This digest compiles the latest from The Verge.
Today’s The Verge Roundup
Behold the crown jewel of outrageous gaming laptops
28 Apr 2026, 1:00 pm by Antonio G. Di Benedetto
The Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo was my pick for the best laptop of CES: It had two high-end screens, great specs, and the promise of being a one-of-a-kind multitasking and gaming monster. Now that this over-the-top laptop is here, I can tell you it’s as fantastic as I had hoped for. It’s also as expensive as I feared. Our review configuration costs $5,500.
Woof.
This laptop has a lot going on: two full-size 16-inch OLEDs, a top-of-the-line Nvidia RTX 5090 Laptop GPU, a near-top-of-the-line 16-core Intel Panther Lake chip, plenty of ports (including an SD card slot), and a great keyboard and trackpad you can remove and use via Bluetooth. These ar …
Google and Pentagon reportedly agree on deal for ‘any lawful’ use of AI
28 Apr 2026, 11:09 am by Jess Weatherbed
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 …
Attack of the killer script kiddies
28 Apr 2026, 11:00 am by Yael Grauer
Last August, some of the best cybersecurity teams in the business gathered in Las Vegas to demonstrate the strength of their AI bug-finding systems at DARPA’s Artificial Intelligence Cyber Challenge (AIxCC). The tools had scanned 54 million lines of actual software code that DARPA had injected with artificial flaws. The teams were capable enough to identify most of the artificial bugs, but their automated tools went beyond that – they found more than a dozen bugs that DARPA hadn’t inserted at all.
Even before the security earthquake that Anthropic delivered this month with Claude Mythos – the new AI model that seems to find vulnerabilities …
It’s a busy time for sci-fi, but don’t miss Aphelion
28 Apr 2026, 9:00 am by Andrew Webster
The last few weeks have bordered on overwhelming for science fiction fans. While Project Hail Mary is dominating the box office, For All Mankind is currently in the midst of its penultimate season, with a spinoff streaming next month. When it comes to games, Capcom kicked off a new sci-fi franchise with Pragmata, and Housemarque is about to launch the haunting shooter Saros. With all of that going on, it’d be easy to miss Aphelion. It’s a comparatively small and quiet adventure game, one focused more on storytelling than gameplay. But that also makes it a perfect complement to all of the current blockbusters, offering something much more int …
Microsoft Office can now be controlled with Logitech’s MX Creative Console
28 Apr 2026, 7:01 am by Andrew Liszewski
Logitech has announced a new suite of Productivity Plugins for its entire MX line of accessories, including its Stream Deck alternative, the MX Creative Console. Since the console launched in September 2024, Logitech has been expanding its capabilities with plug-ins that support creativity-focused apps such as Final Cut Pro, Adobe Lightroom, and Figma. That is now expanding to include productivity apps, such as Microsoft Office’s Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, as well as Slack and Notion.
Shortcuts, actions, and specific tools in those apps can be quickly accessed using Logitech’s Actions Ring menus, which are supported by accessories like th …
Jury selection in Musk v. Altman: ‘People don’t like him’
28 Apr 2026, 3:39 am by Richard Lawler
On Monday, the courtroom battle between Elon Musk and Sam Altman over alleged broken promises at OpenAI started, as usual, with jury selection. The only tricky part? A lot of the prospective jurors already have an opinion about Elon Musk, and it’s not a good one.
The Verge reporter Elizabeth Lopatto, who was there at the courthouse, quoted statements from some of the juror questionnaires:
“Elon Musk is a greedy, racist, homophobic piece of garbage.”
“Elon Musk is a world-class jerk.”
“I very much dislike Tesla. As a woman of color, I am very aware of the damaging statements and actions Elon Musk has enacted and been a part of.”
M …
Google is testing AI chatbot search for YouTube
28 Apr 2026, 12:01 am by Jay Peters
Google is trying out an AI Mode-like search experience for YouTube. The company is now testing “a new way to search on YouTube that feels more like a conversation,” with results pulling in things like longform videos, YouTube Shorts, and text about what you’re searching for. The “experiment” is now available if you’re a YouTube Premium subscriber in the US who is 18 or older.
I turned it on for my account. Now, in the search bar, I see an “Ask YouTube” button, and clicking the search bar shows prompts to ask like “funny baby elephant playing clips,” “summary of the rules of volleyball,” and “short history of the Apollo 11 moon landing.” If …
End of today’s The Verge roundup.
