OpenAI releases a cheaper ChatGPT subscription
OpenAI releases a cheaper ChatGPT subscription

OpenAI is expanding a low-cost subscription tier called ChatGPT Go to the US and the rest of the world. Go was released in India in August and later became available in another 170 countries prior to Friday’s global release. “In markets where Go has been available, we’ve seen strong adoption and regular everyday use for […]

Ads are coming soon to ChatGPT, starting with shopping links
Ads are coming soon to ChatGPT, starting with shopping links

ChatGPT will soon start showing you sponsored products or services if they’re related to your conversation. In an announcement on Friday, OpenAI says it will start testing ads in the coming weeks for logged-in users in the US who use the app for free or have a ChatGPT Go subscription. The “clearly labeled” ads will […]

X is still having issues following an hour-long outage on Friday
X is still having issues following an hour-long outage on Friday

On Friday morning, X and Grok went offline for users around the world on both the websites and apps. Outage reports began spiking on DownDetector around 10:00AM ET, while Cisco’s ThousandEyes outage map noted over 600 X servers around the world that were having problems. Attempts to load the site with either the Twitter.com or […]

600,000 Trump Mobile phones sold? There’s no proof.
600,000 Trump Mobile phones sold? There’s no proof.

Where’s the Trump phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. We’ve reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump phone’s whereabouts. As usual, we’re still waiting for a response. In the meantime, some impressive alleged sales figures have gone viral – but they might be too good to be true. This […]

I saw the future of retail, and it’s all AI
I saw the future of retail, and it’s all AI

Several people are gathered around a bleach blond man in a bright pink suit suspended in a clear plastic tube. With a microphone in front of him and a giant sign reading TALK TO ME placed above, “Mike” waits, hands clasped patiently in front of his body, to take questions from his public. “Mike” is […]

Kodak’s collectible Charmera is a terrible camera I somehow don’t hate
Kodak’s collectible Charmera is a terrible camera I somehow don’t hate

Like trading cards, Lego figures, and even the coveted Labubu, you don’t know exactly what your Kodak Charmera camera is going to look like until you open the box. The anticipation and a $30 price tag helped the collectible camera sell out quickly and become nearly impossible to find over the holidays after its debut […]

This 3D-scanned insole is another example of placebo tech
This 3D-scanned insole is another example of placebo tech

This is Optimizer, a weekly newsletter sent every Friday from Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song that dissects and discusses the latest phones, smartwatches, apps, and other gizmos that swear they’re going to change your life. Optimizer arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes at 10AM ET. Opt in for Optimizer here. I take my feet seriously. Which […]

Siri is a Gemini
Siri is a Gemini

We know how the next-generation Siri is supposed to work. Apple showed it off in 2024, made commercials about it, and generally promised that AI would change the way we used our gadgets forever. And then, well, none of that came to pass. So Apple made a deal: It tapped Google’s Gemini technology to help […]

Sony, Anker, and other headphones have a serious Google Fast Pair security vulnerability
Sony, Anker, and other headphones have a serious Google Fast Pair security vulnerability

Several Bluetooth audio devices from companies like Sony, Anker, and Nothing are susceptible to a new flaw that can allow attackers to listen in on conversations or track devices that use Google’s Find Hub network, as reported by Wired. Researchers from KU Leuven University’s Computer Security and Industrial Cryptography group in Belgium discovered several vulnerabilities […]

‘Sideshow’ concerns and billionaire dreams: What I learned from Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI
‘Sideshow’ concerns and billionaire dreams: What I learned from Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI

This is an excerpt of Sources by Alex Heath, a newsletter about AI and the tech industry, syndicated just for The Verge subscribers once a week. Elon Musk first sued OpenAI in February 2024. Despite OpenAI’s repeated attempts to throw it out, the case is now headed to a jury trial on April 27th in […]