Hello! This is The Vergecast, the flagship podcast of The Verge... and your life. Every Friday, Nilay Patel and Dieter Bohn make sense of the week's tech news with help from our wide-ranging staff. Join us every week for a fun, deeply nerdy, often off-the-rails conversation about what's happening now (and next) in technology and gadgets.

Dots get up in Muse's business

October 02, 2026 1:28:20 17.08 MB ( -17.09 MB less) Downloads: 0

Is the key to turning around public opinion on AI Super Intelligence just to make it cuter? Nilay Patel, Jake Kastrenakes and David Imel talk about the latest adorable agents that want access to all your data, then discuss whether this week's White House AI Super Intelligence accord is worth the paper it's written on.

Plus: Gadgets, gadgets, gadgets! We speculate on Apple's rumored October 13 announcement, drool over Huawei's camera for your cameraphone, and herald the return of physical buttons in the new Kindle cases.

We wrap things up with the usual Brendan Carr is a Dummy and a lightning round full of Cybercabs, data centers, 'Old Reddit' and government chatbots.

Vote for us in the Signal Awards!

Further reading:

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.

0:00 Welcome

00:52 Awards and Listener Voting

01:36 Week Ahead Preview

01:52 OpenAI Dots vs Meta Muse

06:09 Living as Tasks

19:47 Business Models and Privacy

23:41 Bot Traffic and Web Friction

27:48 Trump Superintelligence Accord

37:46 Gadget Segment Kickoff

38:26 Huawei Screw On Lens Camera

41:33 Why Phone Camera Hybrids Fail

44:09 Pricey Phone Lens Debate

45:31 Kindle Lineup Upgrades

48:49 Apple Smart Home Display Rumors

01:02:58 Brendan Carr is a Dummy

01:08:27 America Gov Chatbot

01:14:54 Old Reddit Bot Crackdown

01:19:30 Utah Data Center Blowup

01:25:17 Cybercab Ride Report

01:27:31 Wrap Up And Plugs

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices