News

Superblocks CEO: How to find a unicorn idea by studying AI system prompts
07 Jun
techcrunch.com

Brad Menezes, CEO of enterprise vibe coding startup Superblocks, is convinced that the next crop of billion-dollar startup ideas are hiding in almost plain sight: system prompts.

Best Backpacking Tents (2025), WIRED-Tested and Reviewed
07 Jun
www.wired.com

The right shelter makes all the difference in the backcountry. Here are the best tents we’ve tested and love.

Apple’s latest AirPods Pro with USB-C just received a $70 discount
07 Jun
www.theverge.com

This year’s WWDC kicks off in less than a week, which means Apple is likely to announce a string of software changes in short order, some of which are designed to improve Apple’s latest pair of premium earbuds. Thankfully, if you haven’t yet pulled the trigger on the second-gen AirPods Pro, they’re once again on sale at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy for around $169 ($70 off), matching their best price of the year. If you’re an iPhone user, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better pair of noise-canceling earbuds than Apple’s latest AirPods Pro with USB-C. The second-gen model ratchets up the noise cancellation and sound quality, providing dynamic, rich sound and ANC that can go toe-to-toe with Sony’s XM5 and other like-minded rivals. Unlike the cheaper AirPods 4 with ANC, they also feature convenient swipe-based controls and four sets of silicone tips, whereas Apple’s entry-level earbuds still rely on an open-style design that allows more ambient noise in. As for why they’re the perfect fit for iPhone users, well, that’s easy. The Pro are chock-full of Apple-only features, including head tracking spatial audio, robust Find My support, and automatic device switching. The included speaker-equipped charging case also features a U1 chip for more accurate tracking, and thanks to a software update in the fall, Apple’s high-end earbuds can now protect your hearing and serve as clinical-grade hearing aids. That makes them well-suited for those with mild to moderate hearing loss — or your next Turnstile concert. Read our original AirPods Pro (second-gen) review. Other ways to save this weekend It’s by no means a necessity, but I’ve been ogling the Vestaboard Note ever since the spendy split-flap display went up for sale last month. The nostalgic 24.5-inch board is currently available for preorder from Vestaboard ahead of its December launch starting at $899 ($400 off), and while it only features 45 split-flap mechanisms (as opposed to 132 on the original), it still looks like a delightful way to showcase any message, pattern, or image you create using the accompanying web interface or mobile app. Ugreen’s FineTrack Smart Finder is available for just $9.99 (about $7 off) from Amazon and Ugreen right now, which is the best price we’ve seen on the inexpensive location tracker. Sure, it’s not quite as capable as an AirTag, but it still comes with a two-year replaceable battery, a built-in ringer, and the ability to tap into Apple’s extensive Find My network as necessary. Hell, it even comes with a lanyard hole, which isn’t something we can say about Apple’s tracker. Meta’s entry-level VR headset, the Meta Quest 3S, is on sale once again at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy, where you can pick it up with a copy of Batman: Arkham Shadow and a three-month trial of Meta Horizon Plus for an all-time low of around $269 ($30 off). It’s sort of the middle child in terms of Meta’s headset lineup, as it features the same chipset as the Quest 3 but remains reliant on the same lenses and field of view as the Quest 2. Still, it can play most of the same standalone games as the former, as well as PC-based virtual reality titles if you own a gaming PC. Read our review.

A ban on state AI laws could smash Big Tech’s legal guardrails
07 Jun
www.theverge.com

Senate Commerce Republicans have kept a ten year moratorium on state AI laws in their latest version of President Donald Trump's massive budget package. And a growing number of lawmakers and civil society groups warn that its broad language could put consumer protections on the chopping block. Republicans who support the provision, which the House cleared as part of its "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," say it will help ensure AI companies aren't bogged down by a complicated patchwork of regulations. But opponents warn that should it survive a vote and a congressional rule that might prohibit it, Big Tech companies could be exempted from state legal guardrails for years to come, without any promise of federal standards to take their place. "What this moratorium does is prevent every state in the country from having basic regulations to protect workers and to protect consumers," Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), whose district includes Silicon Valley, tells The Verge in an interview. He warns that as written, the language included in the House-passed budget reconciliation package could restrict state laws that attempt to regulate social media companies, prevent algorithmic rent discrimination, … Read the full story at The Verge.

Tech Up Your Sourdough With These Upper-Crust Baking Gadgets
07 Jun
www.wired.com

Sourdough bread is one of the most wonderful things you can make with your hands, but it can be fussy and hard to perfect. Now technology takes out most of the pesky guesswork.

There are only two commissioners left at the FCC
07 Jun
www.theverge.com

Chairman Brendan Carr and Democratic commissioner Anna Gomez are the last remaining members of the panel. After the departure of one Republican and one Democratic commissioner on Friday, the Federal Communications Commission is down to two members, falling below the quorum threshold for what's typically a five-person panel. Commissioners Nathan Simington and Geoffrey Starks stepped down at the end of the week. That leaves Republican Chair Brendan Carr and Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez as the two remaining voting members. President Donald Trump has nominated Republican Senate staffer Olivia Trusty to the commission, but the chamber has yet to vote on her confirmation, which left the agency deadlocked even before these departures. The FCC is in charge of everything from broadband regulations and subsidies funds, to telecommunications mergers enforcement, to spectrum auctions. Without a three-member quorum, some of that work, and the agenda of Trump-aligned Carr, is left in limbo. Starks and Simington both announced the date of their departures earlier this week, though Starks indicated in March that he planned to step down; neither offered specific reasons for their departure. Carr indicated he intends to keep up the pace, writing in a blog post that "the show must go on." The … Read the full story at The Verge.

The Best Samsung Phones of 2025, Tested and Reviewed
07 Jun
www.wired.com

From flagship and budget to flipping and folding, Samsung’s Galaxy range spans the breadth of the smartphone cosmos. WIRED’s here to help you make your choice.

8 Best Weighted Blankets, Robes, and Eye Masks (2025)
07 Jun
www.wired.com

If you’re looking for the sensation of a hug, these weighted blankets—plus weighted robes, eye masks, and more—will snuggle you back.

What Is MicroSD Express? Everything You Need To Know
07 Jun
www.wired.com

What is the latest MicroSD iteration, and why does your Nintendo Switch need it?

The nine-armed octopus and the oddities of the cephalopod nervous system
07 Jun
arstechnica.com

A mix of autonomous and top-down control manage the octopus's limbs.

Apple is on defense at WWDC
07 Jun
www.theverge.com

Give the people what they want, Tim. It's early June and the vibes are decidedly off in Cupertino. The hype leading up to Apple's last two developer conferences felt much different. There was anticipation in 2023 for a potentially groundbreaking new headset. In 2024, there was a sense of urgency leading up to the company's AI announcements and whispers that Siri might actually, finally be good at something. But 2025? Well, things are different. The Vision Pro was the big announcement at that 2023 show, and it's, uh, still around. Apple has reportedly cut production due to slow sales, and you can get one at a steep discount on eBay. Maybe the price is wrong. And the big AI announcement last year? How's that going? As it stands, Apple Intelligence is stalled out. The features that Apple managed to deploy are underwhelming, and the meaty update to Siri has been delayed - maybe even for years. It sounds like the whole thing was a real fiasco inside Apple, and publicly, the company took down an ad showcasing Siri features that simply don't exist yet. Ouch. And then there's the legal stuff. In 2021, a court in California ordered Apple to let developers add links allowing customers to make purchases outside of their a … Read the full story at The Verge.

Estate of woman who died in 2021 heat dome sues Big Oil for wrongful death
07 Jun
arstechnica.com

At least 100 heat-related deaths in Washington state came during the unprecedented heat wave.

The 46 Best Shows on Netflix Right Now (June 2025)
07 Jun
www.wired.com

Dept. Q, Sirens, and Black Mirror are just a few of the shows you need to watch on Netflix this month.

