Technology news

From bricklaying robots to zero-carbon cement, startups are shaking up construction in a high-tech bid to build better, greener structures.  One of these early-stage ventures is Finland-based Aisti. Founded in 2019, the company has come up with a way to make acoustic tiles that are “carbon-negative.” Acoustic panels are a common construction material used to reduce noise and improve sound quality in buildings. Aisti has raised €29mn in a mix of VC and debt funding to build

Image: Google Experts believe that one day, quantum computers could make today’s systems of encryption utterly obsolete. But Google tells The Verge its new “breakthrough” Willow chip is nowhere near ready for that.“The Willow chip is not capable of breaking modern cryptography,” Google Quantum AI director and COO Charina Chou tells The Verge.A so-called “cryptanalytically relevant quantum computer,” or CRQC, could “jeopardize civilian and military

Adobe’s Reflection Removal tool is now available as a technology preview inside Camera Raw. | Image: Adobe Adobe’s Project See Through, a tool that is capable of eliminating distracting reflections in photos taken through windows, is now available as a technology preview and is now called the Reflection Removal tool. Originally revealed as a “Sneak” during the Adobe’s annual Max conference last year, you can use the tool through Adobe Camera Raw in preview with a Li

Some 2.6 million Stanley mugs have been recalled after customers reported dangerous issues with the cup's construction. If you're worried about your trendy, TikTok-must-have Stanley cup, however, you're likely OK. The recall is for the Stanley Switchback and Trigger Action travel mugs and not the big ol' Quencher tumblers you've likely seen all over social media. SEE ALSO:What's so special about a Stanley? A guide to conspicuous consumption on TikTok.
The Switchback and Trigger Action mugs have

Remember your old friend 5G? | Image: The Verge Verizon is making good on one of the many unfulfilled promises of 5G with a new service called Enhanced Video Calling.According to the company’s website, it delivers “optimized video and sound quality on calling apps,” even in times of congestion. That may not sound exciting on its own. But under the hood, Verizon is using network slicing to boost video call performance, which is a new technology only possible on a standalone 5G n

Toyota’s Urban Cruiser is a compact electric SUV coming to Europe. | Image: Toyota Toyota revealed its latest all-electric vehicle today as the Urban Cruiser compact SUV. The EV, which will be fully revealed at the Brussels Motor Show next month, is intended for the European market, first coming to the UK in the third quarter of 2025.Toyota says the wheelbase is only about 5 inches longer than the European-only Yaris Cross, making it another fun-sized electric EV slated for the continent l

Image: Amazon Amazon is testing a new Prime Video feature that recommends groups of content using AI rather than traditional algorithms. If you’re part of the test, you’ll see new “AI Topics” tailored to your interests, like “mind-bending sci-fi,” “fantasy quests,” or “thrilling character journeys.”
Each category will have shows, movies, and linear channels that match these AI-generated labels. You can also continue refining recommendat

ChatGPT's Santa Mode is restricted to age groups that might already be questioning Santa Claus's existence. The Santa voice is for ages 13 and up according to a disclaimer. OpenAI debuted the seasonal Santa Mode as part of Thursday's livestream, which also announced vision capabilities for ChatGPT. For ChatGPT Plus and Pro users, when using Advanced Voice Mode, they can select Santa's jolly, booming baritone among the voice options to interact with. OpenAI won't let kids use Santa Mode. Credit:

The Verge | Photo by Tom Williams via Getty Images Meta has donated $1 million to president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration fund, The Wall Street Journal reports. Zuckerberg’s team reportedly told Trump’s inaugural committee about Meta’s planned donation before Zuckerberg and Trump dined together at Mar-a-Lago in November.Before the dinner, Zuckerberg showed off Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses and gifted a pair to Trump, according to the Journal. Zuckerberg’s a

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge If you’ve been contemplating signing up for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate so you can play Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, you might want to head on over to Woot. Now until 1:59AM ET on December 13th, the retailer is offering a three-month subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $28.99 (about $31 off) with promo code GAMEPASS. Only customers making their first purchase on Woot are eligible, though; everyone else will have to pay $33.99 to redeem the

Illustration: The Verge Meta’s Threads is getting another feature seemingly inspired by Bluesky: curated groups of accounts that you can follow all at once. They basically sound like Meta’s take on Bluesky’s handy starter packs.
Instagram boss Adam Mosseri announced Thursday that Meta is starting to test the feature, and he said that you’ll see the collections “when signing up for Threads and within the For You feed.” A “handful” of “Threads

Our sun regularly shoots out solar flares — explosions of light and radiation from its surface — into space. But how about superflares?These stellar events are thousands of times more powerful than typical solar flares, which can wreak havoc on our power and communication systems. To better understand the superflare risk from the sun, astronomers sought to find how often sun-like stars blast out such potent radiation, and to find an answer they surveyed a whopping 56,000 stars. The r

Max The DC Comics character Clayface has been getting plenty of play on Max’s Harley Quinn series, where he’s voiced by Alan Tudyk. But it’s looking like the shape-shifting villain’s next act will take him to the big screen.
Variety reports that The Haunting of Hill House creator Mike Flanagan has signed on to write a new Clayface feature for DC Studios that will be produced by Matt Reeves and Lynn Harris’ company 6th & Idaho. Currently, there are no details abo

ChatGPT's Advanced Voice Mode now has video and screenshare capabilities. The feature was last May with the release of GPT-4o, but only the audio modality has been live. Now users can chat with ChatGPT using a phone camera and the model will "see" what you see. SEE ALSO:OpenAI's Sora is officially here
In the livestream, CPO Kevin Weil and other OpenAI team members demoed ChatGPT assisting with how to make pour-over coffee. By pointing the camera at the action, AVM demonstrated that it understoo

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Gemini’s integration into Google Drive is getting a little more useful. In addition to summarizing documents or answering questions about a project, the AI assistant can now generate summaries of everything inside a folder.
With the feature, you can open a folder and select the new “Summarize this folder” button at the top of the page. Gemini will then give you a breakdown of the folder’s contents. As noted by Google, you can use Ge

Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images Nearly half of US teens are “almost constantly” online, though the platforms they spend their time on vary significantly, according to a new Pew survey.
Despite some variety in their overall online habits, virtually all teenagers use YouTube. Of the 1,391 teenagers polled by the Pew Research Center, 90 percent said they use the site, a slight decrease from 95 percent in 2022. And 73 percent of them go on YouTube every day, making i

Image: Microsoft I honestly thought I’d hate Microsoft’s controversial Recall feature and immediately disable it, but after using it for the past couple of weeks, I’ve been both creeped out and impressed with what it’s capable of.
Recall, a Windows 11 feature that takes snapshots of mostly everything you see on your screen, quickly became a controversy earlier this year after Microsoft announced it. Privacy advocates immediately started warning about potential issues with

SAVE: $50+: Now, through Jan. 4, 2025, you can use the code SHIPTGIFT to get 50% off a Shipt annual membership.Opens in a new windowCredit: Shipt Shipt Annual Membership $49.00 at Shipt$99.00 Save $50.00Get hald-off with code SHIPTGIFTGet DealWith the holiday season in full swing, we could all use a little extra time to tackle our endless to-do lists, from grocery shopping and holiday meal planning to gift wrapping and sending out those last-minute cards. To help you save time and money, Shipt (

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge iOS 18 introduces more customization and the first rollout of Apple Intelligence. Apple has released iOS 18 — plus iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia, watchOS 11, and other new updates — bringing several key updates to how the company’s devices operate and setting the stage for generative AI features.
The most discussed feature of iOS 18 is the Apple Intelligence suite. With the release of iOS 18.2 on December 11th, features that are available now

The Supernote A5 X2 Manta is more expensive than the Remarkable 2, but will potentially last longer with upgradeable components. | Image: Supernote Supernote has announced its new A5 X2 Manta E Ink tablet that could be a potential alternative to the reMarkable 2 for those wanting a larger screen and a device that can be easily upgraded and repaired. It’s available now for $459, something of a jump from the $379 reMarkable 2. The latter also includes a stylus, while the Supernote A5 X2 requ

SAVE $200: As of Dec. 12, get the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ for $399.99 at Samsung, down from its usual price of $599.99. That's a discount of 37%. Opens in a new windowCredit: SamsungSamsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE+$399.99 at Samsung $599.99 Save $200.00Get DealIf you've been on the hunt for a new tablet, an iPad is always a good choice. But if you don't want to go the iOS route, Samsung has a great selection to choose from as well, especially as part of its Galaxy tablet lineup. You can snag a great

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Epic Games’ annual holiday sale is now live, and like previous years, the company is also going to be offering a bunch of free games you can claim during the sale. Over the course of this sale, the store will have 16 free games, according to a blog post.
Epic isn’t spilling the beans about which games will be on offer, teasing only that you’ll be able to claim “some absolutely amazing titles.” But in pervious years, Epic has g

Way back in Aug. 2020, music superstar Billie Eilish performed a two-song set for NPR's Tiny Desk (Home) Concert series. Then, she and her brother Finneas couldn't be at NPR's actual offices due to COVID-19 safety concerns, but a printed background of the Tiny Desk set served as a surprisingly solid substitute.Revisit that moving mini-concert below:
In 2024, Eilish finally got to perform at the real Tiny Desk, complete with Finneas, a band, and a live audience. Tune in to hear Eilish perform thr

Mozilla has removed the "Do Not Track" option from Firefox, but it's not because the company has abruptly abandoned all of its privacy principles. The setting was practically useless. According to Windows Report which first spotted the change, Firefox browser settings with the latest Version 135 no longer have the ability to send websites a Do Not Track request. Instead there's a note saying Firefox no longer supports the option. Mozilla explained the change on the feature's help center page, sa

A worker handles wafers at the GCL Technology production plant in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China, on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. GCL Technology is one of the world’s largest makers of polysilicon, a key material in solar panels. | Photo: Getty Images Tariffs on solar wafers, polysilicon, and certain tungsten products from China are going to rise dramatically come January 1st, 2025, the Biden administration announced Wednesday. That means higher price tags on key materials needed to make solar

Folks who made unwanted purchases in Fortnite can still cash in. Epic Games reached a $520 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over allegations that parents, gamers, and others were tricked into making purchases. Around half of that sum, $245 million, was set aside to refund customers affected by the in-game purchase allegations. The deadline for applying for a settlement, however, is quickly approaching. You have to file by Jan. 10, 2025, which you can do on the FTC's website.T

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge For about a year, I’ve gotten notes from readers asking why our YouTube embeds are broken in one very specific way: you can no longer click the title to open the video on YouTube.com or in the YouTube app. This used to work just fine, but now you can’t.
This bothers us, too, and it’s doubly frustrating because everyone assumes that we’ve chosen to disable links, which makes a certain kind of sense — after all, why on earth wou

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The ACLU is sounding the alarm on the nation's police forces increasingly leaning on artificial intelligence.In a six-page white paper released Dec. 10, the nation's largest civil rights group warns that the implementation of popular generative AI tech, like chatbots and drafting tools, is an overstep of technological advancement and poses a threat to American civil liberties. The organization specifically singles out the use of Draft One, a controversial generative AI tool that assists police o

SAVE $130: As of Dec. 12, you can snag a Blink Outdoor 4 wireless smart home security system for $129.99. That's a 50% discount or $130 off.Opens in a new windowCredit: Blink Blink Outdoor 4 (3-camera system) $129.99 at Amazon$259.99 Save $130.00Get DealYou can never be too safe when protecting your home and loved ones, especially during the holiday season when package thieves and burglars are on the prowl. If you haven’t installed a smart security system yet, now’s the time to do it

