Lots of gadget news this week! David, Jake Kastrenakes, and Allison Johnson start by talking about the iPhone 16E, which is both the cheapest compelling iPhone in a long time and a deeply odd addition to Apple's phone lineup. They also discuss the end of the Humane AI Pin, the latest from the Rabbit R1, and whether AI gadgets are even going to be a thing. After that, it's time for the lightning round: David and Jake talk about Amazon Chime, Mira Murati's new startup, and the future of James Bond. Then, in a special DOGE lightning round, Lauren Feiner joins the show to discuss everything happening with Trump, Musk, DOGE, and the US government. Because there's a lot of it.

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This episode is all about companies in flux. First, we chat with The Verge's Alex Heath about all things Meta — whether the company is still serious about the metaverse, why its AI plans seem to be going so well, what "OG Facebook" really means, and what headsets to expect this year. After that, The Verge's Chris Welch takes us through the last year at Sonos, from the disastrous app launch to the pretty good headphones that were totally derailed by the disastrous app launch. Can the company get it together in order to launch its next big swing, a set-top box codenamed Pinewood? Finally, we answer a question on the Vergecast Hotline all about business cards. Because, yes, it's 2025, but sometimes you still need a place to put a business card.

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On today's episode, once again, it's OpenAI and DOGE. And some other things! Nilay and David start the show by talking about Elon Musk's surprise bid to buy the nonprofit arm of OpenAI, along with the company's plans for new models and new rules for those models. After that, The Verge's Lauren Feiner joins to catch us up on what's happening with DOGE, how Musk and co. are making boring government information into something deeply fascinating and deeply confusing, and what it's like to work for the government now. Finally, in the lightning round, we talk about rumors of a new Apple Studio Display and iPhone SE, the new Powerbeats 2 Pro, Brendan Carr still being a dummy, and some surprising streaming moves from Apple and YouTube.

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AI and politics, politics and AI. That's the story of 2025. On this episode, The Verge's Kylie Robison joins the show to talk about ChatGPT's big new features, Operator and deep research, both of which promise to make the chatbot more useful and more autonomous. To access either one costs $200 a month — is it worth it? After that, The Verge's Liz Lopatto catches us up on the latest from Elon Musk and Doge, including why Musk is doing this thing, this way. Liz also makes the case that this isn't going to slow down anytime soon. Finally, Nilay Patel helps us answer a question from the Vergecast Hotline, and tells us how he felt about the Super Bowl's 4K stream.

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Nilay, David, and Richard Lawler take on a big week in confusing news stories. First, they talk through the latest from Elon Musk's DOGE, which is running rampant through government computer systems with little pushback. Then they explain the latest on the US government's tariff strategy, and the mass confusion it's causing across tech. Then they pivot away from politics and talk about streaming: the Super Bowl coming to Tubi, the deeply confusing forthcoming Fox streaming service, whatever Comcast is doing this year, and more. Finally, in the lightning round, they talk about Sonos's streaming box, Brendan Carr's latest assaults on free speech, OpenAI's "new" logo, and more.

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Today on the show, it’s all about the future of phones… and your data. The Verge’s Allison Johnson joins the show to talk about the new Samsung Galaxy S25, what’s new in this high-end phone, and what it means for all the other smartphones coming this year. After that, Cooper Quintin, a senior staff technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, talks us through how to think about the privacy implications of RedNote, TikTok, DeepSeek, and all the other tech that puts us in contact with China. Finally, we enlist The Verge’s Jennifer Pattison Tuohy to help us answer a question from the Vergecast Hotline all about the Meta Portal. Remember the Meta Portal?? If you’re missing yours, we have some ideas.

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Nilay and David dig into the week's biggest story: the new Intel-powered Surface Pro. Kidding! They talk about DeepSeek, the out-of-nowhere AI company that sent both Silicon Valley and the stock market into uproar this week. Then, after the hosts debate what the real killer app for AI is — and whether we've even found one yet — we follow up on our question from last week about how people are actually using AI. We got so many good answers, and we talk through what to make of them all. Finally, in the lightning round, we talk about Brendan Carr being a dummy, the return of the Pebble, the continued rise of Bluesky and Threads, and Meta's $25 million check to Trump.

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The Verge’s Victoria Song joins the show to talk about the most popular and most-bailed-on New Year’s Resolution of all: getting in shape. She tells us about the apps that help you work out more without being rude about it, the data you really need to care about in your fitness tracker, and much more. After that, we talk to Anna Valtonen, one of the curators and researchers behind the new Nokia Design Archive. She tells us about the concepts, presentations, and overall culture that made Nokia such an important company in the history of phones. Finally, we answer another question on the Vergecast Hotline about how audio works on your phone. It’s all still too complicated.

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Nilay, David, and The Verge's Allison Johnson run down all the biggest news from the latest Samsung Unpacked. The S25 Edge had everyone excited, but the other new Galaxy S25 models feel a little familiar. Then, The Verge's Lauren Feiner updates us on the many goings-on in the first days of the new Trump administration, from the TikTok ban delay to the executive orders on citizenship and AI. Finally, in the lightning round, David and Nilay talk about Netflix's price increase, smart-home standards, and more.

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First in this episode, a quick update on the TikTok ban (which didn't turn out to be much of a ban at all.) Then, Sportico's Jacob Feldman joins the show to talk about Venu, the much-hyped streaming service that planned to bring all sports into a single platform — and never even managed to launch. After that, The Verge's Kevin Nguyen tells us how to read more books this year, and how to turn all your aimless scrolling time into more productive reading time. Finally, we answer a question on the Vergecast Hotline about audio sources on your phone, and why you can't listen to a thousand things at once.

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