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Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo from Getty Images

Attorneys for the Federal Communications Commission and groups representing the broadband industry argued about the future of net neutrality to a panel of appeals court judges on Thursday.
The hearing was part of an endless political ping-pong game over net neutrality rules — which reclassify internet service providers (ISPs) as common carriers, barring them from selectively throttling web traffic. After being enacted under President Barack Obama and repealed under his successor, Donald Trump, they were reinstated by Joe Biden’s FCC in April. The latest iteration didn’t get far since the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals put the rules on hold while it considers the case.
During oral arguments on Thursday, two George W. Bush-appointed judges and one Trump appointee probed both sides about the nuanced interpretations of a “telecommunications service.” But the bigger question is whether the FCC still has the authority to enforce rules like net neutrality after two Supreme Court rulings that gutted regulators’ powers.
Much of the hearing focused on the significance of the “major questions” doctrine, which says Congress must explicitly grant agencies the power to make certain decisions, and the end of a doctrine known as Chevron deference, which instructed judges to defer to agency expertise. In a post-Chevron world, courts have far more liberty to make their own determinations about whether a policy like net neutrality should exist. While net neutrality has always faced its challenges, these changes make its path to implementation even harder.
In court, Jeffrey Wall — arguing on behalf of the broadband industry — tried to characterize the FCC’s rules as a power grab that strained the limits of its authority. “This agency is champing the bit to use its other Title II [common carrier] powers that it unlocks here to regulate all sorts of things about ISPs: what kind of plans they offer you, what cost,” Wall said. “It’s about unlocking a suite of government powers to take an industry that has historically been unregulated by the federal government … taking it into a world of heavy-handed regulation that will extend far beyond net neutrality. It will extend to everything about the internet.”
The FCC’s Jacob Lewis argued it’s obvious Congress intended to let the agency define what counts as a Title II telecommunications service, as opposed to a more loosely regulated Title I information service. While — as Judge Richard Allen Griffin pointed out — different FCCs have flip-flopped on where internet service providers fall, Lewis said it’s important to distinguish between those “bottom-line” conclusions and the “general authority” of the agency to make that call. “It’s clear that Congress expected the commission to identify services that fell within either category,” Lewis said.
Judge Raymond Kethledge seemed sympathetic to that argument. He compared it to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s rules on vaccine mandates, which the Supreme Court ruled could not be enforced on most large employers in the case of covid-19 vaccines. “It is a little different” than those rules, Kethledge said. Reading the law about OSHA’s authority over workforce safety and looking at vaccine mandates, “you wouldn’t necessarily think, ‘this is something they must decide,’” he said. But with the Communications Act “you have kind of two mutually exclusive categories here … and the agency, in doing its work, is probably going to have to make classifications about each one of these.”
Now it’s up to the judges to decide whether the FCC has the authority to enforce its latest iteration of net neutrality rules. Whichever side loses could ask the full slate of Sixth Circuit judges to hear the case before moving on to the Supreme Court. Even if the Sixth Circuit gives net neutrality the green light, a lot hinges on who wins the presidential election next week. It was Trump’s FCC chair, after all, who repealed the net neutrality rules in the first place.

Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo from Getty Images

Attorneys for the Federal Communications Commission and groups representing the broadband industry argued about the future of net neutrality to a panel of appeals court judges on Thursday.

The hearing was part of an endless political ping-pong game over net neutrality rules — which reclassify internet service providers (ISPs) as common carriers, barring them from selectively throttling web traffic. After being enacted under President Barack Obama and repealed under his successor, Donald Trump, they were reinstated by Joe Biden’s FCC in April. The latest iteration didn’t get far since the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals put the rules on hold while it considers the case.

During oral arguments on Thursday, two George W. Bush-appointed judges and one Trump appointee probed both sides about the nuanced interpretations of a “telecommunications service.” But the bigger question is whether the FCC still has the authority to enforce rules like net neutrality after two Supreme Court rulings that gutted regulators’ powers.

Much of the hearing focused on the significance of the “major questions” doctrine, which says Congress must explicitly grant agencies the power to make certain decisions, and the end of a doctrine known as Chevron deference, which instructed judges to defer to agency expertise. In a post-Chevron world, courts have far more liberty to make their own determinations about whether a policy like net neutrality should exist. While net neutrality has always faced its challenges, these changes make its path to implementation even harder.

In court, Jeffrey Wall — arguing on behalf of the broadband industry — tried to characterize the FCC’s rules as a power grab that strained the limits of its authority. “This agency is champing the bit to use its other Title II [common carrier] powers that it unlocks here to regulate all sorts of things about ISPs: what kind of plans they offer you, what cost,” Wall said. “It’s about unlocking a suite of government powers to take an industry that has historically been unregulated by the federal government … taking it into a world of heavy-handed regulation that will extend far beyond net neutrality. It will extend to everything about the internet.”

The FCC’s Jacob Lewis argued it’s obvious Congress intended to let the agency define what counts as a Title II telecommunications service, as opposed to a more loosely regulated Title I information service. While — as Judge Richard Allen Griffin pointed out — different FCCs have flip-flopped on where internet service providers fall, Lewis said it’s important to distinguish between those “bottom-line” conclusions and the “general authority” of the agency to make that call. “It’s clear that Congress expected the commission to identify services that fell within either category,” Lewis said.

Judge Raymond Kethledge seemed sympathetic to that argument. He compared it to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s rules on vaccine mandates, which the Supreme Court ruled could not be enforced on most large employers in the case of covid-19 vaccines. “It is a little different” than those rules, Kethledge said. Reading the law about OSHA’s authority over workforce safety and looking at vaccine mandates, “you wouldn’t necessarily think, ‘this is something they must decide,’” he said. But with the Communications Act “you have kind of two mutually exclusive categories here … and the agency, in doing its work, is probably going to have to make classifications about each one of these.”

