OpenAI just released its answer to Claude Mythos
OpenAI is launching Daybreak, an AI initiative focused on detecting and patching vulnerabilities before attackers find them. Daybreak uses the Codex Security AI agent that launched in March to create a threat model based on an organization's code and focus on possible attack paths, validate likely vulnerabilities, and then automate the detection of the higher risk ones.
Its launch comes just over a month after rival Anthropic announced Claude Mythos, a security-focused AI model it claimed was too dangerous to publicly release and only shared privately as a part of its own initiative, dubbed Project Glasswing. Still, that didn't stop at leas …
Yarbo says it will remove the intentional backdoor from its robot lawn mower
The company behind the robot lawn mower that ran me over has changed its tune. Yarbo now plans to completely remove the remote backdoor access that could have let bad actors reprogram the robot over the internet. Yarbo customers will be able to decide whether that feature even gets installed in the first place, co-founder Kenneth Kohlmann pledges to The Verge.
Yarbo had already promised on Friday that it would tackle many security issues head-on, closing the holes that let security researcher Andreas Makris easily hijack any of the bladed robots from the other side of the globe, while also exposing email addresses and GPS locations. But whe …
Here’s what Mira Murati’s AI company is up to
Thinking Machines, the AI company founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, announced Monday that it's working on something called "interaction models." The idea behind interaction models, according to Thinking Machines, is that they will let people "collaborate with AI the way we naturally collaborate with each other - they continuously take in audio, video, and text, and think, respond, and act in real time."
As explained by Thinking Machines:
Today's models experience reality in a single thread. Until the user finishes typing or speaking, the model waits with no perception of what the user is doing or how the user is doing it. Until th …
Govee’s new portable smart lamp is on sale for the first time
If you’ve always liked the idea of the Philips Hue Go portable lamp but couldn’t justify the $100+ price tag, Govee recently released a much cheaper alternative, the Govee Table Lamp Classic, and it’s already receiving its first discount. Right now, you can pick the rechargeable smart lamp up at Amazon for $63.99 ($16 off), which makes it less than half the price of Philips’ portable smart lamp.
The cordless lamp features a built-in 4,800mAh battery, which can last up to 30 hours with colored lighting enabled, though that drops to around five hours when using brighter white lighting. That’s not quite as long as the Philips Hue Go, which Philips says can last up to 48 hours on a charge, but on the flip side the Govee is brighter, delivering up to 500 lumens of brightness. It’s also lightweight enough to easily carry from room to room or bring outside, though you’ll want to be careful outdoors since it lacks the Philips Hue Go’s IP54 weather resistance rating for protection against rain and splashes.
In addition, the Govee supports adjustable color temperatures ranging from a warm 2700K to a cooler 6500K, and like with many of its smart lighting products, offers a slew of fun, colorful lights effects. You can have it sync to music while you’re hosting people, or switch between different preset scenes to set the mood, many of which are organized around specific moods and themes like “romance,” holidays, and more. Through Govee’s app, you can even type in prompts describing the vibe you want and the lamp will generate matching lighting effects for you. The lamp also supports Matter, meaning you can control it through major smart home platforms.
Palantir’s true believers are wearing this jacket
In late April, Palantir - the software company that, in recent years, has perhaps become best known for its defense industry contracts and work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement - announced that it would be adding new products to its merch store. The latest offering was a cotton chore coat.
At $239 and in bright blue and black options, the jacket looks like a standard offering that has, by way of photographer Bill Cunningham, trickled down into mainstream menswear for years. This jacket is a pastiche of 19th century French workwear that was worn by people actually doing physical labor; the only noticeable difference is that a dainty …
Apple brings encrypted RCS chats to iPhone
Apple now lets you have encrypted RCS conversations with Android users through the Messages app on iOS. As part of iOS 26.5, which was released on Monday, Apple added support for end-to-end encrypted RCS messaging in beta, meaning that Apple and Google can't see your messages while they're sent.
With iOS 26.5, you'll see a lock icon and a small "Encrypted" message at the top of the chat to note when you're having an encrypted conversation with an Android user and are on a carrier that supports the feature. Apple says that encryption will be on by default and "will be automatically enabled over time for new and existing RCS conversations." …
Texas sues Netflix for advertising ‘bait and switch’ and spying
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against Netflix, accusing the company of turning its back on its promise to remain ad-free and safe for kids. The lawsuit, filed on Monday, claims Netflix has "opened Texans' data for inspection by the same Big Ad Tech community it once criticized for exploiting users in this same way."
In the lawsuit, Paxton claims Netflix drove up subscriptions by promoting its platform as an "escape from Big Tech surveillance." But that changed when Netflix introduced an ad-supported streaming plan in 2022, something co-founder Reed Hastings promised not to do. Its move into digital advertising allowe …
Google stopped a zero-day hack that it says was developed with AI
For the first time, Google says it has spotted and stopped a zero-day exploit developed with AI. According to a report from Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG), "prominent cyber crime threat actors" were planning to use the vulnerability for a "mass exploitation event" that would have allowed them to bypass two-factor authentication on an unnamed "open-source, web-based system administration tool."
Google's researchers found hints in the Python script used for the exploit that indicated help from AI, like a "hallucinated CVSS score" and "structured, textbook" formatting consistent with LLM training data. The exploit takes advantage of …
A million baby monitors and security cameras were easily viewable by hackers
A baby's eyes peer directly into the camera lens. A kid with a striped shirt looks up, then away. A boy in a policeman's costume, a gold star on his chest. A messy bedroom that reminds me of my own daughters, with an unmade bunk bed, a little girl's hat and headband, and Hello Kitty plastered on the wall.
One thought repeats in my mind: I shouldn't be seeing this. No stranger should.
But bad actors could've easily spied on all these locations - and a million more - because many of Meari Technology's Wi-Fi baby monitors and security cameras were absurdly insecure. If you had access to one of those cameras, you theoretically had access to t …
7 of our favorite deals from Amazon’s Pet Days sale
A big part of my job here at The Verge is to find deals on tech that readers will like. But in my personal life, I’m not spending anywhere near as much money on tech as I am on food, litter, and other supplies for our two cats. Sad, but true. If your life is also ruled by furry (or feathered, scaled, shelled) friends, perhaps your interest will be piqued by Amazon’s five-day Pet Days sale happening through 2:59AM ET on Saturday, May 16th.
There are a ton of products available that have some sort of discount attached — too many to list out individually. In case you don’t want to sort through all of the deals, I’ve attempted to do you the favor of plucking out seven noteworthy discounts for cat and dog parents.
The product I recommend to all pet owners is Bissell’s Little Green upholstery and carpet cleaner, which is $99.99 at Amazon (originally $129.99). It’s the fighter you need on your side to help you get nasty stains out of your carpeted floors and stairs, rugs, couch cushions, and more. The portable cleaner works with Bissell’s cleaning formula, and the purchase includes a sample of the product. It also comes with a cleaning brush and crevice tool for sucking yucky stuff out of corners.
While not a quiet machine to use, it’s valuable in that it’s a way to undo your pet’s accidents (it’s great for getting out coffee stains, too).
Pet owners have a special connection to their animals, and many can intuit what their pets need based on how they’re trying to get our attention. But wouldn’t it be great if your pet could put in a little more effort? I’m not saying that this 10-pack of voice-recording buttons will suddenly turn your pet into Sapphie, but at $19.76 (just a few bucks off) for the kit at Amazon, it seems fun to try. Each button can record up to 30 seconds of voice clips.
The Litter-Robot 4 self-cleaning litter box is a big ticket item for cat owners looking to delegate the stinky chore. There’s a bundle that has been discounted recently at Amazon that includes the little box plus a starter kit of accessories for $799.99 (typically $860). The whole point of getting the Litter-Robot 4 is to make your life easier, scooping less, and doing other stuff with your time that hopefully doesn’t involve hunching over. The accessories included (three OdorTrap packs, 10 liners, 30 wipes, and two carbon filters) make it so you need to interact even less often with the litter box.
Litter-Robot 4 Supply & Accessory bundle
Features advanced litter-sifting technology, reduced litter tracking, and real-time monitoring of waste and litter levels through the Whisker app.
Where to Buy:
There are countless Wi-Fi-enabled cameras you can get to remotely see what your cats are up to, including those that cost less than $20. For my money, I’ve been satisfied with the TP-Link Tapo 1080p indoor camera that’s $17.99 at Amazon
It may be more basic than what some pet owners want. And yet, it’s capable enough that I’ve used it as a baby monitor. It has pan and tilt functionality so you can see around the room, and its feed is viewable in the Kasa app, which is convenient if you have other TP-Link gadgets. It supports motion detection, two-way audio, night vision, and the option of cloud or microSD card storage. There are pricier options out there made to ease concerns for pet parents that can dole out treats and what not, but if your pet doesn’t need as much attention, this’ll do fine.
A few more Pet Days deals
- Standard pet food isn’t typically expensive, but costs can rise if your pet requires (or at least benefits from) a specialized diet. Of the many brands that have discounted food during Pet Days, you can get a rare deal on Hill’s Science Diet dry food for cats and dogs. For instance, dry food formulas for indoor cats ages one through six are $24.49 for a seven-pound bag (almost always priced at $35) at Amazon. You can head to Hill’s landing page to see if they have a deal for your kind of pet, and note that subscribing to a recurring delivery will knock 20 percent off your total at checkout.
- Surely, you’ve floated the idea of getting Apple AirTags to keep track of your pet, right? Not every pet or pet parent will want to stick one on a collar, but for those who’d rather be safe than sorry, you can get a four-pack of first-gen AirTag trackers at Woot (an Amazon-owned site) for $56.99. That’s the best price yet on a four-pack, which originally launched for $99. The newer second-gen AirTag model offers better connectivity, Precision Tracking, and longer tracking distances, and a louder speaker, among other features. But if you’re not losing sight of your pet all that often, there’s no harm in saving some money with the older version.
- Our cats don’t go outside. They’d get instantly demolished by the tougher feral cats that roam around. That doesn’t stop me from feeling bad that they’re all cooped up inside where their instinctive expression is limited. This 20-foot transparent cat tunnel with zippers on both ends is so cool that I may end up buying one. It’s currently $28.99, down from its usual $40 or so price at Amazon. Best of all, it’s part of a modular system of outdoor accessories, and you can attach the tunnel if you choose to upgrade later on.