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Richard Lawler

Richard Lawler

Senior News Editor

Senior News Editor

    More From Richard Lawler

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    The MLB creates a distraction from last season’s betting scandal by cutting a deal with Polymarket.

    Their partnership, reportedly worth up to $300 million over three years, includes giving Polymarket “access to Official League Data from Sportradar, MLB’s exclusive global distributor of data for prediction markets.”

    This is after Emmanuel Clase de la Cruz and Luis Leandro Ortiz Ribera were indicted in November over allegedly rigging bets on pitches.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Citing fake cases in your court filing can be costly.

    In this instance of citing cases that don’t exist, two lawyers were instructed to explain how it happened and specifically explain to the court “whether they used generative AI to write the briefs.”

    They claimed that the court order was “void on its face.” Now they’re on the hook for $15k each to start, plus a long list of costs and fees that will certainly add up.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Beats and Nike team up for a pair of Powerbeats Pro 2 earbuds.

    When Victoria Song reviewed the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2, she found a lot to like about their slimmer ear hook and wireless charging, even before their iOS 26 upgrade. Now, Beats is launching this color-splashed collaboration, which is at least bright, even if it lacks the internal hardware updates of Apple’s new AirPods Max headphones.

    They’ll go on sale on Nike.com, Apple.com, and other stores on Friday, March 20th, for $249.99.

    If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

    Promotional image of the Nike Powerbeats Pro 2
    Image: Beats
    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Presidential hotline.

    From The Atlantic, on the market for Trump’s personal phone number and who has been calling lately:

    So many people now call Trump on his private iPhone that his advisers have stopped trying to keep track. Sometimes in meetings, he will leave his phone face up, allowing staff to gawk at the flashing notifications of incoming or missed calls that pile up on his screen. Only some of them are from numbers that have been saved in the device. “It is literally call after reporter call,” the first official said. “It is just boom, boom, boom.”

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Rescuers couldn’t use a critical tornado-tracking tool last weekend after DHS let a contract lapse.

    Search-and-rescue operations lacked access to pinpoint data on where tornadoes touched down, because Kristi Noem’s DHS spending policies are holding up approval of a $200k contract, reports CNN:

    As the storms spread, officials from several states started contacting FEMA, asking why they couldn’t access the tornado tracking data… As of earlier this week, the tornado mapping contract still had not been renewed, the two sources said.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen is stepping down after 18 years.

    Narayen told investors today that AI-first products “should be our next billion-dollar business,” and that he will leave the role he’s held since 2007 once the board names a successor. He’s overseen its Creative Cloud rollout, big bets on the future of AI, and its abandoned $20 billion attempt to acquire Figma.

    Narayen:

    The next era of creativity is being written right now — shaped by AI, by new workflows and by entirely new forms of expression. Adobe has never waited for the future to arrive. We’ve anticipated it. We’ve built it. And we’ve led it.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Amazon’s “sassy” personality style for Alexa Plus has a lot of warning labels.

    Brief, Sweet, and Chill options launched in January for Alexa Plus, and now there’s also Sassy, an “unfiltered personality with razor-sharp wit, playful sarcasm, and occasional censored profanity.”

    The clever comebacks-equipped voice is adults-only and requires additional verification checks, but it’s no Microsoft Tay, M3gan, or AIA. Where the Sweet version leads with “I’m radiating pure joy,” this one suggests mayhem and being “ready to wreck some things together.”

    Tiles showing the different personality options for Alexa Plus
    Image: Alexa