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Adam Conover explains how YouTube ruined everything

Today, I’m joined by comedian, podcast host, and YouTuber Adam Conover. Adam is a familiar face to anyone who’s spent time on the internet. He got his start, like so many successful comedy writers, at CollegeHumor back in the day. That was before transitioning into cable TV with Adam Ruins Everything , then onto Netflix, and all the way back to YouTube again, where he posts videos and hosts a podcast called Factually! That is exactly the kind of career path that fascinates me, and it also happens to touch on basically every major Decoder theme there is. You’ll hear upfront that Adam does not in fact like the word “creator” — he’s got a unique perspective on it that speaks to how he sees tech platforms and their leverage.  Verge subscribers, don’t forget you get exclusive access to ad-free  Decoder  wherever you get your podcasts. Head here . Not a subscriber? You can sign up here . We get deep into what Adam thinks really happened...
Recent posts

The four-hour-long Elon Musk documentary might be preaching to the choir

It makes sense that Musk is a long film. The latest from Alex Gibney, who has previously directed documentaries about Theranos and Steve Jobs , is an impressively thorough retelling of the story of Elon Musk, from his early days as a dot-com millionaire to " taking a wood chipper " to vital US government departments. In order to understand Musk's rise to power, you need to know the whole story. Musk tells it compellingly and convincingly, but doesn't offer much in the way of revelations if you're aware of Musk's catastrophic influence on the world. For everyone else, a demanding runtime just shy of four hours might prove too much of a barrier t … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/oUqt3c4

Microsoft says ‘people matter more than AI’ following safety concerns

Microsoft is publishing a 37-page "humanist AI code of conduct" today, amid growing safety concerns over AI model progress. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for a coordinated slow down of AI development over the weekend, after researchers warned recently that AI model progress could outpace our ability to safely deploy increasingly complex systems and verify and control the actions of AI agents. Microsoft's AI code of conduct makes it clear that "people matter more than AI," and that AI models are not conscious and "should not be designed to imitate consciousness." Microsoft also rejects "the pursuit of legal personhood, or the idea that m … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/pfOn93W

What happens after a town de-Flocks

Demonstrators hold a banner against Flock security cameras during a protest outside the G20 Innovation Ministerial in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, US, on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. Photographer: Cornell Watson/Bloomberg via Getty Images | Bloomberg via Getty Images From Florida to Washington state , local governments across the country are canceling their contracts with Flock, the company behind the controversial AI-enabled license plate readers, in response to public outcry. But ending the contracts doesn't necessarily mean the cameras will come down immediately - or that the information they've gathered will be deleted anytime soon. Even as state and local governments decide to rein in their surveillance capabilities, uncertainty remains about what Flock can and will do with data that has already been collected. Each jurisdiction's contract is different, but many of them let Flock retain data long af … Read the full story at The Verge. ...

Waymo pulls over, calls cops on riders with a ghost gun

Two people were arrested in San Fransico while riding around in a Waymo robotaxi after the cab pulled over and called the cops on them. The riders were juveniles in possession of a loaded AR-style ghost gun and were taken to a juvenile hall. While the police report did not specify who was operating the autonomous car, Waymo later confirmed it was one of its vehicles to the Los Angeles Times . A spokesperson told the LA Times that a "violation of our terms of service involving a firearm" was detected. At which point the car pulled over and alerted the authorities. Earlier this year, a Waymo faked having mechanical problems to pull over when … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/cu1meBq

Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother will make you forget all about Marvel’s Blade disaster

Marvel's mishandling of its Blade reboot will likely go down as one of the studio's biggest mistakes. There was a great actor in place to play the vampire hunter (Mahershala Ali), and a promising director set to take over the reins (Bassam Tariq). In retrospect, though, the disappointing demise of Blade might not be such a bad thing, because Tariq and Ali have collaborated on something much more interesting than a superhero reboot: the powerful hitman thriller Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother . That was one of five movies I was able to cram into a very hectic third day at the Toronto International Film Festival (you can see my previous re … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/xTmsa1o

Apple’s new phones are here

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 143, your guide to the best and Verge -iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, new tech season is here, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage .) This week, I've been devouring every iPhone Duo video I can find, clicking on the wonderful websites nominated for this year's Tiny Awards , catching up on the excellent Onimusha: Way of the Sword , reading Wildwood ahead of the upcoming movie , watching the new Taskmaster series, coming to grips with Link's new look in the Ocarina of Time remake, and fixing the flat tire on my toddler's stroller. I'm very proud of that … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/ALj0S4m