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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!

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 Patel
Nilay Patel
Nilay Patel
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 Patel
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 Patel
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 Patel
Nick Statt
Nick Statt
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.

Microsoft’s AI chief says superintelligence is near, but won’t take your job

Mustafa Suleyman on automation, OpenAI, and why it’s ‘dangerous’ to call AI ‘alive.’

Nilay Patel
Elon Musk is steamrolling Wall Street to become a trillionaire

Elon destroyed Twitter, but somehow still won as he prepares to take SpaceX public in what could be the biggest IPO ever.

Nilay Patel
AI is blowing up music. How should the Grammys handle it?

Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. on human creativity in the age of AI

Nilay Patel
Rivian’s software chief thinks you don’t need CarPlay or buttons

Wassym Bensaid on why AI-powered voice control should be the future interface of car software.

Nilay Patel
Sundar Pichai on AI, the future of search, and what’s happening to the web

How Google’s CEO is reshaping the company — and the internet.

Nilay Patel
Musk v. Altman: Much ado about nothing

We sent Liz Lopatto to Musk v. Altman and all we got was this episode of Decoder

Nilay Patel
Exclusive: Jonah Peretti explains why he sold BuzzFeed

The soon-to-be-former CEO on AI, social media, and the end of an era

Nilay Patel
How companies weaponize the terms of service against you

Brendan Ballou discusses his new book on the rise, and hopefully fall, of forced arbitration.

Nilay Patel
Joanna Stern is not a robot, but she lived with them

The journalist and author of I Am Not a Robot on her year living with AI and starting a new media company.

Nilay Patel
Dara Khosrowshahi on replacing Uber drivers — and himself — with AI

Uber’s CEO on his plan to make Uber an everything app and take over travel.

Nilay Patel
How to win — and lose — Decoder

Nilay joins as the guest to discuss our AI coverage, controversial episodes, and what it takes to succeed or fail on Decoder.

Nick Statt and Nilay Patel
That UL safety logo is a lot more complicated than it looks

UL CEO Jennifer Scanlon on why safety still matters in the AI era

Nilay Patel
THE PEOPLE DO NOT YEARN FOR AUTOMATION

Software brain is changing the world, but most people still aren’t buying.

Nilay Patel
Canva’s CEO on its big pivot to AI enterprise software

Why Melanie Perkins is confident Canva can take on the big AI players.

Nilay Patel
Ronan Farrow on Sam Altman’s ‘unconstrained’ relationship with the truth

The head of OpenAI has a reputation for deception. The New Yorker’s Ronan Farrow on why that matters.

Nilay Patel
Can Puck reinvent the news business for the influencer age?

CEO Sarah Personette’s big bet on the place where influencers and reporters might meet

Nilay Patel
The AI industry’s race for profits is now existential

It’s a make-or-break year for Anthropic and OpenAI, which are facing more pressure than ever to make more cash than they burn.

Nilay Patel
Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins wants data centers in space

The head of the networking giant on energy, infrastructure, and why AI is writing Cisco code.

Nilay Patel
A jury says Meta and Google hurt a kid. What now?

Why nuclear options like age limits and repealing Section 230 won’t make social media safer.

Nilay Patel
Okta’s CEO is betting big on AI agent identity

Why Todd McKinnon thinks it’s ‘naive’ not to prepare for the SaaSpocalypse

Nilay Patel
Everyone hates Ticketmaster. Why’d Trump go easy on them?

The Justice Department’s surprise Live Nation settlement raises big questions about the future of federal antitrust.

Nilay Patel
Confronting the CEO of the AI company that impersonated me

Superhuman CEO Shishir Mehrotra says the intention of Grammarly’s expert review feature was not to impersonate real-life journalists. But he wouldn’t defend it.

Nilay Patel
Paramount’s $110 billion Warner Bros. gamble

To take on Netflix and YouTube, Paramount has to break the Warner Bros. curse.

Nilay Patel
Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone on reviving the web’s homepage

How Yahoo escaped its Verizon death spiral and became profitable again.

Nilay Patel
Anthropic doesn’t trust the Pentagon, and neither should you

Techdirt’s Mike Masnick on the history of the NSA and mass surveillance in America, and why Anthropic’s fight with the Pentagon should worry us.

Nilay Patel
Nilay Patel
Nilay Patel
Hasbro’s CEO on J.K. Rowling.

We just published our new Decoder interview with Chris Cocks, the head of Hasbro. I asked him directly about how he thinks about author J.K. Rowling’s politics and what it’s done to the Harry Potter fandom, following Hasbro’s major Harry Potter merchandising agreement announced just last month. Here’s what Chris had to say.

Hasbro’s CEO has an AI Peppa Pig help design toys

Chris Cocks on AI, KPop Demon Hunters, and why Harry Potter still matters.

Nilay Patel
Prediction markets are playing a dangerous game

Kalshi and Polymarket are cosplaying as the news, even as gambling on Iran, Venezuela, and nuclear war runs rampant.

Nilay Patel
Zillow’s CEO on growing the company during a housing crisis

Jeremy Wacksman on affordability, AI in listings, and the future of real estate.

Nilay Patel
Xbox is in danger. Will Microsoft fix it or kill it?

Tom Warren joins Decoder to discuss what Phil Spencer’s departure means for the future of Xbox.

Nilay Patel
Hank Green will gladly take billionaire money for education videos

The former Complexly owner lets loose on YouTube, AI, and why he turned his educational company into a nonprofit.

Nilay Patel
Money no longer matters to AI’s top talent

The AI industry is rife with defections, FOMO, and radical mission statements. It’s about to get supercharged.

Nilay Patel
Nilay Patel
Nilay Patel
What is Ring’s Search Party feature really for?

A new report from 404 Media today featured a leaked email from Ring founder Jamie Siminoff, who leads the camera maker inside Amazon, saying back in October that he has grander ambitions for the company’s controversial Search Party feature beyond just finding lost dogs.

We had Siminoff on Decoder a few months ago, when I asked him explicitly about using facial recognition to identify people, something the company has since claimed it has no plans to do. Check out what he had to say in the clip below.

Let’s talk about Ring, lost dogs, and the surveillance state

The security camera maker’s Search Party feature, advertised during the Super Bowl, has sparked a surveillance backlash.

Nilay Patel