It's gadget season. More specifically, it's apparently "new computer for your new AI" season. David and Nilay talk through a slew of announcements — Amazon's Alexa Tablets, Microsoft's Surface Laptop Ultra, the new Googlebooks, and Apple's upcoming smart home launch — to figure out if anyone has the right idea about the future of computing, and where the AI is supposed to live. After that, it's time for Brendan Carr is a Dummy, our thoughts on the Paramount / Warner / Skydance merger, and much more.

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Read more about the topics discussed in today's 1 hour, 41 minute podcast:

• ⁠Amazon’s Alexa Tablets are powerful, impressive, and designed to take on iPad ⁠
• ⁠Hands-on with Amazon’s Alexa Tablet 12 Pro and its wild new matte display  ⁠
• ⁠Amazon is phasing out Fire Tablets because they weren’t ‘giving customers what they were asking for⁠’
• ⁠Amazon’s new Kids Tablets let parents manage access to the Google Play store
• ⁠Apple announces surprise ‘Welcome home’ launch event⁠
• ⁠Apple and LG team up on new smart home gear, starting with a lock, doorbell, and thermostat⁠
• ⁠New leaks provide our first look at Apple and LG’s smart home devices
• ⁠Everything announced at Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Ultra event ⁠
• ⁠The Surface Laptop Ultra finally has a release date — and a starting price of $2,599⁠
• ⁠Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Ultra has built-in magnetic USB-C charging ⁠
• ⁠How Microsoft built its MacBook Pro competitor ⁠
• ⁠Surface RTX Spark Dev Box is available for preorder for $5,999 ⁠
• ⁠The first Nvidia RTX Spark laptops cost up to $7,000 ⁠
• ⁠Microsoft is giving Copilot more control over Windows and your files
• Our first five impressions of Googlebooks — exciting but underbaked 
• Android’s physical navigation buttons are back on Googlebooks, but not the way you think
• Google admits not every Android app runs great on Intel Googlebooks 
• Politico: ‘Head on a guillotine’: ABC says Trump’s threats are already swaying coverage
• ChatGPT’s ‘Intelligent UI’ update fills its responses with pictures, charts, and buttons
• Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery complete $110 billion media megamerger 
• HBO Max and Paramount Plus will merge into a single streamer under Skydance 
• CNN’s boss will remain as Paramount and WBD merge into Skydance 
• Skydance is merging Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery’s games teams.
• Sam Altman says ‘some bad things’ will happen, but AI is totally worth it

0:00 Cold Open 00:37 David’s back! 01:10 Parenting Chaos Update 02:49 Gadget News Rundown 03:47 New Amazon Alexa Tablets 05:15 Panos Strategy Shift 06:31 Play Store Bet 11:17 Default Android Tablet 13:18 Ads and Pricing Fears 15:30 Amazon Great Products 21:20 Matte Display Debate 25:01 Apple Smart Home Tease 26:12 Siri AI Reality Check 29:08 Smart Home Too Complex 33:37 Candy Crush Question 34:56 iPad Multiuser Problem 39:04 Microsoft AI Surface Push 40:35 Local AI Computing Shift 47:22 Magnetic USB C Charging 48:37 Google Book Laptop Confusion 54:20 AI Agents Need A Surface 58:50 Skepticism About Agents 01:07:46 Brendan Carr is a Dummy 01:09:23 ABC License Chilling Effect 01:11:24 Brendan Carr Ownership Cap 01:12:30 Cable Companies Sue Back 01:14:44 SXSW Corruption Game 01:15:50 Skydance Mega Merger 01:18:04 Debt Layoffs Streamer Cuts 01:22:58 Go90 Scale Returns 01:24:02 Netflix Loses Its Edge 01:30:44 ChatGPT Interactive UI 01:37:47 Sam Altman Tradeoffs 01:44:49 Wrap Up And Plugs

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Amazon is determined to turn Alexa Plus into a do-everything AI assistant that can compete with Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude, and the rest. But after a year of testing, The Verge's Jen Tuohy has mixed feelings on how it's all going. And on whether a new tablet is the right way to fix it.

Further reading:

• It appears .agent and .agi are about to be the hot new domains
• GTA VI leaks continue with a lengthy (and very nude) gameplay video
• GTA VI will have in-game podcasts and at least six radio stations
• Joe Rogan and Spotify renew massive podcast deal
• Alexa Plus is better at running my home, but it’s not ready to run my life
• Hands-on with Amazon’s Alexa Tablet 12 Pro and its wild new matte display
• Amazon is phasing out Fire Tablets because they weren’t ‘giving customers what they were asking for’
  

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Bose, Sony, Beats, and seemingly every other headphone maker has recently released a new and excellent set of cans. Or buds. Or both. The Verge's John Higgins explains why the headphone market is suddenly so great, how the companies are competing now, and which new pair is the right one for you.

Vote for us in the Signal Awards!

• Vote Vergecast: Best Technology Podcast

• Vote Version History: Best History Podcast

• Vote Decoder: Best Business Podcast

Further reading:

• The Sonos Ace Ultra are the headphones Sonos should have made the first time

• Nothing’s new flagship Headphone 1 Pro put you in the studio

• The Beats 360 are what I’d bring to the gym if I hated earbuds

• The premium AirPods 5 are the best open-ear earbuds Apple has made

• Six years later, Sony revisits its legendary XM4 headphones

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The next big thing in AI, at least if you ask the tech companies, is assistant agents. David and The Verge's Allison Johnson have both been testing products like Meta's Muse, OpenAI's Dots, and startups like Instinct, in an effort to find out how much you can really get done by messaging with an AI tool – and whether the productivity is worth the tradeoffs.

Further reading:

• Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery complete $110 billion media megamerger
• Amazon reportedly pays $120 million to stream the Emmys for free
• New leaks reveal more details about the Fitbit Edge including its price
• A Trump Mobile breach may have exposed data of more than 3,600 people
• OpenAI’s Dot agent can help you work and order dinner
• Meta’s Muse AI agent is an effective helper and great at spending money

The Vergecast has been nominated for a Signal Award! You can vote to help us win here.

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Welcome to the Bear Lair!* (No, it’s nothing like that other show.) As we continue to explore the world of AI tools and vibe coding, we invited a few enterprising Vergecast fans to share their projects — and we invited The Verge’s Hayden Field to judge them with us. We’ll see what people are working on, and whether any of them will make us fabulously wealthy.
*We came up with this name before we became aware that someone else thought of it first... no relation to the APTNtv show Bears' Lair!

Further reading:

• ⁠Google admits not every Android app runs great on Intel Googlebooks⁠

• ⁠The Pixel 10A now costs $100 more.⁠

• ⁠Samsung raised prices on the Galaxy S26 by $100⁠

• ⁠Huawei says RAMageddon has increased its smartphone costs by $200.⁠

• ⁠2GB Raspberry Pis are getting pricier.⁠

• ⁠Nvidia’s Shield TV Pro just got a $100 price hike⁠

• ⁠Star Wars: Galactic Racer is my childhood podracing dream come true⁠

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Is the key to turning around public opinion on AI just to make it cuter? Nilay Patel, Jake Kastrenakes and David Imel talk about the latest adorable agents that want access to all your data, then discuss whether this week's White House AI accord is worth the paper it's written on.

Plus: Gadgets, gadgets, gadgets! We speculate on Apple's rumored October 13 announcement, drool over Huawei's camera for your cameraphone, and herald the return of physical buttons in the new Kindle cases.

We wrap things up with the usual Brendan Carr is a Dummy and a lightning round full of Cybercabs, data centers, 'Old Reddit' and government chatbots.

Vote for us in the Signal Awards!

• Vote Vergecast: Best Technology Podcast

• Vote Version History: Best History Podcast

• Vote Decoder: Best Business Podcast

Further reading:

• OpenAI launches Dots, its Muse competitor

• OpenAI plans to bring Dots to consumers, too.

• Meta’s Muse AI sent a YouTuber’s address to a stranger

• Maybe don’t let Muse run your Facebook Marketplace account.

• Sam Altman says OpenAI won’t go public until its models are safe

• Google announces Gemini 4 and says it’s so capable that only ‘trusted cyber defenders’ can have it right now

• AI researchers put out videos saying superintelligence is ‘exactly as dangerous as it sounds’

• Here’s how tech leaders will self-police AI safety under Trump’s deal

• Here’s what AI leaders are saying about Trump’s new safety plan

• Trump: “You’re going to see — data centers are going to be very popular.”

• Trump orders US government to call AI ‘Super Intelligence’

• Huawei made a whole camera to attach to its latest phone
• Amazon is launching colorful new Kindles — and a case with physical page-turn buttons

• Apple’s ‘HomePad’ will reportedly launch on October 13th

• NBC News: FCC head says government-funded Trump ads are ‘normal’ and ‘don’t raise any red flags’

• The People of Utah vs. Kevin O’Leary

• Tesla’s Cybercab robotaxi rollout: the biggest news and announcements

• The White House launched an AI chatbot for government-related questions.

• Reddit says it has to cut back access to ‘Old Reddit’ because of AI bots

Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.

We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11.

0:00 Welcome

00:52 Awards and Listener Voting

01:36 Week Ahead Preview

01:52 OpenAI Dots vs Meta Muse

06:09 Living as Tasks

19:47 Business Models and Privacy

23:41 Bot Traffic and Web Friction

27:48 Trump Superintelligence Accord

37:46 Gadget Segment Kickoff

38:26 Huawei Screw On Lens Camera

41:33 Why Phone Camera Hybrids Fail

44:09 Pricey Phone Lens Debate

45:31 Kindle Lineup Upgrades

48:49 Apple Smart Home Display Rumors

01:02:58 Brendan Carr is a Dummy

01:08:27 America Gov Chatbot

01:14:54 Old Reddit Bot Crackdown

01:19:30 Utah Data Center Blowup

01:25:17 Cybercab Ride Report

01:27:31 Wrap Up And Plugs

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In this hotline episode, guest host David Imel answers your questions about digital cameras, iPods, E Ink phones, and the TI-84 graphing calculator being iced out of the Version History Hall of Fame.

Further reading:

• Amazon is launching colorful new Kindles — and a case with physical page-turn buttons
• NYC is now the first city in America that bans sketchy subscriptions
• HP’s answer to the MacBook Neo is thinner, lighter, and comes with OLED

Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.

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Jolly's got new competition: OpenAI just launched its competitor to Muse and Grok Bot. It's called Dots, and the headline feature is that it's also cute, with fuzzy lil triangles and clouds and hearts that you can give access to your personal accounts to do things for you. The Verge's senior AI reporter Hayden Field joins guest host David Imel from San Francisco right after OpenAI's DevDay presentation.

Further reading:

• OpenAI DevDay 2026: The biggest news and announcements

The Vergecast has been nominated for a Signal Award! You can vote to help us win here.

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The Pokémon Trading Card Game isn't just a game, it's an economy. Livestreamers provide vicarious dopamine hits to viewers who tune in to watch them open booster packs, and the rarest cards can resell for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. The game's 30th anniversary collection just launched, putting more copies of the game's rarest cards back into circulation. Guest host David Imel talks about the state of the Pokémon TCG market with The Verge's film, TV and pop culture reporter Charles Pulliam-Moore.

Further reading:

• OpenAI launches Dots
  

• Nothing Headphone 1 Pro
  

• Your new Chromebook won’t get 10 years of ChromeOS support — because support now ends 2034.

• Pokémon card scalpers have turned collecting into an online blood sport

Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.

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It's a confusing time right now for gaming. Video games are becoming an increasingly expensive hobby. Games are expensive to make, too, and companies want to sell the most lucrative ones they can: Sony and Microsoft are cutting jobs to refocus on blockbusters. At the same time, we’ve got more ways to play than ever: handhelds, phones, even cloud gaming is getting better. So where are we headed? Today on The Vergecast, Sean Hollister asks that question of Shuhei Yoshida, who spent 31 years at Sony playing games and figuring out what gamers will pay for.

Further reading:

• The smart home graveyard is getting crowded
• There may be a way to save your June Oven after all
• Nvidia says its new AI safety platform can contain rogue agents within ‘milliseconds’
• Bose’s first wired earbuds in 11 years add noise canceling
• Xbox is barely Xbox anymore
• AI was everywhere at gaming’s big developer conference — except the games
• Half of developers think gen AI is bad for the gaming industry
• In 2025, AI became a lightning rod for gamers and developers
• The golden age of handheld gaming is already over
• The Steam Machine is the most ambitious game console I’ve ever played
• The PS6 sure sounds like a handheld
• The Steam Deck makes PlayStation’s biggest games portable
• PlayStation exclusives aren’t coming to PC anymore
• I regret buying the PSVR 2
• Xbox exploring ‘radically different’ console business models
• How Sony bought, and squandered, the future of gaming

Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.

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Meta's Muse AI agent is cute (sometimes caked-up) and it performs well as a productivity tool. And, if you give it access to your social media and e-mail, it can know basically everything about you. This week on The Vergecast, Nilay Patel, Jake Kastrenakes and David Imel give their reactions to Mark Zuckerberg's demos at Wednesday's Meta Connect keynote. They also talk about the new glasses hardware, including the new VR glasses and audio-only, camera-free Ray-Bans.
Then, we take a look at the newly-announced, chimeric Chrome/Android hybrid Googlebooks, find out why Brendan Carr is a dummy this week, analyze the Paramount merger, discuss what YouTube's A/B video testing means for the increasingly tenuous concept of a shared reality, and end on a surprisingly heartwarming story about RODECaster 4K support.

Further reading:

• Meta Connect 2026: The 7 biggest announcements

• Meta Connect 2026 live blog: On the ground at Mark Zuckerberg’s next big product launch

• Meta’s Muse AI works and creeps me out

• Amazon blocks Meta’s Muse AI agent

• Meta ditches the camera on its newest smart glasses

• Meta’s next VR device isn’t a headset — it’s glasses

• These are the first five Googlebook laptops

• Googlebooks feel like the first laptops built for Android owners

• I got to see Google’s wild ideas about the future of laptops

• The long dream of the Googlebook

• Mahershala Ali On ‘Blade’ Being A Big Failure For Kevin Feige: “100%. He Should Feel That Way”

• Paramount will need to release way more movies to make this merger work

• Xbox is barely Xbox anymore

• YouTube is cooking up new Live features.

• Free Rodecaster Video firmware update adds 4K support.

Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.

We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11.

0:00 Welcome Back Banter

00:31 Meta Connect Setup

01:27 Muse First Impressions

05:28 Privacy Trust Gap

07:58 Pervert Glasses Debate

12:55 Passive Surveillance Reality

15:42 Is Muse Actually Winning

18:44 Muse Charm Post Phone

21:38 Do We Need Agents

26:12 Break And Return

26:29 New Meta Hardware

27:00 Audio Only Ray Bans

28:30 Muse Powered Glasses

31:15 Meta Bets on Muse

32:28 Hearing Aid Glasses Pitch

34:40 VR Glasses Return

39:04 Holograms and Splats

42:44 Google Books Arrive

44:57 Android Laptop Lock In

47:49 Windows Fatigue Debate

54:54 Hype Desk Blade Drama

57:14 Remembering Blade Chaos

01:00:37 Blade Reboot Frustrations

01:01:26 Sonos Sponsor Break

01:03:07 Brendan Carr is a Dummy

01:07:38 Lightning Round Kickoff

01:08:02 Meta Muse Mascot Chaos

01:09:26 Paramount Warner Deal Fallout

01:12:37 YouTube AI Channel Agents

01:14:05 A B Video Testing Ethics

01:21:25 Xbox Layoffs And Halo Shift

01:24:45 Rodecaster Free 4K Update

01:26:36 Muse Marketplace Haggling

01:27:35 Wrap Up And Next Episodes

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