
Order up some AI beef & it's a big sports weekend
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Neal Freyman
Good Morning Brew Daily Show. I'm Neal Freyman.
Toby Howell
And I'm Toby Howell.
Neal Freyman
Today, Anthropic throws jabs at OpenAI ahead of the Super Bowl.
Toby Howell
Then it's tough to tell which is colder right now, real winter or this crypto winter. It's Friday, February 6th. Let's ride.
Neal Freyman
Good morning and Happy Friday. It's been a long week, but we made it. So this week, favorite Facebook turned 22 years old. And to mark the occasion, Mark Zuckerberg shared a list of five songs he listened to while creating the social app as a 19 year old. A playlist called 2004 Facebook Coding Jams. Ready to hear what's on it? Headstrong by Trapped Like a Stone by Audioslave, the Reason by Hoobastank, in the End by Linkin park and Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Daft Punk. Which I got to admit, it's pretty much what I was listening to in 2004 while not building a future $2 trillion company. Toby, thoughts on 2000 Facebook coding jams.
Toby Howell
I mean, pretty good list. It also led me down a rabbit hole of what other soundtracks powered famous people or famous pursuits. Michael Lewis, who wrote the Big Short, told us when we interviewed him that he listens to the same bubblegum pop anthems over and over while writing his books. So he's a pop guy. Albert Einstein was a big Mozart guy, maybe unsurprisingly. And then definitely unsurprisingly. Steve Jobs, Bob Dylan and Beatles guy Neil Freyman. This is a true story. Listens to ambient sounds to wash away distractions on a website called a Soft Murmur. I look over sometimes to say something to Neil while we're prepping for the show, and he's got rain sounds playing at 100% volume. This is why you haven't created a $2 trillion.
Neal Freyman
It's essentially, yeah, white noise. I don't they're going to inspect my brain. Like, what the hell is going on here? Because I think I'm in a rainstorm for like 10 hours of the day.
Toby Howell
I know. It's like fight or flight instincts. I just listen to movie soundtracks, so I think I'm the main character of my own. All right, let's hear from our sponsor, Sandals Resorts. Neil, let me pitch you a business idea. Imagine a scenic seaside resort with attractions for parents and children.
Neal Freyman
That sounds like beaches resorts.
Toby Howell
No, I'm pretty sure this is something I thought of. It's a Toby original. And it's never been done before.
Neal Freyman
Nope. Beaches Resorts deliver family fun across the Caribbean. Kids can enjoy the Pirate Island Water park and Sesame street programming at their world famous kids camps.
Toby Howell
Okay, but can parents unwind with spa treatments or beachside cocktails?
Neal Freyman
Again, yes. Plus they can explore the Caribbean's most beautiful islands like Turks and Caicos and Jamaica.
Toby Howell
Fine. I guess there's no better place to experience the Caribbean than at resorts founded by a family from the Caribbean. And I'm totally unoriginal. For the latest offers, visit sandals.com that's sandals.com the Super bowl is coming up.
Neal Freyman
On Friday, and we're going to run down some storylines to make you the most interesting person at your party. First up, while the Seahawks take on the Patriots on the field, perhaps an even more intriguing battle will play out during the commercial breaks. Anthropic versus OpenAI and a clash of the chat bots. This week, Anthropic, which makes Claude drop the gauntlet on its rival by ridiculing its push into advertising in a series of four commercials, two of which will air around the game. Anthropic stage scenes where someone asks questions of another person whose robotic answers resemble a chat bots. At the end of their reply, the AI character suddenly goes into an ad read emphasizing how disruptive this experience might be for users. The subtext of Anthropic's campaign is that last month OpenAI said it would begin to include ads in chat G well, this week, Anthropic loudly proclaimed that Cloud would remain ad free. Toby this sparked a million marketing debates. How do you think anthropic's attack on OpenAI was received? Do you think it's an effective pitch for potential customers?
Toby Howell
I mean, I think we've seen this before on the super bowl advertising stage. I'm thinking back to get a Mac where you contrast a Mac versus a PC. This is something that advertisers have done for a long time. It's not breaking any laws, by the way. They're not defaming OpenAI because they actually never name them, which is why so many people were so excited by this campaign because the way that the people who are embodying chat CBT talk in this campaign everyone's like I understand what they're referencing. So you create this in group feeling of people who get the joke. Also they're trying to drum up press for their potential ipo maybe in the coming months. So this is a good win for anthropic. Of course OpenAI is not happy. Sam Altman responded on X. Even calling it a response feels like I'm underselling it. This was he wrote a full essay on X calling it funny but clearly dishonest and deceptive. He says we are not stupid and we know our users would reject our ads if we ran them like that. So he tried to fire back but it's very tough to bring an essay to a Super bowl funny ad fight.
