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Mon, Mar 9, 2026, 4:21 AM EDT

Tech

AI Summary

  • OpenAI faced scrutiny with an executive resignation amid a Pentagon deal, and the delay of its 'adult mode' feature, while competitors like Anthropic also navigated defense contract controversies and disclosed AI vulnerabilities.
  • The smartphone market saw developments with the push for $40 models facing cost hurdles, and reviews of new devices like the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and Nothing Phone 4a series highlighting premium designs and stealth upgrades.
  • Tech companies including Google, Apple, and Meta dealt with executive compensation, privacy concerns, and legal challenges, such as a class-action lawsuit against Meta and Google's reportedly muzzling of Epic Games' CEO.
  • Gaming and hardware news included Nintendo suing the US government over tariffs, Valve's uncertain Steam Machine timeline, and the acquisition of Rad Power Bikes, alongside reviews of new controllers and games.
  • The intersection of AI and industry continued to be a major theme, with big tech agreeing to mitigate AI data center energy consumption, discussions around AI copyright rules, and applications ranging from robotics to playing video games with living brain cells.

TechCrunch


Hacker News


Engadget

  • NetEase is reportedly pulling funding for Yakuza creator's studio 15 hours ago by Jackson Chen
    Media, Arts & Entertainment, site|engadget, provider_name|Engadget, region|US, language|en-US, author_name|Jackson Chen

    The hype for Gang of Dragon, the debut game from Nagoshi Studio, may already be getting derailed. According to a Bloomberg report, Chinese tech giant NetEase is going to stop financing Nagoshi Studio starting in May. Bloomberg confirmed the news with the studio's employees and a NetEase spokesperson. The report explained that NetEase decided to cut funding to Nagoshi Studio, which was founded in 2021 by Yakuza franchise creator Toshihiro Nagoshi, after finding out the studio needed $44.4 million to complete the project. Bloomberg reported that Nagoshi Studio is trying to find new sponsors but hasn't had any success so far.

  • Apple is reportedly looking into 3D printing aluminum iPhones and Apple Watches 16 hours ago by Jackson Chen
    Technology & Electronics, Handheld & Connected Devices, site|engadget, provider_name|Engadget, region|US, language|en-US, author_name|Jackson Chen

    There could be even more 3D-printed Apple products coming in the future. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple is exploring ways to 3D print aluminum to make the manufacturing processes for iPhones and Apple Watches more efficient. Gurman reported that this new production process could specifically change how Apple makes its watch casings as well as iPhone enclosures. It's not the first time Apple has tapped into 3D printing, since both the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Series 11 were partially built with 3D-printed titanium that's 100 percent recycled. More recently, Apple used its 3D printing process to create the titanium

  • OpenAI's robotics hardware lead resigns following deal with the Department of Defense 18 hours ago by Jackson Chen
    Internet & Networking Technology, site|engadget, provider_name|Engadget, region|US, language|en-US, author_name|Jackson Chen

    OpenAI's robotics hardware lead is out. Caitlin Kalinowski, who oversaw hardware within the robotics division of OpenAI, posted on X that she was resigning from her role, while criticizing the company's haste in partnering with the Department of Defense without investigating proper guardrails. OpenAI told Engadget that there are no plans to replace Kalinowski. Kalinowski, who previously worked at Meta before leaving to join OpenAI in late 2024, wrote on X that "surveillance of Americans without judicial oversight and lethal autonomy without human authorization are lines that deserved more deliberation than they got." Responding to another post, the former OpenAI exec

  • OpenAI is reportedly pushing back the launch of its 'adult mode' even further a day ago by Jackson Chen
    Internet & Networking Technology, site|engadget, provider_name|Engadget, region|US, language|en-US, author_name|Jackson Chen

    Here comes another disappointment for ChatGPT users. As first reported by Sources' Alex Heath, OpenAI is yet again delaying its "adult mode" for ChatGPT. A company spokesperson told Heath that "we're pushing out the launch of adult mode so we can focus on work that is a higher priority for more users right now." More specifically, OpenAI's spokesperson said that things like "gains in intelligence, personality improvements, personalization, and making the experience more proactive" were being prioritized instead. However, the company still wants to release an adult mode, but it would "take more time," according to the company spokesperson. The reveal of

