Who’s Winning The AI Race? + Software’s Future — With Sridhar Ramaswamy

Sridhar Ramaswamy is the CEO of Snowflake. Ramaswamy joins Big Technology Podcast to break down the competitive dynamics in the AI race today, drawing from his experience working at Google and competing with it. We also cover the future of software, looking at whether AI will turn established software companies into "dumb backends." In the second half, we discuss “shadow AI” driving enterprise adoption from the bottom up, the risk of becoming a feature in someone else's platform, and why Chinese open-source models might actually be a net positive for the US. Hit play for a sharp, deeply informed conversation about where AI competition, enterprise software, and the future of work are heading. --- 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 EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/bigtech.  Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! 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) AI worries crush software stocks 2) Why is software in the crosshairs? 3) Is it vibecoding or that software becomes an input into AI bots 4) Why software might make it through 5) Anthropic's legal plugin that set it off 6) Okay, so no AI bubble? 7) Anthropic's Super Bowl ad attacks OpenAI 8) OpenAI's response 9) OpenAI losing share to rival chatbots 10) What the hell is happening to Bitcoin? 11) --- 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

Joelle Pineau is the chief AI officer at Cohere. Pineau joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss where the cutting edge of AI research is headed — and what it will take to move from impressive demos to reliable agents. Tune in to hear why memory, world models, and more efficient reasoning are emerging as the next big frontiers, plus what current approaches are missing. We also cover the “capability overhang” in enterprise AI, why consumer assistants still aren’t lighting the world on fire, what AI sovereignty actually means, and whether the major labs can ever pull away from each other. Hit play for a cool-headed, deeply practical look at what’s next for AI and how it gets deployed in the real world. --- 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

M.G. Siegler of Spyglass is back for our monthly tech news discussion. M.G. joins us to discuss Moltbook, the new Reddit-style social network where 150,000 AI agents are chatting, upvoting, and even proposing their own private language to keep humans out. Tune in to hear whether this is a preview of the singularity or just elaborate role-play—and why the security vulnerabilities are genuinely concerning. We also cover NVIDIA quietly backing away from its $100 billion OpenAI deal, Apple's record quarter that Wall Street shrugged off, and OpenAI's race to IPO before Anthropic (with Elon potentially beating them both). Hit play for a conversation about where AI is heading and what it means when the bots start talking to each other. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Financial Times San Francisco Bureau Chief Stephen Morris joins for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Anthropic's $20 billion fundraising round 2) OpenAI is looking at $100 billion in funding 3) Amazon alone might put $50 billion in OpenAI 4) When does the money run out? 5) The rise of Clawdbot/Moltbot 6) Meta and Microsoft beat on earnings but go in separate directions 7) The market has no idea what to do with the AI trade 8) Apple's historic quarter 9) Amazon lays off 16,000 10) SpaceX IPO in June? 11) Why a SpaceX and xAI merger could make sense --- 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 Questions? Feedback? Write to: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bret Taylor is the CEO of Sierra and OpenAI's board chair. Taylor joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss how AI is reshaping software, from vibe coding to the rise of AI agents that will replace dashboards, forms, and the way we interact with technology. We also cover OpenAI's decision to introduce ads, whether AI progress is actually slowing down, and what Brett has learned from working with Sam Altman, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Sheryl Sandberg. Hit play for an essential conversation on the future of software with someone who's been at the center of every major tech shift for two decades. --- --- 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) What happened at Davos 2) OpenAI’s planned $50 billion funding round 3) Does the money set expectations too high for OpenAI? 4) Will OpenAI ever turn a profit? 5)) How many funding rounds does OpenAI have left? 6) Does OpenAI’s shrinking lead bode poorly for its inevitable IPO 7) OpenAI introduces ads to ChatGPT 8) Why is Google waiting to bring ads to Gemini? 9) Apple is building a wearable AI Pin 10) Wait, is Alexa Plus good?  --- 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 --- Take back your personal data with Incogni! Go to incogni.com slash bigtechpod and Use code bigtechpod at checkout, our code will get you 60% off on annual plans. Go check it out! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Demis Hassabis is the CEO of Google DeepMind. Hassabis joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss where AI progress really stands today, where the next breakthroughs might come from, and whether we’ve hit AGI already. Tune in for a deep discussion covering the latest in AI research, from continual learning to world models. We also dig into product, discussing Google’s big bet on AI glasses, its advertising plans, and AI coding. We also cover what AI means for knowledge work and scientific discovery. Hit play for a wide-ranging, high-signal conversation about where AI is headed next from one of the leaders driving it forward.  --- 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

Cristiano Amon is the CEO of Qualcomm. Amon joins Big Technology to discuss what the AI device of the future looks like—and why he thinks the next wave of personal computing will move beyond the smartphone. Tune in to hear his vision for AI-powered glasses and wearables, what a truly useful agent experience requires, and why he believes the “winner at the edge” will shape the AI race. We also cover AI PCs and what will actually drive adoption, Qualcomm’s push into AI inference in the data center, the state of robotics and industrial AI, and where China may be pulling ahead. Hit play for a Davos-front-row conversation on where AI is heading next—and the chips and constraints that will determine how fast it gets there. --- 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 --- Take back your personal data with Incogni! Go to incogni.com slash bigtechpod and Use code bigtechpod at checkout, our code will get you 60% off on annual plans. Go check it out! 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) Gemini's case as undisputed AI leader 2) Google and Apple ink a deal for Gemini to fix Siri 3) Is all this AI going to hurt Google's business model? 4) Who will be better at AI ads: Google or OpenAI? 5) Google Gemini's Personal Intelligence 6) Exits at Thinking Machines Lab 7) Is Thinking Machines toast? 8) Claude work arrives! It's Claude Code for non-coders 9) Are we in the age of the empowered individual? 10) Harness Hive stand up! --- 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 -- EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/bigtech  Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices