The Vergecast

Latest Episodes:

MacBook Neo, iPhone 17e, and iPad Air: The Vergecast Livestream Mar 04, 2026

Show notes

Apple released a bunch of new iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Studio Displays this week. The Verge’s Nilay Patel and David Pierce tried them all this morning, and are back to share their thoughts live.

Further reading:

All the news about Apple’s MacBook Neo, iPhone 17E, and more

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 vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11.

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The 6G, modular, robot phones of the future Mar 03, 2026

Show notes

Most mainstream phone options are kind of the same, year in and year out — but that doesn’t mean there’s no innovation to be found. The Verge’s Allison Johnson is at Mobile World Congress, and joins the show to report on all the modular phones, robot phones, small phones, big phones, and (alas) 6G phones set to hit the market this year. After that, The Verge’s Jess Weatherbed explains the phenomenon of the gadget strap, and makes the case that they’re an increasingly useful accessory as our phones become even more important to our daily lives. (Yes, even if you have pockets.) Finally, The Verge’s Jay Peters helps David answer a question from the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email vergecast@theverge.com!) about whether the metaverse, however you want to define it, is ever going to be realized.

Further reading:

Oh great, here comes 6G

Honor claims its Robot Phone will launch later this year

Lenovo made a Franken-laptop with modular ports and a second screen

Vivo’s next phone will launch with a professional camera rig

Tecno’s latest concept phone is lit by neon

Honor’s Magic V6 is the first foldable with an IP69 rating

The Motorola Razr Fold is shaping up to be pure flagship

Xiaomi’s super-slim power bank costs extra in orange.

Honor’s thinnest tablet doesn’t come cheap.

Peak Design has wearable gadget straps for people who hate bags

Apple’s misunderstood crossbody iPhone strap might be the best I’ve seen

Meta confirms Reality Labs layoffs and shifts to invest more in wearables

Meta’s VR metaverse is ditching VR

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The Galaxy S26 is a photography nightmare Feb 27, 2026

Show notes

Samsung just launched its newest phones, the Galaxy S26 lineup, and wow is it full of Vergecast stories. There’s the very cool new Privacy Display, which seems genuinely useful; there’s the AI-powered camera, which seems like a disaster waiting to happen; and there’s the new agentic AI in Android, which Google and Samsung might be positioned to actually pull off. After talking through all the new stuff, Nilay and David discuss the recent executive shakeup at Xbox, and try to figure out why Microsoft just can’t win in games. Finally, in the lightning round, it’s time for Brendan Carr is a dummy, some truly remarkable charts, and much more.

Further reading:

⁠Samsung Unpacked 2026: live updates from the Galaxy S26 ⁠⁠announcement event ⁠

⁠Samsung Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Plus hands-on: More of the same ⁠

⁠Samsung AI photos⁠

⁠Google Gemini can book an Uber or order food for you with new agentic AI features ⁠⁠Google and Samsung just launched the AI features Apple couldn’t with Siri⁠

⁠I’m super impressed with the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s new Privacy Display ⁠

⁠Samsung announces Galaxy Buds 4 and Buds 4 Pro at Unpacked 2026⁠

⁠Xbox shakeup: Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond are leaving Microsoft ⁠

⁠Xbox chief Phil Spencer is leaving Microsoft ⁠

⁠Read Xbox chief Phil Spencer’s memo about leaving Microsoft ⁠

⁠Sarah Bond is leaving Xbox ⁠

⁠Read Xbox president Sarah Bond’s memo about leaving Microsoft. ⁠

⁠Inside Microsoft’s big Xbox leadership shake-up ⁠

⁠Read Microsoft gaming CEO Asha Sharma’s first memo on the future of Xbox ⁠

⁠New Microsoft gaming CEO Asha Sharma says “hear you” to complaints about a lack of Xbox exclusives.⁠

⁠New Xbox CEO: ‘The plan’s the plan until it’s not the plan.’ ⁠

⁠Microsoft says today’s Xbox shake-up doesn’t mean game studio layoffs ⁠

⁠Billions of dollars later and still nobody knows what an Xbox is ⁠

⁠Chairman Carr Announces Pledge America Campaign⁠

⁠Does Anthropic think Claude is alive? Define ‘alive’⁠

⁠Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas AI Scenarios chart⁠

⁠Youtube Chair Drama⁠

⁠OpenAI’s Stargate struggles. ⁠

⁠OpenAI’s first ChatGPT gadget could be a smart speaker with a camera ⁠

⁠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 ⁠vergecast@theverge.com⁠ or call us at 866-VERGE11.

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How Claude Code Claude Codes Feb 24, 2026

Show notes

Few AI products have found the kind of product-market fit we’ve seen from Claude Code. On the eve of the product’s first anniversary, Anthropic’s Boris Cherny explains why Claude Code is so powerful, all the work left to do, and why he no longer writes any code himself. After that, The Verge’s Hayden Field joins the show to talk about how we should think about giving our data (and our computers) to AI, even when it seems useful. Finally, The Verge’s Allison Johnson helps David answer a question from the Vergecast Hotline (866-VERGE11) about whether you should go buy a phone, like, right now.

Further reading:

Claude Code is suddenly everywhere inside Microsoft

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

The AI security nightmare is here and it looks suspiciously like lobster

OpenClaw’s AI ‘skill’ extensions are a security nightmare

Humans are infiltrating the social network for AI bots

Anthropic connects Claude to Microsoft Teams, Outlook, and OneDrive

MCP extension unites Claude with apps like Slack, Canva, and Figma

The RAM shortage is coming for everything you care about

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The speech police came for Colbert Feb 19, 2026

Show notes

Once again, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and his bad ideas about free speech have rankled a late night host. And once again, Nilay and David talk through what the equal-time rule actually means, why organizations keep caving, and why it's apparently up to people like Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel to fight back. After that, the hosts discuss the facial recognition feature Meta hopes to launch for its smart glasses, plus the gadgets we're likely to see Apple launch in the couple of weeks. In the lightning round, we get some bleak news on Tesla's self-driving skills, a robovac security disaster, and the future of Warner Bros.

Further reading:

Why CBS Didn't Broadcast Stephen Colbert's Interview With James Talarico

Stephen Colbert says CBS banned him from airing this James Talarico interview

Why Everyone's Talking About Stephen Colbert, CBS, The FCC And James Talarico

Meta reportedly wants to add face recognition to smart glasses while privacy advocates are distracted

From the NYT: Meta Plans to Add Facial Recognition Technology to Its Smart Glasses

Apple’s doing something on March 4th

Apple is reportedly planning to launch AI-powered glasses, a pendant, and AirPods

Apple starts testing end-to-end encrypted RCS messages on iPhone

Apple’s Podcasts app will let you ‘seamlessly’ switch between audio and video shows

Looks like we can expect more AI from the Galaxy S26 camera. | The Verge

Google announces dates for I/O 2026

Western Digital says it’s “pretty much soldout” for 2026.

Valve’s Steam Deck OLED will be ‘intermittently’ out of stock because of the RAM crisis

Switch 2 pricing and next PlayStation release could be impacted by memory shortage

Tesla’s robotaxis have crashed 14 times in 9 months.

Tesla won’t use the term ‘Autopilot’ in California anymore

Why are Epstein’s emails full of equals signs?

4chan’s creator says ‘Epstein had nothing to do’ with creating infamous far-right board /pol/

DJI’s first robovac is an autonomous cleaning drone you can’t trust

The DJI Romo robovac had security so poor, this man remotely accessed thousands of them

DJI says yes, it will fix its other Romo robovac security hole within weeks

Samsung ad confirms rumors of a useful S26 ‘privacy display’

Warner Bros. Discovery gives Paramount one week to present its ‘best and final’ offer

WordPress’ new AI assistant will let users edit their sites with prompts

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Your next laptop could be a foldable phone Feb 17, 2026

Show notes

The Verge's Allison Johnson has recently been doing the unthinkable: she's been leaving her laptop at home. Allison joins the show to explain how she turned her Samsung foldable into a useful computer, and why it feels so good to do so. Then, Sportico's Jacob Feldman joins the show to talk about the Winter Olympics, the Super Bowl, and the overall state of sports streaming in 2026. (Unfortunately, it's all still very complicated.) Finally, David answers a question on the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email vergecast@theverge.com!) about whether flip phones might have a future in an AI world.

Further reading:

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 review: stunning, bendy, and spendy

Motorola Razr Ultra (2025) review: looking sharp

Logitech’s Keys-To-Go 2

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Ring's adorable surveillance hellscape Feb 13, 2026

Show notes

Did you see Ring's Super Bowl ad and see happy puppies reunited with their owners? Or did you see the seeds of a complete, always-on surveillance nightmare coming for us all? David and Nilay discuss which is the right answer, why so many people don't want to trust tech companies, and why Ring might not care much about the difference. After that, the hosts discuss the ads coming to ChatGPT, the surprising number of AI executives quitting their jobs and issuing dire warnings on the way out, and the fake ad for OpenAI gadgets. In the lightning round, it's time for an extra long Brendan Carr is a Dummy, the latest Ferrari EV, the future of Siri, and more.

Further reading:

Jeffrey Epstein’s digital cleanup crew

Jeffrey Epstein might not have created /pol/, but he helped carry out its mission

Amazon Ring’s lost dog ad sparks backlash amid fears of mass surveillance

Wyze is sticking it to Ring

Sen. Markey calls on Amazon to “discontinue” Ring monitoring features

Ring’s new Search Party feature is on by default; should you opt out?

Ring launches upgraded cameras with Retinal Vision 4K recording

What the Guthrie case reveals about your ‘deleted’ doorbell footage

FBI releases recovered footage from Nancy Guthrie’s Nest cam

OpenAI’s first hardware slips to 2027

OpenAI’s supposedly ‘leaked’ Super Bowl ad with ear buds and a shiny orb was a hoax

Two more xAI co-founders are among those leaving after the SpaceX merger

OpenAI reportedly disbanded its Mission Alignment team

OpenAI fired exec who opposed ‘adult mode’

Read an Anthropic AI safety lead's exit letter: 'The world is in peril'

Opinion | I Left My Job at OpenAI. Putting Ads on ChatGPT Was the Last Straw.

