The Vergecast

Apple did the one more thing: This week it announced its much-anticipated folding phone. It also announced some surprising and controversial new AI features for Apple Watch, including "Live Rewind," which gives the user a text transcript of the last 15 seconds of real life.

On today's Vergecast, Allison Johnson and Vee Song report back from California after having more hands-on time with Apple's new devices. Plus, Nilay Patel and David Imel take another swing at discussing Mac Minis and local LLMs with AI researcher CJ Trowbridge. Finally, Allison and Jake tackle some non-Apple stories in the truly rapid-fire thunder round.

Further reading:

iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max: Our first hands-on impressions

The variable aperture isn’t the cool part of the iPhone 18 Pro’s camera

Hands-on with the foldable iPhone Duo

Hands-on with the new Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4

Apple Watch Series 12 has an always-on Siri that makes AI recaps of your day

Read the Apple document explaining how new listening features still protect your privacy

Mathematicians want proof OpenAI didn’t use their work

OpenAI’s sly mathematical breakthrough sends a chill through academia

Drama swirls around OpenAI’s legendary mathematical milestone

The Trump phone just got a $250 price hike

Six years later, Sony revisits its legendary XM4 headphones

Hori’s electronic Ocarina of Time requires no musical talent.

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For years, big tech companies have embedded their products into the classroom whether through Google's Chromebooks or computer science curricula developed by Apple or Microsoft. The industry pushed a generation of kids to foster coding skills with the promise of high-paying jobs. Now, those students are finding themselves less in demand as AI takes over, and the industry seems to be repeating its playbook. Senior policy reporter Lauren Feiner talks to Natasha Singer, author of the new book "Coding Kids," about how big tech worked its way into the classroom, and why Natasha is optimistic about educators’ response to the AI push.

Further reading:

Schools are catching on to Big Tech’s playbook

Worried Anthropic researchers warn that AI ‘could kill all humans’

Meta’s Muse AI works and creeps me out

Another big James Talarico interview is punted to YouTube due to FCC threats

Apple asks: have you ever imagined iOS devices doin’ it?

⁠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.
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Live from Apple Park, Nilay Patel and Victoria Song join Jake Kastrenakes, Dominic Preston and Cameron Faulkner to talk about the iPhone Duo and the new Apple Watches. We also talk about the new iPhone 18 Pro's variable aperture and the AirPods 5.

Further reading:

All the news from Apple’s ‘Surprise and shine’ event

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At this year's London Marathon, two runners completed the route in under two hours, becoming the first people to ever do so on an official course. It's a feat that Outside magazine's Alex Hutchinson once thought wouldn't be accomplished until 2075. The Verge's senior policy reporter (and marathoner) Lauren Feiner talks to Alex about "super shoes" and the other surprising technological advances that led to this moment.

Further reading:

The Fairphone 6 Plus is the midrange phone we desperately needed

The real reason your phone is getting more expensive

What to expect at Apple’s September 9th launch event

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OpenAI announced its next big model, GPT-6 Astra, and also, by the way, that AGI is here now.Today on The Vergecast, we've got an all-star panel to break down the news of the week.First, senior AI reporter Hayden Field joins us to talk about our supposed AGI era and Nvidia's acquisition of Hugging Face. Then, our friend Joanna Stern pops in to talk about new Apple CEO John Ternus, old Apple CEO Tim Cook, and to, most importantly, speculate on the format of next week's Apple keynote.We wrap things up with a super-special lightning round from the IFA electronics show in Berlin. Senior reviewer Jennifer Pattison Tuohy and editor Dominic Preston each pick out the five most interesting gadgets they saw at the show.And two more things: Vergecast producer Travis Larchuk pops in to tell his tale of identity theft woe and warn you that he isn't the one DMing you on Twitter to ask you to be on The Vergecast. Plus, Brendan Carr is a dummy.

Further reading:

OpenAI’s next big AI model has ‘entered the AGI era’

Researchers fear safety disaster ahead of OpenAI’s Astra release

OpenAI delayed its new model’s development after the Hugging Face hack

Nvidia is buying Hugging Face for almost $13 billion

John Ternus sends first memo as Apple CEO teasing a ‘huge launch next week’

Phil Schiller is leaving his biggest jobs at Apple

Siri AI is already changing how I use my iPhone

IFA 2026: the biggest tech and gadget announcements

This might be the fanciest toothbrush launch ever.

