This digest compiles the latest from The Verge.
Today’s The Verge Roundup
Tesla finally kills Autopilot in a bid to boost FSD subscriptions
23 Jan 2026, 2:34 pm by Andrew J. Hawkins
Tesla scrapped its Autopilot driver assist feature that used to come standard in new vehicles, as it attempts to steer customers to its newly subscription-only Full Self-Driving (FSD) system.
According to Electrek, the company removed Basic Autopilot as a standard feature from new Model 3 and Model Y vehicles in North America. That means in order to get Tesla’s lane-keeping Autosteer feature, which was previously free when purchasing a new Tesla vehicle, customers will now have to fork over $99-a-month to subscribe to FSD.
Tesla will still sell its vehicles with its Traffic-Aware Cruise Control feature, which sticks to a designated speed …
Google won’t stop replacing our news headlines with terrible AI
23 Jan 2026, 12:00 pm by Sean Hollister
In early December, I brought you the news that Google has begun replacing Verge headlines, and those of our competitors, with AI clickbait nonsense in its content feed. Google appeared to be backing away from the experiment, but now tells The Verge that its AI headlines in Google Discover are a feature, one that “performs well for user satisfaction.” I once again see lots of misleading claims every time I check my phone.
Like I explained last month, these AI headlines are akin to a bookstore replacing the covers of the books it puts on display – only here, the “bookstore” is the news tab that appears when you swipe right on the homescreen o …
Microsoft Paint can now make AI coloring books
23 Jan 2026, 11:06 am by Jess Weatherbed
Microsoft is giving its Paint and Notepad apps on Windows new AI capabilities for editing text and making digital illustrations. The updates are currently rolling out to Windows Insiders in the Windows 11 Canary and Dev channels, and include features that feel oddly niche or advanced for such simplified apps, such as AI text improvements in Notepad and the ability to instantly generate coloring book pages in Paint.
The latter feature is aptly called “Coloring book,” and lets you make blank coloring templates in version 11.2512.191.0 of Paint based on a text prompt. Users can access this feature by selecting the Coloring book option from the …
The TikTok deal is done, finally
23 Jan 2026, 1:01 am by Richard Lawler
Just over a year after it briefly disappeared from app stores, TikTok in the US is now part of a new entity, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC. With approval from both the US and China closing on the schedule laid out in December, ByteDance’s ownership of the new joint venture is now only 19.9 percent to satisfy the terms of the divest-or-ban law signed in 2024 by President Biden. The other 80.1 percent is owned by investment firm Silver Lake, Oracle, and Abu Dhabi investment firm MGX – the three “managing investors” that now hold 15 percent stakes – and several other smaller investors, like Michael Dell’s family investment firm.
Ring can verify videos now, but that might not help you with most AI fakes
23 Jan 2026, 12:57 am by Jay Peters
Ring has launched a new Ring Verify tool that the company says can “verify that Ring videos you receive haven’t been edited or changed.” But since Ring won’t verify videos that have been altered in any way, it probably won’t be able to verify those videos you see on TikTok that look like they’re from security camera footage but are actually made with AI.
All videos downloaded from Ring’s cloud now include a “digital security seal,” Rin …
Beyond Good and Evil 2 somehow survived the purge at Ubisoft
23 Jan 2026, 12:53 am by Sean Hollister
In what world does Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake get canceled amid corporate restructuring and yet BG&E2 does not?
“Beyond Good & Evil 2 remains a priority for us in the context of our strategy centered around Open World Adventures,” an unnamed Ubisoft spokesperson told Kotaku and Insider Gaming.
The original Beyond Good & Evil is a fantastic game I can enjoy even now, over 20 years on from its 2003 release.
The sequel has been in development hell nearly as long at over 17 years, the longest of any major game; it’s survived the retirement of its first creative director, the death of its second creative director, and that one …
End of today’s The Verge roundup.