What Is Claude? Anthropic Doesn’t Know, Either

ChatGPT’s cheapest options now show you ads

Here are the brands bringing ads to ChatGPT

Claude gets more free features to capitalize on ChatGPT ads

Ex-OpenAI researcher has “deep reservations” about its approach to ads

Brendan Carr is a Dummy theme submitted by Michiel Vanhoudt on BlueSky

FTC says it’s ‘not the speech police’ in letter warning Apple News about its alleged promotion of left-leaning outlets

Ferrari’s first EV will have an interior designed by Jony Ive

Here’s what the Ferrari Luce’s buttons, switches, and knobs sound like.

The early reviews of the Rivian R2 are starting to roll in

Live Nation’s monopoly trial is reportedly fracturing Trump’s Justice Department

YouTube is coming to the Apple Vision Pro

Apple keeps hitting bumps with its overhauled Siri

The iPhone 17e could launch soon with MagSafe and an A19 chip

Apple might let you use ChatGPT from CarPlay

Paramount ups its offer for Warner Bros. Discovery, again

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Could the Trump Phone be a good phone? Feb 10, 2026

Show notes

The Trump Phone is real! Ish! The Verge’s Dom Preston has seen a T1 on a video call, that we can say for sure. Dom joins the show to explain what’s new about the phone, whether it has a chance to be a decent device, and why it’s taken so long for Trump Mobile to ship the thing. After that, The Verge’s Hayden Field explains the excitement around OpenClaw and Moltbook, and whether either one is a big moment for the AI industry. Finally, The Verge’s Andy Hawkins helps us answer a question on the Vergecast Hotline (866-VERGE11) about whether, and when, Tesla might get out of the car business altogether.

Further reading:

This is the Trump Phone⁠

⁠The Trump Phone no longer promises it’s made in America⁠

⁠600,000 Trump Mobile phones sold? There’s no proof.⁠

⁠OpenClaw: all the news about the trending AI agent ⁠

⁠OpenClaw’s AI ‘skill’ extensions are a security nightmare

⁠There’s a social network for AI agents, and it’s getting weird

⁠Humans are infiltrating the social network for AI bots

⁠Tesla discontinuing Model S and Model X to make room for robots⁠

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How Epstein became a tech influencer Feb 06, 2026

Show notes

A new tranche of Jeffrey Epstein’s emails makes one thing painfully clear: Epstein was a central figure in the lives of a lot of big names in tech, and had influence on a surprising number of companies and executives. David and Nilay talk through what we’ve learned from the new emails so far. Then they turn to Anthropic’s spicy new Super Bowl ads about... ads, which caused a big reaction from OpenAI (which is betting big on ads). They also discuss this week’s antitrust hearing about Netflix’s purchase of Warner Bros., the latest in Brendan Carr is a Dummy, Google Home’s big buttons upgrade, and much more.

Further reading:

Here's how Epstein broke the internet

Former Windows 8 boss recruited Epstein to help negotiate his messy Microsoft exit

Jeffrey Epstein arranged a meeting with Tim Cook for the former head of Windows

The Epstein files

Google co-founder Sergey Brin visited Epstein’s private island and traded emails with Ghislaine Maxwell.

It turns out Elon Musk didn’t exactly ‘refuse’ the invite to Jeffrey Epstein’s island.

Will Elon Musk’s emails with Jeffrey Epstein derail his very important year?

Bill Gates says accusations contained in Epstein files are ‘absolutely absurd'

Jeffrey Epstein was permanently banned from Xbox Live

‘We’ve basically funded an elite global pedophile ring since 2015.’

Anthropic says ‘Claude will remain ad-free,’ unlike an unnamed rival

Anthropic’s blog post: Claude is a space to think

Sam Altman responds to Anthropic’s ‘funny’ Super Bowl ads

OpenAI’s CMO on X

Nvidia CEO denies he’s ‘unhappy’ with OpenAI

Netflix lands in the middle of a culture war during Senate hearing

Everyone is stealing TV

Disney says Josh D’Amaro will replace Bob Iger as CEO

FCC aims to ensure “only living and lawful Americans” get Lifeline benefits

Elon Musk is merging SpaceX and xAI to build data centers in space — or so he says

Peloton’s gamble on expensive new hardware has yet to pay off

Google Home finally adds support for buttons

Raspberry Pi is raising prices again as memory shortages continue

Valve’s Steam Machine has been delayed, and the RAM crisis will impact pricing

Aluminium: Why Google’s Android for PC launch may be messy and controversial

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Millions of books died so Claude could live Feb 03, 2026

Show notes

AI companies want all the data, everywhere, to make their models bigger and better. That means a lot of questions about piracy and copyright, and at least in one case it means Anthropic systematically destroying countless books just to feed them to the model. The Washington Post's Will Oremus joins the show to explain how that worked, why Anthropic, Meta, OpenAI and others are doing it, and what the law has to say. Then, Puck's Julia Alexander helps David figure out whether Netflix is serious about showing movies in theaters, and what theaters need to do to survive in the entertainment business going forward.

Further reading: