
712 episodes

Decoder with Nilay Patel The Verge
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- Business
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4.1 • 2.8K Ratings
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Decoder is a show from The Verge about big ideas — and other problems. Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel talks to a diverse cast of innovators and policymakers at the frontiers of business and technology to reveal how they’re navigating an ever-changing landscape, what keeps them up at night, and what it all means for our shared future.
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IBM's Jerry Chow explains the next phase of quantum computing
IBM made some announcements this week about its plans for the next ten years of quantum computing: there are new chips, new computers, and new APIs. Quantum computers could in theory entirely revolutionize the way we think of computers… if, that is, someone can build one that’s actually useful.
Jerry Chow, director of quantum systems at IBM, explains to Decoder just how close the field is to actual utility.
Links:
What is a Qubit? | Microsoft Azure
IBM Quantum Summit 2023
The Wired Guide to Quantum Computing
IBM Makes Quantum Computing Available on IBM Cloud to Accelerate Innovation (2016)
Multiple Patterning - Semiconductor Engineering
IBM Quantum Roadmap (2023)
That viral LK-99 ‘superconductor’ isn’t a superconductor after all - The Verge
NIST to Standardize Encryption Algorithms That Can Resist Attack by Quantum Computers
Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/23752312
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. Our Editorial Director is Brooke Minters and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.
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Wix CEO Avishai Abrahami isn’t worried AI will kill the web
Today I’m talking with Avishai Abrahami, the CEO of Wix. You might know Wix as a website builder. It’s a competitor to WordPress and Squarespace. Tons of sites across the web run on Wix. But the web is changing rapidly, and Wix’s business today is less about web publishing, and more about providing software to help business owners run their entire companies. It’s fascinating, and Avishai has built a fascinating structure inside of Wix to make all that happen.
Wix is also an Israeli company. Avishai joined from the company’s headquarters in Tel Aviv. And I’ll just tell you right up front that we talked about Israel’s war with Hamas and its impact on the company. And that this conversation was not always comfortable. But the main theme of our conversation was, of course, the future of the web, especially a web that seems destined to be overrun by cheap AI-generated SEO spam.
Links:
Doom runs on Excel
Wix will let you build an entire website using only AI prompts
Wix.com Launches Wix ADI and Delivers the Future of website creation
YouTube is going to start cracking down on AI clones of musicians
The people who ruined the internet
The restaurant nearest Google
OpenAI can’t tell if something was written by AI after all
AI is killing the old web, and the new web struggles to be born
Squarespace CEO Anthony Casalena on why anyone makes a website in 2023
What will changing Section 230 mean for the internet?
Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/23742026
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and is part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Today’s episode was produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt. It was edited by Callie Wright.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.
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Chaos at OpenAI: What happened to Sam Altman, and what's next
What actually happened at OpenAI in the last three days? Decoder host and Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel talks with Verge editors Alex Heath and David Pierce to break it down and try to work out what's next.
Further reading:
Sam Altman fired as CEO of OpenAI
OpenAI’s new CEO is Twitch co-founder Emmett Shear
OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO
Emmett Shear named new CEO of OpenAI by board
Microsoft hires former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman
Hundreds of OpenAI employees threaten to resign and join Microsoft
Sam Altman is still trying to return as OpenAI CEO
We’re doing a survey on how people use The Verge (and what they’d want from a Verge subscription). If you’re interested in helping us out, you can fill out the survey right here: http://theverge.com/survey
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and is part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Today’s episode was produced by Liam James, Kate Cox, and Nick Statt. It was edited by Andru Marino.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Volvo CEO Jim Rowan thinks dropping CarPlay is a mistake
Today, I’m talking to Jim Rowan, the CEO of Volvo Cars. Now, Jim’s only been at Volvo for a short time. He took over in 2022 after a decades-long career in the consumer electronics industry. Before Volvo, his two longest stints were at BlackBerry, whose QNX software is used in tons of cars, and then at Dyson, which once tried and failed to make an electric car. Jim and I talked a lot about how that unique experience has influenced how he thinks about the transformational changes happening in the world of cars.
For Volvo, the stakes are high. The company has pledged to be all-electric by the end of the decade, and Jim is also making some very different bets on software and revenue than the rest of the car industry. Jim’s view is that automakers are undergoing three major shifts all at once: electrification, autonomy, and direct-to-consumer sales. With Volvo, Jim is trying to steer the ship through these changes and come out an EV-only carmaker on the other end.
Links:
Volvo plans to sell only electric cars by 2030
Volvo’s EX90 is a powerful computer that also happens to be an impeccably designed EV
Can Polestar design a new kind of car company?
The EV transition trips over its own cord
Volvo’s upcoming EVs join the Tesla Supercharger bandwagon
Future Volvo cars to run on Volvo operating system
Audi and Volvo will use Android as the operating system in upcoming cars
Volvo’s first EV will run native Android
The rest of the auto industry still loves CarPlay and Android Auto
The future of cars is a subscription nightmare
Everybody hates GM’s decision to kill Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for its EVs
Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/23722862
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and is part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Today’s episode was produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt. It was edited by Callie Wright.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Barack Obama on AI, free speech, and the future of the internet
We’ve got a good one today. I’m talking to former President Barack Obama about AI, social networks, and how to think about democracy as both of those things collide.
I sat down with Obama last week at his offices in Washington, DC, just hours after President Joe Biden signed a sweeping executive order about AI. You’ll hear Obama say he’s been talking to the Biden administration and leaders across the tech industry about AI and how best to regulate it. My idea here was to talk to Obama the constitutional law professor more than Obama the politician. So this one got wonky fast.
You’ll also hear him say that he joined our show because he wanted to reach you, the Decoder audience, and get you all thinking about these problems. One of Obama’s worries is that the government needs insight and expertise to properly regulate AI, and you’ll hear him make a pitch for why people with that expertise should take a tour of duty in the government to make sure we get these things right.
Links:
Biden releases AI executive order directing agencies to develop safety guidelines
Clarence Thomas really wants Congress to regulate Twitter moderation
Google CEO Sundar Pichai compares impact of AI to electricity and fire
Sam Altman sells superintelligent sunshine as protestors call for AGI pause
The Skokie case: How I came to represent the free speech rights of Nazis
Disinformation is a threat to our democracy
World leaders are gathering at the U.K.'s AI Summit. Doom is on the agenda.
George R.R. Martin and other authors sue OpenAI for copyright infringement
A conversation with Bing’s chatbot left me deeply unsettled
Introducing the AI Mirror Test, which very smart people keep failing
Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/23712912
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and is part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Today’s episode was produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt. It was edited by Callie Wright.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
AI is on a collision course with the music industry. Reservoir's Golnar Khosrowshahi thinks there’s a way through it
Today I'm talking with Golnar Khosrowshahi, the founder and CEO of Reservoir Media, a newer record label that I think looks a lot like the future of the music industry. As Golnar explains, Reservoir thinks of individual songs as assets, and after acquiring them, the company sets about monetizing those assets in various ways. This is a copyright-based business in an age where copyright is under a lot of pressure — from TikTok, generative AI, and all of the now-familiar threats to the music business.
If you're a Decoder listener, you know that I love thinking about the music industry. Whatever technology does to music, it does to everything else five years later. So paying attention to music is the best way I know to get ahead of the curve. I also just love music. Golnar is herself a musician. She obviously cares about music a lot, and she's clearly given a lot of thought to what happens next. So this was a great conversation.
Links:
Drake’s AI clone is here — and Drake might not be able to stop him
Hipgnosis made mega deals for song catalogs. Its future Is unclear.
Reservoir acquires iconic Tommy Boy Music for $100 million
Ed Sheeran wins copyright case over Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’
Spotify is reportedly making major changes to its royalty model
Hipgnosis shareholders vote against continuation of UK-listed music investment trust
AI can actually help protect creativity and copyrights
Google and YouTube are trying to have it both ways with AI and copyright
No Fakes Act wants to protect actors and singers from unauthorized AI replicas
‘Glocalisation’ of music streaming within and across Europe
Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/23702539
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and is part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Today’s episode was produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt. It was edited by Callie Wright.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Customer Reviews
New Listener
Really enjoy my early listening experiences. Lots of useful information and an impressive choice of questions. Well done!
Excellent journalism
I’ve been a Vergecast listener for years (miss you, Dieter), so I finally decided to crack into Decoder. Nilay walks the fine line of letting CEOs say their piece while asking tough questions flawlessly. I love his ability to think about implications for users in regards to tech business choices (and tech in general) and ask CEOs about their opinion. His expertise of many years in tech journalism shines through this podcast. Thanks so much for your dedication, Nilay.
Bonus: Get a drinking game going for when his interviewees say “I’m not sure I have a good answer for that.” You won’t be disappointed.
I tried… I really tried
I’ve been listening for 4 or 5 months and I’ve really tried to enjoy it but the presentation style and cadence just doesn’t do it for me.
Gives me the feeling of talking to what I thought was an energetic and outgoing college student who is now on day 3 of their ADHD prescription running out. Good knowledge of the industry (despite having some cringy and disconnected VC type takes), but the juice just hasn’t been worth the squeeze for me. YMMV