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Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo by Grzegorz Wajda, Getty Images

Tesla board chair Robyn Denholm is calling on the company’s shareholders to approve Elon Musk’s massive $56 billion pay package or risk driving the billionaire CEO to greener pastures.
On June 13th, Tesla shareholders will decide the fate of Musk’s compensation package, which is estimated to be worth as much as $56 billion. It will be the second time that shareholders will vote on the CEO’s pay, after a Delaware judge voided the first one earlier this year on the grounds that the approval process was “deeply flawed.” And now the company is engaged in a full-court press to convince shareholders to approve the proposal a second time.
“Elon is not a typical executive, and Tesla is not a typical company,” Denholm writes in a letter to shareholders filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. “So, the typical way in which companies compensate key executives is not going to drive results for Tesla. Motivating someone like Elon requires something different.”
“Elon is not a typical executive, and Tesla is not a typical company”
Later, she implies that Musk could decamp to “other places” without proper motivation. “What we recognized in 2018 and continue to recognize today is that one thing Elon most certainly does not have is unlimited time,” Denholm says. “Nor does he face any shortage of ideas and other places he can make an incredible difference in the world. We want those ideas, that energy and that time to be at Tesla, for the benefit of you, our owners. But that requires reciprocal respect.”
The vote to approve the $56 billion pay package, which would make Musk the most highly compensated chief executive in modern history, is “not about the money,” Denholm insists. “We all know Elon is one of the wealthiest people on the planet, and he would remain so even if Tesla were to renege on the commitment we made in 2018.”
Denholm implying that Musk needs “motivation” in the form of the largest pay package ever approved for a CEO in order to stay at Tesla speaks to the fear many investors feel about his future at the company. Musk’s many different projects — heading companies like SpaceX, The Boring Company, Neuralink, X, and xAI — have taken his attention away from Tesla, which is the primary source of his wealth and popularity.
“We all know Elon is one of the wealthiest people on the planet”
Several proxy firms have recommended against approving Musk’s pay proposal. But early voting seems to suggest that he could end up getting what he wants. A report by trading platform eToro from last month showed that about 25 percent of Tesla’s shares have already voted, Reuters said. Of those, more than 80 percent were in favor of Musk’s package.
Still, Musk is seeking more control over Tesla, in the form of a 25 percent stake, in order to achieve his goals of developing artificial intelligence and self-driving cars. (He currently holds about 13 percent of the company after selling billions of dollars of shares to acquire Twitter.) On X, he has threatened to spin out Tesla’s AI work into a separate company if his demands aren’t met.
And now shareholders are being warned — in a letter heavy with innuendo — that he could just leave Tesla if his pay isn’t approved.
“We all made a commitment to Elon,” Denholm writes. “Elon honored his commitment and produced tremendous value for our stockholders. Honoring our commitment to Elon demonstrates that we support his vision for Tesla and recognize his extraordinary accomplishments — this is what will motivate him to continue to create value for stockholders.”

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo by Grzegorz Wajda, Getty Images

Tesla board chair Robyn Denholm is calling on the company’s shareholders to approve Elon Musk’s massive $56 billion pay package or risk driving the billionaire CEO to greener pastures.

On June 13th, Tesla shareholders will decide the fate of Musk’s compensation package, which is estimated to be worth as much as $56 billion. It will be the second time that shareholders will vote on the CEO’s pay, after a Delaware judge voided the first one earlier this year on the grounds that the approval process was “deeply flawed.” And now the company is engaged in a full-court press to convince shareholders to approve the proposal a second time.

“Elon is not a typical executive, and Tesla is not a typical company,” Denholm writes in a letter to shareholders filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. “So, the typical way in which companies compensate key executives is not going to drive results for Tesla. Motivating someone like Elon requires something different.”

Later, she implies that Musk could decamp to “other places” without proper motivation. “What we recognized in 2018 and continue to recognize today is that one thing Elon most certainly does not have is unlimited time,” Denholm says. “Nor does he face any shortage of ideas and other places he can make an incredible difference in the world. We want those ideas, that energy and that time to be at Tesla, for the benefit of you, our owners. But that requires reciprocal respect.”

The vote to approve the $56 billion pay package, which would make Musk the most highly compensated chief executive in modern history, is “not about the money,” Denholm insists. “We all know Elon is one of the wealthiest people on the planet, and he would remain so even if Tesla were to renege on the commitment we made in 2018.”

Denholm implying that Musk needs “motivation” in the form of the largest pay package ever approved for a CEO in order to stay at Tesla speaks to the fear many investors feel about his future at the company. Musk’s many different projects — heading companies like SpaceX, The Boring Company, Neuralink, X, and xAI — have taken his attention away from Tesla, which is the primary source of his wealth and popularity.

Several proxy firms have recommended against approving Musk’s pay proposal. But early voting seems to suggest that he could end up getting what he wants. A report by trading platform eToro from last month showed that about 25 percent of Tesla’s shares have already voted, Reuters said. Of those, more than 80 percent were in favor of Musk’s package.

Still, Musk is seeking more control over Tesla, in the form of a 25 percent stake, in order to achieve his goals of developing artificial intelligence and self-driving cars. (He currently holds about 13 percent of the company after selling billions of dollars of shares to acquire Twitter.) On X, he has threatened to spin out Tesla’s AI work into a separate company if his demands aren’t met.

And now shareholders are being warned — in a letter heavy with innuendo — that he could just leave Tesla if his pay isn’t approved.

“We all made a commitment to Elon,” Denholm writes. “Elon honored his commitment and produced tremendous value for our stockholders. Honoring our commitment to Elon demonstrates that we support his vision for Tesla and recognize his extraordinary accomplishments — this is what will motivate him to continue to create value for stockholders.”

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Image: Warner Bros. Games

Warner Bros. Discovery took a $200 million hit after the launch of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, the troubled looter shooter released in February — and now we have a sense of what went wrong. A new report from Bloomberg details some of the studio’s struggles behind the scenes, including inexperience with the multiplayer genre and a “constantly changing vision.”
Rocksteady, the UK-based studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, was tasked with developing a Suicide Squad game in 2016. At this time, new Rocksteady employees were reportedly unaware that the studio was developing a multiplayer game, as Rocksteady is known for its single-player action-adventure games like Batman: Arkham Knight. This caused many employees to leave, Bloomberg reports.
The game’s development didn’t go smoothly. Rocksteady’s leaders kept changing their ideas for the game, turning their focus from melee combat to heavy gunplay, Bloomberg reports. The studio struggled with making its battles, levels, and bosses feel less repetitive — one of the biggest issues for live-service titles, where players are asked to retread large parts of the game. The studio also wasn’t accustomed to the level of complexity required to develop such a massive map and the four playable characters, according to Bloomberg.

Rocksteady co-founders Sefton Hill and Jamie Walker left the studio in 2022 to start a new endeavor, with continued setbacks like this pushing the game’s release date until this year. Warner Bros. Discovery revealed the game’s $200 million loss during the company’s earnings call in May, with CEO David Zaslav calling its release “disappointing.”
Financial pressure in the gaming industry only continues to mount as studios contend with layoffs affecting thousands of workers. Some major studios have turned to live-service games, like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, in an attempt to strike a constant source of revenue. But in Warner Bros. Discovery’s case, this backfired. According to Bloomberg, Rocksteady has now turned its attention to a director’s cut version of Hogwarts Legacy and may even start working on another single-player game.

Image: Warner Bros. Games

Warner Bros. Discovery took a $200 million hit after the launch of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, the troubled looter shooter released in February — and now we have a sense of what went wrong. A new report from Bloomberg details some of the studio’s struggles behind the scenes, including inexperience with the multiplayer genre and a “constantly changing vision.”

Rocksteady, the UK-based studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, was tasked with developing a Suicide Squad game in 2016. At this time, new Rocksteady employees were reportedly unaware that the studio was developing a multiplayer game, as Rocksteady is known for its single-player action-adventure games like Batman: Arkham Knight. This caused many employees to leave, Bloomberg reports.

The game’s development didn’t go smoothly. Rocksteady’s leaders kept changing their ideas for the game, turning their focus from melee combat to heavy gunplay, Bloomberg reports. The studio struggled with making its battles, levels, and bosses feel less repetitive — one of the biggest issues for live-service titles, where players are asked to retread large parts of the game. The studio also wasn’t accustomed to the level of complexity required to develop such a massive map and the four playable characters, according to Bloomberg.

Rocksteady co-founders Sefton Hill and Jamie Walker left the studio in 2022 to start a new endeavor, with continued setbacks like this pushing the game’s release date until this year. Warner Bros. Discovery revealed the game’s $200 million loss during the company’s earnings call in May, with CEO David Zaslav calling its release “disappointing.”

Financial pressure in the gaming industry only continues to mount as studios contend with layoffs affecting thousands of workers. Some major studios have turned to live-service games, like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, in an attempt to strike a constant source of revenue. But in Warner Bros. Discovery’s case, this backfired. According to Bloomberg, Rocksteady has now turned its attention to a director’s cut version of Hogwarts Legacy and may even start working on another single-player game.

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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivers a special address on climate action at the American Museum of Natural History on World Environment Day in New York on June 5th, 2024. | Photo: Getty Images

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for an end to fossil fuel advertising yesterday in a fiery call to action following the release of alarming new climate data.
“I urge every country to ban advertising from fossil fuel companies. And I urge news media and tech companies to stop taking fossil fuel advertising,” Guterres said during a speech in New York City yesterday.
Guterres called out tech, media, and PR companies for accepting ad money from the fossil fuel industry even though a safe climate depends on replacing coal, oil, and gas with cleaner energy. Each of the past 12 months has smashed heat records, the European Commission’s Copernicus Climate Change Service confirmed yesterday.
“I call on these companies to stop acting as enablers to planetary destruction.”
To keep global temperatures from rising even more dramatically, countries likely only have around five years left to curb their pollution, according to more data released yesterday by the World Meteorological Organization and researchers at the University of Leeds. To meet the most ambitious goal set out in the Paris climate agreement of preventing more than 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming, carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels need to drop steeply each year before reaching net zero around 2050.
And yet, that planet heating pollution from fossil fuels has continued to rise since nearly every nation on Earth agreed to the Paris accord in 2015. While urging countries to make bigger commitments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, Guterres said that the private sector — particularly tech and media — needs to step up action. The fossil fuel industry uses PR companies to greenwash and delay action on climate change, he said.
“I call on these companies to stop acting as enablers to planetary destruction. Stop taking on new fossil fuel clients, from today, and set out plans to drop your existing ones,” he said. “Fossil fuels are not only poisoning our planet – they’re toxic for your brand.”
For years, environmental advocates and investigative reporters have worked to expose the relationships fossil fuel companies have forged with tech and media brands that otherwise say they want to take action on climate change.
Google, Facebook, and Instagram rake in tens of millions of dollars each year from fossil fuel advertising, according to estimates in a 2023 report from the campaign Stop Funding Heat. The New York Times and Reuters topped a ranking of media companies enabling fossil fuel ad campaigns by climate reporting groups Drilled and DeSmog last year.
The stakes have gotten even higher with the rise of energy-hungry AI. Data centers burn through more electricity than ever to train new generative AI models like ChatGPT. Companies that have pledged to reach net zero emissions, like Google, could move further away from their climate goals now that they’re obsessed with developing AI tools. Media juggernauts, meanwhile, have started to cut deals with OpenAI to get their own slice of the AI pie.
The Verge’s parent company, Vox Media, announced a deal with OpenAI last week but decided in 2021 to stop accepting ad dollars from fossil fuel companies. The New York Times, on the other hand, has filed suit against OpenAI over copyright infringement.

The Verge reached out to Meta, Google, Reuters, and The New York Times for responses to Guterres’ remarks. Only Google replied on the record but didn’t answer our question about how much it earns from fossil fuel companies’ advertising. The company pointed to its climate change denial policy in an email to The Verge. “Generally speaking, this policy (as with most of our policies) does not block specific types of advertisers on our platform, provided their ads comply with all of our policies,” Google spokesperson Michael Aciman said in the email.
Earlier this year, researchers from the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate published a report documenting a new form of climate denial flourishing on YouTube. Instead of just attacking climate science, the content casts undue doubt on solutions like renewable energy. It also found that Google was running ads on that kind of misleading content. Google, in response, said it removed ads from some of the videos mentioned in the report that violated its policy against climate denial.
“Your sector is full of creative minds who are already mobilizing around this cause,” Guterres said to advertising and PR companies during his address. “They are gravitating towards companies that are fighting for our planet – not trashing it.”

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivers a special address on climate action at the American Museum of Natural History on World Environment Day in New York on June 5th, 2024. | Photo: Getty Images

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for an end to fossil fuel advertising yesterday in a fiery call to action following the release of alarming new climate data.

“I urge every country to ban advertising from fossil fuel companies. And I urge news media and tech companies to stop taking fossil fuel advertising,” Guterres said during a speech in New York City yesterday.

Guterres called out tech, media, and PR companies for accepting ad money from the fossil fuel industry even though a safe climate depends on replacing coal, oil, and gas with cleaner energy. Each of the past 12 months has smashed heat records, the European Commission’s Copernicus Climate Change Service confirmed yesterday.

To keep global temperatures from rising even more dramatically, countries likely only have around five years left to curb their pollution, according to more data released yesterday by the World Meteorological Organization and researchers at the University of Leeds. To meet the most ambitious goal set out in the Paris climate agreement of preventing more than 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming, carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels need to drop steeply each year before reaching net zero around 2050.

And yet, that planet heating pollution from fossil fuels has continued to rise since nearly every nation on Earth agreed to the Paris accord in 2015. While urging countries to make bigger commitments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, Guterres said that the private sector — particularly tech and media — needs to step up action. The fossil fuel industry uses PR companies to greenwash and delay action on climate change, he said.

“I call on these companies to stop acting as enablers to planetary destruction. Stop taking on new fossil fuel clients, from today, and set out plans to drop your existing ones,” he said. “Fossil fuels are not only poisoning our planet – they’re toxic for your brand.”

For years, environmental advocates and investigative reporters have worked to expose the relationships fossil fuel companies have forged with tech and media brands that otherwise say they want to take action on climate change.

Google, Facebook, and Instagram rake in tens of millions of dollars each year from fossil fuel advertising, according to estimates in a 2023 report from the campaign Stop Funding Heat. The New York Times and Reuters topped a ranking of media companies enabling fossil fuel ad campaigns by climate reporting groups Drilled and DeSmog last year.

The stakes have gotten even higher with the rise of energy-hungry AI. Data centers burn through more electricity than ever to train new generative AI models like ChatGPT. Companies that have pledged to reach net zero emissions, like Google, could move further away from their climate goals now that they’re obsessed with developing AI tools. Media juggernauts, meanwhile, have started to cut deals with OpenAI to get their own slice of the AI pie.

The Verge’s parent company, Vox Media, announced a deal with OpenAI last week but decided in 2021 to stop accepting ad dollars from fossil fuel companies. The New York Times, on the other hand, has filed suit against OpenAI over copyright infringement.

The Verge reached out to Meta, Google, Reuters, and The New York Times for responses to Guterres’ remarks. Only Google replied on the record but didn’t answer our question about how much it earns from fossil fuel companies’ advertising. The company pointed to its climate change denial policy in an email to The Verge. “Generally speaking, this policy (as with most of our policies) does not block specific types of advertisers on our platform, provided their ads comply with all of our policies,” Google spokesperson Michael Aciman said in the email.

Earlier this year, researchers from the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate published a report documenting a new form of climate denial flourishing on YouTube. Instead of just attacking climate science, the content casts undue doubt on solutions like renewable energy. It also found that Google was running ads on that kind of misleading content. Google, in response, said it removed ads from some of the videos mentioned in the report that violated its policy against climate denial.

“Your sector is full of creative minds who are already mobilizing around this cause,” Guterres said to advertising and PR companies during his address. “They are gravitating towards companies that are fighting for our planet – not trashing it.”

Read More 

Image: Netflix

Netflix is testing a big homepage redesign on its TV app. The new look replaces the static tiles containing the shows and movies you want to watch with boxes that extend as soon as your remote lands on them.
It’s a change from how Netflix’s existing homepage works, which currently surfaces a title’s trailer and other information at the very top of its interface when you scroll over it. The new design, on the other hand, consolidates things — making all the information you’re looking for much more prominent on your screen.
Hover over a TV show or movie long enough, and Netflix will begin playing a short preview directly within the tile. Below the box, you’ll find all the information about a title, including its synopsis, the year it was released, the number of episodes, and its genre.

GIF: Netflix
Your eyes no longer have to travel to the top of Netflix to watch a trailer.

“We often see members doing gymnastics with their eyes as they’re scanning the home experience,” Pat Flemming, Netflix’s senior director of product, tells The Verge. “We really wanted members to have an easier time figuring out if a title is right for them.”
That’s not the only thing Netflix is changing about its look. The refresh gets rid of the menu that pops out from the left side of Netflix’s homepage and replaces it with a more streamlined selection of options at the top of your screen: search, home, shows, movies, and My Netflix. Thankfully, you won’t have to scroll to the very top of Netflix just to get to the new menu; Flemming says you can just press the back button on your remote.
The new menu pares down some of the options previously available in the left-side menu as well, including the “Categories,” “New & Popular,” and “My List” tabs. But it does add My Netflix, the tab Netflix first rolled on its mobile app last year, which offers content recommendations and quick access to titles you recently watched or saved. You can still access “Categories” from the search tab.

Image: Netflix
The My Netflix tab rolled out on mobile first.

“Think of this as a first effort, our best initial swing, at what we think is a great new TV experience,” Flemming says. After comparing the new setup to Netflix’s existing app, the current setup already seems outdated to me — especially as Netflix dips into more types of content, like the live fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson, the NFL games coming later this year, and the WWE’s Monday Night Raw.
The company will test the new homepage among a small group of subscribers using smart TVs and other streaming devices to start, but Flemming tells The Verge it could expand to more members if it works out. “If this goes well, which we are enthusiastic and hope that it will, then we would love to share this with most of the member base in the coming months and quarters.”

Image: Netflix

Netflix is testing a big homepage redesign on its TV app. The new look replaces the static tiles containing the shows and movies you want to watch with boxes that extend as soon as your remote lands on them.

It’s a change from how Netflix’s existing homepage works, which currently surfaces a title’s trailer and other information at the very top of its interface when you scroll over it. The new design, on the other hand, consolidates things — making all the information you’re looking for much more prominent on your screen.

Hover over a TV show or movie long enough, and Netflix will begin playing a short preview directly within the tile. Below the box, you’ll find all the information about a title, including its synopsis, the year it was released, the number of episodes, and its genre.

GIF: Netflix
Your eyes no longer have to travel to the top of Netflix to watch a trailer.

“We often see members doing gymnastics with their eyes as they’re scanning the home experience,” Pat Flemming, Netflix’s senior director of product, tells The Verge. “We really wanted members to have an easier time figuring out if a title is right for them.”

That’s not the only thing Netflix is changing about its look. The refresh gets rid of the menu that pops out from the left side of Netflix’s homepage and replaces it with a more streamlined selection of options at the top of your screen: search, home, shows, movies, and My Netflix. Thankfully, you won’t have to scroll to the very top of Netflix just to get to the new menu; Flemming says you can just press the back button on your remote.

The new menu pares down some of the options previously available in the left-side menu as well, including the “Categories,” “New & Popular,” and “My List” tabs. But it does add My Netflix, the tab Netflix first rolled on its mobile app last year, which offers content recommendations and quick access to titles you recently watched or saved. You can still access “Categories” from the search tab.

Image: Netflix
The My Netflix tab rolled out on mobile first.

“Think of this as a first effort, our best initial swing, at what we think is a great new TV experience,” Flemming says. After comparing the new setup to Netflix’s existing app, the current setup already seems outdated to me — especially as Netflix dips into more types of content, like the live fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson, the NFL games coming later this year, and the WWE’s Monday Night Raw.

The company will test the new homepage among a small group of subscribers using smart TVs and other streaming devices to start, but Flemming tells The Verge it could expand to more members if it works out. “If this goes well, which we are enthusiastic and hope that it will, then we would love to share this with most of the member base in the coming months and quarters.”

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Image: Grubhub

Grubhub will partner with Starbucks to deliver beverages and food to US customers starting this month, the food delivery app announced on June 6th.
Starbucks will be accessible through the Grubhub mobile app and website in Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Illinois first, starting this month before expanding nationwide by August. Customers will be able to buy most beverages and food available on the Starbucks menu and can customize their orders as well.
According to Grubhub, Starbucks is the most searched for business not yet available on its marketplace. With this partnership, Grubhub is now catching up with rivals like DoorDash, which started offering Starbucks delivery in the US last year. Customers can also order Starbucks via Uber Eats and Postmates.

It’s not the only major partnership Grubhub’s made recently either that could give the company an edge. Last week, Amazon added Grubhub to its website and app and made GrubHub Plus permanently free for its Prime members. Grubhub Plus is the food delivery app’s $9.99 monthly membership program that waives delivery fees for orders from merchants like Starbucks.
Meanwhile, the news also comes after Starbucks reported a decline in same-store sales in April for the first time since 2020. At the same time, the company experienced double-digit growth in the US delivery business this past quarter, prompting former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz to call for a strategic overhaul and to “reinvent” its mobile ordering and payment platform.
“Our new partnership with Grubhub will help fuel this growth by increasing availability of Starbucks products to Grubhub’s tens of millions of customers,” Meg Mathes, vice president of digital experiences at Starbucks, said.

Image: Grubhub

Grubhub will partner with Starbucks to deliver beverages and food to US customers starting this month, the food delivery app announced on June 6th.

Starbucks will be accessible through the Grubhub mobile app and website in Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Illinois first, starting this month before expanding nationwide by August. Customers will be able to buy most beverages and food available on the Starbucks menu and can customize their orders as well.

According to Grubhub, Starbucks is the most searched for business not yet available on its marketplace. With this partnership, Grubhub is now catching up with rivals like DoorDash, which started offering Starbucks delivery in the US last year. Customers can also order Starbucks via Uber Eats and Postmates.

It’s not the only major partnership Grubhub’s made recently either that could give the company an edge. Last week, Amazon added Grubhub to its website and app and made GrubHub Plus permanently free for its Prime members. Grubhub Plus is the food delivery app’s $9.99 monthly membership program that waives delivery fees for orders from merchants like Starbucks.

Meanwhile, the news also comes after Starbucks reported a decline in same-store sales in April for the first time since 2020. At the same time, the company experienced double-digit growth in the US delivery business this past quarter, prompting former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz to call for a strategic overhaul and to “reinvent” its mobile ordering and payment platform.

“Our new partnership with Grubhub will help fuel this growth by increasing availability of Starbucks products to Grubhub’s tens of millions of customers,” Meg Mathes, vice president of digital experiences at Starbucks, said.

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Despite what the haters say, screen protectors are always a good investment. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

Bad news if you spot a tiny crack on your iPhone or Apple Watch display. They’re no longer covered under Apple’s standard warranty, according to a 9to5Mac report.
Technically, the standard one-year warranty has never covered “cosmetic damage” such as scratches, dents, and broken plastic on ports unless you could prove that it was defective materials or workmanship from Apple. However, single hairline cracks — as in, a crack that doesn’t spiderweb or have an obvious point of impact — have historically been considered screen defects. As such, repairs could be covered for free. (Though, in reality, your mileage may have varied depending on which Apple Store or repair shop you went to.)

Citing unnamed sources, the 9to5Mac report says Apple is now advising Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers to treat all hairline cracks as accidental damage. That, in turn, would require customers to pay for repairs. So far, that change purportedly only impacts Apple Watches and iPhones, with iPads and Macs remaining unaffected. The Verge reached out to Apple to confirm these details but did not immediately receive a response.
Outside of warranty, iPhone screen repairs range from $129 for the iPhone SE and older models to $379 for an iPhone 15 Pro Max. With Apple Care Plus, that price drops to $29 for all models. For the Apple Watch, Apple’s repair estimate site doesn’t specifically break down screen repairs, categorizing it under “other damage.” Those costs can range from $249 to $800, depending on the model. That cost drops to $69 to $79 with Apple Care Plus.
While this is a disappointing development, Apple in recent years has made some positive shifts regarding repairs thanks in part to pressure from right-to-repair efforts. In 2022, it released a Self Service Repair program that allows users to fix iPhone battery, screen, and cameras. (Though, the reality of using it wasn’t always so simple.) It also capped broken back glass repairs on the latest iPhone 15 Pro to $199, a nearly $350 decrease. In April, the company also announced that this fall, it will allow people to repair iPhones with used genuine parts on “select” iPhone models later this fall.

Despite what the haters say, screen protectors are always a good investment. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

Bad news if you spot a tiny crack on your iPhone or Apple Watch display. They’re no longer covered under Apple’s standard warranty, according to a 9to5Mac report.

Technically, the standard one-year warranty has never covered “cosmetic damage” such as scratches, dents, and broken plastic on ports unless you could prove that it was defective materials or workmanship from Apple. However, single hairline cracks — as in, a crack that doesn’t spiderweb or have an obvious point of impact — have historically been considered screen defects. As such, repairs could be covered for free. (Though, in reality, your mileage may have varied depending on which Apple Store or repair shop you went to.)

Citing unnamed sources, the 9to5Mac report says Apple is now advising Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers to treat all hairline cracks as accidental damage. That, in turn, would require customers to pay for repairs. So far, that change purportedly only impacts Apple Watches and iPhones, with iPads and Macs remaining unaffected. The Verge reached out to Apple to confirm these details but did not immediately receive a response.

Outside of warranty, iPhone screen repairs range from $129 for the iPhone SE and older models to $379 for an iPhone 15 Pro Max. With Apple Care Plus, that price drops to $29 for all models. For the Apple Watch, Apple’s repair estimate site doesn’t specifically break down screen repairs, categorizing it under “other damage.” Those costs can range from $249 to $800, depending on the model. That cost drops to $69 to $79 with Apple Care Plus.

While this is a disappointing development, Apple in recent years has made some positive shifts regarding repairs thanks in part to pressure from right-to-repair efforts. In 2022, it released a Self Service Repair program that allows users to fix iPhone battery, screen, and cameras. (Though, the reality of using it wasn’t always so simple.) It also capped broken back glass repairs on the latest iPhone 15 Pro to $199, a nearly $350 decrease. In April, the company also announced that this fall, it will allow people to repair iPhones with used genuine parts on “select” iPhone models later this fall.

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Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) reportedly agreed to split duties in investigating potential antitrust violations of Microsoft, OpenAI, and Nvidia, The New York Times reported.
The DOJ will lead inquiries into Nvidia, while the FTC will look into the deal between OpenAI and its largest investor, Microsoft.
The FTC began looking into potential antitrust issues related to the investments made by technology companies into smaller AI companies in January this year. The agency sent letters to Alphabet, Amazon, Anthropic, Microsoft, and OpenAI. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, and Amazon are both investors in Anthropic.
The FTC is already investigating OpenAI’s data collection practices, having opened an inquiry in 2023 to determine if the company has caused potential harm and spread false information about individuals. Microsoft’s investment into OpenAI may also face scrutiny outside of the US, as the European Commission and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority are separately looking into Microsoft’s $13 billion investment in the ChatGPT maker.
Nvidia, however, had not figured into any antitrust conversations in the US. Nvidia is considered the dominant figure in making the chips that power much of the AI boom. Its H100 GPUs are highly sought after, sending the company’s valuation soaring. French antitrust authorities raided Nvidia’s offices in France in connection with an anticompetitive practices investigation in September 2023.
The Verge reached out for comments from OpenAI, Microsoft, and Nvidia but have not heard back. The FTC declined to comment.
An investigation by the two agencies does not mean the Biden administration is opening cases against the three companies, but the Times pointed out that a similar deal in 2019 led to the government’s cases against Google, Apple, Amazon, and Meta.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) reportedly agreed to split duties in investigating potential antitrust violations of Microsoft, OpenAI, and Nvidia, The New York Times reported.

The DOJ will lead inquiries into Nvidia, while the FTC will look into the deal between OpenAI and its largest investor, Microsoft.

The FTC began looking into potential antitrust issues related to the investments made by technology companies into smaller AI companies in January this year. The agency sent letters to Alphabet, Amazon, Anthropic, Microsoft, and OpenAI. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, and Amazon are both investors in Anthropic.

The FTC is already investigating OpenAI’s data collection practices, having opened an inquiry in 2023 to determine if the company has caused potential harm and spread false information about individuals. Microsoft’s investment into OpenAI may also face scrutiny outside of the US, as the European Commission and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority are separately looking into Microsoft’s $13 billion investment in the ChatGPT maker.

Nvidia, however, had not figured into any antitrust conversations in the US. Nvidia is considered the dominant figure in making the chips that power much of the AI boom. Its H100 GPUs are highly sought after, sending the company’s valuation soaring. French antitrust authorities raided Nvidia’s offices in France in connection with an anticompetitive practices investigation in September 2023.

The Verge reached out for comments from OpenAI, Microsoft, and Nvidia but have not heard back. The FTC declined to comment.

An investigation by the two agencies does not mean the Biden administration is opening cases against the three companies, but the Times pointed out that a similar deal in 2019 led to the government’s cases against Google, Apple, Amazon, and Meta.

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Image: Rivian

The exterior design of the R1T and R1S may look the same, but ‘everything beneath the surface has changed,’ CEO says.  On the surface, the second generation Rivian R1 vehicles look basically the same as the first: same rugged-yet-aerodynamic shape, same friendly oval headlight shapes, same quirky features, like flashlights in the door frame.
But underneath the surface, the company insists that everything has changed.
Over the past two and a half years, the company’s engineering team took on an enormous task, codenamed “Peregrine,” to fundamentally alter the DNA of Rivian’s R1T truck and R1S SUV. It’s not that the EVs were getting dusty, having only launched in 2021. But with demand for plug-in cars wobbling and Rivian desperately searching for new ways to appeal to customers with only a two-model lineup, Project Peregrine took on new urgency.
“We’re completely reengineering the guts of the vehicle,” Wassym Bensaid, Rivian’s head of software, told The Verge. “And that opens up lots of possibilities.”

Image: Rivian

First and foremost, Rivian is swapping its domain-based architecture with a new “zonal” system that in the auto industry is only otherwise employed by Tesla. That means fewer electronic control units (ECUs), less wiring, and most importantly, less production cost. After all, a less expensive manufacturing process is vital to Rivian’s survival. The company is losing more money than ever — $1.4 billion in the first quarter alone — and its future absolutely depends on slashing production costs.
“We’re completely reengineering the guts of the vehicle”
The EVs are also getting major software upgrades, including stunning new visuals powered by Epic’s Unreal Engine that look more like paintings than CGI. Newly redesigned motors enable a performance bump for dual- and quad-motor variants. And Rivian is adding a slew of useful new hardware, including a thermal heat pump for improved battery maintenance, new aerodynamic tires, and a smarter driver-assist system.
In a series of interviews last month, Rivian’s top executives insisted that this isn’t your typical mid-cycle refresh that is all too common in the auto industry. Instead, this should be thought of as a blank-slate, top-to-bottom reimagining of the company’s flagship EVs — with an eye toward streamlining its processes for the coming R2 and R3 vehicles.
“Essentially, everything beneath the surface has changed,” Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said in a recent interview.
In the zone

Image: Rivian
Rivian’s new zonal architecture

Some of the updates, like the newly aggressive quad-motor R1T, will no doubt get most of the attention — and for good reason. (0–60mph in 2.5 seconds!) But Rivian’s switch from domain to zonal network architecture is arguably the most significant change.
Rivian’s first-gen R1 platform relied on a domain architecture, in which over a dozen ECUs — small devices that control and monitor various systems, like airbags to braking to parking assistance — were spread throughout the vehicle. Switching to a zonal architecture allowed Rivian to reduce a massive amount of wiring, removing over 1.6 miles (2.6km) of it, and replace distributed ECUs with embedded functionality, software, and hardware with pure software functions.
A less expensive manufacturing process is vital to Rivian’s survival
But Scaringe knew the team had to start with a domain network if they were ever going to get to a zonal one. After all, there were more pressing concerns at the time, like updating the old Mitsubishi factory in Normal, Illinois, into an ultramodern facility exclusively for electric vehicles.

Image: Rivian
The ECU count, Gen 1 vs. Gen 2

Instead of negotiating new software deals with a variety of suppliers, Rivian made the early decision to design its own ECUs in-house. It didn’t make the task of consolidating their number any easier, Scaringe said, but it certainly made it less complex. With its new zonal architecture, Rivian has reduced the total number of ECUs to seven, from the 17 that made up its first-gen R1’s domain-based system.
The result will be smoother over-the-air software updates but also “thousands” in cost savings per vehicle, Scaringe said. And most importantly, customers will notice a huge difference in software enhancement and performance — which hopefully then results in improved sales.
“There’s nothing really close to it,” Scaringe said. “You know, I’d say Tesla and us are the only two companies that are doing truly zonal-based architecture.”
Quad goals

Image: Rivian
Rivian’s new electric drive motor

For its first-generation quad-motor vehicles, Rivian sourced its drive-units from German auto supply giant Bosch. But last year, the company began making its own Enduro drive-units for its dual-motor vehicle in the hopes that the company could rein in its costs.
Now, those in-house designed parts — inverter and gearbox, as well as a rotor stator assembly from a supplier — are being used for an all-new quad-motor R1 platform. And the performance improvements are jaw-dropping.

Image: Rivian
Launch Mode

The new quad-motor R1T and R1S will generate 1,025 horsepower and 1,198 lb-ft of torque, up from 835hp and 908lb-ft for the first-gen quad-motor R1s. It will accelerate from 0–60mph in just 2.5 seconds and can sprint a quarter-mile in 10.5 seconds. That’s faster than the top supercars from the UK, Germany, and Italy, Scaringe said.
“There’s a pickup truck or seven passenger SUV that can outrun in the quarter mile a Ferrari Enzo, a McLaren F1, or a Porsche 911 GT3 RS,” he boasted.
Energized

Image: Rivian
The battery pack, laying flat

That’s all fine for the speed junkies. But for those concerned with more quotidian matters, Rivian has also redesigned its Large and Max battery packs for better range. The company estimates that its second-gen R1 vehicles will get up to 420 miles in EPA-estimated range, a modest increase over the first-gen maximum range of 410 miles. New 22-inch aero wheels will also help reduce drag and maximize range.
Rivian is offering a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery option for the first time, with an estimated range of 270 miles. LFP batteries are typically cheaper to manufacture than high-nickel batteries and have a longer life cycle, meaning they can withstand more charges before they start to degrade. The LFP battery will contain 92.5 kilowatt-hours of energy, as compared to the first-gen R1’s default non-LFP battery with 105.9kWh.
Rivian is offering an LFP battery option for the first time
Meanwhile, Rivian’s high-nickel battery packs have undergone an overhaul to remove “thousands of dollars of cost,” Scaringe said. The company is using a high-pressure die casting system to improve the pack’s structural integrity by consolidating a lot of the parts. “It’s structurally more robust,” he said.
That more robust battery pack is also getting a brand-new thermal management system in the form of a heat pump. The first-gen R1T and R1S use resistive heating, which passes electric charge through a wire coil to generate heat. In contrast, heat pumps draw heat from the outside and compress it, which has little effect on the vehicle’s range.
Heat pumps can also more efficiently heat up a battery during cold weather season, which helps prime the battery for charging while also helping prevent annoyances like “phantom drain,” in which an EV battery loses charge during winter, even when it’s not in use. These are major concerns for EV owners and could help Rivian better compete with automakers like Tesla, Ford, and Hyundai who saw the advantage of heat pumps early on.
Most importantly, the revamped R1 battery pack is a sign of what’s to come with Rivian’s R2 vehicle, which is smaller and more affordable than its predecessor. R2 will also use high-pressure die castings, heat pumps, and other innovations to help reduce costs and improve efficiency, Scaringe said. The format will change — R1 uses a double-stacked 2170 battery, while the R2 features a new 4695 cylindrical battery cells — but the methodologies and management are more aligned.
Going hands-free

