Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson

On today’s show Ben and Andrew begin with Microsoft, Meta and Google in the wake of their latest earnings reports. First: Microsoft’s push to be the middle layer for enterprise AI, threats to the company’s competitive position in the long run, and the subtext of the open weights open letter frenzy two weeks ago. Then: Parsing Google and Meta strategies as Google hedges its frontier bets, while Meta continues its frontier spending and announces questionable plans for an enterprise business. At the end: The future of the lending environment for Meta and the other hyperscalers, a bubble check-in, a rundown of what happened between Citadel and the Situational Awareness, close encounters with Ben’s vibe coded app, and an emailer offers a compelling theory on the push for Permanent Daylight Savings Time. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube Microsoft Earnings, Microsoft vs. Meta, The Efficiency Payoff — Stratechery Update Meta Earnings, Meta’s Timing Problems, The Financial Tail — Stratechery Update Google Earnings, The Frontier Case, Amazon Earnings — Stratechery Update Microsoft’s Monopoly Hangover — Stratechery Citadel Securities Sees Warsh Delivering Surprise Fed Hike — Bloomberg Citadel Buys Situational Awareness’s Stock Portfolio After Big Losses in AI — Wall Street Journal Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

On today’s show Ben and Andrew begin with takeaways from OpenAI’s sandboxing snafu, including a reminder that the big bad wolf is real, OpenAI’s failures, and the timing challenge with warnings from AI labs. From there: Talking through Ben’s article on Kimi K3 and the future of open weights AI models in the U.S., including why the U.S. open source market has stagnated, the motives of various tech constituencies to drive competition with OpenAI and Anthropic, the difference between the training market and the inference market, intelligence as a commodity, and why OpenAI and Anthropic may have a more defensible lead than it seems. At the end: The government’s disagreements about how to handle Chinese models, the argument for encouraging U.S. distillation, the security risks of building atop Chinese infrastructure, an email about Chinese innovation, concerns over American credentialism, and a potential curveball from the CCP after a week of Kimi anxiety. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube Who’s Afraid of Chinese Models? — Stratechery OpenAI Hacks Hugging Face, What Happened, Alignment and Paper Clips — Stratechery Update Economic Power in the Age of Abundance — Stratechery China weighs tighter export controls on AI models and chips — Financial Times Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

On today’s show Ben and Andrew begin with a raft of OpenAI news, including reactions to the first reports of what OpenAI’s first hardware product will be, the logic of OpenAI’s hardware business generally, the Codex push in the mac app, and a request for a Codex computer. From there: The Apple-OpenAI trade secrets lawsuit, including Apple history, a reckless OpenAI employee, and the funniest part of the complaint. At the end: IBM’s stock and the specific way AI may have affected mainframe spending, how AI will manifest in real-world software, an email about Meta’s messaging as a recruiting pitch, notification management, monetizing expertise, and a word about daylight savings time. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube Apple Sues OpenAI, Apple’s Real Problem — Stratechery Update The OpenAI Super App, ChatGPT = Codex, Whither Chat — Stratechery Update IBM Misses, IBM’s Mainframe Moat, IBM’s Many AI Problems — Stratechery Update Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

On today’s show Andrew and Ben begin with a look at the state of Meta. Topics include: Mark Zuckerberg’s sins of commission vs. omission as a messenger, Meta’s AI opportunity, directionally correct investments, the problems with Meta as a cloud provider, and the absence of religion in Menlo Park. From there: Why Microsoft should move on from the XBOX era, and the shift in gaming habits that doomed Game Pass from the outset. At the end: OpenAI introduces GPT-Live, a question about the cost of Ben’s vibe coding adventure spawns a digression on future token costs, the cost of youth sports, American soccer and learning Chinese, tech weirdos and the future of normie app building, and Ben gets castigated for bringing a Starlink on vacation. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube A Script for Mark Zuckerberg — Stratechery Meta’s AI Abundance — Stratechery XBOX Cuts; Bundling and the Internet Solvent; Transaction, Coordination, and Sunk Costs — Stratechery Update An Interview with Matthew Ball About Gaming and the Fight for Attention — Stratechery Interview Introducing GPT-Live, a new generation of voice models for natural human-AI interaction. — X:@OpenAI Why Chinese Is So Damn Hard — Pinyin Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

