Tech
Buying a laptop may soon come with an instant carbon score thanks to AI
When shopping for a new laptop, most buyers compare specifications like performance, battery life, display quality, and price. But a new AI-powered initiative could soon add another metric to that list: carbon footprint.
Researchers are developing AI agents capable of calculating and displaying the environmental impact of consumer electronics in real time, potentially giving shoppers instant access to sustainability information before making a purchase. The effort aims to bring the kind of emissions transparency already available in services like flight booking platforms to the world of consumer technology.
Today, consumers can easily compare the carbon emissions of different flights through services such as Google Flights. However, similar information is often difficult to find when purchasing electronics, despite the significant environmental impact associated with manufacturing, shipping, and operating devices like laptops, smartphones, and tablets.
The proposed AI system would automatically gather data from multiple sources, including manufacturing information, supply chains, energy consumption estimates, and transportation data, to generate an environmental score that consumers can understand at a glance. The goal is to make sustainability as visible and accessible as price tags and product specifications.
AI could make sustainability information easier to understand
One of the biggest challenges facing environmentally conscious shoppers is the complexity of carbon accounting. Determining the total emissions associated with a laptop can involve analyzing raw material extraction, component manufacturing, assembly, transportation, packaging, and long-term energy use.
Researchers believe AI agents are uniquely suited to handle this complexity because they can collect, process, and summarize large amounts of environmental data far faster than traditional reporting methods. Instead of forcing consumers to sift through lengthy sustainability reports, AI could generate simple, easy-to-understand comparisons between competing products.
The technology could also help manufacturers improve transparency. Companies may be encouraged to disclose more detailed environmental data if AI systems begin incorporating sustainability metrics directly into purchasing decisions.
The broader push comes amid growing concerns about the environmental impact of technology and artificial intelligence itself. Data centers, AI training, hardware manufacturing, and cloud infrastructure all contribute to increasing energy consumption worldwide, making sustainability reporting an increasingly important topic across the tech industry.
The future of shopping may involve environmental scores alongside prices
The concept extends beyond laptops. Researchers envision AI agents eventually helping consumers evaluate the environmental impact of a wide range of products, from smartphones and appliances to vehicles and household goods.
Such systems could also evolve into personal shopping assistants that automatically recommend products based not only on budget and features but also on sustainability preferences. While the technology is still in development, it reflects a broader shift toward greater transparency in consumer purchasing decisions. Just as nutrition labels changed how people buy food, carbon-impact information could eventually influence how consumers shop for technology.
For buyers, that means future laptop shopping may involve more than comparing processors and battery life. An AI-generated carbon score could become another key factor in deciding which device ends up in their bag.
Hosting your own group chat could let you avoid a lot of drama.
Discord has become a go-to tool for friend groups, fan communities and online organizations of various sizes because of how simple it makes it to host text chats, voice calls and share your screen with other people. Over the last few years it’s also become a lot more annoying to use for those tasks for some of the same reasons. In an effort to pay for servers and keep members safe, Discord has adopted an approach to subscriptions, ads and age-verification that have rubbed a lot of users the wrong way.
Most social platforms of a certain size will deal with similar issues, so at least for now, the only real way to avoid Discord’s problems is to switch to smaller group chats or take the big step of hosting your own server. There’s a growing number of Discord alternatives out there, but open-source chat platforms where you have complete control over your data and don’t have to worry about features being locked behind a subscription will likely be your best option.
Why are people leaving Discord?
Complaints about Nitro, Discord’s subscription, and the venture capital-backed pressure to grow that guides the company’s product decisions have existed for years. While those might play a role, the current exodus from Discord seems like it can rest squarely at the feet of the company’s age-verification policies.
Discord announced a new collection of teen safety features in February 2026 to follow the United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act, and a growing number of laws that require platforms to use age verification to prevent children from accessing adult content. Discord’s so-called “Teen Default Experience” introduces new default settings for teenagers 13 years and older and an age verification system for any user Discord’s inference model suspects could be underage.
Under the new system, users are expected to provide a video selfie and submit identity documents to one of Discord’s partners to confirm their age. The company says that selfies never leave whatever device is running Discord, and its partners don’t keep a copy of any uploaded identity documents, but backlash to the somewhat invasive nature of the system was swift. Discord ultimately decided to postpone its rollout to the second half of 2026 so it could adjust its approach, including adding more age-verification options. Underlining the risks of collecting identifying information, one of Discord’s third-party service providers was later hacked in October 2025, possibly exposing up to 70,000 Discord users’ government IDs.
What open-source Discord alternatives are out there?
