The Vergecast

A new study from the Oversight Board found that leading AI systems are less likely to criticize authoritarian governments than democratic ones. It's a wild finding — but wait? Why is the Oversight Board studying systems from OpenAI and Anthropic in the first place? Suzanne Nossel, who sits on the board, joined us to discuss the findings and why the Oversight Board's future might involve looking at more than just Meta.

Further reading:

Zoox can now charge for rides in its steering-wheel-free robotaxis

Spotify Running Mode helps match tunes to tempo

Friend re-launches its AI pendant with a speaker that talks to you, for twice the price

⁠How Facebook undercut the Oversight Board⁠

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The wide foldable is here, and it's glorious. The Verge's Dominic Preston has been reviewing Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8, and joins the show to explain what this shorter, wider device gets right, what it's still missing, and why this looks like the right kind of foldable for most people. (Once the price comes down, anyway.) With a similar foldable iPhone likely coming soon, it's shaping up to be a fun year of foldables.

Further reading:

OpenAI’s rogue AI agent didn’t stop at hacking Hugging Face | The Verge

The US is banning foreign robots | The Verge

DoorDash is going airborne with new drone delivery division

Willie Nelson is pushing back against data centers in his hometown.

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 feels like the future

Huawei beats Samsung and Apple to market with the first wide foldable

A wide foldable iPhone dummy emerges amid rumors of a delay

So long, small phones

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The team at Light has been working on minimalist phones for more than a decade. Its last device had a lot in common with a smartphone, but the newest model, the Light Flip, is something very different. Light CEO Kaiwei Tang explains why Light made a flip phone, how the world's opinion of smartphones is changing, and whether you can cure your tech problems with more tech.

Further reading:

⁠Apple launches ‘Upgrade’ program to lease new devices⁠

⁠Apple’s reported ‘HomePad’ may launch as early as October⁠

⁠X Money is launching in the US starting today⁠

⁠The Light Flip is a minimalist flip phone with a point to prove⁠

⁠Light Phone III review: everything in moderation⁠

⁠The high hopes of the low-tech phone⁠

⁠There’s no perfect minimalist phone — yet⁠

⁠Subscribe to The Verge⁠ for unlimited access to ⁠theverge.com⁠, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ⁠ad-free podcast feed⁠.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to ⁠vergecast@theverge.com⁠ or call us at 866-VERGE11.
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Some of the biggest players in AI — in particular OpenAI, SpaceX, and Amazon — are heavily invested in creating a world after smartphones. They're also all rumored to be building devices that sound a lot like smartphones. Verge contributor David Imel helps us figure out what these companies might actually be building, what an AI smartphone looks like, and whether anyone can unseat Apple and Google.

Links:

Elon Musk denies a report about SpaceX’s AI phone prototype

OpenAI is reportedly launching a phone for ChatGPT

Amazon is making an Alexa phone

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Google Zero continues to affect website after website, and publisher after publisher. David and Nilay discuss Google's increased focus on AI, the web companies finally starting to fight back, and whether there's a way forward for Google's pact with the open web. After that, they talk about a big week in AI detection software, which sometimes works and frequently doesn't. Then it's time for the Hype Desk, Brendan Carr is a dummy, the Light Flip, and more.

Further reading:

Google hit with $1 billion fine for breaking EU antitrust rules

Reddit might cut ties with Google as traffic drops.

From the NYT: How Google’s A.I. Search Is Imperiling the Open Web

Google says Gemini now has 950 million monthly users.

Google earnings

China delivers a one-two punch to America’s AI dominance

OpenAI says it accidentally hacked Hugging Face with a new AI system

Substack adds an AI detector to help spot blogs written by no one

Anthropic’s $1.5 billion book piracy settlement approved by judge

Jeff Bezos is getting involved with centering Amazon’s AI in Prime Video

Meta made its own AI detection system. It should have just used Google’s

Ford picks Apple Maps for its next EV platform and updated BlueCruise

Apple’s rumored ‘Upgrade’ program brings lease-to-own pricing for iPhones, Macs, and iPads

iOS code could reportedly let Apple cut off apps when users miss iPhone payments

Framework’s premium laptop is shipping with less RAM

The higher-end prebuilt Framework Laptop 13 Pro now costs $800 more.

The Light Flip is a minimalist flip phone with a point to prove

Judge pauses Paramount’s attempt to buy Warner Bros. Discovery

Paramount’s Warner deal gets conditional approval in the EU.

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We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11.

(Timestamps are approximate.)

00:00:00 Intro

00:01:00 Claude Reads the Meters

00:04:00 Google Zero and Reddit Deal

00:15:00 AI Overviews Death Spiral

00:25:00 OpenAI Hacks Hugging Face

00:32:00 Substack AI Detector Debate

00:39:00 Prime Video Goes All In

00:44:00 Meta Content Seal Cynicism

00:53:00 Avengers Doomsday

01:03:00 Comic Con And Feige Reset

01:04:00 Brendan Carr Is a Dummy

01:12:00 Ramageddon Hits Framework

01:17:00 Apple Leasing Lockdown

01:21:00 Light Flip Phone Trend

01:26:00 Ford Picks Apple Maps

01:35:00 Paramount Merger Mess

01:35:00 Wrap Up And Plugs
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