Valve reveals the most-played Steam Deck games Valve’s new Steam Deck Top Played list will be updated daily based on the past week of statistics. | Screenshot: SteamToday, Valve released a new Steam Charts page highlighting the top played games on the Steam Deck. The list will be updated on a daily basis, revealing what titles are most popular on the handheld. Good morning! We just shipped…

The best Prime Day deals you can already get Some of these products are already better than they were during Black Friday, and we’re just getting started. | Image: Shira Inbar After several months of teasing, we now know that Prime Day 2024 will take place on Tuesday, July 16th, and Wednesday, July 17th. Fortunately, if you’re looking to get a leg up on deals ahead of the upcom…

More YouTube Premium plans are coming Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeYouTube is working on new plans for its YouTube Premium subscriptions, the company said in a community post on Thursday. “We’re committed to bringing members more plan options by expanding our existing offers to more regions, while also introducing new plans and exploring ways for you to share your benefits…

The Hyundai Inster is a cool, small EV — so of course it’s not coming to the US Meet the Hyundai Inster, the latest cute, small electric vehicle that is being cruelly denied a North American debut. This subcompact EV has over 200 miles of range, an almost retro-inspired interior aesthetic (think lots of plastic and chunky buttons), and an adorable face that won’t be making an appearance on US roads any time soon. Oh, and d…

All the tech news from the 2024 election Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty ImagesJoe Biden and Donald Trump are expected to face off on Tuesday, November 5th. Continue reading…

ACLU challenges Section 702 surveillance in neo-Nazi’s prosecution Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty ImagesThe American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has joined the defense team for a neo-Nazi accused of plotting to sabotage Baltimore’s electrical grid, The Baltimore Banner reports. Attorneys from the ACLU’s National Security Project will be working with Brandon Clint Russell’s defen…

Perplexity’s grand theft AI What, exactly, is Perplexity’s innovation? | Image: The VergeIn every hype cycle, certain patterns of deceit emerge. In the last crypto boom, it was “ponzinomics” and “rug pulls.” In self-driving cars, it was “just five years away!” In AI, it’s seeing just how much unethical shit you can get away with. Perplexity is basically a rent-seeking midd…

Instagram is starting to let some creators make AI versions of themselves Illustration: Alex Castro / The VergeInstagram’s new “AI Studio” will let creators make AI chatbot versions of themselves, and Meta is starting to roll it out as an “early test” in the US, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on his broadcast channel on Thursday. As part of the test, “you might start seeing AIs from your favorite creators and interest-…

Google touts ‘enterprise-ready’ AI with more facts and less make-believe The new Vertex AI capabilities aim to improve the accuracy of Google’s corporate chatbots. | Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos by Getty ImagesVertex AI, the Google Cloud development platform that allows companies to build services using Google’s machine learning and large language models, is getting new capabilities to help prev…

Samsung’s next smartwatches and earbuds fully revealed in new leak Image: @evleaks (X)With Samsung’s next Unpacked event less than two weeks away, the sneak peeks are starting to ramp up. Longtime leaker Evan Blass today shared what appear to be official, high-resolution marketing images of the soon-to-be-announced Galaxy Watch Ultra, Galaxy Watch 7, Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, and Galaxy Buds 3. The company’s “Ultra” …

TP-Link’s first Wi-Fi 7 gaming router costs $600 Originally announced in late 2022, TP-Link’s Wi-Fi 7 Archer GE800 gaming router is now available. | Image: TP-LinkThe TP-Link Archer GE800 Wi-Fi 7 tri-band gaming router was first announced in late 2022 before making appearances at CES 2023 and CES 2024, alongside a bunch of Wi-Fi 7 laptops. It’s finally available starting today for $599.99, alt…

The rise of shadow lobbying and its influence on decades of US policy Illustration: Kristen Radtke / The VergeOn today’s episode of Decoder, we’re talking about money and politics — always a good time — and how they come together in the form of lobbying in America. It’s hard to imagine a time when the influence of big corporations and mouthy billionaires didn’t touch every part of American politics, but the kind o…

Xbox Cloud Gaming is coming to Amazon’s Fire TV Sticks in July Image: MicrosoftMicrosoft is launching its Xbox TV app on Amazon’s Fire TV Sticks in July. The Xbox app will provide access to Xbox Cloud Gaming so subscribers to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate can stream a variety of games directly to Fire TV devices. Microsoft will support the Fire TV Stick 4K Max and Fire TV Stick 4K models for its Xbox app, which …

How one of the biggest political TikTokers actually makes a living I met Vitus “V” Spehar — the face behind Under the Desk News — a year ago in Washington, DC. I was on location with The Verge filming the TikTok senate hearing along with interviews with senators and content creators for a Verge video about the looming ban. And when we interviewed V outside of the Capitol, V said that TikTok was useful for chann…

SCOTUS pauses EPA plan to keep smog from drifting across state lines An exterior view of the Supreme Court on June 20th, 2024, in Washington, DC.  | Photo by Andrew Harnik / Getty ImagesThe Supreme Court decided to press pause on the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to prevent smog-forming pollutants from drifting across state borders. Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, and various trade organizations including…

These smart binoculars can identify thousands of stars and over a million landmarks When connected to a smartphone, the Unistellar Envision binoculars can identify over a million landmarks on Earth and in space. | Image: UnistellarUnistellar’s new Envision binoculars bring smart functionality similar to Swarovski’s Optik AX Visio binoculars announced earlier this year. But instead of recognizing birds and animals, the Envision …

Amazon’s latest Fire TV Cube is $79.99 for a refurbished model Photo by Chris Welch / The VergeAmazon Prime Day is fast approaching (on July 16th and 17th), but you don’t have to wait to get an impressive deal on one of Amazon’s flagship devices. That’s because Woot (which is owned by Amazon) is selling a refurbished third-gen Fire TV Cube for $79.99 with a 90-day warranty, saving you $60 off the cost of a …

Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile customers roaming internationally can’t connect Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo from Getty ImagesOver the last day or so, customers of the big three US mobile carriers — Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile — who are using data roaming internationally have complained about an inability to connect and make calls. Complaints about connection problems have spread across social media for…

Windows on Arm puts Intel on notice Photo by Chris Welch / The VergeMicrosoft’s first round of Copilot Plus PCs launched last week with the promise of better battery life, performance that matches a MacBook Air, and chips ready for AI. I’ve spent the past week testing both of Microsoft’s new Surface devices, and I think they largely live up to Microsoft’s promises. There are some …

YouTube is trying to make AI music deals with major record labels YouTube is expecting to launch new AI tools later this year that are trained off the back of these deals. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeAfter debuting a generative AI feature last year that produces music in the style of famous artists like Charli XCX, John Legend, and T-Pain, YouTube is now asking major record labels to allow it to c…