The Vergecast: Ad-Free Edition

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: From The Washington Post: ⁠Anthropic ‘destructively’ scanned millions of books to build Claude⁠ ⁠Anthropic wins a major fair use victory for AI — but it’s still in trouble for stealing books⁠ ⁠Meta’s AI copyright win comes with a warning about fair use⁠ ⁠Did AI companies win a fight with authors? Technically⁠ From Puck: ⁠Why Netflix Needs Warner Bros. ⁠ ⁠Welcome to the big leagues, Netflix⁠ Thank you for subscribing to The Verge. We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to ⁠⁠⁠vergecast@theverge.com⁠⁠⁠ or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

They dig into the controversy around a CEO attending a VIP screening and the wider political pressures facing big tech leadership. The hosts examine Minneapolis coverage, how video and platforms reshape public accountability, and creators responding. They also debate foldable phones and pricing, Google's OS convergence, the rise of practical AI agents, and Tesla's shift toward robots.

Adi Robertson, tech reporter covering misinformation and AI, explains how videos and AI imagery shaped reactions to the Minneapolis killing and what changed with TikTok’s new US-centric version. Nick Quah, podcast critic and writer, digs into Netflix’s push into podcasts and whether video-first moves are rewriting the form. Multiple short conversations about platform shifts, AI-altered visuals, and the future of audio.

Nilay owns a Sony TV. He loves his Sony TV, and he's a little sad that it appears this era of Sony TVs is ending. He and David talk through the news of a new joint venture between Sony and TCL, before digging into OpenAI's new-fangled plan to make money (spoiler alert: it's ads!), and some new news about an AI gadget Apple may or may not be working on. Then it's time for the lightning round: Brendan Carr, Netflix, the Trump Phone, and much more. Further reading: ⁠The TikTok deal could finally close this week.⁠ ⁠Epic and Google have a secret $800 million Unreal Engine and services deal⁠ ⁠Sony’s TV business is being taken over by TCL ⁠ ⁠What a Sony and TCL partnership means for the future of TVs ⁠⁠OpenAI’s 2026 ‘focus’ is ‘practical adoption’ ⁠ ⁠OpenAI releases a cheaper ChatGPT subscription ⁠ ⁠Ads are coming soon to ChatGPT, starting with shopping links ⁠ ⁠Opinion | A.I. Is Real. But OpenAI Might Still Fail.⁠⁠Apple is reportedly working on an AirTag-sized AI wearable ⁠ ⁠Apple is turning Siri into an AI bot that’s more like ChatGPT ⁠ ⁠FCC Targets Colbert and Kimmel in New Crackdown on Late-Night TV - The New York Times⁠ ⁠Bureau Provides Guidance on Political Equal Opportunities Requirement | Federal Communications Commission⁠ ⁠Free TV startup Telly only had 35,000 units in people’s homes last fall⁠ ⁠Microsoft wants to build 15 data centers in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin ⁠ ⁠OpenAI says its data centers will pay for their own energy and limit water usage⁠ ⁠Netflix will revamp its mobile UI this year ⁠ ⁠600,000 Trump Mobile phones sold? There’s no proof⁠. ⁠YouTubers will be able to make Shorts with their own AI likenesses ⁠ Thank you for subscribing to The Verge. We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to ⁠⁠⁠vergecast@theverge.com⁠⁠⁠ or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There’s a new biggest name in EVs, and if you live in the US, you pretty much can’t buy one. But before we get to that, we have some stuff to catch up on: The Verge's Hayden Field joins us for a round of “Big Deal Medium Deal Small Deal” with some AI news, from the launch of ChatGPT Health to the recent viral moment for Claude Code. After that, The Verge’s Andy Hawkins joins the show to explain how BYD recently eclipsed Tesla as the world’s largest seller of electric vehicles, what makes its cars so desirable, and when you, too, might be able to buy a Dolphin Surf. Finally, David tackles a question from the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email ⁠vergecast@theverge.com⁠!) about giving your kids iPads instead of iPhones, and whether all screen time is created equal. Further reading: ⁠Car influencers love Chinese EVs — and China loves them back⁠ ⁠Tesla’s fourth quarter sales fell a lot more than expected⁠ From Inside EVs: ⁠A Guide To BYD, The Chinese Automaker That Just Surpassed Tesla⁠ ⁠Anthropic wants you to use Claude to ‘Cowork’ in latest AI agent push⁠ ⁠Anthropic shakes up C-suite to expand its internal incubator⁠ ⁠OpenAI launches ChatGPT Health, encouraging users to connect their medical records⁠ ⁠Google brings buy buttons to Gemini and AI search⁠ ⁠Grok is undressing children — can the law stop it?⁠ ⁠Google is taking over your Gmail inbox with AI⁠ Thank you for subscribing to The Verge. We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to ⁠⁠⁠vergecast@theverge.com⁠⁠⁠ or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Apple's strategic partnership with Google for Gemini AI promises a significant upgrade for Siri, raising questions about privacy and model ownership. Meanwhile, the tech world grapples with a rising tide of lawsuits against Google related to antitrust issues. Grok's deepfake dilemma on X highlights failures in moderation, while Meta's dwindling interest in VR spells trouble for its fitness app Supernatural. The lightning round covers a range of topics, from media drama to the latest controversies surrounding Trump’s phone.

January brings two things in Vergecast-land: CES, and New Years' Resolutions. We start this episode with a dive into the story of this year's biggest tech show, the Lego Smart Brick, which is either a clever way of thinking about creativity or the end of creativity as we know it. Sean Hollister explains how the Smart Brick works, and how Lego can make sure it ends the right way. Then, Platformer's Casey Newton discusses his productivity system, his adventures in Claude Code, and how you too can make yourself a little more productive this year — with or without AI. Further reading: Lego announces Smart Brick, the ‘most significant evolution’ in 50 years Lego’s Smart Bricks aren’t just an experiment I played with the Lego Smart Brick From Platformer: The project that turned me into a Claude Code believer From Platformer: What I learned about productivity this year Thank you for subscribing to The Verge. We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to ⁠⁠⁠vergecast@theverge.com⁠⁠⁠ or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The theme of CES 2026 is gadgets. It's always gadgets. This year more than most, though, the world's biggest tech show is about how fast the hardware world is moving — and how much work the software, and the AI, have to do to catch up. On stage live at the Brooklyn Bowl in Las Vegas, David and Nilay talk through some of the biggest news of the week, from robots to laptops to AI cuddle buddies, to see what's really going to matter in tech this year. Thank you for subscribing to The Verge. We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to ⁠⁠⁠vergecast@theverge.com⁠⁠⁠ or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

2026 is just beginning, and it's already time for the biggest gadget event of the year. As the Verge team heads to Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show, David and Nilay run through as many of the newly announced products as they can. There are robots, art TVs, phones, more robots, smart Legos, smart home gizmos, and still more robots. Some of this stuff will ship, and might even be a big hit. Some of it, well, won't. But it's all an interesting look into what's happening in tech right now.Also: if you're in Vegas for CES, come see us live! We'll be at the Brooklyn Bowl on Wednesday, January 7th, for live recordings of Decoder and The Vergecast, and we'd love to see you there. Further reading: This robot companion is a cameraman for your pet  LG says its CLOiD home robot will be folding laundry and making breakfast at CES  SwitchBot brings a humanoid home robot to CES  You can’t buy Zeroth’s WALL-E robot in the US, but you can get its cousin  This startup brought WALL-E to life and will also sell you WALL-E’s weird cousin Kicking Robots, by James Vincent The Clicks Power Keyboard is also a backup battery for your phone  The Clicks Communicator is a BlackBerry for your phone  I just want to keep unfolding the Samsung Z TriFold  The Aliro smart lock standard for NFC and UWB unlocking will launch this year  Lutron adds smart wood blinds to its Caséta line.  Bosch’s fancy coffee machine is getting Alexa Plus  The new Ultraloq smart lock uses both your face and your palm to let you in  Lockin’s new vein-scanning smart lock has a video doorbell and recharges wirelessly  Hands-on with the Mui Board: a wooden smart home controller  The Mui Board will support mmWave sleep tracking and gesture control  You can unlock SwitchBot’s first deadbolt smart lock with your face  Lifx launches a smart mirror and a $30 dimmer switch that can control smart bulbs  Lockly’s new smart locks will support Matter and NFC  GE Lighting’s new Matter-compatible smart shades start at just $300  The LG OLED evo W6 Wallpaper TV makes its return at CES  RGB is the next big thing in OLED gaming monitors  Belkin’s new HDMI adapter wirelessly connects to screens from 130 feet  LG’s new Gallery TV, designed for displaying art, will be at CES 2026  Samsung brings back the Timeless Frame with its biggest Micro RGB TV at CES.  TCL debuts a new quantum dot and color filter technology with the X11L  Gemini on Google TV is getting Nano Banana and voice-controlled settings  Amazon announces a Samsung Frame competitor with the Ember Artline TV  Amazon Fire TV OS gets a revamp that’s more modern and pleasing  LG’s new karaoke-ready party speaker uses AI to remove song vocals  Would you let AI cut your hair?  A developer for a ‘major food delivery app’ says the ‘algorithms are rigged against you Lego announces Smart Brick, the ‘most significant evolution’ in 50 years | The Verge Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is now blogging about AI slop  “Feed is dead.”  Adam Mosseri on how Instagram exists in the age of AI-generated images The Trump phone just missed another release date  Thank you for subscribing to The Verge. We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to ⁠⁠⁠vergecast@theverge.com⁠⁠⁠ or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The iPhone 4 was one of the best iPhones ever — and definitely the most dramatic iPhone ever. It was lost in a bar in California, sold to Gizmodo, and published for the world to see months before its launch. The phone itself had a bunch of important new features, and one that spawned Antennagate. In this episode, David Pierce, Nilay Patel, and longtime tech columnist Walt Mossberg tell the whole story of the phone, its legacy, and its place in tech blog history. If you like the show, ⁠⁠⁠subscribe to the Version History feed⁠⁠⁠ to make sure you get every new episode. Thank you for subscribing to The Verge. We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to ⁠⁠⁠vergecast@theverge.com⁠⁠⁠ or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices