The ‘AI is inevitable’ trap

The Verge / 4/17/2026

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Key Points

A recent example of “AI silly season” is Allbirds rebranding itself as an AI company, which helped drive a short-term surge in its stock price.
The article questions whether AI progress has hit a peak—either in overall capability or at least in the hype cycle around AI.
It references a new Stanford study via The Vergecast that argues AI continues improving across a wide range of tasks.
The piece frames the discussion as balancing “the data and the vibes,” contrasting measurable progress with market enthusiasm and branding-driven narratives.

In the latest sign of AI silly season, Allbirds, the shoe company, told the world it was now an AI company and briefly managed to septuple its stock price. The Newbird AI story is really just one of a bunch of things this week that made us wonder: have we reached the peak of AI, or at least a peak of AI?

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On this episode of The Vergecast, we look at both the data and the vibes. David and Nilay explore a new study from Stanford that says AI is getting better at lots of things, a …

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