Decoder with Nilay Patel

Latest Episodes:

Why the tech industry can’t crack the smart home May 09, 2024

Show notes

Today, we’re going to talk about the smart home — one of the oldest, most important, and most challenging dreams in the history of the tech industry. The idea of your house responding to you and your family, and generally being as automated and as smart as your phone or your laptop, has inspired generations of technologists. But after decades of promises, it’s all still pretty messy. Because the big problem with the smart home has been blindingly obvious for a very long time: interoperability.

Yet there are some promising developments out there that might make it a little better. To help sort it all out, I invited Verge smart home reviewer Jen Tuohy, who is one of the most influential reporters on the smart home beat today. Jen and I break down how Matter, the open source standard, is trying to fix these issues, but there is still a lot of work to do.

Links:

Matter is now racing ahead, but the platforms are holding it back — The Verge
2023 in the smart home: Matter’s broken promises — The Verge
Smart home hubs: what they are and why you need one — The Verge
My smart kitchen: the good, the bad, and the future — The Verge
How bad business broke the smart home — The Verge
The smart home is finally getting out of your phone and into your home — The Verge

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt and was edited by Callie Wright. Our supervising producer is Liam James.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath on life after Volvo and weathering the EV slowdown May 06, 2024

Show notes

Today, I’m talking with Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath, whom I first interviewed on the show back in 2021. Those were heady days — especially for upstart EV companies like Polestar, which all seemed poised to capture what felt like infinite demand for electric cars. Now, in 2024, the market looks a lot different, and so does Polestar, which is no longer majority-owned by Volvo. Instead, Volvo is now a more independent sister company, and both Volvo and Polestar fall under Chinese parent company Geely.

You know I love a structure shuffle, so Thomas and I really got into it: what does it mean for Volvo to have stepped back, and how much can Polestar take from Geely’s various platforms while still remaining distinct from the other brands in the portfolio? We also talked about the upcoming Polestar 3 SUV and Polestar 4 crossover, and I asked Thomas what he thinks of the Cybertruck.

Links:

Can Polestar design a new kind of car company? — Decoder
The Polestar 3 isn’t out yet, and it’s already getting a big price cut — The Verge
The Polestar 4 gets an official price ahead of its debut — The Verge
Polestar makes the rear window obsolete with its new crossover coupe — The Verge
Volvo and Polestar drift a little farther apart — The Verge
Polestar gets a nearly $1 billion lifeline — The Verge
Car-tech breakup fever is heating up — The Verge
Polestar is working on its own smartphone to sync with its EVs — The Verge
Polestar’s electric future looks high-performing, and promising — The Verge
Electric car maker Polestar to cut around 450 jobs globally — Reuters

Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/23912151

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Nick Statt and was edited by Callie Wright. Our supervising producer is Liam James.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Understanding the chaos at Tesla May 02, 2024

Show notes

Today, Verge transportation editor Andy Hawkins and I are going to try and figure out Tesla. I said try — I did not say succeed. But we’re going to try. That’s because Tesla has been on a real rollercoaster these past two weeks, in terms of its stock price, its basic financials, and well, its vibes.

If you’ve been following the company, you know that that gap between what the business is and how its valued has been getting bigger and bigger for years now – and lately, with Elon Musk saying he’s going all-in on autonomy and announcing a robotaxi event in August, it seems like we’re getting closer to a make or break moment, especially as competition in the broader EV market heats up.

