Technology news

Illustration: Beatrice Sala The US government has charged a dual Russian and Israeli national with allegedly building and maintaining LockBit’s malware code, while receiving over $230,000 in cryptocurrency for his work. The 51-year-old Rostislav Panev was arrested in Israel pending extradition to the US, making him the third member of the LockBit ransomware group in custody.
Authorities previously arrested other alleged members of the LockBit group, including Mikhail Vasiliev and Ruslan Ma

The Echo Pop is a tiny speaker with Alexa-enabled smarts, and is currently down to its best price. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge Believe it or not, we’re now just a few days away from Christmas. Don’t panic if you’ve yet to start your holiday shopping, though! While it might be too late to order some of the gifts on your holiday wish list, plenty of other great presents will arrive in time.. if you know where to look.After doing some digging at various ret

Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images As people scramble for last-minute gifts and late-year bargains, everyone is double-checking their lists and figuring out the fastest way to get their purchases. Thankfully, many retailers are offering generous shipping policies for their products, with some offering free two-day shipping or even same-day delivery if you pay extra. And just in case the gift you choose isn’t quite right, many retailers are also offering extended return policies so your gift

The best Windows laptops run an impressive gamut, from Qualcomm-powered workhorses that refuse to die to dual-display stunners and subtle gaming stations. (Some of them, dare we say, will tempt even the most devoted Apple Macbook disciples.) Users who need a new laptop for everyday productivity, creativity, or entertainment have no shortage of options. And that's for better or worse.To help you pick out your next PC from the crowded Windows market, we've broken out our best laptops rundown into

Naveen Rao, VP of AI at Databricks. | Naveen Rao / The Verge For my last issue of the year, I’m focusing on the AI talent war, which is a theme I’ve been covering since this newsletter launched almost two years ago. And keep reading for the latest from inside Google and Meta this week.
But first, I need your questions for a mailbag issue I’m planning for my first issue of 2025. You can submit questions via this form or leave them in the comments.“It’s like looking f

Sanwa Supply’s new USB-C cable’s design solves a common point of cable failure. | Image: Sanwa Supply Japanese accessory maker Sanwa Supply has released a new 240W USB-C cable with a flexible design that could help prevent damage, as spotted by Tom’s Hardware. The USB-C connectors on either end of the cable can rotate 360 degrees and bend from side-to-side up to 180 degrees, reducing strain on ports and minimizing bending that could eventually cause wires inside to break.
The c

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge YouTube is taking a tougher stance on clickbait, saying it will remove content with titles or thumbnails that promise viewers “something that the video doesn’t deliver,” as spotted earlier by TechCrunch. This change will “slowly” roll out in India first, according to YouTube’s blog post, but will “expand to more countries” in the “coming months,” YouTube spokesperson Jack Malon says in a statement

Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge For the last day of ship-mas, OpenAI previewed a new set of frontier “reasoning” models dubbed o3 and o3-mini. The Verge first reported that a new reasoning model would be coming during this event.
The company isn’t releasing these models today (and admits final results may evolve with more post-training). However, OpenAI is accepting applications from the research community to test these systems ahead of public release (which it has yet to set a

OpenAI just announced o3 and o3 mini, its next-gen reasoning models. In the livestream, SVP of Research Mark Chen showed o3's performance on certain benchmarks, compared to o1, like competition math (96.7 percent) and PhD-level science (87.7 percent). OpenAI and the ARC Prize competition also shared how o3 scored 76 percent on the ARC-AGI benchmark, which includes novel unpublished datasets. The ARC-AGI benchmark is designed to test ability to learn new and distinct skills on the fly with every

Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo from Getty Images The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced a new “voluntary national framework for the evaluation and oversight” of autonomous vehicles, a bureaucratic first step that could eventually open the floodgates for fully driverless cars. But there’s a twist: the agency wants self-driving car companies to cough up more data.The proposed rules were first announced last year as the ADS-Equipped Vehicle Safety, Transpa

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has filed a lawsuit against Zelle and three banks that own it — Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase — claiming they failed “to protect consumers from widespread fraud.” Zelle is a payment network designed to compete with payment platforms like Venmo and Cash App, but the CFPB says the banks “rushed” it to market, enabling fraud that’s cost consumer

