The Vergecast Why people really hate AI
356 snips
Mar 20, 2026 
Allison Johnson, a Verge reviewer covering phones and gadgets, joins a lively chat about why AI keeps turning people off, from missing must-have uses to backlash over jobs, creativity, and hype. Then things get weird with Samsung’s vanished trifold phone, an eBay hunt, tampered hardware, and the bigger question of whether foldables solve anything at all.
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OpenAI’s Retreat Signals Consumer AI Has Stalled
- OpenAI’s memo shows consumer AI still lacks a profitable mass-market use case, so the company is retreating toward enterprise and coding.
- Nilay Patel says hiring Fidji Simo to build a breakout consumer business, then pivoting anyway, signals ChatGPT usage grew faster than its business model.
AI Is Asking More Than It Gives Back
- People dislike AI because companies demand energy, data, land, and copyright leeway before delivering a product normal users truly love.
- Nilay Patel contrasts AI with the internet, smartphones, YouTube, and Facebook, which spread because their value was immediately obvious despite real downsides.
VCs Misread Why Consumers Resist AI
- VCs blaming anti-AI sentiment on media coverage misses the point because people already use these tools and still resist paying for them.
- Nilay Patel argues environmental messaging rarely changes consumer behavior; bad products do, while good products easily overcome moral objections.