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Decoder

Decoder is a new show from The Verge about big ideas – and other problems. Verge Editor-in-Chief Nilay Patel talks to a diverse cast of innovators and policy makers 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. Subscribe here!

Former DOJ antitrust chief says a Google break up will benefit the internet

Jonathan Kanter’s team won two antitrust trials against Google for the DOJ. But the big question is what happens next.

Verizon’s consumer chief: Net neutrality ‘went literally nowhere’

Sowmyanarayan Sampath on the 5G race with China and the challenges of standing up to the Trump administration.

How Trump’s tariffs actually work on the ground

Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen offers an air-, sea-, and ground-level view on the tariff chaos.

Are prediction markets gambling? Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev is betting not

From meme stocks to bank accounts, how Robinhood is expanding its turf.

Why DOGE is killing the agency that keeps banks from ripping you off

Rohit Chopra, Trump’s fired Wall Street watchdog, on the future of financial regulation.

UiPath CEO Daniel Dines on AI agents replacing our jobs

After some time away, the head of UiPath is placing a big bet on agentic AI being the future of automation.

What AI anime memes tell us about the future of art and humanity

The Studio Ghibli saga has blown the AI art debate wide open.

CEO Matt Bromberg on ending Unity’s ‘war’ against its customers

How Unity weathered a user revolt and refocused on its game engine

Capitalism vs. the bird flu

What happens when a deadly, pathogenic virus collides with Big Agriculture?

Splice CEO Kakul Srivastava on where to draw hard lines around AI in music

The head of the sample platform thinks creatives “deserve better” than AI tools that do all the work for them.

How the Tesla brand turned so toxic

The Tesla Takedown movement is rallying against Elon Musk, and it’s only getting bigger.

How Trump’s tariff chaos is already changing global trade

Altana CEO Evan Smith on the end of globalization and the future of the iPhone.

Why Trump can’t be trusted with Congress’ new anti-deepfake bill

The Take It Down Act could give Trump an unprecedented tool to target his enemies.

Dow Jones CEO Almar Latour on AI, press freedom, and the future of news

The Wall Street Journal publisher’s thoughts on what it takes for journalism to thrive in 2025.

Flying is still safe for now — but the FAA isn’t

The FAA is dealing with crashes, layoffs, and outdated tech. Now Elon Musk wants in.

Amazon’s Panos Panay on the long road to Alexa’s AI overhaul

After nearly 20 years at Microsoft, Panay was ready to dive in.

Understanding Elon Musk’s polarizing ascent in the MAGA movement

How much does MAGA really care about the tech industry?

Vimeo CEO Philip Moyer is betting on the human touch — and AI

AI tools are here to stay, Moyer says, but Vimeo wants to build on ‘authenticity.’

Xbox Game Pass was supposed to be the Netflix of gaming — what happened?

Microsoft’s move to win the console war by not playing has had mixed results.

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The FCC is a weapon in Trump’s war on free speech

Brendan Carr’s mission to trash the First Amendment.

Sen. Ron Wyden is here to stop Elon Musk

The Democrat from Oregon says ‘we’re going to use every tool’ to try and thwart Elon Musk’s DOGE.

Elon Musk’s presidency is just getting started

The billionaire is taking over the federal government and remaking it in Twitter’s image.

Bookshop CEO Andy Hunter’s crusade to save books from Amazon

The company is amping up its fight against Amazon with a new frontier: ebooks.

DeepSeek, Stargate, and the new AI arms race

The Chinese chatbot and OpenAI’s new data center venture present a stark contrast for the future of AI.

How Ciena keeps the internet online, with CEO Gary Smith

One of the biggest tech companies you’ve never heard of is helping you listen to this podcast.

How Meta’s MAGA heel turn is a play for global power

Law professor Kate Klonick explains what Big Tech’s Trump appeasement is really about.

Nilay Patel
Why CEO Matt Garman is willing to bet AWS on AI

AWS chief Matt Garman says Amazon is already seeing the benefits of its massive AI investments.

Answering your biggest Decoder questions

Our end-of-year special, featuring guest Nilay Patel.

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Tech antitrust is about to get really weird

President-elect Donald Trump’s second term is a regulatory wild card hanging over Big Tech.

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Arm CEO Rene Haas on the AI chip race, Intel, and what Trump means for tech

The head of the ubiquitous chip design firm on the ‘breathtaking’ pace of AI.

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Platforms need the news — but they’re killing it

Media critic Matt Pearce on ‘Lessons on media policy at the slaughter-bench of history’

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Reverse acquihires in... the grilling industry?

It’s not just big tech companies finding confusing new ways to merge — Weber just announced that it’s “combining” with the Blackstone griddle company, and that Blackstone founder and CEO Rager Dahle will become the new CEO of the combined company when all is said and done.

Roger was on Decoder in 2021 talking about how he’d started the company in 2015 and what it was like as his griddles — and the smashburgers you can make on them — started going viral on TikTok during the pandemic. We’ve been interviewing grill company CEOs nearly every summer since — they are some of the most interesting episodes we do.

Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman says conversational AI is the next web browser

The company’s new AI chief on working for Microsoft, the OpenAI relationship, and when superintelligence might actually arrive.

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Why investors don’t mind that AI is a money pit

AI investment is massive even though AI profits are not. How are investors justifying this pricey gamble on the future?

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GoDaddy CEO Aman Bhutani on the enduring power of the website

Despite everything, websites are still a pretty neat idea — but what if AI builds them?

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How Trump’s second term could be bad for EVs — but great for Tesla

What Elon Musk really wants from a Trump presidency.

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Here’s our Decoder episode with Bluesky CEO Jay Graber.

The federated Twitter competitor is heating up this week as people flee X — it just crossed 15m users and is currently the top app in the US iOS App Store. CEO Jay Graber was on Decoder earlier this year, talking about Bluesky’s approach to federation, “composable moderation,” and ultimately monetization. It’s a good one!

Why the Grammys need to change, with CEO Harvey Mason Jr.

Rebooting the member list, taking the show streaming — is it enough in the age of AI?

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