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PC game platform GOG has launched a new preservation program dedicated to keeping beloved older games playable, “now and in the future.”
“If a game is part of the Preservation Program, it means that we commit our own resources to maintaining its compatibility with modern and future systems,” the announcement blog reads.
The program is launching with 100 games including Diablo, System Shock 2, and Resident Evil 1-3, with GOG planning to add emore titles in the coming months. Games featured in the program will come with a number of perks. GOG says that when you buy a game from the program, you can:

“expect it to work on current and future popular PC configurations”
“be sure that this version is the best and most complete available anywhere, including compatibility, manuals, and other bonus content, but also DLCs and even features that are missing in other editions”
“access GOG’s Tech Support if you encounter technical issues with running the game”
“as with all titles in our catalog, always keep access to their offline installers, granting you the power to safeguard them how you want”

GOG says that its goal is to acquire “all games no longer updated or maintained by their original publisher,” no matter their age. A recent study from the Video Game History Foundation found that 87 percent of games released before 2010 are no longer able to played. These figures are exacerbated by the trend of delisting classic games from storefronts or shutting down entire storefronts altogether. Even new games are subject to inaccessibility with Sony’s Concord going permanently offline mere weeks after its launch earlier this year.
With the launch of this preservation program, GOG is one of the only major game platforms to directly acknowledge the grim reality of video game preservation while taking significant action to keep older games accessible.
“Games shaped us,” reads the announcement. “Being able to play them is an essential part of reconnecting with ourselves. They must stay accessible, playable, and alive.”

PC game platform GOG has launched a new preservation program dedicated to keeping beloved older games playable, “now and in the future.”

“If a game is part of the Preservation Program, it means that we commit our own resources to maintaining its compatibility with modern and future systems,” the announcement blog reads.

The program is launching with 100 games including Diablo, System Shock 2, and Resident Evil 1-3, with GOG planning to add emore titles in the coming months. Games featured in the program will come with a number of perks. GOG says that when you buy a game from the program, you can:

“expect it to work on current and future popular PC configurations”
“be sure that this version is the best and most complete available anywhere, including compatibility, manuals, and other bonus content, but also DLCs and even features that are missing in other editions”
“access GOG’s Tech Support if you encounter technical issues with running the game”
“as with all titles in our catalog, always keep access to their offline installers, granting you the power to safeguard them how you want”

GOG says that its goal is to acquire “all games no longer updated or maintained by their original publisher,” no matter their age. A recent study from the Video Game History Foundation found that 87 percent of games released before 2010 are no longer able to played. These figures are exacerbated by the trend of delisting classic games from storefronts or shutting down entire storefronts altogether. Even new games are subject to inaccessibility with Sony’s Concord going permanently offline mere weeks after its launch earlier this year.

With the launch of this preservation program, GOG is one of the only major game platforms to directly acknowledge the grim reality of video game preservation while taking significant action to keep older games accessible.

“Games shaped us,” reads the announcement. “Being able to play them is an essential part of reconnecting with ourselves. They must stay accessible, playable, and alive.”

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Image: Reliant

General Motors is teaming up with Reliant Energy to offer free nighttime charging to some Chevy electric vehicle owners in Texas.
Chevy owners who enroll in Reliant’s EV charging plan will receive free nighttime charging through monthly bill credits that offset charges incurred between 11PM. and 6AM, the companies said. Customers must also designate an EV to receive the charging credit through GM Energy’s Smart Charging Portal. (GM Energy is the automaker’s home energy subsidiary, and Reliant is a subsidiary of NRG Energy.)
The new plan is the latest promotion to discount charging costs for EV owners, as automakers pile on perks in the hopes of winning over skeptical consumers. Ford recently announced a similar deal in Texas, partnering with one of Texas’ largest electric providers to give some customers free EV charging at home. It also has a promotion in place to provide free home chargers to all new EV buyers through the end of the year.
Chevy owners who enroll in Reliant’s EV charging plan will receive free nighttime charging through monthly bill credits
GM and Reliant claim the energy for nighttime EV charging will be powered by renewable sources through the purchase of renewable energy certificates (RECs), a popular method among private players to burnish their environmental bonafides. In the corporate world, a company purchases a REC when it wants to claim that something is being powered with 100 percent renewable energy — even when it is still being powered by fossil fuels.
But RECs are often used to mask more polluting behavior. A recent study of 115 major companies that use Renewable Energy Certificates found that many of them overstated the environmental benefits.

