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Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images

The Department of Justice sent America PAC — the political action committee Elon Musk set up to help reelect former President Donald Trump — a letter warning that Musk’s $1 million lottery targeting swing state voters may be illegal. It’s the latest government attempt to regulate Musk, but it may go nowhere, even though campaign finance experts are adamant that he broke the law.
A vocal Trump supporter, Musk is using his vast fortune to influence the election. He’s contributed $75 million to the PAC thus far and has been stumping for Trump in Pennsylvania, a battleground state, since last week. But Musk’s actions go far beyond typical — and legal — wealthy donor behavior.
Musk has made payouts to voters a key element of his campaigning. His rallies are only open to registered Pennsylvania voters who sign an America PAC petition saying they support the First and Second Amendments. At the first of these events, he gave a $1 million check to a randomly selected audience member, saying he’d keep awarding sweepstakes-style prizes to petition signatories every day until November 5th.
Musk’s goal is to publicly display his support for Trump
The problem is that while you can encourage people to vote or register in a US election, you aren’t allowed to compensate them for doing so. Under 52 USC 10307(c), anyone who “pays or offers to pay or accepts payment either for registration to vote or for voting” can be fined up to $10,000 or be sentenced to up to five years in prison.
Michael Kang, a professor of campaign finance law at Northwestern University, says extra steps like the petition don’t change the fundamental facts. “In the end, this violates the federal statute against paying someone to register to vote for a federal election,” Kang told The Verge. “This isn’t paying someone to register to vote, but requiring them to be a registered voter in order to qualify for the prize.”
America PAC changed the messaging around the petition on Sunday, calling it payment for serving as “a spokesperson for America PAC.” But the fine print of the sweepstakes remains the same — and probably just as illegal as before. “If it was next summer — not connected to a presidential election coming up in a month — and was just intended to collect data on people who support the Second Amendment, that would be fine,” Kang said of the petition. “I think the context is really critical. It’s not just the requirements of the program, it’s how it’s being presented.”

Andy from Holly Springs, NC received $1M for signing our petition to support the Constitution, which just surpassed 1 MILLION SignaturesEvery day until Election Day, a person who signs will be selected to earn $1M as a spokesperson for America PACSIGN: https://t.co/TMeyWUhbrH pic.twitter.com/25vGfwawsy— America (@america) October 23, 2024

Election watchdogs caught onto the move quickly. On Tuesday, the Department of Justice confirmed that it had received a letter from 11 former government officials — who described themselves as having “served in senior legal and law-enforcement roles under every Republican president from Richard Nixon to Donald Trump” — urging the DOJ to investigate the America PAC sweepstakes.
And on Wednesday, the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission warning that America PAC may have violated campaign finance law. Craig Holman, the government affairs lobbyist with Public Citizen who filed the complaint, told The Verge that Musk’s petition was clearly illegal.
“The expectation there definitely appears to be that Musk was hoping to generate a lot of people — especially conservatives, because the petition is a very conservative-oriented document — to come out of the woodwork and register to vote so they can sign the petition,” Holman said. “That is an illegal payment to encourage voter registration.”
The DOJ warned Musk about his behavior, several people familiar with the matter told CNN.
But we’re a long way from Musk facing serious consequences for the move, including prison. “I’d be a little surprised if we get to that point. I don’t think the goal here would be to put Elon Musk in jail for a number of years,” Kang said, adding that the DOJ is typically hesitant to take public action right before a presidential election. Instead, the department’s goal is to “stop him from doing this.”
Choosing to prosecute Musk could backfire for the DOJ, especially before the election. “Musk’s goal is to publicly display his support for Trump,” Kang said. “His audience is Donald Trump and his supporters. The idea that federal prosecutors may come after him just helps him.”

It’s unclear, however, what would stop Musk. (A $10,000 fine presumably won’t do much.) The billionaire has a long history of disregarding things like safety regulations, and there’s no reason to believe he’ll be any more careful with election law. In their letter to the DOJ, the election officials urged the agency to overrule concerns about appearing partisan. “We are aware of nothing like this in modern political history,” the officials’ letter read. “Law enforcement agencies are appropriately reluctant to take action shortly before elections that could affect how people vote. But serious questions arising under laws that directly regulate the voting process must be an exception. Otherwise, individuals may act with impunity, with consequences if any coming only long after the damage is already done.”
Impunity may be exactly what Musk is seeking by supporting Trump. As Public Citizen noted in a recent report, several Musk-owned companies are under investigation by a bevy of government agencies. The DOJ, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency have all probed or filed charges against Musk-owned companies. If the investigations continue, Musk could not only face fines but may also be ordered to alter practices at his various companies — a possibility that could end up costing him a lot more than $1 million per day.
By contrast, Trump could order many of these investigations or charges to be dropped. “There are many ways that someone in Elon Musk’s position could benefit,” Rick Claypool, the Public Citizen researcher who authored the report, told The Verge.
Musk, like nearly all of the surrogates campaigning on behalf of a presidential candidate at this stage in the game, knows the election will likely be decided by a small number of voters in a few key states. In 2020, Biden won Pennsylvania by just over 81,000 votes out of more than 6 million cast in the state.
The first three winners of the sweepstakes were registered Republicans who had already voted by mail before getting the prize money, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. But if a few hundred — or thousand — people register to vote at Musk’s behest, the petition and associated financial promises may help move the needle. Even if it doesn’t, a lack of governmental action could send the message that it’s easier than ever to buy an election.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images

The Department of Justice sent America PAC — the political action committee Elon Musk set up to help reelect former President Donald Trump — a letter warning that Musk’s $1 million lottery targeting swing state voters may be illegal. It’s the latest government attempt to regulate Musk, but it may go nowhere, even though campaign finance experts are adamant that he broke the law.

