I’m Joanna Stern, the senior personal tech columnist at The Wall Street Journal, and this is my final Decoder episode filling in for Nilay while he’s out on parental leave. My guest today: Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe. This is RJ’s third time on the show, and it felt like the perfect follow-up to my conversation last week with Ford CEO Jim Farley.
I loved the idea of going straight from Ford to Rivian. And if you listened to the Farley episode, this one flows nicely. RJ and I cover a lot of the same challenges: tariffs, China, EV pricing. Of course, I also asked about CarPlay.
Read the full transcript on The Verge.
Links:
A pretty fascinating look under the hood of the Rivan R2 | The Verge
Rivian CEO says CarPlay isn’t going to happen | The Verge
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe says too many carmakers are copying Tesla | Decoder
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe isn't scared of the Cybertruck | Decoder
Rivian breaks ground on $5 billion Georgia plant | AP
Rivian narrows 2025 delivery guidance Q3 as production slips | WSJ
Rivian R2 remains on track for $45,000 and 2026 production | Car and Driver
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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50:38
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50:38
The good, the bad, and the future of AI agents
This is Hayden Field, senior AI reporter at The Verge and your Thursday episode guest host. Today, I’m talking with David Hershey, who leads the applied AI team at Anthropic. I wanted to have David on because earlier this week, Anthropic released a brand-new AI model called Claude Sonnet 4.5 that’s been making waves.
So I wanted to sit down with David, who spends a lot of time testing out what modes like Claude Sonnet 4.5 can and can’t do, to ask him where we are on this promise of AI agents, and also what the path forward looks like as agentic technology progresses.
Links:
Anthropic releases Claude Sonnet 4.5 in latest bid for AI agents | The Verge
ChatGPT’s built-in Buy Now button has arrived | The Verge
OpenAI really wants you to start your day with ChatGPT Pulse | The Verge
Anthropic’s Claude AI is playing Pokémon | The Verge
AI agents are science fiction not yet ready for primetime | The Verge
Agents are the future AI companies promise and need | The Verge
Amazon is betting on agents to win the AI race | Decoder
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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46:35
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46:35
Ford CEO Jim Farley on China, tariffs, and the quest for a $30,000 EV
This is Joanna Stern, senior personal technology columnist at The Wall Street Journal. I’m the last Monday guest host filling in for Nilay here on Decoder while he’s out on parental leave with his adorable new son, and I’m very excited to be talking today to Ford CEO Jim Farley.
I’m a longtime Decoder listener and my favorite episodes are car episodes. I think car CEOs are currently facing some of the most fascinating and complex challenges in both tech and business. So when I was asked to guest host the show I said, “That’s it, car CEOs.” And Farley was at the top of the list. This was a great conversation that covered a lot of ground. I think you’re going to like it.
Read the full transcript on The Verge.
Links:
I’ve been driving an EV for a year. I have only one regret. | WSJ
Ford reveals breakthrough process for lower priced EVs | The Verge
Ford is betting the future on smaller EV batteries | The Verge
Ford is doubling down on EVs — the timing is awful | The Verge
Ford’s CEO on the essential economy and its untapped potential | Aspen Institute
Ford rejigs EV plans after suffering billions in losses | NYT
Why Americans can’t buy the world’s best electric car | NYT
Ford CEO Jim Farley on building the electric F-150 | Decoder
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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1:03:22
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1:03:22
How AI safety took a backseat to military money
This is Hayden Field, senior AI reporter at The Verge — and your Thursday episode guest host. I have another couple of shows for you while Nilay is out on parental leave, and we’re going to be spending more time diving into some of the unforeseen consequences of the generative AI boom.
Today, I’m talking with Heidy Khlaaf, who is chief AI scientist at the AI Now Institute, about the tech industry’s shift toward AI military applications. I wanted to know what’s motivated this shift, and why Heidy thinks leading AI firms are being far too cavalier about deploying generative AI in high-risk scenarios.
Links:
OpenAI is softening its stance on military use | The Verge
OpenAI awarded $200 million US defense contract | The Verge
OpenAI is partnering with defense tech company Anduril | The Verge
Anthropic launches new Claude service for military and intelligence use | The Verge
Anthropic, Palantir, Amazon team up on defense AI | Axios
Google scraps promise not to develop AI weapons | The Verge
Microsoft employees occupy headquarters in protest of Israel contracts | The Verge
Microsoft’s employee protests have reached a boiling point | The Verge
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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42:56
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42:56
Dropout CEO Sam Reich on business, comedy, and keeping culture weird
Guest host Hank Green talks with his friend Dropout CEO Sam Reich about keeping a business simple, trying to run a company the “right way,” and why the internet should be full of as many weird little projects as possible.
Read the full transcript on The Verge.
Links:
How CollegeHumor reinvented itself for the new internet age | People
CollegeHumor shaped online comedy. What went wrong? [2020] | Wired
‘I believe in this enough to try to do it myself’ [2020] | Digiday
Jacob Wysocki needed a minute to process that Game Changer | Vulture
Game Changer smartly weaponizes its online following | Mashable
Vimeo CEO Philip Moyer is betting on the human touch | Decoder
Vimeo to be acquired by Bending Spoons for $1.38B | The Verge
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Decoder is a show from The Verge about big ideas — and other problems. Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel talks to a diverse cast of innovators and policymakers at the frontiers of business and technology to reveal how they’re navigating an ever-changing landscape, what keeps them up at night, and what it all means for our shared future.
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