Google Search’s AI evolution includes more ads
Google's AI-powered Search era apparently also extends to its ads. Now, when you search for a product, Google's Gemini AI chatbot will surface relevant items and generate a 'custom explainer' about wh
Knowledge catalogue
Google's AI-powered Search era apparently also extends to its ads. Now, when you search for a product, Google's Gemini AI chatbot will surface relevant items and generate a 'custom explainer' about wh
For years, tech companies have promised AI will give everyone a capable personal assistant but delivered something more like a clueless intern. Over the past six months, that has started to change, th
The SpaceX IPO is here, and it's more than just an historic public offering that could make Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire. It also reveals more ways in which Elon Musk's companies interact
We're about to find out if the systems designed to make deepfakes and AI-generated content easy to spot are actually up to snuff. SynthID and C2PA Content Credentials, two distinct technologies for in
This is Optimizer, a weekly newsletter sent from Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song that dissects and discusses the latest gizmos and potions that swear they're going to change your life. This week's
Utah may host one of the world's most colossal data centers, despite stark warnings from experts and fierce public backlash. Earlier this month, commissioners in Box Elder County signed off on the Str
'There's an app for that' was the promise of the App Store from the very beginning. The app that will get your phone to do the thing you want it to? It's just a few taps away. The tagline wasn't stric
Google announced a new YouTube Shorts Remix feature that lets users restyle clips or even insert themselves into other people's videos using Gemini Omni. Now, at the bottom of a YouTube Short, when yo
Welcome to a 'profound moment for humanity,' according to Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, who closed out Google I/O's keynote presentation on Tuesday, saying: Google's cutting-edge research and pr
Gemini has a creep problem. A few years ago, that little sparkle icon started showing up in all of our Google apps. Gemini in your inbox! Gemini in your Google Drive! It was slow at first, and easy en
Gemini is gaining the power of sight and mobility. Today at the I/O conference, Google and Volvo announced that the AI-powered assistant will be able to access external cameras in the upcoming EX60 SU
Google is launching a big new feature for Gmail called Gmail Live, a new AI-powered voice mode that's basically the Gemini Live experience but built specifically for your inbox. To use Gmail Live, tap
Google is announcing a major upgrade to one of its vibe coding platforms: Beginning today, you can now use AI Studio to build native Android apps. With Google AI Studio, you can prompt your idea for a
Google Search is entering the next phase of its AI evolution. During Google I/O 2026, the company showed off a reimagined search box that makes it easier to flow between AI Overviews, the AI-generated
Google is making a big push into cybersecurity. At I/O, the company announced that it was inviting select groups of experts to test the API for CodeMender, an 'AI agent for code security' it debuted l
Google has big promises for its AI-powered future - and a lot of it depends on your trust. At I/O 2026, Google described a bunch of new tools that it claims will make your life easier. Gemini Spark, G
Google's I/O 2026 keynote today was once again full of AI-related announcements including a new family of Gemini 3.5 AI models, new features for Search and Gmail, and updates about its Project Aura sm
Last year, after watching Google's I/O keynote, I wrote that it felt like Google's future was Google googling. After watching this year's I/O keynote on Tuesday, I don't think Google just wants to goo
Google is going all in on AI-driven shopping even as some competitors back off. At Google I/O, the company unveiled the latest iteration of its AI commerce tools: a 'Universal Cart' that works across
Alexa Plus, Amazon's upgraded AI assistant, can now generate podcasts on 'virtually any topic,' according to an announcement on Monday. With the update, Amazon says you can give Alexa Plus a topic, an
After around two hours of deliberation, the jury has reached a unanimous verdict in Musk v. Altman, the tech trial of the year. The group found that two claims were barred by the statute of limitation
The tech trial of the year, Musk v. Altman, was ultimately a fight for control. Elon Musk argued that Sam Altman, with whom he helped found the now-massive company OpenAI, shouldn't direct the future
This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more news about how AI is seeping into our daily lives, follow Emma Roth. The Stepback arrives in o
Apple is hoping that its record on privacy can be the differentiator on the AI front, and maybe even buy it a little slack as it continues to lag behind the competition. According to Bloomberg's Mark
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt delivered the commencement address at the University of Arizona on Friday. And, as his speech veered into talk of AI, he was repeatedly drowned out by boos. AI is alread
After Sony drew some unwanted attention for a post demonstrating its AI Camera Assistant on the Xperia 1 XIII, it's trying to clarify how the feature works. The company says it doesn't edit photos, bu
Andon Labs has been running a series of experiments in which AI agents run businesses without human intervention. Its latest is a quartet of radio stations run by some of the most popular AI models ou
Last summer, Peter Degen's postdoctoral supervisor came to him with an unusual problem: One of his papers was being cited too much. Citations are the currency of academia, but there was something unus
ArXiv, a popular platform for preprint academic research, is taking a new step to attempt to reduce the volume of papers that include AI slop. If a paper has 'incontrovertible evidence that the author
Where's the Trump phone? We're going to keep talking about it every week. We've reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump phone's whereabouts. This week, despite our best hopes, we still don't hav
