Figma introduces FigJam AI to spare designers from boring planning prep FigJam AI includes three tools for now, but Figma teases there are “more to come.” | Image: FigmaFigma, best known for its product design applications, has announced FigJam AI — a new suite of generative AI tools for its collaborative whiteboard service FigJam that creates ready-to-use templates for common design and planning projects. The idea …

Crunchyroll is adding mobile games to its subscription Captain Velvet: The Jump+ Dimensions. | Image: CrunchyrollCrunchyroll is making a bigger push into games. The anime streaming service, which has previously published a handful of mobile titles, is adding mobile games to its offering in a move similar to Netflix’s ongoing foray into gaming. The new feature is called the Crunchyroll Game Vault and…

Zero Motorcycles expands lineup with an eye toward bringing in new riders Image: ZeroZero Motorcycles is really leaning into its reputation as the “Tesla of motorcycles.” The company, which is one of the leading electric motorcycle manufacturers in the country, announced two new models today: the Model S street bike, with an all-new motor; and two new sport offerings, the DS and DSR models. The California-based comp…

Google contractors objected to reading obscene Bard prompts — now they’re unionizing Illustration: The VergeA group of Google contract workers who helped train the company’s Bard AI chatbot and write Google Help articles voted overwhelmingly to form a union on Monday. The workers, who are contracted to work for Google through Accenture, unionized to secure better working conditions and protections. The contractors will join the …

YouTube’s ad blocking crackdown is facing a new challenge: privacy laws Illustration: Alex Castro / The VergeAs YouTube tightens its restrictions on ad blockers, privacy advocates in the European Union are betting that government regulations can put a stop to the crackdown. One privacy expert, Alexander Hanff, filed a complaint in October with the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC). Hanff argues that YouTube’s …

The Verge’s 2023 Holiday Gift Guide A selection of great tech and non-tech gifts aimed at the tinkerer, the creative, and the kid in all of us. Continue reading…

This smart garage door controller is no longer very smart The Chamberlain MyQ smart garage door controller connects to a garage door opener so you can control it from anywhere. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The VergeThe Chamberlain Group — owners of the MyQ smart garage door controller tech — has announced it’s shut off all “unauthorized access” to its APIs. The move breaks the smart home integr…

Sony claims to fix the rolling shutter problem with its latest A9 III mirrorless camera The Sony A9 III features the company’s first global shutter in a full-frame mirrorless camera. | Image: SonySony has announced the latest in its line of popular professional mirrorless cameras: the A9 III. It’s a $5,999 full-frame camera with a stacked 24.6-megapixel sensor that succeeds the A9 II released four years ago. But the most important …

SAG-AFTRA won’t budge as studios push to own actors’ likenesses in perpetuity Illustration by William Joel / The VergeThough negotiators from both the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) met this past weekend in hopes of bringing Hollywood’s ongoing labor strike to an end, contract talks have reportedly stalled once again due to the desire of studios to own p…

Ram’s new 1500 EV truck has ‘unlimited’ range, thanks to built-in gas generator © 2023 StellantisStellantis is making a new electric-propelled Ram truck with a large EV battery pack linked to a gasoline engine that can extend range for long trips without frequent charging stops. The automaker’s new pickup, the 2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger, claims to go up to 690 miles on a full tank and charge. Since the Ramcharger runs on dual…

Nvidia’s RTX 4070 / 4080 Super cards rumored for CES 2024 launch Photo by Tom Warren / The VergeNvidia’s rumored RTX 4070 Super and RTX 4080 Super GPUs might launch in early 2024. Hardware leaker Kopite7kimi says Nvidia’s RTX 40 series Super cards will debut at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 2024, reports VideoCardz. Kopite7kimi has a reliable track record for Nvidia hardware. While Nvidia isn…

How to give yourself a break from your Android phone Illustration by Samar Haddad / The VergeIt can be all too easy to spend too much time on your phone, cycling through social media posts, news updates, video clips, messaging apps and then back round again. Before you know it, half an hour or more has gone by, and you’ve accomplished very little. If you’re looking to get a better balance between …

Samsung launches premium S Pen to tempt iPad artists in the US The slightly thicker shape of the Creator Edition S Pen should feel more natural to grip — like a real pencil. | Image: SamsungThe S Pen Creator Edition tablet stylus that Samsung unveiled alongside its Galaxy Tab S9 series in July is now available to buy in the US for $99.99. Designed with writing, sketching, and digital painting in mind, the S…

YouTube is testing a chatbot that will appear under select videos YouTube’s conversational AI tool can summarize videos and answer questions. | Image: GoogleYouTube’s latest AI experiments includes a new chatbot that’s designed to give you more information about a video you’re watching. The conversational AI tool, as Google’s support post calls it, aims to answer your questions about a video and can also recom…

Popsocket lets people design their cases with AI Photo by Mitchell Clark / The VergePhone accessory maker Popsocket will now let people design their phone grips with AI via Stable Diffusion and award up to $100,000 in a holiday giveaway for the best designs. Popsocket’s AI Customizer allows people to make their phone holders or cases exude as much personality as they want, and “bring their wi…

The WeWork soap opera’s latest episode includes filing for bankruptcy Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeCo-working office space provider WeWork has filed for bankruptcy covering its locations in the US and Canada, and in a filing, it said it had liabilities of between $10 and $50 billion. It’s the latest turn for a company that went from being valued at $47 billion in January 2019 to unsuccessfully attemptin…

PS5 ‘slim’ teardown shows the clever engineering of its detachable disc drive The new PS5. | Image: SonyThe new PlayStation 5 hasn’t come out yet — it doesn’t even have a specific release date — but a few YouTubers have gotten their hands on it, including Dave Lee from the Dave2D channel. Lee posted his teardown of the console yesterday, and if you’ve been curious about how that detachable disc drive works, this is the be…

The fix is in for the Pixel’s nasty multi-user bug on Android 14 Android 14 wreaked havoc on some Pixel phones with multiple user profiles. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The VergeGoogle’s November update should be coming very soon to Pixel phones, providing some relief for a critical bug affecting people with multiple user profiles on their devices. The update — spotted by 9to5Google — contains a fix for an is…

ChatGPT continues to be one of the fastest-growing services ever Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeOne hundred million people are using ChatGPT on a weekly basis, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced at its first-ever developer conference on Monday. Since releasing its ChatGPT and Whisper models via API in March, the company also now boasts over two million developers, including over 92 percent of Fortune 500…

OpenAI is letting anyone create their own version of ChatGPT Illustration: The VergeThe GPT platform is a no-code way to make custom AI agents for all sorts of tasks, and it’s available exclusively for ChatGPT Plus subscribers. Continue reading…