC's 3nm process, Microsoft says its Maia 200 AI accelerator "delivers 3 times the FP4 performance of the third generation Amazon Train...

01-26-26 -

2026 is the year of social medias legal reckoning
Over the next year, top social media executives are expected to take the witness stand to defend their companies from an avalanche of claims about their failure to protect kids. The first of many trials is set to begin this month in Calif...

01-26-26 -

Experians tech chief defends credit scores: Were not Palantir
Today, I’m talking with Alex Lintner, who is the CEO of technology and software solutions at Experian, the credit reporting company. Experian is one of those multinationals that’s so big and convoluted that it has multiple CEOs all ov...

01-26-26 -

Apple’s new AirTag has more range and a better speaker
Apple has revealed a new AirTag that comes with the company's upgraded ultra wideband chip, allowing for more precise location tracking. It has the same $29 for one or $99 for a four-pack price as the AirTag it's replacing, while the new ...

01-26-26 -

As Marvel pivots back to the Avengers, Wonder Man goes its own way
When Marvel first announced that Avengers: Doomsday would be directed by the Russo Brothers and star Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom, it seemed like the studio might be using the feature as a massive nostalgia play. Though the film will ...

01-26-26 -

Intel Panther Lake laptop CPU review: call it a comeback
Panther Lake CPUs in hand at CES 2026. Intel's been talking the talk for months about its new generation of laptop chips, the first made on its long-anticipated 18A process. 18A is meant to steer Intel back toward bluer waters by making it...

01-26-26 -

Asus Zenbook Duo (2026) review: twice as nice for a price
I’m seeing double, and I’m digging it. The most helpful thing you can add to any laptop for productivity is a second screen. That's why I love laptops like the Asus Zenbook Duo. Its twin 14-inch OLED displays are attached by a redesign...

01-26-26 -

Microsofts first Windows 11 update of 2026 has been a mess
Microsoft's first update for Windows 11 in 2026 has been a buggy mess, to say the least. After reports of shutdown issues on some machines, Microsoft issued an emergency update to fix its January 2026 Windows 11 update last weekend. Now, ...

01-26-26 -

TikTok USA is broken
TikTok has suffered from extensive problems on its first weekend after completing the sale of its US arm, though some issues appear to have spread globally. TikTok has yet to confirm any issues a day after troubles began, making it diffic...

01-25-26 -

Creators and communities everywhere take a stand against ICE
It's not surprising when the guy who's been yelling about the horrors of late-stage capitalism on Instagram for the last five years turns his ire towards ICE. But something different has been happening over the week or so, following the m...

01-25-26 -

It doesnt matter if Alex Pretti had a gun
Shortly after federal agents killed Alex Pretti Saturday morning, DHS began to run with the story that the dead man had been armed and dangerous. He had a gun, DHS said. (A Bellingcat analysis of the video concludes that Pretti was unarm...

01-25-26 -

Trusting your phone to Abxylutes mobile controller requires a big leap of faith
Turning your phone into a handheld with the M4 could be risky. As a retro gaming fan, I was thrilled when Apple opened its App Store to emulators in 2024, but I've yet to find a controller that makes me want to fully embrace retro gaming o...

01-25-26 -

Why wont anyone stop ICE from masking?
Americans do not like masked secret police. There is really no other way to put it. The reasons why are manifold: accountability, trust in law enforcement, and just plain overall vibes. More concretely, not being able to tell who's a cop ...

01-25-26 -

Sonys first clip earbuds dont quite hit the mark
The Sony LinkBuds Clip can be customized with different colored covers for the case. The Sony LinkBuds Clip are the company's first clip earbuds. They follow the innovative donut-hole LinkBuds and LinkBuds Open and, like their predecessors...

01-25-26 -

The great e-bike crackdown has begun
This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on the e-bike movement, follow Andrew J. Hawkins. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepbac...

01-24-26 -

The day of the second killing
Steven Garcia, as told to Gaby Del Valle: I was in the middle of a frozen lake when I got the notification from the Minnesota Star Tribune that there had been a shooting. I was at a pond hockey event, and someone who was supposed to play ...

01-24-26 -

Microsoft handed the government encryption keys for customer data
The FBI went to Microsoft last year with a warrant, asking them to hand over keys to unlock encrypted data stored on three laptops as part of an investigation into potential fraud involving the COVID unemployment assistance program in Gua...

01-24-26 -

MicroSD Express cards and Ankers travel adapter rule the deal roost this week
Welcome to the weekend, friends! We’re still in a bit of a deals lull before the Presidents Day and V-Day sales begin, the bulk of which we anticipate kicking off the first week of February. However, for now, we’re still seeing some s...

01-24-26 -

Gmails spam filter and automatic sorting are broken
Some Gmail users have noticed that promotional emails that normally go to their own siloed tab have started flooding their inbox. Reports have been hitting the Google forums and Reddit that messages are bypassing the Updates and Promotion...

