The WGAE and WGAW are jointly filing a lawsuit alleging the merger violates antitrust law, following a similar lawsuit filed by a dozen state attorneys general. The WGA says it has “opposed the merger since day one,” adding:

Judge James Boasberg temporarily blocked a State Department policy restricting visas to foreign officials who “demand that American tech platforms adopt global content moderation policies.” Boasberg wrote that a group representing tech researchers could likely prove it violates the First Amendment by categorizing research as “foreign censorship” based on viewpoint.

The AI translations are expanding to Japanese, Korean, French, German, and Italian on Instagram and Bahasa, Indonesian, Arabic, French, Vietnamese, and Thai on Facebook, according to Instagram boss Adam Mosseri.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the partnership also includes new episodes of Mythical Kitchen and Last Meals, and follows similar deals to bring other YouTube shows to Netflix, like content from digital media brands. Mythical Entertainment’s shows will begin premiering on the same day on both platforms starting September 7th.

Here it is, given to Bloomberg:

Last month, Slate Auto said its barebones electric truck would start at $24,950, but that amount excluded the destination charge, so it wasn’t the actual final price customers would end up paying. Today, Slate spokesperson Jeff Jablansky emailed to let us know that the freight charge will be $1,450, calling it “the lowest among all pickup trucks in the U.S., because we believe that trucks should be affordable.” That means the total price of the Slate Truck will be $26,400 before factoring in local sales tax. Still pretty cheap!

AI-generated music is suddenly everywhere. On social media, music streaming services, and elsewhere, stuff made on Suno is becoming unavoidable. The Verge’s Terrence O’Brien joins David to talk about where Suno came from, whether it can truly change the way we create and consume music, and how we can and should respond to AI music. We also have some thoughts on whether these songs might someday be bangers.

Volkswagen’s cost-cutting crusade could result in model cancellations at all of the auto giant’s brands, including the all-electric Porsche Taycan, Cayenne Coupe, and 718 successor. Other models to get the ax include the VW Jetta and Taos, and the Audi Q5 Sportback and Q6 E-Tron Sportback. VW’s profits have slumped as it faces billions in tariff costs and stiff competition from China.

“Claude for Teachers” gives verified US educators complimentary Claude access, including “a library of teaching skills and a direct connection to evidence-based curricula, mapped to academic standards in all 50 states,” Anthropic wrote. It’s part of a recent push by both Anthropic and OpenAI to introduce education-specific AI tools, for university students and beyond.

On particularly bad days, it should pair great with the also-new meteor emoji. There’s also going to be a pickle.

I enjoy plugging Xreal glasses into handhelds for a huge virtual desktop — but that’s no reason to make us buy the priciest version with a 240Hz mode handhelds have trouble powering. Plus, 240Hz halves resolution from 1080p to 540p, which felt weird and ugly in person. (120Hz was fine.) Good thing Asus will now sell the OLED Ally separately!

Pebble says it’s sent free replacements to everyone who reported Time 2 hardware issues like cracked screens and broken touch panels “regardless” of whether the defective watches (out of 19,000 in service) were still covered under its 30-day warranty.

OpenAI and the prediction market have a deal, The New York Times reports, that pulls in Kalshi data for World Cup-related queries. A prompt for “France and Spain,” for example, included a win forecast attributed to Kalshi.

If you wouldn’t dream of wearing socks with sandals or using accessories that clash with your laptop, Satechi announced two new USB hubs and new versions of its Slim EX Wireless Mouse that match the silver, blush, citrus, and indigo color options of the MacBook Neo. They’re available now for $29.99 to $44.99.

Riot is following in the footsteps of other big live-services titles like Fortnite, Overwatch, Apex Legends, and World of Warcraft in launching a mode built around days gone by.

In 2024, a dealership in Colorado offered a lease deal on the electric Fiat 500e that sounded too good to be true: $0 down, and $0 a month. Aside from taxes and insurance, the tiny Italian EV was essentially free. Two of the lads at the YouTube channel TFLEV were able to get in on the deal before it went away. So, 18 months in, how did it go? In a new video, they describe the ownership experience of an EV they call “essentially pretty fun” with a lot of flaws.

As the World Cup nears its end, Apple Arcade is getting the surprise addition of Madden NFL 27 Arcade Edition, which hits the service on August 6th. It’s part of a big sports-themed update for Arcade which will also include NFL Retro Bowl ’27 and Retro Bowl College+.

Ash Koosha — the director behind the $2,000 AI-generated movie that debuted at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival — has apparently made his own adaptation of The Odyssey, which will be available to rent / buy from Fountain 0 some time later this summer.

In May, the Office of Management and Budget proposed a budget change which would require all research grants to align with “the President’s policy priorities” and give political appointees the ability to veto grants they don’t like — with potentially catastrophic effects. While the OMB is required to review almost half a million comments submitted by the public, you can call Congress to keep up the fight.