Chicago's quantum leap into the future
AI is the buzzy tech of the moment. It's made plenty of money not only for companies but the cities and states where investment is pouring in. Illinois and specifically Chicago are betting that quantum computing will be the next major tech breakthrough to transform the economy. And they're trying to get in on the ground floor. So they’ve turned a former steel mill site into a tech hub, called the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, with the hope of attracting as much talent and investment as possible. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Jeanne Whalen, economics reporter at The Wall Street Journal, to learn more.
449: ‘Live From WWDC 2026’, With Joanna Stern and Nilay Patel
Recorded in front of a live audience at The California Theatre in San Jose on Tuesday 9 June 2026, special guests Joanna Stern and Nilay Patel join John Gruber to discuss Apple’s announcements at WWDC 2026.
Video: This show is available to watch on YouTube.
3D video with spatial audio: Exclusively in Sandwich Vision's Theater on Vision Pro, available on the App Store.
Sponsored by:
DetailsPro — Design with SwiftUI anytime, anywhere: on iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Vision Pro. Get one year of DetailsPro Premium for $26 (normally $59.99) with this link.
Flighty — The world’s best flight tracker and travel app. Now hiring one Senior Product Designer and one Senior Full-Stack iOS Engineer.
Finalist — A daily planner for iPhone, iPad and Mac, built on proven paper-based planning methods. Use this link to get six months free.
Transcripts: Unofficial but surprisingly good.
Links:
Apple’s WWDC keynote and State of the Union videos.
New Things — Joanna’s new thing.
Joanna’s first take on Apple’s announcements.
I Am Not a Robot — Joanna’s new bestselling book on consumer AI.
Sandwich — the team behind the video version of this show.
This episode of The Talk Show was edited by Caleb Sexton.
How AI Almost Led To This Tech Reporter’s Divorce - The Story
What happens when you let technology take over your life? Joanna Stern (Fmr. Wall Street Journal / New Things) found out. She spent all of 2025 letting the robots in: Waymos, AI therapists, robot massagers, assistant researcher agents…
During that yearlong experiment, Joanna Stern chronicled her findings in a new book, I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI to Do (Almost) Everything. She speaks to Oz about letting AI diagnose her son’s praying mantis, sending Bill Gates her health log, and how she sees AI impacting the job market.
Additional Reading:
I Am Not A Robot | Joanna Stern
EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/techstuff Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee
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Joanna Stern is PROBABLY Not a Robot
Joanna Stern stopped by to chat with Marques about everything from John Ternus becoming the new Apple CEO to whether or not humanoid robots are the correct form factor for the future of helpful AI robots. They also talk about her new book (out now!) where she let AI run her life for a full year. Then they talk YouTube and going independent in media before wrapping it up with A Race to Z typing test. It's a very interesting conversation and we hope you enjoy!
Links:
Joanna Stern - I Am Not a Robot
New Things with Joanna Stern
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Joanna Stern Turned Her Life Over to AI For A Year — Here’s What She Learned
For her new book, “I Am Not a Robot,” journalist and longtime technology columnist Joanna Stern turned her life over to AI for one whole year. She let it fold her laundry, conduct interviews, drive her family around on vacation, review her mammograms — she even tried out a romantic relationship with a bot. Her experiences tell us a lot about the benefits — and limits — of this transformative technology.
Kara and Joanna talk about how Joanna went about weaving AI into her life, where it helped and where it didn’t, and the gap between Silicon Valley’s promises and the reality of using AI for everyday tasks. They also talk about the growing public backlash to AI and where people should draw personal lines around its use.
Special thanks to The 92nd Street Y for hosting this live event.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.
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Does Anyone Want AI Wearables? + The Allure of AI Love — With Joanna Stern
Joanna Stern is the author of "I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI to Do Almost Everything" and the founder of The New Thing. Stern joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss what happens when you infuse AI into every part of your life. Tune in to hear about her 48-hour road trip with an AI boyfriend, why she found chatbot relationships genuinely tempting, and what the sycophancy of these tools means for how we relate to each other. We also cover the promise and limits of AI wearables, how AI is quietly reshaping healthcare diagnostics from mammograms to dental X-rays, and whether Apple can finally deliver on Siri. Hit play for a fascinating look at the human side of living with AI, and why the biggest risks might not be technical.
Join us for the Big Technology AI Summit: https://summit.bigtechnology.com/
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Raising kids in an AI-driven world
In order to write her new book “I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI To Do ‘Almost’ Everything," journalist Joanna Stern decided to invite artificial intelligence into every aspect of her life — including her family life.
She has a wife and two sons. On their spring break, she took them to Phoenix, where it's easy to hail a driverless car. They rode in a bunch of them, including one that totally freaked out.
She brought home an AI-powered toy (which her four-year-old quickly tired of), and says she realized her kids will "grow up never knowing a world without computers as smart as them.”
Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes spoke with Stern about how she hopes her children will navigate that world.
What AI can and can't do for you (for now)
Imagine if you invited robots - smart ones or “smart-ish,” at least - into every aspect of your life. Your emails and texts are all composed by an AI, the bots look at a photo of what’s in your fridge and figure out what you can make for dinner. They even become emotional support, providing advice and sometimes companionship. Journalist and founder of media company New Things, Joanna Stern, decided to try this and she wrote about it in her new book “I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI To Do Almost Everything.” Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes spoke with Stern about how AI did and didn’t help her and ultimately what she sacrificed by inviting AI into her life.
Joanna Stern is not a robot, but she lived with them
My guest today is longtime friend of the show Joanna Stern. You all know Joanna: she is the former senior personal technology columnist for The Wall Street Journal, a former Decoder guest host, one of my co-founders at The Verge, and also just one of my very closest friends.
Joanna just left that lofty perch at the Journal to start her own media company called New Things, and she’s starting with her new book about AI called I Am Not a Robot, which is out this week on May 12th. So we had Joanna on to talk about all of that, especially what she learned going all in on automation.
Read the full interview transcript on The Verge.
Links:
I Am Not a Robot | Harper Collins
It’s time. Meet my New Thing | Joanna Stern
Why I left My prestigious job to make YouTube videos | Joanna Stern / YouTube
Signing off from this column after 12 years. Here’s what’s changed in tech | WSJ
I tried the robot that’s coming to live with you. It’s still par human | WSJ
The people do not yearn for automation | Decoder
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Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Decoder is produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt and edited by Ursa Wright. Our editorial director is Kevin McShane.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
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Can the U.S. Rein in Prediction Markets? + Joanna Stern on Her Year of A.I. Experiments + Our Producer Goes to Attention School
This week we’re taking another look at prediction markets and a new series of scandals. Is Congress finally ready to rein them in? Then, the journalist Joanna Stern returns to the show to discuss her new book “I Am Not A Robot,” all about turning her life over to a chatbot for a year. And finally, Hard Fork’s Rachel Cohn reports back on her month attending classes at the Strother School of Radical Attention, the center of a movement to resist the commodification of attention by technology companies.
Guests:
Joanna Stern, chief everything officer at New Things
Rachel Cohn, producer of “Hard Fork”
Additional Reading:
Soldier Used Classified Information to Bet on Maduro’s Ouster, U.S. Says
Soldier Pleads Not Guilty in $400,000 Betting Case Over Maduro’s Ouster
French weather service alerts police to tampering after suspicious Polymarket bets
The Multi-Trillion-Dollar Battle for Your Attention Is Built on a Lie
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Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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Tim Cook Steps Down — With Joanna Stern
Joanna Stern is the ex-WSJ senior personal technology columnist and author of I Am Not a Robot. News of Tim Cook stepping down as CEO of Apple broke as Stern and I were recording a forthcoming episode of Big Technology Podcast. In this episode, we discuss Cook's exit, his successor, John Ternus, and his legacy. Tune in for a quick but substantial look at what's next for Apple after Cook's exit.
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One way to avoid AI altogether? Retire early
The share of older workers is on the decline — about 37% of people age 55 and above are now active in the labor force. About a decade ago, it was around 40%.
The pandemic chased some older workers out, and others can simply afford to retire. Another factor that's causing some to exit? The emergence of artificial intelligence. Learning how to interact with it as a tool, maybe even as a colleague, seems like a headache to some. So, they’re choosing retirement instead.
Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes spoke with Wall Street Journal reporter Lauren Weber, who’s been covering the phenomenon.
Polymarket and Kalshi Have a Problem with Nepo Baby Insider Trading - The Story
What do frat boys, nepo babies and the Super Bowl have in common? Prediction markets. Wall Street Journal investigative reporter Katherine Long tells us how information from Jeff Bezos's stepson sparked a bet worth nearly a million dollars, and how a rumor loosely tied to Mark Wahlberg's daughter sent $24 million into a single market. And why college kids are betting in the first place.
Kalshi and Polymarket have been quietly making themselves at home on college campuses, paying fraternities for new sign-ups, handing out branded beer pong sets, and recruiting influencers to spread the word. The pitch to students: this is just a fun way to make money off what you already know. With over $10 billion in monthly trading volume and almost no regulatory oversight, Polymarket and Kalshi are no longer a niche corner of the internet.
Additional Reading:
‘Is This Insider Information?’ The Prediction Market Bets Driving a Campus Frenzy - WSJ
EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/techstuff Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee
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Bytes: Week in Review — Anthropic's new AI model, a referendum on data centers, and NASA livestreams journey to space
This week, a Wisconsin city votes to restrict future data center development. Plus, the astronauts on Artemis II take their journey to social media. But first, Anthropic announced this week it has a new AI model called Claude Mythos Preview.
The company says it’s extremely good at finding security vulnerabilities. So good that Anthropic is not releasing the model to the general public. Instead, it is granting access to a group of over 40 companies and tech organizations, a collaboration called Project Glasswing.
Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes spoke with Joanna Stern, founder of the media company New Things, to discuss all these topics and more.
AI Whistleblower: We Are Being Gaslit By The AI Companies! They’re Hiding The Truth About AI
The truth about Sam Altman. AI Critic Karen Hao reveals what 90 OpenAI employees told her.
Karen Hao is an AI expert, award-winning investigative journalist, and former reporter for The Wall Street Journal covering American and Chinese tech companies. She is also co-host of the podcast The Interface and freelances for publications like More Perfect Union and The Atlantic. Her latest book is the bestselling ‘EMPIRE OF AI: Inside The Reckless Race For Total Domination.’
She explains:
◼️Why the US-China “AI arms race” may be misleading and politically driven
◼️The truth behind the Pentagon using Claude for military strikes
◼️Why AGI is a marketing scam used to consolidate trillion-dollar power
◼️How agentic AI like OpenClaw will automate desk jobs within 18 months
◼️The hidden human cost behind AI training
Chapters
00:00:00 Intro
00:02:27 Why The AI Industry May Be Chasing Profit Over Progress
00:04:49 What 250 OpenAI Insiders Revealed Behind Closed Doors
00:10:48 Did Sam Altman Outmaneuver Elon Musk—Or Is There More To It?
00:14:47 What People Really Think About Sam Altman (And Why It Matters)
00:17:34 The Hidden Power Struggle To Remove Sam Altman
00:25:14 The Real Reason Companies Are Racing To Build AI
00:31:35 Do AI CEOs Truly Believe This Will Help Humanity?
00:33:08 Why OpenAI Refused To Be Part Of This Book
00:41:47 Why Sam Altman Was Forced Out
00:45:18 The Hidden Instability, What Was Altman Actually Disrupting Internally?
00:50:53 Ad Break
00:54:15 What Really Triggered Sam Altman’s Firing—And The Mass Exodus After
01:04:51 Should You Vote Based On AI Policies—And What’s At Stake?
01:12:30 How Robots Updating Instantly Could Change Everything
01:15:11 Will AI Surpass The Best Surgeons—And What Happens If It Does?
01:18:57 Are Self-Driving Cars Truly Safe
01:25:00 Which Jobs Actually Survive AI And Who Gets Left Behind?
01:35:03 What The Klarna CEO Reveals About The Future Of AI And Business
01:38:09 Ad Break
01:41:58 Is AI Quietly Eroding Meaning—And Impacting Health And The Planet?
01:50:52 How We Can Actually Build AI Without Putting Humanity At Risk
01:56:44 Will The AI Race Ever Slow Down Or Are We Past The Point Of Control?
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Is Software Dead? Finance and Tech Bros Clash - The Story
A $30,000-a-year piece of software has tech and finance bros beefing on LinkedIn. The Bloomberg Terminal has a rabid Wall Street fanbase. So when some tech bros claimed to have vibe-coded a version of the terminal, with one prompt, there were some strong emotions among its finance superfans. Oz talked to Isabelle Bousquette, a tech reporter for The Wall Street Journal, to break down the drama and what it says about the future of software. Then, Isabelle updates us on Nvidia’s massive developer conference last week, the company’s new OpenClaw obsession and why making a claw almost broke her brain.
Additional Reaching:
Finance Bros to Tech Bros: Don’t Mess With My Bloomberg Terminal | Wall Street Journal
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Here's how to prep for a job interview with AI
Imagine you're getting ready for a job interview. What do you do to prepare? You may have your sibling do a mock interview. You might also panic-buy a professional looking workbag.
Now, imagine you learn your interviewer is an artificial intelligence bot. This is becoming a more common occurrence. Employers are outsourcing not just the screening of applications to artificial intelligence, but also the interviewing.
Ray Smith, workplace reporter at The Wall Street Journal, wrote about how to prepare for this experience after esting a couple job interviews with an AI. He said it was nerve-racking.
How To AI With WSJ's Chris Mims
Buy Chris' book: How To AI
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What AI fitness apps can and can't do — for now
You can get a pretty good workout plan from a chatbot, but the tech is also being incorporated into all kinds of existing fitness apps, from Apple's Workout Buddy, which motivates you through earbuds, to the Fitbit AI health coach, to Peloton's AI-enabled camera that tracks your form.
Nicole Nguyen, personal tech columnist at The Wall Street Journal, gave some of the most popular ones a spin. She spoke with “Marketplace Tech” host Meghan McCarty Carino about her experience.
Making AI work — for work
In his new book, Wall Street Journal tech columnist Christopher Mims offers a guide for getting the most out of the technology. He's compiled two dozen "Laws of AI" to shed light on the best ways to use these generative tools.
Yesterday we talked about how individuals can improve their productivity with AI, and today we're digging into how organizations can use — or sometimes misuse — it.
Making the most of AI, without the hype
With all the fanfare surrounding AI these days — the utopian dreams and dystopian nightmares — it can be hard to see the technology as simply a tool that anyone can use to improve their lives.
That's what tech columnist Christopher Mims at the Wall Street Journal focuses on his new book "How to AI: Cut Through the Hype. Master the Basics. Transform Your Work.” In it, he outlines two dozen “AI Laws” for how consumers and organizations should think about AI.
First up: AI is an assistant, not a replacement.
Version History: iPhone 4
The iPhone 4 was one of the best iPhones ever — and definitely the most dramatic iPhone ever. It was lost in a bar in California, sold to Gizmodo, and published for the world to see months before its launch. The phone itself had a bunch of important new features, and one that spawned Antennagate. In this episode, David Pierce, Nilay Patel, and longtime tech columnist Walt Mossberg tell the whole story of the phone, its legacy, and its place in tech blog history.
If you like the show, subscribe to the Version History feed to make sure you get every new episode.
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The end of OpenAI, and other 2026 predictions
A year ago, David and Nilay sat down with Wall Street Journal senior tech columnist Joanna Stern to make a bunch of confident predictions about 2025. We got them... you know what, never mind. Let's look ahead to 2026! This year, we gather again to make increasingly bold bets about the year to come, including the future of a few of the world's biggest companies and whether we're finally going to get a foldable iPhone. Last year's predictions may not have been our best, but we're feeling good about these.
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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Bytes: Week in Review - Apple's leadership departures raises concerns over its AI future
There’s been something of a critical mass of high-profile departures and retirement announcements at Apple in recent weeks. Plus, how will consumers be helped or hurt by a potential merger between Netflix and Warner Bros or a hostile takeover from Paramount? And McDonald's pulls an AI-generated Christmas ad because some folks on social media weren't “lovin' it.”
Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Joanna Stern, senior personal technology columnist at The Wall Street Journal for this week’s “Tech Bytes: Week in Review.”
2025 year in review
Well, friends, it's been a year. And before we turn the page to 2026 and all the stories of 2025 begin to blur together, we decided to take stock of things. Nilay and David are joined by Wall Street Journal senior tech columnist Joanna Stern to debate the best products of the year, the biggest policy moves, the people who broke bad, the good AI things, the bad AI things, and much more. It's been a vibe-everything kind of year, and there's a lot to discuss.
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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Valve made Microsoft's dream console
The console wars are back on. This week, Nilay Patel sits down with Jake Kastrenakes, Sean Hollister, and special guest Joanna Stern, senior columnist at The Wall Street Journal, to talk about Valve's return to the living room gaming race with the Steam Machine, Steam Controller, and Steam Frame VR headset. Then, Joanna discusses her time putting the Neo robot to the test and seeing whether it's capable of loading a dishwasher. Finally, it's time for the Lightning Round, where the crew is talking the YouTube/Disney spat, Apple's new mini apps, and letting Waymo speed down the highway.
Further reading:
Our first look at the Steam Machine, Valve’s ambitious new game console
Valve enters the console wars
Valve just built the Xbox that Microsoft is dreaming of
Valve’s new Steam Controller might be my dream controllerThe Steam Frame is a surprising new twist on VR
Steam Machines have returned: all the news about Valve’s new hardware universe
The Steam Frame has two speakers on each side of your face for vibration cancellation
Valve’s new VR streaming trick won’t just work with its own headset
How the Steam Frame compares to other VR headsets
Valve thinks Arm has ‘potential’ for SteamOS handhelds, laptops, and more
Valve is welcoming Android games into Steam
Valve has stopped manufacturing its Index VR headset
Valve has no news about Steam Deck 2 — because it’s still waiting for the right chip
We tried Valve’s new VR headset, PC, and controller — ask us anything!
I Tried the First Humanoid Home Robot. It Got Weird
Know Your Meme
1X Neo is a $20,000 home robot that will learn chores via teleoperation
Meet NEO, the AI-Driven Robot That’s Coming to Lend a Hand Around the House — for a Steep Price
The Problem with this Humanoid Robot
Samsung brings a generative AI-powered Bixby to its TVs
Gemini for TV is coming to Google TV Streamer starting today
Google says its confusing Gemini Home rollout is going just great
Google Photos lets iPhone users edit images by describing changes
Disney is losing over $4 million a day in revenue on the YouTube TV blackout
Disney is “trying really hard” to get ESPN back on YouTube TV
Peyton and Eli Manning Drop the Ball, Embarrass Themselves With Bob Iger Interview
Apple made a $230 crossbody… sock
Steve Jobs introduces iPod socks in 2004
Mini apps
Apple will take a mini commission from mini app developers
Amazon is cracking down on illegal streaming on its Fire TV Stick
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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Version History: BlackBerry Messenger
Back when text messages cost 10 cents each, BlackBerry came up with a better way: BlackBerry Messenger, commonly known as BBM. It was the first new idea about messaging in a long time, and it was a huge hit… for a while. Nilay Patel and Joanna Stern join David Pierce to talk about a messaging service that was years ahead of WhatsApp and iMessage, but ultimately fizzled.
If you like the show, subscribe to the Version History feed to make sure you get every new episode.
Let us know what you think: 866-VERGE-11 or vergecast@theverge.com.
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Karen Hao on the making of a $90B AI empire
Karen Hao, the bestselling author of "Empire of AI," has watched OpenAI go from a nonprofit “laughingstock” into a $90 billion powerhouse chasing artificial general intelligence at breakneck speeds. Hao, who first profiled the company back in 2020, says early visions of building AI “for humanity’s benefit” were quickly overtaken by a familiar Silicon Valley mindset: Move fast, break things, and let scale be the measure of success.
This week, Hao joined TechCrunch’s Equity podcast to unpack the direction the AI boom is going and who’s paying the price. Hao argues that, like historical empires, today’s AI giants rely on resource-hoarding and exploitative labor to amass political and economic power, and they’re doing so at the expense of the environment. For investors and founders, it’s a clear signal that AI’s current path carries real risks, and that there’s room to build a better model.
Listen to the full episode to hear:
How OpenAI's three internal "clans" warred to shape the company's trajectory
The hidden human costs of data labeling in developing countries
How the "China competition" narrative serves Silicon Valley's interests
Where founders might find different opportunities beyond the pursuit of AGI
Equity will be back Friday with our weekly news roundup, so stay tuned.
Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday.
Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.
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Is This an A.I. Bubble? + Meta’s Missing Morals + TikTok Shock Slop
Note: This episode contains sexually explicit music.
This week, the whole tech world seemed to be asking: Are we in an A.I. bubble? We’ll explore the cases for and against, including who we think stands to lose most. Then we’re joined by the journalist Jeff Horwitz to discuss his blockbuster reporting about an internal Meta policy document that permit the company’s chatbots to engage in romantic role-playing with children. And finally, Casey introduces Kevin to a shocking new TikTok trend.
Guests:
Jeff Horwitz, investigative technology reporter for Reuters
Additional Reading:
My Dinner With Altman
Companies Are Pouring Billions Into A.I. It Has Yet to Pay Off
Meta’s A.I. Rules Have Let Bots Hold ‘Sensual’ Chats With Children
Why Is TikTok Overflowing With A.I. Country Music Erotica?
We want to hear from you. Email us at hardfork@nytimes.com. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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The Story: Selfhood in the Digital Age w/ Vauhini Vara
Writer and journalist Vauhini Vara has been entangled with the tech world for most of her life — first as a kid in the Seattle suburbs and a college student in the Bay Area, and then as a reporter covering Silicon Valley for The Wall Street Journal. But it wasn’t until she turned to creative writing that Vara began to see just how deeply technology had shaped her own life. Vara sits down with Karah to talk about her new book, Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age and how she’s learning to use technology as a writing tool, while remaining critical of the industry.
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