Co-founders of a bankrupt crypto business seek millions to fund a new ‘GTX’ exchange

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The co-founders of the failed Three Arrows Capital (3AC) cryptocurrency hedge fund want $25 million to start up a proposed exchange, as reported earlier by The Blockand Bloomberg. It will be called “GTX” — according to its leaked pitch deck — “because G comes after F,” and FTX, the once-huge exchange, is now bankrupt.

But like the band Mystik Spiral, they might change the name. After a round of kicking on crypto Twitter, investment firm CoinFlex — which is partnering with the former 3AC founders Kyle Davies and Su Zhu — tried to quiet the controversy by saying GTX “is a placeholder name.” Let’s hope no one has engraved it on their guitar case or anything.

Part of GTX’s pitch is letting people buy and sell bankruptcy claims from failed...

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Taylor Swift and the music industry’s next $20

Photo illustration by William Joel / The Verge

Streaming’s the problem. It’s streaming.

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Watch Apple’s 19-minute M2 MacBook Pro and Mini intro video

Apple M2 Pro / M2 Max chip labels | Image: Apple

Today’s introduction of new Pro and Max variants of Apple’s M2 chip — as well as MacBook Pro laptops and a Mac Mini desktop to hold them — didn’t come with a trip to Apple Park. Don’t worry, though; the company still put its presentation machine to work on this 19-minute video singing the praises of Apple silicon.

If you need to hear what the new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro can do with the higher-horsepower chips instead of simply reading a spec sheet or watch coders do their thing while impressed with the extra battery life, it’s all here in this 19-minute infomercial.

It also gives us an opportunity to hear directly from folks like Apple hardware engineering senior vice president John Ternus, Mac senior program engineering manager...

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The Mac Pro is now Apple’s last machine with an Intel chip

Apple’s Intel-based Mac Pro launched in 2019. | Photo by Avery White for The Verge

In the process of updating its Mac Mini lineup, Apple has discontinued the last remaining Intel-based Mac Mini computers. Its online store now lists three main variants of the miniature desktop computer powered by M2 and M2 Pro chips, with no sign of the Intel Core i5-powered model that was listed on the site as of earlier this week.

Discontinuing this old Intel-powered Mac Mini means that Apple has just one computer left to transition to its own Arm-based Apple silicon chips: the Mac Pro. The company initially said it expected the transition from Intel to Apple silicon to take around two years when it first announced the initiative in June 2020, meaning it’s missed its self-imposed deadline to transition its entire Mac lineup onto its...

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Apple’s M1 iPad Air is back down to its lowest price

The M1 chip offers more performance headroom than the newer A15 Bionic — plus it’s paired with 8GB of RAM. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Apple just announced that its MacBook Pro and Mac Mini lineup are getting the latest M2 chips. That’s great news if you need a fast computer, but if you’re in the market for a speedy tablet instead, check out this $100 discount on the 2022 iPad Air that has an M1 processor. You can grab the latest model for $499.99.

This might actually be the iPad for you if you’re considering Apple’s 10th-gen base iPad, which starts at $449.99. While they might look similar (that’s intentional), the iPad Air is the better choice in several ways: it’s faster, it supports the second-gen Apple Pencil with wireless charging support, its USB-C charging port supports faster data transfer, and it has a better laminated display. It also has access to a better...

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Apple announces MacBook Pros with M2 Pro and M2 Max chips

Apple MacBook Pro with M2 Pro and M2 Max. | Image: Apple

Apple has announced new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros, featuring its latest M2 Pro and Max chips. The M2 Pro model will launch with a 12-core CPU, up to 19-core GPU, and up to 32GB of unified memory, while the M2 Max includes up to 38 cores of GPU power and support for up to 96GB of unified memory.

The new 14-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro starts at $1,999, with the 16-inch model starting at $2,499. Both are available to order online today and will start shipping and appearing in Apple stores on January 24th.

Apple says the M2 Pro has double the amount of transistors the M2 shipped with and nearly 20 percent more than the M1 Pro. It also features 200GB/s of unified memory bandwidth, twice what’s available on the regular M2. All of this...

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Apple announces a Mac Mini with the M2 and M2 Pro

Mac mini with M2 and M2 Pro | Image: Apple

The Mac Mini is Apple’s next computer to get the bump up to the M2 chip — and this time around, it’s being offered with the Pro version of Apple’s processor, too. The new model was announced this morning in a press release, with a starting price of $599,and is available to order today, with availability beginning Tuesday, January 24th.

The Mac Mini’s baseline configuration includes the M2 chip, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. It features an HDMI port, Gigabit Ethernet, and a standard headphone jack, alongside two USB-A ports and two Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports — an upgrade from the Thunderbolt 3 ports on the previous generation.

The M2 Pro configuration of the new Mac Mini features 16GB of RAM, 512GB of SSD storage, and an additional...

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There’s little engaging about Fire Emblem Engage

Image: Nintendo

But great combat and unique skills make up for the flat, uninspiring characters and plot.

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Keychron cuts the cord on one of our favorite mechanical keyboards

Keychron’s Q1 Pro comes in a 75 percent layout with a volume dial. | Image: Keychron

Keychron is launching a wireless version of one of its best keyboards. The new Keychron Q1 Pro has a very similar design to the company’s existing Q1 keyboard — which we think is one of the best off-the-shelf keyboards you can buy — with a gasket-mount design and aluminum case. But the difference with the $194 Q1 Pro is that it can connect via USB cable or Bluetooth, where it offers a battery life of up to 300 hours. It can remember wireless connections to up to three devices.

The Q1 Pro is launching on Kickstarter today. As well as the standard fully assembled model, there’s also a bare-bones option that comes without keycaps or switches for $174. Unfortunately, you’ll need to get this bare-bones version if you’re in Europe, as the...

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2024 Chevy Corvette E-Ray first ride: iconic sports car look with an electric surge

Photo by Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge

It only took 70 years for the Corvette to find a little space for an electric motor. The new E-Ray is the first hybrid version of the eighth-generation sports car and the first to feature all-wheel drive.

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Nick Cave says imitation ChatGPT song is ‘a grotesque mockery of what it is to be human’

Photo by Naomi Rahim/WireImage

Nick Cave isn’t too impressed with ChatGPT’s capacity for music. On his personal blog, the singer-songwriter gave a withering rebuke to a set of lyrics written by the AI chatbot “in the style of Nick Cave.”

“What ChatGPT is, in this instance, is replication as travesty,” writes Cave. “ChatGPT may be able to write a speech or an essay or a sermon or an obituary but it cannot create a genuine song ... Songs arise out of suffering, by which I mean they are predicated upon the complex, internal human struggle of creation and, well, as far as I know, algorithms don’t feel.”

The lyrics were submitted to Cave by a fan named Mark. The Australian musician thanks Mark but goes on to say — “with all the love and respect in the world, this song is...

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Uber drivers in Europe can now rent Tesla and Polestar vehicles through Hertz partnership

Uber is expanding its electric vehicle partnership with Hertz to Europe. The ridehail company says it will make 25,000 EVs — mostly Tesla and Polestar vehicles — for drivers in select European capitals through Hertz by 2025.

Uber drivers in London will be the first to get access to the new EVs through Hertz, with drivers in Paris and Amsterdam soon to follow. The ridehail company has announced an ambitious plan to electrify its fleet in the US and Europe by 2030, with the Hertz partnership serving as a vital piece of that effort.

“Expanding our partnership with Hertz into Europe will significantly boost our transition to zero-emissions, helping drivers reduce running costs and cleaning up urban transport,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi...

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Inside Elon’s “extremely hardcore” Twitter

Twitter’s staff spent years trying to protect the social media site against impulsive billionaires who wanted to use the reach of its platform for their own ends, and then one made himself the CEO.

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Tuesday’s top tech news: An Apple (a) day

Last year’s 13-inch MacBook Pro. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Plus a new Samsung camera sensor, and more foldable Pixel rumors.

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Microsoft launches Azure OpenAI service with ChatGPT coming soon

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Microsoft is rolling out its Azure OpenAI service this week, allowing businesses to integrate tools like DALL-E into their own cloud apps. Microsoft has been testing this Azure service for just over a year, and it will soon include access to ChatGPT, the conversational AI that made headlines last year.

The Azure OpenAI service features a number of AI models made by OpenAI including GPT-3.5, Codex, and DALL-E, so businesses and developers can utilize these systems in their own apps and workloads. Microsoft essentially packages up GPT-3.5 with the scaling you’d expect from Azure and management and data handling additions. Developers could use Azure OpenAI to build apps that leverage AI for support tickets or for content matching to improve...

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Getty Images is suing the creators of AI art tool Stable Diffusion for scraping its content

An image created by Stable Diffusion showing a recreation of Getty Images’ watermark. | Image: The Verge / Stable Diffusion

Getty Images is suing Stability AI, creators of popular AI art tool Stable Diffusion, over alleged copyright violation.

In a press statement shared with The Verge, the stock photo company said it believes that Stability AI “unlawfully copied and processed millions of images protected by copyright” to train its software and that Getty Images has “commenced legal proceedings in the High Court of Justice in London” against the firm.

Getty Images CEO Craig Peters told The Verge in an interview that the company has issued Stability AI with a “letter before action” — a formal notification of impending litigation in the UK. (The company did not say whether legal proceedings would take place in the US, too.)

“We’re taking an action to protect...

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Google reportedly working on AirTag-like location trackers

Leaks suggest Google is working on its own first-party tracking tags to use alongside its in-development Finder Network. | Illustration: The Verge

Google is reportedly working on a location tracking tag to compete with the likes of Apple’s AirTags and Tile trackers, according to developer (and reliable leaker) Kuba Wojciechowski. Wojciechowski discovered references that indicate Google is working on support for locator tags in Fast Pair — Google’s method for quickly pairing nearby Bluetooth devices — and claims in a Twitter thread that Google is developing its own first-party tracker to use with the feature (seen via Sammobile).

The tracker, according to Wojciechowski, is codenamed “Grogu” (the name of the baby Yoda character from the Star Wars series The Mandalorian) alongside the alternate names “GR10” and “Groguaudio,” and is currently being developed by the Google Nest team....

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Samsung new 200-megapixel camera sensor is almost certainly inside the new Galaxy S23 Ultra

Samsung’s new sensor, the ISOCELL HP2. | Image: Samsung

The Samsung ISOCELL HP2 is a new 200-megapixel camera sensor whose specs precisely match what’s rumored to be in the Galaxy S23 Ultra. These include a size of 1/1.3” and 0.6-micrometer (μm) pixels. It’s been announced just weeks before the Galaxy S23 Ultra is widely expected to be unveiled on February 9th.

Samsung has been producing 200-megapixel sensors for years, but so far it’s yet to include such a high resolution sensor on its own flagship smartphones. Last year’s Galaxy S22 Ultra, for example, included a 108-megapixel sensor for its main camera, but its new sensor almost doubles the resolution. Here’s my colleague Allison Johnson on why this matters:

It’s not all about big numbers; moving to higher-pixel-count sensors has real...

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Dave2D posts hands-on with

“I know it’s just a hunk of plastic, but there’s just so much you can tell from it.” | Dave2D

YouTuber Dave2D posted a video with a plastic mockup of the rumored Pixel foldable. The details are consistent with earlier leaks. Good news for foldables nerds!

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No, you can’t get a 16TB SSD for a hundred bucks

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

If you’ve searched for external SSDs on Amazon.com recently, you may have noticed something weird: mixed in with the 1TB and 2TB drives from brands like Samsung and SanDisk are a bunch of listings for 16TB SSDs, mostly around $100, and with surprisingly high user ratings. Every single one is a scam, even if they’re shipped by Amazon.

Josh Hendrickson — Editor-in-Chief of Review Geek — bought one of the “16TB SSDs” and tore it down to reveal a generic 64GB microSD card on a USB 2.0 card reader. Adrian Kingsley-Huges, writing for ZDNet in May 2022, found the exact same thing. Different packaging and different case colors, but the same trick.

The Verge confirmed that several fake 16TB drives showed up on the first page of results for...

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This 5TB Western Digital hard drive drops to an all-time low

You can buy the 5TB Western Digital portable hard drive for just $89.99 at Best Buy, which matches its all-time low price. | Image: Western Digital

If you have a lot of data you need to back up or transfer, you might want to check out Best Buy’s current deal on Western Digital’s Easystore portable hard drive. Right now, you can buy the 5TB portable hard drive $89.99 instead of $117.99. That’s an all-time low and a discount we haven’t seen since Black Friday. It’s even cheaper than the 4TB model, which is on sale for $99.99.

This is a terrific option if you’re in a need of a lightweight hard drive you can use to carry tons of PS5 games or photos on the go, or to back up your computer. True, it’s not as fast as an SSD, so it’s not the right choice if speed is of the essence. But if all you really need is an external hard drive that’s capable of carrying a massive amount of storage,...

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Laid-off Twitter workers must drop class-action severance lawsuit, judge says

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

A judge has ordered a group of laid-off Twitter employees to drop their class action lawsuit against the company, which accuses Twitter of not following through on its promised severance pay package, as reported earlier by Bloombergand Reuters. In a ruling on Friday, US District Judge James Donato states that the workers must make their case in private arbitration instead, citing the employment contract they signed with Twitter.

According to the ruling, Twitter’s contract “expressly” states that arbitration isn’t mandatory, and also provides an option for employees to opt out of the procedure. The judge says employees failed to opt out of arbitration, which would’ve given them a chance to settle things in court. Twitter’s contract also...

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Netflix streaming turns 15 today, which explains its non-committal temperament

Way back before the tudum sound, it was just the sweet sweet sound of a disc spinning up. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Netflix streaming is getting into its angsty teenage years, as today marks 15 years since it launched its streaming services. It’s easy to forget what things were like before the age of streaming, but a decade-and-a-half ago, if you had a Netflix subscription, that meant paying a monthly subscription for a rotation of DVDs mailed to your door.

But while things are vastly different today, and Netflix has grown into a juggernaut in the entertainment world, the chatter even then was all about Netflix’s competition — though, in this case, instead of Amazon, Apple, and Warner Discovery: it was Blockbuster.

Perusing this New York Times article about Netflix “delivering movies to the PC” at the launch of the service back in 2007 is like peering...

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The second-gen AirPods Pro are $50 off at Verizon

The new AirPods Pro look just like the first-gen model, but what counts are the improvements on the inside. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Apple’s latest generation of the AirPods Pro are back down to their lowest price, compliments of Verizon. The noise-canceling wireless earbuds are on sale for $199.99 when you click “continue” on Verizon’s site, where the $50 discount is reflected in your cart. This is a great deal for one of the best pairs of wireless earbuds you can buy, but don’t fret if you’re not a Verizon service subscriber — just click “checkout as guest” and anyone can take advantage of this deal.

The second generation of AirPods Pro look nearly identical to the original model, but Apple made some significant changes to their performance and handling. They may not be the current noise cancellation champs, but the ANC is much improved over the previous model....

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The battle of the standards: why the US and UK can’t stop fighting the metric system

Ben Hickey / The Verge

Metric units have conquered the globe, but in the US and the UK, their presence has become part of a culture war between ‘traditional’ and ‘progressive’ values.

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Beyond Good and Evil 2 development continues amidst Ubisoft cancellations

Concept art from Beyond Good and Evil 2. | Image: Ubisoft

After Ubisoft canceled three unannounced projects last week alongside yet another delay for Skull and Bones, questions are inevitably being asked about the publisher’s other development-hell project: Beyond Good and Evil 2. The good news is that work on the game is still under way. The bad news is that its actual release date is just as unclear as ever.

“Beyond Good and Evil 2’s development is under way and the team is hard at work to deliver on its ambitious promise,” a Ubisoft spokesperson tells Eurogamer. For those keeping track, that means it’s been almost fifteen years since Ubisoft released its first trailer for the game, which is longer than it took to get gaming’s other development-hell classic Duke Nukem Forever out the door....

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Google’s Android clock app now lets you record your own annoying alarm sound

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Have you ever wanted to be woken from a dreamy slumber by the sound of your partner screaming at you to get out of bed, or perhaps your parents nagging you to get up for school? Well, Google has just the app update for you. The latest Android Clock app on Pixel devices now lets you record your own alarm and timer sounds. Ideal if you want to be woken slowly to the calming sounds of whales or something a lot more chaotic.

XDA-developers reports that Google has made it easier to set custom audio as your alarm sounds with the latest Clock app. While you could set custom audio recordings before, you’d have to copy the files over using a file manager app and then add them using the alarm sound settings. Now you don’t have to do all of that...

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AI art tools Stable Diffusion and Midjourney targeted with copyright lawsuit

A collage of AI-generated images created using Stable Diffusion. | Image: The Verge via Lexica

A trio of artists have launched a lawsuit against Stability AI and Midjourney, creators of AI art generators Stable Diffusion and Midjourney, and artist portfolio platform DeviantArt, which recently created its own AI art generator, DreamUp.

The artists — Sarah Andersen, Kelly McKernan, and Karla Ortiz — allege that these organizations have infringed the rights of “millions of artists” by training their AI tools on five billion images scraped from the web “with­out the con­sent of the orig­i­nal artists.”

The lawsuit has been filed by lawyer and typographer Matthew Butterick along with the Joseph Saveri Law Firm, which specializes in antitrust and class action cases. Butterick and Saveri are currently suing Microsoft, GitHub, and...

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Games Done Quick charity speedrun event raises $2.6 million

A total of $2,642,493 was raised over AGDQ 2023 for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. | Image: Games Done Quick

Games Done Quick has raised more than $2.6 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation at its first video game speedrunning event of 2023. While falling short of matching the $3.4 million raised during AGDQ 2022 last year, the cash raised at AGDC 2023 brings the total amount raised for charity to date by Games Done Quick to $43 million (seen via Kotaku).

The organization, which holds two charity video game marathons each year — Awesome Games Done Quick in January, and Summer Games Done Quick (SGDQ), usually held in late June or early July — announced the total sum raised on Twitter, alongside the hashtag “#ThankYouMike.” Games Done Quick founder Mike Uyama announced last week that he would be stepping down from the charity after 13 years...

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Monday’s top tech news: Twitter’s third-party client ban seems like no accident

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Plus new rumors about the fifth Galaxy Fold.

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