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TikTok
Jay Peters
Here’s a video about the amazing drone footage from the Winter Olympics.

These shots have been so cool!

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External Link
Jay Peters
Where is the Steam Deck OLED?

It’s out of stock in the US and in parts of Asia, as reported by Windows Central. We reached out to Valve this morning to ask about it, but didn’t get a reply.

Wonder if it’s partly due to the component supply shortages that will affect the price of the Steam Machine.

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External Link
Jay Peters
Russia has blocked WhatsApp.

“Trying to isolate over 100mn people from private and secure communication is a backwards step and can only lead to less safety for people in Russia,” WhatsApp says a statement to the Financial Times.

The block follows Telegram reportedly being restricted in the country.

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External Link
Jay Peters
Southwest is getting Starlink.

The first Southwest Airlines plane with Starlink will enter this service this summer, and Starlink is set to be available on “more than 300 aircraft” by the end of the year, Southwest says.

Southwest joins airlines like United, WestJet, and British Airways in bringing SpaceX’s Starlink to customers.

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Instagram
Jay Peters
Wyze is sticking it to Ring.
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External Link
Jay Peters
Severance could have at least four seasons.

A big inside baseball article by Deadline reports that a fourth season of the show, of which Apple has currently aired two seasons, is a “lock.” A fifth would be at the discretion of executive producers Dan Erickson and Ben Stiller. Apple aims to start shooting season three this summer.

The Verge’s 2026 Valentine’s Day gift guide (for him)

A collection of 32 gifts for your boyfriend, husband, friend, or partner that are more creative than cringe.

Brandon Widder and Cameron Faulkner
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Twitter
Lauren Feiner
FTC says it’s ‘not the speech police’ in letter warning Apple News about its alleged promotion of left-leaning outlets.

Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson warned Apple’s news product could violate a law against deceptive business practices if its alleged promotion of some ideological content violates its terms of service. Ferguson doesn’t cite specific terms it might have violated, but urges a “comprehensive review” to ensure they’re consistent.

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Twitter
Jay Peters
Diablo II: Resurrected is getting a new class today.

Diablo II: Resurrected — Reign of the Warlock is launching as a paid update with the Warlock class and some quality-of-life changes. (The game is now on Steam, too.) The update costs $24.99 on its own, or you can buy Resurrected with the update and the base game for $39.99.

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

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External Link
Stevie Bonifield
The New York Times uses a custom AI tool to monitor “manosphere” podcasts.

For the past year, the Times has been using LLMs to create what’s internally known as the “Manosphere Report,” according to Nieman Lab. The AI-generated reports include episode transcripts and summaries for around 80 primarily right-wing podcasts, including the Ben Shapiro Show, Red Scare, and The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show.

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External Link
Stevie Bonifield
Apple quietly acquired the graph database company Kuzu late last year.

The acquisition seems to have occurred in October 2025, as AppleInsider reports. Apple’s motivation for purchasing Kuzu remains a mystery, but graph databases like Kuzu’s could be used in Apple’s FileMaker Pro, Freeform, or iWork apps, or used for social features in other apps like Apple Music or Apple Games.

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Quote
Emma Roth
Ex-OpenAI researcher has “deep reservations” about its approach to ads.

In an op-ed for The New York Times, Zoë Hitzig, a researcher who left OpenAI this week, expresses concerns about the company’s move to put ads in ChatGPT, while posing alternatives to a setup that could potentially harm users down the line:

So the real question is not ads or no ads. It is whether we can design structures that avoid both excluding people from using these tools, and potentially manipulating them as consumers. I think we can.

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Richard Lawler
Sen. Markey calls on Amazon to “discontinue” Ring monitoring features.

Ring’s Super Bowl ad focused on how its cameras could be networked to find a missing dog, but for a lot of people, it highlighted the surveillance power hiding in those devices. Now Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) has sent a letter to Amazon saying, “Get this creepy technology away from our homes.”

You can read it in full here, but here’s a snippet:

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External Link
Jay Peters
Jason Momoa will star in Sony’s Helldivers movie.

The film is set to debut on November 10th, 2027, with Justin Lin directing, Deadline reports. Momoa is also starring in October’s Street Fighter movie and was part of the cast of A Minecraft Movie, which is getting a sequel in July 2027.

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Twitter
Stevie Bonifield
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov calls Russia’s restrictions an ‘authoritarian move.’

Durov responded to slowdowns and other issues users in Russia are experiencing in a post on X, saying, “This authoritarian move won’t change our course. Telegram stands for freedom and privacy, no matter the pressure.”

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External Link
Hayden Field
OpenAI reportedly disbanded its Mission Alignment team.

Members of the team — which was tasked with ensuring AGI benefits all of humanity — have been transferred to other areas of the company, and former team lead Joshua Achiam will take on a new role as OpenAI’s “chief futurist,” Platformer reported.

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External Link
Lauren Feiner
Advocacy group sues Trump officials for urging tech companies to remove ICE reporting tools.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) is suing Attorney General Pam Bondi and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for their alleged roles urging Meta and Apple to remove a Facebook group and app documenting ICE agents. FIRE claims they unconstitutionally coerced companies to censor speech. In a statement, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin accused FIRE of spinning “this correct decision for Apple to remove these apps as them caving to pressure instead of helping prevent further harm to federal officers.”

Update: Added DHS statement.

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Andrew J. Hawkins
Is Waymo getting ready to buy 50,000 Hyundai Ioniq 5s?

Chinese automotive publication Gasgoo says the new companies are in talks to dramatically increase Waymo’s fleet of Hyundai EVs. The deal could be worth around $2.5 billion, assuming $50,000 per vehicle. But even if the report is true, don’t expect Waymo’s robotaxi fleet to suddenly grow by 50,000: the company has said it plans on adding only 2,000 more vehicles in 2026, for a total fleet size of 3,500. Waymo is currently testing and validating the Ioniq 5 and the Zeekr RT as its next two robotaxis.

Waymo Hyundai Ioniq 5
Image: Waymo
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Youtube
Stevie Bonifield
Even gaming laptops are a subscription now.

HP has started offering subscriptions to rent its laptops, including its Victus and Omen gaming laptops ranging from $50 per month up to $129 per month, PC Gamer reports. There’s no option to own the laptop that you’re subscribed to, but HP will let you trade it in for an upgrade every year.

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Quote
Dominic Preston
The internet sometimes forgets.

You should always assume that anything online about you might well stay there forever, but don’t worry: so long as you have the budget of Jeffrey Epstein, you can probably make it go away.

Cav_man:

The internet never forgets anything unless you’re wealthy enough in which case it devolopes a healthy sense of amnesia.

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