With an open-source chat platform, security is still an issue, but a mass age-verification system isn’t a concern when you’re just hosting a server for you and your friends. Not every option offers the same familiar interface as Discord, but you can get core features like text chat and voice and video calls from most open-source chat apps.
If you actually want to easily self-host a server, the options get more limited. Apps like Stoat, Element, Fluxxer and Cinny offer Discord or Slack-like experiences that you can run on your own hardware, either using a bespoke system or the open-source Matrix protocol. Matrix-based apps in particular benefit from being based on a transparent and open standard, and are usually interoperable with one another. In terms of matching Discord’s look and feel, however, Stoat and Element seem to get the closest.
Stoat
Stoat, the open-source chat app formerly known as Revolt, offers an app that looks like Discord with the numbers filed off. The app supports text, voice, and video calls, and, according to its GitHub, began rolling out a screen-sharing feature earlier this year that should make it a better tool for sharing games with friends. The app also supports things like theming, custom emoji and a roles-based moderation system that makes it relatively flexible for anyone porting their community over from Discord.
Stoat will happily host your server for you, but the chat platform can also be self-hosted with a bit of setup. Whether you opt for self-hosting or let Stoat handle the technical details for you, all servers work with the platform’s web, Linux, Windows, macOS, Android, iOS and iPadOS apps.
Element
Compared to Stoat, Element is a bit more buttoned up, offering a free, self-hosted option and a paid service for enterprise and government customers. Element is end-to-end encrypted, and supports text chats, voice and video calls, screen sharing, file sharing and even location sharing when you’re accessing the platform through a mobile app. Where the app differs is Discord’s more playful elements. Element doesn’t support custom emoji by default, but you can freely theme your Element app however you want.
Also, since Element is built on Matrix (and also run by its creators), the app benefits from the built-in qualities of the protocol. Element is decentralized and interoperable with other apps that run on the Matrix protocol by default. That doesn’t mean it supports the features of every other Matrix app, but you should be able to at least talk to all of them. Element is available for Linux, Windows, macOS, iOS and Android.
The best open-source Discord alternative
Both Stoat and Element have their strengths and weaknesses. Stoat should be more immediately familiar to anyone coming from Discord, but it’s missing the benefits of being built on Matrix. Element is less like Discord by default, but seems like it might receive more robust development support. The larger problem is getting your friends and colleagues off of Discord in the first place. Discord became as popular as it is because it’s free to use and there were already a lot of people using it. Getting anyone to move to a new app is a challenge. It doesn’t matter whether Stoat or Element are better if you can’t get people to switch to them.
offbeat
26 years late and no threat unless you still run a PDP-11/70 and rely on short-wave timekeeping broadcasts
It’s been more than a quarter century since the Y2K bug threatened to disrupt the not-so-modern world, and while the patching efforts of global IT heroes prevented a millennial mess, the problem persists as a Dutch dev just found a new instance of the numeric nightmare.
While working on an emulator for the venerable Programmed Data Processor (PDP) series of “minicomputer” systems manufactured between the 1950s and 1990s, Folkert van Heusden spotted an unpatched Y2K bug in the Network Time Protocol daemon in BSD 2.11.
To be fair, it’s not like van Heusden stumbled onto a potentially devastating issue that’s simply waiting to cause chaos: Not only was the bug specific to the PDP-11/70, a system that entered service in 1975, but it also requires a Precision Standard Time, Inc.(PSTI) receiver manufactured by defunct hardware maker Traconex used to pick up time signals broadcast by short wave radio stations managed by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology. Even at that point, the bug won’t instantly break network time, as a would-be attacker must take several steps to configure the ancient mahicnes in a way that causes the error.
Van Heusden’s writeup explains how to trigger the flaw.
“I’m writing a PDP emulator,” van Heusden told The Register in an email. “I’m also very much interested in time keeping on computers. That combined, I dove into the NTP-implementation on the PDP. When adding emulation for the PSTI-device, I suddenly noticed 19126 for the year.”
Unsurprisingly, when the PSTI receiver actually produces the correct output, the system throws an error that the time offset between the PDP emulator and the emulated PSTI device is a bit “excessive.” Only by 17,000 years, give or take a couple centuries.
Luckily, van Heusden has coded a fix that’ll bring the times back in sync, eliminating what may be one of the few remaining Y2K bugs still floating around in the wild – after all, when’s the last time you heard of a forgotten (or, in this case, overlooked due to technological obsolescence) Y2K bug being patched?
If you want to tinker with a 50-year old emulated system running a 35-year old operating system, the good news is that the PDP and its 16-but CPU ran at 5MHz and needed just 4 MB main memory – a spec that van Heusden’s PDP-11/70 emulator can easily run on modest hardware like a Raspberry Pi Pico, and it’s available on GitHub.
Just be sure you patch that Y2K bug if you plan to tinker with time keeping. ®
Despite all of the technology that can make cars smaller, more efficient, and better packaged, big SUVs will probably last until the heat death of the universe. There’s a reason why vehicles like the Chevy Suburban have been around for nearly a century: the automotive market, especially the market in America, loves giant SUVs. There are probably a litany of different psychological reasons why full-size SUVs are popular, unrelated to the actual purpose or utility of the vehicle, but perhaps one of the most evident reasons to parse out is that people seem to like getting more car for their money. More power, more seats, more luxury, more features.
The 2026 Infiniti QX80 is almost the fundamental ideal of an American luxury SUV (aside from the fact that Infiniti is a Japanese brand). Based on the current generation–and much improved–Nissan Armada, the present generation QX80 takes the already large and in charge Armada and makes it more plush and luxurious, all for the small price to pay of tens of thousands of dollars more. I quite like the Nissan Armada, and I thought it was already a luxury SUV wearing a Nissan badge. But I was definitely curious to see how the QX80 would amp up the luxury vibes.
A truck underneath
Underneath the massive exterior of the QX80 is the same powerplant as that of the Armada, too, albeit tuned a little. The engine is a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 that makes 450 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. That’s 25 more horsepower than the Armada. Not a sizable power bump, especially with a vehicle this size, but it’s definitely worth taking note of. Not least since Infiniti hasn’t always made a practice of beefing up the engines of its cars compared to their Nissan cousins.
All of that power goes through a nine-speed automatic transmission to all four wheels. Compared to most modern SUVs and their unibody construction, the QX80 feels a little old-school in that it’s very much a truck, down to the 8,500 pound tow rating, body-on-frame construction, and 17 combined miles per gallon efficiency. With fuel prices as they are halfway through 2026, and the fact that the QX80 only takes premium gas, it was inordinate to keep the vehicle fueled, to say the least.
Not lacking in anything
As far as actually driving the QX80 is concerned, it’s quite nice, although that’s a quality also shared with the Armada. Behind the wheel of the vessel, you glide around effortlessly and with the slightest perceptible growl of the engine. Despite the power on tap, you’ll be unsurprised to hear it’s not particularly sporty. Physics and the QX80s general mass get in the way of it being a canyon carver, but it isn’t slow or plodding along. It doesn’t need a lot of motivation from the gas pedal to get moving quickly.
As for why you would need a vehicle with a curb weight of 6,127 pounds to move all that quickly, that is is a not a question I can answer within the scope of this review. Either way, you aren’t lacking for power and expediency with the QX80. If you found yourself in a situation where you needed to rush to the marina and tow a boat for your rich uncle with a heart of gold, the QX80 might be the perfect SUV for the task.
Impressive, without making an impression
On the inside, it’s what you would expect from a six-figure SUV. Sitting in the driver’s seat–itself heated, ventilated, and massaging–and in command over all the known world (or at least the Wegmans parking lot), you’re surrounded by real ash wood trim and plenty of leather. This is going to sound odd, given all of the ways I’ve previously described this vehicle, but the interior is almost understated.
It doesn’t try to make a confusing statement like the rolling art project that is a BMW; nor is it intimidating with gadgets in the manner of a private jet-like Cadillac Escalade. Perhaps that could be attributed to its more humble Nissan underpinnings, or it’s a show of restraint from Infiniti.
Either way, the interior of the QX80 is more akin to sitting in a nice boat than waiting in a high-tech doctor’s office. Veering into the philosophical, the QX80 is impressive without trying to impress you. It’s just a nice place to sit and drive. Jumping from the Nissan to the Infiniti, the designers got rid of the Armada’s physical buttons in favor of a big screen under the infotainment display to control HVAC and all the interior amenities. Perhaps it’s my inner caveman, but I like physical buttons.
A big SUV in context
Now for the grand question of price. The 2026 Infiniti QX80 is the most expensive Nissan-affiliated product for sale in North America, with its base price of $86,850. The QX80 I reviewed was the “Sport” trim, which is only behind the “Autograph” trim in the lineup. Benefits of the “Sport” are as follows: an air purification system, a 24-speaker sound system by Klipsch, and massaging seats. 22-inch wheels are also part of the package. It starts at a cool $102,645.
The “Radiant White/Black Obsidian” two tone paint is $1,205. The “Sport Exterior Package” that gives you roof rail crossbars and some extra blackout options around the exterior is $1,060, and the privilege of illuminated kick plates and an illuminated headliner will set you back $1,060 as well. Throw in the destination charge of $2,190 and you luxuriously arrive at your final price of $108,160. Oh boy.
Over $100,000 is, to quote my mom, “too much money.”
Large and in charge, but still middle of the road
To modify a saying from an old mentor of mine, Reverend Bob, a vehicle without context is just a pretext for you to say whatever you want about it. And in context, the QX80 isn’t all that special. There are numerous six-figure, very powerful SUVs on the market today that displace roughly the same tonnage as a competitive modern navy. BMW, Mercedes, GMC, Cadillac, Lexus, Lincoln, and more can give you a giant SUV for $100,000. So where does the QX80 sit within the mix?
Oddly enough, it’s best superlative is towing. 8,500 pounds puts it above the Cadillac Escalade’s maximum 8,100 pounds, and just under the Lincoln Navigator’s 8,700 pounds. Compared to the Lincoln, the QX80 has exactly 10 more horsepower, and slightly less cargo space. With all of the seats folded down, it has a maximum capacity of 97.1 cubic feet. The Navigator, with its aircraft carrier-like wheelbase, has a maximum capacity of 107 cubic feet. Is it worth 10 extra horsepower at the sacrifice of 10 cubic feet? You’re paying over $100,000 anyway. You might as well get the most out of it.
It wouldn’t be unfair to declare the 2026 Infiniti QX80 Sport an objectively ridiculous vehicle. It has bodywork that’s gives you Warhammer 40,000 vibes; he fuel economy will drain your bank account; and replacing 22-inch tires down the road will require taking out a second mortgage. In fact, everything about it is well outside the scope of what any normal person would even consider purchasing. Funny, then, that within the context of big SUVs it’s pretty middle of the road.
A decade ago, kratom advocates fought a surprisingly successful campaign against a proposed Drug Enforcement Administration ban that claimed the obscure Southeast Asian plant posed “an imminent hazard to public safety.”
They won bipartisan allies from Bernie Sanders to Rand Paul, and helped create a billion-dollar industry out of kratom, which has pain-relieving effects they said could help fight the opioid epidemic as a far safer, natural alternative to pills.
Now, many of those same pro-kratom activists are calling for a ban on products containing concentrates of one of kratom’s active components: 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, an ultra-potent extract with opioid-like effects. And it’s causing major friction amongst consumers, sellers, and advocates of both substances.
“This is a chemically manipulated, full-blown opioid that is now in the marketplace,” claims Mac Haddow, the senior public policy fellow at the American Kratom Association, a kratom industry lobby group. “They masquerade as kratom products.”
The proliferation of 7-OH in gummies, capsules, and shots with brand names like Magic 7OH, 7 O’Heaven, and Pure OHMS across thousands of gas stations and corner stores over the past few years has caused increasing consternation. Consumers of 7-OH have spoken of its excruciating withdrawal symptoms, and there have been reports of polydrug overdoses involving 7-OH and other substances. Some are now entering rehab to overcome their dependency, while others are self-detoxing based on advice from Redditors.
The kratom community fears that 7-OH’s bad reputation could drag the entire kratom industry into a regulatory quagmire. But the 7-OH industry has organized against the potential prohibition, claiming 7-OH is kratom, despite only appearing in trace amounts within the leaves of the kratom plant, and that its benefits as an analgesic outweigh its potential harms.
Anti-7-OH directives from the federal government have exacerbated tensions between the two sides.
Last July, US Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. described the 7-OH industry as “sinister” at a press conference where FDA commissioner Marty Makary called for the DEA to categorize the drug as Schedule I—the most restrictive class of banned substances. Speaking from the Oval Office on May 11, President Donald Trump publicly endorsed “natural 7-OH,” in confusing remarks which appeared to refer to kratom. On top of all that, it appears that both RFK Jr. and Department of Homeland Security secretary Markwayne Mullin—who is also pushing for a 7-OH crackdown—have strong ties to a kratom lobbyist (and convicted criminal) behind a notorious kratom drinks company.
Proponents of 7-OH see the substance and the plant it’s derived from as inexorably linked. In April 2025 testimony to Colorado legislators debating how to regulate kratom and 7-OH, Michele Ross, the chief scientific adviser to the 7-OH advocacy group 7-HOPE Alliance, wrote, “To say 7-OH is not kratom is to say caffeine is not coffee or THC is not cannabis. It simply does not make sense.”
But as opposed to coffee, cannabis, and kratom—which have been consumed for centuries if not thousands of years—7-OH does not have a long history of human use. It’s only been on the market for a few years.
Many of the products that are labeled 7-OH contain little-understood compounds with unknown biological effects in animals or humans, says Chris McCurdy, a leading kratom researcher and director of the University of Florida’s translational drug development core. “So, these products, while represented as ‘clean’ are anything but.”
Meanwhile, a dozen states, from California to Vermont, according to reports, have already moved ahead of federal scheduling with their own 7-OH bans. Seven of those states have also banned kratom, although Rhode Island recently overturned its prohibition.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Voters in Switzerland have rejected an unprecedented far-right proposal to cap the country’s population at 10 million in a divisive referendum dubbed “the Swiss Brexit.” Some 54.79% of voters were against the proposal by the Swiss People’s party (SVP) and 45.21% were in favor. Turnout was 58.86%. A different outcome would have obliged the Swiss government to limit the population, currently 9.1 million, to 10 million by 2050, enacting tough restrictions on family reunification, residency permits and asylum if the number had reached 9.5 million before that date.
Under the proposals, if the threshold of 10 million people was exceeded before 2050, the Swiss government would have been obliged to withdraw from the country’s free movement agreement with the EU — ending its access to the bloc’s single market. The SVP, which has the most seats in parliament, has for years fueled anti-immigrant sentiment, especially concerning workers from neighboring EU countries. The party had insisted that a so-called “sustainability initiative” was needed to address the increase in population, which it argued was putting pressure on Swiss infrastructure, housing, social programs, natural resources and way of life. “Voters were worried about negative consequences for Switzerland’s relationship with the EU and for the labour market,” said Urs Bieri, from the polling firm GFS Bern. “People are also worried about things like having enough care and health workers. Also, there’s a feeling that in the current international environment it’s not sensible for a small country to do this.”
The fiasco of the color-changing iPhone 17 Pro is threatening the iPhone 18 Pro, with one leaker claiming that Apple has apparently not managed to defeat truths about chemistry, physics, and user behavior for the fall release.
Following the launch of the iPhone 17 Pro, consumers started to complain about the coating of the Cosmic Orange model. If a leaker is to be believed, history is about to repeat itself. And, AppleInsider can confirm that each individual Apple Store, worldwide sees “a few” every week.
Weibo leaker Fixed Focus Digital posted on June 12 a warning to consumers planning to buy the iPhone 18 Pro. The account says that people should be careful about the color fading issue with the upcoming models.
An alleged discolored iPhone 17 Pro, shifting from Cosmic Orange to pink – Image Credit: DakAttack316/Reddit
The leaker refers to an issue with the Cosmic Orange version of the iPhone 17 Pro, which discolored to a pinkish hue within weeks of launch. It became a brief problem for Apple, causing concern for people wanting their iPhone to stick to just one color.
We may all like to believe that Apple does learn from its mistakes and course-corrects, especially with most of a year to fix the problem. But, if Fixed Focus Digital is right, the color will be a problem once again.
The Weibo post also reiterates a previous claim by Fixed Focus Digital that the iPhone 18 Pro will use an aluminum casing, not the titanium-based revival that other leakers believe will happen.
Weibo leakers don’t tend to have the greatest accuracy when it comes to rumors, due to accounts commonly reposting content they source from other leakers. Fixed Focus Digital is certainly prominent, but still has a middling level of accuracy.
Oil and water
While Apple hasn’t issued any explanation for the issue, the problem probably involves the aluminum anodization process.
The process requires cleaning the aluminum with a non-corrosive solution to remove any grease and fingerprints. Then, an etching process removes surface defects and the naturally forming oxide layer.
That is followed by anodization, which involves submersion in an electrolytic bath to form a porous aluminum oxide layer. That layer is used to absorb the coloring for the exterior of the iPhone.
Since the porous layer is like a sponge, a chemical and physical process is used to seal the layer. The idea is that it locks in the color, but also prevents other materials from getting into that oxide layer.
If the seal isn’t properly applied, liquids can be absorbed and affect the color of the oxide layer. This can be as simple as water or even finger oils from your hand.
While the initial complaint occurred over a few weeks after launch, it’s something that Apple still deals with to this day. It’s not a big problem, but it is still hanging around to this day.
Looking ahead: Capcom has updated the product page for Onimusha: Way of the Sword with a full breakdown of graphics modes, output resolutions, and target frame rates across PS5, Xbox Series, and PC – along with detailed system requirements covering 1080p, 1440p, and 4K at Low through Ultra settings.
Way of the Sword is the first new mainline entry in the series since Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams in 2006 – a gap of nearly two decades. That said, the series hasn’t been entirely dormant: it produced several spin-offs and side projects, including remasters, the VR title Onimusha VR: Shadow Team, and the browser-based multiplayer game Onimusha Soul.
