The X-Men are about to offically join the MCU, and we’ve gotten a glimpse at some of the cast. But the bigger question is, what comic arc should they turn to for inspiration? And don’t say The Dark Phoenix Saga — they’ve already screwed that up… twice.

For years, fears about AI systems slipping human control were dismissed as speculative.








The latest Quick Posts
Weekend reads / Catch up on our favorite stories.
Google’s new Camera Looks feature will do less computational photography — and that’s a great thing.

An AI future of sleek, streamlined, and totally empty relationships.

Good news! Your Beauty and Electronics items are arriving tomorrow!

Tools that promise to detect AI writing can be dubious, but educators and publishers are using them anyway.
State of surveillance / The tech and policies that have eyes and ears.


After reports that some cops misused tracking data it collects, Flock is rolling out policy changes.

DHS is accusing people of ‘doxing’ federal agents — and, a new lawsuit claims, trying to chill dissenting speech.

This year’s Border Security Expo was a victory lap for Trump’s immigration policies. But with border crossings at record lows, what were vendors hawking next?

Here’s how to lock down your existing Ring cameras, along with our picks for security cameras that store footage locally or use end-to-end encryption.
AI academia / Academics are grappling with AI just like everyone else.


OpenAI showed that AI can tackle long-standing problems in mathematics. Experts are excited about the possibilities — and worried about what comes next for their field.

‘Everyone will be affected, not just scientists. Every community in the country.’

Trump’s ‘Golden Age’ of American science starts with dismantling it, while funneling billions into AI.

Journal editors and peer reviewers are being flooded with AI-generated papers that are almost impossible to detect.
Touching grass / For smart gardeners who want to go outside with gadgets.


I pitted five automowers against each other to find the best cutter for my challenging garden.

Testing Govee’s over-the-top RGB lineup convinced me there might actually be room in my garden for a horse-race light show this summer.

The Aura by Coolfly is a more practical, less polished alternative to the popular Birdbuddy.

Liv 2.0 starts at $1,700 and can be expanded to cover 3,000 square feet – for a price. It also tackles no-see-ums.


It’s just the latest shakeup of its safety teams as it heads towards an IPO.


An update to its terms and conditions requires all disputes be resolved through arbitration.


It’s like Windows Recall, but without all the creepy screenshots. (But it’s still kind of creepy.)
Details are all but nonexistent as planning has only just begun. But the area of the park has fallen into disuse over the years, with several attractions closing down and others just seeming hopelessly outdated. Imagineer Emily O’Brien told the LA Times, “We were inspired by his [Walt Disney’s] vision of Tomorrowland being a vista into wondrous worlds, and we really garnered the sense of optimism that was at the core of everything he was thinking about.”
The car was expected to sell for around $1.1 million, but the polarizing EV absolutely shattered that at auction. The proceeds from the sale of chassis #0 will be going to charity, but it’s still a wild price for a car that starts at $600,000 retail.



This compact instant camera from Polaroid produces tiny photos with a fun and vintage vibe.


The cult classic is long overdue for an HD remaster.


Scribble some nonsense, offer wooden jokes, or make your own requests of a real human playing a fake AI.

The good news: The beloved children’s series is coming to the big screen!
The bad news: The charming 2D animation has been replaced with some bland 3D computer animation.
And knowing Disney, we’ll probably get a soulless “live action” remake in about a decade.



Everyone in the room got a glimpse at Ryan Gosling in Starfighter, but Disney hasn’t publicly dropped a clip yet.


All of the new Disney trailers in one place.
With the next chapter of the MCU continuing on after the well-received Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Disney brought Kevin Feige, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, and Hayley Atwell out at D23 on Friday to show off this new trailer for the next Avengers movie, which is scheduled for release on December 18th.
The Disney+ show premieres on October 14th, closing out a trilogy of series that began with WandaVision. VisionQuest sees the titular hero wrestle with his identity, chat with Ultron (in human avatar form), and search for his potential son.




Maya Boyd, Inde Navarrette, and Adam Driver join Sadie Sink’s Jean Grey.


The CrossPoint Reader firmware is getting plug-ins that add support for ebooks from Libby, Kobo, and other sources.


Plus, in this week’s Installer: Google’s new Pixel, an old controller comes back, the TV Time successor, and much more.

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Verge Score


Brooklyn-based artist Justin Blinder created a device that illustrates how soaring housing costs are making life in the city that much harder.
Ploopy just announced the A Plus trackball, the successor to the open-source, 3D-printed Adept. It has six buttons, two dials, a wrist rest, and RGB LEDs. It goes on sale on August 19th starting at $99 CAD (about $71 USD). Ploopy.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has approved the $34.5 billion deal with some conditions, as reported by Fierce Network. However, the approval comes with some conditions, including that the combined company must have affordable broadband offerings “for low-income Californians” for five years and invest “at least $275 million to upgrade the company’s California network.”
The deal is expected to close next week. It has already been approved by the FCC.
People have opinions about the new Instagram logo. Zion Wuxinyi posted a simple fix on Threads which is the best I’ve seen so far. There’s no question in this edit that the “r” is real and not a sneaky “z”. If Instagram is reading this, please take notes.
Waymo has received regulatory approval in the state to “expand” its autonomous ride-hailing service “across the SF Bay Area and LA” and bring it to Sacramento and San Diego, the company said on Friday. The approved expansion covers “most of the state’s population,” Electrek reports.
The expansion will be “gradual and guided by our safety framework,” according to Waymo.
Citing an unnamed source, CNBC reported that OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said at a recent investor meeting that OpenAI “entered the year at 60-40, but enterprise has accelerated much faster than expected and those lines have now crossed … The majority of our revenue is now enterprise.”
Snoo is putting on adult pants. The change is set to kick in on Tuesday.
“Reddit’s raw materials are special, and there is so much potential to continue building great products and scaling profitably,” CFO Drew Vollero says in a statement.
[Reddit Inc.]
Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro, speaking today with CNBC, reinforced the company’s allegation that the FCC has violated its First Amendment rights by attacking ABC’s broadcast license. “We’re very principled on this,” D’Amaro said. “We’re going to stand up to what we believe is journalistic integrity. And we’re not going to be told how to run that side of our business.”
After denying that it replaced writers for Rideshare “Stimulator” with ChatGPT and admitting that the game has some AI-generated elements, Saber Interactive has added an AI content disclosure to the title’s Steam page.
While the main campaign is written by humans, AI tools are used for “voice generation and some localization.” Free ride mode, which is optional, includes “AI-generated passenger missions and localized dialogue.” There are also radio stations featuring AI-generated music, though they’ll be labeled in the game.
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The first new Samsung headphones in a decade could go up against Apple’s AirPods Max next year.
Verge staff in the UK received the alerts warning of a “high risk of wildfires” nationally — the first actual mass notice aside from tests. PM Andy Burnham confirmed the alert, advising people to “take extra care” and not to light fires in open spaces. My friend, who is currently on a train from Amsterdam to England, notes that the train has been lit up with the alerts as they roll in for people separately.

The newly-announced Gemini 3.7 Flash is rolling out today as an option for AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers. The updated model is better at following instructions and “understanding your intent, so you get even more helpful responses,” says Search VP of product Robby Stein.


Hulu’s new R-rated cut of The X-Files: I Want to Believe is closer to the director’s original vision.

If you want to use the Camera Looks photo styles, you’ll have to upgrade to one of Google’s new phones.


On The Vergecast: Instagram’s new logo, Zuck’s AI manifesto, and lots of other bad ideas.



