Podcast appearances and mentions of Sam Altman

Summary  In this episode of the Prosperity Podcast, Kim and Spencer explore the future of technology with an intriguing discussion on robo-taxis and the implications of a tech-driven world. Kim shares her firsthand experience with Waymo taxis, highlighting the cost efficiency and potential of this innovation. They discuss the balance of embracing technology while living a simpler life, and Kim offers insights on maintaining positivity and adaptability in a rapidly evolving landscape. Perfect for those curious about the future and seeking ways to thrive in an abundant world. Tune in to expand your perspective!.   Episode Highlights 00:00:10 - Robo-taxis as future abundance. 00:00:54 - Comparison of cost per mile: Robo-taxi vs Uber. 00:01:35 - Waymo problem during power outage. 00:02:00 - Rarity of issues with driverless cars. 00:02:17 - Embracing, not fearing, technological change. 00:03:25 - Excitement for a gardening robot. 00:04:21 - Future envisioning with robots and AI. 00:05:08 - Adapting to innovation: Personal anecdotes. 00:07:09 - Encouragement to find good in technology. 00:08:51 - Choice in technology: Picking what's beneficial. 00:11:09 - Balancing high-tech and low-tech lifestyle. 00:13:42 - Importance of positive perspectives. 00:15:19 - "Busting the Scarcity Mindset" book recommendation. 00:16:07 - Children's book series on prosperity principles. 00:16:33 - Visit prosperitythinkers.com for financial control.   Episode Resources For resources and additional information of this episode go to https://prosperitythinkers.com/podcasts/ http://prosperityparents.com/  https://storage.googleapis.com/msgsndr/yBEuMuj6fSwGh7YB8K87/media/68e557c906b06d836d9effad.pdf  https://www.youtube.com/@KimDHButler Keywords Prosperity podcast   Prosperity thinkers   future abundance   robo-taxis   Waymo taxis   cost per mile   Uber   driverless technology   San Francisco   Peter Diamandis   robots in the home   gardening robot   innovation   AI   NVIDIA   Sam Altman   China   2026   positive perspective   compute   solar arrangement   oil industry   rural living   scarcity mindset   abundance   Busting the Scarcity Mindset   multigenerational families   seven principles of prosperity   Adventures at Prosperity Patch   Prosperity Patch series   Prosperity thinkers.com  

Today on our show:Sam Altman Testing AdLowes to license its checkoutAI meets Davos and a Jassy SightingClaude Code Is Having a Viral Moment- and finally, The Investor Minute, which contains 3 items this week from the world of venture capital, acquisitions, and IPOs.Today's episode is sponsored by Rithum.https://www.rmwcommerce.com/ecommerce-podcast-watsonweeklyThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp

Geht es nach einer kleinen Elite von Techmilliardären, sollen in Zukunft gigantische Konzerne und eine gottgleiche Super-KI die Menschheit regieren. Klingt nach Science-Fiction, doch es ist ein Plan, der bereits umgesetzt wird. Schritt eins: Die Zerstörung der Demokratie. Aber wie genau wollen die Techgiganten unsere Welt erobern und was können wir tun, um sie zu stoppen? Darüber sprechen wir mit SZ-Journalist und Autor Jannis Brühl. Für sein neues Buch "Disruption" hat er die Machtpläne von Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Peter Thiel und Co. recherchiert.

In this episode, Kyle breaks down the negative reaction from many Christians after the baptism of OnlyFans prostitute Lily Phillips. Also, in the Quick Hitters segment, he discusses anti-ICE protesters storming a church service in Minneapolis, an update on the situation in Iran, the United Arab Emirates cutting funds for students that want to study abroad in the UK because of fears of “radicalization”, the opening arguments being heard by the Supreme Court in a case involving “trans girls” participating in girls sports, a witness in a Congressional hearing refusing to answer the question: “Can men get pregnant?”, Chinese billionaires using US surrogates and IVF technology to build “mega-families”, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman saying he uses ChatGPT to help raise his “son” with his “husband”, the Trump Administration changing the recommended vaccine schedule for children, the Trump Administration flipping the “food pyramid”, the Trump Administration ending the “temporary protected status” designation for Somalians, the Trump Administration planning to cut federal funding to so-called “Sanctuary Cities”, the Trump Administration freezing visas for welfare-dependent migrants, Netflix doing everything in their power to force more LGBTQ+ content down our throats, Oklahoma parents being arrested after their dog mauled their 2-year-old to death, Oprah announcing a stunning breakthrough in medical science, the latest worthless accolade LeBron James has given to himself, and much more. Let's get into it… Episode notes and links HERE. Donate to support our mission of equipping men to push back darkness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AGENDA: 03:30 Can VC Survive With Public Market Prices Today 15:20 The Implosion of Thinking Machines 21:13 Elon Musk vs. OpenAI: The Legal Battle 40:50 Can OpenAI Win Ads? 55:50 ClickHouse's $15BN Deal: Analysed 58:55 Replit's $9BN Deal: Analysed 01:08:35 There Are Only Two Types of Deals VCs Want To Do Today      

En este episodio analizamos en profundidad el misterioso gadget de inteligencia artificial que preparan Jony Ive, el legendario diseñador del iPhone, y Sam Altman, CEO de OpenAI, y que podría convertirse en el primer dispositivo de hardware de la compañía. Comentamos qué se sabe hasta ahora sobre su posible forma (pin, auriculares o incluso un lápiz o bolígrafo inteligente), por qué apuestan por un dispositivo sin pantalla y qué significa eso para el futuro de la computación personal más allá del smartphone. También repasamos las declaraciones de Chris Lehane en Davos, donde adelantó que OpenAI baraja lanzar este dispositivo en la segunda mitad de 2026, y debatimos cómo podría cambiar nuestra relación diaria con la IA y con el ecosistema de Apple y otros fabricantes. #OpenAIHardware #GadgetIA #JonyIve #SamAltman #AsistenteDeIA https://seoxan.es/crear_pedido_hosting Codigo Cupon "APPLE" PATROCINADO POR SEOXAN Optimización SEO profesional para tu negocio https://seoxan.es https://uptime.urtix.es PARTICIPA EN DIRECTO Deja tu opinión en los comentarios, haz preguntas y sé parte de la charla más importante sobre el futuro del iPad y del ecosistema Apple. ¡Tu voz cuenta! ¿TE GUSTÓ EL EPISODIO? ✨ Dale LIKE SUSCRÍBETE y activa la campanita para no perderte nada COMENTA COMPARTE con tus amigos applelianos SÍGUENOS EN TODAS NUESTRAS PLATAFORMAS: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Applelianos Telegram: https://t.me/+Jm8IE4n3xtI2Zjdk X (Twitter): https://x.com/ApplelianosPod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/applelianos Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/39QoPbO

Ads were going to be a "last resort" for ChatGPT, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman promised two years ago. Now, they're finally here. Omnicom Digital CEO Jonathan Nelson joins the AdExchanger editorial team to talk through what comes next.

January 21, 2026: Your daily rundown of health and wellness news, in under 5 minutes. Today's top stories: Eventbrite reports 79% of Gen Z and millennials plan to attend more in-person events in 2026, gravitating toward spontaneous formats like run clubs and sauna raves over curated programming Meta puts Supernatural VR fitness app into maintenance mode, ending new content after layoffs and strategic shift toward AI, signaling broader risk for VR fitness category Merge Labs, co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, raises $252M to develop brain-computer interfaces starting with medical applications before expanding to consumer use Cream Co. Meats raises $8M to connect consumers with regenerative ranchers as concern over pesticides drives shift toward nutrient-dense animal protein and transparency More from Fitt: Fitt Insider breaks down the convergence of fitness, wellness, and healthcare — and what it means for business, culture, and capital. Subscribe to our newsletter → insider.fitt.co/subscribe Work with our recruiting firm → https://talent.fitt.co/ Follow us on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/fittinsider/ Follow us on LinkedIn → linkedin.com/company/fittinsider Reach out → insider@fitt.co  

As constraints on energy, water, and permitting collide with exploding demand for AI and compute, a once-fringe idea is moving rapidly toward the center of the conversation: putting data centers in space. Starcloud believes orbital infrastructure isn't science fiction—it's a necessary extension of the global compute stack if scaling is going to continue at anything close to its current pace.Founded by Philip Johnston, Starcloud is building space-based compute systems designed to compete on cost, performance, and scale with terrestrial data centers. The company has already flown a data center–grade GPU in orbit and is now working toward larger, commercially viable systems that could reshape where and how AI is powered. We discuss:How energy and permitting constraints are reshaping the future of computeWhy space-based data centers may be economically inevitable, not optionalWhat Starcloud proved by running an H100 GPU in orbitHow launch costs, watts-per-kilogram, and chip longevity define the real economicsThe national security implications of who controls future compute capacity • Chapters •00:00 - Intro00:50 - The issue with data centers02:20 - Explosion of the data center debates04:58 - Philip's 5GW data center rendering and early conceptions of data centers in space at YC08:16 - Proving people wrong11:17 - The team at Starcloud today12:29 - Competing against SpaceX's data center14:42 - Sam Altman's beef with Starlink16:52 - Economics of Orbital vs Terrestrial Data Centers by Andrew McCallip21:33 - Where are we putting these things?23:50 - Latency in space25:59 - Political side of building data centers28:36 - Starcloud 130:16 - Space based processors30:51 - Shakespeare in space32:00 - Hardening an Nvidia H100 against radiation and making chips in space economical34:43 - Cooling systems in space36:01 - How Starcloud is thinking about replacing failed GPUs38:46 - The mission for Starcloud 240:05 - Competitors outside of SpaceX40:49 - Getting to economical launch costs44:35 - Will the next great wars be over water and power for data centers?46:25 - What keeps Philip up at night?47:11 - What keeps Mo up at night? • Show notes •Starcloud's website — https://www.starcloud.com/Philip's socials — https://x.com/PhilipJohnstonMo's socials — https://x.com/itsmoislamPayload's socials — https://twitter.com/payloadspace / https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspaceIgnition's socials — https://twitter.com/ignitionnuclear /  https://www.linkedin.com/company/ignition-nuclear/Tectonic's socials — https://twitter.com/tectonicdefense / https://www.linkedin.com/company/tectonicdefense/Valley of Depth archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/ • About us •Valley of Depth is a podcast about the technologies that matter — and the people building them. Brought to you by Arkaea Media, the team behind Payload (space), Ignition (nuclear energy), and Tectonic (defense tech), this show goes beyond headlines and hype. We talk to founders, investors, government officials, and military leaders shaping the future of national security and deep tech. From breakthrough science to strategic policy, we dive into the high-stakes decisions behind the world's hardest technologies.Payload: www.payloadspace.comTectonic: www.tectonicdefense.comIgnition: www.ignition-news.com

Helen Toner war im Verwaltungsrat von Open AI, als Chat GPT veröffentlicht wurde. Kurze Zeit später stimmte sie für die Entlassung von CEO Sam Altman. Im Tagesgespräch erzählt sie von dieser Zeit und erklärt, wo sie die grössten Risiken in der Entwicklung von KI ortet. Sie konnte den Aussagen von Altman damals nicht vertrauen, darum habe sie ihre Kontrollfunktion als Verwaltungsrätin nicht erfüllen können, erinnert sich Toner. Das war der Grund, warum das Gremium Altman absetzte. Nur wenige Tage später war er wieder zurück und Toner verliess den Verwaltungsrat. Heute befasst sie sich mit Sicherheitsrisiken von KI im «Think Tank Center for Security and Emerging Technology» an der Georgetown Universität in Washington. Im Tagesgespräch erzählt sie, dass auch die berühmtesten KI-Forscher nicht wirklich verstehen, was sie tun, erklärt, warum es unbedingt mehr Regulation braucht und welchen Beruf ein junger Mensch heute wählen könnte. Helen Toner ist Gästin bei Simone Hulliger.

