The Vergecast

The creepy AI era is here

Listen Later

Would you like Siri more if it had a face? This week on The Vergecast, we’re talking about AI assistants getting smarter… and uncomfortably personal. The Verge’s Jennifer Pattison Tuohy joins the show to talk about her early tests of Alexa Plus, which is finally AI-powered and a lot more capable. Jake shares his uncomfortable first interaction with Grok’s anime girlfriend. And Waveform cohost David Imel is here to talk about Sony’s RX1R III and other premium “compact” cameras.

Finally, the THUNDER ROUND is back. New, improved, and still loud.


Further reading:

  • 24 hours with Alexa Plus: we cooked, we chatted, and it kinda lied to me
  • Alexa Plus launches to “small number” of people More than a million people now have Alexa Plus
  • Elon Musk’s AI bot adds a ridiculous anime companion with ‘NSFW’ mode
  • I spent 24 hours flirting with Elon Musk’s AI girlfriend
  • System prompt dump of xAI / Grok’s new AI anime girlfriend
  • Elon Musk teases AI anime boyfriend based on Edward Cullen
  • “We will, of course, have another character inspired by Mr. Darcy”
  • xAI has open roles for building AI “waifus.”
  • US government announces $200 million Grok contract a week after ‘MechaHitler’ incident
  • Grok will no longer call itself Hitler or base its opinions on Elon Musk’s, promises xAI
  • Sony’s pocket-sized RX1R camera returns with its first update in 10 years
  • Original RX1R 
  • RX1R II
  • Google exec: ‘We’re going to be combining ChromeOS and Android’
  • Our biggest questions about ChromeOS and Android merging
  •  Ikea goes all in on Matter/Thread
  • Eric Migicovsky 
  • Texts.com
  • Google Nest subscription
  • The next batch of emoji includes Bigfoot


    • Email us at [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store
    The VergecastBy The Verge
    • 4.4
    • 4.4
    • 4.4
    • 4.4
    • 4.4

    4.4

    3,642 ratings

    More shows like The Vergecast

    View all
    Uncanny Valley | WIRED by WIRED

    Uncanny Valley | WIRED

    451 Listeners

    The CultCast by America's favorite Apple Podcast

    The CultCast

    1,169 Listeners

    The Talk Show With John Gruber by Daring Fireball / John Gruber

    The Talk Show With John Gruber

    3,130 Listeners

    Accidental Tech Podcast by Marco Arment, Casey Liss, John Siracusa

    Accidental Tech Podcast

    2,093 Listeners

    9to5Mac Happy Hour by 9to5Mac

    9to5Mac Happy Hour

    717 Listeners

    Connected by Relay FM

    Connected

    568 Listeners

    Upgrade by Relay

    Upgrade

    1,199 Listeners

    Gastropod by Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley

    Gastropod

    3,583 Listeners

    Switched on Pop by Vulture

    Switched on Pop

    2,634 Listeners

    AppleInsider Podcast by AppleInsider

    AppleInsider Podcast

    971 Listeners

    Decoder with Nilay Patel by The Verge

    Decoder with Nilay Patel

    3,139 Listeners

    Explain It to Me by Vox

    Explain It to Me

    7,836 Listeners

    Pivot by New York Magazine

    Pivot

    9,265 Listeners

    Channels with Peter Kafka by Vox Media Podcast Network

    Channels with Peter Kafka

    554 Listeners

    The Gray Area with Sean Illing by Vox

    The Gray Area with Sean Illing

    10,651 Listeners

    The Engadget Podcast by Engadget

    The Engadget Podcast

    138 Listeners

    Good One: A Podcast About Jokes by Vulture

    Good One: A Podcast About Jokes

    1,472 Listeners

    Apple Bitz XL w/ Brian Tong by Big IP | Realm

    Apple Bitz XL w/ Brian Tong

    1,290 Listeners

    Land of the Giants by Vulture

    Land of the Giants

    2,161 Listeners

    Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast by Vox Media Podcast Network

    Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast

    5,928 Listeners

    Unlocking Us with Brené Brown by Vox Media Podcast Network

    Unlocking Us with Brené Brown

    23,610 Listeners

    The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway by Vox Media Podcast Network

    The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway

    5,361 Listeners

    A Touch More with Sue Bird & Megan Rapinoe by Vox Media Podcast Network

    A Touch More with Sue Bird & Megan Rapinoe

    684 Listeners

    Hard Fork by The New York Times

    Hard Fork

    5,437 Listeners

    Celebrity Memoir Book Club by Vox Media Podcast Network

    Celebrity Memoir Book Club

    6,341 Listeners

    Unexplainable by Vox

    Unexplainable

    2,232 Listeners

    Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast by Vox Media Podcast Network

    Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast

    5,928 Listeners

    Cover Story by New York Magazine

    Cover Story

    1,218 Listeners

    The MacRumors Show by The MacRumors Show

    The MacRumors Show

    235 Listeners

    Not Just Football with Cam Heyward by Cam Heyward

    Not Just Football with Cam Heyward

    141 Listeners

    Networth and Chill with Your Rich BFF by Vivian Tu

    Networth and Chill with Your Rich BFF

    1,728 Listeners

    Served with Andy Roddick by Served with Andy Roddick

    Served with Andy Roddick

    1,019 Listeners

    Prof G Markets by Vox Media Podcast Network

    Prof G Markets

    1,166 Listeners

    Bird's Eye View with Sue Bird by Sue Bird

    Bird's Eye View with Sue Bird

    280 Listeners