Tesla now has 160,000 customers running its Full Self Driving beta

Tesla now has 160,000 customers running its Full Self Driving beta

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Tesla's Optimus robot prototype was not the only thing the company shared on Friday evening during its AI Day presentation. Autopilot director Ashok Elluswamy took the stage during Tesla's AI day to talk about how the company's Full Self Driving software has improved. He revealed that there are now 160,000 customers running the beta software, compared to 2,000 from this time last year.

In total, Tesla says there have been 35 software releases of FSD. In a Q&A at the end of the presentation, Musk made another prediction — he's made a few before — that the technology would be ready for a worldwide rollout by the end of this year but acknowledged the regulatory and testing hurdles that remained before that happens.

Image: Tesla

Tesla lists progress of its “Full Self Driving (Beta)” project from 2,000 customers in 2021 to 160,000 customers in 2022.

Afterward, Tesla's tech lead for Autopilot motion planning, Paril Jain, showed how FSD has improved in specific interactions and can make "human-like" decisions. For example, when a Tesla makes a left turn into an intersection, it can choose a trajectory that doesn't make close calls with obstacles like people crossing the street.

Image: Tesla

Models can be trained in different situations for more consistent actions in the same locations.

It's known that every Tesla can provide datasets to build the models that FSD uses, and according to Tesla's engineering manager Phil Duan, now Tesla will start building and processing detailed 3D structures from that data. They said the cars are also improving decision-making in different environmental situations, like night, fog, and rain.

Tesla trains the company's AI software on its supercomputer, then feeds the results to customers' vehicles via over-the-air software updates. To do this, it processes video feeds from Tesla's fleet of over 1 million camera-equipped vehicles on the road today and has a simulator built in Unreal Engine that is used to improve Autopilot.

Image: Tesla

An Unreal Engine-based simulator that helps improve Autopilot.

The automaker already has a large Nvidia GPU-based supercomputer and a data center holding 30PB (that's 30,000,000GB) of stored footage. Tesla is also working on a new custom-built computer using chips designed by Tesla called Dojo, with which the company says it can replace 72 GPU racks consisting of 4,000 GPUs with only four Dojo cabinets.

At last year's AI day, executives revealed Dojo's first chip and training tiles, which would eventually develop into a full Dojo cluster or "ExaPod." Today the company announced that the first ExaPod is expected to be completed by Q1 2023. The company plans to build a total of seven in Palo Alto. In a 10-cabinet system, Tesla said the Dojo ExaPod would break the barrier of the ExaFlop of compute and contains 1.3TB of high-speed SRAM and 13TB of high-bandwidth DRAM.

Since last year's AI day, Dojo development hit a few milestones, including installing the first Dojo cabinet, testing 2.2MW of load testing, and now the company is working at a build rate of one tile per day. Dojo was also demonstrated running a Stable Diffusion model using 25 Dojo dies, creating this AI-generated image based on a prompt of "Cybertruck on Mars."

Image: Tesla

Stable Diffusion AI model for “Cybertruck on Mars” processed on Dojo.

All Tesla vehicles today come standard with a driver-assist feature called Autopilot. For an additional $15,000, owners can buy the Full Self-Driving option, which Musk has repeatedly promised will one day deliver fully autonomous capabilities to Tesla vehicle owners. To date, FSD remains a "Level 2" advanced driver-assistance system, meaning the driver must stay fully engaged in the vehicle's operation while in motion.

FSD, which is currently available to around 160,000 drivers in the US and Canada, allows users to access Autopilot's partially automated driver assist system on city streets and local roads. The system purports to speed up and slow down, make turns — including unprotected left turns, which are extremely difficult for automated systems — and recognizes traffic signals and other road signs.

Tesla has gotten in hot water with the federal government based on reports of FSD malfunction and other safety issues. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating 16 crashes in which Tesla vehicle owners using Autopilot crashed into stationary emergency vehicles, resulting in 15 injuries and one fatality. Tesla is facing a possible recall of Autopilot, FSD, or both after the government upgraded its investigation earlier this year.

The company has been accused of false advertising by regulators and sued by customers for allegedly misleading them about the capabilities of their vehicles. But FSD is also crucial to Musk's vision of a fully driverless future. And Musk himself has largely avoided any serious consequences — so far — in his efforts to obscure the limitations of Tesla's autonomous driving technology.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveils prototype of humanoid Optimus robot

Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveils prototype of humanoid Optimus robot

Tesla’s Optimus robot has been revealed on stage at AI day. | Image: Tesla

Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed a prototype of a humanoid robot that he said utilizes the company's AI software, as well as the sensors that power its advanced driver assist features. At the start of Tesla's 2022 AI Day presentation, Musk acknowledged that they had "a guy in a suit" last year but promised something much more impressive today.

According to Musk, it can do more than what has been shown, but "the first time it walked without a tether was tonight on stage." Musk said they're targeting a price of "probably less than $20,000."

Image: Tesla

Tesla “Optimus” robot at AI Day 2022

Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed a working prototype of humanoid robot at Tesla AI day 2022https://t.co/bzseqL50Le pic.twitter.com/D6lfwFQrkz

— The Verge (@verge) October 1, 2022

The back doors of the stage opened to reveal a deconstructed Optimus that walked forward and did a "raise the roof" dance move. Musk admitted that they wanted to keep it safe, not make too many moves on stage, and have it "fall flat on its face." (Best to avoid another Cybertruck sledgehammer incident if you can.)

Afterward, the company showed a few video clips of the robot doing other tasks like picking up boxes. Then Tesla's team brought out another prototype with its body fully assembled but not fully functional. They revealed that the initial robot presented was developed in just the past six months. Discussing hurdles they have to address in getting it from the prototype to a working design, they hope to "get this done within the next few months... or years."

Engineers hope to clear additional design hurdles “within the next few months... or years.”

It contains a 2.3kWh battery pack, runs on a Tesla SoC, and has Wi-Fi and LTE connectivity. Demonstrations focused on addressing the robot's joints, like its hands, wrists, or knees, showed how they processed data for each joint, then looked for the common areas in each design to find a method using only six different actuators. The human-like hands are a "Biologically Inspired Design" that engineers say will make them more suitable for picking up objects of various shapes and sizes, holding a 20-point bag, and having a "precision grip" on small parts.

Tesla's Autopilot software was moved from its cars to the bot and retooled to work in the new body and environment. Tesla motion captured people doing real-world tasks like lifting a box and then using inverse kinematics, repeats the movements using Optimus. Then "online motion adaptation" is applied to make it so these tasks aren't so rigid and can be manipulated to take into account an unstructured environment.

Image: Tesla

Tesla Optimus robot breakdown of CPU, battery pack, actuators, and hands.

"It'll be a fundamental transformation for civilization as we know it," said Musk. He continues to say that Optimus has the potential of "two orders of magnitude" of potential improvement of economic output.

Musk first announced the "Tesla Bot" at last year's AI Day, promising it would be "friendly" and potentially revolutionize the company's assembly line and manufacturing business.

Musk had warned his fans not to expect the prototype to look like the glossy black-and-white rendering first shown at last year's event. But there's been no shortage of hype, with Musk calling the robot "the most important product development we're doing this year" and predicting that it will have the potential to be "more significant than the vehicle business over time."

Future applications could include cooking, gardening, or even "catgirl" sex partners; Musk has said while claiming that production could start as soon as next year.

In the days leading up to AI Day, robotics experts warned against buying too much into Musk's claims. They've noted that other companies are much further along in developing robots that can walk, run, and even jump — but none are claiming to be close to replacing human labor.

Tesla's history is littered with fanciful ideas that never panned out — like a solar-powered Supercharger network, battery swapping, or robotic snake-style chargers — so it's anyone's guess as to whether a production-ready Tesla Bot will ever see the light of day. But the company is where it is today because of Musk's sheer will. And the reveal of a prototype version of the robot is sure to bolster Musk's claims of Tesla as "the world's biggest robotics company."

Food delivery drone lands on power lines resulting in power outage for thousands

Food delivery drone lands on power lines resulting in power outage for thousands

The Wing delivery drone on the power lines. | Image: Energex via ABC Radio Brisbane

A food delivery drone operated by Alphabet subsidiary Wing landed on overhead power lines in Brisbane, Australia, and caught fire. As a result, the network was shut down by energy firm Energex to respond to the incident, leaving thousands without power.

Some 2,000 individuals were left without electricity for around 45 minutes, reports ABC News and The Age, while 300 customers had no power for three hours.

Energex spokesman Danny Donald told The Age that the drone “landed on top of 11,000 volts and whilst it didn’t take out power, there was voltage tracking across the drone and the drone caught fire and fell to the ground.”

A spokesperson for Wing told the publication that the drone made a “precautionary controlled landing yesterday … and came to rest on an overhead power line.” The company said it then reported the incident to Energex. “Two hours later, during the retrieval process, there was a power outage in the area,” said the spokesperson. “We’re sorry for any inconvenience caused. We’re currently conducting a review of yesterday’s event.”

“The drone caught fire and fell to the ground.”

Donald told ABC News: “This is the first time that I’ve seen it happen. It could have simply been an equipment malfunction. It may have been human error.” He added that there was no damage to the network and that Energex responded quickly to the problems. “The meal was still hot inside the drone’s delivery box when the crew got there,” said Donald.

“Fifteen years ago, we asked people to be careful if they were giving their children kites for Christmas and where they were flying them,” said the Energex spokesperson. “Now we’re asking parents to be very careful with where their kids fly their drones.”

Image: Andy Jacobsohn/AFP via Getty Images

A Wind delivery dronein August, 2022. Wing’s drone don’t land to make deliveries but drop down packages to customers using a pulley system.

The drone wasn’t flow by children, though, but by Wing — a subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet. Wing’s drones operate as both fixed-wing aircraft and hovering copters, flying autonomously to deliver food and beverages over short journeys typically lasting less than 10 minutes. The company currently operates in three countries — the US, Finland, and Australia — but has found particular success in the Australian suburbs.

As of August last year, Wing offered deliveries to around 100,000 customers in Brisbane, where the crash took place, and has made some 200,000 deliveries as of this March. Wing says drone deliveries suit suburban areas as these regions provide plenty of customers, easy flying conditions, and are not as well served as cities by delivery companies.

Drone deliveries have yet to meet advocates’ high expectations

Although drone deliveries have been much hyped over the past decade, they’ve failed to scale in the way that companies like Amazon initially promised. Success has instead been found in more focused applications; like with Zipline, which delivers small but high-value items like blood and medicine in rural areas.

‘The bleakest of worlds’: how Molly Russell fell into a vortex of despair on social media

‘The bleakest of worlds’: how Molly Russell fell into a vortex of despair on social media

London teenager killed herself in 2017 after the darker side of online life overwhelmed her

On the evening of 20 November 2017 Molly Russell and her family had dinner together and then sat down to watch an episode of I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!.

A family meal, then viewing a popular TV show: a scene typical of millions of families around the UK. As Molly’s mother, Janet, said to police: “Everybody’s behaviour was normal” at dinner time.

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Molly Russell: how family are helping shift narrative on online safety

Molly Russell: how family are helping shift narrative on online safety

Ian Russell’s campaigning after his daughter’s death has made case for online safety bill unavoidable, says peer

At the opening of the inquest into his daughter’s death, Ian Russell called for action to “prevent such a young life being wasted again”.

The regulatory landscape for the online world is undergoing significant change in the UK and Molly Russell’s family have contributed to that shift as prominent campaigners for improved internet safety.

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Hyper officially recalls its stackable (and overheating) GaN chargers after all

Hyper officially recalls its stackable (and overheating) GaN chargers after all

The chargers were designed to stack to offer up to 1600W of charging power. | Image: Hyper

Hyper is officially recalling its stackable 100W and 65W GaN chargers and a 130W battery pack, following reports that all three devices can overheat and may pose a fire hazard to consumers. Recall notices for the HyperJuice Stackable GaN USB-C chargers and HyperJuice 130W USB-C battery pack have been posted on the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (US CPSC) website, and the company is emailing its customers directly to ask them to return the devices in exchange for store credit.

According to the CPSC, Hyper has received seven reports of its stackable GaN chargers overheating “resulting in damage to the changing units,” plus two reports of the battery pack overheating and causing “smoke, melting, and property damage.” No injuries were reported as a result of defects in either device. According to the government agency, Hyper sold over 18,200 stackable GaN chargers in North America between October 2020 and August 2022, and over 13,800 of the battery packs between October 2018 and April 2022.

Turns out I apparently wasn’t the only one having to get multiple replacement units for this charger. They all smelled like burnt out electronics and stopped working after a few months.

"Voluntary Recall of HYPER HyperJuice GaN Charger 65W (HJ414) and 100W (HJ417)”: pic.twitter.com/2r0qGvCcGY

— Holger Eilhard (@holgr) September 29, 2022

What’s strange is how Hyper responded to initial reports of its stackable GaN chargers overheating earlier this year. At first, the company told The Verge that it had identified some issues with both the 65W and 100W units, had removed them from sale, and was offering to replace devices within warranty with alternative units to anyone that requested one. But shortly afterwards, the company’s CEO Daniel Chin got in touch to deny that the products had been intentionally pulled from sale because of any defect, and instead blamed a parts shortage. Chin downplayed the complaints, admitting that while there had been some issues with early versions of the 65W charger, any reports of problems with the 100W version were simply “part of the normal defect rate.”

“We’re not issuing a full recall because we’re not seeing a systemic failure,” Chin told us in June.

We were very excited by Hyper’s stackable GaN chargers when they were first announced in 2020. As well as working like a standard USB charging brick (the 65W version offers two USB-C and one USB-A ports, while the 100W model has an additional USB-C port), each charger also has an additional power outlet on its top. That’s what allows you to stack them to get even more charging ports, up to a total of 16 bricks for a maximum combined 1600W of charging power.