Ben and Andrew begin with an extended look at the market for memory chips, including market history, the supply crunch driving up today’s valuations, the myopia from SK Hynix, Samsung and Micron, new entrants from China, and why the timing of Apple’s price increases are a bearish signal. From there: Both hosts share their daily caffeine regimen, garage takes, and lots of thoughts on vibe coding after Ben’s 10-day foray into AI-assisted engineering. At the end: Codex marketing and an imminent OpenAI super app, Sam Altman’s appearance in a game of mafia, could the EU push Apple to better business strategy, stock buyback clarification, ocean data centers, metricmaxxing, and an update on last week’s hydration break take along with a better fix for international soccer. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube Memory Chips and China, Microsoft and Chinese Models — Stratechery Update An Interview with Dan Kim and Hassan Khan About CHIPS — Stratechery Interview Summer Top Fives: 2025 Bandwagons and Candy — Greatest of All Talk My Vibe Coding Adventure, The App and the Experience, Ten Takeaways — Stratechery Update Apple Price Increases, Apple Intelligence and the E.U. — Stratechery Update The SpaceX IPO and Data Centers in Space — Stratechery Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

On today’s show Ben and Andrew begin with a hydration break take as the World Cup continues before turning to the latest on Anthropic’s export control saga, what the Trump administration may not understand about AI cybersecurity, and what Anthropic still doesn’t understand about dealing with the government. From there: Fables differentiation, the dangers of ringfencing frontier AI within U.S. borders, and how open source Chinese AI may affect the marketplace. From there: Why Ben gives Fox the benefit of the doubt after its Roku purchase this week, whether Siri AI will nuke ChatGPT’s market, Noam Shazeer joins OpenAI, what e-commerce will and won’t be automated, and whether autonomous driving can scale on ICE vehicles. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube The State of Fable, The Jailbreak Problem, SpaceX Acquires Cursor — Stratechery Update Anthropic’s Safety Superpower — Stratechery The Window Has Closed — X: @AndrewCurran_ Fox Buys Roku, The Problem With Fox’s Smart Strategy, Streaming That Works — Stratechery Update An Interview with Michael Morton About E-Commerce in the Age of AI — Stratechery Interview Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

Ben and Andrew begin by talking through five questions on WWDC in 2026, including thoughts on Apple’s answer to the critics, whether Apple is or is not thinking different, decoding the Google partnership and Craig Federighi’s corporate speak, the wide gap between Siri AI and frontier AI, and why memory concerns are misplaced. From there: Explaining the Fable 5 guard rails, Anthropic safety concerns that align with Anthropic business incentives, Ben’s first impressions of the Fable 5 performance, and a week of Anthropic angst that adds additional context to the company’s standoff with the Department of War. At the end: Passing another checkpoint on the AI 2027 journey, Microsoft on the hot seat in the AI era, and the United States of YouTube. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube The iPhone’s Last Stand — Stratechery Enterprise Philosophy and the First Wave of AI — Stratechery ChatGPT Gets a Computer — Stratechery Fable 5, Anthropic Alignment, AI Tiers — Stratechery Update Anthropic and Alignment — Stratechery An Interview with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella About Finding Core Competencies — Stratechery Interview Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

Ben and Andrew begin with a look at SpaceX before its June IPO. Topics include: Why the S-1 math that doesn’t quite pencil out for now, the madness of analyzing Musk companies generally, the company’s ultimate upside, and why the IPO is worth applauding regardless. Then: Questions on terrestrial solutions vs. data centers in space, the durability of SpaceX’s rocket monopoly, Nvidia’s earnings and the future of the ACIE market, why neoclouds are advertising on podcasts, and the op-ed from Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince explaining his company’s AI-driven layoffs. From there: Dropbox as the Penny Hardaway of tech companies, an emailer worried about enshittifed AI chatbots yields discussion of the real reasons Google’s gotten worse. At the end: The Jony Ive-designed Ferrari Luce, why Ben regrets a tweet, how Ferrari will sell these cars, and more philsophical thoughts on why everyone was upset this week. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube The SpaceX IPO and Data Centers in Space — Stratechery It’s a Tesla — Stratechery Mistakes and Memes — Stratechery How I Choose Which Cloudflare Employees to Replace With AI — Wall Street Journal Enterprise Philosophy and the First Wave of AI — Stratechery Fake News — Stratechery Ferrari Luce — Ferrari Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

