Politics | The Verge

Spirit Airlines shuts down after Trump’s war on Iran doubled jet fuel prices

2026-05-02T13:54:48-04:00

Spirit Airlines planes are parked on the tarmac at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on May 02, 2026 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. | Getty Images

The ultra-low-cost air carrier Spirit Airlines shut down operations after 34 years in business and canceled all flights at 3AM ET on Saturday morning. Its website now redirects to spiritrestructuring.com, instructing fliers not to go to airports, with air traffic control records capturing controllers and pilots signing off to each other as its last flights came in for landings after the shutdown was announced.

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A statement on its website said that for people who purchased tickets directly, "Refunds for tickets purchased by credit card and debit card have been issued, and will be processed by …

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We just got a new reason to believe the Trump phone is real(ish)

2026-05-01T12:28:39-04:00

Where's the Trump phone? We're going to keep talking about it every week. We've reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump phone's whereabouts. This time we've discovered a little more evidence that the phone is on its way to a release.

Trump Mobile's T1 Phone has just passed another milestone on its slow road to release. The phone has received the little-known PTCRB certification, a first step toward being certified to work on major networks and be issued with IMEI numbers.

You probably haven't heard of PTCRB certification - I hadn't until recently. It doesn't come up very often. It's the North American certification process for smartp …

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Pentagon strikes classified AI deals with OpenAI, Google, and Nvidia — but not Anthropic

2026-05-01T10:22:45-04:00

The Pentagon has struck deals with OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, Elon Musk's xAI, and the startup Reflection, allowing the agency to use their AI tools in classified settings, according to an announcement on Friday. At the same time, the Defense Department has left out Anthropic - which it previously used for classified information - after declaring it a supply-chain risk.

This builds upon deals with OpenAI and xAI, which have already reached agreements with the Pentagon for the "lawful" use of their AI systems. A report from The Information suggests Google has struck a similar agreement. As noted by The Wall Street Journal, Mi …

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Congress keeps kicking surveillance reform down the road

2026-04-30T16:59:58-04:00

Congress has reauthorized Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act - but only for another 45 days. The extension is meant to give legislators more time to negotiate reforms to the controversial wiretapping bill. If the past few weeks are any indication of how future debates will go, however, we're in for a bumpy ride.

The House renewed Section 702 with minor reforms on Wednesday evening. The bill didn't include the hotly debated warrant requirement, but it did feature a provision prohibiting the Federal Reserve from issuing Central Bank Digital Currencies, which Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) described as a nonstar …

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Grindr — yes, Grindr — won the WHCD party circuit

2026-04-30T11:44:41-04:00

General atmosphere during Grindr White House Correspondents' Dinner Weekend Party 2026 at LXIV DC on April 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. | Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Grindr Inc.

Hello and welcome to Regulator, a newsletter for Verge subscribers about technology, politics, and technology learning how to politick. If you're not a subscriber but would like to support our work, please subscribe here. I promise that your money will not go toward paying for a drone-proof ballroom for The Verge staff, no matter how much fun we'd have throwing parties there.

Speaking of parties: The Verge normally wouldn't do a party report from the White House Correspondents' Dinner week, also known as "Nerd Prom," because it's a bit too much Washington insider circle-jerking for normal people to stomach. (This year was weirder than most, …

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Meta isn’t doing enough to keep kids off Facebook and Instagram, rules EU

2026-04-29T07:15:18-04:00

Meta could face fines of up to $12 billion if it doesn’t remedy the DSA breaches. | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images

Meta is breaching Europe's Digital Services Act (DSA) rules by failing to prevent children under 13 from using Facebook and Instagram, according to a preliminary decision issued by the European Commission.

The Commission announced the ruling on Wednesday after an almost two-year investigation, saying that Meta doesn't have adequate measures in place to stop under-13s from accessing its services, or to identify and remove those already on its social media platforms. A notable example is that minors can simply enter a false birth date when signing up for Facebook and Instagram to falsely declare they're over 13 years old - the minimum age ou …

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James Comey indicted over Instagram seashell photo that allegedly threatened Trump

2026-04-28T17:40:08-04:00

The US Department of Justice has once again indicted James Comey - this time, for an alleged threat the former FBI director made toward President Donald Trump on Instagram, as reported earlier by CNN. In its indictment, filed in a North Carolina federal court on Tuesday, the DOJ cites the now-deleted image Comey posted to Instagram last May, which showed a seashell arrangement making up the numbers "8647."

The DOJ claims "a reasonable recipient who is familiar with the circumstances would interpret as a serious expression of an intent to do harm." The phrase "eighty-six" can be used as slang that means to "get rid of" or "throw out," accord …

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The FCC is going after the broadcast licenses of Disney-owned ABC stations

2026-04-28T16:50:18-04:00

The Federal Communications Commission has ordered the ABC stations owned and operated by Disney to file for an early license renewal, as reported earlier by The New York Times. In a filing on Tuesday, the FCC claims it made the decision as part of an investigation into Disney's policies on diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI).

The move comes just one day after President Donald Trump demanded ABC fire late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, who called Melania Trump an "expectant widow" in a skit, ahead of the alleged assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

Disney wasn't set to renew its broadcast licenses until …

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Former FCC staffers agree: Brendan Carr needs to be stopped

2026-04-28T13:06:42-04:00

Several former Federal Communications Commissioners and staffers across parties are urging a federal appeals court to force a vote on the FCC's news distortion policy, which they argue should be repealed after being abused by Republican Chair Brendan Carr.

On Tuesday, a group of petitioners asked the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to require the FCC to vote on a petition to repeal the News Distortion Policy. The petition was filed by the bipartisan group of former officials in November of 2025, after Carr invoked the rule to pressure ABC into temporarily suspending comedian Jimmy Kimmel. But only the agency chair can bring …

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Google and Pentagon reportedly agree on deal for ‘any lawful’ use of AI

2026-04-28T08:18:47-04:00

Google has signed a classified deal that allows the US Department of Defense to use its AI models for "any lawful government purpose," The Information reports. The agreement was reported less than a day after Google employees demanded CEO Sundar Pichai block the Pentagon from using its AI amid concerns that it would be used in "inhumane or extremely harmful ways."

If the agreement is confirmed, it would place Google alongside OpenAI and xAI, which have also made classified AI deals with the US government. Anthropic was also among that list until it was blacklisted by the Pentagon for refusing the Department of Defense's demands to remove we …

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