The ‘AI is inevitable’ trap

In the latest sign of AI silly season, Allbirds, the shoe company, told the world it was now an AI company and briefly managed to septuple its stock price. The Newbird AI story is really just one of a bunch of things this week that made us wonder: have we reached the peak of AI, or at least a peak of AI? [Image: https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Vergecast-Tile-Large.jpeg?quality=90&strip=all] Verge subscribers, don’t forget you get exclusive access to ad-free Vergecast wherever you get your podcasts. Head here. Not a subscriber? You can sign up here. On this episode of The Vergecast, we look at both the data and the vibes. David and Nilay explore a new study from Stanford that says AI is getting better at lots of things, and yet more and more people want less and less to do with the technology. Other studies suggest that even those who use AI a lot wind up wishing they didn’t have to. In the wake of the awful attacks on Sam Altman, the divide seems bigger than ever between the people saying “AI is coming and you’d better get on board” and the people who’d much rather simply not. After that, the Hype Desk crew joins the show to talk Coachella and RAMageddon. Then, David and Nilay talk about the result in the Ticketmaster monopoly trial, Microsoft’s response to the MacBook Neo, and the incredible rising price of absolutely everything. Then it’s time for Brendan Carr is a Dummy, an update on the Trump Phone, and some other news of the week. Subscribe: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Pocket Casts | More As always, if you have thoughts or questions, we want to hear from you! Call the Vergecast Hotline at 866-VERGE11 or email us at vergecast@theverge.com. And if you want to know more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started: * Allbirds announced a switch from shoes to AI and its stock jumped 600 percent * The attacks on Sam Altman are a warning for the AI world * Altman attack suspect proposed “Luigi’ing some tech CEOs.” * Stanford’s 2026 AI study * From The New York Times: Half of Gen Z Uses AI, but Their Feelings Are Souring, Study Shows * Reese Witherspoon’s Threads post * Ticketmaster is an illegal monopoly, jury finds * Microsoft counters the MacBook Neo with freebies for students * YouTube Premium is getting pricier * Samsung is hiking the prices of its Galaxy phones and tablets * RAMageddon has come for Microsoft’s Surface Pro and Surface Laptop * Meta blames RAM shortage for $100 Quest 3 price hike * From The New York Post: FCC’s Brendan Carr again blasts deals between NFL and streaming services, says antitrust exemption is at risk * The FCC just saved Netgear from its router ban for no obvious reason * Apple and Amazon are teaming up to challenge Starlink’s smartphone ambitions * The new Trump Phone design is here * Did Neuralink make the wrong bet?