GM invests in ‘AI-enabled’ battery startup that could help build cheaper EVs GM’s current Ultium cells are NCMA-based. | Image: GMGM is leading a $60 million investment round for battery research company Mitra Chem. The California-based startup could help spur the development of more cathode active materials (CAM) for GM’s electric vehicles. Mitra Chem’s battery research and design facility touts the use of AI to test o…

Authors call on FTC to investigate Amazon’s alleged monopoly in the bookselling industry Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeAmazon is already facing a potential lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission, and now, a group of authors, booksellers, and an antitrust think tank is calling on the agency to investigate the e-commerce giant’s stranglehold on the bookselling market, as previously reported by The New York Times. In the le…

Where to preorder the various editions of Starfield (and what’s included) Starfield is all about space exploration — potentially like hundreds of hours of it. | Image: Bethesda Game StudiosIt’s been a very busy year for big game releases, with Starfield being one of the biggest titles that has yet to launch. The Xbox and PC exclusive from Bethesda is promising a massive sci-fi world to voyage around, with over 1,000 e…

Soon you’ll need Wear OS 3 to run Google Assistant At least the Fossil Gen 6 has everything now. | Photo by Dieter Bohn / The VergeIf you’re still holding onto a Wear OS 2 smartwatch, it may be time to consider making the leap to Wear OS 3. In the latest update to the Wear OS 2 companion app, 9to5Google spotted a string urging users to upgrade to Wear OS 3 because Google Assistant support is “en…

EV charging in the US is still a no good, very bad time — and somehow it’s getting worse Photo by Umar Shakir / The VergeElectric vehicle owners are overall not satisfied with the reliability of the charging infrastructure available in the US, according to a new survey conducted by JD Power. In some cases, things are looking even worse than last year. The survey finds that 20 percent of survey takers have, at least once, arrived and…

Adobe Express now has AI-powered features to take on Canva Adobe Express is rolling out its latest AI-powered features for general use. | Image: AdobeFollowing several months in beta, Adobe is now rolling out AI-powered features to Adobe Express, its cloud-based all-in-one design platform, courtesy of the company’s Firefly generative AI model. Designed to make content creation more accessible for those …

Tesla’s ‘ultra hardcore’ work culture — as told by its employees Photo by Justin Sullivan / Getty ImagesEver wonder what it’s like to work at Tesla, the biggest, most exciting car company in the world? Elon Musk is known for setting lofty goals and expecting nothing short of perfection from his workers. He often urges his employees to go “super hardcore” or “ultra hardcore” — an ethos he recently brought to X…

Vampire Survivors feels like a different game with a friend Screenshot by Jay Peters / The VergeVampire Survivors with a friend is surprisingly slow. Typically, the indie hit feels frantic as your character automatically uses various weapons so you can defeat waves of oncoming enemies, scoop up experience gems, and race toward far-strung items across levels. The perfectly tuned colors and sounds that mak…

Today I learned you can easily pause the Windows Task Manager to stop apps moving around Photo by Becca Farsace / The VergeI can’t believe I’ve been struggling with apps in the Task Manager randomly moving around without realizing there’s a simple keyboard shortcut to pause the Task Manager and stop its contents in their tracks. Yup, all you have to do is hold down the CTRL key and it will pause the Task Manager on both Windows 10 a…

Intel abandons chipmaking acquisition after failing to secure Chinese approval Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeIntel has officially terminated its acquisition of Tower Semiconductor, the Israeli chipmaking company it announced its intention to buy for $5.4 billion in February 2022. In a press release Intel blamed its “inability to obtain… the regulatory approvals required under the merger agreement” in a timely mann…

Dell’s new monitor can transform into a touch display Dell’s new 24 Touch USB-C Hub Monitor is a new 23.8-inch 1080p monitor that can effectively transform into a touchscreen tablet thanks to its articulating stand. Dell is pitching the monitor for use in retail or warehouse environments, in addition to homes and offices. The company has produced monitors with a similar form-factor in the past, suc…

OpenAI wants GPT-4 to solve the content moderation dilemma Illustration: The VergeOpenAI is convinced that its technology can help solve one of tech’s hardest problems: content moderation at scale. GPT-4 could replace tens of thousands of human moderators while being nearly as accurate and more consistent, claims OpenAI. If that’s true, the most toxic and mentally taxing tasks in tech could be outsource…

An Iowa school district is using ChatGPT to decide which books to ban Illustration: The VergeIowa’s Mason City Community School District is pulling 19 books from school libraries that administrators found to contain “a description or depiction of a sex act” in order to comply with Republican-backed state laws. A key arbiter of whether the books should be banned: ChatGPT. The news that the district had used AI soft…

Helium Mobile’s suspiciously cheap phone plan is only for the bravest among us Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeHey, remember Helium Network, the project that was praised by The New York Times for its cryptocurrency-powered approach to public internet before it was revealed that it had been misleading people about its partner companies and that insiders had disproportionately profited from the token? Well, Helium now…

It’s official, people aren’t watching TV as much as they used to Some kids watching TV, back when that was a thing kids regularly did. | Photo by Michel BARET/Gamma-Rapho via Getty ImagesIt finally happened, at least according to a new metric Nielsen began using two years ago: linear TV now accounts for less than 50 percent of all TV usage. This probably isn’t a surprise unless you’re reading this on the couc…

TweetDeck is officially becoming a paid service The VergeX, the social network formally known as Twitter, appears to be finally following through on its promise to make TweetDeck a paid service. Many users on X, including social media consultant Matt Navarra, say that they’re seeing a sales page for X Premium (the subscription formerly Twitter Blue) when they try to load up TweetDeck, which i…

Amazon Music Unlimited is getting more expensive for Prime subscribers Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeAmazon Music Unlimited is getting another price hike, and this one affects people who pay for the music service and Amazon’s Prime subscription. The cost of Amazon Music Unlimited’s individual plan for Prime members will go up from $8.99 to $9.99 per month, according to Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. T…

Apple moved the end call button again in iOS 17 Screenshot by Jay Peters / The VergeApple has moved end call button once again with the latest iOS 17 developer beta. Now, it lives in the lower middle of the call screen instead of on the lower right. It’s a little change, but it might mean that iOS 17’s new call controls won’t feel quite as different once Apple officially rolls out the new sof…

Starfield: all the news and trailers about Bethesda’s massive space RPG Image: Bethesda Game StudiosPrepare to get lost in space with Bethesda’s next big game. Continue reading…

AMD CEO Lisa Su is coming to the Code Conference AMD CEO Lisa Su | Photo: AMDAMD CEO Lisa Su is coming to the Code Conference next month to talk AI, supply chains, the PC market, and more with The Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel. Su has already transformed AMD once. When Su was named CEO of the chipmaker in 2014, AMD was struggling. The company was losing money, and its main moneymaker — des…