Elon Musk is directing harassment toward individual federal workers

Illustration by Lille Allen / The Verge

Elon Musk is, in addition to many other things, now the co-lead of the currently nonexistent Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) advisory group. Now, before it even gets rolling, he has begun singling out individual government employees he says are emblematic of the government’s bloat and posting about them to his hundreds of millions of followers on X.

Earlier this week, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal, the X user “datahazard” shared a screenshot on X highlighting the role of Ashley Thomas, the Director of Climate Diversification at the US International Development Finance Corporation, saying, “I don’t think the US Taxpayer should pay for the employment” of that role. Musk reposted it, adding the comment “so many...

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The Supreme Court will decide the fate of America’s low-income broadband fund

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos via Getty Images

The Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments on a case involving funding for a major broadband subsidy program, the Universal Service Fund (USF).

SCOTUS granted cert in a pair of cases called Federal Communications Commission v. Consumers’ Research, and Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition v. Consumers’ Research, which were consolidated for oral arguments. They center around whether Congress inappropriately delegated lawmaking function to the FCC by letting it set contribution rates for telecommunications companies to pay into the nonprofit Universal Service Administration Company, which manages the USF. It also asks whether the FCC delegated too much authority to a private entity by letting USAC manage the subsidy program.

The...

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DirecTV and Dish’s on-and-off merger saga switches back to off

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

DirecTV has dropped its plans to acquire Dish, the company announced Thursday. The deal would’ve created a TV service megamerger, but it fell through after Dish bondholders rejected the takeover.

In September, DirecTV reached an agreement to acquire Dish, Sling TV, and EchoStar’s TV business for just one dollar, while also taking on Dish’s $9.75 billion in debt. However, Dish bondholders — or the investors who lend money to a company (and expect to be paid back) — weren’t happy about the decision, as the transaction would’ve cut the value of their holdings by $1.5 billion.

“While we believed a combination of DIRECTV and DISH would have benefitted all stakeholders, we have terminated the transaction because the proposed Exchange Terms...

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You can easily disassemble this repairable smartwatch using just a Phillips screwdriver

The Spectra smartwatch is now available for preorder through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. | Image: Pocuter

The Spectra is a new smartwatch designed from the ground up to be hackable and easy to repair. It was created by Pocuter, a company that has spent the last few years honing an expertise in building small electronics like its tiny Pocuter One computer. What makes the Spectra unique is that it’s repairable, yet with a design that mirrors the Apple Watch which is much harder to get into.

The wearable is now available for preorder through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign with delivery expected as early as July 2025. Early backers can preorder one discounted to around $209, while full pricing is closer to around $272. The Spectra is the company’s seventh Kickstarter campaign, but also appears to be one of its most ambitious. Three years...

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Sling TV’s streaming TV price goes up by $5.99 next month

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Sling TV is increasing its monthly subscription prices by $5.99 for all of its plans starting in December. The streaming TV provider said “rising costs” are to blame for the price hikes without specifying why — presumably, not all six of those bucks are intended to pay for its “arcade” library of interactive games that just added Pac-Man and Trivia Crack.

There are two packages: Sling Orange, which includes Disney and ESPN networks, and Sling Blue, which includes Fox and NBC programming that previously cost $40 per month, individually. Now, they will cost $45.99 per month. There’s also the combo Sling Orange plus Blue, which offers a mix of both packages for $55 per month — but will go up to $61. Current subscribers will see the price...

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Strava’s API debacle highlights the messiness of fitness data

Strava is the de facto fitness data middleman. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge

A few days ago, Strava upset its users over some restrictive API changes. It might seem odd for one app’s users to fume over an API, but at the heart of the matter is the inherent messiness of fitness data.

