is editor-at-large and Vergecast co-host with over a decade of experience covering consumer tech. Previously, at Protocol, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired.
Large language models are currently everyone’s solution to everything. The technology’s versatility is part of its appeal: the use cases for generative AI seem both huge and endless. But then you use the stuff, and not enough of it works very well. And you wonder what we’re really accomplishing here.
On this episode of The Vergecast, Nilay rejoins the show full of thoughts about the current state of AI — particularly after spending a summer trying to get his smart home to work. But before we get to that, we talk about our new ad-free podcast option, which launched this week! (If you’re a subscriber, go to your account settings to find the feeds for all of our shows.) We also talk about Apple’s new M5-powered MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro, and wonder how big a deal a chip bump really is.
After that, it’s time to talk AI. We talk about the state of AI assistants, which are clearly the killer consumer app for LLMs, and which no one can build particularly well yet. ChatGPT and the others are fun to use! But that’s not the same as being useful – especially not in the omnipresent, all-knowing way we actually require. The ideal product here is both obvious and tantalizing, but it doesn’t feel like we’re close to it. Unless you’re really excited about talking to your laptop.
Finally, in the lightning round, we talk about TiVos, Cybertrucks, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold’s exploding battery, Apple TV, and more.
If you want to know more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started, first in podcast and gadget news:
- Ad-free Verge podcasts have arrived
- Apple’s 2025 iPad Pro comes with an M5 chip inside
- Apple just upgraded the Vision Pro with an M5 chip and new strap
- Apple’s 14-inch MacBook Pro gets an M5 chip bump and faster storage
- Apple’s rumored smart home display hub might start at $350
- Samsung officially teases Moohan headset launch for next week
And in AI news:
And in the lightning round:
- The “Bulls on Parade” cover on TikTok
- Apple TV Plus is being rebranded to… Apple TV
- Apple exec on Apple TV rebranding: ‘let’s just do it’
- TiVo has sold its last DVR
- Roku’s AI-upgraded voice assistant can answer questions about what you’re watching
- Tesla Cybertruck sales are flatlining
- Google’s Pixel 10 Pro Fold is the first to ‘go up in smoke during a bend test,’ JerryRigEverything says
