Is Sam Bankman-Fried’s defense even trying to win? Even the defense’s opening statement was a bad look for Sam Bankman-Fried | Photo Illustration by Cath Virginia / The VergeThe prosecution came out swinging. Oddly, Bankman-Fried’s defense didn’t. Continue reading…

X stops showing headlines because Elon Musk thinks it will make posts look better Illustration: The VergeX, formerly Twitter, is no longer showing headlines on articles shared on the platform. Instead, X is only showing the article’s lead image and the domain it will link you to. The change is present on the iOS app for myself and another Verge staffer. You can see the differences between the X iOS app and X on the web in th…

Amazon’s first Project Kuiper test satellites are headed to space on October 6th Image: AmazonAmazon will launch two Project Kuiper test satellites into space on Friday, October 6th. The pair of satellites — dubbed KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2 — will shoot into space aboard the United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Atlas V rocket as part of Amazon’s internet satellite initiative. The launch will take from the Space Launch Complex 41…

Artifact will let you generate images with AI for your posts Image: ArtifactJust one week after adding the ability to post, Artifact announced on Wednesday that users can now use AI to generate cover art for their content. The company says the feature will add “eye-catching images” that’ll help users better tell their stories. Up until recently, Artifact was an AI-powered news app from Instagram’s co-foun…

Here’s how Google’s new Pixel 8 phones stack up to the Pixel 7 lineup The Google Pixel 8 Pro comes with a 6.7-inch display and starts at $999. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The VergeIn addition to officially rolling out Android 14, Google introduced the Pixel Watch 2 and a new lineup of phones during its Made by Google Event on Wednesday. The Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro start at $699 and $999, respectively, and will be av…

Counterfeit iPhone traffickers behind $6.1 million con at Apple Stores are going to prison Apple Store grand opening in Columbia, Maryland. | Image: Umar Shakir / The VergeIt’s normally pretty easy to get your broken iPhone replaced at Apple’s Genius Bar under your AppleCare plan, but a (criminally) enterprising sibling duo found a way to trick the system by swapping counterfeit devices with real ones. Unfortunately for them, they got…

There’s already a Pixel 8 teardown video Screenshot: PBKreviews via YouTubeGoogle only officially took the wraps off the Pixel 8 just hours ago, and people are already tearing it down. In a video posted to YouTube, PBKreviews offers an early look at all the hardware packed behind the phone’s 6.2-inch OLED screen. The video starts off with PBKreviews carefully removing the display, whic…

Diablo IV is coming to Steam Image: Blizzard EntertainmentDiablo IV, one of the biggest games of the year, is coming to Steam on October 17th. The news comes via video game news and deals account Wario64, who spied a listing for the hellish RPG on Steam. Diablo 4 is coming to Steam on October 17th https://t.co/o4RDvRSDUi pic.twitter.com/txGyvBqBqt— Wario64 (@Wario64) Oct…

Here’s how Google’s new Pixel 8 phones compare to their top competitors Google’s new Pixel 8 certainly looks a whole lot like last year’s Pixel 7, which looked a lot like the Pixel 6. | Image: GoogleLast year’s Pixel 7 phones were an iterative spec bump and nice refinement in the design department (as polarizing as their looks remained), but part of what made those phones special was how much they offered for fairly…

Apple addresses iPhone 15 overheating with a new iOS 17 update Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The VergeOver the weekend, Apple blamed several factors for reports of iPhone 15s running hot, pointing to problems with specific apps like Instagram and Uber, post-transfer background processing, and unspecified bugs in iOS 17. Today, the company released a new software update with patch notes saying that iOS 17.0.3 “add…

Former BioWare employees sue for better severance packages Image: BioWareSeveral BioWare employees are suing their former employer after they alleged the company refused to grant them fair severance packages. A press release from Worobec Law Offices, the firm representing seven ex-BioWare employees, stated that the employees were entitled to one month of severance pay for each year of employment includi…

Google Pixel 8 launch event: the 7 biggest announcements Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The VergeGoogle’s latest Pixel launch event has come to an end. Even though some of the products Google revealed were leaked well in advance, the company still managed to throw in a couple of surprises. Here are all the biggest announcements from the Made by Google event. The Pixel 8 Pro gets a price bump and a temperatur…

Google claims its latest smartphone makes the ‘enhance!’ meme a reality Osterloh onstage announcing “Zoom Enhance.” | Image: GoogleDuring an onstage presentation at today’s Pixel 8 Pro launch, Google hardware chief Rick Osterloh showed off how the smartphone is able to retroactively add detail to a photograph when you pinch to zoom in. “So the kind of zoom enhancement you used to see in science fiction? It’s right i…

Detective Pikachu Returns is a super effective story let down by dated visuals An exasperated-looking Pikachu wearing a detective’s hat and standing with his paws on his hips. The pikachu is standing in a park, and behind him you can see overturned apple crates and a number of loose apples rolling on the ground. | NintendoThough Detective Pikachu Returns has an abundance of personality, its lackluster visuals keep it from …

Former Ubisoft executives arrested after sexual harassment investigation Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeFrench newspaper Libération has reported that five ex-Ubisoft employees have been arrested in connection with a sexual harassment investigation by French police. According to the paper, in 2021, French police received complaints from the Solidaires Informatique union — a French union that serves digital, c…

Ahsoka’s finale gets by on magic and mythology Image: LucasfilmOver the course of eight episodes… not a lot really happens in the first season of the Star Wars spinoff Ahsoka. There’s plenty of searching for a map and then getting to the destination on that map, but in a lot of ways, the show felt like moving pieces around on a board, setting them up for future adventures. And yet, I found…

Every phone, TV, and radio in the US will get an emergency alert today — here’s how An example of the emergency alert message going out today. | Image: FEMAAs a reminder, at about 2:20PM ET on Wednesday, October 4th, your phone will probably make a loud noise and show a message that reads, “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.” A similar message will be broadcast over the air to T…

Canva’s new AI tools automate boring, labor-intensive design tasks Magic Studio is a one-stop shop for AI-powered content creation tools. | Image: CanvaAs part of its 10th birthday celebrations, web-based design platform Canva is releasing Magic Studio — a new suite of AI-powered design tools that aim to make content creation more accessible to everyone, regardless of previous design experience. Canva describes…

Roku’s next update focuses on sports, live TV, and easier content discovery Image: RokuToday, Roku outlined a slew of new software features that owners of its streaming devices (or Roku TVs) can expect over the coming weeks and months. The company has over 73 million active accounts globally, and as always, it’s trying to increase the amount of time each of those users spends on the platform. This time, it’s doing so wi…

Uber will return your packages for you — for a fee, of course Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeUber is expanding its package delivery service, Uber Connect, to include returns. Starting today, customers can use Uber to summon a courier, who will return up to five packages to the post office or FedEx or UPS stores. The packages need to be resealed and include all the necessary prepaid postage to be r…