Tech

/ The DVD rental kiosk company was supposed to pay $16.7 million in three installments. After missing the first payment, there’s a court order to pay the whole balance.

/ The Model Y’s 12-volt battery, which powers things like the doors and windows, died. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Image: Tesla A 20-month-old child was rescued after being trapped in a Tesla Model Y in Scottsdale, Arizona — where temperatures have exceeded 100 degrees this week — after its 12-volt battery died, according to a report from Arizona’s Family. The child was safely removed from the car after firefighters used an ax to smash through a window. But the issue raises concerns about why there isn’t an easy way to open the car from the outside when its 12-volt battery — t...

/ TikTok mistakenly released an internal version of its digital avatar tool, and it would say absolutely anything you wrote — anything. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge TikTok mistakenly posted a link to an internal version of its new AI digital avatar tool without guardrails, letting users create videos that say just about anything. The hiccup was first spotted by CNN and allowed the outlet to generate videos containing quotes from Hitler and a message telling people to drink bleach, among other phrases. TikTok has since taken this version ...

/ A complaint alleges the employee was disciplined and terminated by the company in response to their legally protected organizing activities. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The National Labor Relations Board has filed a complaint against Amazon in Seattle that alleges the company “unlawfully disciplined and terminated an employee” after they assisted in organizing walkouts last May in protest of Amazon’s new return-to-work directives, issued early last year. In February 2023, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy sent an email to the company’s staff outli...

/ The Commerce Department banned Kaspersky from conducting new business in the US a day before the announcement. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge The Biden administration announced sanctions against 12 executives and senior leaders of Kaspersky Lab, a Russia-based cybersecurity company, on Friday. The announcement comes on the heels of the Commerce Department’s ban on the sale of Kaspersky’s antivirus software in the US, citing national security concerns. “Today’s action against the leadership of Kaspersky Lab underscores our commitment to...

Entertainment For a crucial decade in print media’s transition to the internet, HBO’s fantasy series Game of Thrones was a boon in traffic… for everyone. But what happened when every publication started chasing the same thing? By Kevin Nguyen, a features editor at The Verge, where he publishes award-winning stories about labor, business, and policing. Previously, he was a senior editor at GQ. In the summer of 2017, I was brought on to be the third host of a weekly Game of Thrones recap show that streamed on Facebook Live. At the time, I was an editor at GQ, and I found the assignment beneath me. I was supposed to be squirreling away at the dark art of turning shoddy copy into less shoddy copy; I never wanted to be on camera. Also, I barely knew anything about Game of Thrones. I watched it ...

/ A version of Alexa revamped with new generative AI tech could ‘learn’ from your routines and fulfill more advanced requests, according to Reuters. a:hover]:text-black [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-e9 dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray-63 [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-13 dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63″>Amazon launched its new Alexa-enabled Echo Hub in February.

/ In its lawsuit challenging the TikTok ‘ban’ law, the company provided the court with hundreds of pages of communications with the US government, including slide decks and presentations on plans to mitigate national security risks. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo from Getty Images TikTok says that the government didn’t adequately consider viable alternative options before charging ahead with a law that could ban the platform in the US. TikTok, whose parent company ByteDance is based in China, claims that it provided the US governm...

/ Goodbye, blobs. a:hover]:text-black [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-e9 dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray-63 [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-13 dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63″>The rumored Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 (left) vs. Apple’s AirPods Pro (right).

/ The platform is cracking down on subscriptions where the signup country doesn’t match users’ locations. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge If you used a virtual private network (VPN) to purchase a YouTube Premium in a country where it’s cheaper, your subscription might be on the chopping block. Over the past few days, several people who’ve used this trick reported having their subscriptions automatically canceled, as reported earlier by Android Police. The workaround involves using a VPN to change your location to a country where YouTube Premiu...