Elon Musk’s worst enemy in court is Elon Musk
Just a simple country CEO who was being tricked by that sophisticated lawyer | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images About five hours into Elon Musk's testimony, I typed the following sentence into my notes: "I have never been more sympathetic to Sam Altman in my life." Musk's direct testimony was an improvement over yesterday - even if his lawyer kept asking leading questions to cue him in how to answer. But that memory was immediately obliterated by an absolutely miserable cross-examination. For hours, Musk refused to answer yes or no questions with yes or no, occasionally "forgot" things he'd testified to in the morning, and scolded defense lawyer William Savitt. I watched a few jury members glance at each other. During one testy exchange, one woman wa … Read the full story at The Verge.
Grindr — yes, Grindr — won the WHCD party circuit
General atmosphere during Grindr White House Correspondents' Dinner Weekend Party 2026 at LXIV DC on April 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. | Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Grindr Inc. Hello and welcome to Regulator, a newsletter for Verge subscribers about technology, politics, and technology learning how to politick. If you're not a subscriber but would like to support our work, please subscribe here. I promise that your money will not go toward paying for a drone-proof ballroom for The Verge staff, no matter how much fun we'd have throwing parties there. Speaking of parties: The Verge normally wouldn't do a party report from the White House Correspondents' Dinner week, also known as "Nerd Prom," because it's a bit too much Washington insider circle-jerking for normal people to stomach. (This year was weirder than most, … Read the full story at The Verge.
Splatoon Raiders preorders for the Switch 2 are nearly 20 percent off
The Verge · Technology
Splatoon Raiders preorders for the Switch 2 are nearly 20 percent off
Nintendo recently announced a new pricing policy, which knocks $10 off the cost of digital versions of future first-party titles exclusive to the Nintendo Switch 2. Splatoon Raiders, for instance, is available for preorder ahead of its July 23rd release for $49.99 digitally or $59.99 for the physical edition. However, Walmart is the exception in how it’s pricing preorders for the cartridge version. Right now, you can reserve the upcoming for $49.94 — just a few cents cheaper than the digital version. Raiders isn’t a sequel to Splatoon 3, but rather a spinoff that has similar third-person, paint-splatting gameplay set in new locales. Splatoon Raiders Where to Buy: $59.99 $49.94 at Walmart (physical) $59.99 at Amazon (physical) The same $10 discount is in effect for Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, a side-scrolling adventure with a gorgeous storybook art style that comes out on May 21st. The price of the physical version is $69.99, but Walmart is currently offering it for $59.88, which is similar to the digital edition’s price. Given that prices on many tech and gaming-related products are increasing, it’s nice to see notable discounts on physical Switch 2 games. If you’re looking for other gaming deals, we’ve pulled together the best discounts from Amazon’s weeklong Gaming Week sale. Yoshi and the Mysterious Book Where to Buy: $69.99 $59.88 at Walmart (physical) $69.99 at Amazon (physical)
Microsoft reports sinking Xbox revenue as its cloud business climbs
The Verge · Technology
Microsoft reports sinking Xbox revenue as its cloud business climbs
Microsoft's Xbox hardware revenue continues to tumble, with the company revealing a 33 percent decline as part of its earnings report released on Wednesday. Even though the rest of Microsoft's consumer-focused division took a dip, the company's cloud and productivity businesses continue to soar, driving the company toward $82.9 billion in revenue. Along with declining Xbox hardware revenue, Microsoft reported a 5 percent drop in Xbox content and services as well. Microsoft has seen a significant amount of executive turnover over the past few months, with the retirement of Xbox chief CEO Phil Spencer and the departure of former Xbox presiden … Read the full story at The Verge.
Google Search queries hit an ‘all time high’ last quarter
Google Search queries hit an "all time high" in the first quarter of 2026, according to a statement from CEO Sundar Pichai published as part of Alphabet's earnings on Wednesday. "Our AI investments and full stack approach are lighting up every part of the business," Pichai says. "Search had a strong quarter with AI experiences driving usage, queries at an all time high, and 19% revenue growth." He also notes that Q1 was "our strongest quarter ever for our consumer AI plans, driven by the Gemini App" and that the company now has more than 350 million paid subscriptions, with "YouTube and Google One being the key drivers." Alphabet also anno … Read the full story at The Verge.
All the evidence unveiled so far in Musk v. Altman
The Musk v. Altman trial is underway, and that means exhibits, or the evidence to be presented in court, are being revealed piece by piece. So far, email exchanges, photos, and corporate documents are circulating from the earliest days of OpenAI - and from before the AI lab even had a name. Some high-level takeaways: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang gave OpenAI an in-demand supercomputer, Musk largely drafted OpenAI's mission and heavily influenced its early structure, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman appeared to want to lean heavily on Y Combinator for early support for OpenAI, OpenAI president Greg Brockman and Ilya Sutskever worried about Musk's level of con … Read the full story at The Verge.
Ubuntu’s AI plans have Linux users looking for a ‘kill switch’
The Verge · Technology
Ubuntu’s AI plans have Linux users looking for a ‘kill switch’
Canonical's plan to add AI features to Ubuntu has some users asking for "a version of Ubuntu that does not include these features," while others say they'll stick with older versions of the Linux distro or even switch to a different one. After Canonical's announcement earlier this week that it's bringing AI features to Ubuntu, replies included requests for an AI "kill switch" or a way to disable the upcoming features, and comparisons to Microsoft's addition of AI features into Windows 11. Canonical's VP of engineering, Jon Seager, responded on Tuesday, stating that Canonical isn't planning to add a "global AI kill switch," but users will be … Read the full story at The Verge.
Meta isn’t doing enough to keep kids off Facebook and Instagram, rules EU
The Verge · Technology
Meta isn’t doing enough to keep kids off Facebook and Instagram, rules EU
Meta could face fines of up to $12 billion if it doesn’t remedy the DSA breaches. | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images Meta is breaching Europe's Digital Services Act (DSA) rules by failing to prevent children under 13 from using Facebook and Instagram, according to a preliminary decision issued by the European Commission. The Commission announced the ruling on Wednesday after an almost two-year investigation, saying that Meta doesn't have adequate measures in place to stop under-13s from accessing its services, or to identify and remove those already on its social media platforms. A notable example is that minors can simply enter a false birth date when signing up for Facebook and Instagram to falsely declare they're over 13 years old - the minimum age ou … Read the full story at The Verge.