This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on AI mischief, follow Robert Hart. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started Hacking the first generation of AI chatbots was a laughably simple affair….
Waymo is the undisputed leader in the robotaxi space, operating a fleet of over 3,000 driverless cars in at least 10 cities across the US. A number of companies, including Tesla, Zoox, Avride, and Motional, are racing to catch up with the Alphabet-owned firm. But what if being No. 2 was actually better? Nuro, the…
Roger Linn lets his accomplishments do the talking. | Image: Roger Linn Roger Linn is a legend in the world of musical instruments. He’s been at the cutting edge of music technology for decades. He created the LM-1, the first drum machine to use samples, and its successor, the LinnDrum, is one of the most…
Massive OLED TVs and Sonos speakers might be stealing the Memorial Day spotlight, but there are also plenty of great deals that won’t set you back nearly as much. In fact, some of the best discounts we’re seeing are on gadgets that retail for $50 or less, from portable chargers and 4K streaming devices to…
Finding a cafe that fits you can be a revelatory experience. For me at least, there are few places outside of my house that I can truly feel comfortable in. I’m lucky enough to have two options in walking distance: a coffee shop that’s bright, airy, and full of art, and another that doubles as…
Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 129, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, come on you Gunners, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I’ve mostly been sick, which has meant nearly a full rewatch of Parks…
Just a stuffed deer having the time of his life. | Image: Gemini / The Verge Last year I deepfaked my kid’s stuffed animal to make it look like his plush deer was on vacation. It was an experiment to see if I could re-create the events depicted in a Gemini ad Google was running,…
Twelve South’s AirFly Pro 2 let you connect wireless headphones to in-flight entertainment systems as well as the Nintendo Switch. | Image: Twelve South With Memorial day weekend kicking off the travel season, we’re seeing a lot of deals pop up on travel gadgets, from portable power banks to noise-canceling headphones. One of the best…
Meta’s new Forum app for iPhones takes Facebook Groups and moves them to a dedicated app with a dedicated AI chatbot to go with it, like an AI revamp of the ill-fated Groups app Facebook shut down in 2017. Rather than going to ChatGPT or tacking “Reddit” onto the end of a Google search, Forum…
There is a harsh truth about Elon Musk’s “truth-seeking” AI chatbot Grok: It’s not very good, and not many people are using it. That’s the takeaway of a new Reuters report, which found that Grok barely appears in federal records of how the US government used AI last year. It’s not the only sign xAI’s…