Terra founder wanted by Interpol tweets he is making ‘zero effort’ to hide

Terra founder wanted by Interpol tweets he is making ‘zero effort’ to hide

Search for crypto entrepreneur Do Kwon after Luna and UST collapse drags down rival currencies

The crypto entrepreneur Do Kwon has denied being in hiding, even as Interpol issued a “red notice” for his arrest after the collapse of the Terra project he founded.

After South Korean prosecutors said he was “obviously on the run”, Kwon tweeted that he was making no attempt to evade law officers. “I’m writing code in my living room … I’m making zero effort to hide,” he said. “I go on walks and malls, no way none of [crypto Twitter] hasn’t run into me the past couple weeks.”

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How Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey, and Parag Agrawal cratered the Twitter deal, in texts

How Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey, and Parag Agrawal cratered the Twitter deal, in texts

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images

Elon Musk’s deposition for the Twitter v. Musk suit may have been rescheduled for next week, but the public got some more inside dirt about his plans for Twitter, thanks to the release of two slideshow presentations and a slew of Musk texts.

The texts show Musk and a variety of contacts — including former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, entrepreneur Jason Calacanis, and podcaster Joe Rogan — talking about everything from the blockchain to putting Oprah on Twitter’s board. (That part might be a joke, but with Musk, it’s difficult to tell.) But above all, they’re a chronicle of the deal’s slow implosion.

Twitter “never should have been a company.”

The texts are light reading, and you can check them out here if you’re so inclined. They’re mostly divided into two sections: a giddy feeding frenzy around Musk acquiring Twitter and a protracted venting session as the acquisition went south.

The first key section starts about a month before Musk’s $44 billion offer to buy Twitter. In March of 2022, Jack Dorsey reaches out about one of Musk’s tweets, part of a thread complaining about a lack of free speech on Twitter. “A new platform is needed. It can’t be a company. This is why I left,” Dorsey says. He tries to sell Musk on a new decentralized communication protocol, saying Twitter “never should have been a company.” Musk more or less agrees, but with a caveat: “I think it’s worth both trying to move Twitter in a better direction and doing something new.”

Dorsey expresses doubts about this, but when Musk buys a substantial share in Twitter, Dorsey is extremely on board. “I’ve wanted it for a long time. Got very emotional when I learned it was finally possible,” he texts after an initial announcement that Musk is getting appointed. He’s equally enthusiastic about Musk meeting current CEO Parag Agrawal: “Parag is an incredible engineer.”

Threaded through various text message subplots (Kimbal Musk really wants to talk with Elon about Web3), one theme stands out: as Twitter’s old CEO pushed to bring Twitter and Musk together, Musk’s patience with its new one frayed almost immediately. Musk and Dorsey are on the same high-minded wavelength. Meanwhile, Agrawal comes off as, well, a current executive and former nuts-and-bolts engineer at a very large company that’s about to take a big risk.

“Twitter CEO is my dream job.”

This isn’t immediately an issue. “I just want Twitter to be maximum amazing,” Musk gushes in an early conversation after his investment, touting his expertise in “heavy duty software.” Agrawal tries gamely to do a little coder-to-coder bonding: “I used to be CTO and have been in our codebase for a long time ... treat me like an engineer instead of CEO and let’s see where we get to.”

But two days later, Agrawal makes a pivotal mistake: he asks Musk to stop tweeting. “You are free to tweet ‘is Twitter dying?’ or anything else about Twitter — but it’s my responsibility to tell you that it’s not helping me make Twitter better in the current context,” Agrawal texts on April 9th. “I’d like the company to get to a place where we are more resilient and don’t get distracted, bu we aren’t there right now.” Two minutes later, Musk declares joining the board “a waste of time” and says he’ll offer to take Twitter private. (Over in the Web3 B-plot, he’s simultaneously texting Kimbal about how to start a paid blockchain social network.)

“Fixing Twitter by chatting with Parag won’t work,” he tells Twitter board chair Bret Taylor tersely. “Drastic action is needed.”

(Meanwhile, in an ongoing C-plot that is by far the most entertaining part of these text messages, Jason Calacanis offers Musk a constant stream of thirsty suggestions that include raising his offer price, moving Twitter’s headquarters to the Gigafactory in Texas, and bringing YouTube creator MrBeast onto Twitter to win over Zoomers and Millennials. Also, Calacanis is ride-or-die for Musk, will jump on a grenade for him, and tells Musk, among other things, “You have my sword,” and “Twitter CEO is my dream job.”)

“Parag is just moving far too slowly and trying to please people who will not be happy no matter what he does.”

Dorsey is entirely on board with the acquisition — “I won’t let this fail and will do whatever it takes. It’s too critical to humanity,” he pledges. (Back in the B-plot again, Musk is texting Boring Company CEO Steve Davis about “a blockchain-based version of Twitter” where users pay in Dogecoin, then thankfully concluding that “blockchain Twitter isn’t possible.”) And Dorsey tries to smooth things over with Musk and Agrawal: “He is really great at getting things done when tasked with specific direction,” Dorsey tells him.

Musk is not into this. “Parag is just moving far too slowly and trying to please people who will not be happy no matter what he does,” he says. Dorsey diplomatically takes the glass as half-full, saying that “at least it became clear that you can’t work together.” But it’s the last message we get from him — while Musk texts Rupert Murdoch heirs Kathryn and James to say he’s too busy with his crypto startup to rejoin Twitter.

And this all happens while Musk is still mostly excited about buying Twitter. (This section ends perfectly with venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson suggesting that Musk hire his son to run operations — again, a feeding frenzy.) Jump into May, and he’s complaining to banker Michael Grimes about Twitter having “asked no good questions and had no good comments” at a meeting, immediately before asking to slow the deal down in case of World War III and guessing that fewer than half of Twitter’s users are real.

There was plenty of obvious public friction between Musk and Agrawal, and Dorsey’s support for the acquisition was known as well. But based on the string of text messages here, it’s striking just how quickly things with Agrawal go south and how little Dorsey manages to sell Musk on any of this being a good idea — something Musk seems to start doubting nearly the minute he strikes his bargain.

Anker’s Soundcore Liberty 4 earbuds add spatial audio and heart rate tracking

Anker’s Soundcore Liberty 4 earbuds add spatial audio and heart rate tracking

Soundcore Liberty 4 earbuds | Image: Soundcore

Today Anker is adding a new entry to its line of Soundcore earbuds with the Liberty 4. While this set keeps the brand in the budget earbud category with a $149.99 price, they’re the first ones in this line to combine a “stick” design (as seen in the Liberty Air 2 Pro) and dual dynamic drivers that Soundcore claims “push the boundaries of sound performance, offering clarity across all frequencies for the best listening experience with all genres of music.”

The Liberty Air 2 Pro made our list of the best cheap earbuds last year, and the Liberty 3 Pro managed to impress for the price when we reviewed them in February, despite ANC that could use some improvement and some extra emphasis on bass and treble under their default settings.

While we’ll judge how the Liberty 4s measure up once we’ve been able to use them, the spec sheet features a few things that we haven’t seen on every set of earbuds in this price range. Not everyone is a fan of spatial audio features in headphones and buds, but these buds have it, promising 360-degree tracking with a gyroscope and algorithm that try to align the sounds as you move your head while watching movies or listen to music while you have the feature turned on.