Anker’s new MindBase is an AI-powered brain for your smart home

This NAS company wants to run your local smart home

I want to wrap myself in Hue’s new Liane rope lights

Homey just made the smart home controller I hoped Apple would

The robot butler dream doesn’t have legs

Here’s Xiaomi’s wide 18 Fold

I held the first truly bezel-free phone

Acer’s new concept hardware is a gaming handheld with a keyboard

Lenovo’s new MacBook Neo competitor comes in two sizes and seven colors

Packard Bell is back, and more colorful than ever.

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0:00 Welcome00:46 Fake Travis warning03:01 OpenAI's Astra model05:45 Safeguards and delays08:55 Opaque recurrence fears13:08 What Astra does well18:08 Access tiers and rollout19:53 Nvidia buys Hugging Face23:04 Is this really AGI26:28 AGI vibes and Microsoft clause32:17 Apple event preview33:41 Ternus keynote politics39:43 Keynote Vibes Shift40:23 Tim Cook Era Review44:56 Services And Fees Machine47:15 Phil Schiller Steps Back49:52 Event Predictions Fold And AI55:43 Siri AI Real Use Cases58:32 Smart Home Display Rumors59:47 Bets And Keynote Structure01:05:19 Brendan Carr Is A Dummy01:09:23 IFA Lightning Round01:10:49 Philips Hue Smart Lighting01:11:03 Hue Rope Light Rave01:11:44 Sticker Shock Pricing01:13:03 Xiaomi Wide Foldable01:15:43 Dyson Camera Toothbrush01:20:31 Tecno Bezelless Concept01:22:42 Local AI Smart Home Hub01:27:09 MacBook Neo Clones01:29:35 Homey Dial Controller01:33:39 Acer DualPlay Handheld01:36:19 Dreame Humanoid Robot01:39:44 Packard Bell Revival01:42:17 Wrap Up And Credits
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Apple's big hardware event is coming next week. iPhones are the main draw, but senior reviewer Jennifer Pattison Tuohy has her eyes on the rumors around — what else? — smart home gadgets. Andrew O'Hara from the Smart Home Insider podcast joins Jen to fire up the Rank-o-Matic and speculate on which rumored gadgets are most likely to see the light of day.

Further reading:

OpenAI’s next big AI model has ‘entered the AGI era’

Nvidia is buying Hugging Face for almost $13 billion

Microsoft slashes Xbox Cloud Gaming to just 15 hours a month for Ultimate subscribers

Microsoft opens up Xbox Cloud Gaming with new pay-as-you-go option

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Data centers have been a staple of Loudoun County since the early dot-com boom, but recent expansions have left some residents wondering how much more the county can take. In this episode, guest host David Imel talks to Lauren Feiner about her recent article detailing the buildout of “Data Center Alley,” what it means for residents, and what other counties reeling with similar buildouts can learn from it.

Further reading:

Is this the future of America?

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Elizabeth Lopatto recently wrote about Mark Zuckerberg's 6,500-word AI manifesto in her piece, "Mark Zuckerberg doesn't understand how to live." Today, she joins guest host David Imel and senior wearables reviewer Victoria Song for a freewheeling discussion about what happens when we let AI make decisions for us.

Further reading:

Mark Zuckerberg doesn't understand how to live

Dyson made a camera-equipped toothbrush that flosses for you

Markiplier is now GoPro’s biggest shareholder

GoPro has been acquired and is getting into ‘defense, government, robotics and aerospace’

John Ternus is now the CEO of Apple

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Skyrocketing RAM prices put a spotlight on product longevity and repairability, which makes this a particularly apt time for Fairphone to launch its first smartphone sold directly in the United States. Today, David Imel talks to CEO Raymond van Eck about the Fairphone 6+, the company's goals of user-repairability and ethically-sourced materials, and what place AI has in the future of Fairphone.

Further reading:

⁠Read Tim Cook’s final message to Apple staff as CEO⁠

⁠Sony Music Publishing and Warner Chappell are suing Anthropic⁠

⁠Google capitulates in Trump’s attempt to rename Lake Ontario.⁠

⁠MapQuest downloads surge after refusing to rename Lake Ontario.⁠

⁠MapQuest knows this whole thing is ridiculous.⁠

⁠Fairphone’s latest repairable phone is going on sale in the US⁠

⁠The new Fairphone 6 Plus gets a perfect repairability score.⁠

⁠The Fairphone 6 no longer feels like a compromise (except in the US)⁠

⁠This environmentally conscious smartphone is finally coming to the US⁠

Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.

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This week Apple announced a Mac Mini made for AI and a Mac Studio made for AI, both with faster M6 and M5 Pro chips made for AI. But that's all an amuse-bouche to Sept. 9's (expected) main course: the long-awaited folding iPhone. Nilay Patel, Jake Kastrenakes, and David Imel run through all of this week's Apple news, including the most important story: a surprise discount on the legendary polishing cloth.Then, they react to Meta's settlement in its latest kids safety trial, geek out about Grand Theft Auto VI with the Hype Desk's Ashley Esqueda, check out the Pokémon Fitbit, and decide if Nvidia just saved the global economy.

Further reading:

⁠File a comment with the FCC⁠

⁠Apple announces September iPhone launch event⁠

⁠Apple’s new M6 chip gets more cores and more AI compute⁠

⁠Apple launches new Mac Studios with its ‘most powerful chip ever’ — the M5 Ultra⁠

⁠Apple’s new Mac Mini has fresh M6 and M5 Pro chip offerings — and higher prices⁠

⁠Apple’s ‘new’ polishing cloth is the same except $10 cheaper⁠

⁠Meta agrees to heavy restrictions on teen users in major lawsuit settlement⁠

⁠Meta is planning an ad blitz urging TikTok and YouTube to follow its lead.⁠

⁠All the ways Instagram and Facebook are changing for teens⁠

⁠Rockstar finally responds to ‘heartbreaking’ GTA 6 leaks⁠

⁠Fierce Network: FCC opens comments on E-Rate as the program gets attacked in court⁠

⁠Nvidia is about to be a hundred-billion-dollar-a-quarter company⁠

⁠Panic is passing Playdate tariff refunds on to customers.⁠

Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.

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0:00 Welcome to the Vergecast01:26 Apple Mac AI Hype02:26 Mac Mini Agent Craze06:32 Mac Studio vs Nvidia11:43 Price Hikes and Cloth17:01 iPhone Event Invite17:38 iPhone Fold Debate21:30 Camera Crash Out26:57 Meta Settlement Breakdown28:59 First Amendment Fallout36:59 Age Verification Push39:30 Filter Rules and Loopholes44:11 Will Teens Just Switch Apps45:20 Reels Versus Shorts46:35 Government Next Steps47:39 Break And Reset47:50 GTA VI Showcase54:29 Leaks And Spoilers57:12 Can GTA Save Games01:00:51 GTA Online Money01:02:04 Brendan Carr is a Dummy01:03:45 E Rate Fight01:08:46 Nvidia Earnings Hype01:17:50 Pokemon Sleep Fitbit01:22:41 Waymo Versus Tesla01:28:34 Decoder And Goodbye
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If, after months of increasingly dire RAMageddon warnings, you just now find yourself in the market for a new laptop... we're here to help. In the latest installment of our "RAMageddon Survival Guide," laptop reviewer Antonio G. Di Benedetto joins David Imel to offer his recommendations.

Further reading:

Apple announces September iPhone launch event

Xbox announces disc-to-digital feature that digitizes your physical games

Xbox’s limited-edition green Series X is already sold out

Panic is passing Playdate tariff refunds on to customers

A RAMageddon guide to back-to-school laptop shopping

An okay laptop with 16GB of RAM is better than a nice laptop with 8GB, and this $520 HP OmniBook proves it

This is my new favorite laptop, but thanks to RAMageddon the price already went up by $800

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Two-hour usage limits, age verification, and a $17.1 billion payout: We're breaking down today's big settlement in Meta's kids online safety trial. Senior policy reporter Lauren Feiner and senior tech and policy editor Adi Robertson discuss how we got here, why Meta settled, and what this means for the ongoing conversation around teen mental health and social media.

Further reading:

Meta agrees to heavy restrictions on teen users in major lawsuit settlement

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It can be hard enough to set up smart home tech in a house or an apartment, but what about a dorm room? Jennifer Pattison Tuohy recently tested out some smart home tech when she dropped off her son for his freshman year at Clemson. Jen reports back to David Imel on how the gadgets stood up to the challenges of college Wi-Fi and rules against hanging things on the wall.

Further reading:

Apple’s new M6 chip gets more cores and more AI compute

Apple’s new Mac Mini has fresh M6 and M5 Pro chip offerings — and higher prices

Apple launches new Mac Studios with its ‘most powerful chip ever’ — the M5 Ultra

Android is getting its own weird dots to cure car sickness

WhatsApp is making it easier to ignore spam calls

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Do you remember your first BlackBerry? Do you remember when that first BlackBerry launched? On this episode taped before David Pierce went on leave, producer Travis Larchuk leads David, Nilay, and The Verge’s Sean Hollister through a game of memory and history and a surprising amount of feelings tied to gadget launches.

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Smart phone cameras have been getting better and better at capturing flawless, true-to-life images. But is that what the people really want?David Imel joins Nilay Patel and Jake Kastrenakes to talk through the Pixel 11's Camera Looks. They're Google's nod to the trend of retro digital and analogue cameras, and alter how a photo is processed on the sensor level. At the same time, its super zoom is still hallucinating text and making stuff up.

Then it's a supersized Brendan Carr is a Dummy, with increasingly infuriating tales of how Brendan Carr is being a Dummy, culminating in the FCC's quest to make sure your internet connection remains slow.

Plus, we talk through the confounding AirPods camera leak, the Fairphone, and YouTube's new method for counting views.

Further reading:

Google is making the Pixel cameras better by making them worse

Revealed: FCC chair Brendan Carr’s close coordination with White House and rightwing media

ABC sues the FCC over Trump and Carr’s campaign of threats

FCC abolishes gigabit speed goal, suggesting it is unfair to slower technologies

Apple’s camera-equipped AirPods appear in leaked video

Meta glasses are a workplace menace

Apple reportedly won’t launch AirPods with cameras until next year.

Fairphone’s latest repairable phone is going on sale in the US

YouTube is changing how it counts views to give the numbers a boost

YouTube is reportedly offering channels “millions of dollars” not to cross-post videos on Netflix.

We’re also on video! Check us out on YouTube.

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For better or worse, Amazon Alexa and Google Home's smart voice assistants have been imbued with the powers of generative AI. The promise is that you can use natural language with your smart speaker to adjust your thermostat, lock the doors, and find out what your pets have been up to. The reality is smart home voice assistants seem to be going through an identity crisis. Senior reviewer Jennifer Pattison Tuohy invites Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel onto his own podcast to compare notes on life with Alexa Plus vs. Gemini for Home.

Further reading:

⁠GTA VI keeps leaking ahead of its gameplay premiere⁠

⁠I bought DJI’s banned camera — it was cheap and easy⁠

⁠Does giving a camera wings dodge the FCC’s drone ban?⁠

⁠Meta glasses are a workplace menace⁠

⁠Google’s Pet Memory forgot who my cats are⁠

⁠I tasked Alexa Plus with tackling my to-do list — it was hit or miss⁠

⁠With Alexa Plus, Amazon finally reinvents its best product⁠

⁠How AI broke the smart home in 2025⁠

⁠I let Gemini watch my family for the weekend — it got weird⁠

⁠Google built a great smart speaker, but Gemini isn’t ready for it⁠

⁠Jony Ive’s first OpenAI gadget is reportedly a hockey puck-sized smart speaker⁠

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Pixel reviewers assemble: Senior reviewer Victoria Song leads a Vergecast roundtable with editors Dominic Preston and Cameron Faulkner to discuss the Pixel 11/Pro/Fold and the Pixel Watch 5. We discuss if HiLight is a LowLight, whether we miss the temperature sensor, and if the Watch 5’s GPS truly beats Garmin and Apple. And stay tuned for more camera discussion on Friday’s Vergecast.

Further reading:

Nvidia’s new financial strategy does not compute

Amazon’s drones will soon deliver to nearly 500 US cities and towns | The Verge

Framework gave its 12-inch laptop some hardware upgrades | The Verge

This robot vacuum solves my kitchen stool problem

The Pixel 11 isn’t the best Pixel of 2026, but it’s the smartest buy

The Pixel 11 Pro is a great phone, no thanks to its flashiest new features

Google’s Pixel 11 Pro Fold feels like the end of an era

Google’s Pixel Watch 5 is promising — but it isn’t finished

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.
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It feels right now like prices are going up, gadgets are getting worse, and everything is getting harder to buy. Leo Mastrolia, the Digital Doctor and the owner of a repair shop in New Jersey, is seeing this all play out first hand. For the second part of our conversation (and the first part of our RAMageddon survival guide), he tells us what he’s telling his clients about fixing their gadgets, managing upgrades, and surviving a parts crisis.

Further reading:

Elon Musk made flying even worse so Palantir could profit

Apple’s camera-equipped AirPods appear in leaked video

Fairphone’s latest repairable phone is going on sale in the US

Spirit in the machine

Polaroid’s new Pokémon collection captures memories, not Pikachus

Digital Doctor Repairs on YouTube

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A few years ago, Leo Mastrolia started a gadget repair shop. Little did he know he’d eventually become known across the internet as The Digital Doctor, and would learn to fix practically every gadget you can think of. On this episode, which is part one of our conversation with Leo, he tells us about his journey as a gadget fixer, the growth of his social channels, and how right-to-repair fights and upgrade cycles are affecting life in his store.

Further reading:

ChatGPT’s Computer History tracks your clicks and keystrokes

Amazon is trying to crush class action suits before they get started

Uber partners with Zipline on Eats drone deliveries

Disney D23 2026: Everything announced for Star Wars, Marvel, and more

Digital Doctor Repairs on YouTube

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Have you seen Instagram's new logo? Meta debuted it right before we started recording, so of course David and Nilay needed to talk about it. Then, the hosts turn to Mark Zuckerberg's 6,500-word missive on the future of AI, and the problem with his idea that giving AI to everyone will fix everything. After that, it's time for Claude watermarks, Spotify AI personas, Brendan Carr, Flock, and much more.

Further reading:

⁠This is Instagram’s new logo | The Verge⁠

⁠The Pepsi Universe PDF

⁠The Future is for Everyone⁠

⁠Four takeaways from Mark Zuckerberg’s massive AI manifesto ⁠

⁠Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t understand how to live ⁠

⁠https://www.meta.com/design-at-meta/blog/⁠

⁠Claude will apply invisible watermarks to AI text and images ⁠

⁠‘If it was opt-in, nobody would opt in.’ ⁠

⁠Spotify says it won’t recommend music from ‘AI Personas’ ⁠

⁠Apple could help you prove your iPhone photos aren’t deepfakes | The Verge⁠

⁠Guitar company D’Addario admits that AI music was used in a promotional video | The Verge⁠

⁠Fender’s CEO seems to think your bandmates are just analog AI | The Verge⁠

⁠Suno Unveils Download Song Caps for Free, Paid Tiers⁠

⁠Brendan Carr is one firing away from an unchecked FCC⁠

⁠YouTube is making it harder to earn money on YouTube ⁠

⁠Flock CEO: ‘We got this one wrong’ ⁠

⁠The first rival Android app store just arrived in the US Play Store ⁠

⁠ChatGPT and Gemini both just passed 1 billion users ⁠

⁠The sub-$100 phone market is disappearing. ⁠

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0:00 Welcome and Parental Leave Announcement

00:43 Instagram Redesigns Their Logo 

01:04 Why Companies Change Logos

03:37 Meta Design Blog Quotes

07:22 The 2008 Pepsi Universe Presentation

09:41 Blanding 

10:37 Zuck’s AI Manifesto 

13:29 Collective Action Problems

18:49 Superintelligence for All

20:57 Cybersecurity and AI Risks

22:22 China Chips and Distillation

27:48 Write the Law Challenge

32:30 Claude Text Watermarking

35:33 How The Watermark Works

39:34 Limits And Evasion Risks

41:54 Apple Marks Real Photos

46:03 Provenance Standards Fail

46:58 AI Music Backlash

49:39 Fender CEO AI Scandal

53:08 Where AI Fits In Music

59:13 Twitch Opt Out Training

01:01:35 The Lightning Round

01:02:55 Brendan Carr is a Dummy

01:04:55 Bans Don’t Work

01:05:56 Made in America Assembly

01:10:19 Gemini Claims a Billion Users

01:15:40 YouTube Partner Paywall

01:20:56 RAMageddon Cheap Phones

01:23:52 Flock Camera Backlash

01:27:19 Goodbyes and Plugs
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Is it time to fire the neighbor kid and hire a robot lawnmower instead? Last year I wrote that “in all but a few scenarios, robot lawnmowers still aren’t worth your money,” but there’s a new class of Roombas with razor blades ready to tackle bumpy terrain and dodge crazy chickens. Realtor and smart home reviewer Brandon Doyle joins me to talk about our experiences with 2026’s newest robotic mowers and to let you know if they're finally worth all that money.

Further reading:

It looks like Apple’s iPhone 18 really will skip the fall launch this year

Flock CEO: ‘We got this one wrong’

Cats and dogs are missing meals after a popular smart feeder went down

I finally found a robot lawnmower I’d trust with my yard

I put four robot lawnmowers through a brutal backyard battle — and only one person got injured

A hacker ran me over with a robot lawn mower

The US government just banned Roombas

5 Robot Mowers, 90 Days, 1 Winner — My 2026 Picks (and One to Avoid)

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Google just showed off its next generation of hardware, including the Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro, Pixel 11 Pro XL, and Pixel11 Pro Fold. (Whew, those names.) There's also the new Pixel Watch 5, the Pixel Tag, and a bunch of really interesting new ideas about smartphone cameras, GPS, and wellness. David Pierce, Nilay Patel, and Victoria Song went live to talk about the state of Google's hardware, and whether there's anything worth upgrading for this year. 

Further reading:

The 7 biggest announcements of Google’s Pixel 11 launch

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Before Alexa and Siri, there was ELIZA. The first chatbot ever was the creation of a man named Joseph Weizenbaum, who built the bot almost as a magic trick — and then couldn't believe how many people fell for it. David Berry and Mark Marino, two members of a team dedicated to restoring and understanding ELIZA, explain how Weizenbaum created the virtual conversant, why he came to regret it, and what ELIZA can teach us about life in the AI age.

Further reading:

Why your Amazon order confirmation emails have become so unhelpful

David Ellison’s ready to pull Paramount out of California

What to expect from Google’s 2026 Pixel hardware launch event

The ELIZA Archaeology Project

Inventing ELIZA: How the First Chatbot Shaped the Future of AI

From Eliza to ChatGPT: the 60-year history of chatbots

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We've spent the last month vibe coding our own corners of the internet. The Verge's Jake Kastrenakes and Hayden Field join David to talk about their use of Gemini, Codex, and Claude Code to build 90s-themed personal websites, vegetable-sharing systems, and photo boards. It wasn't always easy, and we didn't get everything done, but with a little AI and a lot of prompting, we made it work.

Further reading:

Four takeaways from Mark Zuckerberg’s massive AI manifesto | The Verge

The first rival Android app store just arrived in the US Play Store | The Verge

Space mirrors could ruin astronomy — and your eyes | The Verge

Claude has been having a moment — can it keep it up? | The Verge

The vibe-coding AI future is both exciting and terrifying | The Verge

Welcome to the personal software revolution | The Verge

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Google underwent a big AI shakeup this week, leaving a lot of people wondering whether there are big problems on team Gemini. David and Nilay start the show by discussing what's next for Jeff Dean and Demis Hassabis, before diving into the ways in which Google and Reddit have become existentially, problematically dependent on one another. After that, we talk through Disney's plan to turn Disney Plus into an everything app, and all the reasons we think that's a terrible idea and a sign of big problems in the streaming biz. Finally, in the lightning round, Brendan Carr is still a dummy, Snapchat wants AI out of your feed, and BMW has a Spider-Man to sell you.

Further reading:

The messy politics behind Google’s big AI shakeup | The Verge

Google just announced a major shakeup of its top AI leadership

Google Assistant will disappear from your phone next month

Can Reddit fend off a new wave of AI SEO spam?

Reddit is introducing a new moderator: AI 

Reddit says it plans to “make changes” to old Reddit

Bluesky CEO Toni Schneider wants to grow the platform and the protocol 

Disney says it’s ‘exploring’ adding a free tier to Disney Plus 

Disney gives TikTok creators official access to Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar characters

Despite Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s success, the MCU is on shaky ground 

Disney Plus is about to go beyond streaming

Paramount and WBD’s antitrust trial is set for March 2027

David Ellison promises he’s not going to ruin CNN.

Almost half of HBO Max subscribers watch with ads. | The Verge

Federal Communications Commission scraps limit on broadcast TV ownership

SpaceX is barely Space and mostly X 

SpaceX is coming for T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon 

BMW’s in-car Spider-Man ad is villain behavior 

X product chief Nikita Bier is leaving after one year | The Verge

Snapchat will no longer recommend ‘wholly AI-generated videos’ in its vertical video feed

Snap reports 971 million monthly active users ahead of its Specs launch event on September 16th

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0:00 Cold Open01:05 Google AI Shakeup Explained03:24 Gemini Product Mess05:29 Demis Hassabis and the AGI Split14:06 Is Google Actually Behind?15:29 AI Overviews Fail Parade18:12 Gemini Users and Distribution20:55 Google Plus Warning Signs24:14 Reddit as Search Lifeline27:35 AI Slop and Dead Internet29:32 Google Buys Reddit Theory33:51 Reddit Earnings Reality Check35:40 Smoking Community Vibes38:20 Disney Everything App44:25 Time Spent Arms Race47:39 Free Tier and Ads52:08 Paramount Warner Deal Drama01:00:23 Brendan Carr is a Dummy01:11:51 Nikita Bier Leaves X01:13:53 SpaceX Telecom Dreams01:20:15 Snapchat Versus AI Slop01:25:26 BMW In Car Ads01:31:19 Wrap And Subscribe
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Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is the first feature film ever shot entirely with IMAX 70mm film cameras, which is apparently a very big deal, and why it's been harder than usual to get a ticket to see Matt Damon. And now that Spider-Man is moving onto IMAX screens, it may be even harder to get a ticket. Why is this 60-year-old technology suddenly the hottest thing in movies? The Verge's film and TV reporter Charles Pulliam-Moore joins senior reviewer Jennifer Pattison Tuohy to compare the standard and IMAX versions of The Odyssey and talk us through the difference between IMAX, LieMAX, and Infinity Vision.

Further reading:

Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey will be the first movie shot entirely on IMAX film

Don’t screw this up, Marvel

The Odyssey turned me into an IMAX believer

Google just announced a major shakeup of its top AI leadership

Nintendo beats earnings thanks to US tariff refunds it won’t share with gamers

Bose’s upgraded QuietComfort headphones add head-tracking immersive audio

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.
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You have questions. We have (some) answers! For this week's hotline episode, Travis Larchuk asks David your questions about E Ink screens, federated messaging, minimalist phones, AI wearables, and what we got wrong about wide foldables. And don't forget, you can always call 866-VERGE11 or email [email protected] to get your questions in about anything and everything. Bonus points if it involves popping your two collars.

Further reading:

The Light Flip is a minimalist flip phone with a point to prove

‘Max Ink Mode’ is back on TCL’s NXTPaper 70 Pro

Daylight DC-1 tablet hands-on: an Android tablet with a new kind of screen

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 feels like the future

Disney says it’s ‘exploring’ adding a free tier to Disney Plus

Disney Plus is about to go beyond streaming.

Disney gives TikTok creators official access to Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar characters

SpaceX is coming for T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon | The Verge

Google Assistant will disappear from your phone next month

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.
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Everyone in AI is talking about open-weight models right now. Some see them as the ticket to faster, more efficient development; others see them as an economic threat; they're either a security risk or the only security solution, depending who you ask. The Verge's Robert Hart explains how open-weight models work, why they're suddenly at the center of discussions about AI safety, and whether the only way to stop a bad guy with AI is a good guy with AI.

Further reading:

The next Xbox could play every Xbox game ever made

Microsoft is bringing Xbox 360 games to PC

Apple briefly yanked Telegram from the App Store over CSAM violations

These trackable batteries could help you locate a missing camera

OpenAI’s rogue AI agent didn’t stop at hacking Hugging Face

We’re running out of reasons to ignore AI safety

Anthropic says Claude accidentally hacked real companies too

China’s Alibaba takes another swipe at America’s AI supremacy

OpenAI’s biggest threat may just be open AI

Nvidia, Microsoft launch open AI security alliance — without OpenAI, Google, or Anthropic

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.
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For the last few years, the trend in wearables has been all about screens. As many of them as possible. But now, companies like Whoop, Fitbit, and Garmin are creating new products that ditch the display entirely. The Verge's Victoria Song explains why no-screen is the new flex, why even the most quantified athletes might not want a display on their wrist, and whether Whoop and the Whoop Dupes are a sign of a broader trend

Further reading:

Spider-Man and The Odyssey are splitting up IMAX screens after a record-breaking weekend)

Truth Social’s priority access subscription goes live and raises corruption concerns. | The Verge

Google’s Pixel 11 specs and price leak showing the impact of RAMageddon | The Verge

Lenovo Googlebook leaks reveal a laptop and 2-in-1 tablet | The Verge

The Fitbit Air takes a smarter approach to the AI health dumpster fire

Garmin’s new screen-free fitness tracker doesn’t require a subscription

Whoop wants everyone to give a whoop about the new Whoop 5.0

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It's a big week for new ideas about computers, so David and Nilay spend some time on Samsung's vision for foldables and Mark Zuckerberg's vision for AI agents that do absolutely everything. Then they talk about the fallout from last week's OpenAI Hugging Face hack, and whether all this talk about AI safety will actually amount to anything. Finally, it's time for Brendan Carr is a Dummy, the vertical video takeover, and the smashing success of the Ferrari Luce.

Further reading:

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 feels like the future

Apple launches ‘Upgrade’ program to lease new devices 

What’s the catch with the Apple Upgrade program?

Mark Zuckerberg is planning a big push into personal AI agents

Mark Zuckerberg wrote an op-ed about AI for the WSJ. 

We’re running out of reasons to ignore AI safety

OpenAI reportedly didn’t notice its AI agent hacking Hugging Face until a week later. 

Nvidia, Microsoft launch open AI security alliance — without OpenAI, Google, or Anthropic

OpenAI’s rogue AI agent didn’t stop at hacking Hugging Face 

AI leaders sign a statement asking the government to do something about automated AI 

Former FCC chairs blast Carr’s early renewal of ABC licenses as an ‘assault on free speech.’

ABC demands FCC drop its ‘punitive’ early license renewal of its stations

Qualcomm is raising phone chip prices starting September 1st

The Ferrari Luce reportedly already hit its 2026 sales target 

Samsung’s smartphone biz posts first ever loss, but profit still soars 1,300 percent on RAM.

Facebook considers giving up and becoming TikTok 

YouTube Premium will include Peacock starting next year 

HBO Max is putting on vertical shorts 

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.

(Timestamps are approximate.)

00:00:00 Intro

00:03:00 Baby Announcement

00:06:00 Galaxy Z Fold

00:12:00 Apple Leasing Program

00:15:00 Kill Switch Concerns

00:19:00 Zuck Agent Future

00:34:00 AI Safety Week Recap

00:42:00 Regulation Versus China

00:49:00 Winning AI Race

00:53:00 Security Arms Race

00:57:00 Brendan Carr Is a Dummy

01:07:00 Facebook Becomes TikTok

01:12:00 Ramageddon Price Hikes

01:16:00 HBO Max Shorts

01:23:00 Ferrari Luce Buzz

01:26:00 Wrap Up and Plugs
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