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Sun, Aug 23, 2026, 12:10 PM EDT

Tech

AI Summary

  • Waymo is leaning heavily on custom chips to advance its robotaxi technology, signaling a strategic shift towards in-house hardware development.
  • The legality of training AI models on copyrighted material remains a contentious and complex issue, with ongoing debates and potential legal challenges on the horizon.
  • US battery startups are finding significant financial backing from the defense sector, indicating a growing synergy between national security interests and clean energy innovation.
  • OpenAI is advocating for stricter AI safety regulations in California, highlighting growing concerns within the AI community about potential risks and the need for robust governance.
  • Apple's internal restructuring includes job cuts impacting teams associated with Siri and the Vision Pro, suggesting a reassessment of priorities for these ambitious projects.

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The Verge

  • We’re All Going to the World’s Fair is an intimate coming-of-age horror film 2 hours ago by Terrence O’Brien
    Column, Entertainment, Film, Movie Review

    Jane Schoenbrun 's latest film, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma , is making a splash in theaters right now. So it seems like the perfect time to revisit their first film, We're All Going to the World's Fair . I fell in love with this film when I first saw it at Sundance in 2021. We are immediately introduced to our protagonist, Casey, as she engages in the World's Fair Challenge, a sort of ARG creepypasta meets ice bucket challenge. There's a creepy mantra, some bloodletting, and a mysterious video - basically a speedrun of horror movie tropes.

  • Grand Theft Auto VI exists in its own universe 5 hours ago by Andrew Webster
    Column, Entertainment, Gaming, Tech, The Stepback

    This is The Stepback , a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on GTA VI and the state of the video game industry, follow Andrew Webster . The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here . How it started Four years ago, fans got a long-awaited look at Grand Theft Auto VI with a huge cache of videos that showed off Rockstar's latest open-world epic. There were 90 videos in total, providing a glimpse at the next-generation take on Vice City, introducing the game's new

  • Doodle generative compositions in your browser with Musical Spirograph a day ago by Terrence O’Brien
    Entertainment, Music, Tech, Web

    So pretty. | Screenshot: Terrence O’Brien / The Verge I remember having a Spirograph as a kid and being obsessed with it. Its geometric patterns are hypnotic and gorgeous. I also love generative music composition. So bringing those two things together in a browser tab, I'm hooked. Musical Spirograph is a relatively simple concept. A set of points dash around the screen according to mathematical equations, generating hypotrochoids and epitrochoids. Those points pass through a series of concentric rings which trigger specific notes. Honestly, that alone is fun enough, but you can customize it quite a bit. There are six

  • W. Kamau Bell has the most practical ‘most indispensable tool’ a day ago by Terrence O’Brien
    Entertainment, Interview, Report

    I’m just as confused as you. | Image: Aundre Larrow W. Kamau Bell is one of those people who has always just seemed to be there. From Totally Biased , to Politically Re-Active , United Shades of America , and We Need to Talk About Cosby , his blend of comedy, social commentary, and political activism has helped him stand out. He's won a Peabody and four Emmys, been a Celebrity Jeopardy! champion, received honors from the ACLU, and been crowned the Ambassador of Fishbone by founding member Chris Dowd. Bell is, if nothing else, a busy man. So we're

  • Amazon just hiked the prices for Echo, Fire TV, and Kindle products by up to 60 percent a day ago by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
    Amazon, Amazon Alexa, News, Tech

    The Echo Dot Max went from $99.99 to $119.99 overnight, while its sibling the Echo Dot jumped to $79.99 from $49.99. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge Citing "significant increases in memory and storage component costs," Amazon has raised prices on Echos, Kindles, Fire TVs , and Eeros by up to 60 percent, as first reported by Fortune . The cheapest products in Amazon's lineup were hit hardest, with the Echo Dot smart speaker jumping from $49.99 to $79.99. The Fire TV Stick 4K Max also rose by over 40 percent to $84.99, and the base level


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