The end of OpenAI, and other 2026 tech predictions

Here’s a thought: what if the next-generation Siri is awesome? Not just awesome for setting timers and dictating text messages (though that would be nice), but so awesome and fun to talk to that people actually start falling in love with their iPhones. We may not be prepared for what happens next.

On this episode of The Vergecast, Sexy Siri is just one of the topics at hand. Nilay and David are joined by Joanna Stern, senior tech columnist at The Wall Street Journal, to talk through their most mild, medium, and spicy predictions for the year to come.

There are some reasonable, even fairly likely, predictions made in this episode. The hosts debate the likelihood of an Apple foldable, what might happen when Grand Theft Auto VI finally drops, and the possibility of a comeback for EVs. Then things start to get wild. Is 2026 the year of reckoning for self-driving cars? Will the onslaught of AI slop force us to demand new features from our social media, or make us move to a new one altogether? And which of the biggest companies in tech is headed for a truly disastrous year?

Not all of our predictions will come true (they sure didn’t this year — check out our year in review episode for those results), but we’re betting on some big shakeups in tech in 2026. And we want to hear from you! What do you think is coming in 2026? What’s your most mild, medium, or spicy take on the next 12 months in tech? Drop a comment here, call the Vergecast Hotline at 866-VERGE11, or send us an email at vergecast@theverge.com. Good luck beating Sexy Siri.