Leopold Blows Up, OpenAI Drastically Cuts Prices, Microsoft’s Best Day
Reed Albergotti from Semafor is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Why Leopold Aschenbrenner’s Situational Awareness Hedge Fund 2) Leopold's connections to effective altriusm and how they played into the picture 3) Does EA lead to unacceptable risk taking? 4) What Leopold actually traded 5) What's left of Situational Awareness 6) OpenAI cuts prices as much as 80% 7) Does an AI price war drive everything to zero? 8) Nvidia invests $5 billion in Ilya Sutskever's SSI 8) Microsoft crushes earnings and has the biggest market cap gain ever 9) Amazon crushes earnings too 10) Google rebounds 11) Apple's memory fears and long term risks
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Chinese Humanoid Robots Aren’t Welcome Here, US Says - Week in Tech
Why is the US banning more Chinese technology? Reed Albergotti (Semafor) fills us in on the robot ban and what it means for American innovation. Then, new research on why Chinese open-source AI models may not be as big a threat as Washington makes it seem. Taylor Lorenz (User Mag) tells us about Substack’s new AI detection tool and what it reveals about how creators’ are using AI to build their content.
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Did the AI Catastrophe Just Happen? - Week in Tech
How much can we actually trust AI to stay inside the lines? Nitasha Tiku (The Washington Post) on the OpenAI models that went rogue — and why this isn't necessarily a sign of the end times… just sloppy security. Reed Albergotti (Semafor) on the company that wants to help anyone make software to power robots. Do we even have to talk about what that means for the future of human labor? Finally, Taylor Lorenz (User Mag) on Phoebe Gates' AI shopping startup Phia. Is it too early to call it nepo slop?
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Why Animal Rights Advocates Are Investigating AI Consciousness - Week in Tech
Do chatbots have feelings? Anthropic, Google, and Meta are hiring computer scientists, neuroscientists, and philosophers to find out. Nitasha Tiku (The Washington Post) explains why the search for AI consciousness has gone from fringe theory to Silicon Valley mainstream, and why the answer matters more than you think. Then, Taylor Lorenz (User Mag) traveled cross-country to attend an anti-big tech festival in New York City called the Summer of Ludd. She tells us about cleansing her laptop, talking to the event’s puppet spokesperson, and learning what these young organizers hope the future holds. Finally, Reed Albergotti (Semaphor) on what happens when your AI coding agent goes rogue while you're on vacation in the Alps — and the heroic lengths required to reach an actual human at OpenAI.
Additional Reading:
AI Makes Mistakes, Too | Semafor
They built the world's most powerful AI. They're facing a mystery they can't explain. | The Washington Post
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Blue Origin Rocket Explodes in Apocalyptic Mushroom Cloud - Week in Tech
Blue Origin's latest rocket test ended in what the company called "an anomaly" — and what everyone else would call an explosion. Reed Albergotti (Semafor) explains why blowing things up is just part of the process and why the US Space Program is probably going to be fine.
Then, Kyle Chayka (The New Yorker) pulls back the curtain on the shadow market for pre-IPO equity in OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceX. It’s a mania where people are willing to take pre-IPO stock as payment for $2.9M houses. It's frothy out there.
Finally, Taylor Lorenz (User Mag) digs into the concept of a ‘permanent underclass’ — the fear that letting AI run rampant could freeze everyone in their current economic position forever. Do we laugh it off or get serious about regulation?
Additional Reading:
Blue Origin and Amazon Had Momentum. Then Came the Fireball. | The New York Times
A Booming Shadow Market of Sketchy A.I. Investments | The New Yorker
You Are About to Become Economically Worthless | User Mag
Silicon Valley Is Bracing for a Permanent Underclass | The New York Times
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Wall Street sets its sights on an AI futures market
There is growing demand for time with GPUs, the chips that power artificial intelligence. AI companies need those chips in order to keep their models up and running. And to do that, they can reserve time with a GPU.
Now, there’s interest from Wall Street in creating a futures market for this AI compute time, essentially treating it like a commodity.
Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes spoke with Liz Hoffman, business and finance editor at Semafor and host of the “Compound Interest” podcast, who recently wrote about this.
Google's AI chief: We're Living in the “Foothills of the Singularity” - Week In Tech
What does it mean to be at the “foothills of the singularity”? That’s how DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis ended his speech at Google I/O, prompting questions and scratched heads. Oz and Reed Albergotti (Semafor) attempt to dissect the meaning behind Hassabis’s confounding statement. They also discuss why so many commencement speakers are getting booed by college graduates after bringing up AI, and what it means for SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI to all be heading towards an IPO.
Then, Oz sits down with David Webster, Head of UX at Google Labs, for a deeper look at the products Google unveiled at their annual developer conference of the year.
Additional Reading:
DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis on what Google AI products say about ‘singularity’ | Semafor
A Guide to Commencement | Semafor
SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI’s Sprint to Go Public Defines the AI Boom’s Big Day - WSJ
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was booed | Strait Times IG
Subscriber Q&A: Live @ Google I/O - by Alex Heath - Sources
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Jensen Crashes Trump's China Trip, Elon's Baby Mama Takes the Stand - Week in Tech
This week has it all: geopolitical FOMO, major AI deals, more courtroom drama, and a hacker group that just won't quit. Reed Albergotti (Semafor) breaks down why AI tokens are the new oil, and why Anthropic is buying compute straight from SpaceX. Nitasha Tiku (The Washington Post) takes us inside the Elon Musk-OpenAI trial, where Shivon Zilis, aka the “Elon Whisperer” and the mother of four of Musk's children, finally took the stand. And Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Dexter Thomas gives insight into how the hacking of education tech platform Canvas could still affect college students, even after Canvas’s parent company says a deal was reached to delete the stolen data.
Additional Reading:
Nvidia CEO joins Trump in China despite ‘awkward’ politics | Semafor
Anthropic-SpaceX compute deal shows how tokens are taking over the economy | Semafor
Shivon Zilis was Elon Musk’s ‘bridge’ to OpenAI. Now she’s entangled in his lawsuit. | The Washington Post
Instructure Pays Ransom to Canvas Hackers | Inside Higher Education
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One Nation United Against Data Centers - Week in Tech
This week: AI regulation, dark money and data center backlash. Reed Albergotti (Semafor) helps decipher how the Trump Administration actually feels about AI oversight and it seems like a reversal of the hands-off approach they’ve taken so far. Taylor Lorenz (User Mag) exposes a dark money influencer campaign — one she was personally recruited for — that's paying creators to push pro-American AI, anti-China messaging on behalf of a Big Tech super PAC. And Nitasha Tiku (The Washington Post) reports on the fast-growing, bipartisan movement fighting data center construction in communities across the country. Plus: Sam Altman's leaked texts, 120,000 tech layoffs, and the GPT-5.5 launch party.
Additional Reading:
So Long Jeeves and Ask.com, Relics of Yesterday’s Internet
White House Considers Vetting A.I. Models Before They Are Released | The New York Times
A Dark-Money Campaign Is Paying Influencers to Frame Chinese AI as a Threat | WIRED
Inside a growing movement warning AI could turn on humanity | The Washington Post
‘The Most Bipartisan Issue Since Beer’: Opposition to Data Centers | The New York Times
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The Trial Where Two Billionaires Could Lose — And Everyone Would Cheer - Week in Tech
This week, some courtroom drama. It’s Elon Musk v. OpenAI the next few weeks and billionaires are taking the stand and opening their diaries — and memories of Burning Man — to scrutiny. Reed Albergotti (Semafor) breaks down the legal battle and why Elon Musk believes he’s owed billions since OpenAI went for-profit. Nitasha Tiku (The Washington Post) reports on the Pentagon agreement Google was ‘proud’ to sign. But it’s déjà vu for many Google employees, who once again demanded company leadership proceed cautiously. Finally, Taylor Lorenz (User Mag) on the ‘girlboss-ification’ of AI: the coordinated push by major AI companies to win over women, from Anthropic's invite-only influencer supper clubs in New York to Reese Witherspoon's suspiciously enthusiastic (and allegedly unpaid) AI pep talk on Instagram.
