AI Agents: Mirage Or Real Revolution? — With Dmitry Shevelenko

Joanna Stern is the author of "I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI to Do Almost Everything" and the founder of The New Thing. Stern joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss what happens when you infuse AI into every part of your life. Tune in to hear about her 48-hour road trip with an AI boyfriend, why she found chatbot relationships genuinely tempting, and what the sycophancy of these tools means for how we relate to each other. We also cover the promise and limits of AI wearables, how AI is quietly reshaping healthcare diagnostics from mammograms to dental X-rays, and whether Apple can finally deliver on Siri. Hit play for a fascinating look at the human side of living with AI, and why the biggest risks might not be technical. Join us for the Big Technology AI Summit: https://summit.bigtechnology.com/ --- 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

Join us for the Big Technology AI Summit on June, 18, 2026. Get your tickets here: summit.bigtechnology.com.... Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Anthropic gets SpaceX compute 2) Is this announcement real or marketing? 3) Anthropic increases rate limits with the new compute 4) Elon + Dario vs. Sam 5) Is this all IPO maneuvering? 6) Mythos is proving valuable for cybersecurity 7) Anthropic's demand is 80Xing 8) OpenAI's communication revealed at trial 9) Microsoft was mostly worried about comms for its OpenAI investment 10) Are AI layoffs a real thing or cope? 11) Are these layoffs happening because the AI *isn't working? --- 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

Dimitri Shevelenko is the chief business officer of Perplexity. Shevelenko joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss whether the AI industry’s shift toward agentic 'super apps' and computer-using assistants will become a real business. Tune in to hear why Perplexity believes computer use is a durable productivity tool, how it thinks about consumer AI’s growth slowdown, and why multi-model orchestration could be a competitive advantage. We also cover AI search, enterprise adoption, trust and permissions, Chinese open-source models, pricing, and the economics of AI demand. Hit play for a sharp conversation on where AI products are heading next. Join Big Technology's AI Summit In San Francisco: https://summit.bigtechnology.com/ ——— 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

Join us for the Big Technology AI Summit on June, 18, 2026 at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. The lineup: OpenAI President Greg Brockman, Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas, Box CEO Aaron Levie, Wired senior correspondant Lauren Goode, and more on the way! Get your tickets here: summit.bigtechnology.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

M.G. Siegler of Spyglass is back for our monthly tech news discussion. Siegler joins us to discuss whether Apple made the right decision to hold off on spending a mid-sized country GDP worth of money on AI infrastructure, and whether the company's restraint will continue under incoming CEO John Ternus. We also cover OpenAI and Microsoft scrapping their "AGI" claude and whether Microsoft should've agreed to let OpenAI work with Amazon. We round off with a state of Stargate and where the risk is in the AI buildout. Tune in for a high-energy conversation about AI and tech's most pressing issues. ——— 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

Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) OpenAI misses revenue and user projections, per WSJ 2) Why can't ChatGPT break the 1 billion user mark? 3) Is consumer AI not working? 4) Ranjan makes the case for consumer AI 5) Musk vs. OpenAI at trial 6) Potential outcomes of the case 7) Musk admits distillation? 8) Cloud services crush earnings 9) U.S. Senators ban themselves from trading prediction markets 10) CBS Sports' shameless gambling article --- 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

Mark Cuban is an entrepreneur and investor. Cuban joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss how artificial intelligence is reshaping business, software, jobs, and education. Tune in to hear why he believes AI is an exponential shift, how companies should rebuild themselves around it, and why curiosity will matter more than ever in the AI era. We also cover the economics of foundation models, which software companies are most vulnerable, how young people should build careers with AI, and his thoughts on Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, and the future of the NBA. Hit play for a lively conversation on who wins, who loses, and how to stay ahead as AI transforms the economy. Filmed live at the Dallas Regional Chamber's Convergence AI event. --- 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

Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Incoming Apple CEO John Ternus's biggest challenge 2) Is turnover at Apple a good thing 3) The products Ternus will take to market 4) What is Apple's tabletop robot all about 5) OpenAI is communicating differently 6) Is TBPN helping OpenAI messaging? 7) Anthropic's Mythos rollout vs. OpenAI's Spud rollout 8) Meta's latest layoffs. 9) Meta tracks employees keystrokes 10) Is Meta's tracking a reinforcement learning play? 11) Ranjan's Streamflation rant. --- 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

Greg Brockman is the president and co-founder of OpenAI. Brockman joins Big Technology to discuss GPT-5.5, also known as Spud, and what it means for OpenAI’s next phase of AI development. Tune in to hear Brockman explain how the model gets better at coding, computer use, slides, spreadsheets, and agentic work across everyday applications. We also cover OpenAI’s competitiveness, model economics, distillation, cybersecurity risk, trust in agents, and the compute-powered economy. Hit play for a timely look at OpenAI’s newest model and where the AI race goes next. ---- 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 Chapters: 00:00 Intro: GPT-5.5 “Spud” 00:57 What GPT-5.5 Can Do 02:56 OpenAI’s Agent Roadmap 05:49 Training and Real-World Tasks 09:55 Model Moats and Distillation 15:55 Cybersecurity Risks 21:01 Trusting Agents 23:36 The Compute Economy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Carissa Véliz is an Oxford philosopher and the author of Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI. Véliz joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss whether society has become dangerously naive about prediction as AI systems shape decisions around jobs, loans, justice, surveillance, and war. Tune in to hear a debate about predictive algorithms, generative AI, prediction markets, and whether forecasts are actually tools of knowledge or instruments of power. We also cover privacy, policing, protest anonymity, flood prediction, and why humor might be one of the best defenses against a prediction-obsessed world. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. More on Carissa: https://www.chartwellspeakers.com/speaker/carissa-veliz-2/ Find the book: https://www.amazon.com/Prophecy-Prediction-Future-Ancient-Oracles/dp/0385550979 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