Links:

Tesla reaches deals in China on self-driving cars — NYT
Elon Musk goes ‘absolutely hard core’ in another round of Tesla layoffs — The Verge
Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving linked to dozens of deaths — The Verge
Elon Musk says Tesla will reveal its robotaxi on August 8th — The Verge
A cheaper Tesla is back on the menu — The Verge
Tesla’s profits sink as the company struggles with cooling demand — The Verge
Tesla lays off ‘more than 10 percent’ of its workforce, loses top executives — The Verge
Tesla recalls all 3,878 Cybertrucks over faulty accelerator pedal — The Verge
Elon Musk says it’s “time to reorganize” Tesla — The Verge
Elon Musk lost Democrats on Tesla when he needed them most — WSJ

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt and was edited by Callie Wright. Our supervising producer is Liam James.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius explains why EVs are still the future — but Apple's next-gen CarPlay isn't Apr 29, 2024

Show notes

A lot has changed since the last time Ola was on Decoder. Back then, he said Mercedes would have an all-EV lineup by 2030 — a promise a whole lot of car companies, including Mercedes, have now had to soften or walk back. But he doesn't see that as a setback at all, and he and Mercedes are both still committed to phasing out gas in the long run.

We also spent some time talking about what's happening both on the outside of cars — Mercedes' classic look and its EV look aren't necessarily quite in the same place — and on the inside of them, as infotainment becomes a huge point of competition and design.

Links:

Transcript:

https://www.theverge.com/e/23904592

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt and was edited by Callie Wright.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why the TikTok ban won't solve the US's online privacy problems Apr 25, 2024

Show notes

Today, we’re talking about the brand-new TikTok ban — and how years of Congressional inaction on a federal privacy law helped lead us to this moment of apparent national panic about algorithmic social media.

This is a thorny discussion, and to help break it all down, I invited Verge senior policy reporter Lauren Feiner on the show. Lauren has been closely covering efforts to ban TikTok for years now, and she’s also watched Congress fail to pass meaningful privacy regulation for even longer. We’ll go over how we got here, what this means for both TikTok and efforts to pass new privacy legislation, and what might happen next.

Links:

Biden signs TikTok ‘ban’ bill into law — The Verge
TikTok ban: all the news on attempts to ban the video platform — The Verge
Anyone want to buy TikTok? — Vergecast
Congress takes on TikTok, privacy, and AI — Vergecast
Tiktok vows to fight 'unconstitutional' US ban — BBC
‘Thunder Run’: Behind lawmakers’ secretive push to pass the TikTok bill — NYT
On TikTok, resignation and frustration after potential ban of app — NYT
Lawmakers unveil new bipartisan digital privacy bill after years of impasse — The Verge
A real privacy law? House lawmakers are optimistic this time — The Verge
Congress is trying to stop discriminatory algorithms again — The Verge

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt and was edited by Callie Wright. Our supervising producer is Liam James.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Discord CEO Jason Citron makes the case for a smaller, more private internet Apr 22, 2024

Show notes

Today, I’m talking to Jason Citron, the co-founder and CEO of Discord, the gaming-focused voice and chat app. You might think Discord is just something Slack for gamers, but over time, it has become much more important than that. For a growing mix of mostly young, very online users steeped in gaming culture, fandom, and other niche communities, Discord is fast becoming the hub to their entire online lives. A lot of what we think of as internet culture is happening on Discord.

In many ways Discord represents a significant shift away from what we now consider traditional social platforms. As you’ll hear Jason describe it, Discord is a place where you talk and hangout with your friends over shared common interests, whether that’s video games, the AI bot Midjourney, or maybe your favorite anime series. It is a very different kind of interface for the internet, but that comes with serious challenges, especially around child safety and moderation.

Links:

Discord opens up to games and apps embedded in its chat app — The Verge
Discord is nuking Nintendo Switch emulator devs and their entire servers — The Verge
Inside Discord’s reform movement for banned users — The Verge
Discord ends deal talks with Microsoft — WSJ
Discord cuts 17% of workers in latest tech layoffs — NYT
Discord to start showing ads for gamers to boost revenue — WSJ
Discord says it intentionally does not encrypt user messages — CNN
How Discord became a social hub for young people — NYT
‘Problematic pockets’: How Discord became a home for extremists — WashPo
Discord CEO Jason Citron on AI, Midjourney — Bloomberg

Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/23898955

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Nick Statt and was edited by Callie Wright. Our supervising producer is Liam James.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Disney just fought off a shareholder revolt — but the clock’s still ticking Apr 18, 2024

Show notes

Today, we're talking about Disney, the massive activist investor revolt it just fought off, and what happens next in the world of streaming. Because what happens to Disney really tells us a lot about what's happening in the entire world of entertainment. Earlier this month, Disney survived an attempted board takeover from businessman Nelson Peltz. While investors ultimately sided with Disney and CEO Bob Iger, the boardroom showdown made something very clear: Disney needs to figure out streaming and get its creative direction back on track.

To help me figure all this out, I brought on my friend Julia Alexander, who is VP of Strategy at Parrot Analytics, a Puck News contributor, and most importantly, a former Verge reporter. She's a leading expert on all things Disney, and I always learn something important about the state of the entertainment business when I talk to her.

Links:

The Story of Disney+ — Puck News
Disney’s CEO drama explained, with Julia Alexander — Decoder
Is streaming just becoming cable again? Julia Alexander thinks so — Decoder
Disney Fends Off Activist Investor for Second Time in 2 Years — NYT
For Disney, streaming losses and TV’s decline are a one-two punch — NYT
Disney’s ABC, ESPN weakness adds pressure to make streaming profitable — WSJ
Disney reportedly wants to bring always-on channels to Disney Plus — The Verge
The Disney Plus-Hulu merger is way more than a streaming bundle — The Verge
Disney’s laying off 7,000 as streaming boom comes to an end — The Verge
The last few years really scared Disney — Screen Rant

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Nick Statt and was edited by Callie Wright. Our supervising producer is Liam James.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dropbox CEO Drew Houston wants you to embrace AI and remote work Apr 15, 2024

Show notes

At the absolute most basic, Dropbox is cloud storage for your stuff — but that puts it at the nexus of a huge number of today’s biggest challenges in tech. As the company that helps you organize your stuff in the cloud itself goes all remote, how do we even deal with the concept of “your stuff?”

Today I’m talking with Dropbox CEO Drew Houston about those big picture ideas — and why he thinks generative AI really will be transformative for everyone eventually, even if it isn’t yet now.

Links:

Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/23892647

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt and was edited by Callie Wright.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The rise and fall of Vice Media Apr 11, 2024

Show notes

Today we’re talking about Vice, the media company: Where it came from, what it did, and, ultimately, why it collapsed into a much smaller, sadder version of itself.

This is a lousy time for digital media, and it’s hard to make a profit from putting words on the internet right now. So when Verge senior reporter Liz Lopatto went to go report on what happened, she and I both assumed Vice had been done in by the brutal economics of digital advertising on the web. But the Vice story is more than that — in the word of one executive that talked to Liz, it was a “fucking clown show.”

Links:

How Vice became 'a fucking clown show' — The Verge
Vice is abandoning Vice.com and laying off hundreds — The Verge
Vice, decayed digital colossus, files for bankruptcy — NYT
Vice Is Basically Dead — New York Magazine
Shane Smith and the Final Collapse of Vice News — The Hollywood Reporter
At Vice, cutting-edge media and allegations of old-school sexual harassment — NYT
HBO cancels ‘Vice News Tonight,’ severing relationship with Vice Media — CNN
Shane Smith has a secret multimillion-dollar Vice deal — New York Magazine

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt and was edited by Callie Wright. Our supervising producer is Liam James.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince is the internet’s unlikely defender Apr 08, 2024

Show notes

Cloudflare is an infrastructure provider basically protecting more than 20% of the entire web from bad actors. When everything is going well, you don't even have to know it exists. It's one of the only defenses — sometimes the only defense — standing between websites and the people who want to take them down.

Protecting free speech on the internet around the world, across war zones and hundreds of different kinds of government, is no easy feat. That puts the company, and CEO Matthew Prince, right at the heart of some of Decoder's biggest challenges and themes.

Links: