David Risher is Lyft's new CEO. He joins Big Technology Podcast for a frank discussion about his plan to put the company back on the right track after it's spent years languishing. Tune in for a frank discussion of the economics of ride hailing, the reality of leading a company after its founders depart, and Risher's plan to compete in a category that hasn't traditionally been easy to succeed in. We also discuss autonomous driving (but recorded ahead of my recent experience in San Francisco)e. T...
Aug 09, 2023•53 min•Season 1Ep. 206
Brian McCullough and Chris Messina are starting a new, $15 million fund for pre-seed through Series A investments in AI companies. They've already raised money from Marc Andreessen, Chris Dixon, and Dennis Crowley and join Big Technology Podcast for a special episode where they share their strategy and the opportunity they're going after. At the core of this question is whether AI companies are worthy of investment or will just be subsumed by larger players. Stay tuned for the second half where ...
Aug 07, 2023•42 min•Season 1Ep. 205
Sarah Kunst is the managing director at Cleo Capital. She joins Big Technology this week for a recap of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Self-driving cars, Waymo & Cruise 2) Meta's new personalized chatbots 3) Threads' declining usership 4) Sam Altman's Worldcoin 5) DateMe docs 6) What Stripe's IPO means for the broader market. Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. For weekly updates on the show, sign up for the pod newsletter on Li...
Aug 04, 2023•41 min•Season 1Ep. 205
Matt Wood is the VP of product at Amazon Web Services. He joins Big Technology Podcast live at the AWS Summit in New York City for a conversation about Amazon's plan to compete — and thrive — in the AI race. In this conversation, Wood describes Amazon's plan to support all AI models, not just one, and support builders via its computing infrastructure. Tune in for the most extensive comments from Amazon on its AI strategy to date. Stay tuned for the second half were we discuss ethics, company cul...
Aug 02, 2023•58 min•Season 1Ep. 203
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back in New York for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Snapchat's disappointing earnings 2) The Advertising market's rebound 3) Threads' declining user count 5) Twitter's wonky rebrand to "X" 6) TikTok selling Made in China goods to U.S. users 7) Adobe's AI strategy threatening their core business model 8) The room temperature superconductor 9) Aliens walking among us. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in you...
Jul 28, 2023•48 min•Season 1Ep. 202
Ethan Mollick is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton business school and writes One Useful Thing on Substack. He is one of the world’s foremost researchers on practical applications of generative AI and is an immensely engaging speaker. Professor Mollick joins Big Technology Podcast for a vibrant discussion of how AI changes schoolwork and office work, covering his decision to make his students use ChatGPT in class. Tune in for a insight-packed interview that will illuminate ...
Jul 26, 2023•52 min•Season 1Ep. 201
Aaron Levie is the CEO of Box. He joins us for a special Friday episode to break down a major week of AI news. We cover: 1) Meta's incentives to open source its Llama 2 AI model. 2) Whether people actually want to interact with chatbots, no matter how well they perform. 3) Why enterprise might be the clearest use case for Ai. 4) Why Apple is developing LLMs and where the project might go. 5) Whether AI companies can actually build moats around their products. 6) Is ChatGPT getting dumber? 7) Lev...
Jul 21, 2023•58 min•Season 1Ep. 200
Eugene Wei is a tech analyst and product veteran, with time spent inside Meta, Amazon, and Hulu. He joins Big Technology Podcast for a discussion of social media's longevity, considering how the decay of mainstay platforms changes the incentives to participate. Tune in for a in-depth discussion of social media's longterm trajectory, examining the TikTok algorithm, Threads, Twitter under Musk, and the puzzling persistence of Facebook. In the second half, listen to an engaging lightening round, wh...
Jul 19, 2023•49 min•Season 1Ep. 199
Ranjan Roy of Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the week's tech news. We cover: 1) The revitalization of Zuck’s image 2) Twitter’s payments to creators 3) Whether Threads has staying power 4) Microsoft, Activision & the FTC’s failure to reign in Big Tech 5) Elon’s new AI company, xAI 6) OpenAI’s Code Interpreter plugin 7) SAG-AFTRA actors joining the writer’s strike, fearing AI's impact. -- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of cho...
Jul 14, 2023•52 min•Season 1Ep. 198
Zach Coelius is the managing partner at Coelius Capital. He joins Big Technology Podcast for a conversation about Threads' real potential, asking whether it's a redux of Clubhouse — destined to fizzle — or a real threat to replace Twitter. In this conversation, we cover Threads' potential, Elon's effort at Twitter, and whether we can really make assessments from the outside. Stay tuned for the second half where we discuss the venture capital environment and how Coelius' investments are performin...
