Musk vs. Zuckerberg as the undercard to another round of Meta vs. the European Union, Microsoft's pricing strategy for Copilot, and the latest universally unpopular move that makes perfect sense for college football's biggest market participants. At the end: Free speech follow-up and introducing Tik-Tot, our new parenting segment.
A look at LK-99 and the various ways a room temperature superconductor might change the world, EU and US officials express concern over China’s move toward trailing edge chips, and recent Intel lobbying efforts highlight the challenge of real decoupling and the nuances of US-China competition. At the end: The Elon deliberate sabotage theory and a call for parenting questions.
The Wall Street Journal's report that Facebook removed content related to Covid-19 in response to pressure from the Biden administration, both the principled and pragmatic cases for not repeating that pattern in the future, and a listener wonders whether CTO should be an official member of the Presidential cabinet. At the end: Mailbag questions on Fusion and Starlink technology, a Taylor Swift streaming service, and raising phonk awareness.
Checking in with Netflix as the ad-supported model matures, more on streaming residuals and the future of movies and TV, and general thoughts on the latest news at “X,” née Twitter. At the end: Follow-up on AI and concerns over the Meta’s open source LLM.
Meta makes its large language model free for commercial and research use, why enabling a dispersed development environment could help Meta's business and AI consumers as a whole, and thoughts on ChatGPT as its momentum slows. At the end: A warning to movie stars, while lazy sports continue to take the world by storm.
The familiar tech stories underlying the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, why streaming residuals are so difficult to calculate, and Disney's current problems as a microcosm for the entertainment industry as a whole. At the end: A few words about coffee.
The push to enjoin the Microsoft-Activision merger and why it failed, the broader challenges inherent to applying existing antitrust laws to tech, and the uncertainty clouding Microsoft's next moves in the UK and elsewhere. At the end: A word about Top Chef and answering some mail on Twitter and Threads.
Tracing the recent social media history that led to Threads, 70 million users in three days (and whether Meta can keep them coming back), an early contender for worst Thread of all time, and the dysfunction at Twitter that has now opened the door to a wide variety of challengers.
Boom Supersonic and the (possibly) imminent future of supersonic commercial air travel, listener emails on Apple and Sony, TSMC, Google’s graveyard, Reddit, and European regulation. At the end: the BBS glory days, tech origin stories, and recs for a weekend in Madison, Wisconsin.
The Prince Harry "grifter" controversy as an object lesson in the internet content economy, what Spotify has (and maybe hasn't) learned from its adventures in podcast development, and the strategies on both sides of the announcement that GM and Ford will use Tesla's charging network for their EVs. At the end: A rumored HBO pivot prompts a victory lap live on the podcast.
Understanding the challenges facing Reddit in the modern internet environment, the various tensions underlying this week’s controversy with moderators, and the future of niche subscription offerings as The Athletic rethinks its coverage. Plus: The Vision Pro keyboard and a word about Zuck as Headset Fortnight concludes.
Responding to listener questions and comments in the wake of Apple’s WWDC and the announcement of the Vision Pro, including thoughts on the absence of AI in Apple’s messaging, a headset hater’s epiphany, gaming partnerships that should (but won’t?) happen, sports possibilities, immersive memories, and some obligatory speculation on the Apple Car.
Ben’s experience with the Apple Vision Pro, the components and capabilities that make it so expensive, implications for the future of personal computing, and what it would mean to have a society full of people in headsets.
Big picture questions before Apple debuts its new headset at WWDC this week, the latest twist in Meta’s ongoing foray into hardware, and two follow-up emails about Nvidia’s future. Plus: Zuck sympathy, cable bills, and why there’s no ultra premium Stratechery stock picking tier.
Talking all things Nvidia as Wall Street catches GPU fever, parallels to Sun Microsystems and the dot com bubble, and questions about AI energy efficiency and reliance on TSMC. At the end: a streaming lover pushes back on nostalgia for cable and involuntary sports subsidies.
Microsoft’s evolution and what AI can and can’t accomplish, the ChatGPT app on iOS, and more on the logic of cable companies during the 2010s. Plus: Why leagues won’t go direct to consumer and one listener for whom the streaming is working just fine.
ESPN's ominous direct-to-consumer ambitions, the incentives that drove the collapse of a cable business model that was beneficial to nearly everyone, why YouTube TV might fill the power vacuum, and what companies like Netflix and Disney can learn from Taylor Swift.
Google’s AI ambitions, whether large language models will be a winner-take-all space, the coming wave of AI regulation and the implications for small businesses, and more thoughts on VR as Apple prepares to enter the space.
The Reality Labs spending has echoes of a past Google mistake, past animosity vs. future opportunities for Apple and Facebook, and a few responses to last week’s leaked Google memo. Plus: One more note about Xbox and a question about handwritten notes.
China's ongoing response to last fall's sweeping export controls on advanced semiconductors, the importance of Japan and the Netherlands imposing their own set of export controls, and more on Intel's antitrust struggles and how the company (or the U.S. government) might respond. Plus: A correction about water risks and a clarification about the Suns app.
A question about profitable and public venture-backed businesses over the past 15 years, why Amazon, Google and Apple might be interested in sports rights, and a proposed broadcasting strategy in Phoenix that might be the best idea the NBA's had since in the internet. Plus: A clarification about Microsoft, and a note to Liberty Media and Formula 1.
Twitter's latest idea spurs a discussion of the micropayment model, an email about Twitter Blue and Twitter subscription's for independent creators, and follow-up Microsoft thoughts on the spirit underlying antitrust laws, the EU regulatory environment, and why Microsoft can't simply partner with Activision in the cloud gaming space.
UK regulators may have scuttled the biggest merger in gaming history, the implications for globalized businesses going forward, and debates about antitrust enforcement. Plus: Two follow-ups to the Netflix conversation and a baffling tax development for software companies.
Potential implications of Netflix advertising success, checking in with the rest of the streaming landscape, and the long-term questions surrounding Nvidia and the GPU ecosystem. At the end: Two follow-ups on AI and copyright, a Silicon Valley clarification, and Bucks therapy.
More on the copyright questions facing innovators and regulators as generative AI matures, Microsoft Copilot and the future of LLMs in litigation, plus emails on the state of Zoom in 2023, the Apple productivity suite, and how to bring tech talent back to the Midwest.
Copyright debates underlying text-to-image generation, the stakes for incumbents and upstarts, and what AI could mean for the music business (but not yet the movie business). Plus: A listener’s Twitter reality check yields a discussion of what might come next in a new era of social media.
Parsing the latest Twitter controversy with a look back at pre-Musk decisions, the motivations driving Substack and Twitter last week, and big picture thoughts on the future of Substack. At the end: children in the age of AI proliferating, screen time dilemmas, and more.
Elon Musk's two-part announcement about Twitter Blue and the "For You" tab, why subscription and advertising business models are generally incompatible, a variety of reactions to this week's open letter regarding AI safety, and the technical logistics of a TikTok ban.
A programming note regarding the next few weeks of the podcast, a long email from a Stratechery reader about the risks of AI, and extended thoughts on the various risks and unknowns that define the AI conversation in the present moment.
What Microsoft Copilot could mean for SaaS businesses and CIOs and Google, the midrange jumper and questions about long-term office culture optimization, and a few more thoughts on regulation in the wake of the SVB collapse. At the end: Artifact and Substack and the challenge for text-based businesses as the world moves to video.
