Big Technology Podcast - podcast cover

Big Technology Podcast

Alex Kantrowitzwww.bigtechnology.com
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators. Alex Kantrowitz, a Silicon Valley journalist who's interviewed the world's top tech CEOs — from Mark Zuckerberg to Larry Ellison — is the host.
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Episodes

The Fable Ban's Unintended Consequences + AI's New Economics — With Aaron Levie

Aaron Levie is the co-founder and CEO of Box. Levie joins Big Technology Podcast live from the Big Technology AI Summit to discuss the government-mandated recall of Anthropic's Fable and Mythos models and what it reveals about where AI regulation is heading. Tune in to hear Levie argue that the recall — far from a conspiracy to kneecap the frontier labs — may be the closest thing yet to the "AI pause" critics have demanded, why he thinks the government is now effectively in the model-approval bu...

Jun 22, 202631 min

Are AI Glasses Over?, Big Technology Audience Questions, Alex Stamos on AI Cybersecurity

Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news LIVE from Big Technology AI Summit. We cover: 1) Do Snapchat Specs signal the end of AR glasses 2) What should an AI device do? 3) Audience questions from the Big Technology AI Summit! 4) How should companies plan for such fast moving technology? 5) What's the ideal AI device form factor? 6) Can AI models be more useful for biology? 7) Can the U.S. and China get along on AI? 8) What responsibility do AI companies h...

Jun 19, 202658 min

AI Fact or Fiction: The Fable Ban, Tokenmaxxing, Saaspocolypse — With Ara Kharazian

Ara Kharazian is the lead economist at Ramp. Kharazian joins Big Technology to discuss how much companies are actually spending on AI and whether that spending is producing real value. Tune in to hear why Anthropic has overtaken OpenAI among businesses, how AI spending varies dramatically from company to company, and whether “tokenmaxing” is really happening. We also cover Anthropic’s clash with the White House, the resurgence of DeepSeek, Google’s underrated position in AI, and whether the pred...

Jun 17, 202648 min

SpaceX’s IPO Triumph, Anthropic’s Fable Fumble, OpenAI’s Price War

Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) SpaceX's massive IPO 2) What SpaceX's success means for its AI competitors, OpenAI and Anthropic 3) Is SpaceX's outsized valuation a feature, not a bug? 4) Goldman Sachs eats Big Bang burritos 5) Anthropic's flubbed Fable rollout 6) Does the gaffe mean Anthropic really believes in the power of Mythos? 7) A fun Fable conspiracy theory 8) OpenAI may drastically lower prices 9) Are AI models a commodity?...

Jun 12, 202657 min

What Should An AI Device Look Like? — With Alex Himel

Alex Himel is Meta’s VP of Wearables. Himel joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss the future of AI wearables and why Meta believes glasses could become the next major computing platform. Tune in to hear how AI assistants might help with daily tasks, meetings, reminders, fitness, photos, and real-world context without pulling people out of the moment. We also cover the competition from OpenAI, Google, Apple, and Amazon; the privacy questions around facial recognition; on-device AI; and the stor...

Jun 10, 20261 hr 1 min

Will Apple (Finally) Get AI Right At WWDC?, Anthropic’s Worry, Microsoft vs. OpenAI

Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Does WWDC matter, or is it all about iPhones? 2) Apple's plan to build AI into the operating system 3) Apple finally seems to be building to the technology's capabilities 4) But... Apple may still waitlist people for forthcoming features 5) Anthropic says AI might be close to being able to improve itself 6) Is that marketing? 7) Can Anthropic stay ethical as a public company? 8) Microsoft and OpenAI a...

Jun 05, 202658 min

AI Pioneer Geoffrey Hinton: AI Is Conscious, Superintelligence is Coming, And We Should Be Worried

Geoffrey Hinton is an AI pioneer, a Nobel Prize winner, and a professor emeritus at the University of Toronto. Hinton joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss AI’s rapid progress, why he believes today’s systems already understand us, and why he thinks superintelligence may arrive sooner than many expect. Tune in to hear Hinton explain why the technology has advanced faster than he anticipated, and lay out the risks he believes society is not doing enough to address. We also cover AI-driven job l...

Jun 03, 202657 min

Did Google Just Fall Behind Again?, iPhone Fold Cometh, Anthropic Files To Go Public

M.G. Siegler is the author of Spyglass.org. Siegler joins Big Technology to discuss whether Google is falling behind in AI as OpenAI and Anthropic push ahead with coding agents and super-app ambitions. Tune in to hear why AI agents may reshape the way people use the web, email, apps, and browsers, and why that could put Google in a difficult position. We also cover Apple’s upcoming WWDC, the rumored iPhone Fold, Meta’s messy subscription strategy, and Anthropic’s move toward an IPO. Hit play for...

Jun 01, 20261 hr 12 min

Warning Signs For The AI Boom, Anthropic Passes OpenAI, Robinhood’s AI Trading

Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Companies are reconsidering their AI spend after token consumption explodes 2) Is this a widespread issue or a big deal made out of a few companies? 3) The bigger problem: only 18% of tokens are spent on things that ship. 4) Are investment decisions being made due to unrestrained tokenmaxxing? 5) The circular investment problem is real 6) A look at the memory chip boom 7) Anthropic passes OpenAI as th...

May 29, 20261 hr

Predicting the SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic IPOs — With Dick Costolo

Dick Costolo is the ex-CEO of Twitter and managing partner at 01 Advisors. Costolo joins Big Technology Podcast to look ahead to the SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic IPOs, looking at whether the offerings will be successful, who should go first, how the companies differ, and where the capital will come from. Tune in for the second half where we discuss the state of Meta, Costolo's Twitter memories, and Silicon Valley's 'Permanent Underclass.' Tune in for a fun, in-depth discussion of the most impor...

May 27, 202657 min

Is OpenAI Ready To IPO?, The Datacenters in Space Myth, The Kids Boo AI

Join us for the Big Technology AI Summit on June, 18, 2026. Get your tickets here: summit.bigtechnology.com.... Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) OpenAI's revenue numbers come out ahead of its potential IPO filing 2) Why is OpenAI considering going public now? 3) Is OpenAI trying to IPO ahead of Anthropic? 4) Is the Iran War accelerating the timeline of these fundraisings? 5) What would the top of the AI boom look like? 6) SpaceX file...

May 23, 20261 hr

Claude Code Head Boris Cherny: Insane Growth, Tokenmaxxing, AI Agents' Next Frontier

Boris Cherney is the head of Claude Code at Anthropic. Cherney joins Big Technology to discuss Claude Code’s explosive growth and whether the rise of AI agents is sustainable. Tune in to hear how Claude Code is changing software development, why Anthropic believes agents will spread far beyond coding, and what happens when people start running hundreds or thousands of AI agents in parallel. We also cover token maxing, rate limits, Codex competition, SaaS disruption, self-improving AI, and whethe...

May 20, 202659 min

Satya Nadella’s OpenAI Concerns, Google’s Next AI Model, The AI Monet Prank

Join us for the Big Technology AI Summit on June, 18, 2026. Get your tickets here: summit.bigtechnology.com .... Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Satya Nadella criticizing his OpenAI partnership 2) Did Microsoft play the OpenAI deal right? 3) AI native vs. bold on debate 4) Which big tech company will rank No. 1 in AI? 5) Bill Ackman buys Microsoft 6) OpenAI and Apple are on the outs 7) Claude for Small Business is here 8) What's com...

May 15, 202655 min

Does Anyone Want AI Wearables? + The Allure of AI Love — With Joanna Stern

Joanna Stern is the author of "I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI to Do Almost Everything" and the founder of The New Thing. Stern joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss what happens when you infuse AI into every part of your life. Tune in to hear about her 48-hour road trip with an AI boyfriend, why she found chatbot relationships genuinely tempting, and what the sycophancy of these tools means for how we relate to each other. We also cover the promise and limits of AI wearables, how AI is qui...

May 13, 202643 min

The Unlikely Anthropic & SpaceX Marriage, OpenAI Trial Revelations, AI Layoffs Or Cope?

Join us for the Big Technology AI Summit on June, 18, 2026. Get your tickets here: summit.bigtechnology.com .... Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Anthropic gets SpaceX compute 2) Is this announcement real or marketing? 3) Anthropic increases rate limits with the new compute 4) Elon + Dario vs. Sam 5) Is this all IPO maneuvering? 6) Mythos is proving valuable for cybersecurity 7) Anthropic's demand is 80Xing 8) OpenAI's communication ...

