Some banter from the tiny show Iโm at in rural upstate New York tonight (lightly condensed): โStick around for the other bands, tip your bartender, destroy Flock cameras.โ

The Trump administration wants to scrap another federal air pollution rule. Advocates say itโll help data center developers avoid public scrutiny.
The latest Quick Posts
A shiny new era / Looking back before Apple launches brand new phones with a brand new CEO.


๏ปฟWho is John Ternus, Appleโs new CEO?


Cook is thanking Apple fans for their support during his 15-year tenure.

iMacs. iBooks. iPods. For 10 years after Steve Jobs came back, Apple couldnโt miss.
Meta narrative / Mark Zuckerbergโs company is spinning a lot of plates.


๏ปฟUnder its splashy agreement with state AGs, Meta gets to flaunt the high road, while dragging its competitors.

Meta is fixing a workaround that allowed smart glasses wearers to covertly record others.

Age verification, two-hour usage limits, and a $17.1 billion payout will resolve claims from dozens of states.

๏ปฟPublic-facing workers are being filmed, harassed, and creeped out by AI-powered smart glasses.
Review roulette / A selection of our latest reviews, from games to gadgets.


7
Verge Score
Thereโs nothing really wrong with the QuietComfort Headphones 2nd Gen, but thereโs nothing exciting about them, either.

Itโs easy on the eyes, comes with a stylus, and got me to write out an 1,100 word review by hand. But it isnโt E-Ink.

The latest version of the open-world epic has me hooked all over again.

Itโs more than a mower โ which it had better be, given the price.
All about making that GTA / The run-up to the release of Grand Theft Auto VI has been characteristically chaotic.


Rockstar finally showed off more of Grand Theft Auto VI in a 26-minute preview.

The Grand Theft Auto developer releases a statement following a week of repeated leaks.

Rockstarโs latest epic is almost here, and it seems nothing can stop it.๏ปฟ

Grand Theft Auto VI is a system seller. But now the systems are a tough sell.
The KickerAugust 28
Even if itโs Trump, stepping away from your companyโs all-hands to take a call from the president makes sense. But itโs very funny, as Wired reports, that NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang was still micโd up when he stepped away, letting some staffers hear Trumpโs voice on the call.
EAโs Iron Man game, first announced back in 2022, just had some internal video leaked on ResetEra. The video shows Tony Stark effortlessly zipping through New York City in a way that instantly recalls the well-received Spider-Man series. Itโs nice that the studio in charge basically confirmed the leak in a social media post:
In an executive order signed today, President Trump established a commission to create a new academy to โeducate and develop the next generation of leaders across the space domain.โ Scant details so far, but it appears the academy would feed recruits and talent into both the Space Force and NASA.
[The White House]


Google now automatically expands its AI search summaries for some queries.
How can Xbox possibly get to a billion users per day while cutting studios? Oh, just by obtaining three more hits as big as Minecraft, Call of Duty and Candy Crush. โWeโve got three billion-dollar annual franchises every year. I think we should have six to eight in the coming years,โ she tells BBC News.
She says she will invest: โLast year was a record spend on content and services and weโre going to match that.โ


Microsoftโs next Xbox console may not be just one piece of hardware.
Ever seen an Xbox handheld play real Super Nintendo cartridges? Today Iโm toying with the $60 SN Operator and $50 GB Operator, which turn your PC, Mac, and Linux devices into classic cart-playing consoles and backup your old games and saves. Iโll have a bigger writeup in the next few days!
Data center developers typically have to apply for permits to install generators that create local air pollution. The DataOne facility in New Jersey is the latest project accused of violating federal law by running on gas-fired generators without approval.
TMZ first reported that the UK-born longtime right-wing internet personality was apprehended in Louisiana, and Mother Jonesโ Anna Merlan (and The Verge) confirmed heโs listed in ICE custody records. In recent years, Yiannopoulos has fallen out of favor with MAGA world, and Trump ally Laura Loomer, for one, is gloating.
The version 5.07 update will allow you to โadd and adjust more metricsโ to workouts you manually log, as well as view these changes more quickly in workout summaries. Google also says the Health appโs built-in map now has faster load times and smoother rendering.
[Google Health Community]


Or spend your weekend watching Captain Picardโs entire Star Trek run.
As Phoronix reports, the projectโs contributors said in a blog post that they recently enabled full webcam and microphone support in Linux running on M3 Macs, and are planning to share more about releasing M3 support โin the coming weeks.โ Theyโre also working on getting Linux running on M4 and M5 Macs.
[Asahi Linux]
A notice published on the Department of Homeland Securityโs website says the agency plans to spend up to $2 million on Boston Dynamicsโ robot dog, as reported earlier by 404 Media. This comes just weeks after the Associated Press reported that ICE aims to spend up to $20 million on gloves that deliver electric shocks.


The Trump administration wants to scrap another federal air pollution rule. Advocates say itโll help data center developers avoid public scrutiny.


Modders are applying an unofficial version of DLSS 5โs AI rendering to games like Control, Skyrim, GTA, and more.


On The Vergecast: new Macs, the Meta settlement, GTA VI, and more.
Foldables tend to struggle with the bend test, but the smaller Galaxy Z Fold 8 survived it, and this yearโs Pixel foldable didnโt go up in smoke. Will Appleโs rumored โiPhone Ultraโ foldable fare any better?


The Apple TV subscription now costs $2 more each month.
The themes menu for RCS chats now has options for different bubble colors and wallpapers, including an option to upload your own background image. Google says chat customizations are only visible to you, though, not anyone else in the chat.
With the option enabled, only your followers will see your posts in Blueskyโs Discover feed. Other apps running the decentralized AT Protocol may still include your content in their feeds, however.
You can find the feature by navigating to your settings menu, selecting โPrivacy and Security,โ and turning on โAsk apps to hide my posts from algorithmic recommendations.โ


Things arenโt getting easier for Jason and his family โ or viewers, for that matter.
Youโre never too old to enjoy Gundam, and sometimes itโs fun to inject your favorite hobbies into your professional life. Like this 3,300 yen (about $20) โMobile Stationery Automatic Transformation Business Card Case,โ which presents your business card with drama. Your colleagues will all be impressed and jealous (probably).
The new $149 Meridian Band is a jewelry-inspired housing for the fifth-generation Whoop wearable thatโs designed to make it look less like a boring gadget. The band is made from Milanese mesh and comes in a choice of black, silver, gold, and rose gold. You have to remove it to charge the device, however.
The 27-minute Grand Theft Auto VI preview is already available to stream online, but Rockstar will also let you download the video directly from its website to avoid any compression issues. Just bear in mind that the file isnโt exactly small at 14.2 GB.
Thatโs what the fairly reliable leaker Digital Chat Station thinks Oppo has planned for its Find X10 Pro Max, tipped to launch in either September or October. Itโs a different approach to the Find X9 Ultra, which leaned into a 10x periscope lens to stand out.
[Weibo]
The $619 HomePower 1000 Plus V2 solar generator is now available in white or gray. Itโs built around a 1kWh LFP battery that can be expanded to an impressive 11kWh of capacity. Its diminutive size, 1800W of sustained AC output, and up to 400W of solar (or carโs alternator) input makes it suitable for vanlifers, creator job sites, and even home backup to keep devices like the fridge and CPAP machine running during the next outage.
If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.


The move was โunlawful retaliation in violation of the First Amendment.โ


After initially debuting on Netflix, the official version of Rockstarโs big GTA VI preview is more widely available.
I certainly didnโt expect one of Cookโs final tweets as Appleโs CEO to star Pikachu. Wonder what his favorite Pokรฉmon game is.


๏ปฟRockstarโs GTA VI preview further blurs the lines between Hollywood and gaming.


Meta is fixing a workaround that allowed smart glasses wearers to covertly record others.
A few publications and other outlets got to watch a Rockstar North co-lead play the game, and their coverage has a bunch of information about gameplay that wasnโt included in Netflixโs cinematic extended look.
If, after months of increasingly dire RAMageddon warnings, you suddenly find yourself in the market for a new laptopโฆ weโre here to help. In the latest installment of our Vergecast โRAMageddon Survival Guide,โ laptop reviewer Antonio G. Di Benedetto joins David Imel to offer his recommendations.


The hype has never been higher for one of the most anticipated games of the decade.


Rockstar finally showed off more of Grand Theft Auto VI in a 26-minute preview.
You can also now personalize a temporary chat with existing memories, custom instructions, and plugins. OpenAI notes that temporary chats โdonโt create new memories, and stay out of your sidebar unless you choose to save them.โ


Gemini Notebookโs new โExpert Intelligenceโ feature pulls information from the books youโve purchased.
An open letter signed by over 100 companies and organizations calls for a โglobal surge in cyber defense,โ saying โAI-enabled cyber attacks will become far more widespread and sophisticated:โ
Put cyber-capable AI in the hands of defenders, starting with the teams protecting essential services. Fix the most dangerous weaknesses, verify the fixes, and share what works so others can build on it. Together, we can turn todayโs AI advances into lasting improvements in security that benefit everyone.
The executive order, which comes days after Canada announced retaliatory tariffs against the US, says Trump is changing the name to honor Lake Ontarioโs โflourishing economic resource and its critical importance to our Nationโs economy.โ
We have reached out to Google and Apple to see if theyโre going to swap Lake Ontario to Lake America in their Maps apps โ as they did with the Gulf of America last year.







