Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from July, 2026

AI won’t save advertising, says Digitas’ Amy Lanzi

We’ve got a special Decoder today — I had the chance to talk with Amy Lanzi, the CEO of Digitas North America, in front of a live audience at the Uber Villa at the Cannes Lions advertising festival in the South of France. I know, it’s a hard gig, but I do it for you. Amy has been on Decoder three times now , and she’s one of my favorite people to chat with — she is clear-eyed about what the advertising industry really is and does for brands and what all the money sloshing around the ad-supported internet really accomplishes. You’ll hear her say that she thinks the traditional chief marketing officer role is done for and that her job is driving business results using data and analytics.  Verge subscribers, don’t forget you get exclusive access to ad-free  Decoder  wherever you get your podcasts. Head here . Not a subscriber? You can sign up here . That might sound straightforward, but it was a shocking statement at Cannes, which is w...

Mystery box shows are complicated for everyone — even the actors

Silo is such a complicated show that even its showrunner gets confused sometimes. While filming the final seasons of the Apple TV sci-fi thriller, Graham Yost remembers two instances where he messed up details: once it was an actor who realized that a conversation they were about to shoot should've already taken place, the other involved the Japanese localization team pointing out that a subtitle didn't match what was going on onscreen. In both instances, the problem was ultimately fixed, but Yost's reaction was the same: "Oh shit, you're right." Keeping everything straight is one of the big challenges of working on such a complex series, a … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/RbwKhEV

BitTorrent’s disastrous, legendary, and controversial story

Twenty-five years ago today, a young, little-known programmer by the name of Bram Cohen fired off a short message to a mailing list for peer-to-peer enthusiasts. "My new app, BitTorrent, is now in working order, check it out here," Cohen wrote, followed by a link to his personal website. "What's BitTorrent, Bram?" the founder of the list asked in response. Cohen never bothered to reply. The world would find out soon enough. In the following years, BitTorrent quickly became the world's most popular file-sharing app, unleashing a massive wave of piracy that upended Hollywood forever. At one point, BitTorrent was said to be responsible for a … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/hy3jOIW

OpenAI floats giving Trump administration 5 percent cut of AI boom 

OpenAI has floated giving the US government a 5 percent ownership stake as a way of easing tensions with the Trump administration and blunting mounting public backlash against AI, according to the Financial Times . CEO Sam Altman argued that giving the public a financial interest in the company would be the best way to share the upside of AI, the FT reported, citing two unnamed people familiar with the talks. He's said to have first pitched the idea to Trump early last year. Altman reportedly suggested the 5 percent figure. Based on OpenAI's latest funding round , which ended with the company valued at $852 billion, that stake would be worth … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/tTERDAv

Rhythm Heaven never misses a beat

Rhythm Heaven isn't Nintendo's best-known series, nor its most prolific. Prior to the launch of Rhythm Heaven Groove on the Switch this week - it's out on July 2nd - there were only four previous entries, one of which was exclusive to Japan. The most recent came out more than a decade ago . Even still, there's a case to be made that this is Nintendo's most consistent franchise. There are few guarantees in life, but a new Rhythm Heaven being great is one of them. If you're unfamiliar, Rhythm Heaven is sort of like a music-focused version of WarioWare . That means it's a collection of short and bizarre minigames, except these ones all test your … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/OVTzU1s

The cube was a lie: up close with our Dbrand Companion Cube before it gets destroyed

Dbrand is the company that shipped a product that told Nintendo's legal team to "go fuck yourself," and the company that had a second set of lawyer-dodging PS5 plates ready when Sony threatened to sue over the originals . But on June 29th, the company finally ate some serious humble pie, canceling its Portal -themed Companion Cube external shell for the Steam Machine after Valve lawyered up. I couldn't believe it. Surely Dbrand had to have seen this coming. There must be a plan B, right? "There is no further plan. We fucked this one up," Dbrand CEO Adam Ijaz now tells me. He says Dbrand will now have to destroy every single cube it manufact … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/usF2Qoz

Fujifilm launches two new QuickSnap cameras because Gen Z can’t get enough

Here are some example shots taken with the QuickSnap Black and White (left), and the QuickSnap Active (right). | Images by Fujifilm Fujifilm is expanding its QuickSnap lineup with a new disposable camera focused on taking monochrome photos and another built to survive harsh outdoor environments. The $22.90 QuickSnap Black and White and the $24.75 QuickSnap Active are expected to launch sometime later this fall, to the delight of Gen Z snappers driving the current resurgence in disposable and retro film cameras. As the name suggests, the QuickSnap Black and White comes with black and white film installed that's designed to capture "rich contrasts, tones, and textured grains," according to Fujifilm's press release . The camera is also compatible with standard color film pr … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/NTVQ5EG