Image: Reliant

General Motors is teaming up with Reliant Energy to offer free nighttime charging to some Chevy electric vehicle owners in Texas.

Chevy owners who enroll in Reliant’s EV charging plan will receive free nighttime charging through monthly bill credits that offset charges incurred between 11PM. and 6AM, the companies said. Customers must also designate an EV to receive the charging credit through GM Energy’s Smart Charging Portal. (GM Energy is the automaker’s home energy subsidiary, and Reliant is a subsidiary of NRG Energy.)

The new plan is the latest promotion to discount charging costs for EV owners, as automakers pile on perks in the hopes of winning over skeptical consumers. Ford recently announced a similar deal in Texas, partnering with one of Texas’ largest electric providers to give some customers free EV charging at home. It also has a promotion in place to provide free home chargers to all new EV buyers through the end of the year.

GM and Reliant claim the energy for nighttime EV charging will be powered by renewable sources through the purchase of renewable energy certificates (RECs), a popular method among private players to burnish their environmental bonafides. In the corporate world, a company purchases a REC when it wants to claim that something is being powered with 100 percent renewable energy — even when it is still being powered by fossil fuels.

But RECs are often used to mask more polluting behavior. A recent study of 115 major companies that use Renewable Energy Certificates found that many of them overstated the environmental benefits.

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Cath Virginia / The Verge

Spotify is going all in on video.
The company will soon begin paying creators based on how much engagement their videos receive from paid subscribers. Automated ad breaks in videos will also be turned off for paid Spotify subscribers to encourage more consumption. Both of these changes go into effect starting January 2nd, 2025 in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada.
Paying video creators directly based on engagement puts Spotify on more of a collision course with YouTube, which is also leaning into podcasts and already pays its creators billions a year in shared ad revenue. “We can provide an experience for your audience that is superior to any other platform,” CEO Daniel Ek said onstage Wednesday at a Spotify creator event in Los Angles.
Since Spotify made video podcasts widely available in 2022, consumption of the format has skyrocketed, with the number of video creators on the platform more than doubling each year. There are now over 300,000 video podcasts on Spotify, up from 250,000 in late June, and “video consumption hours have grown faster than audio-only consumption hours year-over-year,” according to company spokesperson Grey Munford.
Creators will be able to access their payout details in a hub called Spotify for Creators, which will also help them determine if they’re eligible for video payments and offer more advanced analytics along with the ability to upload short, vertical video clips.
There’s uncertainty about how much Spotify plans to pay video creators, however. The company isn’t explaining exactly how it calculates video payouts, though Munford said creators will be able to see their breakdowns in the Spotify for Creators hub.

Cath Virginia / The Verge

Spotify is going all in on video.

The company will soon begin paying creators based on how much engagement their videos receive from paid subscribers. Automated ad breaks in videos will also be turned off for paid Spotify subscribers to encourage more consumption. Both of these changes go into effect starting January 2nd, 2025 in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada.

Paying video creators directly based on engagement puts Spotify on more of a collision course with YouTube, which is also leaning into podcasts and already pays its creators billions a year in shared ad revenue. “We can provide an experience for your audience that is superior to any other platform,” CEO Daniel Ek said onstage Wednesday at a Spotify creator event in Los Angles.

Since Spotify made video podcasts widely available in 2022, consumption of the format has skyrocketed, with the number of video creators on the platform more than doubling each year. There are now over 300,000 video podcasts on Spotify, up from 250,000 in late June, and “video consumption hours have grown faster than audio-only consumption hours year-over-year,” according to company spokesperson Grey Munford.

Creators will be able to access their payout details in a hub called Spotify for Creators, which will also help them determine if they’re eligible for video payments and offer more advanced analytics along with the ability to upload short, vertical video clips.

There’s uncertainty about how much Spotify plans to pay video creators, however. The company isn’t explaining exactly how it calculates video payouts, though Munford said creators will be able to see their breakdowns in the Spotify for Creators hub.

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Blizzard just released Warcraft Remastered Battle Chest for PC and Macs, which collects remasters of realtime strategy classics Warcraft I and II, as well as a 2.0 update for Warcraft III: Reforged. The company announced the collection, which is $39.99 on Battle.net, during today’s Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct livestream.
The first two games have been updated much the same way that Starcraft was in 2017, replacing the original game sprites and maps with more detailed, high-res artwork. Both games also have “updated quality of life features for modern day gaming,” according to the Battle.net store page for the collection.

Warcraft III: Reforged 2.0 looks like the company’s attempt to make up for the widely-panned 2020 remaster, Warcraft III: Reforged, a game that was so hated that the company started offering a no-questions-asked automated refund policy. Blizzard says it has updated environments and “fully customizable visuals,” as well as an option to play with the game’s original graphics at a higher resolution.
If you don’t want all three, you can get them individually. Blizzard charges $9.99 for Warcraft I: Remastered, $14.99 for Warcraft II: Remastered, and $29.99 for Warcraft III: Reforged.
In addition to the remasters, Blizzard also announced a January 2025 Hearthstone / StarCraft crossover called “Heroes of StarCraft” centered around StarCraft. (It’s no new StarCraft game, but at least Blizzard mentioned the series, I suppose). Blizzard is also updating World Of Warcraft, adding things like a new dungeon to the modern version, and a version of Mists of Pandaria for WoW Classic that resembles the expansion as it was in 2012. And Warcraft Rumble will launch in beta on PC on December 10th.

Blizzard just released Warcraft Remastered Battle Chest for PC and Macs, which collects remasters of realtime strategy classics Warcraft I and II, as well as a 2.0 update for Warcraft III: Reforged. The company announced the collection, which is $39.99 on Battle.net, during today’s Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct livestream.

The first two games have been updated much the same way that Starcraft was in 2017, replacing the original game sprites and maps with more detailed, high-res artwork. Both games also have “updated quality of life features for modern day gaming,” according to the Battle.net store page for the collection.

Warcraft III: Reforged 2.0 looks like the company’s attempt to make up for the widely-panned 2020 remaster, Warcraft III: Reforged, a game that was so hated that the company started offering a no-questions-asked automated refund policy. Blizzard says it has updated environments and “fully customizable visuals,” as well as an option to play with the game’s original graphics at a higher resolution.

If you don’t want all three, you can get them individually. Blizzard charges $9.99 for Warcraft I: Remastered, $14.99 for Warcraft II: Remastered, and $29.99 for Warcraft III: Reforged.

In addition to the remasters, Blizzard also announced a January 2025 Hearthstone / StarCraft crossover called “Heroes of StarCraft” centered around StarCraft. (It’s no new StarCraft game, but at least Blizzard mentioned the series, I suppose). Blizzard is also updating World Of Warcraft, adding things like a new dungeon to the modern version, and a version of Mists of Pandaria for WoW Classic that resembles the expansion as it was in 2012. And Warcraft Rumble will launch in beta on PC on December 10th.

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Image: The Verge

Meta could bring ads to Threads as soon as next year, according to a report from The Information. As part of its plan, Threads will reportedly allow a small number of advertisers to make and publish ads in January.
That tracks with what my colleague Alex Heath reported about the rollout of ads in July. Instagram head Adam Mosseri has also confirmed that Meta is “definitely” planning to bring ads to Threads. “I get why people have concerns, but at the end of the day we’re a business and Threads needs to make enough money to pay for the people and servers that it takes to run the service and provide it to people for free,” Mosseri said at the time.
In its most recent earnings report, Meta said it earned $39.8 billion in advertising revenue over the previous three months — 97 percent of its overall revenue. During an earnings call, Meta CFO Susan Li said that the company doesn’t expect Threads to become a “meaningful driver” of revenue in 2025.
We don’t know how ads will surface on Threads just yet, but they could appear as “sponsored” posts, which is something reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi recently spotted in development.
When asked about The Information’s report, Meta spokesperson Matthew Tye only shared current information about ads in the app. “Since our priority is to build consumer value first and foremost, there are no ads or monetization features currently on Threads,” Tye said. He declined to comment on Meta’s future plans.
Advertisers may turn to Threads if they’re looking for a safer alternative to X, but a report today from The Financial Times says some advertisers are planning to head back to X to earn favor with Elon Musk and President-Elect Donald Trump. Bluesky CEO Jay Graber, on the other hand, has said she won’t “enshittify” that growing platform with ads.