Casual PC players running older mid-range hardware will be able to get the game running at 1080p/30fps, though the minimum CPU (Intel Core i5-8400) is now eight years old. Those targeting 4K/60fps on Ultra with upscaling will need something more modern on both the CPU and GPU front.
Minimum requirements (for 1080p / 30fps, Low settings)
- Intel Core i5-8400 or AMD Ryzen 3 3100
- Memory: 16GB
- Graphics: GeForce GTX 1660 Super (6GB) or Radeon RX 5500 XT (8GB)
Recommended requirements (for 1080p / 60fps, Medium settings)
- Intel Core i5-10400 or AMD Ryzen 5 3600
- Memory: 16GB
- Graphics: GeForce RTX 2060 Super (8GB) or Radeon RX 6600 (8GB)
Recommended requirements (for 1440p / 60fps, High settings)
- Intel Core i5-10400 or AMD Ryzen 5 3600
- Memory: 16GB
- Graphics Card: GeForce RTX 4060 Ti (16GB) or Radeon RX 6750 XT (12GB)
Recommended requirements (for 4K / 60fps, Ultra settings)
- Intel Core i5-12400 or AMD Ryzen 7 5700
- Memory: 16GB
- Graphics Card: GeForce RTX 4070 Ti (12GB) or Radeon RX 7900 XT (20GB)
All configurations require Windows 11 and at least 50GB of SSD storage.
Capcom confirmed the September 25 launch date during Sony’s State of Play, covering PS5 and Xbox Series, while the Nintendo Switch 2 version was announced separately during a Nintendo Direct. All versions including PC will ship simultaneously.
If you’re curious about this upcoming title, you don’t have to wait for months to experience the gameplay for yourself, a playable demo is currently live on PS5, Xbox, and Steam.
Way of the Sword is a dark fantasy action-adventure that follows the exploits of samurai warrior Miyamoto Musashi as he embarks on a mission to save Kyoto, threatened by supernatural beings during the Edo period. While the sword is Musashi’s primary weapon, he also carries the Oni Gauntlet, a sentient artifact that absorbs the souls of defeated enemies and unleashes superhuman abilities in combat.
Is it time to double down on red?
Subscriptions are everywhere these days, and it feels like only a matter of time before someone figures out a way to paywall the air we breathe. On top of that, the prices just keep going up, with companies ratcheting monthly costs up as much as they can without causing mass attrition. Over time, it adds up, and subscription juggling is a fact of life for many consumers. You might pay for a month of Netflix to catch the last season of Stranger Things while putting your Disney+ on pause until The Mandalorian and Grogu hits the latter service.
But there’s one subscription some people might be able to cut, at least those who spend a good amount of free time watching YouTube. Google’s ubiquitous video platform was once free, but charges a subscription these days in the form of YouTube Premium for users who want to avoid ads and gain access to a slew of user experience improvements.
What you might not have realized is that a full-fat YouTube Premium subscription, which costs $16 at the time of this writing due to a recent price hike, also includes unlimited access to the platform’s music streaming solution, YouTube Music. What that means for at least some heavy YouTube users is the ability to ditch a separate subscription to Spotify, Apple Music or another music streamer.
The trade-off isn’t right for everyone, though. Whether YouTube Music is fit for your needs depends largely on how much you value the features it lacks compared to the competition, as well as how willing you might be to let the platform logic of YouTube dictate the music you listen to. Here’s how YouTube Premium with YouTube Music compares to your existing music service, and how to figure out whether that single subscription is a better deal for you.
YouTube Music is great for avid watchers
The first thing you should know about YouTube Music is that it does not have a high-resolution library, even though that feature has become basic table stakes for the competition. Spotify, which dragged its feet on high-res for years, finally added its own lossless capabilities last year (it’s not bit-perfect lossless, but if you’re splitting that particular hair, YouTube Music isn’t for you and you can safely stop reading this article). However, lossless audio is a relatively niche feature that you can’t truly take advantage of without audiophile-grade playback equipment. If you listen to music on your AirPods via an iPhone, you’re not getting lossless playback in the first place.
YouTube Music tops out at 256kbps in resolution, which absolutely will be noticeable to some ears compared to the 320kbps other services offer before tipping into lossless quality. The bottom line is that, if you already listen to music on YouTube and haven’t had an issue with the sound quality, YouTube Music will suit you just fine in that regard.