A vocal Trump supporter, Musk is using his vast fortune to influence the election. He’s contributed $75 million to the PAC thus far and has been stumping for Trump in Pennsylvania, a battleground state, since last week. But Musk’s actions go far beyond typical — and legal — wealthy donor behavior.

Musk has made payouts to voters a key element of his campaigning. His rallies are only open to registered Pennsylvania voters who sign an America PAC petition saying they support the First and Second Amendments. At the first of these events, he gave a $1 million check to a randomly selected audience member, saying he’d keep awarding sweepstakes-style prizes to petition signatories every day until November 5th.

The problem is that while you can encourage people to vote or register in a US election, you aren’t allowed to compensate them for doing so. Under 52 USC 10307(c), anyone who “pays or offers to pay or accepts payment either for registration to vote or for voting” can be fined up to $10,000 or be sentenced to up to five years in prison.

Michael Kang, a professor of campaign finance law at Northwestern University, says extra steps like the petition don’t change the fundamental facts. “In the end, this violates the federal statute against paying someone to register to vote for a federal election,” Kang told The Verge. “This isn’t paying someone to register to vote, but requiring them to be a registered voter in order to qualify for the prize.”

America PAC changed the messaging around the petition on Sunday, calling it payment for serving as “a spokesperson for America PAC.” But the fine print of the sweepstakes remains the same — and probably just as illegal as before. “If it was next summer — not connected to a presidential election coming up in a month — and was just intended to collect data on people who support the Second Amendment, that would be fine,” Kang said of the petition. “I think the context is really critical. It’s not just the requirements of the program, it’s how it’s being presented.”

Election watchdogs caught onto the move quickly. On Tuesday, the Department of Justice confirmed that it had received a letter from 11 former government officials — who described themselves as having “served in senior legal and law-enforcement roles under every Republican president from Richard Nixon to Donald Trump” — urging the DOJ to investigate the America PAC sweepstakes.

And on Wednesday, the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission warning that America PAC may have violated campaign finance law. Craig Holman, the government affairs lobbyist with Public Citizen who filed the complaint, told The Verge that Musk’s petition was clearly illegal.

“The expectation there definitely appears to be that Musk was hoping to generate a lot of people — especially conservatives, because the petition is a very conservative-oriented document — to come out of the woodwork and register to vote so they can sign the petition,” Holman said. “That is an illegal payment to encourage voter registration.”

The DOJ warned Musk about his behavior, several people familiar with the matter told CNN.

But we’re a long way from Musk facing serious consequences for the move, including prison. “I’d be a little surprised if we get to that point. I don’t think the goal here would be to put Elon Musk in jail for a number of years,” Kang said, adding that the DOJ is typically hesitant to take public action right before a presidential election. Instead, the department’s goal is to “stop him from doing this.”

Choosing to prosecute Musk could backfire for the DOJ, especially before the election. “Musk’s goal is to publicly display his support for Trump,” Kang said. “His audience is Donald Trump and his supporters. The idea that federal prosecutors may come after him just helps him.”

It’s unclear, however, what would stop Musk. (A $10,000 fine presumably won’t do much.) The billionaire has a long history of disregarding things like safety regulations, and there’s no reason to believe he’ll be any more careful with election law. In their letter to the DOJ, the election officials urged the agency to overrule concerns about appearing partisan. “We are aware of nothing like this in modern political history,” the officials’ letter read. “Law enforcement agencies are appropriately reluctant to take action shortly before elections that could affect how people vote. But serious questions arising under laws that directly regulate the voting process must be an exception. Otherwise, individuals may act with impunity, with consequences if any coming only long after the damage is already done.”

Impunity may be exactly what Musk is seeking by supporting Trump. As Public Citizen noted in a recent report, several Musk-owned companies are under investigation by a bevy of government agencies. The DOJ, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency have all probed or filed charges against Musk-owned companies. If the investigations continue, Musk could not only face fines but may also be ordered to alter practices at his various companies — a possibility that could end up costing him a lot more than $1 million per day.

By contrast, Trump could order many of these investigations or charges to be dropped. “There are many ways that someone in Elon Musk’s position could benefit,” Rick Claypool, the Public Citizen researcher who authored the report, told The Verge.

Musk, like nearly all of the surrogates campaigning on behalf of a presidential candidate at this stage in the game, knows the election will likely be decided by a small number of voters in a few key states. In 2020, Biden won Pennsylvania by just over 81,000 votes out of more than 6 million cast in the state.

The first three winners of the sweepstakes were registered Republicans who had already voted by mail before getting the prize money, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. But if a few hundred — or thousand — people register to vote at Musk’s behest, the petition and associated financial promises may help move the needle. Even if it doesn’t, a lack of governmental action could send the message that it’s easier than ever to buy an election.

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Peacock’s multiview feature isn’t just for sports — it’s also good for tracking the action on election night, apparently. As votes roll in on November 5th, Peacock will show three different livestreams that you can jump between.
One window will have a stream of NBC News Now, which will show breaking news and real-time election results from anchors Lester Holt and Savannah Guthrie. The multiview setup will also include a “Kornacki Cam” with analysis from correspondent Steve Kornacki as well as a map with election results from across the country.
Just like the multiview option for the 2024 Paris Olympics, Peacock will let you move between each screen, toggle the audio on or off for specific streams, and select a livestream to watch in full screen. The election multiview feature will go live on Peacock on November 5th starting at 6PM ET. It will be available on smart TVs, web browsers, and tablets.
Peacock is also launching a hub where you can find election-related content on November 1st. The streamer is expanding multiview into other areas of its service as well, as it plans on bringing multiview to Premier League matches starting on December 4th, letting you watch four games at once.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Peacock’s multiview feature isn’t just for sports — it’s also good for tracking the action on election night, apparently. As votes roll in on November 5th, Peacock will show three different livestreams that you can jump between.

One window will have a stream of NBC News Now, which will show breaking news and real-time election results from anchors Lester Holt and Savannah Guthrie. The multiview setup will also include a “Kornacki Cam” with analysis from correspondent Steve Kornacki as well as a map with election results from across the country.

Just like the multiview option for the 2024 Paris Olympics, Peacock will let you move between each screen, toggle the audio on or off for specific streams, and select a livestream to watch in full screen. The election multiview feature will go live on Peacock on November 5th starting at 6PM ET. It will be available on smart TVs, web browsers, and tablets.

Peacock is also launching a hub where you can find election-related content on November 1st. The streamer is expanding multiview into other areas of its service as well, as it plans on bringing multiview to Premier League matches starting on December 4th, letting you watch four games at once.

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Satechi’s magnetic charging pad gets a Qi2 upgrade and a small price bump. | Image: Satechi

Satechi has announced an updated version of its Trio Wireless Charging Pad that increases the power delivery to smartphones to 15W through an upgraded Qi2 charger. The new Satechi Qi2 Trio Wireless Charging Pad now also supports 5W fast charging for the Apple Watch, including the Series 7, 8, and 9 and both versions of the Ultra.
Made from a mix of aluminum, vegan leather, and soft silicone to prevent devices from getting scratched, the charging pad is available starting today through Satechi’s website for $129.99. That’s $10 more expensive than the original version, but in addition to potentially faster charge times, Satechi has also included some design improvements on the new Trio.

Image: Satechi
Devices connected to the pad can lay flat while they charge.

The older Trio charging pad let you angle its Apple Watch charger upward to use the wearable’s nightstand mode, but it positioned all other devices at a slight fixed angle that left smartphones laying basically flat. With the new version of the Trio, the upgraded Qi2 charging puck is attached to an articulated arm that can now elevate a charging smartphone, allowing features like the iPhone’s StandBy mode to be used when it’s positioned horizontally.

Image: Satechi
The angle of a charging smartphone and Apple Watch can be adjusted, facilitating alarm clock modes.

Although the pad seems best suited for a desk or bedside table, Satechi says it’s also useful for traveling, requiring just a single USB-C cable and its included 45W power adapter. However, the new version of the Trio is a bit thicker than the previous one and a few grams heavier. If you’re looking for a convenient way to charge three devices at once on the road, Anker’s 3-in-1 MagGo Wireless Charging Station is smaller, lighter, and cheaper, while also supporting 15W wireless charging speeds.

Image: Satechi
Satechi says the charging pad can be used for travel, but there are other more compact multi-device solutions available.

Satechi’s magnetic charging pad gets a Qi2 upgrade and a small price bump. | Image: Satechi

Satechi has announced an updated version of its Trio Wireless Charging Pad that increases the power delivery to smartphones to 15W through an upgraded Qi2 charger. The new Satechi Qi2 Trio Wireless Charging Pad now also supports 5W fast charging for the Apple Watch, including the Series 7, 8, and 9 and both versions of the Ultra.

Made from a mix of aluminum, vegan leather, and soft silicone to prevent devices from getting scratched, the charging pad is available starting today through Satechi’s website for $129.99. That’s $10 more expensive than the original version, but in addition to potentially faster charge times, Satechi has also included some design improvements on the new Trio.

Image: Satechi
Devices connected to the pad can lay flat while they charge.

The older Trio charging pad let you angle its Apple Watch charger upward to use the wearable’s nightstand mode, but it positioned all other devices at a slight fixed angle that left smartphones laying basically flat. With the new version of the Trio, the upgraded Qi2 charging puck is attached to an articulated arm that can now elevate a charging smartphone, allowing features like the iPhone’s StandBy mode to be used when it’s positioned horizontally.

Image: Satechi
The angle of a charging smartphone and Apple Watch can be adjusted, facilitating alarm clock modes.

Although the pad seems best suited for a desk or bedside table, Satechi says it’s also useful for traveling, requiring just a single USB-C cable and its included 45W power adapter. However, the new version of the Trio is a bit thicker than the previous one and a few grams heavier. If you’re looking for a convenient way to charge three devices at once on the road, Anker’s 3-in-1 MagGo Wireless Charging Station is smaller, lighter, and cheaper, while also supporting 15W wireless charging speeds.

Image: Satechi
Satechi says the charging pad can be used for travel, but there are other more compact multi-device solutions available.

Read More 

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos by Getty Images

The latest AI manifesto, from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, says a lot about the industry’s current moment. On today’s episode of Decoder, we’re going to try and figure out “digital god.” I figured we’ve been doing this long enough, let’s just get after it. Can we build an artificial intelligence so powerful that it changes the world and answers all of our questions? The AI industry has decided the answer is yes.
In September, OpenAI’s Sam Altman published a blog post claiming we’ll have superintelligent AI in “a few thousand days.” And earlier this month, Dario Amodei, the CEO of OpenAI competitor Anthropic, published a 14,000-word post laying out what exactly he thinks such a system will be capable of when it arrives, which he says could be as soon as 2026.

