Google has pulled the plug on Project Mariner, an experimental feature designed to perform tasks for you across the web, as reported earlier by Wired's Maxwell Zeff. The Project Mariner landing page now contains a message that says: "Thank you for using Project Mariner. It was shut down on May 4th, 2026 and its technology voyaged to other Google products."Google first revealed Project Mariner in December 2024 and later announced an update allowing it to perform up to 10 tasks at a time. Over the past year, Google has integrated features powered by Project Mariner into its other AI tools, including Gemini Agent, which can do things like arc …Read the full story at The Verge.

Mira Murati, OpenAI's former CTO, has testified under oath that CEO Sam Altman lied to her about the safety standards for a new AI model. In a video deposition shown during the ongoing Musk v. Altman trial on Wednesday, Murati said Altman falsely stated that OpenAI's legal department determined a new AI model did not need to go through the company's deployment safety board. "As you understand it, was Mr. Altman telling the truth when he made that statement to you?" Murati was asked in the deposition. "No," Murati said.Murati said that during her tenure at OpenAI, Altman made her work more difficult. Her criticism "is completely management …Read the full story at The Verge.

We’ve been reading your feedback on the new homepage. All of it. The kind and encouraging comments, the brutal ones, the “actually this rules,” the “please undo this immediately,” the bug reports, the feature ideas, and yes, the eternal request for dark mode. We appreciate it.A lot of you took the time to share detailed, thoughtful reactions right after launch, and that kind of feedback is useful. It helps us understand where the experience is landing or missing the mark, spot issues and friction, and ultimately sort that feedback into a few buckets. We want to be open and transparent with you about how we’re looking at those buckets of feedback.Bucket 1: Yes, we should fix that. Some feedback points to things we should clearly fix or smooth out, like bugs and rough edges.Feedback that falls into this bucket:The scrollbar presence on the feed (✅ Fixed)Adding “Read More” from the groups of stories when there’s something to link to (✅ Fixed)Adding a way to read more from a category toward the bottom of the page (✅ Fixed)Bucket 2: This is worth investigating. Some feedback points to things worth exploring further. These are repeated requests that may reflect a broader need or pain point, even if the exact proposed solution is not the one we ultimately pursue.Feedback that falls into this bucket:How the Latest feed is presented and engaged with, especially for those of you who love the pure revchron feed (which Latest is). Dark mode. We are actively working on this.Dates on stories in curated story sets. Removing them was intentional so we could more easily bring older stories back to the forefront, especially when they can add color and context to a timely topic. But we hear the frustration here and are thinking about how to address the underlying pain point.Marking a story as read vs. unread. This is a recurring request and speaks to a broader need for more personalized homepage experiences. That’s something we’re actively planning for, even if this exact feature isn’t currently on the roadmap.Bucket 3: Not right now. Some feedback falls into the category of ideas we’re not planning to take on right now. Not because the feedback is bad, but because we have to be deliberate about what we can support.Feedback that falls into this bucket:Free-to-Read and Subscriber Perks sections. We’ve deprecated these sections for now. We’ll revisit if it makes sense down the road.The page structure. We’ve seen a lot of strong opinions on combining curated stories with the firehose feed. We believe in this approach and we need to give it time before considering big structural changes. Many of you love the mix; others, not so much. That’s okay.I want to be candid about what we can support. We’re a pretty small team and every decision has to be weighed against time, resourcing, complexity, editorial needs, business priorities, and the longer-term vision for where The Verge is going (and we have big ambitions for where we want it to go). We can’t commit to every suggestion, even if we genuinely agree that it’s a great idea.We’ll fix what needs fixing and dig into the themes that feel most meaningful. We’ll keep prioritizing and working through tradeoffs and constraints. Most importantly, we’ll stay open about what we’re seeing and learning as we go. Please keep the feedback coming.Here are are the best ways to reach us:Right here in the comments. We also have a feedback form here where you can submit bugs, feedback, requests, etc.Join our user research group for the chance to participate in user interviews, user testing, and surveys, and get access to prototypes and beta drops. We will reach out when a good opportunity aligns.Reach out to our team directly at [email protected]. Support with your account and subscription is handled by our wonderful support team at [email protected].

Despite its name, Windows 11 is not always the best at window management, at least not without some help. I've long been a fan of PowerToys for giving me so much more flexibility when it comes to managing my open windows to improve my productivity with FancyZones, but the way snapping works may not be for everyone.

Old consoles usually become interesting for one of two reasons: the games are still great, or the homebrew scene gives the hardware a second life. The Xbox 360 now has both.

Almost all of my work already lived in Google Drive, and the promise of Gemini that "just knows what's in your files" sounded too good to pass up. So, I decided to give Google AI Pro a try and honestly, the chatbot that requires constant feeding now functions more like a work memory that already knows what you've been doing.

I use AI tools for a big portion of my productivity and creativity tasks now, so uploading files to them has become second nature at this point. Things like course notes, research documents, screenshots, image references, and just random PDFs. Bringing in outside context is one of the most useful and underappreciated aspects of AI in my opinion. But among my design notes and article research also sits more personal documents, such as health reports and bank statements.

Proxmox Backup Server is one of those tools that sounds like the correct answer before you even ask the question. It has the right name, the right logo, and the right relationship to the platform many of us already trust. If you're running Proxmox VE, it’s natural to assume Proxmox Backup Server belongs alongside it. That assumption is where my backup plan started getting heavier than it needed to be.

The black and white versions of the latest Tile Pro is $10 off, marking its best price of the year. | Image: Tile If you’re struggling to find a Mother’s Day gift under $30, location trackers are a good investment, helping mom keep tabs on keys, bags, luggage, and other valuables. The latest Tile Pro is one of the best on the market, and it’s on sale for $24.99 ($10 off) at Amazon and directly from Tile. While this isn’t a new deal, it’s still its best price of the year and only $2 shy of its all-time low, which is why it’s worth highlighting ahead of the holiday. Tile ProWhere to Buy: $34.99 $24.99 at Amazon $34.99 $24.99 at TileA big part of why I like the Tile Pro is that it works equally well with both iPhones and Android devices. Compared to other trackers that depend on Google’s Find Hub network, it’s more reliable when trying to track down lost items away from home, which is why it’s our go-to pick for Android users. Apple’s new AirTag still offers more precise location tracking overall for iPhone owners, but the Tile Pro has a few advantages of its own.For one, it includes a keyring hole, so mom can attach it to keys or luggage without buying extra accessories. It’s also Tile’s most capable tracker, offering a Bluetooth range of up to 500 feet and Tile’s loudest ring at 110 decibels, which I’ve found is slightly louder than Apple’s latest AirTag. That comes in handy when trying to track down a misplaced phone, since the Tile Pro can make the phone ring even when it’s set to silent.Plus, it’s the only Tile with a replaceable CR2032 battery, so mom won’t need to replace the tracker itself once the battery dies after about a year. Tile also includes a handful of free safety and convenience features AirTags lack, including two days of location history and crash detection, which can alert emergency contacts if the app detects a car accident. A paid subscription, which starts at $7.99 a month after a free one-week trial, adds extras like SOS alerts that connect to a live emergency dispatcher, local crime reports, and up to $100 in stolen phone protection.

We all know not to use our ISP's DNS servers by now, but the decision on which servers to use instead is a little more nuanced. I've self-hosted Pi-hole, used public DNS, and more recently, Quad9 as my main DNS provider. I liked the lack of logging and Quad9's privacy focus, but not every device lets you change the DNS easily.

Cinema equipment is notoriously expensive, and there's a disproportionate step-up in pricing from a typical camera lens to an anamorphic one that dissuades even successful YouTube creators from using one. I naturally grew curious about how these lenses contribute to filmmaking and photography workflows, but couldn't even find one to rent for less than $100 a day, much less use one long-term to figure out if saving for the lens would prove worthwhile. They add horizontal flaring around light sources, a gradual defocus away from the center of the lens, and the famed letterboxing hallmark of cinematic video.

AI and Crypto Czar David O. Sacks speaks during a meeting of the White House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence Education at the White House. | Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images Hello and welcome to Regulator, a newsletter exclusively for Verge subscribers about tech, politics, and Washington intrigue. (It's basically House of Cards, but for nerds.) Not a subscriber yet? You really should become one, and to save you a Google search, here is the direct link to do so! And do you think I should know something? Send it to [email protected] Monday, The New York Times reported that the White House was considering having the government review AI models before release. To the casual Verge reader, it appeared to be a total reversal in Donald Trump's policies. For the past year, he had been a vocal champion o …Read the full story at The Verge.