Jul 12, 2023•59 min•Season 1Ep. 197
Alex Heath is a deputy editor at The Verge who's been reporting on Threads from the first row, including an interview with Instagram head Adam Mosseri. He joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss Meta's launch of Threads, discussing who exactly it competes with, what the feed will look like, and the implications for Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. Join us for a lively conversation about the fastest growing social media app of all time. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five star...
Jul 07, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 196
Eliot Brown is a reporter at the Wall Street Journal and co-author of The Cult of We: WeWork, Adam Neumann, and the Great Startup Delusion. He joins Big Technology Podcast this week to talk about Big Tech's remarkable stock market comeback and how that's spilling over to VCs, startups, and IPOs. Stay tuned for the second half where we discuss the risks in the commercial real estate market, looking into examples Brown has reported on. We end discussing Evan Gershkovich, a friend and colleague of ...
Jul 05, 2023•54 min•Season 1Ep. 195
Jason Del Rey is the author of Winner Sells All Amazon, Walmart, and the Battle for Our Wallets. Matt Stoller is the director of research at the American Economic Liberties Project, and writes the Big newsletter on Substack. Ranjan Roy is the author of Margins. The three guests come together with host Alex Kantrowitz for an in-depth discussion about Amazon's challenges from government regulators and Walmart, and whether government action against the company could have an impact. --- Enjoying Big...
Jun 30, 2023•52 min•Season 1Ep. 194
David Pogue is a correspondent on CBS Sunday Morning and host of the Unsung Science Podcast. In November 2022, he boarded the OceanGate sub for a voyage just months before it imploded. Pogue joins Big Technology Podcast to share his story. In this interview, he offers a nuanced view of the sub, OceanGate, and its CEO Stockton Rush. We discuss his experience aboard the Titan submersible, his confidence in the safety of the sub at the time, the lessons learned, the merits of risk in the name of ex...
Jun 28, 2023•43 min•Season 1Ep. 193
Ranjan Roy of Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the week's tech news. We cover: 1) The OceanGate Sub 2) Whether we should celebrate or condemn 'risk' 3) The Media's focus on the sub vs. migrant deaths 4) Mark Zuckerberg vs. Elon Musk's impending 'cage match' 5) The Walrus 6) Spotify's podcasting struggles 7) TikTok COO V Pappas leaves the company 8) Reddit's path to conflict -- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. For weekly u...
Jun 23, 2023•48 min•Season 1Ep. 192
Bill McDermott is the CEO of ServiceNow, a $113 billion, publicly-traded cloud computing platform that helps companies manage their operations. He joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss his career path, from owning a delicatessen on Long Island to now managing over 20,000 employees. We also dive deep into how generative AI helps companies foster innovation and force businesses to retool their workforces in the coming years. Tune in for a lively conversation with one of the world's most dynamic ...
Jun 21, 2023•46 min•Season 1Ep. 191
Sara Fischer is the senior media reporter at Axios and media analyst at CNN. She joins Big Technology Podcast for our weekly discussion of the week's tech news. We cover: 1) The rebellion at Reddit 2) Rampant media job losses 3) The push of ad money to retail 4) Whether we should share our personal information inside ChatGPT and other LLMs 5) Political misinformation via AI generated text and images 6) The cost of always trying to distinguish real from fake 7) The White House's War on Junk Fees....
Jun 16, 2023•41 min•Season 1Ep. 190
Bob Muglia is the former CEO of Snowflake, author of THE DATAPRENEURS: The Promise of AI and the Creators Building Our Future, and ex-head of Server and Tools at Microsoft. He joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss the latest in artificial intelligence, including Marc Andreessen's essay — Why AI Will Save The World — and the lessons in his book. We also go deep into the emergence of Azure at Microsoft, which he was present for, and how Satya Nadella was able to push it forward despite the cultu...
Jun 14, 2023•52 min•Season 1Ep. 189
Mark Gurman is the chief correspondent at Bloomberg covering Apple. He joins Ranjan Roy and Alex Kantrowitz for a special episode focused entirely on Apple's Vision Pro announcement. We cover: 1) The Vision Pros trajectory over the next five years 2) Whether it will be the future of the computer vs. a complementary media device 3) What the device's impact on society will be 4) Why Tim Cook didn't wear the device at the event 5) Apple vs. Meta 6) The $3,499 price. Enjoying Big Technology Podcast?...
Jun 09, 2023•35 min•Season 1Ep. 188
Astro Teller is the CEO of X, Alphabet's moonshot division. He joins Big Technology Podcast for a taping in front of a live audience at Summit at Sea to discuss the calculations society must make around advancing AI research and how the technology can help the world. Listen for a dynamic discussion that digs into Teller's family history, the current 'moonshots' that X is taking, and whether AI moonshots should've stayed separate from Google for longer. Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rat...
