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Microsoft trumps Google with $30 billion investment in the UK

Microsoft trumps Google with $30 billion investment in the UK

Microsoft’s former store in London. | Photo: Getty Images Microsoft is announcing that it’s investing £22 billion (around $30 billion) in the UK to help support AI infrastructure and ongoing operations from 2025 through 2028. The investment includes $15 billion in capital expenditures to build a supercomputer to support AI demand and adoption. “This will account for more than two-thirds of the tech sector’s total investment announcements in the UK that are being made this week,” says Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith in a press briefing attended by The Verge. “We’re focused on British pounds, not empty tech…
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Facebook gave our data to Cambridge Analytica and all I got was this $38.36

Facebook gave our data to Cambridge Analytica and all I got was this $38.36

Remember back in 2023, when we told you how to get your cut of a $725 million class action settlement? A couple of years later, that money is going out. I received an email earlier this week saying my claim had been approved in In re: Facebook, Inc. Consumer Privacy User Profile Litigation, a class action settlement that covered anyone who had a Facebook account between 2007 and 2022. The agreement settled a variety of privacy accusations against Facebook (now Meta), including that it allowed Cambridge Analytica and others to improperly access user data. Earlier today I got the money…
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The Supreme Court is Google’s last hope to avoid an Epic reckoning in October

The Supreme Court is Google’s last hope to avoid an Epic reckoning in October

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is done with its role in the Epic Google case, and Google won’t be happy with the result. On Friday, the court completely denied its petition to have its Epic v. Google case re-heard — and pressed play on a permanent injunction that will force Google to begin cracking open its Android app store. Unless or until the US Supreme Court decides to hear the case, Google will be forced to let developers bypass its Google Play Billing app store payment system, and let them link to outside app store downloads, within 30 days.…
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Meta leaks its new smart glasses with a display

Meta leaks its new smart glasses with a display

An unlisted and now-removed video from Meta showed off a new pair of Ray-Ban branded smart glasses with a display and a wristband to help control them, as reported by UploadVR. The video also features a new pair of wraparound “Sphaera” Oakley smart glasses with a camera on the nose, meaning that Meta itself may have inadvertently leaked two of its biggest announcements from its Connect event this week. For the glasses with a display, the video includes branding that says “Meta | Ray-Ban” and “Display,” so perhaps Meta will call them the Meta Ray-Ban Display. Based on a brief…
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What’s next for Apple after the iPhone 17?

What’s next for Apple after the iPhone 17?

We only just put Apple's iPhone 17 launch event behind us, but Bloomberg's Mark Gurman is already glancing into his crystal ball to see what's next for the company. In today's Power On newsletter Gurman says that there are at least 10 more products from Apple that are expected to launch either later this year or in the first half of 2026. Some of those products have been rumored for some time, or are just kind of obvious upgrades. The M5 iPad Pro, for instance, is a matter of when not if. Though the rumors that it will have a…
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Rolling Stone’s parent company sues Google over AI Overviews

Rolling Stone’s parent company sues Google over AI Overviews

Disclosure: Penske Media Corporation is an investor in Vox Media, The Verge’s parent company. Penske Media Corporation, the publisher of Rolling Stone and The Hollywood Reporter, has become the first major American media company to sue Google over its AI summaries. The company claims that the AI Overviews that often appear at the top of search results leave users with little reason to click through to the source, hurting traffic and illegally benefitting from the work of its reporters.  While Penske Media is the biggest name to take on Google over its AI Overviews, it’s not the first. Online education…
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The Helldivers community is coping with a spotlight it doesn’t want

The Helldivers community is coping with a spotlight it doesn’t want

"Yesterday was an interesting day for the Helldivers community." That's the very obvious understatement that announced the reopening of the Helldivers gaming subreddit in the small hours of Saturday morning. On Friday it was discovered that Tyler Robinson, arrested for the alleged killing of Charlie Kirk, had inscribed messages on the casings of several bullets found at the crime scene. One of those read "Hey fascist! Catch!" accompanied by an up arrow symbol, a right arrow, and three down arrows, a reference to the code to call down the 500KG Bomb stratagem in the cooperative shooter Helldivers 2. Unsurprisingly, within…
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Scarlet turns Shakespeare into an animated fantasy epic

Scarlet turns Shakespeare into an animated fantasy epic

Scarlet. Well, I was wrong, and I did manage to make it to one last day at the Toronto International Film Festival. One of the movies I wanted to see the most this year was Scarlet, the latest from Mamoru Hosoda, whose most recent film was the metaverse fairy tale Belle. Whereas that film was a reimagining of Beauty and the Beast, Scarlet is a twist on Hamlet that's full of bold, creative ideas. I mostly enjoyed it, but unfortunately it's saddled with an ending that doesn't really fit. I also managed to squeeze in two other films: a Korean…
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In Silksong, spite is my motivation to keep playing

In Silksong, spite is my motivation to keep playing

I would not call the time I'm having with Hollow Knight: Silksong "fun," and yet I'm still playing. In the depths of The Marrow, the second major area of Silksong, there's a particularly nasty midboss. I eventually beat him, but my reward wasn't a new ability, item, or a bench where I could rest and save my progress. All I got was pain, suffering, and death. In Silksong, the only way out is through, but the "through" is a tunnel lined with spikes that occasionally spew gouts of flame. I should have given up right then and there, but I…
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Liam Hemsworth is Geralt in the first Witcher season 4 trailer

Liam Hemsworth is Geralt in the first Witcher season 4 trailer

It’s been a few years since Netflix confirmed that Liam Hemsworth would be taking over as Geralt of Rivia in the live-action Witcher series. And while we caught a brief glimpse of him in action last year, the first proper clip from season 4 of the show reveals just how Hemsworth will be inhabiting the role — including his take on Geralt’s signature growling voice. In addition to giving us a better look at Geralt, Netflix also confirmed that The Witcher’s newest season is coming out pretty soon: it will start streaming on October 30th. The show’s end is in…
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