Big Tech lost big in the 2026 election | The Vergecast

The 2026 midterm elections in the US ended in a sweeping win for Democrats — and several dozen sweeping losses for the AI industry. Nilay and David dig into what the results will mean for data centers, Big Tech, and even the future of X. Then, they try to figure out whether anyone's making any money in AI — not so much, it turns out — and whether the touchscreen MacBook is worth the price. 0:00 Bezos Hair Transplant Hoax 01:15 Midterms Shockwave Begins 02:00 Corruption And Data Center Backlash 06:53 AI Products Not Worth It 09:26 What Democrats Can Do Now 11:15 Congress Investigations Lawyer Up 13:15 Hype Reels Take Over Politics 15:42 X Bubble Versus Real Life 22:47 Microblogging Decline And AI Regulation 23:56 Ossoff Speech And AI Doomerism 27:35 Google Then Versus OpenAI Now 33:35 Back From Break 33:42 OpenAI Search Claims 35:19 Google Moat Erodes 38:02 Monetizing AI Overviews 42:52 Ads Break Trust 45:49 Google Zero Spiral 47:43 Agents Reality Check 50:41 Token Spending Pullback 52:50 Muse Novelty Wears Off 01:00:16 Brendan Carr is a Dummy 01:02:00 FCC Heat On Carr 01:07:04 MacBook Pro Touchscreen 01:09:09 Touchscreen Love Hate 01:10:25 Dynamic Island Reality Check 01:11:17 Best Touch Use Cases 01:11:58 App Support And Optimization 01:14:10 MacBook Pro Verdict 01:14:27 Speakers And Trade Ins 01:15:42 Sales And Upgrade Timing 01:17:11 SpaceX Boost Mobile Drama 01:22:05 Ram Altman Cloud Take 01:29:31 AI Photo Editing Panic 01:37:13 Wrap Up And Plugs Subscribe: http://goo.gl/G5RXGs Like The Verge on Facebook: https://goo.gl/2P1aGc Follow on X: https://goo.gl/XTWX61 Follow on Instagram: https://goo.gl/7ZeLv Watch The Vergecast on YouTube: https://bit.ly/40RFRkg The Vergecast Podcast: https://bit.ly/3WQDexZ Decoder with Nilay Patel: http://apple.co/3v29nDc More about our podcasts: https://www.theverge.com/podcasts Read More: http://www.theverge.com Community guidelines: http://bit.ly/2D0hlAv Wallpapers from The Verge: https://bit.ly/2xQXYJr Shop our Verge merch store here: https://bit.ly/4kPCmEc Subscribe to The Verge: https://bit.ly/3FT6n5S Subscribe to The Vergecast on YouTube, new episodes on Tuesday and Friday: https://bit.ly/3I6nJtz If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may receive a commission without exerting any influence on editorial content. For more information about our ethics policy, visit: https://bit.ly/3ZWTlLs