Truth and AI in Minneapolis
Truth and AI in Minneapolis

When federal agents killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday morning, video of the shooting – from lots of people, and lots of angles, with wildly varying levels of quality – immediately began to fly around the internet. This is what always happens in times like these, and there have unfortunately been a lot of […]

Google Photos now lets you describe how to transform images into video
Google Photos now lets you describe how to transform images into video

Google is giving Photos users more control over the app’s generative AI photo-to-video feature. Google Photos now supports text prompts for video generation, according to the update announcement on Monday, allowing users to describe the specific movement, style, or effect they want to see when bringing still images to life. Text prompts join the existing […]

TikTok is still down, here are all the latest updates
TikTok is still down, here are all the latest updates

More than a day after TikTok’s issues began, TikTok USDS says the problems are the result of a power outage at a data center and subsequent cascading systems failure. Starting early Sunday morning, TikTok’s now under new ownership US arm started breaking down just a couple of days after Oracle & Co took the reins. […]

Even the big dick subreddit is mad about ICE
Even the big dick subreddit is mad about ICE

“Fuck ICE first, second, third, and fourth. Then worry about fucking me,” a Reddit post reads. “Immigrants of any status are my friends, neighbors, and colleagues.” Across the internet – and in the streets – the sentiment is unavoidable, especially after a federal immigration agent shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse, in Minneapolis […]

TikTokers are heading to UpScrolled following US takeover
TikTokers are heading to UpScrolled following US takeover

TikTok’s takeover in the US has prompted users to join an alternative social platform called UpScrolled. The app, which is available on Android and iOS, currently holds the 12th spot in Apple’s App Store, and it’s struggling to keep up with an influx of new traffic. “You showed up so fast our servers tapped out,” […]

Internal chats show how social media companies discussed teen engagement
Internal chats show how social media companies discussed teen engagement

Recently released documents show the big business opportunity that social media companies saw in recruiting teens to their platforms and how they discussed risks that heavy digital engagement could pose. The documents were released last week as part of a major set of trials brought by school districts, state attorneys general, and others against Meta, […]

TikTok blames its US problems on a power outage
TikTok blames its US problems on a power outage

TikTok says a power outage is causing ongoing issues and outages that started in the US early Sunday morning. In an email to The Verge, TikTok USDS spokesperson Jamie Favazza pointed to a statement posted to the joint venture’s newly-created X account, which says the company has been “working to restore our services following a […]

2026 is the year of social media’s legal reckoning
2026 is the year of social media’s legal reckoning

Over the next year, top social media executives are expected to take the witness stand to defend their companies from an avalanche of claims about their failure to protect kids. The first of many trials is set to begin this month in California, when Meta, TikTok, and YouTube face claims that tech addiction harmed a […]

TikTok USA is broken
TikTok USA is broken

TikTok has suffered from extensive problems on its first weekend after completing a transaction that changed the ownership of its US arm. According to Downdetector, the issues initially spiked in the early hours of Sunday morning, but many users, including editors here at The Verge, are still reporting errors. On Monday morning, TikTok USDS head […]

Get ready for the AI ad-pocalypse
Get ready for the AI ad-pocalypse

I’ll confess, with no shame whatsoever, that I really love ads. Artsy ones, funny ones, weird ones, emotional ones – TV commercials were my childhood TikTok before any of us were using terms like “short-form video.” But like most creative things in my life, AI is sucking the joy out of it. And it’s only […]