Apple’s last-gen iPad falls to a new low of $229.99 for early Black Friday buyers

Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

Apple’s iPads just don’t get any cheaper than this. The ninth-generation iPad, which has unceremoniously remained the entry-level option of Apple tablets even a year after the 10th-gen model came out, is selling for a new low.

You can get the 2021 iPad with 64GB of storage for $229.99 ($100 off its MSRP) at Amazon and Target. This early Black Friday deal is an additional $20 cheaper than the previous low of $249.99 we were consistently seeing for some time. Also, if 64GB is a little slimmer on storage than you’d prefer, the 256GB model is also $100 off at Amazon and Target — dropping it to $379.99.

While the ninth-gen model may be a couple of years old, it’s still a very formidable budget-friendly tablet. Its 10.2-inch display may be...

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The best iPad to buy

The Verge

There are more iPads than ever, and it can be tough to sort out which one is the best for you. Fortunately, we’re here to guide you through your next iPad purchase.

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Netflix’s Scott Pilgrim Takes Off isn’t an adaptation — it’s a remix

Image: Netflix

When the news came that Netflix was making an animated version of Scott Pilgrim, one that brought back all of the original film actors (along with the director and series creator), it raised some interesting questions. Mostly, I was curious just how much would change as the story shifted mediums. While the original comics and the live-action film adaptation had their differences, they both still largely told the same story about a 20-something slacker from Toronto fighting his way through his girlfriend’s dating history. But for the new series, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, the story isn’t just a departure — it completely blows up the timeline.

Note: This article includes some spoilers for Scott Pilgrim Takes Off.

At first, it doesn’t really...

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Fortnite, Grand Theft Auto VI, and the fate of AAA games

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge

Video games run the world. They just do. The release of Call of Duty is an economic and cultural event every year, some of the biggest movies and TV shows are based on beloved games, and everybody’s best vacation this year was the hours they spent in Hyrule. Even news of a possible release date for a trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI was huge news! Gaming continues to become more popular across nearly every demographic and every type of game, even as the rest of the entertainment industry looks a little wobbly. Everybody’s a gamer, and games are winning.

And yet, in some ways, the biggest and most important games in the industry seem somewhat in peril. Even the people running the game industry, like Microsoft’s Phil Spencer, think so. AAA...

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CoinDesk bought by crypto exchange Bullish

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

After FTX’s collapse led to financial woes for CoinDesk’s parent company, the cryptocurrency news site is getting acquired. Bullish, a crypto exchange run by former New York Stock Exchange president Tom Farley, purchased the entire site in an undisclosed all-cash deal, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The acquisition won’t affect CoinDesk’s existing management team, with the outlet operating “as an independent subsidiary within Bullish.” CoinDesk will also launch an editorial committee led by former Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Matt Murray.

While CoinDesk first exposed the hole in FTX’s balance sheet last November, the aftermath caused issues for its parent company, Digital Currency Group (DCG). DCG is a...

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Hundreds of OpenAI employees threaten to resign and join Microsoft

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella onstage at Ignite 2023 in November. | Image: Microsoft

Most of the staff at OpenAI have threatened to resign from the company and join Microsoft, which has hired ousted OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and former OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman to lead a new “advanced AI research team.” In a letter to OpenAI’s board that was reported on this morning by Wiredand journalist Kara Swisher, more than 500 current OpenAI staffers say that “Microsoft has assured us that there are positions for all OpenAI employees at this new subsidiary should we choose to join.”

The letter says the OpenAI employees will leave if the board does not reinstate Altman and Brockman and then resign. But seeing as the board has already made its choice, deciding to remain in place and naming a new CEO, while Altman and Brockman head...

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Use these lesser-known features to become a Google Docs pro

Image: Samar Haddad / The Verge

Part of the appeal of Google Docs is its clean, accessible interface: open up a document, and the invitation is there to simply dive in and start typing without having to bother with settings screens or page configurations.

However, that doesn’t mean the word processor app is lacking in features. Since its arrival way back in 2005 under the name Writely, it’s gradually been adding more and more in the way of useful functionality.

If you’re busy with your actual writing, you might not have discovered all of these features yet. Here are a few worth checking out. Take a look and see if they can give your productivity a boost or enhance the way you go about creating your documents.

Look up definitions

The dictionary built into Google Docs...

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Adobe’s $20 billion bid for Figma in peril after EU warning

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge

Adobe has been issued with a formal antitrust complaint by EU regulators regarding its $20 billion bid for cloud-based product design platform Figma. Following an in-depth investigation that was launched on August 7th, the European Commission reached the preliminary conclusion on Friday that if the deal goes ahead, it may “significantly reduce competition in the global markets” for the supply of interactive product design tools, vector editing tools, and raster editing tools.

The Commission has issued a statement of objections outlining its competition concerns. This highlights that EU officials believe Figma already exerts a “significant constraining influence” over Adobe’s Illustrator and Photoshop editing tools, and is “significantly...

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OpenAI’s new CEO is Twitch co-founder Emmett Shear

Emmett Shear at TED 2019. | Photo by Lawrence Sumulong/Getty Images

OpenAI has a third CEO in three days: Emmett Shear. After a shock firing of former CEO Sam Altman on Friday, Twitch co-founder Emmett Shear is officially taking over as interim CEO of OpenAI. The Information first revealed Shear’s appointment on Sunday night. The official announcement comes just an hour after Microsoft confirmed it had hired Sam Altman and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman to form a new advanced AI research team.

“Today I got a call inviting me to consider a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: to become the interim CEO of OpenAI,” says Emmett Shear in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “After consulting with my family and reflecting on it for just a few hours, I accepted.”

Shear resigned as Twitch CEO earlier this year, after...

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Microsoft hires former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Microsoft is hiring former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman. Altman was fired from OpenAI on Friday, after the board said it “no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.” After a weekend of negotiations to potentially bring Altman back to OpenAI, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced both Sam Altman and Greg Brockman will be joining Microsoft’s new advanced AI research team.

“We’re extremely excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team,” says Nadella. “We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success.”

We remain committed to our partnership...

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The deal to bring Sam Altman back to OpenAI has fallen apart

Illustration: The Verge

After a weekend of negotiations following the firing of Sam Altman from his position as OpenAI’s CEO, the company’s nonprofit board has named a new CEO: former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear will take over as interim OpenAI CEO from Mira Murati, who was publicly aligned with Altman. The news was first reported by The Information.

This appears to close the door on Altman’s exit after he was fired Friday when the board said he had not been “consistently candid in his communications.” As we reported Saturday, the board quickly began discussing the CEO’s return under pressure from investors and the threat of a mass employee walkout.

On Saturday night, sources told The Verge the remaining board members had missed a 5PM PT deadline to resign and...

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SpaceX’s new Starlink satellite internet terminal has a kickstand

Starlink Standard terminal | Image: SpaceX

SpaceX quietly introduced a new Standard Starlink terminal that’s slimmer and simpler than the previous version, with a 10 percent broader field of view and no motor for setting up — instead, it comes with a kickstand; to orient it, you simply move it. A Starlink support page says the kit is available “by invitation only to a small group of early customers in the US.”

SpaceX bumped its weather resistance rating up from IP54 to IP67, meaning it should be totally dust-proof and can be submerged in one meter of water for as long as 30 minutes before potential damage. Starlink’s specifications page says it can operate in winds over 60MPH. Speaking of which, the company will sell mounts in case you’d rather secure it in place. It’s otherwise...

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Most of ESPN’s accounts went dark after Disney dropped advertising on X

The Verge

Most of ESPN’s accounts were inactive yesterday after Disney announced on Friday that it was done advertising on X, formerly Twitter. Disney’s decision followed posts by platform owner Elon Musk agreeing with antisemitic and white power accounts. AwfulAnnouncing spotted the inactivity yesterday, noting that the main ESPN account has almost 50 million followers.

While a handful of the accounts had some activity, the primary ESPN account, NBA on ESPN, First Take, NFL on ESPN, ESPN Plus, and others have not posted, replied, or liked anything since at least Friday as of this writing. Other accounts, like ESPN FC, ESPN College Football, and SportsCenter, each posted or reposted once yesterday, while some, like the ESPN Desportes and ESPN PR...

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Humane’s AI Pin seems to be forgetting what makes a good wearable

I would love to be proven wrong about this baffling wearable. | Image: Humane

Before you disrupt everything, you have to deeply consider the current cultural norms or no one will wear your wearable.

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The silly word game you didn’t know you needed

Image: William Joel / The Verge

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 15, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, hello, sorry in advance for all my terrible jokes, and also, you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)

This week, I’ve been watching André 3000 talk about life after “Hey Ya,” reading this fun profile of Marques Brownlee and this wild story about the Mirai hackers, finally conquering all 48 Mario Kart 8 courses, watching unhinged Phil Collins music videos on repeat, and trying to find the silliest possible custom GPTs. (Add a walrus is a tough one to beat.)

I also have for you a new webcam, a new word game, a new show about monsters, a new iMessage hack, and a whole bunch more. Oh, and a favor...

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OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

Sam Altman. | Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The OpenAI board is in discussions with Sam Altman to return to CEO, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. One of them said Altman, who was suddenly fired by the board on Friday with no notice, is “ambivalent” about coming back and would want significant governance changes.

Altman holding talks with the company just a day after he was ousted indicates that OpenAI is in a state of free-fall without him. Hours after he was axed, Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s president and former board chairman, resigned, and the two have been talking to friends about starting another company. A string of senior researchers also resigned on Friday, and people close to OpenAI say more departures are in the works.

Developing...

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Meta disbanded its Responsible AI team

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

Meta has reportedly broken up its Responsible AI (RAI) team as it puts more of its resources into generative artificial intelligence. The Information broke the news today, citing an internal post it had seen.

According to the report, most RAI members will move to the company’s generative AI product team, while others will work on Meta’s AI infrastructure. The company regularly says it wants to develop AI responsibly and even has a page devoted to the promise, where the company lists its “pillars of responsible AI,” including accountability, transparency, safety, privacy, and more.

The Information’s report quotes Jon Carvill, who represents Meta, as saying that the company will “continue to prioritize and invest in safe and responsible...

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Nothing Chats has already been pulled from Google Play over privacy issues

Nothing Chats shown in a promotional image. | Image: Nothing

Nothing has pulled the Nothing Chats beta from the Google Play store, saying it is “delaying the launch until further notice” while it fixes “several bugs.” The app promised to let Nothing Phone 2 users text with iMessage, but it required allowing Sunbird, who provides the platform, log into users’ iCloud accounts on its own Mac Mini servers, which... isn’t great?

The removal came after users widely shared a blog from Texts.com showing that messages sent with Sunbird’s system aren’t actually end-to-end encrypted — and that it’s not hard to compromise it. The app launched in beta yesterday after being announced earlier this week.

Sunbird has access to every message sent and received through the app. They do this by abusing @getsentry,...

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Do Pixel 8 AI-edited photos have to be labeled as synthetic content on YouTube? YouTube is still figuring it out.

Photo by Eddie Costas / The Verge

Google is racing headlong into the AI future, and that means different parts of the company are destined to collide with one another — Search is now generating AI-powered summary results, but flooding the web with AI-generated text is going to make search that much harder, for example. It’s going to be messy and complicated and fascinating all at the same time. In general, the parts of Google that are charged with moderating platforms (like YouTube and Search) are going to end up colliding with the parts of Google that help people create content (like Gmail and Bard.) You can really just put them in two lists, draw a line from one to another, and predict a long list of interesting problems that will inevitably come up.

I...

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SAG-AFTRA’s new contract hinges on studios acting responsibly with AI

Illustration by William Joel / The Verge

While a new tentative agreement with the AMPTP has given many people hope of SAG-AFTRA’s ongoing labor strike nearing its end, the contract’s verbiage regarding the use of artificial intelligence seems to be cause for concern.

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SpaceX’s second Starship flight test ends in an explosion minutes after launch

Screenshot: Wes Davis / The Verge

SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket just took off shortly after 8AM ET from the company’s Starbase launch facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

A few minutes after the launch and a planned “hot stage” separation, the Super Heavy booster exploded instead of continuing its planned descent and water landing, but Starship itself continued into space. Minutes later, the SpaceX team said it had not received any signal from Starship and that they may have lost the ship. The New York Times wrote that the upper stage made it 90 miles high, putting it into space prior to its loss.

SpaceX confirmed in a post after the launch that “the booster experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly” after the separation, but did not comment on Starship itself other...

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Turmoil at OpenAI: after firing Sam Altman, what’s next for the home of ChatGPT?

Illustration: The Verge

OpenAI’s board removed CEO Sam Altman, and the former chairman just quit. Now it’s unclear what the future holds for a leader in generative artificial intelligence tools.

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Sony announces The Last of Us Part II remaster for PS5

The Last of Us Part II Remastered | Image: Naughty Dog

Naughty Dog officially announced The Last of Us Part II Remasteredfor PS5 on Friday evening following a bunch of leaks about the game earlier in the day. The game will be released on January 19th, 2024 — just like the leaks said.

The biggest new addition seems to be a “roguelike survival mode” called No Return that’s “designed to let players prove their mettle in randomized encounters and experience The Last of Us Part II’s combat in a fresh experience,” Naughty Dog’s Jonathon Dornbush said in the announcement blog post. You’ll be able to play as some new characters and work through “various stealth and combat encounters that will pit you against a range of enemies, with unique twists that can add new, unexpected factors to any given...

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OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman is leaving, too

Illustration: The Verge

Sam Altman isn’t the only major OpenAI executive leaving the company on Friday. Hours after Altman was fired, with the board saying it “no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI,” co-founder and former board chair Greg Brockman revealed on X that he is also quitting.

