6 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Jess Weatherbed

Jess Weatherbed

News Reporter

News Reporter

    More From Jess Weatherbed

    Jess Weatherbed
    Jess Weatherbed
    George Lucas says AI makes it ‘much easier’ to make movies.

    In an interview with A Rabbit’s Foot, the man who loves pushing technological boundries enough to anger his fans with controversial remasters had this to say about people who oppose artificial intelligence in film making:

    “It’s very much like sitting here saying, ‘Well, I believe the horse and the buggy is really where it’s at. These cars, they break down, they need gas, there’s all kinds of problems with them and pretty soon they’ll be making them into tanks, and then they’ll be killing people. It’s terrible.’ There’s nothing you can do about it. That’s progress, it’s the future.”

    Jess Weatherbed
    Jess Weatherbed
    Gemini in Chrome is rolling out in the UK.

    It’s taken over a year, but starting today, British Chrome users can access Google’s chatbot interface directly in the Chrome browser to compare information across multiple tabs, summarize content, and ask questions about what’s on their open web pages. It still isn’t available in the EU, however.

    A screenshot taken from a Google video promoting Gemini in Chrome expanding to the UK.
    Here’s what the Gemini interface looks like when comparing Jet2Holiday listings on Chrome. Cos that’s what Brits do, innit.
    Image: Google
    The fanfiction community is at war with AI — and itself

    Readers are scrambling to develop ways to detect whether generative AI was used to write fanworks. The results are questionable.

    Jess Weatherbed
    Jess Weatherbed
    Jess Weatherbed
    iFixit has a solution for repairability labeling laws.

    It’s teaming up with the National Sanitation Foundation to develop a voluntary repairability scoring standard for the US, aligning with growing requirements for gadgets to show how repairable they are at the time of purchase. iFixit says the standard will be distinct from its own scores, aligning with European efforts.

    Jess Weatherbed
    Jess Weatherbed
    No karaoke version? No problem!

    LG’s Xboom Stage 501 party speaker is now available to buy for $499.99 (technically $449.99 after a $50 rebate). Like Soundcore’s Rave 3S, the new Xboom speaker has an AI feature that can remove vocals, turning “virtually any song” into a karaoke track.

    If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

    The LG Xboom Stage 501, featuring Will.i.am
    Will.i.am for scale (the speaker was built in collaboration with him).
    Image: LG