Microsoft Teams is adding Maybelline’s AI-powered ‘makeup’ filters The feature is rolling out to Teams Enterprise users starting Wednesday, July 19th. | Image: Maybelline / MicrosoftIt can be tempting to disable your webcam on a video call, especially on days when you look like a hot mess. For Teams users, Microsoft is introducing a new AI-powered beauty feature that’s designed to “make people’s lives a little …

Netflix says password-sharing crackdowns caused more signups than cancellations Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeNetflix says its password-sharing crackdown is working. In its second quarter earnings report posted on Wednesday, the streamer says it saw the addition of 5.9 million subscribers globally, with the US and Canada making up 1.17 million new members from April to June. Now, Netflix will start to address passw…

Tesla’s revenue soars amid rampant price cutting Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeTesla published its second quarter earnings report in which the company said it earned $3.1 billion in net income on $24.9 billion in revenue. That represents a 47 percent increase year over year compared to $16.9 billion in revenue in Q2 2022. The company’s gross margins fell to 18.2 percent for the second…

Tesla starts production of Dojo supercomputer to train driverless cars Image: TeslaTesla says it has started production of its Dojo supercomputer to train its fleet of autonomous vehicles. In its second quarter earnings report for 2023, the company outlined “four main technology pillars” needed to “solve vehicle autonomy at scale: extremely large real-world dataset, neural net training, vehicle hardware and vehicle…

US antitrust enforcers lay down plans to block Big Tech mergers Photo by Chip Somodevilla / Getty ImagesFederal antitrust enforcers released new draft guidelines for evaluating anti-competitive mergers Wednesday, redoubling their aggressive scrutiny over digital markets. The rules, proposed by the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission, direct enforcers to examine mergers by online platforms more b…

The official Windows launch of Nearby Share adds some new features Image: GoogleGoogle is officially launching Nearby Share for Windows, the company’s AirDrop-like tool that lets you send things like documents and photos between your Android device and your PC. The company first released the app for Windows in beta earlier this year. As part of Wednesday’s launch, Google says Nearby Share now has “improved perf…

Instagram embeds don’t violate copyright laws, court rules Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeInstagram isn’t liable for copyright infringement when images are embedded on third-party websites, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled on Monday (via Torrent Freak). The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit filed by two photographers, Alexis Hunley and Matthew Brauer, who acc…

Meta’s AR glasses reportedly won’t feature the high-end displays it planned Image: Nick Barclay / The VergeThe first part of Meta’s augmented reality glasses it sells to the public won’t come with the high-end displays originally planned for the device, according to a new report from The Information. Sources tell the outlet that Meta’s AR glasses will instead feature older glass lenses and display technology. As reporte…

Blizzard games are coming to Steam Image: BlizzardSome of your favorite Blizzard games are coming to Steam. Today, Blizzard announced that it plans to offer a selection of its games on the PC storefront. “Though we remain committed to continually investing in and supporting Battle.net, we want to break down the barriers to make it easier for players everywhere to find and enjoy o…

Oppenheimer is an unrelenting stream of bombastic vignettes in need of a narrative chain reaction Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer. | Image: UniversalChristopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer epic offers a series of visceral glimpses into the life of the father of the atomic bomb but gets too busy to reach its full potential. Continue reading…

I don’t know where to post about the World Cup Photo by Roland Krivec / DeFodi Images via Getty ImagesStarting tomorrow, my sleep schedule is going to be in complete disarray. The 2023 Women’s World Cup kicks off in Australia and New Zealand on July 20th, which means that I’ll be getting up very early — and staying up pretty late — in order to catch as much of it as I can. It’s an exciting m…

Nissan is on board with Tesla’s charging revolution Photo by Roberto Baldwin for The VergeNissan is announcing support for Tesla’s winning charging connector for the North American market. The automaker is not only the first Japanese brand to agree to add the charger but also the first Asian one. Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) is the port that many major automakers, including For…

‘Welcome to EV dongle town’ I want to be very clear: this is not my car. An Audi E-tron parked across multiple spots in order to access a Tesla Supercharger. | Image: Umar Shakir / The VergeEarlier this year, I purchased my first electric vehicle, a 2023 Volkswagen ID.4 Pro S — moonstone gray, moon roof, all-wheel drive. I knew that the car would start losing value as soo…

Apple’s cheapest iPad has returned to its all-time low price at Amazon The ninth-gen iPad may feature big bezels and an outdated design, but it’s also the lone iPad with a headphone jack. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The VergeWe’re now a week out from Amazon Prime Day, and while steep discounts currently seem somewhat in short supply, we’re starting to see some of the best Prime Day deals return. Case in point: the ste…

Apple is testing an AI chatbot but has no idea what to do with it Image: The VergeApple is creating its own AI-powered chatbot that some engineers are calling “Apple GPT,” according to a report from Bloomberg. The company reportedly doesn’t have any solid plans to release the technology to the public yet. As noted by Bloomberg, the chatbot uses its own large language model (LLM) framework called “Ajax,” runnin…

Reddit is bringing back r/Place at perhaps the worst possible time Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeReddit is bringing back r/Place — a collaborative project where individual users can edit pixels on a giant canvas — at a time when users are still furious over things like Reddit’s API pricing that forced beloved third-party apps to shut down, the company’s decision to remove chat history from before 2023 …

Samsung debuts the industry’s first GDDR7 memory chips Samsung is first out of the gate with GDDR7, but it might be a while before we see it installed into market-ready products. | Image: SamsungOn Wednesday, Samsung announced that it has completed the development of the industry’s first GDDR7 DRAM, the next generation of graphics memory that will feature in future computing, vehicle, and gaming har…

WhatsApp is rolling out to Wear OS smartwatches WhatsApp is now a Wear OS 3 app. | Image: MetaFirst teased at Google I/O, Meta just announced that WhatsApp is officially rolling out to Wear OS smartwatches starting today, provided you have a Wear OS 3 smartwatch. The app itself isn’t complicated. It’ll allow users to start new conversations, reply to messages, and take calls from the wrist. …

Beats’ new Studio Pros are its first flagship headphones since 2017 You can order the Studio Pros beginning today. | Image: BeatsFor the first time since 2017, Beats is announcing a brand-new pair of flagship headphones. Today, the Apple-owned company is introducing the $349.95 Beats Studio Pros. They’re available to order beginning today and will be in Apple retail locations (and other stores) on July 20th. As …

Beats Studio Pro headphones review: leaning on a legacy They look like a lazy refresh from the outside, but the noise-canceling Studio Pros include a ton of new features like transparency mode and lossless USB-C audio. And they solidify Beats’ unique appeal as a dual-ecosystem brand. Continue reading…