Neal Freyman
Well they're not just bringing an essay. OpenAI is also taking out a 60 second ad in the Super Bowl. For the second, second year in a row. AI companies are really amping up their marketing, especially on traditional television. Last year tech companies like anthropic, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, they collectively spent $334 million on broadcast TV ads pitching their wares which was a 43% year over year increase. This battle is playing out in the Super Bowl. We often talk about the super bowl commercials as being the arena for whatever new technology is, you know, is coming into the fore. A few years ago it was crypto and then in the past few years it has been AI. And it's interesting to see what particular marketing tech that OpenAI, Anthropic, Amazon, Google, all these other tech companies are going to take.
Toby Howell
The one thing that I think could come back to bite Anthropic though is basically what you're doing is undermining a competitor right now. But you're also potentially putting some doubt in consumers minds about LLMs in general and if ads are going to undermine that process. So I wonder if maybe there's trading long term credibility for a short term a win right now because a lot of people are crowning this a short term win but I just don't know if it's the right tact to play if you want to broadly make your company a trustworthy company, if you want AI to eventually become a thing that many consumers use, why are you framing it in such a negative light on such a big stage. So that is some of the critique I've seen of this is that maybe it's just short term, you know, Internet points versus something that will damage your brand in your your industry long term.
Neal Freyman
Right. Because it comes at a time when more Americans than not say they're fearful over AI than excited for it. So this kind of a lot of AI marketing in the past has done to assuage those fears. This is only amplifies them. Okay, we also have to talk about Bad Bunny, the headline performer of the super bowl halftime show and an artist at the peak of his powers. The Puerto Rican singer is coming off a huge night at the Grammys nabbing album of the year, which followed a 2025 where he was most streamed artists globally. Also last year, Bad Bunny held a historic residency in Puerto Rico that was attended by more than half a million people and added hundreds of millions of dollars to the island's economy. His super bowl performance has taken on a political resonance as well. Bad Bunny's been critical of the Trump administration and in one of his victory speeches at the Grammys, he declared, ice out, Toby. Even if you don't care about football, you are going to be glued to the halftime show. Yeah.
Toby Howell
Here's a good data point for how big a Bad Bunny halftime show will be. His post teasing his liked one ever in the history of teasing super bowl halftime shows. Rihanna's teaser had 72 million views, 4.1 million likes. Kendrick Lamar's had 54 million views, 3 million likes. Bad Bunnies has 151 million. So it's twice. It's three times the size of Kendrick's and 8.4 million likes. So Rihanna and Kendrick Lamar are obviously like massive megastars. But Bad Bunny is a super ultra mega global star. He is just so popular.
Neal Freyman
Nothing compares to him right now. And we'll probably get a viewership record last year. Kendrick Lamar, when he was, he was involved in this Drake beef. So a lot of people were tuned in. He did set the record for a halftime show in terms of viewership with 133.5 million. You have to expect with Bad Bunny being whatever superstar megastar he is right now across the world will eclipse that number.
Toby Howell
By the way, a lot of people were comparing anthropic and open eyes beef for as Kendrick and Drake before nerd. So we're basically getting beefs, you know, times two.
Neal Freyman
Finally, while we don't necessarily condone betting, there is one super bowl wager I do want to discuss. So among the more unusual bets you can place on the game is the length of the national anthem. This year, Charlie Puth is belting the banner and the line right now is over under 120 and a half seconds or just about two minutes flat. That would track with last year when John Batiste clocked in at 1 minute and 59 seconds. Toby, are you expecting an up tempo anthem or a little more Largo?
Toby Howell
I think I'm going up tempo because I did find a video of Charlie Puth playing the national anthem back in 2021. Now he's just in his house and he's not singing. He's just doing an instrumental version of it. But the length of that version is just one minute and one second. So obviously all those other confounding factors say that this is not going to be his actual performance. But that's something to keep an eye on because he raced through that one. So I am taking the under. I also went digging my own prop bets and I just want to run a couple by you guest performers for Bad Bunny's halftime show. Do you have any ideas of who the favorite is for him to bring out?
Neal Freyman
J. Balvin.
Toby Howell
J. Balvin is minus 160. Cardi B is actually the favorite, but I'm liking Shakira at plus 340 because remember, he's got some history with Shakira. But this is not Bad Bunny's first halftime performance appearance. Actually, he came out in 2020 as a special guest when JLO and Shakira hosted it. So maybe he's returning the favor with JLO and Shakira this year. Will a player or coach cry during the national anthem?
Neal Freyman
No.
Toby Howell
No is plus 184. It is not the favorite. Yes is minus 230. So we got some emotional things.
Neal Freyman
I cried during Charlie Puth song, so I can see that.
Toby Howell
And then this is a fun one. Which Bay Area landmark will be showing first? The odds on favorite is of course the Golden Gate Bridge at minus a thousand. But I like some value in Alcatraz Island. Plus 550. And this is my thinking around this. I could see a segment on the Seahawks, very good defense and where the announcer goes, like, you know, you would be better off like seeing them around this place right here. And they show Alcatraz Island. So that's something to think about. And then finally, this is the infinite money hack. Will an unauthorized person, aka Streaker, enter the field of play? Yes is plus 300. No is minus 500. Put $1 million on yourself. Go make history. Go make your own luck right there.
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You.
Toby Howell
You literally have control over your own destiny right there. You will do time.
Neal Freyman
All right. Thank you for your pick. So we all know that the surest way to make money is to do the inverse.
Toby Howell
Toby, do not tell me, okay?
Neal Freyman
It's been a brutal start for the year for a layoff. So much so that it's the worst January for job cuts since the Great Recession. According to a new report from Challenger Gray and Christmas, US Companies announced the largest number of layoffs In January since 2009, 108,000, more than double the figure from last year. Andy Challenger, chief revenue officer at the data firm, said, generally we see a high number of job cuts in the first quarter, but this is a high total for January. It means most of these plans were set at the end of 2025, signaling employers are less than optimistic about the outlook for 2026. About 40% of January's total is accounted for by two companies, Amazon and UPS. A few weeks ago, Amazon said it was cutting 16,000 corporate jobs while UPS announced 30,000 layoffs. But companies like Pinterest, Dow, Peloton and Nike also slimmed down their workfor January. If layoffs weren't bad enough, Corporate America isn't in the mood to hire either. Companies announced plans to bring on just 5,300 new employees in January, which is the lowest total for the month since records began in 2009. To be fresh signs that the labor market is limping along at best.
Toby Howell
Yeah, the storyline that we've been kind of saying over the past few months is that we are in a no higher, no fire market where everything is just frozen over and not a lot is going on. That narrative is starting to crack actually, because the fire is coming back in droves right now and the no higher part is happening as well. So we are getting no higher and lots of fire. So that is a lot of cracks appearing in the labor market right now. And you know, we are seeing it kind of concentrated at this point because a lot of these layoffs are driven by a few big corporations. I mean, Amazon obviously has a lot of employees. UPS has a lot of employees. So these are high profile cuts, but they are cuts and they are kind of showing that, hey, maybe the labor market isn't as stable as maybe even the Fed thought.
Neal Freyman
Yeah, so we were in a low fire moment. I think we're in a zero high. We're in a low higher moment now. I think we're in essentially a zero higher moment because in addition to this Challenger Jane Christmas report that came out yesterday, so did a government report on job openings. And job openings fell by 386,000 to 6.5 million million in December, which is the lowest level since September 2020 Firms are not even thinking about hiring right now. There's only basically two areas of the economy that are hiring anyone. It's health care. And then it's also if you are the best AI superstar in the world, and if you're not any of those, it's very, very hard to get a job. We also don't have a great picture of the labor market. We have a few tidbits here, but today, this morning, the jobs report for January was supposed to come out, but it's not. And that's because there was that government shutdown, partial government sh, for a few days earlier this week, and that pushed back the jobs report to February 11th. So the next time we'll get a good read on the jobs market is not till next week.
Toby Howell
All right, we're going to take a quick break and come back right after this with our stock of the Week and Dog of the Week.