Terradot’s pilot program in Brazil involves spreading crushed basalt over farmland. | Image: Terradot To try to counteract the impact their pollution has on the climate, Google and other big companies have bought into a plan to trap carbon dioxide using rocks. They recently announced multimillion dollar deals with a Sheryl Sandberg-backed startup called Terradot.
Google, H&M Group, and Salesforce are among a gaggle of companies that collectively agreed to pay Terradot $27 million to re

UPDATE: Dec. 20, 2024, 11:10 a.m. EST Less than 24 hours after Mashable published this story, Hailey Welch has broken her silence with a statement on the failed $HAWK memecoin.Read our latest story on Welch's statement. Mashable's original report continues below.--Haliey Welch has gone MIA.The "Hawk Tuah" girl has not released a new episode of her popular weekly podcast, Talk Tuah, in two weeks. There was no previously announced hiatus of the show. Welch also has not posted on her social media

We couldn't think of a better way to spend the holiday season than curled up by the fire with a good book. Well, ebook, that is. You could go with a classic hardcover, but then you wouldn't be able to take advantage of double Kindle Rewards points on your purchase, would you?That's right, for one day only (although they've done this already recently), Amazon is offering double Kindle Rewards points when you pick up any Kindle books. Rather than the usual three, you'll now get six points for ever

Image: Netflix In Squid Game, schoolyard games are turned into nightmares, as players compete to survive and — if they’re lucky — earn a massive cash prize. But in Unleashed, a new mobile spinoff that’s part of the streamer’s fledgling gaming efforts, those games are fun. It’s a strange experience that sands off much of the appeal of Squid Game in service of making a multiplayer party game.
Unleashed is sort of like Fall Guys but in a Squid Game wrapper. You c

SAVE $800: As of Dec. 20, you can get an LG 77-inch Class C3 Series OLED TV (2023) for $1,499.99 at Best Buy. That's $800 off the list price.Opens in a new windowCredit: LG LG 77-inch Class C3 Series OLED TV (2023)$1,499.99 at Best Buy$2,299.99 Save $800.00Get DealI don’t really know anyone who needs a 77-inch TV, but if you want one, you can get a pretty good deal on one at Best Buy right now. As of Dec. 20, you can get the LG 77-inch Class C3 Series OLED evo 4K UHD Smart webOS TV (2023)

SAVE $120: As of Dec. 20, get the DJI Action 2 for $159 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $279. That's a discount of 43%. Opens in a new windowCredit: AmazonDJI Action 2 Camera$159.00 at Amazon $279.00 Save $120.00Get DealThinking about getting out into the world and doing some fun things in the new year? Maybe your resolution is to get up off the couch and try some new sports or physical activities. If you want to document all that while you're getting into it, you need a great action cam

Dec. 20th, save up to 60% on last minute toy deals like the Discovery Marble Run at Macy's One Day Sale.The best toy deals at Macy's One Day SaleThe best toy deal for buildersDiscovery #MINDBLOWN Glow Roll Marble Run Light-Up Construction Set$19.99(Save $60)Get DealThe best toy deal for plush loversGeoffrey's Toy Box 22" LED Light-Up Plush Bear$19.99($40)Get DealThe best gift for siblingsSharper Image Two Player Laser Tag Set$27.99($42)Get Deal
Sometimes we drag our heels on that final push befo

SAVE $140: The Dec. 20 Best Buy Drop of the day is the 13-inch M2 iPad Air (WiFi, 128GB). Usually $799, the newest Air is on sale for $659 (compared to $699 on Black Friday) as long as you go through the Best Buy mobile app.Opens in a new windowCredit: AppleApple 13-inch iPad Air (M2, WiFi, 128GB)$659.00 at Best Buy $799.00 Save $140.00Get DealThe Best Buy Drop for Dec. 20 proves what the big deal about Best Buy Drops is. When else would you casually see an Apple product beat its own Black Frida

SAVE $29.01: As of Dec. 20, you can get a four-pack of AirTags for just $69.99 at Best Buy and Amazon. That's a savings of $29.01. Opens in a new windowCredit: AppleApple AirTag (4-Pack) $69.99 at Best Buy$99.99 Save $30.00Get DealAppleAir tags are super handy, especially if you’re a frequent flyer or forget where you've left your keys, wallet, or other valuables. These tiny gadgets attach to whatever you need to keep tabs on, and the Find My app on your iPhone can locate them within secon

Sabrina Carpenter had a lot to celebrate in 2024.SEE ALSO:Sabrina Carpenter's 'Espresso' is the internet's Song of the Summer
Her hit single "Espresso" was Spotify's most-streamed song of the year, and she picked up six nominations for the 2025 Grammys thanks to her album Short n' Sweet.To cap off her breakout year, the "Please Please Please" and "Taste" singer dropped by NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series to perform a number of songs from Short n' Sweet. Jam along above.

