20 May 2026
‘Solve all diseases,’ you say?
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. This week’s issue is a special early edition tied to The Verge’s Google I/O coverage. You can expect our next issue at its usual time next Friday. Opt in for Optimizer here.
20 May 2026
Meta begins job cuts in Israel as global layoffs in the name of AI mount
Dozens of Meta Israel employees received dismissal notices on Wednesday, as the US tech titan embarked on a wave of layoffs aimed at trimming 10 percent of its global workforce to offset investing billions of dollars toward AI infrastructure.
20 May 2026
Meta begins to lay off 10% of its workforce as AI investments surge
Notices started going out to employees on Wednesday morning as Meta begins laying off 8,000 employees, or 10% of its workforce, while pouring billions of dollars into AI.
20 May 2026
Meta slashes 8,000 jobs as it pivots towards AI
A Meta logo is shown on a video screen at LlamaCon 2025, an AI developer conference, in Menlo Park, Calif., April 29, 2025.
20 May 2026
Google DeepMind CEO says AI could unlock breakthroughs in medicine, energy and more
The number of people using Google's primary artificial intelligence model, Gemini, has more than doubled to 900 million users in one year, the tech giant announced this week.
20 May 2026
Google I/O 2026 had nothing to say and said it badly ahead of Apple's WWDC
Google I/O is always like a little amateur dramatics show, but this year the company could have boasted about making Apple rely on its Gemini. It just totally failed to do so.
20 May 2026
Google DeepMind CEO says AI will save more energy than it uses within 10 years
The number of people using Google's primary artificial intelligence model, Gemini, has more than doubled to 900 million users in one year, the tech giant announced this week.
20 May 2026
iPhone 18: Everything We Know About Apple's Most Ambitious Lineup Yet
Key takeaways Features: Dynamic Island could be smaller and cameras might have a variable aperture -- plus, there are rumors of a bigger battery. However, some components could be downgraded due to memory component shortages. Colors: Apple could launch red, burgundy, purple and brown versions or variations thereof. Price: There have been no leaks about price increases, which is good news at this…
20 May 2026
Anthropic Silently Patches Claude Code Sandbox Bypass
A cybersecurity researcher says Anthropic has silently patched a vulnerability that would have allowed an attacker to bypass the Claude Code network sandbox, potentially enabling data exfiltration.