The 46 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now (June 2025)
07 Jun
www.wired.com

Lost in Starlight, Kill Boksoon, and The Old Guard are just a few of the movies you should watch on Netflix this month.

Uber Just Reinvented the Bus … Again
07 Jun
www.wired.com

Beyond the jokes about its new shuttle service are serious questions about what it will mean for struggling transit systems, air quality, and congestion.

The Mystery of iPhone Crashes That Apple Denies Are Linked to Chinese Hacking
07 Jun
www.wired.com

Plus: A 22-year-old former intern gets put in charge of a key anti-terrorism program, threat intelligence firms finally wrangle their confusing names for hacker groups, and more.

Samsung Teases Z Fold Ultra, Bing Gets AI Video, and Nothing Sets A Date—Your Gear News of the Week
07 Jun
www.wired.com

Plus: Ruark has new speakers, Photoshop comes to Android and summer's finest music player gets updated.

10 Best Lubes (2025), Tested and Reviewed
07 Jun
www.wired.com

For the most sensitive parts of the human body, friction is the enemy. Here’s how to keep it at bay with our favorite lubes made of water, silicone, or natural oil.

TMNT: Tactical Takedown is a radical twist on turn-based strategy
07 Jun
www.theverge.com

I usually struggle with strategy games. They're typically too hard for me, and I often get overwhelmed at managing multiple characters or squads. But I couldn't put down Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown, which blends ideas from strategy games and classic TMNT arcade games to keep things snappy, easy to play, and full of action. One way Tactical Takedown - developed by I Am Your Beast maker Strange Scaffold - keeps things simple is by having you play as just one character in each of the game's 20 levels. The four turtles have different movesets; Leonardo, for example, uses his swords to aggressively attack enemies, while Michelangelo can zip around the playing field on his skateboard. You're able to customize each turtle's arsenal by buying new moves, but I didn't change the movesets at all and got through the game just fine. Battles take place in a grid overlaid on small chunks of very TMNT locations, like a street, sewer, or subway system. Every turn, you have six "action points" to spend as you please, whether that's moving around the level or attacking bad guys. You just press a button to use one of your moves, no menu required, which speeds things up considera … Read the full story at The Verge.

After its data was wiped, KiranaPro’s co-founder cannot rule out an external hack
07 Jun
techcrunch.com

Exclusive: The company's co-founder and CTO blame a former employee for a breach, but cannot rule out that it wasn't.

Popular AI apps get caught in the crosshairs of Anthropic and OpenAI
07 Jun
www.theverge.com

Battlelines are being drawn between the major AI labs and the popular applications that rely on them. This week, both Anthropic and OpenAI took shots at two leading AI apps: Windsurf, one of the most popular vibe coding tools, and Granola, a buzzy AI app for taking meeting notes. "With less than five days of notice, Anthropic decided to cut off nearly all of our first-party capacity to all Claude 3.x models," Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan wrote on X this week, noting that "we wanted to pay them for the full capacity." An additional statement on Windsurf's website said: "We are concerned that Anthropic's conduct will harm many in the industry, not just Windsurf." Here, Mohan's company is collateral damage in Anthropic's rivalry with OpenAI, which has reportedly been in talks to acquire Windsurf for about $3 billion. The deal hasn't been confirmed, but even the spectre of it happening was enough for Anthropic to cut off one of the most popular apps that it powers. After a spokesperson told TechCrunch's Maxwell Zeff that Anthropic was "prioritizing capacity for sustainable partnerships," co-founder Jared Kaplan put it more bluntly. "We really are just trying to enable our customers w … Read the full story at The Verge.

Meet the Finalists: VivaTech’s 5 Most Visionary Startups of 2025
07 Jun
techcrunch.com

Narrowing down the 30 most visionary startups of the year to just five finalists was no easy feat. VivaTech’s Innovation of the Year attracted an extraordinary pool of applicants—startups tackling massive global challenges with bold, technically sophisticated, and scalable solutions. From redefining human-machine interaction to revolutionizing healthcare, climate, and infrastructure, each company brought something unique […]

Nintendo Switch 2 webcam compatibility: it’s a wild west
07 Jun
www.theverge.com

The Insta360 Link is among the USB-C webcams that don’t work with the new Switch. The Nintendo Switch 2 is more expensive in practically every way: pricier console, pricier games, an entire Chat button you'll eventually have to pay to use. So it was nice when Nintendo revealed you won't need its own $55 camera to video chat with pals. "You can use the Nintendo Switch 2 camera accessory (sold separately) or any compatible USB-C® camera you'd like," the company wrote. But you might be mighty disappointed if you simply buy a PC webcam off the shelf. Many USB-C webcams we've tried don't work at all, including the ones you'll typically find on "best webcam" lists around the internet, like the Logitech Brio 4K, the Insta360 Link, and the Elgato Facecam MK.2. Meanwhile, ancient USB-A cameras like my Logitech C920 fire up instantly with no trouble at all. And in our testing, it doesn't seem to matter if you use the Switch USB-C ports or the USB-A ports on the dock, whether you're going through a C-to-A adapter, or whether you daisy-chain with a USB hub: the webcams that work, work, and the ones that don't, don't. Overall, it's starting to look like Nintendo didn't mean "compatible with USB-C," but rather "compatible with Switch 2." So why did it suggest you can us … Read the full story at The Verge.

The best games we saw during the Day of the Devs showcase
07 Jun
www.theverge.com

Now that Summer Game Fest 2025 is off and running, it's time for my favorite part of the show: Day of the Devs. Day of the Devs is a yearly showcase highlighting the newest, quirkiest indie releases, and it is frequently the source of some of my favorite games SGF has on offer. This year is another banger slate of titles from your favorite indie publishers, like Devolver Digital, Annapurna Interactive, Panic, and more. I'll have more to share about these games once the show is over, but for now, here are my faves from the Day of the Devs Summer Game Fest showcase 2025. Snap and Grab Snap and Grab is a slick-looking action puzzle game that mixes Ocean's Eleven with Miami Vice. Set in the hyper neon aesthetic of the '80s, Snap and Grab lets you live out your master thief fantasies. Case the joint with your camera, taking pictures of the merchandise you wanna steal while also snapping pics of the people, places, and things that'll help your team get the goods and get out. Coming next year to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series consoles. Big Walk It's time to take a gander at the next game from Untitled Goose Game developer House House. In Big Walk, House House combines the peacefulness of a … Read the full story at The Verge.

Trump fast-tracks supersonic travel, amid spate of flight-related executive orders
06 Jun
techcrunch.com

President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the Federal Aviation Administration to lift the 52-year ban on supersonic flight over U.S. soil.

Resident Evil Requiem is coming next year
06 Jun
www.theverge.com

After a very convincing tease that suggested news was in fact not incoming, Capcom just officially announced Resident Evil Requiem, the ninth mainline entry in the franchise. It launches on February 27th, 2026 on PC, PS5, and Xbox. The announcement came via a lengthy trailer that took quite a while before revealing itself to indeed be the next Resident Evil, focused instead on an office space. But then, naturally, things got pretty creepy. Capcom says the new game will indeed be survival horror, but didn’t provide much other info, explaining only that players will “escape death in a heart-stopping experience that will chill you to your core.” The game is a follow-up to Resident Evil Village in 2021, which followed a reinvigorating return to survival horror in the seventh entry. At the same time, Capcom has kept the franchise alive through a series of big-budget remakes of older titles, most recently with Resident Evil 4 in 2023.

The best robot vacuums we’ve tested for 2025
06 Jun
www.theverge.com

Robot vacuums are impressive devices that will clean your floors well and — thanks to bigger batteries and better robot brains — rarely get tired of doing their job. Over the last few years, they have gone from being utilitarian devices that sweep your floor to full-fledged home robots that can vacuum and mop your home and then trundle off to clean themselves to be ready for the next run. I’ve been testing robot vacuums for seven years and have run over 70 robot vacuums all over my house. These are my top picks if you’re looking for the best: a robot vacuum that can do it all with limited intervention from you. Along with my top picks, I have options to fit specific needs, such as mopping or besting pet hair. The good news is there are a lot of great options. Whether you have a 3,000-square-foot home and three shaggy dogs or a small, stylish apartment you share with a goldfish, there’s a robot vacuum to suit your needs. Featured in this article How I test robot vacuums I test robot vacuums constantly. At any time, there are seven or eight of these busy little bots roaming my floors. Alongside everyday use, I put them through a gauntlet of specific tests. This includes testing object detection and avoidance with phone chargers, socks, a pencil, and fake pet poop. I throw in Cheerios or popcorn to see if they know to vacuum that up rather than avoid it. I also run them over oatmeal and flour to see how well they pick up fine debris and have them tackle both thick and low-pile carpets. I watch to see how they handle rug tassels, skinny chair legs, and room transitions. For mopping prowess, I test them on hardwood and tile floors with dried milk, fresh OJ, and ketchup. I monitor how quickly they fill up their bin / auto-empty dock and how efficiently they use water and clean their mop pads. I also set schedules, hook them up to voice assistants, and play with any advanced features in the app. I evaluate how well they map and how easy the maps are to edit and use, as well as test and unique features such as home security camera capabilities, AI cleaning programs, and auto-mop removal.. Superior cleaning power It’s not all about suction. In my testing, the brush is also a big factor in how well a robot will clean your floors. A large rubber roller brush is much better than a small bristle brush at picking up debris. It’s also less prone to getting tangled up with hair. Two brushes are better than one, and a brush housing that has some flexibility — so it can move with the contours of the floor — is also more effective. Mopping prowess It’s hard to find a robot vac that doesn’t have some form of mopping, but not all mops are created equal. I looked for mopping bots that could get up dried-on stains, like milk and ketchup, and scrub up small wet spills without messing themselves up. Oscillating, spinning, or vibrating mop pads clean better than bots that just drag a wet rag around, but the new self-cleaning roller mops that are beginning to appear are even more effective. Auto-carpet sensing is also important since it prevents the robot from accidentally mopping your rug. A big bin… A big bin means you don’t need to empty it as often. The largest I’ve seen is 800ml, but anything over 500ml is decent. With many bots now pulling double duty as mopping robots, plus the popularity of self-empty dock / charging bases, it’s getting harder to find small robot vacs with big bins. But they’re worth considering — especially if you have carpets and pets. I love self-empty docks, but sometimes you don’t have space for them, and if you like your robot to be out of sight (living under your bed or sofa), you’ll want a big bin and no dock. … Or a self-empty dock These are becoming standard now and coming down in price (thankfully). A self-empty dock turns the charging base for your robot into a motorized emptying station that sucks out the dirt from its bin. (Warning: this process can be loud!) This saves you from having to pull out the bin after every few runs and empty it yourself. Instead, you’ll have to replace the bag (and buy new ones) when it gets full, generally about once a month. Many robots now have a self-empty dock option you can add later, although buying them together is generally cheaper. AI-powered obstacle detection Another nice-to-have feature, AI-powered obstacle detection helps your robot “intelligently” detect and avoid clutter (and a potential poop apocalypse if it encounters pet waste). These models use cameras (worth noting) to see objects in their path and onboard processors to “decide” how to approach them based on what they see. All AI is not created equal, however, and some are much better at this than others. The end result is that robot vacuums with AI detection are less likely to get stuck when cleaning, so you’re more likely to come home to a clean floor rather than a beached bot. Reliable mapping A robot that maps your house will get into every nook and cranny better than one that bumps and rolls around. Mapping also lets you send the robot to clean specific rooms rather than the whole space and add virtual walls to prevent your bot from going where you don’t want it to. These are crucial if you have delicate objects or areas in your home that regularly trap robots. Most robots use variations on simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) technology, such as lidar or vSLAM. Easy-to-use app and voice control A good app has easy controls to stop and start your vacuum, scheduling options (including do-not disturb hours), plus good mapping features. Nice-to-have features are room-specific cleaning and settings (so you can tell your vacuum to clean the kitchen or have it mop and vacuum the kitchen but only vacuum the living room). My biggest frustration with apps is maps that are fiddly to update and / or crash and must be rebuilt constantly. Most vacuums now have voice control (see FAQs), but some offer more in-depth control, such as telling Alexa to have the robot clean twice under the dining room table. Good battery life Nearly all robot vacuums can “recharge and resume” — take themselves back to their dock when they’re low and recharge before picking up where they left off. But a vacuum with at least 120 minutes of runtime (180 is ideal) will clean the whole house in one go. If it takes too long, noisy robots that are constantly running will get shut off by annoyed family members who aren’t about to clean the room for you. Repairability Robot vacuums are quite an investment, and it’s important to be able to buy replacement parts to keep them going for longer and have access to good support in case your robot has a serious issue. Best robot vacuum Best budget robot vacuum Best mopping robot vacuum for hard floors Best robot vacuum / mop hybrid Best midrange robot vacuum / mop Best robot vacuum for pet hair Other robot vacuums to consider What I’m testing and what’s coming next Best robot vacuum Dustbin capacity: 270ml / Self-empty dock option: Yes / Auto-refill mop option: Yes / Mop lift: Yes, 20mm / Mop washing: Hot water and heated air drying / Mapping: Yes, lidar / AI-powered obstacle detection: Yes / Suction power: 10,000Pa / Remote check-in: Yes / Keep-out zones: Yes, virtual / Brush style: Dual rubber / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts, Apple Home via Matter Roborock’s S8 MaxV Ultra ($1,799.99) is an exceptional vacuum cleaner and a very good mop. Its dual rubber roller brushes and 10,000Pa suction make it great on carpets; its sonic mopping is very good on hard floors, and its improved AI-powered obstacle detection means it will most likely get the job done without getting trapped or derailed. The S8 MaxV Ultra is the best in the category of “hands-free” robot vacs, bots that do virtually everything for you: empty their bins, refill their mop tanks, and clean and dry their mop pads. Roborock invented this category with the S7 MaxV Ultra and has been steadily improving it. That’s the big selling point here; this bot is basically hands-free. Fill the S8 MaxV Ultra’s clean water tank and empty its dirty water once a week and change out the dust bag every couple of months. The robot will take care of the rest. For $100 more, you can dispense with dealing with the water tanks entirely and buy the Refill & Drainage System model. This lets you plumb the charging base directly into your home’s water supply. I’ve not tested this on the Roborock, but my experience with the SwitchBot S10 with the same feature leads me to recommend this option if you can swing it. The S8 MaxV Ultra comes with excellent AI-powered obstacle detection, bringing back the camera it last had on the S7 MaxV Ultra. It’s not quite as good as Roomba’s obstacle detection — it sometimes confused a pile of Cheerios for a charging cable and avoided them — but it’s much better than the Roborocks that rely on non-camera obstacle detection. It deftly