Elon Musk’s Boring Company plan for a 69-station ‘Vegas Loop’ is anything but nice

Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images

The Boring Company, Elon Musk’s mostly unreliable tunnel digging venture, has won the approval to expand its “Vegas Loop” system to — wait for it — 69 stations. Nice? Not really.

The tunnel system is Musk’s supposedly futuristic idea to alleviate road traffic by shifting some of that bumper-to-bumper traffic underground. The expansion, approved by the Clark County Commissioners, allows The Boring Company to construct 25 miles of additional tunnels for a total of 65 miles and 18 additional stations.

The original vision for the Vegas Loop was 51 stations and 29 miles of tunnels — so this represents a pretty big vote of confidence in Musk’s idea of an underground network of Teslas whizzing through tunnels that are only slightly larger...

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Microsoft’s Xbox chief thinks losing the Xbox One generation was ‘the worst generation to lose’

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

It’s been a rough couple of weeks for Xbox that’s had fans questioning the state of Microsoft’s console gaming business. First, there was news of a 30 percent drop in Xbox hardware revenue, followed by the CMA’s decision to block Microsoft’s giant $68.7 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition, and topped off by Redfall launching earlier this week to a very lukewarm reception.

When you combine all of this with a quiet year of Xbox releases in 2022, Xbox fans are wondering when Microsoft is going to deliver a slew of triple-A games like we saw with the Xbox 360 generation.

“We’re not in the business of out console-ing Sony or out console-ing Nintendo,” says Xbox chief Phil Spencer in an interview with Kinda Funny Games. Spencer said s...

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Peloton would like to remind everyone it’s more than a bike company

It’s got a rower and a treadmill, guys. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Peloton isn’t keen on the fact people mostly think of it as that bike company, which is why CEO Barry McCarthy says the company will “relaunch its brand” later this month so that more people are aware that it does other things, too. Part of that is relaunching the Peloton app with a new tiered subscription structure.

There’s no information on the pricing just yet, but on today’s Q3 2023 earnings call, CFO Liz Coddington said the “app tiers will have different amounts of content variances” depending on the price. Only users who have bought Peloton hardware and pay for All-Access membership will get everything Peloton has to offer.

McCarthy also noted on the call that unaided awareness for the Row is at 4 percent, while the Guide, its...

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Case-Mate’s iMac-inspired translucent USB-C chargers are half off

Case-Mate’s translucent and colorful USB-C chargers start at just $15.40 today. | Image: Case-Mate

If you’re hunting for a graduation gift that’s both playful and practical, Case-Mate’s Fuel USB-C Charger is a good option. The portable charger delivers 30 watts of power so your giftee can quickly power up their smartphone, tablet, or even Nintendo Switch. It does that while looking good to boot, boasting a unique translucent body reminiscent of old iMacs available in a variety of fun colors. Best of all, starting at just $15.40 ($14.59 off) in lime green at Amazon, it’s affordable, so you can buy Mom one, too, for Mother’s Day — or just for yourself. We won’t judge!

If you were thinking about buying Google’s latest Pixel 7 only because the Pixel 7 Pro costs $300 more, you might want to think again. Right now, they’re a lot closer in...

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Apple Arcade launches 20 new games, including a new TMNT roguelike

Image: Apple

Apple Arcade is getting 20 new games, and that includes the exclusive launch of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle roguelike.

The game, called TMNT Splintered Fate, is a top-down co-op roguelike that has Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael fighting their way through enemies as they search for Master Splinter, who’s gone missing. You can team up with friends or go it alone as you traverse New York City while enlisting help from other characters like April, Metalhead, Casey Jones, and more along the way.

@TMNT Splintered Fate by @SuperEvilMegaco is a new kind of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game. This co-op brawler has rogue-like gameplay that's different, every time you play.

: https://t.co/tXGUhCbBlR pic.twitter.com/b7PoJNH5I5

—...

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Rise of the Beasts might have found a way to fix the Transformers movies’ human problem

While Paramount and Hasbro’s live-action Transformers movies have always been fanservice-focused visual triumphs, they’ve been consistently held back by the studio’s erroneous belief that people line up for these things wanting to see regular human people become friends with robots. Though that has never and will never be the case, one detail from the latest trailer for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts— which features at least two human protagonists —suggests that Paramount’s been thinking about how to address this issue. And their solution’s a wild one.

Human / Cybertronian partnerships were a big part of the Transformers franchise long before Michael Bay got his hands on it, and Shia LaBeouf’s character Sam Witwitcky in Bay’s first...

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Google I/O 2023: all the news from Google’s big developer event

Illustration: The Verge

Google plans to tease the future of search, Pixel devices, and more at what’s expected to be an AI-heavy event.

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Alexa can now track Uber Eats orders in the US

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Uber is announcing a new integration with Alexa today that’ll allow you to track your Uber Eats orders via Amazon’s voice assistant in the US. Amazon says the feature will provide updates about the status of an order from when it’s being prepared right through to when Uber’s driver arrives with your food. You have the option of having Alexa proactively announce each stage of the order process or light up its notification light so you can ask for the update yourself.

Now if you’re thinking “Hang on, I thought you’d been able to do this for years?” then I don’t blame you! Uber announced support for hailing a ride via Alexa way back in 2016 (we even made a Verge video about it at the time), and last year, it added the ability to order Uber...

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Samsung teases better sleep, fitness, and safety features for its next Galaxy Watch

A new UI is coming to town when the Galaxy Watch 6 launches later this year. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge

It’s been relatively quiet on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 rumor front, but we finally have some idea of what to expect. Today, Samsung announced that the watch will launch with One UI 5 Watch, a new version of the skin it runs over Google’s Wear OS 3 platform. The update will include several refinements to existing features like sleep tracking and emergency SOS while also introducing personalized heart rate zones.

It’s been a little over a year since Samsung first rehauled its sleep tracking features, which have generally lagged behind the competition. In the forthcoming update, Samsung says users will now see a more prominent sleep score, and that it’ll be viewable on the wrist. Those who participate in its chronotype-based Sleep...

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Mozilla’s setting up shop on Mastodon and trying to reinvent content moderation

Mozilla is jumping on the Mastodon train but taking a very different approach. | Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images

If you want to be a member of Mozilla.Social, Mozilla’s new Mastodon instance, you’re not allowed to harass other users. You’re also not allowed to use derogatory language about gender, sex, sexual orientation, race, age, ability, or any other “physical, social or cultural attributes or classifications.” You can’t spread misinformation and disinformation, either. Or impersonate someone. Some of these are normal policies, some are unusually heavy-handed, and they’re all hard to litigate. But Mozilla’s stance is pretty simple and extremely unusual in the social media universe: if it’s debatable, it’s gone.

“We’re not going to advertise that we’re some kind of neutral platform,” says Steve Teixeira, Mozilla’s chief product officer. He says...

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Therapy apps are still failing their privacy checkups

Some of the 27 mental health apps tested by Mozilla last year have improved. Most, however, have not. | Image: Mozilla / *Privacy Not Included.

An investigation into mental health apps has revealed that many of the most popular services are failing to protect the privacy and security of their users. Following up on a report from last year’s Privacy Not Included guide, researchers at Mozilla found that apps designed for sensitive issues like therapy and mental health conditions are still collecting large amounts of personal data under questionable or deceptive privacy policies.

The team re-reviewed 27 of the mental health, meditation, and prayer apps featured in the previous year’s study, including Calm, Youper, and Headspace, in addition to five new apps requested by the public. Of those 32 total apps, 22 were slapped with a “privacy not included” warning label, something...

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Motorola’s Edge 40 is a little less Pro, and a lot more affordable

The Motorola Edge 40 in blue. | Image: Motorola

Exactly one month after announcing the Edge 40 Pro, Motorola is introducing a more affordable, non-Pro variant called the Motorola Edge 40. It’s available from today in Europe for €599.99 (£529.99, around $664), €300 less than the €899.99 (around $995) Edge 40 Pro. Motorola’s press release doesn’t mention a US release for the Edge 40, but given the Edge 40 Pro was announced for the US market just two days ago as the Motorola Edge Plus (2023) it feels like there’s a chance of its non-Pro sibling following a similar path.

As you’d expect, the Edge 40 features slightly downgraded specs across the board compared to the Pro. Its 1080p OLED screen is slightly smaller at 6.55 inches versus 6.67 inches, and it’s also got a lower 144Hz refresh...

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Waymo barreling ahead with bigger robotaxi coverage in San Francisco and Phoenix

Photo by Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Waymo is dramatically expanding its robotaxi service areas in Phoenix and San Francisco as it seeks to gain new customers, generate more revenue, and make a convincing argument that self-driving cars are more than just an expensive fad.

In Phoenix, the company’s autonomous Jaguar I-PACE vehicles will now cover a total of 180 square miles, or roughly twice the size of its current map and four times the size of the area that the company served when it first launched its ride-hailing operation in 2020.

Waymo’s two distinct service areas, Downtown Phoenix and the East Valley communities of Tempe, Gilbert, Mesa, and Chandler, will be connected for the first time. And the company’s robotaxis will also now serve the town of Scottsdale, known...

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Windows 11’s photos app is getting slideshows and a blemish removal tool

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge

Microsoft is testing new updates to its Photos app for Windows 11, including a Spot Fix tool for fixing up blemishes in photographs and a new slideshow feature. Windows 11 testers in the Canary and Dev Channels can get access to these new features immediately and they should be available to all Windows 11 users in the coming months.

The new slideshow experience lets you view your photos in a slideshow format with the usual animations and transitions and cheesy soundtracks. “This was a top feature request we received from the community since launching the new Photos app in Windows 11 last Fall,” says Yvonne Hsieh, a principal product manager for Windows Photos.

Image: Microsoft

The new slideshow feature in Photos...

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Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 5 will have a large 3.4-inch 720p cover display, leak claims

Recent unofficial renders of what the Galaxy Z Flip 5 could look like. | Image: OnLeaks / MediaPeanut

Ice Universe, an anonymous Twitter account with a good track record of leaking details about unannounced smartphones, says Samsung’s upcoming Z Flip 5 will have a 3.4-inch cover screen with a resolution of 720 x 748. This isn’t the first time Ice has predicted that 3.4-inch secondary display, but it’s the first time we’ve seen a specific resolution listed. It’s a big increase over the 1.9-inch 260 x 512 cover display on the Z Flip 4.

The leak comes a few short days after OnLeaks and MediaPeanut published a series of unofficial renders of the upcoming handset based on leaked specs, while also claiming the phone will have a 3.4-inch cover display. Meanwhile, OnLeaks expects the size of the internal display to remain unchanged at 6.7...

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White House rolls out plan to promote ethical AI

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The White House announced more funding and policy guidance for developing responsible artificial intelligence ahead of a Biden administration meeting with top industry executives.

The actions include a $140 million investment from the National Science Foundation to launch seven new National AI Research (NAIR) Institutes, increasing the total number of AI-dedicated facilities to 25 nationwide. Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI and other companies have also agreed to allow their language models to be publicly evaluated during this year’s Def Con. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) also said that it would be publishing draft rules this summer for how the federal government should use AI technology.

“These steps build on the...

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The UK’s tortured attempt to remake the internet, explained

Illustration by Hugo Herrera for The Verge

The bill aims to make the country ‘the safest place in the world to be online’ but has been mired by multiple delays and criticisms that it’s grown too large and unwieldy to please anyone.

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Microsoft’s Bing chatbot gets smarter with restaurant bookings, image results, and more

Image: Microsoft

Microsoft is revealing a big upgrade for its Bing chatbot today that adds image and video answers, restaurant bookings, chat history, and some smarter Microsoft Edge integration. These new features also coincide with Microsoft making Bing Chat available for anyone to try, moving from private to public preview.

Perhaps the biggest addition is a new Actions feature in Bing Chat and Edge. You’ll now be able to use Microsoft’s Bing AI to complete tasks without having to navigate back and forth between sites. So if a search result recommends a restaurant, it can then find a reservation time that works for you and help you book it all in the chat interface.

Image: Microsoft

Bing Actions can book you a restaurant table.

...

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Microsoft’s Bing Chat AI is now open to everyone, with plug-ins coming soon

Illustration: The Verge

Microsoft is making its Bing GPT-4 chatbot available to everyone today, no more waitlist necessary. All you need to do is sign in to the new Bing or Edge with your Microsoft account, and you’ll now access the open preview version that’s powered by GPT-4. Microsoft is also massively upgrading Bing Chat with lots of new features and even plug-in support.

This open preview launch comes nearly two months after Microsoft experimented with removing the waitlist for its new Bing Chat feature. The chatbot originally launched in a private preview in February, and Microsoft has been gradually opening it up ever since.

Image: Microsoft

Chat history in Bing Chat.

Microsoft is now adding more smart features to Bing Chat,...

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Meta security analysts warn of malicious ChatGPT imposters

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

The security team at Meta is acknowledging broad occurrences of fake ChatGPT malware that exists to hack user accounts and take over business pages.

In the company’s new Q1 security report, Meta shares that malware operators and spammers are following trends and high-engagement topics that get people’s attention. Of course, the biggest tech trend right now is AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Bing, and Bard, so tricking users into trying a fake version is now in fashion — sorry, crypto.

Meta security analysts have found about 10 forms of malware posing as AI chatbot-related tools like ChatGPT since March. Some of these exist as web browser extensions and toolbars (classic) — even being available through unnamed official web stores. The W...

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Discord is growing up, so everyone needs to pick a new username

Image: Discord

Discord is taking away the four-digit tag that it puts after its usernames as it looks to make it “easier to connect” with other users. As noted in a post on Discord’s blog, this change will force most users to change their usernames, as Discord will no longer have the four-number tag that distinguishes one person with the same username from another.

Instead of having a four-number discriminator appended to your username, you will now have a unique alphanumeric username with the “@” symbol in front of it. You’ll also get to choose a non-unique display name that can include special characters, spaces, emoji, and non-Latin characters, making the platform a lot more like other mainstream social networks, such as Twitter and Instagram. It...

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The best magnetic chargers for your MagSafe iPhone

The Verge

Making sense of Apple’s messy MagSafe charging ecosystem, where the first-party options are far from the best ones.

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The best Chromebook for 2023

Illustration by William Joel / The Verge

The best Chromebook for anyone who wants Chrome OS on their laptop

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TikTok’s new creator fund requires 10,000 followers and longer videos

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

TikTok’s second creator fund is opening up to more users starting today.

First announced in February, the program has been invite-only until now. Called the Creativity Program, the fund is meant to pay popular users for their content, but only if they meet certain requirements. The wider availability now aligns with the original TikTok creator fund, which promised to pay out $1 billion over three years to creators on the app.

The Creativity Fund requirements suggest a slight shift in TikTok’s priorities. Most notably, creators need to be making videos longer than a minute in order to be eligible to earn money through the fund. Users also need to have at least 10,000 followers and 100,000 authentic views on their videos in the last 30...

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Where’s the director’s commentary on streaming?

Illustration by William Joel

In the height of the DVD era, director’s commentary was a staple of movie watching. But if you look at any of the streaming services today, almost all fail to include these treasured bonus features.

Audio commentaries have been included in physical media since 1984, starting with the Criterion Collection’s release of 1933’s King Kong on laserdisc, with commentary by film historian Ronald Haver detailing anecdotes on the production of the American classic. Commentaries from directors, actors, and production crew were subsequently included in physical packages of thousands of movies, television shows, and even video games for decades since. However, once the industry shifted to streaming, most of those bonus features were left on the...

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FTC pushes to ban Meta from profiting off children’s data

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales

On Thursday, the Federal Trade Commission proposed sweeping changes to how Meta operates, accusing the company of violating a suite of child privacy protections.

In a press release, the agency alleged that Meta violated a 2020 privacy order it had reached with the agency. The proposal cites instances in which the company misled parents on the extent of their abilities to control who their children communicate with over services like Messenger Kids.

“Facebook has repeatedly violated its privacy promises,” said Samuel Levine, FTC consumer protection bureau director. “The company’s recklessness has put young users at risk and Facebook needs to answer for its failures.”

The FTC’s proposed changes would ban Meta, Facebook, and the rest of...

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Now Gmail has blue verified checkmark icons too

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Gmail will start displaying a familiar-looking blue checkmark next to a sender’s name to verify their identity. In a blog post, Google says the feature is supposed to help users figure out whether the email they’ve received is from a legitimate source or a scammer.

The verified checkmark builds upon Gmail’s existing Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) feature. This requires companies to authenticate that the brand logo they’re using as their email avatar is supposed to let users know that the logo actually belongs to them. Companies that have already adopted BIMI will automatically receive the checkmark.

Image: Google

As shown in the image provided by Google, hovering over the checkmark says that “the...

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The secret Babylon 5 project is... an animated movie

Space Station Babylon 5. | Image: Warner Bros.

It’s not clear if the Babylon 5 reboot will ever see the light of day, when you consider how the Writers Guild of America is now on strike and how corporate shuffles had already put its fate in jeopardy. But nine months ago, the creator of the award-winning space drama teased a second secret Babylon 5 project — one that would feature every surviving member of the main cast.

Today, the secret has been revealed: it’s a full-length animated movie from Warner Bros. Animation.

BABYLON 5 ANIMATED MOVIE coming from Warner Bros. Animation & WB Home Entertainment! Classic B5: raucous, heartfelt, nonstop, a ton of fun through time and space & a love letter to the fans. Movie title, release date and other details coming one week from today. #...

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Dune: Part Two’s first trailer is a tense sandworm ride

Photo: Warner Bros. / Legendary Pictures

Following an all-too-brief tease yesterday, the first trailer for Dune: Part Two is here, and most importantly it includes a sandworm — you even get to see Paul Atreides ride the beast. Though it’s nothing fancy.

The sequel is an adaptation of the second half of the Dune story, which is not all that surprising since the first film was dubbed Dune: Part One and ended rather abruptly. It also expands the impressive cast with the likes of Christopher Walken, Florence Pugh, Austin Butler, and Léa Seydoux, most of whom get some screen time in the new trailer. They’re joining returning cast members like Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, who thankfully appears to have a much larger role this time around. Denis Villeneuve is returning to direct,...

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Airbnb launches new Rooms category with more details about hosts

Image: Airbnb

Airbnb is making a bigger push into Rooms, the option that lets you rent a private room in someone’s home. In a blog post posted on Wednesday, the platform announced that it’s launching a dedicated Rooms category, where it will now provide more details about the host you’re staying with on each listing.

On Airbnb’s website and app, you can now select the Rooms tab to see a list of all the available rooms for rent in the location you want to stay. Each listing has a readily available “host passport” in its bottom-left corner with the host’s photo. Clicking into a passport reveals more information about the host, including their ratings, reviews, and how long they’ve hosted on Airbnb as well as any other information they choose to share,...

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