After aborting a planned catch of Starship Flight 15's booster, SpaceX successfully captured Starship with its "Mechazilla" launch and catch tower for the first time. The company has performed 'chopstick' catches of its boosters before, but this is the first time the maneuver has successfully been executed on the Starship vehicle itself.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said during the company's third-quarter earnings call that "success is not guaranteed on these first flights, but I'd say it's more likely than not that this succeeds next flight." While not a complete success, in that the company was unable to recover the entire launch vehicle, it sti …

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Under cofounder Jensen Huang, Nvidia has become the engine for the AI boom - and one of the tech industry's biggest environmental liabilities. Its sought-after chips have triggered a new wave of water- and chemical-intensive factories, drained power grids from inside massive data centers, and set the stage for a looming e-waste problem.

Under Huang's leadership, Nvidia clashed with environmental groups seeking to hold the company accountable for its so-called "hidden" emissions. Huang has talked up the idea of using AI to fight climate change while his company's supply chain emissions ballooned. Nvidia's investments, meanwhile, have support …

Read the full story at The Verge.

This is Optimizer, a weekly newsletter sent from Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song that dissects and discusses the latest gizmos and potions that swear they're going to change your life. We'll be taking a break next week and will be back on November 25th. Opt in for Optimizer here.

The SS Jeremiah O'Brien is a World War II Liberty ship. The hulking vessel was built in 56 days. It made 11 trips to Normandy, France, to supply the Allied powers in the fight against German U-boats. Last week, it was the site of a black-tie peptide party thrown by a trio of Gen Z venture capitalists.

Roughly 150 people attended the event, where four types of …

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Armed with a team of AI agents, Google researcher Pietro Miotti claimed earlier this week to have discovered a potentially unmapped Maya site in Mexico. There was just one problem: The site had already been discovered and was published in an academic journal last year. The incident, which sparked criticism among archeologists online, underscores a growing tension in science as amateurs wielding increasingly powerful AI tools parachute into specialist fields, often without the expertise needed to understand what they are looking at.

Miotti said the idea to use AI to sea …

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Researchers at Google DeepMind have unveiled a new AI model designed to unravel how changes in our DNA affect different cells, giving scientists a more detailed view of a notoriously difficult problem that could hold important clues to the causes of disease - and point the way to new treatments.

AlphaGenome 2 is the successor to DeepMind's genome-predicting AI model AlphaGenome, which was released last year. While nearly every cell in the human body carries the same DNA, different types of cells - from heart muscle cells and skin cells to immune cells fighting an infection - switch different genes on and off, and those patterns can change d …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Serve Robotics is opening up its platform to make its autonomous last-mile delivery robots available to anyone who wants to use them. The company is launching a new AV Delivery Developer Portal, enabling third-party software engineers, independent businesses, and even autonomous AI agents to access its fleet of 2,000 sidewalk robots.

With this new capability, third-party developers and interested small businesses can use Serve's software tools to dispatch robots directly without relying on major food delivery companies, like Uber Eats. Now, anyone who lives in one of the 150 neighborhoods where the company currently operates can employ a si …

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Oura announced its quarterly earnings today and said it agreed to acquire Counsel Health for $625 million, after adding the company's AI chatbot to its app earlier this year. Counsel Health calls itself an "AI-native primary care company," using the app to deliver AI-generated responses and insights based on users' health data reported from their wearables that can then proceed to a conversation with one of its in-house physicians.

Oura says it expects the deal to close before the end of the year.

Oura CEO Tom Hale said in an interview with Bloomberg that the acquisition is part of a plan to connect wearables, clinical AI, and access to do …

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SpaceX announced a new version of its all-in-one satellite internet terminal that integrates a dish, Wi-Fi router, and now a battery into a single device about the size of a laptop. According to some users on X who shared screenshots of invitations to order Starlink Mini 2, the dish is priced at $999, which includes a full year of Roam Unlimited service that SpaceX values at $2,100.

The Starlink Mini 2 will run for up to 4.5 hours on a full charge, SpaceX claims, but that can be expanded by hot-swapping in additional batteries that will be sold separately, or by connecting the dish to a 60W power source over USB-C.

Despite the addition of …

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At this point, reading through the latest splashy pledge to use AI for the good of the environment feels like downing a nonalcoholic beer. Admittedly, I'm suspicious from the onset. How can this be good? But I love beer and our planet enough to give it a whirl - and hey, why not try a little harm reduction?

Negotiators from more than 190 countries around the world are in Antalya, Turkey, this month for the annual United Nations climate summit, called COP31 (the 31st "Conference of the Parties" that ratified the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change). Turkey previewed its Antalya Artificial Intelligence Pledge ahead of the convening, inv …

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With temperatures rising to the 90s in Los Angeles, avoiding the heat wasn't exactly an option while I was at a relative's outdoor party in August. So I sat beneath a patio umbrella with a powerful fan nearby, figuring I was protected from the sun and heat. Half an hour later, I felt exhausted, dizzy, nauseous, and generally unwell, symptoms consistent with heat exhaustion.

Around the same time, I received a notification from an app used by the $249 ($149 at the time of publication) UV-tracking necklace I'd been wearing, called Gem, from a company called The90. It warned that my UV exposure had climbed considerably. It turns out UV radiatio …

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SpaceX has declared that it’s going to make Starlink Mobile a “major” mobile carrier. The Elon Musk-owned company has already deployed thousands of direct-to-cell satellites, but its next big challenge is building out its 5G network here on Earth.

As part of its plans to rival AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, SpaceX has inked a deal with Qualcomm, which will deploy its cellular technology across tens of thousands of 5G cell sites starting in 2027. SpaceX is also reportedly in talks to buy Boost Mobile, potentially allowing it to launch Starlink Mobile through the service. Another report suggests SpaceX may tap into 80,000 cell sites across the US to build out its network.

SpaceX’s big plans have garnered some reactions in the telecom industry. Tim Höttges, the CEO of T-Mobile’s parent company Deutsche Telekom, said he takes SpaceX’s plans “super serious” but that it could cost Musk more than $200 billion to pull off.

Follow along for the latest updates on Starlink’s major mobile carrier ambitions.

• What will it take for SpaceX to launch its “major” mobile network?
• SpaceX is working with Qualcomm to build its Starlink Mobile 5G network
• SpaceX could buy Boost Mobile as part of its big mobile carrier plans
• SpaceX’s mobile carrier push reportedly involves tapping into 80,000 cell sites
• SpaceX announces plan to become a ‘major mobile carrier’
• SpaceX is coming for T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon

Massive new data centers are the physical foundation for tech companies’ hopes and dreams for AI. But the rush to expand warehouses full of energy-hungry servers has also kicked up fights across the world over their impact on power grids, utility bills, nearby communities, and the environment.

Data centers were a major bipartisan issue ahead of the 2026 midterms, and voters largely opposed data center expansion at the polls. Tech giants like OpenAI and Amazon are promising to work more closely with local communities and cover their data center energy costs. But following the election, Democratic leaders are calling for further data center restrictions and slowdowns that the AI companies will have to grapple with.

From audacious plans about data centers into space, heated local battles over buildouts, and potential environmental impacts, here’s The Verge’s news, coverage, and reporting surrounding data centers and the companies that are building them.

