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Xbox has secured GTA 6 streaming rights

2026-10-07T01:35:38-04:00

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma told employees that Microsoft is getting ready to do something around Grand Theft Auto VI that "no other platform holder is doing" during an employee all-hands this morning. According to sources familiar with Microsoft's plans, Sharma's brief teaser was actually about Xbox managing to land a deal for game streaming rights for Grand Theft Auto VI.

The deal will mean Xbox Cloud Gaming can stream Grand Theft Auto VI to players at launch, but it's not clear how long the agreement will be in place. Rockstar Games still hasn't announced a PC version of Grand Theft Auto VI, and a streaming deal would normally also allow Xbox t …

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NYC is now the first city in America that bans sketchy subscriptions

2026-10-01T11:12:29-04:00

Image: Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images | AFP via Getty Images

New York City residents struggling to get out of recurring subscription fees can now submit complaints to the city government. As of Thursday, the city's click-to-cancel rule has taken effect, which requires businesses to make it as easy to cancel a subscription as it is to sign up. That means a gym that lets you join online, for example, can't make you call or go in person to end your subscription.

It's the first municipality to see the rule take effect, after an appeals court struck down a federal version for procedural issues. The city expects it to save New Yorkers anywhere from $21.5 million to $162.5 million annually. And to NYC Depar …

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

2026-09-08T15:32:39-04:00

Anthropic says power users are key to its business - it's prioritized them even when it means cutting off other popular applications, like OpenClaw. But some of these same customers say Anthropic misled them into believing they'd get more out of a top-tier pricing subscription than they did.

In an expanded class action lawsuit filed today, a group of Claude subscribers say the company deceptively advertised the limits of its Max subscription tier. The lawsuit was brought by attorneys Monica Vaca and Kati Daffan, who both formerly worked at the Federal Trade Commission under Lina Khan. It's a rare attempt to legally penalize AI companies fo …

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Xbox testing disc-to-digital feature that digitizes a physical game collection

2026-07-01T13:46:46-04:00

Microsoft will likely soon follow Sony and stop the production of physical discs for Xbox games. But instead of leaving physical discs behind entirely, sources familiar with Microsoft's plans tell me the company has quietly been working on a disc-to-digital feature that will allow Xbox owners to digitize their existing physical game collections.

Xbox employees recently started testing this new feature, after references to "enable Disc2Digital" appeared in the Xbox PC app code in May. I'm told that Microsoft's disc-to-digital feature will work on Xbox One and Xbox Series X discs only, and not those for the Xbox 360 or original Xbox console.

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Xbox weighs canceling Blade game and shuttering Arkane

2026-06-30T12:38:18-04:00

Microsoft is set to announce a wave of layoffs for its Xbox studios and employees next week. Sources familiar with Microsoft's plans tell The Verge that the layoffs will lead to studio closures or spinoffs, potential mergers of studios, and canceled games.

I understand Microsoft is currently weighing closing at least five studios, including the developers behind Marvel's Blade. Sources tell me Microsoft wants to cancel Blade as part of a wave of cost cuts and job losses that are planned for the company's Xbox gaming division.

Developed by France-based Arkane Studios, best-known for the Dishonored series, Blade was originally supposed to de …

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Microsoft restricts Claude Fable for employees over data retention concerns

2026-06-10T14:58:05-04:00

Anthropic released Claude Fable, its first Mythos-class AI model, yesterday and it's already causing concerns inside Microsoft. Sources tell me that Microsoft is limiting the use of Claude Fable 5 for employees because of Anthropic's new data retention requirements.

While Microsoft quickly rolled out Claude Fable 5 to its GitHub Copilot and Foundry customers, I'm told the model isn't available in the model picker that Microsoft employees use for internal versions of GitHub Copilot. All other Claude models are still available internally at Microsoft, because they operate under Zero Data Retention (ZDR) rules.

I understand that Microsoft ha …

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SwitchBot’s acquisition of Nanoleaf is about more than lighting

2026-06-03T08:15:41-04:00

Nanoleaf has made a name for itself by developing smart color-changing LED lighting products, including wall panels, TV mirroring, and display cases. | Image: Nanoleaf

Smart lighting company Nanoleaf has been acquired by OneRobotics, the parent company of SwitchBot. In an exclusive interview with The Verge, Nanoleaf CEO Gimmy Chu says the company will remain independent and that he and his cofounder and COO, Christian Yan, will continue to run it. "Nothing is changing operationally," says Chu, adding that there are plans for product integrations between the two smart home companies.

The sale, which Chu characterized as "more of a merger," will provide Nanoleaf with significant resources, including a cash infusion that will, among other things, help the company grow its team at its Toronto headquarters. I …

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Microsoft could be the next Big Tech antitrust target

2026-06-01T09:23:39-04:00

Over the past several years, Microsoft has largely managed to withstand populist calls to break up Big Tech while peers faced sweeping lawsuits. But a probe by the Federal Trade Commission suggests that grace period could be nearing an end.

Earlier this year, Bloomberg outlined the contents of civil investigative demands (CIDs) - similar to a subpoena - the FTC sent to at least half a dozen companies that compete with Microsoft. New details obtained by The Verge further reveal the FTC's interests, suggesting the agency is particularly concerned with potentially exclusionary behavior around Microsoft's Azure cloud services, as well as its ro …

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Here’s what Microsoft is offering long-serving employees to voluntarily retire

2026-05-06T14:38:09-04:00

Microsoft revealed last month that it's planning to offer long-serving employees in the US the ability to voluntarily retire. While the terms of the buyout were supposed to be announced to employees tomorrow, sources at Microsoft tell me the company has posted them on its internal HR website a little earlier than expected.

US employees whose combined years of service added to their age totals 70 or more will be eligible for voluntary retirement, and the package will include five years of access to Microsoft's healthcare coverage, a lump sum cash severance payment, and six months of vesting for unvested stock options.

The five years of medi …

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Microsoft’s Office and LinkedIn chief now runs Teams in latest reshuffle

2026-05-06T08:39:43-04:00

Microsoft's LinkedIn chief, Ryan Roslansky, took on an expanded role at the company as head of Office last year, and he's now getting more responsibilities as part of the latest leadership reshuffle inside Microsoft. Sources tell me that the Microsoft Teams organization is moving to report to Roslansky, who will now lead a new Work Experiences Group at Microsoft.

The changes, which come a week after Roslansky named a new CEO of LinkedIn, are part of a broader reshuffle triggered by Rajesh Jha, executive vice president of Microsoft's experiences and devices group, retiring from Microsoft after more than 35 years. Jha was responsible for the …

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