Big Technology Podcast
286 episodes - English - Latest episode: 2 days ago -The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators. Alex Kantrowitz, a Silicon Valley journalist who's interviewed the world's top tech CEOs — from Mark Zuckerberg to Larry Ellison — is the host.
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Episodes
Kara Swisher Rates Tech Leaders — With Kara Swisher
April 17, 2024 13:46 - 55 minutesKara Swisher is the author of Burn Book and host of the Pivot and On With Kara Swisher. Swisher joins Big Technology to discuss the latest tech news and share her opinion of the nature of tech leaders. We discuss Marc Andreessen, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai, Tim Cook, Andy Jassy, Satya Nadella, Sam Altman, and Mark Cuban. Then we examine the nature of a great leader's personality, how much luck vs. skill plays a role in success, the impact of having lots of money. And plenty mor...
Google's AI Narrative Is Flipping, Microsoft Hedges Its OpenAI Bet, AI Clones Are Here
April 12, 2024 19:24 - 1 hourRanjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) The Solar Eclipse! 2) AI Music generation software Suno 3) Google flipping of its AI narrative 4) Ranjan's reflections from Google Cloud Next 5) Is Google's AI enterprise bet the right strategy 6) Microsoft hedging its OpenAI bet 7) Implications of Mustafa Suleyman's remit within Microsoft 8) OpenAI fires leakers 9) Eliezer Yudkowsky refuses interview and his reps won't pick up the phone 10) AI mode...
Anthropic's Co-Founder on AI Agents, General Intelligence, and Sentience — With Jack Clark
April 10, 2024 10:00 - 1 hourJack Clark is the co-founder of Anthropic and author of Import AI. He joins Big Technology Podcast for a mega episode on Anthropic and the future of AI. We cover: 1) What Anthropic and other LLM providers are building towards 2) What AI agents will look like 3) What type of traning is neccesary to get to the next level 4) What AI 'general intelligence' 5) AI memory 6) Anthropic's partnerships with Google and Amazon 7) The broader AI business case 8) The AI chips battle 9) Why Clark and others...
Why Crypto’s Thriving Post-SBF, Sports Betting Crisis Deepens, Jon Stewart vs. AI
April 05, 2024 20:45 - 1 hourRanjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news, with special guest Zeke Faux of Bloomberg News and Number Go Up fame. We cover 1) Why crypto is thriving after poster boy SBF was convicted and sentenced 2) The latest rise of memcoins including dogwifhat and NFTs like CryptoDickbutts 3) Is this evidence of a deeper societal problem or just gambling? 4) The resilience of crypto, including Tether 5) Zeke's reporting on pig butchering scams 6) The rise of Nudes I...
Why Marissa Mayer Is Betting Big On Consumer Tech
April 03, 2024 10:00 - 50 minutesMarissa Mayer is the CEO and co-founder of Sunshine, the former CEO of Yahoo, and a longtime Google executive. She joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss why she's betting on consumer tech, building a new array of products including Sunshine Contacts and the newly released Shine, a photo sharing app. Mayer discusses how AI impacts building for consumers today, and whether independent tech stands a chance against big tech. We also discuss the state of OpenAI, Google's competitive position, th...
SBF Sentenced, OpenAI’s $100 Billion Supercomputer, Neuralink’s Potential
March 29, 2024 21:10 - 1 hourReed Albergotti is the tech editor at Semafor. He joins Big Technology Podcast to break down the week's news. We cover: 1) SBF's sentencing 2) Is 25 years fair? 3) Is FTX a symptom of crypto or an exception 4) OpenAI and Microsoft may build a $100 billion supercomputer 5) Will the supercomputer help OpenAI get closer to AGI 6) Why the supercomputer project may be OpenAI's big swing to stay ahead 7) Claude surpasses GPT-4 in Chatbot Arena 9) Is voice computing the next AI interaction layer 10)...
