Podcasts about Sergey Brin

Dave Landau's back in-studio with us as Diddy's sex tape leaked on the internet. PLUS – Meghan Markle's hypocrisy, the Stop Nick Shirley Act, Spencer Pratt, Freedom 250 concert, and filming in public places for fight content. Comedian Dave Landau joins us today. Maine politician Graham Platner and wife address some hot sexting action. Freedom 250 Show: Flo Rida has a pretty stupid name. C&C Music Factory's Freedom Williams pops off from the toilet. Donald Trump cancels the entire event in favor of a rally. Filming people and then arguing about it is such a hot content trend right now. Spencer Pratt jumped on Club Random with Bill Maher. He is surging in LA polls. Al Roker HATES Spencer and Heidi. Sergey Brin endorses the reality star. The Stop Nick Shirley Act is a thing. Nobody wants to talk to him. Bob Page is not very kind to Denny McLain on Twitter. Tampa Bay Ray Wander Franco avoids prison time, but is likely never going to play in the Big Leagues again. A Diddy Freak Off allegedly leaked starring Daphne Joy. 50 Cent isn't too thrilled his baby-mama was plowed by Sly Diggler. Dr. Jill Biden appeared on The Today Show to talk about Joe's prostate cancer. Pancreatic cancer took a loss today. Hey Kevin Hart… nice production company. YouTubers are out-selling Hollywood. Fox News' Kennedy is not a fan of Chelsea Handler. Meghan Markle is caught being a candle hypocrite. Prince Harry's charities are failing and full of torture. Meghan Markle makes everything uncomfortable. We might have some merch left. Click here to check what's available. If you'd like to help support the show… consider subscribing to our YouTube Channel, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (Drew Lane, Marc Fellhauer, Trudi Daniels, Jim Bentley, BranDon, and Roberto).

Is AI the biggest scam of our generation — or the most misunderstood technology in history? Cognitive scientist Gary Marcus has been studying artificial intelligence for over 30 years, and what he has to say will make you question everything you thought you knew about ChatGPT, AGI, and the trillion dollar AI gold rush.In this episode of SparX, we are talking with Gary Marcus – professor, author, and one of the most respected and fiercely independent voices in AI research – about why the promises being made by Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, and Elon Musk may be leading the global economy toward a catastrophic miscalculation.

Deník New York Times zveřejnil na konci dubna pozoruhodný článek s názvem „Jak se Sergey Brin posunul doprava“. Všechny díly podcastu Názory a argumenty můžete pohodlně poslouchat v mobilní aplikaci mujRozhlas pro Android a iOS nebo na webu mujRozhlas.cz.

Independent investigative journalism, broadcasting, trouble-making and muckraking with Brad Friedman of BradBlog.com

As director of Keyhole, Dave Lorenzini delivered the 3D Earth zooms that ran on CNN during the 2003 Iraq War — netting five million users in a month. Sergey Brin was one of them. Google bought the company and poured in billions to build, fuel, and serve maps. As Google Earth, it forever changed how we relate to space.From there: pioneering work on Google Glass, AR platforms, and running an immersive XR lab in Europe for Draw & Code exploring the future of spaces, places, and faces. Today Dave directs Quantum Studio, building World Agent and 4D ID — the "DNS for real space," an addressing layer where every place, object, and moment gets a name AI systems can agree on. His thesis: the next decade of AI won't run on better maps. AI needs an operating system for reality. Not a map. Not a database. A living, queryable foundation where every place on Earth answers for itself.AI XR News: The OpenAI vs. Musk trial continued with damaging testimony from Mira Murati and Greg Brockman. Anthropic struck an unholy alliance with xAI's Colossus compute. GameStop bid for eBay. Colin Angle is back with Familiar, an AI robot pet. Coinbase cut staff. Ask.com finally died. VRChat hit 100,000 concurrent daily users in Japan.Key Moments:[00:03:34] AWE Long Beach in 30 days: Dave on the board, Snap glasses expected, 400 speakers and 250 exhibitors[00:20:10] 30 AI glasses coming: why the near future belongs to audio-first, AI-powered smart glasses[00:25:34] Keyhole origin story: satellite imagery, $25K/sq mile, Sergey Brin, and a $500M/year acquisition[00:37:30] Google Glass, Luxottica, and why Google blinked when it could have been 10 years ahead of Meta[00:40:00] XR vs. rockets: why building for the human brain is harder than getting to MarsBrought to you by Zappar, the company behind Mattercraft — the leading visual development environment for immersive 3D web experiences. Start building at mattercraft.io.Subscribe to the AI XR Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/weNANIIo7EASee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Latest on Wealth Taxes Episode 383 – The concept of a wealth tax—applying a tax to the value of someone's assets—has become popular in some state legislatures in the last few years. Are they likely to catch on anytime soon? More SML Planning Minute Podcast Episodes Transcript of Podcast Episode 383 Hello, this is Bill Rainaldi, with another edition of Security Mutual's SML Planning Minute. In today's episode: the latest on wealth taxes. Public budget concerns seem to be everywhere, and state governments are no exception. The problem has gotten worse in the past few years because, in some cases, states would like to continue programs that were started with federal COVID spending that has since run out.[1] So, what's left for a state to do? Some are taking a look at so-called “wealth taxes” as a way to raise revenue. The appeal of wealth taxes is that, in theory, a state government can raise significant sums of money while affecting only a small slice of its population. A wealth tax takes a completely different approach from a sales, income or estate tax. It's a tax imposed on someone's net worth, that is, the total market value of their assets minus liabilities.[2] Here's an example. Let's say there's a two percent wealth tax on individuals with a net worth above $100 million in a particular state. If you're lucky enough to have a net worth of $1 billion, you would pay on the difference of $900 million, resulting in a tax bill of $18 million. Some proposed wealth taxes are written to occur annually while others are written as a one-time levy. One of the arguments in favor of wealth taxes is that they could raise a significant amount of revenue for the individual states. Another is that they would make the tax system more progressive and thus lessen the effects of income inequality. Some studies have indicated that income inequality has risen in the United States in recent years.[3] But there are also some notable arguments against the use of wealth taxes, particularly at the state level. For one thing, individual mobility would likely work against them. In other words, a high-income individual facing a wealth tax can simply move to another state to avoid it. There is evidence to suggest that a high tax burden can prompt some people to relocate. For example, after decades of growth, California, the state with the highest maximum income tax rate at 13.3 percent, has led the nation in net out-migration for six consecutive years, according to a 2026 report.[4] Critics suggest that more recent developments in California could make matters worse. The state is now considering a referendum that, if approved, would impose a one-time five percent wealth tax on state residents with a net worth of $1 billion or more. Advocates are currently gathering signatures in an effort to get the proposed tax on the ballot in 2026.[5] There is anecdotal evidence that some California billionaires have left the state out of fear that the proposal will become law, among them Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Mark Zuckerberg.[6] Other states, such as Illinois, Maryland and Washington have all introduced wealth tax legislation, although the final outcome remains uncertain in each state.[7] There are still unanswered questions about how a wealth tax would work. Conceptually, a wealth tax is based on the value of your assets, rather than the income you receive from them. This is different from, for example, capital gains taxes, which only become payable when you sell the asset. What happens if you pay a wealth tax one year—without selling the assets—and then the value of those assets goes down the next year? Would you get a refund? The answer seems to be no. At the federal level, the question of whether a wealth tax is permitted under the U.S. Constitution is a matter of intense legal debate. The federal income tax began in 1913 after the 17th Amendment was passed to specifically authorize it.[8] Many experts believe that a federal wealth tax would not currently pass a constitutional challenge, and it would likely take another amendment before it is allowed.[9] At the state level, each one of them has its own constitution, and they're all different. There are potential legislative, constitutional and practical obstacles that could end up being too big to handle. Only time will tell whether the states will be able to collect the bonanza they're hoping for. [1] Finseca. “Finseca Policy 02/24/26: State Wealth Tax Blitz & US Deficit Updates.” Finseca.org. https://www.finseca.org/finseca-policy-02-24-26-state-wealth-tax-blitz-us-deficit-updates/ (accessed April 13, 2026). [2] Peter G. Peterson Foundation. “What Is a Wealth Tax, and Should the United States Have One?” Pgpf.org. https://www.pgpf.org/article/what-is-a-wealth-tax-and-should-the-united-states-have-one/ (accessed April 13, 2026). [3] Cunningham, Mary. “Wealth inequality in America just hit its widest gap in more than 3 decades.” CBSNews.com. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-wealth-gap-widest-in-three-decades-federal-reserve/ (accessed April 13, 2026). [4] Christopher, Nilesh. “California's exodus isn't just billionaires — it's regular people renting U-Hauls, too.” The Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2026-01-08/californias-exodus-isnt-just-billionaires-its-regular-people-renting-u-hauls-too (accessed April 13, 2026). [5] BDO USA, P.C. “California's Billionaire Tax Proposal Would Allow Sweeping, One-Time Taxation Based on Net Worth.” BDO.com. https://www.bdo.com/insights/tax/californias-billionaire-tax-proposal-would-allow-sweeping-one-time-taxation-based-on-net-worth (accessed April 13, 2026). [6] Perman, Stacy. “Inside the exodus of California tech billionaires to Florida.” The Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2026-03-11/inside-exodus-of-california-tech-billionaires-to-florida (accessed April 13, 2026). [7] Finseca. “Finseca Policy 02/24/26: State Wealth Tax Blitz & US Deficit Updates.” Finseca.org. https://www.finseca.org/finseca-policy-02-24-26-state-wealth-tax-blitz-us-deficit-updates/ (accessed April 13, 2026). [8] Bishop-Henchman, Joe. “Is a Wealth Tax Constitutional?” Ntu.org. https://www.ntu.org/foundation/detail/is-a-wealth-tax-constitutional (accessed April 13, 2026). [9] Id. More SML Planning Minute Podcast Episodes This podcast is brought to you by Security Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, The Company That Cares®. The content provided is intended for educational and informational purposes only. Information is provided in good faith. However, the Company makes no representation or warranty of any kind regarding the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of the information. The information presented is designed to provide general information regarding the subject matter covered. It is not to serve as legal, tax or other financial advice related to individual situations, because each individual's legal, tax and financial situation is different. Specific advice needs to be tailored to your situation. Therefore, please consult with your own attorney, tax professional and/or other advisors regarding your specific situation. To help reach your goals, you need a skilled professional by your side. Contact your local Security Mutual life insurance advisor today. As part of the planning process, he or she will coordinate with your other advisors as needed to help you achieve your financial goals and objectives. For more information, visit us at SMLNY.com/SMLPodcast. If you've enjoyed this podcast, tell your friends about it. And be sure to give us a five-star review. And check us out on LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter. Thanks for listening, and we'll talk to you next time. Tax laws are complex and subject to change. The information presented is based on current interpretation of the laws. Neither Security Mutual nor its agents are permitted to provide tax or legal advice. The applicability of any strategy discussed is dependent upon the particular facts and circumstances. Results may vary, and products and services discussed may not be appropriate for all situations. 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The MET Gala 2026 was eclipsed by its own sponsors, making the event feel out of touch and out of fashion.Beyoncé made her first MET Gala appearance in ten years. Rihanna showed up (very late). And there were many incredible fashion moments: from Emma Chamberlain to Nicole Kidman to Lena Dunham. But the whole affair was overshadowed by the sponsorship of Jeff and Lauren Sánchez Bezos. Plus, other tech billionaires, Mark Zuckerberg and Sergey Brin, made their MET Gala debuts. All calling into question...what is this event (and art) really for?To get into it, NPR Music's Anamaria Sayre is joined by culture critic Marjon Carlos and culture writer Shelton Boyd-Griffith. Together they rate the best and worst of fashion's biggest night and explain why the MET Gala feels like it's in decline.Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluseFor handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR's Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Independent investigative journalism, broadcasting, trouble-making and muckraking with Brad Friedman of BradBlog.com

Yaël Eisenstat discusses the impact of online platforms on public health, safety and democracy. She is currently[1] the Director of Policy and Impact at Cybersecurity for Democracy (C4D),[2] working on policy solutions for how to hold social media and other online platforms accountable for their effects on public safety and democracy. Previously, she was Vice President at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Center for Technology & Society (CTS). She was a Facebook election integrity head in 2018 and later became a whistleblower, speaking publicly about the dangers to democracy stemming from the company's decisions and products. She has held other other positions protecting democracy including as an intelligence officer, diplomat, and White House advisor. C4D contributed to the recent March 24, 2026, jury verdict in a civil case against Internet companies in New Mexico.[3] Eisenstat is interviewed by Spencer Graves.[4] Eisenstat's work Eisenstat's work includes a TED Talk and an SXSW panel in 2020 and a 2024  research report on tech platforms and political violence. 2020 TED talk In Eisenstat's (2020) TED talk, she said that around 2015 she began to notice that she was losing the ability to engage with others who were thought differently. Conversations with others in the US were becoming more difficult than conversations she had had as a CIA officer and diplomat drinking tea and talking with outspoken anti-Western clerics and suspected terrorists in Africa. Many of those engagements began with mutual suspicion but none degenerated into shouting or insults. In some cases she built collaboration on areas of mutual interest. Her most powerful tools were to listen, learn and build empathy. Most of her contacts wanted to feel heard, validated and respected. But social media companies like Facebook incentivize inflammatory content contributing to a culture of political polarization and mistrust. This generates revenue for Facebook and similar companies that make money from clicks, "because the shortest path to a click is anger or hate", in the words of Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, interviewed 2024-08-19 for this Media & Democracy series. When Facebook asked Eisenstat in 2018 to lead their work to support global elections integrity for political ads, she agreed. She left six months later, speaking openly about Facebook's inability to meet its responsibility to secure elections, subsequently documented, e.g., in the thousands of internal Facebook documents that Haugen released to the Securities and Exchange Commission and The Wall Street Journal in 2021. 2020 SXSW panel Eisenstat was part of a "panel about the Future of Tech Responsibility" for the 2020 South by Southwest festival. The festival was cancelled due to COVID-19, but the panel was held virtually. This panel included a discussion of Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended by the Communications Decency Act of 1996.[5] It was "written before platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter existed" -- written while Google was a research project by Stanford PhD students Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Section 230 includes, "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider."[6] Eisenstat says that it's time to revisit Section 230, to demand accountability where Internet companies promote or suppress information based on the content while protecting web freedom otherwise. This is similar to the recommendations of Dean Baker that when Internet companies make money by promoting information differentially based on content, they should be liable as are legacy media under the US Supreme Court decision in NYT v. Sullivan (1964). In other cases, they should be treated as common carriers like telephone companies. 2024: Tech platforms and political violence More recently, Eisenstat et al. (2024a, b) are insisting that, "Tech Platforms Must Do More to Avoid Contributing to Potential Political Violence". The New York Times had reported that, "a steady undercurrent of violence and physical risk has become a new normal," particularly targeting public officials and democratic institutions. A survey from the Brennan Center found that 38% of election officials have experienced violent threats. They attributed these threats primarily to tech platforms and gave seven recommendations in four themes "congruent with any number of papers that academics and civil society leaders have published over the years." They said that platforms must develop robust standards for threat assessment and engage in scenario planning, crisis training, and engagement with external stakeholders, with as much transparency as possible. should enforce clear and actionable content moderation policies that address election integrity. should enforce their rules uniformly, not exempting politicians and other political influencers. must clearly explain important content moderation decisions, ensuring transparency especially when it comes to high profile accounts. They hope that increasing demands for accountability will prompt platforms to act more responsibly and prioritize the risk of political violence both in the United States and abroad. More on Wikiversity More on this including a moderated discussion of the issues raised is available in the companion article on Wikiversity on "Online platforms' effects on public health, safety and democracy". Notes Yael Eisenstat, Wikidata Q82046593 Cybersecurity for Democracy, Wikidata Q139568543 McQue (2026), "C4D and the Courts: Meta Guilty Verdicts". Cybersecurity for Democracy. Wikidata Q139572464. Spencer Graves, Wikidata Q56452480 Reid (2020). 47 U.S. Code § 230 - Protection for private blocking and screening of offensive material, 1996, Wikidata Q139570261 Bibliography Bobby Allyn (25 March 2026). "Jury finds Meta and Google negligent in social media harms trial". NPR. Wikidata Q139572103. Yael Eisenstat (August 2020) Dear Facebook, this is how you're breaking democracy, TED, Wikidata Q138844363 Yael Eisenstat (2021). "Section 230 Revisited: Web Freedom vs Accountability". Cornell Tech. 13 May 2020. Wikidata Q139568755. Yael Eisenstat; Justin Hendrix; Daniel Kreiss (2024a). "Preventing Tech-Fueled Political Violence: What online platforms can do to ensure that they do not contribute to election-related violence". The Bulletin of Technology & Public Life. 22 May 2024. Wikidata Q139571027. Yael Eisenstat; Justin Hendrix; Daniel Kreiss (2024B). "Tech Platforms Must Do More to Avoid Contributing to Potential Political Violence". Tech Policy Press. Wikidata Q139571163. Katie McQue (24 March 2026). "Meta ordered to pay $375m after being found liable in child exploitation case". The Guardian. Wikidata Q139572337. ISSN 0261-3077. Blake E. Reid (4 September 2020), Section 230 of… what?, Wikidata Q139570229

Max and 99 are back for another round of Omnibus. They hit headlines on Google selling AI to the Pentagon, Sergey Brin’s rightward shift, military impact on marine life in the Strait of Hormuz + more. Then they tackle listener emails on socialism, the Trump shooting, and oil price manipulation before the midterms. They rank their Top 5 brands to boycott and close with book recommendations and member shoutouts. Enjoy! Chapters Intro: 00:00:18 Headlines: 00:06:16 Emails: 00:41:04 Top 5: 01:08:33 Beyond the Bullshit: 01:31:43 Memberships: 01:32:57 Outro: 01:34:02 Resources TechCrunch: Google expands Pentagon’s access to its AI after Anthropic’s refusal New York Times: Sergey Brin Moves to the Right, With a ‘MAGA Girlfriend’ by His Side Mother Jones: Why Trump’s Crypto Empire is in Chaos Wired: Marine Animals in the Strait of Hormuz Don’t Get a Ceasefire Readers Digest: 10 Things That Were Affordable 10 Years Ago—And Now Feel Like a Luxury Me Mother Earth: The Ethical and Sustainability Concerns of Temu and Shein Diet Prada on Instagram: Hegseth Wife Loves Shein Wikipeda: Chick-fil-A and LGBTQ people Business Insider: 16 of the biggest controversies in Hobby Lobby’s 50-year history — from denying contraceptives for employees to illegally smuggling ancient tablets BDS: Guide to BDS Boycott & Pressure Corporate Priority Targeting UNFTR Resources Episode: Amazon (Part One). Video: The Shock Heard ‘Round the World. Max for MTN. Book Love Becca Rea-Tucker: The Abortion Companion: An Affirming Handbook for Your Choice and Your Journey -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility.Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Story of the Week (DR):Happy (?) May Day MMMay Day 2026: Top CEO pay increased 20 times faster than workers' pay in 2025Rivian Sold 42,247 Cars And Paid Its CEO [RJ Scaringe] $403 Million, Or 15 Jim FarleysComcast Co-CEO Mike Cavanagh Lands $72 Million Pay Package For 2025Google co-founder [Sergey Brin] rips California billionaire tax: 'I fled socialism'ONE-TIME wealth tax: The proposal would impose a 5% tax on net worth above the $1 billion threshold for people who were California residents as of Jan. 1, 2026, with some assets like real estate and certain retirement accounts excluded~$13B, with certain exclusions this figure could drop to $9B (the approximate value of his real estate empire)This is the equivalent of $2,500 if you earn $50,000Ken Griffin slams Mamdani for singling him out as a 'profound lack of judgment,' ripping socialist bentBill Ackman to New York City Mayor Mamdani: Don't scare away the billionaires CEOs got millions after boards ‘neutralized' the impact of tariffs. Some won't say what it was worthRTX CEO Christopher Calio: $27.7 million in compensation last yearAt its January 2025 board meeting, the compensation committee of RTX pre-authorized the removal of tariff impacts on business metrics related to Calio's pay months before President Trump announced a set of sweeping Liberation Day tariffs on April 2, 2025 that upended global supply chains. The RTX comp committee said that the tariff-cost impact “should be neutralized” for determining annual bonus payouts because the tariffs were “externally imposed, unpredictable and unrelated to operational execution.”Calio's annual bonus hit $5.1 million, an 85% increase over the $2.76 million the company paid him the year beforeHow much of that growth was attributable to the tariff exclusion, RTX did not discloseWe spoke to over 30 CEOs and business leaders. Here's what worries them mostA world of constant shocksSupply chains are under strain and getting costlierInflation is testing the consumerAI is an opportunity, but also a threatCyber and trust are keeping CEOs upEnergy security is back at the centerThe leadership playbook is changingThe 'Dirty Secret' Behind AI Layoffs: Forrester Warns Tech Is Often Non-ExistentForrester finds most firms citing AI for job cuts lack the systems to back it up, deepening mistrust over how and why people are being let goExecutives are increasingly blaming artificial intelligence for sweeping layoffs even when the technology is barely in place, Forrester has warned, with analyst J.P. Gownder saying that in 'nine out of 10' such cases the AI capability behind those cuts simply does not existMeta says it doesn't know its ideal size as it prepares to lay off 10% of its staffBed Bath & Beyond CEO: AI will lead to ‘significant reduction in headcount'Sam Altman says he is 'deeply sorry' for failing to alert police ahead of mass shootingSam Altman Issues Grim ApologySam Altman is “the face of evil” for not reporting school shooter, says lawyerSam Altman apologized to the people of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, because OpenAI had flagged and banned the suspect's ChatGPT account but did not alert police before the mass shootingApril 28, 2026: Our commitment to community safety“We assume the best of our users, but when we detect that someone is attempting to use our tools to potentially plan or carry out violence, we take action, including revoking access to OpenAI's services.”“We use automated detection systems to identify potentially concerning activity at scale.”“When an account or conversation is flagged, it is assessed in context by trained personnel. These human reviewers are trained on our policies and protocols, and operate within established privacy and security safeguards”“When conversations indicate an imminent and credible risk of harm to others, we notify law enforcement.”Zero mention of the Tumbler Ridge massacre, the apology, the lawsuits, etc.Elon Musk's trial against Sam Altman to reveal the ongoing power struggle for OpenAIMusk is suing Altman, OpenAI, and Microsoft over the claim that OpenAI abandoned its original nonprofit, “benefit humanity” mission and instead became a profit machine, while OpenAI says Musk is really trying to slow a competitor he helped createThe courtroom tone has been described as unusually messy and theatrical, with the judge reportedly telling both sides to stop acting out on social mediaThe judge told Musk to cool it on the “robot apocalypse” and “Terminator” talk.Musk lawyer says OpenAI 'stole a charity,' as trial against AI firm, Sam Altman beginsWorld's Richest Man, Least Generous? Elon Musk Tops Forbes 'Least Philanthropic' ListForbes' analysis concludes that Elon Musk has given around $500 million 'directly to those in need' — a sum that sounds enormous in isolation yet, by the magazine's maths, represents just 0.06 per cent of his reported wealth. In other words, for every $1,000 attached to his name on paper, roughly 60 cents has so far gone, in clear line of sight, to people or causes that can be classed as receiving direct help.Jerome Powell says he will continue to serve as a Fed governor, calls Trump criticism 'unprecedented'Powell says he's staying on as a Fed governor after his chair term ends, which blocks Trump from simply creating an empty seatPowell says the pressure campaign is unprecedented and threatens the Fed's independence.Bessent Says Powell Staying On Is ‘Violation' of All Fed Norms“It's highly unusual for someone who says he's an institutionalist and cares about norms at the Fed. This is a violation of all Federal Reserve norms.”“I think it is an insult to Kevin Warsh, Miki [Michelle] Bowman and Chris Waller to think that these other Republican nominees do not care about the institution of the Fed and that he alone can maintain the integrity of the Fed.”Trump Takes a ‘Wrecking Ball' to Independent Scientific Advisory BoardThe DEI death blow: “We Could See the Largest Drop in Black Representation Since the End of Reconstruction”Much like dual class shares: The erosion of the Voting Rights Act directly dilutes the collective political power of Black communitiesThomas Dartmouth Rice ("The two most popular characters in the world at the present time are [Queen] Victoria and Jim Crow.") received some formal education in his youth, but ceased in his teenage years when he acquired an apprenticeship with a woodcarver named DodgePentagon inks deals with seven AI companies for classified military workOpenAI, Google, Nvidia and others agreed to ‘any lawful use' of their tech. Anthropic, feuding with Pentagon over potential AI misuse, was not includedGoodliest of the Week (MM/DR):DR: France unveils plan to ditch all fossil fuels by 2050a “first of its kind” plan to phase out coal by 2030, oil by 2045 and gas by 2050 during a global conference aimed at breaking reliance on fossil fuelsMM: War on Social Media: Greece to ban anonymity on social media DRI seriously might move to GreeceMeta's threat to quit New Mexico ‘is showing the world how little it cares about child safety,' AG saysAssholiest of the Week (MM):Disney's spineless chair James Gorman DRABC can beat Trump FCC's license threat if owner Disney is willing to fightThe man who was the savior picking the new CEO, when asked what he thinks of the attack on Kimmel and Disney's ABC (again), said, “It's the job of the CEO with their team to figure out the right answer and they'll be guided by the board”, and then declined to say what advice he or the board would give regarding the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” show.“We have a terrific new CEO, Josh D'Amaro, he's world class so I'm sure he'll rise to the occasion and do what the right thing is.”Here's a glow up of Gorman choosing the new CEO:James P. Gorman, former head of Morgan Stanley, became Disney's chairman a year ago with succession at the top of his to-do list. The 67-year-old Australia native comes with strong opinions and sterling credentials: He helped stabilize, then revitalize the Wall Street bank during his 14 years in the C-suite, retiring in December 2024 after orchestrating a seamless baton pass.“I don't know that there's anyone who could have navigated these kinds of leadership transitions better than James,” Wharton School Dean Erika H. James said in an interview. “He's not afraid to do the hard things.”James was on the board of Morgan Stanley with GormanSo the board abdicates all responsibility? They bow out? Without Ken Doll Bob Iger around they have no part to play anymore?“Even after paying off the president last year, ABC is once again under attack by this administration,” Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) wrote yesterday. “This should be a lesson to all who capitulate to the president: You cannot buy his favor, you can only rent it.”Even the fucking CATO INSTITUTE weighed in: FCC's Punitive Review of ABC-Disney's Broadcast Licenses Shows Need to Protect Free Expression“Punishing a media organization, no matter what one thinks of their reporting or programming, is an affront to the right of Americans to speak and listen to whatever speech they wish”AI OverloadPopular pasta sauce brand is launching new device to record conversationsPrego owned by Campbells selling a puck that sits on your dinner table, records the conversation, and offers “conversation prompts”When a soup company thinks the answer to AI in soup is a fucking device sitting on your table, listening to you, when we're already surrounded by our tech overlords doing the same thing, we know we've jumped the sharkChip Wilson and the male CEO industrial complexLululemon Founder Takes Aim at New CEO Pick, Escalates Proxy FightChip uses “governance” as his main angle of attack without acknowledging that 50% of the board he hates, including the chair, HE HAND PICKED HIMSELFWall Street sank the shares more than 13% on the announcement of Heidi O'NeillCritiqued her tenure at Nike pushing “direct to consumer” - without acknowledging that Nike is a dual class controlled company with the company founder's nepo baby on the board AND an executive chair (Mark Parker) AND the current CEO (Elliott Hill)Do you think O'Neill made the decision in a vacuum by herself? She's an NEO under not one but THREE leaders - and in 2025 she got a massive stock award (11.4m) to keep her around. She also has a babysitter - she was head of Consumer, Product, & Brand, but there was Craig Williams, Chief Commercial OfficerIs this anything but fucking white dude manbaby sexists anymore?60% female board who just added another woman of color to go above that, +8% gender power gap, 70% female influence - the analytics suggest they are not deferential to the CEO, the only merit director on the board are womenWhile dude analyst Bill Campbell at Paragon Intel said, “she does not look like the obvious architect of the deeper reset this moment demands,” William Blair analyst Sharon Zackfia said, “She brings a significant breadth of knowledge in women's performance apparel and her experience accelerating speed-to-market is particularly welcome at lululemon where lead times have ballooned to about 24 months.”Reading the timeline of interactions, Wilson just sounds like a fucking baby, complaining the board isn't talking to his people enough, they don't respond quickly enough, even as every time he doesn't get his way he publicly says the board sucks but commits to the chair he wants to have “constructive” dialogue. Then the board offers him board seats if he just shuts the fuck up, and he says he won't agree to shut up but they should give him the board seats anyway.Headliniest of the WeekDR: Lululemon's New CEO Is Already in the Hot Seat—and She Hasn't Even StartedMM: 51% of U.S. employees have cried at the office within the last month, according to a new reportWho Won the Week?DR: Only Elon Musk can fire Elon Musk from SpaceX, filing showsMM: Earth - SpaceX ties Musk compensation to Mars colonization goal, which I assume can only mean if Musk himself colonizes Mars he gets paidPredictionsDR: Billionaires start to introduce their own taxes on “normal” people, like: Sidewalk Wear-and-Tear Tax: charged per step, tracked via mandatory Smart Shoes™ and a Public Bench Depreciation Fee: sitting longer than 90 seconds counts as an “asset strain,” tracked via mandatory Smart Boxer Briefs™MM: Because Jamie Dimon says bureaucracy sinks companies and the solution may be getting rid of the ‘jerks' who don't want to solve it, JPMorgan begins firing the 51% of jerks who cried in the office this month.

Larry Page's net worth swelled on Thursday, surpassing $300 billion for the first time as Alphabet's stock rose after reporting a surge in cloud revenue through the Google parent's latest quarter. Forbes' Real-Time Billionaires List estimates Page's net worth at $313.1 billion as of Friday morning, as the Google cofounder ranks as the second-wealthiest person in the world. Fellow Google cofounder Sergey Brin also had his fortune surge, hitting $288.8 billion as of Friday morning, as he now ranks as the world's third-richest person ahead of Amazon's Jeff Bezos, whose net worth sank $3.5 billion to $267 billion as of Thursday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California's new “billionaire tax” ballot measure slaps a one‑time 5% levy on residents worth $1B+, prompting Sergey Brin and other moguls to head for the exits as economists warn it will kill jobs, lose future tax revenue, and turn billionaires into political villains

Billionaire Google co-founder and ex-California resident Sergey Brin has said he's adamantly opposed to a proposed one-time, 5% tax on the wealth of California residents (and has spent $57 million to fight it) because he fears it will lead the state down a similar socialist path as that of the former Soviet Union, which his family fled when he was 6 years old. Brin, who has moved from a backer of liberal causes to a supporter of Republican President Donald Trump, told the New York Times in a rare statement: “I fled socialism with my family in 1979 and know the devastating, oppressive society it created in the Soviet Union. I don't want California to end up in the same place.” The proposed tax would apply to California residents with assets worth at least $1.1 billion and has pushed a number of bold-faced billionaires, including Brin, to leave the state. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tech billionaire Sergey Brin fled socialism in the Soviet Union as a child—only to spend years funding its modern version in California. For over a decade, he funneled millions into Democrat candidates and progressive policies that reshaped the state, while ordinary Californians dealt with the consequences. Only now, as those same policies come back to hit his own fortune in the form of a proposed billionaire tax, has Brin changed his tune.  With the tax man knocking on his door (and his new MAGA-aligned influencer girlfriend in the picture) he's suddenly pouring money into the RNC and backing candidates like Steve Hilton, dropping tens of millions to stop the very system he helped build. The lesson is the same as it's always been: “Socialism fails every single time it's tried, everywhere It's been tried. And the Golden State, California, is proving it again right now, in real time,” Drew Allen, Daily Signal Califonira Contributor, on today's video commentary.

Organizers of California's Billionaires Tax say they have collected more than 1.5 million signatures, far above the threshold needed to qualify for the November ballot. Meanwhile, a rival ballot initiative would significantly limit or undermine the tax if both pass. The initiative is primarily funded by Google co‑founder Sergey Brin, through a group called Building a Better California. Brin has contributed at least $57 million toward the effort so far. Please Like, Comment and Follow 'Broeske & Musson' on all platforms: --- The ‘Broeske & Musson Podcast’ is available on the KMJNOW app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever else you listen to podcasts. --- ‘Broeske & Musson' Weekdays 9-11 AM Pacific on News/Talk 580 AM & 105.9 FM KMJ | Facebook | Podcast| X | - Everything KMJ KMJNOW App | Podcasts | Facebook | X | InstagramSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Models are converging. Chinese open source models are catching up. Applications are becoming the moat.In this episode of This Week in European Tech, Dan Bowyer and Mads Jensen of SuperSeed examine the shifts shaping AI, markets and Europe's role.From DeepSeek's progress to the EU AI Act, the focus is on where the real competitive edge is forming, alongside cyber incidents, the race between frontier labs, and why coding is central to how AI systems improve and are used, before closing on pressure in private credit and what it could mean for SaaS.Key highlightsChinese open-source AI is rapidly closing the gap with US leadersThe EU is considering revisions to its AI Act, including scope and timeline changesCyber incidents reveal systemic data management failuresFrontier labs are moving up the stack into applications, with coding central to progressPrivate credit exposure to SaaS could lead to repricingTimestamps(00:00) Intro and overview of key topics(05:45) DeepSeek V4 and model competition(11:30) EU AI Act discussions(16:45) Cyber breaches and data governance issues(21:30) Digital ID systems and Estonia's model(26:30) Sergey Brin, DeepMind and AI coding race(32:00) SpaceX, Cursor and AI distribution strategy(39:30) Private credit, space sovereignty, predictions and week aheadSubscribe to EUVC, the home of European tech, for more insights: ⁠https://www.eu.vc/subscribe

On this episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different, let us talk about California. California is considering something that has never existed in American history: a tax not on what you earn, but on what you own. The proposed Billionaire Tax Act would impose a 5% levy on the total net worth of any California resident worth over $1 billion. But calling it a billionaire tax is misleading, because the consequences reach far beyond the ultra-wealthy. This proposal carries buried constitutional changes, economic risks, and a framework that could eventually touch small business owners, family farmers, solo consultants, and startup founders across the state and potentially the nation. So today, let us dive deeper into the topic. You're listening to Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different. We are the real dialogue podcast for people with a different mind. So get your mind in a different place, and hey ho, let's go. What This Tax Actually Is Sacramento is framing this as a simple, one-time fix targeting the ultra-rich. The reality is far more complicated. This is an asset seizure tax, a government mechanism to reach into what people have already built and extract a percentage of it annually. Most billionaires do not hold 5% of their net worth in cash. That means the state would effectively be forcing asset liquidations just to satisfy the tax bill. That is not a technicality. That is a fundamental shift in how government relates to private wealth. Who Really Gets Hit The Hoover Institution ran over 71 economic simulations and found that California ends up poorer under this proposal. Six publicly confirmed billionaires, including Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Peter Thiel, have already announced departures. An attorney representing just four clients collectively worth over $600 billion confirmed their quiet relocations as well. When billionaires leave, they take their income taxes with them permanently. The state’s own Legislative Analyst’s Office projects ongoing decreases in income tax revenues of hundreds of millions of dollars per year as a direct result of this proposal. The Constitutional Trap Nobody Is Talking About This is where the proposal becomes genuinely alarming for everyone, not just billionaires. The tax requires a constitutional amendment that removes existing protections against taxing intangible personal property, including stocks, private equity stakes, and intellectual capital. That constitutional change does not expire. Once it exists, future legislators and ballot initiatives can lower the threshold, expand the scope, and reach further down the economic ladder without needing to clear the same legal barrier again. The Hoover Institution has described it plainly as constitutional infrastructure for future wealth taxes. California has done this before with Prop 19, which was sold as protection for seniors but quietly eliminated inheritance protections for family farms and small business properties. The playbook is the same: appealing villain, clean bumper sticker, buried consequences. To hear more from Christopher and his thoughts on the new tax, download and listen to this episode. Want to read more Different from Christopher Lochhead? Join his newsletter today! We hope you enjoyed this episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and subscribe on Apple Podcast / Spotify!

AI isn't just a technology race, it's a trillion-dollar gamble that could reshape the global economy. On the Tech Field Day News Rundown, Alastair Cooke and guest host Gina Rosenthal discuss how OpenAI and Anthropic are pushing toward major IPOs while facing massive costs that could delay profitability for years. At the same time, IBM and Arm are helping enterprises adopt AI across mixed systems without replacing existing infrastructure, while Maine considers slowing new data center builds over energy concerns. Komprise is working to reduce rising storage costs, and Amazon is looking to expand its satellite network with a potential acquisition of Globalstar to better compete with SpaceX. Meanwhile, Microsoft is improving developer workflows with Project Nighthawk, and in Washington, Donald Trump has tapped leaders like Mark Zuckerberg, Jensen Huang, Larry Ellison, and Sergey Brin to help guide AI policy, showing that the future of AI will be decided not just by innovation, but by who can manage the cost, infrastructure, and regulation behind it.In the end, the winners of the AI race won't just be the most innovative—but the ones who can afford to sustain it at scale.Time Stamps: 0:00 - Cold Open0:27 - Welcome to the Tech Field Day News Rundown1:04 - The $100 Billion Gamble: OpenAI & Anthropic's High-Stakes Path to IPO4:57 - IBM & Arm Team Up to Unlock Hybrid Enterprise AI Architecture9:02 - Maine Considers Nation's First AI Data Center Freeze13:56 - Komprise Launches Flash Memory Tool to Cut AI Storage Costs17:06 - Amazon Eyes $9B Globalstar Deal to Boost Satellite Network Ambitions20:08 - Microsoft Builds Six-Agent AI in VS Code That Fact-Checks Itself24:57 - President Trump appoints Tech Leaders to the Council of Advisors on Science and Technology32:39 - ⁠The Weeks Ahead: Upcoming Tech Field Day Events33:40 - Thanks for Watching the Tech Field Day News RundownGuest Host: Gina Rosenthal, Digital Sunshine SolutionsFollow our hosts ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tom Hollingsworth⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Alastair Cooke⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Stephen Foskett⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow Tech Field Day ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X/Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mastodon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

 Gavin Newsom unveiled personal and political revelations in his memoir, *Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery*, released on February 24. **Jennifer Siebel Newsom's Resilience** Following his divorce from Guilfoyle, Gavin married actress Jennifer Siebel Newsom, whose sister Stacey tragically died in a golf cart accident. **Connections in the Tech Industry** The memoir also chronicles Gavin's interactions with tech leaders like Sergey Brin, Larry Page, and Steve Jobs, the latter introducing a groundbreaking smartphone concept during a party.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Why are so many of the world's most powerful entrepreneurs and billionaires moving to Miami?This shift is bigger than most people realize.From Larry Ellison to Mark Zuckerberg and Sergey Brin, some of the smartest people in the world are choosing South Florida. And when that many high-level thinkers make the same decision, I think it's worth paying attention.To me, this isn't just about lifestyle or taxes, it's about where the future of building, investing, and creating is headed.And right now, I believe Miami is one of the most important cities to watch.In this episode, I share:- Why I believe Miami is becoming a serious hub for business and innovation- The real economic incentives driving people out of places like California- How quality of life is playing a bigger role than ever- Why I think momentum is only just beginningLike this episode? Leave a review here:https://ratethispodcast.com/commondenominator

Follow Forbes Talks  Who are the top 10 richest people in the world? 1. Elon Musk  2. Larry Page  3. Jeff Bezos (up from No. 4)  4. Sergey Brin (down from No. 3) 5. Mark Zuckerberg  6. Larry Ellison  7. Jensen Huang (up from No. 8)  8. Michael Dell (up from No. 13) 9. Rob Walton (up from No. 11)  10. Bernard Arnault (down from No. 7) March wasn't the best month to be a billionaire, as both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq sank by nearly 5% amid the Iran war. Nine of the world's ten richest people enter April poorer than they were at the beginning of March. As a group, their fortunes fell by more than $100 billion combined to a total of $2.5 trillion, as of April 1 at 12 a.m. Eastern time.  Even more notable is the shake up at the top, as only four members of last month's top 10 held onto their same ranks including the world's richest person Elon Musk and no. 2 Sergey Brin. Despite their ranks holding steady, Musk and Page were two of five top 10 members who lost at least $20 billion in the past month. Musk's fortune fell by $22 billion to $817 billion. He's still more than three times as rich as his runner-up, Page, whose fortune sank by $20 billion to $237 billion.  The biggest loser was Frenchman Bernard Arnault of luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, who dropped from No. 7 to No. 10, as his fortune sank by $28 billion, to $142.5 billion. Another big loser was Spanish fast fashion mogul Amancio Ortega, who tumbled from No. 10 to No. 14, as his fortune plunged by $20 billion, to $128 billion. Warren Buffett also fell out of the top 10, sliding from No. 9 to No. 11, as his net worth fell by $7 billion to $142 billion. Walmart heir Rob Walton lost $3 billion but nevertheless jumped into the top 10 for the first time in at least three years. The other new face in this month's top 10 (and the only gainer) was PC mogul Michael Dell, who climbed from No. 13 to No. 8, as his fortune inched upward by $2 billion to $143.1 billion.  Jeff Bezos also moved up, to No. 3 for the first time since October, as his fortune dipped by a relatively modest $1 billion to $223 billion. He swapped places with Google cofounder Sergey Brin, who dropped to No. 4 for the first time since January, as his net worth fell by $18 billion to $219 billion.  Forbes has been tracking the world's billionaires since 1987. In March 2026, we found 3,428 of them for our annual list. Below are the 10 richest people on earth as of April 1, 2026 at 12 a.m. Eastern time, according to Forbes. Stock prices fluctuate routinely, so these net worths typically change on a daily basis. Forbes tracks the daily changes on our Real Time list of billionaires. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeswealthteam/article/the-top-ten-richest-people-in-the-world/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

El programa 2847 de Radiogeek, les habló de varios temas importantes. WhatsApp ahora admite múltiples cuentas en iOS; El navegador de Samsung para Windows ya es oficial y realmente pretende reemplazar a Chrome; Netflix aumentará los precios de todos sus planes a partir de hoy y por último Trump nombra a Jensen Huang, Mark Zuckerberg y Sergey Brin para el consejo asesor tecnológico. Toda esta información la pueden encontrar desde nuestra web www.infosertec.com.ar o bien desde el canal de Telegram/Whastapp, o Instagram. Esperamos sus comentarios.

As the Trump administration makes a bid to hire more young people in the federal government via the Tech Force, the leader of the Office of Personnel Management told lawmakers he doesn't believe stability is the biggest draw for the next generation. Director Scott Kupor told lawmakers on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government at a Wednesday oversight hearing that he doesn't “think young people actually think about 40-year careers. I think they think about small increments.” Kupor said that's why the Tech Force — the administration's program to fill federal tech vacancies with early career workers — was designed to be two years. He later stated that he doesn't “think stability for young people is the most compelling message.” The comments arose in an exchange between Kupor and Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., the ranking member of the subcommittee, about the message that OPM is sending to attract younger people to the federal government. The technology industry is heavily represented in President Donald Trump's first list of appointees to restock a White House science and tech advisory panel. Among the 13 appointees to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) were Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Oracle's Larry Ellison, Google's Sergey Brin, and Nvidia's Jensen Huang. That panel will be co-chaired by David Sacks, Trump's AI and crypto czar, and Michael Kratsios, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.The PCAST has been around for decades as a way for the White House to receive feedback from scientists, engineers, technologists, and representatives from the private sector. While Trump announced the re-establishment of the council via executive order in January 2025, there hadn't yet been details on its membership. In addition to the Wednesday list, the White House said it expects to announce more appointees “in the near future along with information about the Council's first meeting.” The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

Dee and Anand sit down with actor Adam Rodriguez and footwear entrepreneur Steve Pitino for a massive announcement: Steve's American-made comfort shoe brand Ales Grey just landed in Walmart, the largest retailer in the world. The guys break down how five years living above a factory in China, zero overseas supply chain, and algae-based materials led to a $60 shoe that nurses, doctors, and frontline workers are calling life-changing and why this launch couldn't come at a better moment with tariffs reshaping American manufacturing. Then the crew pivots to the weekend's biggest sports story: the Fanatics Flag Football event in LA. Was it actually good? What does Logan Paul and Tom Brady's role say about the future of live sports entertainment?  Plus: Jeff Bezos is raising $100 billion to re-enter the game through AI and robotics manufacturing  and why that might be the single biggest bullish signal for America's future. Anthropic's new free certification, Waymo going freeway-legal, Tesla Full Self-Driving, and why Sergey Brin showing up at an AI open meetup says everything. And to close: life expectancy is actually up, fentanyl deaths are down 26%, and GLP-1s are going generic  so why does everyone feel like the world is ending? A packed 996. Episode 1000 is coming.

