The Vergecast 2025 Review: Tech’s Best, Worst, Biggest and Weirdest Moments
The Verge’s flagship podcast has spent the past twelve months cataloguing a torrent of product launches, corporate shake‑ups and cultural oddities that defined the tech calendar. Listeners have heard analysts dissect everything from AI‑driven gadgets to the fallout of high‑profile mergers, while the hosts have peppered each episode with humor and occasional skepticism. As the year draws to a close, the show’s producers have promised a single episode that stitches together the most memorable highs, the starkest lows, the biggest headlines and the strangest footnotes of the season.
For anyone who followed the weekly rundowns—or who missed a few in the scramble—this roundup offers a concise, no‑fluff recap of the moments that shaped 2025. It’s the kind of synthesis that helps separate fleeting buzz from lasting impact, giving both enthusiasts and industry watchers a clear sense of where the sector stands after a “wild year in tech.” On this episode of The Vergecast, we take a look…
**The Vergecast 2025 year in review**
The Vergecast 2025 year in review On The Vergecast: the best, worst, biggest, and weirdest of everything that happened in a wild year in tech. On The Vergecast: the best, worst, biggest, and weirdest of everything that happened in a wild year in tech. On this episode of The Vergecast, we take a look back at the year as it comes to a close.
Nilay and David are joined by Joanna Stern, senior tech columnist at The Wall Street Journal, to go over a few of their predictions from last year, before digging into all the best and worst and biggest stories of 2025. Some of the categories we picked this year wound up being pretty easy, like the surprising success story of the year and the worst new buzzword. Others were more complicated, and offered lots of answers: what was the gadget of the year?
And, far more important, which Big Tech CEO would actually make the best podcast host? The gang doesn't always agree, but we're always full of thoughts. We also want to hear from you, on all the superlative categories we discussed.
What would you have picked for Best AI Thing? Which product that died this year makes you the most sad? Tell us everything: drop a comment here, call the Vergecast Hotline at 866-VERGE11, or send us an email at [email protected].
And stay tuned for next week, when we launch our spiciest predictions for 2026. Ignore that we got most of our 2025 predictions wrong -- we're going to nail it this year. Most Popular - A first look at Google's Project Aura glasses built with Xreal - Paramount launches a hostile $108 billion bid to snatch Warner from Netflix - Segway's new Myon e-bike will straddle past and future - It's ugly, it's beautiful, it's how you know a game might be a classic - Starlink made 'work from home' possible from anywhere -- now, I'm ready for a change
Was 2025 really just an AI year? The Vergecast’s review suggests otherwise, though AI loomed over most headlines. A sprint between OpenAI, Google, Anthropic and others produced a flurry of model announcements, yet the impact of those models on everyday tools remains unclear.
Nvidia’s rise to the world’s most valuable company underscored the hardware demand, while data centers sprouted across continents, signalling a shift in infrastructure priorities. Every app, device, company—and even individual users—seemed to draft an AI strategy, a pattern the podcast highlighted as both pervasive and puzzling. Still, the episode reminded listeners that AI wasn't the sole narrative; other developments, though less emphasized, contributed to the year’s “wild” character.
The best, worst, biggest and weirdest moments were catalogued, but the long‑term significance of those moments is still uncertain. As the hosts wrapped up, they left listeners with a nuanced picture: a year defined by AI ambition, tempered by unanswered questions about sustainability and broader tech trends.
Further Reading
- The year in tech: AI, regulation, and the gadgets that defined 2024 - The Verge
- The biggest tech scandals and failures of 2024 - TechCrunch
- From AI booms to VR busts: 2024’s most unforgettable tech moments - Wired
- Winners and losers of the 2024 tech industry - Financial Times
- The weirdest gadgets and experiments the tech world tried in 2024 - CNET
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Common Questions Answered
What did The Vergecast 2025 Review identify as the biggest hardware trend of the year?
The review highlighted Nvidia's ascent to the world’s most valuable company, underscoring a surge in demand for high‑performance GPUs. This hardware boom was further emphasized by the rapid expansion of data centers across multiple continents, reflecting a shift toward infrastructure‑focused investment.
How did The Vergecast describe the impact of AI model announcements from OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic in 2025?
The podcast noted a sprint of model releases from OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic, creating a flurry of headlines. However, it also pointed out that the real‑world impact of these models on everyday tools remained ambiguous and largely unproven.
Which personalities joined Nilay and David on the year‑in‑review episode to discuss predictions and outcomes?
Joanna Stern, senior tech columnist at The Wall Street Journal, appeared alongside hosts Nilay Patel and David Pierce. Together they revisited several predictions made earlier in the year and evaluated how those forecasts held up against actual events.
According to the review, was 2025 solely an AI‑dominated year for tech?
The Vergecast concluded that while AI loomed over most headlines, the year was not exclusively about artificial intelligence. Other significant narratives included major product launches, corporate shake‑ups, and the unprecedented growth of data‑center infrastructure.