Marvel's mishandling of its Blade reboot will likely go down as one of the studio's biggest mistakes. There was a great actor in place to play the vampire hunter (Mahershala Ali), and a promising director set to take over the reins (Bassam Tariq). In retrospect, though, the disappointing demise of Blade might not be such a bad thing, because Tariq and Ali have collaborated on something much more interesting than a superhero reboot: the powerful hitman thriller Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother.
That was one of five movies I was able to cram into a very hectic third day at the Toronto International Film Festival (you can see my previous re …
This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on cars, data privacy, and autonomous vehicles, follow Andrew J. Hawkins. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepbackhere.
How it started
Earlier this year, the Federal Trade Commission issued an unprecedented penalty against General Motors: a five-year ban on selling customer data to consumer reporting agencies and third-party data brokers.
For years, GM had been collecting all sorts of data on its customers - such as how often they sped or whether they drove at night - and selling it to brok …
Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 143, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, new tech season is here, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)
This week, I've been devouring every iPhone Duo video I can find, clicking on the wonderful websites nominated for this year's Tiny Awards, catching up on the excellent Onimusha: Way of the Sword, reading Wildwoodahead of the upcoming movie, watching the new Taskmaster series, coming to grips with Link's new look in the Ocarina of Time remake, and fixing the flat tire on my toddler's stroller. I'm very proud of that …
In May, hundreds of malicious and spam packages were uploaded to RubyGems, causing a serious disruption for the host. Now independent researchers have said that a swarm of OpenAI agents were responsible for the attack. Not only that, but the AI tried to steal users' API keys.
At the time, RubyGems described it as a "major malicious attack" and shut down signups for four days as it tried to mitigate the damage and collect data. Researchers said that the contents of the packages that brought RubyGems to its knees were clearly authored by an LLM, and that the agents submitting those packages self-identified as being from OpenAI. They said the …
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman confirmed that there would be no OpenAI IPO in 2026 during an interview with Fortune. Over the course of 45 minutes, Altman discussed a variety of subjects including the Hugging Face hacking incident, recursive self-improvement, and the possibility of building an AI that was beyond human control. On the latter, he said it was "absolutely" possible, but vowed to take actions to prevent that from happening, even if it meant pausing training, adding that "there are risks we should not be able to incur on behalf of humanity."
"We're not rushing into an IPO. I actually think that, given everything happening with safety, th …
Blizzard originally tried to bring the StarCraft universe to the world of 3D shooters way back in 2002 with StarCraft: Ghost. It sat in development hell for years until Blizzard president Mike Morhaime confirmed that it had been canceled in 2014. Now Blizzard is giving it another go with the simply titled StarCraft. Dan Hay, a VP at Blizzard, took the stage at BlizzCon today to reveal that after more than a decade of lying dormant, StarCraft would be returning in 2030. But, rather than another top-down real-time strategy installment, the new title would be an open-world shooter.
He then showed off a cinematic trailer for the title that fo …
Sylvan Esso preparing to attend a frutiger aero renfaire.
Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn, better known as Sylvan Esso, have been bringing their low-key electro-pop to the masses since 2014, bursting onto the scene with their self-titled debut album and the single "Hey Mami." Over the years, they've put out a number of excellent records, dabbling in dustier, more fragile textures on Free Love, going dancier and glitchier on No Rules Sandy. The two are constantly pushing at the edges of their sound while retaining the core of what makes a Sylvan Esso record sound like a Sylvan Esso record.
Their new album Ow ∞, released this past Friday, represents perhaps the boldest reinvention of their sound, how …
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei says the time has come to slow down AI development and will give third-party evaluators like METR access to its models to help ensure its "adherence to safety practices and commitments." In a winding essay, Amodei proposed a three-step plan to "pace the frontier" - jargon that simply means to slow the pace of training and development to give companies time to build safeguards and regulators to evaluate models.
Amodei says that giving external evaluators wide-ranging access is just the first step, and one it is taking now unilaterally. Step two would involve the industry coming together as a whole, likely with gove …
Earlier this week, Gamers Nexus, Level1Techs, and independent security researchers detailed some alarming findings about how LG's TVs are logging and uploading data on its users. Now the company is pushing back against those allegations, saying that "Some recent media coverage may have contributed to misconceptions about how LG smart TVs work."
LG released a statement in which it claims that its "TVs do not continuously record or transmit users' conversations," and that wake-word detection is all processed locally. However, the word "continuously" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here as Gamers Nexus demonstrated an LG TV keeping extensive l …
President Donald Trump is weakening environmental regulations in the name of speeding up the construction of AI data centers, raising health risks for Americans, a cadre of former EPA officials said this week in a briefing and new report. They are urging - perhaps futilely - the president to adopt a "Data Center Health Protection Pledge" to signal that the administration is taking the environmental threat seriously.
Frank Shaw is leaving Microsoft after 17 years as chief communications officer. In an internal note to his team, Shaw says he's "decided it is time for me to move on and try new things," after supporting Microsoft's communications for 29 years - nearly 20 years as a Microsoft employee plus time at the Waggener Edstrom agency (now We. Communications) before that.
Shaw has been at the heart of Microsoft's communications since 1997, helping the company navigate multiple Windows and Office releases, CEO transitions, the all-important bet on cloud, and huge acquisitions like the $26.2 billion LinkedIn purchase in 2016 and the $69 billion acquisi …
Just a couple of weeks before Meta Connect starts on September 23rd, UploadVR posted images seemingly revealing the design for Meta's "Project Phoenix" headset. The images, which UploadVR says were "found in the HorizonOS Prescription Lens firmware package," suggest Meta may be looking to compete with devices like those from Xreal or Viture. These companies' mixed reality glasses are a bit bulkier than something like Meta's Ray-Ban AI smart glasses, but a step down from a full VR headset like Meta's Quest 3.
This leak shows something that's almost in between larger headsets and smart glasses, with lenses set into a slim, glasses-style fram …
The new AirPods 5 in their charging case. | Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge
The Apple AirPods 5 are bringing active noise cancellation to the masses, and they're now available for preorder at a variety of retailers. They'll officially launch on September 18th, the same day as the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, as well as the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max.
There are two versions this time around, just like with the last-gen model. The standard $129 model adds active noise cancelation, which was previously only found on the more expensive $179 AirPods 4 with ANC models. They're available from Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and Apple. The upgraded $149 model features a wireless charging case, longer battery life, and touc …
On September 6th, YouTuber Nicholas Light posted a video to one of his channels that made it seem like all of his content was about to be removed from the platform. In the video - ominously titled "My Channel will be Deleted Today" - Light alleges that he was on the receiving end of some of the "thousands upon thousands of false copyright strikes" recently initiated by a company called Remove Your Media. Light spends much of the 13-minute video accusing Remove Your Media CEO Eric Green of being a troll who systematically targets creators whose content mentions or features clips of popular anime series like Bleach and One Piece.
Anker’s Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro came out swinging in May with incredible call quality, something that competing ear buds have struggled to get right. They’ve become part of our reviewer John Higgins’ rotation of earbuds for more than just taking calls; The Liberty 5 Pro have fantastic audio once you make some tweaks in their app, and they stand out thanks to an IP55 rating and LDAC high-res audio codec support on Android.
What’s more, they’re typically cheaper than the competition at $169.99, but you can snag them for $149.99 at Amazon, Best Buy, and at Anker. They come in four colors (black, blue, white, pink), and include a screen-equipped charging case that lets you make adjustments to active noise cancellation, sound profiles, speak-to-chat and enabling Dolby Atmos head tracking. Your mileage may vary with the usefulness of the case, but it’s nice not to have to use the app for quick tweaks.
I’ve been eagerly awaiting any sort of deal on the Liberty 5 Pro since John’s review dropped. Clearly, Anker caught wind of its success and kept them locked at $170 for months (not even a small price drop during June’s Prime Day sale). What could have lead to the price drop? Likely the debut of the AirPods 5 that start at $129 but have a more feature-rich version that’s $20 more — the same current price as Anker’s Liberty 5 Pro. Read our review.
