The 2026 midterm elections in the US ended in a sweeping win for Democrats — and several dozen sweeping losses for the AI industry. Nilay and David dig into what the results will mean for data centers, Big Tech, and even the future of X. Then, they try to figure out whether anyone's making any money in AI — not so much, it turns out — and whether the touchscreen MacBook is worth the price.
Further reading:
The fight for tech accountability starts now
Tech is about to get hammered in Congress
Forbes: Elon Musk Deletes Midterm Posts After Stunning Election Losses
Data centers lost the midterms
Democrats leaned into Big Tech and AI opposition this cycle.
Not even $200 million could help Elon Musk buy Texas
OpenAI says ChatGPT is catching up to Google in search
Google hasn’t figured out how to make AI pay like its search engine
Uber only fulfilled 4 rides from AI agents last quarter
DoorDash's CEO: Don't be 'delusional' after just a few hundred AI agent orders
Apple is reportedly lowering AI usage budgets.
Brendan Carr plans to let prisons jam cellphone signals
SpaceX could buy Boost Mobile as part of its big mobile carrier plans
Apple MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display review: a touchscreen winner
Sam Altman addresses RAM comments: People should ‘put as much as they want in their computers
Sam Altman says it’s better for RAM to be in a data center than on your desk
Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.
We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11.
0:00 Bezos Hair Transplant Hoax
01:15 Midterms Shockwave Begins
02:00 Corruption And Data Center Backlash
06:53 AI Products Not Worth It
09:26 What Democrats Can Do Now
11:15 Congress Investigations Lawyer Up
13:15 Hype Reels Take Over Politics
15:42 X Bubble Versus Real Life
22:47 Microblogging Decline And AI Regulation
23:56 Ossoff Speech And AI Doomerism
27:35 Google Then Versus OpenAI Now
33:35 Back From Break
33:42 OpenAI Search Claims
35:19 Google Moat Erodes
38:02 Monetizing AI Overviews
42:52 Ads Break Trust
45:49 Google Zero Spiral
47:43 Agents Reality Check
50:41 Token Spending Pullback
52:50 Muse Novelty Wears Off
01:00:16 Brendan Carr is a Dummy
01:02:00 FCC Heat On Carr
01:07:04 MacBook Pro Touchscreen
01:09:09 Touchscreen Love Hate
01:10:25 Dynamic Island Reality Check
01:11:17 Best Touch Use Cases
01:11:58 App Support And Optimization
01:14:10 MacBook Pro Verdict
01:14:27 Speakers And Trade Ins
01:15:42 Sales And Upgrade Timing
01:17:11 SpaceX Boost Mobile Drama
01:22:05 Ram Altman Cloud Take
01:29:31 AI Photo Editing Panic
01:37:13 Wrap Up And Plugs
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Further reading:
The fight for tech accountability starts now
Tech is about to get hammered in Congress
Forbes: Elon Musk Deletes Midterm Posts After Stunning Election Losses
Data centers lost the midterms
Democrats leaned into Big Tech and AI opposition this cycle.
Not even $200 million could help Elon Musk buy Texas
OpenAI says ChatGPT is catching up to Google in search
Google hasn’t figured out how to make AI pay like its search engine
Uber only fulfilled 4 rides from AI agents last quarter
DoorDash's CEO: Don't be 'delusional' after just a few hundred AI agent orders
Apple is reportedly lowering AI usage budgets.
Brendan Carr plans to let prisons jam cellphone signals
SpaceX could buy Boost Mobile as part of its big mobile carrier plans
Apple MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display review: a touchscreen winner
Sam Altman addresses RAM comments: People should ‘put as much as they want in their computers
Sam Altman says it’s better for RAM to be in a data center than on your desk
Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.
We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11.
0:00 Bezos Hair Transplant Hoax
01:15 Midterms Shockwave Begins
02:00 Corruption And Data Center Backlash
06:53 AI Products Not Worth It
09:26 What Democrats Can Do Now
11:15 Congress Investigations Lawyer Up
13:15 Hype Reels Take Over Politics
15:42 X Bubble Versus Real Life
22:47 Microblogging Decline And AI Regulation
23:56 Ossoff Speech And AI Doomerism
27:35 Google Then Versus OpenAI Now
33:35 Back From Break
33:42 OpenAI Search Claims
35:19 Google Moat Erodes
38:02 Monetizing AI Overviews
42:52 Ads Break Trust
45:49 Google Zero Spiral
47:43 Agents Reality Check
50:41 Token Spending Pullback
52:50 Muse Novelty Wears Off
01:00:16 Brendan Carr is a Dummy
01:02:00 FCC Heat On Carr
01:07:04 MacBook Pro Touchscreen
01:09:09 Touchscreen Love Hate
01:10:25 Dynamic Island Reality Check
01:11:17 Best Touch Use Cases
01:11:58 App Support And Optimization
01:14:10 MacBook Pro Verdict
01:14:27 Speakers And Trade Ins
01:15:42 Sales And Upgrade Timing
01:17:11 SpaceX Boost Mobile Drama
01:22:05 Ram Altman Cloud Take
01:29:31 AI Photo Editing Panic
01:37:13 Wrap Up And Plugs
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices