The John Johnston Lounge

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei seems to lack empathy and remorse in relation to his AI company’s possible involvement in targeting a school during the Iran War, when discussing Anthropic’s involvement with the US military. JJ also looks at the wider question of ethics within the emerging AI sector. Related episodes: Dangerous AI Bubble: Retail Investors Are Being Con...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how legitimately legendary investor Seth Klarman thinks today's stock market, which is currently obsessed with AI-related companies and stocks, has characteristics of a bubble. Klarman argues that even if AI is real and transformative, because of the huge uncertainty, the market should have a lower multiple. Related episodes: SpaceX & AI: “Bigger Than The Dot...

John Johnston (JJ) reacts to famous short-seller Jim Chanos, as he gives his vast experience-led opinions about the warming signs he sees in the current U.S. stock market, including the SpaceX and upcoming AI IPOs, and the AI data center buildout.  Related episodes: Elon's SpaceX HAS TO Grow Like No Company Ever Has https://open.spotify.com/episode/0utF3Iw7k1Tmz5PDf02FfX Is SpaceX Overvalued b...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down what Ed Zitron is currently saying about the AI bubble he sees in financial markets, and the companies involved, including Elon Musk’s SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic. Zitron thinks the market situation is dangerous for retail investors in particular, and that Anthropic and OpenAI should not be allowed to IPO. Related episodes: Is SpaceX Overvalued by ~$1 Trillion? (Mo...

The Art of Value: Politics host John Johnston (JJ) breaks down part of President Donald Trump’s recent combative interview where he storms out in a rage over valid questions about the Iran War and his constant election-rigging claims.  Related episodes: Trump’s Obsession with Autocrat Viktor Orbán Explained https://open.spotify.com/episode/0NG1RKYy85wNwWF6vDRoOY Trump’s World Cup TANKING: Tourists...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down some of the popular finance media and fund manager perspectives on the SpaceX IPO, and the wave of historic IPOs that are poised to follow, including Anthropic and OpenAI. Does this mark the AI boom getting to “fever pitch” stage? Related episodes: Elon's SpaceX HAS TO Grow Like No Company Ever Has https://open.spotify.com/episode/0utF3Iw7k1Tmz5PDf02FfX Is SpaceX...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down the news that Elon Musk’s SpaceX will need to grow 600x in 10 years to justify the $1.75 trillion IPO target valuation, and no company has ever come close to that. JJ also looks at how Google has said it will pay SpaceX $920 million per month for AI compute capacity at xAI data centers. Also, the S&P500 has rejects SpaceX from getting early access to the index, w...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down why the current SpaceX IPO valuation of $1.75 trillion is being challenged by Morningstar, which says SpaceX is being “significantly overvalued”. A Morningstar analyst thinks the space and AI company is worth less than half of that.  Related episodes: Is Elon’s SpaceX ‘Coup’ About to Rob Your 401K? https://open.spotify.com/episode/0Cz8MYXopM3MAeLsAiy8EQ SpaceX IPO is...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how some investment and financial experts are sounding the alarm over Elon Musk’s SpaceX IPO “coup” that could force retirement funds to buy unprofitable SpaceX soon after the SpaceXf IPO, due to a significant rule change that is happening for SpaceX first. Related episodes: SpaceX IPO is Stock Market Insanity https://open.spotify.com/episode/14U1OxBZFLY8OzdnYx5T6B S...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how the upcoming SpaceX IPO could be close to peak stock market AI bubble insanity, from a number of perspectives. JJ references the recent SpaceX pre-IPO S-1 filing, and a possible merger with Tesla, and what various analysts are saying. Related episodes: SpaceX IPO: Elon Musk is Preying on His ‘Elon-gelicals’ https://open.spotify.com/episode/2r60g5D3LjueQ1dMChFVkc...

The Art of Value: Politics host JJ breaks down how traditional Western allies have been increasingly pulling away from working closely with the Trump administration, and finding ways to strengthen alliances between each other, especially between Canada and Europe. Canada is acting increasingly like the EU’s 28th member state, rather than a 51st state of the US. Related episodes: Trump’s World Cup...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how opposition to the construction of new AI data centers is escalating across the United States. Local people are questioning and protesting the distribution of land, water and energy resources, as well as the lack of democratic governance in relation to the development of these massive data centers for artificial intelligence compute. Mentioned: Trump’s World Cup T...

