ICEBlock isn’t ‘completely anonymous’

The developer of ICEBlock, an iOS app for anonymously reporting sightings of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials, promises that it “ensures user privacy by storing no personal data.” But that claim has come under scrutiny. ICEBlock creator Joshua Aaron has been accused of making false promises regarding user anonymity and privacy, being “misguided” … Read more

Roblox creators can now make their own Stranger Things and Twilight games

A screenshot of a Stranger Things-themed experience in Roblox. Roblox is launching a new licensing platform that will make it easier for companies to offer their intellectual property (IP) to creators so they can build approved experiences. The platform includes a license manager that “equips rights holders with new self-serve IP management tools” and a … Read more

The MAGA backlash over Epstein isn’t dying down

On July 12th, the political world experienced an unprecedented phenomenon: President Donald Trump got ratioed on his own social media platform, and it was on a post about Jeffrey Epstein – someone who, according to Trump, “nobody cares about.” Clearly, his followers on Truth Social disagreed. As of today, this post has 43.2k likes, 13.7k … Read more

Cyberpunk 2077 is launching for Mac on July 17th

Cyberpunk 2077 is coming to macOS later this week, after it was originally set to debut in early 2025. Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition will officially be available for Apple silicon devices for the first time on July 17th, from Apple’s own Mac App Store, Steam, Epic Games Store, and GOG.com. CD Projekt Red has optimized … Read more

The EU is testing a prototype age verification app

The European Union is piloting a blueprint for age verification apps in Denmark, Greece, Spain, France, and Italy that aims to make it easier for online platforms to comply with rules that require them to protect minors. The app prototype was announced on Monday alongside guidelines that online platforms are recommended to adopt in order … Read more

Reddit is rolling out age verification in the UK

Reddit users in the United Kingdom will now be blocked from accessing “certain mature content” unless they complete the platform’s new age verification process. Reddit announced on Monday that UK users will need to upload a selfie or a photo of their government ID in order to view content that’s restricted for under-18s by the … Read more

Can Nextdoor overhaul itself to be useful?

In an era of social media-based restaurant reviewers, local neighborhood influencers, and an urgent need for trustworthy on-the-ground reports during moments of crisis, a crowdsourced hyperlocal platform like Nextdoor seems like a no-brainer. Yet something wasn’t clicking. Some people were installing Nextdoor and finding a flood of irrelevant updates and notifications. Others were realizing that, … Read more

Elon Musk’s AI bot adds a ridiculous anime companion with ‘NSFW’ mode

Ani, one of Grok’s AI companions. People who pay for access to SuperGrok can now try the AI chatbot’s new “Companions” avatars, xAI owner Elon Musk announced Monday morning. The companions available currently include Ani, an anime avatar, and Rudy, a cartoony red panda. Ani also has what TestingCatalog describes as an “NSFW” mode where … Read more

Bose is offering an extra 25% off refurbished headphones, earbuds, and portable speakers

Some of Bose’s best headphones, earbuds, and speakers were nicely discounted for Prime Day, but just because the event has ended doesn’t mean the deals are over. Bose is currently offering discounts on a range of refurbished products, plus an extra 25 percent off on top of that with code SUMMER25. For example, Verge-favorite QuietComfort … Read more

Google’s curated AI ‘notebooks’ talk you through topics from parenting to Shakespeare

Google is launching eight featured notebooks to start, with more to come. Google is partnering with authors, researchers, and publications to launch “featured” notebooks within its AI notetaking app, NotebookLM. These notebooks come pre-filled with research, and let you interact with the app’s tools, including its AI podcast maker, to learn more about each topic. … Read more

Anthropic’s Claude chatbot can now make and edit your Canva designs

Canva users can now create, edit, and manage their designs by describing their requirements to Anthropic’s Claude AI. The connection is the latest of several integrations that allow Claude users to access third-party tools and services, including Figma, Notion, Stripe, and Prisma, without having to leave their conversation with the AI chatbot. Starting today, Claude … Read more