Additional Reading:
Shadowboxing Emperors | Semafor
Google workers petition CEO to refuse classified AI work with Pentagon | The Washington Post
Google told staff it is ‘proud’ of Pentagon AI contract after internal backlash | Financial Times
The Girlboss-ification of AI w/ Kat Tenbarge | User Mag
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OpenAI's Sam Altman: Philosopher King Or Sociopath? - Week in Tech
OpenAI dominated this week's headlines — and it wasn’t all flattering. Reed Albergotti (Semafor) breaks down the chaos: IPO drama and Ronan Farrow's probing New Yorker profile of Sam Altman paint a picture of a company under pressure, even as it remains the most talked-about name in AI. Taylor Lorenz (User Mag) tells us about the AI tools marketed to schools as safety solutions that end up tracking students in ways with real consequences for kids and adults alike. And Kyle Chayka (The New Yorker) reviews the new book, Techno-Negative, tracing the long, often misunderstood history of anti-technology movements. Spoiler: it goes way deeper than the Luddites.
Additional Reading:
Leap of Faith | Semafor
Sam Altman May Control Our Future—Can He Be Trusted? | The New Yorker
OpenAI CEO and CFO Diverge on IPO Timing | The Information
They're Putting AI on School Buses | User Mag
The Age-Old Urge to Destroy Technology | The New Yorker
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OpenAI buys TBPN, SpaceX’s $2 Trillion IPO?, Iran Disables Amazon Infrastructure
Liz Hoffman of Semafor joins us for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Why OpenAI bought TBPN 2) The best possible explanation for why OpenAI did it 3) Does the deal really accomplish OpenAI's content marketing goals? 4) Will TBPN convince any non-believers that AI is good? 5) OpenAI's Fidji Simo takes medical leave from the company 6) SpaceX files to go public at a potential $2 trillion market cap 7) Will SpaceX and Tesla merge? 8) Some AWS servers are "hard down" in Bahrain and Dubai 9) More on the private credit worries 10) Big Technology is not for sale!
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AI Propaganda Goes Viral - Week in Tech
This week: Iranian propaganda gets a Lego makeover — and it's going viral. Kyle Chayka (The New Yorker) tracked down the collective behind the AI-animated videos flooding your feed. Nitasha Tiku (The Washington Post) was in a documentary, The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist, and the press tour feels like ChatGPT doomsday déjà vu. Reed Albergotti (Semafor) celebrates Apple’s 50th birthday, but wonders if the company is entering its Microsoft era. Plus: SpaceX files for IPO — it could be the largest in history.
Additional Reading:
The Team Behind a Pro-Iran, Lego-Themed Viral-Video Campaign | The New Yorker
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Jury Blames Meta and YouTube, Goodbye Sora Videos, Weather Apps That Don't Suck - Week in Tech
The Week in Tech is back with a new roundtable! Every Friday, Oz and three of the best writers covering tech will discuss the latest news, decode emerging trends and debate what actually matters for the future of technology and for us.
This week: Big Tech loses in court. Twice. Nitasha Tiku (The Washington Post) breaks down what the verdicts mean for Meta and YouTube and why it seems like we’re living in the past. Reed Albergotti (Semafor) explains why OpenAI killed Sora, its video-generation tool, and what it reveals about the resource war quietly reshaping the entire global economy. Plus, Kyle Chayka (The New Yorker) found a weather app worth caring about. We're as surprised as you are.
Additional Reading:
Verdicts against Meta, YouTube reshape legal protections for Big Tech
A New Cost Crunch | Semafor
Why You Hate Your Weather App | The New Yorker
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Did Nvidia Give OpenClaw Its ChatGPT Moment? - Week in Tech
The Week in Tech is now a roundtable! Every Friday, Oz and three of the best writers covering Silicon Valley will discuss the latest news, decode emerging trends and debate what actually matters for the future of technology and for us.
This week, guests Reed Albergotti (Semafor), Kyle Chayka (The New Yorker) and returning panelist Taylor Lorenz (User Mag) each share a story. Reed fills us in on what he saw at the Nvidia GTC conference in San Jose, and why we shouldn’t ignore OpenClaw. Taylor gives a primer on Section 230, the 30-year-old foundational internet law, and why there’s a campaign to repeal it. And finally, Kyle tells us what ‘taste’ means to Silicon Valley’s tech bros and why it may annoy you.
Additional Reading:
We’re all living inside Jensen Huang’s ‘triangle’ | Semafor
How Powerful People Became Obsessed w/ Section 230 | User Mag
Why Tech Bros Are Now Obsessed with Taste | The New Yorker
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China Decode: How the Iran War Inflation Will Impact China
In this episode of China Decode, Alice Han and James Kynge break down how the Iran war is driving oil prices above $100 a barrel, and what that means for China’s energy security. They dive into China’s dependence on the Strait of Hormuz, explore the country’s cautious 2026 growth targets, and chat with Andy Browne, China Columnist at Semafor, about how all of this is reshaping China-U.S. relations.
