29 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Adi Robertson

Adi Robertson

Senior Editor, Tech & Policy

Senior Editor, Tech & Policy

    More From Adi Robertson

    Adi Robertson
    Adi Robertson
    Oversight Board to Meta: hey, remember us?

    The Meta Oversight Board — a semi-independent body that interprets Meta’s rules and suggests changes — has responded to the recent dissolution of the company’s third-party fact-checking system. Its statement contains a series of gently worded reminders to Meta that it exists and would very much like to continue existing in the future, pretty please.

    Adi Robertson
    Adi Robertson
    Apple settled a lawsuit about Siri spying, but it promises it never sold the recordings to advertisers.

    The company sent a statement to The Verge emphasizing that it doesn’t agree with some allegations in a lawsuit it’s paying millions to settle. It has admitted that Siri recordings were shared with Apple contractors — but it promised years ago that the system was changed.

    Adi Robertson
    Adi Robertson
    A whole mess of TikTok trial briefs.

    The Supreme Court will consider TikTok’s case against a divest-or-ban law early next year, and a wave of filings has hit the docket this afternoon — from the parties involved as well as numerous institutions and public figures, including President-elect Donald Trump. If you want a firsthand look, the full list is linked below.

    Supreme Court

    [www.supremecourt.gov]

    Adi Robertson
    Adi Robertson
    The year’s hottest word processor! (The year is 1990.)

    My retro writing machine collection just got a fun new entry: the Smith-Corona PWP 7000LT, which The New York Times has called “a reasonable alternative to portable computers for people who are not comfortable with more powerful machines.” Somewhat incredibly, it actually works.

    A beige word processor that looks like a bulky 1980s laptop with the label Smith-Corona PWP 7000LT.
    Not pictured: Smith-Corona’s proprietary 3-inch floppy disk. Pretty sure I am never getting anything I write off this.
    Photo: Adi Robertson / The Verge
    Adi Robertson
    Adi Robertson
    The NYT was building an “internal ChatGPT equivalent” in 2023.

    Microsoft is still asking a judge in its AI copyright tussle to produce discovery on how New York Times reporters use chatbots, and it introduced an interesting 2023 Slack chat in a memorandum: apparently the Times product team told developers to avoid using other LLMs because it was rolling out its own. It’s not clear if this would become one of the tools the company has since announced.

    Screenshot text from Slack dated 11/15/2023. Jeff Sisson: So wait, from the XFun all-hands just now... there’s an internal ChatGPT equivalent that’s been built? And a new policy that we’re rolling out which means developers shouldn’t use the OpenAI ChatGPT (or similar LLM) for anything, from now on? Reply from Gaby Marraro: some details (with a link to an internal slack URL)
    Adi Robertson
    Adi Robertson
    Trump’s censor in chief puts Disney on notice.

    Incoming FCC chair Brendan Carr is excited to start using the spectrum licensing system to punish broadcasters for airing criticism of his boss, and now he wants Disney CEO (and ABC owner) Bob Iger to know it. Nice TV network you’ve got there, Bob. Sure would be a shame if something happened to it.