Nilay Patel

Editor-in-Chief

Here we go: The Verge now has a subscription

Nilay PatelDec 3, 2024

South Korea’s president has declared martial law.

President Yoon Suk Yeol just announced that he’s declaring martial law in Korea, following months of rumors that he’d pull the move — and repeated denials. The AP says he’s “accusing the country’s opposition of controlling the parliament, sympathizing with North Korea and paralyzing the government with anti-state activities.”

Huge South Korean chaebols like Samsung and LG are deeply wrapped up in the workings of the government — it’s going to be an unsettling period of geopolitical weirdness as giant tech companies try to moderate governments around the world.

South Korean president declares emergency martial law, accusing opposition of anti-state activities

[AP News]

GoDaddy CEO Aman Bhutani on the enduring power of the website

Despite everything, websites are still a pretty neat idea — but what if AI builds them?

Nilay PatelNov 25, 2024

How Trump’s second term could be bad for EVs — but great for Tesla

What Elon Musk really wants from a Trump presidency.

Nilay PatelNov 14, 2024

Nilay PatelNov 13, 2024

Here’s our Decoder episode with Bluesky CEO Jay Graber.

The federated Twitter competitor is heating up this week as people flee X — it just crossed 15m users and is currently the top app in the US iOS App Store. CEO Jay Graber was on Decoder earlier this year, talking about Bluesky’s approach to federation, “composable moderation,” and ultimately monetization. It’s a good one!

Nilay PatelNov 13, 2024

Elon Musk has a theme song at Mar-a-Lago.

Our colleagues at New York break down the gleefully corrupt dealmaking already taking place at Trump’s club, with this tremendous detail:

The billionaire X and Tesla owner is around so much he’s even got his own intro music. “I don’t know if you know this, but Trump DJs Mar-a-Lago from his iPad,” says Melissa Rein Lively, another frequent presence at the club these days. “So he has a walk-on song for Elon Musk, which is ‘Space Oddity.’”

David Bowie would hate this, but he’d hate the reality of what’s happening down there even more:

“It’s a dinner club, and you only go when Trump is there. You probably go once a week for four months in a season. You do that for four years, do the math — you’re spending $18,000 a meal to just get in there. It’s the most expensive meal you’re going to have, but is it worth it if your company gets a $2 billion deal from the federal government? It’s the best money you ever spent.”

It’s going to be a long four years.

So, How’s It Going at Mar-a-Lago?

[Intelligencer]

Nilay PatelNov 12, 2024

“The work of obtaining facts has a major economic disadvantage against the production of bullshit, and it’s only getting worse.”

Good post from Media Guild of the West president Matt Pearce on the reality of media in 2024:

The biggest story about media and the internet is that new technology — AI, social media, smartphones, etc. — keeps driving down the cost of producing bullshit while the cost of obtaining quality information only goes up. It’s getting more and more expensive to produce the good stuff, and the good stuff has to compete against more and more trash once it’s out on the market.

Journalism's fight for survival in a postliterate democracy

[mattdpearce.substack.com]

Why the Grammys need to change, with CEO Harvey Mason Jr.

Rebooting the member list, taking the show streaming — is it enough in the age of AI?

Nilay PatelNov 11, 2024

Nilay PatelNov 7, 2024

Tell your Senator to pass the PRESS Act.

The PRESS Act, which has been sitting in limbo since it passed the House in January, would protect reporters from having to reveal their sources except for national security reasons. It has bipartisan support — Democrat Ron Wyden sponsored the bill and Republicans Lindsey Graham and Mike Lee are co-sponsors — and it feels like the sort of thing that’s going to get increasingly relevant in a second Trump administration.

Our ability to produce things like the Foxconn investigation depends on freedom of the press, after all, and Trump and his allies like Elon Musk have made it clear they will pressure the media any way they can. (Obvious disclosure: I am biased in favor of freedom of the press, and The Verge’s parent company Vox Media is part of media industry groups that are also advocating for this bill.)

Here’s an easy link from the ACLU to send a note to your Senators:

Tell Congress: Protect Journalists, Pass the PRESS Act

[PeoplePower.org]