When OpenAI announced the “leadership transition” and that CTO Mira Murati would take over as interim CEO, it said that Brockman would step down as chairman but remain in his role at the company, reporting to the CEO. Just a few hours later, that’s no longer true.

In the post on X (formerly Twitter), Brockman said he sent the following message to OpenAI staffers:

hi everyone,

i'm super proud of what we’ve all built together since starting in my...

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Apple pulls its ads from X after Musk’s antisemitic posts

Illustration: The Verge

Apple has reportedly followed IBM by pulling advertising from X, formerly Twitter, as the platform’s owner Elon Musk made posts agreeing with antisemitic conspiracy theories, supporting white pride, and continued a fight with the Anti-Defamation League. The nonprofit Media Matters highlighted his statements yesterday, as well as advertisements from corporations that X placed next to pro-Nazi and pro-Hitler content. When IBM froze its advertising on Thursday, the company issued a statement to The Verge saying it would investigate “this entirely unacceptable situation.”

At least two other organizations have halted ads today, too. Bloomberg reports Lionsgate “has suspended all advertising on X, effective immediately,” and Politico said that...

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Sam Altman fired as CEO of OpenAI

Sam Altman. | OpenAI

Sam Altman has been fired as CEO of OpenAI, the company announced on Friday.

“Mr. Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities,” the company said in its blog post. “The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.”

Chief technology officer Mira Murati will be the interim CEO. The company will be conducting a search for the permanent CEO successor. When contacted by The Verge, OpenAI’s communications department declined to comment beyond the blog post.

This is an extremely sudden turn of events. as Altman has largely been the face of...

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Half-Life gets a big update for its 25th anniversary

“Ivan the Space Biker” and “Proto-Barney,” who Valve says were used in the alpha builds of Half-Life_. You can now play as them in multiplayer._ | Image: Valve.

Valve just released a 25th anniversary update for Half-Life that adds a whole bunch of new content, some welcome quality-of-life upgrades, and even Steam Deck support, according to an announcement on the Half-Life website. Also, you can download the game for free for a limited time.

Let’s start with the added content. The game now includes Half-Life Uplink, a “mini-campaign” that was originally available only on CDs from magazines and hardware manufacturers, the company says. There are four new multiplayer maps that Valve says “push the limits of what’s possible in the Half-Life engine.” Valve also added maps and multiplayer character models from a CD called Half-Life: Further Data.

Valve added some new settings, too, including the...

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The Verge’s guide to Black Friday 2023

Illustration by Aaron Fernandez for The Verge

Let’s face it — Black Friday is no longer reserved for the day following Thanksgiving. What was often considered the single busiest shopping day of the year has evolved into something more expansive post-pandemic, with numerous retailers kicking off their holiday promos as early as October.

Despite the recency of Amazon’s fall Prime Day event, Best Buy, Walmart, Target, and Amazon have already started doling out the early Black Friday deals, slashing prices on noise-canceling headphones, OLED TVs, laptops, smart displays, and a host of other tech. We expect the savings to continue to ramp up as we get closer to November 24th, though, it’s also likely that many of the deals on offer now will carry through the holiday weekend.

Thankfully,...

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Sonos speakers and soundbars are up to 25 percent off ahead of Black Friday

The new Sonos Era 100 replaced the Sonos One when it was released early this year. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

One of the best things about Black Friday is that we often find deals on products that rarely go on sale any other time of the year. Case in point? Sonos and other retailers have dropped some great deals on Sonos smart speakers and soundbars ahead of Black Friday next week. There’s a lot on sale, from the Sonos Ray (on sale for $223, reg.$279) to the Sonos Move (on sale for $299, reg. $399), and below we’ve rounded up some of the highlights.

First up, right now you can buy the Sonos Era 100 smart speaker for $199 ($50 off) at Best Buy and directly from Sonos. Released earlier this year, the new Sonos smart speaker replaces the older Sonos One. Compared to the One, the Sonos Era 100 delivers better sound thanks to new capabilities like...

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The best Black Friday deals on headphones and earbuds

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

The hard-to-resist holiday sales have officially arrived, with many headphones and earbuds from the biggest tech brands discounted to their lowest prices ever for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. And as you can see, a ton of deals are already available well ahead of both of those frenzied shopping days. If you’ve been holding off for the best possible savings on something from Apple, Sony, Samsung, Google, and other brands, you’re likely not going to do better than these Black Friday 2023 offers.

I’m not expecting any major new products from the biggest headphone makers anytime soon, so you don’t need to worry about buyer’s remorse should you decide to jump on any of the deals below. Heading into the colder months, it’s always worth...

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