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"The Corsair Galleon 100 SD pairs 12 customizable LCD keys, two rotary dials, and a display with hot-swappable MLX Pulse switches, up to 8,000Hz polling, and a dedicated Game Mode. Its built-in Stream Deck lets you control games, Discord, Spotify, streaming tools, and system functions directly from the keyboard. It is on sale for $299.99 through September 13, a $50 discount. Purchase it from Corsair.com in September and Corsair will also email you a $20 coupon for a future eligible gaming gear purchase after your order ships.",
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Here are three more great deals
Those shopping for a battery-powered video doorbell may want to consider the second-gen Ring Battery Doorbell Pro, which is steeply discounted at Wellbots thanks to an exclusive offer code for Verge readers. Currently $249.99 at Amazon, the 4K-enabled doorbell with 10x digital zoom is $149.99 with code 100VERGERING used at checkout. This price, frankly, spanks the previous lowest price of $179.99 at Amazon we saw in late August. You can read more about Ring’s latest generation of battery doorbells in our coverage. But put simply, they’re sleeker, more capable, and still come with a removable, rechargeable battery.
I’m hyped for Control Resonant, the follow-up to Remedy’s brilliant Control. It launches on September 24th, and you can get $12 off Steam preorders at Newegg. The game will debut for $59.99, but the code CNTRLXV used at checkout knocks it down to $47.99, which is the best price I’ve seen. It’s not tough to find the game at other key sellers for around $50, though. While it’s a direct sequel, it’s also the latest addition to Remedy’s connected universe that canonically includes Alan Wake titles. Here’s our hands-on from Summer Game Fest.
While we’re on the topic of games, we recently covered that Walmart was discounting preorders for the physical version of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake for Switch 2. Well, that also extends to Amazon, which is selling it for $59.99, a discount you’ll see at checkout. The cartridge version typically costs $10 more than digital — a change that Nintendo made earlier this year — but both retailers have a reputation for eating the price hike during the preorder phase for Nintendo Switch 2 titles.
Meta says it's making changes to the prompts suggested by its AI chatbot after a viral video showed it digging for personal information about a woman's young daughters, as reported earlier by Futurism. In a statement to The Verge, Meta spokesperson Dina El-Kassaby says the company "missed the mark," adding that "the feature never should have prompted the individual with questions like that."
Last week, Instagram user Kalie Robins posted a video explaining how Meta AI presented her with an invasive suggestion after cross-posting a clip to Facebook. The AI prompt, "Who is the child passenger?" appeared beneath a video of her and her child sin …
Hello once again from Toronto, where for a week every year I watch far too many movies and tell you all about them. The festival, better known as TIFF, is always a great preview of the months ahead in film, with a nice mix of mainstream fare, awards contenders, indie surprises, and genre flicks destined to be cult classics. The streamers also love to make their presence felt here, previewing some of their most anticipated projects. Last year, for instance, Netflix showed off both Guillermo del Toro's long-awaited Frankenstein as well as the third Knives Out movie, and I was also able to watch everything from the terrifying video game adaptat …
An Apple Home computer could combine a Wi-Fi router, an AI-powered smart home hub, and local storage into a single device. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
John Ternus didn't mention Apple Home once during his first keynote as Apple CEO. But he did open by describing an "intelligent personal hub" that prioritizes local processing, protects your privacy, and integrates with all your other devices, apps, and services. While Ternus was talking about the iPhone - not a new smart home device - what he spelled out is exactly what I want to see Apple make: an intelligent home hub, a computer for your home.
Rumors suggest Apple's first smart home hub with a screen is imminent. While that's long overdue, it's likely to be more interface than infrastructure, a device that can run your home locally but s …
That isn't Apple's former CEO promoting the Galaxy Z Fold 8 in a new Samsung ad - "Tim Cook from Palmerston North" just happens to have the same name and look a lot like him. Released right as Apple announced its iPhone Duo, the ad mimics Apple's cinematic product launch videos, with "Tim Cook" saying "the future is here." Samsung also takes a jab at Apple's Tim Cook with a reference to his recently updated profile picture.
A new feature coming to Slack will allow you to build interactive reports, polls, dashboards, presentations, microsites, and other tools directly inside a chat. With Slackforce Surfaces, you can describe to Slackbot what you need, and it will use AI to gather information from relevant conversations and connected apps, like Google Drive or Salesforce, to create it.
Once Slackbot creates a Surface, you can share it with colleagues and pin it to channels, allowing other people to view it, interact with it, and leave comments. In one example shared by Slack, a user asks Slackbot for help creating an arcade-themed visualization of AI token usage …
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