Google unveils 6 new Chromebooks, including fresh Chromebook Plus laptops with more AI

Google has rolled out a new wave of Chromebook features, including new generative AI tools and a centerstage spot for its Gemini chatbot on its Chromebook Plus laptops. They'll soon be available on existing machines through an automatic update, but if you're due for a new laptop, you can get them at launch on half a dozen new models.

Read on for a brief overview of all the new Chromebooks:

Standard Chromebooks now support GIF screen recordings, one-click access to Google Tasks,...

Gemini now lives in 'Chromebook Plus': 5 new AI features, including playing tic-tac-toe with your face

Imagine my surprise when Google unveiled Chromebook Plus — a new Gemini-powered line of ChromeOS laptops — and demoed an AI feature in which one can use their face, yes you read correctly, face to play Tic-Tac-Toe.

And that just scratches the surface.

With Gemini, a ChatGPT rival, running the show on these new ChromeOS laptops, Chromebooks are more appealing than ever. Last week, the search-engine giant hosted a press event to showcase Gemini's capabilities on these new Chromebook Plus...

Trump’s Trial Has Entered Its Final Stages. Here’s What Comes Next.

In the seventh week of trial, closing arguments will be made and the jury will start deliberations.

Avoid Food Poisoning On Your Vacation By Skipping These Foods At Your Hotel's Breakfast Buffet

Food safety experts say "you only need a couple cells" of contaminants "to really cause havoc.”

View Entire Post ›

Why Microsoft bet on Surface

Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge

Almost 12 years ago, Microsoft showed us the Surface for the first time. Back then, the company’s big bet was that the laptop market was ready for a shake-up, that it could radically change both the hardware and software of a Windows PC and make everything better. Windows 8 didn’t go so well, and neither did the early attempts at building Windows on top of Arm processors. The Surface, though, has turned into a pretty great device.

Now, Microsoft is...

Microsoft confirms Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is coming to Xbox Game Pass

Image: Activision

Microsoft is confirming today that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, the next installment in the popular franchise, will be available day one on Xbox Game Pass. After a premature notification earlier today, an official Xbox Wire blog post has now revealed that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be available on Microsoft’s game subscription service later this year.

“We’re excited to confirm that Game Pass members will be able to jump into Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 on day...

OpenAI has a new safety team — it’s run by Sam Altman

Illustration: The Verge

OpenAI is forming a new safety team, and it’s led by CEO Sam Altman, along with board members Adam D’Angelo and Nicole Seligman. The committee will make recommendations on “critical safety and security decisions for OpenAI projects and operations” — a concern several key AI researchers shared when leaving the company this month.

For its first task, the new team will “evaluate and further develop OpenAI’s processes and safeguards.” It will then...

OpenAI confirms GPT-4 successor in training stage

OpenAI is training a new prime AI model to succeed its current GPT-4.

First reported by The New York Times and announced in a blog post, the company is working on a successor to the artificial intelligence model that fuels its well-known chatbot, ChatGPT.

"OpenAI has recently begun training its next frontier model and we anticipate the resulting systems to bring us to the next level of capabilities on our path to AGI," reads the post, published Tuesday.

Here's What Employees With ADHD Want Their Co-Workers To Know

An estimated 8.7 million U.S. adults have ADHD — and there are still too many misunderstandings about how it shows up at work.

View Entire Post ›

11 Famous People Who Spilled About Horrible Behavior On Set Without Naming Names

Chloë Grace Moretz shared that a former costar body-shamed her and said that he would never date her in real life because she was "too big."

View Entire Post ›

32 Pictures That Make Me Smile Like A Big, Dumb Idiot No Matter How Many Times I've Seen Them

You need this. You really do.

View Entire Post ›

Bella Hadid Wore A Keffiyeh Dress To Cannes Film Festival In Solidarity With Her Heritage

View Entire Post ›

Chromebooks Will Get Gemini and New Google AI Features

Google is bringing Gemini and a slew of AI-powered features to ChromeOS, and there are about seven new Chromebooks coming this year.

T-Mobile signs a $4.4 billion deal to buy most of US Cellular

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

T-Mobile has agreed to purchase parts of regional wireless carrier US Cellular in a $4.4 billion deal that includes US Cellular’s wireless customers, stores, and approximately 30 percent of spectrum assets. US Cellular will retain ownership of its towers and “approximately 70 percent of its spectrum portfolio across several spectrum bands,” with T-Mobile entering a long-term arrangement to lease space on more than 2,000 towers.

According...

Ronald Acuña’s season-ending injury means the path to October just got more complicated for the Braves

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The Phillies are crazy hot and the Braves have already lost two of their best players for the season. This won't be an easy run to the Postseason for Atlanta.

Let’s just roll out of the gate here with some basic numbers. In 2023, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Austin Riley played 159 games for the Atlanta Braves. Ozzie Albies played 148 games. Sean Murphy played 108 games. Spencer Strider pitched the most innings of any Braves pitcher at 186.2 innings...

An ode to Karl-Anthony Towns, the most annoying guy in the NBA

Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

Karl-Anthony Towns made us cheer, cry and cringe during the 2024 NBA playoffs.

In 2022, after walking off the court like Eva Perón as portrayed by Madonna, after finishing seventh in the West and bowing out with an unremarkable, 2-4 first round loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves Center Karl Anthony Towns took out a one-page ad that easily could’ve been an email in the Star Tribune, thanking fans for the season, and...

YouTube is cracking down further on adblockers

YouTube is continuing its crackdown on people using an adblocker.

On subreddit r/youtube, users who have adblockers enabled are reporting strange behavior such as muted videos or videos that automatically skip to the end. One user posted an example of a video skipping to the very end when played.

According to the post and comments, users who try to replay the video simply encounter the same problem again. Several others pointed out additional issues with sound: "there's no sound whenever i...

36 Products That’ll Make Your Yard The Envy Of The Block

Your neighbor's attempt at "curb appeal" doesn't even come close.

View Entire Post ›

Friends Fans Gather Round, Test Your Knowledge With This 11-Question Quiz

I hope you remember what the Joey special is.

View Entire Post ›

37 Products So Shockingly Effective, You’ll Feel Like You Waved A Magic Wand At Your Problems

Because solving your life's greatest issues really should be *that* easy.

View Entire Post ›