Image: Anker

Soundcore Wellness app with heart rate tracking

Image: Anker

Liberty 4 heart rate sensor shown close-up

They also include an in-ear heart rate sensor that ties to a Wellness app to keep track of daily data or just while you work out — in case you don’t have a watch, armband, or ring to monitor that kind of thing.

Image: Anker

Soundcore app shown, with sound settings and link to Wellness tracking

For more typical earbud tasks, they include Bluetooth 5.3, Soundcore’s HearID active noise cancellation, three sizes of ear tips, and 6 microphones (three per earbud) that are supposed to help your voice come through clearly to people on the other end. They also have multipoint connections to stay linked to both your laptop and phone, for example. Like their predecessors, codec support in the Liberty 4 includes LDAC, AAC, and SBC, but not aptX.

Battery life could depend on which features you use, promising up to 9 hours on a charge with normal use, 5 hours in spatial audio mode, 6 hours while in LDAC mode and no noise cancellation, and up to 7 hours with just ANC on.

Their charging case can fast charge them for 15 minutes to add 3 hours of playback or charge them from empty to full in one hour, and the case itself charges via USB-C or wirelessly. Under normal conditions, Soundcore says the Liberty 4 is capable of up to 28 hours of use in normal conditions before you’ll drain the buds and their case.

If you’re interested, they will be available in either black or white, with the black version on sale starting today from Soundcore.com, Amazon on October 10th, and Best Buy’s website by the end of October. The white set is scheduled to go on sale on October 7th from Soundcore and on October 17th from Amazon.

New 3D printing method promises faster printing with multiple materials

New 3D printing method promises faster printing with multiple materials Advancements in 3D printing have made it easier for designers and engineers to customize projects, create physical prototypes at different scales, and produce structures that can't be made with more traditional manufacturing techniques. But the technology still faces limitations—the process is slow and requires specific materials which, for the most part, must be used one at a time.

‘The work we do isn’t algorithmic’: A&R in the era of TikTok

‘The work we do isn’t algorithmic’: A&R in the era of TikTok

In the digital age, marketability is just as important as music. Artist and repertoire reps from Warner, Ministry of Sound and Partisan explain how they discover music in 2022

Artists and repertoire representatives (A&Rs) are the wildcatters of the music business, spotting new acts, signing them and guiding their artistic development. The essence of what they do hasn’t fundamentally changed in over a century – but the way they do it has shifted significantly.

Joe Kentish is president of Warner Records UK, and has signed acts such as Dua Lipa and Griff. He says his early days in A&R took place in “an analogue world” where he might be tipped off at 4pm “to see an act in Preston tonight” that he had never heard of, scrambling to arrive in time lest his competitors swoop first.

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Shock therapy: turmoil engulfs Britishvolt’s £3.8bn battery factory

Shock therapy: turmoil engulfs Britishvolt’s £3.8bn battery factory

Future of company hailed by Boris Johnson as cornerstone of his ‘global green industrial revolution’ is hanging in the balance

Champagne flowed freely as Orral Nadjari courted bankers and potential business partners in a private box, against a soundtrack of V12 supercar engines, at the Goodwood festival of Speed.

Nadjari had hit the big time: his Britishvolt battery startup was gatecrashing the annual petrolheads’ gathering at the historic West Sussex circuit in June with plans to power cars of the future using British-made batteries.

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Automatic emergency braking is not great at preventing crashes at normal speeds

Automatic emergency braking is not great at preventing crashes at normal speeds

Automatic emergency braking (AEB) is pretty good at preventing low-speed rear-end crashes but kind of sucks when vehicles are traveling at more average speeds, according to new research from the American Automobile Association (AAA).

Starting September 2022, all new cars sold in the US are required to come standard with AEB, which uses forward-facing cameras and other sensors to automatically apply the brakes when a crash is imminent. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety estimates that AEB may help prevent 28,000 crashes and 12,000 injuries by 2025.

Using four common vehicles, AAA wanted to put AEB to the test to see how it’s progressed since first rolling out to production vehicles nearly 20 years ago. What they found was not that great.

“Automatic Emergency Braking does well at tackling the limited task it was designed to do,” said Greg Brannon, director of AAA’s automotive engineering and industry relations, in a statement. “Unfortunately, that task was drawn up years ago, and regulator’s slow-speed crash standards haven’t evolved.”

“Automatic Emergency Braking does well at tackling the limited task it was designed to do”

The group selected four vehicles for testing, all of which came equipped with driver-assist features that include AEB: 2022 Chevrolet Equinox LT; 2022 Ford Explorer XLT; 2022 Honda CR-V Touring; and 2022 Toyota RAV4 LE.

AEB has proven itself useful over the years at reducing low-speed rear-end crashes, but AAA wanted to see how well it performs in two more common — and more deadly — crash scenarios: T-bones and left turns in front of oncoming vehicles. From 2016 to 2020, these two types of crashes accounted for nearly 40 percent of total fatalities in crashes involving two passenger vehicles in which the striking vehicle did not lose traction or leave the roadway before the collision.

The results were pretty dispiriting. In both the T-bones and left turns in front of an oncoming vehicle tests, AEB failed to prevent 100 percent of crashes staged by AAA. The system also failed to alert the driver and slow the vehicle’s speed.

In rear-end collision testing, AEB performed a little better — as long as the speed was kept low. At 30mph, the system prevented 17 out of 20 crashes, or 85 percent. For the test runs that resulted in a crash, the impact speed was reduced by 86 percent. But at 40mph, AEB only prevented six out of 20 rear-end collisions, or 30 percent. For test runs that resulted in a crash, the impact speed was reduced by 62 percent.

This isn’t the first time that AAA has highlighted the shortcoming of automatic braking and other driver-assist features. A 2019 study by the group found that AEB was pretty terrible at preventing cars from running over dummy pedestrians at speeds of 20mph.

These studies will no doubt resonate with automakers that have made eliminating traffic crashes and fatalities a major goal. Meanwhile, regulators are pressuring the auto industry to do more to prevent reckless driving.

Amazon says YES to putting the Yankees on cable

Amazon says YES to putting the Yankees on cable

Its last exclusive game of the season won’t be quite as exclusive. | Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images

This Friday’s Yankees game against the Orioles will no longer be exclusively available on Amazon Prime Video, like 20 games before it: the game will also be airing on the Yankee Entertainment and Sports (YES) network, according to a tweet from the cable network. It’s a big change, and it’s something that Apple didn’t do last week, despite pleas from New York’s Attorney General.

Many Yankees fans will likely want to tune in to the game, as outfielder Aaron Judge could tie (or maybe even beat) a record for home runs that’s stood for over 60 years. But the ability to watch the Yankees on YES has been a bit contentious lately; last Friday, New York’s attorney general Letitia James called on Apple to make the game available on cable TV. Like Amazon, Apple TV Plus is the exclusive home to another set of baseball games, and James said that having to use the streaming service was burden to people used to watching the Yankees on YES.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: Friday night's Yankees-Orioles game can now be seen on Prime Video and YES Network. pic.twitter.com/9DEHBAJxGJ

— YES Network (@YESNetwork) September 28, 2022

To be clear, what’s happening this week isn’t exactly the same situation as it was with Apple. For one thing, Amazon is an investor in YES with a 15 percent stake in the network, so the game playing on both Prime and cable is mostly a win-win, and YES has been heavily involved in producing the broadcasts that aired on Amazon Prime. It also probably doesn’t hurt that Friday’s game is the last in Amazon’s exclusive lineup, so it’s not really setting expectations for the rest of the season.

Another major difference is that Apple TV makes its games available for free to anyone with a web browser or smartphone, whereas Amazon’s streams have been limited to “Prime members in the Yankees’ home-team footprint of New York state, Connecticut, north and central New Jersey, and northeast Pennsylvania.” Prime costs $14.99 per month, or $139 per year, though you can get just a Prime Video subscription for $8.99 a month.

The move to air Friday’s game on both Prime Video and YES is largely a return to how things were before this year; in 2021, games were available via both Amazon’s streaming service and cable. Neither Amazon nor the AG’s office immediately responded to The Verge’s request for comment. The game is scheduled to start at 7PM ET on Friday.

Dbrand’s Steam Deck case is so good it almost makes you forget its big flaw

Dbrand’s Steam Deck case is so good it almost makes you forget its big flaw

The Killswitch case keeps your Steam Deck safe and is currently available on the Dbrand site. | Photo by Alice Newcome-Beill / The Verge

In high school, I’d keep my CD player from getting crushed in my bookbag by wrapping it in a wool sock. Considering that the CD player was probably the most expensive thing I owned at the time, I probably could’ve done better. This is how I felt with the first case I bought for my Steam Deck. It was definitely a step up from mismatched footwear, but I knew a device like this demands a little more respect without keeping it constantly locked away inside the case that it was packaged with.

Dbrand, maker of accessories for your phone, AirPods, and even your PS5, shares this sentiment and made “Project Killswitch.” Killswitch is designed to be a better protective skin for the Steam Deck and started development shortly following Valve’s announcement of the device.

The Killswitch case is a semi-flexible cover that fits snugly over your Steam Deck; the part of the case covering the handles has a nice, grippy finish to it that’s similar to Dbrand’s phone cases. The top and bottom of the case have raised edges to keep the buttons clear of any direct impacts (but the analog sticks are still exposed), while the back of the case has cutouts for the back paddle buttons and fan vents in addition to a raised area for the magnetic kickstand.

However, we wouldn’t recommend using the kickstand in its current state if you already have a Killswitch. The magnets used in the kickstand are incredibly strong, but their position can cause them to interfere with the fans used in certain earlier models of the Steam Deck. We tested this on the review model of our Steam Deck and had the fan speeds drop by 1500 to 2500 RPM with the kickstand installed. When we used this same method on a Steam Deck that was delivered back in July and another modded with an aftermarket fan, the impact was far less pronounced.

Here’s a video showing you the impact on our Steam Deck review unit:

Here’s a closer look at how the magnets can disrupt the fan:

Dbrand is aware of this problem and has issued a disclaimer alongside the public release of the Killswitch. Until Dbrand can manufacture a version of the kickstand that doesn’t use magnets you have a few options. If you’re someone that reserved a Killswitch during its development and ordered one back on the 25th, you can either return it for a full refund or hang onto it, and Dbrand will send you both a replacement case and kickstand (ones that do not feature magnets) as soon as they’re available. If you want to reserve an order now, you can currently order a kit off the Dbrand website with an estimated ship date of Q1 2023. Dbrand has also stated that any future production of the Killswitch will only be made with a mechanical kickstand and has issued a formal statement detailing the issue and the path forward on r/dbrand.

Photo by Alice Newcome-Beill / The Verge

The magnetic kickstand interferes with the fans; please don’t use it.

Moving on from magnets and fans, the other half of Project Killswitch is the travel case, a hardened piece of plastic that clips securely onto the face of the Steam Deck with the Killswitch case installed. The travel case has a beveled surface with a pair of larger feet protruding from either side. When it’s installed, the travel case doesn’t come into direct contact with the screen and protects the joysticks.

The essential Project Killswitch kit is be priced at $59.95 and includes the Killswitch case, the kickstand, and a Vinyl skin of your choice. The travel kit is also be available for $74.95, which includes all of the aforementioned loot but also throws in a pair of stick grips and the travel cover for the Killswitch.

Photo by Alice Newcome-Beill / The Verge

The travel case clips onto the front of the Killswitch case.

It’s worth noting that every Steam Deck already comes with a case that’s honestly pretty damn good. But considering that your Steam Deck is likely spending most of its time out and about, having a little extra insurance allows you to feel a little less precious about your new handheld.

Protection aside, perhaps the most important aspect of the Killswitch is that, unlike some of the other Steam Deck cases I’ve tried, it doesn’t ruin the device aesthetically. Sure, all of those silicon sleeves might keep your Deck safe, but they feel terrible, look worse, and are an absolute magnet for hair and dust.

Photo by Alice Newcome-Beill / The Verge

Issues aside, the Killswitch case is one of the best options for preventing damage to your Steam Deck.

Cases, skins, and other protective accessories have been available for the Steam Deck since day one but are mostly what I’d consider a “better than nothing” solution. The Killswitch is something I’d actually want to dress my Steam Deck in. The issues surrounding the kickstand are a bit disappointing, but I’d still pay $59.99 for the fit and finish of the Killswitch case alone. Until something better comes along, the Killswitch case is my first and second recommendation for anyone that wants to get serious about protecting their Steam Deck. We would’ve liked to see a better product out of the box, but Dbrand is on the right track, and we’re looking forward to their next development.

Hertz and BP are teaming up to create a network of EV chargers in the US

Hertz and BP are teaming up to create a network of EV chargers in the US

Image: Hertz

Hertz and BP are joining forces to build a network of electric vehicle (EV) chargers throughout the US (via Engadget). The initiative should help support Hertz’s growing fleet of EV vehicles, as the rental car company recently announced plans to purchase a total of over 300,000 EVs from Tesla, Polestar, and GM.

Details about the project are still pretty slim, and the two companies haven’t indicated how many charging stations they plan on building, how long it could take, or how much money either side is committing to the project. But we do know that Hertz is working with BP Pulse, the oil giant’s EV branch, to build out “a network of fast-charging hubs” with the goal of serving both Hertz customers and everyday EV drivers.

According to a report from CNBC, the deal builds on an initiative that involved BP installing chargers at 25 of Hertz’s busiest airport locations. Hertz has also been building some EV chargers separately, already installing them at 500 locations across the US, with CNBC stating the company plans to have 3,000 chargers by the end of next year. A report from CNN indicates that Hertz may apply for $7.5 million in federal funding to help build out its network. This aligns with BP’s similar goals of establishing charging networks, with the company aiming for 100,000 chargers globally by 2023.

The availability of EV charging stations has long been a concern, with some drivers hesitant to purchase (let alone rent) an electric car because of their inaccessibility. As my colleague Justine Calma reported last year, the current placement of EV chargers in the US isn’t “equitable nor convenient for many low-income communities and neighborhoods of color.” Meanwhile, some EV owners have to contend with broken or inoperable chargers.

All of this could change soon, though. As part of the infrastructure bill passed last year, President Joe Biden approved $900 million in funding for 35 states to build EV charging stations along 53,000 miles of highway in the US. Biden hopes to build 500,000 chargers in the US by 2030, a steep climb from the 41,000 chargers available in the country now.

Money isn’t important! Take it from Google’s multimillionaire CEO | Arwa Mahdawi

Money isn’t important! Take it from Google’s multimillionaire CEO | Arwa Mahdawi

What’s more annoying than a very rich boss cutting his staff’s benefits? A very rich boss announcing it shouldn’t stop them having fun

Grab your tiniest violin: Google, once known for its lavish work perks, is slashing its fun budget. Employees can no longer jet off on as many jollies as they used to and are going to have to dramatically scale back their Christmas parties. The cost-cutting hasn’t gone down well with Google staff, who confronted the CEO, Sundar Pichai, at a recent company-wide meeting. Why was Google “nickel-and-diming” them, Pichai was asked, when the company “had record profits and huge cash reserves”?

Pichai’s response was: “I hope all of you are reading the news.” Because the news, you may have noticed, isn’t great right now. After briefly talking about macroeconomic conditions, Pichai couldn’t resist moralising. “I remember when Google was small and scrappy,” the multimillionaire, who earned $6.3m (£5.8m) in pay last year, said. “We shouldn’t always equate fun with money. I think you can walk into a hard-working startup and people may be having fun and it shouldn’t always equate to money.”

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Interest in dangerous ‘NyQuil chicken’ videos surged after US agency warning

Interest in dangerous ‘NyQuil chicken’ videos surged after US agency warning

TikTok searches soared amid flood of media coverage, raising questions about the response to extreme social media challenges

Interest in NyQuil chicken appears to have substantially increased after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning about the “recent social media video challenge” that drew widespread media coverage.

The FDA issued a statement on 15 September warning of social media videos encouraging people to cook chicken in NyQuil: “The challenge sounds silly and unappetizing – and it is. But it could also be very unsafe.

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Tesla recalls nearly 1.1m vehicles in US over windows pinching fingers

Tesla recalls nearly 1.1m vehicles in US over windows pinching fingers

Company says in documents that the automatic window reversal system may not react correctly after detecting an obstruction

Tesla is recalling nearly 1.1m vehicles in the US because the windows can pinch a person’s fingers when being rolled up.

Tesla says in documents posted on Thursday by US safety regulators that the automatic window reversal system may not react correctly after detecting an obstruction.

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Voice assistants could ‘hinder children’s social and cognitive development’

Voice assistants could ‘hinder children’s social and cognitive development’

New research says devices such as Alexa can have a long-term impact on empathy, compassion and critical thinking skills

From reminding potty-training toddlers to go to the loo to telling bedtime stories and being used as a “conversation partner”, voice-activated smart devices are being used to help rear children almost from the day they are born.

But the rapid rise in voice assistants, including Google Home, Amazon Alexa and Apple’s Siri could, new research suggests, have a long-term impact on children’s social and cognitive development, specifically their empathy, compassion and critical thinking skills.

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Fast Company’s Apple News access hijacked to send an obscene push notification

Fast Company’s Apple News access hijacked to send an obscene push notification

Nick Barclay / The Verge

It’s been a little while since we had a high-profile media feed hijacking, but tonight someone sent an Apple News notification from Fast Company containing a racial slur and invitation for a particular sexual act. They also posted similar content to the outlet’s website, indicating its CMS or an account on it has been compromised, and now the site appears to be offline, showing visitors a 404 error.

Another article posted to Fast Company’s website before it disappeared included a message from “postpixel,” describing at length how they were able to execute the attack and deriding attempts to secure the outlet’s publishing tools. The message posted to Fast Company’s own site claims they got in thanks to a password that was shared across many accounts, including an administrator.

Image: FastCompany.com

Message posted by Fast Company hackers

The hackers also pointed to a forum for trading information stolen in security breaches, where they shared the same details, starting with posts made two days ago. The forum post said they’re releasing thousands of employee records, as well as draft posts from the database, but said customer information was stored in a different database that they did not have access to.

Apple and Fast Company haven’t commented on the incident yet, and it’s unclear exactly how many people received the blast, but a look around social media reveals it went out widely. Vox Media staffers who don’t pay for subscriptions to Fast Company say it popped up on their phones as well.

We’ve seen hackers take over Twitter feeds, YouTube channels, press release newswires, and occasionally deface websites, but an Apple News alert takeover may be a first. However, as startup exec Zack Wynegar notes, while the Fast Company message was obscene and offensive, someone with that kind of access could’ve gone another route to manipulate stock markets or crypto prices, similar to the Walmart Litecoin crypto hoax last year.

Should have said something funny like “Elizabeth Holmes raises $120m pre-seed from a16z while in prison” rather than this disgusting message

re: thrax Apple News hack pic.twitter.com/wlJmeNIMyM

— Zack Wynegar (@ZackWynegar) September 28, 2022

Apple removes Russia’s largest social network from the App Store

Apple removes Russia’s largest social network from the App Store

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

VK, the Russian technology conglomerate behind a social network with hundreds of millions of downloads called VKontakte, says that its apps have been removed from Apple’s App Store.

The translated statement says “some VK applications are blocked by Apple” but that it will “continue to develop and support iOS applications.” The Russian Ministry of Digital Affairs told state-controlled media outlet RT that it was investigating “the reasons for deleting VK applications and developer accounts, underlining the social significance and scale of use of the services provided by the Russian company.” The apps are still available on Google’s Play Store.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, its government has blocked several American social media sites, including Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. The US and other governments have sanctioned many Russian-government-affiliated individuals and businesses, including VK Group CEO and Putin ally Vladimir Kiriyenko. VKontakte was created in 2006 by Pavel Durov, who was eventually pushed out of the company, saying there would be no going back “after I publicly refused to cooperate with the authorities. They can’t stand me.” He then focused on his encrypted messaging app, Telegram.

Apple removing VK’s apps means that Russian iPhone users no longer have access to the app for the fifth most popular site in the country, according to SimilarWeb, as well as other apps from VK like Mail.ru, VK Music, and Youla classifieds. The company told Russian news outlet Interfax that the apps may continue to work but that there could be issues with notifications and payments.

Interfax also reports on Tuesday that VK sold off the assets of its gaming division, My.Games to LETA Capital head Alexander Chachava, a Russian businessman who is based in the Cayman Islands and managed to come up with $642 million to close the deal. It will continue to be run by executives who were already in place, and VK had touted it as a Russian alternative to Steam and Epic Games Store after sanctions blocked many digital games sales in the country.

Apple didn’t immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment about the apps being removed from the store. Earlier this year, it stopped selling its products in the country and made certain Russian news apps inaccessible from everywhere but Russia, just weeks after sanctions prevented customers of Russian banks from using Google Pay and Apple Pay.

Pushing Buttons: the viral music game that revived my teenage obsession

Pushing Buttons: the viral music game that revived my teenage obsession

This ridiculous Trombone Champ is an encore to all of the wild rhythm games I grew up on – and a fitting return for a forgotten genre

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So, by now we’ve all seen Trombone Champ, right? The music game – in which you play a cartoon trombonist making noises that bear only the vaguest resemblance to music – went viral last week; if you’ve not seen it, here’s the tweet from PC Gamer that started it all. I promise that your day will be vastly improved by watching this video.

This game is very, very funny. It’s “a joke first and a game second,” its creator Dan Vecchitto told the Guardian. Part of its comedy is in the presentation – the discordant visual details, the random made-up facts on the loading screens – and part of it is in the sheer ridiculousness of what you’re doing and how dismal it sounds. Here’s the thing, though: I’m a specialist in music games, with ateenaged obsession that lasted at least a decade, and Trombone Champ is genuinely a good and challenging rhythm game, as well as a good joke.

Released in 1982, The Hobbit was an extraordinarily influential game that did more with the format of the text adventure than anything that had come before: players remember it not just for the colour of its descriptions, but the creative way that the game would respond to what you typed. Its visionary designer Veronika Megler talks about its making in this feature.

HBO’s The Last of Us show finally has a trailer, in which we get to see Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie. Thankfully, it actually looks really good.

The once-beleaguered game Cyberpunk 2077, which you might remember from its shambolic launch at the end of 2020, is enjoying record player numbers following a well-received spinoff anime series on Netflix, Cyberpunk Edgerunners. If you liked this game’s vibe but were put off by the bugs, this might be the time to give it a second chance, though my colleague Keith Stuart reckoned its problems were more than skin deep.

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Walmart launches ‘metaverse’ experience in Roblox to sell toys to children

Walmart launches ‘metaverse’ experience in Roblox to sell toys to children

Walmart has launched a pair of “immersive experiences” in online gaming platform Roblox. The retailer is presenting the launch as an ambitious move into the metaverse, but the “experiences” — two online worlds dubbed Walmart Land and Walmart’s Universe of Play — are really just ways to advertise toys to children. Roblox may seem trivial, but it has more than 50 million daily active users, two-thirds of which are under the age of 16. That means it’s probably Walmart experimenting with virtual worlds to try and hook this market.

Walmart Land and Universe of Play are virtual lobbies. Inside are a variety of minigames and experiences, including a Ferris wheel, “interactive piano walkway,” and DJ booth, most of which serve to funnel players towards certain brands. So, for example, a virtual dressing room lets you spend coins collected in Walmart Land to deck out your avatar with Skullcandy headphones or a Fitbit fitness tracker. In Universe of Play you can race Razor scooters round a track or hang out with PAW Patrol characters. It’s all incredibly basic in terms of graphics and gameplay mechanics, but that’s par for the course for Roblox.

We’ve been here before of course, as with most “metaverse” hype. When virtual world Second Life was in its heyday, all sorts of companies launched experiences and shops inside the game, from Dell to Disney, to MTV and Mazda. Advertising budgets have to be spent somewhere, and the “metaverse” rebrand presumably gives a shallow futurist sheen to what is now a decades-old marketing strategy (Second Life launched back in 2003).

Is it worth Walmart’s time? At this point, who knows. Checking the statistics for Walmart Land’s achievements, it seems that a decent amount of users have at least logged in, with 200,000 “Welcome to Walmart Land” badges awarded for entering the game for the first time. But other achievements, like getting a free “loot box” from a circling blimp, have only been won by a few thousand players. And when The Verge logged in to the game this morning, we were one of only a handful of avatars enjoying the rather depressing sights and sounds of Walmart Land.

Meanwhile, Walmart’s chief marketing officer, William White, has been talking up the virtual worlds in interviews as a way to connect with Gen Z. “How are we driving relevance in cultural conversation? How are we developing community and engagement? How are we moving the needle from a brand favorability [standpoint] with younger audiences?” White told CNBC. “That’s what we’re trying to accomplish here.”

This video of Walmart's chief marketing officer on a stage in Roblox talking about its new "Walmart Land" experience is one of the saddest videos ever created. pic.twitter.com/HtIIToShKs

— Zack Zwiezen (@ZwiezenZ) September 26, 2022

Alleged Optus hacker apologises for data breach and drops ransom threat

Alleged Optus hacker apologises for data breach and drops ransom threat

Online account claims it published records of 10,000 customers and threatened to release more before change of heart

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An alleged attacker who was seeking a ransom payment from Optus in exchange for millions of customer records published 10,000 records online on Tuesday before retracting the threat and deleting all demands.

On Monday night the alleged attacker uploaded a text file of 10,000 records to a data breach website and promised to leak 10,000 more records each day for the next four days unless Optus paid $1m in cryptocurrency.

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‘There’s endless choice, but you’re not listening’: fans quitting Spotify to save their love of music

‘There’s endless choice, but you’re not listening’: fans quitting Spotify to save their love of music

Former streaming service subscribers on why they have ditched mod cons for MP3s, CDs and other DIY music formats

Meg Lethem was working at her bakery job one morning in Boston when she had an epiphany. Tasked with choosing the day’s soundtrack, she opened Spotify, then flicked and flicked, endlessly searching for something to play. Nothing was perfect for the moment. She looked some more, through playlist after playlist. An uncomfortably familiar loop, it made her realise: she hated how music was being used in her life. “That was the problem,” she says. “Using music, rather than having it be its own experience … What kind of music am I going to use to set a mood for the day? What am I going to use to enjoy my walk? I started not really liking what that meant.”

It wasn’t just passive listening, but a utilitarian approach to music that felt like a creation of the streaming environment. “I decided that having music be this tool to [create] an experience instead of an experience itself was not something I was into,” she reflects. So she cut off her Spotify service, and later, Apple Music too, to focus on making her listening more “home-based” and less of a background experience.

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Roomba’s latest robot vacuum has a robot mop on top

Roomba’s latest robot vacuum has a robot mop on top

The Roomba Combo j7 Plus is iRobot’s first combination robot vacuum and mop. | Image: iRobot

Robot vacuums that can also mop have been around for a while, but most make you remove the mop before they can vacuum your carpets — unless you like slightly damp carpets. iRobot’s newest bot looks to solve this problem with a retractable robot mop arm that can lift itself up and under the vacuum to mop when it’s needed and stow itself up top when it’s not.

The Roomba Combo j7 Plus costs $1,099 and is available to preorder today. It will ship on October 4th, and is only being sold with the auto-emptying Clean Base at launch. The two-in-one vacuum mop uses a new combination of acoustic sensors to detect the different types of flooring in a home and “decide” when to lift its pad to avoid thread counts and when to lower it to clean hard floor types like wood and tile.

The Roomba Combo j7 Plus automatically lifts its mopping pad up and over the robot when it detects carpet.

iRobot CEO Colin Angle told The Verge in an interview that it’s the first “hands-free” two-in-one vacuum and mop robot — because, while other companies have mopping pads on their robot vacuums in most other cases, the user has to manually attach the mop to clean the floors. They then have to remove it when they want it to vacuum carpets.

This is largely true. The $950 Roborock S7 Plus is one competitor bot that can also lift its pad up when it goes over carpet. However, it only rises by a few millimeters. By contrast, the Roomba Combo j7 Plus lifts the mopping pad up completely, so there’s no chance of a damp rug.

The Roomba Combo j7 Plus is essentially the Roomba j7 Plus robot vacuum with an integrated mopping pad. It has a slightly smaller bin to make room for a 210 ml water tank and a larger 4,400 mAh battery to help power the mop. In most other respects, it’s identical. It has smart room mapping, scheduling, and virtual no-go zones controlled in the app, and it works with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri Shortcuts for voice control. It also comes with iRobot’s Clean Base to automatically empty the bin, but users do have to refill the water tank manually.

A few manufacturers, such as Roborock and Ecovacs, have robot vacuum / mops with bases that can empty the bin and refill the robot’s water tank. But users may have to remove and attach the mopping pads on those robots, especially if they have thicker carpets.

Image: iRobot

The reusable mopping pad attaches with velcro and sits under the robot when it’s in use.

Cleaning jobs for the new Roomba can be customized in the iRobot app, so it can be sent to vacuum the living room and then mop and vacuum the kitchen. Water levels can be adjusted, too, for a deeper clean, and it can be set to clean an area twice. Angle said in their testing this was as effective as an oscillating motion, which some other robot vacuum mops use to simulate scrubbing the floor.

It’s interesting that iRobot chose just to add a pad to its flagship robot vacuum rather than produce a whole new vacuum and mopping bot. The design appears quite simple — using aluminum alloy arms to raise and lower the pad and then tuck it on the robot — and doesn’t alter the overall look of the vacuum much at all.

Image: iRobot

The Roomba Combo j7 Plus can go from vacuuming carpet to mopping hardwood floors without any user intervention.

And while it’s hard to see how it can clean as well as iRobot’s dedicated mopping robot, the Braava Jet m6, Angle said the Combo was as effective as the Braava Jet in their testing. However, he did say they still consider the Braava Jet combined with a Roomba robot vacuum to be the “ultimate cleaning experience” as the two robots can work at the same time.

The simplicity of the Combo design means it could be easily incorporated into iRobot’s other models — such as the more budget-friendly Roomba i3 Plus Evo. Presumably, iRobot started with the j7 as it is iRobot’s “smartest” robot.

I reviewed it earlier this year, and it does a good job of avoiding most common household items — including pet waste — thanks to an AI-powered brain. This means it’s less likely to get derailed during a clean and more likely to actually get the job done.

The intelligence is partly powered by iRobot OS, an AI platform that helps the robot’s navigation system recognize more than 80 common objects, according to iRobot. Along with the new robot vac, iRobot is releasing an update to the OS that adds the ability to identify more items.

The company says iRobot OS 5 brings recognition of pet toys, pet bowls, litter boxes, and backpacks, as well as the shoes / slippers, socks, cords, headphones, clothing, towels, and solid pet waste it was already able to spot and avoid.

Image: iRobot

The new robot vacuum and mop works with iRobot’s Clean Base to automatically empty the bin.

The Roomba Combo j7 Plus is putting that intelligence to use with a new ability to automatically detect and recommend areas that might need more cleaning. The mopping and vacuuming bot can autonomously suggest new “Clean Zones” around dishwashers, toilets, ovens / stoves, litter boxes, and pet bowls. The user can then send the robot to clean the zone using the app or an Alexa or Google Assistant voice command. This ability also comes to the Braava Jet m6 and other smart-mapping Roombas.

Another new feature coming to compatible Roombas with OS 5 is the ability to skip a room during a cleaning job. Now, rather than shutting down the whole job because the family is trying to watch TV, you can just tell the robot to skip this room in the app or with a voice command.

iRobot was recently purchased by Amazon, although the deal has not closed and is currently being investigated by the FTC, partly due to concerns around how the company's data on consumers’ homes might be used by Amazon to gain an unfair advantage in the space. iRobot recently gained the TÜV SÜD Cyber Security Mark for the Roomba j7 robot vacuum, which goes beyond industry standards for protecting customer data from cyber security threats (but not from its owners).

Eight states sue crypto lender Nexo over security sales and misleading marketing

Eight states sue crypto lender Nexo over security sales and misleading marketing

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing crypto company Nexo, alleging that the company misled customers by saying it was registered to sell securities and commodities and that it wasn’t approved to offer services like its “Earn Interest Product” that promised returns on deposited crypto. It’s the latest legal move in a fight between regulators and crypto companies looking to offer interest-earning accounts, often insisting that they shouldn’t be classified as securities.

Seven other states — California, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Washington, and Vermont — are also filing “administrative actions” against the company, according to a press release from the New York AG. The release also quotes James as saying: “Nexo violated the law and investors’ trust by falsely claiming that it is a licensed and registered platform. Nexo must stop its unlawful operations and take necessary action to protect its investors.”

I'm suing crypto platform @Nexo for illegally failing to register with my office and lying about it to investors.

Instead of misleading New Yorkers about its compliance with the law, crypto platforms must register to operate just like other investment platforms.

— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) September 26, 2022

Last year, James sent a letter to Nexo and the now-in-bankruptcy Celsius, ordering the exchanges to stop offering services they weren’t authorized to offer in New York. At the time, Nexo responded by claiming it was already blocking New York citizens from accessing its service. The lawsuit, which you can read in full below, alleges that wasn’t true. According to the suit, Nexo told the attorney general’s office it was notifying its New York customers that their accounts would be made inaccessible and that it shut down all of its services in the state by November 11, 2021. However, the AG alleges that Nexo actually still had over “5,000 EIP accounts funded by New York investors” in July 2022, according to data it provided regulators.

The lawsuit also alleges that Nexo’s claims of being a “Licensed & Regulated Digital Assets Institution” are misleading. At the time of writing, the company’s site claims to be in “full compliance with all applicable global and local regulations and standards” for the areas it operates in and lists the licenses it has to operate. Entries on that list include licenses from Maryland, Oklahoma, and South Carolina, states that are also filing complaints against the company, according to the New York AG.

A statement emailed to The Verge by Nexo spokesperson Magdalena Hristova says that the company is “working with US federal and state regulators and understand their urge, given the current market turmoil and bankruptcies of companies offering similar products, to fulfill their mandates of investor protection by examining past behavior of providers of earn interest products.”

According to the statement, Nexo voluntarily stopped letting new US customers access its Earn Interest Product after the Securities and Exchange Commission released its guidance on crypto products offering interest in February 2022. The statement continues, saying that “Nexo is committed to finding a clear path forward for the regulated provision of products and services in the US, ideally on a federal level.” The statement doesn’t address the accusations that it misstated and omitted information about the “legal compliance” of its products, as the lawsuit puts it.

Earlier this year, crypto exchange BlockFi had to pay the SEC $100 million in penalties after the regulator ruled that its BlockFi Interest Accounts were unregistered securities and that the company wasn’t properly registered to provide investment services. The agency also threatened to sue Coinbase if it launched a similar program in 2021.