• Lame-duck Congress might actually do something: speed up energy projects
• “We are a data center first company,” AMD CEO Lisa Su says.
• OpenAI is stepping back from NDAs for data center projects
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Data centers lost the midterms
• Maine Republican Susan Collins concedes Senate seat in a tech-fueled race.
• Democrat projected to win Ohio seat that Republicans warned could spell trouble for data centers.
• Data center-dense Texas turns blue.
• OpenAI is quietly renaming data centers ‘compute campuses’
• OpenAI pitches data center power plants as a way to protect nearby areas
• Could data center backlash flip Florida?
• Prop 45 in California could be hiding a loophole for data centers
• Maine’s data center revolt will decide who controls the Senate
• Data centers could send US climate pollution skyrocketing
• AI has come for Arizona’s water
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Voters in Texas agree: They hate data centers
• Highway robbers are targeting trucks carrying data center components.
• Data center backlash is uniting America
• Anthropic is burning gas to feed the AI boom
• It’s a good time to sell gray paint.
• Data centers could erase decades of air quality gains
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Trump says paying communities a “dividend” could make data centers more popular.
• Texas is still permitting data centers despite a supposed statewide moratorium.
• The fossil fuel comeback is here
• Microsoft abandons the UK’s largest data center project.
• Amazon is funding a new nuclear plant in Indiana
• You’ve got to hear both sides?
• Neocloud CoreWeave’s bonds are distressed, and so am I.
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• A bipartisan bill aims to hold data centers accountable for their energy use.
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Google’s power-hungry data centers crave nuclear energy
• A Japanese real estate company is building a data center in an underground tunnel.
• If a data center is camouflaged in the woods, will anyone hate it?
• Amazon writes scary blog warning communities not to block data centers
• The People of Utah vs. Kevin O’Leary
• South Park has a data center infestation.
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Trump: “You’re going to see — data centers are going to be very popular.”
• Google is sending an AI satellite into space next week
• Data centers are black boxes, but California wants to change that 
• Americans sour even more on data centers.
• California tightens rules on AI data center energy and water use
• Virginia governor creates an AI task force and moves to restrain data centers
• The AI data center e-waste problem is huge — and getting bigger
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• AI and data centers are incredibly unpopular in every poll
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Is this the future of America?
• A Microsoft-backed data center has reportedly been running on unpermitted generators.
• Trump’s EPA wants to let data centers hide their air pollution
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Now OpenAI’s former head of data centers is out.
• There’s a surge of new gas projects being built to power data centers in the US.
• The latest turn in the data center debate.
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Nvidia guarantees up to $105 billion to support an OpenAI data center.
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• An Amazon data center could have the worst polluting power plant in the country
• The left and right agree on one thing: no data centers
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• AMD’s data center business is booming while gaming takes a backseat
• At least 37 people have reportedly been arrested for protesting data centers.
• Texas says data centers must pass an audit before connecting to the grid
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Willie Nelson is pushing back against data centers in his hometown.
• Meta and BlackRock are building a data center campus together.
• The right-wing boomers protesting data centers have a lot in common with the left
• Utility companies promise to spare us from AI’s energy bill
• Meta reportedly considers leasing computing power to Anthropic.
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• AI’s power bill is here.
• New York becomes the first state to enact a data center moratorium
• The fight against AI data centers is just beginning
• Would you host part of an AI data center in your home?
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Anthropic signs 20-year lease agreement for an AI data center in Kentucky.
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Meta might launch its own cloud computing business.
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Nvidia says its AI data center design runs hotter to use a lot less water
• Amazon employees say they’re facing termination for backing data center limits
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• xAI’s gas-powered data center is necessary for national security, DOJ argues.
• SpaceX reportedly rented out Colossus 1 AI data center after it ran into latency issues.
• Amazon’s data centers used 2.5 billion gallons of water last year
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• GM thinks EVs can help offset AI’s energy suck with vehicle-to-grid tech
• Amazon employees ask Seattle to put the brakes on new data centers
• The mayor of Shelbyville, Indiana, says only people who live in ‘shitty houses’ oppose data center
• New York lawmakers pass one-year ban on new data centers
• Kevin O’Leary agrees to downsize massive Utah data center
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• AI has a water problem — Google thinks it has a fix
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Erin Brockovich created a map of data centers in the US.
• Anthropic is paying $15 billion a year for access to Elon Musk’s data centers
• What’s your score on the WSJ’s data center quiz?
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• The biggest data center ever is becoming a huge problem in Utah
• Use this map to find the data centers in your backyard
• Americans do not want AI data centers in their backyards
• This week in the big AI data center buildout.
• Data centers are coming for rural America
• Google may work with SpaceX to launch data centers into space.
• 43 percent of Americans blame data centers as a major reason for rising power bills.
• A 40,000-acre data center project was just approved in Utah, despite outcry from the community.
• A political battleground is forming around data centers.
• Are AI data centers coming to your area?
• Data centers will soon have to complete “mandatory” energy usage surveys.
• “A data center should not be a potential death sentence for a community’s health.”
• Iran threatens OpenAI’s Stargate data center in Abu Dhabi
• Senators are pushing to find out how much electricity data centers actually use
• Arm’s first CPU ever will plug into Meta’s AI data centers later this year
• Lake Tahoe has to look for a new power source as data center demand soars.
• How the spiraling Iran conflict could affect data centers and electricity costs
• Seven tech giants signed Trump’s pledge to keep electricity costs from spiking around data centers 
• Trump claims tech companies will sign deals next week to pay for their own power supply
• Anthropic says it’ll try to keep its data centers from raising electricity costs
• How an ‘icepocalypse’ raises more questions about Meta’s biggest data center project
• Microsoft wants to rewire data centers to save space
• New York is considering two bills to rein in the AI industry
• Elon Musk is merging SpaceX and xAI to build data centers in space — or so he says
• It’s a new heyday for gas thanks to data centers
• Microsoft gets approval to build 15 data centers in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin.
• Meta is spending millions to convince people that data centers are cool and you like them
• The winter storm tested power grids straining to accommodate AI data centers
• Microsoft wants to build 15 data centers in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin.
• OpenAI says its data centers will pay for their own energy and limit water usage
• ICE hits Meta data center project.
• Amazon is buying copper harvested by bacteria for its data centers
• Microsoft scrambles to quell fury around its new AI data centers
• Data center projects are dropping like flies.
• That’s a lot of money for just one data center job.
• Alphabet is acquiring a data center company.
• Communities are rising up against data centers — and winning
• Democratic lawmakers are investigating data centers’ impact on electricity costs 
• Billionaires want data centers everywhere, including space
• AI’s water and electricity use soars in 2025
• Racks of AI chips are too damn heavy
• The scramble to launch data centers into space is heating up
• Data center construction moratorium is gaining steam
• Satya Nadella acknowledged that data centers are “putting a lot of pressure” on power grids.
• The largest power grid system in the US is considering rolling blackouts because of energy-hungry data centers.
• Data centers in Oregon might be helping to drive an increase in cancer and miscarriages
• Nvidia says some AI GPUs are ‘sold out,’ grows data center business by $10B in just three months
• Data centers are already influencing the global forecast for clean energy.
• Anthropic will invest $50 billion in building AI data centers in the US
• Google has a ‘moonshot’ plan for AI data centers in space
• Google is turning on the gas for its data centers
• Why data centers are building their own power plants
• Electricity costs are up to 267 percent higher than they used to be in communities near data centers.
• Microsoft says this new cooling method could enable more powerful chips and efficient data centers
• OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank announced five new AI data centers as part of Stargate.
• Microsoft is turning Foxconn’s empty buildings into the ‘world’s most powerful’ AI data center
• Nvidia invests $5 billion into Intel to jointly develop PC and data center chips
• Tech companies ‘be on alert,’ NAACP says with new guiding principles for data centers
• Meta faces Democratic probe into plans to power a giant data center with gas
• Amazon is investing billions more into its Mississippi data centers.
• Mark Zuckerberg wants you to know he has a big AI data center, too
• Bill Gates’ nuclear energy startup inks new data center deal
• OpenAI and SoftBank are starting a $500 billion AI data center company
• CBS News reports OpenAI, Oracle, and Softbank will announce a “Stargate” AI data center project.
• Joe Biden signs executive order to speed AI data center construction
• Go read this report on Arizona data centers and those without power in the state.
• Google’s future data centers will be built next to solar and wind farms
• Meta is putting a $10 billion AI data center in Louisiana.
• xAI competitors are flying spy planes over the ‘Colossus’ data center.
• New AI data centers could raise Americans’ electricity bills.
• Some Memphis residents are pissed about xAI’s new data center.
• Can Meta clean up its data centers with geothermal energy?
• xAI faces accusations its data center is polluting the air.
• This climate tech startup wants to capture carbon and help data centers cool down
• Google plans to reuse heat after expanding a data center for AI
• AI and crypto mining are driving up data centers’ energy use
• Google’s new geothermal energy project is up and running
• The environmental impact of the AI revolution is starting to come into focus
• How data centers at public pools can keep swimmers warm
• Can hydrogen fuel cells power Microsoft data centers?

A massive permitting bill that could help energy projects come online much quicker and potentially lower utility bills for Americans is advancing with bipartisan support. And while it could be a catalyst for lots of clean energy, it could also speed up polluting projects and limit oversight of new data centers.

With data centers demanding more electricity for AI, environmental advocates fear that developers could take advantage of the reforms to evade public scrutiny and rely more heavily on fossil fuels. The bill sacrifices caution for speed, limiting environmental reviews and preventing communities from stopping a project from moving forw …

Read the full story at The Verge.

The head of T-Mobile's parent company is casting doubt on SpaceX's plans to make Starlink Mobile a "major" carrier in the US. During an earnings call on Thursday, Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges says he takes the Elon Musk-owned company "super serious," but that it will cost at least $200 billion to pull off:

He [Musk] has now bought 76 megahertz of spectrum. By the way, we have 400. So if you now say he can buy the spectrum prospectively, do your math. These are kind of triple-digit billions which are needed to gain the spectrum position. If he has the money, go for it. Then he has to build a network. I can tell you, we have 85,000 tower …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Blue Origin plans to do its next New Glenn rocket launch in January 2027, according to CNBC and the Financial Times, which cite a memo from CEO Dave Limp sent to staff. The new timeline follows a May launchpad explosion that damaged Blue Origin's New Glenn launchpad ahead of a flight that would have brought Amazon Leo satellites into space.

In October, Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos told Fox News that the company was aiming for a December New Glenn launch, joking that it could be "probably December 31st." The new, revised launch window is "about 10 days later than Blue Origin's earlier launch target," CNBC reports. Limp also reportedly cite …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Yesterday NASA announced the latest addition to its X-series of experimental aircraft that have included the Bell X-1 that first broke the sound barrier nearly 80 years ago, and the more recent X-59 quiet supersonic demonstrator. The new X-70 Fractal is designed to be a "high-performance, highly adaptable research platform" that NASA can use as a testbed for the development and testing of next-generation aviation technologies.

The agency only released an AI-generated image of the X-70 shrouded in smoke and shadows, but confirmed several of the plane's capabilities. It will be a crewed aircraft with a cruising speed of Mach .75 that can reac …

Read the full story at The Verge.

United has built a custom, native Spotify app for seatback displays, allowing passengers to log directly in to their personal accounts and stream their own libraries, playlists, and video podcasts while flying 35,000 feet in the air. The new integration is being powered by Starlink's satellite Wi-Fi, which is currently being installed throughout United's entire fleet.

The news marks a major shift in legacy in-flight entertainment. Gone are the days of stethoscope-style plastic tubes, armrest dials, and canned playlists. These older airplane systems were built on the assumption that flights had no internet, so all movies and music had to be …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Amazon and Uber are teaming up to make Uber Eats the official restaurant delivery partner for Prime subscribers in the US. The news comes as Uber faces a drastically reshaped competitive landscape with the merging of rivals DoorDash and Instacart.

Under the new partnership, Amazon Prime subscribers will get $0 delivery fees on restaurant orders of $25 or more directly through Amazon's app or website - without having to use Uber Eats or even create an account. Essentially, Amazon Prime subscribers who never bothered to sign up for Uber can now order takeout without needing to create an Uber account.

Prime members can order Uber Eats takeo …

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One of the basic problems of spending too much time on social media is that you are cooking your brain by reading posts from a pack of attention-seeking lunatics. If your social media of choice is the site formerly known as Twitter, and it is your main source of contact with the outside world, you may delusionally throw away nearly $500 million dollars on midterm elections, just like Elon Musk.

In particular, $47 million of that money from Musk's America PAC was aimed at defeating Texas Democrat James Talarico, who trounced Musk's preferred Senate candidate, Ken Paxton, with 55 percent of the vote. Talarico even made Musk's influence a cent …

Read the full story at The Verge.