BONUS: Why 98% of Innovation Fails Before It Reaches a Single Customer Lorraine Marchand has spent three decades helping organizations innovate in environments where failure carries real consequences. In this episode, she shares the frameworks, stories, and hard-won lessons from her time at IBM Watson Health and beyond — starting with the summer her father handed her a stopwatch and a problem to solve at a diner. The Sugar Cube That Started It All "At the age of 12, I learned that problem solving was fun. It was really safe to experiment, and it turned out to be lucrative, because we earned some revenue and royalties from our sugar cube."   Lorraine's innovation journey began with her father — a serial inventor who challenged his kids to identify and solve real problems. One summer, he took Lorraine and her brother to the Hot Shops Cafeteria in the Baltimore-Washington area with stopwatches, graph paper, and 3-color pens. Their assignment: figure out what was slowing down table turnover. After three days of observation and interviews with waitresses, busboys, and the manager, they discovered that sugar packets were the culprit — granules spilling over the table and floor during cleanup. Their solution, the Sugar Cube, was prototyped, sold to the manager, and eventually adopted across the chain — which later became the Marriott Corporation. The lesson stuck: innovation starts with observing problems close to the core, not chasing abstract ideas in a vacuum. Inside IBM Watson Health: Customer Co-Creation Over Engineering Brilliance "We have fallen in love with our solution. And we have not done our true problem-solving dissection and customer research to make sure that we're solving a problem that a customer wants to pay us to solve."   At IBM Watson Health, Lorraine worked with 250 world-class engineers building solutions for the biggest names in life sciences — Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Sanofi, Medtronic. The process started with "garage sessions" where the team would tackle problems directly with a reference customer. But a recurring tension emerged: engineering would want to take what they learned from one customer, disappear into a room, build the perfect solution, and then hand it to marketing to sell. Lorraine had to repeatedly pull them back. A reference customer is an N of 1 — solving their problem doesn't guarantee a marketplace need. The discipline was to keep the customer in lockstep at every stage and continuously open the aperture, bringing in more customers and more feedback to validate that the solution would work at scale. The Innovation Mindset: Four Components That Matter "Thinking outside of the box means that you step outside of your box and you step into someone else's box."   Lorraine identifies four components of the innovation mindset: problem solving, insatiable curiosity, embracing change, and welcoming diversity. The diversity piece is where most teams fall short. Homogenous groups become echo chambers — smart engineers designing from a technology perspective rather than a customer use perspective. The most innovative organizations Lorraine has worked with embrace cross-functional, multidisciplinary teams where engineering, marketing, and customer experience all have a seat at the table. No idea is a bad idea at the brainstorming stage — the down-selection comes later through structured evaluation. The Golden Ratio: Why 10% Drives 70% of Future Growth "Five years later, 70% of your growth will come from that 10% that you invested in innovation. So there's an inverse correlation to where you're investing and where that growth is going to come in the future."   Lorraine points to the Golden Ratio framework popularized by Sergey Brin at Google: invest 70% in core business, 20% in adjacencies and new markets, and 10% in net new, transformative ideas that might not work out. The data across companies over the last 15 years consistently shows that the 10% bet on innovation generates the majority of future growth. Companies that invest 100% in core and a little in adjacency stay stuck in single-digit growth. Making innovation a strategic imperative — with dedicated budget and dedicated talent — is what separates companies that break out from those that stagnate. Experimentation Done Right: Problem Statement First, Prototype Fast "You have to have a really solid problem statement. It has to be clear, measurable, significant, and actionable."   Good experimentation follows the scientific method. It starts with problem deconstruction — using first principles, the series of whys, or reframing to break down the problem until the statement is sharp enough to act on. From there, brainstorm solutions, down-select to the most promising one based on customer input, and build a minimal viable product. Lorraine emphasizes minimal — test the smallest feature possible, get it in front of customers quickly, capture the feedback, and loop it back into the next iteration. The continuous loop of learning is where real progress happens. The Watson Health Pivot: When the Customer Changes Everything "Even for me, it wasn't until we got this in the customer's hands and we were able to see how it was going to function in real life that we had the aha moment."   At IBM Watson Health, Lorraine's team was developing an algorithm for a large medical device company working on pain intervention. The software used a patient's mobile phone to detect mobility issues — how quickly they got up from a chair, how easily they opened a jar — and determine when to deliver pain relief through the device. The engineering was elegant, the reference customer loved it. But when they put the solution in the hands of actual physicians and patients in their homes, they discovered they were off track in how the tool would function in real life. The pivot was dramatic: instead of the medical device company, they partnered with a pharmaceutical company that used the algorithm to guide patients on when to take pain-related medication. The entire end customer changed — because they did the work of testing with real users. Reframing Failure as Learning "If failure's in your operating system, you're not going to try these experiments, and you're not going to be willing to get it wrong."   Lorraine's book No Fear, No Failure examines the strategic failure that holds companies back from innovating. One of the five C's in her framework is chance — the willingness to take calculated risks. The key is reframing experiments from "did we get it right or wrong?" to "what can we learn?" When teams set learning objectives for each experiment — what can I learn about this tool, about the customer, about how this works in practice — they remove the fear that prevents action and replace it with a process that compounds knowledge over time.   About Lorraine Marchand   Lorraine Marchand helps senior leaders innovate in high-cost-of-failure environments. An award-winning author, keynote speaker, and innovation advisor, she brings 30+ years of experience, including work at IBM Watson Health. Her book, No Fear, No Failure, offers practical frameworks for learning and growth without undue risk.   You can link with Lorraine Marchand on LinkedIn and find more of her work at LorraineMarchand.com.

In this episode, Varun, co-founder of Yoodli, shares insights into how his startup leverages AI to enhance communication skills, from public speaking to enterprise sales training. Tune in to understand how AI can empower humans rather than replace them, and the strategic evolution from consumer to enterprise products.Key Topics:The origin story of Yoodli and its focus on helping people find their voiceTransition from B2C to B2B: What was learned along the wayThe role of storytelling as a meta-skill in a world dominated by AIUsing AI to make communication more authentic and humanHow large organizations like Google and Snowflake are integrating YoodliThe evolution of AI capabilities, from role plays to experiential learningBuilding modular, customizable AI products that adapt to customer needsThe importance of deep integrations and the challenge of SaaS vendor proliferationReal-world growth stats: 900% revenue increase and millions of usersInsights into leadership, authenticity on social media, and the value of vulnerabilityPersonal stories from Sergey Brin's projects and leadership lessons learnedTimestamps: 00:00 – Introduction to Varun and Yoodli's journey 02:01 – Early days of Yoodli: Founding thesis and initial challenges 04:19 – Key lessons about public speaking skills 05:45 – The importance of recording and reviewing oneself 06:25 – Describing Yoodli as “Duolingo for public speaking” 07:25 – The role of storytelling in high-performance communication 08:21 – Building AI to enhance, not replace, human authenticity 09:07 – Judgment as a differentiator in AI-enabled work 10:01 – How Yoodli expanded into enterprise with Google & others 11:24 – Social media as a branding tool for founders 12:38 – The impact of authenticity on LinkedIn and lead generation 14:09 – The Google GTM training case study: How it started 15:07 – Product features for enterprise sales training 16:05 – Impact on sales onboarding and role play automation 17:32 – The future of experiential learning and AI role plays 20:17 – The broader vision for AI in education and training 21:26 – Impressive growth stats and customer insights 22:01 – The technological foundation: Modular AI architectures 23:52 – The influence of LLM improvements on product features 24:46 – The commoditization of AI role plays and experiential learning 25:12 – Building deep, customizable, scalable AI solutions 26:36 – The importance of scale and deep integrations 30:03 – Product differentiation through vertical focus and deep specialization 33:07 – Market challenges: Demand, consolidation, and customer expectations 34:42 – How to find and connect with Varun 35:30 – Sergey Brin's projects, leadership lessons, and human insights 37:36 – Overcoming imposter syndrome: Everyone's learning curve39:01 – Final reflections and looking aheadResources & Links:Varun on LinkedinNataraj on LinkedinTry Yoodli

Growing up in Silicon Valley, Varun Sivaram didn't look to Elon Musk or Sergey Brin to learn about success stories. He looked to his dad, a material scientist who immigrated from India.  But Varun's own dreams of pursuing a career in technology took a circuitous path. His physics lab at Oxford discovered a promising new solar material, but when he emerged from graduate school in 2012, it was no time to launch a renewables startup. After a successful early career pursuing his other love, foreign relations, he pivoted to tech. In 2024, Varun founded Emerald AI, which helps data centers adjust their workloads to use energy more efficiently. This week on With Great Power, Varun explains why he thinks AI can help save the grid. Varun and Brad talk about the demonstration pilots Emerald AI has completed and Varun's vision for a massive AI factory the company is helping to build, in Virginia. Credits: Hosted by Brad Langley. Produced by Mary Catherine O'Connor. Edited by Anne Bailey. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive editor. The GridX production team includes Jenni Barber, Samantha McCabe, and Brad Langley.

You may have seen news reports that California is facing something called “outmigration,” in which residents – including some of that state's most wealthy – are picking up and moving to greener pastures in states not dedicated to taxing them to death. California's billionaires are most recently eyeing a ballot measure to be voted on this November that would essentially serve as a 5% excise tax for the crime of being billionaires. This has led to many of the state's prominent entrepreneurs like Google's Sergey Brin, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, and Paypal's Peter Thiel to make their objections known with their feet and their moving trucks. But what if a federal wealth tax were imposed, like the one recently introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Ro Khanna, and there was nowhere to run? And, given how much these individuals give to philanthropy – for better or worse – what would happen to that giving if Sanders and Khanna were to succeed? Joining us to discuss is Andrew Wilford, Director of State Policy at the National Taxpayer Union Foundation, who has been writing about the possible calamities surrounding a wealth tax for many years. California Wealth Tax Proposal Achieves a New Feat in Tax Policy: Losing the State Money Before It Even Becomes LawThe Wealth Tax's Impact on Private CharitiesBernie Sanders's Radical Wealth TaxBig Labor's bid to kill its Golden State

"Why are you in the Epstein files?"It is a question Rushkoff received from his own daughter, and in this raw monologue, he gives the full answer.His name appears in the CC field of emails from his former literary agent alongside Bill Gates, Sergey Brin, and yes, Jeffrey Epstein. But the story of why those names were grouped together reveals something much darker than a mailing list.Rushkoff recounts a disturbing mid-90s dinner party where he was physically grabbed by a host and scolded for "wasting his plus-one" on a brilliant female intellectual instead of "eye candy" to decorate the room for the male elites. He traces the lineage of this misogyny directly to the "scientism" of figures like Richard Dawkins and Steven Pinker, whose theories of humans as "meat machines" and "survival vehicles for genes" provided the perfect philosophical cover for sociopaths like Epstein to commodify and abuse women.This is not just a story about a predator; it is an indictment of the "permission structure" built by the scientific and tech elite. A worldview that dismisses human soul, consent, and morality as mere delusions.Team Human is proudly sponsored by Everyone's Earth.Learn more about Everyone's Earth: https://everyonesearth.com/Change Diapers: https://changediapers.com/Cobi Dryer Sheets: https://cobidryersheets.com/Use the code “rush10” to receive 10% off of Cobi Dryer sheets: https://cobidryersheets.com/Support Team Human:Team Human is a listener-supported project. To get ad-free access to this episode, join our quarterly Zooms, and support this work, please visit https://www.patreon.com/teamhuman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's episode exposes a new wave of Democrat control: from tracking your vehicle miles to targeting tech executives. We break down: The rise of Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) programs, geofencing, and digital driving licenses Massachusetts & California demonstration projects modeled after Oxford, UK The threat to small, minority, and women-owned businesses Silicon Valley exodus to Florida and the reasons beyond the wealth tax Susan Rice's threats to tech titans and her “accountability agenda” Surveillance and persecution of Republican leaders and organizations The dangerous precedent of post-American judicial overreach Power, politics, and control collide — here's what's happening, and why it matters. ⚡ PRIMARY TALKING POINTS VMT programs & “Freedom to Move Act” – digital tracking & mile-based taxes Demonstration projects in Massachusetts, California, and Oxford, UK Income/geography-based pricing & high-cost zones for drivers Threats to small businesses, minority and women-owned enterprises Silicon Valley migration to Florida: Zuckerberg, Bezos, Page, Brin, and more Democrat surveillance on Republican leaders & activists The post-American judicial system & politically motivated prosecutions

From court battles to corporate exodus, today's episode dives into the chaos surrounding Donald Trump and the Democrats' increasingly aggressive tactics. We cover: The halted classified documents case and Jack Smith's controversial report Evidence tampering claims and legal maneuvers that shaped Trump's trials JPMorgan Chase and the debanking of Trump's empire Susan Rice's ominous warnings to corporations, universities, and media Silicon Valley's migration to Florida in response to political and legal pressure The hidden cost of US taxpayer funding to the Taliban Systemic failures in Democrat-run cities, homelessness, and welfare mismanagement A full breakdown of political, corporate, and global chaos you need to hear. ⚡ PRIMARY TALKING POINTS Jack Smith and the blocked classified documents report Alleged DOJ & FBI evidence tampering Trump's legal and financial battles post-presidency Susan Rice's warning: “We will get you” Corporate relocations: Google, Netflix, Stripe, Amazon, Apple Silicon Valley fleeing post-American judicial systems US taxpayer funding of Taliban amid global security concerns Democrat city mismanagement, homelessness, and welfare fraud

Dave Rubin of "The Rubin Report" talks about "Shark Tank's" Kevin O'Leary going viral for his brutal attack on Gavin Newsom's record of running California into the ground; CNN's Dana Bash grilling Gavin Newsom on California's affordability crisis and why his state has the highest cost of living in the country; "The Issue Is" host Elex Michaelson giving evidence to Bernie Sanders why California's billionaire wealth tax has already backfired causing billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page and Sergey Brin to leave California permanently; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez embarrassing herself on a global stage at the Munich Security Conference with her stuttering response to a question about how far America should go to defend Taiwan; Joe Rogan and Michael Malice ripping into Zohran Mamdani for his insane NYC budget proposal, which dwarfs the entire state of Florida; the "Real Time with Bill Maher" crowd being stunned by Bill Maher's warning for any young person getting their lessons about Western civilization from pop stars like Billie Eilish and Chappell Roan; and much more. WATCH the MEMBER-EXCLUSIVE segment of the show here: https://rubinreport.locals.com/ Check out the NEW RUBIN REPORT MERCH here: https://daverubin.store/ ---------- Today's Sponsors: BUBS Naturals - BUBS helps restore collagen levels closer to what your body had in its youth—so your joints feel stronger, your hair and nails grow healthier, and your skin looks smoother. Live Better Longer with BUBS Naturals. For A limited time get 20% Off your entire order with code RUBIN at Bubsnaturals.com Venice.Ai - Use Ai that doesn't spy on you or censor the AI. Ai is valuable and you shouldn't need to give up your privacy to use it. Go to https://venice.ai/dave and use code DAVE to get 20% off a pro plan and enjoy private, uncensored AI.

