Deputy Editor
Alex Heath is Deputy Editor for The Verge and the author of Command Line, a newsletter about the tech industry’s inside conversation. Since joining The Verge in 2021, he has broken agenda-setting scoops like Facebook’s rebrand to Meta and been at the forefront of tech’s biggest storylines, from Elon Musk’s chaotic takeover of Twitter to the failed boardroom coup at OpenAI.
Heath has been covering tech for more than a decade in previous roles at The Information, Business Insider, and other outlets. His work has been cited in congressional hearings and been recognized by the Livingston Awards and the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. He has appeared onstage at events like the Code Conference, SXSW, and Web Summit. He regularly appears as an expert voice on programs like CNBC, NPR, BBC, and CNN. He lives with his wife and two dogs in Los Angeles, where he likes to play ultimate frisbee and poker in his free time.
From the latest issue of Command Line:
The once-high-flying AR startup laid off its entire sales and marketing division this week, or about 75 people, several sources tell me. (Amazingly, Magic Leap had about 1,100 full-time employees before this.) The new strategy, sources say, is to become a component vendor for other companies looking to build their own headsets.
New Magic Leap CEO Ross Rosenberg didn’t respond to my request for comment on the cuts, but a company spokesperson told Bloomberg they were done “to better align with market dynamics and emerging opportunities.”
Google is trying to steal the Ray-Ban partnership from Meta
The smart glasses market is heating up. Also: layoffs and a strategy shift hit Magic Leap.
J.D. Vance is anti-Big Tech, pro-crypto
The former tech investor likes the FTC’s Lina Khan and wants to break up Google, citing its liberal bias.
This is Big Tech’s playbook for swallowing the AI industry
With Amazon’s hiring of the team behind a buzzy AI startup, a pattern is emerging: the reverse acquihire.
In case you missed it: Kylie Robison and I were recently on Decoder to talk about the companies and incentives driving the AI boom. We covered a lot of ground, from AI raves in San Francisco to open vs. closed source. Listen wherever you get your podcasts!