Big Technology Podcast

Louise Matsakis is a reporter at Semafor covering AI. She joins us for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) ChatGPT getting lazy 2) The commoditization of AI companies 3) Anthropic’s unique board governance 4) Anthropic’s EA connections and the state of EA 5) Amazon’s Q chatbot 6) Elon Musk tells advertisers to F themselves 7) The drawbacks of brand safety puritanism 8) The...

Molly White, Ryan Broderick, and Deepa Seetharaman join Big Technology Podcast to dive deep into the Effective Altruism (EA) vs. Effective Accelerationism (e/acc) debate in Silicon Valley that may have been at the heart of the OpenAI debacle. White is a crypto researcher and critic who writes Citation Needed on Substack, Broderick is an internet culture reporter who writes Garbage Day on Substack,...

Malcolm Ethridge is the executive vice president at CIC Wealth a CNBC Contributor, and the host of the Tech Money Podcast. He joins for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) OpenAI's 'worrying' Q* breakthrough 2) Whether Sam Altman is in danger of being fired again 3) Where's Google Gemini? 4) Google's culture struggles 5) Binance CEO CZ pleads guilty 6) Is Binance the next F...

Aaron Levie is the CEO of Box. He joins Big Technology Podcast to look forward at the AI field now that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has returned. In this episode, we discuss: 1) Whether this is good for the AI field 2) Should we actually be concerned with Ai safety? 3) Whether the saga is over? 4) How companies are insulating themselves in case of further eruptions 5) The downsides of switching off of O...

Dan Primack is the business editor at Axios and author of the daily Axios Pro Rata newsletter. He joins Big Technology Podcast to break down ex-OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's apparent move to Microsoft, whether he'll stay there, how the board structure enabled this, and how the competitive balance in the AI field shifts now. Stay tuned for the end, where we rate winners, losers, and a bold prediction fro...

A quick solo podcast on what we know about OpenAI firing CEO Sam Altman with Big Technology host Alex Kantrowitz. Tune in for a discussion of what might've happened, how it happened, why it happened, how it impacts OpenAI moving forward, and how it shuffles the competitive balance in the AI field moving forward. --- You can subscribe to Big Technology Premium for 25% off at https://bit.ly/bigtechn...

OpenAI fired CEO Sam Altman today, a stunning move that will reshape the AI wars and open new avenues for its competitors. Sharon Goldman, Senior AI writer at Venturebeat, joins us for an emergency podcast to discuss the news, and what comes next. --- You can subscribe to Big Technology Premium for 25% off at https://bit.ly/bigtechnology Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars...

Reed Albergotti is the tech editor at Semafor. He joins Big Technology Podcast to break down the week's news. We cover: 1) Xi Jinping’s visit to San Francisco 2) Why the U.S. And China relationship is softening 3) How AI technology is at the center of the thawing 4) How San Francisco cleaned itself up for Xi’s arrival 5) Sideshows 6) Web Summit update 7) Conversation with Chinese media 8) Stabilit...

Cathy Edwards is the VP of Search at Google. Edwards joins Big Technology Podcast to break some news about Google's two newest search features, including a more personalized experience called Follow and a labs product called Notes that allows users to leave feedback on search results. We also cover the state of Google's Search Generative Experience and how the company feels about SEOs after the la...

Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Big Technology Podcast hits 1 million downloads 2) OpenAI's developer feels looks like Apple 3) Building GPT bots with no code 4) OpenAI promises to pay for legal defense of copyright lawsuits 5) Andreessen Horowitz says copyrighted material is key to billions in value 6) Is "The Pin" the next smartphon...

Rob Copeland is the author of The Fund: Ray Dalio, Bridgewater Associates, and the Unraveling of a Wall Street Legend and a New York Times reporter. He joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss his new book, offering a revealing look at Dalio's business success and the making of his legend. We talk extensively about Dalio's Dot Collector tool, which allowed his employees to rate each other in real-t...

Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) SBF's conviction 2) Whether FTX will cover the full shortfall 3) Why OpenAI is more vulnerable than many think 4) Google's forthcoming Gemeni model 5) Where the real value in generative AI will land 6) Google's $2 billion Anthropic investment 7) Rebellion against AI doomers 8) Sovereign wealth funds inv...

Tekedra Mawakana is the Co-CEO at Waymo. She joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss the company's new partnership with Uber, which is making Waymo's driverless cars available through its app. We also discuss the safety of driverless vehicles, food delivery, Waymo's place within Alphabet, when these cars will drive on icy roads, the potential for driverless trucking, and more. Tune in for a reveal...

Gaurav Nemade was the founding product manager on LaMDA, Google's ChatGPT predecessor that never shipped. He explains why the product got stuck at Google in this first-ever episode of the new Big Tech War Stories podcast. This new show from Big Technology is available to premium subscribers and is debuting free on the Big Technology Podcast feed today. You can access the Big Technology launch spec...

Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Ranjan's Taylor Swift costume 2) The broader picture on Big Tech earnings 3) Amazon's impressive earnings beat 4) Investor metaphysics 5) Microsoft's AI uplift 6) Tesla's lower margins 7) Meta's impressive revenue and user growth 8) Meta's TikTok clone is working. 9) SBF takes the stand 10) Cruise pulls...

Brian McCullough is the host of Techmeme Ride Home and general partner of the Ride Home Fund. He joins Big Technology Podcast for a deep dive into the week's news and a fresh announcement from Big Technology. We cover: 1) Big Technology Premium 2) The state of Big Tech at the end of a year-end that started with layoffs 3) Is self-driving tech's biggest story this year? 4) Who is winning the AI bat...

Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) A quick review of Michael Lewis' SBF book 2) The impact of effective altruism on the tech industry 3) Why Apple and Jon Stewart are parting ways 4) China's Belt and Road Forum 5) How a multipolar world impacts Apple 6) Marc Andreessen's Techno-Optimism manifesto 7) Max Read's rebuttal to the manifesto 8...

Molly White is a crypto researcher and critic. She joins Big Technology Podcast to break down the latest in the U.S. case against ex-FTX CEO Sam Bankman Fried. In this episode, we go through the charges, the defense, and the likely outcome. Stay tuned for the second half, where we discuss how SBF pulled this off, his ties to the 'effective altruism' movement (and what happens next for that cause),...

Reed Albergotti is the tech editor at Semafor. He joins Big Technology Podcast to break down the week's news. We cover: 1) Whether social media is useful during times of crisis. 2) Cancel culture "switcheroo" 3) The value of free speech in conflict 4) Is social media a moderating force after all? 5) Do we actually want news on Threads? 6) NPR leaves Twitter and finds it didn't matter 7) Reflection...

Christopher Leonard is the author of The Lords of Easy Money: How the Federal Reserve Broke the American Economy. Ranjan Roy is the author of Margins. Both join Big Technology Podcast for a special episode where we dig into the Federal Reserve's outsized role in the economy, how its recent moves may send asset prices spiraling, and whether we're heading toward a financial crisis as a result. Tune...

Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Plans to attend the SBF Trial 2) Welcome to Compound and Friends listeners 3) The legal case against SBF 4) The environment in the court 5) How SBF might win? 6) Michael Lewis update 6) Over 40% of Amazon users now use Temu 7) Blue Apron, once valued at $2 billion, sold for $103 million 8) Anthropic's p...

Taylor Lorenz is a technology columnist at the Washington Post and author of Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence, and Power on the Internet. She joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss her book, exploring the tradeoffs of life as an online influencer, and whether people have a choice to pursue power online. Stay tuned for the second half, where we discuss Lorenz's various controv...

Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Meta Connect, and Zuck's new vision for the Metaverse 2) Whether the Metaverse finally makes sense now 3) Alex's first purchase on Temu 4) Your questions + audio quality issues 5) TikTok takes center stage in the Republican debates 6) Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino's poor performance at Code 7) Did Yaccari...

Vanessa Otero is the CEO of Ad Fontes Media. The company rates publications based on their biases, and allows advertisers to concentrate their spending in news media that may disagree, but isn't so wildly biased it loses rooting in reality. Listen for a conversation about the ad industry's broad defunding of news, what it would take to return that money, and why artificial intelligence might help...

Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) An update on our Yahoo episode quest 2) A recap and further analysis of Airbnb Brian Chesky's appearance on the podcast 3) Recent tech IPOs falling back to earth 4) The broader market's downturn and the chance of a recession 5) Jack Dorsey's Return to Square 6) The success of Snapchat+ 7) Generative AI...