Live from CES: What is the point of a robot that falls over?

Decoder with Nilay Patel • January 09, 2026

Guests

Guest Role Confidence Extraction Method Actions
David Host/Co-host 85% LLM Login to Follow
Nilay Host/Co-host 85% LLM Login to Follow

Description

The theme of CES 2026 is gadgets. It's always gadgets. This year more than most, though, the world's biggest tech show is about how fast the hardware world is moving — and how much work the software, and the AI, have to do to catch up. On stage live at the Brooklyn Bowl in Las Vegas, David and Nilay talk through some of the biggest news of the week, from robots to laptops to AI cuddle buddies, to see what's really going to matter in tech this year. Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Audio