SAVE UP TO $200: As of Dec. 12, Best Buy is offering extra savings on Apple products leading up to the holidays. Find all iPad models on sale, including the iPad Pro, for up to $200 off. Get the iPad Pro 13-inch for $1,099, saving 15%.Best iPad dealsBest iPad dealApple iPad, 10th generation (A14 chip, 64GB, WiFi)$279 at Best Buy(Save $70)Get DealBest iPad Air dealApple iPad Air, 11-inch (M2 chip, 128GB, WiFi)$499 at Best Buy(Save $100)Get DealBest iPad Pro dealApple iPad Pro, 13-inch (M4 chip, 2

First We Feast. After months of searching for a buyer to take First We Feast — the production company behind Hot Ones — off its hands, BuzzFeed has finally secured an $82.5 million all-cash deal to sell First We Feast to “a consortium led by an affiliate of Soros Fund Management LLC” The consortium’s list of investors includes First We Feast founder Chris Schonberger and Hot Ones host Sean Evans.In a press release, BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti said that selling off Fi

Google didn’t let me take my own photos, but this is strikingly similar to the demo I saw with my own eyes. | Image: GoogleI demoed Google’s new Android XR platform, Samsung’s Project Moohan, and prototype smart glasses. I felt as close to Tony Stark in a controlled demo as I’ll ever be. It’s an ordinary Tuesday. I’m wearing what look like ordinary glasses in a room surrounded by Google and Samsung representatives. One of them steps out in front of me and star

XR stands for “extended reality,” which you should get used to explaining to lots of people. | Image: Google Google is taking another run at making headsets work. The company just announced Android XR, a new operating system designed specifically for what Google calls “extended reality” devices like headsets and glasses. It’s working with Samsung and lots of other hardware manufacturers to develop those headsets and glasses, is making the new version of Android avai

Apple Watch users just got precisely one new, added convenience with the latest watchOS update.According to 9to5Mac, watchOS 11.2 hit the streets this week, and it can be downloaded by anyone with a modern Apple Watch now. Anyone hoping for a massive suite of cool new features will probably be disappointed, though, as this update is primarily focused on bug fixes. That said, there is one new thing you can do with your Apple Watch now.SEE ALSO:Fitbit vs. Apple Watch: Which should you buy in 2024?

Photo by Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge Hyundai and Kia will integrate Google Maps data into their current vehicle infotainment platforms ahead of a switchover to the Android Automotive operating system, the automakers announced today.Hyundai, Kia, and the luxury nameplate Genesis will use Google Maps Platform’s Places API to inject 250 million points of interest into the existing navigation software. Kia will be the first to get the new data integration in North America, with “subseq

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge I maintain that YouTube TV is the very best of the streaming TV services, but good grief is it getting expensive. Today YouTube announced the service’s latest price hike, which brings the monthly subscription to $82.99. The change is effective immediately for new customers and will be reflected starting January 13th for “most existing customers.” As usual, the company attributes this increase to “the rising cost of content and the i

The trailer for the upcoming action-comedy Novocaine sees Jack Quaid (The Boys, Star Trek: Lower Decks) taking all sorts of physical damage. Stab wounds, third-degree burns, gunshot wounds — the list goes on and on. Luckily for Quaid's character Nathan Caine, he can't feel a thing.SEE ALSO:2025 movie preview: All the films you'll want to know about
That's right: Nathan, who's otherwise just an average dude, cannot feel pain. But when the girl of his dreams (Amber Midthunder, Prey) gets kid

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Prompt: “King Charles III UK eating a Greggs sausage roll on the throne.” There’s a lot wrong with these results... | Image: OpenAI / The Verge The first version of OpenAI’s Sora can generate video of just about anything you throw at it — superheroes, cityscapes, animated puppies. It’s an impressive first step for the AI video generator. But the actual results are far from satisfactory, with many videos so heavily plagued with oddities and inconsistencies that