Now it’s up to the judges to decide whether the FCC has the authority to enforce its latest iteration of net neutrality rules. Whichever side loses could ask the full slate of Sixth Circuit judges to hear the case before moving on to the Supreme Court. Even if the Sixth Circuit gives net neutrality the green light, a lot hinges on who wins the presidential election next week. It was Trump’s FCC chair, after all, who repealed the net neutrality rules in the first place.

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

For the last decade or so, Google has released major Android updates in the fall after an extended developer and beta preview process, but for 2025, at least, that’s changing. Now, Google is planning its next major release for Q2 instead of Q3, confirming a recent report from Android Authority about Android 16, which will carry the dessert-themed codename “Baklava.”
The announcement says this will “better align with the schedule of device launches across our ecosystem, so more devices can get the major release of Android sooner.” Other changes Google is talking about today include improvements to the Play Store, where users can share preferences for better recommendations on new apps the way they already could for games, and in development, where Google is adding more Gemini AI features in Android Studio to “write, refactor, and document” code in apps.

Image: Google

The new update schedule addresses a problem with Android’s ecosystem we’ve been discussing since at least 2016, with third-party phones waiting months or longer to get the latest updates.

Sure, Google Pixel phones have been first up for the latest releases, but what about everyone else? A new schedule could make it easier for more manufacturers to release new devices with the latest capabilities available on day one instead of waiting for future updates to add things like Circle to Search.
In the new pattern, Google is telling developers that there will be a major release in Q2, along with a minor SDK release in Q4 that’s more like the current quarterly releases that add new features without changing the underlying systems as much. It will mean shifting compatibility testing forward, but the other benefit is that apps could have reasons to support new features — iPhone Live Activities-like ongoing notifications, for example — because more devices will be able to use them right away.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

For the last decade or so, Google has released major Android updates in the fall after an extended developer and beta preview process, but for 2025, at least, that’s changing. Now, Google is planning its next major release for Q2 instead of Q3, confirming a recent report from Android Authority about Android 16, which will carry the dessert-themed codename “Baklava.”

The announcement says this will “better align with the schedule of device launches across our ecosystem, so more devices can get the major release of Android sooner.” Other changes Google is talking about today include improvements to the Play Store, where users can share preferences for better recommendations on new apps the way they already could for games, and in development, where Google is adding more Gemini AI features in Android Studio to “write, refactor, and document” code in apps.

Image: Google

The new update schedule addresses a problem with Android’s ecosystem we’ve been discussing since at least 2016, with third-party phones waiting months or longer to get the latest updates.

Sure, Google Pixel phones have been first up for the latest releases, but what about everyone else? A new schedule could make it easier for more manufacturers to release new devices with the latest capabilities available on day one instead of waiting for future updates to add things like Circle to Search.

In the new pattern, Google is telling developers that there will be a major release in Q2, along with a minor SDK release in Q4 that’s more like the current quarterly releases that add new features without changing the underlying systems as much. It will mean shifting compatibility testing forward, but the other benefit is that apps could have reasons to support new features — iPhone Live Activities-like ongoing notifications, for example — because more devices will be able to use them right away.

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Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Apex Legends is one of the only battle royale games that lets you play on a Steam Deck gaming handheld — Fortnite, Valorant and PUBG and more never supported it in the first place, citing concerns about anti-cheat. But today, Electronic Arts and Respawn are taking the game away for that very same reason.
“In our efforts to combat cheating in Apex, we’ve identified Linux OS as being a path for a variety of impactful exploits and cheats. As a result, we’ve decided to block Linux OS access to the game,” writes EA, in a blog post explaining the decision.
Apex Legends did have anti-cheat software that did run on the Steam Deck — specifically, the game uses Epic Games’ Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC), which has been compatible with the Linux gaming handheld for over three years now. But that wasn’t good enough for Epic Games’ own Fortnite — Tim Sweeney explained that the “threat model” was too large in 2022 — and it’s apparently no longer good enough for EA now.
“Linux cheats are indeed harder to detect and the data shows that they are growing at a rate that requires an outsized level of focus and attention from the team for a relatively small platform. There are also cases in which cheats for the Windows OS get emulated as if it’s on Linux in order to increase the difficulty of detection and prevention,” EA writes today.
Riot Games has similar concerns. Like many game developers, it also doesn’t support Valorant and League of Legends on Linux due to the increased possibility of cheating. In a recent interview with The Verge, Phillip Koskinas, director of anti-cheat on Valorant, discussed why game developers are shying away from Linux support.
“You can freely manipulate the kernel, and there’s no user mode calls to attest that it’s even genuine,” says Koskinas. “You could make a Linux distribution that’s purpose-built for cheating and we’d be smoked.”
Linux is so open that you can run an emulated version of Counter-Strike 2 right now on a Steam Deck and still have a cheat on the device. “Imagine if Steam Deck just has the security handled so we know it’s a genuine device, it’s fully attested, all these features are enabled, we’d be like cool, go game, no problem” says Koskinas.
As usual, it’s not clear if this is mostly a Linux problem, or mostly a problem of needing to spend more money on creative solutions than the small number of players might be worth. Last December, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney told us he could possibly justify putting Fortnite on the Steam Deck if it had “tens of millions of users” there, and EA writes today that it weighed its Apex decision based on the “small” population of Linux players versus how “their impact infected a fair amount of players’ games.”
EA says you’ll still be able to play Apex Legends on a Steam Deck if you install Windows. Valve still hasn’t released its own dual-boot installer to make putting Windows on a Steam Deck easier — the feature has been “high on the list” for some time — but it has recently plugged some of the big holes in its Windows drivers.

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Apex Legends is one of the only battle royale games that lets you play on a Steam Deck gaming handheld — Fortnite, Valorant and PUBG and more never supported it in the first place, citing concerns about anti-cheat. But today, Electronic Arts and Respawn are taking the game away for that very same reason.

“In our efforts to combat cheating in Apex, we’ve identified Linux OS as being a path for a variety of impactful exploits and cheats. As a result, we’ve decided to block Linux OS access to the game,” writes EA, in a blog post explaining the decision.

Apex Legends did have anti-cheat software that did run on the Steam Deck — specifically, the game uses Epic Games’ Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC), which has been compatible with the Linux gaming handheld for over three years now. But that wasn’t good enough for Epic Games’ own Fortnite — Tim Sweeney explained that the “threat model” was too large in 2022 — and it’s apparently no longer good enough for EA now.

“Linux cheats are indeed harder to detect and the data shows that they are growing at a rate that requires an outsized level of focus and attention from the team for a relatively small platform. There are also cases in which cheats for the Windows OS get emulated as if it’s on Linux in order to increase the difficulty of detection and prevention,” EA writes today.

Riot Games has similar concerns. Like many game developers, it also doesn’t support Valorant and League of Legends on Linux due to the increased possibility of cheating. In a recent interview with The Verge, Phillip Koskinas, director of anti-cheat on Valorant, discussed why game developers are shying away from Linux support.

“You can freely manipulate the kernel, and there’s no user mode calls to attest that it’s even genuine,” says Koskinas. “You could make a Linux distribution that’s purpose-built for cheating and we’d be smoked.”

Linux is so open that you can run an emulated version of Counter-Strike 2 right now on a Steam Deck and still have a cheat on the device. “Imagine if Steam Deck just has the security handled so we know it’s a genuine device, it’s fully attested, all these features are enabled, we’d be like cool, go game, no problem” says Koskinas.

As usual, it’s not clear if this is mostly a Linux problem, or mostly a problem of needing to spend more money on creative solutions than the small number of players might be worth. Last December, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney told us he could possibly justify putting Fortnite on the Steam Deck if it had “tens of millions of users” there, and EA writes today that it weighed its Apex decision based on the “small” population of Linux players versus how “their impact infected a fair amount of players’ games.”

EA says you’ll still be able to play Apex Legends on a Steam Deck if you install Windows. Valve still hasn’t released its own dual-boot installer to make putting Windows on a Steam Deck easier — the feature has been “high on the list” for some time — but it has recently plugged some of the big holes in its Windows drivers.

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Image: The Verge

ChatGPT is officially an AI-powered web search engine. The company is enabling real-time information in conversations for paid subscribers today, with free, enterprise, and education users gaining access in the coming weeks.
Rather than launching as a separate product, web search will be integrated into ChatGPT’s existing interface. The feature determines when to tap into web results based on queries, though users can also manually trigger web searches. ChatGPT’s web search integration finally closes a key competitive gap with rivals like Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini, which have long offered real-time internet access in their AI conversations.
This launch comes as AI-powered search heats up across tech giants
In a pre-launch demo, OpenAI’s ChatGPT search lead, Adam Fry, showcased the feature by searching for Apple’s stock and any relevant news. In return, it displayed an interactive stock graph, upcoming earnings information, and news articles with clickable citations linking to original sources. There’s also a sources sidebar that lets users scroll through a list of relevant websites. In another example, Fry searched for Italian restaurants in San Francisco, which returned an interactive map that dropped pins for recommended restaurants. In both examples, Fry asked follow-up questions to hone the result (like finding restaurants that are “more casual and neighborhood-y”).
The new search functionality will be available across all ChatGPT platforms: iOS, Android, and desktop apps for macOS and Windows. The search functionality was built with “a mix of search technologies,” including Microsoft’s Bing, Fry said. It was originally released to 10,000 test users as a prototype called SearchGPT back in July, and we reported back in May that OpenAI was aggressively trying to poach Google employees for its own search team.
Prior to this update, ChatGPT’s knowledge was limited to a cutoff between 2021 and 2023 depending on the model. OpenAI spokesperson Niko Felix said even with live search active, the company will continue to refresh its training data to “ensure our users always have access to the latest advancements” but it is “distinct” from the training of the company’s models.

OpenAI
An example of a query with the sources sidebar.

This launch comes as AI-powered search heats up across tech giants. Meta is reportedly developing its own AI search solution, while Google recently expanded its AI overview feature to more than 100 countries. When questioned about the timing coinciding with Alphabet’s earnings on Tuesday (showing that Q3 search revenue raked in $49.4 billion), Fry maintained the release was independently scheduled.
That’s one clear reason a user might choose ChatGPT over Google Search: there’s no clutter of advertising or promoted queries pinned to the top. While Google makes a lot of money off advertising in search results, Fry said there are currently “no plans” for advertising in ChatGPT. Still, AI-powered search is more expensive to operate than traditional search, and it’s not yet clear how OpenAI will finance it for free users. Felix said that free users will have “some limits on how often they can use our latest search models.”
Many AI search services are also facing lawsuits. News Corp and The New York Times have filed suit against the AI-powered search startup Perplexity, the former accusing it of “massive freeriding” and engaging in copyright violations on a “grand scale.” The New York Times has also sued OpenAI for allegedly using the media company’s material for training its large language models. When asked how exactly OpenAI is going to dodge even more scrutiny, Fry pointed to the company’s news partnerships. (The Verge’s parent company, Vox Media, has a partnership with OpenAI.)

