The Vergecast

We start with some important business: Nilay has a flight to catch, and is very worried he won't catch it. Also, it's Apple's 50th anniversary next week, and we're going to spend the week debating which Apple products are the best Apple products. (Head to the ad-free Vergecast feed to hear our selection show!) But mostly, this episode is about social media. In two key trials this week, juries found social platforms liable not for the content they display but for the actual structure and features of the platform. That could change the way social media companies act, and how users fight back. After that, it's time for the silliness of the router ban, the latest in the chatbot wars, and an update on what's happening with Grammarly's Expert Voices feature.

Further reading:

Rank your top 50 Apple products

Verge subscribers, here’s how to set up ad-free podcasts 

The TSA is broken — is privatization next? 

What is ICE actually doing at American airports? 

Meta misled users about its products’ safety, jury decides 

Meta and YouTube found negligent in landmark social media addiction case 

Social media on trial: tech giants face lawsuits over addiction, safety, and mental health

What it was like to watch grieving parents stare down Mark Zuckerberg in court 

A bombshell child safety leak changed Meta — for the worse 

Internal chats show how social media companies discussed teen engagement 

2026 is the year of social media’s legal reckoning 

The US government just banned consumer routers made outside the US 

The United States router ban, explained

FCC green-lights Nexstar's $6.2B merger with rival TV station owner Tegna

Cox Communications not liable for pirated music, Supreme Court rules 

Confronting the CEO of the AI company that impersonated me 

North Carolina man pleads guilty to AI music streaming fraud. 

Apple is testing a standalone app for its overhauled Siri 

OpenAI is planning a desktop ‘superapp’ 

This is Microsoft’s plan to fix Windows 11 

OpenAI just gave up on Sora and its billion-dollar Disney deal

The age of piracy ended with LimeWire | Version History

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David is bored with his iPhone. Over the last few months, he has been testing every other phone he could get his hands on, from the Pixel to the Razr to the Unihertz Titan. And at the end of it all... David bought another iPhone. The Verge's Allison Johnson joins the show to recount some of her own phone-testing experiences, to litigate the quality of foldable and flippable phones, to debate Android vs. iOS, and ultimately to help David decide whether he actually bought the right phone. After all that, David answers a question on the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email [email protected]!) about whether AI can help us figure out how to use our devices better. Or maybe just use them for us. Devices are too complicated.

Further reading:

Motorola Razr Ultra (2025) review: looking sharp

Google Pixel 10 review: perfectly fine

Apple iPhone 17 review: the one to get

The iPhone Air makes a strong statement

Why flip phones should be the future of smartphones

Who needs a laptop when you have a folding phone?

Gemini’s task automation is here and it’s wild

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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David and Nilay start the show by exploring the increasing disconnect between the people who make AI products, and the people who keep saying they don't want them. (Or, at least, don't want to pay for them.) The AI industry is starting to retrench to a business-first approach, because there's simply no killer app for it yet. Speaking of no killer apps! Allison Johnson then joins the show to talk about the shockingly short life of the Samsung TriFold, and her bizarre journey to try and review the now-dead foldable. Finally, in the lightning round, it's time for Brendan Carr is a Dummy, the fate of the metaverse, and some important internet debunking.

Further reading:

⁠OpenAI cuts back on “side quests.” ⁠

⁠OpenAI’s adult mode will reportedly be smutty, not pornographic ⁠

NYMag: ⁠Should You Be Able to Have Sex With ChatGPT?⁠

⁠I think VCs are starting to panic about the lack of *broad* consumer | TikTok⁠

⁠For the second time this week we have VCs vocalizing their frustration | TikTok⁠

⁠Poll: Majority of voters say risks of AI outweigh the benefits⁠

⁠How Americans View AI and Its Impact on Human Abilities, Society | Pew Research Center⁠

⁠Samsung discontinues its Galaxy Z TriFold after just three months ⁠

⁠Oppo’s nearly creaseless foldable isn’t launching in Europe after all ⁠

From last year: ⁠Just look at Huawei’s trifold phone⁠

⁠This is not a fly uploaded to a computer⁠

⁠ChatGPT did not cure a dog’s cancer⁠

⁠Meta is actually keeping its VR metaverse running, for now⁠

⁠Nvidia just announced DLSS 5 and Digital Foundry already has a video. ⁠

⁠Jensen Huang, on the critical reaction to DLSS 5: “Well, first of all, they’re completely wrong.”⁠

⁠DLSS 5 looks like a real-time generative AI filter for video games ⁠

⁠Nvidia has lost the plot with gamers ⁠

We're hiring a new podcast producer. Come work with us!

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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A new era of software development is upon us. Career coders are no longer writing code, but rather managing teams of agents that do the work on their behalf. You can Claude Code your way through seemingly just about any problem. So what does that mean for the software we use, and the people who make it? Paul Ford, a writer and technologist who both writes about code and manages a team of coders, joins the show to explain his somewhat conflicted excitement about the new crop of AI tools, and his worries about what they’ll do to the world. After that, The Verge’s Dominic Preston helps answer a question from the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email ⁠[email protected]⁠!) about the differences between the US phone market and the global phone market, and whether US buyers are missing anything important.

Further reading:

⁠The A.I. Disruption Has Arrived, and It Sure Is Fun⁠

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

⁠How the creator of Claude Code sees the future of AI⁠

⁠Ftrain⁠

From Bloomberg: ⁠What Is Code?⁠

⁠Xiaomi, unlike Google and Samsung, thinks camera hardware comes first⁠

⁠Oppo’s new foldable isn’t quite creaseless, but it’s pretty damn close⁠

⁠Honor’s Robot Phone is a bad robot, interesting camera, maybe a friend⁠

⁠Vivo and Oppo’s telephoto extender comes to iPhone⁠

⁠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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David and Nilay bought new computers this week, as the MacBook Neo turned out to be a surprisingly great cheap Apple laptop. The hosts discuss their experiences with the machines, from the processor to the keyboard to the mess that is MacOS Tahoe. After that, they talk about the future of Xbox, Project Helix, and what it might mean for every gaming PC to become an Xbox... and for the Xbox to become a gaming PC. Finally, in the lightning round, it's time for Brendan Carr is a Dummy, the latest on Paramount and Warner Bros, Grammarly's sloppelgangers, and more.

Further reading:

MacBook Neo review: the Mac for the masses 

 Asus chief says Macbook Neo's affordable pricing came as a shock to the entire PC market — compares $599 notebook to a tablet and content-consumption device

The MacBook Neo is surprisingly easy to disassemble and repair.

From 2007: Ballmer Laughs at iPhone

Apple Studio Display XDR review: a great, but expensive, pro option

The iPhone 17E is good, but you probably shouldn’t buy it 

iPad Air review 2026: the M4 and other chip bumps make a difference 

Apple is going high-end with new ‘Ultra’ products next 

iPhone Fold rumor: iPad-like multitasking, but no iPad apps and no Face ID 

Microsoft’s next Xbox, Project Helix, won’t reach alpha until 2027 

Microsoft’s ‘Xbox mode’ is coming to every Windows 11 PC 

Microsoft says you should build next-gen Xbox games by building them for PC. 

FCC chair blasts Amazon after it criticizes SpaceX megaconstellation

Brendan Carr on X

FCC chief tells CNBC WBD-Paramount merger deal is ‘cleaner’ than Netflix’s, will be approved ‘quickly’

Grammarly is using our identities without permission 

Grammarly is turning off the expert review AI feature that stole our identities 

Grammarly will keep using authors’ identities without permission unless they opt out 

The Live Nation settlement has industry insiders baffled

Samsung Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus review: This again 

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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