This digest compiles the latest from The Verge.
Today’s The Verge Roundup
I re-created Google’s cute Gemini ad with my own kid’s stuffie, and I wish I hadn’t
25 Dec 2025, 2:00 pm by Allison Johnson
When your kid starts showing a preference for one of their stuffed animals, you’re supposed to buy a backup in case it goes missing.
I’ve heard this advice again and again, but never got around to buying a second plush deer once “Buddy” became my son’s obvious favorite. Neither, apparently, did the parents in Google’s newest ad for Gemini.
It’s the fictional but relatable story of two parents discovering their child’s favorite stuffed toy, a lamb named Mr. Fuzzy, was left behind on an airplane. They use Gemini to track down a replacement, but the new toy is on backorder. In the meantime, they stall by using Gemini to create images and vid …
Hollywood cozied up to AI in 2025 and had nothing good to show for it
25 Dec 2025, 1:00 pm by Charles Pulliam-Moore
AI isn’t new to Hollywood – but this was the year when it really made its presence felt. For years now, the entertainment industry has used different kinds of generative AI products for a variety of post-production processes ranging from de-aging actors to removing green screen backgrounds. In many instances, the technology has been a useful tool for human artists tasked with tedious and painstaking labor that might have otherwise taken them inordinate amounts of time to complete. But in 2025, Hollywood really began warming to the idea of deploying the kind of gen AI that’s really only good for conjuring up text-to-video slop that doesn’t ha …
End of today’s The Verge roundup.
