Xbox's long strategic identity problems

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 

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