Joanna Stern is not a robot, but she lived with them | The Verge

PodcastsAIStreamingJoanna Stern is not a robot, but she lived with themThe journalist and author of I Am Not a Robot on her year living with AI and starting a new media company.by Nilay PatelMay 11, 2026, 2:00 PM UTCLinkShareNilay Patel is editor-in-chief of The Verge, host of the Decoder podcast, and co-host of The Vergecast.My guest today is longtime friend of the show Joanna Stern. You all know Joanna: she is the former senior personal technology columnist for The Wall Street Journal, a former Decoder guest host, one of my cofounders here at The Verge, and also just one of my very closest friends.I mention that because Joanna just left that lofty perch at The Journal to start her own media company called New Things. She’s starting with her new book about AI, called I Am Not a Robot, which is out this week on May 12th.You’ll hear us reference the fact that she and I have been talking about her big move to go independent for ages now — it’s something she’s wanted to do and wrestled with for years, and she has a long list of interesting reasons about why now is the time. She’s also structured her new venture in partnership with NBC to keep her in front of a big mainstream audience.Verge subscribers, don’t forget you get exclusive access to ad-free Decoder wherever you get your podcasts. Head here. Not a subscriber? You can sign up here.It was important that I prove to Joanna that I actually read her book, which is really quite good. She spent a full year allowing AI into e...