Image: The Verge

Meta could bring ads to Threads as soon as next year, according to a report from The Information. As part of its plan, Threads will reportedly allow a small number of advertisers to make and publish ads in January.

That tracks with what my colleague Alex Heath reported about the rollout of ads in July. Instagram head Adam Mosseri has also confirmed that Meta is “definitely” planning to bring ads to Threads. “I get why people have concerns, but at the end of the day we’re a business and Threads needs to make enough money to pay for the people and servers that it takes to run the service and provide it to people for free,” Mosseri said at the time.

In its most recent earnings report, Meta said it earned $39.8 billion in advertising revenue over the previous three months — 97 percent of its overall revenue. During an earnings call, Meta CFO Susan Li said that the company doesn’t expect Threads to become a “meaningful driver” of revenue in 2025.

We don’t know how ads will surface on Threads just yet, but they could appear as “sponsored” posts, which is something reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi recently spotted in development.

When asked about The Information’s report, Meta spokesperson Matthew Tye only shared current information about ads in the app. “Since our priority is to build consumer value first and foremost, there are no ads or monetization features currently on Threads,” Tye said. He declined to comment on Meta’s future plans.

Advertisers may turn to Threads if they’re looking for a safer alternative to X, but a report today from The Financial Times says some advertisers are planning to head back to X to earn favor with Elon Musk and President-Elect Donald Trump. Bluesky CEO Jay Graber, on the other hand, has said she won’t “enshittify” that growing platform with ads.

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Image: Meta

The YouTube app on Meta Quest is getting a nice upgrade: instead of only being a way to watch videos by yourself, the app will now let you co-watch videos with up to seven other people.
To turn on the feature, which is launching in beta, make sure you have the latest version of the YouTube app and look for the “Co-watch” icon at the top of the screen (it looks like three people grouped together). Select that, and then in the window that pops up, select “Invite people” and then you can invite people from your followers list to watch things with you. (The people you invite will also have to follow you back.)
There are a few limitations. You can only co-watch 2D content, for example. And if you want to watch paid content like a movie, every person that’s co-watching will have to separately pay for it. But the co-watching still seems like a useful way to hang out with people in VR if you’d rather not hang out in Horizon Worlds. And it might feel less strange than Apple’s Spatial Personas for the Vision Pro.

Image: Meta

The YouTube app on Meta Quest is getting a nice upgrade: instead of only being a way to watch videos by yourself, the app will now let you co-watch videos with up to seven other people.

To turn on the feature, which is launching in beta, make sure you have the latest version of the YouTube app and look for the “Co-watch” icon at the top of the screen (it looks like three people grouped together). Select that, and then in the window that pops up, select “Invite people” and then you can invite people from your followers list to watch things with you. (The people you invite will also have to follow you back.)

There are a few limitations. You can only co-watch 2D content, for example. And if you want to watch paid content like a movie, every person that’s co-watching will have to separately pay for it. But the co-watching still seems like a useful way to hang out with people in VR if you’d rather not hang out in Horizon Worlds. And it might feel less strange than Apple’s Spatial Personas for the Vision Pro.

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Vogtle, a nuclear power plant located in Burke County, near Waynesboro, Georgia. | Photo: Getty Images

The US has a new roadmap for massively ramping up how much electricity it gets from nuclear reactors.
The Biden administration released the document on Tuesday, but with President-elect Donald Trump heading back into the White House, there’s no telling whether the plan will ever become a reality. That said, the nuclear industry has gained a fair amount of bipartisan support — not to mention buy-in from big tech.
For now, nuclear energy makes up nearly 20 percent of the US’s electricity mix. That’s roughly the same amount of electricity the US gets from renewables like wind and solar. The rest — 60 percent of electricity in the US — comes from fossil fuels. Another way to think of it is that nuclear reactors generate nearly half of the nation’s carbon pollution-free power.
The nuclear industry has gained a fair amount of bipartisan support — not to mention buy-in from big tech
There are still big environmental concerns about mining uranium for fuel rods as well as radioactive waste from nuclear power plants. Nevertheless, nuclear energy has garnered support from some environmental groups and the Biden administration as a way to generate electricity without producing greenhouse gas emissions. It’s also seen as a steady energy supply that can fill in when wind and solar energy fluctuate. The US joined an international commitment last year to triple renewable energy capacity globally.
The White House laid out a target yesterday of installing 200 gigawatts of new nuclear energy capacity by 2050, at least three times as much as the US had in 2020. There are interim goals, starting with deploying 35GW of new capacity by 2035 and then ramping up to add 15GW per year by 2040.
That’s no easy task. Nuclear energy in the US comes from an aging fleet of nuclear power plants. Most of them were built in the 1970s or ’80s, and the average age of a nuclear reactor in the US is 42 years old. The nuclear industry faced stigma following high-profile accidents at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, Chernobyl in Ukraine, and Fukushima in Japan. And over the years, nuclear had trouble competing with more affordable, flexible power sources — namely gas.
The first newly built nuclear reactor in the US in decades, the Vogtle Unit 3 reactor in Georgia, came on line in 2023. It was seven years past its original deadline and $17 billion over budget. Another new reactor at the same site started operating in April of this year. Construction on those reactors started in 2009.
High costs, on top of how challenging it can be to site and build a large nuclear plant, have limited the industry’s growth. The industry’s solution has been to start developing next-generation technology, called small modular reactors (SMRs). These advanced reactors are about one-tenth to one-quarter the size of a traditional nuclear energy plant, which is supposed to make them cheaper and easier to construct.
To reach its nuclear goals, the Biden administration’s roadmap calls for building new reactors, large and small. It also makes the case for renewing licenses to extend the lifetimes of older reactors and even restarting reactors that have been retired.

Big tech, notably, has been giving the industry a leg up lately with a slew of new agreements this year to purchase nuclear energy and support the development of advanced reactors.
Microsoft inked a power purchase agreement in September to help restart a reactor at Three Mile Island. Amazon Web Services bought a nuclear-powered data center campus in Pennsylvania in March. Last month, Amazon announced three more deals to help develop SMRs that it might eventually buy electricity from in Washington state and Virginia. Google, meanwhile, announced plans in October to buy electricity from SMRs that would be built between 2030 and 2035.
Trump is expected to try to undo many of President Joe Biden’s efforts to slash greenhouse gas emissions as part of his administration’s planned deregulation spree. But he’s been less antagonistic with nuclear energy in the past. His Agenda 47 says he’ll “support nuclear energy production… by modernizing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, working to keep existing power plants open, and investing in innovative small modular reactors.”
Then again, anything could happen once Trump steps back into office. He cast some doubt on a nuclear renaissance during an interview with Joe Rogan on October 25th, saying, “I think there’s a little danger with nuclear.” He was characteristically dismissive of the risks posed by climate change, which research shows is intensifying disasters including storms, heatwaves, and droughts. “The biggest problem in the world today is not global warming,” he said to Rogan. “It’s nuclear warming.”

Vogtle, a nuclear power plant located in Burke County, near Waynesboro, Georgia. | Photo: Getty Images

The US has a new roadmap for massively ramping up how much electricity it gets from nuclear reactors.

The Biden administration released the document on Tuesday, but with President-elect Donald Trump heading back into the White House, there’s no telling whether the plan will ever become a reality. That said, the nuclear industry has gained a fair amount of bipartisan support — not to mention buy-in from big tech.

For now, nuclear energy makes up nearly 20 percent of the US’s electricity mix. That’s roughly the same amount of electricity the US gets from renewables like wind and solar. The rest — 60 percent of electricity in the US — comes from fossil fuels. Another way to think of it is that nuclear reactors generate nearly half of the nation’s carbon pollution-free power.

There are still big environmental concerns about mining uranium for fuel rods as well as radioactive waste from nuclear power plants. Nevertheless, nuclear energy has garnered support from some environmental groups and the Biden administration as a way to generate electricity without producing greenhouse gas emissions. It’s also seen as a steady energy supply that can fill in when wind and solar energy fluctuate. The US joined an international commitment last year to triple renewable energy capacity globally.

The White House laid out a target yesterday of installing 200 gigawatts of new nuclear energy capacity by 2050, at least three times as much as the US had in 2020. There are interim goals, starting with deploying 35GW of new capacity by 2035 and then ramping up to add 15GW per year by 2040.

That’s no easy task. Nuclear energy in the US comes from an aging fleet of nuclear power plants. Most of them were built in the 1970s or ’80s, and the average age of a nuclear reactor in the US is 42 years old. The nuclear industry faced stigma following high-profile accidents at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, Chernobyl in Ukraine, and Fukushima in Japan. And over the years, nuclear had trouble competing with more affordable, flexible power sources — namely gas.

The first newly built nuclear reactor in the US in decades, the Vogtle Unit 3 reactor in Georgia, came on line in 2023. It was seven years past its original deadline and $17 billion over budget. Another new reactor at the same site started operating in April of this year. Construction on those reactors started in 2009.

High costs, on top of how challenging it can be to site and build a large nuclear plant, have limited the industry’s growth. The industry’s solution has been to start developing next-generation technology, called small modular reactors (SMRs). These advanced reactors are about one-tenth to one-quarter the size of a traditional nuclear energy plant, which is supposed to make them cheaper and easier to construct.

To reach its nuclear goals, the Biden administration’s roadmap calls for building new reactors, large and small. It also makes the case for renewing licenses to extend the lifetimes of older reactors and even restarting reactors that have been retired.

Big tech, notably, has been giving the industry a leg up lately with a slew of new agreements this year to purchase nuclear energy and support the development of advanced reactors.

Microsoft inked a power purchase agreement in September to help restart a reactor at Three Mile Island. Amazon Web Services bought a nuclear-powered data center campus in Pennsylvania in March. Last month, Amazon announced three more deals to help develop SMRs that it might eventually buy electricity from in Washington state and Virginia. Google, meanwhile, announced plans in October to buy electricity from SMRs that would be built between 2030 and 2035.

Trump is expected to try to undo many of President Joe Biden’s efforts to slash greenhouse gas emissions as part of his administration’s planned deregulation spree. But he’s been less antagonistic with nuclear energy in the past. His Agenda 47 says he’ll “support nuclear energy production… by modernizing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, working to keep existing power plants open, and investing in innovative small modular reactors.”

Then again, anything could happen once Trump steps back into office. He cast some doubt on a nuclear renaissance during an interview with Joe Rogan on October 25th, saying, “I think there’s a little danger with nuclear.” He was characteristically dismissive of the risks posed by climate change, which research shows is intensifying disasters including storms, heatwaves, and droughts. “The biggest problem in the world today is not global warming,” he said to Rogan. “It’s nuclear warming.”

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Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

Meta must face the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuit that accuses the company of dominating the social media industry through its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, a DC District Court Judge ruled on Wednesday.
The FTC filed a lawsuit against Meta in 2020, alleging the company bought up rivals — Instagram and WhatsApp — in an attempt to stifle competition. Judge James Boasberg initially dismissed the FTC’s lawsuit in 2021, but the agency filed an amended complaint, which he ultimately let proceed.
Meta once again asked the court to dismiss the FTC’s case in April. Boasberg has now ruled largely in favor of the FTC, though he dismissed a claim that Meta acted anticompetitively by preventing developers from accessing its API unless they agreed not to compete with its apps.

In a statement to The Verge, Meta spokesperson Christopher Sgro said the company is “confident” the trial will show its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp were “good” for consumers. “More than 10 years after the FTC reviewed and cleared these deals, and despite the overwhelming evidence that our services compete with YouTube, TikTok, X, Apple’s iMessage, and many others, the Commission is wrongly continuing to assert that no deal is ever truly final, and businesses can be punished for innovating.”
Even though the FTC’s antitrust lawsuit was filed while President-Elect President Donald Trump was in office, his upcoming administration is expected to take a more lax approach to mergers and acquisitions — and major companies are taking notice. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, along with other Big Tech leaders, has already started to cozy up to Trump, who’s expected to replace FTC Chair Lina Khan.

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

Meta must face the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuit that accuses the company of dominating the social media industry through its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, a DC District Court Judge ruled on Wednesday.

The FTC filed a lawsuit against Meta in 2020, alleging the company bought up rivals — Instagram and WhatsApp — in an attempt to stifle competition. Judge James Boasberg initially dismissed the FTC’s lawsuit in 2021, but the agency filed an amended complaint, which he ultimately let proceed.

Meta once again asked the court to dismiss the FTC’s case in April. Boasberg has now ruled largely in favor of the FTC, though he dismissed a claim that Meta acted anticompetitively by preventing developers from accessing its API unless they agreed not to compete with its apps.

In a statement to The Verge, Meta spokesperson Christopher Sgro said the company is “confident” the trial will show its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp were “good” for consumers. “More than 10 years after the FTC reviewed and cleared these deals, and despite the overwhelming evidence that our services compete with YouTube, TikTok, X, Apple’s iMessage, and many others, the Commission is wrongly continuing to assert that no deal is ever truly final, and businesses can be punished for innovating.”

Even though the FTC’s antitrust lawsuit was filed while President-Elect President Donald Trump was in office, his upcoming administration is expected to take a more lax approach to mergers and acquisitions — and major companies are taking notice. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, along with other Big Tech leaders, has already started to cozy up to Trump, who’s expected to replace FTC Chair Lina Khan.

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The Lightfoot scooter’s 120W solar panels can extend its range by up to 20 miles in the Summer, its creators claim. | Image: Otherlab

Otherlab has announced a new electric scooter called the Lightfoot that can extend its range not by fast charging or quick battery swaps, but by soaking up the sun. The scooter is shrouded in two large solar panels that Otherlab says can extend its range by an extra three miles for every hour it’s left in the sun.
The company, which describes itself as an “independent research & design lab” bringing “new solutions in renewable energy,” is planning to make the Lightfoot available for preorder starting today. It will sell for $4,995 and delivery is expected as early as January, 2025.
The Lightfoot is powered by a pair of 750W brushless DC motors paired with a 48-volt, 1.1kWh battery that provides a range of up to 37 miles on a full charge and a top speed of “just under” 20mph. You can find cargo-capable e-bikes that are cheaper than the Lightfoot with improved range (depending on what you’re hauling), but what sets the Lightfoot apart is that isn’t completely dependent on a power outlet.

Image: Otherlab
The Lightfoot is large enough to accommodate two riders.

In addition to charging the battery through regenerative braking while you’re out riding, the solar panels on each side of the Lightfoot can generate up to 120W of power while exposed to the sun. Assuming you stay outside and the weather cooperates, the company claims those solar panels can extend the Lightfoot’s range by up to 20 miles in the summer, or up to 10 miles in the winter. While some scooters, like Honda’s Motocompacto, are designed to fold up so you can store them inside, the Lightfoot will benefit from being left outdoors.

Image: Otherlab
Beneath the Lightfoot’s solar panels is 1.5 cubic feet of weatherproof cargo space.

With a frame made from aircraft-grade aluminum riding on 10-inch tires, the Lightfoot is bulkier than stand up scooters, but it can accommodate two riders. Underneath those solar panels you’ll also find 1.5 cubic feet of weatherproof and lockable storage which the company says is “comparable in size to a carry-on suitcase.” The scooter is also built using “off-the-shelf, highly rated parts” with the goal of making it low maintenance and easy to repair.
For those who like the idea of commuting to work, or even running errands, using an electric scooter but are anxious about the risk of being stranded by their relative limited ranges, the Lightfoot could bring some peace of mind. At the same time, the idea of having to leave it locked up outside and vulnerable to theft to take full advantage of its solar capabilities may just swap one anxiety for another.

The Lightfoot scooter’s 120W solar panels can extend its range by up to 20 miles in the Summer, its creators claim. | Image: Otherlab

Otherlab has announced a new electric scooter called the Lightfoot that can extend its range not by fast charging or quick battery swaps, but by soaking up the sun. The scooter is shrouded in two large solar panels that Otherlab says can extend its range by an extra three miles for every hour it’s left in the sun.

The company, which describes itself as an “independent research & design lab” bringing “new solutions in renewable energy,” is planning to make the Lightfoot available for preorder starting today. It will sell for $4,995 and delivery is expected as early as January, 2025.

The Lightfoot is powered by a pair of 750W brushless DC motors paired with a 48-volt, 1.1kWh battery that provides a range of up to 37 miles on a full charge and a top speed of “just under” 20mph. You can find cargo-capable e-bikes that are cheaper than the Lightfoot with improved range (depending on what you’re hauling), but what sets the Lightfoot apart is that isn’t completely dependent on a power outlet.

Image: Otherlab
The Lightfoot is large enough to accommodate two riders.

In addition to charging the battery through regenerative braking while you’re out riding, the solar panels on each side of the Lightfoot can generate up to 120W of power while exposed to the sun. Assuming you stay outside and the weather cooperates, the company claims those solar panels can extend the Lightfoot’s range by up to 20 miles in the summer, or up to 10 miles in the winter. While some scooters, like Honda’s Motocompacto, are designed to fold up so you can store them inside, the Lightfoot will benefit from being left outdoors.

Image: Otherlab
Beneath the Lightfoot’s solar panels is 1.5 cubic feet of weatherproof cargo space.

With a frame made from aircraft-grade aluminum riding on 10-inch tires, the Lightfoot is bulkier than stand up scooters, but it can accommodate two riders. Underneath those solar panels you’ll also find 1.5 cubic feet of weatherproof and lockable storage which the company says is “comparable in size to a carry-on suitcase.” The scooter is also built using “off-the-shelf, highly rated parts” with the goal of making it low maintenance and easy to repair.

For those who like the idea of commuting to work, or even running errands, using an electric scooter but are anxious about the risk of being stranded by their relative limited ranges, the Lightfoot could bring some peace of mind. At the same time, the idea of having to leave it locked up outside and vulnerable to theft to take full advantage of its solar capabilities may just swap one anxiety for another.

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Image: Amazon

Amazon has launched a store where every product costs $20 or less in a bid to take on popular low-cost shopping apps like Temu and Shein. The new “Amazon Haul” service is available in the US via Amazon’s app or mobile website, and offers a wide range of similar fashion, home, lifestyle, and electronics products that you’d expect to find on the rival Chinese platforms.
“Finding great products at very low prices is important to customers, and we continue to explore ways that we can work with our selling partners so they can offer products at ultra-low prices,” Amazon’s vice president of worldwide selling partner services, Dharmesh Mehta, said in Amazon’s announcement.
The Haul storefront has a visually similar layout to Temu and Shein, focusing largely on affordable pricing and slapping “crazy low” banners on item listings. Amazon says the majority of items will be priced at $10 or less, with some offerings as low as $1. Customers are encouraged to stack their baskets, however, with Amazon offering discounts of five percent off orders over $50 or 10 percent off orders of $75 or higher.
Shipping costs $3.99 and is free on orders over $25, but will take one to two weeks to arrive — which Amazon believes its customers will be fine with if it allows them to “shop ultra-low-priced products.” That’s a similar delivery timescale taken by Temu and Shein, which suggests Haul’s stock is also importing stock directly from Chinese manufacturers.
Both Temu and Shein are facing stricter regulations in the EU and the US due to risks surrounding counterfeit goods, illegal products, and copyright infringements on their platforms. Amazon is trying to temper any consumer concerns about that by saying all products on Haul are screened to ensure they’re “safe, authentic, and compliant with applicable regulations.”

Image: Amazon

Amazon has launched a store where every product costs $20 or less in a bid to take on popular low-cost shopping apps like Temu and Shein. The new “Amazon Haul” service is available in the US via Amazon’s app or mobile website, and offers a wide range of similar fashion, home, lifestyle, and electronics products that you’d expect to find on the rival Chinese platforms.

“Finding great products at very low prices is important to customers, and we continue to explore ways that we can work with our selling partners so they can offer products at ultra-low prices,” Amazon’s vice president of worldwide selling partner services, Dharmesh Mehta, said in Amazon’s announcement.

The Haul storefront has a visually similar layout to Temu and Shein, focusing largely on affordable pricing and slapping “crazy low” banners on item listings. Amazon says the majority of items will be priced at $10 or less, with some offerings as low as $1. Customers are encouraged to stack their baskets, however, with Amazon offering discounts of five percent off orders over $50 or 10 percent off orders of $75 or higher.

Shipping costs $3.99 and is free on orders over $25, but will take one to two weeks to arrive — which Amazon believes its customers will be fine with if it allows them to “shop ultra-low-priced products.” That’s a similar delivery timescale taken by Temu and Shein, which suggests Haul’s stock is also importing stock directly from Chinese manufacturers.

Both Temu and Shein are facing stricter regulations in the EU and the US due to risks surrounding counterfeit goods, illegal products, and copyright infringements on their platforms. Amazon is trying to temper any consumer concerns about that by saying all products on Haul are screened to ensure they’re “safe, authentic, and compliant with applicable regulations.”

Read More