Tech
Grimes’ new AI toy Grok has no connection to Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok
/ No relation to her former partner Elon Musk’s AI chatbot. By Amrita Khalid, one of the authors of audio industry newsletter Hot Pod. Khalid has covered tech, surveillance policy, consumer gadgets, and online communities for more than a decade. Share this story The musician Grimes has developed an interactive AI plush toy for children which can converse with and “learn” the personalities of their owners. Grimes and toy company Curio created the line of toys in partnership with OpenAI, as first reported by The Washington Post. Grimes, who voices all three toys, is also an investor and advisor for the product. The three plush figurines are named Gabbo, Grem, and Grok — not to be confused with the AI chatbot named Grok owned by Elon Musk, a former partner of Grimes. Curio told the Post that...
The EU AI Act passed — now comes the waiting
/ Delays in implementing the AI Act means nothing changes for now. By Emilia David, a reporter who covers AI. Prior to joining The Verge, she covered the intersection between technology, finance, and the economy. Share this story Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The European Union’s three branches provisionally agreed on its landmark AI regulation, paving the way for the economic bloc to prohibit certain uses of the technology and demand transparency from providers. But despite warnings from some world leaders, the changes it will require from AI companies remain unclear — and potentially far away. First proposed in 2021, the AI Act still hasn’t been fully approved. Hotly debated last-minute compromises softened some of its strictest regulatory threats. And enforcement likely won’t ...
The EU AI Act passed — now comes the waiting
/ Delays in implementing the AI Act means nothing changes for now. By Emilia David, a reporter who covers AI. Prior to joining The Verge, she covered the intersection between technology, finance, and the economy. Share this story Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The European Union’s three branches provisionally agreed on its landmark AI regulation, paving the way for the economic bloc to prohibit certain uses of the technology and demand transparency from providers. But despite warnings from some world leaders, the changes it will require from AI companies remain unclear — and potentially far away. First proposed in 2021, the AI Act still hasn’t been fully approved. Hotly debated last-minute compromises softened some of its strictest regulatory threats. And enforcement likely won’t ...
Threads Finally Rolls Out in Europe, Almost Six Months After Launch
Threads, Meta’s competitor to X, has finally made its way to the European Union. The text-based platform launched in July 2023 as an expanded version of Instagram Notes.At the beginning of July, Threads had been teased on the App Store but was surprise-released a week early after Elon Musk implemented a limit on how many tweets a user could read in one day.On the day of its debut, Threads drew in 30 million users – and has since garnered over 100 million users. The app has also rolled out to over 100 countries, including the United Kingdom, but had been blocked from launching in Europe because it hadn’t met app regulations.On Thursday, December 14, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Threads was coming to certain countries in Europe.“Today we’re opening Threads to more countries in Europe. Welc...
Google will turn off third-party tracking for some Chrome users soon
/ Google’s plan to implement a new Tracking Protection feature in Chrome begins in January with the intention to completely disable third-party cookies in the second half of 2024. By Umar Shakir, a news writer fond of the electric vehicle lifestyle and things that plug in via USB-C. He spent over 15 years in IT support before joining The Verge. Share this story Illustration: The Verge Google is about to launch its grand plan to block third-party cookies in Chrome that many websites use to track your activity across the web for profit. Starting on January 4th, Google will start testing its new Tracking Protection feature that will eventually restrict website access to third-party cookies by default. It will come to a very small subset of Chrome users at the start, specifically to one percen...
GM announces Cadillac Vistiq, a midsize electric SUV coming in 2025
/ The Vistiq will slot in between the Lyriq and Escalade IQ when it comes out. As a three-row SUV with luxury styling, the EV is expected to cost upward of $90,000. By Andrew J. Hawkins, transportation editor with 10+ years of experience who covers EVs, public transportation, and aviation. His work has appeared in The New York Daily News and City & State. Share this story Cadillac is releasing the name and a few images of its next electric vehicle, the midsize Vistiq SUV, which the automaker expects to slot in between the Lyriq and Escalade IQ in terms of size and price. The three-row SUV is expected to hit dealerships sometime in 2025 as a model year 2026 vehicle. It will also join the entry-level Optiq in Cadillac’s growing lineup of zero-emission vehicles. “VISTIQ adds another compe...
Tesla Shares a Look at Its Latest Optimus Robot
Building on its previous creations, Tesla has now shared a look at its latest Optimus robot. Taking to X, Elon Musk's company unveiled the second-generation humanoid machine with enhanced dexterity.The real-time footage exhibits the strides Tesla has made with its robotics with smoother movement thanks to Tesla-designed actuators and sensors. Allow with the actuated neck and 30 percent faster walking that mimics the geometry of human feet, the robot weighs 10 kilograms less with improved balance and full-body control. Most notably, the hands now have 11 degrees of movement freedom that allow for more delicate maneuvering that allows it to handle fragile eggs.Watch Tesla's second-generation Optimus robot in action below.There’s a new bot in town 🤖Check this out (until the very end)!...
Beeper says Apple is blocking some iMessages, but there’s a fix
/ Beeper’s looking into what might be going on. It’s unclear if Apple brought down the hammer again. By Jay Peters, a news editor who writes about technology, video games, and virtual worlds. He’s submitted several accepted emoji proposals to the Unicode Consortium. Share this story Image: Beeper Here we go again: After investigating reports that some users aren’t getting iMessages on Beeper Mini and Beeper Cloud, Beeper says that Apple seems to be “deliberately blocking” iMessages from being delivered to about five percent of Beeper Mini users. The company says that uninstalling and reinstalling the app fixes the issue and that it’s working on a broader fix (though that apparently won’t be in place tonight). Apple didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment about Beeper’s new claim,...
The Tesla Cybertruck’s infamous wiper will reportedly cost $165 to replace
/ The Cybertruck’s parts catalog may reveal the price. By Sean Hollister, a senior editor and founding member of The Verge who covers gadgets, games, and toys. He spent 15 years editing the likes of CNET, Gizmodo, and Engadget. Share this story Parker Ortolani / The Verge The Verge, your source for Tesla Cybertruck windshield wiper news, is unreasonably happy to potentially reveal: a Cybertruck windshield wiper replacement may cost as little as $165 for the entire arm and blade assembly, or $75 for just the wiper blade itself. That’s the word from Tesla watcher Nic Cruz Patane, who, like all good windshield wiper enthusiasts, has seemingly been paging through the Tesla parts catalog for the Cybertruck but, unlike the rest of us, seemingly has access to prices for each part. We can see the ...
‘Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown’
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is not Sands of Time or any other games that came before it, and that's a great thing.
An X outage broke all outgoing links, again
Tech/ Twitter – X / Clicking links on X revealed only an error message, not the page you intended to visit. By Richard Lawler, a senior editor following news across tech, culture, policy, and entertainment. He joined The Verge in 2021 after several years covering news at Engadget. Share this story Image: The Verge As if publishers and users didn’t have enough reasons to reconsider their connections to the platform formerly known as Twitter, all outgoing links from X stopped working Wednesday afternoon. A problem with the URL redirect that captures activity before sending users on their way sent people to a simple error page saying, “This page is down. I scream. You scream. We all scream… for us to fix this page. We’ll stop making jokes and get things up and running soon.” After...
Apple will make it harder for governments to get your push notifications
/ The change comes after both Apple and Google confirmed they have supplied information associated with mobile push notifications to governments. By Wes Davis, a weekend editor who covers the latest in tech and entertainment. He has written news, reviews, and more as a tech journalist since 2020. Share this story Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Apple will require law enforcement to obtain a court order before the company hands over details of customers’ push notifications from now on. As Reuters reports, Apple quietly updated its guidelines for law enforcement page on Monday with language specifying that search warrants and court orders are now required for it to give up “The Apple ID associated with” an Apple Push Notification Service token. The new policy follows revelations ...
