Discussing Ben's Article on the future of the agentic web, including the virtues of the ad-supported internet we've enjoyed for the last three decades, why that model is becoming less viable as the years pass, and the potential for new solutions as agentic web traffic proliferates in the years and decades to come. At the end: An epiphany surrounding AI workflows and chain of thought exchanges between employers and their employees.
May 29, 2025•12 min
Ben and Andrew react to the news that OpenAI is acquiring Jony Ive's hardware startup for $6.5 billion worth of stock, including questions about the form factor of future AI devices, challenges inherent to manufacturing hardware in 2025, the logic of these ambitions for OpenAI, and yes, a few words about the 9-minute video announcing the deal. At the end: Google's plans for its search business, Veo 3 and gen AI videos, and Ben's appearance on the Bill Simmons Podcast this week.
May 22, 2025•1 hr 5 min
The implications of last week’s announcements on AI investments from Saudi Arabia and the UAE (and the repeal of the AI Diffusion rules), Ben’s thoughts on OpenAI’s acquisition of Windsurf, and questions about Android and VRBO vs. Airbnb.
May 19, 2025•9 min
Reactions to a revamped app and the expanded ambitions of Airbnb, an excellent email about practical considerations for leaders if AI accelerates a bifurcation of society, and thoughts on HBO's rebrand and ESPN's new streaming app.
May 15, 2025•11 min
Talking Platform Power and 15 years of App Store arguments, with topics including Ben's memories from Microsoft, the difference between regulating platforms and aggregators, and the case for intervening in the App Store today. Then: Eddy Cue testifies that Apple is exploring AI search options for Safari, and a New York Magazine feature on ChatGPT in colleges sparks thoughts on tech, higher education, and Blue Books.
May 08, 2025•1 hr 19 min
Ben's Daily Update on Friday and Apple's argument appealing the order in Epic v. Apple, the risks facing Apple as they've continued to fight these battles the past several years, and questions for the future as the present gets increasingly messy. At the end: Meta's plans for AI business agents, an emailer asks whether Meta's message today means Facebook failed yesterday, and a proposal for AI officiating in the NBA is soundly rejected.
May 05, 2025•14 min
A 360 degree look at Meta's AI efforts after Ben's sitdown with Mark Zuckerberg and Meta's launch of a standalone AI app. Then: Reactions to Wednesday's holding that Apple violated a court order and may be criminally liable for its behavior, responses to an email about a broadened understanding of consumer welfare, and a Punchbowl News headache for Amazon.
May 01, 2025•10 min
After last week's conversation about AI for companionship, Ben and Andrew answer emails about the future of personalized LLM answers, speculative costs and benefits, the tension between building trust and building a product with 3 billion customers, and much more.
Apr 28, 2025•11 min
Talking through Ben's article on Apple and the Ghosts of Companies Past, including Apple's religious commitment to privacy, untapped platform potential in AI, parallels to Intel, and why Tim Cook is probably the wrong CEO to undertake the cultural shifts today that may be required for the company to thrive tomorrow. At the end: An AppleTV+ public service announcement.
Apr 24, 2025•1 hr
Talking through the implications of memory capabilities for ChatGPT, the future of AI companionship, OpenAI's platform ambitions, and why Google Circles never found a market. At the end: College football, tech, and a bit of Bell Labs history.
Apr 21, 2025•16 min
Tracing the history of Facebook to understand the challenges for the government in this month's FTC v. Meta trial, and thoughts on the nature of competition on the Internet and its impact on the economy at large.
Apr 17, 2025•1 hr 9 min
Andrew and Ben discuss another weekend of pivots, updates and clarifications to the Trump trade policies, the big picture shifts and fundamental questions underlying these policies, a question about Spotify, and Stevie's platform rant inspires an emailer's request for a tech blog post canon.
Apr 14, 2025•12 min
Ben and Andrew return to discuss Liberation Day whiplash, Apple’s history in China and tech’s history in Asia, and the various challenges inherent to the efforts to rejuvenate America’s industrial capacity. At the end: Ben recaps a visit to a Formula 1 race in Japan.
Apr 10, 2025•1 hr 14 min
Thoughts on both X and xAI in the wake of Friday’s announcement from Elon Musk, Chat GPT’s image capabilities and whether AI-adjacent SaaS companies will ever have a moat, and emailers offer counterpoints on Sam Altman’s ads answer and the notion that Google can’t make great products anymore. At the end: Should Substack serve ads?, answers on Israeli cybersecurity, and more on Steve Jobs and Studio Ghibli.
Mar 31, 2025•13 min
Reactions to OpenAI's "Images in GPT," and thoughts on the Trump administration's Signal debacle, including a few points Ben neglected to emphasize earlier this week.
Mar 27, 2025•9 min
A look at the logic of Google's plans to purchase an Israeli cybersecurity firm for $32 billion, more tension between Apple, Google and the EU, and an email about Xbox One and Microsoft's checkered history of consumer tech ambitions. At the end: Moana 2 and what led to the decision to abandon windowing, Bryan Johnson's pursuit of immortality, and a few follow-ups on Daylight Saving Time.
Mar 24, 2025•14 min
After Ben's interview with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Andrew and Ben hold an impromptu symposium on AI and its implications, featuring questions from listeners. Topics include: The long-term UX for Deep Research, OpenAI's allergy to an ads-based business model, a confession from Ben after an Exponent take years ago, how AI might--or might not--change the White Collar economy, an era of startups capitalizing on AI-enabled cost structures, AI for companionship and adult content, and whether generative...
Mar 21, 2025•14 min
Answering all your emails in the wake of Apple's intelligence catastrophe. Topics include: whether Perplexity should be an acquisition target, the limits of local AI, the value of long tail product development, Apple's parallels to IBM, the future of Tim Cook, and a report from Ben on his latest experience with the Vision Pro.
Mar 17, 2025•15 min
Revisiting Apple's nadir in the 1990s, along with internal friction that boiled over after Steve Jobs' passing, and explaining why Apple execs should—but probably won't—respond to the Apple Intelligence embarrassment by empowering third-party developers to build great AI products that run locally on the iPhone.
Mar 13, 2025•1 hr 9 min
A question about the future of the NBA as the league sees record revenues and declining ratings, several emails about Apple's continued adventures in AI, and follow-ups to last week's episode on Formula 1, Amazon, chatbots as the AI UI, and tech that removes friction.
Mar 10, 2025•12 min
Surveying the streaming landscape in 2025, including YouTube’s opportunity to solve problems for millions of frustrated entertainment consumers, Peacock’s murky future, HBO and the Max mess, and lots more.
Mar 06, 2025•14 min
Andrew and Ben react to Amazon's announcement for an AI-powered Alexa that has been "100 percent re-architected," and then answer mailbag questions about OpenAI's long-term future, LLM confidence, LLMs and the future of the English language, how a hardware business like Manna should approach aggregators, and the social costs of tech that optimizes for efficiency and eliminates friction. At the end: A word about the most exciting app of 2025.
Mar 03, 2025•13 min
A discussion of Ben's Stratechery article AI Promises and Chip Precariousness, including basic geography and evolving geopolitical considerations informing today's Taiwan tensions, the recent history of US policy surrounding chips, considerations for US policies going forward, and various concerns with lifting the chip ban and implementing stricter controls on chipmaking equipment.
Feb 27, 2025•1 hr 26 min
The history underlying Apple’s decision to pull its Advanced Data Protection feature from the UK market, criticisms of the UK, Apple and a few of Apple’s loudest critics, and thoughts on the future of drone delivery after Ben’s interview with Manna CEO Bobby Healy. At the end: font guidance and memecoins.
Feb 24, 2025•14 min
On today’s special crossover Sharp Tech/Sharp China episode, Ben Thompson and Bill Bishop discuss the private enterprise symposium and Xi Jinping's rapprochement with China's tech companies, and the connection between xAI and DeepSeek. Then, an extended debate on the chip ban, including its potential long-term consequences, and whether or not a course correction is possible. Finally, why the situation surround Taiwan is worrisome, and whether Trump is looking to make a deal.
Feb 19, 2025•16 min
Reactions to OpenAI's release of Deep Research, including the Deep Research contributions to Ben's Update on Tuesday, lessons from several other Deep Research experiments, and questions about the future of work, information flow, and a world in which days of work can be done in minutes.
Feb 06, 2025•12 min
Answering mailbag questions on a report that Apple has abandoned its plans for smart glasses, Google, OpenAI and advertising, why LLMs struggle with sports statistics, whether generative AI will become more acceptable in media, and a few thoughts on manufacturing, tariffs, and the de minimis exception.
Feb 03, 2025•13 min
Andrew and Ben reconvene to answer your emails on DeepSeek and its implications. Topics include: DeepSeek as the Oakland A’s and Big Tech as the Red Sox, questions about distillation, video game history and coding to the metal, waiting for Silicon Valley products in AI, the future of compute demand and power consumption, and a variety of follow-up thoughts to Monday’s export control discussion.
Jan 30, 2025•1 hr 16 min
Unpacking several days of dizzying reactions to DeepSeek, including a closer look at the costs of model development, why the heightened scrutiny looks like a coping mechanism, DeepSeek’s efficiency breakthroughs, the implications for big tech, and the future of export controls on semiconductors.
Jan 27, 2025•12 min
On their 200th episode of the show(!), Ben and Andrew discuss the Stargate Project and what clarifies about the dynamics between OpenAI and Microsoft. Then: the risks inherent to Stargate investments, the rationale for the corporate structure announced this week, PhD-level agents in 2-3 years, and various lessons from the success of DeepSeek and its latest models.
Jan 23, 2025•14 min
