Bitcoin does cultural diplomacy in a dive bar
Bitcoin does cultural diplomacy in a dive bar

Bitcoin culture, by nature, is anarchical and chaotic. It has to be, given the nature of Bitcoin itself and the people who adopted it: free-market libertarians who’ve gone all in on turning computer code into a form of money divorced from central banks, government intervention, and traceability. In short, it’s the exact opposite culture of […]

From Ford To Tesla, Big Electric Pickups Are A Tough Sell

This week’s Current Climate newsletter also looks at a new approach to underground hydrogen and why Tesla is facing a California sales suspension

Honey: all the news about PayPal’s alleged scam coupon app
Honey: all the news about PayPal’s alleged scam coupon app

PayPal’s Honey browser extension has been lauded for years as an easy way to find coupons online. But some are calling it a “scam” after a deep dive from YouTuber MegaLag, who accused Honey of “stealing money from influencers,” and returned one year later with a second video that says Honey targeted minors, collected data […]

Want to link from Google’s app store to your app? That’ll be $2–4 per install
Want to link from Google’s app store to your app? That’ll be $2–4 per install

Today was the deadline for Google to reveal how it’s complying with Judge James Donato’s order to crack open Android for third-party app stores, stop illegally tying its Google Play Billing system to its app store, and let developers link to ways to download their apps outside the Play Store in the US. But Google […]

Next-generation nuclear reactors could get a boost from the National Defense Authorization Act  
Next-generation nuclear reactors could get a boost from the National Defense Authorization Act  

President Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026 Thursday with measures that further the bipartisan push for next-generation nuclear power plants. The Trump administration has embraced the technology as a new energy source for data centers demanding greater amounts of electricity for AI. Many Democrats, meanwhile, have championed smaller and […]

Don’t expect Trump Media’s nuclear fusion power plant to generate electricity soon
Don’t expect Trump Media’s nuclear fusion power plant to generate electricity soon

Trump Media – yup, the parent company of Truth Social – is the latest entrant in the near century-long race to develop a nuclear fusion power plant. It announced a merger agreement with fusion company TAE Technologies on Thursday and a bold plan to break ground on the first utility-scale fusion plant some time in […]

Who owns Trump Mobile?
Who owns Trump Mobile?

Where’s the Trump Phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week, except next week, when we take a break until the new year. We’ve reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump Phone’s whereabouts. As usual, we’re still waiting for a response. In the meantime, we’re wondering who’s actually behind the mobile […]

Brendan Carr is a dummy
Brendan Carr is a dummy

All year on The Vergecast, we’ve been tracking the many bizarre and problematic actions of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. There has been a lot to discuss! Then, this week, ahead of one of our last episodes of the year, Carr appeared in front of the Senate Commerce Committee and spent three hours explaining how he […]

Dark Speculation: A New Way To Assess AI’s Most Dangerous Risks

How policymakers and technologists are debating AI tail risks, using dark speculation, wargaming and insurance-style analysis to guide future AI standards.

TikTok ban: all the news on the app’s shutdown and return in the US
TikTok ban: all the news on the app’s shutdown and return in the US

After briefly going dark in the US to comply with the divest-or-ban law targeting ByteDance that went into effect on January 19th, TikTok quickly came back online. It eventually reappeared in the App Store and Google Play as negotiations between the US and China continued, and Donald Trump continued to sign extensions directing officials not […]