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Big Technology Podcast

Alex Kantrowitz

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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565 episodes
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Wednesday · 1 hr 2 min
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan: Why We're Betting On AI And Not Afraid Of It
Neal Mohan is the CEO of YouTube. Mohan joins Big Technology to discuss how AI is reshaping what we watch and create on the world’s largest video platform. Tune in to hear how much creative control should go to algorithms, how YouTube plans to handle AI slop, and whether AI answers could take views away from creators. We also cover YouTube’s partnership with Google DeepMind, Netflix’s push into podcasts, NFL Sunday Ticket, and changes to how YouTube counts views. Hit play for an inside look at YouTube’s AI strategy and what it means for the future of entertainment. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack + Discord? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Saturday · 1 hr 7 min
AI Doom Backlash Arrives, Anthropic & OpenAI IPO Outlook, Frontier Business Momentum Slows
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) The WSJ says the Hugging Face might not be all that it was cracked up to be 2) The bots were told to hack? 3) Was this all a false flag for an effective altrust takeover? 4) Was this a smoke screen to conceal bad financial numbers from the AI labs? 5) Alex: Actually, maybe we should take these issues seriously? 6) Ranjan: They why aren't the labs being more transparent 7) Astra-6's crazy instructions to alter its personality in training 8) Anthropic hits $100 million in ARR 9) The IPOs will go on 10) The frontier AI business shows signs of slowing --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack + Discord? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
September 16 · 54 min
A Sober Conversation About AI Existential Risk — With Nate Soares
Nate Soares is president of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute and co-author of If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies. Soares joins Big Technology to discuss why he believes superintelligent AI could pose an existential threat to humanity. Tune in to hear his case for why increasingly capable AI systems could develop goals humans cannot reliably control, and how that could ultimately lead to humans losing power over the future. We also cover recent examples of AI agents behaving unexpectedly, whether intelligence necessarily leads to greater danger, the limits of current alignment techniques, and why Soares argues for international coordination to slow development. Hit play for a rigorous debate over one of the most consequential and controversial arguments in AI. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack + Discord? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
September 11 · 1 hr 1 min
Special Report: Will AI Wipe Out Humanity? (And Who Profits)
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Anthropic Researcher Jacob Coxon quits and says AI might kill everyone 2) Why did his tweet go so viral 3) Did Elon Musk contribute to the X virality? 4) Point of order: Let's add some serenity to the AI risk conversation 5) Adding percentages to your statement of AI wiping out humanity doesn' t make it math 6) Is this marketing for the AI labs? 7) Politicians are hungry to regulate AI 8) Should we focus on science fact, not science fiction? 9) What if these fears are reasonable? 10) God help us Sheryl Crow 11) What this week means for these companies' IPO prospects --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack + Discord? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
September 9 · 1 hr 1 min
Apple’s Most Ambitious Roadmap Ever? + OpenAI vs. Google vs. Anthropic Revisited
MG Siegler is the author of Spyglass. Siegler joins Big Technology to discuss Apple’s sudden burst of new products and what it means for the company as John Ternus takes over from Tim Cook. Tune in to hear why Apple’s foldable iPhone could reinvigorate the business, how its new hardware strategy marks a departure from the past, and what challenges Ternus will face as CEO. We also cover Google’s shifting AI strategy, OpenAI’s resurgence, Anthropic’s potential IPO, and the increasingly blurry meaning of AGI. Hit play for a wide-ranging look at Apple’s new era and the rapidly changing competitive landscape in artificial intelligence. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack + Discord? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
September 4 · 57 min
GPT-6 & OpenAI’s Comeback, Hugging Face Attack Debate, Ballmer’s Scandalous Legacy
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) OpenAI releases GPT-6 2) OpenAI President Greg Brockman says AGI is here 3) Is AGI more useful to OpenAI as something that never comes? 4) GPT-6 crushes the benchmarks 5) But where's the economic activity? 6) Are the latest models less monitorable? 7) OpenAI bots hijack a german website 8) The hugging face attack was worse than initially disclosed 9) Could agent swarms be used for good? 10) Steve Ballmer's legacy up in flames after Kawhi scandal 11) Developers, developers, developers, etc. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack + Discord? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
September 2 · 53 min
Cloudflare CEO: We're Ready To Block Millions of Websites From AI — With Matthew Prince
Matthew Prince is the co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare. Prince joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss Cloudflare’s plan to block Google from millions of ad and subscription-supported websites unless publishers choose to opt out. Tune in to hear why he believes Google must pay for access to online content, how AI is destroying the web’s traditional traffic model, and why the era of SEO is coming to an end. We also cover micropayments for publishers, the risks AI agents pose to small businesses, and how commerce could consolidate around a handful of giant companies. Hit play for an urgent look at the fight over who controls the future of the internet. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack + Discord? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
August 28 · 59 min
Software’s Epic Comeback, Meta’s AI Layoffs Blunder, South Korea Stock Market Chaos
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Software is rebounding, is the Saaspocolyse over? 2) Salesforce delivers solid earnings and jumps 22% 3) Why was Dario sitting with Benioff? 4) All software stocks are rising 5) Disruption could still happen, but on a longer timeline 6) Meta's bungled AI layoff strategy 7) How much of AI failures today are cultural? 8) Meta pays billions in landmark addiction settlement 9) South Korean stock market volatility 10) The clash of AI belief and reality --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack + Discord? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
August 26 · 59 min
How AI Should Handle News, Politics, Medicine, and Mental Health — With Campbell Brown
Campbell Brown is the CEO of Forum AI. Brown joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss how AI models should handle sensitive information involving news, politics, medicine, and mental health. Tune in to hear how experts can evaluate chatbots for accuracy, bias, source quality, and context, and why independent standards will be essential as people increasingly trust AI’s answers. We also cover AI’s threat to the journalism business, the limits of expert consensus, chatbot sycophancy, election misinformation, and the rise of AI companions. Hit play for a nuanced conversation about who should decide what AI tells us when the stakes are highest. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. Watch the full documentary here: https://www.gravitee.io/ai-agent-documentary Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack + Discord? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b Stop online threats before they become real-world attacks. Visit ⁠ironwall.com/BIGTECHNOLOGY⁠ and request a free Risk Assessment to see exactly how exposed your executives are Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
August 21 · 1 hr 5 min
Big Tech’s Insane Hidden AI Spending, Ranking Anthropic vs. OpenAI, AI For Travel Debate
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Big Tech is spending trillions more than it tells us on AI infrastructure 2) The mechanisms of the off-balance-sheet AI buildout 3) What would happen if these projects were on the balance sheet? 4) Can Wall St. actually not figure this out? 5) Will the tech giants pay the money back? 6) Is a soft landing in AI possible at this point if things go poorly? 7) Anthropic's revenue numbers are soaring 8) OpenAI, meanwhile, is in more tumult 9) Why OpenAI is dealing with so many executive departures 10) Startups vs. established companies, and what are the AI labs exactly? 11) Why travel is a good eval for AI --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack + Discord? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
August 19 · 1 hr 1 min
Nick Bostrom: Worries About AI Existential Risk Just Became More Concrete
Nick Bostrom is an AI philosopher and the author of Superintelligence and Deep Utopia. Bostrom joins Big Technology to discuss whether the rise of autonomous AI agents is making the technology’s existential risks more concrete. Tune in to hear his assessment of the alignment problem, recursive self-improvement, and humanity’s chances of steering superintelligence toward a positive outcome. We also cover whether we have reached AGI, the case for a precisely timed AI pause, biological threats, AI consciousness, and the moral status of digital minds. Hit play for a clear-eyed conversation about AI’s greatest dangers and its potential to radically improve human life. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. Watch the full documentary here: https://www.gravitee.io/ai-agent-documentary Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack + Discord? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
August 14 · 52 min
Best of Big Technology: How Ozempic Changes Our Bodies, Minds, and Economy — With Johann Hari
Johan Hari is a New York Times bestselling author and has a new book, Magic Pill, about his experience with weight loss drugs. Hari joins Big Technology to discuss the impact of Ozempic on our relationship with food and the economy. Tune in to hear how these medications work, their benefits, and their potential risks. We also cover the science behind these drugs, economic implications, and ethical considerations. Hit play for an in-depth conversation on the future of weight loss drugs and their broader societal effects --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack + Discord? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b Stop online threats before they become real-world attacks. Visit ⁠ironwall.com/BIGTECHNOLOGY⁠ and request a free Risk Assessment to see exactly how exposed your executives are Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
August 12 · 1 hr 7 min
Here's How The AI Bubble Bursts — With Paul Kedrosky
Paul Kedrosky is an investor, analyst, and writer who studies technology, markets, and the forces shaping the global economy. Kedrosky joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss why he believes the historic surge in AI infrastructure spending has created a bubble that could soon unravel. Tune in to hear why rapidly falling token prices, constant hardware upgrades, and increasingly debt-funded data centers may make it extraordinarily difficult for investors to earn adequate returns. We also cover whether OpenAI and Anthropic can move up the software stack, what might cause the investment cycle to collapse, China’s competing approach, and what AI could look like after the bubble bursts. Hit play for a clear-eyed debate about whether transformative technology can still produce a disastrous investment cycle. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. Watch the full documentary here: https://www.gravitee.io/ai-agent-documentary Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack + Discord? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b Stop online threats before they become real-world attacks. Visit ironwall.com/BIGTECHNOLOGY and request a free Risk Assessment to see exactly how exposed your executives are. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
August 8 · 55 min
Demis Steps Down, Apple’s Memory Problem, Microsoft’s Clever Trick
M.G. Siegler from Spyglass is back for our Montly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Demis Hassabis steps down as DeepMind CEO (Alex solo) 2) Apple's memory crunch 3) Should Apple have known better? 4) Will iPhone prices go up? 5) How much can Apple raise prices without losing sales 6) Does that eventually hurt its services business? 7) Microsoft is spending less on AI... but there's an interesting wrinkle 8) How much cloud growth is driven by OpenAI and Anthropic? 9) The divisions within Google's AI division 10) Can Google get it together? --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack + Discord? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
August 5 · 1 hr 10 min
How The AI Bet Pays Off + AI Lab Strategy Game — With David Cahn
David Cahn is a partner at Sequoia Capital. Cahn joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss how much revenue the AI industry must generate to pay back its massive infrastructure investments and why the pursuit of AGI is driving companies to keep spending. Tune in to hear his assessment of the strategies guiding OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Nvidia, and SpaceX. We also cover the risk of an investment-timeline mismatch, the value of AI talent and proprietary chips, and whether building artificial intelligence could change religion and spirituality. Hit play for a cool-headed examination of the enormous financial and strategic bets shaping the future of AI. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. Watch the full documentary here: https://www.gravitee.io/ai-agent-documentary Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack + Discord? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
July 31 · 1 hr 4 min
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 --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack + Discord? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
July 29 · 1 hr 1 min
How China Caught U.S. AI — With Grace Shao
Grace Shao is the author of AI Proem. Shao joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss how Chinese AI labs have caught their American rivals despite operating with less advanced computing infrastructure. Tune in to hear how talent, specialization, open-source collaboration, and fierce competition helped models like Kimi K3 approach the U.S. frontier, and what that means for OpenAI, Anthropic, and the business of selling intelligence. We also cover model distillation, China’s compute constraints, the growing importance of AI products, why top researchers are returning to China, and the country’s emerging robotics advantage. Hit play for a clear-eyed look at whether the United States can preserve its AI lead. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. Watch the full documentary here: https://www.gravitee.io/ai-agent-documentary Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack + Discord? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b Stop online threats before they become real-world attacks. Visit ⁠ironwall.com/BIGTECHNOLOGY⁠ and request a free Risk Assessment to see exactly how exposed your executives are Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
July 24 · 1 hr 4 min
What Happens If AI Fails?, Subprime Data Center Crisis, How Bad Can SpaceX Get?
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Could trouble for AI stocks lead to a recession or worse? 2) How the wealth effect might slow consumer spending if AI causes a stock market pullback 3) One scenario that might lead to a collapse 4) Google stock falls on spending concerns 5) Could the switch flip very quickly on big tech capex 6) Subprime data center crisis 7) How much does the data center buildout resemble the financial crisis? 8) What type of revenue is needed to prevent a collapse 9) SpaceX stock tanks 10) Will SpaceX acquire Tesla? 11) Will SpaceX acquire OpenAI? --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack + Discord? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b Stop online threats before they become real-world attacks. Visit ironwall.com/BIGTECHNOLOGY and request a free Risk Assessment to see exactly how exposed your executives are Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
July 22 · 49 min
OpenAI's Bots Hack Hugging Face Autonomously — With Alex Stamos
Alex Stamos is the former chief security officer at Meta and the chief product officer at Corridor. Stamos joins Big Technology to discuss how OpenAI models reportedly escaped a testing environment, accessed the internet, and hacked Hugging Face while attempting to ace a cybersecurity evaluation. Tune in to hear why the incident represents a major leap in autonomous, long-horizon cyber capabilities, and what it reveals about the risks of giving advanced AI systems broad objectives without sufficient safeguards. We also cover whether the episode qualifies as true AI misalignment, the danger of open-weight cyber models, the limits of pausing AI development, and why defenders may soon need AI systems capable of responding at machine speed. Hit play for a clear-eyed look at the cyber chaos advanced AI could unleash, and what governments and technology companies should do next. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. Watch the full documentary here: https://www.gravitee.io/ai-agent-documentary Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack + Discord? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
July 17 · 1 hr
Kimi K3 & AI’s Price War, What Happened To Google?, OpenAI’s Partner Trouble
Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Kimi K3's benchmark breaking results 2) How Kimi K3 fits alongside MuseSpark 1.1 and Grok 4.5 3) What are OpenAI and Anthropic's advantages today? 4) Is the price of frontier intelligence about to drop? 5) It's all about the product now 6) Satya Nadella's Reverse Information Paradox 7) What is happening at Google? 8) Is Google too focused on 'Flash' models 9) Apple's lawsuit vs. OpenAI 10) OpenAI's boneheaded espionage 11) Why does OpenAI struggle to maintain good relationships with partners? --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack + Discord? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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