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The cost of AI / The world’s fastest-growing technology comes with a high price.

Who’s afraid of the big, bad GPU?Who’s afraid of the big, bad GPU?

How you feel about AI’s energy use might change how you feel about computers entirely.

Justine Calma
You’re about to feel the AI money squeeze

Ads, rate limits, feature restrictions, price hikes. The AI free ride is over.

Hayden Field
AI has a water problem — Google thinks it has a fix

The company promises to replenish more water than it uses by 2030.

Lauren Feiner
Microsoft’s carbon emissions went up 25 percent last year

The company’s annual sustainability report also says sustainability solutions aren’t keeping up with AI demands.

Stevie Bonifield

Brendan Carr is a dummy / The FCC chairman is doing everything in his power to trash the First Amendment.

Former FCC staffers agree: Brendan Carr needs to be stoppedFormer FCC staffers agree: Brendan Carr needs to be stopped

Carr has revived the previously little-used News Distortion Policy.

Lauren Feiner
Brendan Carr’s FCC is an anti-consumer, rights-trampling harassment machine

Protecting broadband access is out — fighting diversity and the free press are in.

Karl Bode
Brendan Carr’s war on wokeness targets inclusive children’s television

The FCC is asking loaded questions about ‘transgender and gender nonbinary programming’ aimed at kids.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s war on the First Amendment

He wants to erode Americans’ constitutional right to free speech.

Kevin Nguyen

Stepping back / Essential stories in the tech world, straight from The Stepback newsletter.

Ad-free streaming is a luxury nowAd-free streaming is a luxury now

Steady price increases are pushing viewers toward cheaper, ad-supported tiers.

Emma Roth
Xbox is a disaster

Major changes are looming for Microsoft’s gaming division after years of bad decisions.

Andrew Webster

Tesla troubles / Elon Musk’s EV company is facing a unique set of problems.

Tesla’s car door defect could lead to tougher rules for everyoneTesla’s car door defect could lead to tougher rules for everyone

Over a dozen people have died after becoming trapped in their Tesla vehicles following a crash. Tesla’s electronic door handles could now spur new rules for the whole industry.

Andrew J. Hawkins
The robotaxi law that could ban Tesla

New Jersey wants driverless cars, so long as they have multiple sensors. But Tesla’s are camera-only.

Rani Molla
Tesla’s revenues are bouncing back, but profits are still weak

Tesla is in negative free cash flow territory, as it increases its expenditures on major projects like AI infrastructure and robotics.

Andrew J. Hawkins
Tesla’s robotaxi promises are clashing with reality

Mileage is flat, the number of vehicles are shrinking, and safety is an open question.

Andrew J. Hawkins
Nothing confirms layoffs, but calls market exit rumors ‘fake news’Nothing confirms layoffs, but calls market exit rumors ‘fake news’

A Nothing cofounder said Phone 4B sales broke records in the price segment on day one.

Stevie Bonifield
Roku raises streaming hardware prices by up to $50Roku raises streaming hardware prices by up to $50

The Roku Ultra now costs $149.99, up from $99.99.

Emma Roth
Blade Runner 2099’s moody dystopia streams on Amazon in NovemberBlade Runner 2099’s moody dystopia streams on Amazon in November

The series stars Michelle Yeoh and Hunter Schafer, and you can watch the first trailer now.

Andrew Webster
You can’t ignore Google Zero anymoreYou can’t ignore Google Zero anymore

On The Vergecast: Google vs. websites, OpenAI vs. Hugging Face, and Ford’s deal with Apple Maps.

David Pierce
Meta is making its AI chatbot more like an assistantMeta is making its AI chatbot more like an assistant

The latest Meta AI update allows it to pull from your calendar to generate daily briefings.

Emma Roth
Anthropic releases Opus 5 with ‘close’ to Fable 5’s capabilitiesAnthropic releases Opus 5 with ‘close’ to Fable 5’s capabilities

After the government’s cybersecurity concerns, the company gave this model more cyber safeguards than the previous Opus model.

Hayden Field
Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Tomb Raider: Catalyst pushed to 2028.

Amazon’s games head Jeffrey Gattis confirmed to The Game Business that the title won’t arrive in 2027 as originally expected.

When commenting on the pair of upcoming Tomb Raider titles, Gattis highlighted Legacy of Atlantis’s February 12th launch date, but noted that the company will “follow on in 2028” with Catalyst.

Antonio G. Di Benedetto
Antonio G. Di Benedetto
Happy little spacebars.

There are lots of fun ways to customize a keyboard and accessorize your desk, but these Bob Ross spacebars and desk mats from Apos look like absolute charmers. The mats are fairly large (900mm x 400mm) and 4mm thick, and each spacebar comes with an escape key featuring Ross’s smiling face.

Now my desk can be a happy accident instead of just a messy one.

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

1/5Image: Apos
Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Xbox gamer Strive4G8ness23 signs a two-year, $8 million deal with the 76ers.

How could anyone have known that LeBron James would choose Philadelphia as his next NBA team? Well, there were signs.

Screenshots of tweets from LeBron playing madden against a Philadelphia 76ers / Eagles fan in 2024.
Screenshots: @kingjames . @MarcAnthonyRo15 (X)
TC Sottek
TC Sottek
New Jersey curbs electronic store labels.

The state’s recently-passed “Fair Price Protection Act” targets “discriminatory surveillance pricing”; something the FTC is investigating and that New York is also looking at. The law puts a one-year halt on new electronic shelf labels while NJ investigates “the effects and impact” of the technology.

Statement on the Fair Price Protection Act

[State of New Jersey Governor’s office]

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Are Xbox 360 games coming to PC next?

After Microsoft brought four original Xbox games to PC earlier this week, a reverse engineer found that the company is powering them with Xenon Fusion — the same emulator that enabled backward compatibility on the Xbox 360. This might be laying the groundwork for Xbox 360 games on PC, as the XWine1 account on X figured out how to get some 360 titles running with “varying degrees of success.”

Kevin Nguyen
Kevin Nguyen
It’s Elder Millennial Music Friday.

Happy new latter-career Strokes album release, my fellow olds. But the Avalanches dropping a rad, new song with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O? That’s the purest I-DJed-At-My-College-Radio-Station-In-2006 energy that we’ve got.

TC Sottek
TC Sottek
Your marauding army needs this map.

I love this map project that documents the world’s historical strongholds, which I usually only come across when someone posts a decrepit European castle going up for sale on Zillow. Historical maps are getting more popular these days and Castle Map is a good one. Tell us which fortress you’d choose in the comments. (h/t BoingBoing)

Tesla’s car door defect could lead to tougher rules for everyoneTesla’s car door defect could lead to tougher rules for everyone

Over a dozen people have died after becoming trapped in their Tesla vehicles following a crash. Tesla’s electronic door handles could now spur new rules for the whole industry.

Andrew J. Hawkins
One of the best 2-in-1 Chromebooks is almost $200 off for today onlyOne of the best 2-in-1 Chromebooks is almost $200 off for today only

Also, you can get a great deal on Anker’s four-port 140W wall charger, 20 percent off Nintendo gift cards, and more.

Cameron Faulkner
Kevin Nguyen
Kevin Nguyen
Someone get these agents out of here.

This single-serving site, IMAXXING, lets you punch in your closest theater, a few parameters, and a notification window to get an email alert when seats to The Odyssey are available — theoretically a handy, low-stakes use of AI agents. (You’ll just have to ignore the image of Clavicular as Odysseus and the repeated incorrect usage of “frame mogging” on the webpage.)

Does it work? I signed up, so we’ll see if I can get a ticket for the Lincoln Square AMC in the next month. Similarly, OpenAI has a social video about how to set up an agent to check for tickets too.

IMAXXING The Odyssey

[IMAXXING The Odyssey]

Boox is taking on Xteink with its own tiny e-readerBoox is taking on Xteink with its own tiny e-reader

The Boox Picco will feature a 3.97-inch front-lit display and expandable storage.

Stevie Bonifield
What I track in a day
Victoria Song
TikTok’s protection of minors should not be opt-in, warns EUTikTok’s protection of minors should not be opt-in, warns EU

‘A high level of protection should not be an opt-in; it should be the default.’

Jess Weatherbed
Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
VW’s in trouble.

Shortly after confirming it was looking at closing plants and cutting up to 100,000 jobs, the world’s 2nd largest auto company posted miserable financials and a desperate outlook as it lays the ground work for a radical overhaul of its business under threat from Chinese upstarts.

Facebook considers giving up and becoming TikTokFacebook considers giving up and becoming TikTok

It’s also imitating Reddit. And Craigslist.

Jess Weatherbed
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
A subtle distinction.

Patreon CEO Jack Conte was clear in yesterday’s layoff announcement that AI doesn’t replace humans, but that might be cold comfort to the humans whose jobs were lost as AI impacts “how we operate and organize.”

Lewise:

AI doesn’t replace humans, but AI replaces the work the humans do. Got it.

Get the day’s best comment and more in my free newsletter, The Verge Daily.

Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
Vote for the new Euro banknotes.

Ten designs have been shortlisted for the next series of European banknotes. You can vote for your favorite until September 21st, ahead of the final selection expected later this year.

Microsoft pressures LG into killing unwanted McAfee adsMicrosoft pressures LG into killing unwanted McAfee ads

LG has agreed to disable the pop-up ad notifications.

Jess Weatherbed
Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
More budget Google Home cameras arrive at Walmart.

The Google partnership has yielded two new Onn outdoor security cameras: the $34.87 Outdoor Camera Plug-In and $77 Floodlight Camera Hardwired. Each 1080p HDR camera features live views, night vision and two-way talk accessible from the Google Home app. You’ll need a Premium subscription to unlock AI-driven features like event descriptions, searchable video history, and daily summaries.

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

Google Home security on a budget, until you add that recurring subscription fee.
Google Home security on a budget, until you add that recurring subscription fee.
Image: Google
Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
Gemini Live is now available on some early Google Home devices.

Google’s more powerful, conversational assistant for the home is now available on first-generation Google Home Mini speaker and Google Nest Hub display. You’ll need a Google Home Premium subscription to make it work though.

Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
You’re a “traitor” if you don’t use our Chinese chips.

That was the message to Chinese companies from a confidant of leader Xi Jinping, who’s heading up domestic efforts to overcome Nvidia’s stranglehold on cutting-edge AI chips. Go read this report from the Wall Street Journal that lays out the global stakes and the likelihood that China can repeat the playbook that saw it upending (and then dominating) industries like drones, EVs, display panels, solar, batteries… you get the idea.

Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
SpaceX’s Starship bet gets a date.

Musk and Co have about 18 months to get its long delayed Super Heavy rocket into operation now that the company has stopped building some Falcon 9 components and quit taking future rideshare reservations beyond 2028, according to Bloomberg’s sources. That makes the success of tonight’s 13th test flight — scheduled to go no earlier than 6:45pm ET — all the more important, and not just to suffering stockholders.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
The pause on Paramount’s $110 billion WBD deal has been extended for another fortnight.

US District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín issued a decision Thursday extending her temporary restraining order to a total of 28 days, report The Wrap and Variety. The mega media merger is paused for now due to lawsuits by a group of state AGs and the Writers’ Guild of America, as the judge plans to “hear the two motions for preliminary injunction on the same schedule” and has scheduled a hearing for August 3rd.

Disclosure: The Verge’s editorial staff is also unionized with the Writers Guild of America, East.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
More Trump tariffs.

With previous import taxes struck down by the courts or set to expire, the Trump administration announced a new set of tariffs ranging from 10 to 12.5 percent on 60 trading partners, including the EU. This time around, the administration is accusing dozens of countries of failing to enforce bans on forced labor as a justification.

Quoted by the New York Times, Peter Harell says the small difference between tariffs gives away the labor investigation as a smokescreen, and that, shockingly, “It’s not really about forced labor.”

Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
Google’s expanding access to Gemini Spark.

The new agentic AI platform, announced at Google I/O earlier this year, will be available to Google AI Pro subscribers in the US starting today. It’s also rolling out to Google AI Ultra subscribers worldwide with local language support. Access to the OpenClaw-like agent was previously limited to Google AI Ultra subscribers in the US.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Meet the new Avatar.

Though Avatar: Seven Havens was originally slated to debut some time in 2027, Paramount has given the series a new October 9th premiere date — which is previously when Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender was going to drop before it leaked onto the internet — and released a tantalizing new teaser.

Alexa Plus is getting an AI update to handle more complicated instructionsAlexa Plus is getting an AI update to handle more complicated instructions

Amazon’s upgraded AI assistant will be able to do more across a wider range of smart home devices.

Emma Roth
Victoria Song
Victoria Song
The FDA’s peptide circus is underway.

An advisory panel, stacked with RFK Jr.’s pro-peptide appointees, has voted to add BPC-157 and KPV to the bulk compounding list. This is despite FDA staff clinicians stating that there’s no convincing evidence. Central to the argument is whether allowing compounding will curtail the gray market or expose the public to unnecessary risk. Internally screaming.

Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
Intel reports its “strongest revenue growth in more than fifteen years.”

The partially government-owned chipmaker’s Q2 2026 revenue increased 25 percent from last year, with data center and AI revenue up 59 percent. CEO Lip-Bu Tan:

AI is driving unprecedented demand for compute, and as we continue to execute, Intel is well-positioned to capture sustainable growth across our CPU franchise, ASICs, advanced packaging and vast wafer foundry network […] Our Q2 results represent our strongest revenue growth in more than fifteen years, enabled by greater speed, accountability, and customer focus.

The Echo Show 21 is a great smart home hub that’s $80 offThe Echo Show 21 is a great smart home hub that’s $80 off

Its adjustable stand is also discounted, if you don’t want to mount the Echo Show 21 to a wall.

Brad Bourque
Jacob Kastrenakes
Jacob Kastrenakes
Why read anymore?

TikTok is endless. Netflix is already starting the next episode. Who’s making time to read a book? Today we’re chatting with The Atlantic’s Rose Horowitch to discuss her story “The End of Reading is Here” and the role technology plays in reducing how much time — and attention — people have to read long pieces of writing. In a world where we’re inundated with more text than ever from social media feeds, AI, and group chats, is it really possible that we’re taking in less than before?

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
OpenAI brings its updated voice mode to the ChatGPT desktop app.

Powered by GPT-Live, the new voice mode allows users to ask ChatGPT to check their calendar, draft an email, prepare for a meeting, and perform other tasks on their computer by talking out loud. OpenAI is rolling out the update to the ChatGPT app on Windows and macOS.

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