The AI is in the computer

<figure> <img alt="" data-caption="" data-portal-copyright="Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/VRG_VST_100926_Site.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;crop=0,0,100,100" /> <figcaption> </figcaption> </figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">It's gadget season, and a lot of companies are launching a lot of new products. But whether it's Microsoft <a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/1007147/microsoft-surface-laptop-ultra-windows-event-everything-announced">dropping a high-end laptop</a>, Amazon shipping <a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/1007473/amazon-alexa-tablet-12-pro-nanomatte-hands-on">a fancy Android tablet</a>, or Apple <a href="https://www.theverge.com/news/1008039/apple-smart-home-event-october-13th">diving headlong</a> into the smart home, the actual strategy appears to be almost always the same. All these companies believe AI assistants and agents are the future of computing, and they're building devices that put them front and center.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">On <a href="https://pod.link/vergecast">this episode of <em>The Vergecast,</em></a> David and Nilay dig into all this new hardware to figure out whether any of it has the right take on AI. (Or if "the AI should run the computer" is even the right idea in the first place.) The …</p> <p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/podcast/1008707/amazon-alexa-tablet-googlebooks-apple-vergecast">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>