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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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