Check out Andy’s newsletter at semafor.com/newsletters/china.
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2025 In Review, 2026 Predictions — With Reed Albergotti
Reed Albergotti is the technology editor at Semafor. Albergotti joins Big Technology Podcast to break down which companies are best positioned in the coming year. We cover Meta’s superintelligence gamble, Google’s Gemini push, OpenAI’s model race, and the rise of AI companions. We also discuss Tesla’s self-driving moment of truth, Nvidia’s upside and risks, Microsoft’s Copilot dilemma, big media and streaming shake-ups, Anthropic’s IPO prospects, SPACs and private equity, quantum, and the strange new love stories people are forming with their bots. Hit play for a fast, prediction-packed tour through the year in tech—and a sharp, entertaining look at where the AI economy and Big Tech are headed next.
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The Web’s ‘Existential’ AI Threat, OpenAI’s Microsoft Office Competitor, Tesla Robotaxi Launch
Reed Albergotti is the technology editor at Semafor. He's back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince says AI is disappearing the web 2) Will there be new business models that replace the current web-based models? 3) Is the AI Agent thing really happening? 4) Vibecoding riches 5) Court rules Anthropic can train on books (but not steal them) 6) Anthropic will study AI’s economic impact 7) Is chatbot companionship good for us? Anthropic says yes 8) OpenAI works on office productivity tools 9) Why OpenAi and Microsoft have tension 10) Will Stargate work? 11) Mira Murati’s Think Machines plan 12) Tesla Robotaxi Rollout 13) Jeff Bezos gets married, who's coming??
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Week in Tech: There's No Place Like AI
What does Google Search sound like? This week in the News Roundup, Oz explores Google’s new AI-generated audio summaries — and why a simple question like “what’s two plus two?” triggered a two-minute podcast. Then, Wikipedia tried its own AI experiment and faced backlash from editors. On TechSupport, Semafor’s Reed Albergotti recasts Big Tech as characters from The Wizard of Oz and explains the current AI landscape.
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Breaking the TikTok Law - DTNS 4939
Why companies may be risking fines in the US, should your mobile OS restrict SIM card info and Reed Albergotti from Semafor tells us why the World Economic Forum in Davos is something of a tech conference.
Starring Tom Merritt and Huyen Tue Dao.
Show notes can be found here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
NVIDIA Takes The Crown, Return of Ilya, Vision Pro Stalls
Reed Albergotti is the tech editor at Semafor. He joins Big Technology Podcast to break down the week's news. We cover: 1) NVIDIA temporarily becoming the most valuable publicly traded company 2) Is NVIDIA a bubble? 3) What might disrupt NVIDIA? 4) Ilya Sustkever founds Safe Superintelligence Inc. 5) Who's funding Ilya? 6) Will SSI amount to anything? 6) OpenAI might become a public benefit company 7) The state of DeepMind's merger with Google Brain 8) Mustafa Suleyman's entry to Microsoft and how it impacts the relationship with OpenAI 9) Apple Vision Pro hits a speed bump 10) Vision Pro & Apple Intelligence similarities and differences
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Can The News Industry Survive The AI Era? — With Ben Smith, Nayeema Raza, and Joe Marchese
Ben Smith and Nayeema Raza host Mixed Signals, a new media podcast from Semafor. And Joe Marchese is the general & build partner at Human Ventures. The three join Big Technology Podcast for a VC + Journalist conversation on whether the news industry can survive its dealings with generative AI tech providers, like OpenAI, after several publications inked multi-million dollar content deals. Tune in for a conversation that explores whether the news industry is setting itself up for a repeat of past mistakes made with Facebook and Google. We also cover whether the news industry can harness AI, what the value of news is to AI companies, and whether AI can be taught to emulate media brands and pay a licensing fee. Plus much more. Tune in for a lively conversation about a core issues facing the AI field today.
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How Shein and Temu Snuck Up On Amazon — With Louise Matsakis
Louise Matsakis is a technology reporter and writes You May Also Like on Beehiiv. Matsakis joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss her recent story for Big Technology about how Shein and Temu snuck up on Amazon and what these two Chinese ecommerce companies have done to carve out a growing slice of the online retail market. In this story, we talk about demographics, marketing, tariff loopholes, and more. Stay tuned for the second half where we discuss the state of the TikTok ban and how China is competing with U.S. Tech.
Read the full story: How Shein and Temu Snuck Up on Amazon
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SBF Sentenced, OpenAI’s $100 Billion Supercomputer, Neuralink’s Potential
Reed 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) A Hume demo 11) AI for Good 12) Can Demis Hassabis save Google? 13) Why Google is such a fascinating company 14) Challenges to covering AI as a reporter 15) Neuralink and brain computer interfaces 16) Let's hope nobody gets fired right after we post this
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Demis Hassabis profile in Big Technology: https://www.bigtechnology.com/p/can-demis-hassabis-save-google
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ChatGPT Gets Lazy, Elon Musk Blasts Advertisers and Releases The Cybertruck, Jack Ma Returns
Louise Matsakis is a reporter at Semafor covering AI. She joins us for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) ChatGPT getting lazy 2) The commoditization of AI companies 3) Anthropic’s unique board governance 4) Anthropic’s EA connections and the state of EA 5) Amazon’s Q chatbot 6) Elon Musk tells advertisers to F themselves 7) The drawbacks of brand safety puritanism 8) The Cybertruck is here. 9) Jack Ma appears in public for the first time in years.
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Xi Visits San Francisco, Microsoft’s Big AI Event, Bin Laden on TikTok
Reed Albergotti is the tech editor at Semafor. He joins Big Technology Podcast to break down the week's news. We cover: 1) Xi Jinping’s visit to San Francisco 2) Why the U.S. And China relationship is softening 3) How AI technology is at the center of the thawing 4) How San Francisco cleaned itself up for Xi’s arrival 5) Sideshows 6) Web Summit update 7) Conversation with Chinese media 8) Stability AI audio chief leaves over copyright issues 9) Microsoft’s underwhelming Ignite event 10) Time to be concerned about Google’s Gemini? 11) Github co-pilot is profitable 12) Bin Laden surging on TikTok
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Hamas vs. Israel Rewrites Social Media Norms, Live At The SBF Trial, OpenAI's New Values
Reed Albergotti is the tech editor at Semafor. He joins Big Technology Podcast to break down the week's news. We cover: 1) Whether social media is useful during times of crisis. 2) Cancel culture "switcheroo" 3) The value of free speech in conflict 4) Is social media a moderating force after all? 5) Do we actually want news on Threads? 6) NPR leaves Twitter and finds it didn't matter 7) Reflections from the SBF trial 8) Is Apple building a search engine 9) OpenAI puts building human-level intelligence at the top of its value list 10) Wait, did we already reach AGI? 11) The impact of the AI 'pause' letter, six months later.
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Twitter's New CEO, Streaming Wars Are Over, Traffic's Lessons
Ben Smith is the author of Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral. He's also the editor-in-chief of Semafor. He joins Ranjan Roy and Alex Kantrowitz for our weekly news recap show. We cover: 1) New Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino 2) Tucker Carlson's move to Twitter 3) End of the streaming wars 4) Trump's CNN Interview 5) Lessons from Ben's book, Traffic 6) Mark Zuckerberg's jiu-jitsu prowess.
You can find Ben's book here.
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Ben Smith on the End of an Era for Digital Media
The 2010s saw the rise of a number of digital media startups like BuzzFeed News, Gawker Media, Vice, Business Insider and others who were set to usher in a new era of news consumption, displacing legacy outlets like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. Now, by and large, that dream seems to have died. Gawker is gone. BuzzFeed News is closed. Vice has filed for bankruptcy. Insider recently had layoffs. So how did it all fall apart and what is the future for upstart media? In this episode, we speak with Ben Smith, editor-in-chief of Semafor and the author of the new book Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral, to discuss his experience as the editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News, and how times have changed so dramatically for online journalism. We also discussed what business models work today, the use of AI, and the future of news consumption.
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(Bonus) @semaforben On The Golden Age Of Digital Media And His AMAZING New Book About It
This is the book I've been dying for someone to write! This is how digital media happened for 20 years! Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral. Yay to finally having Ben Smith on the pod!
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