A rival Tea app for men is leaking its users’ personal data and driver’s licenses

The newly launched app, now trending on Apple's App Store, contains at least one major security flaw that exposes the private information of its users, including their uploaded selfies and government-issued IDs.

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The Jurassic Park islands and dinos are coming to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024

Jurassic World: Archipelago is a new expansion pack for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 that lets aspiring pilots explore the five islands of the fictional Cinco Muertes Archipelago featured in the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies. Created by Australian developer Orbx that’s known for its flight sim add-ons, the expansion lets you visit many locations […]

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OpenAI teases GPT-5 launch event this Thursday

OpenAI is teasing a big announcement on Thursday, and based on a not-so-subtle clue, it seems like the news will be the reveal of its long-awaited GPT-5 AI model. In a post on X, OpenAI announced a “LIVE5TREAM THURSDAY 10AM PT” — notice that the “s” in the word livestream is swapped for a “5.” […]

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I tested Grok’s Valentine sex chatbot and it (mostly) behaved

It's Tuesday, August 5th, and I have awoken to the news that Valentine, Grok's latest spicy AI companion, has been released! As an OnlyFans content creator and someone who spends a lot of time being paid to sext humans, the idea of flipping the script and interacting with a brooding sex bot as the person […]

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Google swears it isn’t destroying the web with AI search

Google says its AI search features aren’t tanking website traffic despite recent reports suggesting otherwise. In a blog post published on Wednesday, Google Search head Liz Reid says click volume from the search engine has remained “relatively stable” when compared to the same time last year — though some types of websites are getting more […]

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Call of Duty’s PC anti-cheat will require Secure Boot on Windows

To better protect against cheaters, Activision says that Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 players on PC will need to use hardware with Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 and have Windows’ Secure Boot feature turned on when the game is available later this year. Ahead of that, Activision is doing a “phased rollout” of the […]

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Bose’s stylish SoundLink Home speaker is cheaper for the first time in months

Audio quality is always going to be a speaker’s most important feature, but it doesn’t hurt if it looks nice too. In our tests, Bose’s SoundLink Home is a solid sounding, aesthetically pleasing portable Bluetooth speaker that you can currently pick up for $199.99 ($20 off) from Amazon, Best Buy, and Bose. The SoundLink Home’s […]

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Microsoft is bringing its Xbox Copilot to the Windows Game Bar

Microsoft started testing its Xbox Copilot on iOS and Android earlier this year, and now it’s bringing the chatbot to the Game Bar feature on Windows 11. Xbox Insiders can start testing a preview of the Gaming Copilot integration in the Game Bar today, and Microsoft is planning “further optimizations” for this new feature on […]

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Introducing Regulator and The Stepback, our new subscriber-exclusive newsletters

Today, I'm excited to announce three newsletter offerings, exclusive to Verge subscribers, that will continue to deliver must-read stories about tech and beyond. First, we're introducing Regulator by Tina Nguyen. Regulator is focused on the battles between Big Tech and Big Government - from the juicy palace intrigue to the devastating consequences of their political […]

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Welcome to Regulator

You'll often see tech policy reporting described as the intersection of technology and politics, and for years, that was a pretty accurate description: Silicon Valley existed independent of Washington politics, and every so often, they'd cross paths, discuss some regulatory concern, write a check, shake hands, and then go their separate ways. This is no […]

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Welcome to The Stepback, a weekly breakdown of one essential story from across the tech world

I'm excited to announce The Stepback, a weekly subscriber-only newsletter that I'll be editing for The Verge. We'll be bringing you a new story each Sunday from a rotating cast of writers from every corner of the Verge extended universe. If you're a regular reader, you know we cover a broad range of topics across […]

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Citizen Lab director warns cyber industry about US authoritarian descent

Ron Deibert, the head of the prominent digital human rights groups Citizen Lab, sounds the alarm at the Black Hat security conference about the "dramatic descent into authoritarianism," but one that the cyber community can help to defend against.

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The Switch OLED went up in price, but you can still save $110

Nintendo recently made the unexpected decision to increase the prices of its last-gen Switch hardware due to “market conditions,” adding $30 to the cost of the $199.99 Switch Lite, $40 to the standard $299.99 Switch, and $50 to the $349.99 Switch OLED. The price difference between the Switch OLED and the standalone Switch 2 now […]

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A ‘unified’ Disney Plus could be the end of Hulu’s app

Disney is planning to fully integrate Hulu with Disney Plus, creating a “unified” app experience that will launch next year, the company announced as part of its earnings results on Wednesday. The new app will put all of Hulu’s content into Disney Plus, calling the future of Hulu’s standalone app into question. With Disney’s deal […]

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Sonos’ smart assistant is expanding from music to home control

Since its launch in 2022, the capabilities of Sonos Voice Control have expanded to include setting timers and checking the weather. But by the end of this year, the smart assistant will introduce compatibility with the Philips Hue smart home platform allowing it to also control lights through voice commands, according to Hueblog. In late […]

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Instagram adds a reposts feed and rips off Snap Maps

Instagram is getting several new features that pull from competitors, and it’s updating a controversial feature that it added earlier this year. Starting today, users will have the ability to repost public Reels and grid posts from other accounts. And similar to TikTok, reposts will be collected in a designated tab on your profile, as […]

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‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Adds New Sex Scene in Major Change From Book

The Summer I Turned Pretty used Conrad’s highly anticipated POV episode to make another change from the book series — this time with an extra sex scene. During the Wednesday, August 6, episode of the hit Prime Video show, it was Conrad’s (Chris Briney) time to shine as all of Us watched him yearn for […]

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Designer Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra Found Dead at Montauk Yacht Club at 33

Fashion designer Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra was found dead on a boat in Montauk at age 33. The Suffolk County Police Department confirmed Nolan-O’Slatarra’s identity on Tuesday, August 5, after a body was found just after midnight at the Montauk Yacht Club. According to ABC News, the East Hampton Town Police received a 911 call reporting that […]

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Cohere’s new AI agent platform, North, promises to keep enterprise data secure

Canadian AI firm Cohere is taking aim at alleviating data privacy concerns with its new AI agent platform, North, which can be deployed privately so that enterprises and governments can keep their, and customers', data safe behind their own firewalls. 

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Two arrested for smuggling AI chips to China; Nvidia says no to kill switches

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Tuesday that two Chinese nationals have been arrested for their alleged involvement in illegally shipping "tens of millions of dollars" worth of high-performance AI chips to China.

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Final call: TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 ticket savings end tonight

TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 marks 20 years of shaping the startup world — and tonight’s your last chance to save up to $675 on your ticket. From October 27–29, Disrupt returns to Moscone West in San Francisco. Join 10,000+ tech innovators, founders, VCs, and ecosystem builders for three days of high-impact programming, networking, and startup energy. […]

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Jeff Buckley died young but is immortalized in a new documentary

Jeff Buckley captivated an audience of generations with his transcendent voice and soaring guitar. After his untimely passing in 1997 at age 30, he gained posthumous, cult-like status. Never one for the charts, his album Grace has stood the test of time and is listed on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. His […]

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How Dave Franco Feels About Possibly Playing Luigi Mangione in a Movie

Dave Franco has seen the internet’s pleas for him to play accused UnitedHealthcare CEO assassin Luigi Mangione — and he could be interested. “No one has approached me about it yet, I’ll say that,” Franco, 40, shared during the Tuesday, August 6, episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen. “This is something that […]

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What Tracker’s Justin Hartley Said About Colter’s Mortality: ‘He Will Die’

Since Tracker premiered on CBS, Justin Hartley has taken it upon himself to remind viewers that his character Colter Shaw can — and will — die. Based on Jeffery Deaver‘s novel The Never Game, Tracker centers around a survivalist named Colter who travels the country helping find missing people (or sometimes dogs) and solving cases […]

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