Image: The Verge President Donald Trump says he’d be open to his buddies Elon Musk or Larry Ellison buying TikTok.“Larry, let’s negotiate in front of the media,” Trump said at a press conference with the Oracle co-founder, SoftBank CEO Masa Son, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to announce a $500 billion artificial intelligence infrastructure investment. “What I’m thinking about saying to somebody is, buy it, and give half to the United States of America. Half, and we’ll give you the permit. And they’ll have a great partner, the United States.”“Sounds like a good deal to me, Mr. President,” Ellison said.It’s still not entirely clear how all of this would work, or how the US could legally operate a speech platform without violating the First Amendment. But it’s one of the earliest examples of how Silicon Valley’s coziness with Trump could manifest over the next four years. Trump signed an executive order on Monday instructing his administration not to enforce the law on service providers covered by the forced divestiture bill — which include Oracle, Apple, and Google — for 75 days. But legal experts say the action provides hardly any legal cover for those companies to violate federal law and risk $850 billion in penalties. Even so, Oracle has appeared to rely on Trump’s assurances to help TikTok run in the US after the January 19th sale deadline, though the company has not yet commented on it directly. TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance still has other offers on the table, including from billionaire Frank McCourt’s Project Liberty and now, apparently, from YouTube creator MrBeast — whose investor group is receiving legal counsel from a team that includes the brother of Trump’s attorney general pick.As he was leaving the briefing, a reporter asked Trump if he has TikTok on his phone. “No, but I think I might put it there,” Trump responded. “I think I’ll get it right now.”

Image: Paramount The fourth Sonic movie now has an official release date: March 19th, 2027, according to Variety. Right around the release of the very successful Sonic the Hedgehog 3 last December, news hit that Sonic the Hedgehog 4 was in the works, but at the time, the movie only had a spring 2027 release window.Sonic films have drawn all-star cast members over the years, such as Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik, who has played the role in all three of the movies, Idris Elba as Knuckles, and Keanu Reeves as Shadow. And a post-credits scene for the third movie hints that other fan favorites could join the series (spoilers in that link!), so there might be big casting announcements ahead for the fourth Sonic film.The March 2027 date for Sonic The Hedgehog 4 means it will launch well after The Super Mario Bros. Movie sequel, which is set to debut on April 3rd, 2026.

Using the non-touch screen on an older Bambu P1P 3D printer. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge Bambu Lab, the company behind my favorite 3D printers, has given itself one hell of a week. Now, I’ve got answers to some of my burning questions, answers which you might also hopefully appreciate. But first, some backstory.Since last Thursday, some creators have pledged not to buy Bambu printers anymore, even removed some of their 3D models from its online repository, after the company revealed it would add a new proprietary authentication mechanism that could keep you from using third-party tools to remote control your printer. While you’d still be able to stick a file on an SD card and physically put it into your printer or use Bambu’s proprietary cloud, the old way of printing remotely from a third-party slicer would be no more — unless you downloaded a new proprietary Windows and Mac “Bambu Connect” desktop app to be the middleman between your slicer and Bambu’s hardware.“Unauthorized third-party software will be prohibited from executing critical operations” — BambuWhile Bambu was clear early on that this would be an optional update, one you could simply choose not to install, the company also positioned it as a necessary one to secure printers against remote hacks.... Read the full story at The Verge.

The Raspberry Pi ecosystem boasts an extensive suite of operating systems, ranging from general-purpose distros like Ubuntu and Kali Linux to more specialized OSes like Batocera, LibreELEC, and OpenWRT. If you’re willing to venture deep into the recesses of the Raspberry Pi ecosystem, you’re bound to come across quirky hidden gems waiting to be used for your tinkering projects.

Image: The White House (YouTube) A plan to build a system of data centers for artificial intelligence has been revealed in a White House press conference, with Masayoshi Son, Sam Altman, and Larry Ellison joining Donald Trump to announce The Stargate Project. Their companies, Softbank, OpenAI, and Oracle (respectively), along with MGX are listed as “initial equity funders” for $500 billion in investments over the next four years, “building new AI infrastructure for OpenAI in the United States.”According to a statement from OpenAI, “Arm, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Oracle, and OpenAI” are the initial tech partners, with a buildout “currently underway” starting in Texas as other sites across the country are evaluated. It also says that “Oracle, NVIDIA, and OpenAI will closely collaborate to build and operate this computing system.”Separately, Microsoft announced an update to its partnership with OpenAI, saying that the key elements of their deal remain in place through 2030, covering “our access to OpenAI’s IP, our revenue sharing arrangements and our exclusivity on OpenAI’s APIs all continuing forward.” What is changing is that Microsoft says OpenAI has made a “new, large Azure commitment that will continue to support all OpenAI products as well as training.” However, their exclusive arrangement for new capacity is changing so that now Microsoft has a right of first refusal over OpenAI building new capacity.In a press conference announcing the project, which has been rumored since early last year, Son and Altman spoke directly to Trump, insisting that the project only happened because of his election victory.

Command Prompt is the most powerful Windows tool and a goldmine of hidden functionalities for a power user. From managing your network to managing installed programs to encrypting your files and folders, you can do so much using simple commands on Command Prompt.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Microsoft and OpenAI announced Tuesday that they have adjusted their partnership so that OpenAI can access competitors' compute. The new agreement “includes changes to the exclusivity on new capacity, moving to a model where Microsoft has a right of first refusal (ROFR),” Microsoft says. “To further support OpenAI, Microsoft has approved OpenAI’s ability to build additional capacity, primarily for research and training of models.”The foundation of their relationship (which runs through 2030) stays pretty much the same — Microsoft keeps its exclusive rights to OpenAI’s tech for products like Copilot, and OpenAI’s API remains exclusive to Azure. They’ll maintain their two-way revenue-sharing setup (it's been reported that Microsoft gets 20 percent of OpenAI’s revenue). Prior to today’s change, OpenAI was locked into using Microsoft’s Azure cloud infrastructure exclusively for its computing needs. The news follows the announcement of a joint venture between Arm, Microsoft, Nvidia, Oracle, and OpenAI to build a system of data centers in the U.S. called Starbase.The models OpenAI hopes to build and the user base it's looking to serve require billions of dollars in compute. It has been previously reported that some OpenAI shareholders felt Microsoft wasn’t moving fast enough to supply OpenAI with computing power, hence why the startup partnered with Oracle back in June (with the blessing of Microsoft) for the necessary compute.There’s been a lot of buzz about Microsoft and OpenAI facing relationship woes after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was briefly ousted from the company, causing a lot of very public drama. The New York Times reported that the relationship has grown increasingly strained due to financial pressures at OpenAI, concerns about stability, and growing friction between employees at both companies.Last March, Microsoft hired Inflection CEO Mustafa Suleyman to lead its consumer AI efforts, along with most of Inflection’s staff, in a $650 million deal. According to The New York Times report, this move particularly angered some OpenAI leadership, including Altman.OpenAI’s deal with Microsoft also has an unusual escape clause: if OpenAI creates artificial general intelligence (AGI), it could close off Microsoft’s access to some of its most powerful models developed after that point. AGI, reportedly, is defined as a system capable of generating more than $100 billion in profits. This was originally meant to keep such powerful AI from being commercialized, but now OpenAI is reportedly considering dropping this provision, likely to secure more Microsoft funding.

PowerShell is a handy tool for troubleshooting network issues, automating tasks, managing configurations, or building solutions. But if you're just starting out, it might feel a bit tricky to get the hang of. We’ll discuss some tips to help you get the most out of PowerShell and write scripts that are effective and easy to tweak and reuse in different situations. Like English spelling and grammar rules, PowerShell best practices and style guidelines almost always have exceptions. Still, we’ll discuss a baseline for command design, programming, and formatting to help you avoid common problems.

Oakleys are considered stylish and popular with athletes — which is probably why Meta’s keen to partner. | Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images Meta may be releasing new Oakley-branded smart glasses later this year, according to a new Bloomberg report. The Oakley-branded glasses, internally referred to as “Supernova 2”, would be based on the brand’s Sphaera glasses. Instead of housing the cameras on the side, the Supernova 2 would shift the camera to the center of the frame. The idea is to appeal to cyclists and other outdoor athletes. The report didn’t detail any other potential features, though the Oakley glasses would ostensibly have similar features to the current Ray-Ban Meta glasses. Oakley, like Ray-Bans, are a subsidiary of eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica. The move to expand Meta’s tech to other brands under EssilorLuxottica’s umbrella is a savvy one. While the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses are good for discreet, everyday wear, they’re a bit heavy for endurance sports and lack certain features like polarized lenses for better visibility. Oakleys are also considered stylish and popular among professional athletes. Conceptually, they’re similar to the now discontinued Bose Frames Tempo, which allowed athletes to have open-ear audio with polarized lenses in a relatively light form factor. That said, if the goal is to appeal to athletes, Meta and Oakley will likely have to address factors like weight, sweat resistance, and battery life. The report also notes that Meta plans on launching a higher-end version of its current Ray-Ban glasses that include a display capable of delivering notifications, running simple apps, and previewing photos.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images On Tuesday night, President Donald Trump issued a pardon to Ross Ulbricht, who ran the dark web marketplace Silk Road under the pseudonym “Dread Pirate Roberts.” Ulbricht has been serving a life sentence without parole since 2015, when he was convicted of multiple charges, including the distribution of narcotics.The Silk Road marketplace, which was only accessible through the Tor network, became one of the most prevalent early commercial uses of Bitcoin. Buyers and sellers traded in illicit drugs, forged passports, and more. In the intervening years, Ulbricht became a cause celebrè for a certain segment of the right-wing, particularly in the crypto crowd that embraced Trump last year. To his supporters, Ulbricht’s life sentence is unusually punitive. Similar offenses have garnered much more lenient sentences — for instance, Blake Benthall, who operated Silk Road 2.0, was sentenced to time served and three years of probation. Ulbricht’s lieutenant, Thomas Clark, also known as “Variety Jones,” was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year. Although the criminal offenses were nonviolent in nature, the judge who sentenced Ulbricht took into account multiple deaths attributable to drugs bought through the Silk Road. Throughout his trial, Ulbricht denied that he had committed the crimes at issue. Because law enforcement had arrested him with his laptop open, they had access to all his files, which included the code of the website, private messages between him and employees of the Silk Road, and a diary whose entries corresponded to OKCupid messages tied to Ross Ulbricht’s real identity.

This is one of the best Android tablets that you can buy right now. Not only do you get a fantastic screen and tons of power, but it's also built well and Samsung has committed to years of software updates. In our review, we really didn't like how Samsung priced this tablet. Luckily, this latest promotion knocks $100 off its retail price, making it an alluring option if you're looking to buy a new Android tablet.

There are lots of great reasons to upgrade to a mechanical keyboard. And if you're someone that's been mulling over the idea of finally making that purchase, we have the perfect one to suggest. The Keychron Q1 Pro is our top pick when it comes to mechanical keyboards. While it's normally not on sale, this rare discount brings it down to a special price that knocks $22 off.