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Image: Toei Animation

For years, the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) has worked with Hollywood’s Motion Picture Association (MPA) to crack down on digital piracy, and this week, it seems like the organizations took a huge step toward reaching their goal.
Today, ACE — a coalition of over 50 major entertainment companies and production studios, including Amazon, Disney, and Warner Bros. — took partial credit for the shuttering of Fmovies, a popular network of streaming sites hosting pirated films and television shows. In a statement, ACE called Fmovies and its affiliated sites “the largest pirate streaming operation in the world,” and according to The Hollywood Reporter, two suspects have been arrested by Hanoi police because of their connection to the operation.
MPA CEO and ACE chairman Charles Rivkin described the takedown of Fmovies as “a stunning victory for casts, crews, writers, directors, studios, and the creative community across the globe.” The MPA’s chief content protection officer, Larissa Knapp, added that the organizations see this move as “sending a powerful deterrent message” to others currently running (or thinking about starting up) similar piracy sites streaming copyrighted material.
The shuttering of Fmovies, which launched back in 2016, comes as other illegal streaming sites like Aniwave and AnimeFlix have suddenly gone dark — sending their regular visitors into a panic. Along with an embed of Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again,” Aniwave’s website currently features a short message (presumably from its former operators) explaining that their goals with the site were “creating better products that provide an improved user experience and fostering competition to drive the market to enhance products.”
The message also ends with a specifically worded call to action: “If possible, please use legal paid services. It’s something we should do to show our respect for creators and content producers.”
ACE hasn’t claimed responsibility for Aniwave’s closure, but as the Los Angeles Times notes, the call to action’s verbiage matches statements posted on other sites that the anti-piracy trade organization has gone after.
For obvious reasons like lost revenue, studios have never been hot on the idea of people consuming their intellectual property without paying for it. But piracy has still thrived for reasons other than people not wanting to hand over their cash to watch the latest blockbuster. Pirating things (read: stealing) is cheaper, yes, but the sites’ value also stems from the way they tend to offer far larger catalogs of things to consume compared to their legal competition.
Whereas studio-owned streamers have gotten into the habit of disappearing their content or splitting it up amongst themselves in ways that make it both difficult and expensive to track down, piracy sites have essentially been big buckets users could dip into to find what they wanted with ease. And while copyright infringement is a crime, part of the reason that people do it is the simple fact studios haven’t made the legal option appealing enough for people to default to it.
That’s always been a challenge for studios, and it’s obviously become less of a priority as streamers have pivoted to price hikes. But at this point in the streaming wars and Hollywood’s larger push for financial profits, it’s not surprising that pirates are taking some hits.

Image: Toei Animation

For years, the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) has worked with Hollywood’s Motion Picture Association (MPA) to crack down on digital piracy, and this week, it seems like the organizations took a huge step toward reaching their goal.

Today, ACE — a coalition of over 50 major entertainment companies and production studios, including Amazon, Disney, and Warner Bros. — took partial credit for the shuttering of Fmovies, a popular network of streaming sites hosting pirated films and television shows. In a statement, ACE called Fmovies and its affiliated sites “the largest pirate streaming operation in the world,” and according to The Hollywood Reporter, two suspects have been arrested by Hanoi police because of their connection to the operation.

MPA CEO and ACE chairman Charles Rivkin described the takedown of Fmovies as “a stunning victory for casts, crews, writers, directors, studios, and the creative community across the globe.” The MPA’s chief content protection officer, Larissa Knapp, added that the organizations see this move as “sending a powerful deterrent message” to others currently running (or thinking about starting up) similar piracy sites streaming copyrighted material.

The shuttering of Fmovies, which launched back in 2016, comes as other illegal streaming sites like Aniwave and AnimeFlix have suddenly gone dark — sending their regular visitors into a panic. Along with an embed of Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again,” Aniwave’s website currently features a short message (presumably from its former operators) explaining that their goals with the site were “creating better products that provide an improved user experience and fostering competition to drive the market to enhance products.”

The message also ends with a specifically worded call to action: “If possible, please use legal paid services. It’s something we should do to show our respect for creators and content producers.”

ACE hasn’t claimed responsibility for Aniwave’s closure, but as the Los Angeles Times notes, the call to action’s verbiage matches statements posted on other sites that the anti-piracy trade organization has gone after.

For obvious reasons like lost revenue, studios have never been hot on the idea of people consuming their intellectual property without paying for it. But piracy has still thrived for reasons other than people not wanting to hand over their cash to watch the latest blockbuster. Pirating things (read: stealing) is cheaper, yes, but the sites’ value also stems from the way they tend to offer far larger catalogs of things to consume compared to their legal competition.

Whereas studio-owned streamers have gotten into the habit of disappearing their content or splitting it up amongst themselves in ways that make it both difficult and expensive to track down, piracy sites have essentially been big buckets users could dip into to find what they wanted with ease. And while copyright infringement is a crime, part of the reason that people do it is the simple fact studios haven’t made the legal option appealing enough for people to default to it.

That’s always been a challenge for studios, and it’s obviously become less of a priority as streamers have pivoted to price hikes. But at this point in the streaming wars and Hollywood’s larger push for financial profits, it’s not surprising that pirates are taking some hits.

Read More 

The Nintendo Switch is still a good handheld, even if the Steam Deck and more powerful options exist. | Photo by James Bareham / The Verge

Nintendo recently confirmed it’ll announce a next-gen Nintendo Switch next year, but beyond that, the company hasn’t revealed much about the forthcoming console (including how much it will go for). If you’d rather not wait and see, the standard Nintendo Switch is currently receiving a rare discount at Amazon, where you can buy it with blue and red Joy-Con controllers for $267 ($33 off).

If you like to game on the go, the base Switch remains an excellent handheld, one that can last up to six hours on a single charge. It’s still limited to 32GB of built-in storage — unlike the larger, seven-inch Switch OLED — but its built-in microSD card slot means you can always invest in more external storage. That’ll come in handy because the Nintendo eShop is home to a vast library of both first- and third-party titles, particularly in its swan-song era, with many exciting games in the pipeline. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom and Mario & Luigi: Brothership are both launching in the fall, for example, along with Super Mario Party Jamboree, a remastered MySims, and much more.
Granted, the Switch 2 is rumored to feature an eight-inch screen, but the standard model’s 6.2-inch display is still spacious enough in most instances. Besides, if you crave more screen real estate, you can always play it on your TV while in docked mode, unlike the Switch Lite.

Read our original Nintendo Switch review.

