The ‘AI is inevitable’ trap

In the latest sign of AI silly season, Allbirds, the shoe company, told the world it was now an AI company and briefly managed to septuple its stock price. The Newbird AI story is really just one of a bunch of things this week that made us wonder: have we reached the peak of AI, or at least a peak of AI?

The ‘AI is inevitable’ trap

On this episode of The Vergecast, we look at both the data and the vibes. David and Nilay explore a new study from Stanford that says AI is getting better at lots of things, and yet more and more people want less and less to do with the technology. Other studies suggest that even those who use AI a lot wind up wishing they didn’t have to. In the wake of the awful attacks on Sam Altman, the divide seems bigger than ever between the people saying “AI is coming and you’d better get on board” and the people who’d much rather simply not.

After that, the Hype Desk crew joins the show to talk Coachella and RAMageddon. Then, David and Nilay talk about the result in the Ticketmaster monopoly trial, Microsoft’s response to the MacBook Neo, and the incredible rising price of absolutely everything. Then it’s time for an update on the Trump Phone and some other news of the week.

Key highlights from the tech world this week:

• Allbirds announced a switch from shoes to AI and its stock jumped 600 percent.
• Stanford’s 2026 AI study shows a growing disconnect between AI capability and user adoption.
• Half of Gen Z uses AI, but their feelings are souring according to recent reports.
• Ticketmaster is an illegal monopoly, jury finds.
• RAMageddon has come for Microsoft’s Surface Pro and Surface Laptop, while Meta blames RAM shortage for Quest 3 price hikes.
• Apple and Amazon are teaming up to challenge Starlink’s smartphone ambitions.
• New questions arise regarding Neuralink's strategic bets.