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Neal Freyman
Welcome to Stock of the Week. Dog of the Week, the segment where Toby and I pick one stock that's having a beautiful day and another that still hasn't found what it's looking for. I won the pre show game of Never have I Ever, so I get to go first. And my stock of the week is Caterpillar, whose stock reached an all time high even as the rest of the market melted down. But it's not for the reason you might expect. We all know Caterpillar as the maker of yellow bulldozers, excavators, dump trucks, and other really cool machines found at construction sites. But investors increasingly see it as an artificial intelligence play. That's because a lesser known unit inside Caterpillar is power generators, which are key inputs for the physical infrastructure underpinning the AI boom. Data centers like caterpillars are very hungry, and often their power demands exceed what's available in the power grid. So data center developers are turning to Caterpillar's natural gas fuel generators to keep the lights on. And it's been a huge tailwind for the business. The company's power and energy unit has become its fastest growing segment, jumping 44% from the previous year and fueling a record fourth quarter with $19.1 billion in total sales. Toby, this isn't an overnight success. Caterpillar soared 58% last year, tripling the S and P gain. And so far in 2026 it is the best performing stock on the Dow.
Toby Howell
I don't know if I'm just a Debbie Downer, but my mind immediately went to, you know, the dot com boom and bust cycle and how all these, you know, Internet providers were the ones who ended up going a belly up as well. So is AI infrastructure going to do the exact same thing and outpace real profits? Is Caterpillar going to be left holding the bag? That is exactly where mine mind went to. And Caterpillar obviously has thought about this. They're saying that we're actually very involved in early stage customer planning so we are able to meet customer demand, align basically our generated production with actual customer demand. And that is a big thing here where they're not getting ahead of their skis. They're not building too many of these generators. So they say they got under control. But I do wonder if they're going to be left holding the bag if infrastructure demand falls a little bit.
Neal Freyman
We'll see. We did see. We did learn this week that big tech companies, just four of them are going to spend $650 billion, which is the size of a small country and on data centers in 2026. And some of that is going to Caterpillar. And I want to point out an example of how this works. So there's a data center project in Utah. It's going to need about one quarter of the power the entire state currently uses. So they can't tap the grid. They have to go outside to Caterpillars generators. They're going to buy more than 700 natural gas fuel generators from Caterpillar. So they're going to buy 700. How much do these cost? Well they're 2 point gigawatts. They cost about $800,000 for piston engine generators. That so that total contract is going to be about $56 million just for this one data center project in Utah. And that's a really fueling Caterpillar's business.
Toby Howell
And then just on the idea of boring businesses outperforming the broader market right now a couple of pretty unsexy names as they've been framed have touched 52 weeks high of late. Companies like Walmart, Coca Cola, Chevron, Caterpillar Pepsi, ge, spin off Varanova which also deals with energy. A lot of these are not exactly the AI companies or the big tech companies that have made a lot of headlines and driven a lot of market gains of late. They are John Deere and actually Cisco, ironically bringing back the Internet boom. So you are seeing maybe a rotation into just defensive stocks, you know, consumer stocks and away from the big tech stocks that have led most of the charge of late. Moving on, My dog of the week is Bitcoin Neil we started this week talking about how bitcoin was getting wrecked right at a time where it should be shining and since then it's looking worse than you on a 30 minute hit in the hills ride on the peloton. Bitcoin is currently laboring at around $65,000, a far cry from its peak of 122,000 post Trump election. The digital gold narrative espoused by your cousin with no job is unraveling faster than James Harden's relationship with the Clippers front office. Rather than acting as a safe haven asset that rises when uncertainty spikes, it's done the opposite and been lapped by real gold in the process. Gold is up 24% since October. Bitcoin is down 44% in the same period. Now. Bitcoin bulls are no stranger to massive price swings. Following an infamous hack in 2014, Bitcoin's price halved. 2018 brought another crypto winter with Bitcoin falling 74%. Of course it bounced back from all of those drawdowns, but what makes 2026 Wipeout especially concerning is that there hasn't really been one inciting event. Neil Michael Burry of Big Short fame said bitcoin has been exposed as a purely speculative asset and is not near the debasement trade hedge that gold and other precious metals are. The tide is out and it's got no shorts on this.
Neal Freyman
This week brought a bunch of ugly milestones for bitcoin. It's evaporated all gains from when Trump was elected back in 2024. Crypto crypto's market cap has basically had from 4.3 trillion to just 2.3 trillion in the span of months on October. Six was when it hit its peak. Bitcoin has lost value now for four straight months. It looks like it's going to be five after February. There's just a complete identity crisis right now. It's not gold. It's not a replacement for the dollar. When was the last time you used bitcoin to buy anything? It's not an alternative decentralized financial system that's going to topple Wall Street. Right? And Wall street are essentially one in the same and it doesn't have any underlying value. So it's been nearly 20 years now since bitcoin was invented and has not proven any of these theses out. The only reason people seem to be buying it is because they think they can sell it to another person at a higher price, which is known as speculation.