“We are working very, very closely with all of those partners to understand how to use that content really responsibly and help drive great outcomes for publisher partners as well,” Fry said, adding that any publisher is able to simply opt out of OpenAI’s web crawler. That web crawler won’t bypass paywalls, either, he said.
OpenAI has secured a litany of media partnerships in the last year, including big names like Hearst, Condé Nast, Axel Springer, and News Corp. While Fry says those partners will get more “control” over how their content surfaces in ChatGPT, they won’t be automatically given higher priority in queries.
As for hallucinations — like when Google’s AI Overviews infamously told users to put glue on their pizza — Fry believes that ChatGPT search is going to “increase factual accuracy overall.”
“Some amount of hallucinations come from just really not having access to the latest information. And so now that it has access to the latest information, it actually helps it make better decisions around what is the true, factual answer,” Fry said. When pressed about the fact that edge cases exist and mistakes are inevitable, he said “we’ll try to be transparent” if it does trip up.
ChatGPT’s web search is also debuting just days before the US presidential election, making its need for accuracy more pivotal than ever. Fry said that “we hope” that with this tool “we can elevate authoritative sources around where to get election information” and that the company is paying “special attention” to election queries.

Image: The Verge

ChatGPT is officially an AI-powered web search engine. The company is enabling real-time information in conversations for paid subscribers today, with free, enterprise, and education users gaining access in the coming weeks.

Rather than launching as a separate product, web search will be integrated into ChatGPT’s existing interface. The feature determines when to tap into web results based on queries, though users can also manually trigger web searches. ChatGPT’s web search integration finally closes a key competitive gap with rivals like Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini, which have long offered real-time internet access in their AI conversations.

In a pre-launch demo, OpenAI’s ChatGPT search lead, Adam Fry, showcased the feature by searching for Apple’s stock and any relevant news. In return, it displayed an interactive stock graph, upcoming earnings information, and news articles with clickable citations linking to original sources. There’s also a sources sidebar that lets users scroll through a list of relevant websites. In another example, Fry searched for Italian restaurants in San Francisco, which returned an interactive map that dropped pins for recommended restaurants. In both examples, Fry asked follow-up questions to hone the result (like finding restaurants that are “more casual and neighborhood-y”).

The new search functionality will be available across all ChatGPT platforms: iOS, Android, and desktop apps for macOS and Windows. The search functionality was built with “a mix of search technologies,” including Microsoft’s Bing, Fry said. It was originally released to 10,000 test users as a prototype called SearchGPT back in July, and we reported back in May that OpenAI was aggressively trying to poach Google employees for its own search team.

Prior to this update, ChatGPT’s knowledge was limited to a cutoff between 2021 and 2023 depending on the model. OpenAI spokesperson Niko Felix said even with live search active, the company will continue to refresh its training data to “ensure our users always have access to the latest advancements” but it is “distinct” from the training of the company’s models.

OpenAI
An example of a query with the sources sidebar.

This launch comes as AI-powered search heats up across tech giants. Meta is reportedly developing its own AI search solution, while Google recently expanded its AI overview feature to more than 100 countries. When questioned about the timing coinciding with Alphabet’s earnings on Tuesday (showing that Q3 search revenue raked in $49.4 billion), Fry maintained the release was independently scheduled.

That’s one clear reason a user might choose ChatGPT over Google Search: there’s no clutter of advertising or promoted queries pinned to the top. While Google makes a lot of money off advertising in search results, Fry said there are currently “no plans” for advertising in ChatGPT. Still, AI-powered search is more expensive to operate than traditional search, and it’s not yet clear how OpenAI will finance it for free users. Felix said that free users will have “some limits on how often they can use our latest search models.”

Many AI search services are also facing lawsuits. News Corp and The New York Times have filed suit against the AI-powered search startup Perplexity, the former accusing it of “massive freeriding” and engaging in copyright violations on a “grand scale.” The New York Times has also sued OpenAI for allegedly using the media company’s material for training its large language models. When asked how exactly OpenAI is going to dodge even more scrutiny, Fry pointed to the company’s news partnerships. (The Verge’s parent company, Vox Media, has a partnership with OpenAI.)

“We are working very, very closely with all of those partners to understand how to use that content really responsibly and help drive great outcomes for publisher partners as well,” Fry said, adding that any publisher is able to simply opt out of OpenAI’s web crawler. That web crawler won’t bypass paywalls, either, he said.

OpenAI has secured a litany of media partnerships in the last year, including big names like Hearst, Condé Nast, Axel Springer, and News Corp. While Fry says those partners will get more “control” over how their content surfaces in ChatGPT, they won’t be automatically given higher priority in queries.

As for hallucinations — like when Google’s AI Overviews infamously told users to put glue on their pizza — Fry believes that ChatGPT search is going to “increase factual accuracy overall.”

“Some amount of hallucinations come from just really not having access to the latest information. And so now that it has access to the latest information, it actually helps it make better decisions around what is the true, factual answer,” Fry said. When pressed about the fact that edge cases exist and mistakes are inevitable, he said “we’ll try to be transparent” if it does trip up.

ChatGPT’s web search is also debuting just days before the US presidential election, making its need for accuracy more pivotal than ever. Fry said that “we hope” that with this tool “we can elevate authoritative sources around where to get election information” and that the company is paying “special attention” to election queries.

Read More 

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge

WordPress cofounder Matt Mullenweg and his company Automattic have asked a court to dismiss WP Engine’s lawsuit accusing them of libel and extortion. In a filing on Wednesday, Mullenweg argues that WP Engine is conjuring claims “out of legal thin air,” while alleging it continues to use the WordPress trademark “in unauthorized ways.”
Earlier this month, the third-party WordPress hosting service WP Engine filed a lawsuit against Automattic and Mullenweg after the executive embarked on a “scorched earth nuclear” campaign against it. In addition to accusing WP Engine of trademark infringement, Mullenweg claimed the service doesn’t contribute enough to the open-source WordPress.org project, which Mullenweg also controls. WordPress.org also cut off WP Engine’s access to its resources and later took over one of its most popular plugins.

As noted in the filing, Mullenweg claims he has “no obligation to provide” WordPress.org’s resources to WP Engine. “The mere fact that WP Engine made the risky decision to base its growing business on a site to which it has no rights or guarantee of access, without making backup plans, is not enough for it to conjure a claim out of legal thin air,” the filing reads.
Mullenweg goes on to claim WP Engine has “chosen without justification to attack Automattic and Matt,” despite allegedly having “no legal (or moral) rights” to WordPress.org’s free services.
This very public spat has raised concerns among developers across the WordPress ecosystem who now worry whether they, too, could get cut off from WordPress. But Mullenweg doesn’t seem too worried about the impact. During an interview at TechCrunch’s Disrupt event on Wednesday, Mullenweg said his fight against WP Engine is “obviously” worth the risk.
A hearing for WP Engine’s case against WordPress is currently scheduled for next March.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge

WordPress cofounder Matt Mullenweg and his company Automattic have asked a court to dismiss WP Engine’s lawsuit accusing them of libel and extortion. In a filing on Wednesday, Mullenweg argues that WP Engine is conjuring claims “out of legal thin air,” while alleging it continues to use the WordPress trademark “in unauthorized ways.”

Earlier this month, the third-party WordPress hosting service WP Engine filed a lawsuit against Automattic and Mullenweg after the executive embarked on a “scorched earth nuclear” campaign against it. In addition to accusing WP Engine of trademark infringement, Mullenweg claimed the service doesn’t contribute enough to the open-source WordPress.org project, which Mullenweg also controls. WordPress.org also cut off WP Engine’s access to its resources and later took over one of its most popular plugins.

As noted in the filing, Mullenweg claims he has “no obligation to provide” WordPress.org’s resources to WP Engine. “The mere fact that WP Engine made the risky decision to base its growing business on a site to which it has no rights or guarantee of access, without making backup plans, is not enough for it to conjure a claim out of legal thin air,” the filing reads.

Mullenweg goes on to claim WP Engine has “chosen without justification to attack Automattic and Matt,” despite allegedly having “no legal (or moral) rights” to WordPress.org’s free services.

This very public spat has raised concerns among developers across the WordPress ecosystem who now worry whether they, too, could get cut off from WordPress. But Mullenweg doesn’t seem too worried about the impact. During an interview at TechCrunch’s Disrupt event on Wednesday, Mullenweg said his fight against WP Engine is “obviously” worth the risk.

A hearing for WP Engine’s case against WordPress is currently scheduled for next March.

Read More 

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Microsoft is finally revealing that it will charge consumers $30 for a year of extra security updates to Windows 10. Support for Windows 10 will end on October 14th, 2025, but consumers will be able to purchase a single year of Extended Security Updates (ESU) for $30 for the first time ever.
While businesses will be charged $61 for a single year of ESU, they also have the option to pay $122 for a second year and then $244 for a third year of updates. Microsoft will only offer consumers a single year if they’re willing to pay the $30 fee. “Enrolled PCs will continue to receive Critical and Important security updates for Windows 10; however, new features, bug fixes, and technical support will no longer be available from Microsoft,” explains Yusuf Mehdi, executive vice president and consumer chief marketing officer at Microsoft.
Consumers will be able to enroll in the ESU program “closer to the end of support in 2025.” Naturally, Microsoft is once again encouraging consumers to upgrade to Windows 11 instead of purchasing extended security updates for Windows 10. “With the Windows 10 End of Support moment, now is the time to move to Windows 11 with confidence,” says Mehdi.
That move to Windows 11 may involve buying a new PC. Millions of PCs can’t upgrade officially to Windows 11 due to more strict hardware requirements and Microsoft’s security push with its latest OS. Windows 11 is only supported on CPUs released from 2018 onward and with devices that support TPM security chips.
Windows 11 adoption has been lagging behind Windows 10 in recent years, but there are signs people are starting to upgrade more or refresh their hardware. Windows 11 briefly became the most popular OS for PC gaming among Steam users in August, before dropping back behind Windows 10 in September. It’s likely that Windows 10 usage will continue to remain strong throughout 2025 and beyond.
After originally saying it was done with major Windows 10 updates in 2023, Microsoft switched up its approach earlier this year in a confusing move that could help Windows 10 usage remain strong. The software giant took the unusual step of reopening its beta program for Windows 10 users in June to test new features and improvements to an OS that it’s supposed to be ending support for next year.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Microsoft is finally revealing that it will charge consumers $30 for a year of extra security updates to Windows 10. Support for Windows 10 will end on October 14th, 2025, but consumers will be able to purchase a single year of Extended Security Updates (ESU) for $30 for the first time ever.

While businesses will be charged $61 for a single year of ESU, they also have the option to pay $122 for a second year and then $244 for a third year of updates. Microsoft will only offer consumers a single year if they’re willing to pay the $30 fee. “Enrolled PCs will continue to receive Critical and Important security updates for Windows 10; however, new features, bug fixes, and technical support will no longer be available from Microsoft,” explains Yusuf Mehdi, executive vice president and consumer chief marketing officer at Microsoft.

Consumers will be able to enroll in the ESU program “closer to the end of support in 2025.” Naturally, Microsoft is once again encouraging consumers to upgrade to Windows 11 instead of purchasing extended security updates for Windows 10. “With the Windows 10 End of Support moment, now is the time to move to Windows 11 with confidence,” says Mehdi.

That move to Windows 11 may involve buying a new PC. Millions of PCs can’t upgrade officially to Windows 11 due to more strict hardware requirements and Microsoft’s security push with its latest OS. Windows 11 is only supported on CPUs released from 2018 onward and with devices that support TPM security chips.

Windows 11 adoption has been lagging behind Windows 10 in recent years, but there are signs people are starting to upgrade more or refresh their hardware. Windows 11 briefly became the most popular OS for PC gaming among Steam users in August, before dropping back behind Windows 10 in September. It’s likely that Windows 10 usage will continue to remain strong throughout 2025 and beyond.

After originally saying it was done with major Windows 10 updates in 2023, Microsoft switched up its approach earlier this year in a confusing move that could help Windows 10 usage remain strong. The software giant took the unusual step of reopening its beta program for Windows 10 users in June to test new features and improvements to an OS that it’s supposed to be ending support for next year.

Read More 

Ring’s latest Battery Doorbell has a wider field-of-view to see packages and people head-to-toe. | Ring

It’s a little too late to spook trick-or-treaters with ghastly remote greetings, but there are plenty of other reasons to consider installing a video doorbell. For starters, it’s incredibly affordable and easy to do so when you have devices like the new Ring Battery Doorbell sharply discounted. It’s down to $59.99 ($40 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target right now, matching its all-time low.

We haven’t tested the 2024 Ring Battery Doorbell yet, but it borrows a couple of nice features from the Battery Doorbell Plus, which is also on sale for a record low $99.99 ($50 off) at Amazon and our top pick for battery-powered doorbells. The not-so-plus model still features a 1080p camera, but now with a 1:1 aspect ratio and a 150-degree field-of-view that gives you more vertical visibility. That’s key for package detection — which will help in the coming holiday shopping season — but also nice for greater coverage to view small children or even spot the little critters who like gnawing on your doorstep florals.
It also has the same PIR motion detection sensor as the Plus, as well as color night vision. Unfortunately, you still can’t cold-swap its battery like you can on the more expensive model, but it’s said to last 23 percent longer than the last generation doorbell with an easier push-pin dismounting mechanism if you use the standard mount.

A few more Halloween treats

Now through November 1st, you can get the Anker Prime 250W, 27,650mAh power bank for $99.99 ($80 off) at Woot, which is the lowest price to date. That may still seem like a lot for a portable battery, but it’s also one of the fastest and largest capacities you’ll find for something of its size. It has two USB-C ports, each capable of up to 140W, plus a USB-A port. It also has a display that shows granular detail about the battery’s charging and capacity statuses, though you can also view those details in Anker’s app.
If you need a reliable and fun duo of input peripherals for your PC, I can vouch for Logitech’s premium gamer-centric combo. The full-sized metal-built Logitech G915 mechanical keyboard with Tactile switches is matching its all-time low of $159.99 ($90 off) at Amazon, while the G502 Lightspeed wireless mouse is also down to $87.99 ($62 off) at Amazon, which is one of its best prices to date. These are the older versions that use micro-USB (unlike the newer and pricier G502 X and G915 X with USB-C), but both are satisfying to use, pretty to look at, and feature an embarrassment of configurable buttons and settings, including Lightsync RGB lighting that can change dynamically depending on the games or apps you’re using. I’ve used the pair for years and it hasn’t failed me yet.
You can get a four-pack of Samsung Galaxy SmartTag 2 Bluetooth trackers for $61.77 (about $38 off) at Amazon, which is an all-time low price. That price practically gives you two free trackers, as they start at $30 for a single unit. The most basic functionality works with most Galaxy smartphones, allowing you to view the last known location on a map and play sounds to locate it. You can also get pinpoint compass directions if you have a Samsung phone with ultra wideband radios — which you’ll find inside the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, S21 Plus and Ultra or newer, and the Galaxy Z Fold 2 or newer. You can attach them to keyrings or hide them in personal effects like bags and wallets.

Ring’s latest Battery Doorbell has a wider field-of-view to see packages and people head-to-toe. | Ring

It’s a little too late to spook trick-or-treaters with ghastly remote greetings, but there are plenty of other reasons to consider installing a video doorbell. For starters, it’s incredibly affordable and easy to do so when you have devices like the new Ring Battery Doorbell sharply discounted. It’s down to $59.99 ($40 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target right now, matching its all-time low.

We haven’t tested the 2024 Ring Battery Doorbell yet, but it borrows a couple of nice features from the Battery Doorbell Plus, which is also on sale for a record low $99.99 ($50 off) at Amazon and our top pick for battery-powered doorbells. The not-so-plus model still features a 1080p camera, but now with a 1:1 aspect ratio and a 150-degree field-of-view that gives you more vertical visibility. That’s key for package detection — which will help in the coming holiday shopping season — but also nice for greater coverage to view small children or even spot the little critters who like gnawing on your doorstep florals.

It also has the same PIR motion detection sensor as the Plus, as well as color night vision. Unfortunately, you still can’t cold-swap its battery like you can on the more expensive model, but it’s said to last 23 percent longer than the last generation doorbell with an easier push-pin dismounting mechanism if you use the standard mount.

A few more Halloween treats

Now through November 1st, you can get the Anker Prime 250W, 27,650mAh power bank for $99.99 ($80 off) at Woot, which is the lowest price to date. That may still seem like a lot for a portable battery, but it’s also one of the fastest and largest capacities you’ll find for something of its size. It has two USB-C ports, each capable of up to 140W, plus a USB-A port. It also has a display that shows granular detail about the battery’s charging and capacity statuses, though you can also view those details in Anker’s app.
If you need a reliable and fun duo of input peripherals for your PC, I can vouch for Logitech’s premium gamer-centric combo. The full-sized metal-built Logitech G915 mechanical keyboard with Tactile switches is matching its all-time low of $159.99 ($90 off) at Amazon, while the G502 Lightspeed wireless mouse is also down to $87.99 ($62 off) at Amazon, which is one of its best prices to date. These are the older versions that use micro-USB (unlike the newer and pricier G502 X and G915 X with USB-C), but both are satisfying to use, pretty to look at, and feature an embarrassment of configurable buttons and settings, including Lightsync RGB lighting that can change dynamically depending on the games or apps you’re using. I’ve used the pair for years and it hasn’t failed me yet.
You can get a four-pack of Samsung Galaxy SmartTag 2 Bluetooth trackers for $61.77 (about $38 off) at Amazon, which is an all-time low price. That price practically gives you two free trackers, as they start at $30 for a single unit. The most basic functionality works with most Galaxy smartphones, allowing you to view the last known location on a map and play sounds to locate it. You can also get pinpoint compass directions if you have a Samsung phone with ultra wideband radios — which you’ll find inside the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, S21 Plus and Ultra or newer, and the Galaxy Z Fold 2 or newer. You can attach them to keyrings or hide them in personal effects like bags and wallets.

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The OnePlus 13 will go on sale in China starting on November 1st, with a global release expected later. | Image: OnePlus

OnePlus has officially announced its next flagship smartphone, the new OnePlus 13. Powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor with an upgraded vapor cooling system, the OnePlus 13 will be available in China starting on November 1st in configurations ranging from ¥4,499 (around $632) for 12GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage, up to ¥5,999 (around $843) for 24GB RAM and a full terabyte.
The biggest upgrades on the OnePlus 13 is a new 6,000mAh battery, which OnePlus says offers up to 11 hours of video playback, according to Notebookcheck. While it offers more capacity than the 5,400mAh battery used in the previous OnePlus 12, the OnePlus 13’s battery uses silicon carbon technology which offers more power density than traditional lithium polymer batteries. As a result, the new model is actually slightly thinner than its predecessor.
The OnePlus 13 offers the same charging speeds as the OnePlus 12 maxing out at 100W with a USB-C cable or 50W when using the company’s wireless chargers. It can also be used to power up other devices with reverse charging, but at much slower speeds. If you were to stick your wireless earbuds’ charging case to the back of the OnePlus 13, they would only wirelessly charge at 10W. When connecting another device with a USB-C cable, charging speeds are even slower at 5W.
Screen size stays the same with a 6.82-inch AMOLED panel featuring refresh rates up to 120Hz, a resolution of 1440 x 3168 pixels, and a peak brightness of 4,500 nits. The display on the OnePlus 13 also looks a lot flatter than the OnePlus 12’s, but still features subtle curves on all four sides.

Image: OnePlus
The OnePlus 13 features a new ultrasonic under display fingerprint reader.

Water and dust resistance has been improved to the maximum IP69 rating — up from IP65, previously — while the OnePlus 13 also features an improved ultrasonic fingerprint reader positioned under the display. That should provide better performance in low light conditions or when attempting to unlock the phone with a wet finger, compared to the optical reader used on the OnePlus 12.
On the back of the OnePlus 13 you’ll find three 50MP cameras with Hasselblad branding. The main camera uses a 1/1.43-inch sensor with optical image stabilization and is joined by a 1/1.95-inch sensor with telephoto zoom capabilities through a periscope lens plus a 120-degree, ultra-wide angle option that can also be used for macro photography.

Image: OnePlus
The OnePlus 13 will be available in blue, white, and obsidian colorways.

Other features include full-area NFC so you don’t need to be as accurate when tapping to pay, enhanced Bluetooth range, and what OnePlus claims is the largest vibration motor ever used in an Android phone, designed to improve feedback when playing video games. The OnePlus 13 will also support magnetic accessories, with the company offering magnetic cases including a wood option for those wanting a finish other than the white, obsidian, and blue colorways the phone is being offered in.

The OnePlus 13 will go on sale in China starting on November 1st, with a global release expected later. | Image: OnePlus

OnePlus has officially announced its next flagship smartphone, the new OnePlus 13. Powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor with an upgraded vapor cooling system, the OnePlus 13 will be available in China starting on November 1st in configurations ranging from ¥4,499 (around $632) for 12GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage, up to ¥5,999 (around $843) for 24GB RAM and a full terabyte.

The biggest upgrades on the OnePlus 13 is a new 6,000mAh battery, which OnePlus says offers up to 11 hours of video playback, according to Notebookcheck. While it offers more capacity than the 5,400mAh battery used in the previous OnePlus 12, the OnePlus 13’s battery uses silicon carbon technology which offers more power density than traditional lithium polymer batteries. As a result, the new model is actually slightly thinner than its predecessor.

The OnePlus 13 offers the same charging speeds as the OnePlus 12 maxing out at 100W with a USB-C cable or 50W when using the company’s wireless chargers. It can also be used to power up other devices with reverse charging, but at much slower speeds. If you were to stick your wireless earbuds’ charging case to the back of the OnePlus 13, they would only wirelessly charge at 10W. When connecting another device with a USB-C cable, charging speeds are even slower at 5W.

Screen size stays the same with a 6.82-inch AMOLED panel featuring refresh rates up to 120Hz, a resolution of 1440 x 3168 pixels, and a peak brightness of 4,500 nits. The display on the OnePlus 13 also looks a lot flatter than the OnePlus 12’s, but still features subtle curves on all four sides.

Image: OnePlus
The OnePlus 13 features a new ultrasonic under display fingerprint reader.

Water and dust resistance has been improved to the maximum IP69 rating — up from IP65, previously — while the OnePlus 13 also features an improved ultrasonic fingerprint reader positioned under the display. That should provide better performance in low light conditions or when attempting to unlock the phone with a wet finger, compared to the optical reader used on the OnePlus 12.

On the back of the OnePlus 13 you’ll find three 50MP cameras with Hasselblad branding. The main camera uses a 1/1.43-inch sensor with optical image stabilization and is joined by a 1/1.95-inch sensor with telephoto zoom capabilities through a periscope lens plus a 120-degree, ultra-wide angle option that can also be used for macro photography.

Image: OnePlus
The OnePlus 13 will be available in blue, white, and obsidian colorways.

Other features include full-area NFC so you don’t need to be as accurate when tapping to pay, enhanced Bluetooth range, and what OnePlus claims is the largest vibration motor ever used in an Android phone, designed to improve feedback when playing video games. The OnePlus 13 will also support magnetic accessories, with the company offering magnetic cases including a wood option for those wanting a finish other than the white, obsidian, and blue colorways the phone is being offered in.

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This adapter has a Ford logo, so it will probably work well. | Image: Ford

Ford is making its own branded specialty adapter to enable Tesla Supercharger access for its EV customers. The automaker will offer its new adapter alongside the current Tesla-produced one for customers still awaiting a complementary adapter and will start shipping it today.
The adapters are being manufactured by EV equipment supply company Lectron, which has already made its own “Vortex” NACS to CCS adapters. Lectron had to recall its adapters previously due to a design flaw where it could unlatch while charging.
Lectron’s CEO Christopher Maiwald said in a State of Charge interview that the problem had been fixed. In an email to The Verge, PR representative for Ford Eddie Fernandez wrote that the new adapters are not connected to the ones Ford asked customers to stop using. “The noted replacement adapters affected as part of that customer satisfaction program were a small portion of the overall supply,” Fernandez said.
Tesla has been slow to make enough of the adapters for distribution to automakers who have pledged to adopt NACS as the EV connector standard (also known as SAE J3400). Meanwhile, Ford has found slow charging issues with some of the current adapters it has circulated to customers and has asked some people to stop using them and await a replacement.
Ford is the first of the automakers to give EV customers access to Tesla’s vast Supercharger network and provide the NACS to CCS adapters for free, followed by Rivian. Most recently, Volvo and Polestar started selling adapters to its customers for $230. GM also went the non-complementary route and is selling its adapter for $225.
Ford recently launched its Power Promise campaign to help EV “fence-sitters” adapt to the lifestyle, offering a free home charger with standard installation.

This adapter has a Ford logo, so it will probably work well. | Image: Ford

Ford is making its own branded specialty adapter to enable Tesla Supercharger access for its EV customers. The automaker will offer its new adapter alongside the current Tesla-produced one for customers still awaiting a complementary adapter and will start shipping it today.

The adapters are being manufactured by EV equipment supply company Lectron, which has already made its own “Vortex” NACS to CCS adapters. Lectron had to recall its adapters previously due to a design flaw where it could unlatch while charging.

Lectron’s CEO Christopher Maiwald said in a State of Charge interview that the problem had been fixed. In an email to The Verge, PR representative for Ford Eddie Fernandez wrote that the new adapters are not connected to the ones Ford asked customers to stop using. “The noted replacement adapters affected as part of that customer satisfaction program were a small portion of the overall supply,” Fernandez said.

Tesla has been slow to make enough of the adapters for distribution to automakers who have pledged to adopt NACS as the EV connector standard (also known as SAE J3400). Meanwhile, Ford has found slow charging issues with some of the current adapters it has circulated to customers and has asked some people to stop using them and await a replacement.

Ford is the first of the automakers to give EV customers access to Tesla’s vast Supercharger network and provide the NACS to CCS adapters for free, followed by Rivian. Most recently, Volvo and Polestar started selling adapters to its customers for $230. GM also went the non-complementary route and is selling its adapter for $225.

Ford recently launched its Power Promise campaign to help EV “fence-sitters” adapt to the lifestyle, offering a free home charger with standard installation.

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The Verge

Google Maps is getting new navigation features that should make inner-city driving a little easier. When enhanced navigation rolls out in November, the blue line on Google Maps will provide a visual of which lane you need to drive in to make your next turn, while the map itself might display crosswalks, signs, and lane restrictions.
This feature is coming to 30 US metros and will show up on Android and iOS. It should hopefully make driving through unfamiliar areas a bit less stressful, as it will add to some of the other helpful navigation features Maps has, such as lane guidance and the ability to see your routes in 3D.

Image: Google

Starting this week, Google Maps is also rolling out an update to its “destination guidance” feature it showed off in July. Along with highlighting your destination and the building entrance, the app will show nearby parking lots, parking location reminders, and walking directions to the front door of the building. Google Maps is expanding its reporting system to include adverse weather conditions that might affect your driving, too, such as low visibility, fog, snow, unplowed roadways, or flooding.
Aside from these new features, Google is adding more AI features to the app that could help you find new places, while Waze is testing the ability to report incidents with your voice. We’ve seen Google make several other notable changes to Maps in recent months, as it started using AI to summarize reviews of EV chargers and has leveraged its algorithm to surface recommendations about places to eat and visit.

The Verge

Google Maps is getting new navigation features that should make inner-city driving a little easier. When enhanced navigation rolls out in November, the blue line on Google Maps will provide a visual of which lane you need to drive in to make your next turn, while the map itself might display crosswalks, signs, and lane restrictions.

This feature is coming to 30 US metros and will show up on Android and iOS. It should hopefully make driving through unfamiliar areas a bit less stressful, as it will add to some of the other helpful navigation features Maps has, such as lane guidance and the ability to see your routes in 3D.

Image: Google

Starting this week, Google Maps is also rolling out an update to its “destination guidance” feature it showed off in July. Along with highlighting your destination and the building entrance, the app will show nearby parking lots, parking location reminders, and walking directions to the front door of the building. Google Maps is expanding its reporting system to include adverse weather conditions that might affect your driving, too, such as low visibility, fog, snow, unplowed roadways, or flooding.

Aside from these new features, Google is adding more AI features to the app that could help you find new places, while Waze is testing the ability to report incidents with your voice. We’ve seen Google make several other notable changes to Maps in recent months, as it started using AI to summarize reviews of EV chargers and has leveraged its algorithm to surface recommendations about places to eat and visit.

Read More