logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2025
1h 51m

Big Tech is back on trial

The Verge
About this episode
We promise, this episode is only a little bit about header bidding. Nilay and David are joined by The Verge’s Alex Heath to talk about some big news in tech regulation: Google lost its ad-tech monopoly trial, which could reshape both Google and the internet altogether. And that’s not the only monopoly news! Meta’s trial also started this week, and Alex was t ... Show More
Up next
Feb 3
Millions of books died so Claude could live
AI companies want all the data, everywhere, to make their models bigger and better. That means a lot of questions about piracy and copyright, and at least in one case it means Anthropic systematically destroying countless books just to feed them to the model. The Washington Post' ... Show More
1h 28m
Jan 30
Tim Cook is destroying his own legacy
We've been covering what's happening in Minnesota, and the killing of Alex Pretti, all week on The Verge. To begin this episode, Nilay explains why — and why so many others seem to feel the same way right now. After that, the hosts talk about the CEO-studded screening of Melania ... Show More
1h 35m
Jan 27
Truth and AI in Minneapolis
Like so many others, we’re still reeling from the killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. To open the show, we talk with Adi Robertson about how videos of the incident moved around social platforms, how even well-intentioned people got confused by AI imagery, and what we’ve learne ... Show More
1h 15m
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2025
Does Meta Have a Social Media Monopoly?
Mark Zuckerberg is in court defending Meta against a Federal Trade Commission case that alleges the company wields an illegal monopoly in social media. It's a trial that could force the tech giant to potentially break itself up by selling Instagram and WhatsApp. WSJ’s Dana Mattio ... Show More
20m 34s
Aug 2024
Google’s Monopoly Money + Is the A.I. Bubble Popping? + The Hot-Mess Express
<p>This week, a federal judge ruled that Google acted illegally to maintain a monopoly in online search. David McCabe, a New York Times reporter, joins to discuss what happens next. Then, are we in an A.I. bubble? We weigh in on the wild market swings that started the week and co ... Show More
1h 13m
Apr 2025
Meta on Trial + Is A.I. a ‘Normal’ Technology? + HatGPT
<p>This week Meta is on trial, in a landmark case over whether it illegally snuffed out competition when it acquired Instagram and WhatsApp. We discuss some of the most surprising revelations from old email messages made public as evidence in the case, and explain why we think th ... Show More
1h 20m
Aug 2024
DOJ antitrust chief is ‘overjoyed’ after Google monopoly verdict
Today, I’m talking to Jonathan Kanter, the assistant attorney general for antitrust at the United States Department of Justice. This is Jonathan’s second time on the show, and it’s a bit of an emergency podcast situation. On Monday, a federal court issued a monumental decision in ... Show More
43m 47s
Jun 2024
AI Entrepreneur Matthew Berman On The Power of LLMs - "It blows my mind."
Episode 10: Are closed-source or open-source AI models the future of artificial intelligence? Nathan Lands (https://x.com/mreflow) and Matt Wolfe (https://x.com/NathanLands) delve into this question with guest Matthew Berman (https://x.com/MatthewBerman), a serial entrepreneur an ... Show More
52m 42s
Apr 2025
The Trial Mark Zuckerberg Couldn’t Prevent
<p>Testimonies began this week in one of the most aggressive cases the government has ever brought against a big tech company. Over the next eight weeks, the Federal Trade Commission will argue that Meta, the company founded by Mark Zuckerberg, should be broken up.</p><p>Cecilia ... Show More
23m 40s
Sep 2025
The Takeaways From The Google Antitrust Remedies
Google whistles past the graveyard with the remedy ruling on its antitrust case. OpenAI makes a big acquisition. Anthropic has a big new raise and a huge new valuation to boot. And why are AI companies finding it so hard to engineer safe interactions with Chatbots? Links: Google ... Show More
22m 46s
Apr 2025
OpenAI is making a social network?
This week, Marques, Andrew, and David talk about the biggest tech release of 2025, the Beats USB C Cable. After that they'll talk about some tariff updates for the iPhone, Meta in the midst of an antitrust case, and OpenAI making their own social media network. Then wrap it up wi ... Show More
1h 20m