Google updated its spam policy to mark attempts to 'manipulate' its AI model in search results as spam, including results in AI Overview or AI Mode in Search, as Search Engine Land reports: 'In the co
OpenAI announced yet another reorganization Friday, consolidating certain areas and making company president Greg Brockman the official lead of all things product. In a memo viewed by The Verge, Brock
Your trust in AI is about to be put to the test: OpenAI will soon let you give the chatbot direct access to your bank accounts. The new feature announced in preview today will allow users to 'securely
This is Optimizer, a weekly newsletter sent every Friday from Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song that dissects and discusses the latest gizmos and potions that swear they're going to change your life
YouTube is expanding its AI likeness detection program to all users over the age of 18 - meaning just about anyone can have the platform hunt for potential deepfakes of themselves. The likeness detect
Over 70 percent of Americans oppose AI data center construction in their area, according to a new Gallup survey. Just 7 percent said they were 'strongly' in favor of new data centers. According to Gal
Yesterday, in Musk v. Altman, before the jurors came in, Sam Altman's team passed up what looked - from a distance - like a little league trophy. It was not. Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers had the lawyers rea
Today was closing arguments in the Musk v. Altman trial, and I almost feel bad writing about the unbelievable demolition derby I just witnessed. Steven Molo, Musk's lawyer, stumbled over his words. He
Microsoft first started opening up access to Claude Code in December, inviting thousands of its own developers to use Anthropic's AI coding tool daily. It was part of an effort to get project managers
OpenAI is going to let users access Codex, its desktop AI tool that can write code and use apps on your computer, from the ChatGPT app on your phone. Following the surge in popularity for Anthropic's
When Oregon resident Isabelle Reksopuro heard Google was gobbling up public land to fuel its data centers in her home state, she didn't initially know what to believe. 'There's a lot of misinformation
The tyranny of software is almost over. Since the first computer programmers wrote the first computer programs, we, the users of that software, have been forced to live in the worlds those programs cr
Amazon is bringing Alexa Plus to Amazon.com, integrating its LLM-powered AI assistant directly into the company's shopping experience. Beginning today, when you type a query into Amazon, you'll be tal
At its peak, the Androscoggin paper mill in Jay, Maine, a rural town about 67 miles northwest of Portland, employed about 1,500 people - until a pulp digester exploded in 2020, forcing the mill to clo
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says its new Incognito Chat is 'the first major AI product where there is no log of your conversations stored on servers.' Messages in Incognito Chat aren't saved or stored in
Maybe I'm just punch-drunk in my third week attending Musk v. Altman, but I have become very, very fond of Microsoft during the course of this trial. They don't want to be here any more than I do. The
Microsoft Edge is adding a new feature that will allow its Copilot AI chatbot to gather information from all of your open tabs. When you start a conversation with Copilot, you can ask the chatbot ques
It is, once again, Gemini season. Google is announcing a host of new Gemini features during its pre-I/O Android showcase, many of which aim to help use your phone for you. You'll find Gemini in more p
Hollywood actors and producers are standing behind a new AI licensing standard that will tell AI systems whether they'll need to pay to use a person's likeness, creative work, characters, and designs.
Meta announced on Tuesday that it's testing a Threads feature that lets users tag a Meta AI account to get answers to questions or context about a conversation on the platform. If you've spent any tim
The family of a 19-year-old college student is suing OpenAI over claims that his conversations with ChatGPT led to an accidental overdose. In the lawsuit filed on Tuesday, Sam Nelson's parents allege
Rivian's AI-powered voice assistant is rolling out today to the company's vehicle fleet. The assistant will be available through a software update to all compatible Rivian Gen 1 and Gen 2 vehicle owne
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says Elon Musk did 'huge damage' to the culture of the AI startup. During testimony as part of Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI, Altman said Musk required OpenAI president Greg Broc
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has begun his testimony against Elon Musk in a high-profile jury trial in a California federal courtroom. Altman, alongside OpenAI president Greg Brockman, is a primary defendant
After two weeks of hearing from assorted witnesses that he was a lying snake, the jury finally heard from the lying snake himself: Sam Altman. At the end of the testimony, his lawyer William Savitt as
Would it shock you to hear that Android 17 is filled with new AI-enabled features, like improved dictation and vibe-coded widgets? Fortunately, that's not all. The platform is getting non-AI updates t
For the first time, Google says it has spotted and stopped a zero-day exploit developed with AI. According to a report from Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG), 'prominent cyber crime threat actor
Thinking Machines, the AI company founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, announced Monday that it's working on something called 'interaction models.' The idea behind interaction models, according t
My guest today is longtime friend of the show Joanna Stern. You all know Joanna: she is the former senior personal technology columnist for The Wall Street Journal, a former Decoder guest host, one of
OpenAI is launching Daybreak, an AI initiative focused on detecting and patching vulnerabilities before attackers find them. Daybreak uses the Codex Security AI agent that launched in March to create