The Verge·Friday, January 9, 2026

The Verge - Friday, January 9, 2026

10 stories~15 min

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Stories Covered

The latest on Grok’s gross AI deepfakes problem

The launch of an AI image editing feature on xAI’s Grok has caused chaos on X after it was used to generate a flood of nonconsensual sexualized deepfakes. As Hayden Field wrote, “screenshots show Grok complying with requests to put real women in lingerie and make them spread their legs, and to put small children in bikinis.” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the deepfakes “disgusting,” saying, “X need[s] to get their act together and get this material down. And we will take action on this be

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Meta expands nuclear power ambitions to include Bill Gates’ startup

Meta has forged agreements with three nuclear power providers in an effort to secure the vast amount of electricity it needs to power AI data centers. The agreements with TerraPower (which is backed by Bill Gates), Oklo (backed by Sam Altman), and Vistra are expected to deliver 6.6 gigawatts of energy for Meta's projects by 2035 - which is enough energy to power Ireland. These AI projects include Prometheus, the first of several supercluster computing systems, which is expected to come online in

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Black Mirror has been renewed for another season

In an interview with Netflix's Tudum, Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker announced today that the sci-fi anthology series will be returning for an eighth season. "Well, luckily it does have a future, so I can confirm that Black Mirror will return, just in time for reality to catch up with it," Brooker said. "That chunk of my brain has already been activated and is whirring away." Brooker didn't go into detail about what kinds of new Black Mirror stories he plans to tell next, but he explained

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I can’t find the Trump phone at America’s largest tech show

Where's the Trump phone? We're going to keep talking about it every week. We've reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump phone's whereabouts. As usual, we're still waiting for a response. In the meantime, it's nowhere to be found at CES 2026. CES isn't a big smartphone show, but there have been more new handsets here than I expected. Samsung gave us our first hands-on look at the Galaxy Z TriFold, Motorola launched its first book-style Razr Fold, and phone keyboard company Clicks revealed i

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I’ve tested the latest Switch 2 controllers, and this one is the best

If you choose to get an extra controller for your Nintendo Switch 2, you can spend a lot — and get a lot in return. Buying Nintendo’s own $89 Switch 2 Pro Controller, for instance, will net you the console’s only wireless controller with a 3.5mm headphone jack for private listening, not to mention great-feeling rumble, OS-level rear button customization, and a slick design. It’s not perfect, but it’s the total package. But it’d be a disservice to you to call it a day there. There are several th

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The first sets with Lego’s new Smart Brick are now available for preorder

Lego’s new sets will make Star Wars sound effects for you. | Image: Lego It may have been one of the smallest devices announced at CES 2026, but Lego's new Smart Brick was also one of the most talked about debuts of the show. We've recognized it as the "Best in show" in our CES 2026 awards, and following the Smart Play system's launch earlier this week, the first three sets featuring the new Smart Brick are now available for preorder. Lego is introducing its Smart Brick to the world as part of

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Baldur’s Gate 3 studio says it won’t use AI for concept art or writing

Shadowheart contemplates a powerful artifact in Baldur’s Gate 3 Following some controversy, the developers at Baldur's Gate 3 creator Larian Studios have further clarified their use of generative AI. CEO Swen Vincke and other Larian developers held an AMA on Reddit where they answered users' questions about the team's next title, Divinity. They also fielded questions related to reports that the studio was using generative AI in its development process. "So first off - there is not going to be

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Democrats ask Apple and Google to remove X’s undressing bot from their app stores

Apple and Google are being dragged into the uproar around X's AI chatbot that has continued to virtually undress women in images without their consent this week. In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), and Ed Markey (D-MA) wrote that "X's generation of these harmful and likely illegal depictions of women and children has shown complete disregard for your stores' distribution terms." X users have identified several cases where

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Anker’s new AeroFit Pro 2 earbuds are already $30 off

We saw a ton of cool new products at CES 2026, but not all of them made the cut when it came to deciding what was best of show. One of those products that we nevertheless think holds promise is Anker’s AeroFit Pro 2, which are wireless earbuds that can double as open-ear headphones. You pick the mode you want: wedge them into your ears for better sound enhanced by active noise cancellation, or let them pump out sound near your ears so that you can keep stay tuned into your surroundings. By using

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You can break apart and share this 10K power bank like a KitKat bar

The Champ Stack 10K is one of the first power banks you can safely break in two. | Image: Nimble Accessory maker Nimble announced a new power bank at CES 2026 that will appeal to anyone who's had to reluctantly share or loan their portable charger to someone else. The Champ Stack 10K looks like a typical 10,000mAh power bank that's jumped on the built-in charging cable bandwagon, but it has one interesting difference: you can break it in two - without damaging it - so two people can charge the

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