Sir Tim Berners-Lee doesn’t think AI will destroy the web
Today, I’m talking with a very special guest: Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web. Tim is a legend in the history of the internet. He created HTML and HTTP. It doesn’t really get more foundational than that — Tim was there at the very very beginning of the modern internet.
He also has a new memoir out called This Is For Everyone: The Unfinished Story of the World Wide Web. So Tim joined the show to talk about the state of the web, as well as his current work at the decentralization startup Inrupt, and, of course, where AI fits into the conversation.
Links:
This Is For Everyone | Macmillan
The Semantic Web | W3C
Tim Berners-Lee invented the web, now wants to save it | The New Yorker
Why I gave the world wide web away for free | The Guardian
Amazon, Perplexity kick off the great AI web browser fight | The Verge
Web War III | The Verge
Google admits the open web is in ‘rapid decline’ | The Verge
Cloudflare will now block AI crawlers by default | The Verge
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Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Decoder is produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt and edited by Ursa Wright. Our editorial director is Kevin McShane.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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How AI is fueling an existential crisis in education
We keep hearing over and over that generative AI is causing massive problems in education, both in K-12 schools and at the college level. Lots of people are worried about students using ChatGPT to cheat on assignments, and that is a problem. But really, the issues go a lot deeper, to the very philosophy of education itself.
We sat down and talked to a lot of teachers — you’ll hear many of their voices throughout this episode — and we kept hearing one cri du coeur again and again: What are we even doing here? What’s the point?
Links:
Majority of high school students use gen AI for schoolwork | College Board
Quarter of teens have used ChatGPT for schoolwork | Pew Research
Your brain on ChatGPT | MIT Media Lab
My students think it’s fine to cheat with AI. Maybe they’re on to something. | Vox
How children understand & learn from conversational AI | McGill University
‘File not Found’ | The Verge
Subscribe to The Verge to access the ad-free version of 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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Lyft CEO David Risher on paying drivers more and the shift to robotaxis
David Risher was on Lyft's board for years, but only stepped in as CEO in 2023, to help turn the company around. He's done pretty well so far, but there are still a lot of open questions for him to face. It's not just competition for riders and drivers Lyft has to deal with; it’s the future of transportation itself, and new AI tools that might take apps like Lyft out of the equation entirely.
Links:
Lyft’s first ‘robotaxis’ are live in Atlanta | The Verge
Tensor robocar will be “Lyft ready” out of the factory | Engadget
Congrats, Lyft | The Verge
Lyft’s AI assistant offers drivers advice on how to make money | The Verge
Lyft gets toehold in Europe with FreeNow acquisition | The Verge
Lyft co-founders to step down as company struggles | New York Times
How Silicon Valley enshittified the internet | Decoder
Subscribe to The Verge to access the ad-free version of 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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How Silicon Valley enshittified the internet
This is Sarah Jeong, features editor at The Verge. I’m standing in for Nilay for one final Thursday episode here as he settles back into full-time hosting duties. Today, we’ve got a fun one. I’m talking to Cory Doctorow, prolific author, internet activist, and arguably one of the fiercest tech critics writing today.
He has a new book out called Enshittifcation: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It. So I sat down with Cory to discuss what enshittification is, why it’s happening, and how we might fight it.
Links:
Enshittification | Macmillan
Why every website you used to love is getting worse | Vox
The age of Enshittification | The New Yorker
Yes, everything online sucks now — but it doesn’t have to | Ars Technica
The enshittification of garage-door openers reveals vast, deadly rot | Cory Doctorow
Mark Zuckerberg emails outline plan to neutralize competitors | The Verge
Google gets to keep Chrome, judge rules in antitrust case | The Verge
How Amazon wins: by steamrolling rivals and partners | WSJ
A new web DRM standard has security researchers worried | The Verge
Netflix, Microsoft & Google just changed how the web works | The Outline
Subscribe to The Verge to access the ad-free version of 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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LexisNexis CEO says the AI law era is already here
LexisNexis is one of the most important companies in the entire legal system. For ages it's been where you went to look up case law and do legal research. There isn’t a lawyer today who hasn’t used it — it’s fundamental infrastructure for the legal profession, just like email or a word processor.
But in 2025, apparently nobody can resist the siren call of AI, and LexisNexis is no different. The first word Sean said to describe LexisNexis wasn’t “law” or “data,” it was “AI.” And I had questions, because so far AI has created just as much chaos and slop in the courts as anywhere else.
Read the full transcript on The Verge.
Links:
Errors found in judge’s withdrawn decision stink of AI | The Verge
Why do lawyers keep using ChatGPT? | The Verge
Conservative judge says AI could strengthen originalist movement | Reuters
LexisNexis CEO says it’s ‘a matter of time’ before attorney loses a license | Fortune
Two companies ruled legal tech for decades. AI is blowing that open | BI
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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