Technology news

Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos by Getty Images ElevenLabs already offers AI-generated versions of human voices and music. Now, it will let people create sound effects for podcasts, movies, or games, too. The new Sound Effects tool can generate up to 22 seconds of sounds based on user prompts that can be combined with the company’s voice and music platform, and it gives users at least four downloadable audio clip options.
The company says it worked with the stock media platform Shutters

iOS 18, Apple's next big annual update, is expected to roll out with some major AI-powered updates.Yes, rumors are already flying around about iOS 18, the theoretical follow-up to last year's iOS 17 update. I say "theoretical" because Apple has yet to publicly talk about it, but you can rest easy knowing it'll almost certainly come out at some point this year. And when it does, it may or may not be a total overhaul of the iOS experience (more on this later).Here's everything we know about iOS 18

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge If you’ve been on the Facebook app lately, you might’ve seen Meta’s AI inject itself into the comment section with summaries of what people say. Given how wild Facebook comment sections often become, it’s not hard to imagine how ridiculous some of these summaries turn out. (This isn’t the first time Meta’s AI has appeared in the comment section, by the way: 404 Media spotted it pretending to be a parent in a Facebook gr

iOS 18 is rumored to be jam-packed with AI features, but according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, a respected Apple analyst and reliable leaker, not all of the updates are AI-related.In a recent tweet, Gurman revealed that the Cupertino-based tech giant is planning on updating Control Center and the Settings app.SEE ALSO:iOS 18 AI features: 7 new rumored updates coming to iPhone
iOS 18 Control Center and Settings update: Everything we knowAs MacRumors pointed out, this isn't the first time a major

Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo from Getty Images May 31st marks the official last day of a covid-19 pandemic-era internet subsidy, the Affordable Connectivity Program.The up to $30 monthly broadband discount (up to $75 for those on Tribal lands) helped 23 million low-income households in every county in the US access high-speed internet during a period when that connection became more vital than ever as businesses and schools shut their doors. The Federal Communications Commission and industr

Image: Stellantis Earlier this week, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares took the stage at the Bernstein investor conference and threw down the gauntlet.Tavares, who oversees companies like Fiat, Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, and, most importantly, Jeep, said the launch of the new all-electric Jeep Wagoneer S would signal the start of an EV “offensive” that would take the US by storm, according to multiple reports. And part of that offensive would include a more affordable electric Jeep, priced so

The new PlayStation 5 “slim” is matching its all-time low of $449 ($50 off) for a limited time. | Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge Sony’s recent State of Play showcase may have given us a brief glimpse into the company’s plans for 2024 and beyond, but that probably does little if you were hoping for something you can play right now. That’s where the Days of Play sale comes in. Now through June 12th, Sony is discounting dozens of PlayStation 5 and PlaySta

X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, has been buzzing over the past 24 hours with reactions to former president Donald Trump's 34 felony convictions.Trump himself has not posted on the social media platform much in recent years. Although X owner Elon Musk unsuspended Trump's account shortly after acquiring the platform in late 2022, Trump has posted only once to launch a fundraiser that capitalized on his publicly released mugshot (which was related to an entirely different set of charges

In a blog post detailing the latest Windows 11 preview build for Windows Insiders, Microsoft announced a new feature for Phone Link, a tool that lets Android and iOS users sync their phones to their PCs. Put simply, Microsoft will use all that fancy AI in Windows 11 to automatically generate three generic responses to any text messages you receive, and it's all powered by Microsoft's "cloud-based intelligent suggestion model."SEE ALSO:Google explains why AI Overviews immediately got weird
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Image: Microsoft Microsoft unveiled its new Copilot Plus PCs last week, designed to usher in a new wave of AI features in Windows that are exclusive to new laptops. Now, less than two weeks later, Windows enthusiasts have managed to crack Microsoft’s flagship AI-powered Recall feature to run on unsupported hardware.
Recall leverages local AI models on new Copilot Plus PCs to run in the background and take snapshots of anything you’ve done or seen on your PC. You then get a timeline y

SAVE $40: As of May 31, get the PlayStation 5 remake of Demon's Souls at Amazon for $29.99. That's 57% off its normal price of $69.99. Opens in a new windowCredit: Amazon'Demon's Souls'$29.99 at Amazon $69.99 Save $40.00Get DealIf you have a PlayStation 5 and want a great game to check out, Demon's Souls is a classically challenging adventure you won't want to miss. The PlayStation 5 update is a remake of the original 2009 version on the PlayStation 3, with a number of improvements in terms of g

TikTok is preparing a clone of its recommendation algorithm after all, sources told Reuters. The social media platform is reportedly developing an algorithm independent of ByteDance, its Chinese parent company. The project began late last year before the TikTok ban bill passed. It involves separating millions of lines of code and will likely take over a year. A source told Reuters that the process is slow because each line of code must be reviewed.SEE ALSO:Here's how the TikTok ban will likely p

Photo: Getty Images A big part of Microsoft Build that stood out to me last week was the potential of Windows on Arm for PC gaming, especially for laptops and handhelds. Microsoft and Qualcomm aren’t talking much about this yet, but both companies have been dropping hints about game compatibility.
Qualcomm said previously that most Windows games should “just work” on Snapdragon X Elite laptops, and Microsoft took the time to demo some more games onstage at Build last week. Bord

When Spotify announced it intended to kill off the Car Thing — its smart music player for your vehicle launched in 2021 — there was a major concern: Could you get a refund on your unit? After all, if the company is bricking its own product, shouldn't you get money back for a soon-to-be-useless piece of hardware? Well, in short, yes, you can get a refund, and the company has started that process. The company's FAQ page for the Car Thing's discontinuation notes: "Individuals seeking a

A report from cybersecurity firm Zscaler has discovered over 90 malicious Android apps uploaded to Google Play over the past few months, including a particularly sophisticated trojan called Anatsa. Collectively, the malware apps have been installed over 5.5 million times. SEE ALSO:Google rolls out phishing and malware detection for Android users
How Anatsa malware tries to fool Android usersAs of Thursday, Google has banned the apps identified in the report, according to BleepingComputer. Anatsa

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OpenAI is weeding out more bad actors using its AI models. And, in a first for the company, they've identified and removed Russian, Chinese, and Israeli accounts used in political influence operations.According to a new report from the platform's threat detection team, the platform discovered and terminated five accounts engaging in covert influence operations, such as propaganda-laden bots, social media scrubbers, and fake article generators. "OpenAI is committed to enforcing policies that prev

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Meta appears to have confirmed the name of its next virtual reality headset: the Quest 3S. In a Quest Store listing spotted by UploadVR, Meta lists the Quest 3S as a supported device.
At this time of writing, you can see the Quest 3S listed alongside the Quest 3, Quest, Pro, and Quest 2 in the listing for the upcoming Alo Moves XR app. Other upcoming titles, such as Miracle Pool and Rival Stars Horse Racing: VR Edition, also include the Quest 3S. The Verge reac

The Pixel Watch 2, like the first-gen model, comes in just one size of 41mm that should fit most wrists. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Google’s Pixel Watch 2 is on sale for a new low price of $284.99 ($65 off) at Wellbots when you use code VERGEWATCH65 until June 16th — giving you ample time to pick one up for any Android phone-owning dads in your life, if you’re so inclined.The moment the Pixel Watch 2 was released, it quickly became one of the best Android sma

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Spain’s privacy watchdog has barred Meta from launching two features on Facebook and Instagram that the tech giant says were intended to encourage users to vote in the upcoming EU elections.  The tools, dubbed Election Day Information (EDI) and Voter Information Unit (VIU), would send notifications to all eligible Instagram and Facebook users in the EU, reminding them to vote.  Both features were set to be rolled out imminently across the EU (except for in Italy, which already h

Illustration: The Verge One thing right off the bat: the Google Search algorithm has not leaked, and SEO experts don’t suddenly have all the answers. But the information that did leak this week — a collection of thousands of internal Google documents — is still huge. It’s an unprecedented look into Google’s inner workings that are typically closely guarded.
Perhaps the most notable revelation from the 2,500 documents is that they suggest Google representatives have

I mean, has anyone else seen that Temu egg slicer meme? | Image: The Verge Temu, the popular Chinese shopping platform, is about to face stricter EU regulations after the European Commission deemed it a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) under the Digital Services Act (DSA).According to the Commission, Temu has confirmed that it has more than 45 million monthly users in the EU, the threshold for being considered a VLOP. That means it’ll have to comply with the strictest rules under the DSA,

Tesla announces another big recall, a month after thousands of Cybertrucks were recalled. Now, Elon Musk's company is recalling 125,227 vehicles because of a faulty seat belt warning that, according to Reuters, could increase the risk of injury when it comes to collusions. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that the vehicles failed to comply with federal safety requirements, because the warnings may not get activated when a driver is unbealted in the vehicles. SEE ALSO:Elon

UPDATE: May. 31, 2024, 10:15 a.m. EDT We've updated this story with the latest info on Prime Day 2024, as well as new info on Walmart+ Week.Amazon has made the announcement: we're officially on the verge of Prime Day season once more.If it feels like it hasn't been all that long since Amazon last hosted a sitewide, that's because it hasn't been: At the end of March, the retailer ran its five-day Big Spring Sale, offering deals on select tech, home and cleaning products, and other "seasonally re

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Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge A cyberattack was behind an incident last year that disabled over 600,000 internet routers across several Midwest states between October 25th and 27th, according to new research published by Lumen Technologies’ threat research arm, Black Lotus Labs. The incident wasn’t disclosed at the time, despite hundreds of thousands of routers being rendered inoperable.
The investigation also didn’t specify which company was targeted, but Reuters

Image: The Verge OpenAI is making ChatGPT more accessible to schools and nonprofit organizations. In a pair of blog posts, the company shared that it’s launching a version of ChatGPT for universities, along with a program that lets nonprofits access ChatGPT at a discounted rate.
OpenAI says ChatGPT Edu will allow universities to “responsibly deploy AI to students, faculty, researchers, and campus operations.” It’s built on its faster GPT-4o model, which offers improved mu

Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge The algorithm that powers Google Search is one of the most important, most complicated, and least understood systems that rule the internet. As of this week, though, we understand it a little better. Thanks to a huge leak of API documentation, we got an unprecedented look at what Google cares about, how it ranks content, and how it thinks the internet should work. The leaked documentation is dense, and it doesn’t tell us everything about how Google ranks, but