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Nice economy you have there, said President Donald Trumpa€™s administration. It would be a shame if something happened to it.

The something, announced earlier this week, is a set of globally applied tariffs that make no sense on their face. No sane economist would endorse this. Through a combination of stupidity, incompetence and sheer gangsterism, the Trump administration has decided to levy a series of taxes that encourage blatant corruption, entirely fail to encourage American manufacturing growth, and leave people and companies poorer. That is, assuming that the taxes come into play at all.

a€oeThis is the craziest of the crazy things wea€™ve seen thus far.a€

The central, persistent thing Trump seems to misunderstand about tariffs is that they are paid in the US by people in the US. A reasonable person might also remember that he tried them a few years ago in a trade war, to negative effect. We have, as a nation, shot ourselves in the dick. But dona€™t take my word for it! Here are some actual experts:

• a€oeThis is the craziest of the crazy things wea€™ve seen thus far,a€ says Chris Barrett, professor of economics at Cornell Universitya€™s SC Johnson School of Business. …

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President Donald Trump’s additional 75 day delay to TikTok’s sale-or-ban deadline leaves service providers like Apple, Google, and Oracle on shaky ground, and, according to one influential Democrat, is straight-up “against the law.”

After Trump announced the extension on Friday, 12 Republican members of the House Select Committee on China, including Chair John Moolenaar (R-MI), released a joint statement in response. The statement did not address legal concerns with the second extension, but it said that “any resolution must ensure that U.S. law is followed, and that the Chinese Communist Party does not have access to American user data or the ability to manipulate the content consumed by Americans." The letter says signatories "look forward to more details" on a proposed deal.

In a separate statement, three Republican members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, including Chair Brett Guthrie (R-KY) struck a similar note, saying that, “any deal must finally end China’s ability to surveil and potentially manipulate the American people through this app.”

“The whole thing is a sham if the algorithm doesn’t move from out of Beijing's hands”

Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Mark Warner (D-VA) was more critical in a phone interview with The Verge. “The whole thing is a sham if the algorithm doesn’t move from out of Beijing's hands,” Warner said. “And close to 80 percent of Republicans knew this was a national security threat — will they find their voice now?"

Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office delaying enforcement of the TikTok divestiture law, a move legal experts already found questionable. Then, he failed to announce a deal before the new April 5th deadline amid chaos over new global tariffs. Letting the delay expire would have put US companies that serviced TikTok after the deadline at even greater risk of hefty penalties.

The original Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support to address what lawmakers insisted was a pressing national security threat, then upheld by the Supreme Court in January. TikTok has long denied that the Chinese government could access US user data or put its thumb on the scales of the recommendation feed through ByteDance, but many lawmakers have consistently doubted that defense.

As the Trump administration has opted to effectively ignore the law, however, Congress has been relatively quiet.

“Trump's unilateral extension is illegal and forces tech companies to once again decide between risking ruinous legal liability or taking TikTok offline”

A few Senate Democrats, including Ed Markey (D-MA), recently warned Trump that another extension would only introduce more legal uncertainty, and some expressed doubt that some of the reported deal scenarios could even resolve the app’s legal concerns. In a statement after Trump’s second extension, Markey says while he’d like to see the deadline pushed, “Trump's unilateral extension is illegal and forces tech companies to once again decide between risking ruinous legal liability or taking TikTok offline.” He called the move “unfair to those companies and unfair to TikTok’s users and creators.” Instead, Trump should go through Congress to pass Markey’s bill to the extend the deadline, he says.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), a member of the China Committee who’s criticized the law and warned it will harm free expression and creators’ livelihoods, also wants to see a solution go through Congress, but is seeking a full repeal of the law. Still, he called Trump’s delay a “good step.”

The new statements from China Committee and E&C Republicans appear to be the first coordinated moves to put a firm line in the sand on the topic. Some Republicans who support the divest-or-ban law have previously urged Trump’s compliance in one-off statements or writings. Moolenaar previously warned in an op-ed that an adequate deal must fully break ties with ByteDance after reports that Trump was considering a deal with Oracle that would potentially leave some ties intact. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) told reporters earlier this week that if a deal doesn’t comply with the statute, he “would advise the President against it.” If he can’t get a deal to sell the company in a way that fully complies, Hawley thinks Trump “ought to enforce the statute and ban TikTok. This middle way, I don't think is viable.”

Warner maintains that lawmakers want a TikTok sale that keeps the app in the US, and he says the Biden administration should have been more aggressive in getting negotiations started. He remains concerned that TikTok’s ownership structure could allow a foreign adversary government to influence young Americans.

"During the negotiations, we saw the enormous bias in TikTok on things like the Uyghurs, the Hong Kong protests, the conflict in Gaza,” says Warner. “That was how we got 80 percent of the vote.” Warner says he remains concerned about the security of US user data, but sees the potential for TikTok to be used to “shape public opinion” as the more serious threat. Still, lawmakers seem unlikely to do much beyond (maybe) trying to pass a new law should Trump continue to flout the existing one. “Congress,” says Hawley, “we don't have an enforcement arm of our own.”

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In the second major disruption of today’s 50th anniversary event at Microsoft’s headquarters, another employee stood up and began yelling at Satya Nadella, Steve Ballmer, and Bill Gates — the company’s current and past CEOs — in protest of Microsoft’s dealings with the government of Israel.

“Shame on you all. You’re all hypocrites,” she said as some in the crowd began to boo. “50,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been murdered with Microsoft technology. How dare you. Shame on all of you for celebrating on their blood. Cut ties with Israel.” The protestor then mentioned No Azure for Apartheid, the group that coordinated today’s protests both inside and outside the venue. It’s been a long-running movement among some employees at the company.

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Gates chuckled and said “alright,” before returning to the discussion. “I think Steve and I almost cared too much, and our life was the company, and Satya has this ability to care as much as we did, but with more of a team,” he said.

Microsoft used its 50th anniversary celebration as a showcase for the company’s latest Copilot / AI advancements, but the interruptions definitely shifted the tone at times. Earlier at the event, another employee named Ibtihal Aboussad called Microsoft’s AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman “a war profiteer.” A larger rally led by the protest group was occurring outside while Microsoft executives were speaking.

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President Donald Trumpa€™s 25 percent tariffs on all auto-related imports have been called a€oea debacle of epic proportionsa€ and a sure-fire way to tank the auto market by crushing demand. Analysts have been predicting everything from $12,000 per vehicle price hikes to the possible a€oeCubanizationa€ of the US car fleet.

Now that theya€™ve had a few days to process the news, the automakers are starting to get their ducks in a row and make some moves.

Herea€™s how each company is responding:

Audi

Now that the tariffs are in effect, the German automaker is holding all vehicles assembled in Mexico and overseas at US ports until further notice, according to Automotive News. Audi currently has 37,000 units in dealer stock and at port a€" which remain unaffected by the new import fees and are ready to sell. Audi reportedly said it would be marking unaffected units with a $0 a€oeNo Added Import Feea€ option code for easy tracking.

a€oeWe are evaluating how to best proceed for our customers and our dealers,a€ Audi spokesperson Mark Dahncke said.

BMW

BMW hasna€™t announced any specific response yet, but the company said last month that it expected a a‚¬1 billion hit to its 2025 …

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Four Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffers have access to the governmenta€™s data on an untold number of immigrants, FedScoop reports.Â

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency that handles legal immigration, recently granted access to Kyle Shutt, Aram Moghaddassi, Payton Rehling, and Edward Coristine a€" the 19-year-old DOGE employee who also goes by a€oeBig Ballsa€ a€" according to an internal agency memo obtained by FedScoop.Â

The March 28 memo asks Troy Edgar, the deputy director of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to have the department provide direction for the four DOGE staffersa€™ access to what the memo refers to as USCISa€™s a€oedata lake,a€ USCIS Data Business Intelligence Services, described as a a€oecloud-based centralized repository of data ingested from disparate USCIS applications and source data.a€

According to the memo, this system is accessed through Databricks, a€oean analytics platform that connects disparate sources of data into a unified system.a€ The memo also requests that DHS review and give direction for DOGE staffersa€™ access to both Databricks and Github.

The memo FedScoop obtained doesna€™t explain wh …

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Robot vacuums are impressive devices that will clean your floors well and — thanks to bigger batteries and better robot brains — rarely get tired of doing their job. Over the last few years, they have gone from being utilitarian devices that sweep your floor to full-fledged home robots that can vacuum and mop your home and then trundle off to clean themselves to be ready for the next run.

1. Best robot vacuum
2. Best budget robot vacuum
3. Best mopping robot vacuum for hard floors
4. Best robot vacuum / mop hybrid
5. Best midrange robot vacuum / mop
6. Best robot vacuum for pet hair
7. Other robot vacuums to consider
8. What I’m testing and what’s coming next
9. How I test robot vacuums

I’ve been testing robot vacuums for seven years and have run over 70 robot vacuums all over my house. These are my top picks if you’re looking for the best: a robot vacuum that can do it all with limited intervention from you.

Along with my top picks, I have options to fit specific needs, such as mopping or besting pet hair. The good news is there are a lot of great options. Whether you have a 3,000-square-foot home and three shaggy dogs or a small, stylish apartment you share with a goldfish, there’s a robot vacuum to suit your needs.

Best robot vacuum

Dustbin capacity: 270ml **** / Self-empty dock option: Yes **** / Auto-refill mop option: Yes / Mop lift: Yes, 20mm / Mop washing : Hot water and heated air drying / Mapping: Yes, lidar / AI-powered obstacle detection: Yes / Suction power: 10,000Pa / Remote check-in: Yes / Keep-out zones: Yes, virtual / Brush style: Dual rubber **** / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts, _ **** Apple Home via Matter_

Roborock’s S8 MaxV Ultra ($1,799.99) is an exceptional vacuum cleaner and a very good mop. Its dual rubber roller brushes and 10,000Pa suction make it great on carpets; its sonic mopping is very good on hard floors, and its improved AI-powered obstacle detection means it will most likely get the job done without getting trapped or derailed.

The S8 MaxV Ultra is the best in the category of “hands-free” robot vacs, bots that do virtually everything for you: empty their bins, refill their mop tanks, and clean and dry their mop pads. Roborock invented this category with the S7 MaxV Ultra and has been steadily improving it.

That's the big selling point here; this bot is basically hands-free. Fill the S8 MaxV Ultra’s clean water tank and empty its dirty water once a week and change out the dust bag every couple of months. The robot will take care of the rest.

For $100 more, you can dispense with dealing with the water tanks entirely and buy the Refill & Drainage System model. This lets you plumb the charging base directly into your home’s water supply. I’ve not tested this on the Roborock, but my experience with the SwitchBot S10 with the same feature leads me to recommend this option if you can swing it.

The S8 MaxV Ultra comes with excellent AI-powered obstacle detection, bringing back the camera it last had on the S7 MaxV Ultra. It’s not quite as good as Roomba’s obstacle detection — it sometimes confused a pile of Cheerios for a charging cable and avoided them — but it’s much better than the Roborocks that rely on non-camera obstacle detection. It deftly navigates around most household clutter, allowing you to get the job done without having to tidy up.

Roborock has caught up to Roomba on cleaning prowess, and the S8 MaxV Ultra’s dual rubber brushes and 10,000Pa of suction power tackled the pet hair on my fluffy carpet and demolished my oatmeal test.

It also did a better job at mopping than Roomba’s mopping bots, though not quite as well as the Narwal Freo X Ultra or Dreame X40 Ultra, though it’s a better vacuum than either.

Its sonic mopping system — which vibrates its mop pad 4,000 times a minute — ably simulated scrubbing and wiped out my OJ and ketchup tests, though I did have to set it to deep scrub. Plus, the addition of a side mop and flexi-arm brush that extends from the bot helped with cleaning edges and corners.

Roborock’s mobile app is easy to use and comes with a laundry list of features and customizations that give you ample control over your cleaning. The S8 MaxV Ultra also has a built-in voice assistant, which makes getting the bot to clean the mess your kid made after dinner as easy as saying, “Rocky, clean here.”

Roborock also sells the S8 Max Ultra (no V) for $1,599.99. It has the same cleaning hardware as the MaxV but no camera, so its obstacle detection will not be as good. However, you also don’t have to worry about a camera in your house. It has a lower 8,000Pa of suction and lacks a voice assistant, too, which makes it seem overpriced since it’s currently only a couple hundred dollars less than the MaxV.

There are several great vacuum / mop hybrids in this guide. Of them, the S8 MaxV Ultra is the best at vacuuming and obstacle detection, and it’s a very good mop. It can also do both in one run, as it can lift its mop 20mm, which will clear all but the highest-pile rugs. If you have a lot of those, go for the Dreame X40, with its automatic mop removal. Its vacuuming and object detection are a notch below the Roborock’s, but its mopping is a notch above. The Narwal Freo X Ultra is an even better mop than the Dreame, but its obstacle detection isn’t great, and its vacuuming is merely pretty good.

Read my Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra review.

Best budget robot vacuum

_Dustbin capacity: 300ml **** / Self-empty dock option: Yes **** / Auto-refill mop option: No / Mop lift: No / Mop washing : No / Mapping: Yes, lidar **** / AI-powered obstacle detection: No / Suction power: 5,300Pa / _ _ Remote check-in: __No _ ____ / Keep-out zones: Yes, virtual / Brush style: Single rubber bristle hybrid **** / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts

For around $300, the Tapo RV30 Max Plus is a very capable robot vacuum and mop with some key features usually only found on vacuums that are more than twice its price. These include room-specific cleaning, multiple suction and water levels, smart lidar-based navigation, and an auto-empty dock. With brands like Roomba and Roborock, you're often paying double for the privilege of not having to empty the bot’s bin.

Thanks to lidar navigation, the RV30 did an excellent job of navigating my house, cleaning the perimeters of the rooms, and then using a mesh grid to clean inside the rooms. I did have to tidy up before it ran, though, as there’s no camera on board or AI-powered obstacle detection — so cables and socks will trip it up.

Its 5,200Pa suction power is impressive on a bot at this price, and ably sucked up Cheerios and dry oatmeal on hard flooring. It left some of the finer dust and debris, as its single bristle / rubber brush isn’t super effective. It fared less well on carpet. However, in the app, I could set it to clean a room three times for each job, after which it had generally picked up all visible debris.

Mopping was better than average for a mop with no pressure or oscillation. It has a wide mop pad, and the bot has a big 300ml tank (which also incorporates a 300ml dustbin), so it applies enough water to do a good surface clean.

Another unique feature for a budget robot is the ability to set customized cleaning for each room, choosing from five suction levels and three water levels as well as the three rotations.

5,200Pa suction power is impressive on a bot at this price

The Tapo app is very simple to use, with an easy-to-edit map that lets you add virtual walls and no-go zones, add furniture, and designate carpet areas. There’s no carpet sensing, so you need to tell it where carpets are if you don’t want it to mop them. You can even set the cleaning direction and build up to four maps — again, features usually only found on higher-end robots.

It's also super easy to start a clean, and I really like that you can just tap on the map to send the robot to that spot. The biggest downside of the Tapo is its tiny battery, which is just 2,600mAh. That is half the size of most vacs, and it couldn’t clean my entire 800-square-foot downstairs without needing to go back and recharge. It also takes a while to charge and occasionally had trouble repositioning itself on its dock. You can get the RV30 without the auto-empty dock for around $80 less if you prefer an even simpler robot vacuum setup. This way, it will fit under a couch or bed, but you’ll have to manually empty its bin.

Best mopping robot vacuum for hard floors

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AI companies cana€™t figure out if the Trump tariffs are about to decimate them a€" and the fact that no one has a clear answer is sending them, and the tech industry overall, into a confusion spiral.

The markets are in disarray. Nvidia is down 7.59%, TSMC is down 7.22%. In San Francisco, sources tell us that this isna€™t a big deal. But in DC, people are panicking. The core question is whether GPUs a€" the graphics processing units that are crucial to AI computing and other industries a€" are exempted from Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs, and the answer is startlingly ambiguous.Â

Inside AI labs, researchers expect that their industry will be granted a tariff exemption. a€oeI fully expect this to be a situation where Trump again gives companies he views as important/on his side/whatever a hall pass,a€ similar to what the President did with Apple during his first term, one source inside a major AI lab told The Verge.

In Washington, however, nobody seems sure what the current state of play is. The Trump administration spelled out an exception for the semiconductor chips at the heart of a GPU, but for now, complete electronic products that contain chips will apparently be subje …

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French satellite network company Eutelsat has been providing Ukraine with much-needed internet access for almost a year with the help of the German government, Reuters reports. Eutelsat’s OneWeb division operates low-orbiting satellites that communicate with terrestrial terminals for internet connectivity — similarly to rival SpaceX’s Starlink network, which has been the primary supplier of satellite internet for Ukraine’s government.

At Eutelsat’s Paris headquarters on Thursday, CEO Eva Berneke revealed that Germany has been providing the funding (of an undisclosed amount) to run the company’s satellite internet access in Ukraine. Right now, Eutelsat has less than a thousand terminals there compared to Elon Musk-owned SpaceX, which has about 50,000 Starlink terminals working in the country, mostly funded by Poland and the US.

However, Berneke says Eutelsat could get 5,000 to 10,000 more into Ukraine “within weeks.” Eutelsat spokesperson Joanna Darlington tells Reuters that they are still under discussion on whether Germany or other financial sources will help with that expansion. Bernerke also said it is in talks with the EU under the EU-backed SpaceRISE consortium, where it and other members are working to build a secure satellite constellation known as IRIS².

A Eutelsat expansion couldn’t come at a more crucial time as the US-Ukraine relationship unravels under the Elon Musk-backed Trump Administration. The European Commission’s defence chief Andrius Kubilius told Reuters at a news conference on Wednesday that, in the event of “unexpected developments,” which Kubilius didn’t elaborate on, there are solutions in place in case they need alternatives to Starlink.

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Meta’s US fact-checking program will come to an end by Monday afternoon. In a post on X, Meta’s global policy head Joel Kaplan said there will be “no new fact checks and no fact checkers” across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads by that time as the company replaces it with Community Notes.

Meta first announced its plans for an X-style Community Notes program in January, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg saying it would be “less prone to bias.” With Community Notes, contributors can write and rate notes that provide extra context for certain posts.

The company started testing Community Notes on March 18th but said it wouldn’t publicly publish the notes to start. Now, Kaplan says Community Notes will start “appearing gradually across Facebook, Threads, and Instagram, with no penalties attached.”

Meta still relies on its third-party fact-checking program in countries outside the US. It plans on bringing Community Notes to more countries in the future.

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