Danny and Steven Sanicki are twins, competitive golfers, and suddenly the biggest names in online mini golf. They started making mini golf content on TikTok about a year ago, and it took off; since then they've been trying to ride the viral wave and also turn it into something that lasts. For this episode, the first in a miniseries we're calling How To Make It In The Future, we talk to the Sanickis about their journey to turn putt-putt into their life's work — without killing the fun in the process.

Further reading:

• @dannysanicki on TikTok
• Twin Tour Golf on Instagram
• Twin Tour Golf on YouTube
• From Golf Digest: How college golf twins and some friends with time to kill accidentally created a viral mini-golf sensation

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Nilay and David make some predictions about Thursday evening’s Tesla event — which you’ve already seen, but we haven’t! Then they talk about the week’s gadget news, from Nintendo’s new Alarmo alarm clock to Apple’s upcoming iPads and Macs. Then Lauren Feiner joins to talk about the latest on all fronts in Google’s antitrust fight, and how the government might be planning to break up the company altogether. Then it’s time for a lightning round about Google Docs tabs, FEMA misinformation, and Zoom AI avatars.

Further reading:

• The bill finally comes due for Elon Musk
• In the past week, 4 of Elon Musk's direct reports have announced their exits from Tesla
• All the buzz about Nintendo’s Alarmo clock
• I totally forgot we wrote about Nintendo’s sleep tracking alarm clock 10 years ago.
• Nintendo’s original alarm clock prototypes were a lot less playful
• A closer look at Nintendo’s adorable Alarmo clock
• Shrunken Mac Minis and a new iPad Mini might come in November
• Apple’s Vision Pro leader, Dan Riccio, is retiring
• A Google breakup is on the table, say DOJ lawyers
• How the DOJ wants to break up Google’s search monopoly
• Google must crack open Android for third-party stores, rules Epic judge
• The filing: Microsoft Word - FINAL - Google Remedy Framework
• Google’s response: DOJ’s radical and sweeping proposals risk hurting consumers, businesses, and developers
• Google Docs is making it much easier to organize information
• Zoom will let AI avatars talk to your team for you - The Verge
• Hurricane Milton hits tonight, and it’s past the point of evacuation. Creators are still there.
• Instagram and Threads moderation is out of control - The Verge
• FEMA adds misinformation to its list of disasters to clean up

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For this full-on “what is a photo” episode, we start by chatting with Halide developers Ben Sandofsky and Sebastiaan De With about what it means to build a camera app in 2024 — and what it means to try and accurately capture a photo. Then The Verge’s Allison Johnson joins the show to talk about her experiment going all-in on AI-ifying her photos. Finally, we answer a hotline about which gadgets to attach to your head when you go for a run.

Further reading:

• Halide
• Halide’s Process Zero feature captures photos with no AI processing
• Let’s compare Apple, Google, and Samsung’s definitions of ‘a photo’
• No one’s ready for this
• Google’s AI tool helped us add disasters and corpses to our photos
• The AI photo editing era is hare, and it’s every person for themselves
• This system can sort real pictures from AI fakes — why aren’t platforms using it?
• 
  

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Nilay, Alex, and David discuss Microsoft's new Copilot announcements, and the friendlier face the company is trying to put on its chatbot. They also wonder: what, exactly, is an AI companion supposed to do for you, and how is it supposed to do it? They then dive into OpenAI's huge funding round, before exploring all the new gadgets of the week and some deep drama in the WordPress universe. Finally, it's time for a lightning round of news about Dish and DirecTV, Progressive Web Apps, and Nintendo's fight against emulation. We also send off Alex, our sadly departing co-host, with cake and Plex servers.

Further reading:

• Microsoft gives Copilot a voice and vision in its biggest redesign yet
• Read Microsoft’s optimistic memo about the future of AI companions
• Shh, ChatGPT. That’s a Secret. - The Atlantic
• College students used Meta’s smart glasses to dox people in real time
• Sonos has a plan to earn back your trust, and here it is
• Chromebooks are getting a new button dedicated to Google’s AI
• Microsoft is discontinuing its HoloLens headsets
• Google’s Pixel Buds are now fully supported on Windows and macOS.
• Automattic demanded a cut of WP Engine’s revenue before starting WordPress battle
• DirecTV and Dish are merging
• Nintendo has reportedly shut down Ryujinx, the Switch emulator that was supposedly immune

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The Verge's Jennifer Pattison Tuohy joins the show to discuss a bunch of updates in the smart home world, including what's new from Google Home and in iOS 18, plus some big news in the world of smart locks and video doorbells. Then, The Verge's Chris Welch comes on to test some new earbuds, and see which pair has the best sound – and the best mic. After that, a new take on the Vergecast's chaotic wearables theory.

Further reading:

•  Ki is bringing wireless power to kitchen appliances
• The Eufy Smart Lock E30 is the company’s first Matter device
• The Ultraloq Bolt Mission from U-tec is the first smart lock with UWB
• Assa Abloy buys Level Lock to bolster its smart lock business
• TP-Link Tapo D225 Video Doorbell Camera review
• Ring’s entry-level wireless doorbell gets a head-to-toe view
• iOS 18 lets you control Matter devices without a smart home hub
• The Thread 1.4 spec is here, but it will be a while until we see any benefit
• Google TV gets a big upgrade
• Google is set to supercharge Google Home with Gemini intelligence

And on wireless earbuds:

• The best wireless earbuds to buy right now
• Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are its best earbuds yet
• Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 review: big upgrade, much smaller earbuds
• Bose’s new QuietComfort Earbuds offer top-tier ANC for under $200
• Apple AirPods 4 review: defying expectations
• Nothing’s first open-ear headphones keep you aware of your surroundings

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Michael Sayman, the creator of a viral new app called SocialAI, joins the show to discuss why he built a social network where you're the only human around. He tells us how he thinks about AI interfaces, what's next for ChatGPT and other chatbots, and why posting to a language model might be better than posting on a social network.

Further reading:

• SocialAI
• Michael Sayman on LinkedIn
• SocialAI: we tried the Twitter clone where no other humans are allowed
• From TechCrunch: Friendly Apps raises $3 million, pre-product, for apps that improve people’s well-being
• From Wired: I Stared Into the AI Void With the SocialAI App
• From New York Magazine: Does Anyone Need an AI Social Network?
• From Ars Technica: “Dead Internet theory” comes to life with new AI-powered social media app

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The Verge's Alex Heath joins Nilay, Alex, and David to talk about all the announcements coming out of Meta Connect: the impressive (and expensive) Orion glasses, the new features for the Ray-Ban Smart Glasses, and lots and lots of new AI. Then they discuss the latest executive departures at OpenAI, as the industry's foremost AI company undergoes a huge shift. In the lightning round, it's time for more AI gadgets, the PS5 Pro... and then some more AI gadgets.

Further reading:

• Meta Connect 2024: biggest news and announcements
• Hands-on with Orion, Meta’s first pair of AR glasses
• Meta’s Ray-Bans will now ‘remember’ things for you
• Why Mark Zuckerberg thinks AR glasses will replace your phone
• Meta’s VR app store is about to fill up with phone-style 2D apps
• Mark Zuckerberg: creators and publishers ‘overestimate the value’ of their work for training AI
• Meta’s AI can now talk to you in the voices of Awkwafina, John Cena, and Judi Dench
• Kristen Bell told Instagram to ‘get rid of AI’ before she became its official voice
• OpenAI CTO Mira Murati is leaving
• Just 5,000 people use the Rabbit R1 every day
• Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 review: big upgrade, much smaller earbuds
• I played the PS5 Pro, and it’s clearly better
• Inside Jony Ive’s Life After Apple and His LoveFrom Design Business

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Kylie Robison joins the show to talk about OpenAI’s new model, o1, and what this new “reasoning” model says about the state of the art in AI — and what AI companies are willing to put up with in the name of building God. Then, Gaby Del Valle and Adi Robertson talk through the latest on the TikTok ban, the Trump crypto chaos, and the ongoing adtech antitrust trial against Google. (All with as little politics-talk as possible.)

Further reading:

OpenAI releases new o1 reasoning model

OpenAI’s new model is better at reasoning and, occasionally, deceiving

TikTok ban: all the news on attempts to ban the video platform

TikTok oral arguments will weigh security risks against free speech

TikTok faces a skeptical panel of judges in its existential fight against the US government 

Donald Trump is hawking tokens for a crypto project he still hasn’t explained

US v. Google redux: all the news from the ad tech trial

How Google got away with charging publishers more than anyone else

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For the first episode in our new miniseries about the impact of AI in our everyday lives, we chat with Steven Johnson, a longtime author who has spent the last couple of years at Google working on an AI research and note-taking tool called NotebookLM. We talk about whether AI can really help us learn better, how Google has tried to make NotebookLM more accurate and helpful, and whether AI-generated podcasts are the future of learning. 

Further reading:

• NotebookLM
• Steven Johnson’s website / newsletter
• From Steven Johnson: Listening To The Algorithm
• Google teases Project Tailwind — a prototype AI notebook that learns from your documents
• Google’s AI-powered note-taking app is the messy beginning of something great
• Google is using AI to make fake podcasts from your notes
• 
  

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Nilay, Alex, and David are joined by Wall Street Journal columnist Joanna Stern to talk about this year’s iPhone – and Joannabot, the AI chatbot Joanna made to help you make buying decisions. They also answer some questions about the new phones as Apple gets ready to ship them. They also talk about Snap’s new Spectacles, the future of YouTube communities, Instagram teens, and AI social networks.

Further reading:

• Our iPhone 16 Review, Brought To You By a Joanna Stern AI Chatbot
• Snap releases new Spectacles for AR developers
• Snapchat’s AI selfie feature puts your face in personalized ads — here’s how to turn it off
• Snap announces “Simple Snapchat” redesign to compete with TikTok
• Evan Spiegel explains why Snap is betting on Spectacles 
• Meta extends its Ray-Ban smart glasses deal beyond 2030 
• YouTube’s new Hype feature is a way to promote and discover smaller creators
• YouTube integrates AI for creators through Veo and the Inspiration tab
• YouTube Communities let fans and viewers chat and post with creators 
• YouTube confirms your pause screen is now fair game for ads
• YouTube is adding ‘seasons’ to make your favorite channel more like Netflix
• SocialAI: we tried the Twitter clone where no other humans are allowed
• Lionsgate signs deal to train AI model on its movies and shows

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We've finally finished testing, scoring, and reviewing Apple's new gear for the fall. On this episode we talk through our reviews of the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro, the Apple Watch 10, and the AirPods 4, to see whether they're real upgrades and whether they're worth your money. And then, on the Vergecast Hotline (866-VERGE11), we make the case for the Pixel in 2024.

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