Jun 07, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 187
Ranjan Roy of Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the week's tech news. We cover: 1) Tech stocks consolidating growth in the S&P 500% 2) The 'Asset Market Meltdown Hypothesis' 3) Amazon's entry into wireless. 4) Japan's threat to AI copyright law 5) The lawyer that used ChatGPT and looked like a fool 6) The Center For AI Safety's bold Statement 7) The fake 'simulation' where an AI killed a military operator 8) Meta's new Quest 3 headset 9) What to expect at Apple's big WWDC event --...
Jun 02, 2023•50 min•Season 1Ep. 186
Ryan Mac is a tech reporter at The New York Times, Bobby Allyn is a technology correspondent at NPR. The two join Big Technology Podcast for a wide-ranging discussion touching on: 1) TikTik's ban in Montana and its potential spillover effects. 2) The rise of Instagram Reels. 3) Twitter's Role in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. 4) Elon Musk as Republican kingmaker. 5) Elizabeth Holmes reports to prison. 6) AI regulation's long road ahead. -- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us fi...
May 31, 2023•57 min•Season 1Ep. 185
John Herrman is a contributing editor at New York Magazine. He joins Ranjan Roy and Alex Kantrowitz to break down the week’s news. We cover 1) NVIDIA’s Blowout quarter 2) The emergence of Temu and Shein — in great depth. -- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. For weekly updates on the show, sign up for the pod newsletter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/6901970121829801984/ Questions? Feedback? Write to: bigtechnologypo...
May 27, 2023•55 min•Season 1Ep. 184
Jack Krawczyk is the director of Bard at Google. He joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss his vision for the chatbot, where it's heading, and whether this technology will be as impactful as many imagine. Join us for a fun look into one of the tech industry's most important generative AI initiatives. -- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. For weekly updates on the show, sign up for the pod newsletter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.c...
May 24, 2023•32 min•Season 1Ep. 183
Ranjan Roy of Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the week's tech news. We cover: 1) Apple's mixed reality struggles 2) Whether the stock market is in an AI bubble 3) OpenAI's Sam Altman testimony in Washington 4) Montana's TikTok ban 5) The rise of Shein 6) Whether Musk or Bezos is in a better place today. -- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. For weekly updates on the show, sign up for the pod newsletter on LinkedIn: https:/...
May 19, 2023•49 min•Season 1Ep. 182
Richard Mathenge was part of a team of contractors in Nairobi, Kenya who trained OpenAI's GPT models. He did so as a team lead at Sama, an AI training company that partnered on the project. In this episode of Big Technology Podcast, Mathenge tells the story of his experience. During the training, he was routinely subjected to sexually explicit material, offered insufficient counseling, and his team members were paid, in some cases, just $1 per hour. Listen for an in-depth look at how these model...
May 17, 2023•47 min•Season 1Ep. 181
Ben Smith is the author of Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral. He's also the editor-in-chief of Semafor. He joins Ranjan Roy and Alex Kantrowitz for our weekly news recap show. We cover: 1) New Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino 2) Tucker Carlson's move to Twitter 3) End of the streaming wars 4) Trump's CNN Interview 5) Lessons from Ben's book, Traffic 6) Mark Zuckerberg's jiu-jitsu prowess. You can find Ben's book here . --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? P...
May 12, 2023•42 min•Season 1Ep. 180
Ashlee Vance is the author of When The Heavens Went On Sale, a new book about the modern day space race. Join us for a conversation about the commercial ventures fighting for their place in low earth orbit, and why governments have ceded the space to the private sector. We'll discuss SpaceX, Planet, Rocket Lab, Astra, and Firefly Aerospace. Stay tuned of for the final 20 minutes, where Vance discusses his relationship with Elon Musk and the state of the billionaire entrepreneur. --- Enjoying Big...
May 09, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 179
Brian McCullough of the Techmeme Ride Home Podcast joins Ranjan Roy and Alex Kantrowitz for our weekly news recap show. We cover: 1) OpenAI's massive losses 2) Whether generative AI has a business model problem 3) The battle between open source AI and proprietary research 3) AI fears go mainstream 4) The White House hosts AI leaders amid worries 5) The AI PR industrial complex 6) The WGA strike and AI's potential to replace writers 7) The Fed pause 8) Apple earnings 9) Apple's mixed reality devi...
May 05, 2023•58 min•Season 1Ep. 178
Ellis Hamburger is Snap's ex-head of marketing strategy, where he spent seven years before moving to The Browser Company. He joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss his view on why social media apps inevitably move from differentiated, and at times delightful, to something where all of them look a lot like TikTok. Hamburger breaks down the cycle: start with a novel format, scale, try to justify expectations, and then capitulate to market forces. Join us for an insider's perspective on the past, ...
May 03, 2023•57 min•Season 1Ep. 177
