Technology news

Photo: David Pierce / The Verge Rabbit is rolling out “teach mode” to its R1 devices, allowing you to create an AI agent that can perform tasks for you. The feature works by “learning” a task you demonstrate, such as retrieving updates from a content creator you follow, or helping you draft a post on social media.
You can access the feature by logging into the Rabbithole, the web interface for managing an R1 device. From there, you’ll create a “lesson” b

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Apple is planning a major AI overhaul of Siri that will make the digital assistant more like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini Live, according to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The assistant, reportedly called “LLM Siri,” will be powered by Apple’s AI models and will let users have more conversational, natural-sounding interactions with Siri.
As part of Apple’s plan to infuse its iPhones with AI, Bloomberg says

Image: The Verge In a stunning misstep, OpenAI engineers accidentally erased critical evidence gathered by The New York Times and other major newspapers in their lawsuit over AI training data, according to a court filing Wednesday.
The newspapers’ legal teams had spent over 150 hours searching through OpenAI’s AI training data to find instances where their news articles were included, the filing claims. But it doesn’t explain how this mistake occurred or what precisely the data

London-based startup Lighthouse just raised a hefty $370mn from American investment giant KKR at a valuation of over $1bn, making it Europe’s latest unicorn tech company. The funding will supercharge the company’s ambitions to shake up the $15bn travel tech market. What’s on the to-do list? Refining its AI tools, expanding globally, and snapping up competitors through mergers and acquisitions (it has already made four). Lighthouse’s platform crunches over 400 terabytes o

Image: Laura Normand / The Verge The auto industry is sending an urgent message to President-elect Donald Trump: spare the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit.In a November 14th letter to Trump and his transition team, the auto industry’s main lobbying group urges the new administration to preserve incentives for EV buyers and manufacturers that were enacted under President Joe Biden, arguing these policies keep the US competitive globally while also creating “good jobs.”The All

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Transferring your data from your old Android device to a new one will soon be less daunting, thanks to “Restore Credentials,” a new developer feature for Android which can keep you logged into your apps when you make the switch. While some apps already did this, Google is making it easier for developers to include this experience by implementing a “restore key” that automatically transfers to the new phone and logs you back into the

Image: Eken The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is proposing more than $700,000 in fines against Eken, a Hong Kong-based video doorbell manufacturer whose products were found to be susceptible to hackers, for an unrelated rules violation discovered during the commission’s ongoing investigation.The commission began investigating Eken after Consumer Reports found in February 2024 that its products, which are sold under more than 10 different brand names, had security vulnerabilities

The Google Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL have never been cheaper than they are today. | Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge Google’s Black Friday sale has kicked off with sizable discounts on Pixel phones, wearables, earbuds, tablets, smart home gear, and more.You’ll notice the base 128GB Pixel 9 is down to $649 ($150 off) at Google and Best Buy, for example. But some colors of the flagship Tensor G4 smartphone are actually even cheaper in Amazon’s Black Friday sale right now, with its

Image: The Verge Steam is building support for season passes into its platform and setting up rules to help protect buyers from buying ones with unclear promises. Steam published new guidelines urging developers to “think about whether there’s a customer benefit” for purchasing season passes, as reported by SteamDB creator Pavel Djundik.
Season passes have really picked up in popularity and are used mainly in free-to-play or other multiplayer video games that promise digital up

Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge Yesterday Android Headlines reported that Google had canceled its development of the Pixel Tablet 3 — even before announcing a second-gen model. Well, today Android Authority is saying that it’s in fact the second-generation Pixel Tablet that has been canned, meaning that the device released last year will apparently be a one-off and that Google is bailing on the tablet category for the second time in a little over five years. At best, we’re in

Image: Ubisoft A few months after it first launched, Star Wars Outlaws is getting some major updates. First up is the game’s first batch of downloadable content, which adds a new storyline involving Lando Calrissian and what appears to be a very dangerous game of Sabacc. The new expansion is called Wild Card and will be followed by a second DLC update next spring called A Pirate’s Fortune.Perhaps more significant, today, Outlaws is also getting a major update to address some of the g

The new versions of the Kia EV6 and EV9 GT. | Image: Kia Kia came to the LA Auto Show with not one but two revamped electric vehicles, a sign that the South Korean automaker is still feeling bullish about its momentum in the plug-in car market.First off, the 2025 Kia EV9 GT is a performance version of its three-row SUV, which we first tested earlier this year. This one promises more power and a sportier feel than the version we drove, which bore the GT Line badge but wasn’t specifically tu

The Sonos Era 100, our go-to smart speaker, is down to an all-time low of $199 right now. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Good news: Black Friday has come early for Sonos fans. Now through December 2nd, you can potentially save hundreds on a variety of Sonos products, including soundbars, smart speakers, and headphones. There are a lot of things on sale — and the Sonos app is in better shape than it was a few months ago, thankfully — which means now is a great time to buy if you&r

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images A new cell phone carrier is launching with an interesting pitch: it says it will offer secure cell service that limits how much personal data users give up, as reported earlier by 404 Media. The service, called Cape, is geared toward “high-risk” individuals like politicians, journalists, activists, and others.
Cape is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that uses UScellular’s network. But since it runs its mobile own core, Cap

Illustration: The Verge WhatsApp is introducing a new transcription feature that makes it easier (and more convenient) to communicate using voice messaging. The feature is rolling out globally to Android and iOS users “in the coming weeks” according to WhatsApp, and will automatically create a text version of voice clips under the message for moments when you’re unable to listen to them.
This finds a great balance between the pros and cons of voice messages, which are easier to

SAVE $170: The TCL 75-inch Class S5 4K LED Smart TV with Fire TV is on sale at Amazon's Black Friday event for $479.99, down from the normal price of $649.99. That's a 26% discount.Opens in a new windowCredit: TCLTCL 75-inch Class S5 4K LED Smart TV with Fire TV$479.99 at Amazon $649.99 Save $170.00Get DealBlack Friday sales have long been associated with some of the best prices of the year on TVs. And they couldn't come at a better time, since winter's chill means it's a great time to catch up

Check out the best Amazon deals of the day as of Nov. 21:OUR TOP PICKSonos Era 300$359(save $90)Get DealBEST KINDLE DEALKindle Paperwhite (16GB)$129.99(save $30)Get DealBEST BEAUTY TECH DEALShark FlexStyle$229.99(save $90)Get DealBEST FITNESS TECH DEALTheragun Relief massage gun$119(save $30)Get DealBEST SMARTHOME DEALEcho Show 8$79.99(save $70)Get Deal
Amazon's official Black Friday sale has arrived and with it comes deals galore. Though the mega retailer has been dropping deals for weeks, the

Illustration: The Verge A federal lawsuit over Minnesota’s “Use of Deep Fake Technology to Influence An Election” law is now directly dealing with the influence of AI. In a recent filing, attorneys challenging the law say an affidavit submitted to support it shows signs of containing AI-generated text. The Minnesota Reformer reports Attorney General Keith Ellison asked Stanford Social Media Lab founding director Jeff Hancock to make the submission, but the document filed includ

SAVE UP TO 55%: Amazon's Black Friday sale is now live, and so are the deals on Amazon Echo devices. Find the lowest prices ever on Echos, including 55% off the Amazon Echo Pop, which is back down to $17.99, saving you $22.Best Echo Device DealsBest Echo dealAmazon Echo Pop$17.99 at Amazon(Save $22)Get DealBest Echo Show dealAmazon Echo Show 5$44.99 at Amazon(Save $45)Get DealBest Echo alarm clock dealAmazon Echo Spot$44.99 at Amazon(Save $35)Get DealBest Echo Kids dealAmazon Echo Pop Kids$22.99

The best Lego Black Friday deals you can get early:Best Amazon Lego dealLego Super Mario King Boo's Haunted Mansion$59.99(Save 20%)Get DealBest Walmart Lego dealLEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Astronomy Tower 75969$56.00(Save 30%)Get DealTop Best Buy Lego dealLego Star Wars Ahsoka Tano’s T-6 Jedi Shuttle$58.99(Save 26%)Get DealBest Scheels Lego dealLego Dreamzzz Nightmare Shark Ship 71469$119.99(Save 14%)Get Deal
Lego is forever. Modern Lego sets include classic worlds like Lego City, franchise

SAVE UP TO 46%: Cordless vacuums, air purifiers, and hair products from Dyson are up to 46% off at Amazon as of Nov. 21. Grab the Dyson V11 Origin Cordless Vacuum on sale for under $350.The best Dyson early Black Friday deals at AmazonBest Dyson cordless vacuum dealDyson V11 Origin Cordless Vacuum$349.99(Save 39%)Get DealBest Dyson hair care dealDyson Supersonic Hair Dryer$329.99(Save 23%)Get DealBest Dyson air purifier dealDyson Purifier Cool TP07 Smart Air Purifier and Fan$349.99(Save 46%)Get

UP TO $1,300 OFF: As of Nov. 21, get Samsung's The Frame TV at Black Friday prices at Samsung, starting at $549.99 for a 32-inch model. Opens in a new windowCredit: Best Buy Samsung 35-inch The Frame QLED Smart TV$549.99 at Best Buy $599.99 Save $50.00Additional sizes availableGet DealLooking to upgrade your TV? Black Friday is the perfect time to do it, especially if you've had your eye on Samsung's The Frame smart TV, which essentially doubles as a canvas to display your favorite artwork and p

Illustration: The Verge Meta is making a big change to Threads to show you more things from people you follow.
“We are rebalancing ranking to prioritize content from people you follow, which will mean less recommended content from accounts you don’t follow and more posts from the accounts you do starting today,” Threads boss Adam Mosseri announced on Thursday.
The change could make the For You feed include more accounts you actually care about, but we’ll have to wait and

Illustration: The Verge “We are rebalancing ranking to prioritize content from people you follow, which will mean less recommended content from accounts you don’t follow and more posts from the accounts you do starting today,” Threads boss Adam Mosseri announced on Thursday.
This is another significant change to Threads since many people started flocking to Bluesky. It lets people default to seeing their Following feed when they open the app and offers lots of customizability,

SAVE $250: The Hisense 75-inch Class QD6 Series QLED 4K TV with Google TV is down to just $449.99 during the Best Buy Black Friday sale. That's a 36% discount.Opens in a new windowCredit: HisenseHisense 75-inch QD6 QLED 4K Google TV$449.99 at Best Buy $699.99 Save $250.00Get DealThe official date of Black Friday is still a handful of days away, but Best Buy isn't making us wait any longer. Today marks the first day of Best Buy's Black Friday event which is seriously showing up when it comes to g

UPDATE: Nov. 21, 2024, 11:20 a.m. EST The issues with Reddit appeared to have fully resolved. Reports of issues on Down Detector have declined sharply and the site appeared to be functioning normally.
Reddit appeared to crash on Thursday morning, leaving folks who frequent the site frustrated yet again. Reports of issues spiked sharply around 10:30 a.m. on DownDetector, which, full disclosure, is owned by the same parent company as Mashable. When I tried to load the site I was met with an error

UPDATE: Nov. 21, 2024, 10:30 a.m. EST This article has been updated with the latest MacBook deals ahead of Black Friday 2024.Best early Black Friday MacBook dealsBest MacBook Pro dealApple MacBook Pro, 14-inch (M4,16GB RAM, 512GB SSD)$1,399.99(save $200)Get DealBest MacBook Air dealApple MacBook Air, 13-inch (M2, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD)$749(save $250)Get Deal
Well folks, it's about that time. Black Friday 2024 is just around the corner, and the deals are already starting to trickle in, especially o

SAVE UP TO $60: Amazon's latest Kindles are seeing some of their first discounts. Find the Kindle Scribe bundled with a cover and power adapter for $479.97, saving $60 for 11% off. Plus, single devices are finally on sale for up to 27% off.Early Black Friday Kindle dealsBest Kindle dealAmazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition$154.99(Save $45)Get DealBest budget Kindle dealAmazon Kindle$84.99(Save $25)Get DealBest Kindle Kids dealAmazon Kindle Kids$94.99(Save $35)Get DealBest Kindle bundle deal

Illustration: Hugo Herrera / The Verge Major digital payment providers will soon be subject to bank-like supervision from the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). On Thursday, the CFPB issued a final rule that will regulate digital payment apps that process over 50 million transactions each year, covering services like Apple Pay, Google Wallet, PayPal, Cash App, and others.
The new rule is meant to ensure digital payment providers adhere to the same laws as credit unions and large ban

Image: The Verge New York State Sen. Andrew Gounardes (D) is a driving force behind kids online safety laws. He sponsored the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act and the New York Child Data Protection Act, both signed by Governor Kathy Hochul earlier this year. But when parents talked to him about the rules, he says, they kept asking a question he hadn’t considered: “Does it cover Roblox?”
Like the vast majority of online regulation, New York’s rules wer

Candela is flying high — and across the Atlantic.  The Swedish startup has secured $14mn, marking the close of its Series C round at a cosy $40mn. This puts its total funding at just shy of $90mn.  Candela has also sold its first P-12 ferry in the US, amid burgeoning demand for what is the world’s fastest and longest-range electric passenger vessel.  FlyTahoe, the company that will operate the service, will use the P-12 to shuttle tourists and locals across Lake Tahoe