Toby Howell
You can't even say we're early anymore too. Which used to be a rallying cry for the crypto crowd. Wherever these drawdowns would happens, we go, well, no one even knows about Bitcoin, no one even knows about crypto yet. But now it's very easy to buy crypto. You can go it on Coinbase, you can do it via many ETFs that offer exposure to these assets. So it's very mainstream now. So you don't even have that in your back pocket to say, well wait until the normies find out about this. Because the normies have found out about this. By the way, we talked about Bitcoin for dog of the week, but there was a pack of dogs vying for this title because it was a rough week in the markets. Volvo, the Swedish automaker had its worst trading day ever, falling 30% yesterday. They were citing tariffs and weak demand. Peloton fell 24% after weak holiday demand. And the fact that Neil did not perform well in his 30 minute hit and hills ride. Get those watts up, Neil. Novo Nordisk is now trading at pre GLP1 prices after Eli Lilly's Manjaro and Zeppelin totally caught and surpassed it. And then finally Figma, a very strong contender for dog of the week as well. It went public last year, surging to a $56 billion valuation. Since then it's fallen over 80% and it's trading well below the $20 billion valuation that Adobe tried to buy it for. So, rough week in the markets, Neal.
Neal Freyman
It's been really bad. Some are calling it a potentially historic or, you know, a transition point for the markets. This week Cloud released legal tools and essentially wiped trillions of dollars off of software stocks. There's just a total tech meltdown right now. And this could be the beginning of the era where AI is starting to make these huge software companies completely obsolete. Investors sort of woke up to that this week. The air bubble fears have receded and that is going to place a lot of really gigantic companies is now to the fore. Just a very important week in the markets. It's a lot of red.
Toby Howell
Yeah. Plus I stubbed my toe last night, so add that to the things that went poorly this week.
Neal Freyman
Okay, let's sprint to the finish with some final headlines. Pour one out. Though you'll probably have to wait a few hours for Minute Maid's orange juice concentrate. The brand's parent company, Coca Cola, said it is discontinuing frozen juice concentrates to focus on the fresh juices more preferred by consumers. Talk about a hit of nostalgia. If you're over the age of 25, odds are you had some of these cans always stashed in your freezer. First introduced 80 years ago, the concentrates are taken out to thought and then mixed with water to form OJ fit for drinking. But tastes have changed and inflation has taken a toll. The cost of a 12 ounce can of frozen orange juice has jumped 13% over the past year, while the sugar packed beverage has lost ground to energy drinks and protein smoothies. US sales of frozen beverages fell 8% in the year ending January 24th. Toby As a Florida boy, I know frozen OJ goes against your religion, but yet I have to understand just how iconic these were.
Toby Howell
It is iconic and actually I want to shout out my hometown company Tropicana because it is still selling frozen juice concentrate in U.S. grocery stores. So if you really do have a hankering for it, you can find it via Tropicana. Minute Maid was the pioneer in this space. They debuted it in 1946 and then eventually though refrigerated juice overtook it because it's just a better form factor, easier form factor to consume. But I had no idea it was actually kind of relatively like 1946. Feels both a long time ago and relatively recent. But a big reason why we're orange juice became this year round thing that many people drank because obviously oranges don't really grow well in the winter when you freeze them, then you can have them all year long. Finally, the super bowl of winter sports kicks off today. The Olympics. You can tune in to catch the Milan Cortina Games opening ceremony get underway today at 2pm and here's a couple of storylines to keep an eye on if you haven't been dialed into curling so far. American skier Lindsey Vaughn is 41 years old, just ruptured her ACL, but is still staging her Olympic comeback, which hurts my knees just thinking about it. NHL players are also coming back to Olympic hockey for the first time in over a decade. Team USA has a good a shot as a medal as any team that doesn't have Connor McDavid on it. I'm pumped to watch ski mountaineering make its Olympic debut, which involves hiking uphill, then downhill racing. Team USA has a surprising pair of metal hopefuls. Good luck there. Finally, some doping issues are already hanging over the Games. Critics say that the World Anti Doping Agency has dropped a ball of late, investigating scandals ahead of the both last Winter Olympics and the Paris Summer Games. And Neil, we already have a scandal rocking these Games. I'm just going to read this headline directly from the athletic because it's so absurd. Reports have surfaced before the Winter Olympics that alleged ski jumpers are injecting their penises with hyaluronic acid to fly farther. The World Anti Doping Agency has vowed to investigate. What is going on?
Neal Freyman
I'm afraid we actually have to talk about penis. It's very, very interesting. This was first surfaced in reports by a German newspaper in January, and yesterday it was addressed by the World Anti Doping Agency, which sparked a lot of discussion about what is actually going on here. So let's talk about it. So, ski jumping, you jump off a ramp and then you try to fly as far as you can. These, the suits that they wear are measured, are very precise, and they fit to your body. So you go into a doctor's office or a clinic and you get your 3D, your body scanned in the 3D way, and you get your suit. And the idea is the bigger the suit is, the more loose fabric, the. The bigger, the more you can fly because there's more drag. It's like a sail catching wind. So ski jumpers want to do the best that they can to get a bigger suit. Now, one way, one creative way perhaps this is happening is by injecting their genitalia with this particular acid, which increases its girth. And research from the Scientific Journal found that a 2 centimeter change in a suit represented an extra 5.8 meters and the length of the jump. That could be the difference from fourth place to bronze or bronze to silver, silver to gold. So you can understand why allegedly some of them are injecting acid into their penises to get a bigger suit for bigger drag and more length on their jumps.
Toby Howell
It makes sense. I just wish we could have done that whole explanation without saying girth. But you did pretty well, Neil. You know, the. Every extra centimeter counts when you're trying to win gold.
Neal Freyman
All right, that is all the time we have. Thanks so much for starting your morning with us and have a wonderful Friday. Do you want to. To get in touch, send an email to Morning Brew daily at Morning Broadcom or DM us on Instagram @me Daily Show. Let's roll the credits. Emily Milian is our executive producer. Raymond Lu is our producer. Our associate producers are Olivia Graham and Olivia Lake. Hair makeup is holding on and not looking. Devin Emery is our president, and our show is a production of Morning Brew.
Toby Howell
Great show today, Neil. I wish you all well.
Episode: Anthropic Throws Jabs at OpenAI's Ad Plan & Super Bowl-Olympics Preview
Hosts: Neal Freyman & Toby Howell
Date: February 6, 2026
This episode dives into the high-profile marketing faceoff between AI rivals Anthropic and OpenAI ahead of the Super Bowl, followed by a spirited preview of weekend sports spectaculars: the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics. The conversation weaves in major business news—such as layoffs and stock market shakeups—always with the witty, insightful style characteristic of Morning Brew.
“I think I'm in a rainstorm for like 10 hours of the day.” — Neal (02:14)
“You're creating this in-group feeling of people who get the joke.” — Toby (04:16)
“It's very tough to bring an essay to a Super Bowl funny ad fight.” — Neal (05:23)
“… maybe there's trading long term credibility for a short term win right now.” — Toby (06:08)
“Bad Bunny is a super ultra mega global star.” — Toby (07:47)
“Will an unauthorized person, aka Streaker, enter the field of play? ... Put $1 million on yourself. Go make history.” — Toby (11:14)
“Right now, it's very, very hard to get a job … it's health care or best AI superstar in the world.” — Neal (13:26)
Stock of the Week: Caterpillar
“It’s been a huge tailwind for the business … $19.1B in total sales.” — Neal (16:16)
Dog of the Week: Bitcoin (and runner-ups)
“It’s not gold. It's not a replacement for the dollar...The only reason people seem to be buying it is ... speculation.” — Neal (19:55)
“If you're over the age of 25, odds are you had some of these cans always stashed in your freezer.” — Neal (22:42)
“I’m afraid we actually have to talk about penis. … The bigger the suit … the more you can fly because there’s more drag. … some of them are injecting acid into their penises to get a bigger suit for bigger drag and more length on their jumps.” — Neal (25:40) “I just wish we could have done that whole explanation without saying girth.” — Toby (26:55)
On Anthropic’s viral ad campaign:
“It's very tough to bring an essay to a Super Bowl funny ad fight.” — Neal (05:23)
On the labor market:
“Right now, it's very, very hard to get a job … it's health care or best AI superstar in the world.” — Neal (13:26)
On Bitcoin’s identity crisis:
“The only reason people seem to be buying it is because they think they can sell it to another person at a higher price, which is known as speculation.” — Neal (20:49)
On Olympic scandal:
“Every extra centimeter counts when you're trying to win gold.” — Toby (27:05)
The episode blends lively business commentary with pop culture nuggets, balancing deep dives into marketing strategy, labor market signals, stock performance, and the odd headline about Olympic-enhancing injections. A must-listen for anyone wanting witty context on tech rivalries, sports spectacle, and the markets that underpin them.