navigates around most household clutter, allowing you to get the job done without having to tidy up. Roborock has caught up to Roomba on cleaning prowess, and the S8 MaxV Ultra’s dual rubber brushes and 10,000Pa of suction power tackled the pet hair on my fluffy carpet and demolished my oatmeal test. It also did a better job at mopping than Roomba’s mopping bots, though not quite as well as the Narwal Freo X Ultra or Dreame X40 Ultra, though it’s a better vacuum than either. Its sonic mopping system — which vibrates its mop pad 4,000 times a minute — ably simulated scrubbing and wiped out my OJ and ketchup tests, though I did have to set it to deep scrub. Plus, the addition of a side mop and flexi-arm brush that extends from the bot helped with cleaning edges and corners. Roborock’s mobile app is easy to use and comes with a laundry list of features and customizations that give you ample control over your cleaning. The S8 MaxV Ultra also has a built-in voice assistant, which makes getting the bot to clean the mess your kid made after dinner as easy as saying, “Rocky, clean here.” Roborock also sells the S8 Max Ultra (no V) for $1,599.99. It has the same cleaning hardware as the MaxV but no camera, so its obstacle detection will not be as good. However, you also don’t have to worry about a camera in your house. It has a lower 8,000Pa of suction and lacks a voice assistant, too, which makes it seem overpriced since it’s currently only a couple hundred dollars less than the MaxV. There are several great vacuum / mop hybrids in this guide. Of them, the S8 MaxV Ultra is the best at vacuuming and obstacle detection, and it’s a very good mop. It can also do both in one run, as it can lift its mop 20mm, which will clear all but the highest-pile rugs. If you have a lot of those, go for the Dreame X40, with its automatic mop removal. Its vacuuming and object detection are a notch below the Roborock’s, but its mopping is a notch above. The Narwal Freo X Ultra is an even better mop than the Dreame, but its obstacle detection isn’t great, and its vacuuming is merely pretty good. Read my Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra review. Best budget robot vacuum Dustbin capacity: 300ml / Self-empty dock option: Yes / Auto-refill mop option: No / Mop lift: No / Mop washing: No / Mapping: Yes, lidar / AI-powered obstacle detection: No / Suction power: 5,300Pa / Remote check-in: No / Keep-out zones: Yes, virtual / Brush style: Single rubber bristle hybrid / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts For around $300, the Tapo RV30 Max Plus is a very capable robot vacuum and mop with some key features usually only found on vacuums that are more than twice its price. These include room-specific cleaning, multiple suction and water levels, smart lidar-based navigation, and an auto-empty dock. With brands like Roomba and Roborock, you’re often paying double for the privilege of not having to empty the bot’s bin. Thanks to lidar navigation, the RV30 did an excellent job of navigating my house, cleaning the perimeters of the rooms, and then using a mesh grid to clean inside the rooms. I did have to tidy up before it ran, though, as there’s no camera on board or AI-powered obstacle detection — so cables and socks will trip it up. Its 5,200Pa suction power is impressive on a bot at this price, and ably sucked up Cheerios and dry oatmeal on hard flooring. It left some of the finer dust and debris, as its single bristle / rubber brush isn’t super effective. It fared less well on carpet. However, in the app, I could set it to clean a room three times for each job, after which it had generally picked up all visible debris. Mopping was better than average for a mop with no pressure or oscillation. It has a wide mop pad, and the bot has a big 300ml tank (which also incorporates a 300ml dustbin), so it applies enough water to do a good surface clean. Another unique feature for a budget robot is the ability to set customized cleaning for each room, choosing from five suction levels and three water levels as well as the three rotations. 5,200Pa suction power is impressive on a bot at this price The Tapo app is very simple to use, with an easy-to-edit map that lets you add virtual walls and no-go zones, add furniture, and designate carpet areas. There’s no carpet sensing, so you need to tell it where carpets are if you don’t want it to mop them. You can even set the cleaning direction and build up to four maps — again, features usually only found on higher-end robots. It’s also super easy to start a clean, and I really like that you can just tap on the map to send the robot to that spot. The biggest downside of the Tapo is its tiny battery, which is just 2,600mAh. That is half the size of most vacs, and it couldn’t clean my entire 800-square-foot downstairs without needing to go back and recharge. It also takes a while to charge and occasionally had trouble repositioning itself on its dock. You can get the RV30 without the auto-empty dock for around $80 less if you prefer an even simpler robot vacuum setup. This way, it will fit under a couch or bed, but you’ll have to manually empty its bin. Best mopping robot vacuum for hard floors Dustbin capacity: 1L / Self-empty dock option: No / Auto-refill mop option: Yes / Mop lift: Yes, 12mm / Mop washing: Yes, hot air drying / Mapping: Yes, lidar / AI-powered obstacle detection: Yes / Suction power: 8,200Pa / Remote check-in: No / Keep-out zones: Yes, virtual / Brush style: Single, conical rubber bristle hybrid / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts The Narwal Freo X Ultra is one of the best mopping robots I’ve tested — and it’s a good vacuum, too. Its spinning triangular mop pads rotate at 180RPM with 12n of downward pressure. Combined with its ability to swing slightly to get closer to baseboards, the Narwal does a very good job on hard floors. Its dual four-liter water tanks will keep you going longer than most other mopping bots as well, the majority of which feature smaller tanks. The Narwal has some innovative features, including dirt sense — which analyzes the dirt level in the water and prompts it to remop — and an ability to adapt the pressure of its mop based on the type of floor, applying more pressure to tile and less to hardwood. “Freo” refers to the bot’s ability to make cleaning “decisions,” including going back to clean dirty floors. Its charging dock is very big, though, giving off a real Wall-E vibe. But despite the size, there’s no spot for an auto-empty dustbin; instead, Narwal’s disposable onboard bin compresses the dust, and Narwal claims you won’t need to empty it for up to 60 days. It wasn’t close to full after two weeks of testing. A bonus here is that there’s no loud noise, as is the case with most auto-empty docks. Its charging dock is very big, giving off a real Wall-E vibe In fact, the Freo X Ultra is one of the quietest bots I’ve tested. Even at full power, it was so quiet that I had to check that it was working. Its anti-tangle brush and 8,200Pa suction did a good job on most carpet, but its 12mm mop lifting isn’t good for plush carpets. Narwal’s obstacle detection is also only okay; there’s no camera, and it routinely eats cables. Its three lasers can identify objects as small as a sock and move around them, and it did pass my fake pet poop test. The app is very hard to follow, making it tricky to access all of the bot’s features. Mapping was fast, but it didn’t recognize all my rooms on the first go. It did better the second time, although splitting up rooms and naming them in the app was painful. The lack of a camera also means its navigation is spotty, and sending it to clean specific rooms wasn’t always successful. But if you’ve got a lot of hard floors to keep clean, it will do an excellent job. Best robot vacuum / mop hybrid Dustbin capacity: 300ml / Self-empty dock option: Yes / Auto-refill mop option: Yes / Mop-lift: Yes, 20mm / Mop washing: Hot water, hot air drying / Mapping: Yes, lidar / AI-powered obstacle detection: Yes / Suction power: 12,000Pa / Remote check-in: Yes / Keep-out zones: Yes, virtual / Brush style: Single, rubber / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts The Dreame X40 is the best robot vacuum / mop hybrid because it can drop its mop pads automatically, extend them, and swing them to get under your cabinets and consoles. I watched the X40 spread its mops wide apart and swing behind my TV console, allowing it to access the dust wedged a good inch under it. That’s impressive. The X40 also features an extending side brush arm to reach corners — like the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra — and its dual oscillating mop pads are more effective than Roborock’s thin microfiber pad. If you have a mix of carpeted rooms and hardwood floors with high-pile rugs, the Dreame is the best robot vacuum for you. Its signature feature is its ability to automatically remove and reattach its mop