The Yahoo Episode — With Jim Lanzone
March 27, 2024 14:35 - 50 minutesJim Lanzone is the CEO of Yahoo. He joins Big Technology Podcast for the long awaited Yahoo Episode, a deep dive into a company that remains one of the most visited and influential property on the web. Tune in as Lanzone describes how Yahoo's verticals operate, how the company thinks about generative AI for its search bar, and whether it's still possible to build a solid business on the web. Ranjan Roy joins us as well for a rare Wednesday appearance on the podcast. Tune in for a deep, engagi...
OpenAI's GPT-5 Looms, Apple's Antitrust Problem, Sports Betting's Big Scandal
March 22, 2024 18:42 - 57 minutesThe Information's Jessica Lessin and CNBC's Steve Kovach join us for a star studded Friday episode breaking down the week's news. Lessin is the CEO and founder of The Information and co-host of the More or Less podcast. Kovach is a technology correspondant at CNBC. We cover (with Lessin): 1) Rumors of GPT-5 being shown to founders, and what it might look like 2) Whether OpenAI is vulnerable now that model quality is converging 3) Satya Nadella's claims that Microsoft effectively controls all ...
Predicting AI’s Next Advances — With Suhail Doshi
March 20, 2024 13:22 - 1 hourSuhail Doshi is the CEO and founder of Playground, an AI image generation and editing software company. Doshi joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss where the next generative AI breakthroughs might come from. Tune in to hear Doshi's insights on the innovation within language models, image generation, video, and 3D creation. We also cover the business opportunities the competitive landscape among tech giants like Google, Meta, and Microsoft, and the debate around AI's true capabilities in und...
Is AI Slowing Down?, Trouble at Tesla, Kate Middleton’s Bad At Photoshop
March 15, 2024 17:09 - 59 minutesRanjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) AI sales leaders at Google and Amazon tempering expectations 2) Adobe as a practical example of AI hype vs. reality 3) Does Adobe belong in the magnificent 7? 4) Gartner predicts traditional search volume drops 25% by 2026 5) OpenAI video generator Sora is coming out later this year 6) OpenAI CTO Mira Murati didn't know what data Sora trained on 7) Murati address NYTimes report that he helped oust S...
TikTok Sale Or Ban Moves Forward In U.S. — With Mike Solana
March 13, 2024 15:15 - 1 hourMike Solana is the chief marketing officer at Founders Fund and editor-in-chief of Pirate Wires. He joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss the potential forced sale or ban of TikTok as the U.S. congress voted to pass a bill requiring it. Join us for an in-depth discussion of the arguements for and against banning the app, and how big money is influencing some of the key players. We also talk about Elon Musk, the state of X, Temu and Shein, the power of social media algorithms, and Devin, the...
OpenAI’s Turmoil Rolls On, Apple Under Siege, Bitcoin Hits $70,000
March 08, 2024 20:39 - 1 hourRanjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) OpenAI's leadership in flux as Mira Murati named in NYTimes report about Sam Altman's ouster 2) Where's Ilya Sutskever? 3) OpenAI reveals that open source was never so important in Musk lawsuit rebuttal 4) The AI field is wide open now! 5) Anthropic's new bot realized it was being tested 6) Is AI close to sentience? 7) Apple sales drop 24% in China as Huawei surges 8) Apple fined 1.9 billion euro fo...
Flexport's CEO on Amazon & Shopify, Red Sea Shipping Problems, and Inflation — With Ryan Petersen
March 06, 2024 11:00 - 53 minutesRyan Petersen is the Founder and Co-CEO of Flexport, a supply chain technology company. He joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss whether his company is competing with Amazon, his perspective on Amazon culture, and why ex-Amazon leader Dave Clark didn't work out as CEO. We also discuss the Houthis attacks in the Red Sea's impact on global shipping, de-globalization, cargo theft, and inflation. Tune in for a wide ranging, deep conversation about the state of logistics and the world economy.
Elon Sues OpenAI, Should Sundar Stay?, RIP Apple Car
March 01, 2024 20:22 - 1 hourRanjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) Elon Musk suing OpenAI for breaching its founding agreement 2) What can Musk accomplish with the lawsuit 3) The SEC looks into OpenAI’s conduct 4) Microsoft funds OpenAI competition MistralAI 5) Does OpenAi’s chaos make Google look good? 6) The chaos inside Google’s organization that led to its Gemini 7) Is Sundar Pichai the right leader for Google? 8) The death of the Apple car 9) Apple’s generativ...
NVIDIA's AI Moat & Origins — With Bryan Catanzaro
February 28, 2024 11:00 - 47 minutesBryan Catanzaro is NVIDIA's VP of applied deep learning research. He joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss why NVIDIA is building more than just chips, examining its software and algorithms that help tech companies build and run AI models. Join us for a conversation about how NVIDIA sees the world, what's led to its success, and what makes it indispensable. In the second half, we discuss how Bryan helped kick off NVIDIA's push into AI, from the very start to where it is today. --- --- Enjoy...
Secrets of NVIDIA's Surge, Google Gemini's Image Generation Disaster, Reddit IPO
February 23, 2024 20:14 - 1 hourRanjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) NVIDIA's stock market surge 2) How NVIDIA software is behind its lock on the market 3) Is the economy saved, now? 4) Reddit's IPO 5) Is Reddit a good ad business? 6) Reddit's AI licensing play 7) Sam Altman role as Reddit's third largest shareholder 8) Was Google Gemini's image generation mess up a product of woke culture or bad AI? 9) Was Gemini's image generation an emergent runaway capability 10)...
Foursquare's Founder on Making the Internet Fun Again + His New App — With Dennis Crowley
February 21, 2024 11:00 - 51 minutesDennis Crowley is the co-founder of Foursquare. He joins Big Technology Podcast to talk about what made the internet fun, why it's lost some of its magic, and how to restore it. He also introduces a new app, called BeeBot, that will deliver short, contextual audio messages to you as you walk around cities. Stay tuned for the second half where we discuss whether Web3 can still work, how AI changes things, and whether Crowley's buying a Vision Pro. Listen for a fun, energetic conversation about...
OpenAI's New Video Generation Model, Zuck Returns Fire, Tesla's Fatal Crash
February 16, 2024 18:10 - 1 hourRanjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) OpenAI's new video generation model Sora 2) Will Sora challenge Hollywood? 3) Does Sora understand physics or is it just spitting back video? 4) ChatGPT's declining user numbers 5) Gemini 1.5 6) Meta's new conceptual model of the world 7) Zuckerberg's Vision Pro review 8) Temu dominates the Super Bowl 9) Tesla's fatal, potentially self driving crash 10) A financial advice columnist put $50,000 in ...
Perplexity’s CEO on Its Plan to Displace Google Search With AI Answers — With Aravind Srinivas
February 14, 2024 11:00 - 36 minutesAravind Srinivas is the CEO of Perplexity, an AI-powered search engine that answers queries with a few paragraphs in natural language. Srinivas joins the show to discuss how his company might threaten Google search, and whether conversational AI search is actually similar to traditional search at all. Tune into the second half where we discuss Aravind's perspective on how AI search might help or hurt news publishers. We also discuss Jeff Bezos's investment in Perplexity and where the cutting ...
Building One: How Cameron Adams Built Canva
February 12, 2024 14:00 - 41 minutesIntroducing Building One, a new show from LinkedIn chief product officer Tomer Cohen. Canva co-founder and chief product officer Cameron Adams is the first guest, and in this episode shares his story of how he built his career and eventually Canva. Ahead of this episode, Cohen introduces the show via a brief interview with Alex Kantrowitz. If you like the show, you can subscribe on your podcast app of choice. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcas...
Sam Altman’s $7 Trillion Fundraise, Google Gemini Catches OpenAI, The Return To Office Ploy
February 09, 2024 21:03 - 1 hourRanjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) Sam Altman seeking to raise trillions for a new chip company 2) S&P 5,000 3) Google’s Gemini reaching parity with GPT-4 4) The commoditization of AI models 5) The rise of AI agents 6) Google's looming identity criss 7) What happens if Meta is more valuable than Google 8) FCC bans AI generated robocalls 9) The fallout of failed acquisitions like Amazon - iRobot and Adobe - Figma. 10) Snap doing layof...
Apple Mega-Episode W/ Daring Fireball's John Gruber: AI, Vision Pro, China, App Store & More
February 07, 2024 10:45 - 1 hourJohn Gruber is the author of Daring Fireball. He joins Big Technology Podcast for a mega episode on the state of Apple. We cover: 1) The company's vibe amid revenue declines 2) The impact of its services business 3) Its position in China 4) How AI might change the user interface of computing 5) Can Apple keep up with the changes if we move beyond the screen 6) Gruber's reaction to the Vision Pro 7) The stakes of Apple's Vision Pro bet 8) Apple conflict with Meta and who is getting the best of...
Hands-On With the Vision Pro, Big Tech's Back in Washington, Elon Musk’s $55 Billion Payday — With Joanna Stern
February 02, 2024 18:44 - 53 minutesJoanna Stern from the Wall Street Journal joins us to talk about her hands-on experience with the Vision Pro. We also break down the dramatic big tech hearings in Washington, Meta's monster earnings report, Elon Musk’s $55 billion pay package, and Peter Thiel’s steroid Olympics. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. For weekly updates on the show, sign up for the pod newsletter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/690...
Robinhood's CEO On Dumb Money, Day Trading, and Retirement — With Vlad Tenev
January 31, 2024 11:00 - 57 minutesVlad Tenev is the CEO and co-founder of Robinhood. He joins Big Technology Podcast to share what's happened to meme stock traders after the meme stocks. We talk about how the company's 23 million members are adjusting to a challenging investment environment after riding the zero interest rate investment environment. We also discuss about how Robinhood is evolving, providing retirement services and working on a credit card. And Tenev addresses some controversial areas like margin trading and p...
The Taylor Swift Deepfake Problem, Tech All Time Highs + Layoffs, Quitting Amazon Prime
January 26, 2024 20:12 - 56 minutesRanjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) Why nude Taylor Swift deepfakes could be a problem for generative AI 2) Whether the technology slows due to this Taylor Swift episode 3) Google's latest video generator, Lumiere 4) Are Generative AI margins lower than software margins? 5) Why tech layoffs are happening at a time when tech stocks are hitting all-time highs 6) Are media layoffs a result of generative AI? 7) Are tech investors overexub...
Why Meta Wants To Build Artificial General Intelligence — With Joelle Pineau
January 24, 2024 18:54 - 48 minutesJoelle Pineau is the head of Meta's AI Research division. She joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss the company's recent proclamation that it intends to build Artificial General Intelligence, digging into how we get there and why it feels it must. In a wide-ranging discussion, we cover the latest research trends, the company's open-source practices, what actual products developers have been built with AI, video generation, and the reasons why NVIDIA chips are so in demand. Tune in for a dee...
Microsoft & OpenAI Visit Davos, Is The Vision Pro Dead On Arrival, Google Makes More Cuts
January 19, 2024 16:46 - 49 minutesRanjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) Satya Nadella on the state of Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI 2) Satya Nadella on OpenAI’s governance 3) Sam Altman on OpenAI’s potential for a big breakthrough this year 4) Altman on whether AI will replace jobs 5) How Generative AI will factor in politics this year, and whether it will actually be a big problem 6) The threat of video deepfakes 7) HeyGen’s translation of Argentina president Jav...
Would a World Without Algorithms Be Better? — With Kyle Chayka
January 17, 2024 11:00 - 47 minutesKyle Chayka is a New Yorker staff writer and author of FILTERWORLD: How Algorithms Flattened Culture. Chayka joins Big Technology Podcast to talk about his book — which debuts this week — and dig into whether algorithms really do make our culture flatter. In this spirited conversation, we interrogate the role of algorithms in society, ask how they reflect in the real world, and ponder how products would be redesigned to take back control. Stay tuned for the second half, where we discuss Chayk...
Bill Ackman’s Crusade, A Rabbit Wins CES, Apple Boosts Meta
January 12, 2024 19:09 - 49 minutesRanjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) Bill Ackman’s crusade against Harvard & Business Insider 2) Why you shouldn’t plagarize 3) Was Ackman’s wife fair game for reporting 4) Whether Axel Springer should’ve gotten involved 5) Carta ending secondary share sales 6) SEC’s hacked tweet ahead of Spot Bitcoin ETF 7) Bitcoin’s price drop 8) Rabbit wins CES 9) Quora raises $75 million for a new chatbot 10) Is Apple helping Meta? --- Enjoying Big...
Will AI Really Take Our Jobs? And If So, Then What? — With Albert Wenger
January 10, 2024 11:00 - 37 minutesAlbert Wenger is a partner at Union Square Ventures, and author of The World After Capital. He joins Big Technology Podcast for a frank conversation about whether AI will lead to job loss and what to do about it. In an unusual setup, the journalist in this conversation (Alex) argues that we have less to worry about AI automating jobs than the popular narrative, and the VC (Wenger) makes the case that it will definitely happen and how we should adjust. Stay tuned for the second half where we d...
Generative AI Might Just A Be Feature, Crypto is Back, Substack’s Nazi Problem
January 05, 2024 20:25 - 55 minutesRanjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) Whether generative AI is a feature or the underlying tech of new powerful applications 2) Robin AI's recent fundraising 3) Big Technology's latest piece on Snapchat+ 4) Jeff Bezos investing in perplexity AI 5) Google execs investing in a Gen AI search competitor 6) Microsoft copilot app debuts 7) Microsoft and OpenAI's weird competitive dynamic 8) Can Web3 still happen? 9) The implications of bitcoi...
Signal’s President on AI, Advertising, and Running a Popular Messaging App — With Meredith Whittaker
January 03, 2024 11:00 - 39 minutesMeredith Whittaker is the President of Signal and chief advisor to the AI Now Institute. She joins Big Technology Podcast for a lively discussion about the state of Google, whether AI is for real or a marketing gimmick, whether the online advertising business model is ethically broken, and the state of the Signal messaging app. Stay tuned for the second half, where we discuss the mysterious nature of Telegram. And enjoy the cool-headed arguments throughout. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast...
New York Times Sues OpenAI, Apple Watch Ban's Implications, Snapchat Rising On AI Success
December 29, 2023 20:38 - 48 minutesRanjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) The New York Times' Lawsuit against OpenAI 2) Whether the Times' case stands a chance 3) How the lawsuit will change perceptions of AI 4) How it will also create a strange realignment of the tech culture war 5) Will the New York Times build its own ChatGPT? 6) How much does news really contribute to AI? 7) Who is really at fault when a model generates copyrighted material? 8) Is AI in a trust crisis...
Palantir and Clearview Are Turning Ukraine’s War Into an R&D Lab — With Vera Bergengruen
December 27, 2023 11:00 - 39 minutesVera Bergengruen is a senior correspondent at Time. She joins Big Technology Podcast after a recent trip to Ukraine, where she reported on how Palantir and Clearview are putting their technology in the Ukrainians’ hands, and using the war as a way to enhance their offering. We also discuss how Ukraine is embracing the moment and positioning itself as a military tech powerhouse with plans to export what it’s learned. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your ...
2023 In Review, 2024 Predictions — With Casey Newton
December 22, 2023 16:00 - 49 minutesCasey Newton is the editor of Platformer and co-host of Hard Fork. He joins Big Technology Podcast for our annual look back and forward at the year that was and the year to come. In this episode, we both go through our standout moment from 2023, then make predictions on Gemini, GPT-5, the future of Google Search, Apple’s Vision Pro, X vs. Threads, Falling in love with bots, autonomous driving, and plenty more. Tune in for a fun lively discussion to close out 2023. --- Enjoying Big Technolog...
Is Generative AI Killing Creativity Or Enhancing It? — With Scott Belsky
December 20, 2023 11:00 - 49 minutesScott Belsky is the chief strategy officer and executive vice president of design and emerging products at Adobe. He joins Big Technology Podcast to examine the impact of generative AI on creativity. In this interview, we discuss whether AI homogenizes creativity or creates more possibilities. We talk about how Adobe is baking it into its products with generative fill. We also discuss creative attribution for images used to train generative AI models and how friction is actually good. Tune in...
AI Scandals Rock Newsrooms, Uber’s Road to Profitability, NVIDIA’s Underappreciated Weakness
December 15, 2023 20:05 - 49 minutesRanjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) Alex’s meeting with Sam Altman 2) Publishers using AI to rip off other articles and getting caught 3) The impressive performance of Anthropic’s Claude 4) SI fires execs after AI scandal 5) Is Generative AI good for news? 6) Did Twitter destroy news? 7) Uber finds profitability by squeezing drivers 8) Uber drivers trying to circumvent the system 9) Why can’t Lyft capitalize on Uber’s practices 10) Te...
Intel's CEO Shares His Plan To Win The AI Chip War — With Pat Gelsinger
December 13, 2023 11:00 - 28 minutesPat Gelsinger is the CEO of Intel. He joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss how the AI chip war is playing out and why it's growing more competitive. In this episode, we break down the various components of the chip business, the difference between CPUs and GPUs, who's ahead in the AI chip war, NVIDIA's underrated weakness, and why Intel is getting back into the foundry business after a couple of failed attempts. Tune in for a vibrant, deep discussion of the state of the AI chip business an...
2024's Big Ideas — With Jessi Hempl and Hello Monday
December 11, 2023 16:28 - 38 minutesJessi Hempel is the host of Hello Monday and a senior editor at large at LinkedIn. Today, we're running a crossover episode where we talk about the future of AI, self-driving cars, social media, and tech media. This is a fun, timely episode that covers many of the themes we speak about regularly on Big Technology Podcast. And I think if you like this show, you’ll also love Hello Monday, which you can find in your podcast app of choice. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us fiv...
Google’s Deceptive Gemini Release, More Tech Layoffs, George Santos Saves Cameo
December 08, 2023 21:08 - 35 minutesRanjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Google releases its Gemini large language model 2) Why Gemini is a win for Google 3) Google’s deceptive Gemini marketing campaign 4) Why Google felt compelled to exaggerate 5) Which data sets add value to LLMs after the commodify 6) Spotify lays off 1,500 6) The economy is still on shaky footing, especially for companies with prolonged covid hangovers 7) George Santos may just save Cameo ---- Enjoy...
Tech's Big November Rally, Apple's Path Forward, The State of Tesla — With Dan Ives
December 06, 2023 11:00 - 38 minutesDan Ives is the managing director and senior equity research analyst at Wedbush Securities. He joins Big Technology Podcast for a broad discussion of the state of tech today. We cover: 1) Tech's November rally 2) Whether generative AI is Big data 2.0 3) Microsoft winning 80-90% of big AI deals 4) The state of Apple 5) How analysts like Ives estimate iPhone sales 6) The state of Tesla 7) Rivian's pickup truck 8) The Cybertruck's chances 9) 2024 Predictions 10) Elon Musk's future at X 11) Bitco...
ChatGPT Gets Lazy, Elon Musk Blasts Advertisers and Releases The Cybertruck, Jack Ma Returns
December 01, 2023 18:34 - 50 minutesLouise Matsakis is a reporter at Semafor covering AI. She joins us for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) ChatGPT getting lazy 2) The commoditization of AI companies 3) Anthropic’s unique board governance 4) Anthropic’s EA connections and the state of EA 5) Amazon’s Q chatbot 6) Elon Musk tells advertisers to F themselves 7) The drawbacks of brand safety puritanism 8) The Cybertruck is here. 9) Jack Ma appears in public for the first time in years. -- Enjoying Big Te...
Silicon Valley's Effective Altruist vs. Accelerationist Religious War
November 29, 2023 12:21 - 49 minutesMolly White, Ryan Broderick, and Deepa Seetharaman join Big Technology Podcast to dive deep into the Effective Altruism (EA) vs. Effective Accelerationism (e/acc) debate in Silicon Valley that may have been at the heart of the OpenAI debacle. White is a crypto researcher and critic who writes Citation Needed on Substack, Broderick is an internet culture reporter who writes Garbage Day on Substack, Seetharaman is a reporter at The Wall Street Journal who covers AI. Our three guests join to dis...
OpenAI's 'Worrying' Q-Star Breakthrough, Google's Culture Problem, Crypto After CZ & SBF
November 24, 2023 16:47 - 53 minutesMalcolm Ethridge is the executive vice president at CIC Wealth a CNBC Contributor, and the host of the Tech Money Podcast. He joins for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) OpenAI's 'worrying' Q* breakthrough 2) Whether Sam Altman is in danger of being fired again 3) Where's Google Gemini? 4) Google's culture struggles 5) Binance CEO CZ pleads guilty 6) Is Binance the next FTX? 7) Is Coinbase toast? 8) Bitcoin's future 9) Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt's resignation 10) Is Cruis...
Sam Altman Returns to OpenAI. Now What? — With Aaron Levie
November 22, 2023 21:47 - 32 minutesAaron Levie is the CEO of Box. He joins Big Technology Podcast to look forward at the AI field now that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has returned. In this episode, we discuss: 1) Whether this is good for the AI field 2) Should we actually be concerned with Ai safety? 3) Whether the saga is over? 4) How companies are insulating themselves in case of further eruptions 5) The downsides of switching off of OpenAI 6) Does the open source movement rise now? 7) Can OpenAI still lobby effectively with a new...
Sam Altman To Microsoft, OpenAI In Flux — With Dan Primack
November 20, 2023 17:24 - 30 minutesDan Primack is the business editor at Axios and author of the daily Axios Pro Rata newsletter. He joins Big Technology Podcast to break down ex-OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's apparent move to Microsoft, whether he'll stay there, how the board structure enabled this, and how the competitive balance in the AI field shifts now. Stay tuned for the end, where we rate winners, losers, and a bold prediction from Primack. --- You can subscribe to Big Technology Premium for 25% off at https://bit.ly/bigtech...
What We Know About Sam Altman's Ouster, The Morning After
November 18, 2023 19:52 - 23 minutesA quick solo podcast on what we know about OpenAI firing CEO Sam Altman with Big Technology host Alex Kantrowitz. Tune in for a discussion of what might've happened, how it happened, why it happened, how it impacts OpenAI moving forward, and how it shuffles the competitive balance in the AI field moving forward. --- You can subscribe to Big Technology Premium for 25% off at https://bit.ly/bigtechnology Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of c...
Emergency Podcast: Sam Altman Fired At OpenAI
November 18, 2023 00:33 - 24 minutesOpenAI fired CEO Sam Altman today, a stunning move that will reshape the AI wars and open new avenues for its competitors. Sharon Goldman, Senior AI writer at Venturebeat, joins us for an emergency podcast to discuss the news, and what comes next. --- You can subscribe to Big Technology Premium for 25% off at https://bit.ly/bigtechnology Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. For weekly updates on the show, sign up for the pod newslett...
Xi Visits San Francisco, Microsoft’s Big AI Event, Bin Laden on TikTok
November 17, 2023 20:30 - 48 minutesReed Albergotti is the tech editor at Semafor. He joins Big Technology Podcast to break down the week's news. We cover: 1) Xi Jinping’s visit to San Francisco 2) Why the U.S. And China relationship is softening 3) How AI technology is at the center of the thawing 4) How San Francisco cleaned itself up for Xi’s arrival 5) Sideshows 6) Web Summit update 7) Conversation with Chinese media 8) Stability AI audio chief leaves over copyright issues 9) Microsoft’s underwhelming Ignite event 10) Time ...
Google's Search VP on Generative AI in Search, User Notes on Search Results, and SEOs — With Cathy Edwards
November 15, 2023 14:39 - 49 minutesCathy Edwards is the VP of Search at Google. Edwards joins Big Technology Podcast to break some news about Google's two newest search features, including a more personalized experience called Follow and a labs product called Notes that allows users to leave feedback on search results. We also cover the state of Google's Search Generative Experience and how the company feels about SEOs after the latest controversy. Tune in for a deep, fun conversation about the cutting edge of Google's most im...