This is Lowpass by Janko Roettgers, a newsletter on the ever-evolving intersection of tech and entertainment, syndicated just for The Verge subscribers once a week. Netflix has been building a new internal studio called INKubator that aims to use AI to produce short-form animated content: The streamer is hiring for a wide variety of roles, […]
Amazon's Mechanical Turk, a crowdsourcing service launched in 2005, will close to new customers on July 30, 2026. While existing users can continue, Amazon Web Services will not introduce new features, signaling the service is on life support.
The Sourdough Sidekick automates sourdough starter management, feeding it flour and water on a schedule. While it works well for frequent bakers, design quirks like mandatory large discard amounts and noisy operation limit its utility for casual users.
Vizio's new Mini LED Quantum TV, acquired by Walmart, can be used as a 'dumb TV' by bypassing its Vizio OS and Walmart account requirements, offering great performance for its budget price.
Microsoft's Xbox division is in crisis, with reports of layoffs, studio closures, and game cancellations following costly, unsuccessful bets on subscription services like Game Pass. Despite billions spent, revenue has declined, leading to a strategic "reset" under new leadership.
Alibaba will ban employees from using Anthropic's AI programming tool Claude Code starting July 10, classifying it as high-risk. This follows Anthropic's own restrictions on Chinese companies and efforts to close access loopholes, including an experimental feature to identify Chinese users.
Mistral AI, a French AI company, is often misunderstood. While not aiming to be Europe's OpenAI, it follows a Palantir-like strategy of deploying AI for governments and corporations. Despite lower funding than US rivals, its revenue is rapidly growing, and it's investing in research and infrastructure.
