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AI definitely nailed the right surly energy for this orange cat.

The pirate ship in Elliott Bay was one thing, but it was a little blurry bee that sent me over the edge.
Samsung would very much like us (and its shareholders) to know that its new phones are the AI-est phones that ever AI-ed, and the Fold 6 that I’m testing comes with a new tool called “sketch to image.” Draw a rough sketch on a photo or an empty note page, and it will use generative AI to turn that thing into an image. I shrugged it off as just another AI thing when Samsung announced it onstage at Unpacked — but y’all, it’s really good. So good that it worries me a little.
Using the sketch to image tool in a note is pretty harmless: you draw something, highlight it, and choose from a handful of styles like “3D cartoon” and “illustration” to turn your doodle into something more detailed. Your image is sent to the cloud, and after a few moments, you’ll see a handful of options to choose from. The results are usually cute and fun; I took requests from my two-year-old, and we drew goofy-looking dump trucks and school buses. Sometimes you get a teddy bear with too many arms, but nothing serious.

I mean, it’s definitely better than any truck I can draw.

Using sketch to image on a photo is where things get weird. I’m the world’s worst artist, and this tool translated my very basic sketches into photorealistic images. The AI-generated elements are incorporated into photos convincingly — scaled and matched to the surroundings in a way that makes them hard to spot as fakes.
That’s how I arrived at the bee problem. I took a photo off a dock just south of downtown Seattle with some flowers in the foreground. Because they’re close to the camera and my focus was in the distance, they’re slightly blurred. I drew the world’s worst sketch of a bee on one of those flowers, figuring AI would insert an in-focus image of a bee — giving it away easily as a fake. Wrong!

The AI bee is blurred, just like the flower it’s landing on. If I didn’t know AI bee’s origin story, there’s no way I’d think twice about it if I scrolled past that image on Instagram. I’d assume the photographer snapped the picture at just the right time or hung around waiting for a bee to fly into the frame — things that take skill and patience. Not the case. In fact, I’m not even sure I’d spot the “AI-generated content” watermark in the corner of the image.
It’s convincing at a glance — but if you look for more than a second, you’ll notice that something is off
I messed around with sketch to image a lot over the past week, and the results aren’t always “blurry bee” good. Often, they’ll have the telltale signs of generative AI art — words scrawled in an alien-looking language or strange textures that don’t look quite right. Convincing at a glance, but if you look for more than a second, you’ll notice that something is off.
Sometimes the content itself gives it away — I don’t think anyone believes I saw a massive pirate ship anchored in Elliott Bay or a giant orange cat in an intersection in West Seattle. But even when the images are so outlandish that nobody could mistake them as genuine, they look realistic.

I did not take a picture of a ghostly pirate ship from Olympic Sculpture Park.

Generally, big things will look obviously fake. But it’s very easy to add another car to a photo of a busy road or a sailboat in the distance, and most people will be none the wiser. Aside from that AI watermark — which is easily cropped out — there’s really no way of knowing that there’s anything unusual about the image. That’s weird!
Out-of-focus bee isn’t going to undo the fabric of our society
I don’t want to blow this out of proportion. Using sketch to image is entirely optional, and plenty of people will never even find it in the gallery app. Out-of-focus bee isn’t going to undo the fabric of our society. But I do think we’re at an increasingly weird place with AI. Sure, you’ve been able to add an out-of-focus bee to an image in Photoshop for ages. But putting this capability in the very same device you use to take the picture and distribute it is another thing. The capabilities and accessibility of generative AI tools are outrunning our shared understanding of what might be real and what might be fake when you scroll through Instagram.
Personally, I feel weirdest about this feature when I’m showing it to my toddler. He’ll grow up knowing that, with the press of a button, you can turn a rough sketch into something more polished. Or with a trivial amount of effort, you can spice up a photo of some train tracks by adding a train. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I have no idea, but I definitely feel the dissonance between how I perceived artistic creation as a kid and how he’s going to see it.

Sometimes AI makes Hulk Bear.

None of this has prevented me from having a lot of fun with sketch to image. There’s an earnestness about generative AI’s output that’s kind of hilarious — like when I tried to add a green monster poking its head out of Puget Sound and it interpreted my drawing into a massive green polar bear with rippling muscles standing on the shore. Or when it turned a stick figure sketch into a life-size stick figure, complete with a shadow on the ground beneath it.
Is the definition of photography changing in front of our eyes? Is our understanding of truth in images transforming at an unbelievably precarious time for our democracy? Yeah, but also, I took a picture of a rabbit and AI let me put a tiny top hat on its little head. What a time to be alive.

AI might tear the fabric of our society apart. But look at this bunny wearing a little hat!

Sketch to image is available on the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6. Samsung hasn’t publicly stated whether it will make the feature available to other Galaxy phones, but given the company’s track record of aggressively expanding Galaxy AI to previous-gen models, I think it’s extremely likely to happen. Samsung has also committed to bringing AI features to 200 million phones this year alone. If a little blurry bee is any kind of indicator, I’d say things are bound to get a little weird when that happens.

AI definitely nailed the right surly energy for this orange cat.

The pirate ship in Elliott Bay was one thing, but it was a little blurry bee that sent me over the edge.

Samsung would very much like us (and its shareholders) to know that its new phones are the AI-est phones that ever AI-ed, and the Fold 6 that I’m testing comes with a new tool called “sketch to image.” Draw a rough sketch on a photo or an empty note page, and it will use generative AI to turn that thing into an image. I shrugged it off as just another AI thing when Samsung announced it onstage at Unpacked — but y’all, it’s really good. So good that it worries me a little.

Using the sketch to image tool in a note is pretty harmless: you draw something, highlight it, and choose from a handful of styles like “3D cartoon” and “illustration” to turn your doodle into something more detailed. Your image is sent to the cloud, and after a few moments, you’ll see a handful of options to choose from. The results are usually cute and fun; I took requests from my two-year-old, and we drew goofy-looking dump trucks and school buses. Sometimes you get a teddy bear with too many arms, but nothing serious.

I mean, it’s definitely better than any truck I can draw.

Using sketch to image on a photo is where things get weird. I’m the world’s worst artist, and this tool translated my very basic sketches into photorealistic images. The AI-generated elements are incorporated into photos convincingly — scaled and matched to the surroundings in a way that makes them hard to spot as fakes.

That’s how I arrived at the bee problem. I took a photo off a dock just south of downtown Seattle with some flowers in the foreground. Because they’re close to the camera and my focus was in the distance, they’re slightly blurred. I drew the world’s worst sketch of a bee on one of those flowers, figuring AI would insert an in-focus image of a bee — giving it away easily as a fake. Wrong!

The AI bee is blurred, just like the flower it’s landing on. If I didn’t know AI bee’s origin story, there’s no way I’d think twice about it if I scrolled past that image on Instagram. I’d assume the photographer snapped the picture at just the right time or hung around waiting for a bee to fly into the frame — things that take skill and patience. Not the case. In fact, I’m not even sure I’d spot the “AI-generated content” watermark in the corner of the image.

I messed around with sketch to image a lot over the past week, and the results aren’t always “blurry bee” good. Often, they’ll have the telltale signs of generative AI art — words scrawled in an alien-looking language or strange textures that don’t look quite right. Convincing at a glance, but if you look for more than a second, you’ll notice that something is off.

Sometimes the content itself gives it away — I don’t think anyone believes I saw a massive pirate ship anchored in Elliott Bay or a giant orange cat in an intersection in West Seattle. But even when the images are so outlandish that nobody could mistake them as genuine, they look realistic.

I did not take a picture of a ghostly pirate ship from Olympic Sculpture Park.

Generally, big things will look obviously fake. But it’s very easy to add another car to a photo of a busy road or a sailboat in the distance, and most people will be none the wiser. Aside from that AI watermark — which is easily cropped out — there’s really no way of knowing that there’s anything unusual about the image. That’s weird!

I don’t want to blow this out of proportion. Using sketch to image is entirely optional, and plenty of people will never even find it in the gallery app. Out-of-focus bee isn’t going to undo the fabric of our society. But I do think we’re at an increasingly weird place with AI. Sure, you’ve been able to add an out-of-focus bee to an image in Photoshop for ages. But putting this capability in the very same device you use to take the picture and distribute it is another thing. The capabilities and accessibility of generative AI tools are outrunning our shared understanding of what might be real and what might be fake when you scroll through Instagram.

Personally, I feel weirdest about this feature when I’m showing it to my toddler. He’ll grow up knowing that, with the press of a button, you can turn a rough sketch into something more polished. Or with a trivial amount of effort, you can spice up a photo of some train tracks by adding a train. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I have no idea, but I definitely feel the dissonance between how I perceived artistic creation as a kid and how he’s going to see it.

Sometimes AI makes Hulk Bear.

None of this has prevented me from having a lot of fun with sketch to image. There’s an earnestness about generative AI’s output that’s kind of hilarious — like when I tried to add a green monster poking its head out of Puget Sound and it interpreted my drawing into a massive green polar bear with rippling muscles standing on the shore. Or when it turned a stick figure sketch into a life-size stick figure, complete with a shadow on the ground beneath it.

Is the definition of photography changing in front of our eyes? Is our understanding of truth in images transforming at an unbelievably precarious time for our democracy? Yeah, but also, I took a picture of a rabbit and AI let me put a tiny top hat on its little head. What a time to be alive.

AI might tear the fabric of our society apart. But look at this bunny wearing a little hat!

Sketch to image is available on the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6. Samsung hasn’t publicly stated whether it will make the feature available to other Galaxy phones, but given the company’s track record of aggressively expanding Galaxy AI to previous-gen models, I think it’s extremely likely to happen. Samsung has also committed to bringing AI features to 200 million phones this year alone. If a little blurry bee is any kind of indicator, I’d say things are bound to get a little weird when that happens.

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It’s not immediately clear what Tinder’s Photo Selector feature looks for in a “good” selfi. | Image: Tinder

Tinder is releasing an AI-powered feature that supposedly makes it easier for users to select better photos for their dating profiles. The dating app says its new Photo Selector tool aims to “take out the guesswork” when picking your most flattering photos by curating a diverse selection that’s “optimized to help users find a match.”
To use Photo Selector, users will need to take a selfie within Tinder and allow the app to access their device’s camera roll. Tinder’s new AI feature will then use facial recognition to collate a selection of images for the user to review and add to their profiles. The curation is processed on-device and doesn’t upload the user’s camera roll to Tinder’s systems. We have asked Tinder to clarify the criteria the feature uses to select images and will update if we hear back.
According to Tinder, Photo Selector’s purpose is to help its users focus on “making meaningful connections” by saving them time when putting dating profiles together. In a study of 7000 18-25-year-olds conducted by the app, Tinder says it found that young singles spend 33 minutes on average selecting the right profile photo to use. The new Photo Selector feature might help to reduce that, but It’s unlikely to address the larger issues that are driving dating app fatigue.
Photo Selector is available for devices running iOS and Android with the rollout scheduled to begin in the US sometime in July. Support for international markets will arrive “this summer,” according to Tinder.

It’s not immediately clear what Tinder’s Photo Selector feature looks for in a “good” selfi. | Image: Tinder

Tinder is releasing an AI-powered feature that supposedly makes it easier for users to select better photos for their dating profiles. The dating app says its new Photo Selector tool aims to “take out the guesswork” when picking your most flattering photos by curating a diverse selection that’s “optimized to help users find a match.”

To use Photo Selector, users will need to take a selfie within Tinder and allow the app to access their device’s camera roll. Tinder’s new AI feature will then use facial recognition to collate a selection of images for the user to review and add to their profiles. The curation is processed on-device and doesn’t upload the user’s camera roll to Tinder’s systems. We have asked Tinder to clarify the criteria the feature uses to select images and will update if we hear back.

According to Tinder, Photo Selector’s purpose is to help its users focus on “making meaningful connections” by saving them time when putting dating profiles together. In a study of 7000 18-25-year-olds conducted by the app, Tinder says it found that young singles spend 33 minutes on average selecting the right profile photo to use. The new Photo Selector feature might help to reduce that, but It’s unlikely to address the larger issues that are driving dating app fatigue.

Photo Selector is available for devices running iOS and Android with the rollout scheduled to begin in the US sometime in July. Support for international markets will arrive “this summer,” according to Tinder.

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Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo by STR / NurPhoto, Getty Images

Elon Musk says he plans to move X and SpaceX’s headquarters from California to Texas. “Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas,” Musk wrote in a tweet, referencing California’s SAFETY Act (AB1955).
Signed on Monday by California Governor Gavin Newsom, it prevents schools from imposing rules requiring teachers to disclose changes to a student’s gender identity without their permission and prohibits retaliation against teachers who refuse to out a student, reports the Los Angeles Times.
Another post from Musk a few minutes later said that X, which is currently headquartered in San Francisco, “will move to Austin.” Last year, a report from The Wall Street Journal revealed that Musk plans to build his own community outside Austin called Snailbrook. He’s also reportedly planning to open a university in Austin.

And HQ will move to Austin https://t.co/LUDfLEsztj— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 16, 2024

Musk has moved other businesses recently. After a Delaware judge struck down Musk’s $55 billion pay package in January (which shareholders eventually approved), Musk filed to move SpaceX’s incorporation from Delaware to Texas. He also transferred Tesla’s headquarters to Texas in 2021 after California health officials shut down his Fremont factory during the covid pandemic.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo by STR / NurPhoto, Getty Images

Elon Musk says he plans to move X and SpaceX’s headquarters from California to Texas. “Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas,” Musk wrote in a tweet, referencing California’s SAFETY Act (AB1955).

Signed on Monday by California Governor Gavin Newsom, it prevents schools from imposing rules requiring teachers to disclose changes to a student’s gender identity without their permission and prohibits retaliation against teachers who refuse to out a student, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Another post from Musk a few minutes later said that X, which is currently headquartered in San Francisco, “will move to Austin.” Last year, a report from The Wall Street Journal revealed that Musk plans to build his own community outside Austin called Snailbrook. He’s also reportedly planning to open a university in Austin.

Musk has moved other businesses recently. After a Delaware judge struck down Musk’s $55 billion pay package in January (which shareholders eventually approved), Musk filed to move SpaceX’s incorporation from Delaware to Texas. He also transferred Tesla’s headquarters to Texas in 2021 after California health officials shut down his Fremont factory during the covid pandemic.

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Netflix has discontinued its streaming app for Quest headsets, Upload VR reports. The good news for Quest owners is that Meta recently added support for Netflix in the Quest browser, complete with 1080p streaming.
Netflix hadn’t significantly updated its VR app since porting it to the Quest in 2019. It never gained passthrough or download support, and its resolution stayed pinned at 480p. None of that mattered when the app came out for Samsung Gear VR in 2015, but things have changed a lot in the nine years since then.

I’d imagine some people will miss the cozy Netflix cabin in this YouTube Short, though.
Streaming in the browser fixes two of those things — passthrough and higher-resolution streaming — but users still can’t download Netflix’s content to watch offline the way they can in, say, the iOS app. Still, watching in a browser means being able to use other virtual environments while streaming video.
That’s similar to what has happened on the Vision Pro, which Netflix also has no app for. Owners of Apple’s headset can still watch Netflix in a browser, which is fine but not as nice as a dedicated app experience can be. Thankfully, third-party developers have stepped in there to fill the void, releasing apps like Supercut, which streams Netflix in a web view and has a “cinema” environment very similar to the one Apple made for the visionOS Apple TV app.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Netflix has discontinued its streaming app for Quest headsets, Upload VR reports. The good news for Quest owners is that Meta recently added support for Netflix in the Quest browser, complete with 1080p streaming.

Netflix hadn’t significantly updated its VR app since porting it to the Quest in 2019. It never gained passthrough or download support, and its resolution stayed pinned at 480p. None of that mattered when the app came out for Samsung Gear VR in 2015, but things have changed a lot in the nine years since then.

I’d imagine some people will miss the cozy Netflix cabin in this YouTube Short, though.

Streaming in the browser fixes two of those things — passthrough and higher-resolution streaming — but users still can’t download Netflix’s content to watch offline the way they can in, say, the iOS app. Still, watching in a browser means being able to use other virtual environments while streaming video.

That’s similar to what has happened on the Vision Pro, which Netflix also has no app for. Owners of Apple’s headset can still watch Netflix in a browser, which is fine but not as nice as a dedicated app experience can be. Thankfully, third-party developers have stepped in there to fill the void, releasing apps like Supercut, which streams Netflix in a web view and has a “cinema” environment very similar to the one Apple made for the visionOS Apple TV app.

Read More 

Katie Couric (L) and Ozy CEO and Co-Founder Carlos Watson speak onstage during Ozy Fest 2017 | Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Ozy Fusion Fest 2017

Carlos Watson and the now-shuttered Ozy Media startup he cofounded were found guilty of fraud by a federal jury on Tuesday, as reported earlier by The New York Times. Over the course of a several-weeks-long trial, the jury heard the government’s claims that Ozy Media misled investors by falsifying financial records, inflating audience numbers, and even making up business deals.
Watson, the former CEO of Ozy Media, cofounded the company alongside Samir Rao in 2013. The company launched an online magazine, newsletter, and an annual conference in New York City, all while striking high-profile partnerships and receiving millions in investments.
But things came to a halt when a 2021 article from New York Times media columnist Ben Smith reported that Rao impersonated a YouTube executive during a call with a Goldman Sachs banker about a potential $40 million investment. Rao pleaded guilty to related charges last year and is awaiting sentencing.
Additionally, prosecutors alleged that Watson lied to a prospective investor by saying that Google offered $600 million to take over the media startup. According to testimony from Google CEO Sundar Pichai, the company only considered investing $25 million as part of a potential plan to hire Watson. During the trial, Watson’s lawyers blamed Rao and Ozy Media’s employees for the fraudulent activity, NYT reports.
“The jury found that Watson was a con man who told lie upon lie upon lie to deceive investors into buying stock in his company,” Breon Peace, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement. “Watson invented phony financial figures and caused others to forge fake contracts and impersonate a media executive.”
Watson was charged with conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft. He faces up to 37 years in prison.

Katie Couric (L) and Ozy CEO and Co-Founder Carlos Watson speak onstage during Ozy Fest 2017 | Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Ozy Fusion Fest 2017

Carlos Watson and the now-shuttered Ozy Media startup he cofounded were found guilty of fraud by a federal jury on Tuesday, as reported earlier by The New York Times. Over the course of a several-weeks-long trial, the jury heard the government’s claims that Ozy Media misled investors by falsifying financial records, inflating audience numbers, and even making up business deals.

Watson, the former CEO of Ozy Media, cofounded the company alongside Samir Rao in 2013. The company launched an online magazine, newsletter, and an annual conference in New York City, all while striking high-profile partnerships and receiving millions in investments.

But things came to a halt when a 2021 article from New York Times media columnist Ben Smith reported that Rao impersonated a YouTube executive during a call with a Goldman Sachs banker about a potential $40 million investment. Rao pleaded guilty to related charges last year and is awaiting sentencing.

Additionally, prosecutors alleged that Watson lied to a prospective investor by saying that Google offered $600 million to take over the media startup. According to testimony from Google CEO Sundar Pichai, the company only considered investing $25 million as part of a potential plan to hire Watson. During the trial, Watson’s lawyers blamed Rao and Ozy Media’s employees for the fraudulent activity, NYT reports.

“The jury found that Watson was a con man who told lie upon lie upon lie to deceive investors into buying stock in his company,” Breon Peace, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement. “Watson invented phony financial figures and caused others to forge fake contracts and impersonate a media executive.”

Watson was charged with conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft. He faces up to 37 years in prison.

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On the Utopia of the Seas you can experience train dining without the bumps and spilled drinks. | Image: Royal Caribbean

The new 5,668-passenger Royal Caribbean Utopia of the Seas is docked in Florida, where sites like Cruise Critic have gotten a preview of the amenities before it enters service on July 19th. That includes a unique experience called Royal Railway Utopia Station, where passengers dine on a virtual train ride while staring at simulated scenery zipping by on giant screens.
The restaurant is built to look like two full-size rail cars with a lavish interior featuring four-person booths lining the sides, each with its own giant display serving as a virtual window. What diners see out those virtual windows will rotate throughout the year. The first experience is Western-themed, with views of mountains, canyons, and gold rush towns.

Murder on the Royal Caribbean Cruise Utopia Station Immersive Dining express
Subwoofers in the seats simulate vibrations as the virtual train rumbles down nonexistent tracks. (Again, this is inside a cruise ship.) And in addition to a meal and moving scenery, there will be a live show with themed characters interacting with each other and guests.
The last time we checked in on Royal Caribbean’s growing fleet, the Quantum of the Seas was introducing USB charging ports in every room, tablets for the ship’s crew, RFID guest tracking, and a robotic bartender. A decade later, passengers can have an entirely separate vacation experience without leaving the ship.
The restaurant’s capacity is limited to 48 guests, and according to the Royal Caribbean Blog, the experience isn’t included in the cost of the cruise. Pricing will be an extra $119.99 for adults and $59.99 for kids, although passengers paying for an Ultimate Dining Package will only pay a $49.99 upcharge.

On the Utopia of the Seas you can experience train dining without the bumps and spilled drinks. | Image: Royal Caribbean

The new 5,668-passenger Royal Caribbean Utopia of the Seas is docked in Florida, where sites like Cruise Critic have gotten a preview of the amenities before it enters service on July 19th. That includes a unique experience called Royal Railway Utopia Station, where passengers dine on a virtual train ride while staring at simulated scenery zipping by on giant screens.

The restaurant is built to look like two full-size rail cars with a lavish interior featuring four-person booths lining the sides, each with its own giant display serving as a virtual window. What diners see out those virtual windows will rotate throughout the year. The first experience is Western-themed, with views of mountains, canyons, and gold rush towns.

Subwoofers in the seats simulate vibrations as the virtual train rumbles down nonexistent tracks. (Again, this is inside a cruise ship.) And in addition to a meal and moving scenery, there will be a live show with themed characters interacting with each other and guests.

The last time we checked in on Royal Caribbean’s growing fleet, the Quantum of the Seas was introducing USB charging ports in every room, tablets for the ship’s crew, RFID guest tracking, and a robotic bartender. A decade later, passengers can have an entirely separate vacation experience without leaving the ship.

The restaurant’s capacity is limited to 48 guests, and according to the Royal Caribbean Blog, the experience isn’t included in the cost of the cruise. Pricing will be an extra $119.99 for adults and $59.99 for kids, although passengers paying for an Ultimate Dining Package will only pay a $49.99 upcharge.

Read More 

Image: Larian Studios

In a new community update, Larian Studios has shared a brief overview of all the things it’s working on for the next Baldur’s Gate 3 patch.
Larian has previously announced that patch 7, due out in September, will include the release of official mod support and the introduction of a toolkit that will allow players the ability to create their own mods. According to Larian, the toolkit supports the creation of new items, classes and subclasses, races, and more.
I’ve been modding my games since the days of World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade and Dragon Age: Origins. However, I’ve always been intimidated by the idea of creating my own mods even for games I adore. I’m definitely interested to try out the mod toolkit for myself, especially since a lot of the comments Larian shared from modders attest to its ease of use. If the toolkit allows me to create new narrative content, essentially allowing me to recreate my fanfictions in the game, you will never hear from me again.
In addition to mod support and the toolkit, patch 7 will also add a nifty dynamic splitscreen co-op feature. Instead of co-op games being permanently bifurcated in splitscreen mode, players will have an option that will merge the two screens into one if players are close to each other. It looks pretty dang cool in action.

Gif: Larian Studios

On the narrative side, patch 7 will add tweaks and updates to companion stories, dialogue, and romance content. Larain’s also adding new cinematics that reflect some of the game’s more evil endings for origin and dark urge characters.
Though this forthcoming update feels like Larian’s final goodbye to Baldur’s Gate 3 as it moves on to other projects, the studio reaffirmed that Patch 7 isn’t the last update for the game. Cross-play and photo mode are also on the way. In the meantime, it’s offering players the chance to try out patch 7 before it releases in September in a closed beta you can register for on the Baldur’s Gate 3 Steam page.

Image: Larian Studios

In a new community update, Larian Studios has shared a brief overview of all the things it’s working on for the next Baldur’s Gate 3 patch.

Larian has previously announced that patch 7, due out in September, will include the release of official mod support and the introduction of a toolkit that will allow players the ability to create their own mods. According to Larian, the toolkit supports the creation of new items, classes and subclasses, races, and more.

I’ve been modding my games since the days of World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade and Dragon Age: Origins. However, I’ve always been intimidated by the idea of creating my own mods even for games I adore. I’m definitely interested to try out the mod toolkit for myself, especially since a lot of the comments Larian shared from modders attest to its ease of use. If the toolkit allows me to create new narrative content, essentially allowing me to recreate my fanfictions in the game, you will never hear from me again.

In addition to mod support and the toolkit, patch 7 will also add a nifty dynamic splitscreen co-op feature. Instead of co-op games being permanently bifurcated in splitscreen mode, players will have an option that will merge the two screens into one if players are close to each other. It looks pretty dang cool in action.

Gif: Larian Studios

On the narrative side, patch 7 will add tweaks and updates to companion stories, dialogue, and romance content. Larain’s also adding new cinematics that reflect some of the game’s more evil endings for origin and dark urge characters.

Though this forthcoming update feels like Larian’s final goodbye to Baldur’s Gate 3 as it moves on to other projects, the studio reaffirmed that Patch 7 isn’t the last update for the game. Cross-play and photo mode are also on the way. In the meantime, it’s offering players the chance to try out patch 7 before it releases in September in a closed beta you can register for on the Baldur’s Gate 3 Steam page.

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Photo by Monica Chin / The Verge

Searching for a good laptop deal on Amazon, even on Prime Day can feel overwhelming, especially with all the styles, hardware options, brands, display resolutions — how do you know you’re getting a good deal on any of it?
Below, we’ve rounded up the best deals we could find on clamshell laptops, convertibles, MacBooks, Chromebooks, and even some elusive, sub-$1,000 gaming laptops. When choosing the best laptop deals, we considered everything from its hardware and port options to the year some options actually released.
There are some good options from major brands like Acer, Apple, and HP and we found some great deals on monitors, keyboards, and mice, too.
The best Amazon Prime Day deals for Windows laptops

The best Amazon Prime Day MacBook deals

The 15-inch MacBook Air with the M3 chip, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage is also on sale for $1,449 from Amazon. (It usually costs about $250 more.) The 15-inch Air is almost exactly the same as the 13-inch model but with a larger display and a better speaker array.

Amazon also has the 15-inch MacBook Air with M2 with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage on sale for $1,099. It’s almost identical to the 13-inch version but starts with a 10-core GPU, has six (better sounding) speakers instead of four, and of course a larger display.

The best Amazon Prime Day gaming laptop deals

The best Amazon Prime Day Chromebook deals

The best Amazon Prime Day laptop peripheral deals

Photo by Monica Chin / The Verge

Searching for a good laptop deal on Amazon, even on Prime Day can feel overwhelming, especially with all the styles, hardware options, brands, display resolutions — how do you know you’re getting a good deal on any of it?

Below, we’ve rounded up the best deals we could find on clamshell laptops, convertibles, MacBooks, Chromebooks, and even some elusive, sub-$1,000 gaming laptops. When choosing the best laptop deals, we considered everything from its hardware and port options to the year some options actually released.

There are some good options from major brands like Acer, Apple, and HP and we found some great deals on monitors, keyboards, and mice, too.

The best Amazon Prime Day deals for Windows laptops

The best Amazon Prime Day MacBook deals

The 15-inch MacBook Air with the M3 chip, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage is also on sale for $1,449 from Amazon. (It usually costs about $250 more.) The 15-inch Air is almost exactly the same as the 13-inch model but with a larger display and a better speaker array.

Amazon also has the 15-inch MacBook Air with M2 with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage on sale for $1,099. It’s almost identical to the 13-inch version but starts with a 10-core GPU, has six (better sounding) speakers instead of four, and of course a larger display.

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

HeHealth’s AI-powered Calmara app claimed, “Our innovative AI technology offers rapid, confidential, and scientifically validated sexual health screening, giving you peace of mind before diving into intimate encounters,” but now it’s shut down after an inquiry by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
The app prompted daters to submit dick pics to check for sexually transmitted infections, promising “clear, science-backed answers about your partner’s sexual health status,” according to an FTC letter dated July 11th. The letter lays out some of the agency’s concerns with the information HeHealth relied on for its claims, including one saying that it could detect more than 10 sexually transmitted infections with up to 94 percent accuracy.

Screenshot: Calmara (YouTube)

The FTC notes that HeHealth paid several study authors, that the main study cited by the company only assessed four kinds of STIs rather than 10, and data used to train the AI model included images from users who never got a diagnostic test to confirm the results.
Given that most STIs are asymptomatic, according to the World Health Organization, medical professionals have questioned the reliability of the app’s tactics. One Los Angeles Times investigation found that Calmara couldn’t even discern inanimate objects and failed to identify “textbook images” of STIs. YouTube videos also show that Calmara marketed itself to women to vet their dates, creating obvious questions about consent, although a March press release insists the app required “explicit consent.”
The HeHealth app, which uses the same AI, marketed itself more as an initial step for individuals before connecting with a medical provider.
The company agreed to shut down both of the apps by July 15th, and Calmara’s website and links to the HeHealth app appear to be offline. The company also agreed to delete all personal information from customers obtained through the apps or payment vendors and request those vendors to delete any data on their customers, the FTC said.
But articles describing the app and videos from Calmara that remain on YouTube as of Tuesday show that it gave users signals of whether genitals were “clear” or whether a user should hold off on sexual activity with a partner due to signs of a possible STI. At one point, according to reports, the company marketed the app as “your intimate bestie for unprotected sex.”
“The hardworking staff of the FTC are so committed to protecting consumers that they are even willing to wade through pages of dick pics to protect Americans from AI scammers,” a source familiar with the matter, granted anonymity because they weren’t authorized to comment on the record about the investigation, told The Verge.
The FTC issued a civil investigative demand (similar to a subpoena) seeking information about Calmara’s advertising claims and privacy practices and put HeHealth on notice that it’s illegal to make health benefit claims without “reliable scientific evidence.”
HeHealth did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Verge.
The FTC said it would not pursue the investigation further since HeHealth agreed to those terms and because of “the small number of Calmara users and sales in the U.S.” But, it warned, “The Commission reserves the right to take such further action as the public interest may require.”

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

HeHealth’s AI-powered Calmara app claimed, “Our innovative AI technology offers rapid, confidential, and scientifically validated sexual health screening, giving you peace of mind before diving into intimate encounters,” but now it’s shut down after an inquiry by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The app prompted daters to submit dick pics to check for sexually transmitted infections, promising “clear, science-backed answers about your partner’s sexual health status,” according to an FTC letter dated July 11th. The letter lays out some of the agency’s concerns with the information HeHealth relied on for its claims, including one saying that it could detect more than 10 sexually transmitted infections with up to 94 percent accuracy.

Screenshot: Calmara (YouTube)

The FTC notes that HeHealth paid several study authors, that the main study cited by the company only assessed four kinds of STIs rather than 10, and data used to train the AI model included images from users who never got a diagnostic test to confirm the results.

Given that most STIs are asymptomatic, according to the World Health Organization, medical professionals have questioned the reliability of the app’s tactics. One Los Angeles Times investigation found that Calmara couldn’t even discern inanimate objects and failed to identify “textbook images” of STIs. YouTube videos also show that Calmara marketed itself to women to vet their dates, creating obvious questions about consent, although a March press release insists the app required “explicit consent.”

The HeHealth app, which uses the same AI, marketed itself more as an initial step for individuals before connecting with a medical provider.

The company agreed to shut down both of the apps by July 15th, and Calmara’s website and links to the HeHealth app appear to be offline. The company also agreed to delete all personal information from customers obtained through the apps or payment vendors and request those vendors to delete any data on their customers, the FTC said.

But articles describing the app and videos from Calmara that remain on YouTube as of Tuesday show that it gave users signals of whether genitals were “clear” or whether a user should hold off on sexual activity with a partner due to signs of a possible STI. At one point, according to reports, the company marketed the app as “your intimate bestie for unprotected sex.”

“The hardworking staff of the FTC are so committed to protecting consumers that they are even willing to wade through pages of dick pics to protect Americans from AI scammers,” a source familiar with the matter, granted anonymity because they weren’t authorized to comment on the record about the investigation, told The Verge.

The FTC issued a civil investigative demand (similar to a subpoena) seeking information about Calmara’s advertising claims and privacy practices and put HeHealth on notice that it’s illegal to make health benefit claims without “reliable scientific evidence.”

HeHealth did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Verge.

The FTC said it would not pursue the investigation further since HeHealth agreed to those terms and because of “the small number of Calmara users and sales in the U.S.” But, it warned, “The Commission reserves the right to take such further action as the public interest may require.”

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Image: Universal

Though Universal’s Twisters is set to drop as the US deals with a massive heatwave, wildfires, and the aftermath of multiple deadly storms, the movie goes out of its way to avoid mentioning climate change because its director didn’t want to make audiences uncomfortable.
It would have made sense if Twisters — a film about storm chasers studying a spate of unusually powerful and destructive tornadoes — worked climate change into its story. But in a recent interview with CNN, director Lee Isaac Chung said that, even though he thinks cinema “should be a reflection of the world,” he avoided mentioning climate change in Twisters because he doesn’t “feel like films are meant to be message-oriented.”
Chung pointed to the way that some of Twisters’ characters talk about the weather as one of the ways the film comments on “the reality of what’s happening on the ground” and insisted his intention was not to “shy away from saying that things are changing.” But when you consider how scientists have found that the conditions that create tornado-producing storms are more likely in a warming world, Twisters’ avoidance of the phrase “climate change” feels like shying away and then some.
As a weather disaster sequel whose premise boils down to “what if tornadoes, but bigger and sometimes on fire,” Twisters seems like it would have been well positioned to explore the realities of how researchers are still trying to understand the relationship between climate change and the kinds of storms that cause catastrophic destruction. Factors like limited data collection methods still make it difficult for researchers to establish concrete connections between climate change and the growing intensity of extreme weather events.
But those are exactly the kinds of ideas that can make movies like Twisters interesting and feel like thoughtful evolutions of a franchise, one that began as a story about storm chasers using technology to better understand tornadoes. And with Twisters dropping at such a meteorologically wild time, the movie’s refusal to mention climate change is probably going to make it seem even sillier than it already does when it premieres on July 19th.

Image: Universal

Though Universal’s Twisters is set to drop as the US deals with a massive heatwave, wildfires, and the aftermath of multiple deadly storms, the movie goes out of its way to avoid mentioning climate change because its director didn’t want to make audiences uncomfortable.

It would have made sense if Twisters — a film about storm chasers studying a spate of unusually powerful and destructive tornadoes — worked climate change into its story. But in a recent interview with CNN, director Lee Isaac Chung said that, even though he thinks cinema “should be a reflection of the world,” he avoided mentioning climate change in Twisters because he doesn’t “feel like films are meant to be message-oriented.”

Chung pointed to the way that some of Twisters’ characters talk about the weather as one of the ways the film comments on “the reality of what’s happening on the ground” and insisted his intention was not to “shy away from saying that things are changing.” But when you consider how scientists have found that the conditions that create tornado-producing storms are more likely in a warming world, Twisters’ avoidance of the phrase “climate change” feels like shying away and then some.

As a weather disaster sequel whose premise boils down to “what if tornadoes, but bigger and sometimes on fire,” Twisters seems like it would have been well positioned to explore the realities of how researchers are still trying to understand the relationship between climate change and the kinds of storms that cause catastrophic destruction. Factors like limited data collection methods still make it difficult for researchers to establish concrete connections between climate change and the growing intensity of extreme weather events.

But those are exactly the kinds of ideas that can make movies like Twisters interesting and feel like thoughtful evolutions of a franchise, one that began as a story about storm chasers using technology to better understand tornadoes. And with Twisters dropping at such a meteorologically wild time, the movie’s refusal to mention climate change is probably going to make it seem even sillier than it already does when it premieres on July 19th.

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