Musk’s biggest loyalist became his biggest liability
I sat down in the Musk v. Altman trial courtroom today, painfully aware that no one was going to ask Shivon Zilis the question on everyone's minds: Girl, what the fuck are you doing?
Zilis, who testified under oath that she is the mother of four of Musk's children, was… what's the best way to characterize this? A Musk advisor? She denies she was a "chief of staff" but says she worked for Musk's "entire AI portfolio: Tesla, Neuralink, and OpenAI" starting in 2017. The two met through OpenAI, and they had what she referred to as a "one off" before becoming "friends and colleagues." The "one off," she confirmed, was "romantic in nature."
Her …
Nintendo announces a new Star Fox for the Switch 2
It turns out Fox McCloud's appearance in the Super Mario Galaxy Movie was a tease of things to come: Nintendo just surprise announced the first new Star Fox game in a decade. The game is called, simply, Star Fox, and it's out very soon, launching on June 25th.
Nintendo says that it's "based" on the classic space shooter Star Fox 64, but with redesigned characters and upgraded visuals. Essentially, it sounds like a modern remake of the game with the same level design. Based on the first look at the game, it looks thoroughly modern, with incredibly detailed characters, including a surprisingly realistic Slippy Toad. And yes, the in-ship bante …
Google shuts down Project Mariner
Google has pulled the plug on Project Mariner, an experimental feature designed to perform tasks for you across the web, as reported earlier by Wired's Maxwell Zeff. The Project Mariner landing page now contains a message that says: "Thank you for using Project Mariner. It was shut down on May 4th, 2026 and its technology voyaged to other Google products."
Google first revealed Project Mariner in December 2024 and later announced an update allowing it to perform up to 10 tasks at a time. Over the past year, Google has integrated features powered by Project Mariner into its other AI tools, including Gemini Agent, which can do things like arc …
How David Sacks crashed and burned in the White House
Hello and welcome to Regulator, a newsletter exclusively for Verge subscribers about tech, politics, and Washington intrigue. (It's basically House of Cards, but for nerds.) Not a subscriber yet? You really should become one, and to save you a Google search, here is the direct link to do so! And do you think I should know something? Send it to tina.nguyen+tips@theverge.com.
On Monday, The New York Times reported that the White House was considering having the government review AI models before release. To the casual Verge reader, it appeared to be a total reversal in Donald Trump's policies. For the past year, he had been a vocal champion o …
The latest Tile Pro is down to $25 — its best price of the year
If you’re struggling to find a Mother’s Day gift under $30, location trackers are a good investment, helping mom keep tabs on keys, bags, luggage, and other valuables. The latest Tile Pro is one of the best on the market, and it’s on sale for $24.99 ($10 off) at Amazon and directly from Tile. While this isn’t a new deal, it’s still its best price of the year and only $2 shy of its all-time low, which is why it’s worth highlighting ahead of the holiday.
A big part of why I like the Tile Pro is that it works equally well with both iPhones and Android devices. Compared to other trackers that depend on Google’s Find Hub network, it’s more reliable when trying to track down lost items away from home, which is why it’s our go-to pick for Android users. Apple’s new AirTag still offers more precise location tracking overall for iPhone owners, but the Tile Pro has a few advantages of its own.
For one, it includes a keyring hole, so mom can attach it to keys or luggage without buying extra accessories. It’s also Tile’s most capable tracker, offering a Bluetooth range of up to 500 feet and Tile’s loudest ring at 110 decibels, which I’ve found is slightly louder than Apple’s latest AirTag. That comes in handy when trying to track down a misplaced phone, since the Tile Pro can make the phone ring even when it’s set to silent.
Plus, it’s the only Tile with a replaceable CR2032 battery, so mom won’t need to replace the tracker itself once the battery dies after about a year. Tile also includes a handful of free safety and convenience features AirTags lack, including two days of location history and crash detection, which can alert emergency contacts if the app detects a car accident. A paid subscription, which starts at $7.99 a month after a free one-week trial, adds extras like SOS alerts that connect to a live emergency dispatcher, local crime reports, and up to $100 in stolen phone protection.
What we’re hearing about the new homepage
We’ve been reading your feedback on the new homepage. All of it. The kind and encouraging comments, the brutal ones, the “actually this rules,” the “please undo this immediately,” the bug reports, the feature ideas, and yes, the eternal request for dark mode. We appreciate it.
A lot of you took the time to share detailed, thoughtful reactions right after launch, and that kind of feedback is useful. It helps us understand where the experience is landing or missing the mark, spot issues and friction, and ultimately sort that feedback into a few buckets. We want to be open and transparent with you about how we’re looking at those buckets of feedback.
Bucket 1: Yes, we should fix that. Some feedback points to things we should clearly fix or smooth out, like bugs and rough edges.
