Gustav Söderström is Spotify's co-president, chief technology officer, and chief product officer. He joins Big Technology Podcast — as we debut video episodes on Spotify — for discussion of Spotify's approach to AI generated content, algorithmic recommendations, and more. Tune in for a deep conversation covering whether Spotify wants AI-generated music and podcasts on its platform, how it can lean on AI recommendations to enhance discovery while sustaining human choice, and its long term AI visi...
Nov 13, 2024•58 min•Season 1Ep. 346
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) Polymarket's election day triumph 2) Was the prediction markets' success a fluke or something with staying power 3) Why crypto folks love prediction markets 4) Bitcoin skyrockets after Trump's election 5) S&P 500 hits 6,000 6) Is this stock market momentum sustainable? 7) Why Tesla benefits from Trump's election - or does it? 8) Podcasts were the defining media format of the election 9) Why podcast...
Nov 08, 2024•49 min•Season 1Ep. 345
Ana Swanson is a reporter covering trade and international economics for The New York Times. Dan Primack is the business editor at Axios. The two join to discuss the implications of Trump's win in the 2024 election. We cover: 1) Trump's decisive win 2) Why he won 3) Will his policies deliver for his voters? 4) No tax on tips, overtime, or social security 5) Will Trump's tariff threats become reality? 6) US-China relations and semiconductor industry impacts 7) Tech antitrust future with Lina Khan...
Nov 06, 2024•50 min•Season 1Ep. 344
Alan Deardorff is a professor emeritus of international economics and public policy at the University of Michigan. He joins Big Technology Podcast for a special episode on the eve of election day to discuss the difference between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris on tariffs and international trade, and whether a trade war might harm U.S. tech companies. We also debate the merits of free trade, and whether it leaves people better off. Stay tuned for the second half where we talk about Apple, Amazon,...
Nov 04, 2024•46 min•Season 1Ep. 343
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) GPT-5 delayed till 2025? 2) Is focusing on products, not big models, a good move for OpenAI? 3) Is OpenAI trying to train the model again with a bigger GPU cluster? 4) Meta trains Llama 4 on more than 100,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs 5) OpenAI puts search in ChatGPT 6) Meta also has a search engine 7) Search engines everywhere, but Google still leads 8) Google's Halloween employee meeting 9) Amazon Alexa disap...
Nov 01, 2024•58 min•Season 1Ep. 142
Aidan Gomez is the co-author of the "Attention Is All You Need" paper that launched the AI revolution and CEO of Cohere, an enterprise AI company. Gomez joins Big Technology to discuss the myths, facts, and realities of today's AI landscape. Tune in to hear why the real value of AI isn't in flashy consumer apps but in automating crucial back-office processes that could save businesses billions. We also cover the truth about AI capabilities, the likelihood of AGI, synthetic data training, and whe...
Oct 30, 2024•45 min•Season 1Ep. 341
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) AI agents are here 2) Anthropic's Sonnet 3.5 model 3) Why we're underwhelmed with AI agents so far 4) The long-term bull case for agents 5) OpenAI's Orion model 6) Sam Altman's fake news tweet, and his cryptic preview of that news 7) Elon Musk and Putin speak regularly 8) China, Russia, Iran, North Korea vs. U.S. and Europe about to get weird 9) Tesla's blowout earnings 10) Waymo raises $5.6 billion 11...
Oct 25, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 340
Dan Ives is the managing director, equity research at Wedbush Securities. Stephanie Link is the chief investment strategist and portfolio manager at Hightower Advisors. The two all-star stock watchers join Big Technology Podcast to discuss the fascinating state of big tech stocks, particularly Apple's surprising resilience. Tune in to hear why Apple's stock is up 42% since April despite mixed headlines about Vision Pro and AI, and whether its $3.5 trillion valuation is justified. We also cover N...
Oct 23, 2024•46 min•Season 1Ep. 339
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. Cory Weinberg from The Information joins us for the first half! We cover 1) Open AI and Microsoft’s relationship starting to fray 2) Microsoft rebuffing OpenAI's fundraising efforts 3) Mustafa Suleyman's impact on the Microsoft - OpenAI dynamic 4) Why OpenAI sought Apple and NVIDIA's investment 5) Softbank from the top rope 6) When might OpenAI declare it's reached AGI? 7) Microsoft and OpenAI sort out ownership s...
Oct 18, 2024•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 338
Josh Brown is the CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, a CNBC contributor, and author of "You Weren't Supposed to See That." Brown joins Big Technology to discuss the intersection of AI, big tech, and the current state of the economy. Tune in to hear how automation fears are driving a potentially fear-based investment bubble in tech giants and the concept of a "relentless bid" shaping today's stock market. We also cover the unexpected consequences of COVID-era stimulus, insights on major tech comp...
Oct 16, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 337
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. Cory Weinberg from The Information joins us for the first half! We cover 1) OpenAI's financials leak 2) OpenAI plans to make most of its revenue via ChatGPT 3) OpenAI's staggering losses 4) Can OpenAI be a sustainable business? 5) Training costs vs. inference costs 6) You don't exclude training costs from profitability statements! 7) Tesla's Robotaxi event 8) Self-driving's importance 8) Ranjan gets the Snap spect...
Oct 11, 2024•58 min•Season 1Ep. 336
Elizabeth Reid is Google's VP of Search and a 20-plus year veteran of the company. Reid joins Big Technology to discuss Google's major AI push and how this new era of computing is transforming its product and business. Tune in to hear about AI-organized search results, the growth of Google Lens, and how AI is changing the way people interact with search. We also cover the potential impact on publishers, Google's approach to responsible AI deployment, and the future of AR technology. Hit play for...
Oct 09, 2024•36 min•Season 1Ep. 335
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) OpenAI closing a $6.6 billion fundraise 2) A look at the investors, including Softbank, Tiger Global, Cathie Wood, and Altimeter 3) Will OpenAI need to raise again shortly? 4) Is an IPO next? 5) Investors can get their money back if OpenAI doesn't convert to a standard for profit company 6) What's next for OpenAI's relationship with Microsoft? 7) Meta's quiet election 8) Is social media's collision cou...
Oct 04, 2024•49 min•Season 1Ep. 334
Andrew Bosworth is the Chief Technology Officer at Meta. Bosworth joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss Meta's new Orion augmented reality glasses and the future of human-computer interaction. Tune in to hear his insights on the technical capabilities of AR, the potential of artificial intelligence, and how these technologies could reshape the way we interact with computers and each other in the coming years. We also cover the evolution of computing paradigms, Meta's strategy in the AI and AR/...
Oct 02, 2024•45 min•Season 1Ep. 333
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) OpenAI changing its corporate structure to for-profit, public benefit corporation, per reports 2) Is this good for OpenAI? 3) Turmoil through the transformation 4) Can you exist outside of 'the system'? 5) OpenAI CTO Mira Murati leaves 6) Further executive departures 7) Sam Altman's compensation 8) 'Elon Musk's revenge' 9) OpenAI will close its oversubscribed funding round next week 10) New York Times ...
Sep 27, 2024•54 min•Season 1Ep. 332
Ryan Mac and Kate Conger are reporters at The New York Times and the authors of a new book, Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter. Zach Coelius is managing partner at Coelius Capital — and a VC who thinks Elon is doing a pretty good job with the social media company. In this episode, our guests debate whether Musk’s Twitter takeover is going to plan, with respectful back and forth about one of the most controversial projects from one of the world’s most controversial business leaders....
Sep 25, 2024•58 min•Season 1Ep. 331
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) The 'subprime' AI crisis 2) Will companies building on AI persist if prices increase? 3) OpenAI funding news update 4) Do the research houses not care about the business side, and only want AGI? 5) iPhone16 releases to mild enthusiasm 6) Huawei's trifold phone is a hot seller 7) Mr. Beast's leaked guide to excellence at his production company 8) Amazon's culture has problems, says CEO Andy Jassy --- En...
Sep 20, 2024•56 min•Season 1Ep. 330
Ryan Roslansky is the CEO of LinkedIn and host of The Path podcast. He joins Big Technology to discuss how AI will change our jobs and the future of tech products. Tune in to hear Ryan's perspective whether AI replace workers, which tasks are ripe for automation, and how LinkedIn is adapting its products for the AI era. We also discuss the importance of professional content on LinkedIn, the rise of video on the platform, and why podcasts are a key LinkedIn focus area. Hit play for an insightful ...
Sep 18, 2024•41 min
Parmy Olson of Bloomberg joins for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. She's also the author of the new book, Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT, and the Race that Will Change the World. We cover 1) OpenAI's release of its new o1 model, that can do reasoning, also know as Q* or Strawberry 2) o1's features and what makes it different 3) Businesses struggling to find o1 uses 4) Investor concerns over AI 5) A precursor to AI agents? 6) OpenAI raising at a $150 billion valuation now 7) Would people p...
Sep 13, 2024•56 min•Season 1Ep. 328
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) Apple's iPhone16 launch 2) Apple Intelligence disappointment & delays 3) Apple's future runs through Siri 4) Apple Intelligence's impact on iPhone16 sales 5) Will the iPhone17 spark a supercycle? 6) Does Apple Intelligence compete with apps? 7) Apple's reliance on its services business 8) Is Apple a software company now? 9) Risks of Apple's software reliance 10) What happened to the Vision Pro? ---...
Sep 11, 2024•43 min•Season 1Ep. 327
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) Russia funding the political YouTube network Tenet Media 2) Should the commentators have known better? 3) How big does the influence operation go? 4) Is Ranjan being paid off by a foreign government? 5) Twitter suspended in Brazil 6) Was Elon Musk right in standing up to Brazil? 7) More on the amorphous nature of online popularity 8) Talk Tuah 9) Ilya Sutskever raises $1 billion from a16z and others 10...
Sep 06, 2024•56 min•Season 1Ep. 326
Johan Hari is a New York Times bestselling author and has a new book, Magic Pill, about his experience with weight loss drugs. Hari joins Big Technology to discuss the impact of Ozempic on our relationship with food and the economy. Tune in to hear how these medications work, their benefits, and their potential risks. We also cover the science behind these drugs, economic implications, and ethical considerations. Hit play for an in-depth conversation on the future of weight loss drugs and their ...
Sep 04, 2024•52 min•Season 1Ep. 326
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) OpenAI Raising at a $100 billion valuation 2) Is Investing in OpenAI a good bet? 3) Why is Thrive leading the round? 4) ChatGPT usage doubles 5) MetaAI reaches 40 billion daily active users 6) Amazon leadership says coding will soon be done by bots and not humans 7) Telegram founder Pavel Durov arrested and charged 8) Should Durov have been arrested or fined? 9) NVIDIA's earnings are just okay --- Enjo...
Aug 30, 2024•57 min•Season 1Ep. 325
Eric Markowitz is a partner at Night View Capital and a long-term focused investor. Eric joins Big Technology to discuss his harrowing brush with death and how it transformed his perspective on investing and life. Tune in to hear how a mysterious brain abscess forced Eric to confront his mortality and reevaluate his approach to work, relationships, and long-term thinking. We also cover the importance of quality over quantity, the dangers of stress, and how to sustainably implement life changes a...
Aug 28, 2024•36 min•Season 1Ep. 324
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) Alex's trip to the Balkans 2) China's influence in the region 3) Meta and Snap AR glasses battle 4) Are smart glasses stylish enough 5) Perplexity's plan to run ads 6) Eric Schmidt's disparaging remarks about Google 7) Is Google really behind on AI? 8) Will the U.S. government really break up big tech? --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. F...
Aug 23, 2024•50 min•Season 1Ep. 323
Billy McFarland is the founder of Fyre Festival. He joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss what he learned about social media, investing, and prison during his ordeal at the helm at the world's most infamous music festival. Tune in for McFarland's clear-headed insights on what he did wrong, how social media sells a version of the world that is not there, how inflating his numbers changed investors' approach to his business, and what ten months on solitary confinement does to a man. Tune in for ...
Aug 21, 2024•57 min•Season 1Ep. 322
Nate Silver is a statistician, election prognosticator, and bestselling author. He joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss his reporting on extreme risk takers, and why the seem to be winning. Tune in to hear Silver's theory on how society bifurcates into the risk-forward, probability oriented thinkers (The River) and the safety seeking, status oriented community (The Village). In this episode, we discuss poker, sports betting, effective altruism, VC, AI research, and existential threads to huma...
Aug 14, 2024•1 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 320
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) Wall Street's roller coaster week 2) Does market turmoil change AI investment? 3) The Yen trade 4) NVIDIA's stock market drop 5) Warren Buffet sells Apple 6) OpenAI loses more key leaders 7) Is OpenAI struggling to fundraise? 8) Are LLMs hitting a wall? 9) Google loses antitrust case 10) Does this hurt Google? Or Apple? 11) U.S. government deterrence restored? 12) Do we actually need new antirust laws ...
Aug 09, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 319
Nick Bostrom is a renowned philosopher and bestselling author of "Superintelligence" and "Deep Utopia." He joins Big Technology to discuss the potential outcomes of advanced artificial intelligence, from existential risks to utopian possibilities. Tune in to hear Bostrom's thoughts on how humanity might navigate the transition to a world of superintelligent AI and what life could look like in a technologically "solved" world. We also cover the evolution of AI safety concerns, the concept of effe...
Aug 07, 2024•40 min•Season 1Ep. 318
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) The week's market selloff 2) Consumer spending declines and other negative economic factors 3) Starbucks as a economic barometer 4) Favorite boba 5) AI spending comes under scrutiny 6) Big Tech earnings performance 7) NVIDIA's resilience 8) Apple Intelligence beta arrives 9) Siri is still bad 10) Ranjan depressed about Siri being bad 11) Review of OpenAI's ChatGPT 4o voice edition 12) Friend dot com la...
Aug 02, 2024•58 min•Season 1Ep. 317
