The Vergecast 2025 year in review
225 snips
Dec 9, 2025 
Joining Nilay and David, Joanna Stern, a senior tech columnist at the Wall Street Journal, dives into a lively discussion about the standout tech moments of 2025. They dissect the successes and failures of products, including a surprising victory from Google Gemini and the disappointment of AI agents. The trio debates the impact of major policy moves on big tech and ruminates on the biggest AI-related scandals of the year. Expect lively opinions on gadget of the year and the buzzwords that should be buried!
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Early Holiday Shopping Brag
- David Pierce describes being unusually early with holiday shopping after Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
- He jokes his preparedness still misses people when he actually forgets to buy gifts for them.
Antitrust Wins, Few Structural Remedies
- The government won major antitrust cases but did not break up big tech in 2025.
- Judges found monopolistic behavior but remedies often amounted to little or partial changes.
Gemini's Comeback Shifted The Field
- Google Gemini became a surprising success story that shifted competitive dynamics in 2025.
- Its product momentum forced rivals to treat Gemini as a serious threat rather than a curiosity.