E62: Trump’s Tariffs, Open Source AI Models, and The Future of VR

"The Riff" with Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg

Feb 04, 2025•1 hr 9 min•Transcript available on Metacast

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Episode description

This week, Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg explore the impact of technological advancements on markets and businesses, covering topics like global trade tariffs, political populism, AI's evolving role, open-source vs. proprietary models, stock market trends, and Meta’s investments in the metaverse and AR. --- 🙏 Help shape our show by taking our quick listener survey at https://bit.ly/TurpentinePulse. --- Highlights from the Episode: Trump's tariff approach (particularly the proposed 25% on Canadian goods) makes sense as a negotiating bluff but is problematic as long-term strategy. Unlike the US dollar system, China's currency has limited international circulation, affecting their global economic influence. The market reaction to DeepSeek's developments affected both direct AI companies and adjacent sectors. Meta's transition to being more capital-intensive (through AI investments) may actually strengthen their competitive position. Companies like Meta have incentives to commoditize some AI capabilities while maintaining proprietary advantages in others. -- SPONSORS: Notion 📝Notion offers powerful workflow and automation templates, perfect for streamlining processes and laying the groundwork for AI-driven automation. With Notion AI, you can search across thousands of documents from various platforms, generating highly relevant analysis and content tailored just for you - try it for free at https://notion.com/upstreampod Vanta: Vanta simplifies security and compliance for businesses of all sizes. Automate compliance across 35+ frameworks like SOC 2 and ISO 27001, streamline security workflows, and complete questionnaires up to 5x faster. Trusted by over 9,000 companies, Vanta helps you manage risk and prove security in real time. Get $1,000 off at https://vanta.com/revolution --- LINKS: Byrne’s writing: https://thediff.co --- X / TWITTER: https://twitter.com/ByrneHobart (Byrne) https://twitter.com/TurpentineMedia (Turpentine)