How Project Maven taught the military to love AI

AirPods, Touch Bars, and the rest of Tim Cook’s legacy

We knew at some point Tim Cook would step down from his position as Apple’s CEO. Over the last year, it has become increasingly obvious that John Ternus was his likely successor. The news this week was still a surprise, though — and this year’s succession could lead to some important changes at the most influential company in tech. AirPods, Touch Bars, and the rest of Tim Cook’s legacy On The Vergecast: What’s next for Apple, the Xbox is back, and the Mythos mythology. On The Vergecast: What’s next for Apple, the Xbox is back, and the Mythos mythology. Verge subscribers, don’t forget you get exclusive access to ad-free Vergecast wherever you get your podcasts. Head here. Not a subscriber? You can sign up here. On this episode of The Vergecast, David and Nilay are joined by Daring Fireball’s John…

Musk vs. Altman is here, and it’s going to get messy

Elon Musk cofounded OpenAI, and then flounced off in a huff when he wasn’t anointed CEO, leaving Sam Altman as the last power-hungry man standing. Now, Musk is back with a lawsuit, and a trial is scheduled to start in Oakland, California, on April 27th. Theoretically, it’s a legal case about whether OpenAI defrauded Musk. But that’s not really what we’re all doing here. This is about mess. Musk vs. Altman is here, and it’s going to get messy It’s all about the court of public opinion. Musk vs. Altman is here, and it’s going to get messy It’s all about the court of public opinion. Over the past couple of years, Musk’s legal theories for punishing OpenAI have run the gamut from breach of contract to unfair business practices to false advertising. Now, he and Altman will be getting…

China’s DeepSeek previews new AI model a year after jolting US rivals

Chinese AI company DeepSeek released a preview of its hotly anticipated next-generation AI model V4 on Friday, saying that the open-source model can compete with leading closed-source systems from US rivals including Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI. China’s DeepSeek previews new AI model a year after jolting US rivals DeepSeek says the V4 model can compete toe-to-toe with leading American systems from Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic. DeepSeek says the V4 model can compete toe-to-toe with leading American systems from Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic. DeepSeek says V4 marks a major improvement over prior models, especially in coding, a capability that has become central to AI agents and helped drive the success of tools like ChatGPT Codex and Claude Code. The release is also a milestone for China’s chip industry, with DeepSeek explicitly highlighting compatibility with domestic Huawei technology. The release comes a…

Prestigious photo contest answers ‘what is a photo?’

We love to muse over how “real” photography is defined here at The Verge now that generative AI is so prolific, and the World Press Photo competition might have the answer. The prestigious award celebrates the best of photojournalism, where capturing reality is paramount. Prestigious photo contest answers ‘what is a photo?’ ‘A photograph captures light on a sensor or film. It is a record of a physical moment.’ ‘A photograph captures light on a sensor or film. It is a record of a physical moment.’ The winning entry for 2026 — “Separated by ICE,” captured by photojournalist Carol Guzy — was announced yesterday. The harrowing photograph shows children clinging to their father after an immigration hearing. The photo had to abide by specific rules around the use of AI tools to be eligible for the competition, with the independent,…

Claude is connecting directly to your personal apps like Spotify, Uber Eats, and TurboTax

Claude users can access more apps with Anthropic’s AI now thanks to new connectors for everything from hiking to grocery shopping. Anthropic already supported connecting numerous work-related apps to Claude, like Microsoft apps, but this expansion focuses on personal apps like Audible, Spotify, Uber, AllTrails, TripAdvisor, Instacart, TurboTax, and others. Claude is connecting directly to your personal apps like Spotify, Uber Eats, and TurboTax Anthropic says the new app connectors are available to all Claude users, ‘with mobile in beta.’ Anthropic says the new app connectors are available to all Claude users, ‘with mobile in beta.’ Some of these apps, such as Spotify, already have similar connectors in OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Once an app is connected, Claude will suggest relevant connected apps directly in your conversations, like using AllTrails for hike recommendations. Anthropic notes in its blog post announcing the new…

Meta is laying off 10 percent of its staff

Meta is planning to layoff around 10 percent of employees in May, according to a memo from the company’s chief people officer, Janelle Gale, published by Bloomberg. That means approximately 8,000 people will see their jobs cut. Meta will also be closing around 6,000 open roles, according to Gale. Meta is laying off 10 percent of its staff Meta is making the cuts to help ‘offset the other investments we’re making.’ Meta is making the cuts to help ‘offset the other investments we’re making.’ The cuts follow Meta’s significant investments in AI, including spending huge sums to hire top talent and build data centers. The company forecast in January that it will spend $115 billion to $135 billion in capital expenditures in 2026 — a significant increase from its $72.22 billion in capital expenditures for 2025. The increase is to…

Anthropic’s Mythos breach was humiliating

Anthropic’s tightly controlled rollout of Claude Mythos has taken an awkward turn. After spending weeks insisting the AI model is so capable at cybersecurity that it is too dangerous to release publicly, it appears the model fell into the wrong hands anyway. Anthropic’s Mythos breach was humiliating There’s no good excuse for letting hackers into an AI model too dangerous for public release. There’s no good excuse for letting hackers into an AI model too dangerous for public release. According to Bloomberg, a “small group of unauthorized users” has had access to Mythos — whose existence was first revealed in a leak — since the day Anthropic announced plans to offer it to a select group of companies for testing. Anthropic says it is investigating. That’s a rough look for a company that has built its brand on taking AI…

OpenAI says its new GPT-5.5 model is more efficient and better at coding

OpenAI just announced its new GPT-5.5 model, which the company calls its “smartest and most intuitive to use model yet, and the next step toward a new way of getting work done on a computer.” OpenAI just released GPT-5.4 last month, but says that the new GPT-5.5 “excels” at tasks like writing and debugging code, doing research online, making spreadsheets and documents, and doing that work across different tools. OpenAI says its new GPT-5.5 model is more efficient and better at coding The new model ‘excels’ at tasks like writing and debugging code and doing work across different tools. The new model ‘excels’ at tasks like writing and debugging code and doing work across different tools. “Instead of carefully managing every step, you can give GPT-5.5 a messy, multi-part task and trust it to plan, use tools, check its work,…

THE PEOPLE DO NOT YEARN FOR AUTOMATION

Today on Decoder, I want to lay out an idea that’s been banging around my head for weeks now as we’ve been reporting on AI and having conversations here on this show. I’ve been calling it software brain, and it’s a particular way of seeing the world that fits everything into algorithms, databases and loops — software. THE PEOPLE DO NOT YEARN FOR AUTOMATION Software brain is changing the world, but most people still aren’t buying. Software brain is powerful stuff. It’s a way of thinking that basically created our modern world. Marc Andreessen, the literal embodiment of software brain, called it in 2011 when he wrote the piece “Why software is eating the world” as an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal. But software thinking has been turbocharged by AI in a way that I think helps explain the…