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Air conditioners in windows during a heat wave in New York, US, on Thursday, July 27, 2023. | Photo: Getty Images

Household electricity bills could climb with rising temperatures this summer in the US, according to an analysis by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Americans’ monthly electricity bills will likely average $173 between June through August, compared to $168 last summer, the EIA predicts. The slight bump in costs comes from consumers cranking up their air conditioning more to cope with a warmer season than last year. Bills would have jumped higher, if not for lower residential electricity prices helping to balance out some of the increased energy use from air conditioning.
Some regions are likely to be harder hit by the weather than others. Because of heat and humidity along the Gulf Coast, residents in Southern states typically use the most electricity in the summer to cool their homes.
Some regions are likely to be harder hit by the weather than others
The Pacific Coast, meanwhile, faces the biggest potential percentage increase in retail electricity prices in the nation — a 7 percent jump since last year. Wholesale electricity costs there have risen since 2022, in part because of a heat and drought-induced shortfall in hydroelectricity generation. Households along the Pacific could see their electricity bills go up an average of $11 per month this summer, according to the EIA.
To be sure, the EIA says that weather is “the main source of uncertainty” in its forecasts for folks’ utility bills. If this summer winds up being hotter than expected, households could wind up paying even more.
Residential electricity use typically peaks in the summer for most of the US because of air conditioning. Extreme heat can even trigger power outages if demand suddenly rises too sharply. California, the Southwest, the Midwest, Texas, and New England are at “elevated risk” of electricity supply shortages during any extreme weather this summer, according to an assessment by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation.

It’s the kind of risk that grows with climate change as heat-trapping emissions from fossil fuels push global average temperatures higher. May marked 12 straight months being the hottest on record for the planet for that time of year. El Niño, the warm phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) climate pattern, has also raised global temperatures since last year but came to an end this month.

Air conditioners in windows during a heat wave in New York, US, on Thursday, July 27, 2023. | Photo: Getty Images

Household electricity bills could climb with rising temperatures this summer in the US, according to an analysis by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Americans’ monthly electricity bills will likely average $173 between June through August, compared to $168 last summer, the EIA predicts. The slight bump in costs comes from consumers cranking up their air conditioning more to cope with a warmer season than last year. Bills would have jumped higher, if not for lower residential electricity prices helping to balance out some of the increased energy use from air conditioning.

Some regions are likely to be harder hit by the weather than others. Because of heat and humidity along the Gulf Coast, residents in Southern states typically use the most electricity in the summer to cool their homes.

The Pacific Coast, meanwhile, faces the biggest potential percentage increase in retail electricity prices in the nation — a 7 percent jump since last year. Wholesale electricity costs there have risen since 2022, in part because of a heat and drought-induced shortfall in hydroelectricity generation. Households along the Pacific could see their electricity bills go up an average of $11 per month this summer, according to the EIA.

To be sure, the EIA says that weather is “the main source of uncertainty” in its forecasts for folks’ utility bills. If this summer winds up being hotter than expected, households could wind up paying even more.

Residential electricity use typically peaks in the summer for most of the US because of air conditioning. Extreme heat can even trigger power outages if demand suddenly rises too sharply. California, the Southwest, the Midwest, Texas, and New England are at “elevated risk” of electricity supply shortages during any extreme weather this summer, according to an assessment by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation.

It’s the kind of risk that grows with climate change as heat-trapping emissions from fossil fuels push global average temperatures higher. May marked 12 straight months being the hottest on record for the planet for that time of year. El Niño, the warm phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) climate pattern, has also raised global temperatures since last year but came to an end this month.

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Illustration: The Verge

It’s been a rocky couple of months for Sonos — so much so that CEO Patrick Spence now has a canned autoreply for customers emailing him to vent about the redesigned app. But as the company works to right the ship, restore trust, and get the new Sonos Ace headphones off to a strong start, it finds itself in the middle of yet another controversy.
As highlighted by repair technician and consumer privacy advocate Louis Rossmann, Sonos has made a significant change to its privacy policy, at least in the United States, with the removal of one key line. The updated policy no longer contains a sentence that previously said, “Sonos does not and will not sell personal information about our customers.” That pledge is still present in other countries, but it’s nowhere to be found in the updated US policy, which went into effect earlier this month.

Now, some customers, already feeling burned by the new Sonos app’s unsteady performance, are sounding off about what they view as another poor decision from the company’s leadership. For them, it’s been one unforced error after another from a brand they once recommended without hesitation.
Here’s the relevant part from the “how we may share personal information” section of the privacy policy as it was in 2023:
Sonos does not and will not sell personal information about our customers. However, certain data practices described throughout this Privacy Statement may constitute a “sale” or “sharing” of data under California and/or other US state laws. See the below CA Addendum for more information applicable to CA residents. We want you to understand that information about our customers is an important part of our business. We only disclose your data as described in this Statement.
And now, the new version:
Certain data practices described throughout this Privacy Statement may constitute a “sale” or “sharing” of data under California and/or other US state laws. See the below CA Addendum for more information applicable to CA residents. We want you to understand that information about our customers is an important part of our business. We only disclose your data as described in this Statement.
The Verge has reached out to Sonos for clarification on what this change signifies and whether the company is now handling customer data differently than before. As part of its reworked app platform, Sonos rolled out web-based access for all customer systems — giving the cloud an even bigger role in the company’s architecture. Unfortunately, the web app currently lacks any kind of two-factor authentication, which has also irked users; all it takes is an email address and password to remotely control Sonos devices.
The app situation is gradually improving — alarms and sleep timers were both recently restored — but getting through to Sonos customer support can still take a very, very long time in the aftermath of the top-to-bottom software overhaul.

Illustration: The Verge

It’s been a rocky couple of months for Sonos — so much so that CEO Patrick Spence now has a canned autoreply for customers emailing him to vent about the redesigned app. But as the company works to right the ship, restore trust, and get the new Sonos Ace headphones off to a strong start, it finds itself in the middle of yet another controversy.

As highlighted by repair technician and consumer privacy advocate Louis Rossmann, Sonos has made a significant change to its privacy policy, at least in the United States, with the removal of one key line. The updated policy no longer contains a sentence that previously said, “Sonos does not and will not sell personal information about our customers.” That pledge is still present in other countries, but it’s nowhere to be found in the updated US policy, which went into effect earlier this month.

Now, some customers, already feeling burned by the new Sonos app’s unsteady performance, are sounding off about what they view as another poor decision from the company’s leadership. For them, it’s been one unforced error after another from a brand they once recommended without hesitation.

Here’s the relevant part from the “how we may share personal information” section of the privacy policy as it was in 2023:

Sonos does not and will not sell personal information about our customers. However, certain data practices described throughout this Privacy Statement may constitute a “sale” or “sharing” of data under California and/or other US state laws. See the below CA Addendum for more information applicable to CA residents. We want you to understand that information about our customers is an important part of our business. We only disclose your data as described in this Statement.

And now, the new version:

Certain data practices described throughout this Privacy Statement may constitute a “sale” or “sharing” of data under California and/or other US state laws. See the below CA Addendum for more information applicable to CA residents. We want you to understand that information about our customers is an important part of our business. We only disclose your data as described in this Statement.

The Verge has reached out to Sonos for clarification on what this change signifies and whether the company is now handling customer data differently than before. As part of its reworked app platform, Sonos rolled out web-based access for all customer systems — giving the cloud an even bigger role in the company’s architecture. Unfortunately, the web app currently lacks any kind of two-factor authentication, which has also irked users; all it takes is an email address and password to remotely control Sonos devices.

The app situation is gradually improving — alarms and sleep timers were both recently restored — but getting through to Sonos customer support can still take a very, very long time in the aftermath of the top-to-bottom software overhaul.

Read More 

Tesla’s current and future vehicle lineup. | Image: Tesla

Tesla CEO Elon Musk teased three new vehicles during his presentation at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on Thursday — one more than what he showed off during the Master Plan Part 3 event last year.
In a slide showing the company’s current lineup — Models S, X, 3, Y, the Tesla Semi, and Cybertruck — three shrouded vehicles were also included.
“Obviously we’ve got some new products that we’re working on under the covers,” Musk said. “I think these are going to be pretty special.”
“Obviously we’ve got some new products that we’re working on under the covers.”
And that was basically it. No other details were divulged. Sure, Musk was in a giddy mood considering his shareholders just handed him a victory by reapproving his enormous $50 billion compensation package. But even the world’s most hyperbolic CEO stayed tight-lipped about what was in the pipeline.
So let’s speculate. One of those vehicles is probably the robotaxi, which Musk has said will get a proper reveal on August 8th. He even gave it a new name during a recent earnings call: “Cybercab.”
Which one do we think is the robotaxi? I’m guessing it’s the one on the far right, closest to the Cybertruck. Musk is going to want to pair his two most futuristic vehicles together like two low-poly peas in a pod.

Image: Tesla
A slide from last year’s Master Plan Part 3 presentation.

But then again, maybe the robotaxi is the more van-shaped vehicle on the left. If this is Tesla’s first purpose-built autonomous vehicle, the one made for the ridehailing network that Musk has described as a cross between Uber and Airbnb, wouldn’t they want something a bit more high capacity — something that can squeeze in more passengers than a Model Y? Waymo’s first robotaxi was a Chrysler Pacifica minivan. It would be pretty hilarious if Tesla followed suit by introducing its own robot van.
During the presentation, a shareholder asked Musk whether he would make a more high volume electric van with enough room for 13 passengers. Musk laughed and said he would “add it to my list.”
Tesla has dropped hints about a van before. In its Master Plan Part Deux, the company said it was developing “high passenger-density urban transport” and also suggested that autonomous buses could be deployed. I happen to think both of those ideas are fully dead given Musk’s notorious disdain for public transportation. But in Master Plan Part 3, the company lists “bus” and “commercial/passenger vans” as “TBD.” So maybe it’s not dead?
So, if the robotaxi is on the right and the boxy vehicle on the left is some kind of van, what’s that vehicle in the upper left? Could it be the long-awaited refreshed Tesla Roadster? Or is it some kind of compact, more affordable “Model 2”?
The saga of the Model 2 — a name that Musk has never confirmed — has been a rollercoaster. Tesla bulls and investors have been trying to will it into existence for years, even though Musk has never really been fully on board. Even as far back as the Master Plan Part Deux (released in 2016), Musk said that a lower-cost vehicle cheaper than the Model 3 “is unlikely to be necessary.”
Earlier this year, Musk was basically bullied by investors into recommitting to the Model 2, promising lower-cost models in the years to come. But the man is clearly tired of running a car company.
To him, AI and robots are the future. During yesterday’s presentation, he spent several minutes excitedly discussing Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robots — while barely paying lip service to the company’s actual vehicular products. In his mind, Tesla’s future won’t be rolling on four wheels but, rather, walking on two legs.

Tesla’s current and future vehicle lineup. | Image: Tesla

Tesla CEO Elon Musk teased three new vehicles during his presentation at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on Thursday — one more than what he showed off during the Master Plan Part 3 event last year.

In a slide showing the company’s current lineup — Models S, X, 3, Y, the Tesla Semi, and Cybertruck — three shrouded vehicles were also included.

“Obviously we’ve got some new products that we’re working on under the covers,” Musk said. “I think these are going to be pretty special.”

And that was basically it. No other details were divulged. Sure, Musk was in a giddy mood considering his shareholders just handed him a victory by reapproving his enormous $50 billion compensation package. But even the world’s most hyperbolic CEO stayed tight-lipped about what was in the pipeline.

So let’s speculate. One of those vehicles is probably the robotaxi, which Musk has said will get a proper reveal on August 8th. He even gave it a new name during a recent earnings call: “Cybercab.”

Which one do we think is the robotaxi? I’m guessing it’s the one on the far right, closest to the Cybertruck. Musk is going to want to pair his two most futuristic vehicles together like two low-poly peas in a pod.

Image: Tesla
A slide from last year’s Master Plan Part 3 presentation.

But then again, maybe the robotaxi is the more van-shaped vehicle on the left. If this is Tesla’s first purpose-built autonomous vehicle, the one made for the ridehailing network that Musk has described as a cross between Uber and Airbnb, wouldn’t they want something a bit more high capacity — something that can squeeze in more passengers than a Model Y? Waymo’s first robotaxi was a Chrysler Pacifica minivan. It would be pretty hilarious if Tesla followed suit by introducing its own robot van.

During the presentation, a shareholder asked Musk whether he would make a more high volume electric van with enough room for 13 passengers. Musk laughed and said he would “add it to my list.”

Tesla has dropped hints about a van before. In its Master Plan Part Deux, the company said it was developing “high passenger-density urban transport” and also suggested that autonomous buses could be deployed. I happen to think both of those ideas are fully dead given Musk’s notorious disdain for public transportation. But in Master Plan Part 3, the company lists “bus” and “commercial/passenger vans” as “TBD.” So maybe it’s not dead?

So, if the robotaxi is on the right and the boxy vehicle on the left is some kind of van, what’s that vehicle in the upper left? Could it be the long-awaited refreshed Tesla Roadster? Or is it some kind of compact, more affordable “Model 2”?

The saga of the Model 2 — a name that Musk has never confirmed — has been a rollercoaster. Tesla bulls and investors have been trying to will it into existence for years, even though Musk has never really been fully on board. Even as far back as the Master Plan Part Deux (released in 2016), Musk said that a lower-cost vehicle cheaper than the Model 3 “is unlikely to be necessary.”

Earlier this year, Musk was basically bullied by investors into recommitting to the Model 2, promising lower-cost models in the years to come. But the man is clearly tired of running a car company.

To him, AI and robots are the future. During yesterday’s presentation, he spent several minutes excitedly discussing Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robots — while barely paying lip service to the company’s actual vehicular products. In his mind, Tesla’s future won’t be rolling on four wheels but, rather, walking on two legs.

Read More 

Photo by David Madison / Getty Images

The Stanford Internet Observatory, a small but prominent research group studying abuse on social media platforms, looks to be in crisis, according to a report by Platformer.
Some key staff have departed recently, including founding director Alex Stamos and research director Renée DiResta, Platformer reports. A handful of staff have left recently after not having their contracts renewed, and other members have been told to look for other jobs. Platformer describes the turmoil as a “dismantling” of the research group.
Stanford Internet Observatory research centers on some of the most pressing types of abuse online, including threats to democracy and elections, artificial intelligence, and child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The group’s cutting-edge, real-time research on content moderation has been cited by news outlets around the world, including here at The Verge many times. Stamos founded the Internet Observatory in 2018 after working as Facebook’s chief security officer, hoping to create more accountability and transparency for issues that touch the tech industry, academia, and Capitol Hill.
Stanford didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the Internet Observatory’s future but told Platformer that the Internet Observatory’s work will continue under new leadership and that the university “remains deeply concerned about efforts… that chill freedom of inquiry and undermine legitimate and much needed academic research.” Platformer notes that some of the group’s work, including a peer-reviewed journal and conference on trust and safety, will remain.
The Internet Observatory’s work, like its research into election integrity, has made it a target for right-wing and Republican attacks. Researchers working on Election Integrity Partnership have been sued by right-wing groups who accuse them of “mass-surveillance and mass-censorship.”
The censorship claim stems from how the federal government communicates with social media platforms around topics like covid-19 disinformation and threats to elections. Government agencies sometimes communicate with platforms like Facebook, for example, to share public health information. In a case that has reached the Supreme Court, Republican attorneys general say the Biden administration suppressed free speech when it “coerced” social media companies into moderating certain content on their platforms. Researchers who study these topics and may share findings with the government have become recurring boogeyman characters in right-wing conspiracy theories online.
In response to lawsuits brought by attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana, Stanford has asserted that researchers have the right to conduct research and share their findings, including with government entities.
“Stanford will continue to defend its First Amendment rights — including those of its faculty, staff and students, who are free to investigate all manner of subjects, free to collaborate with other scholars and organizations, and free to communicate their findings to the public, to private enterprise and to the government,” the university wrote.
Lawsuits targeting the Internet Observatory and other related research institutions could create a chilling effect for people studying contentious issues online — particularly given the changes underway at Stanford. Individual researchers have faced threats against their careers and personal safety, and the potential reorganizing of the Internet Observatory is likely to be celebrated by the same forces working to delegitimize its work in the first place.

Photo by David Madison / Getty Images

The Stanford Internet Observatory, a small but prominent research group studying abuse on social media platforms, looks to be in crisis, according to a report by Platformer.

Some key staff have departed recently, including founding director Alex Stamos and research director Renée DiResta, Platformer reports. A handful of staff have left recently after not having their contracts renewed, and other members have been told to look for other jobs. Platformer describes the turmoil as a “dismantling” of the research group.

Stanford Internet Observatory research centers on some of the most pressing types of abuse online, including threats to democracy and elections, artificial intelligence, and child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The group’s cutting-edge, real-time research on content moderation has been cited by news outlets around the world, including here at The Verge many times. Stamos founded the Internet Observatory in 2018 after working as Facebook’s chief security officer, hoping to create more accountability and transparency for issues that touch the tech industry, academia, and Capitol Hill.

Stanford didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the Internet Observatory’s future but told Platformer that the Internet Observatory’s work will continue under new leadership and that the university “remains deeply concerned about efforts… that chill freedom of inquiry and undermine legitimate and much needed academic research.” Platformer notes that some of the group’s work, including a peer-reviewed journal and conference on trust and safety, will remain.

The Internet Observatory’s work, like its research into election integrity, has made it a target for right-wing and Republican attacks. Researchers working on Election Integrity Partnership have been sued by right-wing groups who accuse them of “mass-surveillance and mass-censorship.”

The censorship claim stems from how the federal government communicates with social media platforms around topics like covid-19 disinformation and threats to elections. Government agencies sometimes communicate with platforms like Facebook, for example, to share public health information. In a case that has reached the Supreme Court, Republican attorneys general say the Biden administration suppressed free speech when it “coerced” social media companies into moderating certain content on their platforms. Researchers who study these topics and may share findings with the government have become recurring boogeyman characters in right-wing conspiracy theories online.

In response to lawsuits brought by attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana, Stanford has asserted that researchers have the right to conduct research and share their findings, including with government entities.

“Stanford will continue to defend its First Amendment rights — including those of its faculty, staff and students, who are free to investigate all manner of subjects, free to collaborate with other scholars and organizations, and free to communicate their findings to the public, to private enterprise and to the government,” the university wrote.

Lawsuits targeting the Internet Observatory and other related research institutions could create a chilling effect for people studying contentious issues online — particularly given the changes underway at Stanford. Individual researchers have faced threats against their careers and personal safety, and the potential reorganizing of the Internet Observatory is likely to be celebrated by the same forces working to delegitimize its work in the first place.

Read More 

Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge

OLED monitors are on a nice (albeit, still slow) trajectory toward lower prices. If you’re in the market for a gaming-centric OLED for your PC, check out the excellent LG UltraGear 27-inch 27GR95QE-B currently selling for $656.99 ($340 off) at Amazon and B&H Photo or $659.99 at Best Buy.
This LG model may not be gargantuan or capable of native 4K, but its modestly sized 27-inch OLED panel has crisp QHD (2560 x 1440) resolution. It’s got the deep blacks and strong color contrast you expect in an OLED, and since it’s designed for gaming, it can reach up to 240Hz over its DisplayPort 1.4 or twin HDMI 2.1 ports — making it a great choice for pulling double-duty if you use both PC and current consoles at your desk. In fact, it has a built-in downscaler to ensure all the 4K content from a PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, or high-end gaming PC looks excellent.

If 27 inches seems too small and the 16:9 aspect ratio too mundane for such fancy panel technology, you can also check out the larger ultrawide 34-inch LG UltraGear 34GS95QE-B curved OLED selling for $819.99 ($480 off) at Amazon and Best Buy. It’s pricier, sure, but it carries similar specs in a 21:9 aspect ratio with about seven inches of extra screen width.
Cooking up some more Frideals

The 8BitDo Ultimate C Wired Controller is just $16.99 ($3 off) at Amazon in either purple or green pastel colors. It’s hard to get much more affordable than this for a no-frills controller for PC, Android, or the Steam Deck. While the price is low, these 8BitDo controllers have a nice build, comfy ergonomics, and excellent D-pads.

Woot is selling one year of NordVPN service for just $19.99 (regularly around $60). It’s a digital code that will be emailed to you, and Woot’s listing indicates that it’s valid for new and existing NordVPN subscribers. A quality VPN is always a good idea to have if you don’t want your ISP to be privy to every little thing you’re doing or downloading.
Eneba is once again running a few console game store gift card promos through this weekend. You can get a $100 PlayStation Store Gift Card for $82.49 with checkout code PSN100US, a $50 Xbox Gift Card for $40.99 with code X50US, or a $100 Xbox Gift Card for $81.49 when you use code X100US. All three discount codes are valid until June 17th at 7AM ET.

Logitech’s Crayon Digital Pencil for iPads with USB-C ports is $49.99 ($20 off) at Amazon. The Crayon doesn’t have all the extra fancy features of Apple’s second-gen Pencil or Pencil Pro-like pressure sensitivity, but it’s more than effective for some note-taking and light doodling.

Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge

OLED monitors are on a nice (albeit, still slow) trajectory toward lower prices. If you’re in the market for a gaming-centric OLED for your PC, check out the excellent LG UltraGear 27-inch 27GR95QE-B currently selling for $656.99 ($340 off) at Amazon and B&H Photo or $659.99 at Best Buy.

This LG model may not be gargantuan or capable of native 4K, but its modestly sized 27-inch OLED panel has crisp QHD (2560 x 1440) resolution. It’s got the deep blacks and strong color contrast you expect in an OLED, and since it’s designed for gaming, it can reach up to 240Hz over its DisplayPort 1.4 or twin HDMI 2.1 ports — making it a great choice for pulling double-duty if you use both PC and current consoles at your desk. In fact, it has a built-in downscaler to ensure all the 4K content from a PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, or high-end gaming PC looks excellent.

If 27 inches seems too small and the 16:9 aspect ratio too mundane for such fancy panel technology, you can also check out the larger ultrawide 34-inch LG UltraGear 34GS95QE-B curved OLED selling for $819.99 ($480 off) at Amazon and Best Buy. It’s pricier, sure, but it carries similar specs in a 21:9 aspect ratio with about seven inches of extra screen width.

Cooking up some more Frideals

The 8BitDo Ultimate C Wired Controller is just $16.99 ($3 off) at Amazon in either purple or green pastel colors. It’s hard to get much more affordable than this for a no-frills controller for PC, Android, or the Steam Deck. While the price is low, these 8BitDo controllers have a nice build, comfy ergonomics, and excellent D-pads.

Woot is selling one year of NordVPN service for just $19.99 (regularly around $60). It’s a digital code that will be emailed to you, and Woot’s listing indicates that it’s valid for new and existing NordVPN subscribers. A quality VPN is always a good idea to have if you don’t want your ISP to be privy to every little thing you’re doing or downloading.
Eneba is once again running a few console game store gift card promos through this weekend. You can get a $100 PlayStation Store Gift Card for $82.49 with checkout code PSN100US, a $50 Xbox Gift Card for $40.99 with code X50US, or a $100 Xbox Gift Card for $81.49 when you use code X100US. All three discount codes are valid until June 17th at 7AM ET.

Logitech’s Crayon Digital Pencil for iPads with USB-C ports is $49.99 ($20 off) at Amazon. The Crayon doesn’t have all the extra fancy features of Apple’s second-gen Pencil or Pencil Pro-like pressure sensitivity, but it’s more than effective for some note-taking and light doodling.

Read More 

Image: The Browser Company

The Arc browser is getting a nifty new Live Calendar feature that presents your next Google Calendar meeting on the sidebar just before it starts so you won’t miss any important calls. It includes a countdown timer and a Google Meet join button that you can see and access without opening your Calendar tab.
To set up Live Calendar, first make sure you’re updated to the latest version of Arc (version 1.47.1). Then, just open Google Calendar in Arc, log in, and drag the tab into the favorites section directly under the URL. With Google Calendar pinned, you’ll get a new “Live Calendar Available” message confirming the feature is active. You can right-click on the Google Calendar favorite tab to change Live Calendar settings, like how soon you want the next meeting link to appear and the ability to hide the time until the next meeting in case countdowns make you anxious.

Image: Umar Shakir / The Verge
Before the update, you’d need to hover over Google Calendar in your favorites bar to join a call.

Image: Umar Shakir / The Verge
After the update, the join button dynamically appears on the sidebar.

Arc already had a Google Calendar tooltip feature that let you hover over the tab to see a preview of your upcoming meetings and a button to join them. However, it hasn’t displayed reliably for some Verge staff who use Arc daily. The new Live Calendar feature will hopefully solve that by essentially becoming a widget that you won’t need to hover over.

Image: The Browser Company

The Arc browser is getting a nifty new Live Calendar feature that presents your next Google Calendar meeting on the sidebar just before it starts so you won’t miss any important calls. It includes a countdown timer and a Google Meet join button that you can see and access without opening your Calendar tab.

To set up Live Calendar, first make sure you’re updated to the latest version of Arc (version 1.47.1). Then, just open Google Calendar in Arc, log in, and drag the tab into the favorites section directly under the URL. With Google Calendar pinned, you’ll get a new “Live Calendar Available” message confirming the feature is active. You can right-click on the Google Calendar favorite tab to change Live Calendar settings, like how soon you want the next meeting link to appear and the ability to hide the time until the next meeting in case countdowns make you anxious.

Arc already had a Google Calendar tooltip feature that let you hover over the tab to see a preview of your upcoming meetings and a button to join them. However, it hasn’t displayed reliably for some Verge staff who use Arc daily. The new Live Calendar feature will hopefully solve that by essentially becoming a widget that you won’t need to hover over.

Read More 

Disney’s new “Beat the Clock” ad format will let you play golf with your remote. | Image: Disney

Disney is sprinkling a new kind of playable ad across Hulu and ESPN. The new ad format, called “advergames,” will let you interact with the ads using your remote, as reported earlier by Adweek.
You might see two different advergames to start: Quiz Show and Beat the Clock. While Quiz Show presents a series of trivia questions, Beat the Clock challenges viewers to land golf balls into specific targets using their remote. Of course, they’re branded experiences, as the Beat the Clock ad features branding for Topgolf, and the Quiz Show game will prominently display an ad for a company while you play.

Image: BrightLine
Quiz Show replaces your traditional ad break with a sponsored trivia game.

The pitch for this format is that it gives advertisers feedback on whether viewers actually noticed their content — plus, more kinds of ads mean more money for streamers. In its most recent earnings report, Disney’s streaming business inched closer to profitability after drawing more users to its ad-supported tier.

Image: Disney
Shoppable ads on Disney Plus link you directly to a product.

Disney is partnering with the streaming TV company BrightLine to enable the new playable ad formats. It has also brought shoppable ads to Disney Plus made by Kerv, which show QR codes that link you directly to a product page. As noted by Adweek, shoppable ads are programmatic, meaning advertisers purchase the ads automatically, and an algorithm will decide who to show them to and when.
On ESPN, the ads seem inevitable, at least for now, but on Disney’s other streaming platforms, your only option to avoid the ads is to pay a bit more each month.

Disney’s new “Beat the Clock” ad format will let you play golf with your remote. | Image: Disney

Disney is sprinkling a new kind of playable ad across Hulu and ESPN. The new ad format, called “advergames,” will let you interact with the ads using your remote, as reported earlier by Adweek.

You might see two different advergames to start: Quiz Show and Beat the Clock. While Quiz Show presents a series of trivia questions, Beat the Clock challenges viewers to land golf balls into specific targets using their remote. Of course, they’re branded experiences, as the Beat the Clock ad features branding for Topgolf, and the Quiz Show game will prominently display an ad for a company while you play.

Image: BrightLine
Quiz Show replaces your traditional ad break with a sponsored trivia game.

The pitch for this format is that it gives advertisers feedback on whether viewers actually noticed their content — plus, more kinds of ads mean more money for streamers. In its most recent earnings report, Disney’s streaming business inched closer to profitability after drawing more users to its ad-supported tier.

Image: Disney
Shoppable ads on Disney Plus link you directly to a product.

Disney is partnering with the streaming TV company BrightLine to enable the new playable ad formats. It has also brought shoppable ads to Disney Plus made by Kerv, which show QR codes that link you directly to a product page. As noted by Adweek, shoppable ads are programmatic, meaning advertisers purchase the ads automatically, and an algorithm will decide who to show them to and when.

On ESPN, the ads seem inevitable, at least for now, but on Disney’s other streaming platforms, your only option to avoid the ads is to pay a bit more each month.

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Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge

So, Apple reportedly isn’t paying OpenAI to handle its users’ ChatGPT queries, and OpenAI isn’t paying Apple for its massive distribution. (A billion pockets, y’all!) If that’s the case, what do these two companies get out of their blockbuster partnership for all things iOS and AI? And can OpenAI and Apple actually afford to do this, economically and reputationally? It’s a strange pairing, but it’s coming to a device near you this fall.
On this episode of The Vergecast, we talk about Bloomberg’s reporting on the business deal behind Apple Intelligence before rolling through some of Apple’s new features that didn’t get much (or any) stage time at WWDC. It’s pretty clear Apple is hoping AI will convince you to buy a new iPhone, but it’s still hard to tell how much better things are about to get.

After we wrap up the WWDC talk, we get to a bunch of gadget news. There’s a new Xbox and a now very obviously forthcoming handheld Xbox. Jabra made cool headphones and then immediately announced it plans to stop making headphones. The Light Phone 3 looks cool, MediaTek is apparently back in the chip race, and a ChromeOS overhaul might be in the works.
Finally, we get into the lightning round, where we talk about a week full of strange Elon Musk news, a new study about how people find news on social media, and the future of one of our favorite movie theaters. Which leads to a long digression on Crackle, because this is The Vergecast and that’s just what happens sometimes.

If you want to know more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started, first on WWDC:

Apple and OpenAI aren’t paying each other yet, says Bloomberg
MKBHD interviewed Tim Cook.
Tim Cook is ‘not 100 percent’ sure Apple can stop AI hallucinations
The AI upgrade cycle is here
Here’s how Apple’s AI model tries to keep your data private
The best small updates Apple didn’t mention at WWDC

And on all the week’s new gadgets:

Xbox boss: ‘I think we should have a handheld, too’
Microsoft announces a discless Xbox Series X console in white
Xbox chief confirms more games are coming to other platforms
Jabra’s earbuds are going away, but the impact they made isn’t
The best thing about Jabra’s new earbuds is the case
The Light Phone 3 adds a better screen, a camera, and new ways to replace your smartphone
The Windows on Arm chip race heats up with a challenger to Qualcomm
Did startup Flow Computing just make CPUs 100x faster? Here’s the white paper and FAQs
Google is putting more Android in ChromeOS

And in the lightning round:

Nilay Patel’s picks: Elon Musk drops lawsuit against OpenAI and Elon Musk has unusual relationships with women at SpaceX, WSJ reports

David Pierce’s pick: Pew: A growing number of Americans are getting their news from TikTok

Alex Cranz’s pick: Sony buys Alamo Drafthouse Cinema

Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge

So, Apple reportedly isn’t paying OpenAI to handle its users’ ChatGPT queries, and OpenAI isn’t paying Apple for its massive distribution. (A billion pockets, y’all!) If that’s the case, what do these two companies get out of their blockbuster partnership for all things iOS and AI? And can OpenAI and Apple actually afford to do this, economically and reputationally? It’s a strange pairing, but it’s coming to a device near you this fall.

On this episode of The Vergecast, we talk about Bloomberg’s reporting on the business deal behind Apple Intelligence before rolling through some of Apple’s new features that didn’t get much (or any) stage time at WWDC. It’s pretty clear Apple is hoping AI will convince you to buy a new iPhone, but it’s still hard to tell how much better things are about to get.

After we wrap up the WWDC talk, we get to a bunch of gadget news. There’s a new Xbox and a now very obviously forthcoming handheld Xbox. Jabra made cool headphones and then immediately announced it plans to stop making headphones. The Light Phone 3 looks cool, MediaTek is apparently back in the chip race, and a ChromeOS overhaul might be in the works.

Finally, we get into the lightning round, where we talk about a week full of strange Elon Musk news, a new study about how people find news on social media, and the future of one of our favorite movie theaters. Which leads to a long digression on Crackle, because this is The Vergecast and that’s just what happens sometimes.

If you want to know more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started, first on WWDC:

Apple and OpenAI aren’t paying each other yet, says Bloomberg
MKBHD interviewed Tim Cook.
Tim Cook is ‘not 100 percent’ sure Apple can stop AI hallucinations
The AI upgrade cycle is here
Here’s how Apple’s AI model tries to keep your data private
The best small updates Apple didn’t mention at WWDC

And on all the week’s new gadgets:

Xbox boss: ‘I think we should have a handheld, too’
Microsoft announces a discless Xbox Series X console in white
Xbox chief confirms more games are coming to other platforms
Jabra’s earbuds are going away, but the impact they made isn’t
The best thing about Jabra’s new earbuds is the case
The Light Phone 3 adds a better screen, a camera, and new ways to replace your smartphone
The Windows on Arm chip race heats up with a challenger to Qualcomm
Did startup Flow Computing just make CPUs 100x faster? Here’s the white paper and FAQs
Google is putting more Android in ChromeOS

And in the lightning round:

Nilay Patel’s picks: Elon Musk drops lawsuit against OpenAI and Elon Musk has unusual relationships with women at SpaceX, WSJ reports

David Pierce’s pick: Pew: A growing number of Americans are getting their news from TikTok

Alex Cranz’s pick: Sony buys Alamo Drafthouse Cinema

Read More 

Image: Samar Haddad / The Verge

When Chromebooks first appeared on the scene back in 2011, they were criticized for how limited they were compared to Windows and macOS systems. Since then, some of the original limitations have been tweaked and the simplicity of the OS has been much more widely accepted. And it turns out, sometimes the old adage that less is more is right.
One of the key advantages of using a Chromebook is the way (almost) everything is instantly backed up: with a small number of exceptions, all of your apps and files live online. If you lose your laptop or drop it into a lake, all you need to do is sign in to another Chromebook with your Google account, and you’re right back where you started.

Wiping a Chromebook is quick and easy, too, if you’re trying to troubleshoot problems or pass the laptop on to someone else. Here’s what you need to know about backing up and wiping your Chromebook — including those bits of data that might not automatically be backed up with everything else.
These steps were tested on an Acer Chromebook Spin 714 and should apply to any Chromebook running ChromeOS 125 or later.
First, back up your Chromebook
As mentioned above, with just about everything on your Chromebook running online, there’s no need to back it up in the traditional sense. All of your data is already in the cloud and is synced whenever you have an internet connection. If you’ve been using Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides offline, you should get online to save your changes to the web, but there’s not much more you need to worry about.

Screenshot: Google
You have the opportunity to back up all your browsing data at once.

Even the settings you’ve customized ChromeOS with are saved to the cloud for you, including details of the Wi-Fi networks you’re connected to, the apps you’ve installed on your laptop, and even the wallpapers you’ve set as backgrounds. All of this should be backed up in the background and restored the next time you sign in with a Google account on your current Chromebook or any other laptop.
To make sure all of your browser data is being synced as it should:

Inside a Chrome tab, click the three dots (top right), then Settings.
Select You and Google, then Sync and Google services.
Click Manage what you sync to choose what gets backed up online (including bookmarks and passwords).

For the system-level data:

Click the time and date panel (lower right).
Select the gear icon to open up ChromeOS Settings.
Choose Privacy and security.
Select Sync and Google services and then Manage what you sync. (Here, the options include apps and settings.)

Screenshot: Google
Wallpaper and settings can be backed up in ChromeOS as well.

You should now be mostly covered, but there are a couple of other points to make. First, you might also have files stored locally that aren’t backed up — downloaded photos, for example. Open the ChromeOS Files app to check and drag any files you want to keep to the Google Drive heading in order to back them up to the cloud.
If you’ve got a Linux partition
If you’ve set up a Linux partition on your Chromebook, this won’t be backed up automatically.

Go to your Chromebook Settings.
Open the Advanced tab and click Developers.
Choose Linux, then Back up and restore.
Click Back up, then a location for your files — this can be Google Drive or a connected USB device.

With all of that taken care of, your Chromebook should be comprehensively backed up, which means you’re ready to do a reset.
Reset your Chromebook

Screenshot: Google
Resetting your Chromebook only takes a handful of clicks; just look for the Powerwash control.

As there’s little in the way of local storage on a Chromebook, resetting it doesn’t take long. In ChromeOS, a reset is known as a “powerwash,” which returns everything back to its original state, just as it was when you bought it.

Click the time and date (bottom-right corner).
Click on the gear icon to open Settings.
Choose System preferences and scroll down to Powerwash. Select the Reset button.
Click Restart to reboot your Chromebook.
After the restart, choose Powerwash and Continue to wipe and reset the Chromebook.

After a few moments, you’ll be met with the setup screen. If you’re keeping this computer, you just have to log in using your Google account, and you should find your Chromebook largely the way you left it.

Image: Samar Haddad / The Verge

When Chromebooks first appeared on the scene back in 2011, they were criticized for how limited they were compared to Windows and macOS systems. Since then, some of the original limitations have been tweaked and the simplicity of the OS has been much more widely accepted. And it turns out, sometimes the old adage that less is more is right.

One of the key advantages of using a Chromebook is the way (almost) everything is instantly backed up: with a small number of exceptions, all of your apps and files live online. If you lose your laptop or drop it into a lake, all you need to do is sign in to another Chromebook with your Google account, and you’re right back where you started.

Wiping a Chromebook is quick and easy, too, if you’re trying to troubleshoot problems or pass the laptop on to someone else. Here’s what you need to know about backing up and wiping your Chromebook — including those bits of data that might not automatically be backed up with everything else.

These steps were tested on an Acer Chromebook Spin 714 and should apply to any Chromebook running ChromeOS 125 or later.

First, back up your Chromebook

As mentioned above, with just about everything on your Chromebook running online, there’s no need to back it up in the traditional sense. All of your data is already in the cloud and is synced whenever you have an internet connection. If you’ve been using Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides offline, you should get online to save your changes to the web, but there’s not much more you need to worry about.

Screenshot: Google
You have the opportunity to back up all your browsing data at once.

Even the settings you’ve customized ChromeOS with are saved to the cloud for you, including details of the Wi-Fi networks you’re connected to, the apps you’ve installed on your laptop, and even the wallpapers you’ve set as backgrounds. All of this should be backed up in the background and restored the next time you sign in with a Google account on your current Chromebook or any other laptop.

To make sure all of your browser data is being synced as it should:

Inside a Chrome tab, click the three dots (top right), then Settings.
Select You and Google, then Sync and Google services.
Click Manage what you sync to choose what gets backed up online (including bookmarks and passwords).

For the system-level data:

Click the time and date panel (lower right).
Select the gear icon to open up ChromeOS Settings.
Choose Privacy and security.
Select Sync and Google services and then Manage what you sync. (Here, the options include apps and settings.)