  • NASA's DART spacecraft changed a binary asteroid's orbit around the sun, in a first for a human-made object a day ago by Cheyenne MacDonald
    Science, Space & Astronomy, site|engadget, provider_name|Engadget, region|US, language|en-US, author_name|Cheyenne MacDonald

    When NASA crashed a spacecraft into the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos in 2022, it altered both Dimorphos' orbit around its parent asteroid, Didymos, and the two objects' orbit around the sun, according to new research. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) said in a press release that this "marks the first time a human-made object has measurably altered the path of a celestial body around the Sun." It's a promising result as scientists work to find a feasible method of defending Earth from hazardous space objects. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission was designed to demonstrate one possible way of deflecting such


The Verge

  • Apple is going high-end with new ‘Ultra’ products next 15 hours ago by Terrence O’Brien
    Apple, Apple Rumors, Gadgets, iPhone, Tech

    Fresh off launching the low-cost MacBook Neo, Apple is reportedly preparing at least three new products that will fit into its highest-end "ultra" lineup. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gruman, the next batch of releases may not bear the "ultra" name, like its Watch, but will all command price premiums over their mainline counterparts. There's the oft-rumored foldable iPhone, which is expected to cost around $2,000, and a touchscreen MacBook Pro is supposedly slated for the fall. Those are pretty straightforward plays for the higher end of the market. More interesting are the next-gen AirPods, which are rumored to include cameras to

  • Listen to this: Mabe Fratti’s experimental cello pop 17 hours ago by Terrence O’Brien
    Column, Entertainment, Music, Music Review

    The opening notes of "Kravitz", which kicks off Mabe Fratti's 2024 record Sentir Que No Sabes, are lodged in my brain permanently. It's not a showy album, by any means. But there's something about the buzzing of her cello, plucked as you might an upright bass. The way they ring out before coming to an abrupt stop, fuzz still hanging in the air, set against a simple kick and snare sat firmly in the pocket. There's something industrial about the way it all comes together, like a jazzy "Closer." Then come Fratti's paranoid lyrics in Spanish about ears in the ceiling

  • What we’re listening to, watching, and reading right now. 18 hours ago by Terrence O’Brien
    Books, Entertainment, Film, Music, TV Shows

    There is so much art out there that it’s absolutely impossible to keep up. Whether it’s a slept-on post-punk album from the ‘80s, a new sci-fi novel, or a cult classic horror movie, we’re always finding new obsessions here at The Verge — and we want to share those obsessions with you. Sometimes that might be a new release, but often it’s going to be something a little older, something not necessarily plastered all over TikTok or sitting at the top of the charts on Spotify. We’ve said it before, but the best way to find new music, a new show

  • The best Switch 2 controller just got better (and a little worse) 19 hours ago by Cameron Faulkner
    Gadgets, Gaming, Hands-on, Nintendo, Reviews, Tech, Verge Shopping

    The pink option is one of the prettiest controllers I’ve used. | Image: Cameron Faulkner / The Verge Crowning the EasySMX S10 the best Switch 2 controller last fall was easy. The $60 wireless gamepad, which is often well below $50, mimics or improves on many of the $90 Switch 2 Pro controller's best features. The S10 has great-feeling rumble in games, TMR joysticks that will last longer than Nintendo's, plus amiibo support, comfortable grips, and buttons and triggers that offer satisfying clicks. The new S10 Lite trims away some of those, but builds on EasySMX's lead with one big, new

  • The cute and cursed story of Furby 21 hours ago by David Pierce
    Gadgets, Podcasts, Toys, Version History

    The hottest toy of 1998 was sort of adorable, and sort of annoying. It couldn't do much - couldn't do anything, really - but it could look at you, it could say some nonsense phrases, and it seemed uncannily aware of the world around it. That's all Furby needed to pretty much take over the world. The story of Furby is filled with technical achievement. The fact that the furry little guy worked at all, ever, was a bit of a surprise to a lot of people involved. But Furby also represents a different way of thinking about our relationships with


Wired


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