The John Johnston Lounge

John Johnston (JJ) delves into the current AI boom, or is it an AI bubble? We look at how various people are saying so, from AI sector insiders to economists. Another important question addressed is: when the AI bubble bursts, will it cause wider economic damage, including a recession?  Related episodes: AI Bubble: Is OpenAI Cooked? Walls Are Closing In https://open.spotify.com/episode/1a4VbuQlYl8...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how a new article from a former Uber self-driving chief details how his Tesla crashed while on FSD (Supervised). He says accidents like this expose the danger of almost-perfect tech, especially when lives are at stake. Tech like this can lull you into a false sense of security. Related episodes: Tesla’s Unsupervised Robotaxi: Was Elon Musk Wrong or Lying? https://ope...

John Johnston (JJ) responds to a new article from Wired, The Tesla Influencers Leaving the ‘Cult’, which touches on many of the central topics of The John Johnston Lounge over time. Elon Musk and Tesla are supported by a cult-like online community of “elongelicals”, who promote the company, brand, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, while verbally attacking anyone who is even slightly critical.  Related epis...

John Johnston (JJ) asks the question, prompted by AI research expert Yann LeCun, has Elon Musk just been wrong about getting Tesla’s Robotaxi to become fully autonomous for nearly a decade, or has he been lying about it? This comes as Tesla reports another Robotaxi crash, and still only has a single unsupervised Robotaxi operating regularly. Related episodes: Elon Admits xAI ‘Not Built Right’ Afte...

John Johnston (JJ) delves more into the AI company Palantir, which has extensive government contracts, including military, and not only in the United States. Palantir has just revealed a new version of its Maven software for US military use. Palantir is also causing controversy in the UK, with its involvement in the National Health System (NHS), and again in the U.S. with its involvement with surv...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how Elon Musk has admitted that his artificial intelligence company xAI was “not built right” and needs to be rebuilt from the ground up, only weeks after his public company Tesla invested $2 billion into it, and it was acquired by SpaceX. Co-founders and other staff have been leaving in droves too. We take a look at what’s going on with xAI. Related episodes: Elon’s...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how Palantir CEO Alex Karp has made a shocking confession about AI technology disrupting democratic power. He’s saying the quiet part out loud. The Palantir CEO also insists he doesn’t support regime change wars, while supporting the one his company is currently involved in. Related episodes: Jennifer Welch: The Palantir Psychos Are Worse Than You Think  https://open...

John Johnston (JJ) updates how Elon Musk’s Tesla unsupervised robotaxi roll-out is progressing, and it’s not looking great. There still only seems to be one unsupervised robotaxi in operation in Austin, and Tesla logged zero miles of autonomous test-driving on California roads in 2025. This still looks far from ready to scale. Related episodes: Scam? STILL Only One Tesla Unsupervised Robotaxi? htt...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how Joe Rogan is implying that Trump has “betrayed” his base by going to war with Iran, after campaigning on ending wars and promoting peace. Trump’s “base” has included Joe Rogan himself, and many of the Rogansphere and Manosphere fans he influences.  Join The John Johnston Lounge Patreon: https://patreon.com/TheJohnJohnstonLounge Related episodes: Kyle Kulinski HUM...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down the news that an whistleblower has claimed that an ex-employee of Elon Musk’s DOGE says he took Social Security data, and then offered it for use at another job at a private government contractor, according to the Washington Post. Join The John Johnston Lounge Patreon: https://patreon.com/TheJohnJohnstonLounge Related episodes: How This Guy Bet Against Elon Musk and...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how some politically influential and powerful U.S. Christian Nationalists believe that the Iran war is part of God’s plan that President Trump was “anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth”. JJ questions whether this form of fundamentalist religious belief is really that different from the kind of fundamental...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how Elon Musk’s legal team has filed a motion for mistrial in the Twitter securities fraud class action lawsuit in San Francisco. Elon’s lawyers argue that the plaintiffs’ lawyers and the judge have created an environment where Musk cannot get a fair trial. The filing cites “the animosity in the community toward Mr. Musk apparent during jury selection.” Join The John...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down the news that U.S. oil prices have spiked above $100 a barrel, an ominous sign of how the conflict with Iran is sending shockwaves through markets and the economy. How high could oil prices, and therefore gasoline or petrol prices go? Join The John Johnston Lounge on Patreon! https://patreon.com/TheJohnJohnstonLounge Related episodes: Prediction: US Defeat in Iran Wa...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how Elon Musk equates intelligence with the ability to correctly predict the future; but as we see in this episode, he has a terrible track record in terms of his own predictions, especially as they relate to Tesla and SpaceX milestones.  Join The John Johnston Lounge on Patreon: https://patreon.com/TheJohnJohnstonLounge Related episodes: Is Elon’s Tesla Tunnel Loop...

Related episodes: Prediction: US Defeat in Iran War Will Pop AI Bubble https://open.spotify.com/episode/3IdsB0PeURDU7nyDC8BMI3 Jennifer Welch: The Palantir Psychos Are Worse Than You Think  https://open.spotify.com/episode/0i6ixmOPpEi3vgLCpKSrUY Kyle Kulinski HUMILIATES Joe Rogan For His “Tepid Little Criticisms” https://open.spotify.com/episode/4K8lgnrrc3bXMkXDLgtnJY Join The John Johnston Lounge...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how Nashville seems to be largely opposed to Elon Musk’s Boring Company Tesla Loop tunnel plan for the city, with no proof after a decade, that the system beats a subway, in terms of moving people efficiently and in large numbers.  Related episodes: Elon’s “Thinly Disguised Fraud”: $1.25T SpaceX-xAI Merger  https://open.spotify.com/episode/6oYjOAujG7H6x8g1Bhg2Qr How...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how Professor Jiang is predicting that the US will lose the war in Iran, and that it will also end up bursting the AI bubble and harm the US economy. We also look at what various countries are doing to evacuate citizens from the Middle East. Related episodes: Kyle Kulinski HUMILIATES Joe Rogan For His “Tepid Little Criticisms” https://open.spotify.com/episode/4K8lgnr...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how fund manager George Noble is questioning the massive target valuation of Elon Musk’s upcoming SpaceX IPO. We also look at what Elon Musk is predicting for Tesla and xAI to get to AGI (artificial general intelligence). Related episodes: How 'Elongelical' Influencer Accidentally Predicted Robotaxi Fail  https://open.spotify.com/episode/3EJZcUCDLObNE3Op2yhMN...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how Elon Musk is erasing Tesla’s legacy of good climate impact work with xAI, seemingly to generate a large amount of questionable AI slop. Elon says xAI has a higher purpose, but so there there’s little evidence of that. Related episodes: Why Elon Musk’s Tesla & xAI Exec Staff Exit in Droves https://open.spotify.com/episode/6gH4c1wAKglXqilUROpR1I How 'Elonge...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how one of the “Elongelical” Tesla influencers, Whole Mars Catalog, by his own recorded words, must be disappointed by Tesla’s slow process of its Robotaxi service, as it still only seems to have one unsupervised robotaxi operating at a time in Austin. According to the Robotaxi Tracker, all the rest are still supervised, both in Austin and in the Bay Area in Californ...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how Yanis Varoufakis writes that the recent merger of Elon Musk’s SpaceX and xAI, is part of a financial market too eager to buy its own illusions. He thinks the market valuation is similar to the fraudulent arithmetic used during the Dot Com Bubble.  Related episodes: It’s All Falling Apart For Elon Musk, Tesla & SpaceX https://open.spotify.com/episode/02oPX7onU...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down the news that a Washington DC tax nerd bet his life savings against Elon Musk in prediction markets and won big. It was a very specific prediction bet, in an area he knew a lot about, and that knowledge paid off handsomely.  Related episodes: It’s All Falling Apart For Elon Musk, Tesla & SpaceX https://open.spotify.com/episode/02oPX7onUsiODaZ71SDAF3 Tesla Robotax...

John Johnston (JJ) reacts to a recent Kyle Kulinski video, in which he torches Joe Rogan for his “tepid little criticisms” of the current administration, instead of being more forceful about it. Some other Rogansphere comedians and podcasters have begun to be very critical, but Joe Rogan can’t seem to summon up the courage to join them.  Related episodes: Joe Rogan’s Embarrassing Tech Billionaire...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down news about Tesla Unsupervised Robotaxi roll-out in Austin, Texas. The third-party Robotaxi Tracker shows there are currently eight unsupervised Tesla robotaxis in the active fleet in Austin, but it also shows that seven of them haven’t been seen in operation for about two weeks. Is Tesla rotating the cars into unsupervised operation, but with only one or two in opera...

John Johnston (JJ) breaks down how the massive flow of funding money OpenAI desperately needs to survive may be starting to dry up. Could OpenAI be in a far worse financial position than many people think? Could OpenAI be financial and technological ground zero of a massive AI Bubble bursting. Related episodes: AI Bubble BIG SHORT: Michael Burry’s Palantir Stock Short https://open.spotify.com/epis...