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Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
Here’s some insight into tech influencer campaigns.

Huawei says it didn’t send it, but an agency claiming to represent the company has been contacting tech influencers, offering to pay them to promote Huawei’s new Mate XT 2 foldable around the iPhone Duo launch, and disguise the posts to look like an organic, grassroots groundswell of enthusiasm.

Andrew J. Hawkins
Andrew J. Hawkins
Waymo is live in Nashville on the Lyft app.

Lyft customers hailing a ride in Waymo’s service area (which includes Downtown/Broadway, North Nashville/Germantown, East Nashville, Midtown, and South Nashville) could be matched with a robotaxi. Waymo and Lyft first announced they’d be teaming up for a robotaxi service in Music City nearly a year ago. Lyft is also handling fleet services, such as cleaning, maintenance, and EV charging, through its Flexdrive subsidiary. Customers who would prefer a robotaxi ride can also book one through Waymo’s own app.

A Waymo drives visitors along Lower Broadway, known as Nashville’s “Honky Tonk Highway,” on June 01, 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee.
A Waymo drives visitors along Lower Broadway, known as Nashville’s “Honky Tonk Highway,” on June 01, 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Getty Images
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Honor’s Magic 9 series gets an apple-green camera plateau.

The company has never been shy about its Apple-inspired designs, though this one feels a little more Honor’s own with the large circular camera incorporated too. The Magic 9 phones launch in China on September 28th, and feature cameras designed with Arri, support for two different teleconverter lenses, and this soft green color, which I do rather like.

1/5Image: Honor
Andrew J. Hawkins
Andrew J. Hawkins
Trump wants Ford to cut ties with Chinese companies.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a letter to the automaker that he was “deeply alarmed” that Ford licenses tech from battery maker CATL and automaker Geely, Reuters reports. Ford responded by accusing Duffy of being “wrongheaded” and “chasing headlines” — which, if you know Duffy, makes perfect sense. The letter drops a few months after the Trump administration banned Geely-owned Polestar from selling its EVs in the US.

Hayden Field
Hayden Field
The DoD reportedly asked OpenAI to provide military AI that rarely declined to cooperate.

The Intercept, citing documents it had seen, reported that the Pentagon requested a custom version of OpenAI’s technology with “minimal refusal rates” for military commands. OpenAI denied ever having signed a contract with such phrasing.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Gemini’s Daily Brief is now available to everyone in the US.

First announced at I/O in May, Daily Brief is an AI feature that generates a summary of your day with the emails, meetings, and other information pulled from apps connected to Gemini. It was previously only available to Google AI Plus, Pro, and Ultra subscribers.

Image: Google
Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
Dbrand seems to know what Apple is announcing tomorrow.

It currently has a page on its website for “iPhone Ultra” cases, skins, and screen protectors. Preorder notices say they’ll ship in September and “early October.” Dbrand’s also offering accessories for the unannounced iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. We’ll see if Apple’s rumored foldable fits the case on Wednesday.

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

A screenshot of Dbrand’s cases for the iPhone Ultra
Image: Dbrand
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Geoff Keighley and Mark Cerny are launching a fellowship program for young game developers.

Keighley (who hosts The Game Awards and other events) and Cerny (the lead system architect for the PS4 and PS5) have made “multi-million-dollar donations” to establish the Nova Games Foundation, Keighley tells Game File. Applications will open in December 2026.

A screenshot of the Nova Games Foundation website.
Image: Nova Games Foundation
Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Mark Zuckerberg tells you to trust Muse.

With the launch of Meta’s new AI agent that it says can handle your life for you, the social network exec posted this video highlighting how secure, private, and trustworthy Muse is, and that it will get even more secure in the future. Trust.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Why is Apple’s Watch SE 3 unavailable?

It’s not too surprising that most of Apple’s wristwear is now listed as unavailable on its website for shipment or pickup (but not all — we did see some Ultra models available), with a product event scheduled for tomorrow, but MacRumors points out that the value-priced version of the Apple Watch is unavailable too.

Based on the rumors, we have been anticipating updates for the Apple Watch Series 11 and Ultra 3, and maybe the SE 3 is just taking a break in solidarity. We’ll find out tomorrow.

Justine Calma
Justine Calma
The Trump administration is giving a Google-backed nuclear power plant a $1.9 billion loan.

It’s to finance the restart of an Iowa plant that’s been closed since 2020. Last year, Google announced a partnership with NextEra Energy to reopen the site to help power the company’s AI data centers. But you won’t see that tidbit in the Energy Department’s press release today.

Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
Hori’s electronic Ocarina of Time requires no musical talent.

It was briefly shown during Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda 40th Anniversary Direct today, but Hori’s website now has a listing for its $49.99 electronic ocarina. You can play your own songs by pushing buttons, play one of 12 pre-programmed songs from the games, use it with the Ocarina of Time remake’s sound recognition feature, or connect headphones for a private jam session.

1/3Image: Hori
Travis Larchuk
Travis Larchuk
Today’s Vergecast: The tech that made a 2-hour marathon possible.

At this year’s London Marathon, two runners completed the route in under two hours, becoming the first people to ever do so on an official course. It’s a feat that Outside magazine’s Alex Hutchinson once thought wouldn’t be accomplished until 2075. The Verge’s senior policy reporter (and marathoner) Lauren Feiner talks to Alex about “super shoes” and the other surprising technological advances that led to this moment.

Andrew J. Hawkins
Andrew J. Hawkins
The untold history of the seat-belt warning.

I found this Washington Post story about the “lowly” seat belt warning — how they came to be, which automakers have the best and worst chimes, and the people who are still militantly opposed to wearing seat belts — to be highly fascinating. The occasion is that the federal government is delaying new rules that would require automakers to install more persistent warnings. It’s troubling because seat belts literally save lives, and so do reminders to wear them.

Sean Hollister
Sean Hollister
We flew the banned drone with snap-on propeller wings.

Dom says it’s quick and easy to snap a propeller backback onto the HoverAir Versa, and then… it can fly! Shame that HoverAir isn’t transparently telling backers that this camera has been banned in the US, and shame on the Trump administration for creating the dumb drone ban to begin with.

Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
Everyone’s talking about home robots. But they still can’t do anything.

The buzz at IFA was all around robotics — humanoids, quadrupeds, and wheeled bots designed to be household helpers and companions. I was on a panel (watch it here) where roboticists and entrepreneurs insisted that in five years everyone will know someone with a humanoid at home.

I don’t buy it. Yes, I saw some impressive-looking robots. But behind almost every one was a human with a PlayStation controller.

Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
The original Star Wars is getting its first-ever IMAX release.

IMAX says the 50th anniversary re-release coming on February 19th, 2027 will be “the first time fans can experience the Star Wars universe in the gold standard film format,” referring to IMAX 70mm. A few months later, Star Wars: Starfighter is also getting released in IMAX 70mm on May 28th, 2027.

AI power users claim Anthropic duped them with subscriptions, and they’re taking it to court

Subscribers of Anthropic’s Max plan ($100-$200 per month) say they didn’t get what they thought they were paying for.

Hayden Field
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Panic is hosting a Playdate showcase tomorrow.

Panic’s latest Playdate Update Showcase will take place at 12PM ET on Wednesday — meaning it will be wedged between the 10AM ET Nintendo Direct and the 1PM Apple September event. The show will focus on the handheld’s upcoming third season of games and “some other fun news.”

Update: Added Bluesky post.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Crooked Media is launching a social initiative to attract young voters to the Democratic party.

Crooked Ideas, the nonprofit arm of Crooked Media, is tapping Chaotic Era author Kyle Tharp to head up the iniative, which will support existing political influencers and focus on creating content related to issues like AI safety, climate change, healthcare, and “enshittification,” according to a report from Semafor.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Autonomous racecars wreck at Imola.

Season two of the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League put five cars on the track this weekend, and it was going more smoothly than the series’ 2024 debut, for a while.

Unimore Racing suffered a sensor failure while leading the race on lap ten, causing it to suddenly slow down and stop on track, where the second-place Polimove car ran into it — maybe next time they’ll add training data from Hulkenberg or Hadjar.

Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
A curious collaboration.

When you hear that Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan are working on a project together, it’s safe to assume there will be both ghosts and romance. And that’s exactly what the first trailer for Remain promises. The movie isn’t out until next year, but a novel from Sparks is already available.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Luca Guadagnino would like to remind you about Sam Altman’s gun hoard.

The new teaser trailer for Luca Guidagnino’s Artificial makes it seem like Andrew Garfield is about to deliver a wild performance that highlights just how unsettling Sam Altman can be. The film releases on Christmas day.

Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
Chrome is now on a two-week update cycle.

As previously announced, Google has halved the release cycle for its web browser with today’s stable release of Chrome 153 on desktop, Android, and iOS. Chrome 154 Beta is now ready for testing, ahead of its stable release on September 22nd.

Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
Asahi Linux has officially added support for M3 Macs.

The project’s developers say they now have “almost everything” running in Linux on M3 devices, but they’re still working on full DCP and GPU support. Asahi warned users not to expect “performant or power-efficient 3D acceleration right now.” Sleep mode and the HDMI port are also not working yet.

Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
Apple buys sensor tech startup Sonera.

The acquisition happened earlier this year. Sonera claimed in 2023 that it will make “brain activity as easy to measure as heart rate, temperature, and other physiological signals,” which could lend itself to future wearable devices.