Meta Connect 2026 live blog: On the ground at Mark Zuckerberg’s next big product launch
It's time once again for Meta's annual September product launch event, and The Verge is on the ground in Menlo Park to cover the show live. Meta says that today's keynote by Mark Zuckerberg will be about how "Meta is building a future for everyone" - something he wrote at length about in a recent essay about AI, smart glasses, and more. That means we can expect more news from Zuckerberg and his team on those topics; perhaps we'll hear more about Meta's recently launched Muse AI agent and new glasses hardware.
Whatever Zuckerberg and Meta have to say about smart glasses will be particularly notable. The company is dealing with an outpouring …
Microsoft refreshes its smaller Surface Pro and Laptop with Qualcomm’s X2 Plus
Microsoft is refreshing its Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch devices with Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon X2 Plus chips. The smaller Surface devices retain the same design and hardware features from last year, with faster and more capable chips inside and higher price tags (thanks RAMageddon!).
While the 12-inch Surface Pro started at $799.99 last year, it's debuting on October 13th at a starting price of $1,149.99. Likewise, the 13-inch Surface Laptop was originally priced at $899.99, but it's up to $1,199.99 this time around. There's no base 8GB model this time, causing some of the price increase, as both devices launch with a …
Microsoft’s new Surface Mouse has haptic feedback and a customizable action button
Microsoft is launching a second generation of its Surface Mouse next month that includes haptic feedback support. The Surface Mouse also has a customizable action button for the first time, which is primarily designed for quick access to Copilot (of course), but can be configured to work with other shortcuts from the Surface app.
"Its haptic feedback adds a small, purposeful physical response to the moment you usually only see on a screen: a click registering, a window snapping into place or an object aligning just right," says Brett Ostrum, corporate vice president of Surface Devices. "It is subtle by design, but noticeable within seconds …
Meta’s AI agent is a cute little guy who’s great at spending my money
Modern life comes with an unending, auto-populating to-do list.
It never ceases to amaze me how I can be doing nothing at all, minding my own business, and suddenly something needs to be taken care of. You're telling me a tree branch fell in the backyard and now I have to figure out what to do with it? The tree just assigned me homework? Oh, our trash collection company canceled our account out of nowhere and now I have to send email about it? Repeatedly? Totally unfair.
These are the things that we've been told for years that AI will help us with. We'll all have a smart virtual assistant to triage and handle the tedious tasks we'd rather …
Data centers are black boxes, but California wants to change that
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a slate of bills on Monday that could finally give communities better data - and more say - on how data centers impact their electricity bills and water supply.
As data centers invade a growing number of communities across the US, they've triggered protests over how the infrastructure underpinning AI might stress power grids and local water systems. That's fueled partly by concerns about how difficult it is to see just how much electricity or water they're actually gobbling up. California's new disclosure rules won't offer a full picture, but starting next year, data center operators will have to start s …
Anthropic’s biolab made a discovery it’s comparing to Crispr
Anthropic says its AI Claude has "autonomously discovered" a new enzyme system similar to machinery behind the powerful gene-editing tool Crispr. It's the first result from Anthropic's newly-launched wet lab and an early test of Claude's usefulness for science as the company prepares to go public.
The company says Claude found the enzyme system after searching through a massive database of DNA sequences, adding that its scientists' involvement was limited to the initial prompt and lab work.
Over 21 hours, Anthropic said nearly 950 Claude agents worked through 210 million tokens before one spotted an unusual repeating pattern in the datas …
Bernie Sanders proposes banning ‘superintelligence’ and putting violators in prison
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) have introduced new legislation that would ban anyone from developing artificial superintelligence - a technology the bill describes as capable of the "destruction or disempowerment of humanity," including by overthrowing the government. Under the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act, AI leaders would face up to 20 years in prison for violating the law.
The bill doesn't just take aim at the more powerful superintelligence, a term President Donald Trump said the US will use in place of "AI" in official documents. It would also pause the development of advanced AI systems, which lawmakers …
Logitech’s new Blue Yeti 2 mic adjusts itself to where you are
The original Blue Yeti has been one of the most recognizable go-to USB microphones for content creators since it launched in 2009, and now it finally has a successor. Launching today under Logitech G, the Blue Yeti 2 adds some modern upgrades, including an interactive LED display, AI de-noising, and a proximity based voice sensor - which resolves a notable flaw with its predecessor's design while still paying homage to it.
It's available in black or white color options for $159.99, which is comparatively cheaper than Shure's popular MV7 series USB microphones, which are the current choice for podcasters and start at $299. It's also interest …
Logitech’s new haptics-based gaming mouse is a little better and $20 more
The G Pro Superstrike mouse is one of Logitech's most interesting products. Unlike other gaming mice, it has haptic actuators beneath its two main buttons instead of mechanical switches, which decreases latency and allows for a custom click feel (the click can be super subtle, more jolty, or turned off entirely). The tech debuted in the G Pro X2 Superstrike in February, and there's already a sequel. Well, it's more like a 1.5 rather than a true successor.
The G Pro X3 Superstrike is out October 6th for $199.99, and comes in a bold pink (as pictured) or black color scheme. The X2 will remain available at $179.99. The notable improvements wit …
Xbox’s Mythic Achievements sound like PlayStation’s Platinum trophy
Xbox appears to be ready to launch its own version of PlayStation's platinum trophies. A new update to the Xbox PC app has revealed Mythic Achievements, which according to data in the app will appear once a player completes all the Achievements in a game.
Mythic Achievements appear on screen with a unique unlock sound, and players will reportedly be able to track them through the Xbox dashboard. Xbox players will also be able to display their Mythic count on their profiles. Some Xbox Insider testers have already started spotting references to Mythic Achievements in early versions of the Xbox dashboard.