'Game of Thrones' Goes on a Victory Lap—and an Apology Tour

Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge It was going to happen, and then it wasn’t going to happen, and then it happened. The United States Congress passed a bill that would either ban TikTok or force it to be sold, and President Joe Biden signed it.
So... what now? TikTok could sue, and win, and go back to normal. TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, could just decide to shut it down and move on. Or it could sell TikTok US. Those are really the only three outcomes, and we have a year or less to figure

Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo from Getty Images The world’s largest tech company has a security problem. A series of high-profile security incidents have rocked Microsoft over the past few years, and a scathing report from the Cyber Safety Review Board recently concluded that “Microsoft’s security culture was inadequate and requires an overhaul.” Inside Microsoft, there is concern that the attacks could seriously undermine trust in the company.
Sources tell me that Mi

Image: Supercell Supercell doesn’t release a lot of games, but the studio’s mobile releases tend to be big hits. Think Clash of Clans, Brawl Stars, and Clash Royale. Now, the developer is gearing up for its next major release: Squad Busters, which will be out globally on both Android and iOS on May 29th.
It’s a competitive multiplayer game, but one on a larger scale than a typical mobile release. In each match, 10 players compete to collect the most gems while building up a squ

A power plant in Thompsons, Texas, U.S. that’s home to the Petra Nova Carbon Capture Project on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. | Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has just finalized rules aimed at slashing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. But it still doesn’t crack down on the nation’s fleet of gas-fired power plants. That’s a big omission considering the US gets 43 percent of its electricity from gas, more than from a

There’s obviously something special between you and your boo — and we don't just mean the vibrator. But don't underestimate how much fun sex toys can bring to the bedroom. Even if you're already well equipped with toys, there's no harm upgrading. It's always a good time to add something new and spicy into the mix.And in this age of sex positivity, there really is something for everyone. It's a golden time for couples' sex toys. If you have an itch, it's pretty much guaranteed that th

TL;DR: A lifetime subscription to a Plantum AI Plant Identifier Premium Plan is on sale for £13.72, saving you 71% on list price.As flowers bloom and the sun sets later each day, it’s easy to see why so many people love nature. Anyone can appreciate a beautiful flower, tree, or plant but not many know how to identify and care for them. Instead of flipping through books or scrolling for answers online, train yourself to recognise the plants in your area with Plantum. This plant identi

Oh hey there! If you're here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we're serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today's answer.If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for April 25's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.Where did Wordle come from?Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to

Connections is the latest New York Times word game that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for April 25's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, ke

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The generative AI gold rush is underway — just don’t expect it to create profits anytime soon.
That was the message from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to investors during Wednesday’s call for the company’s first-quarter earnings report. Having just put its ChatGPT competitor in a bunch of places across Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, much of the call focused on exactly how generative AI will become a money-making endeavor for Meta.The

"Hm, this is a lot wider than I expected," I said when I held the Rabbit R1 for the first time. Laying flat on my hand, the vivid, electric orange chassis exceeded the span of my palm.Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
No, it's not the most comfortable gadget to hold with its unforgiving flat edges, but it's not unwieldy either. Buttons, including the scrolling wheel and the push-to-talk button, are strategically placed, allowing my fingers to navigate the Rabbit R1 with ease.When people gushed

Image: The Verge Threads is testing the option to automatically hide your old posts. Instagram head Adam Mosseri says the feature is only available to a “small number” of users for now, but it will let you choose to archive individual posts manually or have them automatically archived after a certain amount of time.
You can see an example of how the feature might look in Mosseri’s post on Threads. Users with access to the test should be able to manually archive their content by

BattleGC Pro in limited-edition crystal. | Image: Retro Fighters This new BattlerGC Pro controller looks like it could be the ultimate GameCube gamepad — one with drift-resistant Hall effect joysticks, hybrid analog / digital triggers, programmable back buttons, a rechargeable battery with a USB-C port, and the ability to use it across different consoles and systems thanks to Bluetooth support. And of course, it’s the latest controller to host the best face button layout ever, and I

Photo by Prince Williams / Wireimage While Drake’s fans have been having a ball with the Canadian rapper’s recently released track dissing fellow rapper Kendrick Lamar, the legal team representing Tupac Shakur is threatening to take legal action if the song isn’t pulled off the internet.
Billboard reports that late rapper Tupac’s legal team is ready to take Drake to court over the release of “Taylor Made,” Drake’s recently released song featuring the AI-

Photo by Urbanandsport / NurPhoto via Getty Images The Department of Transportation (DOT) finalized rules that will soon require airlines to quickly refund passengers if they cancel or delay flights or make significant changes.Airlines must pay passengers back either in cash or in the original form of payment, no matter the reason they cancel their flight. Alternatively, passengers can choose to accept travel credit, other kinds of transportation, or another flight offered by the airline.
Airlin

Illustration: The Verge One more app joins the passwordless future we’ve been promised. WhatsApp says it’s now rolling out support for passkeys in the iOS version of the app. With the feature enabled, users of Meta’s encrypted messaging app can use iPhone biometrics for login — that is, Face ID or Touch ID — or their phone’s passcode.WhatsApp already supports unlocking its iOS app with one of these options, but this takes that a step further. Passkey support c

The Digital Services Act strikes again. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge TikTok Lite users in Europe will have to find another way to earn an extra 38 cents a day.
The light version of the TikTok app, which launched in two EU countries a couple of weeks ago, included a reward feature that paid users a small amount each day to engage with videos. European regulators launched an inquiry soon after, citing the feature’s potential for encouraging addiction — particularly in youn

Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images The Federal Communications Commission is set to vote to restore net neutrality on Thursday in the latest volley of a yearslong game of political ping-pong.
The commission is expected to reclassify internet service providers (ISPs) — e.g., broadband companies like AT&T and Comcast — as common carriers under Title II of the Communications Act. That classification would open ISPs up to greater oversight by the FCC. The vote is wid

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge There are two types of parents I’m friends with: those who let their kids watch YouTube and those who work very hard to keep their kids as far from YouTube as possible. Given I know at least one small child who developed an obsession with dictators after getting around the YouTube parental controls, I understand the divide. Streaming services seem to understand that divide, too, and are eager to provide an alternative to YouTube that gives parents al

Sometimes it feels like everything is getting a little bit worse every day. This latest Windows 11 update is a good example of that. In the patch notes for Windows 11 update KB5036980, Microsoft noted that the start menu in Windows 11 will now display recommended apps from the Windows app store. In other words, they put ads in the start menu. "The Recommended section of the Start menu will show some Microsoft Store apps. These apps come from a small set of curated developers," the patch notes sa

Illustration: The Verge Apple has been quiet about its plans for generative AI, but with the release of new AI models today, it appears the company’s immediate ambitions lie firmly in the “make AI run locally on Apple devices” realm.
Researchers from Apple released OpenELM, a series of four very small language models on the Hugging Face model library, on Wednesday. Apple said on its Hugging Face model page that OpenELM, which stands for “Open-source Efficient Language Mod

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Spotify submitted a new version of its iOS app that should give users in the European Union in-app pricing information for subscriptions made outside of Apple’s payment system — provided the update doesn’t get stonewalled by Apple again.
According to TechCrunch, the latest version of the app doesn’t contain a direct link to subscription plans on Spotify’s website, something the company hoped would allow it to skirt the 30 percent cut