Illustration: The Verge In Meta’s WhatsApp, users can generate stickers using AI prompts. The Guardian reported Friday that the AI model used to create those stickers sometimes generates images of children holding guns when prompted with “Palestine” and similar words. Meanwhile, according to the outlet, “Israel” prompts resulted in no such imagery.A month ago, Meta’s AI sticker generator started rolling out with the tendency to create inappropriately violent or crass imagery, including, yes, child soldiers. According to the article, an unnamed source said some of the company’s workers had flagged and escalated the issue with prompts related to the war in Israel. Meta spokesperson Kevin McAlister told The Verge via email that the company is addressing it,... Continue reading…

Are you looking to make the leap to ChromeOS? Or trying ChromeOS Flex on a non-Chromebook? There are some things you need to know before making the switch. Most likely, you're coming to ChromeOS from a Mac or Windows PC. While there's a lot about ChromeOS that might be familiar, it's a primarily cloud-based operating system, so things like ideas about required hardware specs go out the window.

Universal Serial Bus (USB) has long been the standard we rely on for all kinds of connectivity with our laptops and even phones. However, despite the "universal" branding, USB became a bit segmented over time, with laptops relying on USB Type-A, while peripherals like printers had USB Type-B, and phones relied mostly on micro-USB (also Type-B). Thankfully, things have been becoming more standardized again with the introduction of USB Type-C, which is on all the best laptops, most phones, and many peripherals. And with USB4, it's now more powerful than ever.

Miles Morales in the Across the Spider-Verse suit. | Image: Sony Interactive Entertainment For the art team at Insomniac Games, there’s one job that everyone seems to want: working on Spidey’s suits. Since the first Spider-Man game on the PS4, modeling the in-game suits has been “a hotly contested assignment” among the studio’s character team, according to senior art director Jacinda Chew. Over the course of three games, including the recently launched Spider-Man 2, the team has managed to add a huge number of unlockable suits, covering everything from the Across the Spider-Verse animated film to the internet’s favorite bodega cat. “That’s the treat,” says Chew, “to be able to work on a suit.”However, that wasn’t something that was obvious to her from the start. Chew says that it wasn’t until the first Spider-Man launched and... Continue reading…

Illustration: The Verge Just as OpenAI is preparing for its first-ever developer conference, a significant ChatGPT update has leaked. According to The Decoder, leaked screenshots and videos show a custom chatbot creator with many of the same features already available in ChatGPT using GPT-4, like web browsing and data analysis. OpenAI will apparently also have a new marketplace where users can share their chatbot or browse those made by others. A user called Choi posted a summary of the rumored updates a few days ago. This morning, SEO tools developer Tibor Blaho shared a video of the UI for the feature in action, showing a GPT Builder option that lets users enter a prompt — an example reads “make a creative who helps generate visuals for new products.” — to... Continue reading…

Apple sells a wide variety of excellent Macs, catering to different budgets and needs. What all of these computers have in common is support for mouse input to interact with apps on macOS Sonoma. While the MacBook Pro (M3, 2023) offers an integrated trackpad, models like the Mac Studio and Mac Mini require you to invest in a pointing device separately. To help you find a reliable product, we've listed some of the best wired and wireless mouse options for the Mac below.

Using a password manager is a no-brainer in 2023, especially if you happen to have too many online accounts. The best password managers not only secure your passwords, but they also generate unique passwords for you, and allow things like one-tap logins, secure password sharing, and more. There are plenty of reliable password managers out there that can help keep your online accounts safe, but if you're not ready to sign up for one yet, then consider checking out Google Password Manager.

Image: The Verge A new CNN report about the MSN AI model’s news aggregation kicks off with examples of questionable editorial calls, like highlighting a story claiming President Joe Biden dozed off during a moment of silence for Maui wildfire victims (he didn’t), or an obituary that inexplicably referred to an NBA player as “useless.” An editorial staff of humans probably would've spotted the problems. But Microsoft’s system, which continues to feel more like a social experiment than a helpful tool after ditching human efforts in favor of algorithms a few years ago, did not.That these stories were picked by MSN’s AI is no better than a travel guide Microsoft said was created by its algorithm and reviewed by a human that suggested Ottawa tourists grab a... Continue reading…

Apple sells a wider variety of excellent Macs that target different consumers. Its line of MacBooks happens to be popular among users due to the notebooks' portability, power, and energy efficiency. Nonetheless, finding the right MacBook can be a chore, especially when there are so many different variants out there. The 14-inch MacBook Pro (M3, 2023) and 13-inch MacBook Air (M2, 2022) happen to be two of the best laptop models currently available. Let's find out which notebook you should buy.

Illustration: William Joel / The Verge Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 13, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, so psyched you found us, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I’ve been watching Barbarian and No Hard Feelings, reading about the challenges of building “the next Twitter” and Marvel’s complicated future, using Pager to make sense of all my screenshots, and sending everyone this article about aphantasia to explain that no, I really don’t see pictures in my head, yes it’s wild, no I didn’t even realize other people could do that. I also have for you a couple of nifty AI tools, a robot vacuum, a bunch of new stuff about the new Beatles song, a Simpsons GIF... Continue reading…

Intel continues to dominate the gaming space with the launch of its 14th-generation CPUs. They're among the best CPUs for gaming, even as the company continues its fight for the performance crown with AMD. However, to maximize the capabilities of these new CPUs, you will need an equally capable motherboard that allows them to fully stretch their wings. That's why we've rounded the very best Intel motherboards you can pair with your 14th-generation CPU to maximize the performance of your new build.

Photo illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge Everything you need to know about the big app store trial kicking off November 6th. Continue reading…