Screenshot: Google
Wallpaper and settings can be backed up in ChromeOS as well.

You should now be mostly covered, but there are a couple of other points to make. First, you might also have files stored locally that aren’t backed up — downloaded photos, for example. Open the ChromeOS Files app to check and drag any files you want to keep to the Google Drive heading in order to back them up to the cloud.

If you’ve got a Linux partition

If you’ve set up a Linux partition on your Chromebook, this won’t be backed up automatically.

Go to your Chromebook Settings.
Open the Advanced tab and click Developers.
Choose Linux, then Back up and restore.
Click Back up, then a location for your files — this can be Google Drive or a connected USB device.

With all of that taken care of, your Chromebook should be comprehensively backed up, which means you’re ready to do a reset.

Reset your Chromebook

Screenshot: Google
Resetting your Chromebook only takes a handful of clicks; just look for the Powerwash control.

As there’s little in the way of local storage on a Chromebook, resetting it doesn’t take long. In ChromeOS, a reset is known as a “powerwash,” which returns everything back to its original state, just as it was when you bought it.

Click the time and date (bottom-right corner).
Click on the gear icon to open Settings.
Choose System preferences and scroll down to Powerwash. Select the Reset button.
Click Restart to reboot your Chromebook.
After the restart, choose Powerwash and Continue to wipe and reset the Chromebook.

After a few moments, you’ll be met with the setup screen. If you’re keeping this computer, you just have to log in using your Google account, and you should find your Chromebook largely the way you left it.

Read More 

Apple’s Siri voice assistant has a new look and a new brain. | Image: Apple

Voice assistants hold so much promise, but in the decade-plus since Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa first wormed their ways into our lives, their most compelling use is still setting timers. Competition from Google’s Assistant (and if we’re being charitable, Samsung’s Bixby) failed to light the spark of innovation in this space, and in many ways, voice control has regressed. These assistants regularly misunderstand, mishear, and sometimes just don’t listen at all. They’re a far cry from the proactive, actually smart digital assistants they were originally pitched as.

Enter generative AI: the technology voice assistants need to transform them from novel to necessary. This week at its Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple announced plans to infuse its long-neglected assistant with the emerging tech, providing Siri with two crucial skills: context and conversation. It’s the recipe for delivering on that original promise, or at least getting us much closer.
Apple says its Apple Intelligence will bring Siri “all-new superpowers” gleaned from improved language understanding, an awareness of personal context, and the ability to take action across apps on your phone.
Where the current Siri needs explicit instructions on what to do and how to do it, Apple promises that this new version will let you say something like, “Siri, what time does Mom’s flight land?” and the assistant will know to look through your Mail and Messages and pull out the information. You could then say, “How long will it take me to get there?” and it should know you mean the airport and pull up a route and ETA via Maps.
These seemingly minor improvements address the fundamental issues of voice assistants
You also won’t have to phrase commands precisely. Instead of saying, “Siri, set a timer for 10 minutes,” you should be able to bumble through with a phrase like, “Siri, set an alarm for — oh, wait, no, set a timer for 10 minutes. Actually, make that 5,” and the assistant will get it right.
These seemingly minor improvements address some of the fundamental issues of voice assistants — not understanding enough about you and requiring you to speak in unnaturally precise ways to get them to do anything — that turned these promising pieces of technology into barely more than glorified alarm clocks.
Siri, Alexa, et al. are already artificially intelligent voice assistants: machines that mimic human-like intelligence through a combination of command and response programming and machine learning. But with the power of generative AI and LLMs, voice assistants could have the ability to generate a response based on what they’ve learned, rather than just reacting with existing knowledge.
This should provide the tools to create that more conversational, smarter voice assistant — one that promises to be much more useful than those we have today. But all we’ve seen to date are demos of this potential, none of this exists in real life yet.
Making voice assistants smarter is not as simple as giving Siri and Alexa a ChatGPT-style lobotomy
This is because making a superintelligent voice assistant is a huge challenge with equally huge potential ramifications if it gets it wrong. It’s also not as simple as giving Siri and Alexa a ChatGPT-style lobotomy.
Voice assistants, especially ones connected to devices and services in our phones and homes, are a different beast than a chatbot in a browser. They have the ability to take action in the real world: doing things like controlling our thermostats and lights and sending emails and messages. This is not where you want a potentially hallucinatory AI in control, and it speaks to why Apple has carefully sandboxed its ChatGPT integration with Siri.
Amazon is also working on a new and improved voice assistant, and while the company says its already integrated generative AI into components of Alexa, according to a report from Fortune, the new Alexa isn’t even close to ready.

The company announced an “all-new, smarter and more conversational Alexa” powered by a new Alexa LLM last fall with an impressive demo. It touted an Alexa that should understand conversational phrases for more human-like interactions, interpret context more effectively, and complete multiple requests from one command — like “Alexa, call Mom, turn on the living room lights, and lock the front door.”
But we’ve seen no sign of this superpowered Alexa since, just vague assurances that it’s in a limited preview. This may be because, according to Fortune, the company is struggling to merge the old Alexa and its capabilities with its vision for the next-gen voice assistant.
Similarly, Apple is taking a slow and steady approach. The new Siri won’t launch until the fall and, even then, will be labeled a beta. It also won’t have a place in the smart home at first: it’s not supported on any of Apple’s voice-forward, home-based devices such as the HomePod smart speakers and the Apple TV. It’s also not coming to the Apple Watch yet.
The new Siri is not supported on any of Apple’s voice-forward, home-based devices such as the HomePods and Apple TV
While these devices likely don’t have enough processing power to run generative models, many of which Apple wants to operate locally for privacy purposes, this feels like a big gap. The smart home is a key space for a more intelligent voice assistant, not only can it help bridge the personal and home spaces, but it could help make running a smart home much easier.
Amazon’s former head of devices and service, Dave Limp, told me last year that the new Alexa LLM they’re building has been trained on hundreds of smart home APIs. This could give Alexa the context needed to proactively manage smart home devices like lights, locks, thermostats and such, making them easier to set up and use, and allowing you to give commands like, “Alexa, it’s dark in here and I’m cold,” and the voice assistant will know what to do.
In contrast to Apple, Amazon has said its new Alexa will come to all of its Echo smart speakers, including the very first Echo released in 2014. (It can do this by offloading processing to the cloud.) Although, as the HomePod Mini is now four years old, it’s my guess we’ll see a new model with updated hardware designed for AI very soon. Apple cannot afford to cede the home to Alexa any further.

Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
The new Siri doesn’t work on the HomePod Mini, which means maybe there’s a new Mini on the way.

While the stage is set for the second coming of the voice assistant, there’s still a long way to go until we see act 1. It’s also possible the show will open with some entirely new characters if these companies can’t find a way to effectively build the new technology onto the foundations of the old.
It’s entirely possible Google will launch a completely new voice assistant
That appears to be the road Google is taking. Its Google Assistant voice assistant has yet to undergo a big AI overhaul, with the company reportedly putting all its resources into the new AI-powered Gemini assistant. While a symbiosis there seems the natural move, given Google’s penchant for abandoning the old it’s entirely possible the company will launch a completely new voice assistant built from the ground up on generative AI.
However they get there, the promise of these smart voice assistants is exciting, especially for whichever company can effectively merge the personal assistant with the home. Imagine if your HomePod could welcome you home with personalized updates, tell you that you need to leave for your daughter’s school play 15 minutes early because of traffic, and have your EV charged with enough range to get you there by the time you walk out the door. That’s a lot more like what we were promised — and it’s a whole lot smarter than setting a timer.

Apple’s Siri voice assistant has a new look and a new brain. | Image: Apple

Voice assistants hold so much promise, but in the decade-plus since Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa first wormed their ways into our lives, their most compelling use is still setting timers. Competition from Google’s Assistant (and if we’re being charitable, Samsung’s Bixby) failed to light the spark of innovation in this space, and in many ways, voice control has regressed. These assistants regularly misunderstand, mishear, and sometimes just don’t listen at all. They’re a far cry from the proactive, actually smart digital assistants they were originally pitched as.

Enter generative AI: the technology voice assistants need to transform them from novel to necessary. This week at its Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple announced plans to infuse its long-neglected assistant with the emerging tech, providing Siri with two crucial skills: context and conversation. It’s the recipe for delivering on that original promise, or at least getting us much closer.

Apple says its Apple Intelligence will bring Siri “all-new superpowers” gleaned from improved language understanding, an awareness of personal context, and the ability to take action across apps on your phone.

Where the current Siri needs explicit instructions on what to do and how to do it, Apple promises that this new version will let you say something like, “Siri, what time does Mom’s flight land?” and the assistant will know to look through your Mail and Messages and pull out the information. You could then say, “How long will it take me to get there?” and it should know you mean the airport and pull up a route and ETA via Maps.

You also won’t have to phrase commands precisely. Instead of saying, “Siri, set a timer for 10 minutes,” you should be able to bumble through with a phrase like, “Siri, set an alarm for — oh, wait, no, set a timer for 10 minutes. Actually, make that 5,” and the assistant will get it right.

These seemingly minor improvements address some of the fundamental issues of voice assistants — not understanding enough about you and requiring you to speak in unnaturally precise ways to get them to do anything — that turned these promising pieces of technology into barely more than glorified alarm clocks.

Siri, Alexa, et al. are already artificially intelligent voice assistants: machines that mimic human-like intelligence through a combination of command and response programming and machine learning. But with the power of generative AI and LLMs, voice assistants could have the ability to generate a response based on what they’ve learned, rather than just reacting with existing knowledge.

This should provide the tools to create that more conversational, smarter voice assistant — one that promises to be much more useful than those we have today. But all we’ve seen to date are demos of this potential, none of this exists in real life yet.

This is because making a superintelligent voice assistant is a huge challenge with equally huge potential ramifications if it gets it wrong. It’s also not as simple as giving Siri and Alexa a ChatGPT-style lobotomy.

Voice assistants, especially ones connected to devices and services in our phones and homes, are a different beast than a chatbot in a browser. They have the ability to take action in the real world: doing things like controlling our thermostats and lights and sending emails and messages. This is not where you want a potentially hallucinatory AI in control, and it speaks to why Apple has carefully sandboxed its ChatGPT integration with Siri.

Amazon is also working on a new and improved voice assistant, and while the company says its already integrated generative AI into components of Alexa, according to a report from Fortune, the new Alexa isn’t even close to ready.

The company announced an “all-new, smarter and more conversational Alexa” powered by a new Alexa LLM last fall with an impressive demo. It touted an Alexa that should understand conversational phrases for more human-like interactions, interpret context more effectively, and complete multiple requests from one command — like “Alexa, call Mom, turn on the living room lights, and lock the front door.”

But we’ve seen no sign of this superpowered Alexa since, just vague assurances that it’s in a limited preview. This may be because, according to Fortune, the company is struggling to merge the old Alexa and its capabilities with its vision for the next-gen voice assistant.

Similarly, Apple is taking a slow and steady approach. The new Siri won’t launch until the fall and, even then, will be labeled a beta. It also won’t have a place in the smart home at first: it’s not supported on any of Apple’s voice-forward, home-based devices such as the HomePod smart speakers and the Apple TV. It’s also not coming to the Apple Watch yet.

While these devices likely don’t have enough processing power to run generative models, many of which Apple wants to operate locally for privacy purposes, this feels like a big gap. The smart home is a key space for a more intelligent voice assistant, not only can it help bridge the personal and home spaces, but it could help make running a smart home much easier.

Amazon’s former head of devices and service, Dave Limp, told me last year that the new Alexa LLM they’re building has been trained on hundreds of smart home APIs. This could give Alexa the context needed to proactively manage smart home devices like lights, locks, thermostats and such, making them easier to set up and use, and allowing you to give commands like, “Alexa, it’s dark in here and I’m cold,” and the voice assistant will know what to do.

In contrast to Apple, Amazon has said its new Alexa will come to all of its Echo smart speakers, including the very first Echo released in 2014. (It can do this by offloading processing to the cloud.) Although, as the HomePod Mini is now four years old, it’s my guess we’ll see a new model with updated hardware designed for AI very soon. Apple cannot afford to cede the home to Alexa any further.

Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
The new Siri doesn’t work on the HomePod Mini, which means maybe there’s a new Mini on the way.

While the stage is set for the second coming of the voice assistant, there’s still a long way to go until we see act 1. It’s also possible the show will open with some entirely new characters if these companies can’t find a way to effectively build the new technology onto the foundations of the old.

That appears to be the road Google is taking. Its Google Assistant voice assistant has yet to undergo a big AI overhaul, with the company reportedly putting all its resources into the new AI-powered Gemini assistant. While a symbiosis there seems the natural move, given Google’s penchant for abandoning the old it’s entirely possible the company will launch a completely new voice assistant built from the ground up on generative AI.

However they get there, the promise of these smart voice assistants is exciting, especially for whichever company can effectively merge the personal assistant with the home. Imagine if your HomePod could welcome you home with personalized updates, tell you that you need to leave for your daughter’s school play 15 minutes early because of traffic, and have your EV charged with enough range to get you there by the time you walk out the door. That’s a lot more like what we were promised — and it’s a whole lot smarter than setting a timer.

Read More