Laura Loomer and the limits of posting everything

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – SEPTEMBER 10, 2024: Laura Loomer arrives at Philadelphia International Airport on The Trump Organization’s Boeing 757. | Photo: Getty Images For all the power she wields with the White House’s affairs, Laura Loomer does not have the traditional tools that her rivals in the MAGA influencer industrial complex have – the highest … Read more

Louisiana sues Roblox for creating an environment where ‘child predators thrive’

The state of Louisiana has filed a lawsuit against Roblox, alleging that the company has “permitted and perpetuated an online environment in which child predators thrive, directly contributing to the widespread victimization of minor children in Louisiana.”  Roblox sees more than 111.8 million daily active users, and it’s hugely popular with children, with users under … Read more

A treaty to end plastic pollution is still out of reach — that’s not necessarily a bad thing 

Juan Carlos Monterrey Gómez, Special Representative for Climate Change, Panama, speaks at a press conference ahead of the final INC-5.2 Negotiation plenary Session, warning negotiators that a weak treaty will fail the world. | Image: © Greenpeace / Marie Jacquemin The nations of the world have been on the precipice of reaching a global agreement … Read more

Anthropic has new rules for a more dangerous AI landscape

Anthropic has updated the usage policy for its Claude AI chatbot in response to growing concerns about safety. In addition to introducing stricter cybersecurity rules, Anthropic now specifies some of the most dangerous weapons that people should not develop using Claude. Anthropic doesn’t highlight the tweaks made to its weapons policy in the post summarizing … Read more

Lamborghini’s new plug-in hybrid is the fastest car its ever built

Lamborghini makes fast cars; this is an indisputable fact. So when the iconic Italian automaker says it’s new plug-in hybrid is both “the most powerful V12 every built” and “the fastest Lamborghini ever,” you should pay attention. At Monterey Car Week, Lamborghini unveiled its new Fenomeno plug-in hypercar that will be part of the automaker’s … Read more

Sam Altman says ‘yes,’ AI is in a bubble

As economists speculate whether the stock market is in an AI bubble that could soon burst, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has just admitted to believing we’re in one. “Are we in a phase where investors as a whole are overexcited about AI?” Altman said during a lengthy interview with The Verge and other reporters last … Read more

Vibe coding through the GPT-5 mess

Last week, we ran into an issue: no one on the show had ever vibe coded. So for today’s episode, we set out to fix that. Everyone came prepared with a vibe coded project – and some misadventures to go along with it. This week on The Vergecast, we’re discussing the fallout of the messy … Read more

GPT-5 failed the hype test

Last week, on GPT-5 launch day, AI hype was at an all-time high. In a press briefing beforehand, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said GPT-5 is “something that I just don’t wanna ever have to go back from,” a milestone akin to the first iPhone with a Retina display. The night before the announcement livestream, Altman … Read more

Fortnite login is down

Epic Games is looking into a Fortnite login issue that’s “preventing players from getting in reliably,” according to a 6:39PM ET post on the company’s status website. I currently can’t get into the game on my Nintendo Switch 2; when I try, the game shows a message that says “unable to sign in to your … Read more

Consumer safety groups are demanding an FTC investigation into Grok’s ‘Spicy’ mode

A new letter to the Federal Trade Commission, and US attorneys general for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, calls for an urgent investigation into Elon Musk’s Grok – especially its new “Imagine” tool for AI-generated image and video. The tool, released by xAI earlier this month, encourages users to create NSFW content … Read more

Meta’s AI policies let chatbots get romantic with minors

In an internal document, Meta included policies that allowed its AI chatbots to flirt and speak with children using romantic language, according to a report from Reuters.  Quotes from the document highlighted by Reuters include letting Meta’s AI chatbots “engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual,” “describe a child in terms that … Read more

Stop using these ESR power banks that have been recalled for fire and explosion risks

Two of the recalled power bank models featured built-in kickstands. | Image: ESR ESR has issued a recall for 33,000 HaloLock wireless power banks, in 6,000mAh and 10,000mAh versions, because their lithium-ion batteries can “overheat and ignite, posing fire and burn hazards to consumers.” The power banks were cheaper alternatives to Apple’s MagSafe accessories (priced … Read more

Acura’s RSX prototype is a taste of what’s to come with Honda Zero

Acura is bringing back the RSX sedan as a premium, dramatic-looking, all-wheel drive electric crossover that’s also the first model engineered in-house on Honda’s new global EV Platform. This is the same platform that will eventually underpin the automaker’s Zero series, which is expected to go into production next year along with the RSX. So … Read more

Apple’s AirPods Max are $70 off in every color

One of the most-discussed subjects among many of my friends and colleagues are headphones: specifically, what provides the best sound, the best noise cancellation, and are the most comfortable to wear. If you’re part of the Apple ecosystem, then one of those featured in our roundup of best AirPods to buy are the AirPods Max, … Read more

Microsoft is getting ready to return to the office

Microsoft originally encouraged its employees to work from home amid the coronavirus outbreak in 2020. This new flexible working arrangement then became an official “hybrid workplace” policy several months after the pandemic began, allowing managers to approve permanent remote work. Now that the pandemic has settled into endemicity, Microsoft wants employees to return to the … Read more

Is streaming about to have a Wordle moment?

It’s game time for streaming services: a growing number of streamers are betting on casual games as a way to keep viewers hooked when they’ve run out of things to watch. Toronto-based Zone-ify added free casual games to its ad-supported streaming service in June. Last month, close to 70 casual games arrived on Happykids and … Read more