We start with some important business: Nilay has a flight to catch, and is very worried he won't catch it. Also, it's Apple's 50th anniversary next week, and we're going to spend the week debating which Apple products are the best Apple products. (Head to the ad-free Vergecast feed to hear our selection show!) But mostly, this episode is about social media. In two key trials this week, juries found social platforms liable not for the content they display but for the actual structure and features of the platform. That could change the way social media companies act, and how users fight back. After that, it's time for the silliness of the router ban, the latest in the chatbot wars, and an update on what's happening with Grammarly's Expert Voices feature.

Further reading:

• Rank your top 50 Apple products

• Verge subscribers, here’s how to set up ad-free podcasts 

• The TSA is broken — is privatization next? 

• What is ICE actually doing at American airports? 

• Meta misled users about its products’ safety, jury decides 

• Meta and YouTube found negligent in landmark social media addiction case 

• Social media on trial: tech giants face lawsuits over addiction, safety, and mental health

• What it was like to watch grieving parents stare down Mark Zuckerberg in court 

• A bombshell child safety leak changed Meta — for the worse 

• Internal chats show how social media companies discussed teen engagement 

• 2026 is the year of social media’s legal reckoning 

• The US government just banned consumer routers made outside the US 

• The United States router ban, explained

• FCC green-lights Nexstar's $6.2B merger with rival TV station owner Tegna

• Cox Communications not liable for pirated music, Supreme Court rules 

• Confronting the CEO of the AI company that impersonated me 

• North Carolina man pleads guilty to AI music streaming fraud. 

• Apple is testing a standalone app for its overhauled Siri 

• OpenAI is planning a desktop ‘superapp’ 

• This is Microsoft’s plan to fix Windows 11 

• OpenAI just gave up on Sora and its billion-dollar Disney deal

• The age of piracy ended with LimeWire | Version History

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David is bored with his iPhone. Over the last few months, he has been testing every other phone he could get his hands on, from the Pixel to the Razr to the Unihertz Titan. And at the end of it all... David bought another iPhone. The Verge's Allison Johnson joins the show to recount some of her own phone-testing experiences, to litigate the quality of foldable and flippable phones, to debate Android vs. iOS, and ultimately to help David decide whether he actually bought the right phone. After all that, David answers a question on the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email [email protected]!) about whether AI can help us figure out how to use our devices better. Or maybe just use them for us. Devices are too complicated.

Further reading:

• Motorola Razr Ultra (2025) review: looking sharp

• Google Pixel 10 review: perfectly fine

• Apple iPhone 17 review: the one to get

• The iPhone Air makes a strong statement

• Why flip phones should be the future of smartphones

• Who needs a laptop when you have a folding phone?

• Gemini’s task automation is here and it’s wild

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David and Nilay start the show by exploring the increasing disconnect between the people who make AI products, and the people who keep saying they don't want them. (Or, at least, don't want to pay for them.) The AI industry is starting to retrench to a business-first approach, because there's simply no killer app for it yet. Speaking of no killer apps! Allison Johnson then joins the show to talk about the shockingly short life of the Samsung TriFold, and her bizarre journey to try and review the now-dead foldable. Finally, in the lightning round, it's time for Brendan Carr is a Dummy, the fate of the metaverse, and some important internet debunking.

Further reading:

• ⁠OpenAI cuts back on “side quests.” ⁠

• ⁠OpenAI’s adult mode will reportedly be smutty, not pornographic ⁠

• NYMag: ⁠Should You Be Able to Have Sex With ChatGPT?⁠

• ⁠I think VCs are starting to panic about the lack of *broad* consumer | TikTok⁠

• ⁠For the second time this week we have VCs vocalizing their frustration | TikTok⁠

• ⁠Poll: Majority of voters say risks of AI outweigh the benefits⁠

• ⁠How Americans View AI and Its Impact on Human Abilities, Society | Pew Research Center⁠

• ⁠Samsung discontinues its Galaxy Z TriFold after just three months ⁠

• ⁠Oppo’s nearly creaseless foldable isn’t launching in Europe after all ⁠

• From last year: ⁠Just look at Huawei’s trifold phone⁠

• ⁠This is not a fly uploaded to a computer⁠

• ⁠ChatGPT did not cure a dog’s cancer⁠

• ⁠Meta is actually keeping its VR metaverse running, for now⁠

• ⁠Nvidia just announced DLSS 5 and Digital Foundry already has a video. ⁠

• ⁠Jensen Huang, on the critical reaction to DLSS 5: “Well, first of all, they’re completely wrong.”⁠

• ⁠DLSS 5 looks like a real-time generative AI filter for video games ⁠

• ⁠Nvidia has lost the plot with gamers ⁠

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A new era of software development is upon us. Career coders are no longer writing code, but rather managing teams of agents that do the work on their behalf. You can Claude Code your way through seemingly just about any problem. So what does that mean for the software we use, and the people who make it? Paul Ford, a writer and technologist who both writes about code and manages a team of coders, joins the show to explain his somewhat conflicted excitement about the new crop of AI tools, and his worries about what they’ll do to the world. After that, The Verge’s Dominic Preston helps answer a question from the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email ⁠[email protected]⁠!) about the differences between the US phone market and the global phone market, and whether US buyers are missing anything important.

Further reading:

• ⁠The A.I. Disruption Has Arrived, and It Sure Is Fun⁠

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

• ⁠How the creator of Claude Code sees the future of AI⁠

• ⁠Ftrain⁠

• From Bloomberg: ⁠What Is Code?⁠

• ⁠Xiaomi, unlike Google and Samsung, thinks camera hardware comes first⁠

• ⁠Oppo’s new foldable isn’t quite creaseless, but it’s pretty damn close⁠

• ⁠Honor’s Robot Phone is a bad robot, interesting camera, maybe a friend⁠

• ⁠Vivo and Oppo’s telephoto extender comes to iPhone⁠

⁠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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David and Nilay bought new computers this week, as the MacBook Neo turned out to be a surprisingly great cheap Apple laptop. The hosts discuss their experiences with the machines, from the processor to the keyboard to the mess that is MacOS Tahoe. After that, they talk about the future of Xbox, Project Helix, and what it might mean for every gaming PC to become an Xbox... and for the Xbox to become a gaming PC. Finally, in the lightning round, it's time for Brendan Carr is a Dummy, the latest on Paramount and Warner Bros, Grammarly's sloppelgangers, and more.

Further reading:

• MacBook Neo review: the Mac for the masses 

•  Asus chief says Macbook Neo's affordable pricing came as a shock to the entire PC market — compares $599 notebook to a tablet and content-consumption device

• The MacBook Neo is surprisingly easy to disassemble and repair.

• From 2007: Ballmer Laughs at iPhone

• Apple Studio Display XDR review: a great, but expensive, pro option

• The iPhone 17E is good, but you probably shouldn’t buy it 

• iPad Air review 2026: the M4 and other chip bumps make a difference 

• Apple is going high-end with new ‘Ultra’ products next 

• iPhone Fold rumor: iPad-like multitasking, but no iPad apps and no Face ID 

• Microsoft’s next Xbox, Project Helix, won’t reach alpha until 2027 

• Microsoft’s ‘Xbox mode’ is coming to every Windows 11 PC 

• Microsoft says you should build next-gen Xbox games by building them for PC. 

• FCC chair blasts Amazon after it criticizes SpaceX megaconstellation

• Brendan Carr on X

• FCC chief tells CNBC WBD-Paramount merger deal is ‘cleaner’ than Netflix’s, will be approved ‘quickly’

• Grammarly is using our identities without permission 

• Grammarly is turning off the expert review AI feature that stole our identities 

• Grammarly will keep using authors’ identities without permission unless they opt out 

• The Live Nation settlement has industry insiders baffled

• Samsung Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus review: This again 

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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Last week, it appeared the US Department of Justice was off to a strong start in its antitrust case against Live Nation Ticketmaster. Then, this week, the two sides surprised everyone by settling. The Verge's Lauren Feiner joins the show to explain the stakes of the case, the facts of the settlement, and why things aren’t entirely over just yet. Then, The Verge’s Hayden Field catches us up on what’s happening between Anthropic, OpenAI, and the Department of Defense. OpenAI got the contract, but it looks like Anthropic might be the real winner here. If the company’s business can survive, that is. Finally, David answers a question on the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email [email protected]!) about whether you should get a foldable phone. And why foldable phones even exist.

Further reading:

• Live Nation settles government antitrust suit — that probably doesn’t include a breakup

• How Live Nation allegedly terrorized the concert industry

• Did Live Nation punish a venue by taking Billie Eilish away? 

• Inside Anthropic’s existential negotiations with the Pentagon 

• We don’t have to have unsupervised killer robots 

• How OpenAI caved to the Pentagon on AI surveillance 

• Trump orders federal agencies to drop Anthropic’s AI 

• Iran Strikes: Anthropic Claude AI Helped US Attack. But How Exactly? - Bloomberg

• My favorite folding phone is the one that doesn’t exist yet 

• Google Pixel Fold review: closing the gap

• Motorola Razr Ultra (2025) review: looking sharp

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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In 1997, David Hampton and Caleb Chung took one look at a Tamagotchi and decided they could bring the virtual pet craze into the real world. Their robotic companion, Furby, packed a bunch of advanced technology into a small, adorable, often annoying package. But for all the irritation it caused (Furby famously had no on-off switch) there was a surprising amount of thoughtful philosophy in its design. The Verge’s Vee Song, Sean Hollister and host David Pierce are joined by Coco the Furby to discuss the lore behind the hottest toy of 1998.

⁠Geocities chat with Furby co-inventor David Hampton⁠

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While most phone makers work hard to ensure their products don’t start fires, Oukitel made a phone that starts fires on purpose. This week on The Vergecast, Dominic Preston joins Editor-in-Chief Nilay Patel to wrap up all the weird and wonderful phones he and the team saw at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Then, Sean Hollister takes us through Google and Epic’s enemies-to-lovers saga: A secret $800 million deal, a non-disparagement agreement, and something about the metaverse for some reason. Plus: Nilay just had the best home movie experience of his life thanks to the Kaleidescape 8TB solid-state server, Dom’s charging his smart phone on a mini racecar, and Sean delivers some disappointing news about the Lego smart brick we were all rooting for. And Brendan Carr is still being a dummy.

Further reading:

• ⁠Nothing is finally covering up with the slim, metal Phone 4A Pro⁠

• ⁠Nothing couldn’t wait to show off the Phone 4A⁠

• ⁠Nothing’s Headphone A are something worth considering⁠⁠

• Honor’s Robot Phone is a bad robot, an interesting camera, and maybe your friend⁠

• ⁠Honor claims its Robot Phone will launch later this year⁠

• ⁠Honor’s Magic V6 is the first foldable with an IP69 rating⁠

• ⁠Xiaomi’s Leica Leitzphone mostly earns the name⁠

• ⁠Xiaomi, unlike Google and Samsung, thinks camera hardware comes first⁠

• ⁠Xiaomi 17 is a small(ish) phone with a big(ish) battery⁠

• ⁠Here’s the upgrade to my favorite phone camera of last year⁠

• ⁠Tecno is doing a modular phone (again)⁠

• ⁠Lenovo made a Framework-like laptop with modular ports — and a second screen⁠ ⁠

• Google isn’t waiting for a settlement — the 30 percent Android app store fee is dead⁠

• ⁠Here’s how Google describes its fee-reducing Apps Experience and Games Level Up programs⁠

• ⁠Epic and Google have signed a special deal for a new class of ‘metaverse’ apps⁠

• ⁠Tim Sweeney signed away his right to criticize Google until 2032⁠

• ⁠Fortnite is returning to Google Play globally⁠

• ⁠FCC Chair Brendan Carr is pushing for US-based call centers⁠

• I’m not ashamed to admit the Kobo Remote is the best gadget I’ve bought this year⁠

• Did Live Nation punish a venue by taking Billie Eilish away?⁠

• I charge my phone on a racing car. Do you? ⁠

• ⁠Investigating the 61-pound machine that eats plastic and spits out bricks

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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Apple released a bunch of new iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Studio Displays this week. The Verge’s Nilay Patel and David Pierce tried them all this morning, and are back to share their thoughts live.

Further reading:

• All the news about Apple’s MacBook Neo, iPhone 17E, and more

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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Most mainstream phone options are kind of the same, year in and year out — but that doesn’t mean there’s no innovation to be found. The Verge’s Allison Johnson is at Mobile World Congress, and joins the show to report on all the modular phones, robot phones, small phones, big phones, and (alas) 6G phones set to hit the market this year. After that, The Verge’s Jess Weatherbed explains the phenomenon of the gadget strap, and makes the case that they’re an increasingly useful accessory as our phones become even more important to our daily lives. (Yes, even if you have pockets.) Finally, The Verge’s Jay Peters helps David answer a question from the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email [email protected]!) about whether the metaverse, however you want to define it, is ever going to be realized.

Further reading:

• Oh great, here comes 6G 

• Honor claims its Robot Phone will launch later this year 

• Lenovo made a Franken-laptop with modular ports and a second screen 

• Vivo’s next phone will launch with a professional camera rig 

• Tecno’s latest concept phone is lit by neon 

• Honor’s Magic V6 is the first foldable with an IP69 rating 

• The Motorola Razr Fold is shaping up to be pure flagship

• Xiaomi’s super-slim power bank costs extra in orange. 

• Honor’s thinnest tablet doesn’t come cheap. 

• Peak Design has wearable gadget straps for people who hate bags 

• Apple’s misunderstood crossbody iPhone strap might be the best I’ve seen 

• Meta confirms Reality Labs layoffs and shifts to invest more in wearables

• Meta’s VR metaverse is ditching VR

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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Samsung just launched its newest phones, the Galaxy S26 lineup, and wow is it full of Vergecast stories. There’s the very cool new Privacy Display, which seems genuinely useful; there’s the AI-powered camera, which seems like a disaster waiting to happen; and there’s the new agentic AI in Android, which Google and Samsung might be positioned to actually pull off. After talking through all the new stuff, Nilay and David discuss the recent executive shakeup at Xbox, and try to figure out why Microsoft just can’t win in games. Finally, in the lightning round, it’s time for Brendan Carr is a dummy, some truly remarkable charts, and much more.

Further reading:

• ⁠Samsung Unpacked 2026: live updates from the Galaxy S26 ⁠⁠announcement event ⁠

• ⁠Samsung Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Plus hands-on: More of the same ⁠

• ⁠Samsung AI photos⁠

• ⁠Google Gemini can book an Uber or order food for you with new agentic AI features ⁠⁠Google and Samsung just launched the AI features Apple couldn’t with Siri⁠

• ⁠I’m super impressed with the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s new Privacy Display ⁠

• ⁠Samsung announces Galaxy Buds 4 and Buds 4 Pro at Unpacked 2026⁠

• ⁠Xbox shakeup: Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond are leaving Microsoft ⁠

• ⁠Xbox chief Phil Spencer is leaving Microsoft ⁠

• ⁠Read Xbox chief Phil Spencer’s memo about leaving Microsoft ⁠

• ⁠Sarah Bond is leaving Xbox ⁠

• ⁠Read Xbox president Sarah Bond’s memo about leaving Microsoft. ⁠

• ⁠Inside Microsoft’s big Xbox leadership shake-up ⁠

• ⁠Read Microsoft gaming CEO Asha Sharma’s first memo on the future of Xbox ⁠

• ⁠New Microsoft gaming CEO Asha Sharma says “hear you” to complaints about a lack of Xbox exclusives.⁠

• ⁠New Xbox CEO: ‘The plan’s the plan until it’s not the plan.’ ⁠

• ⁠Microsoft says today’s Xbox shake-up doesn’t mean game studio layoffs ⁠

• ⁠Billions of dollars later and still nobody knows what an Xbox is ⁠

• ⁠Chairman Carr Announces Pledge America Campaign⁠

• ⁠Does Anthropic think Claude is alive? Define ‘alive’⁠

• ⁠Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas AI Scenarios chart⁠

• ⁠Youtube Chair Drama⁠

• ⁠OpenAI’s Stargate struggles. ⁠

• ⁠OpenAI’s first ChatGPT gadget could be a smart speaker with a camera ⁠

⁠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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