Feedback that falls into this bucket:
- The scrollbar presence on the feed (✅ Fixed)
- Adding “Read More” from the groups of stories when there’s something to link to (✅ Fixed)
- Adding a way to read more from a category toward the bottom of the page (✅ Fixed)
Bucket 2: This is worth investigating. Some feedback points to things worth exploring further. These are repeated requests that may reflect a broader need or pain point, even if the exact proposed solution is not the one we ultimately pursue.
Feedback that falls into this bucket:
- How the Latest feed is presented and engaged with, especially for those of you who love the pure revchron feed (which Latest is).
- Dark mode. We are actively working on this.
- Dates on stories in curated story sets. Removing them was intentional so we could more easily bring older stories back to the forefront, especially when they can add color and context to a timely topic. But we hear the frustration here and are thinking about how to address the underlying pain point.
- Marking a story as read vs. unread. This is a recurring request and speaks to a broader need for more personalized homepage experiences. That’s something we’re actively planning for, even if this exact feature isn’t currently on the roadmap.
Bucket 3: Not right now. Some feedback falls into the category of ideas we’re not planning to take on right now. Not because the feedback is bad, but because we have to be deliberate about what we can support.
Feedback that falls into this bucket:
- Free-to-Read and Subscriber Perks sections. We’ve deprecated these sections for now. We’ll revisit if it makes sense down the road.
- The page structure. We’ve seen a lot of strong opinions on combining curated stories with the firehose feed. We believe in this approach and we need to give it time before considering big structural changes. Many of you love the mix; others, not so much. That’s okay.
I want to be candid about what we can support. We’re a pretty small team and every decision has to be weighed against time, resourcing, complexity, editorial needs, business priorities, and the longer-term vision for where The Verge is going (and we have big ambitions for where we want it to go). We can’t commit to every suggestion, even if we genuinely agree that it’s a great idea.
We’ll fix what needs fixing and dig into the themes that feel most meaningful. We’ll keep prioritizing and working through tradeoffs and constraints. Most importantly, we’ll stay open about what we’re seeing and learning as we go. Please keep the feedback coming.
Here are are the best ways to reach us:
- Right here in the comments.
- We also have a feedback form here where you can submit bugs, feedback, requests, etc.
- Join our user research group for the chance to participate in user interviews, user testing, and surveys, and get access to prototypes and beta drops. We will reach out when a good opportunity aligns.
- Reach out to our team directly at product@theverge.com.
- Support with your account and subscription is handled by our wonderful support team at support@theverge.com.
Mira Murati tells the court that she couldn’t trust Sam Altman’s words
Mira Murati, OpenAI's former CTO, has testified under oath that CEO Sam Altman lied to her about the safety standards for a new AI model. In a video deposition shown during the ongoing Musk v. Altman trial on Wednesday, Murati said Altman falsely stated that OpenAI's legal department determined a new AI model did not need to go through the company's deployment safety board. "As you understand it, was Mr. Altman telling the truth when he made that statement to you?" Murati was asked in the deposition. "No," Murati said.
Murati said that during her tenure at OpenAI, Altman made her work more difficult. Her criticism "is completely management …
The 44 best last-minute Mother’s Day gift ideas for 2026
Whether it's managing a busy home or looking out for everyone around them, moms spend a lot of time every day caring for others. This Sunday, Mother's Day, is an opportunity to return the favor, so we've rounded up practical gadgets and little luxuries that can lighten her load.
This year's picks are designed to support moms in a variety of ways, regardless of their interests. Some of our recs, like Roborock's mop-equipped Q10 Plus, can help save precious time, while smart screens like the Skylight Calendar 2 can help take the stress out of managing a busy family schedule. Other gifts are all about relaxation and self-care, whether through …
Here’s what Microsoft is offering long-serving employees to voluntarily retire
Microsoft revealed last month that it's planning to offer long-serving employees in the US the ability to voluntarily retire. While the terms of the buyout were supposed to be announced to employees tomorrow, sources at Microsoft tell me the company has posted them on its internal HR website a little earlier than expected.
US employees whose combined years of service added to their age totals 70 or more will be eligible for voluntary retirement, and the package will include five years of access to Microsoft's healthcare coverage, a lump sum cash severance payment, and six months of vesting for unvested stock options.
The five years of medi …
Native Instruments Komplete 26 adds weird new synths and experimental piano sounds
The latest version of Native Instruments' Komplete music production bundle is here with 62 new additions, including the wonderfully weird Absynth 6. Komplete 26 comes in several flavors, starting with three $99 Select bundles: Beats, Band, and Electronic. Prices jump pretty steeply from there, with Standard costing $549, Ultimate costing $1,249, and the Collector's Edition priced at an eye-watering $1,949. You save some money if you're upgrading from Komplete 15 (and yes, they switched from sequential numbers to years for 2026), but upgrading the Collector's Edition will still set you back $399.
Komplete 26 Standard should satisfy all but …