May 08, 202657 min

AI Agents: Mirage Or Real Revolution? — With Dmitry Shevelenko

Dimitri Shevelenko is the chief business officer of Perplexity. Shevelenko joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss whether the AI industry’s shift toward agentic 'super apps' and computer-using assistants will become a real business. Tune in to hear why Perplexity believes computer use is a durable productivity tool, how it thinks about consumer AI’s growth slowdown, and why multi-model orchestration could be a competitive advantage. We also cover AI search, enterprise adoption, trust and permis...

May 07, 20261 hr 2 min

Did Apple Get AI Spending Right?, Microsoft & OpenAI’s New Reality, Where’s Stargate?

M.G. Siegler of Spyglass is back for our monthly tech news discussion. Siegler joins us to discuss whether Apple made the right decision to hold off on spending a mid-sized country GDP worth of money on AI infrastructure, and whether the company's restraint will continue under incoming CEO John Ternus. We also cover OpenAI and Microsoft scrapping their "AGI" claude and whether Microsoft should've agreed to let OpenAI work with Amazon. We round off with a state of Stargate and where the risk is i...

May 05, 20261 hr 1 min

OpenAI’s User Growth Miss, Musk vs. Altman, Prediction Market Ban

Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) OpenAI misses revenue and user projections, per WSJ 2) Why can't ChatGPT break the 1 billion user mark? 3) Is consumer AI not working? 4) Ranjan makes the case for consumer AI 5) Musk vs. OpenAI at trial 6) Potential outcomes of the case 7) Musk admits distillation? 8) Cloud services crush earnings 9) U.S. Senators ban themselves from trading prediction markets 10) CBS Sports' shameless gambling artic...

May 01, 202658 min

Mark Cuban: AI Hype vs. Reality, OpenAI's Wasting $1 Trillion, Lebron vs. Jordan

Mark Cuban is an entrepreneur and investor. Cuban joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss how artificial intelligence is reshaping business, software, jobs, and education. Tune in to hear why he believes AI is an exponential shift, how companies should rebuild themselves around it, and why curiosity will matter more than ever in the AI era. We also cover the economics of foundation models, which software companies are most vulnerable, how young people should build careers with AI, and his though...

Apr 29, 202654 min

Apple After Tim Cook, OpenAI’s New Mojo, Meta’s Internal Tracking Escapade

Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Incoming Apple CEO John Ternus's biggest challenge 2) Is turnover at Apple a good thing 3) The products Ternus will take to market 4) What is Apple's tabletop robot all about 5) OpenAI is communicating differently 6) Is TBPN helping OpenAI messaging? 7) Anthropic's Mythos rollout vs. OpenAI's Spud rollout 8) Meta's latest layoffs. 9) Meta tracks employees keystrokes 10) Is Meta's tracking a reinforcem...

Apr 25, 202657 min

OpenAI President Greg Brockman on GPT-5.5 “Spud,” AI Model Moats, and Cybersecurity Risks

Greg Brockman is the president and co-founder of OpenAI. Brockman joins Big Technology to discuss GPT-5.5, also known as Spud, and what it means for OpenAI’s next phase of AI development. Tune in to hear Brockman explain how the model gets better at coding, computer use, slides, spreadsheets, and agentic work across everyday applications. We also cover OpenAI’s competitiveness, model economics, distillation, cybersecurity risk, trust in agents, and the compute-powered economy. Hit play for a tim...

Apr 23, 202628 min

Are We Too Obsessed With AI Predictions? — With Carissa Véliz

Carissa Véliz is an Oxford philosopher and the author of Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI. Véliz joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss whether society has become dangerously naive about prediction as AI systems shape decisions around jobs, loans, justice, surveillance, and war. Tune in to hear a debate about predictive algorithms, generative AI, prediction markets, and whether forecasts are actually tools of knowledge or instruments of power...

Apr 22, 202655 min

Tim Cook Steps Down — With Joanna Stern

Joanna Stern is the ex-WSJ senior personal technology columnist and author of I Am Not a Robot. News of Tim Cook stepping down as CEO of Apple broke as Stern and I were recording a forthcoming episode of Big Technology Podcast. In this episode, we discuss Cook's exit, his successor, John Ternus, and his legacy. Tune in for a quick but substantial look at what's next for Apple after Cook's exit. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. Wa...

Apr 21, 202616 min

Jensen On The Ropes, Sam Altman’s Conflicts, Allbirds’ GPU Pivot

Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's pedestrian performance on the Dwarkesh Podcast 2) Jensen's argument about competing chipmakers 3) Jensen's argument about China export controls 4) What Jensen should've said 5) Why Jensen is in a tough place when he does these interviews 6) Mythos seems real btw 7) Anthropic is talking with the government about a peace deal 8) Alex's interview philosophy 9) Sam Altman's confl...

Apr 17, 202658 min

The Pentagon's AI Plan + Behind the Anthropic Fight — With Under Secretary of War Emil Michael

Emil Michael is the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering at the Pentagon. Michael joins Big Technology to discuss how AI is transforming the Department of War, from targeting systems to drone warfare to cyber defense. Tune in to hear his account of why the Pentagon designated Anthropic a supply chain risk, what actually happened in the contract negotiations, and whether the decision was wise. We also cover how the military's Maven Smart System works in practice, what the U.S. lear...

Apr 15, 20261 hr

Anthropic’s Mythos Dilemma, Violence Against AI, Tokenmaxxing at Meta

Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Anthropic's new Mythos preview 2) Is Mythos marketing or a legit breakthrough? 3) The Mythos sandwich guy story 4) OpenAI and Anthropic's brewing 1st party vs. API conflict of interest 5) The Meta-Harness 6) Violence against AI on the rise 7) Maine is going to pass a data center moratorium 8) Was Medvi really a $1.8 billion two person startup? 9) Tokenmaxxing is all the rage --- Enjoying Big Technolog...

Apr 10, 20261 hr 2 min

OpenAI vs. Anthropic's Direct Faceoff + Future of Agents — With Aaron Levie

Aaron Levie is the CEO of Box . Levie joins Big Technology to discuss the battle between OpenAI and Anthropic as their product roadmaps converge around coding, enterprise, and AI agents. Tune in to hear where AI agents are actually gaining traction, why coding has emerged as the breakthrough use case, and what stands in the way of broader adoption across knowledge work. We also cover trust and security concerns, the messy reality of enterprise data, and the debate over whether value will accrue ...

Apr 08, 202659 min

More OpenAI Executive Drama, Is Siri Seriously Broken?, Meta’s Elusive Next Hit

M.G. Siegler of Spyglass is back for our monthly tech news discussion. Siegler joins us to discuss latest turmoil inside OpenAI, what the reported tension between CEO Sam Altman and CFO Sarah Friar says about the company’s spending and IPO plans, and whether Anthropic or OpenAI is better positioned to win the agentic AI battle. We also cover Apple’s latest Siri plans, whether Apple should try to buy Anthropic, and why Meta still hasn’t found its next big hit beyond advertising. --- Enjoying Big ...

Apr 06, 20261 hr 5 min

OpenAI buys TBPN, SpaceX’s $2 Trillion IPO?, Iran Disables Amazon Infrastructure

Liz Hoffman of Semafor joins us for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Why OpenAI bought TBPN 2) The best possible explanation for why OpenAI did it 3) Does the deal really accomplish OpenAI's content marketing goals? 4) Will TBPN convince any non-believers that AI is good? 5) OpenAI's Fidji Simo takes medical leave from the company 6) SpaceX files to go public at a potential $2 trillion market cap 7) Will SpaceX and Tesla merge? 8) Some AWS servers are "hard down" in Ba...

Apr 04, 202655 min

OpenAI President Greg Brockman: AI Self-Improvement, The Superapp Bet, Path To AGI, Scaling Compute

Greg Brockman is the President and co-founder of OpenAI. Brockman joins Big Technology to discuss OpenAI’s product strategy, the rise of its coming super app, and why he believes AI is entering a new takeoff phase. Tune in to hear Brockman explain OpenAI's bet on the GPT reasoning model tree over video generation, what the "Spud" pre-training run means for upcoming models, and why he believes AGI is 70-80% achieved. We also cover the competitive landscape, the economics behind OpenAI's $110 bill...

Apr 01, 20261 hr 15 min
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