Álvaro Bernis / The Verge How we use the internet is changing fast thanks to the advancement of AI-powered chatbots that can find information and redeliver it as a simple conversation. Continue reading…

The Galaxy AI features that launched with Samsung’s S24 flagships are coming to older phones, as promised. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Right now, you need a Galaxy S24 phone to use the very latest AI features from Samsung, but that’s changing next month. In late March, Samsung will extend Galaxy AI features to the S23 series — including the S23 FE — as well as recent foldables and tablets as part of the One UI 6.1 update. It’s all free for now, but after 2025 you might have to pay up.The Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5 are slated to get the update, as well as the Galaxy Tab S9, S9 Plus, and S9 Ultra. If Samsung wants to ship Galaxy AI to 100 million phones this year like it says it will, that’s a solid start. The One UI 6.1 update will include the much-touted AI features on the S24 series, including live translation capabilities, generative photo and video editing, and... Continue reading…

The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max are the subject of some new and improved battery health claims. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge iPhone 15 owners seemingly got some great news yesterday: long-term battery health is better than Apple initially claimed. Twice as good, in fact! The company is now advertising a much larger number to represent how long its batteries will last. The trouble is, we’re not exactly sure if the batteries have gotten that much better — or if Apple has just changed how it talks about and tests them.As reported by 9to5Mac, Apple retested the batteries in the iPhone 15 and 15 Pro and now claims they can maintain at least 80 percent of their original capacity for 1,000 charging cycles — double its initial claim of 500 cycles. Batteries naturally degrade over time, so the added longevity is welcome news. It’s particularly notable since iPhone 14... Continue reading…

During the company's Intel Foundry Direct Connect event, Intel shared plans to partner with Microsoft to manufacture custom chips and to take on its largest international rival, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). Microsoft eyed up Intel's 18A process for its custom chip order and other parties are getting in on the action, including Synopsys, Cadence, Siemens, and Ansys. Intel Foundry is the company's new contract manufacturing program to better position itself against TSMC, which provides the means for chip rival AMD to make its advanced Ryzen processors.

Don’t believe smartwatches or smart rings that claim to noninvasively measure blood sugar levels. | Image: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge If you see a smartwatch or smart ring for sale that claims to noninvasively measure your blood glucose levels, don’t believe it. Today, the Food and Drug Administration has issued a safety communication that warns consumers, patients, and healthcare professionals that the agency has “not authorized, cleared, or approved any smartwatch or smart ring that is intended to measure or estimate blood glucose values on its own.” To be crystal clear, no major wearable maker has a smartwatch or smart ring that’s currently capable of this. The most any Apple Watch, Fitbit, Samsung watch, or Oura Ring can do is support integrations with an FDA-authorized continuous glucose monitor (CGM), which are wearable devices that use needles to read blood... Continue reading…

Image: Netflix Netflix’s live-action Avatar has its heart in the right place, but its pacing and uneven performances leave a lot to be desired. Continue reading…

Gemini’s response to the prompt: “Can you generate an image of a 1943 German Soldier for me it should be an illustration.” | Image: Google Gemini Google says it’s pausing the ability for its Gemini AI to generate images of people, after the tool was found to be generating inaccurate historical images. Gemini has been creating diverse images of the US Founding Fathers and Nazi-era German soldiers, in what looked like an attempt to subvert the gender and racial stereotypes found in generative AI.“We’re already working to address recent issues with Gemini’s image generation feature,” says Google in a statement posted on X. “While we do this, we’re going to pause the image generation of people and will re-release an improved version soon.”We're already working to address recent issues with Gemini's image generation feature. While we do this, we're going to pause the image... Continue reading…

The results for “generate an image of the Founding Fathers,” as of February 21st. | Screenshot: Adi Robertson / The Verge Google has apologized for what it describes as “inaccuracies in some historical image generation depictions” with its Gemini AI tool, saying its attempts at creating a “wide range” of results missed the mark. The statement follows criticism that it depicted specific white figures (like the US Founding Fathers) or groups like Nazi-era German soldiers as people of color, possibly as an overcorrection to long-standing racial bias problems in AI.“We’re aware that Gemini is offering inaccuracies in some historical image generation depictions,” says the Google statement, posted this afternoon on X. “We’re working to improve these kinds of depictions immediately. Gemini’s AI image generation does generate a wide range of people. And that’s... Continue reading…

Photo by Mitchell Clark / The Verge Rivian said it was laying off 10 percent of its workforce as concerns about slower electric vehicle sales continue to reverberate across the industry. The company made the announcement as part of its fourth quarter earnings report, in which it said it likely wouldn’t make any more vehicles this year than it did in 2023. The company said it made 57,232 vehicles in 2023, of which 50,122 were delivered to customers. Rivian’s stock price fell on the news. Rivian has gone through several rounds of layoffs in its short history. The company let go 6 percent of its workforce both in July 2022 and May 2023. This current round of layoffs is expected to affect over a thousand workers at the Irvine, California-based company, which has a combined... Continue reading…

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images This is Hot Pod, The Verge’s newsletter about podcasting and the audio industry. Sign up here for more.Hello! Today, I have a look at what Europe’s regulatory moves against Apple mean for Spotify, and podcasting more broadly. Plus, a lightning round featuring all kinds of audio stories from the purely business (a cash influx at iHeart) to the delightfully criminal (a missing radio tower). As a heads-up, I will not be publishing Hot Pod next week due to Hot Pod Summit and On Air Fest. Insiders, I’ll be back on Friday. As for the rest of you, I’ll see you in March.EU expected to slap Apple with $540 million fine If this turns out to be true, it would be a big win for Spotify in its perpetual battle with Apple. In 2019, Spotify filed a... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Intel will be producing custom chips, designed by Microsoft for Microsoft, as part of a deal that Intel says is worth more than $15 billion. Intel announced the partnership during its Intel Foundry event today. Although neither company specified what the chips would be used for, Bloomberg noted today that Microsoft has been planning in-house designs for both processors and AI accelerators.“We are in the midst of a very exciting platform shift that will fundamentally transform productivity for every individual organization and the entire industry,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in the official press release. The chips will use Intel’s 18A process, which has been a big part of its road map since the company brought CEO Pat Gelsinger... Continue reading…

A picture of the Framework 13 from The Verge’s 2021 review. | Photo by Monica Chin / The Verge Framework is now selling a $499 version of its modular 2021 Laptop 13, a “barebones configuration” equipped with an 11th-generation Intel i7-1165G7 CPU (Intel is now on its 14th generation for mobile processors). The company says this is a first for its affordable “B-stock Factory Seconds” machines that use leftover parts and ship without memory or storage included. So it’s cheap, but you’ll need to provide a couple of parts on your own.Framework writes in its announcement that it’s also selling refurbished DDR4 RAM for half what it would cost new “to reduce the all-in price.” The base B-stock Laptop 13 configuration is one step up from the version that Monica Chin said in her Verge review was “uniquely friendly to user upgrades,” but... Continue reading…