A few years ago, Leo Mastrolia started a gadget repair shop. Little did he know he’d eventually become known across the internet as The Digital Doctor, and would learn to fix practically every gadget you can think of. On this episode, which is part one of our conversation with Leo, he tells us about his journey as a gadget fixer, the growth of his social channels, and how right-to-repair fights and upgrade cycles are affecting life in his store.

Further reading:

• ChatGPT’s Computer History tracks your clicks and keystrokes

• Amazon is trying to crush class action suits before they get started

• Uber partners with Zipline on Eats drone deliveries

• Disney D23 2026: Everything announced for Star Wars, Marvel, and more

• Digital Doctor Repairs on YouTube

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Have you seen Instagram's new logo? Meta debuted it right before we started recording, so of course David and Nilay needed to talk about it. Then, the hosts turn to Mark Zuckerberg's 6,500-word missive on the future of AI, and the problem with his idea that giving AI to everyone will fix everything. After that, it's time for Claude watermarks, Spotify AI personas, Brendan Carr, Flock, and much more.

Further reading:

• ⁠This is Instagram’s new logo | The Verge⁠

• ⁠The Pepsi Universe PDF

• ⁠The Future is for Everyone⁠

• ⁠Four takeaways from Mark Zuckerberg’s massive AI manifesto ⁠

• ⁠Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t understand how to live ⁠

• ⁠https://www.meta.com/design-at-meta/blog/⁠

• ⁠Claude will apply invisible watermarks to AI text and images ⁠

• ⁠‘If it was opt-in, nobody would opt in.’ ⁠

• ⁠Spotify says it won’t recommend music from ‘AI Personas’ ⁠

• ⁠Apple could help you prove your iPhone photos aren’t deepfakes | The Verge⁠

• ⁠Guitar company D’Addario admits that AI music was used in a promotional video | The Verge⁠

• ⁠Fender’s CEO seems to think your bandmates are just analog AI | The Verge⁠

• ⁠Suno Unveils Download Song Caps for Free, Paid Tiers⁠

• ⁠Brendan Carr is one firing away from an unchecked FCC⁠

• ⁠YouTube is making it harder to earn money on YouTube ⁠

• ⁠Flock CEO: ‘We got this one wrong’ ⁠

• ⁠The first rival Android app store just arrived in the US Play Store ⁠

• ⁠ChatGPT and Gemini both just passed 1 billion users ⁠

• ⁠The sub-$100 phone market is disappearing. ⁠

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0:00 Welcome and Parental Leave Announcement

00:43 Instagram Redesigns Their Logo 

01:04 Why Companies Change Logos

03:37 Meta Design Blog Quotes

07:22 The 2008 Pepsi Universe Presentation

09:41 Blanding 

10:37 Zuck’s AI Manifesto 

13:29 Collective Action Problems

18:49 Superintelligence for All

20:57 Cybersecurity and AI Risks

22:22 China Chips and Distillation

27:48 Write the Law Challenge

32:30 Claude Text Watermarking

35:33 How The Watermark Works

39:34 Limits And Evasion Risks

41:54 Apple Marks Real Photos

46:03 Provenance Standards Fail

46:58 AI Music Backlash

49:39 Fender CEO AI Scandal

53:08 Where AI Fits In Music

59:13 Twitch Opt Out Training

01:01:35 The Lightning Round

01:02:55 Brendan Carr is a Dummy

01:04:55 Bans Don’t Work

01:05:56 Made in America Assembly

01:10:19 Gemini Claims a Billion Users

01:15:40 YouTube Partner Paywall

01:20:56 RAMageddon Cheap Phones

01:23:52 Flock Camera Backlash

01:27:19 Goodbyes and Plugs

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Is it time to fire the neighbor kid and hire a robot lawnmower instead? Last year I wrote that “in all but a few scenarios, robot lawnmowers still aren’t worth your money,” but there’s a new class of Roombas with razor blades ready to tackle bumpy terrain and dodge crazy chickens. Realtor and smart home reviewer Brandon Doyle joins me to talk about our experiences with 2026’s newest robotic mowers and to let you know if they're finally worth all that money.

