MrBeast and T-Series are battling for the most-subscribed YouTube channel MrBeast’s 252 million YouTube subscribers are nipping at the heels of T-Series. | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty ImagesDespite his immense popularity and online presence, Jimmy Donaldson (aka MrBeast) has never been the most subscribed channel on YouTube — though that may not be the case for long. T-Series, India’s largest music label …

Gmail’s tabs are actually useful now that I’ve found this extension Illustration by Samar Haddad / The VergeI’ve always hated the fact Gmail only gives us five predefined categories — “Inbox,” “Social,” “Promotions,” “Updates,” and “Forum” — that we can’t customize. When the feature first launched in 2013, it felt like such an obvious omission I assumed Google would address it with a future update. But it’s been…

Playdate has sold 150,000 games in the last year Image: Vjeran Pavic / The VergeLast March, Panic launched a curated game shop called Catalog for its Playdate handheld. And one year later, the company says it has sold more than 150,000 games through the store. “We want to let everyone who enjoys games know that there is a vibrant game dev community making hundreds of inventive and thoughtful g…

Samsung shifts executives to six-day workweeks to ‘inject a sense of crisis’ The Korean tech giant is now expanding the previously voluntary policy to executives across its entire workforce. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeSamsung is introducing a companywide six-day workweek policy for executives as the Korean tech giant takes emergency measures to tackle ongoing business uncertainty. This new policy comes off …

Senate Democrats urge crackdown on autonomous vehicles and driver assist Image: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty ImagesTwo prominent Senate Democrats are calling for increased scrutiny of autonomous vehicles and advanced driver-assist systems (ADAS) like Tesla’s Autopilot, arguing that the unimpeded flow of highly automated vehicles on public roads in recent years risks exacerbating the traffic safety c…

Google fires 28 employees after sit-in protest over Israel cloud contract Illustration: The VergeGoogle fired 28 employees in connection with sit-in protests by employees at two of its offices this week, according to an internal memo obtained by The Verge. The firings come after 9 employees were suspended and then arrested in New York and California on Tuesday. The fired employees were involved in protesting a Google…

Coding bootcamp Lambda School — now BloomTech — is finally getting punished Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeIn 2020, we wrote how coding bootcamp Lambda School seemed like a bit of a bait-and-switch. Four years later and one rebranding to “BloomTech” later, the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is finally slapping it on the wrist — it’s permanently banning it from issuing any more student loans, fini…

A real privacy law? House lawmakers are optimistic this time Image: Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty ImagesWe might really do it this time. That was the takeaway that House lawmakers were eager to impart at a hearing in the Energy and Commerce subcommittee on innovation, data, and commerce (IDC). Comprehensive data privacy legislation is on the table yet again — but this time, it’s different. …

TikTok to restrict users who repeatedly post problematic topics from ‘For You’ feed Illustration by Nick Barclay / The VergeTikTok will make entire accounts temporarily ineligible for its For You feed if users have a pattern of posting about extreme fitness, conspiracy theories, sexually suggestive material, and a wide range of other topics that the platform won’t promote on the feed. The change was included in an update to Tik…

Sega is turning Golden Axe into an animated series Bleeeeeaaaagggghhhhh. | Screenshot: Wes Davis / The VergeComedy Central has ordered 10 episodes of Golden Axe, an animated show based on the fantasy beat ’em up sidescroller games. Deadline writes that it will be both “hilarious and loving” in its adaptation of the game. If I remember my Sega Genesis days well, I think that means there’ll be fig…

Twitch is bringing its TikTok-style feed to everyone this month Illustration by Nick Barclay / The VergeAfter nearly a year of testing, Twitch’s new TikTok-style discovery feed will finally roll out to all users later this month. During a Patch Notes livestream on Wednesday, Twitch announced the new feed that will let you scroll through separate feeds dedicated to clips and current livestreams. The new disco…

Apple TV Plus’ For All Mankind is getting a fifth season and a new spinoff series Tyner Rushing as Samantha Massey in For All Mankind. | Image: AppleFolks hoping to see more of Apple TV Plus’ For All Mankind series are in for a treat, but the streamer is working on more than just a new season. Today, Apple announced that For All Mankind has been renewed for a fifth season that will continue to chronicle the alternate history …

Boston Dynamics’ new Atlas robot is a swiveling, shape-shifting nightmare Image: Boston Dynamics.It’s alive! A day after announcing it was retiring Atlas, its hydraulic robot, Boston Dynamics has introduced a new, all-electric version of its humanoid machine. The next-generation Atlas robot is designed to offer a far greater range of movement than its predecessor. Boston Dynamics wanted the new version to show that A…

The Pixel 7A is a knockout at its record-low $349 The Pixel 7A is a standout midrange smartphone that nearly performs like a flagship, now for an entry-level price. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Google is expected to introduce the new Pixel 8A at its I/O developer conference next month. That’s probably a contributing factor for the new all-time low price we’re seeing on the midrange P…

NBA bans player for life over online sports betting Photo by Brian Sevald / NBAE via Getty ImagesThe NBA has permanently banned Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter from the league for violating its gambling rules, the league said in a statement on Wednesday. According to an internal investigation conducted by the NBA, Porter bet on NBA games, disclosed confidential information to other gamblers…

Dwarf Fortress goes on an adventure Image: Bay 12 GamesThough you could always go on adventures in Dwarf Fortress, with the game’s Adventure Mode expansion entering public beta today, you can now sally forth with a full complement of updated graphics. In Adventure Mode, there are all sorts of shenanigans to get up to in the ridiculously large and detailed procedurally generated wo…

TikTok Notes starts rolling out as a new rival to Instagram Illustration by Nick Barclay / The VergeTikTok has started rolling out its Instagram rival, TikTok Notes, to select Android and iOS users “for download and limited testing in Australia and Canada.” A tweet announcing the launch, as well as the App Store and Google Play listings, showed off some official images of the app that offer insights abou…

Visible’s new annual plans cut the price on a full year of service Image: VisibleVisible has just launched its first annual plans, letting customers lock in a year of mobile service all at once for either of the company’s two tiers. The Verizon-owned prepaid carrier is charging $395 per year for its Visible Plus plan, which it says leads to annual savings of $145. The standard Visible plan runs $275 per year, a…

Nine Google employees arrested after eight-hour sit-in protest Dante D’Orazio / The VergeNine Google employees who occupied the company’s offices in New York and California were arrested Tuesday night after an eight-hour sit-in. The workers were protesting Google’s involvement in Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion Israeli government contract for Google and Amazon’s cloud computing services. Employees at the Sun…

Third-party iPhone app store AltStore PAL is now live in Europe That €1.50 per year subscription does not include tax but does offset Apple’s Core Technology Fee. | Image: AltStore PALAfter we recently tested it in beta, the third-party iOS app store AltStore PAL is now live in the European Union thanks to Apple’s compliance with the region’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). The store requires a €1.50 (plus tax) a…