Bezos Is Back, AI Is Taking Over, and Ales Grey is in Walmart | Ep. 996

Dee and Anand sit down with actor Adam Rodriguez and footwear entrepreneur Steve Pitino for a massive announcement: Steve's American-made comfort shoe brand Ales Grey just landed in Walmart, the largest retailer in the world. The guys break down how five years living above a factory in China, zero overseas supply chain, and algae-based materials led to a $60 shoe that nurses, doctors, and frontline workers are calling life-changing and why this launch couldn't come at a better moment with tariffs reshaping American manufacturing. Then the crew pivots to the weekend's biggest sports story: the Fanatics Flag Football event in LA. Was it actually good? What does Logan Paul and Tom Brady's role say about the future of live sports entertainment?  Plus: Jeff Bezos is raising $100 billion to re-enter the game through AI and robotics manufacturing  and why that might be the single biggest bullish signal for America's future. Anthropic's new free certification, Waymo going freeway-legal, Tesla Full Self-Driving, and why Sergey Brin showing up at an AI open meetup says everything. And to close: life expectancy is actually up, fentanyl deaths are down 26%, and GLP-1s are going generic  so why does everyone feel like the world is ending? A packed 996. Episode 1000 is coming. 🎁 EXCLUSIVE LISTENER DEAL — Ales Grey x Walmart BOGO The Ales Grey Pro 3 is now live on Walmart.com 100% made in America, algae-based comfort, arch support built in, starting at $60. Here's how to get a FREE pair: Purchase the Ales Grey Frontline Pro 3 on Walmart.com Screenshot your order confirmation Send the screenshot to @alesgrey on Instagram Choose your free pair — black or white recycled cap colorway ⚠️ This deal is for one week only — limited time. Don't sleep on it.  

Group Chat News is back and Michael B. Jordan just won Best Actor while we were recording!!  For the guys, this one's personal. From Fantasy Factory hangs to courtside moments, MBJ is the real deal. Plus, is Timothée Chalamet peaking too soon, and what does Hollywood actually reward? Tucker Carlson's name is popping up in Iran spy allegations and the crew breaks down what's real, what's speculation, and why none of it is surprising. Then the guys get into the AI debate. Chamath says the utility isn't there yet. The crew strongly disagrees. From fixing a $750-a-month water leak with one prompt to small business owners changing their entire operation overnight  the future is already here, people just aren't paying attention. And with humanoid robots coming for blue collar jobs, what does the future of work actually look like? The guys make the case this moment is bigger than the iPhone and the internet combined. All that on this week's Group Chat Podcast.

*:first-child]:mt-0 [&>*:first-child>*:first-child]:pt-0 [&>*:last-child]:mb-0 [&>*:first-child>*:first-child]:pb-0" dir="auto"> *:first-child]:mt-0 [&>*:first-child>*:first-child]:pt-0 [&>*:last-child]:mb-0 [&>*:first-child>*:first-child]:pb-0" dir="auto"> It is a special midweek drop and the group chat is packed. This episode covers the forces quietly reshaping the economy right now — from AI slashing business costs overnight, to GLP-1 drugs gutting the snack industry, to private credit markets showing their first real cracks. The guys break down what is actually happening beneath the headlines, why sports viewership is at an all-time high, which consumer brands are quietly hitting $10 billion, and why the stock market may be setting up for a violent rally. No fluff, no filler — just the conversations happening in every serious group chat right now.   Topics Covered This Episode: 1. AI Is Replacing Your Entire Software Stack How using Claude cut one company's AWS bill from $9,500 a month down to a projected $500 — and what that means for every business owner still paying for legacy SaaS tools. Plus: Lovable jumps from a $300M to $400M run rate in a single month, and Anthropic adds $6 billion in run rate in two months. The AI economy is not coming — it is already here. 2. The GLP-1 Effect Is Hitting Corporate Earnings Campbell Soup's snack division dropped 6% in a single quarter with no obvious explanation other than 30 million Americans now on GLP-1 medications. The guys explore the downstream ripple effects — grocery aisles, fast food, supplement brands, and what retailers like Kroger do when people simply stop snacking. 3. Private Credit Is Cracking Blackstone, Blue Owl, and Cliffwater are all facing record redemption requests after two major auto suppliers backed by private credit funds went under. Is this an economy problem, a bad-lending problem, or a panic problem? The guys break it all down and explain why it matters even if you have never heard of private credit. 4. Sports Is on an Unprecedented Run Every sport — NFL, NBA, MLS, World Baseball Classic, UFC — is posting record ratings. The guys explain why gambling, fragmented media, and the death of cable news are all fueling the surge, and why the Tom Brady flag football league and the Gronk vs. Logan Paul beef are the perfect example of how modern sports entertainment actually works. 5. The $10 Billion Consumer Brands Nobody Is Talking About Quince hits a $10 billion valuation doing nearly $2 billion in revenue by going factory-direct to consumers. The guys break down why consumer investing is back, who is losing market share, and what the rise of brands like Keats and Whatnot means for traditional retail. 6. Millionaire Taxes, Fraud, and the Wealth Exodus Washington State's new 9.9% millionaire tax, the staggering scale of hospice care fraud in Los Angeles, and why billionaires — and now regular millionaires — are leaving high-tax states for Nevada, Texas, and Florida. The argument is simple: clean up the fraud first, and you would not need to raise taxes at all. 7. The Stock Market Rally Nobody Wants to Miss Goldman Sachs is calling for an extreme stock rally. The guys explain why $8.5 trillion sitting in money markets has nowhere else to go, why the US stock market is the only investable market left in the world, and why owning assets — not just earning a salary — is the only play that makes sense right now.   Group Chat News drops every week. Subscribe so you never miss the conversation.  