Conor and Jaeden dive into the intriguing world of brain-computer interfaces, particularly focusing on Merge Labs, a startup recently backed by OpenAI with a significant investment. They discuss the implications of such technology, comparing it to Neuralink and exploring the potential benefits and ethical concerns surrounding direct brain interfacing. Jaeden shares his thoughts on the competitive landscape of AI and the motivations behind these advancements, while also reflecting on the personal experiences and conspiracy theories related to tech figures like Sam Altman. The conversation highlights the balance between innovation and caution as they speculate on the future of human-AI integration.Get the top 40+ AI Models for $20 at AI Box: ⁠⁠https://aibox.aiConor's AI Course: https://www.ai-mindset.ai/coursesConor's AI Newsletter: https://www.ai-mindset.ai/Jaeden's AI Hustle Community: https://www.skool.com/aihustleWatch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/TGlqI0PTc3QChapters 00:00 Introduction to Merge Labs and OpenAI's Investment 01:20 The Implications of Brain-Computer Interfaces 04:42 Neuralink vs. Merge Labs: A Competitive Analysis 06:21 The Ethical Considerations of Brain Interfacing 10:54 Speculating on the Future of AI and Human Integration 12:43 Conspiracy Theories and Tech Giants See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What happens when someone who grew up in the Lucasfilm Games golden era decides that today's AI tools are failing creatives? Mike Levine has spent more than 30 years building at the intersection of games, XR, VFX, and interactive storytelling—and his verdict is clear: the current AI stack is a fragmented, overcomplicated mess that turns directors into prompt engineers.Mike started as a tester at Lucasfilm Games (later LucasArts), working his way into the art department on titles like Sam & Max and The Dig before helping ship live-action Star Wars games such as Rebel Assault and Jedi Knight II. He later built rotoscoping tools used across the VFX industry, collaborated with ILM and Pixar, experimented with mobile AR games for Hasbro and HoloLens, and dipped into crypto gaming—before finally co-founding MovieFlow (now FilmSpark), an AI-native production platform designed so that filmmakers, agencies, and showrunners can move from script to screen without needing a computer science degree.The AI XR news you should know: Apple taps Google Gemini to power Siri, acknowledging that building world-class LLMs in-house makes little financial sense. Meta cuts 10% of Reality Labs, right-sizing its VR bets while pivoting toward wearables. Xreal raises another $100M amid questions about Chinese state influence and data flows. Higgs Field lands $80M at a $1.3B valuation for AI cinematography tools that many filmmakers still find unreliable. Wikipedia signs licensing deals with major AI companies after years of being scraped for free. OpenAI invests $252M in Sam Altman–backed Merge Labs, raising fresh conflict-of-interest questions.Key Moments Timestamps:[00:23:02] From Boston journalist-to-be to accidental hire at Lucasfilm Games[00:26:24] The “test pit” culture at Lucas and how Nintendo experience got Mike in the door[00:28:45] Moving into the art department, learning Photoshop from early legends, and shipping Sam & Max[00:31:15] Live-action Star Wars games: Rebel Assault, Jedi Knight II, and convincing George Lucas[00:34:38] Visiting Pixar with new VFX tools and recognizing the same creative “magic” as LucasArts[00:36:24] Doug Trumbull's influence on Mike's sense of cinematic possibility and immersion[00:43:27] The urinal meeting at Magic Leap and what early spatial computing got right (and wrong)[00:49:00] Why most AI tools are “dark ages” for filmmakers: node graphs, 10+ subscriptions, no story view[00:51:00] Building MovieFlow/FilmSpark: story-first, timeline-based AI production for long-form and vertical shows[00:53:00] The Neighborhood Podcast: a 90-second vertical murder mystery as proof-of-concept for AI-native seriesWhen humans can generate shots, scenes, and even entire episodes in minutes, the bottleneck shifts from production to vision. Mike argues that the winning AI tools will be the ones that let directors see their whole story, maintain continuity, and iterate fast—without ever feeling like they left the edit bay for a dev console. His vertical drama collaboration with Charlie, The Neighborhood Podcast, is an early look at what happens when narrative craft meets AI-native pipelines instead of fighting them.This episode is brought to you by Zapar creators of Mattercraft—the leading visual development environment for building immersive 3D web experiences. Build smarter at mattercraft.io.Watch the full episode on YouTube and subscribe to the AI XR Podcast for weekly conversations with the people building the future of AI, XR, and interactive media.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Welp. That was wild.

Shoot us a Text.Episode #1247: Canada slashes EV tariffs in a controversial China deal, OpenAI kicks off its ad-supported ChatGPT Go plan, and Recurrent CEO Scott Case calls out the real EV story: a booming used market dealers can't afford to miss.Show Notes with links: In a surprise move, Canada struck a deal with China to allow 49,000 Chinese-made EVs into the country annually at a dramatically lower tariff—down from 106% to just 6.1%—in exchange for agricultural trade concessions. The move has stirred both optimism and outrage across the automotive industry.The deal drew sharp criticism from Unifor and industry leaders, who say it rewards unfair labor practices.Critics say it could hurt Canadian auto jobs and complicate USMCA negotiations with the U.S.One of the qualifications is that the vehicles be priced around $30k CAD (25K USD)Don't call it a slow down says , Scott Case, CEO of Recurrent in is Automotive News Op Ed. Despite media headlines suggesting electric vehicle demand is cooling, Case says the narrative is missing the real story and it is that used EVs are booming as he urges dealers to ignore short-term noise and prepare for a long-term shift.Case argues that demand isn't falling, it's shifting to lower-cost used EVs as new prices soar.The used EV market is set to grow 5x, driven by a wave of off-lease EVs hitting the market in 2026.“Winning in the EV market means selling $30K vehicles with 300-mile range and Tesla charging access. In 2026, that means used EVs.” —Scott Case, Recurrent CEO OpenAI just opened the ad door inside ChatGPT as it launches its lowest-cost plan worldwide. That's right, ads are coming to the AI assistant for free and Go users in the U.S., marking a major monetization pivot ahead of a planned IPO.ChatGPT Go is now available globally at $8/month and includes GPT‑5.2 Instant access.Ads will appear as “Sponsored Recommendations” under responses for Go and free users. Sam Altman once called ads a “last resort,” but now says he's okay with them “if it doesn't violate user trust.”“Ads support our commitment to making AI accessible… by helping us keep ChatGPT available at free and affordable price points.” —OpenAI blogThis episode of the Automotive State of the Union is brought to you by Amazon Autos: Meet customers where they shop: reach high-intent buyers shopping for their next car on the #1 online retailer.Join Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier every morning for the Automotive State of the Union podcast as they connect the dots across car dealerships, retail trends, emerging tech like AI, and cultural shifts—bringing clarity, speed, and people-first insight to automotive leaders navigating a rapidly changing industry.Get the Daily Push Back email at https://www.asotu.com/ JOIN the conversation on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/asotu/

Sam Altman và công nghệ AI: Đấng cứu thế hay kẻ huỷ diệt nhân loại? | The Scienceholic | Thế GiớiVideo này được chuyển thể từ bài viết gốc trên nền tảng mạng xã hội chia sẻ tri thức Spiderum

Daily Snippet vom 19.01.2026 Elon Musk hat die Atombombe gezündet: Er verklagt OpenAI und Sam Altman auf 134 Milliarden Dollar. Der Vorwurf: "Organisierter Betrug" (RICO-Klage). Elon sagt: "Ich habe in Non-Profit investiert, ihr habt For-Profit draus gemacht." Das ist nicht nur ein Rechtsstreit. Das ist eine Existenzbedrohung für OpenAI und Microsofts KI-Strategie. Wenn die Verträge nichtig sind, bricht das Kartenhaus zusammen. Was das für Microsoft, Google und deine Tech-Aktien bedeutet.   Folge mir für ehrliche Finanz-Einblicke! Jetzt die Analyse anhören: —— Hier geht es zum Blog: https://www.julianhosp.com/de/blog/daily-snippet-19-01-2026 Folge mir für ehrliche Finanz-Einblicke! —— Montag bis Freitag: Dein persönliches Finanz-Audio. Kompakt, klar und mit den wichtigsten Marktinfos für deinen Vorsprung:

A Note from James:Data is oil. Data is the gold of this AI revolution. Imagine you have an AI that has all of everybody's thoughts also—so it's not just learning on tweets and texts, it's learning on the 60,000 or so thoughts that 8 billion people think each day around the world. This sounds like amazing science fiction and magic and everything that one could ever have dreamed of… or it could be the end of the world. Episode Description:In this solo episode, James breaks down a recent AI development that made him pause for the first time: OpenAI's investment in a brain-computer interface startup called Merge Labs. He explains why data is the core asset in AI—and why the next frontier isn't better chatbots, but higher-bandwidth access to human intent, attention, and ultimately thought.James compares Merge Labs' approach with Neuralink, then walks through the practical upsides: medical breakthroughs, hands-free control of devices, and AI-assisted cognition in everyday life. But he also explores the uncomfortable implications: privacy, influence, and the risk that “thought data” could become the most valuable—and most dangerous—resource on Earth. What You'll Learn:Recognize why “data is oil” is still the most important frame for AI power Understand what brain-computer interfaces are, and how they differ across companies Think through real use cases (medical, device control, communication) before the hype takes over Identify the privacy line: what “training on your thoughts” could actually mean in practice Pressure-test your own optimism about AI by asking: “Once data is shared, can it be unshared?” Timestamped Chapters:[02:00] Data is oil: why AI is really a data arms race [02:40] Utopia vs dystopia vs “newtopia” [03:16] The optimist's argument: tech usually helps more than it hurts [04:39] The news: OpenAI invests $250M into Merge Labs [05:29] Why the Sam Altman overlap matters (and why it's unusual) [06:02] What brain-computer interfaces actually do [06:22] Neuralink explained: reading intent from neurons [07:44] Writing signals back to the brain: the scary part (and the helpful part) [09:39] Merge Labs' approach: engineered neurons + ultrasound [12:47] Controlling devices by thought: the “thermostat from bed” future [14:35] Telepathy as technology: brain-to-brain messaging [16:17] Influence risk: persuasion and “writing” thoughts [18:45] The real moat: not software—data [19:55] The next dataset: 60,000 thoughts/day × 8B people [21:36] The irreversible trade: once data is handed over, it's gone [22:17] Why this kind of news is accelerating Additional Resources:OpenAI — “Investing in Merge Labs” (official announcement)WIRED — coverage of OpenAI's investment and Merge Labs' BCI approachTechCrunch — reporting on the Merge Labs seed round and valuationNeuralink — official siteSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dans cet épisode de L'atelier des médias, Steven Jambot reçoit Guillaume Grallet, rédacteur en chef sciences et tech au magazine Le Point, pour discuter du livre qu'il vient de publier, Pionniers, dans lequel il fait le récit de ses rencontres avec plusieurs figures de la tech mondiale. L'intelligence artificielle bouleverse nos sociétés et ouvre des perspectives vertigineuses, entre progrès scientifique et risques existentiels. Fruit de quinze ans de terrain, Pionniers : Voyage aux frontières de l'intelligence artificielle nous emmène à la rencontre de personnalités du monde de la tech et notamment de l'IA. Le journaliste français Guillaume Grallet n'y cache pas sa curiosité pour ces créateurs, rappelant qu'il leur pose quasi systématiquement trois questions : leur vision du monde dans dix ans, la personnalité qu'ils aimeraient rencontrer, et ce qu'il faut apprendre aux enfants à l'ère de l'accélération technologique. Guillaume Grallet explique sa démarche : « C'est une véritable curiosité de savoir quel monde toutes ces personnes inventent ». Ce voyage journalistique révèle que la Silicon Valley n'est pas un bloc monolithique. Par exemple, si Jensen Huang (Nvidia) estime qu'il ne sert plus à rien d'apprendre à coder, Dario Amodei (Anthropic) soutient au contraire l'importance de comprendre le fonctionnement des machines. À écouter aussi :Plongée sociologique au cœur de la Silicon Valley Entre transhumanisme et repli protecteur Dans son livre, Guillaume Grallet raconte ses rencontre avec des figures emblématiques de la tech, à commencer par Mark Zuckerberg – patron de Meta – dont les convictions transhumanistes l'amènent à imaginer une communication par la pensée d'ici 30 à 50 ans. Pourtant, parallèlement à ces ambitions globales, le patron de Meta semble se préparer à un avenir sombre en construisant un complexe autosuffisant à Hawaii. Face à ces projets parfois opaques, Guillaume Grallet plaide pour une transparence accrue : « Il faut que tous les artisans de ces technologies nous expliquent où ils veulent nous emmener et surtout incluent tout le monde et ne pas nous emmener vers une dystopie ». L'émergence d'une IA souveraine et diverse Cet entretien s'intéresse aussi à la place de l'Afrique dans cette révolution. À travers des figures comme Pelonomi Moiloa et les conférences Indaba, une résistance s'organise contre le « néocolonialisme numérique ». L'objectif est de valoriser la richesse des quelques 2 000 langues africaines pour créer des outils adaptés aux réalités locales, notamment pour l'agriculture ou le climat. Guillaume Grallet souligne l'importance de cette diversité : « On voit des personnalités [...] qui veulent s'appuyer peut-être sur la diversité des langues africaines pour changer le monde ». De la même manière, il salue les efforts européens, comme ceux d'Arthur Mensch avec Mistral AI, qui refusent la fatalité de dépendre uniquement des géants américains. Rester humain : le défi des « neurodroits » Ayant lui-même expérimenté l'implantation d'une puce NFC en 2015 avant de la faire retirer, Guillaume Grallet alerte sur les dérives de l'augmentation humaine. Il rappelle que l'innovation technologique doit rester un outil de progrès et non un moyen d'hybridation forcée. Face à des projets comme Neuralink, il devient essentiel de défendre nos neurodroits, explique Guillaume Grallet : « Si c'est 'nous augmenter, pour nous augmenter', là je dis non. Et je dis qu'il faudra dire non de plus en plus fermement ». Pour lui, l'intégrité de notre cerveau et le droit d'apprendre par soi-même sont des piliers de notre liberté future.

We kick things off with the existential dread of FOLLOW UP and the absolute joy of jury duty. While xAI's Grok is busy getting banned in Malaysia and Indonesia for its CSAM-generating "features," the Senate is unanimously passing the DEFIANCE Act to give us some legal teeth against the deepfake machine. Meta is busy nuking 550,000 Australian accounts to appease regulators, while Roblox's age verification is so broken that a drawing of stubble or a photo of Kurt Cobain can get you into the adult lounge. Moving IN THE NEWS, Meta is trading its $70 billion Metaverse graveyard for a Reality Labs layoff and a pivot to AI hardware, fueled by an "AI infrastructure" buildout that's hiring former Trump advisors. Bandcamp is heroically banning AI "slop," Matthew McConaughey is trademarking his own face to fend off the bots, and ICE's AI hiring tool is such a disaster it's accidentally fast-tracking mall security as "officers." Between self-help gurus charging $99 for chatbot "advice," GM finally settling its driver-spying suit with the FTC, and NASA prepping for a February moon shot while China plans to launch 200,000 satellites into our already crowded orbit, the future looks exactly as messy as we expected.For MEDIA CANDY, we've got Lord of the Rings marathons, the diner-bridge of Starfleet Academy, and the usual joy of streaming price hikes hitting our "Premium" plans. We're tracking the 2025 "In Memoriam" and Gabriel Pagan's exhaustive movie list before sliding into APPS & DOODADS. Jony Ive and Sam Altman are reportedly building an hearing aide called "Sweetpea" to kill your AirPods, Siri is officially Google Gemini's new puppet, and Apple is finally bundling its creative apps into a "Creator Studio" subscription trap. Tesla is making Full Self-Driving a subscription-only Valentine's gift (good luck with that), Ring is rebranding surveillance as a "fire-watching" assistant, and a Chinese app called "Are You Dead?" is the new must-have for the lonely. To cap it off, the internet proved its maturity by using "Words.zip"—an infinite word-search grid—to draw a giant phallus, because of course they did.AT THE LIBRARY features the Anthony Bourdain Reader, the return of Bob in the new Laundry Files book, and Jimmy Carr's guide to happiness, which is apparently cheaper than therapy. Then we descend into THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE, where the dishwasher-installing, ham-radio-lunching Dave Bittner reveals Disney World has job openings for those of us who spent high school in the AV club. Lucasfilm is finally entering a new era as Kathleen Kennedy steps down, just as Galaxy's Edge admits the original trilogy exists, and we wrap it all up with lock-picking kits and the terrifying realization that Seymour from H.R. Pufnstuf is the ultimate Gen-X fursona.Sponsors:DeleteMe - Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to JoinDeleteMe.com/GOG and use promo code GOG at checkout.Gusto - Try Gusto today at gusto.com/grumpy, and get three months free when you run your first payroll.Private Internet Access - Go to GOG.Show/vpn and sign up today. For a limited time only, you can get OUR favorite VPN for as little as $2.03 a month.SetApp - With a single monthly subscription you get 240+ apps for your Mac. Go to SetApp and get started today!!!1Password - Get a great deal on the only password manager recommended by Grumpy Old Geeks! gog.show/1passwordShow notes at https://gog.show/729Watch on YouTube! https://youtu.be/1Y1jnRDw7g0FOLLOW UPMalaysia and Indonesia are the first to block Grok following CSAM scandalSenate passes Defiance Act for a second time to address Grok deepfakesMeta closes 550,000 accounts to comply with Australia's kids social media banRoblox's age verification system is reportedly a trainwreckIN THE NEWSMeta refocuses on AI hardware as metaverse layoffs beginMeta's Layoffs Leave Supernatural Fitness Users in MourningMeta Creates High-Powered Team to Oversee AI Infrastructure BuildoutBandcamp prohibits music made ‘wholly or in substantial part' by AIMatthew McConaughey fights unauthorized AI likenesses by trademarking himselfICE's AI Tool Has Been a Complete DisasterSelf-Help Ghouls Are Charging People Absurd Prices to Talk to Impersonator ChatbotsThe FTC's data-sharing order against GM is finally settledNASA is ending Crew-11 astronauts' mission a month earlyNASA makes final preparations for its first crewed moon mission in over 50 yearsAs SpaceX Works Toward 50K Starlink Satellites, China Eyes Deploying 200KMEDIA CANDYBeast Games Season 2Star Trek: Starfleet AcademyGrumpy Old ListThe Ongoing History of New Music, episode 1069: 2025 in MemoriamDepeche Mode: MAPPS & DOODADSJony Ive and Sam Altman's First AI Gadget May Try to Kill AirPodsApple's Siri AI will be powered by GeminiApple's Mac and iPad creative apps get bundled into “Creator Studio” subscriptionTesla's Full Self-Driving is switching to a subscription-only serviceRing founder details the camera company's 'intelligent assistant' eraAre You Dead?: The viral Chinese app for young people living aloneGive the Internet an Infinite Word Search and the Internet Will Draw a Dick on ItAT THE LIBRARYThe Anthony Bourdain Reader: New, Classic, and Rediscovered Writing by Anthony BourdainObvious Adams: The Story of a Successful Businessman by Robert UpdegraffBefore & Laughter by Jimmy CarrThe Regicide Report (Laundry Files, 14) by Charles StrossTHE DARK SIDE WITH DAVEDave BittnerThe CyberWireHacking HumansCaveatControl LoopOnly Malware in the BuildingHow to Read a Book: A Novel by Monica WoodWalt Disney World Resort is looking for Entertainment Stage TechniciansGalaxy's Edge Will Soon Cover All Eras of ‘Star Wars'Kathleen Kennedy steps down as Lucasfilm president, marking a new era for the Star Wars franchiseSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, we discuss OpenAI's foray into brain-computer interface technology with Merge Labs. We examine how this initiative could reshape human-AI interaction beyond traditional interfaces.

AI-generated sexualized images of women and children started appearing across X beginning late 2025. These images, created by user prompts on the Grok AI tool, showed women and children in various stages of undress and sexualized poses. Some reports claiming minors appeared in transparent bathing suits.Governments in Europe and South America promised full investigations. Malaysia and Indonesia banned the use of Grok. Meanwhile, the Canadian government has made it clear it won't ban X, while pointing towards proposed amendments to Bill C-16 in hopes of safeguarding Canadians - but critics say, its not enough.Host Cristina Howorun speaks to technology author and self-described Muskologist Paris Marx to discuss Elon Musk's apparent tolerance of cyber sexual harassment in the name of profit, and what steps the Canadian government should take to better protect Canadians. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

Greenland, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia – USA is the world’s Cop again? More .. Housing, Credit cards, Fannie and Freddie – all in week’s work.. Retail investors in control – don’t care about the noise. PLUS we are now on Spotify and Amazon Music/Podcasts! Click HERE for Show Notes and Links DHUnplugged is now streaming live - with listener chat. Click on link on the right sidebar. Love the Show? Then how about a Donation? Follow John C. Dvorak on Twitter Follow Andrew Horowitz on Twitter   Warm-Up - Greenland, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia - USA is the world's Cop again? - More .. Housing, Credit cards, Fannie and Freddie - all in week's work.. - Retail investors in control - don't care about the noise Markets - DJIA plowing ahead - NASDAQ on fire - what can stop this? - Nuclear stocks back in play - Defense names on the move - Interesting economic news. FIRST - President Donald Trump said drug “cartels are running Mexico,” and suggested the U.S. military could start land strikes against them there. - The comments come on the heels of suggestions that Trump could take military action in Cuba and Colombia, and to annex Greenland. - The Trump administration has reportedly carried out 35 known strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean, killing 115 individuals. - I will be going to Mexico later this week for a couple of days..... Retail Ruling - Retail traders have extended a buying spree into the new year, following a record-setting performance in 2025, with purchases in the first four trading days of January hitting the second-highest level in almost eight months. - Individual investors have bought about $10.1 billion of US equities since the start of the year, mainly via exchange-traded funds, far exceeding the 12-month weekly average. - Retail investors' confidence has helped stabilize markets during recent pullbacks, and if they keep snapping up equities, gains in the US stock market are likely to persist, according to analysts. Employment Report - 4.4% Unemployment Rate - Nonfarm Payroll Employment: U.S. employers added +50,000 jobs in December 2025. This came in below economists' expectations (consensus around 60,000–73,000) and was a slowdown from the downwardly revised +56,000 in November. - Unemployment Rate: Edged down slightly to 4.4% (from a revised 4.5% in November), contrary to forecasts of 4.5%. The number of unemployed people remained around 7.5 million, showing little change. - Full-Year 2025 Performance: Total payroll growth for the year was just +584,000 jobs (average monthly gain of +49,000), marking one of the weakest years for hiring since 2020 (impacted by the pandemic). This is a sharp drop from +2.0 million added in 2024 (average +168,000 monthly). -Revisions to Prior Months: -- October 2025: Revised down to -173,000 (from -105,000, reflecting federal government buyouts and shutdown effects). -- November 2025: Revised down by 8,000 to +56,000. -- Combined October–November: 76,000 fewer jobs than previously reported. GDP - HOT - Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari (voting FOMC member) on CNBC says it is very surprising how strong GDP growth is; says labor market is clearly cooling; says inflation still too high; has confidence housing inflation will trend down - Q3 at +3.8% and Atlanta GDP NOW is predicting that Q4 will come in at +5.1% More Eco - Productivity (Prelim Q3): 4.9% vs. 2.5% consensus - Productivity measures output per hour worked. A jump to 4.9% (almost double the consensus) suggests businesses are producing much more per labor hour than expected. Prior was revised up to 4.1% from 3.3%, so the trend is strengthening. WOW! Unit Labor Costs (Prelim Q3): -1.9% vs. +0.8% consensus - Unit labor costs measure labor cost per unit of output. A negative number means costs per unit are falling. Prior revised to -2.9% from +1.0%, so costs have been dropping sharply. -Could be due to technology adoption, automation, or efficiency improvements. Post-pandemic restructuring and leaner operations may have boosted output without adding labor. OOOOOOOPS - White House official says Truth Social disclosure of December jobs report was an "inadvertent release"; says White House will review protocols - CNBC  What next? - President Donald Trump called for a one-year cap on credit card interest rates at 10%, effective Jan. 20, without specifying details. - Trump wrote on social media that the American Public will no longer be "ripped off" by Credit Card Companies that are charging Interest Rates of 20 to 30%, and even more. - Maybe because of this: Hours before his message on Friday, Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, said on X: “Trump promised to cap credit card interest rates at 10% and stop Wall Street from getting away with murder. Instead, he deregulated big banks charging up to 30% interest on credit cards.” - BUT! Credit card companies will not be forced to issue credit - right? It will hurt people that need credit for business, personal or other needs. Then there was this: - Mortgage rates fell sharply on Friday, a day after President Donald Trump said on social media that he is instructing mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds. - “This will drive Mortgage Rates DOWN, monthly payments DOWN, and make the cost of owning a home more affordable,” he said in the Truth Social post. - Still not clear where the money will come from and hot this actually works with the current structure of Fannie and Freddie - Talk of Fannie/Freddie IPO? --- Both are still still in conservatorship and book value per share still negative - SO WHERE DOES MONEY COME FROM? OHHHHH - How about this - 4PM browbeating for the Defense companies - RTX was in the hotseat (as were others) taking the wrath of Pres Trump saying that they were basically fat and happy and ripping off the taxpayer - No more dividends and no more buybacks was the call - Stocks dropped 5% into the close and then more after - 30 minutes later - conversation changed and the idea of a move from $1T in spending for the defense budget should move to $1.5T in 2027. ----- Where does that money come from? - Stocks JUMPED! Can't Ignore this - Trump suggesting that Corporations and institutional investors cannot buy single family homes - “People live in homes, not corporations,” he said. - The argument is that corporate ownership has helped push housing further out of reach for everyday Americans. - It is for that reason, and much more, that I am immediately taking steps to ban large institutional investors from buying more single-family homes, and I will be calling on Congress to codify it. - Invitation Homes, which is the largest renter of single-family homes in the country, tumbled 6%. Shares of Blackstone, an investing firm that owns and rents single-family homes, dropped more than 5%. Private equity firm Apollo Global Management also declined over 5%. Then there is this... - DOJ putting he screws to Powell - The Trump administration has ramped up its pressure campaign on the U.S. central bank, threatening to indict Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over comments he made to Congress about a building renovation project, prompting the Fed chief to call the move a "pretext" to gain more influence over the ?setting of interest rates. - The latest development in a long-running effort by U.S. President Donald Trump to push the Fed to dramatically lower rates had immediate fallout in Washington and on global markets. - Powell came out with a video over the weekend. - Initially futures were down

Ce mercredi 14 janvier, François Sorel a reçu Yves Maitre, operating partner chez Jolt Capital, Didier Sanz, journaliste tech, et Frédéric Simottel, journaliste BFM Business. Ils se sont penchés sur le choix de Gemini par Apple pour améliorer son assistant vocal Siri, ainsi que l'éventualité d'une préparation d'un appareil audio par Sam Altman et Jony Ive, dans l'émission Tech & Co, la quotidienne, sur BFM Business. Retrouvez l'émission du lundi au jeudi et réécoutez-la en podcast.

Épisode 1417 : Alors, on commence 2026 avec une rumeur qui agite vraiment tout le monde dans la tech. Et pas qu'un peu. OpenAI pourrait potentiellement racheter Pinterest. Oui, c'est bien ce qu'on a lu. La plus grande acquisition jamais faite par la boîte de Sam Altman. C'est fou, non ?D'où ça vient cette histoire ?Donc voilà, c'est Ann Gehan, une journaliste chez The Information, qui a lâché cette bombe le 2 janvier 2026. Elle l'a glissé dans un article de prédictions pour l'année. C'est pas une annonce officielle, hein. C'est plus une projection, une analyse. https://www.theinformation.com/articles/sutskevers-fate-openais-next-deal-hit-robot-13-predictions-2026Mais dès que l'info a circulé, le marché a réagi immédiatement. L'action Pinterest a explosé de 3% dans la journée. Et voilà, tout le monde se demande si c'est réel ou si c'est juste du vent. Parce que ni OpenAI ni Pinterest n'ont confirmé ou démenti officiellement. On est donc en pleine spéculation.Pinterest c'est une target très sexyPinterest, c'est actuellement une capitalisation de 17,5 milliards de dollars environ.La plateforme compte 600 millions d'utilisateurs actifs mensuels. Et détail qui tue : 42% de la Gen Z sont sur Pinterest. C'est littéralement le segment qui croît le plus vite. C'est des utilisateurs avec du pouvoir d'achat qui arrivent à maturité.Côté revenus publicitaires, on parle de 4,67 milliards de dollars de revenus en 2026.Pinterest, c'est aussi une source de contenu très précieuse pour une boite comme Open AIEt puis, il y a les données brutes. Plus de 240 milliards de pins enregistrés au total sur la plateforme. Et chaque semaine, il arrive 1,5 milliard de nouveaux pins. Quand on pense à ça, c'est essentiellement une mine d'or de données visuelles parfaitement contextualisées par les comportements réels des utilisateurs. C'est dingue d'un point de vue IA.Coté Open AI, la croissance est folle mais la société cherche encore son business modèleMaintenant, intéressons-nous à OpenAI lui-même, parce que là, c'est compliqué. La valorisation ? Elle dépasse actuellement les 500 milliards de dollars. Si l'entreprise entre en bourse, certains analystes parlent de 1 000 milliards de vélo. C'est vertigineux.Mais voilà pour nourrir sa croissance Open AI crame beaucoup d'argent.Pourquoi Pinterest pourrait intéresser Open AI ?Pinterest apporte plusieurs atouts massifs qu'il faut comprendre. Premier atout de Pinterest : les données visuelles.Plus de 200 milliards d'images parfaitement contextualisées par les utilisateurs. C'est énorme pour entraîner des modèles d'IA, surtout des modèles visuels. Le marché de la recherche visuelle est un énorme business et est en pleine explosion. Le marché global devrait passer de 40 milliards de dollars en 2024 à plus de 150 milliards en 2032. On parle d'une croissance annuelle de 18%. C'est énorme. Pinterest est déjà un acteur majeur dans ce marché. Aux côtés de Google, Amazon, Snap. —Deuxième atout de Pinterest : le taste graph.C'est un concept clé. Pinterest connaît les goûts, les intentions, les rêves, les projets de vie des utilisateurs. Pas juste ce qu'ils regardent. Ce qu'ils veulent devenir. C'est de l'insight hyper précieux.Quand tu peux prédire les intentions d'achat tu peux vendre.A noter, que depuis 1 an, Open AI est super focus sur le e-commerce.Depuis S2 2025, ils intègrent de recommandations d'achat dans Chat GPT.Retrouvez toutes les notes de l'épisode sur www.lesuperdaily.com ! Le Super Daily est le podcast quotidien sur les réseaux sociaux. Il est fabriqué avec une pluie d'amour par les équipes de Supernatifs. Nous sommes une agence social media basée à Lyon : https://supernatifs.com. Ensemble, nous aidons les entreprises à créer des relations durables et rentables avec leurs audiences. Ensemble, nous inventons, produisons et diffusons des contenus qui engagent vos collaborateurs, vos prospects et vos consommateurs. Hébergé par Acast. Visitez acast.com/privacy pour plus d'informations.

Reddit citations dropped from 80% to 20% in AI responses, yet remain critically influential. Danny Kirk, founder of ReddiReach, has helped 500+ brands navigate Reddit ethically while building a $2 million agency focused on AI search optimization. Kirk reveals why Reddit's $60 million Google partnership and Sam Altman's 9% stake position the platform as the primary AI training ground for brand discovery. The discussion covers enterprise reputation management strategies, the "upvote democracy" system that validates authentic brand sentiment, and tactical approaches for converting Reddit discussions into sustainable AI search advantages.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Nine months ago, Elon Musk said 2025 would be the year chatbots became smarter than humans. Sam Altman thought it would be the year fully autonomous AIs entered the work force. And Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, predicted that by the end of the year, AI would be writing 90 per cent of all software code.We're two weeks into the new year, and none of those things have happened. So, full disclosure: I have no idea if we're going to reach artificial general intelligence or see the rise of humanoid robots this year. If the people at the centre of the industry can't figure it out, I doubt I can.But I do have some ideas about how AI could reshape our world over the next 12 months. I think we're going to see a new political movement pushing back against AI adoption and leaning into our collective humanity. Democratic governments will defy an increasingly protectionist America and start taking digital regulation seriously again. And we'll start establishing cultural norms about AI use – like whether you really need to respond to that AI-generated e-mail your colleague just sent.On this episode, I turn the mics around and invite my longtime producer, Mitchell Stuart, to ask me about what's actually in store for the year ahead.Mentioned:Trust, attitudes and use of artificial intelligence (2025), KPMGHuman-centric AI: Perspectives on trust and the future of AI (2025), TelusCould an Alternative AI Save Us from a Bubble? (Gary Marcus), by Machines Like UsGPT-5 System Card, OpenAIMulti-model assurance analysis showing large language models are highly vulnerable to adversarial hallucination attacks during clinical decision support, by Mahmud Ohmar et al (Nature)  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Cults and high-control groups often use sexuality to access and manipulate a person's emotional regulation. Some cults, like the Moonies, used it to create a barrier of fear and shame surrounding sexual thoughts or actions. Ellen Huet's new book Empire of Orgasm explores how OneTaste, Inc. and its founder Nicole Daedone used the topic of Orgasmic Meditation to challenge boundaries and minimize taboos through coercive practices and were ultimately convicted of a forced labor conspiracy. Ellen Huet is an award-winning investigative journalist currently writing for Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Businessweek. She also hosts the narrative audio series Foundering, from Bloomberg Technology. In recent seasons, she has worked on topics such as WeWork and OpenAI, as well as examining the trustworthiness of OpenAI's leader, Sam Altman. The 2022 Netflix documentary called Orgasm, Inc.: The Story of OneTaste featured her investigative journalism about the group. Her reporting has also been cited in news outlets such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, Slate, and many others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

MIT reports that 95% of AI initiatives are failing to show ROI. Pablo Dominguez, Operating Partner at Insight Partners, joins the show to explain how to escape that group, and be in the 5% of companies that succeed. Pablo opens the playbook on "Dylan," Insight's internal system of 13 autonomous agents that cut their due diligence process from 35 hours down to 14. Other high points: How Insight used tools like Relevance AI and Gong to build an agent swarm that handles research, analysis, and data cleaning. Why Engineers aren't necessarily who you'd want to build these workflows (and who you need instead) How the CEO of a successful SaaS company is aiming for 5x developer productivity in 2026 Plus the "why" behind some spicy 2026 predictions like: the death of the traditional CRM, Sam Altman's potential exit from OpenAI, and the coming consolidation of "vibe coding" platforms. Thanks for tuning in! Catch new episodes every Sunday Subscribe to Topline Newsletter. Tune into Topline Podcast, the #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech. Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders to keep the conversation going beyond the podcast!   Chapters: 00:00 Introduction: Pablo Dominguez and Insight Partners 04:57 Insight's Structure and Value Creation Engine 08:12 Why Most Companies Fail to Get AI ROI 11:05 Case Study: Automating Diligence with AI Agents 15:39 Resources Required to Build Autonomous Systems 21:23 Managing Hallucinations and Accuracy in AI 31:09 Scaling AI Literacy and Organizational Fluency 37:15 Measuring Engineering Productivity and Cloud Coding 43:14 Balancing AI Automation with Human Authenticity 52:23 Market Trends: Buyer Behavior and Churn Risks 57:18 The Spectrum: From Workflows to Agentic Systems 01:01:13 Why Retention Issues Are Always Product Problems 01:04:35 Bold Industry Predictions for 2026 01:05:43 The Potential Death of the Traditional CRM  

 THE SAM ALTMAN MELODRAMA Colleague Gary Rivlin. The shock firing of Sam Altman by the OpenAI board over trust issues, Microsoft's intervention, and the rapid rehiring that solidified the race for dominance. NUMBER 161955

AI VALLEY: THE TRILLION DOLLAR RACE TO CASH IN Colleague Gary Rivlin. Gary Rivlin chronicles the personalities driving the AI revolution, including Reid Hoffman and Mustafa Suleyman. He explores the history of "AI winters," the rise of neural networks, and the corporate battle between Google and Microsoft. The narrative covers the "Doomer" safety debates and Sam Altman's dramatic firing. NUMBER 91931

Damion 2026 PredictionsThe "Ghost Board" MovementFollowing the 2025 retreat from ESG, a major S&P 500 company (likely in the energy or defense sector) will successfully petition to keep its director bios private for "national security” or “personal safety reasons"Trend starts at a Big Data company using China as an excuse with a single, government-connected director whose identity is kept secret for “national security reasons”By mid-2026, "blind governance" becomes a trend where investors vote for directors identified only by a serial number and a list of "alpha-generating achievements"The “Ghost Board” movement ultimately backfires as shareholders start to vote against subpar achievementsBlackRock and State Street scrap public stewardship for private, encrypted channels with board chairs—Welcome to Dark GovernanceThe 100% Variable Pay CEOCEO Pay routinely targets $1B+ packages, using 100% “at-risk” pay as an excuseThe Rise of "Corporate Sovereignty" ZonesThink the SpaceX "Starbase" model: a major tech or manufacturing firm will strike a deal with a poor red state (like West Virginia or Mississippi, et al) to create a "Special Innovation District" or some other made up name likeAdvanced Innovation ZoneStrategic Innovation CorridorFreedom Technology DistrictAnti-DEI, Pro-ROI Innovation ParkInside these zones, the company provides the police, the utilities, and the "credits/scrip" used at the grocery storeThis revival of the 19th-century company town uses the excuse of "infrastructure efficiency" or “ESG-free zone”The Death of the “Public” Annual MeetingAfter the 2025 proxy season proved shareholders could still be annoying, companies codify mandatory virtual-onlyAI moderators pre-screen questions for “civility” and “relevance,” eliminating most investor dissentShareholders wishing to speak must demonstrate ownership of $1M+—because democracy is not for impoverished nunsElon Musk formally steps back from day-to-day operations at Tesla but calls it an “AI-enabled leadership leverage” and not a full resignation and thus keeps his pay package, with full board approval.Multiple large companies stop using the word “independent” in director bios, replacing it with “objective” or “experienced” or “industry-aligned” or “deeply informed.”Like Europe, board chairs increasingly become the primary public voice on operational and governance issues instead of CEOs, leading to a significant increase in chair pay.A sharp increase in director pay follows due to “heightened complexity and security issues.”The Jay Hoag effect: companies start to exclude attendance data from proxy statements.A company ties massive NEO bonuses to “AI adoption speed,” which becomes completely discretionary and unmeasurable. Starts in Big Data and then happens everywhereMatt 2026 PredictionsWill happen:Sam Altman is caught lying to investors (and no one cares)30% of the S&P 500 will seek to implement a “retail voting” program by the fallHighest retail vote companies: Tesla (~30%), Intel (~30%), AT&T (~30%), Exxon (~30%), Apple (~30%), Pfizer (~30%), Verizon (~25%) - real paragons of board independenceCompanies where executives are suggesting college degrees or elite college degrees are “stupid” do not stop hiring largely from pools of people who have college degrees and/or went to elite colleges25% of CEO pay packages in the US move to “3 year vesting, pretend moonshot, billion plus, no clawback, no strings”Jay Hoag will not be voted off the Netflix boardIn the absence of engagement, precatory proposals, or other shareholder rights, there is one thing for shareholders left: vote no on director campaigns from NON ACTIVISTS (by which I mean institutional investors / pension funds with less than 5% or 13G filers)Specifically - there will be a 150% increase in exempt solicitationsAt least 10% of US large cap companies will have AI “board advisors” - bots that advise boards on legal and governance issuesCould happen:Mass labor movementThe 2025 “badge of honor” that was layoffs, the absolute bonanza of CEO pay, the explosion of “AI billionaires” and “AI took your job” stories, and the attempt to crush labor rights will escalate into the first violent confrontation between employees and their corporate overlordsWidespread strikes will hit, but in the least likely of places: tech and finance, where employees are replaced with AI faster than in other sectorsNatural outgrowth of the “it's someone else's fault” movement - everything is someone else's fault, not management's fault, with the primary culprit of lazy employees - we fired you and it's your fault, not oursThe anti-woke go woke and realize how much data they don't have, but need, to be anti-wokeAt least 1 large company announces it will no longer produce any employee metrics at all, not the count of employees, the names of executives (except where demanded by regulation), or any information that people work thereWith Oracle pioneering the co-Vice Chair and co-CEO roles on the board, and Target pioneering the underperforming executive chair, we see the first round of “Co-Executive Chairs” where the new ex-CEO stays on the board just under the old ex-CEOSeems absurd, but entirely possible:The first billion dollar option pay package for a non-executive director (7 year vest, zero at risk for performance)JPMorgan's new AI proxy voting robot starts an activist campaign seeking to vote out the Tesla boardA US board pays a “retention bonus” worth $20m in options due to the threat of Trump administration intervention and the CEO is close with the administrationExxon will add “shareholder demands” as a risk in their annual report

This week, we discuss AI's impact on Stack Overflow, Docker's Hardened Images, and Nvidia buying Groq. Plus, thoughts on playing your own game and having fun. Watch the YouTube Live Recording of Episode (https://www.youtube.com/live/LQSxLbjvz3c?si=ao8f3hwxlCrmH1vX) 554 (https://www.youtube.com/live/LQSxLbjvz3c?si=ao8f3hwxlCrmH1vX) Please complete the Software Defined Talk Listener Survey! (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfl7eHWQJwu2tBLa-FjZqHG2nr6p_Z3zQI3Pp1EyNWQ8Fu-SA/viewform?usp=header) Runner-up Titles It's all brisket after that. Exploring Fun Should I go build a snow man? Pets Innersourcing Two books Michael Lewis should write. Article IV is foundational. Freedom is options. Rundown Stack Overflow is dead. (https://x.com/rohanpaul_ai/status/2008007012920209674?s=20) Hardened Images for Everyone (https://www.docker.com/blog/docker-hardened-images-for-every-developer/) Tanzu's Bitnami stuff does this too (https://blogs.vmware.com/tanzu/what-good-software-supply-chain-security-looks-like-for-highly-regulated-industries/). OpenAI OpenAI's New Fundraising Round Could Value Startup at as Much as $830 Billion (https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/openais-new-fundraising-round-could-value-startup-at-a[…]4238&segment_id=212500&user_id=c5a514ba8b7d9a954711959a6031a3fa) OpenAI Reportedly Planning to Make ChatGPT "Prioritize" Advertisers in Conversation (https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/openai-chatgpt-sponsored-ads) OpenAI bets big on audio as Silicon Valley declares war on screens (https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/01/openai-bets-big-on-audio-as-silicon-valley-declares-war-on-screens/) Sam Altman says: He has zero percent interest in remaining OpenAI CEO, once (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/tech-news/sam-altman-says-he-has-zero-percent-interest-remaining-openai-ceo-once-/articleshow/126350602.cms) Nvidia buying AI chip startup Groq's assets for about $20 billion in its largest deal on record (https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/24/nvidia-buying-ai-chip-startup-groq-for-about-20-billion-biggest-deal.html) Relevant to your Interests Broadcom IT uses Tanzu Platform to host MCP Servers (https://news.broadcom.com/app-dev/broadcom-tanzu-platform-agentic-business-transformation). A Brief History Of The Spreadsheet (https://hackaday.com/2025/12/15/a-brief-history-of-the-spreadsheet/) Databricks is raising over $4 billion in Series L funding at a $134 billion (https://x.com/exec_sum/status/2000971604449485132?s=20) Amazon's big AGI reorg decoded by Corey Quinn (https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/17/jassy_taps_peter_desantis_to_run_agi/) “They burned millions but got nothing.” (https://automaton-media.com/en/news/japanese-game-font-services-aggressive-price-hike-could-be-result-of-parent-companys-alleged-ai-failu/) X sues to protect Twitter brand Musk has been trying to kill (https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/17/x_twitter_brand_lawsuit/) Mozilla's new CEO says AI is coming to Firefox, but will remain a choice | TechCrunch (https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/17/mozillas-new-ceo-says-ai-is-coming-to-firefox-but-will-remain-a-choice/) Why Oracle keeps sparking AI-bubble fears (https://www.axios.com/2025/12/18/ai-oracle-stock-blue-owl) What's next for Threads (https://sources.news/p/whats-next-for-threads) Salesforce Executives Say Trust in Large Language Models Has Declined (https://www.theinformation.com/articles/salesforce-executives-say-trust-generative-ai-declined?rc=giqjaz) Akamai Technologies Announces Acquisition of Function-as-a-Service Company Fermyon (https://www.akamai.com/newsroom/press-release/akamai-announces-acquisition-of-function-as-a-service-company-fermyon) Google Rolling Out Gmail Address Change Feature: Here Is How It Works (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/google-rolling-gmail-address-change-033112607.html) The Enshittifinancial Crisis (https://www.wheresyoured.at/the-enshittifinancial-crisis/) MongoBleed: Critical MongoDB Vulnerability CVE-2025-14847 | Wiz Blog (https://www.wiz.io/blog/mongobleed-cve-2025-14847-exploited-in-the-wild-mongodb) Softbank to buy data center firm DigitalBridge for $4 billion in AI push (https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/12/29/digitalbridge-shares-jump-on-report-softbank-in-talks-to-acquire-firm.html) The best tech announced at CES 2026 so far (https://www.theverge.com/tech/854159/ces-2026-best-tech-gadgets-smartphones-appliances-robots-tvs-ai-smart-home) Who's who at X, the deepfake porn site formerly known as Twitter (https://www.ft.com/content/ad94db4c-95a0-4c65-bd8d-3b43e1251091?accessToken=zwAGR7kzep9gkdOtlNtMlaBMZdO9jTtD4SUQkQ.MEYCIQCdZajuC9uga-d9b5Z1t0HI2BIcnkVoq98loextLRpCTgIhAPL3rW72aTHBNL_lS7s1ONpM2vBgNlBNHDBeGbHkPkZj&sharetype=gift&token=a7473827-0799-4064-9008-bf22b3c99711) Manus Joins Meta for Next Era of Innovation (https://manus.im/blog/manus-joins-meta-for-next-era-of-innovation) The WELL: State of the World 2026 with Bruce Sterling and Jon Lebkowsky (https://people.well.com/conf/inkwell.vue/topics/561/State-of-the-World-2026-with-Bru-page01.html) Virtual machines still run the world (https://cote.io/2026/01/07/virtual-machines-still-run-the.html) Databases in 2025: A Year in Review (https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pavlo/blog/2026/01/2025-databases-retrospective.html) Chat Platform Discord Files Confidentially for IPO (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-06/chat-platform-discord-is-said-to-file-confidentially-for-ipo?embedded-checkout=true) The DRAM shortage explained: AI, rising prices, and what's next (https://www.techradar.com/pro/why-is-ram-so-expensive-right-now-its-more-complicated-than-you-think) Nonsense Palantir CEO buys monastery in Old Snowmass for $120 million (https://www.denverpost.com/2025/12/17/palantir-alex-karp-snowmass-monastery/amp/) H-E-B gives free groceries to all customers after registers glitch today in Burleson, Texas. (https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/s/ZEcblg7atP) Conferences cfgmgmtcamp 2026 (https://cfgmgmtcamp.org/ghent2026/), February 2nd to 4th, Ghent, BE. Coté speaking - anyone interested in being a SDI guest? DevOpsDayLA at SCALE23x (https://www.socallinuxexpo.org/scale/23x), March 6th, Pasadena, CA Use code: DEVOP for 50% off. Devnexus 2026 (https://devnexus.com), March 4th to 6th, Atlanta, GA. Coté has a discount code, but he's not sure if he can give it out. He's asking! Send him a DM in the meantime. KubeCon EU, March 23rd to 26th, 2026 - Coté will be there on a media pass. Whole bunch of VMUGs, mostly in the US. The CFPs are open (https://app.sessionboard.com/submit/vmug-call-for-content-2026/ae1c7013-8b85-427c-9c21-7d35f8701bbe?utm_campaign=5766542-VMUG%20Voice&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_YREN7dr6p3KSQPYkFSN5K85A-pIVYZ03ZhKZOV0O3t3h0XHdDHethhx5O8gBFguyT5mZ3n3q-ZnPKvjllFXYfWV3thg&_hsmi=393690000&utm_content=393685389&utm_source=hs_email), go speak at them! Coté speaking in Amsterdam. Amsterdam (March 17-19, 2026), Minneapolis (April 7-9, 2026), Toronto (May 12-14, 2026), Dallas (June 9-11, 2026), Orlando (October 20-22, 2026) SDT News & Community Join our Slack community (https://softwaredefinedtalk.slack.com/join/shared_invite/zt-1hn55iv5d-UTfN7mVX1D9D5ExRt3ZJYQ#/shared-invite/email) Email the show: questions@softwaredefinedtalk.com (mailto:questions@softwaredefinedtalk.com) Free stickers: Email your address to stickers@softwaredefinedtalk.com (mailto:stickers@softwaredefinedtalk.com) Follow us on social media: Twitter (https://twitter.com/softwaredeftalk), Threads (https://www.threads.net/@softwaredefinedtalk), Mastodon (https://hachyderm.io/@softwaredefinedtalk), LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/software-defined-talk/), BlueSky (https://bsky.app/profile/softwaredefinedtalk.com) Watch us on: Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/sdtpodcast), YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi3OJPV6h9tp-hbsGBLGsDQ/featured), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/softwaredefinedtalk/), TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@softwaredefinedtalk) Book offer: Use code SDT for $20 off "Digital WTF" by Coté (https://leanpub.com/digitalwtf/c/sdt) Sponsor the show (https://www.softwaredefinedtalk.com/ads): ads@softwaredefinedtalk.com (mailto:ads@softwaredefinedtalk.com) Recommendations Brandon: Why Data Doesn't Always Win, with a Philosopher of Art (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-points-you-shouldnt-score-a-new-years-resolution/id1685093486?i=1000743950053) (Apple Podcasts) Why Data Doesn't Always Win, with a Philosopher of Art (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AdbePyGS2M&list=RD7AdbePyGS2M&start_radio=1) (YouTube) Coté: “Databases in 2025: A Year in Review.” (https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pavlo/blog/2026/01/2025-databases-retrospective.html) Photo Credits Header (https://unsplash.com/photos/red-and-black-love-neon-light-signage-igJrA98cf4A)

This is an expanded episode of an essay i've recently written about how we need to radically rethink our idea of a centrist…one that needs to meet a completely new criteria…the center needs to hold the positions that a majority of Americans support. Radical idea I know. And currently, what is considered…“the center” does not meet this simple criteria. The current ideas of the “center” are radical brain rotted freaks. They are not serious people and should be treated as such.Our current center believes profit is the ultimate ego ideal to strive for…they wish to strip your humanity from every purchase you make.The irrational centrist holds profit as their first principle…in both the economic sense and the moral sense. We see this in the “not really political” influencers who define success through preselected goals: more cars, more crypto rug pulls, and a narcissistic drive to be seen “winning”. This is the “self-optimized narcissist” in action, a figure obsessed with an unachievable ego ideal.As Todd McGowan notes, the foundation of the capitalist structure is the promise of the future. We buy commodities to discover satisfaction, accumulate capital to “one day” have enough, and speed up distribution for future profit. This manufactured hope is sold back to us as progress, yet it is built on the false premise that satisfaction is always just one purchase away. Does it currently feel like the better tomorrow is coming?Our modern governance has transitioned from democratic deliberation to technocratic management. Digital platforms have eaten away at our minds, leaving behind conceptual ghosts and transactions. Our smartphones are no longer tools…they shape how we think and what we desire. We have entered a stage of "manufactured narcissism," where our public and private selves become indistinguishable as we perform roles scripted by the machine of fame and profit.Your average normie influencer does ad reads for another dog water company and we don't even blink an eye. If they want to be influencers, we should be holding their feet directly in the fire when they are lazy profit hungry fools. Why do they get a pass? The current center facilitates a narcissistic fantasy where we no longer view ourselves as distinct from the objects we consume… instead, we are pushed into a capitalistic based fragmentation where our own consumption becomes a rotted form of self-reification. This creates a smokescreen that prevents us from understanding what we truly desire or what a healthy politics looks like. The current “Enlightened Centrist” (EC) is often just someone who is mentally tired and lazy (CC Lex Fridman as the perfrect example of sounding lazy and thinking lazy). They are tired of ideological purity tests, so they adopt “centrism” as a brand to mask their complicity. They preach a “pathological optimism” that masks the smell of a decaying status quo.A true centrist position must be an ideological inversion based on material reality. Consider the data:* Bipartisan Support: 67% of Americans support a Billionaire income tax, and over 60% support a wealth tax.* Healthcare Priority: 72% of voters support “radical” measures to lower healthcare costs and reduce the role of insurance middlemen.* Red State Realism: In 2024, deep-red states like Missouri and Alaska voted to raise the minimum wage and mandate paid sick leave.These voters aren't “radical extremists”…they are working people who recognize that the status quo is irrational. Their “mistrust” is not a “doomer” mindset—it is a rational observation of a system where working full-time no longer guarantees stable housing or family milestones.The average American is grounded in reality. The elites? Are radical brain rotted fools that should be treated as such. And the irrational center tells us that universal healthcare and living wages are expensive fantasies. Meanwhile, “techno-utopians” like Sam Altman sell a delusional vision of an AI-driven future of abundance to obscure the current material rot of energy depletion and rising costs.They are promising you a better tomorrow while stealing everything from you today. How do we treat frauds? Do we give them another bail out? Or should we be operating more rationally? I think we should be prosecuting them for their lack of competence and fraudulent lies. It's that simple. The true center must step back into the “grey zone” of reality. It refuses to lie to itself about what the system is. It recognizes that “hope” has become a consumer product designed to distract us from the harsh truth of our material predicament.We must stop allowing media influencers to act as highly paid PR firms for power. A rational middle ground should operate with principles of moderation and compromise, but it must reject the binary of left and right, which serves as a controlled opposition designed to simulate choice without threatening power.The path forward is grounded in an awareness of our collective experience. By focusing on the expressed material needs of the vast majority, we can transition from objects of the "celebrity machine" to subjects who influence our own reality. This is the grounded, rational, and true hope for the future. One that the center MUST hold. Stay curious. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brendenslabyrinth.substack.com/subscribe

Grok and X have been letting people create some risqué and in some cases, probably illegal images, and governments around the world are getting pissed. Does Google think AI can obviate your email inbox? And would you upload your medical history to ChatGPT? Sam Altman is asking you to. Grok Is Generating Sexual Content Far More Graphic Than What's on X (Wired) Google is taking over your Gmail inbox with AI (The Verge) OpenAI launches ChatGPT Health, encouraging users to connect their medical records (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paris Marx is joined by Karen Hao to discuss how Sam Altman's goal of scale at all costs has spawned a new empire founded on exploitation of people and the environment, resulting in not only the loss of valuable research into more inventive AI systems, but also exacerbated data privacy issues, intellectual property erosion, and the perpetuation of surveillance capitalism. Karen Hao is an award-winning journalist and the author of Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI. Tech Won't Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon. The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson. This episode originally aired in June 2025. Also mentioned in this episode: Karen was the first journalist to profile OpenAI. Karen has reported on the environmental impacts and human costs of AI. The New York Times reported on why we're unlikely to get artificial general intelligence anytime soon.

AGENDA: 04:30 Groq Acquired by NVIDIA for $20BN: The Breakdown 17:13 Meta's $2BN Acquisition of Manus: Did They Sell Too Early 36:04 OpenAI's Stock-Based Compensation Strategy 47:42 Will AI Replace Venture Capitalists 56:13 Navan Trading at 4x ARR: Who is Good Enough to Go Public? 01:09:46 The Rise of Invisible Unemployment 01:14:21 The Future of Work and Education in an AI-Driven World    

Our 230th episode with a summary and discussion of last week's big AI news!Recorded on 01/02/2026Hosted by Andrey Kurenkov and Jeremie HarrisFeel free to email us your questions and feedback at contact@lastweekinai.com and/or hello@gladstone.aiRead out our text newsletter and comment on the podcast at https://lastweekin.ai/In this episode:Nvidia's acquisition of AI chip startup Groq for $20 billion highlights a strategic move for enhanced inference technology in GPUs.New York's RAISE Act legislation aims to regulate AI safety, marking the second major AI safety bill in the US.The launch of GLM 4.7 by Zhipu AI marks a significant advancement in open-source AI models for coding.Evaluation of long-horizon AI agents raises concerns about the rising costs and efficiency of AI in performing extended tasks.Timestamps:(00:00:10) Intro / Banter(00:01:58) 2025 RetrospectiveTools & Apps(00:24:39) OpenAI bets big on audio as Silicon Valley declares war on screens | TechCrunchApplications & Business(00:26:39) Nvidia buying AI chip startup Groq for about $20 billion, biggest deal(00:34:28) Exclusive | Meta Buys AI Startup Manus, Adding Millions of Paying Users - WSJ(00:38:05) Cursor continues acquisition spree with Graphite deal | TechCrunch(00:39:15) Micron Hikes CapEx to $20B with 2026 HBM Supply Fully Booked; HBM4 Ramps 2Q26(00:42:06) Chinese fabs are reportedly upgrading older ASML DUV lithography chipmaking machines — secondary channels and independent engineers used to soup up Twinscan NXT seriesProjects & Open Source(00:47:52) Z.AI launches GLM-4.7, new SOTA open-source model for coding(00:50:11) Evaluating AI's ability to perform scientific research tasksResearch & Advancements(00:54:32) Large Causal Models from Large Language Models(00:57:33) Universally Converging Representations of Matter Across Scientific Foundation Models(01:02:11) META-RL INDUCES EXPLORATION IN LANGUAGE AGENTS(01:07:16) Are the Costs of AI Agents Also Rising Exponentially?(01:11:17) METR eval for Opus 4.5(01:16:19) How to game the METR plotPolicy & Safety(01:17:24) New York governor Kathy Hochul signs RAISE Act to regulate AI safety | TechCrunch(01:20:40) Activation Oracles: Training and Evaluating LLMs as General-Purpose Activation Explainers(01:26:46) Monitoring Monitorability(01:32:07) Sam Altman is hiring someone to worry about the dangers of AI | The Verge(01:33:38) X users asking Grok to put this girl in bikini, Grok is happy obliging - India TodaySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

According to Sam Altman, OpenAI's biggest rival isn't Google, it's Apple. WSJ reporter Rolfe Winkler says the AI startup has big ambitions to displace the App Store by growing into an operating system powerful enough to let you access the apps you use every day, from Uber to Instacart, without ever leaving ChatGPT. Plus, WSJ personal tech columnist Nicole Nguyen breaks down how AI might help you (finally) stick with your fitness resolutions. Patrick Coffee hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pick the headline that best describes the story:VenezuelaTrump's Hint to Oil Executives Weeks Before Maduro Ouster: ‘Get Ready'Maduro overthrow could help these U.S. oil companies recover assets seized by VenezuelaTrump makes it clear shocking Venezuelan regime change is largely about oil: ‘They stole our oil … We're going to make a lot of money'US oil giants mum after Trump says they'll spend billions in VenezuelaUS oil companies gain after capture of Venezuela's MaduroA group of about 20 US investors is already planning a trip to Venezuela in MarchMaduro falls, Bitcoin rises: The 1,671% surge that hit before Wall Street woke upAI-generated content spreads after Maduro's removal — blurring fact and fictionElonElon Musk's X faces probes in Europe, India, Malaysia after Grok generated explicit images of women and childrenElon Musk's X faces regulatory probes in Europe, India and Malaysia after its Grok chatbot began generating deepfake explicit images, some depicting child sex abuse.Elon Musk After His Grok AI Did Disgusting Things to Literal Children: “Way Funnier” Elon Musk's Grok AI faces government backlash after it was used to create sexualized images of women and minorsMusk's xAI faces backlash after Grok generates sexualized images of children on XWoman felt 'dehumanised' after Musk's Grok AI used to digitally remove her clothesElon Musk plans 'high-volume production' of Neuralink brain chips and says he wants to automate the surgical procedureTesla Loses EV Crown to BYD After Second Annual Sales DropAIChildrenTech Giants Pushing AI Into Schools Is a Huge, Ethically Bankrupt Experiment on Innocent Children That Will Likely End in DisasterChildren Falling Apart as They Become Addicted to AIOpenAI's child exploitation reports increased sharply this yearPsychosisDoctors Say AI Use Is Almost Certainly Linked to Developing PsychosisWoman Suffers AI Psychosis After Obsessively Generating AI Images of HerselfMan Describes How ChatGPT Led Him Straight Into PsychosisAI Godfather Warns That It's Starting to Show Signs of Self-PreservationDisturbing Messages Show ChatGPT Encouraging a Murder, Lawsuit AllegesOpenAI Reportedly Planning to Make ChatGPT “Prioritize” Advertisers in ConversationBillionairesThe world's richest people just had their best year yetAI boom adds more than half a trillion dollars to wealth of US tech barons in 2025There are more self-made billionaires under 30 than ever before—11 of them have made the ultra-wealthy club in the last 3 months thanks to AIJamie Dimon made $770 million last year. 2026 could be even better for banksEasing rules and a rebound in dealmaking are reshaping the landscape for U.S. banks, with bigger profits likely aheadThreat of California Billionaire Tax Draws Criticism From UltrawealthyBill Ackman slams California wealth tax as ‘expropriation' of private propertyBill Ackman Blasts Ro Khanna For Defending Billionaire Tax: 'Lost His Way'Peter Thiel and Larry Page are preparing to flee California in case the state passes a billionaire wealth tax, report saysTech billionaires threaten to flee California over proposed 5% wealth taxBari Weiss yanking a 60 Minutes story is censorship by oligarchy Speed Round Dumb or Good Rating (1-10)Dumb2 former Hinge execs are building an app to make it easier to plan hangouts with your friends 10Boeing (BA) CEO “is a Nonsense Guy,” Says Jim Cramer 2Some men may downplay climate change risks to avoid appearing feminine 0New research provides evidence that men who are concerned about maintaining a traditional masculine image may be less likely to express concern about climate change. The findings suggest that acknowledging environmental problems is psychologically linked to traits such as warmth and compassion. These traits are stereotypically associated with femininity in many cultures. Consequently, men who feel pressure to prove their manhood may avoid environmentalist attitudes to protect their gender identity. The study was published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology.CEO of local public company to step down after nearly 10 years 9Malcolm Gladwell tells young people if they want a STEM degree, ‘don't go to Harvard.' You may end up at the bottom of your class and drop out 6OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says he is ‘envious' of Gen Z college dropouts who have the ‘mental space' and time to build new startups 9This 22-year-old college dropout with an AI powered YouTube empire makes $700,000 a year and works just 2 hours a day 1Trump Mobile says its first-ever smartphone is delayed, and the government shutdown is to blame 3The college-to-office path is dead: CEO of the world's biggest recruiter says Gen Z grads need to consider trade jobs with no degree required 4ChatGPT gets ‘anxiety' from violent user inputs, so researchers are teaching the chatbot mindfulness techniques to ‘soothe' it 7Good?Minimum wage just went up in 19 states—workers in one state are getting a $2 an hour raise 8Judge says Trump administration must continue funding consumer watchdog Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 5Angry town halls nationwide find a new villain: the data center driving up your electricity bill while fueling job-killing AI 8Bernie Sanders and Ron DeSantis speak out against data center boom. It's a bad sign for AI industry 9Mitt Romney says the U.S. is on a cliff—and taxing the rich is now necessary ‘given the magnitude of our national debt' 7Microsoft CEO Begs Users to Stop Calling It “Slop” 10Man Operating Robot Accidentally Makes It Kick Him Directly in the Nutsack 9MATT1WE MISSED THE PREDICTIONS:Crypto: Tom Lee Predicts $250K Ethereum Price as BitMine Adds to $13 Billion Stash, Grayscale Predicts Bitcoin Will Reach New All-Time High by March 2026Stocks: Every Wall Street Analyst Now Predicts a Stock Rally in 2026 - EVERY!AI: ‘Godfather of AI' Geoffrey Hinton predicts 2026 will see the technology get even better and gain the ability to ‘replace many other jobs', Amazon's Alexa chief predicts an end to doom scrolling: the next generation is ‘going to just think differently', In 2026 CFOs predict AI transformation, not just efficiency gainsAs millions of Gen Zers face unemployment, CEOs of Amazon, Walmart, and McDonald's say opportunity is still there—if you have the right mindset - I PREDICT NOT HAVING A JOB IS YOUR OWN FAULTOily oil: Oil experts predict slight rise in gas prices as global tensions mountBlowhards: Elon Musk predicts double-digit US growth by 2026, Treasury Secretary predicts historic merger could make 2026 a ‘very good year' Trump advisor predicts Miami will dethrone NYC as financial capital under new progressive mayorOpenAI's CEO Sam Altman says in 10 years' time college graduates will be working ‘some completely new, exciting, super well-paid' job in space

BEST OF TST: Peter Thiel of Palantir is hosting a lecture series on the Antichrist in San Francisco between September 15 and October 6, 2025. Entirely secretive, the talk is put on by Acts 17 Collective, referring to the Biblical book of Acts wherein we read about how the divine being is not like material things (gold and silver) but instead something far more valuable. Is this ironic or intentional? Many see this as the fulfillment of prophecy, but perhaps it is the fulfilling of pop-culture prophecy instead. Perhaps technocrats are playing and preying on 4 billion Christians and Muslims to run a scenario designed to strip away faith in the divine and parlay it into technology. A satirizing of eschatology? The tech-bros believe that God messed up and man can fix it by replacing organic creation with synthetics. Everlasting life can be achieved through gold and silver (material means) which will extinguish the real spiritual nature of mankind - the true gold that is ‘Christ' consciousness - and replace it with antichrist consciousness. In the process, vampires like Thiel will feed on your corpse. True eternal life begins with recognizing death and choosing to make the world a better place anyways rather than becoming a nihilist. It is the choice of Christ consciousness and of faith in what lies beyond. One often overlooked detail of the technocracy is the apparent obsession with homosexuality, transgenderism, and Judaism. Consider the gay technocrats of Thiel, Yuval Harari, Sam Altman, and the debated sexuality of Alex Karp. All but Thiel are also Jewish, as is Larry Ellison and Curtis Yarvin, the man giving JD Vance many of his philosophical ideas. In fact, Thiel and Yarvin created Vance and influence him through their Dark Enlightenment philosophy, which wants to replace governments with a techno-monarchy equivalent to the Christian concept of a NWO. Are their Homosexual practices recycling sexual energy to create synthetic life? Homosexuality is also a rejection of God's creation, which is why so many Jews embrace not just homosexuality but the entirety of LGBTQ. People like Sam Altman have placed the hexagram into his ChatGPT logo while he has unveiled an ORB device that is a machine which confirms your humanity. We need only recall Matthew 26 where the high priest Pharisees accuse Jesus of being the Son of God to which Jesus rejects such a notion and lectures them on the end of their monopoly over salvation. The tech-bros are the modern pharisees and they not only reject Christ, but intend to convince his followers to fight a Holy War, and then offer salvation from the destruction with their vampiric machines. Alex Karp has promised a 3-front war is coming and Larry Ellison did say that most of the advanced AI technology was coming from Herzliya Israel, not Silicon Valley, which would make it a brother to transgenderism which finds its home in Tel Aviv. If all of this is slightly more true then it means Israel is the beast and the Balfour Declaration of 1917 was the dragon giving power unto the same. This is probably why the Trump administration has given military roles to the tech-bros and held high-profile dinners for Silicon Valley technocrats who he is himself a slave too. Hence the cutting of his right ear as a result of an assassination attempt, which Biblically speaks to the servant of the high priest, which in the Church of Satan is MAGA.*The is the FREE archive, which includes advertisements. If you want an ad-free experience, you can subscribe below underneath the show description.WEBSITEFREE ARCHIVE (w. ads)SUBSCRIPTION ARCHIVE-X / TWITTERFACEBOOKINSTAGRAMYOUTUBERUMBLE-BUY ME A COFFEECashApp: $rdgable Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-secret-teachings--5328407/support.

FOUNDING OPENAI Colleague Keach Hagey, The Optimist. In 2016, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and Ilya Sutskever founded OpenAI as a nonprofit research lab to develop safe artificial general intelligence (AGI). Backed by investors like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, the organization aimed to be a counterweight to Google's DeepMind, which was driven by profit. The team relied on massive computing power provided by GPUs—originally designed for video games—to train neural networks, recruiting top talent like Sutskever to lead their scientific efforts. NUMBER 13 1955

THE ROOTS OF AMBITION Colleague Keach Hagey, The Optimist. Sam Altman grew up in St. Louis, the son of an idealistic developer and a driven dermatologist mother who instilled ambition and resilience in her children. Altmanattended the progressive John Burroughs School, where his intellect and charisma flourished, allowing him to connect with people on any topic. Though he was a tech enthusiast, his ability to charm others defined him early on, foreshadowing his future as a master persuader in Silicon Valley. NUMBER 14 JANUARY 1931

SHOW 12-2-2026 THE SHOW BEGIJS WITH DOUBTS ABOUT AI --  a useful invetion that can match the excitement of the first decades of Photography. November 1955 NADAR'S BALLOON AND THE BIRTH OF PHOTOGRAPHY Colleague Anika Burgess, Flashes of Brilliance. In 1863, the photographer Nadar undertook a perilous ascent in a giant balloon to fund experiments for heavier-than-air flight, illustrating the adventurous spirit required of early photographers. This era began with Daguerre's 1839 introduction of the daguerreotype, a process involving highly dangerous chemicals like mercury and iodine to create unique, mirror-like images on copper plates. Pioneers risked their lives using explosive materials to capture reality with unprecedented clarity and permanence. NUMBER 1 PHOTOGRAPHING THE MOON AND SEA Colleague Anika Burgess, Flashes of Brilliance. Early photography expanded scientific understanding, allowing humanity to visualize the inaccessible. James Nasmyth produced realistic images of the moon by photographing plaster models based on telescope observations, aiming to prove its volcanic nature. Simultaneously, Louis Boutan spent a decade perfecting underwater photography, capturing divers in hard-hat helmets. These efforts demonstrated that photography could be a tool for scientific analysis and discovery, revealing details of the natural world previously hidden from the human eye. NUMBER 2 SOCIAL JUSTICE AND NATURE CONSERVATION Colleague Anika Burgess, Flashes of Brilliance. Photography became a powerful agent for social and environmental change. Jacob Riis utilized dangerous flash powder to document the squalid conditions of Manhattan tenements, exposing poverty to the public in How the Other Half Lives. While his methods raised consent issues, they illuminated grim realities. Conversely, Carleton Watkins hauled massive equipment into the wilderness to photograph Yosemite; his majestic images influenced legislation signed by Lincoln to protect the land, proving photography's political impact. NUMBER 3 X-RAYS, SURVEILLANCE, AND MOTION Colleague Anika Burgess, Flashes of Brilliance. The discovery of X-rays in 1895 sparked a "new photography" craze, though the radiation caused severe injuries to early practitioners and subjects. Photography also entered the realm of surveillance; British authorities used hidden cameras to photograph suffragettes, while doctors documented asylum patients without consent. Finally, Eadweard Muybridge's experiments captured horses in motion, settling debates about locomotion and laying the technical groundwork for the future development of motion pictures. NUMBER 4 THE AWAKENING OF CHINA'S ECONOMY Colleague Anne Stevenson-Yang, Wild Ride. Returning to China in 1994, the author witnessed a transformation from the destitute, Maoist uniformity of 1985 to a budding export economy. In the earlier era, workers slept on desks and lacked basic goods, but Deng Xiaoping's realization that the state needed hard currency prompted reforms. Deng established Special Economic Zones like Shenzhen to generate foreign capital while attempting to isolate the population from foreign influence, marking the start of China's export boom. NUMBER 5 RED CAPITALISTS AND SMUGGLERS Colleague Anne Stevenson-Yang, Wild Ride. Following the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, China reopened to investment in 1992, giving rise to "red capitalists"—often the children of party officials who traded political access for equity. As the central government lost control over local corruption and smuggling rings, it launched "Golden Projects" to digitize and centralize authority over customs and taxes. To avert a banking collapse in 1998, the state created asset management companies to absorb bad loans, effectively rolling over massive debt. NUMBER 6 GHOST CITIES AND THE STIMULUS TRAP Colleague Anne Stevenson-Yang, Wild Ride. China's growth model shifted toward massive infrastructure spending, resulting in "ghost cities" and replica Western towns built to inflate GDP rather than house people. This "Potemkin culture" peaked during the 2008 Olympics, where facades were painted to impress foreigners. To counter the global financial crisis, Beijing flooded the economy with loans, fueling a real estate bubble that consumed more cement in three years than the US did in a century, creating unsustainable debt. NUMBER 7 STAGNATION UNDER SURVEILLANCE Colleague Anne Stevenson-Yang, Wild Ride. The severe lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic shattered consumer confidence, leaving citizens insecure and unwilling to spend, which stalled economic recovery. Local governments, cut off from credit and burdened by debt, struggle to provide basic services. Faced with economic stagnation, Xi Jinping has rejected market liberalization in favor of increased surveillance and control, prioritizing regime security over resolving the structural debt crisis or restoring the dynamism of previous decades. NUMBER 8 FAMINE AND FLIGHT TO FREEDOM Colleague Mark Clifford, The Troublemaker. Jimmy Lai was born into a wealthy family that lost everything to the Communist revolution, forcing his father to flee to Hong Kong while his mother endured labor camps. Left behind, Lai survived as a child laborer during a devastating famine where he was perpetually hungry. A chance encounter with a traveler who gave him a chocolate bar inspired him to escape to Hong Kong, the "land of chocolate," stowing away on a boat at age twelve. NUMBER 9 THE FACTORY GUY Colleague Mark Clifford, The Troublemaker. By 1975, Jimmy Lai had risen from a child laborer to a factory owner, purchasing a bankrupt garment facility using stock market profits. Despite being a primary school dropout who learned English from a dictionary, Lai succeeded through relentless work and charm. He capitalized on the boom in American retail sourcing, winning orders from Kmart by producing samples overnight and eventually building Comitex into a leading sweater manufacturer, embodying the Hong Kong dream. NUMBER 10 CONSCIENCE AND CONVERSION Colleague Mark Clifford, The Troublemaker. The 1989 Tiananmen Squaremassacre radicalized Lai, who transitioned from textiles to media, founding Next magazine and Apple Daily to champion democracy. Realizing the brutality of the Chinese Communist Party, he used his wealth to support the student movement and expose regime corruption. As the 1997 handover approached, Lai converted to Catholicism, influenced by his wife and pro-democracy peers, seeking spiritual protection and a moral anchor against the coming political storm. NUMBER 11 PRISON AND LAWFARE Colleague Mark Clifford, The Troublemaker. Following the 2020 National Security Law, authorities raided Apple Daily, froze its assets, and arrested Lai, forcing the newspaper to close. Despite having the means to flee, Lai chose to stay and face imprisonment as a testament to his principles. Now held in solitary confinement, he is subjected to "lawfare"—sham legal proceedings designed to silence him—while he spends his time sketching religious images, remaining a symbol of resistance against Beijing's tyranny. NUMBER 12 FOUNDING OPENAI Colleague Keach Hagey, The Optimist. In 2016, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and Ilya Sutskever founded OpenAI as a nonprofit research lab to develop safe artificial general intelligence (AGI). Backed by investors like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, the organization aimed to be a counterweight to Google's DeepMind, which was driven by profit. The team relied on massive computing power provided by GPUs—originally designed for video games—to train neural networks, recruiting top talent like Sutskever to lead their scientific efforts. NUMBER 13 THE ROOTS OF AMBITION Colleague Keach Hagey, The Optimist. Sam Altman grew up in St. Louis, the son of an idealistic developer and a driven dermatologist mother who instilled ambition and resilience in her children. Altmanattended the progressive John Burroughs School, where his intellect and charisma flourished, allowing him to connect with people on any topic. Though he was a tech enthusiast, his ability to charm others defined him early on, foreshadowing his future as a master persuader in Silicon Valley. NUMBER 14 SILICON VALLEY KINGMAKER Colleague Keach Hagey, The Optimist. At Stanford, Altman co-founded Loopt, a location-sharing app that won him a meeting with Steve Jobs and a spot in the App Store launch. While Loopt was not a commercial success, the experience taught Altman that his true talent lay in investing and spotting future trends rather than coding. He eventually succeeded Paul Graham as president of Y Combinator, becoming a powerful figure in Silicon Valley who could convince skeptics like Peter Thiel to back his visions. NUMBER 15 THE BLIP AND THE FUTURE Colleague Keach Hagey, The Optimist. The viral success of ChatGPT shifted OpenAI's focus from safety to commercialization, despite early internal warnings about the existential risks of AGI. Tensions over safety and Altman's management style led to a "blip" where the nonprofit board fired him, only for him to be quickly reinstated due to employee loyalty. Elon Musk, having lost a power struggle for control of the organization, severed ties, leaving Altman to lead the race toward AGI. NUMBER 16