JJ’s Politics Unfiltered host JJ breaks down how the FIFA 2026 World Cup was expected to bring a huge tourism surge to the United States, as the majority of the events are being hosted in the United States. However, reports indicate that international visitors will be staying away, with hotel bookings so far much lower than expected. This is likely due to concerns and fears over ICE raids and hars...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how a Reuters investigation of Tesla’s unsupervised Robotaxi rollout has found long wait times, bizarre routing, and close to zero robotaxi availability across Tesla’s three-city “Robotaxi” service. What look like convenience issue, could really be symptoms of a system that can’t scale safely.  New channel: JJ's Authentic New Zealand channel https://www.youtube.c...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down the latest developments in Elon Musk and Sam Altman’s court battle over the future of OpenAI. Sam Altman and Elon Musk are currently facing-off in a high-stakes courtroom trial that could impact the future of OpenAI.  New: JJ's Authentic New Zealand channel https://www.youtube.com/@jjsauthenticnz Related episodes: AI Bubble: Reckless Multi- $Trillion Data Center...

John Johnston (JJ) questions whether the expected multi-trillion dollar AI data center buildout will end in a bust, like the internet infrastructure buildout did in the early 2000s. Has the current AI data center buildout turned into a massive bubble that is financially unsustainable? New: JJ's Authentic New Zealand channel https://www.youtube.com/@jjsauthenticnz Related episodes: Elon Musk’s AI P...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down the news that Elon Musk’s AI empire appears to be unraveling in real time. The current trial of Elon Musk vs Sam Altman is exposing, under oath, that Musk’s AI ambitions were never about AI safety, open access, or benefiting humanity. They have been about power and control all along. New: JJ's Authentic New Zealand channel https://www.youtube.com/@jjsauthenticnz...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest says that the robotaxi market could hit a massive $34 Trillion by 2030, in just 4 years. JJ also surveys some critics of both ARK Invest and Elon Musk’s Tesla, in relation to robotaxis, including famed short seller Jim Chanos. Related episodes: THE TESLA STOCK CRASH WILL BE EPIC  https://open.spotify.com/episode/2RV8h4ioNb1wksarKXeIdH Tes...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how Gen Z’s opinions of AI are reportedly hitting new lows. The more young people use AI, the more they dislike it, if recent surveys are to be believed. Gen Z is using AI of course, but many don’t feel great about it, and are even pushing back against its increasing use in workplaces and eduction institutions.  New JJ’s Authentic NZ vid-  From Ruins to Revival: Expl...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have a very different attitude towards free speech behind the scenes, that they do in public. JJ reacts to Taylor Lorenz, in relation to a text conversation between the two tech billionaires, in which they are more than willing to censor social media accounts. We also see how journalist Gil Duran has just been permanently banned from...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how some of Palantir’s employees are concerned about the big tech company’s “descent into fascism”. Leaked Slack messages, and interviews with current and former Palantir employees have revealed as picture of a military contractor company in internal turmoil. New: JJ's Authentic New Zealand Channel  https://www.youtube.com/@jjsauthenticnz Related episodes: Peter Thie...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how Elon Musk’s almost daily online rants about race are turning off more fans. Elon has posted over 850 times on the divisive topic in recent months, which is almost triple the previous two years. New: JJ's Authentic New Zealand Channel  https://www.youtube.com/@jjsauthenticnz Related episodes: Peter Thiel’s Palantir Just Posted A Neo-Fascist Manifesto  https://...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how veteran investor George Noble is asserting that this will be the year Tesla fully implodes. After doing a sum of the parts valuation, Noble thinks Tesla stock is only worth a fraction of it’s current stock market price. Related episodes: Tesla Q1 Earnings: Elon Sort of Admitted the FSD Truth https://open.spotify.com/episode/2krI3rv5yJPfPePlE2hl61 There’s A Growin...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how tech billionaire Peter Thiel’s company Palantir has published what seems to be some version of a neo-fascist manifesto online. It’s partially a summary of Palantir CEO Alex Karp’s recent book. JJ also reacts to journalist Gil Duran, one of the foremost authorities on the concerning move to the political far-right of many of Silicon Valley’s most prominent tech bi...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down Tesla Q1 2026 Earnings, including what Elon Musk said on the earnings call. The results seemed okay on the surface, be digging deeper revealed some uncomfortable  truths about the future, and about Tesla’s Self-Driving aims.  Related episodes: There’s A Growing Revolt Over Tesla Self-Driving Promises https://open.spotify.com/episode/07qdYLrT48oL4AIP8OTR7X Why Bank An...