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The US Capitol is seen ahead of a possible government shutdown in Washington, DC, January 29, 2026. | AFP via Getty Images Hello and welcome to Regulator, a newsletter for Verge subscribers about the most ambitious crossover event of all time: the infinity war between technology and politics. Not subscribed yet? Come on, do it! Washington might seem slower than Silicon Valley. But that's because it's more turbulent. In order to achieve anything, one has to navigate the sheer amount of chaos that emerges when thousands of federal elected officials, staffers, political appointees, lobbyists, corporations, lawyers, journalists, and influencers are trying to push their interests, often at the same time. For the past 20-odd issues of Regulator , I've written weekly … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/63oQhRf

Some users are having trouble onboarding Ikea’s new Matter-compatible smart home products. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge I've spent the last couple of weeks trying - and mostly failing - to test Ikea's new Matter-over-Thread gear. These highly anticipated smart home devices include programmable buttons, smart bulbs, plugs, and temperature and motion sensors - all of which should work with any smart home platform and start at just $6. But I've hit several walls trying to connect them to any smart home platform, and I'm not alone. The Tradfri subreddit is filled with Ikea customers sharing similar frustrations, reviews on Ikea's website point to issues, and colleagues at The Verge have also been having problems. Of the six devices I've tried to connect, I've … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/Lxak6FC

OpenClaw, the AI agent that has exploded in popularity over the past week, is raising new security concerns after researchers uncovered malware in hundreds of user-submitted "skill" add-ons on its marketplace. In a post on Monday , 1Password product VP Jason Meller says OpenClaw's skill hub has become "an attack surface," with the most-downloaded add-on serving as a "malware delivery vehicle." OpenClaw - first called Clawdbot, then Moltbot - is billed as an AI agent that "actually does things," such as managing your calendar, checking in for flights, cleaning out your inbox, and more. It runs locally on devices, and users can interact with t … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/9QsRw82

The Super Bowl is not only one of the biggest sporting events in the world, it’s also one of the best times of year to find a deal on a big TV. For major events in particular, a large TV makes sense because it provides a more immersive experience and allows for groups of friends to gather and enjoy the game together. And as interest in big TVs grows, the prices continue to come down, making them more accessible than ever — especially during sales you’ll find this week. Which TV is best for you and your space will depend on a few factors: how much light is in your room, how big of a TV can you accommodate, what your viewing habits are (beyond the Super Bowl), and of course what your budget is. But luckily there are plenty of good TVs in different  sizes and price ranges to choose from. Samsung S95F Where to Buy: $2197.99 $1897.99 at Amazon (55-inch) $2997.99 $2297.99 at Amazon (65-inch) $3299.99 $2299.99 at Best Buy (65-inch) There are a few reasons why the S95F is ...

On Monday, Elon Musk announced that he was merging two of his companies , SpaceX and xAI, in a deal said to be worth $1.25 trillion. The reason, Musk said in an announcement , was that in order for AI to grow, it needed to go to space. AI relies on "large terrestrial data centers" that run on "immense amounts of power and cooling," he said, which comes at great expense to the environment and community opposition. The solution: data centers in space. "In the long term, space-based AI is obviously the only way to scale," Musk said. Musk isn't the only one looking to launch data centers into orbit. Google has Project Suncatcher to build solar- … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/DEbnkhj

Microsoft says it is working on the Publisher Content Marketplace (PCM), an AI licensing hub that shows usage terms set by publishers. That way, AI companies can easily shop the terms and set up deals to use online content for "grounding" their AI models, while the content owners get usage-based reporting to help set prices. Microsoft says it's been codesigning PCM with companies including Verge parent Vox Media, The Associated Press, Condé Nast, People, and others. The AI boom has been largely fueled by content ingested without payment, and many of the previously mentioned publishers have filed lawsuits and/or arranged content licensing de … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/jcS5sp9

Apple is building OpenAI and Anthropic's AI-powered coding agents directly into Xcode. New integrations in Xcode 26.3 will give developers the ability to call upon Anthropic's Claude Agent and OpenAI's Codex to write and edit code, update project settings, search documentation, and more. Xcode is the software developers can use to create and test apps for the iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch, and Apple TV. Both Claude and ChatGPT were previously available inside Xcode, but this latest update will allow AI agents to take action inside the app, rather than just provide coding assistance. Apple is also making Xcode available through the Model … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/ebxGo2h

If you’re looking for a versatile gift for Valentine’s Day that can be sentimental and practical, Amazon’s fourth-generation Echo Show 8 can serve as both a digital photo frame and a smart home controller. And right now, it’s on sale at Amazon for $149.99 ($30 off) — a new low price — as part of the retailer’s ongoing Super Bowl sale, which also includes discounts on the Echo Show 11 and Echo Dot Max . You can also currently grab it at Best Buy and Target for the same price. Amazon Echo Show 8 (fourth-gen) Where to Buy: $179.99 $149.99 at Amazon $179.99 $149.99 at Best Buy $179.99 $149.99 at Target The latest Show 8 features a slimmer, sleeker profile than its predecessor , with a sharper, more responsive 8.7-inch display and an attractive fabric-covered design. It features a 13-megapixel camera with improved zoom, and can adapt on-screen content based on who’s using it. It also features wider viewing angles and new front-facing stereo speakers, allowing for superi...

Emails released by the Justice Department on Friday appear to show that former Windows boss Steven Sinofsky not only consulted Jeffrey Epstein for help in securing his $14 million "retirement" package in November of 2012 , but also in working on future career steps at other companies like Samsung or Apple. One document appears to show that a couple of weeks after Sinofsky's departure was announced, Epstein wrote to him saying Apple CEO Tim Cook was "excited to meet." There was just one hitch, though: Epstein said Cook had heard Sinofsky was starting a company with "farstall." Epstein wasn't sure of the spelling - many of his messages have t … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/p8MXnCS

The RetroVa kit looks almost identical to PGYTech’s accessories for Vivo and Oppo. | Image: PGYTech PGYTech, the accessory manufacturer behind the official telephoto extender lenses for recent Vivo and Oppo flagships, has launched a Kickstarter for a new version developed for iPhones. The RetroVa Vintage Imaging Kit looks an awful lot like the camera kits for those phones, complete with a custom case, slide-on camera grip with built-in battery and manual controls, and of course a 2.35x telephoto lens extender. This is the first to include a microSD slot though. There are versions for iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max, and iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max. Since it's unofficial, the telephoto will only work in PGYTech's camera app, not Apple's. Other co … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/61OKbIX

When you picture a virtual reality headset user, you're probably not picturing someone like Sherry Dickson. At 69, the snowy-haired, retired elementary school teacher hops into her Meta Quest headset five days a week, for roughly 60 to 90 minutes at a time. She's not attending live concerts or watching immersive films. Dickson, a fitness buff since Jane Fonda workout videos in the '80s, largely uses her headset for one reason - to play Supernatural , a VR fitness game with a huge, loyal fan base and a tight-knit community. Supernatural isn't dead, but it might as well be. A few weeks ago, Meta shut down three VR studios as part of broader l … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/AB8RqFx

Reports of Bill Gates' connections with Jeffrey Epstein grow more lurid with each dump of documents from the Department of Justice. The latest includes somewhat confusing emails that Epstein may have been drafting on behalf of someone named Boris , who worked at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The messages claim that Bill contracted an STD and wanted to "surreptitiously" give Melinda antibiotics. It also claims that Bill had "trysts" with married women and "Russian girls." In a statement to Business Insider , a spokesperson for Bill Gates said: "These claims are absolutely absurd and completely false. The only thing these documents dem … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/3J0o4ad

After protests broke out in early January, the Iranian regime shut down the internet, starting the longest blackout in Iranian history. Despite this attempt to stop the protests from spreading, they did not stop. Still, the internet shutdown slowed down the spread of information both inside and outside Iran. Behind the heavily policed borders and the jammed signals, an unprecedented wave of state violence continues to add to a death toll somewhere between 3,000 and 30,000. Even at the lowest count, which has been acknowledged by the Iranian state and is likely a wild underestimate, these last few weeks have been one of the bloodiest uprisi … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/2htERY9

This is The Stepback , a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on Android phones, follow Dominic Preston . The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started Samsung's Galaxy S20 Ultra wasn't the first phone to feature a periscopic telephoto lens - both Huawei and Oppo beat the Korean company to it - but it was the first in the US to make such a big deal about it. Almost all of Samsung's marketing for the S20 Ultra centered on its so-called Space Zoom , its 5x optical folded periscope lens, capable of digitally zooming much further. Samsung even … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/4gVMZyX