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Nilay Patel

Editor-in-Chief; Host of Decoder and The Vergecast, The Verge

Search every verified Nilay Patel interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Nilay Patel, editor-in-chief of The Verge and host of Decoder and The Vergecast, has been actively covering major technology and political developments over the past two months. He co-reviewed Apple's iPhone Duo, describing it as a "messy first-generation product" and "incredibly expensive," while arguing it is not ready for most consumers but contains promising ideas for future iterations. He also discussed Apple's HomeView smart display, questioning its app ecosystem and comparing its app situation to inexpensive CarPlay tablets, and participated in a Vergecast episode examining whether the iPhone Duo should have been an iPad. On Decoder, Patel interviewed several prominent figures on technology and policy issues. He spoke with Bill Gates about AI risks and potential job displacement, with Illinois Governor JB Pritzker about AI regulation and privacy, and with Senator Adam Schiff, who argued that voluntary AI rules are meaningless and criticized self-dealing in politics. Patel also hosted conversations with telecom analyst Walter Piecyk on SpaceX's wireless ambitions, with Benn Jordan on Flock Safety surveillance systems, and with Atlassian CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes on AI's impact on enterprise software. He appeared on MSNBC's Group Chat to discuss midterm election dynamics, commenting that "in politics money buys you options, not victory." Throughout these appearances, Patel has consistently explored themes of AI regulation, data privacy, and the intersection of technology and politics, often questioning industry narratives around AI capabilities and governance.

Recent appearances

  • The iPhone Duo should have been an iPad | The Vergecast

    October 23, 2026 · 📺 The Verge

    We gave the iPhone Duo a 7 /10. But that wasn’t always the score we planned, and it might not be the right score forever. Such are the challenges of reviewing — and assessing — a big, new idea about the most popular smartphone in history. On this episode of The Vergecast, David and Nilay debate whether the Duo deserved the score it got, and try to work through how this device might change over time. After that, the hosts talk about the huge PHP cybersecurity flaw that rocked the web this week, the ongoing increase in AI shopping, an impending reboot inside of Netflix, and some very confusing G…

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  • Bill Gates thinks AI could make us live like the Amish

    October 22, 2026 · 📺 Decoder with Nilay Patel

    My guest today is Bill Gates, co-founder and former CEO of Microsoft and chairman of the Gates Foundation. You may have noticed Bill in the news more lately — he’s been on something of a tour for the past few months talking about AI risk, and how crucial it is that we start taking this seriously. So I was excited to sit down with him and really dig into this subject. I came with many questions, about AI policy, the technical aspects of alignment, and what it means for future generations that we’re building something this disruptive and potentially dangerous. #ai #tech #microsoft #billgates 0…

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  • How we really feel about the iPhone Duo

    October 21, 2026 · 📺 The Verge

    iPhone Duo reviews are out today and... it's complicated. David Pierce, Nilay Patel and senior smart phone reviewer Allison Johnson talk through The Verge's review and answer your questions LIVE. Watch our iPhone Duo review here:    • iPhone Duo review (emotional)   Subscribe to The Verge: https://bit.ly/3FT6n5S Watch The Vergecast on YouTube: https://bit.ly/40RFRkg The Vergecast Podcast: https://bit.ly/3WQDexZ Decoder with Nilay Patel: http://apple.co/3v29nDc More about our podcasts: https://www.theverge.com/podcasts Read More: http://www.theverge.com Community guidelines: http://bit.ly…

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  • iPhone Duo review: messy, expensive fun

    October 21, 2026 · 📺 The Verge

    The iPhone Duo is a messy first-generation product, but it’s also fun. It’s incredibly expensive, starting at $2,000 for 256GB of storage and going up to $3,200 for the 2TB model. The Verge’s Nilay Patel and Allison Johnson put the Duo to the test, examining its software, the messiness of some apps, how it compares to one of its biggest competitors, the Galaxy Z Fold 8, and its camera, performance, and battery life. And more importantly, can you see the crease? Read our review here: https://bit.ly/3U5sPjN 0:00 Intro 0:56 Hardware and Design 2:28 Matte display 2:59 Under display FaceTime came…

