What’s on your desk, Stevie Bonifield?
What's on your desk, Stevie Bonifield? Stevie Bonifield is a news writer here at The Verge and, they say, “I cover a little bit of just about everything, from the FCC to AI shopping tools to Linux.” Before joining our news team, they wrote weekend news for PC Gamer and did reviews, news, features, and […]
The CES 2026 stuff I might actually buy
The CES 2026 stuff I might actually buy Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 111, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, hope you had a wonderful holiday season, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I’ve been […]
Betterment’s financial app sends customers a $10,000 crypto scam message
Betterment's financial app sends customers a $10,000 crypto scam message Betterment, a financial app, sent a sketchy-looking notification on Friday asking users to send $10,000 to Bitcoin and Ethereum crypto wallets and promising to “triple your crypto,” according to a thread on Reddit. The Betterment account says in an X thread that this was an […]
Amazon is planning a Super Amazon-mart store near Chicago
Amazon is planning a Super Amazon-mart store near Chicago Amazon could be taking another, even bigger swing at physical stores, this time with a Walmart-like supercenter. On Tuesday, the Orland Park Plan Commission in the Chicago suburb Orland Park, Illinois voted 6-1 to approve Amazon’s proposal to develop 35 acres of land for a 229,000-square […]
X accuses music publishers of ‘weaponizing’ DMCA takedowns
X accuses music publishers of 'weaponizing' DMCA takedowns X is suing music publishers and their trade group, the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), accusing them of attempted coercion in their ongoing battle over licensing, as reported earlier by The Hollywood Reporter. The Elon Musk-owned platform accuses music publishers of colluding with the NMPA to “coerce […]
Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai are cowards
Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai are cowards The tech moguls in happier times (at Trump’s inauguration.) Since X’s users started using Grok to undress women and children using deepfake images, I have been waiting for what I assumed would be inevitable: X getting booted from Apple’s and Google’s app stores. The fact that it hasn’t […]
This semi-secret Lego Smart Brick feature gives it even more potential
This semi-secret Lego Smart Brick feature gives it even more potential The “Lego Ruler”. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge We just gave the Lego Smart Brick our Best In Show award at CES 2026, and I wanted to stop by The Lego Group’s suite to get a last glimpse before I left […]
The latest on Grok’s gross AI deepfakes problem
The latest on Grok's gross AI deepfakes problem The launch of an AI image editing feature on xAI’s Grok has caused chaos on X after it was used to generate a flood of non-consensual sexualized deepfakes. As Hayden Field wrote, “screenshots show Grok complying with requests to put real women in lingerie and make them […]
Meta expands nuclear power ambitions to include Bill Gates’ startup
Meta expands nuclear power ambitions to include Bill Gates' startup Meta has forged agreements with three nuclear power providers in an effort to secure the vast amount of electricity it needs to power AI data centers. The agreements with TerraPower (which is backed by Bill Gates), Oklo (backed by Sam Altman), and Vistra are expected […]
I can’t find the Trump phone at America’s largest tech show
I can't find the Trump phone at America's largest tech show Where’s the Trump phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. We’ve reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump phone’s whereabouts. As usual, we’re still waiting for a response. In the meantime, it’s nowhere to be found at CES 2026. […]