UK fines 4Chan over online safety compliance

The penalties are fairly paltry. The United Kingdom has slapped 4Chan with a £20,000 (around $26,000) fine in a bid to clamp down on platforms that are hindering Online Safety Act (OSA) investigations. UK telecoms regulator Ofcom says the fine was issued after the controversial social media site ignored “legally-binding information requests” related to global … Read more

Slack is turning Slackbot into an AI assistant

Slack is testing an update for Slackbot that transforms it into an AI assistant. Presently, it operates as a tool for delivering reminders and notifications. With the update, Slackbot can create custom plans tailored to your workspace, sift through a mountain of messages, gather information from a range of Slack channels, and more. “Slackbot today … Read more

Amazon awkwardly edited the guns out of James Bond art

Last week, for James Bond Day, Amazon revealed updated poster art for the movies. But fans immediately noticed that the super spy’s signature Walther PPK was conspicuously missing from every image. In some cases it had clearly and rather clumsily been Photoshopped out. Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan were left awkwardly holding thin air, in … Read more

Police are asking kids to stop pulling AI homeless man prank

We’ve been so worried about deepfaked politicians, AI musicians, virtual actresses, and phony satellite imagery that we didn’t even consider the dangers posed by precocious teenagers. Kids are using AI to create images of a disheveled, seemingly unhoused person in their home and sending them to their parents. Understandably, they’re not thrilled and in some … Read more

How BlackBerry Messenger set texting free

It’s important to remember that two decades ago, text messages cost 10 cents. Each. Back when we measured our cell phone plans in minutes, and when even 3G connections felt fast, text messages were a huge business for wireless carriers and a huge expense for anyone whose kids learned to T9-type just a little too … Read more

Welcome to the ‘papers, please’ internet

This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on the downward spiral of the internet, follow Adi Robertson. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started Back in 2018, two years after the UK … Read more

ChatGPT is becoming an everything app

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 101, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, hope you like silly accessories, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I’ve been reading about Intel factories and Nobel Prize winners and ATM … Read more

Dreams of Another feels like a fever dream

Dreams of Another is like playing an art-filled dream. It’s filled with unexpected events, disjointed acts, and hazy landscapes. Scenes end abruptly, and then you unexpectedly pick up the thread later on. You’ll meet talking angel statues and fish that want to escape their home and swim to the ocean. But it’s that same unstable, … Read more

Is the Coros Nomad really an adventure watch?

Coros’ Nomad is marketed as a “go-anywhere, do-anything” adventure watch. It’s got GPS and offline maps and will track a lot of activities, from yoga to bouldering. There’s an “Adventure Journal,” which the marketing copy promises will help you record “every step, catch, and summit.” While it doesn’t have some of the bells and whistles … Read more

Hollywood has no idea what to do about AI

This is an excerpt of Sources by Alex Heath, a newsletter about AI and the tech industry, syndicated just for The Verge subscribers once a week. This week, I got an up-close look at how far apart Silicon Valley and Hollywood are on what to do about AI. First, at OpenAI DevDay, Sam Altman presented … Read more

Bose is yanking key features from its SoundTouch speakers

Bose is discontinuing support for the cloud-based features available on its SoundTouch products on February 18th, 2026. “After February 18, certain features — including access to integrated music services like Spotify and TuneIn, as well as multi-room playback — will no longer be available,” Bose says. That same day, the SoundTouch app will stop working, … Read more

OpenAI is trying to clamp down on ‘bias’ in ChatGPT

“ChatGPT shouldn’t have political bias in any direction,” OpenAI wrote in a post on Thursday. The latest GPT-5 models come the closest to achieving that objective goal, according to results from an internal company “stress-test” of ChatGPT’s responses to divisive issues. The test has been months in the making, the company says, and falls on … Read more

Chrome will automatically disable web notifications you don’t care about

Google is introducing a new Chrome browser feature for Android and desktop users that automatically turns off notifications for websites that you’re already ignoring. Chrome’s Safety Check feature already provides similar functionality for camera access and location tracking permissions. This new auto-revocation feature builds on a similar Android feature that already makes it easier for … Read more

Samsung SmartThings finally adds support for joining existing Thread networks

SmartThings Aeotec hubs can now join existing Thread networks. We’re one step closer to a smart home that can manage Thread border routers from different manufacturers. Samsung SmartThings now supports “two-way Thread network unification,” its fancy way of saying Thread credentials sharing. This means that now, if you add a Samsung device that’s a Thread … Read more

Apple’s executive reshuffling isn’t over

Apple is preparing to shuffle executive positions ahead of former COO Jeff Williams’ retirement this year, according to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.  Among other changes, Eddy Cue, Apple’s head of services, will reportedly oversee the health and fitness teams that may soon launch a rumored Health Plus subscription. Williams previously led Apple’s health … Read more

Fractal’s first gaming headset is as refreshingly elegant as its PC cases

This headset includes a magnetic charging dock that removes almost all the friction usually involved in charging a headset. Not many gaming headsets have a Scandinavian minimalist aesthetic, which is why Fractal’s $199.99 Scape caught my eye. Like many of Fractal’s PC cases, this headset looks more sophisticated than you might expect from gaming gear, … Read more

We’re all about to be in wearable hell

This is wearable maximalism but subtract two smartwatches and smart glasses, and this could be you in three years. This is Optimizer, a weekly newsletter sent every Friday from Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song that dissects and discusses the latest phones, smartwatches, apps, and other gizmos that swear they’re going to change your life. Optimizer … Read more