The Verge·Wednesday, December 17, 2025

The Verge - Wednesday, December 17, 2025

10 stories~15 min

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Stories Covered

Amazon has a new leader for its ‘AGI’ group as it plays catch-up on AI

Amazon's head of artificial general intelligence (AGI), Rohit Prasad, is leaving the company next year as it reaches an "inflection point" in its development of the technology, CEO Andy Jassy announced on Wednesday. As part of the change, Peter DeSantis, a senior vice president at Amazon Web Services, will helm a new division focused on the company's most advanced AI models, chip development, and quantum computing. Prasad joined Amazon in 2013 and played a key role in the evolution of the compan

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Video game hardware sales had a historically bad November in the US

Spending on video game hardware during November totalled $695 million, a drop of 27 percent compared to last year, according to market analyst company Circana, "This is the lowest video game hardware spending total for a November month since the $455M reached during the November 2005 tracking period," Circana says. In addition, 1.6 million units of hardware were sold in the US in November, which is "the lowest total for a November month since 1995 (1.4 million)." The rising costs of consoles pro

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The best Bluetooth trackers for Apple and Android phones

Bluetooth trackers come in all shapes and sizes. | Illustration: Cath Virginia / The Verge Some people rarely lose things. Wallets are always exactly where they’re supposed to be, keys never go missing, and remotes never slip between the couch cushions. And then there’s the rest of us — the folks who can’t ever seem to find the thing that was right there a few seconds ago. For us, there are Bluetooth trackers. Bluetooth trackers have been around for a long time, and they all generally work the

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AI toys are telling kids how to find knives, and senators are mad

Sexual fetish content. How to light a match. Where to find knives in the home. These are all conversation topics that recently-recalled children's toys - built atop AI chatbots like OpenAI's GPT-4o - are capable of bringing up to children. On Tuesday, U.S. senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) sent a letter to toy companies about their concerns - including a list of questions and a deadline for the companies to respond by January 6, 2026. "Many of these toys are

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The Oscars will stream on YouTube in 2029

The Oscars are headed to YouTube - in a few years. "Beginning in 2029, the Oscars will broadcast exclusively on YouTube for free globally and on YouTube TV in the U.S.," YouTube announced. YouTube's coverage will include the red carpet, behind the scenes content, and Governors Ball access. The deal runs through 2033, according to an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences press release shared by The Hollywood Reporter. ABC will continue to broadcast the Oscars through the 100th edition of t

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Maximus is more important than ever in Fallout season 2

As we tuck into Fallout season 2, eager to see Amazon bring New Vegas to life, there's one person who stands out - and not just because of his power armor. Knight Maximus of the Brotherhood of Steel is the most important of Fallout's three main characters, and I'm glad the new season is finally getting into why. Each member of the cast represents one of the factions warring over control of the Mojave Desert. The vault dwellers have the doggedly optimistic Lucy (Ella Purnell), the wretches of the

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Tesla would have to rein in FSD under new Democratic bill

Tesla and other automakers working on Level 2 and higher driving systems would be required to restrict their vehicles to specific road types or clearly defined operational domains under a new bill introduced today by Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey (D). Operational design domains, or ODDs, are a set of conditions, either geographic or weather-related, in which an autonomous or partially autonomous vehicle can operate. Examples include the city maps in which Waymo's Level 4 autonomous robotaxis

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Billionaires want data centers everywhere, including space

Tech billionaires have been obsessed with space for a long time. Now, as the largest AI companies race to build more data centers in a frenzied pursuit of profitability, space is looking less like a pet project and more like a commercial opportunity. In 2025 alone, six proposals for giant AI data centers needing multiple gigawatts of power - a capacity only rumored of in 2024 - have been announced. Earthlings are catching on to the fact that power-hungry data centers take up land and water, whil

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ESPN is debuting a new data-filled Monday Night Football stream next week

A new Monday Night Football broadcast will offer an alternate telecast that presents the game live from the All-22 camera angle that shows the entire field, coupled with on-screen analytics and commentary. It's called MNF Playbook with Next Gen Stats, and it premieres next week. To develop the show, ESPN partnered with sports data analytics platform Adrenaline, which uses an AI model trained on hundreds of thousands of NFL plays to predict run-pass probabilities, blitz likelihoods, and more. "

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Mercedes-Benz discontinues feature that syncs music to driving

Mercedes-Benz sent out a notice to customers recently announcing its plans to discontinue MBUX Sound Drive, an interactive audio feature that syncs music to the car's actions. The feature was first announced less than a year ago at CES in partnership with Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.i.am. Notices went out recently to customers that MBUX Sound Drive would be turned off on December 17th, according to one email obtained by The Verge. "We are working to continue to offer you comparable, innovativ

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