Ben and Andrew discuss the future of computing and its implications for the chip market, including what Cerebras is doing that’s different, why speed may no longer be a top priority for inference, good news for China’s AI ecosystem, the future for Nvidia, and questions on Pat Gelsinger’s role in Intel’s revival. From there: Both sides of the Anthropic-xAI deal, including Anthropic’s compute solution and the triumph of market principles, as well as the market’s message to Elon Musk and xAI, and the implications for SpaceX. At the end: Thoughts on Musk’s OpenAI lawsuit, a theory on Apple’s gross margins and a land grab, and a listener’s wife enters founder mode with Claude. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube The Inference Shift — Stratechery The Deployment Company, Back to the 70s, Apple and Intel — Stratechery Update SpaceX and Anthropic, xAI’s Two Companies, Elon Musk and SpaceXAI’s Future — Stratechery Update Elon’s OpenAI Lawsuit Is Boring and Insulting, and It’s Already a Success — Sharp Text Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

Ben and Andrew react to Amazon’s impressive earnings in AI with a cliffs notes history on AWS cloud computing strategy, how Amazon is returning to that playbook in AI, and why the Trainium bets look more reasonable than ever. From there: Understanding both sides of the OpenAI and Microsoft deal this week, including why OpenAI wants to be on AWS, and why Microsoft’s conflict of interest is now resolved. At the end: Extended thoughts on Meta Display glasses, the future of AR devices, the mother of all patent lawsuits, as well as a few Apple follow-ups, and an eye surgery epiphany. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube AWS re:Invent, Nova and Model Choice, AI as Commodity — Stratechery Update Paradigm Shifts and the Winner’s Curse — Stratechery An Interview with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and AWS CEO Matt Garman About Bedrock Managed Agents — Stratechery Interview AI Hardware, Meta Display, Redefining VR and AR — Stratechery Update Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

Ben and Andrew begin with six emails on AI, including a question about the future of AI consumer demand, Gemini’s quiet few months, whether compute constraints should lead to price hikes, and divergent approaches to AGI at Anthropic and OpenAI. From there: An extended answer to a question about AI messaging in the face of widespread skepticism, an Einstein AI thought experiment, and extended thoughts on Amazon’s acquisition of Globalstar, Apple’s role, and what Amazon wants from LEO satellites. At the end: Emails on Allbirds and pivots, the ZIRP/NBA cap spike analogy for displaced engineering talent, Evan Spiegel’s advice for Meta, and two notes on the news business. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube An Interview with F1 Driver and Venture Capitalist Nico Rosberg About the Drive to Win — Stratechery Interview Mythos, Muse, and the Opportunity Cost of Compute — Stratechery TSMC Risk — Stratechery Amazon Buys Globalstar, Delta to Add Leo, The Apple Angle — Stratechery Update Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

Ben and Andrew begin with reactions to Anthropic’s Mythos announcement and Project Glasswing, including thoughts on the security risks, the business benefits of keeping this model private, lessons on the “Boy Who Cried Wolf,” and renewed focus on Anthropic’s relationship with the U.S. government. From there: Anthropic’s new deal with Broadcom and Google, a year of stunning Anthropic success that began in 2024, the threats that Anthropic poses to Microsoft, and where AI can and can’t help with taxes. At the end: How the New York Times is adapting to the future, understanding Sam Altman’s history at OpenAI, and a question on the implications of de-globalization. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube Anthropic’s New Model, The Mythos Wolf, Glasswing and Alignment — Stratechery Update Anthropic’s New TPU Deal, Anthropic’s Computing Crunch, The Anthropic-Google Alliance — Stratechery Update ChatGPT Gets a Computer — Stratechery An Interview with New York Times CEO Meredith Kopit Levien About Betting on Humans With Expertise — Stratechery Interview In Defense of The New York Times — Stratechery Hormuz, Rushmore, and a Sam Altman Story That Missed the Story — Sharp Text Sam Altman May Control Our Future—Can He Be Trusted? — The New Yorker Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

Ben and Andrew begin with Q&A on Apple after 50 years, including thoughts on Steve Jobs weaknesses, putting iTunes on Windows, the best Apple ads, Chinese manufacturing counterfactuals, and tech company Mount Rushmore. From there: Thoughts on Apple’s AI bet and the downside risk, the signs that Cupertino sees AI as a disruptive technology, and extended thoughts on the Axios hack and why why AI will make security issue worse in the short-term, but may be the solution in the long run. At the end: Delta chooses Amazon Leo over Starlink, two questions on Anthropic and OpenAI IPOs, why headhunters won’t be disrupted by AI, streaming sports abroad, and new fronts emerge in the AirPods battle. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube Will AI Disrupt Apple? — Dithering An Interview with Asymco’s Horace Dediu About Apple at 50 — Stratechery Interview Apple’s 50 Years of Integration — Stratechery Axios Supply Chain Attack, Claude Code Code Leaked, AI and Security — Stratechery Update Original Apple iPhone 2G Commercials! 2007 Ads That Started It All! — YT: Latest Tech HD Apple iPhone | Christmas Commercial 2013 — YT: Markedu Fixed: The Sad iPad Ad — YT: Seth Godin Apple - Think Different - Full Version — YT: Harry Piotr Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

Ben and Andrew interrupt Stratechery’s spring vacation with a mailbag. First, they discuss the end of Sora, the difference between Sora and Instagram, and where the OpenAI/Microsoft parallels break down. Then: A great take on advertising, ChatGPT engagement farming, Formula 1’s new era, the NFL’s world takeover, and how NBC solved tape delay at the Olympics. At the end: A question about Vision Pro and wives, whether elementary schoolers should have smart phones, Elon’s continued adventures with xAI, a Netflix dating show, LLM-aided dogfooding etymology, and Ben’s (admittedly boring) Taipei routine. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

Ben and Andrew begin with the news that OpenAI is shifting away from “side quests” and allocating resources to the enterprise space, including Dropbox history to explain OpenAI’s present, lessons in the enterprise space generally (and what you learn in business school), and OpenAI taking cues from 1980s Microsoft. From there: Talking through Ben’s article on Monday, including the implications of agents and questions about integration as durable differentiation for Anthropic and OpenAI. At the end: Nvidia’s new messaging on inference chips and Groq integration, and a word about winters (and whiners) in Wisconsin. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube Jensen Huang and Andy Grove, Groq LPUs and Vera CPUs, Hotel California — Stratechery Update Agents Over Bubbles — Stratechery An Interview with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang About Accelerated Computing — Stratechery Interview OpenAI to Cut Back on Side Projects in Push to ‘Nail’ Core Business — Wall Street Journal Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

Ben and Andrew begin with the MacBook Neo, including Ben’s memory needs, Apple’s clever move to repurpose old iPhone chips, and the market for a $599 laptop. From there: A question about VisionOS, Andrew’s notes after six weeks of Vision Pro joy, and an extended discussion of Claude’s differentiation, harnessing, Microsoft’s AI strategy, and the future of integration and AI. At the end: A question on the end of coding language, what went wrong at the Washington Post, and being right points on AI group chats. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube MacBook Neo, The (Not-So) Thin MacBook, Apple and Memory — Stratechery Update Copilot Cowork, Anthropic’s Integration, Microsoft’s New Bundle — Stratechery Update Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

Ben and Andrew react to a week of Anthropic discussion, including Dario Amodei’s leaked memo to employees, why a compromise is still possible, and answering a variety of questions in response to Ben’s article this week. At the end: A terrible AI law for young parents, surveying the implications for Netflix after Paramount wins the Warner Brothers bidding, a dispatch from dating app hell, a question about feeds on chatbots, should Google be the model for ChatGPT ads?, and thoughts on the business of F1 and the new season. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube Read Anthropic CEO’s Memo Attacking OpenAI’s ‘Mendacious’ Pentagon Announcement — The Information Anthropic and Alignment — Stratechery Technological Scale and Government Control, Paramount Outbids Netflix for Warner Bros. — Stratechery Update The End of the World As We Know It — Sharp Text An Interview with Gregory Allen About Anthropic and the U.S. Government — Stratechery Interview AI Homework — Stratechery Pro-Neutrality, Anti-Title II — Stratechery The Definitive Ranking of Tech Company Takeability — Sharp Text F1 on Apple TV, Distribution as Differentiation, A Worthwhile Gamble — Stratechery Update Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

Ben and Andrew discuss the global memory shortage and answer a listener’s question: how did this happen? Topics include: What memory chips have in common with logic chips, why Intel left the memory market in the 1980s, how the international shipping market explains today’s shortage, how major players will address the problem going forward, possibly with some help from the Chinese. From there: A look at the “thin” future of AI computing as memory and performance takes precedent, AI computing that will still be done on device, and Apple’s AI strategy. At the end: Responses to Shopify concerns in the AI era, a question about the future of brands as AI finishes what digital advertising started, Shopify preferencing its own AI tools, and a looming test of Apple’s commitment to the Vision Pro. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube Rampant AI Demand for Memory Is Fueling a Growing Chip Crisis — Bloomberg Thin Is In — Stratechery Shopify Earnings, Shopify’s AI Advantages — Stratechery Update Dreamer – why we built it! — David Singleton Apple and the Ghosts of Companies Past — Stratechery Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

Ben and Andrew react to a killer round of earnings for Spotify and Daniel Ek’s final earnings call, including thoughts on Spotify’s transformation of the music industry, how a record company oligopoly helped create the definitive tech bundle, and why Spotify’s personalization requires an addendum to aggregation theory. From there: The difference between AI spending at Google and Amazon, why the AI buildout should be funded by debt, un-optimized tech companies, and the logic and risks of Amazon’s AI future. At the end: Reactions to a viral essay on AI job loss, a note about the Princeton Law Review, an ad man strikes back after Ben’s Anthropic criticism, and thoughts on Giannis’ investment in Kalshi. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube Spotify Earnings, Individualized Networks, AI and Aggregation — Stratechery Update Amazon Earnings, CapEx Concerns, Commodity AI — Stratechery Update An Interview with Ben Thompson by John Collison on the Cheeky Pint Podcast — Stratechery Interview Something Big Is Happening — X: @mattshumer_ Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

Ben and Andrew react to a bloodbath for public Saas companies with thoughts on the future of software in the AI era, beginning with why companies choose to outsource solutions to Saas companies today, and why those moats may be more durable than skeptics think. Then: Why SaaS skepticism remains fair, including an analogy to the newspapers in the ’90s, the absence of anti-fragility, a variety of headwinds that will impact pricing power, start-ups with superior cost structures, and looming consolidation and layoff questions. At the end: The biggest SaaS company of them all and what Microsoft’s roadmap should look like, a response to data center skepticism, supply and demand for hyperscalers, why Ben hated the Anthropic Super Bowl ads, should AI hallucinations be good case law?, and a Vision Pro announcement. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube Microsoft and Software Survival — Stratechery An Interview with Benedict Evans About AI and Software — Stratechery Interview OpenAI Bets on Super Bowl to Break Through the Competition — Bloomberg Sam Altman’s Response to Anthropic — X: @sama Anthropic’s Super Bowl ads — X: @jmsltnv Hallucinated Cases Are Good Law — X: @ProfRobAnderson Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

Unpacking the latest round of Meta earnings, including Wall Street’s about-face after last year’s CapEx squeamishness, whether Zuckerberg’s astronomical CapEx plans are more evidence he yearns to be more than an app maker, why Meta owes a thank you to Apple, Apple and Meta in the AI era, and a word about Instagram messages. Then: Are we in an “AI is a Bubble” bubble? Thoughts on mass adoption among software makers, demand that looks insatiable, product managers vs. engineers, and the era of perfect competition among employees. From there: Why hyperscalers should not solve the CapEx problem by co-investing in TSMC, why Ben sympathizes with TSMC, and a note on Samsung. At the end: Andrew shares his experience with Bucks-Lakers in the Vision Pro and reviews Ben’s takes. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube Meta Earnings, Turning Dials, Zuckerberg’s Motivation — Stratechery Update Barrels and Ammunition — Conor Dewey TSMC Risk — Stratechery Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

TSMC’s pricing power in the AI era, a brief history of TSMC’s culture and CapEx decisions, and ongoing capacity constraints that should be pushing tech companies to build up competitors. Then: Thoughts on Netflix after Ben’s interview with co-CEO Greg Peters, including Wall Street’s concerns despite enormous success, whether and how the Warner Brothers acquisition could be a counter to YouTube, and the difference between Netflix content and user generated YouTube content. At the end: Questions about the Curt Cignetti of tech, a victory lap on OpenAI, advertising in chatbots, advertising as a force for good, and Andrew’s Starbucks habit. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube An Interview with Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters About Engagement and Warner Bros. — Stratechery Interview TSMC Earnings, The TSMC Brake Revisited, Why AI Needs Foundry Competition — Stratechery Update Ads in ChatGPT, Why OpenAI Needs Ads, The Long Road to Instagram — Stratechery Update Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

A call for Apple to finally be confident in its Vision Pro hardware, a brief history of broadcasting sports on TV, and yet another reminder that immersive live experiences should be the killer use case that brings users to the Vision Pro platform. Then: Q&A on the AVP, a question on the Siri and Gemini partnership, and thoughts Ben’s interview with United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby and on how tech spearheaded the company’s revival. At the end: Questions on Meta Compute and the end of Aggregation Theory, Grok and its offensive bikini problems, and follow-ups on Baumol’s Cost Disease, humans wanting humans, streaming economics, and venting about the Green Bay Packers. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube Apple: You (Still) Don’t Understand the Vision Pro — Stratechery An Interview with United CEO Scott Kirby About Tech Transformation — Stratechery Interview Meta Compute, The Meta-OpenAI Battle, The Reality Labs Sacrifice — Stratechery Update Grok is undressing anyone, including minors — The Verge Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

Andrew and Ben return from the holidays to discuss Ben’s Article AI and the Human Condition, and various responses to the preponderance of pessimistic forecasts for what AI will mean for the future, including thoughts on employment, sex, and the problem with trying to regulate human nature. Then: An email about OpenAI spawns discussion of cultural assumptions, market incentives vs. social incentives, and tech as an amoral force. At the end: Unpacking the logic of Nvidia’s deal with Groq, a regulator’s own-goal, questions on streaming TV vs. music, sperm racing, and advice for a listener debating whether to embrace suburban living. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube AI and the Human Condition — Stratechery Capital in the 22nd Century — Philosopher Count Nvidia Reaches Technology Licensing Deal With Startup Groq — Bloomberg Nvidia and Groq, A Stinkily Brilliant Deal, Why This Deal Makes Sense — Stratechery Update Post by Eric Zhu on X — @ericzhu Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

Andrew and Ben begin with reactions to ChatGPT’s new image capabilities, a reminder of OpenAI’s strategic advantages vs. Google, Disney’s deal with Sora, and Gemini 3 Flash. From there: Netflix and its competition for attention, Netflix continues its foray into podcasting, and a question about movie theaters highlights costs that Netflix will have to internalize going forward. Then: Extended thoughts on SpaceX and the possibility of data centers in space, while a listener does some field reporting on AWS usage. At the end: Strategies for a successful remote work life, Tesla and Rivian’s aversion to CarPlay, the new United app and developer trade-offs, oenophile preferences, Taco Bell, Christmas traditions, and an attack on Andrew for hypocrisy. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube ChatGPT Image 1.5; Apple v. Epic, Continued; Holiday Schedule — Stratechery Update Disney and OpenAI, Totems in an AI World, Google Versus the World — Stratechery Update Netflix and the Hollywood End Game — Stratechery An Interview with Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe About Building a Car Company and Autonomy — Stratechery Interview An Interview with Ryan Jones About Flighty and Building Apps in 2025 — Stratechery Interview Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

Andrew and Ben talk through Netflix’s proposed $72 billion deal to buy Warner Brothers, including the logic for Netflix, the frictionless nature of competition on the internet, and the threat that Netflix sees from YouTube. Then: David Zaslav’s windfall, and an argument about the regulatory questions that may scuttle this deal. At the end: The better business model between YouTube and Netflix, an emailer wonders why everyone is mourning the end of a Hollywood business that can’t succeed in the modern marketplace, groupchats and the college experience, and a word about Flighty. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube Netflix and the Hollywood End Game — Stratechery Netflix and the Flattening of Everything — Sharp Text An Emergency Interview with Michael Nathanson About Netflix’s Acquisition of Warner Bros. — Stratechery Interview Economic Power in the Age of Abundance — Stratechery Spotify, Netflix, and Aggregation — Stratechery An Interview with Ryan Jones About Flighty and Building Apps in 2025 — Stratechery Interview Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

Thoughts on OpenAI as Sam Altman declares a “Code Red” in response to Gemini 3, including real concerns about ChatGPT’s market position, why the missed ads opportunity is becoming more acute, and ominous Google history. From there: Context on Alan Dye’s departure from Apple, Meta’s emphasis on a new design language, and the Meta fundamentals regardless of AR/VR and its AI efforts. At the end: Amazon’s tranium chips and its AI efforts, Substack and the challenge of customer acquisition, defending tech at Thanksgiving dinner, and various F1 takes before this weekend’s finale in Abu Dhabi. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube Google, Nvidia, and OpenAI — Stratechery OpenAI CEO Declares ‘Code Red’ to Combat Threats to ChatGPT, Delays Ads Effort — The Information OpenAI Code Red, AWS and Google Cloud Networking — Stratechery Update Apple Design Executive Alan Dye Poached by Meta in Major Coup — Bloomberg Bad Dye Job — Daring Fireball Alan Dye Leaves Apple — Dithering An Interview with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg About AI and the Evolution of Social Media — Stratechery Interview An Interview with Atlassian CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes About Atlassian and AI — Stratechery Interview Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

The ways tech has improved suburban life, why urbanism may have peaked, and the first and second order effects of Tesla's full self-driving technology. Then: A Thanksgiving mailbag! Topics include: A note from the Gemini team, a correction on Llama 4, a hater’s question on the utility of ChatGPT group chats, Ben and Andrew share their daily use cases for AI and Ben shares his prompt, while an emailer wonders about a boss using Copilot to send holiday gifts. From there: A subject matter expert debates whether to train his AI replacement, a listener seeks advice about working for his father-in-law, a question about balancing work and young children, Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, robot vacuums, Ben's ancestry, and a word about the Giannis era. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube Robotaxis and Suburbia — Stratechery Gemini 3 Pro Is a Vast Intelligence With No Spine — Don’t Worry About the Vase Apps, People, and Jobs to Be Done — Stratechery The Definitive Ranking of Tech Company Takeability — Sharp Text Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

Ben and Andrew begin with Gemini 3, what to make of its terrific benchmark results, and why TPUs provide Google a sustainable cost advantage in AI. From there: Google’s opportunity in the enterprise space, Apple’s white label deal, and questions about both OpenAI’s future growth and challenges that loom if ChatGPT can’t incorporate advertising. At the end: Thoughts on what Gemini means for Nvidia, Anthropic’s market in AI, why Amazon and OpenAI are losers of the Anthropic-Nvidia-Microsoft announcement, and a correction regarding Charter cellular coverage. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube New Bing, and an Interview with Kevin Scott and Sam Altman About the Microsoft-OpenAI Partnership — Stratechery Update Gemini 3, Winners and Losers, Integration and the Enterprise — Stratechery Update ChatGPT Group Chats, Meta and the Encryption Trade-off, Network Effects and Ad Models — Stratechery Update An Interview with Eric Seufert About Advertising and AI — Stratechery Interview ChatGPT Gets a Computer — Stratechery Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.

Andrew and Ben analyze SpaceX's nearly $20 billion in purchases by first touching on cell carrier history and the power dynamics that iPhones upended 20 years ago. Then: Understanding the SpaceX business and Musk's approach to strategy, what Starlink is trying to do with satellite internet on airlines, a power play with cell carriers that appears to have failed earlier this year, and now, a Plan B that may involve an acquisition and a bid to partner with Apple. At the end: Why Yann LeCun leaving Meta is the right outcome for both sides, a question about big companies and innovation spawns regulation cautionary tales and a cigar anecdote, and wondering about the impact of big tech on AI's future. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube Why Do Carriers Subsidize the iPhone? — Stratechery SpaceX Buys More Spectrum, SpaceX’s Pivot, Why Apple and SpaceX Should Partner — Stratechery Update SpaceX Buys Spectrum, Spectrum Specifics, SpaceX’s Big Bet — Stratechery Update An Interview with Unity CEO Matthew Bromberg About Turnarounds — Stratechery Interview Meta chief AI scientist Yann LeCun plans to exit and launch own start-up — Financial Times Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.