Here’s a typical scenario. Say you’re all in on Garmin’s platform. You use their watches for running and strength training. Then, you pick up a Peloton bike for indoor cycling. Well, Garmin devices aren’t compatible with Peloton bikes because the two companies haven’t struck a direct deal with one another for data sharing. So, to get your heart rate on the Peloton bike, you buy a chest strap. And then you decide to train for a race, so you sign up for one of those digital coaching platforms — the kind where a personal trainer reviews...

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Google is prepping Gemini to take action inside of apps

Gemini could spring into action soon. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Google released the first Android 16 developer preview earlier this week and keen-eyed observers are already uncovering interesting tidbits, including one that hints about a much more useful future for Google’s AI assistant. In Android Authority, Mishaal Rahman writes abouta mysterious new API in Android 16 called “app functions,” which appears to give Gemini Assistant agentic-like abilities to take action in apps. It sounds awfully similar to the upgraded “app intents” Apple supports in iOS 18, and it’s exactly the kind of thing that could make AI assistants much more useful than they are in their current state.

A page on Google’s developer site describes an app function as “a specific piece of functionality that an app offers to the...

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Judge rules SiriusXM’s annoying cancellation process is illegal

Image: The Verge

A New York judge has determined that SiriusXM’s “long and burdensome” cancellation process is illegal. In a ruling on Thursday, Judge Lyle Frank found SiriusXM violates a federal law that requires companies to make it easy to cancel a subscription.

The decision comes nearly one year after New York Attorney General Leticia James sued SiriusXM over claims the company makes subscriptions difficult to cancel. Following an investigation, the Office of the Attorney General found that the company attempts to delay cancellations by having customers call an agent, who then keeps them on the phone for serval minutes while “pitching the subscriber as many as five retention offers.”

As outlined in the ruling, Judge Frank found that SiriusXM broke...

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Judge rules SiriusXM’s annoying cancellation process is illegal

Image: The Verge

A New York judge has determined that SiriusXM’s “long and burdensome” cancellation process is illegal. In a ruling on Thursday, Judge Lyle Frank found SiriusXM violates a federal law that requires companies to make it easy to cancel a subscription.

The decision comes nearly one year after New York Attorney General Leticia James sued SiriusXM over claims the company makes subscriptions difficult to cancel. Following an investigation, the Office of the Attorney General found that the company attempts to delay cancellations by having customers call an agent, who then keeps them on the phone for serval minutes while “pitching the subscriber as many as five retention offers.”

As outlined in the ruling, Judge Frank found that SiriusXM broke...

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Hyundai recalls more than 145,000 Ioniq and Genesis EVs that can lose power while driving

Photo by Patrick George for The Verge

Hyundai is recalling over 145,000 Ioniq and Genesis vehicles due to a 12-volt battery charging issue that could cause the EVs to lose drive power and increase the risk of a crash.

NHTSA says the cause is the vehicles' Integrated Charging Control Unit (ICCU), which is likely to get damaged due to an internal electrical fault.

Upon failure of the ICCU, a series of driver warnings appear, and the vehicle activates a “fail-safe” driving mode that slowly reduces drive power over the course of 20 to 40 minutes.

Hyundai will instruct owners to take affected vehicles to dealerships to replace the ICCU and its associated fuse and install new software to prevent overvoltage that could damage the part again. Hyundai told NHTSA that as of November...

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Baidu’s supercheap robotaxis should scare the hell out of the US

Image: Getty

Baidu’s robotaxi division, Apollo Go, just rolled out its latest robotaxi across multiple cities in China, and if stakeholders in the US aren’t nervous yet, they should be.

The RT6 is the sixth generation of Apollo Go’s driverless vehicle, which made its official debut in May 2024. It’s a purpose-built, Level 4 autonomous vehicle, meaning it’s built without the need for a human driver. And here’s the thing that should make US competitors nervous: adopting a battery-swapping solution, the price for one individual RT6 is “under $30,000,” Baidu CEO Robin Li said in an earnings call.

“All the strengths just mentioned above are driving us forward, paving the way to validate our business model,” Li added.

Adopting a battery-swapping solution,...

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You can now try Microsoft’s Recall AI feature on a Copilot Plus PC

Image: Microsoft

Microsoft is releasing the first preview of its Recall AI feature for Copilot Plus PCs today. After a series of delays, Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel can now install a new build of Windows 11 that includes Recall and Click to Do — a feature that’s very similar to Google’s Circle to Search.

Recall takes screenshots of almost everything you do on a Copilot Plus PC to make it searchable and easy to recall a memory or retrace your steps. If you enable snapshots to be recorded by Recall, then you can use the Recall app to search for what you were working on previously with natural language queries. There is also a scrollable timeline so you can skip back to a specific date and find the apps or websites you were using. Recall’s search...

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Plex’s upcoming app redesign is a big swing at going legit

Image: Plex

Plex is beginning to test its “newly reimagined Plex experience,” which will be available first on mobile and is coming to TV platforms “very soon.” Plex says the new experience has been in development for almost two years and is “designed to bring everything you love into one seamless interface.” But don’t worry — while the new version of the app is currently missing some features, Plex says it will be “closing those gaps” and will keep the current app available during the preview, which will hopefully prevent a Sonos-like debacle.

A big change for the new app is redesigned navigation that more clearly delineates between media you might have on your Plex server and the company’s streaming and on-demand offerings. The bottom bar has...

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Teen streamer dumped a meme coin for $30K, then things got weird

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The young streamer behind a viral meme coin called Quant was doxxed by the crypto community after he ripped off investors, as reported by Decrypt and The Crypto Times. During a livestream earlier this week, the kid giddily watched the price of his meme coin go up before selling his stake for $30,000 and flipping off viewers, causing its price to plummet.

The young investor, who reports claim is 13 years old, started gaining attention after his post on X went viral. “Just made 2k before school. Lock in,” the post said, alongside a photo of the kid holding up his phone to show off his gains. When the boy later launched his token Quant during a livestream, investments quickly started coming in — until he pulled all of the money out of the...

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This cheaper Apple Pencil alternative now has tilt detection and a better tip

The SonarPen 2 includes upgraded features like USB-C and finer pen tips. | Image: Greenbulb

In 2018, the SonarPen debuted as a cheaper alternative to the Apple Pencil by using audio signals transmitted to the iPad over a cable instead of Bluetooth. Its creators are back with an upgraded USB-C version that introduces additional functionality, including tilt detection and an improved tip that now closely resembles the Apple Pencil’s.

The SonarPen 2 is currently available for preorder through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, with shipping estimated to start as early as April 2025. If you preorder early, the SonarPen 2 is discounted to around $32, with full retail pricing expected to be closer to $45.

Image: Greenbulb

The SonarPen 2 includes integrated cable management.

The SonarPen 2 still supports...

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Elon Musk’s new DOGE plans are actually old ideas about mass deregulation

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have laid out their plans for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a currently nonexistent entity they say will “cut the federal government down to size.” Though DOGE isn’t a real department — and may in fact just be President-elect Donald Trump’s way of placating Musk by giving him the appearance of a real job — it represents a long-running right-wing attempt to gut the civil service, a plan the incoming administration fully supports.

DOGE could be a mechanism for a Musk shadow presidency, a nonsense job designed to keep Musk busy without giving him real power, or a curious mix of the two. In any case, Musk and Ramaswamy have proposed cutting “thousands” of federal regulations and determining the...

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Threads is overhauling its search and trending features

Image: The Verge

Meta is promising “long-overdue improvements” to its X competitor, Threads, including more precise search features and expanded trending topics.

First, users will be able to search for posts within a specific date range or from a single account — similar to what X’s search allows. Threads is also testing a new trending page in the US that includes additional topics to follow as well as AI-generated summaries of what other users are talking about.

Instagram head Adam Mosseri, who led the launch of Threads, wrote in a post that the tests begin today.

This week has been full of updates on Threads, which is facing increased competition from Bluesky, the decentralized text-based platform that people have been flocking to in recent weeks....

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SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds review: earbuds for your PlayStation or Xbox

SteelSeries brings its EQ audio expertise to consoles and mobile devices.

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Audi’s latest RS E-tron GT ‘Performance’ is its quickest car yet

Audi RS E-tron GT Performance starts at $167,000 before destination charges. | Image: Audi

Audi is giving its all-electric E-tron GT sports sedan higher performance, more battery range, and faster charging speeds for the 2025 model year. It’s also increasing its starting price.

The lineup now includes a new entry S E-tron GT model that starts at $125,500 before destination charges, a far cry from the already expensive $100,000 base it previously sold since the beginning in 2022. There’s also a new RS E-tron GT “Performance” version that starts at a whopping $167,000 before destination charges. We reviewed the 2022 model year version, which was priced at an extravagant $140,000.

However, you’re getting Audi’s quickest car yet for that Performance price tag, which also comes with a special RS performance mode. It packs 912...

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Amazon to invest another $4 billion in OpenAI rival Anthropic

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Amazon announced today that it’s pumping another $4 billion into Claude AI maker Anthropic, bringing its total funding amount to $8 billion. This latest round follows $1.25 billion last September and another $2.75 billion in March.

Along with the money, Amazon wrote in its blog post that Amazon Web Services (AWS) would be named Anthropic’s “primary training partner” and that the OpenAI rival would use Trainium and Inferentia chips for future models.

The investment and deeper partnership align with previous reporting by Reutersthat Claude will power Amazon’s new Alexa voice assistant. The improved Alexa — the release of which has been delayed — reportedly performed better with Claude than it did when using Amazon’s in-house model. The...

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The newest Kindle and Kindle Paperwhite are on sale for the first time

The new Paperwhite is bigger, and the base Kindle comes in a new color. | Photo: David Pierce / The Verge

It’s about that time of the year to turn on the heat, warm up some cocoa, and curl up in your reading nook. If you’re running out of space for physical books to enjoy, Amazon’s newest Kindle ebook readers can hold thousands of digital ones, and some are on sale for the first time in the retailer’s Black Friday sale.

That includes the 2024 Kindle that’s dropped to $84.99 ($25 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target, as well as the updated Kindle Paperwhite, which is now just $129.99 ($30 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target. Sadly, the Kindle Colorsoft (the first with a color display) and the new Kindle Scribe haven’t gotten the same treatment.

The Kindle Paperwhite is the most compelling of the two for anyone looking for solid reasons...

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A proposed climate tax on crypto mining is gaining momentum

Image: Nick Barclay / The Verge

A tentative proposal totax cryptocurrency mining to raise funds for climate action took off during a United Nations climate conference that’s set to come to a close today.

A levy on energy-hungry crypto mining, at $0.045 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity used, could generate $5.2 billion in revenue annually, according to a report released last week by the Global Solidarity Levies Task Force, led by Kenya, Barbados, and France.

The Bitcoin network is estimated to use more electricity annually than a majority of the world’s countries do individually. The idea is that a climate tax could reduce emissions by incentivizing mining firms to clean up their operations. And it could provide desperately needed funding to help less affluent...

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The government’s plan to break up Google

Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge

For two decades, Google Search has been unstoppable. Invincible. So thoroughly dominant that would-be competitors often couldn’t even get funding, because investors didn’t see the point in trying. But earlier this year, a judge declared that Google’s power, and the way the company wields it, was an illegal monopoly. And so now the US Department of Justice has to figure out how to undo it.

On this episode of The Vergecast, we dig into the DOJ’s first attempt at a plan. The Verge’s Lauren Feiner joins the show to talk through the recently filed proposal, which includes selling Chrome, possibly selling Android, and requiring Google to give vast quantities of its search tech and data to anyone wanting to compete.

We try to figure out...

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Apple’s first smart display needs to make the smart home just work

Some Apple Home users have shoehorned iPads into wall-mounted home controllers. However, reports indicate Apple is developing a dedicated home control device. | Photo By Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images

The smart home has an interface problem. Searching for an app on your phone, fighting with a confused voice assistant, and fiddling with a “smart” display to turn off a light is enough to send anyone running back to the wall switch. But now, Apple is taking a crack at solving the frustrations of smart home control — and it has the opportunity to actually make the smart home work.

Next year, the company will reportedly launch an “AI wall tablet for home control,” and it’s said to be developing more devices for the home (including cameras, a tabletop robot, and maybe even a TV). Among other features, such as video calling, this new smart display will reportedly be a hub for Apple’s home automation platform, Apple Home, providing a communal...

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Snap says New Mexico intentionally friended alleged child predators, then blamed the company

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Snap says the basis of a scathing lawsuit suggesting it systematically recommends teens’ accounts to child predators is backwards — the company is now accusing the New Mexico attorney general of intentionally seeking out such accounts before recommendations were made. The company says the AG’s case is based on “gross misrepresentations” and cherry picks from Snap’s internal documents.

In a motion to dismiss filed Thursday, Snap says AG Raúl Torrez’s complaint makes “patently false” allegations, and particularly misrepresents its own undercover investigation, in which the AG’s office created a decoy 14-year-old account. Torrez alleges Snap violated the state’s unfair practices and public nuisance laws by misleading users’ about the...

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The best iPhones

New iPhones for the AI era. | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge

Whether you want a battery that lasts for days or the very best deal, we’ve got some recommendations for an iPhone you’ll love.

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The Verge’s guide to Black Friday 2024

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge

These days, Black Friday isn’t so much a single-day shopping holiday as it is an ever-expanding, monthslong event that often begins as early as October. The 24-hour deal blitz that once was the focus of newspaper headlines and mobs outside of stores is no more, which makes knowing when and where you should be spending your cash all the more confusing.

Luckily, we’re here to help. Over the next month or so, we’ll be poring through scores of presale spreadsheets and thousands upon thousands of deals to separate the real discounts from the unexciting, made-up bargains every retailer seems to hawk around the holidays. We’ll have tips on how to find the best deals and when to shop, and we’ll continue to flag the most compelling sales in the...

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Here are the best Black Friday deals you can already get

Image: Elen Winata for The Verge

From noise-canceling earbuds to robot vacuums and 4K OLED TVs, there is already plenty on offer.

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FCC passes auto safety spectrum rules

Image: Department of Transportation

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has voted to finalize new spectrum rules that will push cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) communications technology forward.

C-V2X will use existing cellular networks to send messages from vehicle to vehicle, vehicle to infrastructure, vehicle to cyclists, or vehicle to pedestrians to warn of each other's presence for safety purposes. It could cross-alert for hazardous road conditions, including speeding cars, weather, or traffic congestion.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said the agency’s efforts will drive innovation in wireless and transportation economies and “keep us safe on our roadways when we walk, ride, and drive.” The decision on the proposed rule promotes “efficient use of...

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Rabbit now lets you teach the R1 to perform tasks for you

Photo: David Pierce / The Verge

Rabbit is rolling out “teach mode” to its R1 devices, allowing you to create an AI agent that can perform tasks for you. The feature works by “learning” a task you demonstrate, such as retrieving updates from a content creator you follow, or helping you draft a post on social media.

You can access the feature by logging into the Rabbithole, the web interface for managing an R1 device. From there, you’ll create a “lesson” by describing a task and then recording yourself performing it. Once you show the AI agent what you want it to do, you can then ask it to recall what it’s learned and have it complete the task. It seems straightforward, but Rabbit acknowledges that teach mode is experimental and results may not always be what you expect.

...

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