pads, depending on whether it’s vacuuming or mopping. This solves the problem of how to vacuum and mop without getting your rugs wet. The robot will do this procedure multiple times during cleaning to ensure carpets are vacuumed and floors are mopped. Genius. While it’s a superb mopper, its vacuuming prowess is slightly behind the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra because, despite its 12,000Pa suction power, it still only has a single roller rubber brush. The Roborock’s dual rollers are simply better at getting dirt out of carpets and tackling pet hair. If you have a mix of carpeted rooms and hardwood floors with high-pile rugs, the Dreame is the best robot vacuum for you Roborock’s app is also more stable and easier to use than Dreame’s, which often crashes and can take a while to load. While the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra is my top pick overall, the Dreame X40 is a very good vacuum, and the two companies are neck and neck regarding innovative features. The X40 can also clean its washboard, something the Roborock can’t. That area can get quite grungy, so it needs a cleaning every few weeks. The X40 has AI-powered smart dirt detection that uses its cameras to identify spills like milk or particularly dirty areas. When it spots something, it will slow down and do a more thorough cleaning. I also like Dreame’s option to vacuum first and then mop, which the Roborock doesn’t offer. The X40 has AI-powered obstacle detection, although Roborock’s is just a bit better. However, both still get tripped up occasionally by pencils and other small items — something that never happens with the Roombas with this feature. Best midrange robot vacuum / mop Dustbin capacity: Unknown / Self-empty dock option: Yes / Auto-refill mop option: Yes / Mop lift: Yes, 12mm / Mop washing: Yes, hot air drying / Mapping: Yes, lidar / AI-powered obstacle detection: Yes / Suction power: 8,000Pa / Remote check-in: No / Keep-out zones: Yes, virtual / Brush style: Single rubber / bristle hybrid / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home The Eufy X10 Pro Omni combines the Eufy Clean X9 Pro mopping robot vacuum and the Eufy X8 Pro self-empty robot vacuum. It’s the first Eufy with a multifunction auto-empty / wash / fill dock, and unlike many bots in this price range, it comes with AI-powered obstacle detection. With 8,000Pa suction and oscillating dual spinning brushes for mopping, the X10 has all the same functions as the top-of-the-line, all-in-one bots — but it’s not quite as good at any of them. Which is sort of the definition of “midrange.” The X10 has all the same functions as the top-of-the-line, all-in-one bots — but it’s not quite as good at any of them The Eufy performed excellently in my mopping tests, even eradicating dried stains with its 1kg of downward pressure. Thanks to an onboard water reservoir, it didn’t have to head home to fill up as frequently as some mopping bots do. It also has heated mop drying to help prevent the base from getting stinky — a first in this price range. (There’s no hot water washing.) An edge-hugging mode makes the robot swing its behind into the baseboards to help mop edges. With its square-ish shape, it got into corners better than most of the round bots. But its 12mm mop pad lift over carpet wasn’t effective, resulting in its pads getting hung up in a few places. The X10 has great object recognition, allowing it to suck up Cheerios and piles of oatmeal while deftly navigating fake dog turds and cables. However, its navigation sometimes got screwy; it would go into a corner and stay there for a while, trying to figure itself out. While its vacuuming is good, particularly on carpet and tile surfaces, the single rubber / bristle roller brush lets it down and is a good illustration of my point that it’s not all about suction power; it’s also about the brushes and how you use them. The Eufy’s brush is supposedly anti-tangle — a cutting tool inside the robot should shred the hair — but this wasn’t effective. The Eufy Clean app is very easy to use, and the lidar-powered mapping was fast and accurate, dividing my rooms correctly on the first try. There are many customization options — including room-specific cleaning, zone cleaning, and customized cleaning — but the app is clear and well laid out. Best robot vacuum for pet hair Dustbin capacity: 250 ml / Self-empty dock option: Yes / Auto-refill mop option: Yes / Mop lift: Yes, up and over / Mop washing: Yes / Mapping: Yes, vSLAM / AI-powered obstacle detection: Yes / Suction power: N/A / Remote check-in: No / Keep-out zones: Yes, virtual / Brush style: Dual rubber / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts, Apple Home via the Matter protocol. While Roombas may have fallen behind the competition in terms of features and innovation, there’s one area in which they reign supreme, and that’s cleaning prowess. Their dual rubber roller brushes rotate in opposite directions to effectively dig up dirt from carpets, and they are by far the best at tackling pet hair on all surfaces. They are also one of the most self-repairable robot vacuums you can buy, with spare parts for most of the bot’s bits readily available. The newest model, the Combo 10 Max, is the best Roomba for pet hair as it ties for the highest suction power of the current Roomba line, plus it can clean its own mop. It also has top-notch AI-powered obstacle detection that is able to tell the difference between pet poop and a pile of popcorn (and vacuum up one while avoiding the other). While its mopping isn’t great — the pad is tiny, and there’s no swinging to get along baseboards — it does a decent job, and its retractable mopping system is handy if you have a lot of carpets. All of this makes the Combo 10 Max a great buy for pet parents who are in a daily battle with shedding and occasional muddy paw prints. The Combo is the first Roomba with a multifunction dock that can refill its mopping tank and self-wash its mopping pad, meaning less hands-on time for you. (The j9 Combo Plus has the same suction power and can refill its mopping tank but can’t wash the mop pad.) The SmartScrub feature that tells the robot to wiggle its butt to scrub your floors works surprisingly well, but it’s really only effective on small areas, making it good to run in hallways and around pet bowls for an extra clean. The Dirt Detect feature remembers the dirtiest rooms, actively seeking out spots my hairy Wirehaired Pointing Griffon hangs out The Dirt Detect feature remembers the dirtiest rooms, and I found that meant it actively seeks out the spots my hairy Wirehaired Pointing Griffon hangs out. The 10 Max can also be set to mop only, which is a new option and is handy for deep cleans. But there’s no hot water washing or hot air drying of the mop as there is on similar Dreame and Roborock models, so you’ll want to throw the pad in the washing machine every now and then. iRobot’s app is also a bit of a pain point. While I appreciate its simplicity, I miss the deeper cleaning customization options that most other high-end robot vacuum apps offer. And it’s recently started popping up ads for Roomba products when I navigate between screens — which is one of the features I did not want to see migrate over from the competition. While its mapping is very good, it can take a really long time (Roombas use vSLAM, not lidar), and it doesn’t seem to adapt to changes in my home as easily as other robots. (It also doesn’t lose my maps as often as other robots.) I’ve also noticed that the newer Roombas (j9 and 10 Max) suffer from the occasional navigation glitches, occasionally getting confused and needing to be rebooted. I really like Roomba’s dock design, which, while large enough to accommodate two rather small water tanks, is the most stylish of all the multifunction docks. Plus, because you access the water tanks from the front rather than the top (as on most other models), it can be used as a table. That’s a small quality-of-life upgrade I enjoy. Overall, it’s a good-looking robot that vacuums really well and is smart enough to get the job done with limited intervention. If you’re not interested in mopping at all, however, save some money and get the Roomba j9 Plus. It has similar cleaning prowess, a self-empty dock, and no messing with mopping. Other robot vacuums to consider The 360 Vis Nav ($999.99), Dyson’s first robovac in the US in almost a decade, is a powerful beast and the best robot vacuum for carpets I’ve tested. But its navigation needs a lot of work. If you have a simple floor plan with a lot of carpets, it is worth considering, but the short battery life and lack of an auto-empty dock are major cons. Read more in this hands-on. The Roomba j7 ($599.99) is a previous top pick that has great AI-powered obstacle detection, excellent navigation skills, and superior cleaning power. It can be a bit rough with furniture, but it is aggressive at getting your floors