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 users' chat history, similar to incognito modes on other AI chatbots, but Meta says its version is different because it also uses end-to-end encryption, which Meta recently removed from Instagram DMs: "Other apps have introduced incognito-style modes, but they can still see the questions coming in and the answers going out. Incognito Chat with Meta AI is truly private, meaning no one - not even Meta - can read your conversations."Google …Read the full story at The Verge.

Set up a virtual LAN (VLAN), they said. It would be fun, they said. Actually, configuring VLANs is incredibly fun and worthwhile as it can segment your network and secure various devices. Think about all those random guest phones that gain access to your wireless network. There's no telling what those visiting your home may do on their devices. All it takes is one innocent visit to a dodgy streaming website with malware ready to ship out to the next unsuspecting victim. Once that code is on your network, it can spread to other devices, which is what VLANs can help protect against.

Instagram is once again cribbing from competitors like Snapchat and BeReal with a new photo-sharing format it calls "Instants," which are ephemeral photos that you can't edit and that you can only share with your close friends or followers that follow you back. Instants are available globally beginning on Wednesday as a feature in the inbox in the Instagram app and as a separate app that's now in testing in select countries.To access Instants from the Instagram app, go to your DM inbox and look in the bottom-right corner for an icon or a stack of photos. After you post a photo, your friends can emoji react to it and send a reply to your DM …Read the full story at The Verge.

Hello and welcome to Regulator, the newsletter for Verge subscribers that goes into tech shenanigans that take place in the backrooms of Washington. Really, it sometimes does feel like the online series The Backrooms: a parallel universe with no internal logic, evil corporations lurking in the background, and mind-rending eldritch horrors around every corner. (Not a subscriber yet? Sign up here today. Have any tips about mind-rending eldritch horrors lurking in DC? Send that intel to me at [email protected].) Speaking of liminal spaces and endless hallways that drive their inhabitants insane: Today, we're going to Capitol Hill …Read the full story at The Verge.

A week ago, newly appointed Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro was busy regaling investors with plans to turn Disney Plus into the company's "digital centerpiece." By last Friday, though, his attention had presumably shifted to a fight with the Trump administration over free speech.Disney-owned ABC has now accused the administration of violating its First Amendment rights with an ongoing investigation into The View. D'Amaro - the former head of Disney's parks division - might have wanted his legacy to be defined by corporate synergy and a souped-up version of Disney Plus. But this fight with Donald Trump and the Federal Communications Commission is l …Read the full story at The Verge.

For the first time, AMD is including its 3D V-Cache tech in its commercial workstation processors with a refreshed line of Ryzen PRO 9000 series chips. Up until now, AMD's 3D V-Cache chips have mainly been geared toward gamers, but they've also gotten better at creative tasks over recent years. In our review of the Ryzen 9 9950X3D last year, Tom Warren crowned it "the best CPU for both gaming and creator tasks," noting that it "greatly improves creator workloads" compared to the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. According to AMD, the 3D V-Cache tech will be useful for "complex, data-intensive workloads such as simulation, rendering and real-time visualizat …Read the full story at The Verge.

Classics as well as newer films like Anora are on sale. | Image: Neon If you’ve been meaning to grow your physical movie collection, now’s a good time to do it. Through May 25th, The Criterion Collection is taking 30 percent off every disc on its site, including standard Blu-rays, 4K releases, box sets, and even films that are currently only available to preorder. The sale spans every category Criterion is known for, from Hollywood classics and international cinema to indie favorites, documentaries, concert films, and arthouse movies. In total, more than 1,000 titles from over 600 directors are discounted. You can browse the full sale here, but below, we’ve highlighted some of our favorites, including newer award winners like Anora, box sets like The Wes Anderson Archive, cult classics like The Breakfast Club, and international films like High and Low.Isle of DogsWes Anderson’s stop-motion animated film which follows a group of Japanese pet dogs that have been isolated on an island.Where to Buy: $34.99 $32.38 at Amazon (4K Ultra HD) $39.99 $27.96 at Criterion (Blu-ray)The Wes Anderson ArchiveThe Wes Anderson Archive collects all of his films from Bottle Rocket through The French Dispatch in a single box set. The 20-disc trove includes every film on Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray, plus over 25 hours of special features and 10 illustrated booklets containing essays and interviews.Where to Buy: $499.99 $285.99 at Amazon $499.99 at Barnes & Noble $499 $399.96 at CriterionAnoraThe 2025 Oscar Best Picture-winning film directed and written by Sean Baker.Where to Buy: $39.95 $32.38 at Amazon (4K Blu-ray) $39.95 $27.96 at Criterion (Blu-ray) $49.95 $34.96 at Criterion (4K Blu-ray)Killers of the Flower MoonMartin Scorsese’s gripping historical crime drama follows the Osage murders of 1920s Oklahoma, and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, and Lily Gladstone.Where to Buy: $39.95 $27.96 at The Criterion Collection (Blu-Ray) $49.95 $34.96 at The Criterion Collection (4K Blu-Ray)Altered StatesDirector Ken Russell helmed this 1980 sci-fi horror film starring William Hurt.Where to Buy: $39.95 $34.95 at Amazon (4K Blu-Ray) $39.95 $27.96 at Criterion (Blu-Ray) $39.95 $32.38 at Amazon (Blu-Ray)Chungking ExpressWong Kar-wai’s 1994 film tells two stories that are compelling (and surprising) to watch unfold.Where to Buy: $39.95 $27.96 at Criterion (Blu-ray) $49.95 $34.96 at Criterion (4K Blu-ray)The Breakfast ClubFive high school students confront each other while stuck in detention.Where to Buy: $49.95 $32.29 at Amazon (4K Blu-ray) $39.95 $27.96 at Criterion (Blu-Ray) $49.95 $34.96 at Criterion (4K Blu-Ray)High and LowThe electric Kurosawa drama recently adapted by Spike Lee.Where to Buy: $49.95 $24.97 at Criterion (4K Blu-ray)This Is Spinal TapRob Reiner’s classic mockumentary on British heavy-metal group Spinal Tap.Where to Buy: $49.95 $34.96 at Criterion (4K Blu-ray) $39.95 $27.96 at Criterion (Blu-ray) $49.95 $27.43 at Amazon (Blu-ray, with coupon)ParasiteBong Joon Ho’s Oscar-winning thriller follows two Seoul families from vastly different classes whose lives dangerously intertwine.Where to Buy: $39.95 $19.99 at Amazon (4K Blu-ray) $39.95 $27.96 at The Criterion Collection (Blu-ray)

I have been using an Amazon Fire TV Stick for my not-so-smart TV for the last four years, and it's truly a value-for-money upgrade.

If you're anything like me, you've probably got a long list of videos and YouTube saves that you've been wanting to get back to but haven't had the time to just yet. For me, most of these videos live inside YouTube's watch later playlist. Sometimes I even send them to a notes app or save them on Notion. Elsewhere, there are podcast episodes that my friends shared with me, buried in old WhatsApp messages. It could be a long interview I was hoping to catch to get up to speed on the latest political developments, or a lecture on the latest developments in LLMs.

For the second year in a row, Netflix's ad-supported tier more than doubled its monthly viewerbase. During its 2026 upfront presentation, Netflix revealed that its $8.99-per-month plan reaches more than 250 million people around the globe, a significant leap from 94 million users reported last year.The streaming service reported earning $1.5 billion from ads in 2025, and now it's finding more areas to stick them across its service. Starting next year, Netflix will start showing ads in the vertical video feed it just launched on its mobile app, and in the lineup of podcasts it began adding to the platform late last year.Netflix first roll …Read the full story at The Verge.

Microsoft appears to be working on expanding its Xbox Game Pass subscription to China. References to "Project Saluki" have been discovered in a recent update to the Xbox PC app this week, with Microsoft describing the codename as "China market expansion for Game Pass, Rewards, and subscription tiers."While Microsoft offers a variety of games in China through Activision Blizzard, it does not currently make Xbox Game Pass available in the country. Microsoft does sell Xbox consoles in China, and first launched the Xbox One in China in 2014, becoming the first video game console to do so after a 14-year government ban on game consoles.The Ch …Read the full story at The Verge.