TheVerge

Read Microsoft’s optimistic memo about the future of AI companions

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Image: Getty Images Microsoft is launching a redesigned version of Copilot today, intent on becoming an AI assistant or companion. To celebrate this, Microsoft’s new AI CEO, Mustafa Suleyman, has penned a 700-plus-word memo on what he describes as a “technological paradigm shift” toward AI models that can understand what humans see and hear. Suleyman … Read more

Microsoft Paint is getting Photoshop-like generative AI fill and erase features

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Generative Erase is like Google Pixel’s Magic Eraser feature but for your desktop PC. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft is bringing some new AI-powered Paint and Photos features to Copilot Plus PCs that could make creatives less reliant on more powerful image editing software. Generative Fill and Generative Erase — which appear to be heavily inspired … Read more

Fortnite creators can now make first-person shooters

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Image: Epic Games Developers that build Fortnite experiences can now try out a new first-person camera mode. The feature will first be available as an experimental release in the Unreal Editor for Fortnite. Later this year, the feature will launch in beta, and at that time, creators will be able to publish their experiences with … Read more

Microsoft is using AI to improve Windows search

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft is using AI models to greatly improve Windows search on its new Copilot Plus PCs, including the addition of a new Click to Do feature that’s very similar to Google’s Circle to Search. These search improvements will make it easier to find and interact with images, emails, … Read more

Your front door is the key to the smart home

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Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge When we talk about the smart home, we often talk about grand visions of perfectly automated everything. You know the ones: you wake up perfectly rested thanks to some bedside light thing, and as you stretch luxuriously toward the ceiling, a sensor notices and turns on the coffee pot, … Read more

Parents can now set Fortnite time limits

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Image: Epic Games Fortnite is getting controls that let parents set time limits for how much their children play the game. Parents will be able to pick how much their child can play Fortnite per day, select windows for when they can play, and choose if their child has the ability to ask for more … Read more

Serve is partnering with Wing to expand the range of its robot deliveries

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Serve’s robots will bring packages to a Wing drone AutoLoader, which will make the final delivery. | Image: Serve Robotics Serve Robotics has announced a pilot partnership with Wing Aviation to expand the range of its autonomous food delivery without requiring restaurants to install new equipment to accommodate drone pickups. Serve, which was spun out of … Read more

eBay is off the hook for selling harmful products

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eBay was shielded from liability in the civil lawsuit by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. | The Verge A US government lawsuit accusing eBay of selling almost 350,000 polluting and environmentally harmful products — including pesticides and “defeat” devices that let motor vehicles evade emission controls — has been dismissed by a federal … Read more

T-Mobile promises to try not to get hacked again

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge T-Mobile is investing millions of dollars into revamping its cybersecurity practices as part of a settlement with the US Federal Communications Commission. The company will also need to pay the US Treasury $15.75 million in civil penalties — the same amount as its internal cybersecurity investment. The commission … Read more

Trump’s crypto platform is now open to the public — kind of

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Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Brandon Bell, Getty Images The people behind World Liberty Financial — former President Donald Trump, his sons, and his business associates — have made a lot of promises about the cryptocurrency platform’s revolutionary potential. It will liberate “the average American” from “the big banks and … Read more

How Hurricane Helene became a monster storm

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This aerial picture taken on September 27th, 2024, shows a flooded street after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Steinhatchee, Florida. | Photo by Ricardo Arduengo / AFP via Getty Images The Southeastern United States is reeling from Hurricane Helene, a monstrous storm that made landfall in Florida on Thursday before cutting a terrifying path all … Read more

Hurricane Helene barreled through a crucial chip mining area in North Carolina

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Flooding in Boone, North Carolina, about an hour northeast of Spruce Pine. | Photo by Melissa Sue Gerrits / Getty Images Hurricane Helene brought historic rainfall and flooding to western North Carolina last week, leaving dozens dead and catastrophic damage stretching across the state’s mountain towns. The devastation also reached the small town of Spruce … Read more

Reddit is making sitewide protests basically impossible

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Illustration: The Verge Reddit is giving its staff a lot more power over the communities on its platform. Starting today, Reddit moderators will not be able to change if their subreddit is public or private without first submitting a request to a Reddit admin. The policy applies to adjusting all community types, meaning moderators will … Read more