The AI industry’s biggest week: Google’s rise, RL mania, and a party boat
This is an excerpt of Sources by Alex Heath, a newsletter about AI and the tech industry, syndicated just for The Verge subscribers once a week.
Reinforcement learning (RL) is the next frontier, Google is surging, and the party scene has gotten completely out of hand. Those were the through lines from this year's NeurIPS in San Diego.
NeurIPS, or the "Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems," started in 1987 as a purely academic affair. It has since ballooned alongside the hype around AI into a massive industry event where labs come to recruit and investors come to find the next wave of AI startups.
I was regretfully unable to …
Call of Duty won’t release Modern Warfare or Black Ops back to back anymore
Future Call of Duty releases will no longer include back-to-back launches of Modern Warfare or Black Ops games, Activision announced on Tuesday. The past four releases in the series have been Modern Warfare II (2022), Modern Warfare III (2023), Black Ops 6 (2024), and Black Ops 7 (2025), but moving forward, Activision wants to offer "an absolutely unique experience each and every year," according to a blog post.
Black Ops 7 came out in November to mixed reviews, and in Europe, the game had a "disappointing launch," The Game Business reports. Ahead of the game's release, Treyarch Senior Director of Production Yale Miller told CharlieIntel th …
Both sides of the aisle hate the AI moratorium
Hello and welcome to Regulator. If you're a subscriber, you are stalwart and true, and if you're here from the internet, prove your chivalry and worth by subscribing to The Verge here. (And if you're David Sacks: we said what we said.)
As of Tuesday, President Donald Trump has committed to signing some sort of executive order that would do something that would give him some federal control over AI regulation. I state this in the vaguest of terms for two reasons: First, there's still no good constitutional rationale for an executive order to override laws that states pass for themselves, let alone on artificial intelligence, and the vers …
Somehow, this AI-generated McDonald’s ad about hating Christmas was a flop
If you're having a stressful holiday season, the answer is McDonald's - at least, that's what a now-removed AI-generated ad suggested, as reported by Futurism.
Set to a song calling holiday season "the most terrible time of the year," the ad shows AI-generated people falling victim to a slew of wintery woes, including family dinners, shopping, caroling, baking cookies, and putting up a Christmas tree, each of which goes wrong somehow. The ad concludes by telling viewers to "hide out in McDonald's until January's here."
Google is powering a new US military AI platform
The Department of Defense is announcing its own "bespoke" AI platform, GenAI.mil, and Google Cloud's Gemini will be the first AI tool available on it, according to a press release.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (who has dubbed himself Secretary of War, though the name has not been legally changed by Congress) promised that the platform "puts the worlds [sic] most powerful frontier AI models directly into the hands of every American warrior" and will "make our fighting force more lethal than ever before." In a video, Hegseth says that "the future of American warfare is here, and it's spelled A-I."
Some of our favorite gifts will cost you less than $25
Holiday shopping on a budget can feel constricting, especially if you've been invited to a white elephant or need a last-minute stocking stuffer. The good news is that, with this guide, you can leave that stress behind.
Whether you're aiming for something practical or fun, we've found plenty of great gifts for under $25 - heck, we found several under $10 - that don't scream "I bought this at the gas station on my way over." You might not expect to find a worthwhile Nintendo Switch / iPad-compatible controller, a 4K-ready streaming stick, or a waterproof speaker in this guide, but here we are. And that's just the start.
Mini Buddha Board
Y …
Wake Up Dead Man digs deep for a darker, more powerful Knives Out
Over two films, Rian Johnson's Knives Out series has offered something largely absent from the modern movie landscape: intricate murder mysteries full of humor and gasp-worthy moments. The original Knives Out started things off relatively small with a cozy whodunit, which then became a larger and more elaborate puzzle with the sequel Glass Onion. Both were crowd-pleasers, and in a lot of ways Wake Up Dead Man follows the same formula, with its stacked cast and plentiful revelations. But it's also much darker and deeper, showing off the franchise's range.
First off, this is a somber-looking film, particularly compared to the bright and color …
The AirPods Pro 3 are back to their lowest price ahead of the holidays
If you didn’t catch the Black Friday deal on Apple’s AirPods Pro 3, the good news is the price has dropped again ahead of the holidays. Right now, the noise-canceling earbuds are matching their all-time low price of $219.99 ($30 off) at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy. It’s a great deal considering the AirPods Pro 3 only just launched in September.
AirPods Pro 3
Where to Buy:
The AirPods Pro 3 provide a number of notable upgrades over their predecessor, including improved active noise cancellation, a more comfortable fit, and better audio performance. In her review, senior reporter Victoria Song called the wireless earbuds a “no-brainer upgrade,” saying the ANC performance was among the best she’s tested. She also noted that the earbuds deliver a richer overall listening experience, adding more depth to new and old favorites.
The earbuds offer around eight hours of battery life and an IP57 rating for water and dust resistance. The design has also been improved, allowing them to fit more naturally in your ear canal — something that not only helps them stay secure, but makes them more comfortable to wear over extended periods. Meanwhile, the AirPods Pro 3 include a heart rate sensor, allowing iPhone owners to track calories burned in over 50 types of workouts from the Fitness app.
Read our AirPods Pro 3 review.
Other deals worth checking out
- Silent Hill F is a fantastic original story and a great follow-up to the Silent Hill 2 remake. Right now, you can snag a copy of the Day One Edition on PlayStation 5 for just $47.49 ($22.50 off) at Best Buy through December 9th. The game features stunning visuals and a brilliant central character who must navigate a nightmarish landscape set in 1960s Japan. It features all the hallmarks that put Silent Hill on the map, blending atmospheric storytelling, intricate mysteries, and intense combat into a unique psychological horror experience. Read our review.
- The Wuben G5 is one of our favorite everyday carry items, and it’s currently down to around $20 (about $7 off) at Amazon and Wuben (with code 20G5). The compact rechargeable flashlight features a head that can rotate 180 degrees and an adjustable brightness dial from 2 to 400 lumens. A sliding switch prevents accidental activation, while a secondary LED allows you to customize the output color. It offers about 65 hours of battery life, too, all in a package that’s roughly the size of a Zippo.
- The Genki Dual Wield Charging Station has returned to its all-time low of $31.99 ($8 off) at Amazon. The four-port magnetic docking station can charge up to four Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Con at once, with LED halos showing each controller’s battery. The included grips snap together into play-ready controllers and can quickly detach from the weighted base using an eject button. If you primarily game on your Switch 2 while it’s docked, Genki’s Dual Wield is a great way to put your Joy-Con to good use.
Google brings back Black Friday prices for earbuds, phones, and more
Google just launched its holiday sale, and it’s basically Black Friday and Cyber Monday revived. From smartphones to smart security devices, plenty of great gifts have returned to their Black Friday prices, with some third-party retailers in some cases offering better deals than Google. Prices for a few of our favorite gadgets are even matching their all-time lows, including the Pixel 9a, Pixel Watch 4, Pixel Buds 2a, and the latest Nest Doorbell. So if you’re still holiday shopping, here are the deals that genuinely stand out.
Google Pixel 9A
The Pixel 9A adds more robust water resistance and a brighter, bigger screen to what was already a winning formula for a good midrange phone. Read our review.
Where to Buy:
First up, the unlocked base Pixel 9a is one of the best smartphone deals we saw on Black Friday, and it’s back at its all-time low of $349 ($150 off) at Amazon. It’s our favorite midrange phone, offering a 6.3-inch OLED screen and a great camera for the price, even if it lacks the Pixel 10’s telephoto lens or Pixel 9’s low-light performance. It’s powered by the older but still snappy Tensor G4 chip and the battery can easily last a full day, even with the always-on display enabled. You also get wireless charging, a robust IP68 rating, and seven years of software updates, which matches the support Google offers on its pricier phones.
Pixel Buds 2a
Google’s latest pair of wireless earbuds feature crisp sound quality, a comfortable design, and solid active noise cancellation, which is great considering the budget-friendly price tag. They even offer built-in support for Gemini and, unlike the entry-level AirPods, a purple option! Read our review.
Where to Buy:
Speaking of cheap gadgets that offer a lot of value, Black Friday brought the first meaningful discount on Google’s Pixel Buds 2a before the deal disappeared. Now, once again, though, you can snag them at their all-time low of $99 ($30 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and the Google Store. Even at full price, the buds are impressive, offering a useful active noise cancellation that reduces most background noise, along with a natural transparency mode. They deliver crisp, pleasant sound for the price and include built-in Gemini support. Plus, they come in a unique purple color option that looks fabulous, making them an overall great pick for Android users on a budget. Read our review.
Google Pixel Watch 4
The Pixel Watch 4 has a bigger display, longer battery life, more repairable design, and new Satellite SOS mode. It also leverages Google Gemini, and introduces an AI Health Coach. Read our review.
Where to Buy:
Smartwatches make for popular gifts, and the Pixel Watch 4 is one of the best on the market particularly for Android owners. Right now, you can buy the Wi-Fi-enabled version of the 41mm Pixel Watch 4 from Amazon, Google, and Best Buy starting at $299.99 ($50 off).
The wearable brings a number of impressive improvements over the Pixel Watch 3. Along with full support for Gemini, it’s faster, lasts longer, and is twice as bright thanks to its new domed Actua 360 display with slimmer bezels for more screen real estate. Both the display and battery are now replaceable and repairable, and Google added thoughtful perks like a side-mounted charger that turns your watch into a small at-a-glance display for things like battery percentage. On the health and fitness side, you get dual-frequency GPS, retroactive AI activity recognition, and improved sleep tracking. Plus, LTE models get a new Satellite SOS mode that lets you call for emergency services even without cellular service. Read our review.
Google Nest Doorbell (third-gen)
With 2K video, support for the Gemini for Home AI assistant, 24/7 recording, and some free smart alerts, Google’s third-generation wired doorbell is a great option for home monitoring.
Where to Buy:
The latest Google Nest Wired Doorbell is ideal if you want to keep an eye on packages, and it’s down to $139.99 ($40 off) at Amazon and Best Buy. Released in October, the wired model is the upgraded version of our top pick for a video doorbell. It adds noticeably sharper 2K video along with a wider and taller field of view, letting you see more of your porch. It’s also built to work with the new Gemini for Home AI assistant, which can handle more complex tasks than the older Google Assistant. And it still offers the perks that made its predecessor stand out, like free smart notifications that tell you whether it’s a person, package, animal, or vehicle outside of your door. And, if you pay extra for a subscription to Google Home Premium, you can get facial recognition along with 24/7 recording.
I’m obsessed with Redfin’s AI search
Look, I'm as fed up as the next guy with AI chatbots stuffed into every app. I don't want to brainstorm coverage options with an LLM every time I renew my car insurance. I'd much rather message a human than a robot to pester FedEx about my missing package. But I have found one scenario where AI is actually pretty great: real estate.
I need to confess something: I'm a Redfin looky-loo. A Zillow zealot. Not because I am actually shopping for a new home. With these interest rates? God, no. But I am perpetually window-shopping for a new home - partly out of nosiness, and partly because I like imagining what life might look like in a different a …