StarCraft returns in 2030 as an open-world shooter

Blizzard originally tried to bring the StarCraft universe to the world of 3D shooters way back in 2002 with StarCraft: Ghost. It sat in development hell for years until Blizzard president Mike Morhaime confirmed that it had been canceled in 2014. Now Blizzard is giving it another go with the simply titled StarCraft. Dan Hay, … Read more

LG responds to TV spying allegations

Earlier this week, Gamers Nexus, Level1Techs, and independent security researchers detailed some alarming findings about how LG’s TVs are logging and uploading data on its users. Now the company is pushing back against those allegations, saying that “Some recent media coverage may have contributed to misconceptions about how LG smart TVs work.” LG released a … Read more

Trump is giving data centers a pass to pollute

President Donald Trump is weakening environmental regulations in the name of speeding up the construction of AI data centers, raising health risks for Americans, a cadre of former EPA officials said this week in a briefing and new report. They are urging – perhaps futilely – the president to adopt a “Data Center Health Protection … Read more

OpenAI just wants to win

OpenAI has spent the last few years planting flags across the increasingly difficult terrain in mathematics. This week, it claimed one of its biggest prizes yet: a solution to a legendary Millennium Prize problem. In normal circumstances, this would have been celebrated as a historic achievement. Instead, many mathematicians have watched OpenAI’s relentless advance with … Read more

We unfolded the iPhone Duo

You only get one chance at a first impression, and getting to introduce Apple’s first folding phone is certainly a strong way to start things off as Apple’s CEO. On The Vergecast today, we’re talking all about Apple’s launch event: how John Ternus did in his first appearance as CEO, what we make of the … Read more

The White House says Truth Social is the ‘most powerful and popular social media platform in the world’

The White House claims the Donald Trump-owned Truth Social is the “most powerful and popular social media platform in the world.” The statement, provided to The New York Times by White House spokesperson Davis Ingle, is at odds with the user counts from some of the biggest social media platforms on the web. Data gathered … Read more

Anthropic spent this week in hot water over cybersecurity

After admitting earlier this year that its AI models had hacked other companies’ systems on a handful of occasions, Anthropic released a new report on Wednesday detailing the attacks. It reveals a string of incidents displaying what Anthropic deems its models’ single-minded “recklessness” – and will likely fuel already raging concerns about cybersecurity and AI. … Read more

Meta may have leaked the first look at its slim ‘Project Phoenix’ headset

Just a couple of weeks before Meta Connect starts on September 23rd, UploadVR posted images seemingly revealing the design for Meta’s “Project Phoenix” headset. The images, which UploadVR says were “found in the HorizonOS Prescription Lens firmware package,” suggest Meta may be looking to compete with devices like those from Xreal or Viture. These companies’ … Read more

Where to preorder the Apple AirPods 5

The new AirPods 5 in their charging case. | Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge The Apple AirPods 5 are bringing active noise cancellation to the masses, and they’re now available for preorder at a variety of retailers. They’ll officially launch on September 18th, the same day as the Apple Watch Series 12 … Read more

Meta says it’s changing AI suggestions after posing invasive personal questions

Meta says it’s making changes to the prompts suggested by its AI chatbot after a viral video showed it digging for personal information about a woman’s young daughters, as reported earlier by Futurism. In a statement to The Verge, Meta spokesperson Dina El-Kassaby says the company “missed the mark,” adding that “the feature never should … Read more

Samsung says ‘Tim Cook’ bought a Galaxy Fold

That isn’t Apple’s former CEO promoting the Galaxy Z Fold 8 in a new Samsung ad – “Tim Cook from Palmerston North” just happens to have the same name and look a lot like him. Released right as Apple announced its iPhone Duo, the ad mimics Apple’s cinematic product launch videos, with “Tim Cook” saying … Read more

Apple addresses iPhone Duo copycats

John Ternus, Apple CEO, holds an iPhone Duo at the launch event. | Bloomberg via Getty Images Apple was far from the first company to announce a passport-shaped folding phone this year, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t copied. As my colleague Dom Preston already explained, it’s almost impossible to keep product development secret when … Read more

Slack can now vibe-code interactive charts and reports inside chats

A new feature coming to Slack will allow you to build interactive reports, polls, dashboards, presentations, microsites, and other tools directly inside a chat. With Slackforce Surfaces, you can describe to Slackbot what you need, and it will use AI to gather information from relevant conversations and connected apps, like Google Drive or Salesforce, to … Read more