verge-rss

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Microsoft has added an official Copilot bot within the messaging app Telegram, which lets users search, ask questions, and converse with the AI chatbot.
Copilot for Telegram is currently in beta but is free for Telegram users on mobile or desktop. People can chat with Copilot for Telegram like a regular conversation on the messaging app. Copilot for Telegram is an official Microsoft bot (make sure it’s the one with the checkmark and the username @CopilotOfficialBot). Several AI companies now let you access their LLMs through messaging apps. Meta added Meta AI to its chat apps, including Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram messaging, and you can chat with Gemini inside Google Messages on Android phones.
To access Copilot for Telegram, I first had to search for Copilot Bot. It then asked me to share my Telegram phone number with Microsoft, which felt weird considering I used to use Telegram specifically to talk to privacy-crazy crypto founders, and the app prides itself on its strict privacy policies.

Screenshot: The Verge
Copilot for Telegram on mobile.

Copilot for Telegram is not that much different from other Copilots, but it does have some limitations. It’s limited to text requests and cannot generate images. It can search the internet information. Microsoft says in a blog post that Copilot for Telegram can suggest movies to watch, generate a new workout routine, help with coding tasks, translate conversations, and find quick facts on the internet. There’s a daily 30-turn limit, meaning the user and Copilot can only have 30 back-and-forth exchanges.
Microsoft has been expanding its Copilots, bringing the AI assistant into many of its offerings. There are Copilots for business applications, PCs with built-in Copilots, Copilot for Microsoft 365, and a paid version that gives access to the latest AI models for $20 a month.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Microsoft has added an official Copilot bot within the messaging app Telegram, which lets users search, ask questions, and converse with the AI chatbot.

Copilot for Telegram is currently in beta but is free for Telegram users on mobile or desktop. People can chat with Copilot for Telegram like a regular conversation on the messaging app. Copilot for Telegram is an official Microsoft bot (make sure it’s the one with the checkmark and the username @CopilotOfficialBot). Several AI companies now let you access their LLMs through messaging apps. Meta added Meta AI to its chat apps, including Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram messaging, and you can chat with Gemini inside Google Messages on Android phones.

To access Copilot for Telegram, I first had to search for Copilot Bot. It then asked me to share my Telegram phone number with Microsoft, which felt weird considering I used to use Telegram specifically to talk to privacy-crazy crypto founders, and the app prides itself on its strict privacy policies.

Screenshot: The Verge
Copilot for Telegram on mobile.

Copilot for Telegram is not that much different from other Copilots, but it does have some limitations. It’s limited to text requests and cannot generate images. It can search the internet information. Microsoft says in a blog post that Copilot for Telegram can suggest movies to watch, generate a new workout routine, help with coding tasks, translate conversations, and find quick facts on the internet. There’s a daily 30-turn limit, meaning the user and Copilot can only have 30 back-and-forth exchanges.

Microsoft has been expanding its Copilots, bringing the AI assistant into many of its offerings. There are Copilots for business applications, PCs with built-in Copilots, Copilot for Microsoft 365, and a paid version that gives access to the latest AI models for $20 a month.

Read More 

The NPU inside Copilot Plus PCs takes the stage at a Microsoft Surface and AI event. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

When you launch a game on a Snapdragon on a Windows laptop, you might get an AI frame rate boost from Microsoft’s mysterious Auto Super Resolution (Auto SR) feature. But while Microsoft hasn’t fully explained how the feature works, The Verge can now confirm it’s not Qualcomm technology, not exclusive to Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X chips, and not exclusive to specific games, either.
You’d be forgiven for thinking otherwise! Microsoft’s new Automatic Super Resolution help page bluntly states that a Snapdragon X chip is required — see screenshot — and that all of its processing “occurs on-device using the integrated GPU and Neural Processing Unit.”

Image: Microsoft

But Qualcomm now tells us that Super Resolution is Microsoft’s own feature — it’s not Qualcomm Snapdragon Game Super Resolution by another name — and it’s not technically exclusive to Qualcomm chips, either.
“The ‘exclusive’ language is really about what is available today so that will no longer apply if another technology becomes available that can meet Microsoft’s performance threshold,” Qualcomm spokesperson Macey Davis tells me. “Since Automatic Super Resolution (Auto SR) integrates with Windows on a Copilot+ PC, Qualcomm is the only one that can exclusively run it today.”
And while Microsoft’s Copilot Plus PCs FAQ stated that it was initially exclusive to specific games, the company’s support page clearly shows you’ll be able to turn it on for many other DirectX 11 or DirectX 12 titles — with a warning that “Using Auto SR with this app might cause unexpected results.”

Image: Microsoft

That said, it’s not clear which rival chips might be able to take advantage. AMD and Intel, each of which are expected to have their own Copilot Plus PCs this fall with similarly speedy NPUs inside, weren’t able to tell me anything about Auto Super Resolution. Both deferred to Microsoft — and Microsoft’s page currently suggests Auto SR is just for games running as a native Arm app or via Arm emulation. Intel and AMD produce x86 chips that play x86 titles, not Arm ones.
(Intel’s upcoming “Lunar Lake” should have an NPU capable of performing 40-45 trillion floating point operations per second, or TOPS; AMD’s “Strix Point” should be similar after a reported tripling of AMD’s AI circuitry. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said last week that both Intel and AMD will have laptops that support the new Windows AI features.)
Microsoft has yet to answer my questions, but here are a couple other burning questions I’ve asked the company about:

Is Microsoft’s Auto SR truly a new competitor to Nvidia DLSS, AMD FSR, and Intel XeSS, and if so, why? Or is it a derivative of those technologies?
Will Auto SR work with Microsoft’s upcoming DirectSR, the so-called “missing link” that lets developers target all of those competing upscaling technologies at once?

Even if Auto Super Resolution takes a while to officially come to other chips, though, I suspect tinkerers will figure it out before long. Someone already got the new Recall feature working on a non-Copilot PC, and I know some gamers now swear by a Steam app called Lossless Scaling, which can bring fancy upscaling and even frame generation to games where the developers haven’t rolled it out themselves.

The NPU inside Copilot Plus PCs takes the stage at a Microsoft Surface and AI event. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

When you launch a game on a Snapdragon on a Windows laptop, you might get an AI frame rate boost from Microsoft’s mysterious Auto Super Resolution (Auto SR) feature. But while Microsoft hasn’t fully explained how the feature works, The Verge can now confirm it’s not Qualcomm technology, not exclusive to Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X chips, and not exclusive to specific games, either.

You’d be forgiven for thinking otherwise! Microsoft’s new Automatic Super Resolution help page bluntly states that a Snapdragon X chip is required — see screenshot — and that all of its processing “occurs on-device using the integrated GPU and Neural Processing Unit.”

Image: Microsoft

But Qualcomm now tells us that Super Resolution is Microsoft’s own feature — it’s not Qualcomm Snapdragon Game Super Resolution by another name — and it’s not technically exclusive to Qualcomm chips, either.

“The ‘exclusive’ language is really about what is available today so that will no longer apply if another technology becomes available that can meet Microsoft’s performance threshold,” Qualcomm spokesperson Macey Davis tells me. “Since Automatic Super Resolution (Auto SR) integrates with Windows on a Copilot+ PC, Qualcomm is the only one that can exclusively run it today.”

And while Microsoft’s Copilot Plus PCs FAQ stated that it was initially exclusive to specific games, the company’s support page clearly shows you’ll be able to turn it on for many other DirectX 11 or DirectX 12 titles — with a warning that “Using Auto SR with this app might cause unexpected results.”

That said, it’s not clear which rival chips might be able to take advantage. AMD and Intel, each of which are expected to have their own Copilot Plus PCs this fall with similarly speedy NPUs inside, weren’t able to tell me anything about Auto Super Resolution. Both deferred to Microsoft — and Microsoft’s page currently suggests Auto SR is just for games running as a native Arm app or via Arm emulation. Intel and AMD produce x86 chips that play x86 titles, not Arm ones.

(Intel’s upcoming “Lunar Lake” should have an NPU capable of performing 40-45 trillion floating point operations per second, or TOPS; AMD’s “Strix Point” should be similar after a reported tripling of AMD’s AI circuitry. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said last week that both Intel and AMD will have laptops that support the new Windows AI features.)

Microsoft has yet to answer my questions, but here are a couple other burning questions I’ve asked the company about:

Is Microsoft’s Auto SR truly a new competitor to Nvidia DLSS, AMD FSR, and Intel XeSS, and if so, why? Or is it a derivative of those technologies?
Will Auto SR work with Microsoft’s upcoming DirectSR, the so-called “missing link” that lets developers target all of those competing upscaling technologies at once?

Even if Auto Super Resolution takes a while to officially come to other chips, though, I suspect tinkerers will figure it out before long. Someone already got the new Recall feature working on a non-Copilot PC, and I know some gamers now swear by a Steam app called Lossless Scaling, which can bring fancy upscaling and even frame generation to games where the developers haven’t rolled it out themselves.

Read More 

Image: Hugo Herrera / The Verge

PayPal is launching an advertising platform built on a trove of customer transaction data. The company’s new advertising business will encompass purchase information and customer spending habits from PayPal and its sister app Venmo, according to The Wall Street Journal.
PayPal has brought on Mark Grether, the former vice president and general manager of Uber Advertising, to lead its advertising business. “If you’re someone who’s buying products on the web, we know who is buying the products where, and we can leverage the data,” Grether said in a statement to the WSJ. He also said that PayPal will receive shopping data from customers using its credit card in stores.
A PayPal spokesperson tells the WSJ that the company will collect data from customers by default while also offering the ability to opt out. When asked about the kinds of data PayPal will collect, spokesperson Taylor Watson told The Verge that the advertising platform is still in “early stages” and that the company doesn’t have “definitive answers” yet. “Alongside the advertising business, PayPal will build transparent, easy-to-use privacy controls,” Watson says.
As part of its most recent earnings report, PayPal revealed that it processed 6.5 million transactions from 427 million customers in the first quarter of 2024. PayPal says the new platform will help merchants “sell more products and services effectively” while surfacing relevant products to customers. Earlier this year, PayPal showed off its advanced offers platform, which uses AI to analyze customer purchases and help merchants create personalized offers.
PayPal is far from the only company to sell ads based on transaction information. In January, a study from Consumer Reports revealed that Facebook gets information about users from thousands of different companies, including retailers like Walmart and Amazon. JPMorgan Chase also announced that it’s creating an ad network based on customer spending data, while Visa is making similar moves. Of course, this doesn’t include the tracking shopping apps do to log your offline purchases, too.

Image: Hugo Herrera / The Verge

PayPal is launching an advertising platform built on a trove of customer transaction data. The company’s new advertising business will encompass purchase information and customer spending habits from PayPal and its sister app Venmo, according to The Wall Street Journal.

PayPal has brought on Mark Grether, the former vice president and general manager of Uber Advertising, to lead its advertising business. “If you’re someone who’s buying products on the web, we know who is buying the products where, and we can leverage the data,” Grether said in a statement to the WSJ. He also said that PayPal will receive shopping data from customers using its credit card in stores.

A PayPal spokesperson tells the WSJ that the company will collect data from customers by default while also offering the ability to opt out. When asked about the kinds of data PayPal will collect, spokesperson Taylor Watson told The Verge that the advertising platform is still in “early stages” and that the company doesn’t have “definitive answers” yet. “Alongside the advertising business, PayPal will build transparent, easy-to-use privacy controls,” Watson says.

As part of its most recent earnings report, PayPal revealed that it processed 6.5 million transactions from 427 million customers in the first quarter of 2024. PayPal says the new platform will help merchants “sell more products and services effectively” while surfacing relevant products to customers. Earlier this year, PayPal showed off its advanced offers platform, which uses AI to analyze customer purchases and help merchants create personalized offers.

PayPal is far from the only company to sell ads based on transaction information. In January, a study from Consumer Reports revealed that Facebook gets information about users from thousands of different companies, including retailers like Walmart and Amazon. JPMorgan Chase also announced that it’s creating an ad network based on customer spending data, while Visa is making similar moves. Of course, this doesn’t include the tracking shopping apps do to log your offline purchases, too.

Read More 

Image: Lego

If your little Lego town has grown big enough, it may be time to add an officially sanctioned Lego Apple Store, something that’s vaguely possible if a recently submitted fan build gets the requisite 10,000 votes for Lego to consider it. The immaculately detailed creation has what most people would expect from a modern Apple Store: floor-to-ceiling glass front, tables full of Macs and iPhones, and shelves resplendent with neatly arranged white boxes.
One of the project’s designers is Truman, aka Legotruman, a Hong Kong-based fan who was behind the Lego Starry Night build and whose Gundam, Lego Anatomy, and Spirited Away ideas Lego is currently considering. Their collaborator, 2A2A, won a Disney-themed Lego design challenge with a design featuring the Fantasia version of Mickey Mouse. This is all part of Lego’s Ideas program, which lets fans submit their concepts for themed build kits. That’s how we ended up getting things like the Lego Polaroid kit that The Verge’s Sean Hollister wrote about in December.

Image: Lego

Legotruman says the design isn’t based on any specific Apple Store and is instead inspired by the company’s retail aesthetic. Besides the obvious gigantic white logo and glass walls, they note that this includes black border door frames, headphones arranged in a floral pattern, and a ficus tree in a “white pot with nougat trim.”

Image: Lego
I’d love a big Lego build of just the iMac.

There are even tiny Lego versions of the original iMac and a Vision Pro tucked away in the back!
Here’s a gallery full of images from the submission:

The design has over 1,300 supporters as of this writing, which bodes well for its chances of rising to 10,000 votes by the 600-day time limit, thereby becoming worthy of Lego’s scrutiny. That doesn’t mean it will become reality, though; while the company never says explicitly why it rejects a given idea, it has said approval can be determined by things like how fun a kit is to play with and how possible it is to license it. In this case, Lego would have to license this concept from Apple, which is famously protective of its image.
Besides this Apple Store concept, Legotruman has some other delightful submissions that could be worthy of your votes, including one inspired by the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon and another meant to honor the 10-year anniversary of Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim. Sadly, Lego rejected their idea of recreating the “this is fine” meme of a cartoon dog sitting calmly at a table in a house that’s ablaze.

Image: Lego

If your little Lego town has grown big enough, it may be time to add an officially sanctioned Lego Apple Store, something that’s vaguely possible if a recently submitted fan build gets the requisite 10,000 votes for Lego to consider it. The immaculately detailed creation has what most people would expect from a modern Apple Store: floor-to-ceiling glass front, tables full of Macs and iPhones, and shelves resplendent with neatly arranged white boxes.

One of the project’s designers is Truman, aka Legotruman, a Hong Kong-based fan who was behind the Lego Starry Night build and whose Gundam, Lego Anatomy, and Spirited Away ideas Lego is currently considering. Their collaborator, 2A2A, won a Disney-themed Lego design challenge with a design featuring the Fantasia version of Mickey Mouse. This is all part of Lego’s Ideas program, which lets fans submit their concepts for themed build kits. That’s how we ended up getting things like the Lego Polaroid kit that The Verge’s Sean Hollister wrote about in December.

Image: Lego

Legotruman says the design isn’t based on any specific Apple Store and is instead inspired by the company’s retail aesthetic. Besides the obvious gigantic white logo and glass walls, they note that this includes black border door frames, headphones arranged in a floral pattern, and a ficus tree in a “white pot with nougat trim.”

Image: Lego
I’d love a big Lego build of just the iMac.

There are even tiny Lego versions of the original iMac and a Vision Pro tucked away in the back!

Here’s a gallery full of images from the submission:

The design has over 1,300 supporters as of this writing, which bodes well for its chances of rising to 10,000 votes by the 600-day time limit, thereby becoming worthy of Lego’s scrutiny. That doesn’t mean it will become reality, though; while the company never says explicitly why it rejects a given idea, it has said approval can be determined by things like how fun a kit is to play with and how possible it is to license it. In this case, Lego would have to license this concept from Apple, which is famously protective of its image.

Besides this Apple Store concept, Legotruman has some other delightful submissions that could be worthy of your votes, including one inspired by the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon and another meant to honor the 10-year anniversary of Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim. Sadly, Lego rejected their idea of recreating the “this is fine” meme of a cartoon dog sitting calmly at a table in a house that’s ablaze.

Read More 

Illustration: The Verge

Jan Leike, a key OpenAI researcher who resigned earlier this month citing “safety concerns,” has joined competitor Anthropic to “work on scalable oversight, weak-to-strong generalization, and automated alignment research,” according to Leike’s post on X.
Anthropic has positioned itself to be the antithesis of OpenAI: a public benefit corporation dedicated to cautious progress. It was founded by ex-OpenAI employees who departed, according to the Financial Times, because they believed OpenAI was straying from its mission of developing safer, more ethical AI and becoming too focused on commercial interests after the $1 billion Microsoft deal. For those following the AI drama, Leike joining Anthropic comes as no surprise.
“We are long overdue in getting incredibly serious about the implications of AGI. We must prioritize preparing for them as best we can,” Leike said in follow-up posts about his resignation a few weeks ago. “Only then can we ensure AGI benefits all of humanity.”

Leike previously worked on OpenAI’s “Superalignment” team, which seems to align with his role at Anthropic, ensuring that intelligent systems are designed to act in accordance with human values. In his thread after announcing his resignation, Leike criticized OpenAI for not providing enough compute resources to ensure success.
For its part, Anthropic employs “constitutional AI,” which incorporates ethical principles into an AI model’s training by gathering public input and integrating concepts from sources such as the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as I’ve previously reported.
Another notable departure from OpenAI is its co-founder, Ilya Sutskever, who left earlier this month and had reportedly been absent from the office since he led a failed coup against CEO Sam Altman in November. Although Sutskever resigned and hasn’t yet indicated his next move, his values align with Anthropic’s, making it a plausible destination for him, alongside Leike.

Illustration: The Verge

Jan Leike, a key OpenAI researcher who resigned earlier this month citing “safety concerns,” has joined competitor Anthropic to “work on scalable oversight, weak-to-strong generalization, and automated alignment research,” according to Leike’s post on X.

Anthropic has positioned itself to be the antithesis of OpenAI: a public benefit corporation dedicated to cautious progress. It was founded by ex-OpenAI employees who departed, according to the Financial Times, because they believed OpenAI was straying from its mission of developing safer, more ethical AI and becoming too focused on commercial interests after the $1 billion Microsoft deal. For those following the AI drama, Leike joining Anthropic comes as no surprise.

“We are long overdue in getting incredibly serious about the implications of AGI. We must prioritize preparing for them as best we can,” Leike said in follow-up posts about his resignation a few weeks ago. “Only then can we ensure AGI benefits all of humanity.”

Leike previously worked on OpenAI’s “Superalignment” team, which seems to align with his role at Anthropic, ensuring that intelligent systems are designed to act in accordance with human values. In his thread after announcing his resignation, Leike criticized OpenAI for not providing enough compute resources to ensure success.

For its part, Anthropic employs “constitutional AI,” which incorporates ethical principles into an AI model’s training by gathering public input and integrating concepts from sources such as the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as I’ve previously reported.

Another notable departure from OpenAI is its co-founder, Ilya Sutskever, who left earlier this month and had reportedly been absent from the office since he led a failed coup against CEO Sam Altman in November. Although Sutskever resigned and hasn’t yet indicated his next move, his values align with Anthropic’s, making it a plausible destination for him, alongside Leike.

Read More 

Image: YouTube

Everybody’s getting into gaming these days. YouTube joins the slowly growing list of companies with gaming initiatives, rolling out its Playables program across mobile and desktop. To play, simply visit YouTube’s website or Android / iOS app and look for Playables in the sidebar. YouTube will let players save their progress and keep track of high scores. There are over 75 games to choose from, including chess and crossword games to more popular casual mobile titles like Angry Birds Showdown!, Trivia Crack, and Cut the Rope.
YouTube began its foray into gaming last year, offering Playables to YouTube Premium subscribers. That initial phase had far fewer games and was only around for a relatively limited amount of time, with the phase wrapping up in March of this year.
Offering a slate of casual games has become one of the more popular ways that tech companies are using to lure in or keep subscribers. LinkedIn recently rolled out its game offerings that are apparently pretty entertaining. The New York Times, Hearst, and even Netflix have all added games as a part of their regular services. Even YouTube’s parent company, Google, tried its hand at gaming in 2019 with the Google Stadia cloud gaming subscription service. After a little more than three years, Google shut Stadia down in 2023.

Image: YouTube

Everybody’s getting into gaming these days. YouTube joins the slowly growing list of companies with gaming initiatives, rolling out its Playables program across mobile and desktop. To play, simply visit YouTube’s website or Android / iOS app and look for Playables in the sidebar. YouTube will let players save their progress and keep track of high scores. There are over 75 games to choose from, including chess and crossword games to more popular casual mobile titles like Angry Birds Showdown!, Trivia Crack, and Cut the Rope.

YouTube began its foray into gaming last year, offering Playables to YouTube Premium subscribers. That initial phase had far fewer games and was only around for a relatively limited amount of time, with the phase wrapping up in March of this year.

Offering a slate of casual games has become one of the more popular ways that tech companies are using to lure in or keep subscribers. LinkedIn recently rolled out its game offerings that are apparently pretty entertaining. The New York Times, Hearst, and even Netflix have all added games as a part of their regular services. Even YouTube’s parent company, Google, tried its hand at gaming in 2019 with the Google Stadia cloud gaming subscription service. After a little more than three years, Google shut Stadia down in 2023.

Read More 

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge

In 2020, Epic Games sued Apple for antitrust violations. It’s been years since the trial wrapped and judgment was rendered, but for the past few weeks, Apple and Epic Games have been back in front of Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers once more. Gonzalez Rogers mostly ruled in favor of Apple last time. Things might not go so well for the company this time.
As a reminder, this whole case got started when Epic challenged Apple’s up to 30 percent fees to developers for in-app purchases through a splashy campaign where it basically ignored Apple’s App Store guidelines and put in its own mobile payment processing system in its popular game Fortnite. That got the Fortnite app kicked off of the App Store, setting up the perfect scenario for Epic to sue Apple over its rules. Apple filed a countersuit, accusing Epic of breaching its contract.
Ultimately, Gonzalez Rogers found that Epic did breach its contract with Apple with its stunt and ordered it to pay Apple 30 percent of the revenue collected through its outside payment system — about $3.5 million.
Though Apple won on most counts, Gonzalez Rogers also ordered the company to allow developers to use other purchase mechanisms besides Apple’s for in-app purchases. After the Supreme Court declined to take up both Epic and Apple’s appeals earlier this year, Apple was forced to implement this change.
But Apple did that Apple’s way. The company did create a way for developers to link to outside payment methods for in-app purchases, thus avoiding the up-to-30 percent cut Apple takes when payments are made through its own system. But the external link system also came with an up-to-27 percent commission for Apple, leading Epic CEO Tim Sweeney to call the plan “bad-faith” compliance. Epic challenged Apple’s compliance plan, landing both back in court over the past few weeks to participate in a series of evidentiary hearings.
During these hearings, attorneys from both Apple and Epic have questioned witnesses — including Apple employees and outside experts — about the rationale behind Apple’s decisions in the compliance plan and why they felt it would adhere to the court order.
While it’s too early to say how the judge will rule here, Gonzalez Rogers did have a few pointed questions for Apple throughout the hearing. For example, at one point earlier this month, while discussing the button styles Apple requires for links to outside payments systems, Gonzalez Rogers said she couldn’t “imagine a logical reason why Apple would demand that of competitor apps… Other than to stifle competition, I see no other answer.”
The judge is not happy
On May 16th, she seemed impatient at times with Carson Oliver, Apple’s senior director for business management for the App Store. Yonatan Even, a litigation partner at Cravath representing Epic, asked the executive if he understood that the concern the court expressed in its injunction “was that anti-steering rules prevented communicating lower prices outside of the app, which in turn prevented leakage.” Oliver said he “generally” understood that to be the case.
“Did you understand the fundamental point was to increase competition?”
But when Even asked if Oliver understood that a goal of the court’s injunction “was to increase the threat of leakage so that IAP [Apple’s in-app purchase system] would feel the competitive pressure and transactions outside the app,” Oliver said he “understood it differently.” That prompted an exasperated-sounding response from the judge, who asked Oliver directly, “Did you understand the fundamental point was to increase competition?” Oliver said he did, and after a brief interjection by Even, Gonzalez Rogers said, “doesn’t seem likely you do, but go ahead,” before the questioning resumed.
Throughout that day’s proceedings, Oliver described the analysis his team commissioned from an outside consultancy group, and Epic’s lawyer pressed on the reasons they did or did not assess certain aspects of the IAP and compliance with the court order. Later on, the judge said to Oliver, “I don’t recall seeing any slides so far that identifies the value to a single developer.” She said the model Apple came up with basically “has one group of developers subsidizing everyone else because you don’t charge many developers anything other than the application fee, or the developer fee.” Oliver said the consultant’s analysis represented value to individual developers, but the judge did not seem moved by his answer.
During the following day’s session, Gonzalez Rogers continued to press Oliver for the information his team had collected about the effectiveness of its proposal in response to the court order. At different points, she’d ask if Oliver had documents or contemporaneous notes to back up his statements and seemed frustrated when Oliver had not kept notes about conversations.
Phil Schiller takes the stand
Later, another Epic lawyer began to question Apple Fellow Phil Schiller, whose responsibilities include the App Store. The judge seemed to take issue with an element of Apple’s compliance plan that lets the company collect a commission from apps that install an “External Purchase Link” within the first seven days after a user taps the link. Apple says this balances its “entitlement to a commission” with “the more attenuated” connection of an in-app purchase with the App Store the further out from “Apple’s facilitation of the purchase.”
“You want everything within the scope of seven days, so you created yet another subcategory, correct?” Gonzalez Rogers asked Schiller. “Not exactly,” he responded. “A developer can continue to do all the things they do today to drive transactions to their website for which Apple gets no commission. In this scenario, where they begin in the app, Apple does want to get a commission during that seven-day window.”
The hearing continued last week, with Schiller still on the stand. Cravath partner Gary Bornstein, representing Epic, questioned him about how many apps had requested to be able to use a purchase link in their apps. Apple had told the court that 38 apps had done so so far and that there are 135,000 apps on the App Store that currently have in-app purchases available.
As small as that number of applicants is, Bornstein noted that some of the apps that applied for the purchase links don’t even offer in-app purchases at all yet, and a few developers don’t even offer apps on the App Store. Therefore, Bornstein posited, the better number to consider in terms of the universe of apps that would be able to apply for the alternate payment system Apple created should include “apps that don’t have in-app purchase and even apps that aren’t yet on the store.” Schiller agreed that was “possibly” the right denominator to use.
In a January filing notifying the court that it intended to challenge Apple’s policy, Epic recalled that the court’s injunction said it could “apply for sanctions or other relief that may be appropriate” if it thought Apple violated the original order. Once the evidentiary hearing wraps up, it will be up to Judge Gonzalez Rogers to decide what sanctions — if any — are appropriate. The evidentiary hearing is set to continue on Friday at 9AM PT.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge

In 2020, Epic Games sued Apple for antitrust violations. It’s been years since the trial wrapped and judgment was rendered, but for the past few weeks, Apple and Epic Games have been back in front of Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers once more. Gonzalez Rogers mostly ruled in favor of Apple last time. Things might not go so well for the company this time.

