This digest compiles the latest from The Verge.
Today’s The Verge Roundup
The gen AI Kool-Aid tastes like eugenics
21 Mar 2026, 2:00 pm by Charles Pulliam-Moore
Like many people, director Valerie Veatch was intrigued when OpenAI first released its Sora text-to-video generative AI model to the public in 2024. Though she didn’t fully understand the technology, she was curious about what it could do, and she saw that other artists were building online communities to share their new AI creations. The hope of connecting with people drew Veatch into the AI space, but once she was there, she was shocked to see how often the technology would generate images dripping with racism and sexism.
Veatch was even more unsettled by the way her new AI-enthusiast peers did not seem to care that the machine they ralli …
Oeuf is a punishing platformer in a cozy shell
21 Mar 2026, 1:00 pm by Geoffrey Bunting
The funny shape of eggs is the curious lifeblood of Oeuf, the new physics platformer by prolific developer Increpare Games. In a gaming landscape saturated with complex systems dropped into simple games, that grapples with metaphor within straightforward narratives, and that is desperate to bring cinematic sensibilities into gaming, Oeuf only asks that you briefly consider how an egg might move as you roll, slide, and hop across its world.
That world is realized in crunchy, ’90s-era 3D that brings to mind Ultima and Might and Magic. Like this archaic-seeming style – that Oeuf was released within a month of Resident Evil Requiem is a fun gra …
Dreame’s self-cleaning L10s Pro Ultra is nearly $1,000 off its original list price
21 Mar 2026, 12:30 pm by Sheena Vasani
Amazon’s Big Spring Sale doesn’t kick off until next week, but the retailer is already dropping a host of good deals, especially on robot vacuums. We recently saw Ecovacs’ Deebot X8 and X9 Pro Omni drop to $599 ($501 off) and $679 ($621 off), respectively; however, if you’re looking for a cheaper robot vacuum / mop, the Dreame L10s Pro Ultra is down to $349.98 ($950 off its original list price) at Amazon, matching its lowest price to date. You can also pick it up from Best Buy and Dreame for the same price, the latter with code L10PUXM.Â
Dreame L10s Pro Ultra Robot Vacuum
Where to Buy:
The L10s Pro Ultra is designed to be as low-maintenance as possible. The vacuum’s self-cleaning dock can wash the mops with hot water, dry them with hot air, and automatically dispense cleaning solution. The dock can also empty the robovac’s contents into a 3.2L dust bag, allowing you to go 75 days without emptying it yourself, and refills the water tank as needed. You don’t need to constantly keep an eye on the robovac, either; it uses lidar navigation to map your home and AI-powered obstacle avoidance to clean around clutter.
While it’s not as powerful as higher-end models like the aforementioned Ecovacs, the L10s Pro Ultra still delivers a respectable 7,000Pa of suction. It does a good job cleaning hardwood floors, too, with a mop that can lift itself to avoid getting carpets wet and extend into edges, corners, and other hard-to-reach areas. It also lets you choose which rooms to clean, and uses AI to adjust its cleaning approach based on the room type and layout. Plus, it can automatically return to mop areas if it detects they’re still dirty, providing for a more thorough clean.
An early contender for movie of the year
21 Mar 2026, 12:00 pm by David Pierce
Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 120, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, get ready for Pen Opinions, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)
This week, I’ve been reading about Banksy and music apps and influencer agents, watching Netflix docs about the manosphere and The Red Hot Chili Peppers, marveling at Ed Sheeran and Benny Blanco writing songs, enjoying Young Sherlock more than I expected, instantly subscribing to Joanna Stern’s new tech channel, using the Sleep With Me podcast to fall asleep, and making a lot of brownies with the unbeatable Costco …
The new MacBook Pro is still fast as hell
21 Mar 2026, 12:00 pm by Antonio G. Di Benedetto
Apple’s flagship 16-inch MacBook Pro has reigned supreme in the world of creator-focused laptops since its M-series processor overhaul in 2021. Since then, we’ve mostly seen the same design with year-over-year chip bumps and small refinements. “If it ain’t broke,” right?
If you want to know everything about this machine, you can read our review of the last-gen M4 Pro / M4 Max models – it pretty much all holds up with the M5 models that replace them. But this time around, in addition to the usual testing and use of the new M5 Max model, it’s worth asking a specific new question: whether you should consider a new MacBook Pro if you’re current …
Gemini task automation is slow, clunky, and super impressive
21 Mar 2026, 11:30 am by Allison Johnson
I’ve been testing out Gemini’s new task automation on the Pixel 10 Pro and the Galaxy S26 Ultra, which for the first time lets Gemini take the wheel and use apps for you. It’s limited to a small subset right now – a handful of food delivery and rideshare services – and it’s still in beta. It’s slow, it’s clunky at times, and it doesn’t solve any serious problem you had using your phone. But it’s impressive as hell, and I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say this is a glimpse of the future. We’re still a long way off, but this is the first time I’ve seen a true AI assistant actually working on a phone – not in a keynote presentation or a careful …
Kodiak CEO says making trucks drive themselves is only half the battle
21 Mar 2026, 11:00 am by Andrew J. Hawkins
This year is shaping up to be a big one for self-driving trucks. In addition to Aurora’s plan to deploy hundreds of autonomous big rigs and Waabi expanding into robotaxis, you’ve also got Kodiak AI aiming to launch its own fully driverless long-haul freight operation by the end of 2026. While robotaxis may still win all the headlines, driverless trucks are making their own progress, slowly but surely.
But in a recent interview, Kodiak AI CEO Don Burnette said that deploying autonomous trucks is really only half the battle. He said that while most of his competitors are fussing over details like AI, perception, and mileage milestones, Kodia …
The improved battery-powered Starlink Mini is here
21 Mar 2026, 7:29 am by Thomas Ricker
My Starlink Mini has radically changed the way I live. It’s the biggest reason I can work remotely from my converted van, providing fast and reliable internet in places that traditional 4G and 5G data signals don’t reach. Peakdo’s latest LinkPower battery makes the smallest Starlink terminal even better by setting it free from power cables for hours at a time.
While that might not sound like a big deal, I can assure you it is. For example, I can park in the shade and place the Mini far away to avoid trees and other obstructions, just so long as I’m within reach of its Wi-Fi signal. It even works on my dashboard without any long cables to sn …
End of today’s The Verge roundup.
