Nvidia's new DLSS 5 (Deep Learning Super Sampling 5) rendering technology uses AI to (theoretically) improve video game graphics. When it was announced, social media declared that it was "yassifying" video game characters, changing faces in a way game developers didn't intend. Linus Tech Tips' own Linus Sebastian and David Gauthier join guest host David Imel to break down the the hype and controversy.

Further reading:

• The Beats 360 are what I’d bring to the gym if I hated earbuds
• Peloton is back with a ‘cheaper’ folding treadmill
• Whoop and Peloton integration is finally here
• Xbox is barely Xbox anymore
• Apple’s first live music venue is opening beneath its UK headquarters
• Nvidia’s DLSS 5, explained
• DLSS 5: Has Nvidia’s AI graphics technology gone too far?
• DLSS 5 looks like a real-time generative AI filter for video games

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We tried out the new Googlebooks, which are essentially Chromebooks evolved with an Android elemental stone. They're made by Dell, Lenovo, HP, Acer, and Asus (not Google), but all have the new Googlebook OS, heavy Android phone and Gemini integration, and a built-in "Glowbar." Laptop reviewer Antonio G. Di Benedetto went hands-on with the new devices, and reports back to guest host David Imel.

Further reading:

• ⁠iPhone owners can now submit claims in Apple’s $250 million Siri AI settlement⁠

• ⁠The M5 Ultra Mac Studio tears through our benchmark tests⁠

• ⁠Gemini went rogue and hacked 3 companies⁠

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

• ⁠These are the first five Googlebook laptops⁠

• ⁠Googlebooks feel like the first laptops built for Android owners⁠

• ⁠The long dream of the Googlebook⁠

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This week's iPhone 18 Pro discourse made aperture a priority, but today on Vergecast we zoom out to talk about the state of smart phone photography at large. Executive editor Jake Kastrenakes, guest host David Imel and senior reviewer Allison Johnson get into manual controls, "buckets of photons," and Apple and Google's strategies on how to prove a picture you took is real. Then, senior AI reporter Hayden Field returns to The Vergecast, just a few new revelations of misaligned behavior since her last appearance. She breaks down who's calling for a slowdown, who's full steam ahead, and the prisoner's dilemma facing the industry. And in the lightning round, we cover robotaxis calling the cops, the Boox Palma 3 e-reader, and the latest crop of intentionally low-quality digital cameras.

Further reading:

• Version History: Oregon trail

• iPhone 18 Pro review: it's all about the manual controls

• The variable aperture isn’t the cool part of the iPhone 18 Pro’s camera

• Apple’s new iPhone camera mode promises to prove your photo isn’t AI

• Inside the suddenly explosive world of AI safety

• Your robotaxi might be a narc

• Waymo pulls over, calls cops on riders with a ghost gun

• The Boox Palma 3 gets stylus support and a sleek redesign

• Camp Snap’s 110D gives slim retro film cameras a digital upgrade

• Fujifilm’s Instax Pal 2 is a tiny digital camera that may not disappoint

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0:00 Welcome and lineup
00:30 Version History returns
02:08 Oregon Trail livestream plug
02:36 Apple camera geekout
02:59 Apple's new CEO Emmy moment
05:23 iPhone 18 Pro upgrades
08:33 Pro controls usability
11:46 RAW vs ProRAW explained
14:35 Signal to noise deep dive
21:35 Photographic styles debate
25:25 Reference Image authenticity
32:40 What we want next
41:40 AI safety drama begins
42:36 AI Safety Freakout
46:10 Liability And Regulation
51:34 China Race Narrative
54:43 Pace The Frontier Plan
55:54 Auditors Inside Labs
01:00:22 Prisoners Dilemma Problem
01:04:38 Accountability Dead End
01:08:45 Waymo Calls The Cops
01:14:56 The E Reader Race
01:19:56 Tiny Retro Cameras
01:26:32 Wrap Up And Goodbye

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Senior reviewers Allison Johnson and Victoria Song trade host and guest duties in a Vergecasting ouroboros that's never been attempted before and will probably never be attempted again. Allison talks about the iPhone 18 Pro's new camera, Victoria talks about the Watch 12 and Ultra 4's new sensors, and they both give their verdicts on who should upgrade.

Further reading:

• 
  The iPhone 18 Pro’s big camera update is all about the small gains

• 
  The Apple Watch Series 12 is the start of a new wearable era
  

• 
  Your ‘health age’ is fake

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Last week, an Anthropic researcher resigned and posted on X, "The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade." These warnings are nothing new, but this one managed to break into the mainstream. So, do the people making AI really think it could kill us all? How? And if it really could be as dangerous as they say, why would anyone continue to work on it? Senior AI reporter Hayden Field joined us to answer your questions about the AI freakout.