What’s fascinating is that the visions laid out in both posts are so similar — they both promise dramatic superintelligent AI that will bring massive improvements to work, to science and healthcare, and even to democracy and prosperity. Digital god, baby.
But while the visions are similar, the companies are, in many ways, openly opposed: Anthropic is the original OpenAI defection story. Dario and a cohort of fellow researchers left OpenAI in 2021 after becoming concerned with its increasingly commercial direction and approach to safety, and they created Anthropic to be a safer, slower AI company. And the emphasis was really on safety until recently; just last year, a major New York Times profile of the company called it the “white-hot center of A.I. doomerism.”
But the launch of ChatGPT, and the generative AI boom that followed, kicked off a colossal tech arms race, and now, Anthropic is as much in the game as anyone. It’s taken in billions in funding, mostly from Amazon, and built Claude, a chatbot and language model to rival OpenAI’s GPT-4. Now, Dario is writing long blog posts about spreading democracy with AI.
So what’s going on here? Why is the head of Anthropic suddenly talking so optimistically about AI, when he was previously known for being the safer, slower alternative to the progress-at-all-costs OpenAI? Is this just more AI hype to court investors? And if AGI is really around the corner, how are we even measuring what it means for it to be safe?
To break it all down, I brought on Verge senior AI reporter Kylie Robison to discuss what it means, what’s going on in the industry, and whether we can trust these AI leaders to tell us what they really think.
If you’d like to read more about some of the news and topics we discussed in this episode, check out the links below:

Machines of Loving Grace | Dario Amodei

The Intelligence Age | Sam Altman

Anthropic’s CEO thinks AI will lead to a utopia | The Verge

AI manifestos flood the tech zone | Axios

OpenAI just raised $6.6 billion to build ever-larger AI models | The Verge

OpenAI was a research lab — now it’s just another tech company | The Verge

Anthropic’s latest AI update can use a computer on its own | The Verge

Agents are the future AI companies promise — and desperately need | The Verge

California governor vetoes major AI safety bill | The Verge

Inside the white-hot center of AI doomerism | NYT

Microsoft and OpenAI’s close partnership shows signs of fraying | NYT

The $14 billion question dividing OpenAI and Microsoft | WSJ

Anthropic has floated $40 billion valuation in funding talks | The Information

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos by Getty Images

The latest AI manifesto, from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, says a lot about the industry’s current moment.

On today’s episode of Decoder, we’re going to try and figure out “digital god.” I figured we’ve been doing this long enough, let’s just get after it. Can we build an artificial intelligence so powerful that it changes the world and answers all of our questions? The AI industry has decided the answer is yes.

In September, OpenAI’s Sam Altman published a blog post claiming we’ll have superintelligent AI in “a few thousand days.” And earlier this month, Dario Amodei, the CEO of OpenAI competitor Anthropic, published a 14,000-word post laying out what exactly he thinks such a system will be capable of when it arrives, which he says could be as soon as 2026.

What’s fascinating is that the visions laid out in both posts are so similar — they both promise dramatic superintelligent AI that will bring massive improvements to work, to science and healthcare, and even to democracy and prosperity. Digital god, baby.

But while the visions are similar, the companies are, in many ways, openly opposed: Anthropic is the original OpenAI defection story. Dario and a cohort of fellow researchers left OpenAI in 2021 after becoming concerned with its increasingly commercial direction and approach to safety, and they created Anthropic to be a safer, slower AI company. And the emphasis was really on safety until recently; just last year, a major New York Times profile of the company called it the “white-hot center of A.I. doomerism.”

But the launch of ChatGPT, and the generative AI boom that followed, kicked off a colossal tech arms race, and now, Anthropic is as much in the game as anyone. It’s taken in billions in funding, mostly from Amazon, and built Claude, a chatbot and language model to rival OpenAI’s GPT-4. Now, Dario is writing long blog posts about spreading democracy with AI.

So what’s going on here? Why is the head of Anthropic suddenly talking so optimistically about AI, when he was previously known for being the safer, slower alternative to the progress-at-all-costs OpenAI? Is this just more AI hype to court investors? And if AGI is really around the corner, how are we even measuring what it means for it to be safe?

To break it all down, I brought on Verge senior AI reporter Kylie Robison to discuss what it means, what’s going on in the industry, and whether we can trust these AI leaders to tell us what they really think.

If you’d like to read more about some of the news and topics we discussed in this episode, check out the links below:

Machines of Loving Grace | Dario Amodei

The Intelligence Age | Sam Altman

Anthropic’s CEO thinks AI will lead to a utopia | The Verge

AI manifestos flood the tech zone | Axios

OpenAI just raised $6.6 billion to build ever-larger AI models | The Verge

OpenAI was a research lab — now it’s just another tech company | The Verge

Anthropic’s latest AI update can use a computer on its own | The Verge

Agents are the future AI companies promise — and desperately need | The Verge

California governor vetoes major AI safety bill | The Verge

Inside the white-hot center of AI doomerism | NYT

Microsoft and OpenAI’s close partnership shows signs of fraying | NYT

The $14 billion question dividing OpenAI and Microsoft | WSJ

Anthropic has floated $40 billion valuation in funding talks | The Information

Read More 

Google Calendar on the web’s new dark mode started rolling out to users on October 23rd. | Image: Google

Google is finally introducing a dark mode to the web version of Google Calendar and rolling out a “refreshed user interface.” The new UI will include buttons, dialog boxes, and sidebars that are “more modern and accessible” with improved typefaces.
The update started rolling out this week and soon it will be available to everyone, whether they’re using a personal Gmail login or any sort of paid Google Workspace account.

Once it’s available on your account, you can turn on the dark mode by clicking the settings icon in the top right corner of the Google Calendar interface, which presents a new drop-down menu with the dark option available under “Appearance.” Users can also switch back to the light option or choose to match their device’s chosen theme.
Previously, enabling dark mode for Google Calendar on the web required third-party browser extensions to modify its appearance. Google warns that because the update is a “visual refresh,” it may cause active extensions to “not work as expected.”

Image: Google
Google Calendar on the web is also getting a user interface refresh with more modern-looking controls and dialog boxes.

Google says the updated calendar UI will also feature “iconography that is legible and crisp, with a fresh feel,” using its “custom-designed and highly-legible typefaces” that bring it line with Google’s Material Design 3 standards. The updates, including dark mode, will also apply to “the entire calendar web experience,” including the task list view.

Google Calendar on the web’s new dark mode started rolling out to users on October 23rd. | Image: Google

Google is finally introducing a dark mode to the web version of Google Calendar and rolling out a “refreshed user interface.” The new UI will include buttons, dialog boxes, and sidebars that are “more modern and accessible” with improved typefaces.

The update started rolling out this week and soon it will be available to everyone, whether they’re using a personal Gmail login or any sort of paid Google Workspace account.

Once it’s available on your account, you can turn on the dark mode by clicking the settings icon in the top right corner of the Google Calendar interface, which presents a new drop-down menu with the dark option available under “Appearance.” Users can also switch back to the light option or choose to match their device’s chosen theme.

Previously, enabling dark mode for Google Calendar on the web required third-party browser extensions to modify its appearance. Google warns that because the update is a “visual refresh,” it may cause active extensions to “not work as expected.”

Image: Google
Google Calendar on the web is also getting a user interface refresh with more modern-looking controls and dialog boxes.

Google says the updated calendar UI will also feature “iconography that is legible and crisp, with a fresh feel,” using its “custom-designed and highly-legible typefaces” that bring it line with Google’s Material Design 3 standards. The updates, including dark mode, will also apply to “the entire calendar web experience,” including the task list view.

Read More 

Image: Activision

Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is launching on Nvidia’s GeForce Now game streaming service on Friday, October 25th — the same day it launches on all other platforms. It’s the first time a Call of Duty game is launching day one on GeForce Now, which follows Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard in 2023 and a deal to launch its games on Nvidia’s service.
New Call of Duty releases had exclusive content deals with PlayStation for many years, but Microsoft struck a deal with Sony as part of a promise it would bring parity for the franchise’s future launches when it acquired Activision Blizzard. Microsoft had to compromise in its buyout of Activision Blizzard to get past regulators, which included bringing games from the publisher and ones from the Xbox PC game library to Nvidia’s service. It also promised Call of Duty would come to the Nintendo platforms as well.
Nvidia’s service is also getting Call of Duty HQ, a launcher that includes the games Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and Call of Duty: Warzone (available on Xbox and PC Game Pass). The new GeForce Now release list includes:

Worshippers of Cthulhu (New release on Steam, October 21st)

No More Room in Hell 2 (New release on Steam, October 22nd)

Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven (New release on Steam, October 24th)

Windblown (New release on Steam, October 24th)

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (New release on Steam, Battle.net and Xbox, available on PC Game Pass, October 25th)

Call of Duty HQ, including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and Call of Duty: Warzone (Xbox, available on PC Game Pass)

DUCKSIDE (Steam)

Off the Grid (Epic Games Store)

Selaco (Steam)

Image: Activision

Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is launching on Nvidia’s GeForce Now game streaming service on Friday, October 25th — the same day it launches on all other platforms. It’s the first time a Call of Duty game is launching day one on GeForce Now, which follows Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard in 2023 and a deal to launch its games on Nvidia’s service.

New Call of Duty releases had exclusive content deals with PlayStation for many years, but Microsoft struck a deal with Sony as part of a promise it would bring parity for the franchise’s future launches when it acquired Activision Blizzard. Microsoft had to compromise in its buyout of Activision Blizzard to get past regulators, which included bringing games from the publisher and ones from the Xbox PC game library to Nvidia’s service. It also promised Call of Duty would come to the Nintendo platforms as well.

Nvidia’s service is also getting Call of Duty HQ, a launcher that includes the games Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and Call of Duty: Warzone (available on Xbox and PC Game Pass). The new GeForce Now release list includes:

Worshippers of Cthulhu (New release on Steam, October 21st)

No More Room in Hell 2 (New release on Steam, October 22nd)

Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven (New release on Steam, October 24th)

Windblown (New release on Steam, October 24th)

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (New release on Steam, Battle.net and Xbox, available on PC Game Pass, October 25th)

Call of Duty HQ, including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and Call of Duty: Warzone (Xbox, available on PC Game Pass)

DUCKSIDE (Steam)

Off the Grid (Epic Games Store)

Selaco (Steam)

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Image: Minecraft

Minecraft will officially stop supporting all virtual reality headsets after March 2025, according to an update posted to the Bedrock changelog. The update means Minecraft will no longer support devices like the Oculus Rift, Windows Mixed Reality headsets, or the Meta Quest (through Quest Link), as reported earlier by UploadVR.
Last month, Minecraft developer Mojang also announced that the game would end support for PlayStation VR headsets next March. When Minecraft’s spring update rolls around, Mojang says you can “keep building in your worlds, and your Marketplace purchases (including Minecoins) will continue to be available on a non-VR/MR graphics device such as a computer monitor.”
As pointed out by UploadVR, you’ll still be able to play Minecraft in VR on PC by using the Java version of the game — either by downloading a VR mod like Vivecraft or using a standalone VR port such as QuestCraft.
Minecraft initially launched on Samsung’s Gear VR headsets in 2016 before adding support for the Oculus Rift, and PlayStation VR. Before ending support for VR, Mojang also shut down Minecraft Earth, its augmented-reality mobile app, in 2020.

Image: Minecraft

Minecraft will officially stop supporting all virtual reality headsets after March 2025, according to an update posted to the Bedrock changelog. The update means Minecraft will no longer support devices like the Oculus Rift, Windows Mixed Reality headsets, or the Meta Quest (through Quest Link), as reported earlier by UploadVR.

Last month, Minecraft developer Mojang also announced that the game would end support for PlayStation VR headsets next March. When Minecraft’s spring update rolls around, Mojang says you can “keep building in your worlds, and your Marketplace purchases (including Minecoins) will continue to be available on a non-VR/MR graphics device such as a computer monitor.”

As pointed out by UploadVR, you’ll still be able to play Minecraft in VR on PC by using the Java version of the game — either by downloading a VR mod like Vivecraft or using a standalone VR port such as QuestCraft.

Minecraft initially launched on Samsung’s Gear VR headsets in 2016 before adding support for the Oculus Rift, and PlayStation VR. Before ending support for VR, Mojang also shut down Minecraft Earth, its augmented-reality mobile app, in 2020.

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Image: Snapchat

Starting this week, Snapchat is introducing a faster way for iPhone users to take snaps when they’re in a rush. iPhones running iOS 18 or later can replace the flashlight or native camera shortcuts at the bottom of the lock screen with shortcuts to Snapchat’s camera.
With the new shortcuts, you can launch the Snapchat camera directly from the lock screen with a single tap, making it easier to capture moments before they pass. Using these controls enables iPhones to launch and take photos in “Camera Only” mode while locked, but sending or editing the snaps will still require users to unlock the device.
To set this up, users need to tap and hold the Lock Screen, hit Customize, and then select Lock Screen to replace one of the default options. That adds to the other available options, like adding a Snapchat widget to the lock or home screen, customizing the iPhone 15 / 16 Action button to launch Snapchat directly, or customizing the iPhone 16’s new Camera Control to open Snapchat.
In a move similar to Google touting its “Quick tap to Snap” feature at the Pixel 6’s launch a few years ago, this change was shown off during Apple’s WWDC keynote in June. We’ve also seen other alternative camera apps like Halide add support for this iPhone feature since iOS 18 launched in September.

Image: Snapchat
Lock screen customization was generally released for iOS 18, but developers need to roll out their own support for specific widgets like these Snapchat camera shortcuts

Image: Snapchat

Starting this week, Snapchat is introducing a faster way for iPhone users to take snaps when they’re in a rush. iPhones running iOS 18 or later can replace the flashlight or native camera shortcuts at the bottom of the lock screen with shortcuts to Snapchat’s camera.

With the new shortcuts, you can launch the Snapchat camera directly from the lock screen with a single tap, making it easier to capture moments before they pass. Using these controls enables iPhones to launch and take photos in “Camera Only” mode while locked, but sending or editing the snaps will still require users to unlock the device.

To set this up, users need to tap and hold the Lock Screen, hit Customize, and then select Lock Screen to replace one of the default options. That adds to the other available options, like adding a Snapchat widget to the lock or home screen, customizing the iPhone 15 / 16 Action button to launch Snapchat directly, or customizing the iPhone 16’s new Camera Control to open Snapchat.

In a move similar to Google touting its “Quick tap to Snap” feature at the Pixel 6’s launch a few years ago, this change was shown off during Apple’s WWDC keynote in June. We’ve also seen other alternative camera apps like Halide add support for this iPhone feature since iOS 18 launched in September.

Image: Snapchat
Lock screen customization was generally released for iOS 18, but developers need to roll out their own support for specific widgets like these Snapchat camera shortcuts

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Photo by Selcuk Acar / Anadolu via Getty Images

Automatic emergency braking (AEB) isn’t perfect, but the technology is improving, according to a recent study conducted by AAA. The research comes on the heels of a new federal rule requiring all vehicles to have the most robust version of AEB by 2029.
AAA wanted to see how newer vehicles with AEB fared compared to older models with the technology. AEB uses forward-facing cameras and other sensors to automatically tell the car to apply the brakes when a crash is imminent. And according to the test results, newer versions of AEB are much better at preventing forward collisions than older versions of the tech.
The motorist group conducted its test on a private closed course using older (2017–2018) and newer versions (2024) of the same three vehicles: Jeep Cherokee, Nissan Rogue, and Subaru Outback. Each vehicle was tested at 12mph, 25mph, and 35mph to see how well AEB performed at different speeds. And a fake vehicle was placed in the middle of the road to see whether AEB could prevent a collision.
100 percent of new vehicles braked before a collision
Unsurprisingly, the newer models performed a lot better than the older ones: 100 percent of the 2024 vehicles braked before a collision, as compared to 51 percent of the older vehicles.
That’s an improvement over similar tests conducted by AAA in 2022 in which AEB was better at preventing low-speed collisions than those at more normal speeds.
Still, this more recent test only involved forward collisions. Past AAA studies found AEB to be ill-equipped at preventing other common types of crashes, like T-bone collisions and left turns in front of approaching vehicles.
“Since we began testing AEB in 2014, the advancements by automakers are commendable and promising in improving driver safety,” said Greg Brannon, director of automotive engineering research. “There is still significant work ahead to ensure the systems work at higher speeds.”
It was a positive sign that AEB is improving, considering the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) finalized a new requirement for all light-duty vehicles to have robust AEB systems by 2029. Around 90 percent of vehicles on the road today come standard with AEB, but the new rule requires automakers to adopt a more robust version of the technology that can stop vehicles traveling at higher speeds and detect vulnerable road users, like cyclists and pedestrians, even at night.
Even so, automakers are scrambling to put the brakes on the new rule’s adoption. Earlier this year, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents most of the major automakers, sent a letter to NHTSA arguing that the final rule is “practically impossible with available technology” and urging the agency to delay its implementation.

Photo by Selcuk Acar / Anadolu via Getty Images

Automatic emergency braking (AEB) isn’t perfect, but the technology is improving, according to a recent study conducted by AAA. The research comes on the heels of a new federal rule requiring all vehicles to have the most robust version of AEB by 2029.

AAA wanted to see how newer vehicles with AEB fared compared to older models with the technology. AEB uses forward-facing cameras and other sensors to automatically tell the car to apply the brakes when a crash is imminent. And according to the test results, newer versions of AEB are much better at preventing forward collisions than older versions of the tech.

The motorist group conducted its test on a private closed course using older (2017–2018) and newer versions (2024) of the same three vehicles: Jeep Cherokee, Nissan Rogue, and Subaru Outback. Each vehicle was tested at 12mph, 25mph, and 35mph to see how well AEB performed at different speeds. And a fake vehicle was placed in the middle of the road to see whether AEB could prevent a collision.

Unsurprisingly, the newer models performed a lot better than the older ones: 100 percent of the 2024 vehicles braked before a collision, as compared to 51 percent of the older vehicles.

That’s an improvement over similar tests conducted by AAA in 2022 in which AEB was better at preventing low-speed collisions than those at more normal speeds.

Still, this more recent test only involved forward collisions. Past AAA studies found AEB to be ill-equipped at preventing other common types of crashes, like T-bone collisions and left turns in front of approaching vehicles.

“Since we began testing AEB in 2014, the advancements by automakers are commendable and promising in improving driver safety,” said Greg Brannon, director of automotive engineering research. “There is still significant work ahead to ensure the systems work at higher speeds.”

It was a positive sign that AEB is improving, considering the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) finalized a new requirement for all light-duty vehicles to have robust AEB systems by 2029. Around 90 percent of vehicles on the road today come standard with AEB, but the new rule requires automakers to adopt a more robust version of the technology that can stop vehicles traveling at higher speeds and detect vulnerable road users, like cyclists and pedestrians, even at night.

Even so, automakers are scrambling to put the brakes on the new rule’s adoption. Earlier this year, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents most of the major automakers, sent a letter to NHTSA arguing that the final rule is “practically impossible with available technology” and urging the agency to delay its implementation.

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Illustration: The Verge

Roblox is making some potentially major changes that will limit what pre-teens can access and give parents more control over what their kids do on the platform, according to an email sent by the company and shared with The Verge. The changes follow recent reports highlighting how Roblox has failed to protect children.
In July, for example, Bloomberg published a big report about predators on the platform. Turkey blocked access to Roblox in August, saying it was a necessary measure to protect its children. (Roblox said this week that it would open an office in the country if access was restored.) Earlier this month, a popular financial newsletter accused Roblox of enabling child abuse and the investment firm Hindenburg Research alleged that its “in-game research revealed an X-rated pedophile hellscape.”
As part of the changes, which Bloomberg initially reported on, users younger than 13 will have to get parent permission to access “certain chat features” while users that are younger than 9 will need their parents’ permission to play experiences that have a “moderate” content label. (That label means the experience may contain things like moderate violence or crude humor.) The company had already announced that it will be switching from “experience guidelines,” which rates experiences for specific ages, over to the new content label system this fall.
Roblox is also adding a new type of account that will let parents manage their kids on the platform. With the new parent accounts, parents can link their account to their child’s so they can update parental controls and access insights about their child’s Roblox usage, such as daily screen time and their Roblox friends. However, alongside these changes, Roblox won’t let parents set a PIN to make changes to an account, or use account restrictions to block a kid’s account from sending in-game chats or limit a kid’s account to only accessing experiences designed “for all ages.”
“The updates that were shared via email are part of Roblox’s commitment to making the platform one of the safest online environments for our users, particularly the youngest users,” Roblox’s Juliet Chaitin-Lefcourt tells The Verge. “We’re excited to share more information next month.”
Here is Roblox’s full email:

New parental controls and insights are coming soon
Dear parent,
We’ve been working on a series of important changes that we’ll be making to your child’s account, ____________, next month.
About Roblox accounts with parent privileges
Next month, we’re changing the way parents manage their child’s experience on Roblox by introducing Roblox accounts with parent privileges. After linking your account to your child’s, parents can view and update parental controls for their child all from their own device. Parents also get access to insights about their child’s Roblox usage, such as their daily screen time and on-platform friends.
Given these changes, starting next month, parents will no longer be able to set a parent PIN, use Account Restrictions, or receive account-related notifications to their parental email. Instead, you will need to use an account with parent privileges. Existing verified parental emails on child accounts will continue to be used for account recovery. Any settings previously set using a parent PIN will not change, but you will need an account with parent privileges to make updates going forward.
As always, if users are interested in an added layer of security on their account, you can set up 2-factor authentication.
Updated content maturity settings
As we shared with the community in July, to help provide parents and users more clarity into the types of content available on Roblox, we’ll soon begin labeling experiences based on the type of content users can expect in an experience, rather than by age. Experience Guidelines will be renamed Content Labels, and you’ll be able to set limits on the type of content accessible to your child through the content maturity setting in parental controls.
New default settings for users under the age of 13
As part of Roblox’s commitment to safety, we are also updating certain default settings for our youngest users. Starting next month, users under the age of 13 will need parent permission to access certain chat features. Users under the age of 9 will also need parent permission to access experiences with content maturity “Moderate,” which may contain things like moderate violence or moderate crude humor.
Your child’s settings will be updated when they reach certain ages, if you and your child haven’t previously made changes to them. You and your child will be notified of these updates in advance.
We will share more information on these setting updates when the changes go into effect next month.
Next steps
To continue receiving notifications about your child’s account related to spending or other important activity, you’ll need to set up a Roblox account with parent privileges and link to your child’s account. When these changes take effect, your child will receive a notification inviting them to add a linked parent account, and we’ll send you an email with instructions.
Since day one, Roblox has been committed to building safety features and tools into the design of our products. We will always continue to explore different ways to update our parental controls to make them even more useful for parents.
Roblox

Illustration: The Verge

Roblox is making some potentially major changes that will limit what pre-teens can access and give parents more control over what their kids do on the platform, according to an email sent by the company and shared with The Verge. The changes follow recent reports highlighting how Roblox has failed to protect children.

In July, for example, Bloomberg published a big report about predators on the platform. Turkey blocked access to Roblox in August, saying it was a necessary measure to protect its children. (Roblox said this week that it would open an office in the country if access was restored.) Earlier this month, a popular financial newsletter accused Roblox of enabling child abuse and the investment firm Hindenburg Research alleged that its “in-game research revealed an X-rated pedophile hellscape.”

As part of the changes, which Bloomberg initially reported on, users younger than 13 will have to get parent permission to access “certain chat features” while users that are younger than 9 will need their parents’ permission to play experiences that have a “moderate” content label. (That label means the experience may contain things like moderate violence or crude humor.) The company had already announced that it will be switching from “experience guidelines,” which rates experiences for specific ages, over to the new content label system this fall.

Roblox is also adding a new type of account that will let parents manage their kids on the platform. With the new parent accounts, parents can link their account to their child’s so they can update parental controls and access insights about their child’s Roblox usage, such as daily screen time and their Roblox friends. However, alongside these changes, Roblox won’t let parents set a PIN to make changes to an account, or use account restrictions to block a kid’s account from sending in-game chats or limit a kid’s account to only accessing experiences designed “for all ages.”

“The updates that were shared via email are part of Roblox’s commitment to making the platform one of the safest online environments for our users, particularly the youngest users,” Roblox’s Juliet Chaitin-Lefcourt tells The Verge. “We’re excited to share more information next month.”

Here is Roblox’s full email:

New parental controls and insights are coming soon

Dear parent,

We’ve been working on a series of important changes that we’ll be making to your child’s account, ____________, next month.

About Roblox accounts with parent privileges

Next month, we’re changing the way parents manage their child’s experience on Roblox by introducing Roblox accounts with parent privileges. After linking your account to your child’s, parents can view and update parental controls for their child all from their own device. Parents also get access to insights about their child’s Roblox usage, such as their daily screen time and on-platform friends.

Given these changes, starting next month, parents will no longer be able to set a parent PIN, use Account Restrictions, or receive account-related notifications to their parental email. Instead, you will need to use an account with parent privileges. Existing verified parental emails on child accounts will continue to be used for account recovery. Any settings previously set using a parent PIN will not change, but you will need an account with parent privileges to make updates going forward.

As always, if users are interested in an added layer of security on their account, you can set up 2-factor authentication.

Updated content maturity settings

As we shared with the community in July, to help provide parents and users more clarity into the types of content available on Roblox, we’ll soon begin labeling experiences based on the type of content users can expect in an experience, rather than by age. Experience Guidelines will be renamed Content Labels, and you’ll be able to set limits on the type of content accessible to your child through the content maturity setting in parental controls.

New default settings for users under the age of 13

As part of Roblox’s commitment to safety, we are also updating certain default settings for our youngest users. Starting next month, users under the age of 13 will need parent permission to access certain chat features. Users under the age of 9 will also need parent permission to access experiences with content maturity “Moderate,” which may contain things like moderate violence or moderate crude humor.

Your child’s settings will be updated when they reach certain ages, if you and your child haven’t previously made changes to them. You and your child will be notified of these updates in advance.

We will share more information on these setting updates when the changes go into effect next month.

Next steps

To continue receiving notifications about your child’s account related to spending or other important activity, you’ll need to set up a Roblox account with parent privileges and link to your child’s account. When these changes take effect, your child will receive a notification inviting them to add a linked parent account, and we’ll send you an email with instructions.

Since day one, Roblox has been committed to building safety features and tools into the design of our products. We will always continue to explore different ways to update our parental controls to make them even more useful for parents.

Roblox

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