Dune: Awakening developer Funcom is laying off staff and shutting down a studio
Funcom, the Tencent-owned company behind the survival MMO Dune: Awakening, is making some major changes, including laying off staff and shutting down Metal: Hellsinger developer The Outsiders. Dune: Awakening had a promising launch, selling a million copies and becoming the company’s “fastest selling game ever” less than two weeks after its June release. And in […]
Verizon appoints a new CEO for the ‘next phase’ after its 5G rollout
Verizon has picked former PayPal head Dan Schulman to serve as its new CEO as the company enters its “next phase” of growth, Verizon board chair Mark Bertolini says in the Monday announcement. Starting today, Schulman will replace outgoing CEO Hans Vestberg, who will now serve as a special advisor through October 4th, 2026. Vestberg […]
SwitchBot’s new safety tracker can discreetly trigger a fake phone call
SwitchBot is expanding its already diverse line of smart home offerings with a new tracking fob that doubles as both a personal safety device and a quick way to gain entry to your home. SwitchBot’s Safety Alarm looks like a keychain flashlight and even has LEDs when you need some extra illumination and don’t want […]
CBS News was just taken over by a Substack
Paramount is acquiring The Free Press, an independent media publication started on Substack. As part of the deal, Paramount is installing The Free Press’s founder, Bari Weiss, as the editor-in-chief of CBS News, according to an announcement on Monday. Before starting The Free Press, Weiss worked as an op-ed and book review editor at The […]
Dbrand lets Android users drink the Cosmic Orange juice, too
Dbrand’s latest skins allow a wide range of non-Apple devices to don a “flawlessly colormatched knock-off” of the “Cosmic Orange” sported by iPhone 17 Pro models. The new gadget skins are available across every device covered by Dbrand’s portfolio starting today, including Apple and Android smartphones, laptops, tablets, earpods, and gaming hardware. For Apple customers […]
Rivian CEO: ‘We’re really convicted’ about skipping CarPlay
Hello, and welcome to Decoder! My guest today is Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe, and I’m very excited to be talking to him on my show today. And when I say my show… I mean Nilay Patel’s show. This is my final episode filling in for Nilay while he’s out on parental leave. I’m Joanna Stern, […]
Logitech’s new MX Master 4 wireless mouse is already $30 off
The MX Master 4 is Logitech’s latest wireless mouse in the MX series, featuring a new haptics-equipped thumb grip that can provide tactile feedback while multitasking. It just launched last week at $119.99, but Best Buy has it available in multiple color schemes for $89.99. You don’t need me to tell you that this is […]
Fictional characters are (officially) coming to Sora as OpenAI manages copyright chaos
Collabs with fictional characters are on the horizon for Sora. Officially, that is, as OpenAI moves to restrict the flow of unauthorized horrors like meth-cooking and Nazi SpongeBobs and criminal Pokémon that have plagued the platform from day one. Bill Peebles, leader of the Sora team at OpenAI, said fictional character appearances in videos, known […]
AMD teams up with OpenAI to challenge Nvidia’s AI chip dominance
AMD is partnering with OpenAI to provide six gigawatts worth of processors for AI data centers, a move that challenges Nvidia’s AI chip market dominance. The five-year agreement aims to help OpenAI bolster its infrastructure to meet growing computational demands for AI applications like ChatGPT, starting with a gigawatt deployment of AMD Instinct MI450 GPUs […]
Sora provides better control over videos featuring your AI self
Sora now lets you rein in your AI doubles, giving you more say on how and where deepfake versions of you make an appearance on the app. The update lands as OpenAI hurries to show it actually cares about its users’ concerns as an all-too-predictable tsunami of AI slop threatens to take over the internet. […]