Mia Sato

Features Writer, The Verge

This baby is covered in old flip phones and chips — and you cannot afford it

Mia SatoJan 23, 2024

Mia SatoJan 22, 2024

Your old phone and iPod are Paris Fashion Week-worthy.

The Schiaparelli couture show today featured expertly crafted garments in vinyl, satin, and lace — but the real show stoppers were a robot-like baby doll and dress, each encrusted with old phones, wires, calculators, and motherboards.

Creative director Daniel Roseberry told WWD it’s a nostalgic ode to a bygone era of technology:

“That’s all pre-2007, which is now basically prehistoric technology, things like the flip phones, the CDs, the calculators and things like that,” Roseberry said. “A lot of people on TikTok have been taking AI and turning my collections into digital collections and seeing who wore it best, so I was thinking, the only card I have to play now is really my memories.”

A baby doll held by a model is covered in loose wires, calculators, and pieces of motherboards.

A Schiaparelli couture dress is covered in crystals, wires, batteries, and an old cell phone.

1/2Image: Vogue

Mia SatoJan 19, 2024

Sports Illustrated publisher owes millions amid mass layoffs.

According to an SEC filing, The Arena Group — which licenses and publishes Sports Illustrated — owes $45 million to ABG, the company that owns the storied outlet. The Arena Group also recently missed a $3.75 million quarterly payment to ABG.

News broke earlier today that potentially all of the SI staff could be laid off after The Arena Group’s publishing license was revoked — and right now, it’s unclear if Sports Illustrated will exist at all going forward.

The Arena Group SEC filing

[investors.thearenagroup.net]

Mia SatoJan 19, 2024

Mass layoffs announced at Sports Illustrated.

The union said the layoffs could affect “a significant number, possibly all” guild members at Sports Illustrated. According to the union, the outlet’s publisher, The Arena Group, has had its license revoked.

In November, affiliate marketing content credited to fake, AI-generated authors began appearing on Sports Illustrated. The Arena Group maintained, however, that the content itself was written by humans. Spokesperson Rachael Fink wrote in an email to The Verge:

“We are in active discussions with [the license holders] but we understand we aren’t the only ones. Even though the publishing license has been revoked we will continue to produce Sports Illustrated until this is resolved.
We hope to be the company to take SI forward but if not, we are confident that someone will. If it is another business, we will support the transition so the legacy of Sports Illustrated doesn’t suffer.”

Mia SatoJan 19, 2024

Wayfair is laying off 1,650 people.

The cuts, which amount to 13 percent of the company, were announced today. Wayfair previously laid off 1,750 people almost exactly a year ago.

The layoffs today follow an internal memo sent by CEO Niraj Shah last month, in which he lectured employees about working hard and told them to have less of a work-life balance:

“Working long hours, being responsive, blending work and life, is not anything to shy away from,” he wrote. “There is not a lot of history of laziness being rewarded with success.”

Wayfair Boss, Weeks After Viral Memo, Cuts 13% of Staff

[WSJ]

Mia SatoJan 16, 2024

CNET’s parent company is reportedly looking to sell.

Under ownership of private equity-backed marketing firm Red Ventures, CNET secretly published AI-generated articles, pushed journalists to be more favorable to advertisers, and laid off dozens of staffers. Workers unionized in May, citing the company’s use of AI and a need for editorial independence.

Now Axios is reporting that Red Ventures is looking for a buyer. Red Ventures acquired CNET in 2020 and owns a slew of other websites including Bankrate, Healthline, and The Points Guy.

Scoop: Red Ventures explores sale of CNET

[Axios]

Mia SatoJan 12, 2024

That crypto firm’s fake CEO is actually just some British man.

Earlier this month The Guardian reported that the CEO of a crypto firm called HyperVerse didn’t seem to be a real person: “Steven Reece Lewis” had an impressive resume, but there was no evidence he existed.

Now The Guardian has tracked down Steven Harrison, “an Englishman living in Thailand,” who was paid to appear in HyperVerse’s investor materials. He says he didn’t realize he was being used in a scam:

“I went away and I actually looked at the company because I was concerned that it could be a scam,” Harrison said. “So I looked online a bit and everything seemed OK, so I rolled with it.”

‘I do feel bad about this’: Englishman who posed as HyperVerse CEO says sorry to investors who lost millions

[The Guardian]

Mia SatoJan 12, 2024

Come get your Verizon settlement money.

Verizon customers who were charged an “administrative charge” in recent years might be entitled to a piece of a $100 million class action settlement. A lawsuit alleged that the company added a bogus fee to customers’ bills to squeeze money out of them.

The charge must have occurred between 2016 and last year. The deadline to submit a claim is April 15. Here’s the claim form.

Some Verizon customers can claim part of $100 million settlement. Here's how.

[CBS News]