If you’re looking for a piece of home decor to spruce up your home or office, few gadgets are as unique as Samsung’s new Music Frame. And right now, the capable speaker is down to a new low of around $297.99 ($100 off) at Amazon, B&H Photo, and Best Buy.

Samsung’s unique gadget looks like a traditional 12.9 x 12.9-inch picture frame — it even offers room in the front so you can add a physical photograph or art print (though you’ll only be able to use an 8 x 8-inch picture if you use the provided matte). You can hang the speaker on your wall or rest it on the included stand and even customize it with an optional white bezel ($59.99).
But what’s really neat is that the Music Frame also functions as a wired Bluetooth / Wi-Fi speaker, which is one of the reasons the gadget was one of our favorite audio products from CES 2024. It’s not going to sound as immersive as a high-end soundbar or a speaker with up-firing drivers like the Sonos Era 300, but it supports Dolby Atmos and can pair with select Samsung TVs or soundbars for surround sound. The art-inspired speaker is also compatible with Amazon Alexa and Samsung Bixby, allowing you to control it with just your voice.

A few more deals and discounts

You can currently pick up the wired Keychron C3 Pro at Amazon with either linear red or tactile brown switches for $24.99 ($25 off), which is a new low. The sturdy, tenkeyless mechanical keyboard features a basic design (sorry, not hot-swappable switches), but it does offer a few impressive features for the price, including red backlighting and the ability to toggle between Windows and macOS. Plus, you can also easily remap the keys using the ultra-sleek VIA app, thanks to the keyboard’s support for QMK firmware.
Solo Stove is discounting various fire pits as a part of its Labor Day sale through September 3rd. Right now, for instance, you can buy the Ranger Essential Bundle 2.0 for $254.99 ($70 off) when you apply promo code LABORDAY at checkout, which is one of the better prices we’ve seen. The smokeless, 15-inch fire pit comes with a handful of useful accessories, too, including a removable ashtray and a stand to protect the surface it’s sitting on. Solo Stove is also throwing in a carrying case, making it even more portable.

Star Wars Outlaws launches tomorrow, August 30th, but Best Buy is still offering a $10 gift card when you preorder the PS5 / Xbox game for $69.99 ahead of launch. Amazon and GameStop, meanwhile, are throwing in free in-game cosmetics with each preorder, which are typically reserved for the Ultimate Edition. My colleague Andrew Webster called the game an “incredible Star Wars simulator” in his review. It doesn’t offer the most innovative gameplay, but it’s an enjoyable title with impressive visuals and storylines that make you feel like you’re in a Star Wars movie.

The Nintendo Switch is still a good handheld, even if the Steam Deck and more powerful options exist. | Photo by James Bareham / The Verge

Nintendo recently confirmed it’ll announce a next-gen Nintendo Switch next year, but beyond that, the company hasn’t revealed much about the forthcoming console (including how much it will go for). If you’d rather not wait and see, the standard Nintendo Switch is currently receiving a rare discount at Amazon, where you can buy it with blue and red Joy-Con controllers for $267 ($33 off).

If you like to game on the go, the base Switch remains an excellent handheld, one that can last up to six hours on a single charge. It’s still limited to 32GB of built-in storage — unlike the larger, seven-inch Switch OLED — but its built-in microSD card slot means you can always invest in more external storage. That’ll come in handy because the Nintendo eShop is home to a vast library of both first- and third-party titles, particularly in its swan-song era, with many exciting games in the pipeline. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom and Mario & Luigi: Brothership are both launching in the fall, for example, along with Super Mario Party Jamboree, a remastered MySims, and much more.

Granted, the Switch 2 is rumored to feature an eight-inch screen, but the standard model’s 6.2-inch display is still spacious enough in most instances. Besides, if you crave more screen real estate, you can always play it on your TV while in docked mode, unlike the Switch Lite.

Read our original Nintendo Switch review.

If you’re looking for a piece of home decor to spruce up your home or office, few gadgets are as unique as Samsung’s new Music Frame. And right now, the capable speaker is down to a new low of around $297.99 ($100 off) at Amazon, B&H Photo, and Best Buy.

Samsung’s unique gadget looks like a traditional 12.9 x 12.9-inch picture frame — it even offers room in the front so you can add a physical photograph or art print (though you’ll only be able to use an 8 x 8-inch picture if you use the provided matte). You can hang the speaker on your wall or rest it on the included stand and even customize it with an optional white bezel ($59.99).

But what’s really neat is that the Music Frame also functions as a wired Bluetooth / Wi-Fi speaker, which is one of the reasons the gadget was one of our favorite audio products from CES 2024. It’s not going to sound as immersive as a high-end soundbar or a speaker with up-firing drivers like the Sonos Era 300, but it supports Dolby Atmos and can pair with select Samsung TVs or soundbars for surround sound. The art-inspired speaker is also compatible with Amazon Alexa and Samsung Bixby, allowing you to control it with just your voice.

A few more deals and discounts

You can currently pick up the wired Keychron C3 Pro at Amazon with either linear red or tactile brown switches for $24.99 ($25 off), which is a new low. The sturdy, tenkeyless mechanical keyboard features a basic design (sorry, not hot-swappable switches), but it does offer a few impressive features for the price, including red backlighting and the ability to toggle between Windows and macOS. Plus, you can also easily remap the keys using the ultra-sleek VIA app, thanks to the keyboard’s support for QMK firmware.
Solo Stove is discounting various fire pits as a part of its Labor Day sale through September 3rd. Right now, for instance, you can buy the Ranger Essential Bundle 2.0 for $254.99 ($70 off) when you apply promo code LABORDAY at checkout, which is one of the better prices we’ve seen. The smokeless, 15-inch fire pit comes with a handful of useful accessories, too, including a removable ashtray and a stand to protect the surface it’s sitting on. Solo Stove is also throwing in a carrying case, making it even more portable.

Star Wars Outlaws launches tomorrow, August 30th, but Best Buy is still offering a $10 gift card when you preorder the PS5 / Xbox game for $69.99 ahead of launch. Amazon and GameStop, meanwhile, are throwing in free in-game cosmetics with each preorder, which are typically reserved for the Ultimate Edition. My colleague Andrew Webster called the game an “incredible Star Wars simulator” in his review. It doesn’t offer the most innovative gameplay, but it’s an enjoyable title with impressive visuals and storylines that make you feel like you’re in a Star Wars movie.

Read More 

Image: Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures has announced that Jurassic World Rebirth will come to theaters in 2025. The studio didn’t release any trailers to accompany the news, leaving us with production stills starring Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, and Mahershala Ali.

Jurassic World Rebirth. In theaters July 2025. pic.twitter.com/CLUdLQPPfO— Jurassic World (@JurassicWorld) August 29, 2024

According to Variety, Jurassic World Rebirth takes place five years after the events of the previous film, Jurassic World Dominion, and climate change has forced the dinosaurs to relocate to more hospitable locations. Johansson’s character is tasked with leading a group of scientists on an expedition to recover biological samples from three of the biggest dinosaurs so it can be used to develop miracle drugs for humanity. Johansson’s party encounters a family marooned by dinosaurs while on vacation (stop me if you’ve heard that one before), and dinosaur-flavored shenanigans ensue.
Universal has brought in a pair of experts to lead the project. Gareth Edwards, who directed 2014’s Godzilla and has as a bit of experience working on dinosaur-like movies, has signed on to direct. Meanwhile, David Koepp, who wrote the script for the original 1993 film, has returned to write this film as well.
Michael Crichton penned his duology of cautionary tales about the dangers of genetically engineering extinct things with big, sharp teeth over 30 years ago. Since then, the Jurassic Park series has spawned an entertainment empire worth billions, making it one of the most successful movie franchises of all time.

Image: Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures has announced that Jurassic World Rebirth will come to theaters in 2025. The studio didn’t release any trailers to accompany the news, leaving us with production stills starring Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, and Mahershala Ali.

According to Variety, Jurassic World Rebirth takes place five years after the events of the previous film, Jurassic World Dominion, and climate change has forced the dinosaurs to relocate to more hospitable locations. Johansson’s character is tasked with leading a group of scientists on an expedition to recover biological samples from three of the biggest dinosaurs so it can be used to develop miracle drugs for humanity. Johansson’s party encounters a family marooned by dinosaurs while on vacation (stop me if you’ve heard that one before), and dinosaur-flavored shenanigans ensue.

Universal has brought in a pair of experts to lead the project. Gareth Edwards, who directed 2014’s Godzilla and has as a bit of experience working on dinosaur-like movies, has signed on to direct. Meanwhile, David Koepp, who wrote the script for the original 1993 film, has returned to write this film as well.

Michael Crichton penned his duology of cautionary tales about the dangers of genetically engineering extinct things with big, sharp teeth over 30 years ago. Since then, the Jurassic Park series has spawned an entertainment empire worth billions, making it one of the most successful movie franchises of all time.

Read More 

If a post is being shared as part of a dogpiling effort, Bluesky users can now limit people from linking to them directly. | Image: Bluesky

Bluesky has introduced a bunch of new “anti-toxicity” features that aim to help users protect themselves against harassment and dogpiling. Announced via a recent blog post, version 1.90 of the decentralized social media platform adds tools that can limit exposure to unwelcome interactions with other users, such as an option to detach your post from somebody else’s quote of it.
The update allows users to view all the posts that quote a post they’ve made, then detach their original post so it can no longer be seen beneath the other user’s commentary — preventing readers from seeing it and clicking through to engage. You can already cut off engagement by blocking a quote-poster, but detachment offers a less drastic option.
The downside, as Bluesky notes, is that this update lets users who spread dis- or misinformation detach their posts from quote-posts that correct it. “To address this, we’re leaning into labeling services and hoping to integrate a Community Notes-like feature in the future,” the company said in the blog. For now, it’s a tradeoff that could mitigate one of the more unpleasant aspects of posting your opinions online.
Version 1.90 of the Bluesky app also allows users to hide replies to their posts and move them behind a dedicated “Hidden Replies” screen, where they can be revisited with less visibility. (Reply hiding has been available on X, formerly Twitter, for years.) Bluesky is also stepping back from promoting every single reply to the “Following” feed; it will now only show conversations that include replies between at least two followers.

Image: Bluesky
Someone chatting some nasty nonsense? Boom – post replies can now be hidden.

Thanks to Bluesky’s design, quote post removals and hidden replies are public data, akin to blocking other users. Bluesky says its app won’t list all the quote detachments on the original post, but that data will still be accessible via the Bluesky API.
Additional changes include a new priority filter that lets users only receive notification updates from people they follow, as well as the ability to limit being featured in lists. When a user blocks someone who has created a starter pack or curational user list, they’ll also be filtered out of any of these lists, except for moderation lists that govern muting and blocking.
There’s a good selection of tools here to nope out of mobbing on the platform, but Bluesky says it isn’t done yet — additional changes are being made to “to combat ban evasion, botnets, and other forms of toxicity.” The company is planning to share more details about those efforts next week.

If a post is being shared as part of a dogpiling effort, Bluesky users can now limit people from linking to them directly. | Image: Bluesky

Bluesky has introduced a bunch of new “anti-toxicity” features that aim to help users protect themselves against harassment and dogpiling. Announced via a recent blog post, version 1.90 of the decentralized social media platform adds tools that can limit exposure to unwelcome interactions with other users, such as an option to detach your post from somebody else’s quote of it.

The update allows users to view all the posts that quote a post they’ve made, then detach their original post so it can no longer be seen beneath the other user’s commentary — preventing readers from seeing it and clicking through to engage. You can already cut off engagement by blocking a quote-poster, but detachment offers a less drastic option.

The downside, as Bluesky notes, is that this update lets users who spread dis- or misinformation detach their posts from quote-posts that correct it. “To address this, we’re leaning into labeling services and hoping to integrate a Community Notes-like feature in the future,” the company said in the blog. For now, it’s a tradeoff that could mitigate one of the more unpleasant aspects of posting your opinions online.

Version 1.90 of the Bluesky app also allows users to hide replies to their posts and move them behind a dedicated “Hidden Replies” screen, where they can be revisited with less visibility. (Reply hiding has been available on X, formerly Twitter, for years.) Bluesky is also stepping back from promoting every single reply to the “Following” feed; it will now only show conversations that include replies between at least two followers.

Image: Bluesky
Someone chatting some nasty nonsense? Boom – post replies can now be hidden.

Thanks to Bluesky’s design, quote post removals and hidden replies are public data, akin to blocking other users. Bluesky says its app won’t list all the quote detachments on the original post, but that data will still be accessible via the Bluesky API.

Additional changes include a new priority filter that lets users only receive notification updates from people they follow, as well as the ability to limit being featured in lists. When a user blocks someone who has created a starter pack or curational user list, they’ll also be filtered out of any of these lists, except for moderation lists that govern muting and blocking.

There’s a good selection of tools here to nope out of mobbing on the platform, but Bluesky says it isn’t done yet — additional changes are being made to “to combat ban evasion, botnets, and other forms of toxicity.” The company is planning to share more details about those efforts next week.

Read More 

Control. | Image: Remedy Entertainment

Remedy Entertainment is teaming up with Annapurna Pictures to expand the world of Control. The most concrete part of the news is that Annapurna — which also has an indie game publishing arm — will be funding half of the development budget for the previously announced Control 2.
Beyond that, there’s the potential for Annapurna to create film and TV adaptations of both Control and Alan Wake, which just got a long-awaited sequel last year. No specific projects were announced. “Annapurna will take the lead in expanding Control and Alan Wake into new entertainment mediums,” the companies explain in a press release, “enabling Remedy to focus on the development of Control 2 and other upcoming games.”

Notably, the release also says that “Remedy will retain the full IP rights for Control and Alan Wake.” (The studio purchased the rights for Control from publisher 505 Games earlier this year.)
Remedy has some track record with sneaking live-action moments into its games, and 2016’s Quantum Break was an interesting exercise in merging TV and gaming. The studio’s games — Control and Alan Wake included — are also heavily influenced by film and TV, most notably the works of David Lynch. So the expansion into these mediums makes a lot of sense, particularly as the various worlds of entertainment continue to crossover.
“The future of storytelling requires seamlessly integrating gaming, film, and television,” Annapurna CEO Megan Ellison explained in a statement, “and this partnership will allow us to explore new ways of bringing these narratives to life.”

Control. | Image: Remedy Entertainment

Remedy Entertainment is teaming up with Annapurna Pictures to expand the world of Control. The most concrete part of the news is that Annapurna — which also has an indie game publishing arm — will be funding half of the development budget for the previously announced Control 2.

Beyond that, there’s the potential for Annapurna to create film and TV adaptations of both Control and Alan Wake, which just got a long-awaited sequel last year. No specific projects were announced. “Annapurna will take the lead in expanding Control and Alan Wake into new entertainment mediums,” the companies explain in a press release, “enabling Remedy to focus on the development of Control 2 and other upcoming games.”

Notably, the release also says that “Remedy will retain the full IP rights for Control and Alan Wake.” (The studio purchased the rights for Control from publisher 505 Games earlier this year.)

Remedy has some track record with sneaking live-action moments into its games, and 2016’s Quantum Break was an interesting exercise in merging TV and gaming. The studio’s games — Control and Alan Wake included — are also heavily influenced by film and TV, most notably the works of David Lynch. So the expansion into these mediums makes a lot of sense, particularly as the various worlds of entertainment continue to crossover.

“The future of storytelling requires seamlessly integrating gaming, film, and television,” Annapurna CEO Megan Ellison explained in a statement, “and this partnership will allow us to explore new ways of bringing these narratives to life.”

Read More 

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge

Verizon is the next big phone company to launch a satellite messaging service — and it’s coming soon. Starting this fall, the service will let “certain smartphones” access emergency messaging and location sharing via satellite in a partnership with Skylo — which is also powering Google’s recently announced Satellite SOS feature.
Sometime next year, Verizon says customers will also be able to send text messages via satellite.
Verizon says the service, which it is launching in partnership with Skylo, won’t cost extra. “There are no additional costs planned for this service,” according to Verizon spokesperson Karen Schulz. “Capable devices can take advantage of this irrespective of price plan.” Schulz confirmed support for the Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
Apple introduced Emergency SOS in 2022 with the iPhone 14, and now others are starting to catch up. With iOS 18, Apple is also adding satellite capabilities to iMessage on iPhone 14 devices and newer.
Earlier this year, Verizon invested $100 million into AST SpaceMobile, another satellite connectivity company, and despite this Skylo news, Verizon is still planning to partner with AST SpaceMobile. “We are very excited not only to work with AST, but to be a long-term investor in the success of their satellite services,” Schulz says. “Until their satellite array is launched and functional, we wanted to make sure all of our customers with capable devices have the same basic satellite messaging connectivity.”
In 2022, T-Mobile announced a partnership with SpaceX to offer a satellite connectivity service that relies on Starlink. According to Starlink’s website, the ability to text using its Direct to Cell service will be available starting this year, with voice, data, and IoT access available sometime in 2025.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge

Verizon is the next big phone company to launch a satellite messaging service — and it’s coming soon. Starting this fall, the service will let “certain smartphones” access emergency messaging and location sharing via satellite in a partnership with Skylo — which is also powering Google’s recently announced Satellite SOS feature.

Sometime next year, Verizon says customers will also be able to send text messages via satellite.

Verizon says the service, which it is launching in partnership with Skylo, won’t cost extra. “There are no additional costs planned for this service,” according to Verizon spokesperson Karen Schulz. “Capable devices can take advantage of this irrespective of price plan.” Schulz confirmed support for the Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

Apple introduced Emergency SOS in 2022 with the iPhone 14, and now others are starting to catch up. With iOS 18, Apple is also adding satellite capabilities to iMessage on iPhone 14 devices and newer.

Earlier this year, Verizon invested $100 million into AST SpaceMobile, another satellite connectivity company, and despite this Skylo news, Verizon is still planning to partner with AST SpaceMobile. “We are very excited not only to work with AST, but to be a long-term investor in the success of their satellite services,” Schulz says. “Until their satellite array is launched and functional, we wanted to make sure all of our customers with capable devices have the same basic satellite messaging connectivity.”

In 2022, T-Mobile announced a partnership with SpaceX to offer a satellite connectivity service that relies on Starlink. According to Starlink’s website, the ability to text using its Direct to Cell service will be available starting this year, with voice, data, and IoT access available sometime in 2025.

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Image: Apple

The Apple Sports app is gearing up for football season with an update that brings live scores and play-by-play information for NFL and college football games to your iPhone’s lockscreen. With Live Activities support “for all teams and leagues available in the app for the first time ever” in iOS 18 and watchOS 11, now you can keep tabs on your team’s scores from the lockscreen on your iPhone or Apple Watch.
In addition to North American football, Apple Sports is adding UEFA Champions League and Europa League next month.
For pro and college football fans in the US, the app is also adding a new “dynamic drive tracker” visual to show the ball’s current position on the field.

Image: Apple
Live Activities will let you view scores on your iPhone or Apple Watch’s lockscreen.

Later this year, Apple plans on rolling out a new drop-down navigation menu that’s supposed to make it easier to switch between main scorecard views. It’s also working on an improved search feature to help you find matches for leagues you aren’t following.
Apple launched its Sports app in February and has since been adding support for new leagues, teams, and tournaments throughout the year, including Major League Baseball and March Madness.

Image: Apple

The Apple Sports app is gearing up for football season with an update that brings live scores and play-by-play information for NFL and college football games to your iPhone’s lockscreen. With Live Activities support “for all teams and leagues available in the app for the first time ever” in iOS 18 and watchOS 11, now you can keep tabs on your team’s scores from the lockscreen on your iPhone or Apple Watch.

In addition to North American football, Apple Sports is adding UEFA Champions League and Europa League next month.

For pro and college football fans in the US, the app is also adding a new “dynamic drive tracker” visual to show the ball’s current position on the field.

Image: Apple
Live Activities will let you view scores on your iPhone or Apple Watch’s lockscreen.

Later this year, Apple plans on rolling out a new drop-down navigation menu that’s supposed to make it easier to switch between main scorecard views. It’s also working on an improved search feature to help you find matches for leagues you aren’t following.

Apple launched its Sports app in February and has since been adding support for new leagues, teams, and tournaments throughout the year, including Major League Baseball and March Madness.

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A rendering of Sage Geosystems’ geothermal energy project. | Image: Sage Geosystems

Meta announced a new partnership this week in the hopes that geothermal energy can help it reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.
Meta and startup Sage Geosystems struck up a deal to develop new geothermal power plants. If they make it to the finish line, the plants would provide carbon pollution-free energy that Meta needs for new data centers in the US.
The company has struggled to keep its carbon pollution down since it pledged in 2020 to reach net zero emissions by the end of the decade, its latest sustainability report published yesterday shows. The race to develop more powerful AI tools has raised the stakes, triggering the development of new energy-hungry data centers. So, Meta is putting its faith in next-generation geothermal tech to unlock a new source of clean energy.
Meta is putting its faith in next-generation geothermal tech to unlock a new source of clean energy
The announcement came out of a Department of Energy (DOE) workshop on Monday, showing the Biden administration’s hopes that geothermal energy can also help the US meet its climate goals under the Paris agreement.
“Every new next-generation geothermal project helps prove out these technologies and raise awareness about geothermal’s opportunities to provide firm, flexible power nationwide,” Lauren Boyd, director of the DOE’s Geothermal Technologies Office, said in an email to The Verge.
The US hardly uses any geothermal energy today, which made up less than half a percent of the nation’s electricity mix last year. Typical geothermal plants take advantage of the heat that’s generated within our planet, drawing up hot fluids from natural reservoirs to produce steam that turns turbines. But relying on those natural reservoirs limits where you can build a geothermal plant.

Sage is developing technologies to harness that energy source from hot, dry rock formations. To do that, it essentially creates artificial reservoirs by drilling and pumping water underground. It field-tested this method for the first time in 2022 using an abandoned gas well in Texas. Sage says it can scale the technique up using common “off-the-shelf oil and gas technologies.” If it drills 18–20 wells near each other, for example, it expects to be able to generate 50 megawatts of geothermal power.
Its partnership with Meta is to eventually provide up to 150MW, but the deal is still in a very early stage. There are no details yet on where the new plants would be located, and the companies tell The Verge they have yet to sign a long-term contract called a power purchase agreement.

Photo: Sage Geosystems
Sage’s test well in Starr County, Texas.

“We want to give [Sage] the clarity that we’re there as their partner, ready to sign an agreement at the right time. But the Sage team will be responsible for taking the project from today, finding a location, getting the permits done, designing and engineering the whole facility. There are a lot of really important steps, especially for technologies like Sage that are ripe and ready to scale,” Urvi Parekh, head of renewable energy at Meta, says.
Sage also still has to find investors for this project, CEO Cindy Taff tells The Verge. The first phase of the project will be to show it can generate 8MW of power by 2027 before scaling up to 150MW some 36 to 48 months later. The first phase alone is expected to cost up to about $50 million, although Sage says that could fluctuate as the project takes shape. Meta isn’t sharing any figures yet on how much it’s willing to spend on the project.
Costs and all the heavy lifting it takes to get a geothermal project up and running — from securing permits to safely drilling wells — has been a stumbling block for geothermal energy for decades. It can be seen as a riskier venture than putting up solar panels or wind turbines. That’s what makes buy-in from a tech giant like Meta a boon for these technologies.

“It’s encouraging. Meta has a lot of money. They chew up a lot of electricity running all these data centers. It’s good to see them interested in decarbonizing,” says Jefferson Tester, a professor of sustainable energy systems at Cornell University where researchers are developing a geothermal system to heat the school campus. Still, for geothermal energy to really take off, it’ll need more public and private support, he says.
Geothermal energy does have some advantages over other renewables. It can provide consistent power to make up for shortfalls in wind and solar energy that fluctuate with the weather and time of day. That advantage has made it an attractive proposition for Meta and Google, which has partnered with another geothermal company for its data centers.
“Our data centers are online 24 hours a day so that users can access the products like Instagram and WhatsApp and others. And so what’s great about geothermal energy is that it can also supply electricity around the clock,” Parekh says. “As we want to build more data centers, it’s going to be really important that the electricity grids around us continue to decarbonize.”

A rendering of Sage Geosystems’ geothermal energy project. | Image: Sage Geosystems

Meta announced a new partnership this week in the hopes that geothermal energy can help it reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

Meta and startup Sage Geosystems struck up a deal to develop new geothermal power plants. If they make it to the finish line, the plants would provide carbon pollution-free energy that Meta needs for new data centers in the US.

The company has struggled to keep its carbon pollution down since it pledged in 2020 to reach net zero emissions by the end of the decade, its latest sustainability report published yesterday shows. The race to develop more powerful AI tools has raised the stakes, triggering the development of new energy-hungry data centers. So, Meta is putting its faith in next-generation geothermal tech to unlock a new source of clean energy.

The announcement came out of a Department of Energy (DOE) workshop on Monday, showing the Biden administration’s hopes that geothermal energy can also help the US meet its climate goals under the Paris agreement.

“Every new next-generation geothermal project helps prove out these technologies and raise awareness about geothermal’s opportunities to provide firm, flexible power nationwide,” Lauren Boyd, director of the DOE’s Geothermal Technologies Office, said in an email to The Verge.

The US hardly uses any geothermal energy today, which made up less than half a percent of the nation’s electricity mix last year. Typical geothermal plants take advantage of the heat that’s generated within our planet, drawing up hot fluids from natural reservoirs to produce steam that turns turbines. But relying on those natural reservoirs limits where you can build a geothermal plant.

Sage is developing technologies to harness that energy source from hot, dry rock formations. To do that, it essentially creates artificial reservoirs by drilling and pumping water underground. It field-tested this method for the first time in 2022 using an abandoned gas well in Texas. Sage says it can scale the technique up using common “off-the-shelf oil and gas technologies.” If it drills 18–20 wells near each other, for example, it expects to be able to generate 50 megawatts of geothermal power.

Its partnership with Meta is to eventually provide up to 150MW, but the deal is still in a very early stage. There are no details yet on where the new plants would be located, and the companies tell The Verge they have yet to sign a long-term contract called a power purchase agreement.

“We want to give [Sage] the clarity that we’re there as their partner, ready to sign an agreement at the right time. But the Sage team will be responsible for taking the project from today, finding a location, getting the permits done, designing and engineering the whole facility. There are a lot of really important steps, especially for technologies like Sage that are ripe and ready to scale,” Urvi Parekh, head of renewable energy at Meta, says.

Sage also still has to find investors for this project, CEO Cindy Taff tells The Verge. The first phase of the project will be to show it can generate 8MW of power by 2027 before scaling up to 150MW some 36 to 48 months later. The first phase alone is expected to cost up to about $50 million, although Sage says that could fluctuate as the project takes shape. Meta isn’t sharing any figures yet on how much it’s willing to spend on the project.

Costs and all the heavy lifting it takes to get a geothermal project up and running — from securing permits to safely drilling wells — has been a stumbling block for geothermal energy for decades. It can be seen as a riskier venture than putting up solar panels or wind turbines. That’s what makes buy-in from a tech giant like Meta a boon for these technologies.

“It’s encouraging. Meta has a lot of money. They chew up a lot of electricity running all these data centers. It’s good to see them interested in decarbonizing,” says Jefferson Tester, a professor of sustainable energy systems at Cornell University where researchers are developing a geothermal system to heat the school campus. Still, for geothermal energy to really take off, it’ll need more public and private support, he says.

Geothermal energy does have some advantages over other renewables. It can provide consistent power to make up for shortfalls in wind and solar energy that fluctuate with the weather and time of day. That advantage has made it an attractive proposition for Meta and Google, which has partnered with another geothermal company for its data centers.

“Our data centers are online 24 hours a day so that users can access the products like Instagram and WhatsApp and others. And so what’s great about geothermal energy is that it can also supply electricity around the clock,” Parekh says. “As we want to build more data centers, it’s going to be really important that the electricity grids around us continue to decarbonize.”

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Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Jools Lebron

At this point, you either already know about the “very demure, very mindful” meme that originated on TikTok, or you have neither the interest nor the capacity to understand. It is simply A Thing, a viral catchphrase that may become as ubiquitous in the 2020s as “eyebrows on fleek” was in the 2010s. And that is why every tabloid in America is running a story about a dispute over an application to register “Very Demure… Very Mindful…” as a trademark.
The headlines go like this:

Trademarks Are Very Demure, Very Mindful (TMZ)
TikToker Jools Lebron Sobs Over Trademark Filing in Deleted TikTok (also TMZ)
Who is Jefferson Bates and when did he trademark Jools Lebron’s very mindful very demure TikTok trend? (The Sun)
Newest internet villain? Man files trademark for Jools Lebron’s ‘very mindful, very demure’ (USA Today)
‘Very demure’ catchphrase filed for trademark by Washington State man, not influencer who popularized trend (TODAY.com)
‘Very Demure, Very Mindful’ trendsetter Jools Lebron loses trademark rights, sobs on TikTok (Hindustan Times)
Jools Lebron, the creator of ‘very demure, very mindful,’ might not own its trademark (Mashable)

The first thing I want to say is that trademark is not the same as copyright, regardless of what’s written in The Sun article. The second is that a trademark is not the same as a trademark registration. The third — and most salient — thing is this: an application to register a trademark is neither.
To lay out some basics, a trademark is any word, phrase, image, or combination thereof that is used in commerce to identify what a layperson might call a “brand” — even things like the Law & Order “dun-DUN” or the NBC chimes are trademarks. It’s legally possible to have a common law trademark with no paperwork, but most companies file for a trademark registration, because having that entry in a government database makes it easier to sue for infringement. It’s a bit like having a driver’s license or passport: you’re still you without one, but the paperwork will cut through a lot of hassle when somebody asks for proof.
The “very demure, very mindful” trademark filing, however, is just an application to the US Patent and Trademark Office. It’s a pending registration that the USPTO hasn’t ruled on, roughly equivalent to the numbered ticket you’d get for turning in a few forms at the DMV.
Mr. Verydemure Verymindful? Please take a seat in the waiting area. We’ll call out your number in approximately eight months.
Anyone can apply for a registration, but you’re not guaranteed to get one
Anyone can apply for a registration, but you’re not guaranteed to get one. Maybe your application overlaps too much with a preexisting registration in the database. Maybe the trademark you’ve picked is a tad bit too generic. Depending on what kind of paperwork you’re filing, it’s possible you didn’t include enough documentation of how the trademark is being used in the real world. And sometimes, the examining attorney who was assigned to your application is feeling cranky that day and decides to pick on you. (The inverse can be true as well — the examiner might be a little too ready to go home, and rubber-stamps something that probably shouldn’t have been approved.)
About a week ago, someone named Jefferson A. Bates filed the application to register “Very Demure.. Very Mindful..” as a trademark. A whole lot of people know who TikTok influencer Jools Lebron is — she was on Jimmy Kimmel just last week — and she is pretty widely acknowledged as the originator of the “very demure” meme. She’s made deals with Verizon and Netflix all on the back of “demure.” No one knows who Jefferson A. Bates is, except that his email address is tied to the publisher of a defunct emoji app called “Insta LOL Emoji,” which has a Facebook page featuring a screenshot of an X post about (of all things) the intellectual property rights for Squid Game.

Screenshot by The Verge
You can’t make this stuff up.

The services that Bates wants to cover are “Advertising, marketing and promotional services related to all industries for the purpose of facilitating networking and socializing opportunities for business purposes,” a series of words that made me do a spit-take. It’s not just that “advertising, marketing, and promotional services” is a hilarious category to use someone else’s TikTok meme for — the “all industries” tips it over into genuinely sublime comedy.
Having a trademark in one industry doesn’t let you flex on all the others
Even if you’re running one of the biggest companies on earth, you can still only register a mark for a finite range of goods and services. And the more goods and services you claim, the more pushback you’ll get from the Trademark Office. Having a trademark doesn’t mean you “own” a word or phrase in the English language, and having that trademark in one industry doesn’t let you flex on all the others. Apple obviously owns the trademark for all kinds of things, ranging from phones to personal computers to television streaming services, but it can’t stop anyone from selling a fruit while calling it an apple. (In fact, the company was mired in years of legal finagling over its music-related services, thanks to the Beatles’ Apple Records.) Two entirely different companies manufacture Dove chocolate (“For: IC 030 Cocoa”) and Dove deodorant (“For: IC 003 Body wash and body bars soap; deodorants; hair care preparations”). Spirit Halloween (“For: IC 035 retail store services featuring Halloween merchandise”) and Spirit Airlines (“For: IC 039 Scheduled and chartered air transportation”) have no relation to each other.
And crucially, during the application process, other people can file to oppose the registration. (In 2014, Disney tried — unsuccessfully — to block the registration of Deadmau5’s logo.)
Media coverage sometimes treats the trademark system like a weapon that lets hucksters sweep in to lock up somebody else’s meme or viral phrase. But the registration system can actually serve the opposite purpose. People can check the registers to get the lay of the land when branding their latest hustle, and they can keep an eye on new filings for similar marks that could edge in on their turf.
So Jools Lebron finding out about the “Very Demure.. Very Mindful..” trademark application and then getting mad about it is — theoretically speaking — all part of the process. Lebron hasn’t lost a trademark, she’s been given a heads up that someone else is crowding in on her whole deal.
Lebron hasn’t lost a trademark
Lebron could, for instance, oppose Bates’ application on the grounds that she was using the trademark first, even without a preexisting registration. That deal with Verizon, for example, kind of looks like use in commerce! Bates, meanwhile, is not inking deals with megacorporations. Once again, this application is in the extremely early stages. It will likely sit around for months before reaching an examining attorney, during which time people (including Lebron) could file their own applications. Plenty of trademarks never even make it through this phase.
This isn’t to say that things are guaranteed to go smoothly for Lebron. Bates filing first is a pain in the ass. Still, the headlines that indicate that she has already lost are wildly incorrect. And meanwhile, Jefferson A. Bates may end up regretting his choice to file in a particularly un-demure, non-mindful fashion. Bates seemingly didn’t use an attorney to submit the application, which is of course not a necessity — the government is not out to girlboss, gaslight, and gatekeep the Patent and Trademark Office. But now, what appears to be Bates’ home address is very visible in this public-facing database, along with a phone number and email address.
At this exact moment in time, Jools Lebron has never been more popular. After TMZ ran its exclusive about the trademark registration application, she reportedly wept in a since-deleted TikTok, kicking off a wave of online fury directed towards the mysterious Jefferson A. Bates. When The Verge reached out to the email address listed in the Trademark Status and Document Retrieval (TSDR) system, we received a delivery error stating, “Their inbox is full, or it’s getting too much mail right now.”
The mailing address in the Trademark Office’s database seems to be for a brick-and-beige home that I will otherwise refrain from describing. Someone has already created a Google Maps listing for “Very Demure Very Mindful” at this address, with the official website listed as a link to the TSDR page for the pending “Very Demure.. Very Mindful..” application. As of writing, four people have reviewed the listing, giving it an average rating of 1.0 out of 5.0 stars. “Jefferson Bates, you should be ashamed of yourself!!” one reviewer writes. “Not very demure,” says another.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Jools Lebron

At this point, you either already know about the “very demure, very mindful” meme that originated on TikTok, or you have neither the interest nor the capacity to understand. It is simply A Thing, a viral catchphrase that may become as ubiquitous in the 2020s as “eyebrows on fleek” was in the 2010s. And that is why every tabloid in America is running a story about a dispute over an application to register “Very Demure… Very Mindful…” as a trademark.

The headlines go like this:

Trademarks Are Very Demure, Very Mindful (TMZ)
TikToker Jools Lebron Sobs Over Trademark Filing in Deleted TikTok (also TMZ)
Who is Jefferson Bates and when did he trademark Jools Lebron’s very mindful very demure TikTok trend? (The Sun)
Newest internet villain? Man files trademark for Jools Lebron’s ‘very mindful, very demure’ (USA Today)
‘Very demure’ catchphrase filed for trademark by Washington State man, not influencer who popularized trend (TODAY.com)
‘Very Demure, Very Mindful’ trendsetter Jools Lebron loses trademark rights, sobs on TikTok (Hindustan Times)
Jools Lebron, the creator of ‘very demure, very mindful,’ might not own its trademark (Mashable)

The first thing I want to say is that trademark is not the same as copyright, regardless of what’s written in The Sun article. The second is that a trademark is not the same as a trademark registration. The third — and most salient — thing is this: an application to register a trademark is neither.

To lay out some basics, a trademark is any word, phrase, image, or combination thereof that is used in commerce to identify what a layperson might call a “brand” — even things like the Law & Order “dun-DUN” or the NBC chimes are trademarks. It’s legally possible to have a common law trademark with no paperwork, but most companies file for a trademark registration, because having that entry in a government database makes it easier to sue for infringement. It’s a bit like having a driver’s license or passport: you’re still you without one, but the paperwork will cut through a lot of hassle when somebody asks for proof.

The “very demure, very mindful” trademark filing, however, is just an application to the US Patent and Trademark Office. It’s a pending registration that the USPTO hasn’t ruled on, roughly equivalent to the numbered ticket you’d get for turning in a few forms at the DMV.

Mr. Verydemure Verymindful? Please take a seat in the waiting area. We’ll call out your number in approximately eight months.

Anyone can apply for a registration, but you’re not guaranteed to get one. Maybe your application overlaps too much with a preexisting registration in the database. Maybe the trademark you’ve picked is a tad bit too generic. Depending on what kind of paperwork you’re filing, it’s possible you didn’t include enough documentation of how the trademark is being used in the real world. And sometimes, the examining attorney who was assigned to your application is feeling cranky that day and decides to pick on you. (The inverse can be true as well — the examiner might be a little too ready to go home, and rubber-stamps something that probably shouldn’t have been approved.)

About a week ago, someone named Jefferson A. Bates filed the application to register “Very Demure.. Very Mindful..” as a trademark. A whole lot of people know who TikTok influencer Jools Lebron is — she was on Jimmy Kimmel just last week — and she is pretty widely acknowledged as the originator of the “very demure” meme. She’s made deals with Verizon and Netflix all on the back of “demure.” No one knows who Jefferson A. Bates is, except that his email address is tied to the publisher of a defunct emoji app called “Insta LOL Emoji,” which has a Facebook page featuring a screenshot of an X post about (of all things) the intellectual property rights for Squid Game.

