The Onion just bought Infowars Alex Jones in 2022. | Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty ImagesThe satirical news outlet The Onion has acquired Infowars, the conspiracy theory-riddled site run by Alex Jones, in a bankruptcy auction. In a press release posted to X Thursday, The Onion announced that it plans to “end Infowars’ relentless barrage of disinformation for the sake of sellin…

Meta hit with $840 million fine for linking Facebook and Marketplace Illustration by Nick Barclay / The VergeAlmost two years after EU regulators first accused Meta of “abusive practices” that gave the tech giant unfair market advantages, the European Commission has fined Meta €797.7 million (around $840 million). The combination of forcing Facebook users to be exposed to Marketplace and imposing restrictions aga…

Not even Spotify is safe from AI slop Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty ImagesHow fake music targets real artists. Continue reading…

Xbox continues its push beyond consoles with new ad campaign Image: The VergeMicrosoft has been trying to expand Xbox to multiple devices for more than five years now, and now it’s launching a marketing campaign to make it very clear that it thinks every screen is an Xbox now. A new “This is an Xbox” campaign is launching today to position the Xbox brand as a way to play games across multiple devices, ins…

Pro-Harris TikTok felt safe in an algorithmic bubble — until election day Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty ImagesIn the weeks leading up to the US presidential election, Kacey Smith was feeling hopeful. Smith, who supported Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, says she knew it would be a close race between the Democratic nominee and Republican Donald Trump. But as she scrolled TikTok, she believed Harris wou…

Apple faces a new $3.75 billion antitrust lawsuit over iCloud storage Image: Cath Virginia / The VergeApple is facing a £3 billion (about $3.75 billion) lawsuit from a consumer group that alleges the iPhone maker violated UK competition law by “forcing” customers to use its iCloud service. In its press release, UK consumer watchdog Which? says that Apple gave its iCloud storage service preferential treatment and e…

Words With Friends takes on Wordle with new single-player daily puzzles Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The VergeWordle’s success has caused an explosion in newspaper-style puzzle games, and now Words With Friends is getting in on the action. The long-running word game is adding four solo modes that can be played daily, and they’ll sound familiar to those who use The New York Times’ gaming app. The new games inclu…

Amazon announces its first Mini LED Fire TV — and this one’s also built for gaming Image: AmazonAmazon is today introducing its latest Fire TV Omni TV series, and it’s the first to feature Mini LED backlighting for improved contrast, less blooming, and greater brightness than past models. The “Fire TV Omni Mini-LED Series” features up to 1,344 dimming zones (depending on screen size) and delivers up to 1,400 nits of peak brigh…

Disney’s streaming business is finally finding its footing Image: Nick Barclay / The VergeDisney made money off its streaming business for the second time in a row. During Q4 2024, profit from Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus soared to $321 million, up from $47 million last quarter. During an earnings call on Thursday, Disney CEO Bob Iger said around 60 percent of all new subscribers are choosing Disney…

Google’s Gemini AI now has its own iPhone app In the AI chatbot world, ubiquity is everything. Companies have raced to build desktop and mobile apps for their bots, in order to both give them new capabilities but also to make sure they’re right in front of your face as often as possible. There’s no better example of that than Google’s new Gemini app for iPhone, which quietly hit the App St…

Snapchat will let parents request their teen’s real-time location Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeOnce known only for its self-destructing pics, in recent years Snapchat has sneakily evolved into a location-oriented social media app. It’s now leaning further than ever into that identity with a new real-time location sharing feature that allows family members to share their live locations with each other…

Google will let you search for products on Maps to help with holiday shopping The VergeGoogle has added some new travel and shopping features to Maps that aim to make it easier to find local products and stay on time during busy periods. Starting today, Maps now allows users to search for items like home goods, clothing, and electronics, and find stores nearby that sell them — a useful feature to have for any last-minute …

PayPal will let you pool money for group gifts and shared expenses PayPal is making it easier to collectively pool together funds on the platform. | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty ImagesPayPal is introducing a new money-pooling feature that aims to make it easier to collect and pay for things as a group. The feature is free and allows PayPal users to create a pool online or via the platform’s app, invi…

Apple updates Logic Pro with new sounds and search features Apple Logic Pro for Mac 11.1 with Quantec Room Simulator | Image: AppleApple today announced some minor updates to Logic Pro for both the Mac and the iPad, including the ability to search for plug-ins and sources and the addition of more analog-simulating sounds. In Logic Pro for Mac 11.1 and Logic Pro for iPad 2.1, you can now reorder channel…

Apple launches Final Cut Pro 11 with even more AI features It’s been 25 years since the first Final Cut Pro was announced.More than a decade after the launch of Final Cut Pro X, Apple’s video editing software is taking a step forward. The app is now being updated to Final Cut Pro 11, after dropping the number in its name for the past few years. The update includes new AI masking tools, the ability to ge…

Spotify will start paying creators for popular videos Cath Virginia / The VergeSpotify is going all in on video. The company will soon begin paying creators based on how much engagement their videos receive from paid subscribers. Automated ad breaks in videos will also be turned off for paid Spotify subscribers to encourage more consumption. Both of these changes go into effect starting January 2nd…

GM offers free nighttime charging to Chevy EV owners in Texas Image: ReliantGeneral Motors is teaming up with Reliant Energy to offer free nighttime charging to some Chevy electric vehicle owners in Texas. Chevy owners who enroll in Reliant’s EV charging plan will receive free nighttime charging through monthly bill credits that offset charges incurred between 11PM. and 6AM, the companies said. Customers …

GOG’s new preservation program intends to keep classic games playable ‘forever’ PC game platform GOG has launched a new preservation program dedicated to keeping beloved older games playable, “now and in the future.” “If a game is part of the Preservation Program, it means that we commit our own resources to maintaining its compatibility with modern and future systems,” the announcement blog reads. The program is launching …

Mark Zuckerberg just dropped a single with T-Pain Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty ImagesIf you want to preserve the existing version of Lil Jon’s “Get Low” in your brain, maybe don’t listen to this cover T-Pain made with Mark Zuckerberg — excuse me, Z-Pain. Their version transforms the “Get Low” I got down to at all my school dances into a song with a much slower tempo complete with an …

The Wall Street Journal is testing AI article summaries Image: The VergeThe Wall Street Journal is experimenting with AI-generated article summaries that appear at the top of its news stories. The summaries appear as a “Key Points” box with bullets summarizing the piece. The Verge spotted the test on a story about Trump’s plans for the Department of Education, and the Journal confirmed it’s trialing …