We’re here at the 2026 Game Developers Conference, where Microsoft “VP of Next Generation” Jason Ronald is talking about a topic near and dear to many gamers’ hearts: the future of Xbox. Ronald says the next Xbox, codenamed Project Helix, will have a custom AMD chip with “an order of magnitude increase in raytracing performance” up to and including path tracing, and a next-gen version of AMD’s FSR upscaling technology that relies on machine learning and includes frame generation — which can improve the perceived smoothness of a game by imagining new frames between existing ones.
Technology
Microsoft’s next Xbox, Project Helix, won’t reach alpha until 2027
But don’t expect that next Xbox soon: Microsoft will begin sending out “alpha versions” of Project Helix to developers in 2027, Ronald revealed here at GDC.
Ronald also confirmed that Xbox and Windows are getting closer together, beyond the fact that Project Helix will play PC games too. “PC is becoming an increasingly important part of Xbox. We’re bringing the best of Xbox to Windows itself,” says Ronald.
Microsoft is bringing the Xbox mode that originally shipped with the Xbox Ally handheld to more Windows computers “to select markets starting in April,” as well as Advanced Shader Delivery, which precompiles shaders so you can download them alongside a game or its updates, instead of having to wait when you launch a title.
Ronald says the Microsoft team’s been doing a lot of work behind the scenes to make the Xbox mode “feel distinctly Xbox” and feel the same as you migrate between devices and cloud. He says gamers play 3-5 games at any one time on average, and you should be able to pick up and play whether you’re on console, PC, or cloud.
As we spotted outside the keynote, Microsoft wants game developers to just build once for both Windows and Xbox, instead of building twice for both. It’s creating a unified development environment where “The vast majority of code that your game runs on Xbox is the exact same code that runs on other platforms,” says Ronald.
And while he isn’t promising all games will be this way, Ronald suggests that you won’t have to buy those games multiple times, too: the already-existing Xbox Play Anywhere program lets you buy once and “play on any screen,” he says. The catalog of Xbox Play Anywhere games now has more than 1,500 titles, Ronald says.
As part of the 25th anniversary of Xbox, the the game preservation team will also re-release an unspecified number of older Xbox titles under its Game Preservation program, Ronald says. “As one of the largest publishers in the industry, we feel a deep responsibility to preserve games from the past.” And he hints that “some of our most iconic first-party franchises are returning this year.”
Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge
The news follows Microsoft’s recent announcement of the codename for its next-generation console, Project Helix, which the company says will play both console and PC games. That announcement about Helix was made by new Xbox boss Asha Sharma, who took over as Microsoft’s gaming CEO in February. Former Xbox boss Phil Spencer is retiring, and former Xbox president Sarah Bond, who had been seen as a potential successor to Spencer, also announced her departure.
Last year, Bond hinted that the next-generation Xbox would be more like a PC and noted that it would be a “a very premium, very high-end curated experience.” In her first memo since taking over Xbox, Sharma promised a “renewed commitment to Xbox starting with console,” and in her post about Helix, Sharma said the console would “lead in performance.” This week, Sharma also posted a picture of the original Xbox prototype, which Microsoft is showing at the GDC Festival of Gaming. We’ve got pictures.
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Not all trifolds are created equal — just ask our own Allison Johnson, who recently spent time with Samsung’s ill-fated Galaxy phone. Aurzen’s Zip projector is the kind of trifold gadget we can fully get behind, though, and it’s currently on sale at Amazon for $259.99 ($140 off). You can also pick it up in several colors directly from Aurzen for the same price, or in the gold shade for a new low of $249.99.
While not nearly as powerful as Anker’s Nebula P1 and other portable projectors we’ve recently tested, the Zip is surprisingly capable despite its small stature and battery-powered operation. The snake-like 720p projector offers up to 100 lumens of brightness — meaning it will work best in dark environments, or in brighter rooms when viewing a smaller image — while its built-in battery should last about 80 minutes based on our real-world testing. That’s not exactly marathon battery life, but it’s easy enough to top off the Zip using a power bank or wall adapter.
In terms of support, the Zip can quickly connect to iPhones via AirPlay and to Android devices over Miracast, Smart View, and similar standards, allowing you to wirelessly mirror everything you can see on your phone. You can use it to watch any movies you’ve downloaded on your device, peruse your social feeds, or get in a quick session with your favorite game. It works in both landscape and portrait orientations, too, and supports Bluetooth, letting you listen privately with headphones or pair it to your favorite speaker.
The biggest downside to the Zip, at least for some folks, is that you won’t be able to use it to watch content from services like Netflix, Hulu, and HBO Max due to copyright restrictions. Aurzen does make a USB-C dongle that allows you to stream DRM-protected content, if you truly can’t get by without watching the latest episode of Euphoria. You’ll have to pay a whopping $109 for the privilege, or find another way.
Pages from the Anthropic website and the company’s logos are displayed on a computer screen in New York on Feb. 26, 2026. (Patrick Sison/AP Photo)
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IN TODAY’S NEWSLETTER:
– Anthropic has an AI model that’s too dangerous to go public
– Melania Trump turns White House tennis pavilion into AI lab for students
– Florida murder suspect asked ChatGPT about dumping human remains days before killings: docs
LOCKS WIDE OPEN: Anthropic’s Mythos AI model, too dangerous to release publicly, is changing digital security faster than anyone is ready for – There is a new AI model called Mythos. Anthropic built it for defensive cybersecurity research. It is so effective at finding software vulnerabilities that Anthropic decided the general public cannot have it.
FUNDAMENTAL SHIFT: From rogue AI blackmailing humans to condensing school days, AI revolution already reshaping life – Fox Business explores how the artificial intelligence revolution is already fundamentally reshaping everyday life, ranging from alarming scenarios of rogue AI blackmailing humans to innovative applications condensing traditional school days.
DIVERSITY FIGHT: Trump DOJ jumps into Musk xAI court battle – The Trump Department of Justice has formally intervened in a high-profile court battle involving Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI, as a broader legal and political fight over corporate diversity initiatives rapidly heats up.
FIRST LADY FUTURE: Melania Trump embraces AI education initiative in White House tech push she’s been championing – First lady Melania Trump is actively embracing a new artificial intelligence education initiative as part of a broader White House technology push that she has long been championing.
Melania Trump an immersive event AI event this week where students used Meta virtual reality headsets and AI-powered glasses to explore British landmarks and examine historical artifacts. (Andrea Hanks)
PRICE PAIN SPREADS: AI boom tests GOP’s midterm affordability pitch – The rapid artificial intelligence boom and its associated energy costs are beginning to test the Republican Party’s midterm pitch on affordability as economic price pain spreads among voters.
CHILLING QUERY: Florida murder suspect asked ChatGPT about dumping human remains days before killings: docs – Newly released court documents revealing that a Florida murder suspect allegedly asked the artificial intelligence program ChatGPT for advice on dumping human remains just days before the killings occurred.
RACE IS ON: Kevin O’Leary details massive Utah AI data center to rival China’s tech dominance – Business mogul Kevin O’Leary detailed plans for a massive artificial intelligence data center in Utah designed specifically to rival China’s growing global tech dominance.
TECH FIGHT: Former Apple CEO sees OpenAI poses largest competitive threat to tech giant in years – Former Apple CEO John Sculley is sounding the alarm on artificial intelligence, warning that OpenAI currently poses the largest competitive threat the massive tech giant has faced in years.
BOUNCING BACK: US economic growth rebounds as AI buildout and consumer spending fuel first quarter – U.S. economic growth rebounded in the first quarter of the year from a sluggish fourth quarter, according to the Commerce Department’s latest estimate.
JOB IMPACT: Zuckerberg says Meta layoffs tied to AI spending, won’t rule out future cuts – Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has explicitly tied recent staff layoffs to the company’s massive spending on artificial intelligence, while pointedly refusing to rule out the possibility of future workforce cuts.
HEAVYWEIGHT LEGAL BATTLE: Elon Musk tells court he was fool for funding OpenAI: report – Tech billionaire Elon Musk told a court that he was a “fool” for his early financial role in funding the artificial intelligence research organization OpenAI.
Elon Musk testifies during the OpenAI trial in Oakland, Calif., on April 29, 2026. (Vicki Behringer)
LEARNING ON THE JOB: Meta tracks workers to train AI agents – Social media giant Meta is actively tracking its own workers and analyzing their internal communications in an effort to train its advanced new artificial intelligence agents.
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Okay, I am not a lawyer so I only understood about half of what just happened. But I am fairly sure, given the context, that Elon Musk’s lawyers may have just fucked up big.
Jared “James Brickhouse” Birchall, Musk’s finance guy and all-around fixer, took the stand after Musk today. Most of his testimony was dull and seemed to exist primarily to get some documents read into the record, which sucks but is a normal part of sitting through trials. But at the very end of his boring testimony something interesting happened. I believe we all got a surprise, something that rarely happens in courtrooms.
The lawyer conducting his direct examination was passed a note by another member of the team, and asked Birchall what was apparently contained on the note: was he familiar with the xAI bid for OpenAI’s assets?
“Sam Altman was on both sides of the table.”