Other differences between YouTube Music and Spotify or Apple Music become more subjective. Whereas those services allow you to build a more traditional music library, YouTube Music organizes things much in the same way as the video streaming side of the platform. You subscribe to artists rather than following them, and subscribing to an artist on YouTube also subscribes to them on YouTube Music. Playlists also carry over between both sides of the house. For those who want their taste in video content to affect their music recommendations, and vice versa, this can be a boon. But if you prefer some separation between church and state in that regard, it’s a massive headache. Just because you watched a video about the Drake and Kendrick beef doesn’t necessarily mean you want songs from all three of Drake’s unlistenable new albums piped into your ears during a jog.
YouTube Music has niche features you can’t get elsewhere
But the logic of YouTube gives YouTube Music one major edge: its user-uploaded library. In addition to most of the same major label offerings you’ll find on pretty much any modern music streamer, YouTube Music is home to the largest user-uploaded collection of hard-to-find tracks in the world. That leaked single your favorite artist never officially released? YouTube Music has it. That set from Coachella you’d do anything to experience again? Don’t bother looking on Spotify — YouTube Music has you covered and it’s no coincidence YouTube was the official streaming partner for Coachella in 2026. Speaking of the Drake and Kendrick beef, all of the songs from that kerfuffle went up on YouTube far in advance of their arrival on other streaming services as both emcees self-uploaded their disses to one-up each other in real time. The ability to add those kinds of tracks to your existing playlists is a structural advantage no competing service can match. Ditto for music videos because, you know, it’s YouTube.
YouTube Music also includes a robust podcast library, including many audio-forward offerings that only exist on Google’s platform in the form of user-created video essays and documentaries. Even among widely syndicated podcasts, a number of them can only be watched in video form on YouTube. That gives the platform an edge up over Spotify, although big green has put a heavy focus on bolstering its video podcast library in recent years, and an absolute win over Apple Music, as Apple users must get their podcasts from the separate Apple Podcasts app.
Because YouTube Music was born from the ashes of Google Play Music, it carries on its predecessor’s functionality as a cloud player for your own, local files. Its two primary competitors also allow local uploads, but they’ll lump your MP3 files in alongside streaming tracks in your library. YouTube music splits everything out, so you can isolate your uploads and browse just those songs by artist, album, and so on. If you’re still in possession of a digital music library from the iTunes or Napster days (how do you do, fellow kids?), YouTube Music is a great way to continue enjoying them without wasting storage space on your smartphone.
Swapping Spotify for YouTube Premium isn’t right for everyone
If all you got with a YouTube Premium subscription was the platform’s music service, it wouldn’t be worth replacing your Spotify or Apple Music subscription. But you’re also getting a better experience on YouTube itself. Getting your money’s worth from YouTube premium is easy if you’re an avid user already. In addition to never seeing a pre-roll or mid-roll ad ever again, you can skip your favorite creator’s sponsored segments using the Jump Ahead button that intelligently skips you over portions of a video that other users also tended to skip. Then there are perks like background play and offline downloads that let you take more control over where and how you enjoy YouTube videos.
It’s that combined value which makes this comparison worthwhile. YouTube Premium is not cheap at its new price of $16 a month, especially compared to Spotify’s $13 asking price, or Apple Music’s $11 tag. But if you’re already paying for it, and if YouTube Music offers an experience that meets your preferences, you can cut the standalone music subscription from your monthly budget without worry. Others may find it worth cutting the contract with their current music service and signing up for YouTube Premium to take advantage of its unique blend of content and features.
Luke Larson used to get a charge out of working on Tasers and body-worn cameras for law enforcement at Axon. Now he’s buzzing over matcha, the ancient Japanese green tea powder that devotees say delivers calm, focused energy without the jitters of coffee.
Larson’s ambition is noteworthy in its own right as he plans to build Vale into a Seattle-born beverage empire — think Starbucks, but make it matcha — scaling from a handful of local cafes and mobile bars to a nationwide network of thousands of automated machines.
It’s a move he’s pulled off before. As president of Axon, Larson helped grow the company from roughly $100 million to $1 billion in sales before stepping down in 2022.
Larson sees Vale as sitting at the intersection of consumer products, hospitality, technology and automation — and a chance to build something from the ground up.
“While other companies are leaving Seattle, we’re investing in Seattle,” Larson told GeekWire from Vale’s Pioneer Square headquarters, where he’s especially bullish on hiring tech talent from companies including Starbucks, Amazon and Microsoft.
Body cams to matcha bars
Larson, who grew up in Forks, Wash., served two tours in Iraq as a Marine Corps infantry officer and he was awarded the Bronze star with V for valor on his first tour. He joined Axon in 2008 and was product manager for the company’s first cameras.
He rose to president at Axon in 2017 and helped build out the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company’s significant engineering presence in Seattle. Alongside its mission to build tools and technology to help de-escalate police use of force, Axon attracted attention in Seattle for its geeky spaceship-themed office and its unique recruiting tactics.
In 2022, Larson left Axon following a health scare, taking a six-month medical leave before relocating with his wife and three daughters to Switzerland for a two-year sabbatical — time that gave him space to think about his next chapter.
It was during that period that Larson first tried matcha, at the urging of his wife and sister-in-law. His initial reaction wasn’t promising — he didn’t like it. But an introduction to chef Jeffrey Hayden, a Culinary Institute of America graduate who had worked at Michelin-starred restaurants, convinced him that high-quality, cold-served matcha was a different experience entirely.
Larson returned to Seattle with a new company idea, and last year launched Vale, opening its first cafe in South Lake Union in May 2025.
While a second cafe is in the works on First Hill, Vale’s growth target is more pronounced. The company this summer will operate 23 portable, staffed matcha bars with plans to scale to 100 by year’s end and 1,000 by next year. To support that growth, Vale recently leased 36,000 square feet of production space south of downtown Seattle — a space formerly used by Atomo Coffee as a roastery.
Hayden serves as the startup’s head of craft and Vale has 73 employees, roughly half of them frontline matcha bar workers, with the rest split among software engineers, mechanical engineers and roboticists. Former Axon leaders include CTO Jay Reitz and Sydney Siegmeth, head of people and communications.
Larson, who is the majority investor, plans to keep the company private for another two years before seeking outside capital.
His longer-term play involves robots.
Larson wants to build out a network of automated self-serve matcha machines that he envisions in office towers, apartment buildings and other spaces that wouldn’t support a traditional cafe.
Matcha from a machine
Vale sources ceremonial-grade matcha from Shizuoka, Japan, a region Larson likens to the Pacific Northwest, sitting at the base of Mount Fuji. Hayden leads a team that has developed a specialty drink menu — from classic cold matcha to lattes and seasonal creations like a tiki-themed summer drink — served across the cafe, matcha bars and machines through a single mobile app.
Next to Vale’s HQ in the lobby of an office building at 505 First Ave. S., just a block from Lumen Field, sits a futuristic-looking matcha-dispensing machine. With its smooth finish and rounded edges, it’s about the size of a small car, with a touchscreen centered between two frosted panels that reveal a drink-delivery portal.
A peek inside the back of the machine reveals a robotic arm that moves from end to end. First it applies a personalized label to a plastic vessel to match what the customer typed in. Next it fills the container with the drink of choice from a selection of 10 automated taps. The container is then topped with a soda-can-style aluminum lid before it’s placed in the window for retrieval.
Larson envisions the machine as something like a “Star Trek” replicator, where the technology fades into the background and the focus stays on the customer experience.
“We want to shatter your expectation of what can come out of a machine,” he said.
A $7 strawberry matcha latte tasted by GeekWire came pretty close to doing just that. Flavored with oat milk, the iced, fruity, creamy drink was a nice surprise compared to more traditional hot and bitter matcha I’ve previously sipped from a straw.
Larson hopes the taste lands equally well with a generation of consumers increasingly drawn to matcha as an alternative to coffee — particularly younger drinkers who prefer cold beverages and are wary of the jitters that can come with a caffeine habit.
He’s betting Seattle is the right place to find them, and to build the team to serve them, as Vale plans to hire up to 100 people over the next 12 months.
“I believe that Seattle’s best years are ahead of it,” Larson said. “To build the type of company that I want to build, I don’t think there’s a better city in the world.”
SpaceX’s historic IPO just got super-sized, after the public offering’s underwriters exercised their option to purchase the maximum amount of shares — bringing the total amount raised to $85.7 billion.
Elon Musk’s space-and-AI company had initially raised $75 billion, which was already enough to make it the largest IPO windfall ever.
SpaceX has said it plans to use the proceeds from this IPO in a variety of ways. The company plans to extinguish around $20 billion in debt related to legacy loans tied to X, the social media company formerly known as Twitter, and Musk’s AI company xAI — both of which were combined into SpaceX before the IPO.
Funds will also be used to expand SpaceX’s AI compute infrastructure, enhance its launch infrastructure, and improve Starlink.
SpaceX’s stock started trading on the Nasdaq exchange on Friday. The company finished the day with a valuation of more than $2 trillion, and Musk became the world’s first trillionaire. Shares climbed higher on Monday, helping SpaceX eclipse the valuation of chipmaker TSMC.
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