01-24-26 -

ICE has killed another person in Minneapolis
Federal agents in Minneapolis repeatedly punched a man, forced him to the ground, and then shot him multiple times. The man was later pronounced dead. This is just the latest incident of deadly violence involving ICE, which has grown incr...

01-24-26 -

Gaming’s most fun sales data is full of old and obscure games
Every month, Circana video game analyst Mat Piscatella posts fascinating data about video game sales on Bluesky, highlighting trends like November's historically bad month for game hardware and Battlefield 6's big launch in October. But h...

01-24-26 -

Get ready for the AI ad-pocalypse
Of course ad agencies love AI commercials, this Kalshi ad only cost $2,000 to make. I'll confess, with no shame whatsoever, that I really love ads. Artsy ones, funny ones, weird ones, emotional ones - TV commercials were my childhood TikTo...

01-24-26 -

This coming-of-age adventure game made me feel a little too seen
There's a lot about Perfect Tides: Station to Station's Mara that I find relatable. Like me, she's recently moved to a place simply called "the City" from the middle of nowhere, and like me, she's an avid writer. But these biogr...

01-24-26 -

Gemini with Personal Intelligence is awfully familiar
I respect Gemini using the royal “we” here. By lots of metrics, Gemini is winning. It has raced ahead of OpenAI, become scarily good at creating convincing imagery, and even won Apple's business. So last week's news that it was enablin...

01-24-26 -

Get stuff done by yelling at your phone
Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 113, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, please send hot cocoa to my freezing-cold house, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installe...

01-24-26 -

The Loch Capsule dishwasher is small, fast, and efficient it even sanitizes ...
The Loch Capsule in a tiny house that lacks space for a built-in dishwasher. A dishwasher is a luxury item some people can't live without. It's one of the first major kitchen devices I bought just as soon as I could afford one. And now tha...

01-23-26 -

Chromebooks train schoolkids to be loyal customers, internal Google document ...
Internal documents revealed as part of a child safety lawsuit hint at Google's plan to "onboard kids" into its ecosystem by investing in schools. In this November 2020 presentation, Google writes that getting kids into its ecosy...

01-23-26 -

Leak: Nvidia is about to challenge Intel Inside with as many as eight Arm lap...
This is not an Nvidia Arm laptop, but the old image seemed thematically appropriate. Intel and AMD have split the Windows laptop market for years, but the x86 players may be getting outnumbered. It's not just Apple MacBooks and MediaTek-ba...

01-23-26 -

Congress doesnt seem to know if the TikTok deal complies with its law
TikTok finally closed a deal meant to bring it into compliance with the law that should have banned it a year ago, and the lawmakers who passed that law still don't seem to know what's going on. The company announced Tuesday that its US s...

01-23-26 -

Meta is stopping teens from chatting with its AI characters
Meta is "temporarily pausing" the ability for teens to chat with its AI characters as it develops a "new version" of the characters that will offer a "better experience." The company made the announcement in ...

01-23-26 -

What TikToks new owners mean for your feed
TikTok is officially under new ownership in the US, and that could spell big changes for the video-sharing app. On January 22nd, ByteDance - TikTok's Chinese parent company - and a group of investors closed a $14 billion deal to spin off ...

01-23-26 -

Casio teased a retro gaming-inspired sampler
Casio SX-C1 sampler prototype on display at NAMM. Casio showed up to NAMM (CES for music gear nerds) this year with a prototype sampler called the SX-C1 that looks every bit the lovechild of a Game Boy and an SP-404. The top has a directio...

01-23-26 -

Hang on, theres a Trump Phone Ultra coming too?
Where's the Trump Phone? We're going to keep talking about it every week. We've reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump Phone's whereabouts. As usual, we're still waiting for a response. In the meantime, it turns out we might have t...

01-23-26 -

Marshalls new hub connects to multiple Bluetooth speakers without pairing
The Heddon hub simplifies streaming audio to multiple speakers. | Image: Marshall Marshall has announced a new music streaming hub called the Heddon that can broadcast to multiple speakers using the Bluetooth Auracast feature that's finall...

01-23-26 -

Today only, you can buy the AirPods Pro 3 for less than $200
The AirPods Pro 3 are Apple’s best noise-canceling earbuds. If you’re considering gifting the AirPods Pro 3 for Valentine’s Day, now’s a great time to pick them up. Today only, Best Buy is selling the noise-canceling earbuds for $1...

01-23-26 -

Giving your healthcare info to a chatbot is, unsurprisingly, a terrible idea
Every week, more than 230 million people ask ChatGPT for health and wellness advice, according to OpenAI. The company says that many see the chatbot as an "ally" to help navigate the maze of insurance, file paperwork, and become...