Google launched Gemini 2.0, its new AI model for practically everything Illustration: The VergeGoogle’s latest AI model has a lot of work to do. Like every other company in the AI race, Google is frantically building AI into practically every product it owns, trying to build products other developers want to use, and racing to set up all the infrastructure to make those things possible without being so expensive it …

Google built an AI tool that can do research for you Illustration: The VergeGoogle has just revealed a new AI tool called Deep Research that lets you call upon its Gemini bot to scour the web for you and write a detailed report based on its findings. Deep Research is currently only available in English to Gemini Advanced subscribers. If you have access, you can ask Gemini to research a particular …

Google’s AI enters its ‘agentic era’ Image: GoogleI stepped into a room lined with bookshelves, stacked with ordinary programming and architecture texts. One shelf stood slightly askew, and behind it was a hidden room that had three TVs displaying famous artworks: Edvard Munch’s The Scream, Georges Seurat’s Sunday Afternoon, and Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa. “There’s some …

iOS 18.2 is rolling out today, adding ChatGPT integration and more Apple Intelligence tools iOS 18.2 is now available for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. | Image: AppleApple announced the release of iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2, adding many new Apple Intelligence features, including Image Playground, Genmoji, and integration with ChatGPT. According to Apple’s press release, the updates are available now, but we’re not seeing th…

YouTube is a hit on TVs — and is starting to act like it Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeYouTube just released some new stats that show how the service is being consumed on televisions, and the numbers are enormous. Watch time on TV for sports content was up 30 percent year over year; viewers watched more than 400 million hours of podcasts on their TVs every month. This is YouTube we’re talkin…

iOS 18.2 is out now, adding ChatGPT integration and more Apple Intelligence tools Image: Cath Virginia / The VergeApple has released iOS 18.2,iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2, which add a bunch of new Apple Intelligence features, including Image Playground, Genmoji, and integration with ChatGPT. With Image Playground, users can generate an image from a prompt or make something based on one of Apple’s suggestions. However,…

Trump’s pick for FTC chair promises to go after ‘censorship’ from tech companies Image: FTCPresident-elect Donald Trump has selected Andrew Ferguson to be the next chair of the Federal Trade Commission. Ferguson will take over for Lina Khan, who has earned praise from Vice President-elect J.D. Vance for her efforts to fight big tech. “Andrew has a proven record of standing up to Big Tech censorship, and protecting Freedom of…

YouTube’s AI-powered dubbing is now available to many more creators Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeYouTube says it has expanded its AI-powered auto-dubbing to “hundreds of thousands of channels” in the YouTube Partner Program that are “focused on knowledge and information.” YouTube says it will bring the feature to “other types of content soon.” What the dubs consist of depends on the language used in th…

Valve is now selling refurbished Steam Deck OLEDs starting at $439 Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The VergeThe Steam Deck OLED, the best version of Valve’s gaming handheld with additional battery life, a slight increase to performance, and an eye-popping screen, can now be purchased refurbished for $110 less than it costs brand-new. Valve has just begun selling certified refurbished Steam Deck OLED models starting a…

WordPress must stop blocking WP Engine, judge rules Image: Cath Virginia / The VergeWP Engine just won a preliminary injunction against WordPress parent company Automattic. On Tuesday, a California District Court judge ordered Automattic to stop blocking WP Engine’s access to WordPress.org resources and interfering with its plugins. The preliminary injunction comes after WP Engine, a third-party …

How to free up space on a Windows PC Illustration by Samar Haddad / The VergeEven with the abundance of streaming services we’re using now, Windows PC storage can still fill up quickly. Games, photos, movies, and apps can take up significant chunks of room, and before you know it, that SSD is starting to run low on free space. And a cluttered PC drive can impact performance as well…

Cruise’s robotaxi service will likely shut down as GM pulls its funding Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty ImagesGeneral Motors said it would no longer fund its Cruise robotaxi service as it seeks to focus its spending on autonomous vehicle development specifically for personally owned vehicles. Now Cruise employees will be combined with GM’s internal teams working on advanced driver assist systems, like Super Cru…

Microsoft is giving Copilot a new taskbar UI and keyboard shortcut on Windows Image: The VergeMicrosoft is changing up how Copilot works on Windows yet again. After demoting Copilot to a Progressive Web App (PWA) earlier this year, Microsoft is now rolling out an update to Windows testers that replaces the PWA version of Copilot with a “native” experience that includes a new keyboard shortcut and quick view UI. The new qu…

Google’s future data centers will be built next to solar and wind farms Illustration: The VergeIn what it’s calling a “first-of-its-kind partnership,” Google will collaborate with developers to build data centers powered by renewable energy generated on-site. It’s partnering with energy company Intersect Power and investment firm TPG Rise Climate on a $20 billion initiative to develop an unspecified number of “indus…

YouTube Kids is getting a redesign to make it look more like YouTube Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeThe YouTube Kids mobile app is getting a redesign that both makes it look and behave more like the standard YouTube app and lets kids browse through videos in portrait mode for the first time. It’s rolling out over the next few weeks on iOS and Android, while the web and smart TV experiences stay the same. …

The next Apple Watch Ultra could have satellite texting Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The VergeApple enabled non-emergency satellite messaging from iPhones earlier this year. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, it may do the same for the next Apple Watch Ultra in addition to adding the long-rumored blood-pressure monitoring feature. Satellite messaging on the Watch Ultra has been rumored since…

If you absolutely must sing along with Wicked, do it here In response to the utterly baffling discussion as to whether people should be allowed to sing along with Wicked in theaters (absolutely not), Universal is rolling out a bunch of screenings specifically for the folks who fancy themselves background vocalists. Universal announced today that special interactive, sing-along Wicked screenings are mak…

Over $6 billion in CHIPS Act funding finalized for Micron plants in the US Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeThe US Commerce Department announced it has awarded memory chip maker Micron Technology with “up to $6.165 billion in direct funding” derived from the CHIPS Act. The new funding will go towards multiple semiconductor manufacturing projects in the US, including an Idaho plant and a Syracuse, New York “mega-…

Sonos Arc Ultra review: don’t call it a comeback (yet) The company closes out a difficult year with this terrific soundbar that proves Sonos still knows how to do hardware. Software, though… Read the full story at The Verge.

Castlevania: Nocturne’s new season 2 trailer pits vampires against a dragon NetflixWe’ve known for some time that the second season of Castlevania: Nocturne was scheduled to hit Netflix some time in the new year, but we finally have a solid release date and a bloody new trailer to boot. Though the sun is shining bright in Nocturne’s new trailer, the fact that vampire god queen Erzsebet Báthory (Franka Potente) is still …