This week on Group Chat, the guys kick things off fresh off Daylight Savings — and nobody's mad about it. The LA Marathon took over the city, and with it came one of the most unbelievable finishes in recent sports memory: Nathan Smith, a 36-year-old middle school teacher, came from behind in the final seconds to steal the win in a photo finish for the ages. Nike, call this man. The crew also digs into the controversy around LA handing out medals at mile 18, the logistics of playing Frogger through 10,000 runners on Sunset, and why Boston will always have more credibility. From there: Is Whole Foods actually one of the cheapest grocery stores in America? The guys make the case — and call out the "whole paycheck" narrative as outdated marketing. Plus, the best days of the week to shop on Amazon, Walmart, and Revolve thanks to dynamic pricing, and what surge pricing has taught us about how we spend. The five wealthiest counties in the US are all in the DC area. What does that tell us about who's really winning? The crew breaks it down. And finally: matcha is everywhere, vegetarianism might be the new woke, and Drama's Fantasy Factory is going viral on TikTok all over again.

Group Chat News is back with the biggest stories of the week including and update on Drama's dating life, everything going on in Iran, Anthropic exposing China for creating over 24,000 fake accounts to steal American AI technology, Claude just dethroned ChatGPT as the number one app in the U.S. after a wild Pentagon story, Jack Dorsey just announced Block is getting smaller and what that means for the future of Square. A mass shooting on Sixth Street leaves 3 dead and 14 injured with the FBI investigating terrorism ties. Plus the betting market payout controversy that has everyone heated. 

Group Chat News is BACK —  Drama, Dee, and Mr. Pfaff are breaking down the biggest stories of the week. On the docket: shocking AI predictions that could change everything, Team USA Hockey brings home Olympic gold, Zuckerberg ditches California for Florida, the latest on the California governor's race, a boots-on-the-ground report from America's heartland with Mr. Pfaff, and the guys get into family, legacy, and why Dee thinks Drama needs to have kids. All that and more on this week's Group Chat.

Group Chat News is back with the hottest stories of the week including Google's earnings, AI companies attack each other via Super Bowl commercials, Anthropics latest update just triggered a 285 billion dollar market crash, Dee talks about vibe coding a custom CRM, Pepsi Co cuts prices 15% to boost sales, Over 70% of licensed Realtors didn't sell a single home last year, Nike continues to show its a boomer brand, SpaceX has acquired Xai, A bank analyst published a report showing Kalshi users lose money even faster than sports gamblers and everyones favorite WINNERS LOSERS AND CONTENT  

Group Chat News is back with the biggest stories of the week including Dee is back with a full recap from the opening of Delila Dallas, the Epstein files unlock millions of documents, A I chatbots get their own private social media platform called Moltbook, Gold and Silver prices tank, the 2026 Grammy awards, Costco is building apartments on top of there newest location in Los Angeles  and much more. 

Group Chat News is back with the hottest stories of the week including Dee has a new favorite fitness infulencer, are peptides really safe, everything NFL, China's senior-most general is accused of leaking information about the country's nuclear-weapons program to the U.S., NIke's data base got hacked and over a Tb of information was leaked, The future of AI and ways to invest in it, and Delilah Dallas is opening this week!

Group Chat News is back with the hottest stories of the week including Jefferies analysts say weight loss pills will lower airline fuel bills and lift earnings,ChatGPT is experimenting with advertising in their free subscription, Rick Caruso will not be on the ballot,China's population falls again as births drop to lowest rate since 1949 revolution, BlackRock chief Larry Fink warns Davos: Capitalism must evolve,  Bermuda is building the world's first fully onchain national economy, with support from Coinbase and Circle.