Decoder

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 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!

Microsoft AI CEO says AI threats are real, and Anthropic is making it worse

Mustafa Suleyman on the AI safety debate, why AI isn’t consciousness, and how the industry pushes toward alignment.

Nilay PatelSep 17

Adam Conover explains how YouTube ruined everything

The comedian, podcast host, and, yes, YouTuber on the state of media today.

Nilay PatelSep 14

Why the current tech backlash feels different

Answering your Decoder questions about surveillance, AI coverage, and the Nilay rant.

Nick Statt, Greg Ott and 1 moreSep 10

How Sonos rebooted itself

CEO Tom Conrad on cleaning up Sonos’ app redesign mess and turning a speaker company into a software platform.

Nilay PatelSep 3

New York Governor Kathy Hochul thinks AI should be ‘less evil’

The governor on 3D-printed guns, AI and data center backlash, and who protects kids online.

Nilay PatelAug 31

OpenAI’s executive exodus has one big winner

The Verge’s Hayden Field on how OpenAI president Greg Brockman has consolidated power as Sam Altman’s second-in-command.

Nilay PatelAug 27

How GoFundMe became America’s backup plan

CEO Tim Cadogan on how a for-profit company becomes a social safety net.

Nilay PatelAug 24

Welcome to the AI crisis in math

The Verge’s Robert Hart on why new AI discoveries have left the math world ‘shell-shocked.’

Nilay PatelAug 20

It’s about ethics in journalism, with Ben Smith

Semafor’s editor-in-chief on billionaire owners, news influencers, and the anti-scale era of media.

Nilay PatelAug 17

Does Google even want to win at AI?

Is the shakeup at Google DeepMind a strategy or a crisis?

Nilay PatelAug 13

What happens to Bose when headphones become AI?

Snyder on the company’s move into luxury audio, licensing the Bose brand, and what happens to great sound in the AI era.

Nilay PatelAug 10

The left and right agree on one thing: no data centers

Data center bans in states like Florida reveal how the anti-AI movement is channeling bipartisan backlash.

Nilay PatelAug 6

Bluesky’s new CEO wants a big tent, not a bubble

CEO Toni Schneider on protocols, community, and control.

Nilay PatelAug 3

Tariffs didn’t bring manufacturing jobs back to the US

Altana CEO Evan Smith on the new normal of global trade.

Nilay PatelJul 27

Apple’s OpenAI lawsuit is about who gets to define the post-smartphone era

OpenAI can’t afford another lawsuit, especially not with a company like Apple.

Nilay PatelJul 23

Dr. Jill Lepore on why AI backlash is vital for the future

The Artificial State author explains how counting everything breaks society — and how college grads booing AI might save us all.

Nilay PatelJul 20

‘No company is going to go to jail for you’: Proton’s CTO on balancing privacy, policy, and trust

Bart Butler on encryption, child safety, and why there’s no such thing as a backdoor for only the good guys.

Nilay PatelJul 16

Even Nvidia’s head of automotive fights with Nvidia for compute

Xinzhou Wu on autonomy, Chinese cars, and if we really need lidar.

Nilay PatelJul 13

Comcast is breaking up with NBCU. Why did it ever buy it in the first place?

Business Insider’s Peter Kafka on the Comcast split, and why the dream of content plus pipes keeps failing.

Nilay PatelJul 9

Inside the big business of the creator economy, with the agents making it happen

Ali Berman and Raina Penchansky, the co-heads of UTA’s Creators division, on helping human creators in the age of AI.

Nilay PatelJul 6

AI won’t save advertising, says Digitas’ Amy Lanzi

The CEO of Digitas on why overpromising with AI is a dangerous path for marketers.

Nilay PatelJul 2

Let him cook: How Weber Blackstone CEO Roger Dahle went from upstart to the biggest name in grilling

After taking over Weber, Blackstone founder Roger Dahle’s new job is integrating his griddle empire with what used to be his biggest competitor.

Nilay PatelJun 29

Nilay PatelJun 25

Watch New Things’ Joanna Stern interview Ford CEO Jim Farley on Decoder.

You might remember I took a break from Decoder last year — we had a baby, so I took some leave. In my place, we had an excellent slate of guest hosts, and we’ve been working hard to bring you those episodes in full video since we launched our official Decoder YouTube channel.

So today, we’re featuring a really great interview conducted last fall by my very good friend Joanna Stern, now the founder and CEO of New Things, and Ford CEO Jim Farley. Watch it here, or read the full transcript here.

Can Patreon fight fire with social media fire?

Patreon’s Jack Conte on the future of the creator economy and why he doesn’t “want to make better cigarettes.”

Nilay PatelJun 22

Who decides when AI is too dangerous?

With the Mythos debacle, Anthropic gets its first taste of the Trump admin’s new AI regulation regime.

Nilay PatelJun 18

Skydio CEO Adam Bry on why Silicon Valley shouldn’t draw red lines for drone use

The head of the top US autonomous drone maker on China, mass surveillance, and why he thinks drones can make us safer.

Nilay PatelJun 15

Nick StattJun 9

Microsoft swears its OpenAI breakup isn’t a messy divorce.

Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman came on Decoder this week to talk about the path to superintelligence and the company’s ever-evolving relationship with OpenAI. When asked whether Microsoft was using Build to flex its independence from OpenAI like a “freshly single divorcée,” Suleyman had this to say:

Definitely not. No, not at all. Look, I mean, obviously that’s a cool headline and a fun phrase. But the reality is that we are in partnership with OpenAI for years and years to come… So naturally, that’s going to continue. And so I think that’s just a natural course of these sorts of partnerships.
I don’t think it’s anything untoward or surprising. I think OpenAI is very understanding and supportive of that. I mean, they’ve obviously been an incredibly fast-growing company, and they understand that we have to pursue our own agenda as well.