Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Did AI take a step back with GPT-5? 2) Is AI hype going to cool off? 3) GPT-5's switching problem 4) Do we need AI agents? 5) Thinking Vs. Doing AI 6) Sam Altman says parts of AI are a bubble 7) Eric Schmidt says the U.S. should stop overindexing on AGI and instead build it into products 8) GPT-6 is going to have much better memory 9) MIT study says 95% of AI projects fail to achieve their goals 10) A...
Aug 22, 2025•54 min
Nick Fox is the SVP of Knowledge and Information at Google. Liz Reid is the VP of Search at Google. The two join Big Technology Podcast to discuss the way Google plans and builds in the generative AI era, including how it chooses what to ship and when. We also cover publisher traffic, search monetization and ads, shopping and product research, and the near-term future of the web. Hit play for a clear, no-fluff conversation with the leaders building search’s next chapter. --- Enjoying Big Technol...
Aug 20, 2025•1 hr 6 min
Matthew Prince is the CEO of Cloudflare. He joins Big Technology podcast to discuss whether the web can withstand a wave of generative AI companies scraping content, summarizing it, and not cutting the original creators into the revenue. Tune in to hear Prince masterfully dissect the problem and put forth a solution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 15, 2025•55 min
Anthony Aguirre is the executive director of the Future of Life Institute. He joins Big Technology to discuss how AI could fail in the worst case and whether our push toward increasingly autonomous, general systems puts control out of reach. Tune in to hear how agentic systems operating at superhuman speed complicate oversight, and why “just unplug it” is naive. Hit play for a cool‑headed, nuanced conversation with clear takeaways you can use to evaluate AI strategy, policy, and risk. --- Enjoyi...
Aug 13, 2025•59 min
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) OpenAI's launch of GPT-5 2) Whether GPT-5's tool calling ability is its hidden strength 3) GPT-5 is good at 'doing stuff' 4) But GPT-5 is not AGI 5) Do AI models need more than book smarts to thrive? 6) OpenAI's medicine play 7) GPT-5's coding use case 8) We need AI tables for travel 9) Do the big model players now subsume AI startups? 10) Gemini has a breakdown --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Pl...
Aug 08, 2025•54 min
Brad Lightcap is the Chief Operating Officer of OpenAI. Lightcap joins Big Technology to discuss the launch of GPT-5, how it works, what sets it apart from previous models, and whether it's AGI. We also cover scaling laws, post-training breakthroughs, enterprise adoption, health care applications, pricing strategy, and the company’s profitability outlook. Hit play for a front-row seat to OpenAI’s thinking on the future of AI. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ i...
Aug 08, 2025•31 min
Amjad Masad is the CEO of Replit. Masad joins Big Technology podcast for a frank discussion about vibe coding, or building software via prompt. We discuss all the use cases, whether anyone can do it or whether it's just a tool for already-technical builders, whether vibe coding replaces saas, and what the role of the engineer becomes in the future. Stay tuned for the second half where we discuss whether the AI coding business is sustainable given the costs of delivering the technology. --- Enjoy...
Aug 06, 2025•1 hr 7 min
M.G. Siegler is the author of Spyglass. He joins Big Technology podcast for the latest of our first Monday of the month discussion about Big Tech strategy and AI. Today we cover Mark Zuckerberg's vision for personal superintelligence and whether it's more of a recruiting play or a real difference in the way the company builds AI. We also cover the massive bets on AI and whether they'll ever pay off, how interlinked big tech is with AI, and whether you should outsource your writing to AI. --- Enj...
Aug 04, 2025•59 min
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Alex's profile of Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei + extra reporting 2) Are Anthropic's convictions earnest or marketing? 3) Where does Anthropic fit in the broader AI landscape 4) Will one AI company 'win it all' 5) Anthropic is raising at a new, $170 billion valuation 6) OpenAI hits 700 million ChatGPT users 7) Hyped for GPT-5? 8) AI video creation's promise 9) Videos in Google's NotebookLM 10) Is the sto...
Aug 01, 2025•52 min
Dario Amodei is the CEO of Anthropic. He joins Big Technology Podcast for a raw, unfiltered conversation about AI's potential, its stakes, and the source of his outspokenness. The interview is part of a major Big Technology profile about Amodei, ft. interviews with more than two dozen of his colleagues, friends, and critics. You can read that story for free here: https://www.bigtechnology.com/p/the-making-of-dario-amodei We also cover Mark Zuckerberg's AI talent spending spree, Amodei's rivalry ...
Jul 30, 2025•1 hr 10 min
Financial Times San Francisco Bureau Chief Stephen Morris joins for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Is GPT-5 really on its way? 2) GPT-5's reported capabilities 3) Is Sam Altman going to call GPT-5 AGI? 4) If GPT-5 codes well, where does that leave Anthropic? 5) Stargate hasn't made a single data center deal yet 6) Scaling Laws back in vogue? 7) AI math olympiad faceoff 8) AI data centers energy costs 9) Google's impressive earnings 10) Tesla's dark outlook 11) Satya ...
Jul 25, 2025•1 hr 5 min
Ed Zitron is the owner of EZPR, host of Better Offline, and author of the Where’s Your Ed At newsletter. Zitron joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss whether the generative-AI boom is an unsustainable bubble ready to pop. Tune in to hear him debate OpenAI’s multi-billion-dollar burn rate, Microsoft’s leverage, and the economics behind ChatGPT. We also cover Nvidia’s GPU market, SoftBank’s colossal bets, advertiser drift from Google Search, and the hype around “AI companions." Hit play for a sh...
Jul 23, 2025•1 hr 36 min
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Can Zuck and Elon buy their way into the AI race? 2) Will scaling laws turn AI progress over to the biggest tech 3) Grok's new AI avatars - Rudy and Ani 4) Grok's Ani AI bot gets steamy quickly 5) Why AI companies are counting on companion/love bots 6) The backlash to Aqui-Hire-Sitions after Windsurf, Scale, etc. 7) Did Big Tech antitrust backfire? 8) OpenAI announces ChatGPT Agent 9) Is Perplexity's ...
Jul 18, 2025•56 min
Condoleezza Rice is a former U.S. Secretary of State and current director of Stanford’s Hoover Institution. Rice joins Big Technology to discuss whether the United States can hold its technological edge as China races ahead in AI, batteries, and advanced manufacturing. Tune in to hear her candid take on the U.S.–China tech arms race, the ripple effects of chip export controls, and why she believes democracies are safer stewards of frontier technologies. We also cover the squeeze on university re...
Jul 16, 2025•46 min
Big Technology Podcast is five years old. Today, we share a quick update with 1) Gratitude for our listeners 2) A change in ad network and what our ads will sound like next 3) Our editorial philosophy 4) How you can help. --- Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack + Discord? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. Questions? Feedback? Write to...
Jul 14, 2025•10 min
Box CEO Aaron Levie is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) OpenAi's Windsurf deal falls through 2) Is OpenAI okay? 3) What percentage of all AI spend goes to coding? 4) Google's AI code play 5) Grok 4 is out 6) Does Grok show the scaling laws are still in effect? 7) Would Box work with Grok? 8) NVIDIA hits $4 trillion 9) Are we in an AI bubble? 10) Should Tim Cook step down? 11) Could Apple merge with OpenAI? --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us fi...
Jul 12, 2025•49 min
Ryan Petersen is the CEO of Flexport. Petersen joins Big Technology to discuss how the latest round of tariffs and trade-war maneuvers are rewiring supply chains worldwide. Tune in to hear him unpack everything from 145 % “Liberation Day” duties and $5 K containers to the death of the de minimis loophole and what it means for Amazon, Temu, and Shein. We also cover the Panama Canal drought, AI that robocalls 400 K truckers, warehouse-robot reality checks, and why customs fraud just became the DOJ...
Jul 09, 2025•1 hr 9 min
M.G. Siegler is the author of Spyglass. He joins Big Technology podcast for the first installment of our new monthly discussion about Big Tech strategy and AI! Today, we cover why Apple may want to outsource Siri's brain to Anthropic or OpenAI, the rise of voice Ai, why Anthropic could be the right fit, and the complexity of what working with Apple would mean for Anthropic's business. We also touch on Zuck's superintelligence bet, Elon's new third party, the end of the EV credit, and whether AI ...
Jul 07, 2025•59 min
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Meta's reported $100 million offers to AI engineers 2) If those reports are false, who planted the rumor? 3) Why talent might be all that matters in AI right now 4) Will Meta's bet work? 5) Anthropic's project vend 6) If AI can't stock a fridge, will it take your job? 7) Claudius' identity crisis 8) ChatGPT's hilarious Wealthfront hallucination 9) The Legend of Soham 10) Happy July 4th! --- Enjoying B...
Jul 04, 2025•59 min
Noah Smith is a star economics writer behind the “Noahpinion” blog and co-host of the Econ 102 podcast. Smith joins Big Technology to discuss whether generative AI is actually boosting productivity or still waiting for its “electricity moment.” Tune in to hear his contrarian take on the so-called AI jobs apocalypse and how businesses will need to reorganize before the gains show up in earnings. We also cover immigration crackdowns, tariff uncertainty, wage-inequality myths, and how China’s milit...
Jul 02, 2025•56 min
Reed Albergotti is the technology editor at Semafor. He's back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince says AI is disappearing the web 2) Will there be new business models that replace the current web-based models? 3) Is the AI Agent thing really happening? 4) Vibecoding riches 5) Court rules Anthropic can train on books (but not steal them) 6) Anthropic will study AI’s economic impact 7) Is chatbot companionship good for us? Anthropic says ye...
Jun 27, 2025•1 hr 7 min
Tom Lee is the chief investment officer at Fundstrat Capital and head of research at FSInsight. He joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss whether generative AI wave is actually holding up the stock market and what would happen if it stalled or fell apart. We discuss what an AI 'Black Swan' event would look like, whether the bubble would pop, and what happens if AI gets too good. Tune in for the second half where we discuss how Lee predicts stock market movements, why the market is holding up we...
Jun 25, 2025•1 hr 3 min
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) OpenAI and Microsoft's tension boils as business relationship grows complex 2) Is Microsoft being anticompetitive? 3) How much money OpenAI owes Microsoft 4) Who holds the power in the relationship? 5) OpenAI discounts ChatGPT enterprise 6) New study shows using ChatGPT leads to eroding critical thinking skills 7) Does ChatGPT help or hurt education? 8) Andy Jassy says AI will replace Amazon workers 9...
Jun 20, 2025•48 min
Dwarkesh Patel is the host of the Dwarkesh Podcast. He joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss the frontiers of AI research, sharing why his timeline for AGI is a bit longer than the most enthusiastic researchers. Tune in for a candid discussion of the limitations of current methods, why continuous AI improvement might help the technology reach AGI, and what an intelligence explosion looks like. We also cover the race between AI labs, the dangers of AI deception, and AI sycophancy. Tune in for a...
Jun 18, 2025•1 hr 12 min
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Sam Altman's 'Gentle Singularity' essay 2) Is Altman overhyping the technology's current capabilities 3) Why the next few years may see crazy AI development 4) The case for and against humanoid robots 5) OpenAI's o3 pro model and the value of tool use 6) Meta's acquihire-zition of ScaleAI and founder Alexandr Wang 7) The case for the move and the rationale behind Zuck's aggressiveness 8) MetaAI posts ...
Jun 13, 2025•1 hr
M.G. Siegler is the author of Spyglass . He joins Big Technology to discuss Apple’s subdued WWDC and whether it signals deeper trouble with AI's capabilities. Tune in to hear a breakdown of Apple’s “UI over AI” approach, whether the company can pull off the Apple Intelligence vision at all, and if Liquid Glass is a redesign destined to fail. We also cover the vibes at the conference and the state of Apple today. Hit play for clear-eyed, no-nonsense analysis of the tech world’s biggest stories. -...
Jun 11, 2025•56 min
Alex Kantrowitz joins live from WWDC, where Apple just announced a number of new design changes including a completely updated operating system with 'Liquid Glass' styling. But in an era of reinvention, where AI is at the center of the technology's evolution, Apple introduced a number of refinements. This short, solo episode looks at Apple's strategy, vision, and execution in a changing moment for the tech industry. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your pod...
Jun 09, 2025•14 min
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) What's coming at Apple's WWDC developer conference 2) Apple may be taking an AI gap year 3) Apple's Upcoming AI bets 4) Airpods enhancements 5) Apple's new operating system 6) Why Apple should buy Perplexity 7) Is Perplexity positioning itself for a sale 8) Elon vs. Trump explodes 9) What the fight means for Tesla, SpaceX, the Tech Right, and Musk's legacy 10) Why Elon needs robotaxis more than ever 1...
Jun 06, 2025•1 hr 1 min
Anthony Scaramucci is the founder and managing partner at SkyBridge Capital, and host of The Rest Is Politics US. Scaramucci joins Big Technology Podcast to talk about his brief experience as Trump's communication director, what derailed Elon Musk’s White House stint, the problems with Trump’s 'Big Beautiful Bill,' the state of the trade war, Tim Cook’s tariff troubles, bitcoin, and more. We also cover Long Island culture at the top of the show, if you’re into that. Tune in for a fast paced, fas...
Jun 04, 2025•1 hr 5 min
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's prophesy that 50% of entry level work will disappear 2) Hype or true: Is mass AI-driven unemployment just marketing? 3) How Amodei's prediction could come true 4) How work might shift even before job loss, as in the case of Amazon's engineers 5) NVIDIA's business is booming 6) Are export restrictions on China working? 7) DeepSeek's updated R1 model is here 8) Meta's AI pro...
May 30, 2025•51 min