After OpenAI CEO Sam Altman launched ChatGPT in 2022, the race for dominance in the field of artificial intelligence hit warp speed. Silicon Valley has poured billions of dollars into developing AI, building data centers, and promising a future free from the chains of unfulfilling work across the globe.But in “Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI,” tech reporter Karen Hao pulls back the curtain, unveiling the human and environmental cost of artificial intelligence and the colonial ambitions undergirding Silicon Valley's efforts to fuel the rise of AI.This week on The Intercept Briefing, host Jessica Washington speaks to Hao about her book and the dawn of the AI empire. “Empires similarly consolidate a lot of economic might by exploiting extraordinary amounts of labor and not actually paying that labor sufficiently or at all,” says Hao. “So that's how they are able to amass wealth — because they're not actually distributing it.”“The speed at which they're constructing the infrastructure for training and deploying their AI models” is what shocks Hao the most, as “this infrastructure is actually not technically necessary, and ... somehow the companies have effectively convinced the public and governments that it is. And therefore there's been a lot of complicity in allowing these companies to continue building these projects.”“They have effectively been able to use this narrative of [artificial general intelligence] to accrue more capital, land, energy, water, data. They've been able to accrue more resources — and critical resources — than pretty much anyone in history,” Hao says, warning of "the complete aggressive and reckless” growth of AI infrastructure, but stresses that none of this is inevitable. “There is a very clear path for how to unlock the benefits of AI without accepting the colossal cost of it.”Listen to the full conversation of The Intercept Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.If you want to support our work, you can go to theintercept.com/join. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

PREVIEW SAM ALTMAN'S SHIFTING STANCE ON AI REGULATION Colleague Keach Hagey. Keach Hageyobserves that while Sam Altman initially warned Congress that AI could potentially "kill us all," his focus shifted after ChatGPT's viral success. Hagey notes that as Altman's goals became more commercial, he became significantly less enthusiastic about strict government regulation.  1922 BELL TELEPHONE MAGAZINE

Talking about the news and robots and all the fun stuff~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Politics, Sam Altman, ChatGPT App, Tesla Optimus, China Robot Components, Elon Musk, EPA Phthalates Risk, President Trump's Approval Rating, NGO Gaza Support, Fed Project Cancellations, Fed Childcare Funds Suspension, Iran Protests, Zohran Mamdani's Block Party, Food Pyramid Update, Welfare Recipients Voter ID Link, Nick Shirley, Corporate Power Plants, Palisade Fires Permit Delays, Putin's Residence Attack, Filibuster Debate, Science AI Writing Usage, Taiwan China Tensions, Scott Adams~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~If you would like to enjoy this same content plus bonus content from Scott Adams, including micro-lessons on lots of useful topics to build your talent stack, please see scottadams.locals.com for full access to that secret treasure.

Continuing our big name-dropping look-back with Sam Altman, Lisa Su, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Satya Nadella, Matthew Prince, Arthur Mensch, Sir Demis Hassabis, Marc Benioff, and Dario Amodei, this is the second special Christmas edition of the pod – and this time we're looking at what we've learned about the impact of AI on the real world since the Tech Pod started in October 2024 with DeepMind's Sir Demis Hassabis. From robotaxis to listening pendants: what does AI look like in real life? How is it being used in business? And will there be any jobs left? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This Week In Startups is made possible by:LinkedIn Ads - http://linkedin.com/thisweekinstartupsSquarespace -https://squarespace.com/twistHubspot - http://clickhubspot.com/twist1Today's show: We're saying goodbye to 2025 with our annual TWISTY Awards, looking back on our favorite pod moments from throughout the year.Featured clips include Jason's message to the members of Reddit's r/AntiWork community…Why JCal would NEVER work with Sam Altman or OpenAI…The time that Jason got doxxed and then found the guy responsible on LinkedIn…Why LA Mayor Karen Bass earned a *disgraziad*…Alex saying “Yessir!” in a weird way…And much more classic TWiST content.See y'all next year!Timestamps:(0:00) It's the final episode of the year: The TWiSTY Awards for our favorite moments and guests of the year(2:06) The nominees for Best Name Drop(7:02)2025 in Trends(9:52) LinkedIn Ads: Start converting your B2B audience into high quality leads today. Launch your first campaign and get $250 FREE when you spend at least $250. Go to http://linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups to claim your credit.(14:28) The best Jason anecdotes and personal stories(19:43) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://squarespace.com/twist(22:28) Our favorite 2025 guests, including Doug Leone, Coffeezilla, Anton Osika, and more(29:03) The year in Jason Rants(30:18) Hubspot: Check out the guide “How to Get Your First 100 Customers.” Download it for free at http://clickhubspot.com/twist1(36:11) Controversial moments and the year's hottest takes(44:11) DISGRAZIAD! Here are the most shameful people and companies of 2025(50:50)Alex's best/worst Dad Jokes(54:32) It's a simple word… groceries*Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp*Follow Lon:X: https://x.com/lons*Follow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm/*Follow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis/*Thank you to our partners:(9:52) LinkedIn Ads: Start converting your B2B audience into high quality leads today. Launch your first campaign and get $250 FREE when you spend at least $250. Go to http://linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups to claim your credit.(19:43) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://squarespace.com/twist(30:18) Hubspot: Check out the guide “How to Get Your First 100 Customers.” Download it for free at http://clickhubspot.com/twist1

Mon, 29 Dec 2025 22:00:00 GMT http://relay.fm/upgrade/596 http://relay.fm/upgrade/596 The 2025 Upgradies 596 Jason Snell and Myke Hurley It's time for the 12th Annual Upgradies! Myke and Jason discuss their favorites of 2025, take the input of many Upgradians, and hand out awards in numerous categories! Only the finest will walk away with the most coveted of titles: Upgradies Winner. It's time for the 12th Annual Upgradies! Myke and Jason discuss their favorites of 2025, take the input of many Upgradians, and hand out awards in numerous categories! Only the finest will walk away with the most coveted of titles: Upgradies Winner. clean 9482 It's time for the 12th Annual Upgradies! Myke and Jason discuss their favorites of 2025, take the input of many Upgradians, and hand out awards in numerous categories! Only the finest will walk away with the most coveted of titles: Upgradies Winner. This episode of Upgrade is sponsored by: Sentry: Mobile crash reporting and app monitoring. New users get $100 in Sentry credits with code upgrade26. Ecamm: Powerful live streaming platform for Mac. Fitbod: Get stronger, faster with a fitness plan that fits you. Get 25% off your membership. Links and Show Notes: List of Nominees (Spoilers Below) Best Overall iOS App Final Cut Camera Mango Baby Carrot Weather Ivory Callsheet Best Newcomer iOS App Tapestry Focus Friend Athlytic Cassette Best Overall Mac App Numbers Mimestream ChatGPT Claude Ice ChatGPT Mimestream Obsidian Things Best Newcomer Mac App Longplay Superwhisper Claude Ice ChatGPT Festivitas Affinity Hyperspace ChatGPT Ghostty Tapestry Best Feature: Best Implementation of a '26 OS Feature** iPad Multitasking Clipboard History for Mac Private Cloud Compute in Shortcuts Athlytic Liquid Glass iPad Multitasking Call Screening Game of the Year Herdling Donkey Kong Bananza Balatro Clair Obscure Expedition 33 Favourite Movie Thunderbolts* Superman Flow My Old Ass Sinners F1 One Battle After Another Favourite TV Show The Pitt Ludwig Murderbot Pluribus Severance The Studio Favourite Book Moonbound by Robin Sloan Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz Apple in China, by Patrick McGee Ensh*ttification, by Cory Doctorow Everything is Tuburculosis, by John Green Favourite Podcast Connected Crash Course Pods: The Universe Wavefrm The Town Kinda Funny Gamescast The Rest is History Connected Upgrade Favourite Apple Product iPhone 17 Pro AirPods Pro 3  iPhone Air iPad Pro M5 MacBook Air M4 Favourite Non-Apple Product RoboRock vacuum Combustion thermal probe Traeger pellet grill Nintendo Switch 2 Bambu Labs P2S 3D Printer Trmnl E-Ink Display Worst Gadget / Most Disappointing Tech “Sky Blue” MacBook Air XTEINK X4 Cord Cutting Drama AI Liquid Glass Apple Intelligence Most Life-Changing Hardware RoboRock vacuum Combustion thermal probe M4 MacBook Pro and Second Desk Lutron Shades Vtech RM7767HD iPad mini in the Nursery AirPods Pro 3 Apple Watch Nintendo Switch 2 Favourite Tech Story “Larry Ellison's big dumb gift to his large adult son” - Elizabeth Lopatto/The Verge “Memo to Bari Weiss Re: CBS News: You're doomed” Elizabeth Lopatto/The Verge Something is Rotten in the State of Cupertino Apple Succession Alan Dye Leaves Apple AI Arms Race Announcement of the Steam Machine Favourite Tech Screw Up Apple gives up on personalized Siri until “the coming year” Jony Ive and Sam Altman share a coffee in SF Apple, Epic, Judge Gonzalez Rogers — Apple losing ability to charge 30%, being held in contempt, etc Apple Intelligence AWS / Cloudflare Outages Liquid Glass Get Upgrade+. More content, no ads. Submit Feedback Record of Previous Winners – Upgradies.com

What will AI look like in 2026? Is the hype a bubble or a tech revolution that will transform everything? This episode, the global politics shaping the future of AI and what it means for you. Guests include tech entrepreneur Alvin Wang Graylin, NPR tech reporter John Ruwitch, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in conversation with TED's Chris Anderson.TED Radio Hour+ subscribers now get access to bonus episodes, with more ideas from TED speakers and a behind the scenes look with our producers. A Plus subscription also lets you listen to regular episodes (like this one!) without sponsors. Sign-up at: plus.npr.org/tedLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy