Hayden Field is joining The Verge as a senior AI reporter, where she will lead coverage of the biggest names in AI — including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, Apple, and others — while also reporting on how these tools are being used, how they’re reshaping society, and how regulators are responding. Field joins The Verge from CNBC, where she closely tracked the rise of generative AI and the companies determining its future. She begins her role today.

“AI has the potential to be a fundamental shift in how we interact with technology and what we think computers can do,” said Nilay Patel, editor-in-chief of The Verge. “Hayden’s reporting has consistently delivered insightful coverage of AI’s most pressing developments, and her deep sourcing and sharp analysis will be vital as The Verge continues to expand its AI coverage.”

During her time at CNBC, Field reported on a wide array of topics, from corporate developments and regulatory scrutiny to ethical considerations and technological advancements. She’s covered Elon Musk’s xAI and its ambitious plans to raise billions to build a massive AI infrastructure powered by Nvidia hardware, analyzed the FTC’s inquiry into major AI firms like OpenAI, Amazon, and Microsoft, and investigated internal challenges at OpenAI, including employee concerns over equity donations amid the company’s soaring valuation.

The Verge is the leading tech publication, with unmatched news coverage, trusted analyses and reviews, and scoops across Silicon Valley and Washington, DC.

Tina Nguyen is joining The Verge as a senior reporter, covering the Trump administration, Elon Musk’s takeover of the federal government, and the tech industry’s embrace of the MAGA movement. Nguyen joins The Verge from Puck, where she was a founding partner and national correspondent covering the evolution of the MAGA political ecosystem. Before that, Nguyen was a White House reporter for Politico and covered politics and media at Vanity Fair. She is the author of The MAGA Diaries: Life Among the Fanatics, Extremists, and True Believers that Created the Modern Right. She starts at The Verge this week.

“Tina is deeply sourced in the world of MAGA politics and has extensively explored how Trump and his movement use the power of modern tech and social media,” says Nilay Patel, editor-in-chief at The Verge. “That’s always been a Verge story, and it will only get more important as the tech giants work to curry favor and protection from an administration that is always and forever posting through it.”

“What I’ve observed over the past decade, and what the second Trump administration understands innately, is that technology and data is the river through which cultural and political change flows,” Nguyen says. “Social media fluency kept far-right politicians relevant when officials in Washington tried to exile them. Consumer electronics gave MAGA podcasters more influence than a multimillion-dollar television studio ever could. And if you squeeze the proper tech billionaire who owns the proper information superhighway — a news site, an AI company, a social media platform, a device manufacturer — you can change millions of voters’ minds overnight. It certainly doesn’t hurt that you can shake some money out of them in the process.

“The Verge has covered how technology changes culture and human behavior since its launch in 2011. I’m beyond excited to work with a team that understands the dynamics of technology and culture on a fundamental level, and to collaborate with reporters who have the inside scoop on how the tech giants themselves are trying to manage Trump 2.0.”

Nguyen’s hiring comes shortly after The Verge launched its first site-wide subscription last December, offering reduced ads and unlimited access to its vibrant features and sharp original reporting. “The first wave of Verge subscriptions blew past our initial forecasts, and that reader support helps us invest in vital coverage. Tina will deliver the kind of industry-leading scoops that current Verge subscribers expect and help us attract new subscribers in 2025 and beyond,” said Verge publisher Helen Havlak.

Nguyen is the latest addition to The Verge newsroom as the publication staffs up to expand its coverage throughout 2025:

• Marina Galperina joined the site this month as senior tech editor, growing The Verge’s ambitious and essential tech reporting; Galperina was previously managing editor at Popular Science and features editor at Gizmodo.
• Todd Haselton joined the site in January as deputy editor for reviews and commerce to lead The Verge’s unparalleled tech reviews program and indispensable deals and guides teams; Haselton was previously deputy technology editor at CNBC.
• Dominic Preston joined the site in January as news editor, sharpening The Verge’s international coverage with a focus on emerging tech and European tech policy; Preston was previously managing reviews editor for Android Police.

The Verge is the leading tech publication, with unmatched news coverage, trusted analyses and reviews, and scoops across Silicon Valley and Washington, DC.

The Verge’s editor-in-chief Nilay Patel today announced that Kylie Robison is joining the site as senior AI reporter, where she’ll lead the technology publication’s coverage of artificial intelligence. She’ll work closely with The Verge’s policy and tech teams, delivering must-read coverage around the people and companies shaping the future of AI, how the technology is being developed and used by consumers and creators, and how it’s changing the world – for good and for ill.

Robison joins The Verge from Fortune, where she was senior technology reporter and regularly broke news about Twitter / X. She authored the magazine’s recent cover story on OpenAI and has also profiled buzzy AI startups like Runway. She begins her role on May 6th. 

“Kylie’s infectious energy and ability to break news made her a must-read for us at The Verge,” says editor-in-chief Nilay Patel. “She’s a perfect fit for our newsroom and the right reporter for one of the most exciting beats in tech.”

The Verge is one of the leading authorities on AI, with in-depth, leading reporting on everything from the failed boardroom coup at OpenAI to its must-read coverage of bleeding-edge consumer devices like the Humane AI pin. Last year, The Verge also spearheaded research aimed at understanding how Americans are thinking about AI. Produced in partnership with Vox Media and The Circus, the representative survey polled over 2,000 American adults and revealed a strong interest in the topic, and cautious optimism about its potential uses. Building on the initial survey, The Verge published their second wave of AI-based research last week and made the presentation widely accessible to anyone who is looking to better understand how consumer sentiment is evolving around AI almost one year later.

Robison joins The Verge following the addition of senior policy reporter Lauren Feiner, who joined the site in January from CNBC to cover the intersection of Silicon Valley and Capitol Hill.

The Verge’s editor-in-chief Nilay Patel announced several changes to the industry-leading tech publication’s masthead today, starting with the promotion of Jake Kastrenakes to executive editor.

Kastrenakes first joined The Verge as an intern in 2014 and has spent 10 years as a reporter and editor at the site, overseeing the news team, creators coverage, and the Hot Pod and Command Line newsletters. As executive editor Kastrenakes will be responsible for making sure The Verge’s newsroom meets the highest standards of rigor and quality every single day.

“The Verge audience has incredibly high expectations of us and our work, and Jake has spent his career overdelivering on those expectations,” says Patel. “Jake has already been instrumental in using new tools like our redesigned homepage, live StoryStream news feeds, and our growing collection of paid newsletters to innovate our coverage and build a deeper connection to our audience, and I’m excited to see him push even farther in his new role.”

Alex Cranz, currently managing editor, will move into the newly-expanded role of Deputy Editor, Tech, where she will oversee all aspects of consumer tech coverage, including The Verge’s exacting reviews program. “The heart of The Verge is a deep love for technology and culture coupled with a deep skepticism of power, and Alex is exactly the right person to lead our tech coverage into its next era,” says Patel. “She understands that caring deeply about how products work is instrumental in understanding what they might mean, and I’m excited for her to help us reinvent tech coverage for our next era.”

Kara Verlaney, currently editorial operations manager, will become the new Managing Editor and join The Verge’s leadership team to oversee newsroom operations and people management. “Kara is a capable leader, beloved manager, and the most terrifyingly organized person on the entire Verge team,” says publisher Helen Havlak. “She has managed some of The Verge’s most complex and ambitious projects of all time, including the recent ASME-nominated multimedia series The Year Twitter Died. She will be a key partner to Nilay and Jake in running a high-performing newsroom, and in pursuing our ambitious growth goals across a diversified set of business lines that includes editorial sponsorships, affiliate commerce, subscriptions, and licensing.”

This new leadership team will be tasked with continuing to grow The Verge’s direct loyal audience, a project Patel and Havlak believe to be critical to the future of The Verge’s journalism and business. The Verge has already made considerable progress against this goal in 2023 after an ambitious site redesign in late 2022. Loyal users grew a dramatic 47% from Q1 to Q4 of 2023, recently hitting a 13-month high in October 2023. Average time spent on The Verge homepage, which now features short-form “quickposts” from Verge reporters, increased from 6:39 in Q1 to an impressive 8:10 in Q4 2023. Other engagement metrics such as podcast downloads, site comments, and social video views all grew significantly year over year. According to Havlak, “At a time of major disruption to the way news is consumed and funded, The Verge’s direct loyal audience is our most valuable currency. We are in a very strong position going into 2024, and this new leadership team will support Nilay in delivering a consistently great product to our audience every single day.”