Google will officially deprecate links generated with its URL shortening tool next month. On August 25th, 2025, all links in the “https://goo.gl/*” format will no longer work and return a 404 error message. Google shut down its URL shortener in 2019, citing “changes we’ve seen in how people find content on the internet.” Links created […]
The ultimate source for The New York Times’ story about Zohran Mamdani’s college application is an open secret. It’s an anime-loving neo-Nazi whose hobbies include furry drawings, posting fan art of a video game character, and hacking universities. On X, the alleged hacker is followed by New York Times freelancer Benjamin Ryan, who was the […]
Perplexity has just launched its agentic answer to Google Chrome — it’s called Comet, and it knocked out a slate of tasks on my behalf, though I think I could’ve done some faster myself. The new AI-powered browser is currently only available to Perplexity Max subscribers or through an early access waitlist, and it’s supposed […]
The News/Media Alliance, a trade association behind major news publishers, announced that it has “successfully secured” the removal of 12ft.io, a website that helped users bypass paywalls online. The trade association says 12ft.io’s webhost took down the site on July 14th “following the News/Media Alliance’s efforts.” 12ft.io — or 12 Foot Ladder — also allowed […]
Hello, and welcome to Decoder! I’m Alex Heath, deputy editor at The Verge and author of the Command Line newsletter. I’m hosting our Thursday episodes while Nilay is out on parental leave. Today, we’re talking about how AI is changing the way we use the web. If you’re like me, you’re probably already using apps […]
It’s been 16 months since a DMA ruling allowed iOS developers like Google and Mozilla to use their own browser engines in the EU, so… where are they? According to the Open Web Advocacy (OWA) — a nonprofit group of software engineers that advocates for the open web — Apple continues to place technical and […]
Bluesky is adding age verification to its platform in the UK as part of efforts to comply with the country’s Online Safety Act. In an update on Thursday, the platform says it will let users verify their age by scanning their face, uploading an ID, or entering a payment card. Bluesky will perform age verification […]
OpenAI is planning to launch an AI web browser in the “coming weeks,” according to a report from Reuters. Sources tell the outlet that OpenAI could build its Operator AI agent into the browser, allowing it to book reservations, fill out forms, and complete other tasks on a user’s behalf as it moves toward an […]
Welcome to Decoder! I’m Alex Heath, Deputy Editor at The Verge and author of the Command Line newsletter. This is the first in a series of Thursday Decoder episodes that I’ll be hosting while Nilay is out on parental leave. I’ve been covering AI a lot at The Verge, and I’m excited to start sharing […]
Perplexity, the startup behind the AI “answer” engine, has just launched its own web browser. The browser, called Comet, incorporates Perplexity’s AI search tools and assistant in a way that CEO Aravind Srinivas says “transforms entire browsing sessions into single, seamless interactions.” Comet will only be available to users who subscribe to the $200 per […]