clean and is a great vacuum-only Roomba. The Dreame X30 Ultra ($629.99 $1,399.99) is the older version of my top pick for a vacuum / mop hybrid and is a great buy if you can get it on sale. It does most everything the X40 Ultra does, just with lower suction power (8,3000Pa) and no flexi-arm. The Roborock Q8 Max Plus ($419.99 $819.99) is the bigger brother to the Q5 Pro (my pick for pet hair in my budget robot vacuum guide), adding better obstacle detection (still no camera) and better mopping. However, it has a smaller bin to make way for a much bigger water reservoir for mopping (350ml). If you like the idea of the Q5 Pro but want better mopping, this is a good option. The Roborock S8 Plus ($519.99 $999.99) is a great vacuum that can mop well, has good obstacle detection, and has a sleeker, smaller charging / auto-empty dock with no water tank. Its dual rubber roller brushes and 6,000Pa of suction do a good job, and its flat mop that vibrates is effective at scrubbing your floors. The Roborock S8 Pro Ultra (which is currently out of stock but normally retails for $1,599.99) is similar to the S8 MaxV but ditches the camera, so it’s less effective at dodging obstacles than the S8 MaxV. Get this if you don’t want a camera on your robot and don’t mind not having Matter support or a built-in voice assistant. The Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 ($577.99 $699.99) was my previous runner-up pick for a midrange option that self-empties its bin, vacuums, and mops. It mops very well, but you have to manually fill and attach the mop reservoir and empty the bin. What I’m testing and what’s coming next Roborock’s Saros 10 ($1,599.99) and 10R ($1,599.99) are upgrades to the S8 MaxV Ultra. Both can automatically remove their mop pads when not needed — a new option for Roborock — and feature an AdaptLift chassis to climb high room transitions. The 10R features 19,000Pa suction power, StarSight 2.0 navigation, and oscillating mops. The Saros 10 has 22,000Pa of suction power, lidar navigation, and the vibrating flat mopping pad of the S8 MaxV. Roborock also recently released the Saros Z70 ($1,999 2,599), which is the first mass-produced robovac to feature a robotic arm that can pick up objects like socks and tissues. The arm itself isn’t particularly reliable, but the Z70 still functions as an excellent robot vacuum with 22,000Pa suction power, support for Roborock’s StarSight navigation system, and an AdaptLift chassis. Read our review. In March, iRobot announced a new Roomba lineup that starts at $299 and goes up to $999. All of the robovacs come with lidar navigation and mapping, 7,000Pa suction power, and four suction levels. The pricier 405 and 505 models are the first Roombas to feature dual spinning mopping pads, while the 505 also offers heated mop drying, which is something even the higher-end Combo 10 Max lacks. iRobot also recently announced the Roomba Max 705 ($699 2,599), which comes with an auto-empty dock. The Matter-compatible robovac brings back iRobot’s dual rubber roller brushes, which, based on our previous testing, do an excellent job of picking up pet hair; the 705 also features AI-powered obstacle detection, lidar navigation, and 13,000Pa of suction — the most of any Roomba to date. The new Eufy Robot Vacuum Omni E28 is a self-emptying, self-refilling, and self-washing robot vacuum / mop hybrid. The $999.99 vac comes with a deep cleaner integrated into the charging dock, which you can use to spray clean water on stains before sucking everything into a separate wastewater tank. It’s also powerful, boasting up to 20,000Pa of suction power, and offers AI-powered obstacle detection and Matter support. The Dreame X50 Ultra ($1,299.99 $1,699.99) adds a “motorized swing arm” that acts like a leg, allowing the robovac to climb a transition up to 6cm tall. Otherwise, it’s a lot like the X40 Ultra, only with higher suction power. The Ecovacs Deebot X8 Pro Omni ($1,199.99 $1,399.99) is the first Deebot with a roller mop. It features an extendable mop that can clean itself, boasts 18,000Pa of suction power, and comes with a redesigned auto-empty fill dock. The Switchbot K10 Plus Pro Combo ($399.99) is an upgrade to the compact K10 Plus, a previous pick for the best robot vacuum for small spaces. It has better obstacle detection and a bump up to 3,000Pa of suction power. Plus, its auto-empty dock incorporates a manual stick vacuum. The Switchbot S20 Pro robot vacuum / mop hybrid, the successor to my previous pick for favorite mopping vacuum, the S10, is scheduled to launch sometime in June. It features an extendable roller mop and side brush and 15,000Pa of suction power, more than twice that of the prior model. SharkNinja’s PowerDetect NeverTouch Pro 2-in-1 robot vacuum / mop ($769.99 $999.99) can lift itself over rugs by up to 20mm. Uniquely, its automatic empty /wash / dry cleaning station doesn’t require bags. Roborock’s Qrevo Curv ($1,299.99 $1,599.99) can raise itself to clear thresholds up to 40mm. The svelte-looking bot gets its name from a curved FlexiArm Arc side brush, which helps prevent hair from tangling as much. Narwal’s Freo Z Ultra ($1,099.99 $1,499.99) is an upgrade to my current pick for a best mopping bot. It features dual cameras and dual AI chips for seeing and identifying objects, which should help with obstacle detection and vacuuming methods. The Eufy S1 Pro ($1,299.99 $1,499.99) has a long roller mop that self-cleans as it mops and features a square-ish design that allows it to get into corners more easily. A single rubber roller brush, 8,000Pa of suction, and 3D-powered obstacle detection tackle the vacuuming. The Matic is a $1,095 robot vacuum that doesn’t need a cloud connection and uses cameras to navigate. It’s also the first robovac mop I’ve seen that can suck up wet spills as well as dry. Here’s some video of it in action. Does suction power matter in robot vacuums? Suction power is measured in pascals (Pa), and while most vacuums offer between 5,000 and 8,000, we’re starting to see robots with 18,000 and even 22,000Pa. Higher suction power will do a better job getting the fine dust and debris off your floor, but it’s important that it’s paired with effective brushes. The real key to a clean floor with a robot vac is consistency. Run it daily if you can; it won’t keep up as well if it only runs once a week. If you want hands-free cleaning everywhere, you’ll want to budget for one per floor or be prepared to move it around. You can also buy extra charging bases, and most models can map multiple floors. Do all robot vacuums work with voice control? Yes, every Wi-Fi-connected robot vacuum worth its salt today works with Alexa or Google smart speakers for voice control. However, some are limited to stop, start, pause, and maybe suction level, whereas others can be told to go clean specific areas. Here’s how to set up a bot with Alexa voice control or Google Home voice control. A couple of manufacturers now also work with Siri Shortcuts, so you can use Apple’s Siri voice assistant to command your bot. Robot vacuums are now part of Matter, meaning more opportunities for smart home integration and native Siri voice control for robot vacuums. Which robot vacuums will work with Matter? Matter is a new smart home standard that allows connected gadgets to work with any smart home platform, including Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings. When connected to your smart home platform through Matter, you should be able to control basic robot actions including start / stop and changing cleaning modes, as well as get alerts directly in the app, meaning you won’t need to use the manufacturer’s app for these functions. The latest Matter spec, Matter 1.4, adds support for cleaning specific areas, so while you will still need the manufacturer app to set up a map, you will be able to use your smart home platform app and / or voice assistant to direct the robot to do things like clean the kitchen or clean downstairs. Samsung SmartThings and Amazon both support robot vacuums in Matter; Apple has added it to iOS 18.4, which should come this spring, and Google said support is coming soon. While Amazon Alexa and Google Home have supported robot vacuums for years via the cloud, Matter will bring this control locally. It will also bring support to Apple Home for the first time, allowing you to control them with Siri through HomePods and add them to scenes and automation. There are still relatively few robot vacuums that support Matter. As of June 2025, that list includes: Ecovacs X8 Pro Omni Ecovacs Deebot X2 Combo SwitchBot S20 SwitchBot S10 SwitchBot K10 Pro Plus SwitchBot K10 Plus Dreame X50 Ultra Dreame X40 Ultra Roborock Saros 10 and 10R Roborock Saros Z70 Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra Roomba Combo 10 Photos by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge Update, June 6th: Adjusted pricing / availability. Sheena Vasani also contributed to this post.

