The creepy AI era is here

The Vergecast

Vox Media Podcast Network

News, Tech News, Technology

4.4 • 4.1K Ratings

🗓️ 18 July 2025

⏱️ 108 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Would you like Siri more if it had a face? This week on The Vergecast, we’re talking about AI assistants getting smarter… and uncomfortably personal. The Verge’s Jennifer Pattison Tuohy joins the show to talk about her early tests of Alexa Plus, which is finally AI-powered and a lot more capable. Jake shares his uncomfortable first interaction with Grok’s anime girlfriend. And Waveform cohost David Imel is here to talk about Sony’s RX1R III and other premium “compact” cameras. Finally, the THUNDER ROUND is back. New, improved, and still loud. Further reading: 24 hours with Alexa Plus: we cooked, we chatted, and it kinda lied to me Alexa Plus launches to “small number” of people More than a million people now have Alexa Plus Elon Musk’s AI bot adds a ridiculous anime companion with ‘NSFW’ mode I spent 24 hours flirting with Elon Musk’s AI girlfriend System prompt dump of xAI / Grok’s new AI anime girlfriend Elon Musk teases AI anime boyfriend based on Edward Cullen “We will, of course, have another character inspired by Mr. Darcy” xAI has open roles for building AI “waifus.” US government announces $200 million Grok contract a week after ‘MechaHitler’ incident Grok will no longer call itself Hitler or base its opinions on Elon Musk’s, promises xAI Sony’s pocket-sized RX1R camera returns with its first update in 10 years Original RX1R RX1R II Google exec: ‘We’re going to be combining ChromeOS and Android’ Our biggest questions about ChromeOS and Android merging Ikea goes all in on Matter/Thread Eric Migicovsky Texts.com Google Nest subscription The next batch of emoji includes Bigfoot Email us at [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11, we love hearing from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Using AI chatbots is pretty easy. Knowing how to feel about them, that's more complicated.
0:08.6	You know, and I don't think that biologically we're necessarily equipped to be emotionally handling
0:14.9	this type of relationship with something that's not human. Our AI companions. That's this week on Explain It to Me.
0:23.0	New episodes every Sunday, wherever you get your podcasts.
0:34.1	Home security systems are pretty standard nowadays.
0:39.7	But having a system that shows you grainy videos and blurry images just isn't it. You deserve the best, and TPLink has an entire
0:45.7	new set of Tapo 4K security cameras that deliver. They offer crystal clear video where every detail
0:52.4	pops. These cameras give you 24-7 capture with advanced face recognition, so you'll know who's
0:58.3	there instantly.
1:00.0	No more sifting through endless footage.
1:02.4	You'll even get alerts for people you care about right when it counts.
1:06.7	So if you're ready to upgrade your home security, go beyond clear with all new Tapo 4K security cameras at tp-link.com.
1:19.6	Hello and welcome to the Vergecast, the flagship podcast of deeply uncomfortable conversations with AI.
1:25.3	I'm Jay Casternakis, executive editor of The Verge.
1:27.7	Eli Patel, David Pierce. They are on parental leave. They'll both be back later this year.
1:32.8	Today, we've got a fantastic crew. Joining us remotely, we've got Verge, smart home reviewer,
1:38.4	Jen Toey. Hello, nice to be here. And in the studio with us, special guest, friend of the show,
1:44.0	and Waveform co-host, David Amel. Hello, glad to be here. We've got a lot to talk about today. David's joining because I really want to talk about Sony's new camera, which people have been waiting 10 years for. The Thunder Round is back, new and improved. Just wait for it. But first, we have to talk about AI assistance because two big
2:02.2	things happened this week. First, Jen got access to Alexa Plus, the new AI-powered version of
2:08.0	Alexa. And second, Grock got weird again. It's always getting weird. It keeps going. And I
2:15.5	actually think these two things are kind of related in the long term.
2:19.7	So first, Jen, you've been talking to Alexa a bunch lately. Tell us what have you seen?
	...

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