Elon Musk has been loudly criticizing the DOJ and FBI over their handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, calling out what he sees as a disgraceful failure to hold powerful figures accountable. He presents himself as an outsider raging against the elite, demanding justice and transparency from the very institutions he claims are protecting predators. But there's a glaring contradiction that undercuts this entire performance: Musk himself once sat down at the same table as Jeffrey Epstein. At a private billionaire's dinner, years after Epstein's 2008 conviction was public knowledge, Musk broke bread with a man already known to be a convicted sex offender—making his current outrage feel more like calculated damage control than genuine moral concern.The hypocrisy is almost unbearable. You don't get to dine with a monster, stay silent for over a decade, and then pretend to be the loudest voice in the room demanding accountability. Musk's selective outrage reeks of self-preservation, not justice. He wasn't just in the same room—he was a participant in the same closed-door culture of wealth, access, and impunity that allowed Epstein to thrive. And now, as public pressure mounts, he wants to rewrite the past, cast himself as a truth-teller, and hope no one remembers where he was when it mattered. But history has receipts—and the dinner napkin still has his name on it.Elon Musk isn't the only one feigning moral outrage about Jeffrey Epstein while conveniently forgetting the dinner table they once shared. In 2011, at a private billionaires' dinner during a TED conference, Musk, Jeff Bezos, Sergey Brin, and other tech titans sat shoulder to shoulder with Epstein—a man already convicted of soliciting sex from a minor. These weren't ignorant bystanders. Epstein's name was radioactive by then, his crimes well documented. Yet these men, who now pretend to be disgusted by the cover-up, saw no issue sharing wine and strategy with him over filet mignon and handshakes. It was a who's who of unchecked power pretending Epstein was just another quirky financier with connections.Fast-forward to now, and the same billionaires want to position themselves as the public's moral compass—demanding justice, accountability, and answers from the government while playing dumb about their own proximity to the rot. Musk rails against the DOJ, Bezos hides behind silence, and the rest of them act like their invitations got lost in the mail. But this wasn't some accident. They sat there. They talked. They mingled. And they helped normalize a predator. These men didn't just witness the corruption—they were part of the network that allowed it to keep operating in plain sight. Now they want to shout from the rooftops as if they weren't once whispering in the same room. That's not courage. That's cleanup.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:In 2011, Jeffrey Epstein Was A Known Sex Offender. Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, And Sergey Brin Shared A Meal With Him Anyway

Elon Musk has been loudly criticizing the DOJ and FBI over their handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, calling out what he sees as a disgraceful failure to hold powerful figures accountable. He presents himself as an outsider raging against the elite, demanding justice and transparency from the very institutions he claims are protecting predators. But there's a glaring contradiction that undercuts this entire performance: Musk himself once sat down at the same table as Jeffrey Epstein. At a private billionaire's dinner, years after Epstein's 2008 conviction was public knowledge, Musk broke bread with a man already known to be a convicted sex offender—making his current outrage feel more like calculated damage control than genuine moral concern.The hypocrisy is almost unbearable. You don't get to dine with a monster, stay silent for over a decade, and then pretend to be the loudest voice in the room demanding accountability. Musk's selective outrage reeks of self-preservation, not justice. He wasn't just in the same room—he was a participant in the same closed-door culture of wealth, access, and impunity that allowed Epstein to thrive. And now, as public pressure mounts, he wants to rewrite the past, cast himself as a truth-teller, and hope no one remembers where he was when it mattered. But history has receipts—and the dinner napkin still has his name on it.Elon Musk isn't the only one feigning moral outrage about Jeffrey Epstein while conveniently forgetting the dinner table they once shared. In 2011, at a private billionaires' dinner during a TED conference, Musk, Jeff Bezos, Sergey Brin, and other tech titans sat shoulder to shoulder with Epstein—a man already convicted of soliciting sex from a minor. These weren't ignorant bystanders. Epstein's name was radioactive by then, his crimes well documented. Yet these men, who now pretend to be disgusted by the cover-up, saw no issue sharing wine and strategy with him over filet mignon and handshakes. It was a who's who of unchecked power pretending Epstein was just another quirky financier with connections.Fast-forward to now, and the same billionaires want to position themselves as the public's moral compass—demanding justice, accountability, and answers from the government while playing dumb about their own proximity to the rot. Musk rails against the DOJ, Bezos hides behind silence, and the rest of them act like their invitations got lost in the mail. But this wasn't some accident. They sat there. They talked. They mingled. And they helped normalize a predator. These men didn't just witness the corruption—they were part of the network that allowed it to keep operating in plain sight. Now they want to shout from the rooftops as if they weren't once whispering in the same room. That's not courage. That's cleanup.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:In 2011, Jeffrey Epstein Was A Known Sex Offender. Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, And Sergey Brin Shared A Meal With Him Anyway

A new tranche of Jeffrey Epstein's emails makes one thing painfully clear: Epstein was a central figure in the lives of a lot of big names in tech, and had influence on a surprising number of companies and executives. David and Nilay talk through what we've learned from the new emails so far. Then they turn to Anthropic's spicy new Super Bowl ads about... ads, which caused a big reaction from OpenAI (which is betting big on ads). They also discuss this week's antitrust hearing about Netflix's purchase of Warner Bros., the latest in Brendan Carr is a Dummy, Google Home's big buttons upgrade, and much more. Further reading: Here's how Epstein broke the internet Former Windows 8 boss recruited Epstein to help negotiate his messy Microsoft exit Jeffrey Epstein arranged a meeting with Tim Cook for the former head of Windows The Epstein files  Google co-founder Sergey Brin visited Epstein's private island and traded emails with Ghislaine Maxwell. It turns out Elon Musk didn't exactly ‘refuse' the invite to Jeffrey Epstein's island.  Will Elon Musk's emails with Jeffrey Epstein derail his very important year?  Bill Gates says accusations contained in Epstein files are ‘absolutely absurd' Jeffrey Epstein was permanently banned from Xbox Live  ‘We've basically funded an elite global pedophile ring since 2015.'  Anthropic says ‘Claude will remain ad-free,' unlike an unnamed rival Anthropic's blog post: Claude is a space to think Sam Altman responds to Anthropic's ‘funny' Super Bowl ads  OpenAI's CMO on X Nvidia CEO denies he's ‘unhappy' with OpenAI Netflix lands in the middle of a culture war during Senate hearing Everyone is stealing TV  Disney says Josh D'Amaro will replace Bob Iger as CEO  FCC aims to ensure “only living and lawful Americans” get Lifeline benefits Elon Musk is merging SpaceX and xAI to build data centers in space — or so he says  Peloton's gamble on expensive new hardware has yet to pay off Google Home finally adds support for buttons  Raspberry Pi is raising prices again as memory shortages continue  Valve's Steam Machine has been delayed, and the RAM crisis will impact pricing  Aluminium: Why Google's Android for PC launch may be messy and controversial Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

C dans l'air du 6 février 2026 - Epstein : la Russie veut faire tomber MacronLa France accuse, ce vendredi 6 février, la Russie d'être à l'origine d'une opération de désinformation destinée à faire croire à une implication d'Emmanuel Macron dans l'affaire Epstein. Selon Viginum, le service chargé de la lutte contre les ingérences numériques étrangères, une opération liée au réseau russe Storm-1516 a été détectée mercredi.Cette campagne s'appuie sur une fake news diffusée sur X, relayée notamment par un faux article publié sur un site usurpant l'identité de France Soir. Le compte French Response, rattaché au ministère des Affaires étrangères, a épinglé cette publication. Une femme se présentant sous le prénom de Loetitia a ainsi affirmé sur X qu'Emmanuel Macron aurait été « un invité fréquent de la résidence de Jeffrey Epstein à Paris ». France Soir a immédiatement dénoncé une « usurpation » de son identité.Cette tentative de manipulation intervient dans un contexte particulièrement sensible. L'affaire Jeffrey Epstein a de nouveau provoqué une onde de choc après la publication, vendredi dernier, de près de trois millions de pages supplémentaires par la justice américaine. Des millions de courriels dévoilent les relations, plus ou moins étroites, entretenues par le financier américain avec de nombreuses personnalités issues des mondes politique, culturel, économique et technologique, aux États-Unis comme en Europe.Les noms d'Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Peter Thiel — cofondateur de PayPal et patron de Palantir —, Reid Hoffman, fondateur de LinkedIn, ainsi que Larry Page et Sergey Brin, cofondateurs de Google, apparaissent des milliers de fois dans ces documents. Les échanges portent sur des investissements, des invitations à des dîners ou à des soirées, des remerciements pour des services rendus, ou encore des discussions concernant l'accès à l'île caribéenne d'Epstein par hélicoptère.Ces documents ne mettent en cause aucun de ces protagonistes dans les crimes sexuels de Jeffrey Epstein. Ils confirment toutefois l'ampleur du réseau tissé par le financier, y compris après sa première condamnation en 2008 pour « racolage » de mineures en Floride. Ils interrogent également sur de possibles liens avec la Russie, notamment au regard des méthodes d'influence attribuées aux services russes, comme le « kompromat », qui consiste à collecter des informations compromettantes pour exercer des pressions.Parmi les courriels publiés figurent de nombreuses références à des femmes russes, plus de 1 000 mentions de Vladimir Poutine, et au moins deux évocations de rencontres entre Jeffrey Epstein et le président russe. Ces rencontres n'ont pas été confirmées, mais Epstein a bien entretenu des échanges avec des proches du pouvoir russe. Le Premier ministre polonais a annoncé l'ouverture d'une enquête, tandis que Moscou rejette ces accusations et exploite l'affaire pour dénoncer la « décadence » des élites occidentales.Dans ce contexte, plusieurs questions se posent : que sait-on précisément de l'opération d'ingérence russe visant Emmanuel Macron ? Quels ont été les liens réels entre Jeffrey Epstein et la Russie ? Et comment interpréter, enfin, l'interpellation récente en Gironde de quatre individus — dont deux ressortissants chinois — soupçonnés de « livraison d'informations à une puissance étrangère » et d'atteinte aux « intérêts fondamentaux de la Nation » ? Ces ingénieurs travaillaient-ils pour Pékin ?Nos experts :- Régis GENTÉ - Journaliste spécialiste des questions internationales, auteur de « Notre homme à Washington »- Nicole BACHARAN - Historienne et politologue, spécialiste des Etats-Unis, auteure de “ Requiem pour le monde libre ”- Marie JÉGO - Journaliste - Le Monde, ancienne correspondante à Moscou- Dominique SEUX- Éditorialiste - Les Echos et France Inter

Das US-Justizministerium hat sie letztes Wochenende veröffentlicht: drei riesige Datensätze, die im Zusammenhang mit Jeffrey Epstein stehen. Trotz allem sind rechtliche Konsequenzen unwahrscheinlich - warum, das erklärt Auslandredaktorin Isabelle Jacob in dieser Folge von NZZ Akzent. Es soll die letzte Tranche der Epstein-Files sein. In den neuen Dokumenten kommen Namen vor, die bisher noch unbekannt waren. So sind auch europäische Aristokraten oder ehemalige Regierungsmitglieder in den Akten zu finden: die norwegische Kronprinzessin Mette-Marit etwa oder der frühere slowakische Aussenminister Miroslav Lajcak. Schon früher war bekannt, dass Ex-Präsident Bill Clinton in den Dokumenten auftaucht. Auch Bill Gates, der ehemalige Prinz Andrew sowie Google-Gründer Sergey Brin tauchen mit Namen und auf Fotos auf. Das sei zwar unappetitlich und verwerflich, «aber eben, strafrechtlich nicht relevant», so Jacobi. Gast: Isabelle Jacobi, Auslandredaktorin Host: Alice Grosjean Nachlesen kannst du Isabelles Kommentar in der NZZ: https://www.nzz.ch/meinung/bei-der-ausschlachtung-der-epstein-files-sitzt-trump-am-laengeren-hebel-ld.1923082 Eine Übersicht zu allen Artikel, die die NZZ rund um die Epstein-Files publiziert, findest du her: https://www.nzz.ch/themen/jeffrey-epstein Und ein Probeabo gibt's [hier](https://abo.nzz.ch/nzz-ch-probeabo-digital/).

In our 'We officially don't care anymore' headline of the week.Mark Zuckerberg's ‘Wild' Dinner With Epstein Revealed in FilesJeffrey Epstein emails reveal extensive ties with top Goldman Sachs lawyerFormer Windows 8 boss recruited Epstein to help negotiate his messy Microsoft exitCBS News weighs firing Peter Attia in wake of Jeffrey Epstein emails - Bari Weiss reluctant to ax himJeffrey Epstein asked for Snow White costume weeks before Jes Staley emailBrad Karp Says He Regrets Interactions with EpsteinARMI board says it plans to review Kamen's ties to EpsteinElon Musk Emailed Extensively With Jeffrey Epstein, Asking to Visit His Notorious IslandDOJ Epstein release outlines ties with Boulder restaurateur Kimbal MuskGoogle co-founder [Sergey Brin] had long relationship with Maxwell and visited Epstein's islandEpstein Files Reveal Peter Thiel's Elaborate Dietary RestrictionsEpstein contacted women for Steve Tisch, co-owner of the GiantsEmails flesh out warm relationship between Epstein and Richard BransonCommerce Secretary Howard Lutnick planned a trip to Epstein's island in 2012The Tech Elites in the Epstein FilesReid Hoffman (2,658 Files)Bill Gates (2,592 Files)Peter Thiel (2,281 Files)Elon Musk (1,116 Files)Larry Page (314 Files)Sergey Brin (294 Files)Mark Zuckerberg (282 Files)Jeff Bezos (196 Files)Eric Schmidt (193 Files)DAMION1In our 'If Musk can manipulate the market with fake promises why can't I?' headline of the week. Nvidia's CEO says $100B pledge for OpenAI was 'never a commitment' ***************In our 'Anybody but Bob Chapek or a woman or a woman named Bob Chapek' headline of the week. Disney names parks boss Josh D'Amaro as its next CEO to succeed Bob IgerIn our 'Congratulations, shareholders—your vote has been forwarded to the Illusion of Control department' headline of the week. Reclaiming the vote. What the rise of pass-through voting means for banks*************** In our 'I'm not sure what all the fuss is about, he did say he would "listen closely" AND "guests want great design, real value and experiences that delight"' headline of the week. In his day one message, Target's new CEO ignored the elephant in the room. People noticed.*************** In our 'Forget those assholes, we're curing baldness' headline of the week. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative cut 70 jobs as the Meta CEO's philanthropy goes all in on mission to ‘cure or prevent all disease'*************** In our 'But forget that shit, Go Seahawks!' headline of the week. Microsoft AI CEO says Moltbook shows how convincing AI can be mistaken for consciousness*************** In our 'Finally, a business model built entirely on who CEOs can control better' headline of the week. CEO of $1.25 billion AI company says he hires Gen Z because they're ‘less biased' than older generations—too much knowledge is actually bad, he warns*************** In our 'Asshole Oligarch finds an even less regulated jurisdiction than Texas' headline of the week. Elon Musk's SpaceX acquiring AI startup xAI ahead of potential IPO*************** In our 'Truth Has Side Effects' headline of the week. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla's best leadership advice: Being optimistic is better than being right*************** In our 'Target CEO gives Seminar on Moral Silence' headline of the week. German FA slaps down proposal to boycott World Cup as Trump rebuke: ‘debates on sports policy should be conducted internally and not in public'*************** MATT1In our 'Report: Elon Musk will earn a 10% merger fee for negotiating with himself during merger talks' headline of the week. Elon Musk's SpaceX acquiring AI startup xAI ahead of potential IPO“My estimate is that within 2 to 3 years, the lowest cost way to generate AI compute will be in space,” Musk wrote. Using my Musk calculator (which calibrates for the fact that Musk said in 2016 he would land on Mars in 2022, but now is shooting for 2030 but more like 2050, and also that we needed to colonize Mars immediately before the sun swallows the earth... in 2 billion years), that means AI space compute could be anywhere from 10 to 400 years awayIn our 'They somehow misspelled both "restauranter" AND "brother"' headline of the week. DOJ Epstein release outlines ties with Boulder restaurateur Kimbal MuskExperts predict the latest news will bring the vote down from 79% in favor to 76% in favor.In our 'CEO of company says he hires based entirely on sock color - "socks say more about a person than background, personality, education, or conversation every could"' headline of the week. CEO of $1.25 billion AI company says he hires Gen Z because they're ‘less biased' than older generations—too much knowledge is actually bad, he warnsIn our 'After trying waterboarding, tickling, and ACTUAL blackmail, Albert Bourla says he preferred psychological torture to incentivize his workers' headline of the week. Pfizer CEO says he used ‘emotional blackmail' to get employees to achieve impossible goals during COVID-19All around the office, Bourla put up signs that read, “Time is life.” On several occasions, employees came to him to say there would need to be a delay of several weeks in meeting deadlines. In response, Bourla asked them to calculate how many people would die during the additional weeks they requested.In our 'BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: New Target CEO says Target loves gays and brown folk, hates ICE, and is officially rebranding as "Tar-jay" in new statement' headline of the week. Target just made a big change this weekend. Here's what to knowFiddelke's big move list: Leading with merchandising authority, Elevating the guest experience, Accelerating technology, Strengthening our team and communities. "In the weeks ahead, my focus is simple: listen closely, move with clarity and urgency, and lead with purpose"In our 'This is not the company I signed up for' headline of the week. Employees say Target is MIA in Minneapolis: 'This is not the company I signed up for'"This is what leadership I want to follow looks like," the Target worker said of Patagonia's statement. - CEO Ryan Gellert wrote: This has been a moment of incredible pain for so many. The shootings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti happened about 20 minutes from our St. Paul store, a location that's been part of the community for 21 years. It's part of a tragic pattern that has seen U.S. citizens snatched by federal agents and shipped to facilities far from friends and family, and children as young as five detained, all with ever-shifting explanations and overheated rhetoric that changes with each passing news cycle. Tragically, it is not just Minneapolis that is affected. We are witnessing the militarization of our cities, the expansion of unchecked enforcement power, and a pattern of violence that disproportionately targets the most vulnerable communities and populations.In our 'We can finally go from 99.8% of directors winning elections to 99.9% of directors winning elections' headline of the week. Reclaiming the vote. What the rise of pass-through voting means for banksIn our 'Gus, good news. You've been promoted. We will now refer to you as the "in house proxy voting system". No no, it comes with no new responsibilities - we know you're busy ordering the office supplies. No, this is actually LESS responsibility. Just find the "FOR" button for every director, and "AGAINST" button for everything from an investor. Got it? Congratulations! It also comes with no extra pay!' headline of the week. Wells Fargo switches to in-house proxy voting systemWIM will determine proxy votes for these assets using a policy and set of instructions it has developedIn our 'Not to be outdone, the Trump administration is looking into inventing a new type of energy they call "hot star energy"' headline of the week. The Amount of New Solar Power Production Capacity China Is Manufacturing Is Legitimately Mind-BlowingIn our 'Men say Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and ChatGPT conversations that convinced them they had a "revolutionary idea" about beer koozies were the number 1 reason they let their wives do the caregiving and childcare last year according to new data' headline of the week. Women say caregiving and child care costs are the No. 1 reason they quit the workforce last year, according to new data

Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, an in-depth investigatory show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (1/31/26). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth is, or claiming they have the answer, is likely leading you astray, for one reason or another. Stay Vigilant. !function(r,u,m,b,l,e){r._Rumble=b,r[b]||(r[b]=function(){(r[b]._=r[b]._||[]).push(arguments);if(r[b]._.length==1){l=u.createElement(m),e=u.getElementsByTagName(m)[0],l.async=1,l.src="https://rumble.com/embedJS/u2q643"+(arguments[1].video?'.'+arguments[1].video:'')+"/?url="+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+"&args="+encodeURIComponent(JSON.stringify([].slice.apply(arguments))),e.parentNode.insertBefore(l,e)}})}(window, document, "script", "Rumble");   Rumble("play", {"video":"v72xo68","div":"rumble_v72xo68"}); Video Source Links (In Chronological Order): (22) Leopoldo Hernández on X: "@andreina Pero ella no recibe órdenes jajajajaja ayer Rubio dijo que si estaba liberando presos políticos pero no al ritmo que quisiera y hoy esto" / X EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Military Tells Key Middle East Ally to Prepare for Attack on Iran video.twimg.com/amplify_video/2017390702217273344/vid/avc1/1920x1080/Jbg5D84eKtlUEHtT.mp4 (22) Monitor

My guest today is ⁠Gokul Rajaram⁠, Founding Partner at Marathon Management. Gokul is one of the most prolific product builders and investors of the last twenty years. He has built the core ad and product businesses at Google, Facebook, Square, and DoorDash, working at each company during its most formative scaling periods. Alongside his operating career, Gokul has invested in more than 700 companies, giving him an unusually broad view into how products are built and scaled. This conversation is about how product building is changing with AI. We discuss the one thing Gokul believes is truly future-proof in AI, why companies like Zendesk and Slack are more exposed than Salesforce or NetSuite, and the only sources of defensibility.  We also talk about everything Gokul has learned from helping build the most important ads businesses, including the only three ways an ad business can make money, how those constraints shape product decisions, and what consumer behavior change threatens every major platform. Gokul shares lessons from working closely with Larry and Sergey, Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, and Tony Xu. Please enjoy my conversation with Gokul Rajaram. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  ----- This episode is brought to you by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Ramp⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Ramp's mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ramp.com/invest⁠⁠ to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- This episode is brought to you by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Vanta⁠. Trusted by thousands of businesses, Vanta continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Visit ⁠vanta.com/invest⁠.  ----- This episode is brought to you by ⁠Rogo⁠. Rogo is an AI-powered platform that automates accounts payable workflows, enabling finance teams to process invoices faster and with greater accuracy. Learn more at ⁠Rogo.ai/invest⁠. ----- This episode is brought to you by⁠ ⁠WorkOS⁠⁠. WorkOS is a developer platform that enables SaaS companies to quickly add enterprise features to their applications. Visit⁠ ⁠WorkOS.com⁠⁠ to transform your application into an enterprise-ready solution in minutes, not months. ----- This episode is brought to you by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Ridgeline⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Ridgeline has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Visit⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgelineapps.com⁠. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). Timestamps (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best (00:00:53) Meet Gokul Rajaram (00:02:05) How Product Development is Changing with AI (00:07:32) Philosophy of Product Management (00:10:19) What is Future-Proof in AI Era (00:11:25) Building AI Applications Today (00:15:03) Systems of Record vs Agent Companies (00:16:58) Which Legacy Software Companies Are Most Exposed (00:22:15) Stickiness in the AI Era (00:24:10) Learning from Larry Page and Sergey Brin (00:28:15) Learning from Mark Zuckerberg (00:31:31) Learning from Jack Dorsey (00:35:40) The Art of Great Product Design (00:36:49) Weekly CEO Communication (00:40:27) Three Ways to Succeed in Advertising (00:44:27) What Should Scare Major Ad Platforms (00:48:24) North Star Metrics (00:50:09) Self-Serve Products (00:54:50) Careers in the AI Era (00:59:03) Stay Long Enough to Have Impact (01:00:10) Founder Authenticity and Superpowers (01:02:21) Navigating the Idea Maze (01:03:42) Role of Boards (01:06:31) Excellence in Customer Acquisition  (01:09:11) The Kindest Thing 

Bill Gates tells Gideon that a climate of fear has taken hold in the US business community under the Trump administration: “People are afraid to speak out about being afraid to speak out.” He discusses falling aid budgets, why philanthropy cannot replace government funding, and an ambitious new collaboration with OpenAI to improve access to healthcare in Africa. Gates also reflects on the more destabilising uses of artificial intelligence and his past association with the disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Clips: NBC4, Bill GatesFree links to read more on this topic: Bill Gates and OpenAI back $50mn AI rollout in African health clinicsTech titans lined up for Trump's second inauguration. Now they're even richerBill Gates and Sergey Brin among newly released Epstein photosBill Gates warns aid cuts risk big increase in child deathsSubscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe.Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Breen Turner and the executive producer is Flo Phillips.Follow Gideon on Bluesky or X @gideonrachman.bsky.social, @gideonrachmanRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Story of the Week (DR):Target silent after federal immigration agents arrest Twin Cities employees, operate near stores DRPress Release, January 14, 2026: Target Expands Its Style Offerings with Exclusive Bedding Collection from Acclaimed Interior Designer Jeremiah BrentQuote from the investors page: “Together, Target's purpose-driven team of more than 400,000 works daily to help all families discover the joy of everyday life.” Brian Cornell, Chair and Chief Executive OfficerBill Ackman defends donation to ICE officer who shot Minnesota woman: 'Presumed innocent until proven guilty'Chipotle clarifies Bill Ackman 'not affiliated' with chain after billionaire's ICE agent donationFord worker suspended for calling Trump 'pedophile protector' has 'no regrets' for 'embarrassing' presidentSuspended Michigan autoworker who heckled Trump gets outpouring of donationsGrok blocked from undressing images in places where it's illegal after global backlashI asked Grok's AI to undress me after X's new limits. It's still easy on the appGrok was finally updated to stop undressing women and children, X Safety saysGrok Is Getting Access to Classified Military Networks Elon Musk's xAI probed by California DOJ over Grok's deepfake explicit imagesElon Musk's X Under UK Investigation Over Grok's Sexualized A.I. ImagesOpposition to Elon Musk's AI Stripping Clothing Off Children Is Nearly Universal, PollingMalaysia and Indonesia block Musk's Grok over sexually explicit deepfakesAshly St Clair, the conservative influencer who had Musk's baby, just sued Xai for sexualizing her - after saying in 2024 that X and Musk were “essential” to free speech, that Musk was the only one doing it, and that, “Truly, the only things they will ban are things that are against the law”... oops?Trump canceled or stopped enforcement against 166 corporations in his first year. Many of them were donorsNew analysis finds federal agencies halted or limited enforcement and prosecution, including many involving companies and individuals with ties to President Donald TrumpRipple, the cryptocurrency company behind XRP, donated $4.9 million — among the largest donation — to Trump's inauguration events. Shortly afterward, the Securities and Exchange Commission withdrew an appeal seeking nearly $2 billion in penalties against the company, settling instead for $125 million.After he and his wife donated $1.8 million to Trump's reelection, Trevor Milton — the CEO of electric vehicle startup Nikola, who was convicted in 2023 of defrauding investors — received a presidential pardon wiping out over $660 million in restitution. Milton's legal team included Attorney General Pam Bondi's brother, Brad Bondi.Amazon was facing an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit for allegedly discriminating against pregnant workers. After Trump signed an April 2025 executive order directing agencies not to rely on disparate impact analysis — an important tool for proving discrimination — the EEOC then dismissed the case.The report details how Amazon donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund, made another $1 million in-kind donation by streaming the inauguration on Amazon Video, and is backing Trump's $300 million “Golden Ballroom” in the White House's East Wing. The company also announced a deal to stream The Apprentice, resulting in "unspecified" payments to Trump, who starred in and executive-produced the show. The company reportedly also paid $28 million to first lady Melania Trump for a documentary.What's more, Attorney General Pam Bondi worked as a registered lobbyist for Amazon in 2020 and 2021, while Trump ally Brian Ballard lobbied on Amazon's behalf in 2024.Trump tries to reduce CEO pay and halt billions in stock buybacks at defense contractorsTrump threatens to sideline Exxon from Venezuela's oil: 'They're playing too cute'Justice department opens investigation into Jerome Powell as Trump ramps up campaign against Federal ReserveFed chair accuses DoJ of threatening criminal charges over building renovation projects because central bank defied Trump's interest rate demandsGoodliest of the Week (MM/DR):DR: MacKenzie Scott is using her $26 billion philanthropy push to rescue organizations in danger after the Trump administration's funding cutsMM: RFK Jr.'s Health Department Is Studying Health Effects of CellphonesNot that there are any doctors there, or that anything they do anymore is science, BUT THIS IS GREATEven if they end up with spurious research that says “your cellphone and wifi will give you ballsack cancer”, it means less phones, less online, and happier humans with human friends and going outside moreAssholiest of the Week (MM):Brian Cornell“That could have been one of my Target team members”.“We have to be the role models that drive change and our voice is important. And we've got to make sure that we represent our company principles, our values, our company purpose on the issues that are important to our teams.”“The eyes of America, and the eyes of the world were on Minneapolis.”“As a Target team, we've huddled, we've consoled, we've witnessed horrific scenes similar to what's playing out now and wept that not enough is changing. And as a team we've vowed to face pain with purpose.”“We've got to stand up and do more”Oh, wait, that's not when ICE shot a woman without due process or outside of every protocol? That was when there was a lot of money in saying “we're for DEI” and every other CEO put out the same statement? Ahhh… maybe one of your board members should say something… Derica Rice flipped on DEI at Disney, probably not himDmitri Stockton flipped on DEI at both Deere and Black & Decker, probably not him…Grace Puma is on the board of Phillips 66 who wants in on Venezuelan oil, probably not her…Christine Leahy is the CEO of CDW who has had 11bn of government contracts in the last decade, and 270m+ last year, so probably not her…David Abney is on the board of Northrup Grumman…Monica Lozano was on Disney… Brian Cornell and Michael Fidelke run the board…That leaves a minority of directors who MIGHT have said something! Bill Ackman DR The woman shot in the face was apparently NOT innocent until proven guilty, or at least Bill can't find a way to get her any money because “her GoFundMe had closed”... also, she's deadAckman needs to get punched in the mouth - no one should care what he thinks about anything, every, at all. He's the worst kind of blowhard - has he ever offered a full throated defense of a blank person? A woman he's not married to who's not on Fox News? Does he ever admit he's wrong, biased, or a fucking hypocrite? Oh, but he says we all are? Shut. Your. Mouth.But Ackman is part of a bigger problem - at this point you are either aiding ICE's tactics, which have crossed fully into unaccountable personal army of the US dictator, or you're not aiding them. ICE abetting includes: AT&TBooz Allen HamiltonComcastDellGeneral DynamicsL3Harris TechnologiesMotorola SolutionsMen from Stanford saying they love people who didn't go to schoolGoogle's Sergey Brin admits he's hiring ‘tons' of workers without degrees: ‘They just figure things out on their own in some weird corner'Go hire some homeless people, tooHeadliniest of the WeekDR: Tech Billionaire Forced to Rename Humongous Yacht After Realizing It Spelled Something Horrible BackwardsLarry Ellison: “Izanami.”MM: Opposition to Elon Musk's AI Stripping Clothing Off Children Is Nearly Universal, Polling ShowsNEARLY96 percent said they shouldn't be able to generate “undressed” images of minors only wearing clothing like underwearSo… should they release the names and addresses of the 4%?MM: Jamie Dimon slams DOJ probe of Jerome Powell, warning investigation could stoke inflationNot says, SLAMSWho Won the Week?DR: Acclaimed Interior Designer Jeremiah Brent and his new Exclusive Bedding Collection at TargetMM: Rhode Island - 350,000 homes will be powered by wind despite Trump's make believe “radar interference”PredictionsDR: Target lazily repurposes its October 20, 2025 news feature “Target's Partnership with RICE — fueling a more inclusive economy” to “Target's Partnership with ICE — fueling a more exclusive economy”MM: Brian Cornell, after seeing the error in his ways, is seen outside of ICE officer Jonathan Ross's house kneeling in solidarity and burning gay pride merchandise as a tribute

The gang discusses the killing of Renée Good, a U.S. citizen fatally shot by an ICE agent during protests against a federal immigration operation in Minneapolis. With conflicting accounts from federal authorities, witnesses, and local officials, they dig into questions of use of force, accountability, and how immigration enforcement is escalating inside U.S. cities. Then, they turn to California's proposed billionaire wealth tax, which has prompted Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin to move assets and cut ties with the state. Is this a long overdue redistribution effort, or a policy that will drive massive capital flight?Chapters00:00:00 - Intro00:08:27 - ICE Shooting in Minnesota00:55:10 - Wealth Tax01:24:59 - Emails01:52:16 - Wrap-up Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, you explored the controversial and often overlooked connections between U.S. intelligence agencies and the origins of Google, focusing on claims that early research leading to the search engine was funded or influenced by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Security Agency (NSA). Investigative accounts suggest that government-backed research programs in the 1990s, including those supported by NSA and CIA interests, helped seed the breakthrough work on search algorithms that Sergey Brin and Larry Page would later commercialize. Critics argue that these ties reveal how deeply intelligence priorities have been woven into the evolution of one of the world's most powerful tech platforms and raise broader questions about surveillance, government influence on innovation, and privacy in the digital age.Website: thefacthunter.comShow Notes:Don't let them control the narrative  https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica2/sociopol_internetgoogle71.htm Who really controls the CIA https://exonews.org/an-in-depth-look-into-who-really-controls-the-us-government-deep-state-because-its-not-the-people/ Kirk CIA https://x.com/mommaleo/status/2010057407687479455?s=46&t=ytitK_qmWZMvJd0lLKbt-g ALTERED GENES https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/ciencia_monsanto152.htm Top 10 Cancer Causing Foods: Understanding THAT Causes Cancer https://thetruthaboutcancer.com/cancer-causing-foods-2/

Larry Page said in the early day, a guiding principle is Do No Evil. I wonder if we can say that today or is it just business as usual? Dave Young: Welcome to the Empire Builders Podcast, teaching business owners the not-so secret techniques that took famous businesses from mom-and-pop to major brands. Stephen Semple is a marketing consultant, story collector, and storyteller. I’m Stephen’s sidekick and business partner, Dave Young. Before we get into today’s episode, a word from our sponsor, which is, well, it’s us, but we’re highlighting ads we’ve written and produced for our clients. So, here’s one of those. [Out of this World Plumbing Ad] Dave Young: This is the Empire Builders Podcast, by the way. Dave Young here, Steve Semple there. I wonder, Stephen, if we could do this whole episode without mentioning the name of the company that we’re going to be talking about. I ask that for the simple reason of they already know. They already know what we’re talking about. They already know we’re talking about them. They probably knew we were going to talk about them. Stephen Semple: Because of all the research I’ve done on my computer. Dave Young: No, because they’re listening to everything. They probably already know the date that this is going to come out and how long it’s… I don’t know, right? When they first started, and I don’t think we felt that way about them, and I can remember back in the early 2000s, just after the turn- Stephen Semple: In the early days, they had a statement. Larry Page was very famous. Dave Young: Yeah, “Do no evil.” Stephen Semple: “Do know evil. Do no evil,” and that was a very, very big part. In fact, in the early stages, they made a bunch of decisions that challenged the company financially because they were like, “This is not good experience for the person on the other end.” I wonder if anybody’s guessed yet what we’re going to be talking about. Dave Young: Well, then you go public, and it’s all about shareholders, right? It’s like the shareholders are like, “Well, we don’t care if you do evil or not. We want you to make money.” That’s what it’s about because you have [inaudible 00:03:01]. Stephen Semple: All those things happen. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: This company that we’re talking about, we’ll go a little while before we’ll let the name out, was founded… On September 4th in 1998 was when it was actually founded. Dave Young: Oh, ’98. It goes back before the turn of the century [inaudible 00:03:14]. Stephen Semple: Yeah. It was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who met at Stanford. Interesting note, the Stanford grads also created Yahoo. Dave Young: Okay, yeah. Stephen Semple: That’s giving you another little clue about the company that we might be talking about. Dave Young: In the same geek club. Stephen Semple: Yeah, so 1998. I was thinking back, one year after I graduated from university, Windows 98 is launched and, believe it or not, the last Seinfeld episode aired. Dave Young: Are you kidding me? Stephen Semple: No, isn’t that crazy? Dave Young: ’98. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Dave Young: I mean, I was busy raising four daughters in ’98. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Today, this company, as you said, because you didn’t want me to name the company, has more net income than any other business in US history. It has, now, I got to let the cat out of the bag, eight and a half billion searches a day happen. And yes, we’re talking about the birth of Google, which is also now known as part of the Alphabet group. Dave Young: Alphabet, yeah. It’s funny how they got to get a name that means everything. Did they have a name before Google? I know Google was like… Oh, it’s a number really, right? It’s a gazillion, bazillion Googleplex. Stephen Semple: As we’ll go into a little bit later, they actually spelled it wrong when they registered the site. That’s not actually the way that the word is spelled. I’ll have to go… But yeah, the first iteration was a product called BackRub was the name of it. Dave Young: Backrub, okay. Stephen Semple: Alphabet also owns the second largest search engine, which is YouTube. Together, basically, it’s a $2 trillion business, which is larger than the economy of Canada. It’s this amazing thing. Going back to 1998, there are dozens of search engines all using different business models. Now, today Alphabet’s like 90% in the market. Up until this point, it’s been unassailable, and it’s going to be really interesting to see what the future of AI and whatnot brings to that business. But we’re not talking about the future, we’re talking about the past here, so back to the start. Larry Page was born in Lansing, Michigan. His dad is a professor of computer science. His mom is also a computer academic. This is in the ’70s. Between 1979 and ’80, his dad does a stint at Stanford and then also goes to work at Microsoft. Now, Larry and Sergey meet at Stanford, and they’re very ambitious, they’re equal co-founders, but Larry had this thing he also talked about where he said, “You need to do more than just invent things.” It wasn’t about inventing things, it was about creating things that people would use. Here’s what’s going on in the world of the web at this time to understand what’s going on. Here’s some web stats. In 1993, there’s 130 websites in the world. In 1996, three years later, there’s 600,000 websites. That’s a 723% growth year over year. The world has never seen growth like that before. Dave Young: Right, yeah. It was amazing to experience it. People that are younger than us don’t realize what it was. Josh Johnson, the comedian, has a great routine on trying to explain to people what it was like before Google. You needed to know something- Stephen Semple: What it was like for the internet. Dave Young: Yeah. You had to ask somebody who knew. If you needed the answer to a question, you had to ask somebody. And if they didn’t know, then you had to find somebody else, or you had to go to the library and ask a librarian and they would help you find the answer- Stephen Semple: Well, I don’t think it’s like a- Dave Young: … maybe by giving you a book that may or may not have the answer. Stephen Semple: Here’s an important point. I want you to put a pin in that research. We’re going to come back to it. I was about to go down a rabbit hole, but let’s come back to this in just a moment, because this is a very, very important point here about the birth of Google. Larry and Sergey first worked on systems to allow people to make annotations and notes directly on websites with no human involved, but the problem is that that could just overrun a site because there was no systems for ranking or order or anything along that lines. The other question they started to ask is, “Which annotations should someone look at? What are the ones that have authority?” This then created the idea of page rankings. All of this became messy, and this led to them to asking the question, “What if we just focused on ranking webpages?” which led to ranking search. Now, whole idea was ranking was based upon authority and credibility, and they drew this idea from academia. So when we would do research, David, and you’d find that one book, what did you do to figure out who the authority was on the topic? You went and you saw what book did that cite, what research did this book cite. The further you went back in those citations, the closer you got to the true authority, right? Do you remember doing that type of research? Dave Young: Yeah, sure. Stephen Semple: Right. They looked at that and they went, “Well, that’s how you establish credibility and authority is who’s citing who.” Okay. They decided that what they were going to do was do that for the web, and the way the web did that was links, especially in the early days where a lot of it was research. Dave Young: Yeah. If a whole bunch of people linked to you, then that gives you authority over the words that they used to link on and- Stephen Semple: Well, and also in the early days, those links carried a lot of metadata around what the author thought, like, “Why was the link there?” In the early days, backlinks were incredibly important. Now, SEO weasels are still today talking about backlinks, which is complete. Dude, backlinks, yeah, they kind of matter, but they’re… Anyway, I could go down a rabbit hole. Dave Young: Yeah. It’s like anything, the grifters figure out a way to hack the system and make something that’s not authoritative seem like it is. Stephen Semple: Yeah. It’s harder that you can’t hack the system today. Anyway, but the technology challenge, how do you figure out who’s backedlinked to who? Well, the only way you can do it is you have to crawl the entire web, copy the entire web, and reverse engineer the computation to do this. Dave Young: Yeah. It’s huge. We’ve been talking about Google’s algorithm for as long as Google’s been around. That’s the magic of it, right? Stephen Semple: Yeah. In the early days, with them doing it as a research project, they could do it because there was hundreds of sites. If this happened even two years later, like 1996, it would’ve been completely impossible because the sheer size to do it as a research project, right? Now, they called this system BackRub, and they started to shop this technology to other search engines because, again, remember there was HotBot and Lyco and Archie and AltaVista and Yahoo and Excite and Infoseek. There were a ton of these search engines. Dave Young: Don’t forget Ask Jeeves. Stephen Semple: Ask Jeeves? Actually, Ask Jeeves might’ve even been a little bit later, but yeah, Ask Jeeves was one of them once when it was around. Dave Young: There was one that was Dogpile that was… It would search a bunch of search engines. Stephen Semple: Right, yeah. There was all sorts of things. Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: There was another one called Excite, and they got close to doing a deal with Excite. They got a meeting with them, and they’re looking at a license deal, million dollars for BackRub, and they would go into the summer and they would implement it because they were still students at Stanford. They got so far as running for the executives there a side-by-side test. They demo this test and the results were so good with BackRub. Here’s what execs at Excite said, “Why on earth would we want to use your engine? We want people to stay on our site,” because, again, it would push people off the site because web portals had this mentality of keeping people on the site instead of having them leave. So it was a no deal. They go back to school and no one wants BackRub, so they decide to build it for themselves at Stanford. The original name was going to be Whatbox. Dave Young: Whatbox? I’m glad they didn’t use Whatbox. Stephen Semple: Yeah. They thought it sounded too close to a porn site or something like that. Dave Young: Okay, I’ll give them that. Stephen Semple: Larry’s dorm mate suggested Google, which is the mathematical term of 10 to the 100th power, but it’s spelled G-O-O-G-O-L. Dave Young: Googol, mm-hmm. Stephen Semple: Correct. Now, there’s lots of things here. Did Larry Page misregister? Did he decide purposely? There’s all sorts of different stories there, but the one that seems to be the most popular, at least liked the most, is that he misspelled it when he did the registration to G-O-G-G-L-E. Dave Young: I think that’s probably a good thing because when you hear it said, that’s kind of the first thing you go- Stephen Semple: That’s kind of how you spell it. Dave Young: … how you spell it. I think we’d have figured it out, but- Stephen Semple: We would’ve, but things that are easier are always better, right? Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: By spring of ’98, they’re doing 10,000 searches a day all out of Stanford University. Dave Young: Wait, 10,000 a day out of one place. Stephen Semple: Are using university resources. Everyone else is just using keywords on a page, which led to keyword stuffing, again, another one of these BS SEO keyword stuffing. Now, at one point, one half of the entire computing power at Stanford University is being used for Google searches. It’s the end of the ’98 academic year, and these guys are still students there. Now, sidebar, to this day, Stanford still owns a chunk of Google. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: Worked out well for Stanford. Dave Young: Yeah, I guess. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Now, Larry and Sergey need some seed round financing because they’ve got to get it off of Stanford. They’ve got to start building computers. They raise a million dollars. Here’s the interesting thing I had no idea. Guess who one of the first round investors are who ended up owning 25% of the company in the seed round? Dave Young: Stay tuned. We’re going to wrap up this story and tell you how to apply this lesson to your business right after this. [Using Stories To Sell Ad] Dave Young: Let’s pick up our story where we left off and trust me you haven’t missed a thing. Stephen Semple: Guess who one of the first round investors are who ended up owning 25% of the company in the seed round? Jeff Bezos. Dave Young: Oh, no kidding. Stephen Semple: Yeah, yeah. Jeff Bezos was one of the first four investors in Google. Dave Young: Okay. Well, here we are. Stephen Semple: Isn’t that incredible? Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: Now, AltaVista created a very interesting technology because AltaVista grew out of DEC computers who were building super computers at the time. They were basically one of the pre-leaders in search because what they would do is everybody else crawled the internet in series. They were crawling the internet in parallel, and this was a big technological breakthrough. In other words, they didn’t have to do it one at a time. They could send out a whole ton of crawlers, crawling all sorts of different things, all sorts of different pieces, bringing it back and could reassemble it. Dave Young: Got you. Stephen Semple: AltaVista also had therefore the most number of sites indexed. I remember back in the day, launching websites, like pre-2000, and yeah, you would launch a site and you would have to wait for it to be indexed and it could take weeks- Dave Young: You submit it. Yeah, there were things you could do to submit- Stephen Semple: There was things you could submit. Dave Young: … the search engines. Stephen Semple: Yes, yeah, and you would sit and you would wait and you’d be like, “Oh, it got crawled.” Yeah, it was crazy. We don’t think about that today. [inaudible 00:15:57] websites crawl. Dave Young: You’d make updates to your site and you’d need to resubmit it, so it would get crawled again- Stephen Semple: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Dave Young: … if there was new information. Stephen Semple: People would search your site and it would be different than the site that you would have because the updates hadn’t come through and all those other things. In 1998, Yahoo was the largest player. They were a $20 billion business, and they had a hand-curated guide to the internet, which worked at the time, but the explosive growth killed that. There was a point where Yahoo just couldn’t keep up with it. Then Yahoo went to this hybrid where the top part was hand-curated and then backfilled with search engine results. Now, originally, Google was very against the whole idea of banner ads, and this was the way everyone else was making money, because what they knew is people didn’t like banner ads, but you’re tracking eyeballs, you’re growing, you need more infrastructure, because basically their way of doing is they’re copying the entire internet and putting it on their servers and you need more money. Now, one of the other technological breakthroughs is Google figured out how to do this on a whole pile of cheap computers that they just stacked on top of each other, but you still needed money. At this moment, had no model for making money. They were getting all these eyeballs, they were faster because they built data centers around the world because they also figured out that, by decentralizing it, it was faster. They had lots of constraints. What they needed to do at this point was create a business model. What does one do when one needs to create a business model? Well, it’s early 1999, they’re running out of money. They hire Salar Kamangar, who’s a Stanford student, and they give him the job of writing a business plan. “Here, intern, you’re writing the business plan for how we’re going to make money. Go put together a pitch deck.” Dave Young: I wonder if they’re still using the plan. Stephen Semple: What they found at that point was there was basically three ways to make the money. Way number 1 was sell Google Search technology to enterprises. In other words, companies can use this to search their own documents and intranets. Dave Young: I remember that, yeah. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Number 2, sell ads, banner ads, and number 3, license search results to other search engines. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: Based upon this plan, spring of ’99, they do a Series A fundraise. They raised more money, and they also meet Omid [inaudible 00:18:22] who’s from Netscape, and he’s kind of done with Netscape because Netscape had been just bought by AOL, and they recruit him as a chief revenue officer. Omid tries to sell the enterprise model, kind of fails, so things are not looking good on the revenue front. It’s year 2000, and the technology bubble is starting to burst. The customer base is still growing because people love it, love Google, but they’re running out of money again. They decide to do banner ads, because they just have got no money. Here’s the interesting thing is, in this day, 2000, I want you to think about this, you have to set up a sales force to go out and sell banner ads to agencies, people picking up the phone and walking into offices, reaching out to ad agencies. Dave Young: Yeah, didn’t have a platform for buying and selling… And banner ads, gosh, they were never… Google ads, in the most recent memory, are always context-related, right? Stephen Semple: Yes. Dave Young: But if you’re just selling banner ads to an agency, you might be looking for dog food and you’re going to see car ads and you’re going to see ads for high-tech servers and all kinds of things that don’t have anything to do with what you’re looking for. Stephen Semple: That’s how the early banner ads work. Hold that thought. You’re always one step ahead of me, Dave. Dave Young: Oh, sorry. Stephen Semple: Hold that thought. No, this is awesome. Dave Young: I’m holding it. Stephen Semple: What I want to stress is, when we talk about how the world has changed, in 2000, Google decides to do banner ads and how they have to do it is a sales force going out, reaching out to agencies, and agencies faxed in the banner ads. Dave Young: Okay. Yeah, sure. It would take too long for them- Stephen Semple: I’m not making this up. This is how much the world has changed in 25 years. Dave Young: “Fax me the banner.” Stephen Semple: Salespeople going out to sell ads to agencies for banners on Google where the insertions were sent back by fax. Dave Young: For the people under 20 listening to us, a fax machine- Stephen Semple: Who don’t even know what the hell a fax machine is, yeah. Dave Young: A fax machine, yeah, well, we won’t go there. Stephen Semple: Yeah. Now, here’s what they do. They also say to the advertisers at this point, “Google will only accept text for banner ads for speed.” Again, they start with the model of CPM, cost per a thousand views, which is basically how all the agencies were doing it, but they did do a twist on it. They sold around this idea of intent that the ads were showing keyword-based and they were the first to do that. What they did is they did a test to prove this. This was really cool. They set themselves up as an Amazon affiliate and dynamically generated a link on a book search and served up an ad, an affiliate ad, and they’re able to show they were able to sell a whole pile of books. The test proved the idea worked. And then what they did is they went out and they white-labeled this for others. For example, Yahoo did it, and it would show on the bottom of Yahoo, “Powered by Google.” But here’s the thing, as soon as you start saying, “Powered by Google,” what are you doing? You’re creating share of voice. Share of voice, right? Dave Young: Well, yeah, why don’t I just go to Google? Stephen Semple: Why don’t I just go to Google? Look, we had saw this a few years earlier when Hotmail was launched by Microsoft where you would get this email and go, “Powered by Hotmail,” and you’d be like, “What’s this Hotmail thing?” Suddenly, everybody was getting Hotmail accounts, right? Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: No one has a Hotmail account, no longer they have Gmail accounts, they hardly have Gmail accounts anymore. Dave Young: No, I could tell you that we’ve got a lot of people at Wizard Academy that email us off with a Hotmail. Stephen Semple: Still have Hotmail accounts? Dave Young: Sure. Stephen Semple: Oh, wow. So it’s still around? Okay. Dave Young: And then some Yahoos, yeah. Stephen Semple: Wow, that’s amazing. That’s amazing. Well, still- Dave Young: Yahoo, the email, not the customer. They’re not a Yahoo, but they have an account there. Stephen Semple: In October 2000, they launch AdWords with a test of 350 advertisers. And then, in 2002, they launched pay-per-click Advertising. And then 2004, they go public. Now, here’s one of the other things I want to talk about in terms of share of voice. They had a couple things going on with share of voice. They had that, “powered by Google,” which created share of voice because… We often think of share of voice as being just advertising in terms of how much are people knowing about us. I remember knowing nothing about Google and then learning about Google when Google went public because Google dragged out going public. They talked about it for a long time, but it meant it was financial press, it was front page news. It got a lot of PR and a lot of press around the time that they went public. That going public for them also created massive share of voice because there was suddenly a whole community that were not technologically savvy that we’re now suddenly aware of, “Oh, there’s this Google thing.” Dave Young: And they’re in the news, yeah. So I’ve got an idea for us, Steve. Stephen Semple: Yep, okay. Dave Young: All right. Stephen Semple: Let’s hear it. Dave Young: Let’s pick up part 2 of Google at the point they go public. Stephen Semple: All right, let’s do that. That’ll be an episode we’ll do in the future, yeah. Dave Young: We don’t do very many two-parters, but we’re already kind of a lengthy Empire Builder Podcast here. Stephen Semple: Oh, yeah. I was just taking it to this point, but I think that would be very interesting- Dave Young: Oh, okay. Stephen Semple: … because look, Google is a massive force in the world today- Dave Young: Unbelievable, yeah. Stephen Semple: … and I think it would be interesting to do the next part because there’s all sorts of things that they did to continue this path of attracting eyeballs. Dave Young: We haven’t even touched on Gmail yet. No, we have not. We have not. Stephen Semple: Because that happened after they went public. Correct. Let’s do that. Dave Young: Okay. Stephen Semple: Here’s the lesson that I think that I want people to understand is share of voice comes from other things, but we’re going to explore that even more in this part 2. I like the idea of doing this part 2. They really looked at this problem from a completely different set of eyeballs, and this is where I commend Google, from the standpoint of there’s all this stuff in the internet and what we really want to know is who is the authority. They looked at the academic world for how does it establish authority, and how authority is established is how much is your work cited by others, how much are other… So, now, Google has of course expanded that to direct search and there’s all these other things, but they’ve always looked at it from the standpoint of, “Who in this space has the most authority? Who is really and truly the expert on this topic? We’re going to try to figure that out and serve that up.” Dave Young: Yeah. Stephen Semple: That’s core to what their objective has been. Dave Young: We could talk about Google for four or five episodes probably. Stephen Semple: We may, but we know we’re going to do one more. Dave Young: All right. Stephen Semple: Awesome. Dave Young: Well, thanks for bringing it up. We did mention their name. Actually, if we just put this out there, “Hey, Google, why don’t you send us all the talking points we need for part 2?” There, I put it out there. Let me know how that works. Stephen Semple: My email’s about to get just slammed. All right. Thanks, David. Dave Young: You won’t know it’s from them though. You won’t know. You won’t know. Isn’t that good? Stephen Semple: That’s true. That’s true. Dave Young: Thank you, Stephen. Stephen Semple: All right. Thanks, David. Dave Young: Thanks for listening to the podcast. Please share us, subscribe on your favorite podcast app, and leave us a big, fat, juicy five-star rating and review at Apple Podcasts. And if you’d like to schedule your own 90-minute Empire Building session, you can do it at empirebuildingprogram.com.

Molly Graham has worked for some of tech's most effective leaders, including Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg, Chamath Palihapitiya, and Bret Taylor. Today she leads Glue Club, a community for leaders navigating rapid scale, growth, and change. She's best known for her “Give away your Legos” framework and her collection of practical mental models for leading through hypergrowth.We discuss:1. “Give away your Legos”: a framework for scaling yourself as a leader2. “J-curves vs. stairs”: the two paths of career growth, and why you should pick the scarier path3. “The waterline model” for diagnosing team problems (and why you should “snorkel before you scuba”)4. Six rules for creating effective goals (and aligning everyone around them)5. Rules of thumb for leading through rapid scale and change6. Her biggest leadership lessons from Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Sheryl Sandberg, and Bret Taylor—Brought to you by:DX—The developer intelligence platform designed by leading researchersBrex—The banking solution for startupsGoFundMe Giving Funds—Make helping a habit—Transcript: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-high-growth-handbook-molly-graham—My biggest takeaways (for paid newsletter subscribers): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/i/182877855/my-biggest-takeaways-from-this-conversation—Where to find Molly Graham:• X: https://x.com/molly_g• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mograham• Substack: https://mollyg.substack.com• Website: https://glueclub.com—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Introduction to Molly Graham(04:28) Molly's background at Google, Facebook, Quip, and CZI(11:29) The “Give away your Legos” framework(16:44) Managing your inner monster(19:49) When not to give away your Legos(21:28) Embracing a long career(23:25) The J-curve vs. stairs approach to career growth(32:00) The gift of knowing yourself(34:28) Learning to be a professional idiot(38:30) The waterline model: snorkel before you scuba(47:16) Six rules for creating strong alignment around goals(57:15) Rules of thumb for leading through rapid scale(01:07:49) Investing in high performers vs. low performers(01:10:54) Lessons from Zuckerberg, Sandberg, and Bret Taylor(1:21:15) Pivoting from ambition to purpose(1:26:32) Finding stability in instability(01:29:44) Final thoughts—Referenced:• Making an impact through authenticity and curiosity | Ami Vora (CPO at Faire, ex-WhatsApp, FB, IG): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/authenticity-and-curiosity-ami-vora• Sheryl Sandberg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheryl-sandberg-5126652• Elliot Schrage on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elliotschrage• Quip: https://quip.com• He saved OpenAI, invented the “Like” button, and built Google Maps: Bret Taylor on the future of careers, coding, agents, and more: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/he-saved-openai-bret-taylor• Chan Zuckerberg Initiative: https://chanzuckerberg.com• 10 contrarian leadership truths every leader needs to hear | Matt MacInnis (Rippling): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/10-contrarian-leadership-truths• ‘Give Away Your Legos' and Other Commandments for Scaling Startups: https://review.firstround.com/give-away-your-legos-and-other-commandments-for-scaling-startups• The Muppets: https://muppets.disney.com• Sara Caldwell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saramcaldwell• J-Curves vs. Stairs: Two Approaches to Career Growth: https://mollyg.substack.com/p/j-curve• Forget the corporate ladder—winners take risks: https://www.ted.com/talks/molly_graham_forget_the_corporate_ladder_winners_take_risks• Chamath Palihapitiya on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chamath• Lori Goler on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lori-goler-6b96921• Joseph Campbell's quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/192665-the-cave-you-fear-to-enter-holds-the-treasure-you• Zevi Arnovitz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zev-arnovitz• Peopling 101: The Waterline Model: https://christinehaskell.com/blog/peopling-101-the-waterline-model• Introduction to NVC: https://www.cnvc.org/learn/what-is-nvc• I hate OKRs... and other thoughts about goal setting: https://mollyg.substack.com/p/i-hate-okrs-and-other-thoughts-about• Lessons from scaling Stripe | Claire Hughes Johnson (former COO of Stripe): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/lessons-from-scaling-stripe-tactics• James Clear's quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/9614600-problem-1-winners-and-losers-have-the-same-goals• Founder mode: https://paulgraham.com/foundermode.html• Stripe: https://stripe.com• Patrick Collison on X: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickcollison• John Collison on X: https://x.com/collision• Seth Godin's best tactics for building remarkable products, strategies, brands and more: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/seth-godins-tactics-for-building-remarkable-products• Eric Antonow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonow—Recommended books:• The Artist's Way: https://www.amazon.com/Artists-Way-25th-Anniversary/dp/0143129252• Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building: https://www.amazon.com/Scaling-People-Tactics-Management-Building/dp/1953953212• Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones: https://www.amazon.com/Atomic-Habits-Proven-Build-Break/dp/0735211299—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com

Angel Studios https://Angel.com/HermanJoin the Angel Guild today where you can stream Thank You, Dr. Fauci and be part of the conversation demanding truth and accountability.  Renue Healthcare https://Renue.Healthcare/ToddYour journey to a better life starts at Renue Healthcare. Visit https://Renue.Healthcare/Todd Bulwark Capital https://KnowYourRiskPodcast.comBe confident in your portfolio with Bulwark! Schedule your free Know Your Risk Portfolio review. Go to KnowYourRiskPodcast.com today. Alan's Soaps https://www.AlansArtisanSoaps.comUse coupon code TODD to save an additional 10% off the bundle price.Bonefrog https://BonefrogCoffee.com/ToddThe new GOLDEN AGE is here!  Use code TODD at checkout to receive 10% off your first purchase and 15% on subscriptions.LISTEN and SUBSCRIBE at:The Todd Herman Show - Podcast - Apple PodcastsThe Todd Herman Show | Podcast on SpotifyWATCH and SUBSCRIBE at: Todd Herman - The Todd Herman Show - YouTubeEpisode links:Nicole Shanahan — ex-wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, former running mate of RFK Jr., and someone who personally signed nine-figure philanthropy checks — just went full whistleblower on the entire Silicon Valley “tech wife mafia” and how they were used.Klaus Schwab introduces the Schwab academyNEW: The Afghan terrorist Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who ambushed the National Guard in Washington, D.C., was housed in Bellingham with his wife and 5 children through the nonprofit World Relief Western Washington.  75% percent of the organization's income came from government grants, primarily through USAID.ICE shooter's parents said he was completely normal until he moved to Washington.

High-profile business figures including Sergey Brin, Thomas Pritzker and Mortimer Zuckerman were issued subpoenas in March 2023 as part of a civil lawsuit from the U.S. Virgin Islands against JPMorgan Chase & Co.. The subpoenas sought documents and communications potentially tying these wealthy individuals to the bank's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein — a relationship the Virgin Islands alleged helped facilitate a sex-trafficking enterprise.The legal push signaled a broadening of the investigation's scope, moving beyond the bank and its former executives to probe the wider circle of elite clients and associates linked to Epstein. By pulling in Brin, Pritzker and Zuckerman, authorities aimed to uncover whether Epstein used wealth and connections — through financial referrals or shared networks — to sustain or conceal the trafficking operation, and to hold both institutions and individuals accountable for complicity.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.com