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

News

All the news you need to keep up with the latest developments in the tech world, from product announcements and live events to tariffs, policies, and regulations. Tech touches every aspect of daily news, and our experts are here to keep you informed on what happens and how it all affects you.

Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Google pulls cult classic Doki Doki Literature Club from Play Store.

The game garnered attention for its juxtaposition of Japanese dating sim vibes with psychological horror. It even warns players that it’s not “for children” or the “easily disturbed.” The mobile port landed in December of 2025, and now Google has removed it for violating its Terms of Service and “depiction of sensitive themes.”

Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Apple is reportedly testing four different designs for its smart glasses.

The next big product category Apple is supposedly tackling is display-free smart glasses to rival Meta’s. But the design has yet to be locked in, according to Cupertino whisperer Mark Gurman. The company might launch some or all four of the designs under consideration:

A large rectangular frame, reminiscent of Ray-Ban Wayfarers

A slimmer rectangular design, similar to the glasses worn by Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook

Larger oval or circular frames

A smaller, more refined oval or circular option

Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Watch Coachella day three, featuring Model/Actriz, Jane Remover, and FKA Twigs.

It’s a jam-packed lineup to close out the three-day festival. The full schedule is available here. In addition to those mentioned above, I’m really looking forward to Oklou, Clipse, and The Rapture. Which means I’m gonna have to rewind a lot to catch it all. Let me know who you’re excited about most in the comments.

Coachella Day 3 livestream schedule.
Image: Coachella / Goldenvoice
Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Southwest Airlines is limiting customers to one portable charger.

In January, a power bank fire destroyed an Air Busan plane in South Korea. Since then, airlines have cracked down on lithium-ion batteries. Starting April 20th, Southwest will limit customers to one power bank with a capacity of less than 100 watt-hours. They won’t be permitted to store them in overhead bins or charge them mid flight.

Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Watch the Coachella night 2 live stream featuring David Byrne, Pink Panthress, and Nine Inch Noize.

You can see the full weekend schedule here. But the highlights of night two include the debut of the new collaborative project between Nine Inch Nails and Boys Noize at 8PM PT / 11PM ET on the Sahara Stage. You can find all the live streams on the official Coachella YouTube channel. Let me know what you’re tuning into in the comments.

Coachella Saturday Night schedule.
Image: Coachella / Goldenvoice
Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
DHS is trying to force Reddit to expose a user who said mean things about ICE.

After failing to get details about a user who said “TSA sucks and we all know it,” via a traditional court order, DHS is now dragging Reddit in front of a grand jury. The government has grown increasingly aggressive in its attempts to deal with online critics. Reddit has not said whether it plans to fight the subpoena, but according to The Intercept:

“Privacy is central to how Reddit operates, and we take our commitment to protecting that seriously,” the company said in a statement to The Intercept. “We do not voluntarily share information with any government, especially not on users exercising their rights to criticize the government or plan a protest.”

Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
OpenAI responds to Axios HTTP hack by updating security certificates.

When hackers got access to an account belonging to the maintainer of Axios, they inserted a script that granted remote access to users’ Windows, macOS, and Linux devices. This malicious version potentially compromised ChatGPT’s macOS apps, so OpenAI is issuing an update and new certificates to mitigate any risks.

Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Arizona’s criminal charges against Kalshi are put on hold.

Federal Judge Michael Liburdi issued a temporary restraining order halting the state’s case against the prediction market. The CFTC has stepped in to stop Arizona and other states from attempting to supersede federal efforts to regulate prediction markets, but the Trump Administration has largely avoided actually regulating them. Perhaps unsurprisingly, according to Business Insider:

Since Donald Trump returned to office, Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., has become a paid advisor to Kalshi, and an investment firm he works for invested in Polymarket.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Splashdown.

The Artemis II crew has successfully splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego. They’ve now finished their 10-day journey around the far side of the Moon. It’s been so inspiring to follow.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
“Now I am awake in the middle of the night and pissed, and thinking that I have underestimated the power of words and narratives.”

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman published a post on his personal blog addressing today’s situation where a person allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail at his house and an “incendiary article about me a few days ago,” which I am guessing refers to the big New Yorker article.

The post includes his beliefs about AI, some personal reflections on OpenAI’s work, and “some thoughts about the industry,” including how no one company should control AGI.

-

[Sam Altman]

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Artemis II’s heat shield is about to be put to the test.

When the four astronauts aboard Orion return to Earth tonight, they’ll rely on a heat shield that NASA has admitted is flawed. Former astronaut Dr. Charlie Camarda told the New York Times that NASA never should’ve launched Artemis II, guessing there’s a 95 percent chance it will return safely.

CNN explains Artemis II’s “lofted” entry has been adjusted to try to limit the unexpected charring on the Artemis I heat shield, and National Geographic also went in-depth. YouTube, Netflix, and others will broadcast the landing starting at 6:30PM ET.

Infographic featuring the Artemis II Orion lofted entry sequence.
Image: NASA
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Roblox’s new Roblox Plus subscription costs $4.99 per month.

Launching April 30th, Roblox Plus will give users perks like new Robux every month, discounts on in-game items, and the ability to transfer Robux to other people. Roblox will be stopping new sign-ups for the existing Roblox Premium subscription.

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Samsung’s Z Flip 8 slims down in new leak renders.

The fairly reliable leaker OnLeaks has shared his first CAD renders for the Galaxy Z Flip 8, via MyMobiles, and it looks… pretty much identical to the Z Flip 7, actually. It’s apparently slimmer though, with 0.5mm shaved off when closed, which should make it fractionally more pocketable.

<em>The Flip 8 has the same boxy design and full cover screen as its predecessor according to this leak.</em>
<em>While it’s apparently going to be thinner when folded, it will be about the same thickness when open.</em>
<em>Samsung’s foldables normally launch in July, so expect to find out more then.</em>
1/3
The Flip 8 has the same boxy design and full cover screen as its predecessor according to this leak.
Image: OnLeaks / MyMobiles
Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Professor Layton is coming to PC and PlayStation for the first time.

Arriving later this year, Professor Layton and the New World of Steam will be available on PlayStation 5 and Steam in addition to the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2. There’s still no firm release date for this puzzle-filled title just yet, but you can check out the latest trailer below.

Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
France’s government is switching to Linux.

France’s Interministerial Directorate for Digital Affairs (DINUM) has announced its “exit from Windows in favor of workstations running on the Linux operating system,” as XDA reports. It’s part of a broader shift away from non-European tech — in January, France’s government also launched its own videoconferencing platform to replace Teams, Zoom, and Google Meet.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Prime Video’s pricier “Ultra” plan goes live today.

Going ad-free on Prime Video now costs $4.99 per month, instead of $2.99. It also comes with “exclusive” access to 4K streams.

Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
Gmail’s end-to-end encryption is now available on its mobile app.

Starting this week, enterprise users will be able to send encrypted messages from Gmail’s Android and iOS apps if their organization has the feature enabled. Gmail’s version of E2EE, which uses client-side encryption, has been available since last year, but is still limited to users with enterprise accounts.

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Huawei’s next flagship phones are going big on gradients.

The Pura 90 series will launch in China on April 20th, and the phones will be decked out in a series of colorful gradient finishes. GizmoChina has images of the full line of Pura 90 Pro and Pro Max colors, but I’m a fan of this sunset Pro Max Huawei has teased on Weibo.

Screenshot showing Huawei Pura 90 Pro Max in the colors of a sunset on water
Gradients aren’t new for Huawei — its P20 and P30 phones had similar finishes.
Screenshot: Huawei Weibo account
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
I see what you did there.

Digital privacy non-profit the Electronic Frontier Foundation has announced it’s leaving X, citing a sharp decline in views for its posts. With EFF off the platform, some commenters agree with the organization’s thinking.

Krankor:

eff x, I agree

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

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Android’s “tap to share” looks a little different to Apple’s.

Last month Android Authority reported Google is developing an NFC-based way to share contact info, files, links, and more, and now it’s got the interface running. Unlike Apple’s NameDrop, users have to hold the two phones above one another, perhaps to account for how varied NFC chip placement can be on Android devices.

<em>While iPhone users hold their phones edge to edge, on Android the phones must overlap.</em>
<em>Sharing options include photos, videos, and contact info.</em>
1/2
While iPhone users hold their phones edge to edge, on Android the phones must overlap.
Image: Android Authority
Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
Lame loses his sparkle.

TikTok star Khaby Lame sold his personal brand to a small, relatively unknown company called “Rich Sparkle Holdings.” Instead of handing him $975 million in cash, they paid him in stock. Fans piled in, causing the price to skyrocket, briefly making Lame a paper billionaire (several times over) before the price plummeted. It’s now looking suspiciously like a “pump-and-dump” scheme, causing trading apps to freeze the stock. 🤷‍♂️

Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
Claude Cowork is ready to take over your company.

Anthropic’s shared, agentic AI workspace for macOS and Windows is getting much-needed tools for IT admins to do company-wide deployments, letting anyone build and deploy autonomous workflows so long as their organization is on a paid plan. It now adds the ability to turn Zoom meeting transcripts into action items.

Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
Apple to close three retail stores, including the first to unionize.

The stores are all located in struggling shopping malls. Employees at the non-union shops can transfer to nearby stores, but union workers from Towson, Maryland can apply for open roles. Apple says this is due to their collective bargain agreement, which the union disputes, threatening legal action.

The EFF is quitting XThe EFF is quitting X
Stevie Bonifield
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
You can now play Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 with your voice or by moving your head.

As part of an accessibility pilot program, you can link an app from a platform called Cephable with your game to control it with alternative input methods. Check out how it works in this video.