Gemini 3.8 Live with Live Avatar gives Google’s AI a face
Google's new Gemini 3.8 Live update lets users have conversations with the model while watching an animated AI persona respond in real time. The "Live Avatar" will lip-sync and show different facial expressions during conversations, but it's currently only available to Gemini Enterprise customers.
As noted by Google, Live Avatar can transition between the 97 languages it supports "without degrading video fidelity or introducing visual drift." One video shared by Google shows its Live Avatar talking in English and Japanese, with its mouth animation lining up with what it's saying in both languages. It can also pull up information on-screen w …
Sadly, this $1,549 RTX 5070-equipped gaming PC is a very good deal
While PC component prices remain high, you can save a good bit of money on a system by purchasing a prebuilt desktop. Walmart has a well-equipped CyberPowerPC gaming PC on sale for $1,549, almost $600 off its original price of $2,139. It’s powered by an Intel Core i7-14700KF processor, and paired with 32GB of 6000MHz DDR5 memory and an Nvidia RTX 5070 Founders Edition with 12GB of VRAM. The case is a CyberPowerPC MA-O1, an in-house design with extensive cooling options and three dedicated knobs for adjusting internal RGB lighting colors.
While it might not feel like it at first blush, this is a solid value for a gaming PC that’s ready to rock out of the box. The RTX 5070 in this machine is likely to run you upwards of $800 by itself at the moment (it launched in 2025 for $549), and 32GB of fast memory can be $400 or more. For just a small premium, you get those components packed into a nice case with a panoramic glass panel and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD inside. The whole kit is tested, with a one year warranty for parts and labor. It also includes a keyboard and mouse, so you can start gaming right away once it arrives.
Other deals to consider
- If you need a gaming monitor with spectacular colors and clarity to go with your new gaming PC, Newegg has the ASRock PGO27QSA-W discounted to $299.33, a significant discount from its original price of $476. This 27-inch screen supports 1440p resolution, a 240Hz refresh rate with FreeSync Premium for variable refresh rate, and an OLED panel for deep black levels.
- A two pack of Anker Zolo MagSafe wireless chargers is discounted to $25.99 at Amazon, where it would normally cost $39.99. Each charger is Qi2 certified, with support for up to 15W of charging power, and includes a five-foot cable for convenient positioning on your desk or nightstand. You’ll have to use your own wall charger, though.
- The Nintendo Customer Appreciation sale is live until September 26th at 8:59 PM PT, and is a great time to pick up an extra set of controllers, among other game and accessory deals. The Switch Pro Controller is only $56 (usually around $70) at both Amazon and Best Buy, and a duo of Joy-Con are only $62.99 at Best Buy, although only the pastel purple and green combo are currently in stock. The controllers are compatible with both the original Switch and Switch 2, although owners of the newer console will need a separate charger, and they won’t wake the system from sleep.
Jensen Huang talks about AI and climate change like a supervillain
As Jensen Huang puts it, AI can help fight climate change - but only if it inflicts "an enormous amount of pain and suffering" first.
The Nvidia CEO discussed the future of energy and AI's impact on our planet in the latest episode of The Ezra Klein Show. But his comments boil down to the same accelerationist spin we've seen from a variety of tech leaders as well as President Donald Trump. They promise that AI will be such a gift to humanity that it's worth the damage caused by data centers currently running on dirty energy.
Huang's extreme level of privilege is glaring
Huang's extreme level of privilege is glaring in the interview. He …
Meta is going to let you build games with AI right on your phone
Meta has a new plan to get people to make games for its Horizon social platform. The company today announced two new development tools that will let you create games with AI prompts: Horizon Create, a mobile app, and Horizon Studio, a browser app that offers more granular controls. The apps will be available in early access, and interested users can sign up for a waitlist.
Horizon has struggled as a platform, but Meta has a plan to give these new Horizon games significantly more reach: It's going to let published games made with Horizon Create and Horizon Studio get recommended on Facebook and Instagram, where they also will be playable.
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Muse will apparently let you download its entire filesystem
A pair of developers say that with very little prompting, Meta's Muse will share its entire filesystem with you. Peter James and Jonny L. Saunders have said they both independently coaxed Muse into zipping up and sharing the entire contents of its root filesystem, Ubuntu system files, app templates, and internal documentation. Saunders posted on Mastodon that it was "extremely easy" to replicate James' results and that Muse had "Almost no prompt injection resistance."
Meta denies that the incident represents a security breach. As noted in its announcement post, Meta's Muse runs in persistent Linux virtual machines for each user. Meta spokes …
Muse sure looks a lot like OpenClaw
We seem to be entering into an AI agent renaissance. Meta's new consumer-facing AI agent, Muse, topped the App Store charts soon after its release and has 600,000 daily active users in the US, by an Apptopia estimate. And AI agent platform Instinct, whose eponymous creator is fundraising at a $2.5 billion valuation, has been making the rounds in the tech industry. Under the hood, though, there are some obvious similarities to the platform that started it all: OpenClaw.
For the past week or so, some social media users have alleged that Muse is directly built on OpenClaw. The two platforms use the same names for core files (SOUL.md, memory, …
Now Google Chrome shares tabs to new devices that save where you were
Google is rolling out some new Chrome browser features that are designed to make it easier to research and study complicated topics. The cross-device tab switching feature is getting a memory upgrade, alongside new capabilities for Gemini in Chrome that can analyze more types of media and generate interactive study quizzes.
Chrome has an existing feature that allows you to send a tab from your mobile to a computer (or vice versa) so you can quickly access the same webpage when switching devices. Now, this feature will also remember exactly where you had scrolled to on that tab when you switch, sparing you from having to manually find where …
It’s sinister that Meta’s Muse AI mascot is so cute
This is Optimizer, a weekly newsletter sent from Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song that dissects and discusses the latest gizmos and potions that swear they're going to change your life. Opt in for Optimizer here.
Last night, I asked Blorbo - what I named my Muse AI agent - to help me set some health goals. I was underwhelmed. I'd asked for a workout regimen for a sub-30 minute 5K and regaining lost muscle. It generated an okay-ish but kind of mid weekly routine.
But then I looked at its face. Based on what it learned about me from my emails, it had morphed into cat-shaped piece of bread with a Kirby-like face. It was so stinking cute, …
These smart glasses have been recalled for overheating temples causing burns
A company called Inmo that makes several different variations of smart glasses has issued a recall for its Air3 because the left temple "can overheat during extended use, posing a risk of serious injury or death due to burn hazard." To date there have been 10 reports of users experiencing a "burning sensation to the face and the left side of the ear" while using the Air3, according to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
The recall includes over 1,600 Air3 glasses sold in the US and Canada between December 2025 and August 2026 through the company's website, Amazon, and a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for between $900 and $1 …
Gemini can now call businesses for you so you don’t have to wait on hold
Google's launching an "early experiment" feature on Pixel 11 that lets users delegate local business calls to Gemini, like making a reservation, checking if a product is in stock, or rescheduling an appointment. According to Google, you don't even need to start the call to have Gemini handle it for you:
Instead of dialing yourself, just tell Gemini to call on your behalf using the Gemini app on your Pixel. Gemini will call the business, introduce itself, navigate automated phone menus, wait on hold, and handle the conversation with the person on the other end. You remain in control at all times with a live transcript view and the ability …