Jailed during the 2021 coup in Myanmar, American journalist Danny Fenster passed the time by meditating and listening to podcasts that had been smuggled in.
Prime Minister Netanyahu also said there were “many indications” the Ayatollah was dead, according to The New York Times, but the Iranian government has not confirmed his death. Trump’s post went on to claim that Iranian security forces “no longer want to fight,” though there has been no evidence suggest that yet.
[New York Times]
In 2022, Cortical Labs demonstrated a culture of lab-grown human brain cells playing Pong. Now the company claims it has trained its CL-1 chip, composed of 200,000 neurons, to play Doom. Data from the screen is translated into electrical stimulation, and the neurons respond with their own signals controlling Doomguy.
9
Verge Score
The X11L is TCL’s best TV ever, but with RGB LED TVs around the corner, is mini LED a dead end?
The band didn’t mince any words in the statement after a choral version of the song was used in a video claiming that “Thousands of American families have been torn apart because of criminal illegal alien violence,” saying:
We demand that the amateurs in control of the ICE social media account take it down. It ain’t funny, this song means a lot to us and other people, and you don’t get to appropriate it without a fight.
Also, go fuck yourselves… Radiohead
Dean Ball, who worked as a senior AI policy advisor, said on X that designating Anthropic as a “supply chain risk” or threatening to invoke the Defense Production Act could have a chilling effect on the entire industry. Alan Rozenshtein, a former DOJ official specializing in technology law, told Politico this could be the first step toward partial nationalization of the AI industry.
Epstein may not have fully understood crypto, but he helped shape its culture anyway.
I just reviewed the Leitzphone, a special edition of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra with a load of Leica twists: a refreshed industrial design including the iconic red dot, Leica-tweaked software, and a novel rotating camera ring that can control zoom and more. Thanks to great haptics, it’s also a top-tier fidget spinner.
Early on Saturday, the US and Israel launched a joint military strike on Iran. President Trump said in a video on Truth Social the goal is to “annihilate” the country’s military. He then directly addressed the Iranian people, saying that the country “will be yours to take.” The Iranian government launched retaliatory strikes on Israel and American bases in the area, including in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Kuwait.
You can get all the latest updates from The New York Times, NPR, BBC, and Reuters.
The Vision GT was designed to split the difference between performance on straights and corners, with a chassis that was “sculpted by the wind.” Apparently it’ll be on display at the MWC show floor, where hopefully I’ll get a better look at it.
The Xiaomi UltraThin Magnetic Power Bank 5000 is just 6mm thin thanks to its silicon-carbon battery, and only weighs 98g. It’s €59.99 (about $70) in Europe, but there’s a €5 premium if you want it in iPhone orange.
The Pad 8 and Pad 8 Pro have launched alongside the Xiaomi 17 phones. They’re not as thin as Honor’s upcoming MagicPad 4, but I suspect they’ll be good — the Pad 6 has been my go-to Android tablet for two years. Pick the €599.99 Pro ($700) for a faster chip, better cameras, and a matte display option.
CEO Sam Altman wrote on X that the agreement allowed the US military to “deploy our models in their classified network.” He said the agreement reflects OpenAI’s desire for prohibitions on domestic mass surveillance and “human responsibility for the use of force, including for autonomous weapon systems.” Altman also wrote that OpenAI is “asking the DoW to offer these same terms to all AI companies, which in our opinion we think everyone should be willing to accept.” This follows a rollercoaster week of negotiations between Anthropic and the Pentagon.
[X (formerly Twitter)]
It’s a posthumous one because, as Buzzfeed reported in 2019, someone on 4chan of all places confirmed Epstein’s death more than half an hour before the first media reports. Now, Business Insider reports that within the files recently released, there are documents showing how the Justice Department and FBI investigated by subpoenaing 4chan, T-Mobile, and AT&T, trying to find the source.
They were unsuccessful.
In his deep dive about PlayStation’s closure of Bluepoint Games, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier says that Bluepoint pitched a Bloodborne remake in 2025, but FromSoftware “didn’t want it to happen.” Bummer.
The 1TB version also reappeared this morning, but was gone before I could get up a Verge Quick Post. I’m moving faster this time! Here’s the store page. Valve warned on February 16th it’ll be intermittently out of stock because of RAMageddon. Wednesday was the Deck’s fourth anniversary. (Update: 1TB is back too, and hearing Canada has stock as well!)
If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.
Part of Rahman’s new role includes “community engagement,” he says. He’s joining Android after spending 10 years reporting on the platform.
Evercade has announced a new Rare-themed version of its Super Pocket handheld. It’s compatible with the company’s multi-title cartridges, but the $69.99 Super Pocket Rare Edition, launching in June, also features 14 built-in games from the developer including Battletoads, Conker’s Pocket Tales, and a version of Banjo-Kazooie optimized for the handheld’s D-pad.
Wuthering Heights being number one makes sense; it just got a blockbuster adaptation. But why is the 8-year-old self-help book from James Clear number two?
Spotify’s new lists also include genre-specific charts, so you don’t have to scroll past 37 steamy thrillers just to find your next dystopian sci-fi.
Those aren’t typos indicating I should get my head checked. Rather, it’s how the design reads on the new $99.99 Resident Evil Requiem-themed Switch 2 Pro controller. The custom look adds $10 to the already pricey gamepad that lacks more durable TMR joysticks found in great options that are less than half the cost.
If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.
Spokesperson Peter Ajemian tells The Verge that Apple has since removed the prompt, which showed up for UK users who downloaded the latest iOS 26.4 beta:
Some users on the beta software in the UK temporarily saw a message suggesting age verification is required to download apps. That message was displayed in error, and has been fixed. Developers may continue to use the Declared Age Range API to provide age appropriate experiences for users.
