Sam Altman, a co-founder of OpenAI, was fired from his position as CEO of the nonprofit by its board of directors Friday. The stunning move comes after OpenAI's board lost confidence in Altman's ability to lead the company. In the interm, Mira Murati will serve as CEO of OpenAI while the board searches for a permanent replacement. Murati was previously the chief technology officer at OpenAI, and was part of the nonprofit for five years before her ascension to the interim CEO position.

The holiday season is right around the corner, and now's the time to start buying your loved ones some gifts. Apple products happen to be a prevalent option among many, due to their premium status, popularity, and high resale value. Whether you're seeking one of the latest iPhones, a versatile iPad, a capable Mac, or something else, we've got you covered. We will be highlighting below some of the best Apple product deals that act as solid holiday season gifts.

Black Friday is when you should be doing your big-time shopping. You won't find deals this good all year long, so why would you waste them? Black Friday is synonymous with big savings, so knowing what you want ahead of time and seeking out the lowest price makes a ton of sense. Whether you're in the market for new graphics cards for your computer, an Apple device, or a new phone, there are plenty of sales to go around.

Sam Altman. | OpenAI Sam Altman has been fired as CEO of OpenAI, the company announced on Friday. “Mr. Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities,” the company said in its blog post. “The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.”Chief technology officer Mira Murati will be the interim CEO, effective immediately. The company will be conducting a search for a permanent CEO successor. When contacted by The Verge, OpenAI’s communications department declined to comment beyond the blog post. Employees at OpenAI found out about the news when it was announced... Continue reading…

Image: Epic Games Fortnite just started showing age ratings for every experience you can play in the game, but as a result of those changes, some in-game outfits can’t be used in experiences that are rated Everyone or Everyone 10 Plus, according to a blog post from the Fortnite team. For example, while writing this article, got my game set up to visit the E-rated experience themed around The Game Awards while wearing one of the outfits you can earn from this season’s battle pass. When in the Fortnite lobby, there was a notice that “your selected outfit can’t be worn in experiences of this age rating” — which was surprising to me, because nothing about the outfit struck me as particularly offensive.But when I tabbed over to my locker, where Epic lets... Continue reading…

Many people are getting fed up with almost every company adopting some kind of subscription-based model. Having to pay monthly for heated seats in your car or certain features on your smartphone is the worst-case scenario for consumers. The best cloud storage services are all subscription-based, and many of the best streaming services are, too. However, there's one membership that might actually be worth it.

Black Friday is officially underway, with massive sales taking place at Best Buy and Amazon. With that said, gaming mice can be expensive, with some of the best models costing over $100. Of course, if you're someone that takes their gaming seriously, having this kind of tools is a must. If you're someone just starting out, having this tool can also be a game changer.

“Ivan the Space Biker” and “Proto-Barney,” who Valve says were used in the alpha builds of Half-Life. You can now play as them in multiplayer. | Image: Valve. Valve just released a 25th anniversary update for Half-Life that adds a whole bunch of new content, some welcome quality-of-life upgrades, and even Steam Deck support, according to an announcement on the Half-Life website. Also, you can download the game for free for a limited time.Let’s start with the added content. The game now includes Half-Life Uplink, a “mini-campaign” that was originally available only on CDs from magazines and hardware manufacturers, the company says. There are four new multiplayer maps that Valve says “push the limits of what’s possible in the Half-Life engine.” Valve also added maps and multiplayer character models from a CD called Half-Life: Further Data.Valve added some new settings, too, including the... Continue reading…

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge YouTube has adjusted its ad-friendly content guidelines to allow breastfeeding videos with nudity — but only in cases when a child is present — as well as videos with twerking, grinding, and other “sensual” types of dancing. The platform updated its guidelines on Thursday with the changes, which will carry over to gaming videos as well.Previously, breastfeeding videos on YouTube that showed a visible areola were not eligible to earn ad revenue. Similarly, choreography videos that showed twerking, grinding, or in which the dancer wore minimal clothing were demonetized under YouTube’s policy. The new updates read as follows: Breastfeeding: Breastfeeding content where a child is present, even with visible areola, can now earn ad... Continue reading…

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge Discord is shutting down Clyde, its experimental AI chatbot. In a support note, Discord says the chatbot will be “deactivated” at the end of the month, and that by December 1st “users will no longer be able to invoke Clyde in DMs, Group DMs or server chats.”Discord first started testing Clyde’s AI features earlier this year, using OpenAI’s models to let the chatbot answer questions and have conversations with Discord users. It has been in limited testing ever since, and the company had planned to make it a fundamental part of its chat and communities app. Image: Discord The Clyde AI chatbot. It’s not clear why Clyde is suddenly shutting down. It’s possible the chatbot may return as a paid Nitro-only feature... Continue reading…

Image: Valve Valve’s new Steam Deck OLED just went on sale today, but there are goodies for the original LCD model, too — the company is now rolling out a stable build of SteamOS 3.5.5 with a hefty list of fixes, changes, and upgrades.Some of the biggest are ones we’ve already seen in a September beta, like support for VRR and HDR external displays, the ability to tweak your screen’s color and undervolt your processor with new firmware, and a graphics driver update with a big performance improvement for Starfield (though it still looks like mud in cities). But there’s one thing on the list I didn’t expect: The update gives the official $79 Steam Deck Dock the new ability to support VRR external monitors itself. (Last I checked, the Steam Deck Dock... Continue reading…

A traditional button in place of a cutout. | Image: Bellroy Two months after some case makers were wrong-footed by Apple’s decision to replace the mute switch with an Action Button on the iPhone 15 Pro lineup, Bellroy has released an updated range of cases. Unlike the first run, which had a cutout over the Action Button that could make it hard to reach in and press, the new designs have a more standard integrated button.“The new design includes another button on the case to give the same functionality and experience as the actual device. It’s a lot more natural and seamless,” says Bellroy’s head of product development Arya Ghavifekr. Bellroy says anyone who bought its first run of cases with the cutout will be able to exchange them for the new model. It’s continuing to sell the old cases that... Continue reading…