WIRED
Today’s Picks
Curating...
Summer 2026 marks the 30th anniversary of Jay-Z’s debut Reasonable Doubt. To honor it, he put on a massive concert at Yankee Stadium—complete with performances from Beyoncé, Nas, and Alicia Keys.
The iPhone maker claims OpenAI encouraged poached employees to bring over confidential presentations, secret prototypes, and key supplier details.
Safety Concerns
OpenAI’s Head of Safety Is Leaving the Company
Johannes Heidecke’s departure comes as OpenAI tries to further integrate its research and safety teams.
Product Review
Beatbot’s New Pool Robot Cleans Itself (Mostly)
Product Review
The Samsung Micro RGB R95H Is a Good, Not Great TV
Hit the Trails
The Best Hiking Boots and Shoes for Any Adventure
- World Cup 2026
What Watching a Soccer Final Does to Your Body, According to Science
A recent study tracked hundreds of soccer fans until their favorite team reached the final of a tournament. Their stress levels skyrocketed, and their heart rates jumped too. 
World Cup Warm UpSunshine and Saharan Dust Make Miami’s World Cup Quarter-Final a Dangerous Game
England and Norway players will face off under extreme and dangerous levels of heat stress, scientists say, thanks to a wet-bulb index of nearly 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
World Cup 2026Why Do Some Soccer Players Cut the Heels Off Their Cleats?
An image of Portugal forward Pedro Neto’s cleats at the World Cup has reignited a practice among some soccer players: modifying their cleats to relieve heel discomfort.
World Cup 2026Messi and Ronaldo Are Building Tech Portfolios. Mo Salah Is Playing a Different Game
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are betting on AI, health tech, and startups. Mohamed Salah is taking a more traditional route beyond football.
World Cup 2026Erling Haaland Is Everywhere at the World Cup. Most of It Is AI
Norwegian striker Erling Haaland isn’t just a footballer anymore. He’s become an internet character perpetuated by fans and AI.
World Cup 2026The Science Behind Why Soccer Players at the 2026 World Cup Are Cutting Their Socks
Holes in socks have become a curious sight at this year’s World Cup. The reasons why are a weird mix of biomechanics, perception, and player habits.
World Cup 2026Mexico’s Victory Over Ecuador Made the Ground Shake. Was It an Artificial Earthquake?
Fans’ euphoric reactions to the Mexican national team’s recent victory in the 2026 World Cup caused a series of unusual vibrations that were detected by seismic warning systems.
World Cup 2026Penalty Shootouts: Is the Team That Kicks First More Likely to Win?
Penalty kicks are already proving critical to big wins at this year’s World Cup. But the advantage in penalty kicks has more to do with psychological effects than who kicks first.
World Cup 2026Everyone’s Mad at the World Cup’s New ‘Hydration Breaks’—Except Mr. Moneybags Over Here
FIFA says hydration breaks protect players from heat. They also create new annoying commercial breaks—and fans are calling foul.
World Cup 2026How Qatar Became FIFA’s Technology Test Lab
Qatar has become the place where FIFA experiments with the next generation of football technology. The results are already visible across this year’s World Cup.
Thousands of new fossil-fuel power sources are quietly firing up across the state to power the AI boom, thanks to a regulatory loophole, leaving residents feeling blindsided.
Model Behavior
Anthropic Wants You to Pay Up for Claude Fable 5
Claude subscribers must soon pay usage-based fees to access Anthropic’s best consumer AI model—a sign that the golden era of AI subscriptions is ending.
Special EditionThe Future of Home
How we live now is defined by unprecedented forces. In this special issue, WIRED and Architectural Digest help you understand what home will look like tomorrow—and beyond.
Special EditionEveryone Is Watching the World Cup. The World Cup Is Also Watching You
Much of the 2026 FIFA World Cup is happening in Donald Trump’s America. Will the US’s immigration crackdown, surveillance systems, and political turmoil interfere with soccer’s tentpole tournament?
Special EditionThings Fall Apart
It's not enough to build things. You also have to tear them down. WIRED commissioned five stories about decommissioning, from EVs and internet cables to supercomputers and space stations.
OlympicsThe WIRED Guide to the 2026 Winter Olympic Games
Ice hockey, curling, influencers—the 2026 Winter Olympics promise to be the most talked about Games in recent memory. WIRED has all the news you need coming out of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.
The China Issue23 Ways You’re Already Living in the Chinese Century
The robotics explosion. The energy revolution. The cultural takeover. It’s everything you wanted for the United States—but done better in China.
Expired/Tired/WIREDThe Greatest Successes and Worst Flameouts of 2025
From Tesla to AI friends to Big Balls and back, this is our definitive breakdown of everything, and everyone, that conquered the WIRED world this year—and a few that fell from the top.
Originally published September 2023: First it was chess and Go. Now AI can beat us at Diplomacy, the most human of board games. The way it wins offers hope that maybe AI will be a delight.
Screen Therapy
Reality TV Saved Me
Rapid Test
