The Iranian Lego AI video creators credit their virality to ‘heart’
Donald Trump has spun the recent rescue of a downed airman whose fighter jet was destroyed behind Iranian borders as a resounding success. But the story is very different in one of the many viral, AI-generated Lego videos that have been produced by Iranian content creation group Explosive Media in the weeks since the US […]
Little Snitch’s software counter surveillance jumps from Mac to Linux
The popular macOS app Little Snitch brought its network-monitoring tools over to Linux this week. In a blog post announcing the launch, one of the developers at Objective Development shared some early results from using the app on Linux: "On Ubuntu, I found 9 system processes making internet connections over the course of one week. […]
Congress can finally close a mass surveillance loophole — but will they?
A warrantless wiretapping authority that has facilitated surveillance for decades is up for renewal in Congress. Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), last reauthorized in 2024, is set to expire on April 20th. A bipartisan coalition of progressive Democrats and members of the hard-right Freedom Caucus say it's long overdue for reform. […]
Trump Mobile isn’t giving up just yet
Where's the Trump phone? We're going to keep talking about it every week. We've reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump phone's whereabouts. We're back to being ignored, but the company is showing signs of life. It's been nine months since Trump Mobile announced itself, seven months since the company updated any of […]
Why your Whoop might tell you to up your testosterone
This is Optimizer, a weekly newsletter sent every Friday from Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song that dissects and discusses the latest gizmos and potions that swear they're going to change your life. Opt in for Optimizer here. Last week, our editor-in-chief Nilay Patel messaged me about his new Whoop band, which he'd gotten thanks to […]
Cloudflare made a WordPress for AI agents
Cloudflare, the cloud provider that connects millions of sites to the internet, wants to "fix" another digital giant: WordPress. It announced a new open-source system, called EmDash, that's supposed to address the "core problems that WordPress cannot solve" - and they want to do it by allowing AI agents to take control of your website. […]
Interior design at 25,000 mph
As the Artemis II astronauts prepare for the most dramatic and potentially dangerous part of their mission - reentry into Earth's atmosphere - the eyes of the world will be on the Orion capsule and the people inside it. Getting glimpses into the capsule during the mission, the public has been able to observe the […]
Fear and loathing at OpenAI
Sam Altman's tenure at OpenAI has been… messy. Messy to the point where Altman was briefly fired from his role as CEO, only to be reinstated days later, at which point he began reshaping the organization permanently. This week, The New Yorker published a deep look at Altman, his time at OpenAI, and the questions […]
Snap is sticking with Qualcomm for its next AR glasses
Snap's upcoming consumer AR glasses are still set to launch sometime this year, and they'll be powered by a Snapdragon XR chip from Qualcomm, according to an announcement of a "multi-year strategic agreement" between the companies. Snap has been working on smart glasses for a decade, with the first model of its camera-equipped Spectacles glasses […]
Gen Z’s love-hate relationship with AI
Gen Z is increasingly disillusioned with AI - just not enough to stop using it. A new Gallup report released this week, based on responses from nearly 1,600 people ages 14 to 29 across the US, suggests the hype is wearing off for the digital-native generation as AI becomes more embedded in school and work. […]