The Vergecast Vox Media Podcast Network

The Verge's Nilay Patel, David Pierce, and Jake Kastrenakes discuss OpenAI's new SearchGPT product, Amazon's plan to launch a paid version of Alexa, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold review, and whole lot more.
Further reading:

OpenAI announces SearchGPT, its AI-powered search engine

Bing’s AI redesign shoves the usual list of search results to the side

Reddit is now blocking major search engines and AI bots — except the ones that pay

Google had a massive quarter thanks to Search and AI

Amazon’s paid Alexa is coming to fill a $25 billion hole dug by Echo devices

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is a great phone that’s out of ideas

Asus ROG Ally X review: the best Windows gaming handheld by a mile

Samsung Galaxy Ring review: keeping you in Samsung’s orbit

Apple’s first foldable iPhone could arrive in 2026

Apple Maps launches on the web to take on Google

The Disney Plus, Hulu, and Max streaming bundle is now available

Rivian CEO says CarPlay isn’t going to happen

The NBA’s new TV deals put a lot of games on Amazon’s Prime Video starting in 2025

Reddit’s NFL, NBA deals bring more sports highlights — and ads

Spotify CEO confirms a ‘deluxe’ version with hi-fi audio is coming soon

Sonos CEO apologizes for disastrous rollout of new app


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Today on the flagship podcast of configuration changes:
The Verge's Tom Warren joins the show to to talk about the story and legacy of the CrowdStrike crash. 

CrowdStrike and Microsoft: all the latest news on the global IT outage

Major Windows BSOD issue hits banks, airlines, and TV broadcasters

What is CrowdStrike, and what happened?

CrowdStrike’s faulty update crashed 8.5 million Windows devices, says Microsoft

CrowdStrike outage: Photos, videos, and tales of IT workers fixing BSODs


Then we talk with The Verge's Victoria Song and Zombies, Run creator Adrian Hon about making exercising fun without making it competitive and awful.

Zombies, Run

Adrian Hon’s Substack

Finally, the Apple Watch will let you rest

This walking app let me whack my co-workers with a baseball bat

Ignore your fitness tracker and walk to Mordor instead


Finally, we answer a hotline question about handheld gadgets for new parents — because there's a lot of time to kill when there's a baby around.

Backbone One review: the best mobile gaming controller yet

Handheld consoles are the future of gaming

Holedown


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On this episode of The Vergecast, senior producer Will Poor explores the AI-tinged worlds of Dries Depoorter. Depoorter has built all manner of quirky and provocative installations and online experiments. There’s a clock that tells you how much of your life you’ve already lived; a phone charger that only works when your eyes are closed; a mobile chat app that you can only use when your phone has less than 5% battery.
His most eyebrow-raising work, though, is around AI and surveillance. In his projects Depoorter takes publicly available webcam footage from around the world, and uses it to stalk celebrities, catch jaywalkers in the act, keep politicians honest, and generally make you wonder about your own privacy and anonymity.
We talked with Depoorter about how he creates his work, how he thinks about the future of AI, and how he responds to the people who see his art and want to turn it into commerce. It’s a wild conversation, so check it out above. To see all of Dries’ work, head over to his portfolio.
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Nilay, Alex, and David talk about what's happening on social media — and around the web — in the wake of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. Then they talk about their early impression of Apple's public betas, from the redesigned homescreens to the iPad's fancy new math abilities. After that, it's time for a bunch of gadgets all asking the same idea: is this anything? Then it's off to the lightning round, filled with 4K streams and leaky infinity pools.

Further reading:

A custom sticker printer infuriated clients with a pro-Trump mass text message

Shooting conspiracies trend on X as Musk endorses Trump

Donald Trump likes TikTok, not Zuckerberg.

The FBI said it found the Trump rally shooter’s Steam account, then took it back

The Trump rally shooter had a Discord account, company says

The Trump rally shooting is a cash cow for the dropshippers 

The FBI says it has ‘gained access’ to the Trump rally shooter’s phone 

J.D. Vance likes Lina Khan and crypto, hates ‘Big Tech’

Elon Musk, Joe Lonsdale, and tech elites back a pro-Trump super PAC

Apple’s public betas: all the news on iOS 18, macOS Sequoia, and more

Apple is finally embracing Android’s chaos

iOS 18 might help you rescue photos you thought were gone forever

The watchOS 11 beta slowed me down, in a good way

RCS in iOS 18: Apple’s new messaging standard almost solves the green-button problem

Testing Math Notes and the Calculator app in iPadOS 18

Phone mirroring on the Mac: a great way to use your iPhone, but it’s still very much in beta

Canon’s long-awaited EOS R1 and R5 Mark II have eye-controlled autofocus

Dyson unmasks its super customizable OnTrac headphones

A long-delayed hands-on with Essential’s skinny Android phone

This case turns your Apple Watch into a tiny iPod

Google solves its Pixel 9 Pro leaks by just showing the phone early

Leaked photos reveal Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold

Xreal Beam Pro review: an AR tablet with good ideas but not enough power

The OnePlus Pad 2’s vibrating stylus simulates writing on paper

Sling TV adds 4K streaming for free

Comcast will have high bitrate, low latency 4K feeds of the Olympics

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s $27 million mansion is a ‘lemon’ with a leaky pool, lawsuit alleges


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Today on the flagship podcast of nose bridge microphones: 
03:10  - The Verge’s David Pierce enlists help from Alex Cranz and Sean Hollister to figure out the best gadget setup for his handheld gaming needs. 

The Steam Deck wasn’t born ready, but it’s ready now

Nintendo Switch OLED review: screentime

Sony PlayStation Portal review: flawed but fun

Asus ROG Ally updated review: it’s a bit better now

This amazing knockoff GBA SP comes stuffed with software piracy


42:10  - Victoria Song joins the show to test out the microphones on a bunch of smart glasses and headsets. 

Razer’s new Anzu smart glasses break from the pack with truly wireless audio

The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses actually make the future look cool

Amazon’s latest Echo Frames are more style than substance

Meta Quest 3 review: almost the one we've been waiting for

Apple Vision Pro review: magic, until it’s not


01:10:26 - Later, David answers a question from the Vergecast Hotline.
North Focals glasses review: a $600 smartwatch for your face

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Humans are terrible at remembering things. On this episode of The Vergecast, we talk to one of the people who has been working on this problem for a very long time: Dan Siroker, the CEO of Limitless. We talk about what it takes to build a great memory aid, how we might use them in the future, and why it’s so tricky to get right.
We also talk about the human side of it all — what does it change about our lives when we stop forgetting things? Is remembering your friend’s birthday different when it’s actually an AI model doing the remembering? And will these tools ever really work outside of work? Tools like Limitless are coming fast and improving quickly, and we’re going to have to figure out how to live with them.
Further reading:

From The New York Times: Can’t See Pictures in Your Mind? You’re Not Alone.


Limitless AI: a new wearable gadget, and app, for remembering your meetings

Recall is Microsoft’s key to unlocking the future of PCs

Microsoft’s all-knowing Recall AI feature is being delayed

The Pixel 9’s ‘Google AI’ is like Microsoft Recall but a little less creepy

Apple announces iOS 18 with new AI features and more customizable homescreen

Notion AI can automatically write your notes, agendas, and blog posts for you


Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.
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