As a reminder, this whole case got started when Epic challenged Apple’s up to 30 percent fees to developers for in-app purchases through a splashy campaign where it basically ignored Apple’s App Store guidelines and put in its own mobile payment processing system in its popular game Fortnite. That got the Fortnite app kicked off of the App Store, setting up the perfect scenario for Epic to sue Apple over its rules. Apple filed a countersuit, accusing Epic of breaching its contract.

Ultimately, Gonzalez Rogers found that Epic did breach its contract with Apple with its stunt and ordered it to pay Apple 30 percent of the revenue collected through its outside payment system — about $3.5 million.

Though Apple won on most counts, Gonzalez Rogers also ordered the company to allow developers to use other purchase mechanisms besides Apple’s for in-app purchases. After the Supreme Court declined to take up both Epic and Apple’s appeals earlier this year, Apple was forced to implement this change.

But Apple did that Apple’s way. The company did create a way for developers to link to outside payment methods for in-app purchases, thus avoiding the up-to-30 percent cut Apple takes when payments are made through its own system. But the external link system also came with an up-to-27 percent commission for Apple, leading Epic CEO Tim Sweeney to call the plan “bad-faith” compliance. Epic challenged Apple’s compliance plan, landing both back in court over the past few weeks to participate in a series of evidentiary hearings.

During these hearings, attorneys from both Apple and Epic have questioned witnesses — including Apple employees and outside experts — about the rationale behind Apple’s decisions in the compliance plan and why they felt it would adhere to the court order.

While it’s too early to say how the judge will rule here, Gonzalez Rogers did have a few pointed questions for Apple throughout the hearing. For example, at one point earlier this month, while discussing the button styles Apple requires for links to outside payments systems, Gonzalez Rogers said she couldn’t “imagine a logical reason why Apple would demand that of competitor apps… Other than to stifle competition, I see no other answer.”

The judge is not happy

On May 16th, she seemed impatient at times with Carson Oliver, Apple’s senior director for business management for the App Store. Yonatan Even, a litigation partner at Cravath representing Epic, asked the executive if he understood that the concern the court expressed in its injunction “was that anti-steering rules prevented communicating lower prices outside of the app, which in turn prevented leakage.” Oliver said he “generally” understood that to be the case.

But when Even asked if Oliver understood that a goal of the court’s injunction “was to increase the threat of leakage so that IAP [Apple’s in-app purchase system] would feel the competitive pressure and transactions outside the app,” Oliver said he “understood it differently.” That prompted an exasperated-sounding response from the judge, who asked Oliver directly, “Did you understand the fundamental point was to increase competition?” Oliver said he did, and after a brief interjection by Even, Gonzalez Rogers said, “doesn’t seem likely you do, but go ahead,” before the questioning resumed.

Throughout that day’s proceedings, Oliver described the analysis his team commissioned from an outside consultancy group, and Epic’s lawyer pressed on the reasons they did or did not assess certain aspects of the IAP and compliance with the court order. Later on, the judge said to Oliver, “I don’t recall seeing any slides so far that identifies the value to a single developer.” She said the model Apple came up with basically “has one group of developers subsidizing everyone else because you don’t charge many developers anything other than the application fee, or the developer fee.” Oliver said the consultant’s analysis represented value to individual developers, but the judge did not seem moved by his answer.

During the following day’s session, Gonzalez Rogers continued to press Oliver for the information his team had collected about the effectiveness of its proposal in response to the court order. At different points, she’d ask if Oliver had documents or contemporaneous notes to back up his statements and seemed frustrated when Oliver had not kept notes about conversations.

Phil Schiller takes the stand

Later, another Epic lawyer began to question Apple Fellow Phil Schiller, whose responsibilities include the App Store. The judge seemed to take issue with an element of Apple’s compliance plan that lets the company collect a commission from apps that install an “External Purchase Link” within the first seven days after a user taps the link. Apple says this balances its “entitlement to a commission” with “the more attenuated” connection of an in-app purchase with the App Store the further out from “Apple’s facilitation of the purchase.”

“You want everything within the scope of seven days, so you created yet another subcategory, correct?” Gonzalez Rogers asked Schiller. “Not exactly,” he responded. “A developer can continue to do all the things they do today to drive transactions to their website for which Apple gets no commission. In this scenario, where they begin in the app, Apple does want to get a commission during that seven-day window.”

The hearing continued last week, with Schiller still on the stand. Cravath partner Gary Bornstein, representing Epic, questioned him about how many apps had requested to be able to use a purchase link in their apps. Apple had told the court that 38 apps had done so so far and that there are 135,000 apps on the App Store that currently have in-app purchases available.

As small as that number of applicants is, Bornstein noted that some of the apps that applied for the purchase links don’t even offer in-app purchases at all yet, and a few developers don’t even offer apps on the App Store. Therefore, Bornstein posited, the better number to consider in terms of the universe of apps that would be able to apply for the alternate payment system Apple created should include “apps that don’t have in-app purchase and even apps that aren’t yet on the store.” Schiller agreed that was “possibly” the right denominator to use.

In a January filing notifying the court that it intended to challenge Apple’s policy, Epic recalled that the court’s injunction said it could “apply for sanctions or other relief that may be appropriate” if it thought Apple violated the original order. Once the evidentiary hearing wraps up, it will be up to Judge Gonzalez Rogers to decide what sanctions — if any — are appropriate. The evidentiary hearing is set to continue on Friday at 9AM PT.

Read More 

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Opera browser users can get more up-to-date information and more conversational responses as it integrates Google’s Gemini AI models into its existing Aria AI extension.
Aria, released last year, acts like an AI assistant to answer user queries, write code, and perform other tasks. According to Opera, Aria does not rely on one AI model to respond to users but chooses the AI model it feels will work best for the specific task. With this new integration, Aria can tap into Gemini, which the company says provides Opera users “with the most current information at high performance.”
Aria is available on all Opera browsers, including its gaming browser, Opera GX.
The Gemini family of large language models consists of several models of differing sizes and capabilities. Gemini Nano is the smallest and is primarily geared toward devices like mobile phones. Gemini Pro 1.5 and Gemini Pro 1.5 Flash are more medium-sized, and Gemini Ultra is Google’s most capable model. Gemini Pro and Gemini Ultra power the Gemini chatbot.

With the new integration, Opera users can hear Aria read its responses out loud “in a conversational-like fashion.” Google’s text-to-audio AI models power Aria’s read-aloud capability in a way that’s similar to ChatGPT’s Read Aloud feature, which reads results from the chatbot. (And that once featured the voice Sky, which OpenAI recently pulled.)
This is not the first time Opera has worked with Google’s AI models. Aria added an image generation feature in April using Google’s Imagen 2 model, which lets users generate pictures straight from the Opera browser.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Opera browser users can get more up-to-date information and more conversational responses as it integrates Google’s Gemini AI models into its existing Aria AI extension.

Aria, released last year, acts like an AI assistant to answer user queries, write code, and perform other tasks. According to Opera, Aria does not rely on one AI model to respond to users but chooses the AI model it feels will work best for the specific task. With this new integration, Aria can tap into Gemini, which the company says provides Opera users “with the most current information at high performance.”

Aria is available on all Opera browsers, including its gaming browser, Opera GX.

The Gemini family of large language models consists of several models of differing sizes and capabilities. Gemini Nano is the smallest and is primarily geared toward devices like mobile phones. Gemini Pro 1.5 and Gemini Pro 1.5 Flash are more medium-sized, and Gemini Ultra is Google’s most capable model. Gemini Pro and Gemini Ultra power the Gemini chatbot.

With the new integration, Opera users can hear Aria read its responses out loud “in a conversational-like fashion.” Google’s text-to-audio AI models power Aria’s read-aloud capability in a way that’s similar to ChatGPT’s Read Aloud feature, which reads results from the chatbot. (And that once featured the voice Sky, which OpenAI recently pulled.)

This is not the first time Opera has worked with Google’s AI models. Aria added an image generation feature in April using Google’s Imagen 2 model, which lets users generate pictures straight from the Opera browser.

Read More 

Image: Porsche

Porsche has announced the 2025 Porsche 911 Carrera GTS, its first hybrid electric model, a car that it says can go from zero to 60mph in 2.9 seconds and tops out at 194mph.
There’s also some new tech in the dash, including an all-digital instrument cluster on a 12.6-inched curved display that now shows information from CarPlay, which it says is “integrated more deeply into the vehicle.”
But Porsche’s “all-digital cockpit” doesn’t appear to be the next-generation wireless CarPlay that Apple announced in 2022 and that both Porsche and Aston Martin recently said would be coming first to their cars. Porsche spokesperson Frank Weissman told The Verge via email that this is “a similar setup to what we introduced on our latest Cayenne, Panamera and electric Macan models.”

Image: Porsche
The dash has more CarPlay, but not that much more.

In those vehicles, CarPlay shows info in the digital instrument cluster, but it’s not so embedded that it controls core functions like the odometer or HVAC. Weissman also confirmed the car will offer Android Auto connectivity.

Image: Porsche
The 911 Carrera GTS is a hybrid, but it’s not what you think.

Besides the instrument cluster screen, there’s also a 10.9-inch display centered in the dashboard where drivers can customize drive modes and tweak driver-assistance features. The company says apps like Spotify and Apple Music are native in its Porsche Communication Management infotainment system. Video streaming is also available (when the car is parked).

The new 911 isn’t a hybrid in the way most people normally think of them. It features a 1.9kWh lithium-ion battery that Porsche says is about the size and weight of a typical 12-volt car battery. It’s charged by a “newly developed 3.6-liter boxer engine” and is used to power things like a new electric turbocharger and the car’s air conditioning compressor. That could mean some fuel efficiency gains, but the company didn’t offer any such claims, as Car and Driver notes in its write-up of the company’s T-Hybrid platform.
Rear-wheel and all-wheel drive Coupe and Cabriolet versions of the Porsche 911 Carrera GTS are available to order now, starting at $164,900.

Image: Porsche

Porsche has announced the 2025 Porsche 911 Carrera GTS, its first hybrid electric model, a car that it says can go from zero to 60mph in 2.9 seconds and tops out at 194mph.

There’s also some new tech in the dash, including an all-digital instrument cluster on a 12.6-inched curved display that now shows information from CarPlay, which it says is “integrated more deeply into the vehicle.”

But Porsche’s “all-digital cockpit” doesn’t appear to be the next-generation wireless CarPlay that Apple announced in 2022 and that both Porsche and Aston Martin recently said would be coming first to their cars. Porsche spokesperson Frank Weissman told The Verge via email that this is “a similar setup to what we introduced on our latest Cayenne, Panamera and electric Macan models.”

Image: Porsche
The dash has more CarPlay, but not that much more.

In those vehicles, CarPlay shows info in the digital instrument cluster, but it’s not so embedded that it controls core functions like the odometer or HVAC. Weissman also confirmed the car will offer Android Auto connectivity.

Image: Porsche
The 911 Carrera GTS is a hybrid, but it’s not what you think.

Besides the instrument cluster screen, there’s also a 10.9-inch display centered in the dashboard where drivers can customize drive modes and tweak driver-assistance features. The company says apps like Spotify and Apple Music are native in its Porsche Communication Management infotainment system. Video streaming is also available (when the car is parked).

The new 911 isn’t a hybrid in the way most people normally think of them. It features a 1.9kWh lithium-ion battery that Porsche says is about the size and weight of a typical 12-volt car battery. It’s charged by a “newly developed 3.6-liter boxer engine” and is used to power things like a new electric turbocharger and the car’s air conditioning compressor. That could mean some fuel efficiency gains, but the company didn’t offer any such claims, as Car and Driver notes in its write-up of the company’s T-Hybrid platform.

Rear-wheel and all-wheel drive Coupe and Cabriolet versions of the Porsche 911 Carrera GTS are available to order now, starting at $164,900.

Read More 

At just $300, Apple’s entry-level iPad offers even better value if you’re looking for a powerful tablet for basic entertainment purposes and light productivity. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

I got a nice sunrise surprise this morning. Sure, trees and power lines in my little corner of Texas were being hewn to the ground by the storms ripping across the central South, and I’m still without power as of this writing — but I have just enough juice in my power bank to inform you that we’ve found the best deal yet on the 10th-generation iPad. The 64GB configuration is down to $300 (up to $34 off) at Amazon in select colors when you clip the coupon. That’s a new price record for Apple’s entry-level iPad.

The latest baseline iPad now looks more like the pricier ones in Apple’s lineup, although it’s lost the home button and headphone jack and switched out the Lightning port for USB-C. And while it’s still on the A14 Bionic processor (compared to the M-series iPad Air), you don’t need to stretch for something more powerful than that if you’re only looking for basic browsing, entertainment, and light gaming. You’re still getting the newest versions of iPadOS, too, which should get even better after Apple makes new software announcements at WWDC in June.

Read our Apple iPad (10th-gen) review.

More great deals to shop

Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 2 are down to $69.99 ($80 off) at Amazon, a new all-time low. The Pro model might deliver more robust IPX7 water and sweat resistance, but the Bluetooth wireless earbuds still deliver impressive features at this price. Those include good active noise cancellation, pleasing sound, and wireless charging. Read our review.
Apple’s newer FineWoven fabric accessories are notoriously bad. If you want something more long-lasting that won’t show signs of wear and tear as quickly, it’s wiser to buy Apple’s leather AirTag Loop when you can find them in stock. Normally $39, right now, you can buy the discounted AirTag accessories in select colors at a new all-time low of around $9 at Amazon and Walmart. Given that AirTags lack keychain holes, an accessory like this is necessary if you want to attach the location tracker to the likes of keys and suitcases, rendering this a good deal to grab while it lasts.

Woot is currently taking up to 50 percent off various Keychron mechanical keyboards, including the Keychron K8 with your choice of red or blue Gateron optical switches. Normally $89.99, you can buy it for half at $44.99. The tenkeyless wireless mechanical keyboard comes with RGB backlighting and can also connect to Bluetooth, Mac, and Windows devices.

At just $300, Apple’s entry-level iPad offers even better value if you’re looking for a powerful tablet for basic entertainment purposes and light productivity. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

I got a nice sunrise surprise this morning. Sure, trees and power lines in my little corner of Texas were being hewn to the ground by the storms ripping across the central South, and I’m still without power as of this writing — but I have just enough juice in my power bank to inform you that we’ve found the best deal yet on the 10th-generation iPad. The 64GB configuration is down to $300 (up to $34 off) at Amazon in select colors when you clip the coupon. That’s a new price record for Apple’s entry-level iPad.

The latest baseline iPad now looks more like the pricier ones in Apple’s lineup, although it’s lost the home button and headphone jack and switched out the Lightning port for USB-C. And while it’s still on the A14 Bionic processor (compared to the M-series iPad Air), you don’t need to stretch for something more powerful than that if you’re only looking for basic browsing, entertainment, and light gaming. You’re still getting the newest versions of iPadOS, too, which should get even better after Apple makes new software announcements at WWDC in June.

Read our Apple iPad (10th-gen) review.

More great deals to shop

Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 2 are down to $69.99 ($80 off) at Amazon, a new all-time low. The Pro model might deliver more robust IPX7 water and sweat resistance, but the Bluetooth wireless earbuds still deliver impressive features at this price. Those include good active noise cancellation, pleasing sound, and wireless charging. Read our review.
Apple’s newer FineWoven fabric accessories are notoriously bad. If you want something more long-lasting that won’t show signs of wear and tear as quickly, it’s wiser to buy Apple’s leather AirTag Loop when you can find them in stock. Normally $39, right now, you can buy the discounted AirTag accessories in select colors at a new all-time low of around $9 at Amazon and Walmart. Given that AirTags lack keychain holes, an accessory like this is necessary if you want to attach the location tracker to the likes of keys and suitcases, rendering this a good deal to grab while it lasts.

Woot is currently taking up to 50 percent off various Keychron mechanical keyboards, including the Keychron K8 with your choice of red or blue Gateron optical switches. Normally $89.99, you can buy it for half at $44.99. The tenkeyless wireless mechanical keyboard comes with RGB backlighting and can also connect to Bluetooth, Mac, and Windows devices.

Read More