News
The best budget smartphones you can buy
Some of us take a kind of “eat to live” rather than a “live to eat” approach to gadgets. They’re tools that help you get things done, not something you want to invest a lot of time or money in. If...
Dairy Queen is putting an AI chatbot in its drive-thrus
Dairy Queen is becoming the latest fast food chain to get in on AI, as it's bringing a chatbot to dozens of its drive-thrus across the US and Canada. It aims to help speed up drive-thru service and...
Exit 8 is cinema for the livestreaming era
The rules of Exit 8, both the cult indie game and the recent film adaptation, are simple: You're stuck in a subway station that loops around endlessly. If you notice any anomalies on your...
Anthropic now has a design assistant too
In hindsight, I suppose it was only a matter of time after Anthropic made Claude capable of generating charts and diagrams that the company would then begin offering a more robust image editor. Now,...
The Iran war isn’t hitting your grocery bill — yet
Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine speaks as he displays a map showing the United States Navy's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz during a press briefing at the Pentagon on April 16,...
Roblox agrees to a $12 million settlement with Nevada
Amidst ongoing legal trouble with several states and more than 100 pending lawsuits, this week Roblox announced a $12 million settlement with Nevada, allowing the company to avoid going to trial in...
Donut Lab’s battery claims reportedly subject of whistleblower complaint
Startup Donut Lab made a splash at the start of the year with some astonishing — and suspicious — claims about its solid state batteries. Now Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reports an...
Ghost orchid in the machine
Perfect Lovers II | Photo: Nik Massey Vacuum cleaners, personal massagers, electronic baby rockers, and walking pads: These are the secondhand machines Rachel Youn sources to create their kinetic...
The South Korean president is doing quote-post diplomacy
"This is no different from Comfort Women or the Holocaust," wrote South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on X last week, quoting a post with a video of Israeli Defense Forces soldiers throwing a body...
Peloton, stay in your lane
People keep trying to make Peloton more than what it is, when the product itself is enough. This is Optimizer, a weekly newsletter sent every Friday from Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song that...