Amazon is placing free Alexa Guard security features behind a paywall You’ll soon need to pay $6 a month to regain Guard features through the new Emergency Assist service (pictured). | Image: AmazonAmazon has announced that it’s shutting down Alexa Guard — a DIY security feature for Echo devices that listens for intruders or household alarms when you’re away from home. The free version of Alexa Guard that listens …

Meta’s Horizon Worlds is surprisingly decent on the web and mobile Image: MetaMeta’s Horizon Worlds 3D social platform is starting to roll out on the web and mobile, and it generally works a lot better outside of VR than I expected — though I wish there were more to do. Until recently, Horizon Worlds has only been available on Meta’s Quest VR headsets. In VR, the app lets you explore a wide range of virtual exp…

Getty made an AI generator that only trained on its licensed images Image: Getty ImagesGetty Images is partnering with Nvidia to launch Generative AI by Getty Images, a new tool that lets people create images using Getty’s library of licensed photos. Generative AI by Getty Images (yes, it’s an unwieldy name) is trained only on the vast Getty Images library, including premium content, giving users full copyright…

Pixel 8 series rumored to include seven years of software support A teaser image of the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro released by Google. | Image: GoogleGoogle’s upcoming Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro could come with seven years of software support, according to a leaked list of specs published by 91Mobiles. Kamila Wojciechowska, the original source of the leak, has also published US pricing for the two unannounced phones ahead…

Amazon will invest up to $4 billion into OpenAI rival Anthropic Amazon has commited to an initial $1.25 billion investment that can be increased by an additional $2.75 billion. | Image: Amazon / AnthropicAmazon announced on Monday that it will invest up to $4 billion into Anthropic — the AI startup best known for its Claude chatbot and founded by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei who used to work for OpenAI….

Bayonetta director and Platinum Games co-founder Hideki Kamiya is leaving the studio Kamiya onstage at Microsoft’s 2016 E3 press conference. | Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty ImagesHideki Kamiya, the Japanese video game director known for his work on Bayonetta, Viewtiful Joe, and The Wonderful 101, is leaving PlatinumGames. The news was first announced by the development studio on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, with…

Hollywood writers reach tentative deal to end the strike The Writers Guild of America has been on strike since May 2nd. | Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty ImagesThe Hollywood writers strike may be close to an end. After a more than 140-day work stoppage, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) announced on Sunday night that it reached a “tentative agreement” with major Hollywood studios on pay, w…

Resident Evil Village’s iPhone port might launch a day before Halloween The tall lady from Resident Evil Village comes to iPhones soon. | Image: CapcomCapcom quietly revealed an October 30th release date for Resident Evil Village on a page for the iOS and iPadOS versions of Village and the Resident Evil 4 remake. Resident Evil 4 remains listed as “available 2023.” Capcom doesn’t list any prices, but for reference, t…

Meta’s AI chatbot plan includes a ‘sassy robot’ for younger users Illustration by Nick Barclay / The VergeMeta is preparing to announce a generative AI chatbot, called “Gen AI Personas” internally, aimed at younger users, according to The Wall Street Journal. Reportedly set to launch during the company’s Meta Connect event that starts Wednesday, they would come in multiple “personas” geared towards engaging yo…

NASA collected a sample from an asteroid for the first time — here’s why it matters Victoria Thiem, system safety engineer from Lockheed Martin, checks the temperature of the actual size OSIRIS-REx’s return capsule sample during the recovery rehearsal at Lockheed Martin, Waterton Canyon campus in Littleton, Colorado on Tuesday, June 27, 2023.  | Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver PostThe OSIRIS-REx mission, launched in 2016, has …

Apple’s new software is widgets all the way down Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 7, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, first of all, hi, hello, welcome, and second of all, you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I’ve been reading about the AI writing lives of real writers, rewatching the John Wick movies to pre…

Watch as NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission brings asteroid samples back to Earth NASASeven years after the OSIRIS-REx mission launched, a capsule containing rocks captured from the asteroid Bennu in 2020 will land in Utah on Sunday morning. Continue reading…

Alexa is the best frenemy I’ve ever had Illustration by Cath Virginia / The VergeBefore I received my first Alexa-enabled smart display as a Christmas gift in 2019, I was not a big fan. I just didn’t feel like I could trust an Amazon device with a camera inside of it. I’d heard about all the privacy concerns, and I was determined to avoid it like the plague. But then a plague really d…

Samsung’s new ploy to get kids off iPhones is a MrBeast sponsorship Earlier this year, investment bank Piper Sandler published results from an annual survey showing that 87 percent of teens own an iPhone, leaving precious little market for Android device makers to carve up. But Samsung has a new plan to break the kids of their Apple addiction: Get YouTuber and restauranteur Jimmie Donaldson, aka MrBeast, to make…

The Google Pixel 8’s latest leak shows off big AI camera updates The Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The VergePixel 8 camera specs and a new AI promo video for the phone were posted by 91Mobiles, courtesy of leaker Kamila Wojciechowska, giving us our first real look at how Google will integrate more AI into its flagship smartphones (via 9to5Google). Magic Editor, which the compan…

The last-gen Apple Watch Series 8 is on sale for as low as $279 today The Apple Watch Series 8 bears more than a striking resemblance to this year’s model (surprise, surprise). | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The VergeThe Apple Watch Series 9 has officially landed, bringing with it a few minor improvements under the hood, watchOS 10, and a new Millennial pink(!) color. The new smartwatch is technically the bes…

California governor vetoes a bill requiring humans in autonomous big rigs Driverless trucks from Waymo. | Credit: WaymoGovernor Gavin Newsom has vetoed Assembly Bill 316, which would have required human attendants in driverless vehicles over 10,000 pounds, reports Reuters. The bill saw broad support among state legislators and was backed by the Teamsters and other labor organizations. At the moment, The governor wrot…

The iPhone 15 Pro is teaching me to embrace digital zoom I promise digital zoom isn’t as icky as it used to be. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The VergeIf you want to hear a love story, ask any photographer about their favorite lens. They’ll probably get a little glimmer in their eye as they tell you about the fast 35mm they carry everywhere or the long portrait lens with the bokeh that hits just right…

Where to preorder the new Surface Laptop Studio 2 and Laptop Go 3 Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Studio 2 looks to be a minor update of the prior model, with faster performance and new connectivity options. | Photo by Chris Welch / The VergeMicrosoft announced the Surface Laptop Studio 2 and Surface Laptop Go 3 during its recent hardware event in New York City, introducing the two laptops alongside a flurry of AI-…

iFixit tears down… Apple’s FineWoven cases Photo by Nilay Patel / The Verge“The new FineWoven iPhone cases are very bad,” according to my colleague Allison Johnson, so you probably shouldn’t buy one. Still, I’ve been curious to learn more about them, and iFixit’s new teardown just gave me even more information than I could have thought to ask for: it put one of the new cases under a micr…