Google is tracking your online behavior in the name of advertising, reintroducing a data collection process that ingests all of your online signals (from IP address tocomplex browser information) and pinpoints unique users or devices, also known as "digital fingerprinting."The company's updated platform program policies include relaxed restrictions on advertisers and personalized ad targeting across a range of devices, an outcome of a larger "advertising ecosystem shift" and the advancement of p

It's the most wonderful time of the year: The Steam Winter Sale (not to be confused with the second most wonderful time of the year, which is the Steam Summer Sale). Running from Dec. 19 to Jan. 2, the sale features deep savings on tons of games, from popular titles to hidden gems that may have flown under your radar. Steam's big sale events don't come around all that often, so if you own a gaming PC or Steam Deck and you're looking to stock up on new stuff to play, now is the best time to do th

SAVE $80: As of Dec. 20, you can score an Apple Watch Ultra 2 for $719 at Best Buy. That's $80 off the list price.Opens in a new windowCredit: AppleApple Watch Ultra 2 (49mm, GPS+Cellular) $719.00 at Bes Buy$799.00 Save $80.00Get DealIf you’ve been waiting to get your hands on the Apple Watch Ultra 2, now’s your chance to snag one for less at Best Buy. As of Dec. 20, you can get an Apple Watch Ultra 2 for $719 at Best Buy. That’s $80 less than the usual $799 price tag. Sure, it

The iPhone 14 and 14 Plus lack USB-C ports. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Starting December 28th, all new phones sold in the European Union must have USB-C. And while that deadline is still about a week away, Apple has begun pulling the iPhone SE, iPhone 14, and iPhone 14 Plus — the last models with Apple’s proprietary lightning port — from its Swiss online store.The removal was first spotted by MacRumors, based on a report earlier this month from French publication iG

Check out the best Amazon deals of the day as of Dec. 20:OUR TOP PICKSony WH-1000XM5 noise-cancelling headphones$279.99(save $120)Get DealBEST STREAMING DEVICE DEALRoku Streambar SE$69(save $30.99)Get DealBEST TABLET DEALAmazon Fire HD 10$74.99(save $65)Get DealBEST SPEAKER DEALUltimate Ears Wonderboom Play$47.49(save $42.50)Get DealBEST BLUETOOTH TRACKER DEALApple AirTags (4-pack)$69.99(save $29.01)Get Deal
Last-minute shoppers have been rewarded with some of the best deals of the season. Serio

SAVE 50%: As of Dec. 20, you can score 50% off a MasterClass membership.Opens in a new windowCredit: MasterClassMasterClass MembershipGet 50% off through Dec. 25Get DealThere’s still time to find the perfect gift this holiday season, especially if you’re looking for something that’s digital and instantly giftable.As of Dec. 20, you can get a Standard, Plus, or Premium MasterClass membership for 50% off through Dec. 25. That’s $5 for the Standard plan, $8 for the Plus plan

A new Bluesky update aims to tamp down on the cybersquatting and fake account problem that has plagued the app. In an update rolled out on Thursday evening, users who have verified their account by using a domain name automatically reserve their default username to prevent impersonators from taking it. SEE ALSO:I've barely used Bluesky, and the engagement already feels more real 📢 App Version 1.96 is rolling out now (1/6)In this release: a notifications Mentions tab, reserving your

Haliey Welch, aka the "Hawk Tuah Girl," has resurfaced with a public statement after a controversy over her memecoin $HAWK. In case you missed it, Welch disappeared from public view for weeks after it appeared the launch of her cryptocurrency was a rug-pull in which some her fans were left in a financial hole. Mashable's Matt Binder covered in detail the controversy and Welch's subsequent disappearance. SEE ALSO:'Hawk Tuah' girl Haliey Welch has disappeared from public view after crypto rug pull

SAVE $121.99: As of Dec. 20, get a pair of Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones for jut $278 at Amazon, down from their usual price of $399.99. That's a discount of 30%. Opens in a new windowCredit: AmazonSony WH-1000XM5 Headphones$278.00 at Amazon $399.99 Save $121.99Get DealIt's down to the wire. The holidays are officially in full swing, and Christmas is next week. If you're still looking for a great gift option or you just want to splurge on something for yourself, now's the time to do it. Believe it

She's awake!Viral internet star Haliey Welch has resurfaced for the first time in weeks, less than 24 hours after Mashable published a report on her disappearance following the failure of her "Hawk Tuah" branded memecoin $HAWK.In a statement provided to Mashable and posted on her X account on Friday, Welch said she was looking to help her fans who experienced financial losses due to the failed $HAWK memecoin. Welch is urging anyone affected by the crypto crash to get in touch with the law firm t

Image: The Verge Google Fiber is changing up its internet plans in Huntsville, Alabama and Nashville, Tennessee. The new Core 1 Gig, Home 3 Gig, and Edge 8 Gig plans appear to have launched last month and streamline the company’s existing options, as spotted earlier by 9to5Google.
These options replace the 1 Gig, 2 Gig, 5 Gig, and 8 Gig plans currently available in other supported cities. Like the existing 1 Gig plan, Google Fiber’s new Core 1 Gig option costs $70 / month with symmet

Ready for a horror movie that's sure to make your skin crawl? Then brace yourself for Grafted. In her feature debut, New Zealand director Sasha Rainbow gifts us this gnarly tale of an ugly duckling who uses experimental science to become the swan of her dreams — and our nightmares. Joyena Sun stars as Wei, a Chinese scholarship student who travels to New Zealand to pursue medical research at an illustrious university. However, while Wei has a brilliant brain, she's afflicted

The 14-inch MacBook Pro looks just as nicely as it performs. | Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge In recent years, base MacBook Pro models have felt like an automatic skip. It made more sense to pay just a few hundred more for upgrades that truly justify the “Pro” moniker, or save money by stepping down to a MacBook Air without many sacrifices. But that’s changed as of the M4 model. With the base MacBook Pro with M4 matching its all-time low price of $1,399 ($200 off)

Nov. 20, these stocking stuffers from Amazon will still make it in time for Christmas, order now, get deal prices on great gifts like Burt's Bees holiday lip balm, and have something to grin about on Christmas morning. The best stocking stuffers on Amazon you can still getThe best stocking stuffer dealBurt's Bees Christmas Gifts$9.95($2.04)Get DealThe best chocolate stocking stufferTony's Chocolonely Dark Chocolate with Candy Cane Bar$5.20Shop NowThe best tech stocking stuffer dealAmazon Fire TV

Image: Alex Parkin/ The Verge We started making this video with one question in mind: “What makes iPhone repair so difficult?” And immediately the answer was: a lot.
I’ve never repaired a phone before, so I was particularly nervous that the first one I was opening was an iPhone. This wasn’t just because I didn’t want to destroy a phone with a mistake but also because I was somewhat familiar with Apple’s reputation with repairability. However, I wanted to test

Lenovo has a knack for unusual laptop form factors, but this is a new one even for that company.It looks like Lenovo is set to debut a rollable concept laptop called the ThinkBook Plus in the near future, perhaps at CES 2025, if leaked images published by Evan Blass are to be believed. These images, which look pretty official and convincing, showcase a laptop that looks normal at first, but whose display can actually "unroll" to the point where you functionally have two displays on top of each o

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge Life’s busy enough without wasting time on calls that are trying to scam you or sell to you. Unfortunately, stats from Hiya show that 28 percent of the calls you get are going to be suspected spam or fraud.On an iPhone, you don’t have the option to have an AI assistant answer calls for you, as you can on Android — at least not yet. But there are ways to screen calls to some extent and cut down on the number of scammers, sellers, and robo

SAVE 46% OR MORE: Still need a gift? Amazon has last-minute deals on headphones, tablets, and more with delivery by Christmas.Best last-minute gift ideas as of Dec. 20: Best headphone deal JBL Tune 520BT$34.95(save $15)Get DealBest tablet deal Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet (newest model)$74.99(save $65)Get DealBest STEM deal National Geographic Jumbo Crystal Growing Kit $12.99(save $4)Get Deal
Finding the perfect gift takes time. Sometimes, life is just too hectic to get all of our holiday shopping d