Further reading:

• It looks like Apple’s iPhone 18 really will skip the fall launch this year

• Flock CEO: ‘We got this one wrong’

• Cats and dogs are missing meals after a popular smart feeder went down

• I finally found a robot lawnmower I’d trust with my yard

• I put four robot lawnmowers through a brutal backyard battle — and only one person got injured

• A hacker ran me over with a robot lawn mower

• The US government just banned Roombas

• 5 Robot Mowers, 90 Days, 1 Winner — My 2026 Picks (and One to Avoid)

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Google just showed off its next generation of hardware, including the Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro, Pixel 11 Pro XL, and Pixel11 Pro Fold. (Whew, those names.) There's also the new Pixel Watch 5, the Pixel Tag, and a bunch of really interesting new ideas about smartphone cameras, GPS, and wellness. David Pierce, Nilay Patel, and Victoria Song went live to talk about the state of Google's hardware, and whether there's anything worth upgrading for this year. 

Further reading:

• The 7 biggest announcements of Google’s Pixel 11 launch

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Before Alexa and Siri, there was ELIZA. The first chatbot ever was the creation of a man named Joseph Weizenbaum, who built the bot almost as a magic trick — and then couldn't believe how many people fell for it. David Berry and Mark Marino, two members of a team dedicated to restoring and understanding ELIZA, explain how Weizenbaum created the virtual conversant, why he came to regret it, and what ELIZA can teach us about life in the AI age.

Further reading:

• Why your Amazon order confirmation emails have become so unhelpful

• David Ellison’s ready to pull Paramount out of California

• What to expect from Google’s 2026 Pixel hardware launch event

• The ELIZA Archaeology Project

• Inventing ELIZA: How the First Chatbot Shaped the Future of AI

• From Eliza to ChatGPT: the 60-year history of chatbots

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We've spent the last month vibe coding our own corners of the internet. The Verge's Jake Kastrenakes and Hayden Field join David to talk about their use of Gemini, Codex, and Claude Code to build 90s-themed personal websites, vegetable-sharing systems, and photo boards. It wasn't always easy, and we didn't get everything done, but with a little AI and a lot of prompting, we made it work.

Further reading:

• Four takeaways from Mark Zuckerberg’s massive AI manifesto | The Verge

• 
  The first rival Android app store just arrived in the US Play Store | The Verge
  

• Space mirrors could ruin astronomy — and your eyes | The Verge

• Claude has been having a moment — can it keep it up? | The Verge

• The vibe-coding AI future is both exciting and terrifying | The Verge

• Welcome to the personal software revolution | The Verge

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Google underwent a big AI shakeup this week, leaving a lot of people wondering whether there are big problems on team Gemini. David and Nilay start the show by discussing what's next for Jeff Dean and Demis Hassabis, before diving into the ways in which Google and Reddit have become existentially, problematically dependent on one another. After that, we talk through Disney's plan to turn Disney Plus into an everything app, and all the reasons we think that's a terrible idea and a sign of big problems in the streaming biz. Finally, in the lightning round, Brendan Carr is still a dummy, Snapchat wants AI out of your feed, and BMW has a Spider-Man to sell you.

Further reading:

• The messy politics behind Google’s big AI shakeup | The Verge

• Google just announced a major shakeup of its top AI leadership

• Google Assistant will disappear from your phone next month

• Can Reddit fend off a new wave of AI SEO spam?

• Reddit is introducing a new moderator: AI 

• Reddit says it plans to “make changes” to old Reddit

• Bluesky CEO Toni Schneider wants to grow the platform and the protocol 

• Disney says it’s ‘exploring’ adding a free tier to Disney Plus 

• Disney gives TikTok creators official access to Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar characters

• Despite Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s success, the MCU is on shaky ground 

• Disney Plus is about to go beyond streaming

• Paramount and WBD’s antitrust trial is set for March 2027

• David Ellison promises he’s not going to ruin CNN.

• Almost half of HBO Max subscribers watch with ads. | The Verge

• Federal Communications Commission scraps limit on broadcast TV ownership

• SpaceX is barely Space and mostly X 

• SpaceX is coming for T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon 

• BMW’s in-car Spider-Man ad is villain behavior 

• X product chief Nikita Bier is leaving after one year | The Verge

• Snapchat will no longer recommend ‘wholly AI-generated videos’ in its vertical video feed

• Snap reports 971 million monthly active users ahead of its Specs launch event on September 16th

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

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0:00 Cold Open
01:05 Google AI Shakeup Explained
03:24 Gemini Product Mess
05:29 Demis Hassabis and the AGI Split
14:06 Is Google Actually Behind?
15:29 AI Overviews Fail Parade
18:12 Gemini Users and Distribution
20:55 Google Plus Warning Signs
24:14 Reddit as Search Lifeline
27:35 AI Slop and Dead Internet
29:32 Google Buys Reddit Theory
33:51 Reddit Earnings Reality Check
35:40 Smoking Community Vibes
38:20 Disney Everything App
44:25 Time Spent Arms Race
47:39 Free Tier and Ads
52:08 Paramount Warner Deal Drama
01:00:23 Brendan Carr is a Dummy
01:11:51 Nikita Bier Leaves X
01:13:53 SpaceX Telecom Dreams
01:20:15 Snapchat Versus AI Slop
01:25:26 BMW In Car Ads
01:31:19 Wrap And Subscribe

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Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is the first feature film ever shot entirely with IMAX 70mm film cameras, which is apparently a very big deal, and why it's been harder than usual to get a ticket to see Matt Damon. And now that Spider-Man is moving onto IMAX screens, it may be even harder to get a ticket. Why is this 60-year-old technology suddenly the hottest thing in movies? The Verge's film and TV reporter Charles Pulliam-Moore joins senior reviewer Jennifer Pattison Tuohy to compare the standard and IMAX versions of The Odyssey and talk us through the difference between IMAX, LieMAX, and Infinity Vision.

Further reading:

• Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey will be the first movie shot entirely on IMAX film

• Don’t screw this up, Marvel

• The Odyssey turned me into an IMAX believer

• Google just announced a major shakeup of its top AI leadership

• Nintendo beats earnings thanks to US tariff refunds it won’t share with gamers

• Bose’s upgraded QuietComfort headphones add head-tracking immersive audio

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You have questions. We have (some) answers! For this week's hotline episode, Travis Larchuk asks David your questions about E Ink screens, federated messaging, minimalist phones, AI wearables, and what we got wrong about wide foldables. And don't forget, you can always call 866-VERGE11 or email [email protected] to get your questions in about anything and everything. Bonus points if it involves popping your two collars.

Further reading:

• The Light Flip is a minimalist flip phone with a point to prove

• ‘Max Ink Mode’ is back on TCL’s NXTPaper 70 Pro

• Daylight DC-1 tablet hands-on: an Android tablet with a new kind of screen

• Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 feels like the future

• Disney says it’s ‘exploring’ adding a free tier to Disney Plus

• Disney Plus is about to go beyond streaming.

• Disney gives TikTok creators official access to Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar characters

• SpaceX is coming for T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon | The Verge

• Google Assistant will disappear from your phone next month

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.

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Everyone in AI is talking about open-weight models right now. Some see them as the ticket to faster, more efficient development; others see them as an economic threat; they're either a security risk or the only security solution, depending who you ask. The Verge's Robert Hart explains how open-weight models work, why they're suddenly at the center of discussions about AI safety, and whether the only way to stop a bad guy with AI is a good guy with AI.

Further reading:

• The next Xbox could play every Xbox game ever made

• Microsoft is bringing Xbox 360 games to PC

• Apple briefly yanked Telegram from the App Store over CSAM violations

• These trackable batteries could help you locate a missing camera

• OpenAI’s rogue AI agent didn’t stop at hacking Hugging Face

• We’re running out of reasons to ignore AI safety

• Anthropic says Claude accidentally hacked real companies too

• China’s Alibaba takes another swipe at America’s AI supremacy

• OpenAI’s biggest threat may just be open AI

• Nvidia, Microsoft launch open AI security alliance — without OpenAI, Google, or Anthropic

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.

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For the last few years, the trend in wearables has been all about screens. As many of them as possible. But now, companies like Whoop, Fitbit, and Garmin are creating new products that ditch the display entirely. The Verge's Victoria Song explains why no-screen is the new flex, why even the most quantified athletes might not want a display on their wrist, and whether Whoop and the Whoop Dupes are a sign of a broader trend

Further reading:

• Spider-Man and The Odyssey are splitting up IMAX screens after a record-breaking weekend)

• Truth Social’s priority access subscription goes live and raises corruption concerns. | The Verge

• Google’s Pixel 11 specs and price leak showing the impact of RAMageddon | The Verge

• Lenovo Googlebook leaks reveal a laptop and 2-in-1 tablet | The Verge

• The Fitbit Air takes a smarter approach to the AI health dumpster fire

• Garmin’s new screen-free fitness tracker doesn’t require a subscription

• Whoop wants everyone to give a whoop about the new Whoop 5.0

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.

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