What’s behind the mass exodus at xAI?
The past few days have been a wild ride for xAI, which is racking up staff and cofounder departure announcements left and right. On Tuesday and Wednesday, cofounder Yuhuai (Tony) Wu announced his departure and that it was "time for [his] next chapter," with cofounder Jimmy Ba following with a similar post later that day, […]
Can Democrats post their way to midterm victories?
During the 2024 presidential election, @KamalaHQ was something of an alter ego for Vice President Kamala Harris - as Harris ran a buttoned-up campaign, the online accounts shared clips of her set to viral TikTok sounds, shitposted unflattering pictures of Donald Trump, and adopted a voice that was at times indistinguishable from the average 20-something […]
Trump Mobile’s origins lie with a Mexican middleweight boxer
Where's the Trump phone? We're going to keep talking about it every week. Last week, we spoke to executives from the company for the first time, and this week we're back with more details on how it began. Trump Mobile may bear the US president's name, but he didn't come up with the idea, and […]
What’s in the Epstein files? For Tiktokers, a content gold mine
"where are you? Are you ok , I loved the torture video," reads one email, allegedly sent by Jeffrey Epstein in 2009. The reply, from a redacted address, states: "I am in china I will be in the US 2nd week of may." Her face hovering over a screenshot of the exchange, a TikTok creator […]
iRobot’s Roombas have a new Chinese owner, but it says your data will remain in the US
As part of its acquisition by China-based Picea Robotics, iRobot is creating a new US-based subsidiary called iRobot Safe, which the company says will be "responsible for the protection of US consumer data," similar to the TikTok deal that was completed last month. iRobot customers in the US will be able to continue using their […]
Ring’s adorable surveillance hellscape
You can watch Ring's recent Super Bowl ad and see a cute story about dogs being reunited with their families. You can also watch the very same ad and see the seeds being planted for a massively connected, utterly ubiquitous surveillance system that will end the concept of privacy forever. Maybe you can even see […]
‘Wellness’ feels like it’s losing all meaning in health tech
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. For the past week, I've been thinking about the fact that Oura has gone to Washington. The Oura […]
Meta’s Quest 3S is $50 off, and includes Batman: Arkham Shadow for free
Meta’s VR strategy is in a bit of an uncertain place right now, with the company recently cutting many jobs at its Reality Labs, and discontinuing new content drops in beloved experiences like Supernatural. Even so, there’s still a lot of fun to be had with its Meta Quest 3S if you’ve been curious about […]
ICE moves out to the suburbs
We sat in a parking lot and waited. We watched, knowing we were being watched in return. Two men, masked and presumably armed, idled in a gray SUV. "They're all on this fucking street now," Lety, a lifelong resident of the Minnesota suburbs, told me. ICE had been spotted at a gas station and a […]
Meta reportedly wants to add face recognition to smart glasses while privacy advocates are distracted
Meta aims to introduce facial recognition to its smart glasses while its biggest critics are distracted, according to a report from The New York Times. In an internal document reviewed by The Times, Meta says it will launch the feature "during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to […]