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The Verge
PewDiePie ‘avenged’ as MrBeast becomes YouTube’s most-subscribed channel
Bollywood music label T-Series had the most-subscribed YouTube channel for years after Felix Kjellberg, aka PewDiePie, conceded his protracted and problematic fight for the top spot to it. But now that honor belongs to YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, who posted yesterday that his MrBeast YouTube operation had ‘avenged’ PewDiePie by overtaking T-Series.
The news apparently prompted a rush, as Donaldson published a screenshot showing he’d gained 2 million more yesterday, which he said is a one-day record for the channel. The online tracker Social Blade now puts him at 268 million subscribers.
After 6 years we have finally avenged Pewdiepie pic.twitter.com/V1znbyqw27
— MrBeast (@MrBeast) June 2, 2024
Donaldson made a big show of...
Published on 2 June 2024 | 11:41 pm
Billionaire who booked a SpaceX flight around the Moon cancels after delays
Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa had once planned to take eight artists on a flight around the Moon aboard SpaceX’s Starship. But now, with Starship still in development the flight already indefinitely delayed, Maezawa says he has canceled the trip.
The X account for the flight, called dearMoon, announced the news on Friday, followed by posts from the billionaire himself. In those, he said he had signed on in 2018 expecting to fly in 2023, but that it’s “still uncertain when Starship can launch.”
“I can’t plan my future in this situation,” Maezawa added.
Regarding the dearMoon project cancellation.
I signed the contract in 2018 based on the assumption that dearMoon would launch by the end of 2023.
It’s a developmental project so it...
Published on 2 June 2024 | 8:38 pm
Hyundai’s first US-built EV will be the tax credit-ready Ioniq 5
The Hyundai Ioniq 5 will reportedly be the first car rolling out of the company’s new Georgia factory this fall. Moreover, company CEO Jose Muñoz tells Automotive News he expects the US-made version will net buyers the full $7,500 federal EV tax credit, which the South Korea-made vehicle isn’t otherwise eligible for (outside of a leasing loophole).
Hyundai will start producing the Ioniq 5 at the Georgia plant in October, but the company won’t be making batteries there for “about a year,” Automotive News writes. For now, the article says the company will source its batteries from a Hungarian factory operated by Hyundai’s partner for its Georgia battery production, SK On.
One important question, though, is whether or not the first...
Published on 2 June 2024 | 6:47 pm
Apple’s non-AI WWDC plans include Settings and Control Center revamps
It sounds like Apple’s WWDC plans go beyond sprinkling AI fairy dust on everything (though that’s going to be a big part of it, too). Besides Siri gaining new AI-powered app control, the company also plans to overhaul things like the Settings apps for iOS and macOS, Control Center, Messages, Mail, and more.
A new, “cleaner” Settings app UI will mean better organization and improved search, Mark Gurman writes in his Power On Newsletter for Bloomberg today. He adds that a similar revamp is also coming to the macOS System Settings app.
Apple will also update Control Center, the slide-down menu of quick settings in iOS, with a new music widget and “improvements to how it operates smart home appliances.” Gurman didn’t specify what would...
Published on 2 June 2024 | 3:42 pm
Nvidia’s small GPU initiative will keep graphics cards large — but I’m glad it exists
Nvidia just gave the PC gaming industry a reason to shrink its biggest graphics cards and produce smallish cases. It’s not what I expected, but I think it might actually help. Read before you judge, friends — I was definitely ready to call out some Nvidia BS, but I’ve mostly come around.
When leakers revealed last month that Nvidia would help steer its graphics card partners toward smaller gaming PCs, I began to daydream. Might we finally see a genuinely small Nvidia powerhouse like AMD’s old R9 Nano? Could Nvidia at least convince partners to produce two-slot GPUs like many of its own Founders Edition cards?
Unfortunately, no. Nvidia’s just-announced “SFF-Ready Enthusiast GeForce Cards” aren’t actually that small — even a 2.5 slot...
Published on 2 June 2024 | 12:30 pm
Nvidia’s G-Assist is an AI chatbot that guides you through games and optimizes your PC
When Nvidia first announced G-Assist it was an April Fools’ prank in 2017 that joked about an AI assistant being able to help you play a game while you ran to the door for your pizza delivery. Now, seven years later, G-Assist is back as a real demo of a powerful GeForce AI assistant that Nvidia might eventually bring to life for game developers and RTX GPU owners.
Project G-Assist is only a tech demonstration right now, but it’s a brief look at how an AI assistant could guide you through PC games and even configure optimal settings for you based on chat inputs in the future.
In a demo, Nvidia shows G-Assist responding to voice queries asking “what’s the next early game weapon and where do I find the crafting materials for it?” inside A...
Published on 2 June 2024 | 12:30 pm
Nvidia and AMD are bringing Microsoft’s Copilot Plus AI features to gaming laptops
Nvidia and AMD are gearing up to launch gaming laptops that include the AI Copilot Plus features that Microsoft just announced for Qualcomm-powered laptops. At Computex today, Nvidia briefly teased that “RTX AI PC” laptops are on the way from Asus and MSI that will eventually include Copilot Plus PC features.
“Newly announced RTX AI PC laptops from ASUS and MSI feature up to GeForce RTX 4070 GPUs and power-efficient systems-on-a-chip with Windows 11 AI PC capabilities,” says Nvidia in a blog post. Nvidia confirmed to The Verge in a briefing that these laptops will come with AMD’s latest Strix CPUs.
AMD hasn’t officially detailed its AMD Strix laptop CPUs yet, which it will undoubtedly announce during its own keynote later today. Nvidia...
Published on 2 June 2024 | 12:30 pm
A better way to take video on your phone
Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 40, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, send me all your recommendations immediately, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)
This week, I’ve been reading about Shein and Reese Witherspoon and Hollywood Ponzi schemes, journaling in Papery, testing Lazy for all my link dumps and notes, drinking a lot of Poppi soda, developing a mac and cheese recipe my toddler will actually like, and pricing out plane tickets for the Wu-Tang Clan listening party in Australia.
I also have for you a great new app for capturing video, a nifty new Chrome trick, a MoviePass documentary worth watching, a smartwatch for kids, and much more....
Published on 2 June 2024 | 12:00 pm
The Asus ROG Ally X is official — and I took a peek inside
$799 for twice the battery, twice the storage, and loads of small improvements.
Published on 2 June 2024 | 9:00 am
Lego debuts its first Minecraft set for adults
Minecraft is 15 years old, so it’s only natural that Lego should honor the anniversary with a set just for the game’s many adult fans. The company has started taking preorders for The Crafting Table, a 1,195-piece 18-and-up build, as Jay’s Brick Blog writes. The set will cost $89.99 in the US when it’s released on August 1st.
Lego says the set will include “familiar biomes, favorite mobs and hidden Easter eggs.” As the name suggests, the kit looks like an in-game crafting table. But inside of it is a Minecraft diorama featuring 12 biomes including Plains (with a village), Taiga (with a dripstone cave), and Cherry Grove (with an abandoned mineshaft).
It also has eight microfigures; among them are Steve,...
Published on 1 June 2024 | 10:01 pm