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  • Americans' top concern this midterm is the economy– but the GOP is still focusing on culture issues

    October 19, 2026 · 📺 MS NOW

    There are only 15 days until the midterm elections and the GOP is focusing on cultural issues rather than the economy. Semafor Political Reporter Dave Weigel, Iraq War Veteran and Host of the "Independent Americans" podcast Paul Rieckhoff, civil rights attorney Charles Coleman, CNBC Senior Economics Reporter Steve Liesman and Editor-in-chief at The Verge Nilay Patel join Stephanie Ruhle to discuss as November inches closer. MS NOW: My Source for News, Opinion, and the World. » Subscribe to MS NOW:    / @msnow   Become an MS NOW Member! Join us here ms.now/membership MS NOW is the go-to des…

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  • JB Pritzker on the danger of leaving AI to five billionaires | Decoder

    October 19, 2026 · 📺 Decoder with Nilay Patel

    Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, has a lot of thoughts about AI, tech, and privacy. Those issues are driving a big and maybe kind of unexpected political realignment — and with the midterms coming up next month, and early voting already underway in a lot of places, the stakes are pretty high right now. And as he notes, some problems are just collective action problems that require a government. We can’t solve everything one at a time, or even one state at a time. And of course, I had to ask him: Are the Bears gonna stay in Illinois? 0:00 Cold Open 0:38 Show Intro & Guest Introduction 2:17 The Bea…

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  • Why SpaceX is spending a fortune to replace your phone company | Decoder

    October 17, 2026 · 📺 Decoder with Nilay Patel

    My guest today is Walter Piecyk, a telecom analyst at LightShed Partners, and we’re discussing SpaceX’s plan to become a major wireless carrier. Last week, the company agreed to buy a big chunk of low-band spectrum in its bid to build “the world’s most advanced mobile network.” So I wanted to dig into whether SpaceX can pull this off, why Walt thinks the existing telecoms have fumbled their response to Starlink’s growing threat, and what happens when Elon Musk’s rocket company jumps headfirst into a business everyone loves to hate. #elonmusk #spacex #starlink #technology 0:00 Cold Open 0:59…

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  • Apple's HomeView has an app problem | The Vergecast

    October 16, 2026 · 📺 The Verge

    Well, it's been a couple of days, and David and Nilay have some more information — and a bunch of new questions — about the Apple HomeView. They also talk about the latest Gemini model, and whether building the best model matters if you can't build the best products around them. They then debate the merits of returning to X, why none of the supposed Twitter replacements worked, the latest in Brendan Carr nonsense, and more. 0:00 CarPlay Banter 01:36 HomeView App Confusion 03:40 CarPlay as Home OS 08:31 Apple Hardware Software Bet 13:28 Should It Just Be an iPad? 14:31 Gemini 4 Returns 16:18 M…

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  • Benn Jordan thinks the surveillance problem is bigger than Flock

    October 15, 2026 · 📺 Decoder with Nilay Patel

    Today, I’m talking with Benn Jordan, musician, YouTuber, researcher, and investigative journalist. In the last couple of years, Benn has become a high-profile face in the creator and media spaces for his work investigating Flock Safety, the maker of automatic license plate readers and the software that powers them. Benn recently testified in front of Congress at a hearing dedicated to Flock and other ALPR systems. So of course I wanted to dig into all of that with Benn, not just because of his role as a Flock critic, but because he’s also become in some ways the face of a new front in the broa…

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  • Why does everyone think they can fix Warner Bros.?

    October 10, 2026 · 📺 Decoder with Nilay Patel

    Acquiring Warner Bros. never goes well for anyone. AOL failed, AT&T failed, and Discovery failed — although it did succeed in flipping the assets to David Ellison’s Skydance. So I’m talking to Peter Kafka, Business Insider chief correspondent and host of Channels, to see if Skydance has a chance at succeeding where nobody else has yet. Spoiler alert: Peter doesn’t think Skydance has a clear business plan, either. But he’s got some really good guesses about what might come next. Decoder is a Signal Awards finalist in the Business category! You can vote to help us win here: https://bit.ly/47ws…

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  • The AI is in the computer

    October 09, 2026 · 📺 The Verge

    It's gadget season. More specifically, it's apparently "new computer for your new AI" season. David and Nilay talk through a slew of announcements — Amazon's Alexa Tablets, Microsoft's Surface Laptop Ultra, the new Googlebooks, and Apple's upcoming smart home launch — to figure out if anyone has the right idea about the future of computing, and where the AI is supposed to live. After that, it's time for Brendan Carr is a Dummy, our thoughts on the Paramount / Warner / Skydance merger, and much more. Vote for us in the Signal Awards! Vote Vergecast: Best Technology Podcast - https://bit.ly/3V…

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  • How Meta got ahead of OpenAI on AI agents | Decoder

    October 08, 2026 · 📺 Decoder with Nilay Patel

    My guest today is Hayden Field, The Verge’s senior AI reporter, and we're discussing the new wave of consumer friendly AI agents. AI enthusiasts have been using agents for a minute now, but the launch of Meta’s Muse, OpenAI’s Dots, and XAI’s Grok Bot has brought easy to use agents to millions. Muse, notably, is free, while Dots is not, and you’ll hear Hayden and me get into why Meta, which still doesn't have a frontier model of its own, might have a meaningful edge here because it's much better at making and distributing consumer products. And wrapped up in this heated agent race are a lot of…

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Verified interview transcripts

Notable quotes

“I just don't think you can look at this and say for a product called iPhone that is going to be sold in stores next to all the other iPhones to hundreds of millions of people around the world that this is a good product for almost any of those people because it isn't. It might be. I think the thing that I'm most excited about about the Duo is there is such a straight line from this to the second or third one being aw”

“I will tell you, I don't think it's conscious, and every now and again you have an experience where it's blindingly clear why other people believe that. When you watch a reasoning model take 90 steps over an hour and arrive at a conclusion, it's kind of impressive, and you can see why people believe that. I do not, and I have a lot of reasons for that. It just occurs to me that if you were to set out to regulate a te”

“It's here. It's not going to stop. We're not going to become luddites and there's not going to be any AI. This idea that, you know, the president has and David Sacks, you know, where they got all the companies together and said, 'Hey, how about you guys self-police?' You know, that's not going to work for at least not for protecting people's privacy.”

“The way to think about CarPlay is that it is just a second monitor for your iPhone, right? It is screen projection and you plug it in or you wirelessly connect, your iPhone detects a second monitor that's a CarPlay app and it shares a screen with custom interfaces for the apps that are running on the phone. This is fine in a car. It's also not like it isn't fine in a car. And this is the thing like CarPlay, I am the ”

“The app situation on the Home View is approximately the same app situation if you went on to Amazon or Alibaba and bought a $299 CarPlay tablet for your car. That's basically what Apple did here. They made the Home View. They built some first-party software to do some things. In particular, make FaceTime calls and the Home app. There's a thing in the developer terms that essentially says if you make a CarPlay app, it”

“The way this industry talks about the thing that they're making as though they have completely lost control of their own ambition and we all just have to like, yeah, man. I think data centers and surveillance are going to tip the election in this round. And a large part of it is because the industry cannot help itself. Just out of my mind about. But in this one, I just kept thinking about the fact that Sam Altman in ”

Other executives at The Verge

The summary and quote tags on this profile are produced with AI assistance from verified, first-person interview transcripts, then checked by our team to confirm the speaker's identity and the accuracy of every quote. See how we verify →