Perplexity’s ‘Pro Search’ AI upgrade makes it better at math and research Illustration: The VergePerplexity has launched a major upgrade to its Pro Search AI tool, which it says “understands when a question requires planning, works through goals step-by-step, and synthesizes in-depth answers with greater efficiency.” Examples on Perplexity’s website of what Pro Search can do include a query asking the best time to see…

Threads hits 175 million users after a year Illustration: The VergeA year and a half ago, Threads was but a twinkle in Mark Zuckerberg’s eye. Now, the rival to Elon Musk’s X has reached more than 175 million monthly active users, the Meta CEO announced on Wednesday. His announcement comes as Threads is about to hit its one-year anniversary. Back when it arrived in the App Store on July 5…

How a musical indie game went against the grain to explore the Deaf experience Image: That Odd GentlemenDeveloping Harmonium: The Musical took a lot of time and a lot of resources, but according to its developers, that effort and expense was worth it. Continue reading…

LG buys Homey in a very Samsung SmartThings move LG is bringing Athom’s Homey products and the third-party device support they provide under its wing. | Image: LG / HomeyLG has acquired an 80 percent stake in Athom, a Dutch company best known for its Homey smart home platform. The deal, which LG says will see it acquire the remaining 20 percent of Athom within the next three years, has been fo…

I renewed my US passport in a single week with the government’s speedy online beta Picking up my new passport at the post office. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The VergePerhaps you’ve heard you can now renew your US passport online. As long as you meet certain requirements, there’s a beta website for that. The State Department tells me it’s not necessarily faster — but anecdotally, my family just had two of the speediest, most p…

Proton just launched a privacy-focused alternative to Google Docs Proton Docs does comments, collaboration, and a bunch of other Google Docs-y things. | Image: ProtonProton Docs looks a lot like Google Docs: white pages, formatting toolbar at the top, live indicators showing who’s in the doc with their name attached to a cursor, the whole deal. That’s not especially surprising, for a couple of reasons. First, …

Meta ordered to stop training its AI on Brazilian personal data Brazilian regulators say Meta’s “excessive and unjustified obstacles” make it difficult for users to opt out of AI training. | Illustration: Nick Barclay / The VergeBrazil’s data protection authority (ANPD) has banned Meta from training its artificial intelligence models on Brazilian personal data, citing the “risks of serious damage and difficu…

DJI expands into e-bikes and drive systems An exploded view of the Amflow PL e-bike showing the Avinox drive system. | Image: DJIDJI is expanding into electric bikes in a big way with its new Avinox drive system and Amflow e-bike brand. The company best known for its drones is launching its first e-bike — the carbon fiber Amflow PL electric mountain bike — before the end of the year, com…

Mastodon rolls out built-in bylines for journalists in the fediverse Image: MastodonIf you’re on Mastodon, you might notice new author bylines appearing alongside articles — including those from The Verge. Click on the byline, and you’ll jump directly to the author’s fediverse account, allowing you to track their work wherever it’s posted. For now, you’ll only see this feature on mastodon.social and other instanc…

You can pay to put a virtual house on Snapchat’s map I can’t afford an actual house in this hellish economy, so a virtual one will have to do. | Image: SnapSnapchat Plus subscribers are getting a new feature that allows you to design your own virtual house to show off on the Snap Map. You can view your house at any time by visiting the map, as can anyone you share your location with. Your customi…

Apple’s Phil Schiller is reportedly joining OpenAI’s board Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The VergeApple has chosen App Store chief and former marketing head Phil Schiller to represent the company on OpenAI’s nonprofit board, according to a report from Bloomberg. Schiller will reportedly get an observer role, meaning he can attend board meetings but can’t vote or act as a director. Joining the board w…

This dual-screen laptop swings horizontally — and quotes the Whole Earth Catalog The Acemagic X1, a laptop with a side-folding second screen for multi-monitor use. | Image: AcemagicEver since Razer brought a triple-screen laptop to CES 2017 and promptly got it stolen, we’ve been captivated by the idea of multiple mobile screens. The Acemagic X1 (via Liliputing) is the latest attempt to make it a practical reality, with twin …

Figma pulls AI tool after criticism that it ripped off Apple’s design Image: Cath Virginia / The VergeFigma’s new tool Make Designs lets users quickly mock up apps using generative AI. Now, it’s been pulled after the tool drafted designs that looked strikingly similar to Apple’s iOS weather app. Figma CEO Dylan Field posted a thread on X early Tuesday morning detailing the removal, putting the blame on himself for…

Netflix’s latest game is a mobile take on Minesweeper Image: NetflixNetflix is launching Minesweeper as part of its selection of subscriber-only games, and it’s available now on Android and iOS. The classic puzzle game that most people know from Microsoft Minesweeper, available in Windows 11 and versions dating back to 1990, has a fresh coat of paint with colorful graphics and new modes. Netflix’s…

A year of Paramount Plus with Showtime is half off ahead of its impending price hike The current promo lets you secure a better rate than either of the monthly plans, but you’ll have to pay upfront. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeWith a Paramount Plus price hike coming on August 20th, now might be a good time to secure a year’s worth of access to the streaming service. Thankfully, Paramount is offering new and returnin…

Longer-lasting laptops: the modular hardware you can upgrade and repair yourself Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The VergeModular laptops with parts that can be swapped out as needed are becoming more popular, like Framework’s Laptop 16 and the Lenovo ThinkPad P1. Continue reading…

Judge blocks Mississippi law that required age verification on social media Image: The VergeA federal judge blocked a Mississippi law from taking effect that would have required age verification for all and parental consent for teens in order to make accounts on many social media sites. The preliminary injunction fell on the same day the Supreme Court issued a ruling in a pair of cases challenging social media laws in …

Shadow of the Erdtree’s new perfume weapons are seriously broken and seriously fun Image: Bandai NamcoImagine if those aggressive salespeople at the Macy’s perfume counter were shoving napalm in your face instead of Chanel No. 5: that’s what it feels like playing with the new perfume bottle weapons in Shadow of the Erdtree. The early days after any Souls game release are always some of the best. The speedrunners and content c…

Google’s carbon footprint balloons in its Gemini AI era Illustration: The VergeGoogle’s greenhouse gas emissions have ballooned, according to the company’s latest environmental report, showing how much harder it’ll be for the company to meet its climate goals as it prioritizes AI. Google has a goal of cutting its planet-heating pollution in half by 2030 compared to a 2019 baseline. But its total gr…

Xbox Live is down The VergeA widespread Xbox outage is preventing players from connecting to Xbox Live and playing online games, downloading games, or using other services, with many seeing the message “Error 0x87DD0033.” In a post at around 3PM ET, Xbox says it’s “aware that some users have been disconnected from Xbox Live” and that the company is “investigating…