TechCrunch Mobility: How Jony Ive’s LoveFrom helped Rivian and what Uber’s next-generation playbook looks like
06 Jun
techcrunch.com

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation.

Omada Health IPO signals healthier market, avoids ‘down-round’ trend
06 Jun
techcrunch.com

Omada Health popped in its first day as a public company, validation for founder CEO Sean Duffy.

2025 will be a ‘pivotal year’ for Meta’s augmented and virtual reality, says CTO
06 Jun
techcrunch.com

Andrew "Boz" Bosworth, Meta's CTO, says 2025 will be a pivotal year for Reality Labs, the company's augmented and virtual reality unit.

Anti-vaccine quack hired by RFK Jr. has started work at the health department
06 Jun
arstechnica.com

David Geier was previously disciplined for practicing medicine without a license.

Why investing in growth-stage AI startups is getting riskier and more complicated
06 Jun
techcrunch.com

AI startups are reaching growth stage much faster. That's exciting, but also risky, because investors might pour millions into a company only to watch it be unseated in a few months.

Anthropic releases custom AI chatbot for classified spy work
06 Jun
arstechnica.com

"Claude Gov" is already handling classified information for the US government.

Anthropic appoints a national security expert to its governing trust
06 Jun
techcrunch.com

Anthropic's long-term benefit trust is a governance mechanism that Anthropic claims helps it promote safety over profit, and which has the power to elect some of the company's board of directors.

iFixit Says Switch 2 Is Probably Still Drift Prone
06 Jun
www.wired.com

A teardown of Nintendo’s latest console has found that the core tech that causes joystick drift is still there. Plus it’s even harder to repair than the original.

AI startups continue fueling San Francisco’s office recovery
06 Jun
techcrunch.com

Early-stage AI startups are imbuing new life into San Francisco’s Northern Waterfront, after years of "for lease" signs dotting the post-pandemic landscape.

Nintendo Switch 2’s faster chip can dramatically improve original Switch games
06 Jun
arstechnica.com

Differences range from "nonexistent" to "subtle" to "night and day."

Tesla’s Optimus robot VP is leaving the company
06 Jun
techcrunch.com

Milan Kovac, head of Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot program, is leaving the company to spend more time with family, and he said that his support for Musk and Tesla is "ironclad."

Italian lawmakers say Italy used spyware to target phones of immigration activists, but not against journalist
06 Jun
techcrunch.com

A parliamentary investigation answered some — but not all — the questions related to a spyware scandal involving the use of the Israeli company’s spyware, Graphite.

Ted Cruz bill: States that regulate AI will be cut out of $42B broadband fund
06 Jun
arstechnica.com

Cruz attempt to tie broadband funding to AI laws called "undemocratic and cruel."

The Trump-Musk feud has been great for X, which jumped up the App Store charts
06 Jun
techcrunch.com

The Trump-Musk feud has been great for X, which jumped up the App Store charts.

Figure AI CEO skips live demo, sidesteps BMW deal questions onstage at tech conference
06 Jun
techcrunch.com

Figure AI has drawn attention for making claims that its AI-powered robots possess human-like fine motor skills and can manipulate objects with precision but hasn't done a live demonstration of the humanoids.

Millions of low-cost Android devices turn home networks into crime platforms
06 Jun
arstechnica.com

BadBox malware has been menacing low-cost Android devices for nearly a decade.

Cybercriminals Are Hiding Malicious Web Traffic in Plain Sight
06 Jun
www.wired.com

In an effort to evade detection, cybercriminals are increasingly turning to “residential proxy” services that cover their tracks by making it look like everyday online activity.

Elon Musk’s Fight With Trump Threatens $48 Billion in Government Contracts
06 Jun
www.wired.com

The billionaire’s feud with the president over the nation’s debt is jeopardizing lucrative deals for SpaceX and other Musk companies.

Jony Ive’s LoveFrom helped design Rivian’s first electric bike
06 Jun
techcrunch.com

LoveFrom, the creative firm founded by former Apple chief designer Jony Ive, played a role in the development of Rivian’s first electric bike, according to multiple sources who spoke to TechCrunch.

‘100% Stupid’: MAGA World Is Cautiously Turning on Elon Musk
06 Jun
www.wired.com

The right-wing media ecosystem seems to not know what to make of the Elon Musk–Donald Trump spat—but some of the president’s loyalists have made their feelings known in plain terms.

Building Your AI Engine: How OpenAI Works with Startups
06 Jun
techcrunch.com

In the rapidly evolving AI landscape, startups can gain a competitive edge by collaborating closely with model providers. Join Hao Sang from OpenAI’s Startups Team demystifies OpenAI’s resources for startups, from technical guidance to advanced model access, in a discussion from TechCrunch Sessions: AI. Discover how feedback from startups helps shape OpenAI’s roadmap, ensuring that […]

AI startups take to the stage to pitch their companies to a panel of judges
06 Jun
techcrunch.com

During the “So You Think You Can Pitch?” event at TechCrunch Sessions: AI, three AI companies — Fluix AI, Clicka, and Narada AI — had four minutes apiece to impress judges from Initiate Ventures, Felicis, and Recursive Ventures. Each company made the case for their products, platforms, solutions, and leadership capabilities to see their vision […]

Building More Scalable GenAI Applications for Startups and Developers
06 Jun
techcrunch.com

In this TechCrunch Sessions: AI event, Oracle shares a rundown of how MySQL HeatWave empowers you in building AI-based solutions in areas such as personal productivity, automating workflows for compliance, service, or support, and increasing efficiencies in healthcare, among others. By leveraging HeatWave’s built-in vector store, in-database LLMs, in-database machine learning capabilities, and massively parallel […]

Our first impressions after 48 hours with the Switch 2
06 Jun
arstechnica.com

Some review-in-progress thoughts on GameChat, mouse mode, Welcome Tour, and more.

Genetics testing startup Nucleus Genomics criticized for its embryo product: ‘Makes me so nauseous’
06 Jun
techcrunch.com

Nucleus Genomics has been courting controversy for years with products that claim to tell people how their genetics correlate to a host of complex issues, including their IQ.

Simulations find ghostly whirls of dark matter trailing galaxy arms
06 Jun
arstechnica.com

Simulations suggest where we might look for the mystery material.

EleutherAI releases massive AI training dataset of licensed and open domain text
06 Jun
techcrunch.com

EleutherAI, an AI research organization, has released what it's claiming is one of the largest collections of licensed and open-domain text for training AI models.

A Japanese lander crashed on the Moon after losing track of its location
06 Jun
arstechnica.com

"It’s not impossible, so how do we overcome our hurdles?"

What to expect from Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference next week
06 Jun
arstechnica.com

We expect to see new designs, new branding, and more at Apple's WWDC 2025.

Cambridge mapping project solves a medieval murder
06 Jun
arstechnica.com

“A tale of shakedowns, sex, and vengeance that expose[s] tensions between the church and England’s elite."

DOGE Is on a Recruiting Spree
06 Jun
www.wired.com

While Elon Musk and Donald Trump post through their break-up, DOGE shows no signs of slowing down—and potential recruits are being told they can make up to $195,000 a year.

Startup puts a logical qubit in a single piece of hardware
06 Jun
arstechnica.com

Nord Quantique's plan for error correction involves far less hardware.

GOP intensifies war against EVs and efficient cars
06 Jun
arstechnica.com

Get ready for less-efficient and more-polluting vehicles in the US.

The Best Car Vacuums (2025), Tested and Reviewed
06 Jun
www.wired.com

Dirty car? These petite vacuums will make your ride feel brand-new again, whether it’s covered in sand, toddler snacks, or pet hair.

Conspiracy World Thinks the Musk-Trump Breakup Is a 'Psyop'
06 Jun
www.wired.com

As Elon Musk and Donald Trump feuded, conspiracy theorists assured their followers it was all a show. “5D chess at its finest, baby—checkmate!” proclaimed one.

OpenAI is retaining all ChatGPT logs “indefinitely.” Here’s who’s affected.
06 Jun
arstechnica.com

OpenAI explains how deleted ChatGPT logs may be accessed in court battle.

Whoop MG Review: A Screenless Tracker With Cardiac Measurements
06 Jun
www.wired.com

Years after its debut, the new Whoop band is still a uniquely designed tracker with distinctive health offerings.

Barry Diller Invented Prestige TV. Then He Conquered the Internet
06 Jun
www.wired.com

The mogul behind Fox, Expedia, and Tinder opens up about Steve Jobs—and his close friend Sam Altman.

DOGE used flawed AI tool to “munch” Veterans Affairs contracts
06 Jun
arstechnica.com

Staffer had no medical experience, and the results were predictably, spectacularly bad.

5 Best Mushroom Gummies (2025), WIRED-Tested and Approved
06 Jun
www.wired.com

These edibles made from functional fungi are not your childhood Flintstone vitamins.

2025 Acura ADX review: A crossover that balances budget with spirit
06 Jun
arstechnica.com

Think of Acura's entry-level compact crossover as an Integra SUV.

'Ballerina' Deserves an Oscar Nod for Stunts—But It’ll Never Get One
06 Jun
www.wired.com

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced a new Oscar category for stunt performers earlier this year. But none of the performers in the latest John Wick movie will qualify.

Dear readers: Let us know what you’d like to see more of on Ars
06 Jun
arstechnica.com

Take a few minutes to comment and help us guide future coverage.

The Best Mushroom Coffee, WIRED Tested and Reviewed (2025)
06 Jun
www.wired.com

“Coffee” made with functional mushrooms like lion’s mane and chaga is all the rage. We tried the most popular brands to find which were the most palatable.

Rocket Report: SpaceX’s 500th Falcon launch; why did UK’s Reaction Engines fail?
06 Jun
arstechnica.com

SpaceX's rockets make a lot more noise, but the machinations of Texas' newest city are underway.

Google’s nightmare: How a search spinoff could remake the web
06 Jun
arstechnica.com

Google has shaped the Internet as we know it, and unleashing its index could change everything.

Apple’s WWDC 2025: How to Watch and What to Expect
06 Jun
www.wired.com

Apple will stream its Worldwide Developers Conference keynote live on Monday, June 9. You can expect to see redesigned software but likely not the new Siri.

Samsung Galaxy A26 and Galaxy A36 Review: Fine but Dull Budget Phones
06 Jun
www.wired.com

If you’re on a budget, these are solid Android phones. But they’re comically dull next to options from Motorola and Nothing.

6 Best Clitoral Suction Toys (2025), Tested and Reviewed
06 Jun
www.wired.com

The number of clitoral suction sex toys on the market gets bigger all the time. We’ve tested dozens, and these are our favorites.

Peacock Promo Code & Deals: 16% Off June 2025
06 Jun
www.wired.com

Watch your favorite shows for up to $80 off this June, and save on subscription plans with the latest Peacock TV coupons from WIRED.

Silicon Valley Is Starting to Pick Sides in Musk and Trump’s Breakup
06 Jun
www.wired.com

As Elon Musk and US president Trump spar on social media, tech investors and executives are being forced to choose whether to support the most powerful man in business—or the White House.

Elon Musk’s Feud With President Trump Wipes $152 Billion Off Tesla’s Market Cap
05 Jun
www.wired.com

As Elon Musk and Donald Trump take jabs at each other online, their respective businesses are plummeting in value.

Elon Musk Is Posting Through It
05 Jun
www.wired.com

Donald Trump and Elon Musk are going to war—and giving everyone a front-row seat.

Walmart Goes Big With Drone Delivery Expansion
05 Jun
www.wired.com

Walmart, with its partner Wing, plans to bring drone delivery to 100 new stores in five new US cities: Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Orlando, and Tampa.

Palantir Is Going on Defense
05 Jun
www.wired.com

Palantir threatened to call police on a WIRED reporter and kicked out other journalists from a recent conference following reports of the data analytics firm’s work with the Trump administration.

The 26 Best Movies on Apple TV+ Right Now (June 2025)
05 Jun
www.wired.com

Deaf President Now!, Bono: Stories of Surrender, and Blitz are just a few of the movies you should be watching on Apple TV+ this month.

Ross Ulbricht Got a $31 Million Donation From a Dark Web Dealer, Crypto Tracers Suspect
05 Jun
www.wired.com

Crypto-tracing firm Chainalysis says the mysterious 300-bitcoin donation to the pardoned Silk Road creator appears to have come from someone associated with a different defunct black market: AlphaBay.

The Elon Musk and Donald Trump Breakup Has Started
05 Jun
www.wired.com

Trumpworld insiders fear that Elon Musk’s attacks on Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” could kill it—and are already advising candidates to turn their backs on the world’s richest man.

8 Best Portable Power Stations (2025): Power Capacity, Portability, Camping, and More
05 Jun
www.wired.com

Whether you're going off-grid or safeguarding against blackouts, these beefy, WIRED-tested batteries can keep the lights on.

Asus ROG Falchion Ace HFX Review: Hall Effect With New Tricks
05 Jun
www.wired.com

Asus has a Hall effect keyboard now, complete with unique tricks that make it stand out from the crowded field.

Best Bike Lights, Tested and Reviewed (2025)
05 Jun
www.wired.com

Just like motorists, cyclists are also required to use lights after dark. See and be seen with our best bike light sets.

OnePlus Pad 3 Review: Killer Tablet, High Price
05 Jun
www.wired.com

This is an excellent Android tablet, but OnePlus may have overdone it.

Meet the ‘Relationship Anarchists’ Ditching Romantic Norms
05 Jun
www.wired.com

A growing segment of millennials and Gen Z are forming “anti-hierarchal” relationships with multiple partners and friends, according to a new study by the dating app Feeld.

8 Best Espresso Machines (2025), Tested and Reviewed
05 Jun
www.wired.com

Turning your kitchen into a café is a great way to learn (or hone) the art of making the perfect shot.

What Really Happened in the Aftermath of the Lizard Squad Hacks
05 Jun
www.wired.com

On Christmas Day in 2014 hackers knocked out the Xbox and PlayStation gaming networks, impacting how video game companies handled cybersecurity for years.

How to Prepare for a Climate Disaster in Trump’s America
05 Jun
www.wired.com

Here’s how to find reliable information and keep safe during the summer heat and hurricane season following the unprecedented cuts at federal agencies.

At Bitcoin 2025, Crypto Purists and the MAGA Faithful Collide
05 Jun
www.wired.com

Trump’s inner circle has taken over one of the biggest crypto conferences in the world—drowning out protests from diehard bitcoiners who believe their “nerd money” shouldn’t be political.

20% HP Coupon Code & Deals | June 2025
05 Jun
www.wired.com

Enjoy discounts of up to 40% off with HP promo codes for gaming laptops, printers, PCs, and more.

ICE Quietly Scales Back Rules for Courthouse Raids
04 Jun
www.wired.com

A requirement that ICE agents ensure courthouse arrests don’t clash with state and local laws has been rescinded by the agency. ICE declined to explain what that means for future enforcement.

Switch 2 Scalpers Are Auctioning Off Their Preorders to the Highest Bidder
04 Jun
www.wired.com

People hoping to score Nintendo’s new console this week are finding them on resale websites—at several hundred dollars over the retail price of $450.

Trumpworld Is Fighting Over ‘Official’ Crypto Wallet
04 Jun
www.wired.com

The President's sons are feuding with the organization behind the Trump memecoin, as both parties claim to be involved in launching Trump-affiliated crypto wallets.

Perplexity’s CEO Sees AI Agents as the Next Web Battleground
04 Jun
www.wired.com

Aravind Srinivas says agents need access to apps and claims that letting OpenAI take control of Chrome would be a disaster for the open Web.

‘Big Balls’ Is Officially a Full-Time Government Employee
04 Jun
www.wired.com

The first wave of DOGE staffers was supposed to be gone after 130 days. Instead, core members of the team have signed on for the long haul.