Further reading:

• The iPhone 18 Pro’s big camera update is all about the small gains
• Meta is reportedly ready to launch less pervy smart glasses
• The Boox Palma 3 gets stylus support and a sleek redesign
• Worried Anthropic researchers warn that AI ‘could kill all humans’
• What execs and politicians are saying about slowing down AI development
• Is Big Tech’s AI slowdown a safety pact or a cartel?
• Trump and Mike Johnson think the AI industry is overreacting

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Two years ago, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt released his book, The Anxious Generation. In it, he argued that the rise of social media and smartphone use is to blame for the prominent decline in teen mental health since 2010. This month, psychology researcher Peter Gray takes on that narrative with his book, Restoring Childhood. In a conversation with senior policy reporter Lauren Feiner, Gray argues that school — not social media — is the real culprit.

Further reading:

• The premium AirPods 5 are the best open-ear earbuds Apple has made
• All dressed up with hardware to go.
• A street photographer tested Dyson’s new CameraJet toothbrush.
• What if social media isn’t hurting kids?

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Sean Hollister got his hands and face on Valve's new VR headset, the Steam Frame. It's expensive, starting at more than $1,000. It's buggy — he and CNET's Scott Stein both felt like beta testers as they reviewed it. But it's also full of interesting ideas, including the promise that Steam games could one day come to your mobile phone. This week on The Vergecast, Sean and Scott discuss who exactly this device is for, in a world that mostly seems to have moved on from VR.

Further reading:

• Is it time for AI companies to press pause?
• Waymo pulls over, calls cops on riders with a ghost gun
• Your car is selling your data
• LG responds to TV spying allegations
• The Steam Frame is made for irresponsible hardware nerds like me

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Apple did the one more thing: This week it announced its much-anticipated folding phone. It also announced some surprising and controversial new AI features for Apple Watch, including "Live Rewind," which gives the user a text transcript of the last 15 seconds of real life.

On today's Vergecast, Allison Johnson and Vee Song report back from California after having more hands-on time with Apple's new devices. Plus, Nilay Patel and David Imel take another swing at discussing Mac Minis and local LLMs with AI researcher CJ Trowbridge. Finally, Allison and Jake tackle some non-Apple stories in the truly rapid-fire thunder round.

Further reading:

• iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max: Our first hands-on impressions

• The variable aperture isn’t the cool part of the iPhone 18 Pro’s camera

• Hands-on with the foldable iPhone Duo

• Hands-on with the new Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4

• Apple Watch Series 12 has an always-on Siri that makes AI recaps of your day

• Read the Apple document explaining how new listening features still protect your privacy

• Mathematicians want proof OpenAI didn’t use their work

• OpenAI’s sly mathematical breakthrough sends a chill through academia

• Drama swirls around OpenAI’s legendary mathematical milestone

• The Trump phone just got a $250 price hike

• Six years later, Sony revisits its legendary XM4 headphones

• Hori’s electronic Ocarina of Time requires no musical talent.

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For years, big tech companies have embedded their products into the classroom whether through Google's Chromebooks or computer science curricula developed by Apple or Microsoft. The industry pushed a generation of kids to foster coding skills with the promise of high-paying jobs. Now, those students are finding themselves less in demand as AI takes over, and the industry seems to be repeating its playbook. Senior policy reporter Lauren Feiner talks to Natasha Singer, author of the new book "Coding Kids," about how big tech worked its way into the classroom, and why Natasha is optimistic about educators’ response to the AI push.

Further reading:

• Schools are catching on to Big Tech’s playbook
• Worried Anthropic researchers warn that AI ‘could kill all humans’
• Meta’s Muse AI works and creeps me out
• Another big James Talarico interview is punted to YouTube due to FCC threats
• Apple asks: have you ever imagined iOS devices doin’ it?

⁠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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Live from Apple Park, Nilay Patel and Victoria Song join Jake Kastrenakes, Dominic Preston and Cameron Faulkner to talk about the iPhone Duo and the new Apple Watches. We also talk about the new iPhone 18 Pro's variable aperture and the AirPods 5.

Further reading:

• All the news from Apple’s ‘Surprise and shine’ event

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At this year's London Marathon, two runners completed the route in under two hours, becoming the first people to ever do so on an official course. It's a feat that Outside magazine's Alex Hutchinson once thought wouldn't be accomplished until 2075. The Verge's senior policy reporter (and marathoner) Lauren Feiner talks to Alex about "super shoes" and the other surprising technological advances that led to this moment.

Further reading:

• The Fairphone 6 Plus is the midrange phone we desperately needed

• The real reason your phone is getting more expensive

• What to expect at Apple’s September 9th launch event

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