Decoder is a show from The Verge about big ideas — and other problems. Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel talks to a diverse cast of innovators and policymakers at the frontiers of business and technology to reveal how they’re navigating an ever-changing landscape, what keeps them up at night, and what it all means for our shared future.
Today, I’m talking with Paul Bascobert, who is the president of Reuters, as part of a special Thursday series we’re running this month to explore how leaders at some world’s biggest companies make decisions in such a rapidly changing environment. Reuters is a great company for us to kick off with, because it’s been around since 1851, when the hot technology enabling mass media was the telegraph. Here, today, in 2025, the tech driving media has clearly changed more than a little bit. Distribution...
Hey everyone, it’s Nilay. We’re off today, but we’ll be back Thursday, so stay tuned. In the meantime, we have an excellent episode from Business Insider Chief Correspondent Peter Kafka, who hosts the media podcast Channels. In this episode, Peter sat down with one of the biggest names in journalism: New York Times publisher AG Sulzberger. It’s a fascinating conversation that covers some of the most pressing issues facing journalism and the news business today. We think you’ll like it. Links: NY...
A lot has happened in the first 100 days of Trump's second term. It’s nearly too much to keep up with, really, but we're going to try. Verge policy editor Adi Robertson joins Decoder this week to talk through six of the biggest stories and themes we're covering, from tariffs to TikTok to DOGE. Links: Donald Trump’s first 100 days: all the news affecting the tech industry | Verge The DOGE days have just begun | Verge America is living in tariff limbo | Verge MAGA’s next wave of influencers saved ...
A few days ago, I hosted a panel with FTC commissioners Rebecca Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya at the IAPP Global Privacy Summit in Washington, DC. We recorded the discussion, and we’re bringing it to you today. Normal Decoder stuff, but these are anything but normal times. Becca and Alvaro were FTC commissioners until very recently, when President Donald Trump fired them — but he doesn't have that legal authority. They’re suing to get their jobs back, and they’re prepared to go all the way to SCOT...
Jonathan Kanter discusses the possibility of breaking up Google, focusing on the ad tech antitrust case and potential remedies. He explores the construction of the cases, the courtroom experience, and the challenges facing the DOJ under new leadership, emphasizing the importance of rule of law and maintaining independence from political influence. Kanter also touches on the FTC's Meta case and the broader implications for competition and innovation in the tech industry.
Nilay Patel interviews Verizon Consumer CEO Sowmyanarayan Sampath about 5G, net neutrality, and the company's strategic decisions. Sampath discusses Verizon's network investments, competitive landscape, and approach to regulatory challenges. He also shares insights on decision-making processes and the future of wireless technology, including OpenRAN and potential shifts in smartphone form factors.
Nilay Patel interviews Flexport CEO Ryan Peterson about the realities of Trump's tariffs and the ongoing trade war with China. They discuss the impact on global supply chains, shifting manufacturing locations, and the challenges businesses face navigating unpredictable tariff policies. Peterson highlights the need for strategic solutions and potential opportunities amidst the chaos.
Nilay Patel interviews Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, discussing the company's expansion into banking and wealth management, and Tenev's vision for prediction markets. They explore the societal value and regulatory challenges of these markets, especially concerning sports gambling laws. Tenev defends prediction markets as a source of information and discusses Robinhood's role in democratizing finance, while Patel raises concerns about the risks and incentives involved.
Rohit Chopra was the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau head until the end of January, when President Donald Trump fired him and Elon Musk’s DOGE began trying to dismantle the agency. The CFPB has been pretty popular since it was founded in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to protect consumers, so shutting it down has kicked off a bunch of controversies — not least of which was whether Trump and Musk even had the power to do it. This all led me to ask several times who made the decision t...
Nilay Patel interviews UiPath CEO Daniel Dines about his return to the company, the shift to agentic AI, and the implications for the automation industry. They discuss the balance between deterministic RPA and AI, the impact on jobs, and the future of human-machine interaction. Dines shares insights on UiPath's strategy and the evolving economics of AI.
Brian Merchant joins Nilay Patel to discuss the ongoing AI art debate, focusing on the controversy surrounding Studio Ghibli memes and the broader implications for art, artists, and copyright. They explore the economic pressures AI places on artists, the moral and ethical considerations of using AI art generators, and the tech industry's engagement with art. The conversation also covers potential solutions for supporting artists in the age of AI and the future of creative work.
Unity is one of those hidden in plain sight companies we love here on Decoder, and CEO Matt Bromberg is in many ways the perfect Decoder guest. He's been on the job less than a year and took over in a moment of crisis. He describes the company as being "at war with its customers" before he joined, and he's not wrong. The game industry right now is also contracting overall — studios are closing, and some big bets on things like the metaverse and live service games haven’t paid off. So we talked a...
Lauren Leffer discusses the complexities of the H5N1 bird flu outbreak, its spread among various animal populations, and the potential risks to humans. The conversation explores the failures and challenges of public health responses, the influence of political figures like RFK Jr., and the role of capitalism in addressing the crisis. Leffer offers practical advice for individuals to protect themselves and their pets, emphasizing the importance of monitoring data and avoiding raw animal products.
Today, I’m talking with Kakul Srivastava, CEO of music creation platform Splice, which is one of the biggest marketplaces around for loops and samples. You can just go sign up, pay the money, and download these loops to try to make pop hits all day long. Take, for instance, Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso, which was composed almost entirely out of Splice loops. Now, if you’re a Decoder listener, you know that some of my favorite conversations are with people building technology products for creativ...
This episode of Decoder explores the Tesla Takedown protest movement and its potential impact on the company. Ed Niedermeyer joins Nilay Patel to discuss the disconnect between the myth and reality of Tesla, the vulnerabilities in its business model, and the reasons behind the protests. The conversation covers Tesla's leadership, product vision, and the challenges it faces in the evolving automotive landscape. Ultimately, the episode examines whether these protests can truly impact Tesla's stock and future.
Nilay Patel interviews Evan Smith, CEO of Altana, about the changing landscape of global trade and supply chains. They discuss the factors leading to the breakdown of globalization, the impact of tariffs, and the potential for decoupling from China. Smith explains how Altana's software helps companies navigate these changes and build more resilient supply chains. The conversation explores the role of industrial policy, the challenges of critical mineral dependency, and the future of manufacturing in North America.
Today, I’m talking to Verge policy editor Adi Robertson about a bill called the Take It Down Act, which is one in a long line of bills that would make it illegal to distribute non-consensual intimate imagery, or NCII. This is a real and devastating problem on the internet, and AI is just making it worse. But Adi just wrote a long piece arguing that giving the Trump administration new powers over speech in this way would be a mistake. So in this episode, Adi and I really get into the details of t...
Almar Latour is the publisher of the Wall Street Journal and also CEO of its parent company, Dow Jones — itself a part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Almar's been with the paper since the 90s, and now he's got insight into all the modern messes. He's made a big deal with OpenAI, while also suing Perplexity — all while building his own AI data products for Dow Jones customers. He's also a strong defender of press freedom who fought to have Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich released fr...
So today I’m talking to Andy Hawkins, The Verge’s transportation editor, about what’s going on in the skies. Andy just edited a big piece for us by writer Darryl Campbell that helps put a lot of what’s happening in air travel right now in perspective. It has some very reassuring data points, but it also raises important questions about what we need to do next to reinstill confidence in air travel. Andy and I talked about how safe it really is to fly right now — extremely safe, it turns out — and...
Nilay Patel interviews Amazon's Panos Panay about Alexa Plus, a new AI-powered version of Alexa. Panay discusses the cultural and structural changes he's implemented at Amazon to bring Alexa Plus to life, emphasizing a focus on service, cross-company collaboration, and leveraging AI for ambient experiences. They explore the complexities of orchestrating multiple AI models and APIs, the strategic pricing of Alexa Plus with Prime, and its potential to transform the smart home and human-computer interaction.
This is Alex Heath, deputy editor of The Verge. I’m guest hosting today’s episode while Nilay is still away for a much-needed vacation. He’ll be back next week. But today, we’re diving into the bromance between Elon Musk and Donald Trump, and more specifically, how it’s impacting the changing right-wing political movement here in the United States. There’s no better place to get that temperature check than CPAC. Musk showed up there this year for a wild interview — you may have seen clips of him...
Nilay Patel interviews Vimeo CEO Philip Moyer about the company's shift towards private video distribution, its focus on professional creators, and the impact of AI on the creator economy. Moyer discusses strategies for competing with YouTube, the importance of authenticity in AI-generated content, and the future of video creation and consumption.
David Pierce and Ash Parrish discuss the challenges facing Microsoft's Xbox division, exploring the company's strategies with Game Pass, cloud gaming, and multi-platform releases. They analyze why Xbox lags behind PlayStation and Nintendo, examining past missteps and future possibilities. The conversation delves into the evolving landscape of the gaming industry and the potential shift beyond traditional consoles.
The First Amendment, protecting free speech and free media, is a pillar of US law. It is, famously, the first one. We don’t usually tolerate government interference with speech. So it’s been disconcerting these first few weeks of the second Trump administration to realize suddenly, there’s a nonzero chance the government will punish our work. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is absolutely determined to turn all that talk about the media being the enemy of the people into concrete legal action — incredi...
Today, I’m talking with Senator Ron Wyden, a democrat and the senior senator from Oregon. He’s been in the Senate for almost 30 years, which makes him one of longest serving members of the institution. We scheduled this interview with Senator Wyden a while ago — he’s got a new book out called “It Takes Chutzpah: How to Fight Fearlessly for Progressive Change.” But recent events made it vastly more important to talk about the state of our federal government – and specifically, what Elon Musk and ...
Today, we’re discussing a very big problem with extremely far-reaching consequences: Do we still have a functional federal government here in the United States? And how much of it has been handed entirely to Elon Musk? If you’ve been following the news, you know there’s a lot here that’s unfolding very fast, but I wanted to know how all these changes are affecting the people who’ve so far been the most newly supportive of Trump because they have the most to lose – the money, the billionaires. So...
Andy Hunter is the CEO of Bookshop.org, a website he launched in 2020 that lets local bookshops sell all over the country. He always meant it to compete directly with Amazon, and the timing of that launch right into the teeth of the pandemic meant it was able to start strong and grow quickly. Now Bookshop is selling ebooks, which is another market hugely dominated by Amazon. For Andy and Bookshop to get what they want, they’re probably going to have to gear up for a big fight. It’s kind of the a...
Today, we’re talking about DeepSeek, and how the open source AI model built by a Chinese startup has completely upended the conventional wisdom around chatbots, what they can do, and how much they should cost to develop. We’re also talking about Stargate, OpenAI’s new $500 billion data center venture that’s supposed to supercharge domestic AI infrastructure. Both stand in stark contrast with one another — and represent a new, escalating front in the US-China relationship and the geopolitics of A...
Today, I’m talking with Gary Smith, CEO of the networking company Ciena. You probably aren’t familiar with Ciena — the company isn’t really a household name. But every internet user has relied on the company’s products; Ciena makes the hardware and software that makes the fiber optic cables connecting the world light up with data. That’s everything from local fiber networks for broadband ISPs to the massive undersea cables that connect continents. There’s a high probability that this very podcas...
It’s been a messy couple of weeks for big tech companies as the second Trump administration kicks off an unprecedented era of how we think about who controls the internet. Right now, there's a major collision, or maybe merger, happening between billionaire power and state power, and everyone who uses tech to communicate — so, basically everyone — is stuck in the middle. I sat down with law professor and online speech expert Kate Klonick to break it all down. Links: Welcome to the era of gangster...