Image: Rivian

Rivian has never been seen as a leader in the race for autonomy. Its Driver Plus system has a lot of fans, sure, but the company is rarely mentioned in the same conversation as Tesla and others when it comes to self-driving.
That could change with the second-generation R1 compute system, which is getting a significant power-up. Rivian is installing Nvidia’s AI chips in its vehicles for the first time, which should improve processing speeds. And Scaringe says that the company’s Autonomy Platform will eventually enable hands-free driving, much like other automakers like Ford and GM.
Rivian has never been seen as a leader in the race for autonomy
And while the number of sensors used to power the driver-assist system isn’t changing much — 11 cameras, up from 10; same number of radar (five) and ultrasonic (12) — camera fidelity has vastly improved, and processing power of the internal computer is “10 times” more powerful than the previous generation.
According to Bensaid, Rivian’s software chief, the company is now using surround-view cameras with three times the resolution, running at 60 frames per second, and with much better low-light performance and color quality. They’re also swapping the previous-generation radars for imaging radars with better accuracy and an overall more comprehensive view of the surrounding environment.
In terms of improved capabilities, Rivian’s Driver Plus system will now enable enhanced blind spot detection and automatic lane changing, and the company hopes to offer hands-free driving by the end of the year.
“It gives us fantastic headroom,” Bensaid said, “so that we really now have the platform that will enable much better autonomy capabilities and the future.”
Screen grab

Image: Rivian

Rivian’s infotainment is powered by Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, and the graphics are predictably pretty sick. But now Rivian is taking the game engine to a new level by employing a new illustration-based redesign that gives its user interface a playfully artistic feel. While Tesla gets a lot of credit for bringing gaming style computer graphics inside the car, Rivian may be the first company to make the experience actually beautiful.
“With the extra compute that we have, with the extra memory that we have, we can now really put the Unreal Engine to its best in the vehicle,” Bensaid said.
Digital keys, with which Rivian owners can lock, unlock, and start their vehicles using their phones or smartwatches, are now available with this second-generation platform. The system is compatible with iPhones, Apple Watches, and select Google Pixel devices.
Rivian famously does not allow phone projection, which means popular features like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto do not work in its vehicles. The same goes for the second-generation R1 vehicles, but the company is adding a few new features to help make up for the restriction. The company already announced partnerships that will allow vehicle owners to watch YouTube or project video on their central display using Google Cast. And now it’s also working with Apple to “deeply integrate” Apple Music into the R1’s software. Listening to your favorite tracks is likely to get more immersive, too, thanks to the inclusion of Dolby Atmos.
Price check

Image: Getty
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe

The prices for both R1 vehicles will remain basically unchanged. The second-generation R1S will start at $75,900, while the R1T starts at $69,900. Deliveries begin immediately. Any cost savings Rivian is getting from improved manufacturing techniques or fewer parts won’t be passed down to the customer — at least not yet.
“Our long-term success as a business requires us to be profitable,” Scaringe said. “And so we’ve been very focused on our path to healthy positive gross margins.”
In that light, the company expects toearn more revenue off each individual vehicle sale. And it has said that it expects “modest gross profits” by the end of 2024. But that doesn’t mean Rivian will be profitable in the traditional sense.
“Our long-term success as a business requires us to be profitable”
The new Rivians also arrive at a time when customers are getting pickier and more price sensitive about electric vehicles. The company’s sales are up, but its losses are increasing. Meanwhile, other automakers are laying off employees, canceling factory plans, or delaying plug-in models. There’s a lot of uncertainty — but also a lot of opportunity.
If Rivian wants to be more stable, the R1 will need help. That’s where the R2 comes in, the smaller, more affordable Rivian that starts at $45,000. And this update to the R1 platform is helping set the stage for the R2’s production kickoff in 2026.
“We want to make this the best version of the vehicle it can be,” Scaringe said. “It’s our flagship, the R1T and R1S. And so they need to continue to be leaders in terms of their attributes and features.”
Scaringe bemoans the lack of foresight by others in the auto industry. But while some perceive Rivian’s laser focus on battery-electric vehicles to be a drawback — after all, hybrids are selling at much higher rates than EVs — the CEO sees it as a secret advantage.
“While I think it’s bad for the world that there’s going to be less choice and you have a lot of OEMs that have dramatically pulled back on the electrification efforts,” Scaringe said, “I do think it creates more of a need for pure-play mission-oriented electric vehicle manufacturers to exist.”

Image: Rivian

The exterior design of the R1T and R1S may look the same, but ‘everything beneath the surface has changed,’ CEO says. 

On the surface, the second generation Rivian R1 vehicles look basically the same as the first: same rugged-yet-aerodynamic shape, same friendly oval headlight shapes, same quirky features, like flashlights in the door frame.

But underneath the surface, the company insists that everything has changed.

Over the past two and a half years, the company’s engineering team took on an enormous task, codenamed “Peregrine,” to fundamentally alter the DNA of Rivian’s R1T truck and R1S SUV. It’s not that the EVs were getting dusty, having only launched in 2021. But with demand for plug-in cars wobbling and Rivian desperately searching for new ways to appeal to customers with only a two-model lineup, Project Peregrine took on new urgency.

“We’re completely reengineering the guts of the vehicle,” Wassym Bensaid, Rivian’s head of software, told The Verge. “And that opens up lots of possibilities.”

First and foremost, Rivian is swapping its domain-based architecture with a new “zonal” system that in the auto industry is only otherwise employed by Tesla. That means fewer electronic control units (ECUs), less wiring, and most importantly, less production cost. After all, a less expensive manufacturing process is vital to Rivian’s survival. The company is losing more money than ever — $1.4 billion in the first quarter alone — and its future absolutely depends on slashing production costs.

The EVs are also getting major software upgrades, including stunning new visuals powered by Epic’s Unreal Engine that look more like paintings than CGI. Newly redesigned motors enable a performance bump for dual- and quad-motor variants. And Rivian is adding a slew of useful new hardware, including a thermal heat pump for improved battery maintenance, new aerodynamic tires, and a smarter driver-assist system.

In a series of interviews last month, Rivian’s top executives insisted that this isn’t your typical mid-cycle refresh that is all too common in the auto industry. Instead, this should be thought of as a blank-slate, top-to-bottom reimagining of the company’s flagship EVs — with an eye toward streamlining its processes for the coming R2 and R3 vehicles.

“Essentially, everything beneath the surface has changed,” Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said in a recent interview.

In the zone

Some of the updates, like the newly aggressive quad-motor R1T, will no doubt get most of the attention — and for good reason. (0–60mph in 2.5 seconds!) But Rivian’s switch from domain to zonal network architecture is arguably the most significant change.

Rivian’s first-gen R1 platform relied on a domain architecture, in which over a dozen ECUs — small devices that control and monitor various systems, like airbags to braking to parking assistance — were spread throughout the vehicle. Switching to a zonal architecture allowed Rivian to reduce a massive amount of wiring, removing over 1.6 miles (2.6km) of it, and replace distributed ECUs with embedded functionality, software, and hardware with pure software functions.

But Scaringe knew the team had to start with a domain network if they were ever going to get to a zonal one. After all, there were more pressing concerns at the time, like updating the old Mitsubishi factory in Normal, Illinois, into an ultramodern facility exclusively for electric vehicles.

Instead of negotiating new software deals with a variety of suppliers, Rivian made the early decision to design its own ECUs in-house. It didn’t make the task of consolidating their number any easier, Scaringe said, but it certainly made it less complex. With its new zonal architecture, Rivian has reduced the total number of ECUs to seven, from the 17 that made up its first-gen R1’s domain-based system.

The result will be smoother over-the-air software updates but also “thousands” in cost savings per vehicle, Scaringe said. And most importantly, customers will notice a huge difference in software enhancement and performance — which hopefully then results in improved sales.

“There’s nothing really close to it,” Scaringe said. “You know, I’d say Tesla and us are the only two companies that are doing truly zonal-based architecture.”

Quad goals

For its first-generation quad-motor vehicles, Rivian sourced its drive-units from German auto supply giant Bosch. But last year, the company began making its own Enduro drive-units for its dual-motor vehicle in the hopes that the company could rein in its costs.

Now, those in-house designed parts — inverter and gearbox, as well as a rotor stator assembly from a supplier — are being used for an all-new quad-motor R1 platform. And the performance improvements are jaw-dropping.

Image: Rivian
Launch Mode

The new quad-motor R1T and R1S will generate 1,025 horsepower and 1,198 lb-ft of torque, up from 835hp and 908lb-ft for the first-gen quad-motor R1s. It will accelerate from 0–60mph in just 2.5 seconds and can sprint a quarter-mile in 10.5 seconds. That’s faster than the top supercars from the UK, Germany, and Italy, Scaringe said.

“There’s a pickup truck or seven passenger SUV that can outrun in the quarter mile a Ferrari Enzo, a McLaren F1, or a Porsche 911 GT3 RS,” he boasted.

Energized

That’s all fine for the speed junkies. But for those concerned with more quotidian matters, Rivian has also redesigned its Large and Max battery packs for better range. The company estimates that its second-gen R1 vehicles will get up to 420 miles in EPA-estimated range, a modest increase over the first-gen maximum range of 410 miles. New 22-inch aero wheels will also help reduce drag and maximize range.

Rivian is offering a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery option for the first time, with an estimated range of 270 miles. LFP batteries are typically cheaper to manufacture than high-nickel batteries and have a longer life cycle, meaning they can withstand more charges before they start to degrade. The LFP battery will contain 92.5 kilowatt-hours of energy, as compared to the first-gen R1’s default non-LFP battery with 105.9kWh.

Meanwhile, Rivian’s high-nickel battery packs have undergone an overhaul to remove “thousands of dollars of cost,” Scaringe said. The company is using a high-pressure die casting system to improve the pack’s structural integrity by consolidating a lot of the parts. “It’s structurally more robust,” he said.

That more robust battery pack is also getting a brand-new thermal management system in the form of a heat pump. The first-gen R1T and R1S use resistive heating, which passes electric charge through a wire coil to generate heat. In contrast, heat pumps draw heat from the outside and compress it, which has little effect on the vehicle’s range.

Heat pumps can also more efficiently heat up a battery during cold weather season, which helps prime the battery for charging while also helping prevent annoyances like “phantom drain,” in which an EV battery loses charge during winter, even when it’s not in use. These are major concerns for EV owners and could help Rivian better compete with automakers like Tesla, Ford, and Hyundai who saw the advantage of heat pumps early on.

Most importantly, the revamped R1 battery pack is a sign of what’s to come with Rivian’s R2 vehicle, which is smaller and more affordable than its predecessor. R2 will also use high-pressure die castings, heat pumps, and other innovations to help reduce costs and improve efficiency, Scaringe said. The format will change — R1 uses a double-stacked 2170 battery, while the R2 features a new 4695 cylindrical battery cells — but the methodologies and management are more aligned.

Going hands-free

Rivian has never been seen as a leader in the race for autonomy. Its Driver Plus system has a lot of fans, sure, but the company is rarely mentioned in the same conversation as Tesla and others when it comes to self-driving.

That could change with the second-generation R1 compute system, which is getting a significant power-up. Rivian is installing Nvidia’s AI chips in its vehicles for the first time, which should improve processing speeds. And Scaringe says that the company’s Autonomy Platform will eventually enable hands-free driving, much like other automakers like Ford and GM.

And while the number of sensors used to power the driver-assist system isn’t changing much — 11 cameras, up from 10; same number of radar (five) and ultrasonic (12) — camera fidelity has vastly improved, and processing power of the internal computer is “10 times” more powerful than the previous generation.

According to Bensaid, Rivian’s software chief, the company is now using surround-view cameras with three times the resolution, running at 60 frames per second, and with much better low-light performance and color quality. They’re also swapping the previous-generation radars for imaging radars with better accuracy and an overall more comprehensive view of the surrounding environment.

In terms of improved capabilities, Rivian’s Driver Plus system will now enable enhanced blind spot detection and automatic lane changing, and the company hopes to offer hands-free driving by the end of the year.

“It gives us fantastic headroom,” Bensaid said, “so that we really now have the platform that will enable much better autonomy capabilities and the future.”

Screen grab

Image: Rivian

Rivian’s infotainment is powered by Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, and the graphics are predictably pretty sick. But now Rivian is taking the game engine to a new level by employing a new illustration-based redesign that gives its user interface a playfully artistic feel. While Tesla gets a lot of credit for bringing gaming style computer graphics inside the car, Rivian may be the first company to make the experience actually beautiful.

“With the extra compute that we have, with the extra memory that we have, we can now really put the Unreal Engine to its best in the vehicle,” Bensaid said.

Digital keys, with which Rivian owners can lock, unlock, and start their vehicles using their phones or smartwatches, are now available with this second-generation platform. The system is compatible with iPhones, Apple Watches, and select Google Pixel devices.

Rivian famously does not allow phone projection, which means popular features like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto do not work in its vehicles. The same goes for the second-generation R1 vehicles, but the company is adding a few new features to help make up for the restriction. The company already announced partnerships that will allow vehicle owners to watch YouTube or project video on their central display using Google Cast. And now it’s also working with Apple to “deeply integrate” Apple Music into the R1’s software. Listening to your favorite tracks is likely to get more immersive, too, thanks to the inclusion of Dolby Atmos.

Price check

The prices for both R1 vehicles will remain basically unchanged. The second-generation R1S will start at $75,900, while the R1T starts at $69,900. Deliveries begin immediately. Any cost savings Rivian is getting from improved manufacturing techniques or fewer parts won’t be passed down to the customer — at least not yet.

“Our long-term success as a business requires us to be profitable,” Scaringe said. “And so we’ve been very focused on our path to healthy positive gross margins.”

In that light, the company expects toearn more revenue off each individual vehicle sale. And it has said that it expects “modest gross profits” by the end of 2024. But that doesn’t mean Rivian will be profitable in the traditional sense.

The new Rivians also arrive at a time when customers are getting pickier and more price sensitive about electric vehicles. The company’s sales are up, but its losses are increasing. Meanwhile, other automakers are laying off employees, canceling factory plans, or delaying plug-in models. There’s a lot of uncertainty — but also a lot of opportunity.

If Rivian wants to be more stable, the R1 will need help. That’s where the R2 comes in, the smaller, more affordable Rivian that starts at $45,000. And this update to the R1 platform is helping set the stage for the R2’s production kickoff in 2026.

“We want to make this the best version of the vehicle it can be,” Scaringe said. “It’s our flagship, the R1T and R1S. And so they need to continue to be leaders in terms of their attributes and features.”

Scaringe bemoans the lack of foresight by others in the auto industry. But while some perceive Rivian’s laser focus on battery-electric vehicles to be a drawback — after all, hybrids are selling at much higher rates than EVs — the CEO sees it as a secret advantage.

“While I think it’s bad for the world that there’s going to be less choice and you have a lot of OEMs that have dramatically pulled back on the electrification efforts,” Scaringe said, “I do think it creates more of a need for pure-play mission-oriented electric vehicle manufacturers to exist.”

Read More 

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge

The last six months have been turbulent for Xbox. Microsoft started the year by laying off 1,900 Activision Blizzard and Xbox employees, then announced four in-house games would drop their exclusivity and ship on PS5 and Nintendo Switch. More recently, the company shut down three game studios, including Tango Gameworks, maker of the award-winning and widely praised Hi-Fi Rush.
The moves have rattled fans. Hardcore Xbox customers are upset that exclusives are available on rival consoles, with many wondering why they should continue to invest in the Xbox ecosystem when Microsoft is shutting down studios and its games are appearing on rival platforms anyway. Sunday’s Xbox Games Showcase is a chance for Microsoft to try and get fans excited about the future again. I’m expecting two big game reveals, a lot of release dates, and some surprises along the way.
At the heart of all the turmoil leading up to this Xbox showcase are strategy shifts for both hardware and first-party games. Microsoft has promised a big technical leap for its next-gen Xbox, and the company is rumored to be working on an Xbox handheld. But there’s an ongoing project to bring more games to rival consoles like the PS5 and Nintendo Switch that could undermine both hardware efforts.
The plan that’s proven so controversial with hardcore Xbox fans is known internally as “Project Latitude,” sources familiar with Microsoft’s efforts tell me. Project Latitude started off with an initial wave of games, including Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Sea of Thieves, and Grounded, heading to the PS5, with some going to the Nintendo Switch, but the plan extends beyond these four games and into some titles that might surprise Xbox fans.

This story is exclusively for subscribers of Notepad, our newsletter uncovering Microsoft’s era-defining bets in AI, gaming, and computing.
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Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge

The last six months have been turbulent for Xbox. Microsoft started the year by laying off 1,900 Activision Blizzard and Xbox employees, then announced four in-house games would drop their exclusivity and ship on PS5 and Nintendo Switch. More recently, the company shut down three game studios, including Tango Gameworks, maker of the award-winning and widely praised Hi-Fi Rush.

The moves have rattled fans. Hardcore Xbox customers are upset that exclusives are available on rival consoles, with many wondering why they should continue to invest in the Xbox ecosystem when Microsoft is shutting down studios and its games are appearing on rival platforms anyway. Sunday’s Xbox Games Showcase is a chance for Microsoft to try and get fans excited about the future again. I’m expecting two big game reveals, a lot of release dates, and some surprises along the way.

At the heart of all the turmoil leading up to this Xbox showcase are strategy shifts for both hardware and first-party games. Microsoft has promised a big technical leap for its next-gen Xbox, and the company is rumored to be working on an Xbox handheld. But there’s an ongoing project to bring more games to rival consoles like the PS5 and Nintendo Switch that could undermine both hardware efforts.

The plan that’s proven so controversial with hardcore Xbox fans is known internally as “Project Latitude,” sources familiar with Microsoft’s efforts tell me. Project Latitude started off with an initial wave of games, including Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Sea of Thieves, and Grounded, heading to the PS5, with some going to the Nintendo Switch, but the plan extends beyond these four games and into some titles that might surprise Xbox fans.

Read More 

Enhanced messaging with emergency services is coming to Android phones. | Image: Google

Texting with emergency services is about to get an upgrade. Starting this winter, Google Messages will support texting 911 through RCS.
Using SMS to contact 911 is available at just over half of all emergency dispatch centers in the US, but in those areas, people using RCS will benefit from a handful of new features like location sharing and read receipts. The timing of the announcement — just days before Apple is expected to announce RCS support in iOS 18 — is probably no coincidence, either.
Google is working with a company called RapidSOS, which can already relay certain medical information to emergency responders for both iPhone and Android users. Once enabled by an emergency dispatch center, people texting that center via Google Messages will see the usual indicators that they’re messaging over RCS. They’ll also see read receipts and typing indicators when the dispatcher is responding.
The ability to text 911 has been slowly rolling out over the past decade. The FCC says that in areas where texting with 911 isn’t supported, wireless carriers are required to provide a bounce-back message directing them to place a call instead. So nobody has been left wondering if a message went through, in theory, but a read receipt is reassuring nonetheless.
RCS will also support higher-quality image and video sharing with first responders and will allow you to send your precise location. Google says it’s working with its partners to expand RCS messaging with emergency services and is “inviting the ecosystem to partner with us to provide reliable emergency messaging for everyone.” I can’t help feeling that’s a nudge in Apple’s direction, which is widely expected to announce RCS support at WWDC next week.

Enhanced messaging with emergency services is coming to Android phones. | Image: Google

Texting with emergency services is about to get an upgrade. Starting this winter, Google Messages will support texting 911 through RCS.

Using SMS to contact 911 is available at just over half of all emergency dispatch centers in the US, but in those areas, people using RCS will benefit from a handful of new features like location sharing and read receipts. The timing of the announcement — just days before Apple is expected to announce RCS support in iOS 18 — is probably no coincidence, either.

Google is working with a company called RapidSOS, which can already relay certain medical information to emergency responders for both iPhone and Android users. Once enabled by an emergency dispatch center, people texting that center via Google Messages will see the usual indicators that they’re messaging over RCS. They’ll also see read receipts and typing indicators when the dispatcher is responding.

The ability to text 911 has been slowly rolling out over the past decade. The FCC says that in areas where texting with 911 isn’t supported, wireless carriers are required to provide a bounce-back message directing them to place a call instead. So nobody has been left wondering if a message went through, in theory, but a read receipt is reassuring nonetheless.

RCS will also support higher-quality image and video sharing with first responders and will allow you to send your precise location. Google says it’s working with its partners to expand RCS messaging with emergency services and is “inviting the ecosystem to partner with us to provide reliable emergency messaging for everyone.” I can’t help feeling that’s a nudge in Apple’s direction, which is widely expected to announce RCS support at WWDC next week.

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