There’s a running theory in tech circles that says, basically, AI is the new UI. Not long from now, some people argue, you simply won’t need a homescreen full of app icons or a traditional web browser or really anything other than an interface to an AI assistant and agent that accomplishes everything on your behalf. Is that the actual future, absurd AI boosterism, or something in between? Who knows! But the ranks of the AI believers seem to grow every day.
David Pierce is editor-at-large and Vergecast co-host with over a decade of experience covering consumer tech. Previously, at Protocol, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired.
Apple, however, appears poised to go… a different way. On this episode of The Vergecast, Nilay and David discuss some of the rumors surrounding WWDC, including the possibility of a huge redesign and a new naming scheme for all of Apple’s software. It’s all eminently reasonable, if slightly confusing. But is it a coat of paint on an old idea, when what Apple actually needs to do is ship the better Siri it has promised for so long? We have many thoughts. (Oh, and a party speaker update.)
After the Apple talk, we turn to some of the other tech news of the week, including Nilay’s Decoder interview with Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Couple that with some news about The Browser Company, and about new deals for AI training data, and it appears more obvious than ever that the web as we know it is ending. Which is not to say the web is dead! Just that it’s about to be… different.
Finally, in the lightning round, it’s time for another edition of Brendan Carr is a Dummy, plus some talk about the impending launch of the Switch 2, and Elon Musk’s exit-ish from the federal government. It’s been a busy May for tech news, and it appears there’s a lot more to come.
If you want to know more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started, first in party speakers:
in Apple news:
And in tech / web news:
And in the lightning round:
- The plan for nationwide fiber internet might be upended for Starlink
- From Light Reading: Carr’s attack on Ergen looks gross
- From The Wrap: FCC Commissioner Labels Trump Push to ‘Chill Speech’ an Administration-Wide Effort
- With the Switch, technology finally caught up to Nintendo
- Nintendo’s bold new era is full of safe bets
- Elon Musk steps away from the White House
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- Microsoft and Asus announce two Xbox Ally handhelds with new Xbox full-screen experience
- Apple is on defense at WWDC
- The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses are on sale for their best price to date
- This is how Microsoft is combining Windows and Xbox for handheld PCs
- Xbox console games are suddenly showing up inside the Xbox PC app
