33 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
Skip to main content

Nilay Patel

Nilay Patel

Editor-in-Chief

Editor-in-Chief

    More From Nilay Patel

    Wix CEO Avishai Abrahami on why the web isn’t dying after all

    The co-founder of website builder Wix is embracing generative AI, and he’s not too worried that it might destroy the business models of the web.

    Nilay Patel
    Nilay Patel
    Nilay Patel
    Roon, the popular high-end music streaming system, has been acquired by Samsung subsidiary Harman.

    If you’ve ever poked around the world of high-end audio, you’ve come across Roon — it’s basically a very fancy riff on the classic iTunes app that can stream to all sorts of fancy devices. Well, it just got bought out by Harman, the parent company of JBL, Harman Kardon, Infinity, and others. (Harman itself was bought by Samsung in 2016 as part of a bet on connected cars, which, well, sure.)

    Along with this forum post, a press release says Roon will not become a proprietary hell app:

    Aligned with its ‘work with all’ strategy, HARMAN is committed to growing Roon’s open device ecosystem which includes collaborating with more than 160 other audio brands, delivering audio to more than 1000 high-performance devices.

    People who can afford to pay for a high-end music service that works with their high-end music gear love change so we’ll see how this goes!

    Nilay Patel
    Nilay Patel
    Amazon Fire TV Channels gets more free sports content.

    Amazon’s free Fire TV Channels service is adding more sports content to its mix today: highlights from the NBA, Big Ten, SEC, and Big 12 are now available, as well as Fox Sports’ 24/7 linear channel. and shows from the Locked On Podcast Network. The service already had content from Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, NBC Sports, and others.

    Two things about this:

    1. The great re-bundling of TV just keeps accelerating, and sports is really leading the way, and

    2. Amazon announced this in a post on Medium, which... what?

    Attention, Sports Fans!

    [Amazon Fire TV]

    Nilay Patel
    Nilay Patel
    The YouTube “era of excess” is getting pretty boring.

    Verge pal Taylor Lorenz shared this Game Theory video about over-optimized content on YouTube leading to what MatPat calls the “era of excess” on the platform. Her prediction? A new creator will break out by becoming the “anti-MrBeast” and defying this trend. You can argue it’s already happening on TikTok — and the video itself is a fascinating deep dive into creators gaming a platform’s algorithmic incentives.

    Nilay Patel
    Nilay Patel
    Happy Thanksgiving. The mystery of the Cybertruck wiper continues.

    As you may know, we’re chasing down a hot rumor that the Cybertruck wiper is actually two wiper blades in a trenchcoat. Reader Glenn tips us to this TikTok showing a very muddy Cybertruck parked at a hotel; there is a clear line of mud on the windshield where the wiper did not make solid contact. Evidence of the two blade theory, or no? In any case, the passenger was forced to do some manual wiping, which is very funny.

    Keep sending in these tips! The Verge is America’s leading source for Cybertruck wiper news, and it’s all thanks to readers like you.

    Close up photos of the Tesla Cybertruck windshield wiper on a very muddy truck, showing a line of mud on the windshield that may be evidence of the wiper being two wiper blades.
    Close up photos of the Tesla Cybertruck windshield wiper on a very muddy truck, showing a line of mud on the windshield that may be evidence of the wiper being two wiper blades.
    Close up photos of the Tesla Cybertruck windshield wiper on a very muddy truck, showing a line of mud on the windshield that may be evidence of the wiper being two wiper blades.
    1/3
    That’s a big mud streak in the middle of the wiper.
    Chadmfive / TikTok
    Sam Altman to return as CEO of OpenAISam Altman to return as CEO of OpenAI
    Nilay Patel and Alex Heath
    Nilay Patel
    Nilay Patel
    The negotiations to bring Sam Altman back to OpenAI slowly continue.

    Here’s a brief update on where things stand with OpenAI today, after an explosive weekend and a very confusing Monday which saw the news of Sam Altman going to Microsoft slowly fade into Satya Nadella not seeming so sure that would happen.

    — We’re told Altman still wants to return to OpenAI and continues to negotiate with the board today.

    — As Bloomberg reported late last night, new interim CEO Emmett Shear is involved in mediating these negotiations, creating the frankly unprecedented situation where (1) the interim CEO who replaced (2) the interim CEO who replaced Sam and who (3) got replaced for trying to get Sam back is now (4) deeply involved in a new effort to get Sam back. Read it through a few times, it’s fine. It doesn’t make any sense to anyone else either.

    — Microsoft’s offer to hire everyone who threatened to quit is still on the table, and has now been made officially public, after being noted in the employee walkout letter yesterday. In general, Microsoft appears to have receded from the situation; Nadella remains in the mix but has now made several media appearances reiterating that he’ll will work with Altman and OpenAI “irrespective of configuration,” which frankly sounds like he’s talking about the benefits of plug and play device drivers in Windows. We all fall back to what we know.

    — We are told everyone, including the board, is trying to be reasonable, and put OpenAI back together.

    We’ll keep posting updates as we have them; at the very least we can say the overall temperature has dropped, but it’s not clear any of this results in an actual return.

    Sam Altman is still trying to return as OpenAI CEOSam Altman is still trying to return as OpenAI CEO
    Alex Heath and Nilay Patel
    Sam Altman isn’t coming back to OpenAISam Altman isn’t coming back to OpenAI
    Nilay Patel and Alex Heath
    Nilay Patel
    Nilay Patel
    The deal to bring Sam Altman back to OpenAI appears to be going sideways.

    Bloomberg is now reporting that interim CEO Mira Murati is trying to re-hire Altman and former president Greg Brockman in some sort of role, all while the board is trying to replace her as CEO. It is a mess — and keep in mind that the clock is ticking for Microsoft, which definitely wants to have a clear and convincing statement for its shareholders when the markets open tomorrow morning. Vibe check: bad.

    Even as Murati works to bring Altman and Brockman back, members of the OpenAI board are also seeking to hire their own CEO to succeed Altman, a person with direct knowledge of the search said. Picking a different CEO would come as a stinging rebuke to investors, led by Microsoft Corp. and Thrive Capital, who have urged the board to step down and want Altman reinstated.