What’s behind the Google AI shake-up

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.

Some of the biggest names on Google’s AI team got new jobs this week. In some cases, including for legendary Googler Jeff Dean, those jobs are no longer at Google. Given that Google’s models seem to be behind the best of what’s coming out of anthropic and OpenAI, is this a sign of Google in turmoil? Is it about Demis Hassabis wanting something more interesting to work on than virtual assistants? Or is there something else entirely happening here?

On this episode of The Vergecast, Nilay and David start by discussing the leadership shake-up at Google, the state of the AI race, and whether Google is actually set up to succeed here. They also talk about the ways in which Google and Reddit have become existentially dependent on each other, and why that dependence is starting to look like a problem.

After that, we talk about Disney’s plan to put even more stuff in the Disney Plus app, David Ellison’s defense of… David Ellison, the scourge of the “time spent” metric, Brendan Carr’s ongoing assault on free speech, the Spider-Man ads appearing in your BMW, and much more.

In case you missed it this week: We also talked about screen-free wearables, open-weight AI models, E Ink screens, and outrageously huge IMAX screens. And we want to hear all your thoughts about all of it! Call the Vergecast Hotline at 866-VERGE11, send us an email at vergecast@theverge.com, and tell us everything that’s on your mind. And make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!

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- David Pierce

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