Decoder with Nilay Patel

Today we're talking about the war for AI talent. Right now, the hottest job market on the planet is for AI researchers. And the vast majority of these people are concentrated into a small number of hugely valuable, extremely fast-growing companies in the San Francisco Bay Area, most of which are now paying some of the highest salaries in the history of tech to poach from one another.

We’ve been dying to really dig in and try to unpack what's going on with all these talent moves in AI. So we brought on Verge senior AI reporter Hayden Field, who's been covering the revolving door of the AI industry really closely and also the broader culture that's motivating workers to jump ship. 

Links:

What’s behind the mass exodus at xAI? | The Verge

OpenClaw founder Peter Steinberger is joining OpenAI | The Verge

Two more xAI co-founders leave after the SpaceX merger | The Verge

AI safety leader says 'world is in peril' and quits to study poetry | BBC

OpenAI is making the mistakes Facebook made. I quit. | NYT

Anthropic’s chief on AI: ‘We don’t know if the models are conscious’ | NYT

Meet the one woman Anthropic trusts to teach AI morals | WSJ

OpenAI plans fourth-quarter IPO in race to beat Anthropic to market | WSJ

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

Today, we're talking about the camera company Ring, lost dogs, and the surveillance state. Since it aired for a massive audience at the Super Bowl, Ring’s Search Party commercial has become a lightning rod for controversy. It’s easy to see how the same technology that can find lost dogs can be used to find people, and then used to invade our privacy in all kinds of uncomfortable ways, by cops and regular people alike.

Although Ring has since canceled its partnership with controversial surveillance company Flock, the company is now facing hard questions about its plans to use AI to promote safer neighborhoods, and how that intersects with its ongoing relationship with law enforcement. 

Links: 

Ring cancels partnership with Flock after surveillance backlash | The Verge

Ring’s lost dog ad sparks backlash amid fears of surveillance | The Verge

Ring says it’s not giving ICE access to its cameras | The Verge

How police recovered Nancy Guthrie’s Nest Doorbell footage | The Verge

Ring’s Jamie Siminoff thinks AI can reduce crime | Decoder

Ring CEO says cameras can almost ‘zero out crime’ within 12 months | The Verge

ICE taps into nationwide AI camera network, data shows | 404 Media

ICE, Secret Service had access to Flock's camera network | 404 Media

Subscribe to The Verge to access the ad-free version of Decoder!

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

My guest today is Bridget McCormack, former chief justice for the Michigan Supreme Court and now president and CEO of the American Arbitration Association. For the past several years, Bridget and her team have been developing an AI-assisted arbitration platform called the AI Arbitrator.

So I sat down with her to talk about how the tool works, the pros and cons of automating parts of the arbitration process, and the bigger picture questions around institutional trust, justice, and the future of law. 

Links: 

All rise for JudgeGPT | The Verge

Why do lawyers keep using ChatGPT? | The Verge

Judge berates AI entrepreneur for using a generated ‘lawyer’ | The Verge

Judge slams lawyers for ‘bogus AI-generated research’ | The Verge

LexisNexis CEO says the AI law era is already here | Decoder

ChatGPT can be a disaster for lawyers — Robin AI wants to fix that | Decoder

Considerations In building guardrails for AI use In arbitration | Law360

The AI Arbitrator: What it is, what it isn’t, and where it’s going | Law360

Subscribe to The Verge to access the ad-free version of Decoder!

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. This episode was edited by Chris Jereza and Ursa Wright. Our editorial director is Kevin McShane. 

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Siemens is one of those absolutely giant, extremely important, fairly opaque companies we love to dig into on Decoder. At a very basic, reductive level, Siemens makes the hardware and software that let other companies run and automate their stuff.

We spent a lot of time talking about what happens to jobs when Siemens automates everything — and what happens to a company like Siemens when the free trade era we’re used to gets turned on its head.

Read the full interview transcript on The Verge.

Links: 

Siemens Energy CEO attends Trump meeting at Davos | Reuters

PepsiCo, Siemens, Nvidia announce digital twin collaboration | PepsiCo

Siemens spins off Healthineers majority stake | Reuters

Siemens USA to train 200,000 electricians by 2030 | Siemens

Subscribe to The Verge to access the ad-free version of Decoder!

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

Today, we’re going to talk about reality, and whether we can label photos and videos to protect our shared understanding of the world around us. To do this, I sat down with Verge reporter Jess Weatherbed, who covers creative tools for us — a space that’s been totally upended by generative AI.

We’ve been talking about how the photos and videos taken by our phones are getting more and more processed for years on The Verge. Here in 2026, we’re in the middle of a full-on reality crisis, as fake and manipulated ultra-believable images and videos flood onto social platforms at scale. So Jess and I discussed the limitations of AI labeling standards like C2PA, and why social media execs like Instagram boss Adam Mosseri are now sounding the alarm. 

Read the full transcript on The Verge.

Links: 

This system can sort real pictures from AI fakes — why aren’t we using it? | The Verge

You can’t trust your eyes to tell you what’s real, says Instagram | The Verge

Instagram’s boss is missing the point about AI on the platform | The Verge

Sora is showing us how broken deepfake detection is | The Verge

Reality still matters | The Verge

No one’s ready for this | The Verge

What is a photo, @WhiteHouse edition | The Verge

Google Gemini is getting better at identifying AI fakes | The Verge

Let’s compare Apple, Google & Samsung’s definitions of 'photo’ | The Verge

The Pixel 8 and the what-is-a-photo apocalypse | The Verge

Subscribe to The Verge to access the ad-free version of Decoder!

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