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It’s a lot of stuff, generally. | Photo: Victoria Song / The Verge This is Optimizer , a weekly newsletter sent from Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song that dissects and discusses the latest gizmos and potions that swear they're going to change your life. Optimizer will be taking a two-week break and will be moving to Wednesdays starting August 12th. Opt in for Optimizer here . My For You page thinks I love "What I eat in a day" videos. Most of the time, I watch them in a bid to suss out the latest wellness fads. But they can be an illuminating look into what people perceive to be healthy (or less-than-healthy) eating habits - even if a portion of them are likely faked for clout. In the same vein, I've gott … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/oAa8m4Z

TikTok has attracted the ire of the European Union over its protection of children who use the video sharing platform. The European Commission announced preliminary findings today under the Digital Services Act (DSA) that offer specific issues to address. The Commission suggests that TikTok should adjust the default settings of minors' "public" accounts so the content they post is only visible to TikTok users the teen has chosen to share it with, and that such content shouldn't be recommended to other users in the For You feed. Even accounts set to private can be easily discovered through the "following" lists of other users, and their prof … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/PVGqW12

Facebook is planning some big changes to try and keep its users from jumping to rival social platforms like TikTok - changes that sound dubiously similar to becoming a TikTok clone. Facebook head Tom Alison announced today that the platform will begin testing a "reimagined experience" later this year that will put a subset of users into a "full-screen video the moment they open the app." Meta didn't share examples of what its experimental new interface will look like, only that it will initially roll out to countries with a noted preference for video content, with a potential expansion planned for the US next year. These tests are driven by … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/AmqEpi3

Imagine you are the parent of an inquisitive seven-year-old who loves his family, playing baseball, and hanging out with his friends. It's the life you've always wanted. And then the worst thing that ever could happen happens: A freak accident takes your son away. But as it turns out, you don't have to live with the grief for long, because now there's an AI company that can bring your kid back in the form of a robotic double that looks indistinguishable from a human. This is the world that acclaimed director Hirokazu Kore-eda, who won the Palme d'Or for his 2018 feature Shoplifters , has created with his latest sci-fi drama, Sheep in the Box … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/zLbVtSM

A person holds signs during a nationwide protest against AI data center expansion outside Peace Hall in New Port Richey, Florida. | AFP via Getty Images On a gray, humid Saturday morning in central Florida, a little under a dozen people gathered outside the Spring Hill Branch Library to protest the construction of a hyperscale data center in their community. There was no immediate threat - the Hernando County commission had unanimously approved a one-year moratorium on such developments in June - but the organizers weren't satisfied. A temporary pause wouldn't be enough. They wanted a ban. "We are going to fight, fight, fight," said a 71-year-old woman named Carol, who was manning a table with flyers and a petition the group, No Data Centers Hernando County, planned on presenting to the loc … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/0vNQYUG

Google announced yet another way to gain access to your account if you get locked out, forget your password, or don't have access to the phone, computer, or two-factor authentication apps you typically use. As the name implies, selfie video lets you capture a short video of your face on a mobile device or PC, which is then compared to an earlier video that Google keeps on file to confirm you're the account owner. Setting up the selfie video feature simply requires you to look at your device's camera and follow a series of onscreen prompts that guide you through simple head movements to ensure multiple angles of your face are captured. It's … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/HaP7ZjB

Samsung is set to reveal a new slate of foldables at this summer’s Galaxy Unpacked, which kicks off at 9AM ET / 6AM PT from London. In addition to a Galaxy Z Fold 8 that adopts a wider form factor , Samsung is expected to reveal an upgraded Z Fold 8 Ultra with a larger battery, and a refreshed Z Flip 8. We might see some new wearables, too, as rumors point to launches for the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 and Watch 9. You can follow along with all the news from Samsung’s July Galaxy Unpacked below. I’m at Galaxy Unpacked ready for Samsung’s new foldable. Samsung Galaxy Unpacked July 2026: How to watch Samsung can’t afford to play it safe with Apple’s first foldable looming from The Verge https://ift.tt/uD7w6NT

When it comes to enthusiast-geared Honda hardware, the Civic Si, Civic Type R, and Acura NSX often come to mind first for their revvy VTEC (Honda's form of variable valve timing) engines and playful chassis dynamics. The Prelude, on the other hand, less so. Instead, the Prelude is a technological study - still aimed at driving fun, but by way of integrating clever forms of engineering into a sleek grand touring coupe body. The second-generation Prelude's fuel injection was derived from F1. Then the third gen got four-wheel steering way back in the late '80s. The fourth gen? It was the first everyday Honda to inherit the NSX's VTEC on both t … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/HBk2clC

The pledge was introduced in March, and has done little to quell concerns so far. | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images In the face of backlash to concerns the AI boom will increase consumer electricity bills, the largest utility companies and data center developers in the US are now promising to do something about it. The Wall Street Journal reports that nearly 200 organizations have signed President Donald Trump's "rate payer protection pledge" that's meant to safeguard average citizens from footing the AI bill. Trump is expected to announce the new signatories on Thursday, which include NextEra Energy, Duke Energy, Equinix, and Digital Realty, according to a list obtained by The WSJ . An unnamed White House official told the publication that those who hav … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/SMdmAw1

I was not a fan of the original Halliday glasses. The Gen 2 are better. | Image: Halliday I first slipped on Halliday's original smart glasses at CES 2025. I was not a fan. The glasses had a tiny, movable display window embedded into the frame that was incredibly finicky to see, and my 30-minute demo left me with achy eyeballs. It was an interesting concept with terrible execution, especially compared to the several other smart glasses on the show floor . So I was skeptical when a few weeks ago, Halliday reached out to say its second attempt at smart glasses was much better. Well, having tried the Halliday Gen 2, I'm happy to report these are better glasses. That secret display window is gone, replaced by more traditional but dis … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/pD3bCad

SHANGHAI, CHINA - JULY 20 2026: People visit the booth of Kimi, an LLM developed by the Chinese startup Moonshot, during the World AI Conference in Shanghai, China, Monday, July 20, 2026. | Image: LONG WEI/ Feature China/Future Publishing via Getty Images Last week, two Chinese AI companies unveiled models they say can credibly compete with the best systems from OpenAI and Anthropic. The response was swift and predictable. Markets wobbled , commentators declared Silicon Valley shooketh, and policymakers reached for the familiar language of arms races and wake-up calls. In one headline, The Associated Press said a Chinese model had taken the "US tech industry by surprise." Bloomberg described it as a "surprise breakthrough" that is " roiling markets " and sending global tech stocks tumbling over concerns it could force US firms to rethink their gargantuan spending on data centers, chips, and ot … Read the full story at ...

How does AI make you feel? Are you excited to “vibe-code” your smart home ? Or anxious about all the added pollution and billions of gallons of water used by data centers? Dig a little deeper and you’ll start to question the actual value of the GPUs that underpin all the leaps and promises of generative AI.   Right now, GPUs, hundreds of thousands of them, are being crammed into data centers around the world to power the AI boom. These chips are also found in everything from smartphones to cars to gaming PCs. Nvidia — once a niche chipmaker that has become the world’s most valuable company — still brags about releasing what it calls “the world’s first GPU” and a “gaming breakthrough” in 1999, although some trace the origins of the GPU back to at least the ’70s with graphics hardware used in arcade games.  “There are massive hardware developments that start because of games,” says Catherine Flick, a professor of ethics and games techn...

After months of teasing us with reminders about how large Avengers: Doomsday 's cast is going to be , Marvel has finally released a proper trailer for the film. Though Robert. Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom definitely appears to be causing a lot of the chaos in Doomsday 's first trailer, the movie seems like it's going to feature more than a few moments where different teams of heroes fight one another. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) seems to be the only person who understands that the X-Men , the Fantastic Fou r, and the (New) Avengers need to be more focused on dealing with their new Latverian enemy . And while Thor might not be able to rally the troops on h … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/rhiX1LA

The fine is more than double the penalty that Temu was slapped with for similar DSA violations. | Illustration: The Verge AliExpress has been hit with a €550 million (about $629 million) fine for violating Europe's Digital Services Act (DSA) rules by failing to prevent illegal, unsafe, or counterfeit products from being sold on the e-commerce platform. The European Commission ruled that AliExpress didn't take effective measures to reduce the dissemination of illegal products, noting the company "allocated insufficient staff" to verify products, and failed to remove unsafe toys and dangerous cosmetics for "multiple weeks" after they were detected. "The spread of counterfeit clothing, unsafe toys, dangerous cosmetics and other illegal and harmful products is not … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/2uaOIx5

China's leading AI companies are ramping up the pressure on Silicon Valley, as Moonshot and Alibaba unveiled models they claim can go toe-to-toe with the best from OpenAI and Anthropic at a fraction of the cost. The rapid-fire releases suggest America's lead at the AI frontier is increasingly tight, just as the technology is becoming central to national security, economic power, and geopolitical influence. The opening salvo came from Beijing-based Moonshot AI, one of China's leading AI model developers, which unveiled Kimi K3 on Friday. Moonshot claims its own testing ranks it consistently above nearly every US system, trailing only OpenAI … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/yzNRIVp

Andrew and Tristan Tate talk to the media on March 23, 2025 in Romania. | Image: Andrei Pungovschi/Getty Images The manosphere influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate were arrested Saturday in Miami by US Marshals in relation to new rape and sex trafficking charges in England. According to the Associated Press , British authorities are seeking the brothers' extradition. The new charges facing Andrew Tate include seven counts of rape, three of sex trafficking, three counts of assault, and "19 charges relating to sexual images of children and extreme 'pornography,'" according to the New York Times . Tristan Tate faces two new charges of rape, one of sexual assault, and three of sex trafficking. This is in addition to the 21 charges already announced in 2025 … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/cLuFrDz

Clap on. Clap off. Well, more like, Clap, pause for half a beat but no longer because otherwise it'll stop hearing you, clap again because you waited too long, clap louder and faster, that didn't work, clap two more times, and suddenly: on. The Clapper didn't always work - and even when it did, it might fry your gadgets in the process - but it managed to become a big hit anyway. On this episode of Version History, we tell the story of The Clapper, from its beginnings as The Great American Turn-On to its debut alongside one of the great advertising campaigns of all time. The Verge 's David Pierce and Victoria Song are joined by Allison Marsh , … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/plJCvYE

Grand Theft Auto VI release won’t offer a disc. | Image: Rockstar Games This is The Stepback , a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on video games and physical media, follow Jay Peters. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes on Sunday at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here . How it started As a kid, I relished trips to Best Buy, GameStop, and the nearby mall so that I could browse video games. I loved sifting through games and chatting with my friends at the store about upcoming releases. On the lucky days I actually got a new game from the store, I treasured reading through every page of the manual on the drive home. Over the years, I built up a collecti … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/hZ4ursY

The 2018 Solar Car Challenge was the last time participants took their designs out on the open road. | Image: Lehman Marks / Solar Car Challenge On July 19th, dozens of teams of high school students will begin a five-day, 630-mile road race from Fort Worth to Fort Stockton in Texas. But this is not your typical contest. The students design and build the cars themselves, using off-the-shelf parts and 3D printed materials. The winner is the team that accumulates the most driven miles. And the only fuel they can use to power their Frankenstein-looking vehicles comes from that mass of incandescent gas that hangs in our sky: the Sun. This year is the 30th anniversary of the annual Solar Car Challenge , a contest that brings together high school students from around the country with the on … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/1Wy5Ome

Facial recognition smart locks are here; now you can unlock your door the same way you unlock your phone. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge Hands-free unlocking is the future of smart locks. The best smart home tech removes friction, and having your door unlock for you as you walk up is as frictionless as it gets - no passcodes to remember, no need to have a free hand to wave, press, or poke at the lock. One way to achieve this nirvana is through facial recognition. You already unlock your phone with your face; why not your home? Hands-free unlocking using geofencing has been around for a while, but it can be slow and unreliable, and requires an app running in the background on your phone. Newer innovations - facial recognition and unlocking using an ultrawideband (UWB) radio - … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/81EBvb3