Technology news

The sky, as observed from Zeytinburnu, Istanbul, Turkiye on May 25, 2024. | Photo: Getty Images A major environmental group is reportedly set to funnel millions of dollars into research on solar geoengineering, a proposed fix for climate change that has garnered skepticism and even fears about unintended consequences.Solar geoengineering encompasses a range of tactics to cool the planet down by reflecting sunlight, perhaps by artificially brightening clouds or thrusting reflective particles into

Image: Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images Elon Musk has dropped his lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, accusing the company of a breach of contract and allegedly abandoning its mission of creating AI technology to benefit humanity. As reported earlier by CNBC, the case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning Musk can file it again.
Musk’s decision to withdraw the lawsuit, filed in a California state court in February, comes just one day before a scheduled hearing where

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Following weeks of discussions, Paramount’s potential merger deal with Skydance has fallen apart, as reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal. In a statement on Tuesday, Paramount’s parent company, National Amusements, said the companies couldn’t “reach mutually acceptable terms” for its deal with Skydance Media.
One possible issue may have been Skydance’s decision not to include legal protection that would shield Nat

With Apple Intelligence features coming to older MacBooks, you shouldn’t feel the need to wait for Apple’s M4 chips. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge It’s not surprising that the M3 MacBook Air’s value is strengthening the longer it’s been out, but the laptop is becoming increasingly hard to overlook when compared to the 13-inch M2 model — especially since you can get a 13-inch MacBook Air with an M3 chip for only $70 more than the current sale price of the

This is probably how the fool would look thinking they’re getting away with a steal. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google is now testing Android 15’s automatic theft detection features announced at the I/O developer conference in May. The company tapped Brazil to play host for the initial testing grounds on account of local feedback from users in the country, which is an apparent hotbed for smartphone snatching. You can sign up to try the feature right now if you happen t

Before Elon Musk acquired Twitter in late 2022, the social media platform had a robust developer ecosystem filled with third-party companies integrating it into their own products. Musk's Twitter, now known as X, is a vastly different environment for developers.Case in point: As of Monday, June 10, 2024, all of the major video game consoles – Nintendo Switch, Sony Playstation, and Microsoft Xbox – have officially removed X / Twitter integrations from their products.X loses major gami

The URSA Cine Immersive might be what the Vision Pro needs. | Image: Blackmagic Design Blackmagic announced a new camera yesterday that it says is part of a new Vision Pro-specific workflow that involves its DaVinci Resolve software. Called the URSA Cine Immersive, Blackmagic says this camera, that’s built on its URSA Cine platform, will let cinematographers shoot 90fps video in stereoscopic 3D video for the Vision Pro.That and updates in the DaVinci Resolve video editing software will let

Image: Voodoo BeReal, the app known for its fleeting photo sharing window, has been acquired. On Tuesday, the French app developer Voodoo announced that it purchased the company for €500 million (about $537.23 million).
Launched by French developers Alexis Barreyat and Kévin Perreau in 2020, BeReal started gaining traction in 2022 when more users started partaking in the random, once-per-day opportunity to share photos with friends. But the hype surrounding BeReal quickly died down.

Image: Best Buy Best Buy carried out another round of layoffs and job restructurings last week, with the company cutting some of its sales staff and reducing the pay for others, according to current and former employees who spoke with The Verge. Multiple people said their new pay will be much lower due to the changes.
The layoffs appeared to have mostly targeted in-home sales roles called designers, who would go to customers’ homes to help identify products that would work in their space.

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Online shopping changed how we buy things — and social media platforms are reshaping shopping again. TikTok Shop, the company’s in-app shopping feature, is quickly becoming a key retailer for the beauty industry, according to a report by Dash Hudson and NielsenIQ.
TikTok Shop is now the ninth-largest online beauty and wellness retailer in the US and the second-largest in the UK, the report found. TikTok Shop’s footprint in the industry h

Image: Flow Computing Flow Computing is making a tough to believe claim: it says it can 100x the performance of any CPU by shifting work to a special parallel processing unit (PPU) inside or outside the chip. And, it claims, it can double the performance of any existing computing code overnight, even if programmers don’t lift a finger to optimize for its new tech. The PPU could even fit into phones and watches, it says, dramatically improving their performance and battery life by offloadin

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge YouTube is finally rolling out the ability for creators to test and compare how multiple video thumbnails perform, the company announced on Tuesday. The feature was first announced last June, but at the time, it was only available to a few hundred creators.With the new tool, which YouTube calls “Thumbnail Test & Compare,” creators can test up to three thumbnails for a video. “YouTube will show your chosen thumbnails evenly across your

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images X is rolling out private likes as soon as today, according to a source at the company. That means what users like on the platform will be hidden by default, which is already an option for X’s Premium subscribers.
A few weeks ago, the company’s director of engineering, Haofei Wang, said the change is meant to protect users’ public image — because “many people feel discouraged” to like “edgy” c

Technology always improves rapidly, but the past few years have been different. From the acceleration of AI to new battery technologies, we’ve entered a new golden era. Now you can get all the latest high-performance tech in your hands with a new slate of PCs from Microsoft. Whether you’re gaming, studying, working, or creating, preorder one of the new Copilot+ PCs to reach a performance peak that previously felt out of reach. Maximize productivity with next-gen performance

The color green has always been powerful, with its symbolic connection to money and jealousy. Put that all to the side, though, because anything lime green is even more powerful than before: It's brat. It's Charli xcx.The album cover of Charli xcx's latest release, brat, has a bright lime-green background and the word "brat" in lowercase. It's pretty easy to remake with your own words — there's even a generator for it. Edits and memes have taken over X / Twitter and Instagram, with some pe

The Apple HomePod will soon support SharePlay with Apple Music. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Apple’s SharePlay is expanding to include speakers in your home. Soon, the HomePod, HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and any Bluetooth speaker will work with SharePlay and Apple Music, meaning you can share control of the music in your home with friends and family. Apple’s music service is also getting Music Haptics to allow those with hearing difficulties to experience music on iPhone. Both new

Image: Cruise General Motors is investing $850 million into Cruise to help cover the company’s operational costs after it was forced to shut down its robotaxi service when one of its driverless cars struck a pedestrian.
GM chief financial officer Paul Jacobson announced the investment onstage at Deutsche Bank’s Global Auto Industry Conference in New York City today. The money would be used to cover Cruise’s operational costs as it slowly resumes testing its autonomous vehicles

Each year on the internet brings an entirely new vernacular. Last year, ijbol and "serving cunt" rose to timeline prominence, and so far, 2024 has revitalized yap and pookie. If you haven't given your life over to TikTok and X / Twitter or have someone who has in your life, it can be hard to keep up with the breakneck speed of internet slang. But fear not: Here are some key internet vocabulary words from the year defined. SEE ALSO:'Pookie' is more than a pet name. TikTok's new favorite word is r

Adobe is updating its Terms of Use after ambiguous language sparked backlash from users about the privacy and ownership of their work.In a blog post on Monday, the company that makes the creative software tools Photoshop, Premier, and InDesign said it would be rolling out updated language in its user terms by June 18, 2024. "At Adobe, there is no ambiguity in our stance, our commitment to our customers, and innovating responsibly in this space," wrote EVPs Scott Belsky, who oversees product, and

We know from reports earlier this year that VC investment is once more on the rise for European startups. And the wave of optimism seems to be continuing — at least for the continent’s deep tech sector.  Munich’s Vsquared Ventures today announced the closing of a new €214mn fund for early-stage investment in deep tech startups. It is reportedly the largest ever early-stage fund for the sector in Europe. The VC firm will divide its second fund between 25 deep tech com

SAVE $800: As of June 11, the 48-inch LG UltraGear OLED monitor is $699.99, down from $1,499.99, at LG. It also comes with a free pair of LG Tone wireless active noise-canceling earbuds. That's a discount of 56%.Opens in a new windowCredit: LG48-inch LG UltraGear OLED monitor$699.99 at LG $1,499.99 Save $800.00Free LG Tone wireless earbuds includedGet DealIf you're thinking about upgrading your monitor, go big or go home. A massive display is always a great idea, especially if you've been workin

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Bluetooth speakers are helpful year round, but in the summertime, they're exactly

The newer second-gen Backbone One looks much like the original (pictured here). | Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge Apple talked about big-budget games coming to the iPhone at its recent WWDC 2024 keynote, but if you choose to play upcoming titles like Resident Evil 7 on your phone, you might want something better than touch controls — something much better. Thankfully, the second-gen Backbone One controller is currently discounted to $79.99 during Backbone’s Father’s Day s

This article features an interview with Vinted CEO Thomas Plantenga, who is speaking at TNW Conference on June 21. Check out the full event schedule here. Vinted CEO Thomas Plantenga has reason to celebrate. His company recently became the first “pre-loved” clothing platform to make a profit after a monumental 61% surge in sales. It’s now firmly established as Europe’s largest online marketplace for second-hand fashion. The results represent a remarkable turnaround. When

Image: Hugo Herrera / The Verge Late last year, seven automakers — BMW, Honda, General Motors, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, and Stellantis — announced plans for a joint venture to build easy-to-access public DC fast charging infrastructure in the US and Canada.The resulting company, Ionna, announced today that its headquarters will be in Durham, North Carolina and feature what the company is calling a “Quarterback Lab,” designed to help each participating car company addr

Screenshot: Apple Soon, you’ll be able to create you own emoji and generate custom images with new AI features on Apple devices. I hate to be the bearer of bad news (and I’m guilty of grossly overusing emoji myself) — but those images could have the biggest environmental impact of all of Apple’s new AI tools.
Generative AI is notoriously energy-hungry, which means it leads to a lot of planet heating greenhouse gas emissions. Image generation, in particular, is one of the

SAVE 15%: As of June 11, Best Buy is once again offering $100 physical or digital Doordash gift cards for just $85 — a $15 or 15% savings.Opens in a new windowCredit: DoordashDoordash gift card$85.00 at Best Buy $100.00 Save $15.00Get DealFood delivery promo codes are hard to come by if you're not a first timer on the app in question. The loophole to save a few bucks on your next few orders? Snag a gift card on sale, like the $100 Doordash gift cards going for $85 at Best Buy as of Ju

SAVE $241: The Black+Decker 14,000 BTU portable air conditioner is on sale for $439.99 at Amazon, down from the normal price of $680.99. That's a 35% discount.Opens in a new windowCredit: Black+DeckerBlack+Decker 14,000 BTU portable air conditioner$439.99 at Amazon $680.99 Save $241.00Get DealWelcome to the middle of June. Today's date means that we're getting closer and closer to the peak of summer heat. If you suffered last year while sitting inside your stifling home, it's time to get a porta

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Car crash detection rolls out on the Pixel Watch 2 starting today. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Starting today, Google’s Pixel Watch lineup is getting some new and improved safety features. The Pixel Watch 2 will get car crash detection, while both Pixel Watches will get improved fall detection.
Car crash detection has been available on Pixel phones since 2019 and will work similarly on the Pixel Watch 2. Once the watch detects you’ve been in a severe car crash, the

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Google’s latest feature drop for Pixel devices is a big one for people who want to run its AI tech on cheaper phones, folks who constantly misplace their phones, and photographers who want a little more control.
The latest update, which starts rolling out today, will make the mobile-ready Gemini Nano model that was already available to Pixel 8 Pro owners available as an option on the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8A phones, too. Apple just announced a slew of new A

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Illustration: The Verge Apple is rebranding Apple accounts from Apple ID to (the arguably more straightforward) Apple Account. “With the releases of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia, and watchOS 11, Apple ID is renamed to Apple Account for a consistent sign-in experience across Apple services and devices, and relies on a user’s existing credentials,” Apple wrote in a Tuesday post on its Newsroom.
The change doesn’t come as a total surprise, as it was rumored earlier this