Screenshot by The Verge
You can’t make this stuff up.

The services that Bates wants to cover are “Advertising, marketing and promotional services related to all industries for the purpose of facilitating networking and socializing opportunities for business purposes,” a series of words that made me do a spit-take. It’s not just that “advertising, marketing, and promotional services” is a hilarious category to use someone else’s TikTok meme for — the “all industries” tips it over into genuinely sublime comedy.

Even if you’re running one of the biggest companies on earth, you can still only register a mark for a finite range of goods and services. And the more goods and services you claim, the more pushback you’ll get from the Trademark Office. Having a trademark doesn’t mean you “own” a word or phrase in the English language, and having that trademark in one industry doesn’t let you flex on all the others. Apple obviously owns the trademark for all kinds of things, ranging from phones to personal computers to television streaming services, but it can’t stop anyone from selling a fruit while calling it an apple. (In fact, the company was mired in years of legal finagling over its music-related services, thanks to the Beatles’ Apple Records.) Two entirely different companies manufacture Dove chocolate (“For: IC 030 Cocoa”) and Dove deodorant (“For: IC 003 Body wash and body bars soap; deodorants; hair care preparations”). Spirit Halloween (“For: IC 035 retail store services featuring Halloween merchandise”) and Spirit Airlines (“For: IC 039 Scheduled and chartered air transportation”) have no relation to each other.

And crucially, during the application process, other people can file to oppose the registration. (In 2014, Disney tried — unsuccessfully — to block the registration of Deadmau5’s logo.)

Media coverage sometimes treats the trademark system like a weapon that lets hucksters sweep in to lock up somebody else’s meme or viral phrase. But the registration system can actually serve the opposite purpose. People can check the registers to get the lay of the land when branding their latest hustle, and they can keep an eye on new filings for similar marks that could edge in on their turf.

So Jools Lebron finding out about the “Very Demure.. Very Mindful..” trademark application and then getting mad about it is — theoretically speaking — all part of the process. Lebron hasn’t lost a trademark, she’s been given a heads up that someone else is crowding in on her whole deal.

Lebron could, for instance, oppose Bates’ application on the grounds that she was using the trademark first, even without a preexisting registration. That deal with Verizon, for example, kind of looks like use in commerce! Bates, meanwhile, is not inking deals with megacorporations. Once again, this application is in the extremely early stages. It will likely sit around for months before reaching an examining attorney, during which time people (including Lebron) could file their own applications. Plenty of trademarks never even make it through this phase.

This isn’t to say that things are guaranteed to go smoothly for Lebron. Bates filing first is a pain in the ass. Still, the headlines that indicate that she has already lost are wildly incorrect. And meanwhile, Jefferson A. Bates may end up regretting his choice to file in a particularly un-demure, non-mindful fashion. Bates seemingly didn’t use an attorney to submit the application, which is of course not a necessity — the government is not out to girlboss, gaslight, and gatekeep the Patent and Trademark Office. But now, what appears to be Bates’ home address is very visible in this public-facing database, along with a phone number and email address.

At this exact moment in time, Jools Lebron has never been more popular. After TMZ ran its exclusive about the trademark registration application, she reportedly wept in a since-deleted TikTok, kicking off a wave of online fury directed towards the mysterious Jefferson A. Bates. When The Verge reached out to the email address listed in the Trademark Status and Document Retrieval (TSDR) system, we received a delivery error stating, “Their inbox is full, or it’s getting too much mail right now.”

The mailing address in the Trademark Office’s database seems to be for a brick-and-beige home that I will otherwise refrain from describing. Someone has already created a Google Maps listing for “Very Demure Very Mindful” at this address, with the official website listed as a link to the TSDR page for the pending “Very Demure.. Very Mindful..” application. As of writing, four people have reviewed the listing, giving it an average rating of 1.0 out of 5.0 stars. “Jefferson Bates, you should be ashamed of yourself!!” one reviewer writes. “Not very demure,” says another.

Read More 

Image: The Verge

OpenAI and Anthropic have agreed to let the US government access major new AI models before release to help improve their safety.
The companies signed memorandums of understanding with the US AI Safety Institute to provide access to the models both before and after their public release, the agency announced on Thursday. The government says this step will help them work together to evaluate safety risks and mitigate potential issues. The US agency said it would provide feedback on safety improvements, in collaboration with its counterpart agency in the UK.
Sharing access to AI models is a significant step at a time when federal and state legislatures are considering what kinds of guardrails to place on the technology without stifling innovation. On Wednesday, California lawmakers passed the Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act (SB 1047), requiring AI companies in California to take specific safety measures before training advanced foundation models. It’s garnered pushback from AI companies including OpenAI and Anthropic that warn it could harm smaller open-source developers, though it’s since undergone some changes and is still awaiting a signature from Governor Gavin Newsom.
In the meantime, the White House has worked to secure voluntary commitments from major companies on AI safety measures. Several leading firms have entered non-binding commitments to invest in cybersecurity and discrimination research and work on watermarking AI-generated content.
US AI Safety Institute director Elizabeth Kelly said in a statement that the new agreements were “just the start, but they are an important milestone as we work to help responsibly steward the future of AI.”

Image: The Verge

OpenAI and Anthropic have agreed to let the US government access major new AI models before release to help improve their safety.

The companies signed memorandums of understanding with the US AI Safety Institute to provide access to the models both before and after their public release, the agency announced on Thursday. The government says this step will help them work together to evaluate safety risks and mitigate potential issues. The US agency said it would provide feedback on safety improvements, in collaboration with its counterpart agency in the UK.

Sharing access to AI models is a significant step at a time when federal and state legislatures are considering what kinds of guardrails to place on the technology without stifling innovation. On Wednesday, California lawmakers passed the Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act (SB 1047), requiring AI companies in California to take specific safety measures before training advanced foundation models. It’s garnered pushback from AI companies including OpenAI and Anthropic that warn it could harm smaller open-source developers, though it’s since undergone some changes and is still awaiting a signature from Governor Gavin Newsom.

In the meantime, the White House has worked to secure voluntary commitments from major companies on AI safety measures. Several leading firms have entered non-binding commitments to invest in cybersecurity and discrimination research and work on watermarking AI-generated content.

US AI Safety Institute director Elizabeth Kelly said in a statement that the new agreements were “just the start, but they are an important milestone as we work to help responsibly steward the future of AI.”

Read More