“As I recall, a lawyer we were working with had asked the attorney general of California to ensure that in their fiduciary duty, proper value was being given to the assets of the nonprofit of OpenAI,” Birchall said. In his understanding, there was a negotiation “between Sam Altman and himself on both sides of the table, the for-profit and the non-profit, attempting to discount the value of the non-profit assets. And we made that bid in an attempt to properly account for the value the foundation had, and create a market bid that would need to be considered by the attorney general.”
Here’s some lore: in February 2025, a Musk-led coalition made a $97.4 billion bid for the non-profit that controls OpenAI. The bid was submitted by Marc Toberoff, one of Musk’s lawyers in the current case. This bid happened as OpenAI was restructuring itself so that the for-profit arm could be cleared to go public. In Birchall’s testimony, that bid was made because Musk, Birchall, and others, thought Altman might undervalue the nonprofit as the company restructured itself. (I’m not really sure why that would be a problem for Musk and xAI, frankly, but whatever.)
The defense counsel objected, and Birchall’s rant was struck for lack of foundation. So we did this piece by piece to establish the foundation, ending with Birchall saying, again, “Sam Altman was on both sides of the table.”
On cross-examination, Bradley Wilson from Wachtell Lipton — OpenAI’s lawyers — picked the thread back up. Wilson asked how much of this Birchall had learned from sources other than lawyers. Birchall said he’d have a hard time being able to untangle that. After a few more exchanges, Wilson moved to strike all of Birchall’s testimony about the xAI bid on grounds that would not be discussed in front of the jury.
“You must have been very convincing. You’re not very convincing today.”
The jury got to leave early while the lawyers duked it out, and this is where it got weird. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers started asking Birchall questions herself, and it clearly was making Birchall nervous. Birchall said he doesn’t remember discussing the xAI bid with Musk or Shivon Zilis or any other principal of the Musk organization. It sure sounded like Musk’s lawyers hadn’t given OpenAI proper discovery on this topic in the depositions, and so we were doing a fast and dirty deposition with the judge right then. At one point, Gonzalez Rogers told the plaintiff’s counsel to quit coaching the witness.
Birchall said he’d spoken to the other members of the consortium about the bid, but that he wasn’t involved in discussions with Musk about when to send the bid letter. He claimed he’d heard some things from Toberoff, but that he wasn’t aware that Toberoff represented some of the other bidders. He didn’t know if xAI was aware that Toberoff represented some of the other bidders, either.
Birchall didn’t know whether other investors had first-hand information about OpenAI, he claimed. No one had documents from inside OpenAI as far as he knew. Gonzalez Rogers remained unconvinced. “I’m still struggling with how you can have conversations with these individuals to raise $97.5 billion but have no recollections even in a general sense,” she said. Birchall said he had a general sense — he called each of the people involved to see if they were interested in joining Musk on the bid.
“Why would they do that?” Gonzales Rogers asked. Birchall said these were people with whom Musk et al had longstanding relationships. “You must have been very convincing,” she said. “You’re not very convincing today.”
Birchall said there were no numbers besides the topline one floated when he called prospective investors, and that after speaking with him, they were passed off to lawyers. He didn’t remember who chose the $97.4 billion number, and said he got it from the legal team, telling Gonzalez Rogers he didn’t get it from Musk. Gonzalez Rogers asked if that analysis was created by anyone besides Toberoff. Birchall said not that he could recall.
“Did a lawyer tell you this was part of litigation?” Gonzalez Rogers asked.
No, Birchall said. It was strictly a business deal.
Apparently Steven Molo, who’d been defending Musk during the deposition, had made multiple objections to questions about the deal, citing privileged communications. Business deals, apparently, aren’t privileged. But all discovery into the xAI bid for OpenAI had been blocked before the trial began. Unfortunately, by asking Birchall about the xAI deal at the very end of the direct examination, Musk’s team may have opened the door for more digging into it. You may be wondering, “open the door to what” and your guess is as good as mine. More discovery? Maybe something about anticompetitive behavior from Musk? It doesn’t sound like it’s going to be good for Musk, I can tell you that much.
Gonzalez Rogers then asked who’d passed the note, and all the lawyers just sat there like guilty children. Finally, the guy responsible said he’d passed it, but he didn’t write it; a junior lawyer did. Who wrote it? More silence. Finally Toberoff — hardly a junior lawyer — stood up and took responsibility. Why had he done it? “I thought it was appropriate.”
“Sounds like you wanted to open the door, then,” Gonzalez Rogers said. We adjourned while she said she’d consider what to do with this testimony. She will probably rule on it tomorrow.
Correction, April 30th: It is Shivon Zilis, not Sharon Zilis.
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