Podcast
Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson
Hosted by Andrew Sharp and Ben Thompson · EN
A podcast about understanding how tech works and the way it is changing the world. Hosted by Andrew Sharp with Ben Thompson.
64episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
(Preview) Microsoft’s Plan for Platform Survival, Meta and the Market’s Permission, A Lack of Situational Awareness
Yesterday00:28:47Summary readyOn today’s show Ben and Andrew begin with Microsoft, Meta and Google in the wake of their latest earnings reports. First: Microsoft’s push to be the middle layer for enterprise AI, threats to the company’s competitive position in the long run, and the subtext of the open weights open letter frenzy two weeks ago. Then: Parsing Google and Meta strategies as Google hedges its frontier bets, while Meta continues its frontier spending and announces questionable plans for an enterprise business. At the end: The future of the lending environment for Meta and the other hyperscalers, a bubble check-in, a rundown of what happened between Citadel and the Situational Awareness, close encounters with Ben’s vibe coded app, and an emailer offers a compelling theory on the push for Permanent Daylight Savings Time. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube Microsoft Earnings, Microsoft vs. Meta, The Efficiency Payoff — Stratechery Update Meta Earnings, Meta’s Timing Problems, The Financial Tail — Stratechery Update Google Earnings, The Frontier Case, Amazon Earnings — Stratechery Update Microsoft’s Monopoly Hangover — Stratechery Citadel Securities Sees Warsh Delivering Surprise Fed Hike — Bloomberg Citadel Buys Situational Awareness’s Stock Portfolio After Big Losses in AI — Wall Street Journal Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
Summary(Preview) An OpenAI Model Escapes Sandboxing, Intelligence Will Be a Commodity Market, The Chinese Model Conundrum
2w ago00:11:25Summary readyOn today’s show Ben and Andrew begin with takeaways from OpenAI’s sandboxing snafu, including a reminder that the big bad wolf is real, OpenAI’s failures, and the timing challenge with warnings from AI labs. From there: Talking through Ben’s article on Kimi K3 and the future of open weights AI models in the U.S., including why the U.S. open source market has stagnated, the motives of various tech constituencies to drive competition with OpenAI and Anthropic, the difference between the training market and the inference market, intelligence as a commodity, and why OpenAI and Anthropic may have a more defensible lead than it seems. At the end: The government’s disagreements about how to handle Chinese models, the argument for encouraging U.S. distillation, the security risks of building atop Chinese infrastructure, an email about Chinese innovation, concerns over American credentialism, and a potential curveball from the CCP after a week of Kimi anxiety. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube Who’s Afraid of Chinese Models? — Stratechery OpenAI Hacks Hugging Face, What Happened, Alignment and Paper Clips — Stratechery Update Economic Power in the Age of Abundance — Stratechery China weighs tighter export controls on AI models and chips — Financial Times Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
Summary(Preview) The Continuing Adventures of OpenAI, Apple’s Trade Secrets Lawsuit, Q&A on Mainframes, Meta, Daylight Savings Time
3w ago00:22:16Summary readyOn today’s show Ben and Andrew begin with a raft of OpenAI news, including reactions to the first reports of what OpenAI’s first hardware product will be, the logic of OpenAI’s hardware business generally, the Codex push in the mac app, and a request for a Codex computer. From there: The Apple-OpenAI trade secrets lawsuit, including Apple history, a reckless OpenAI employee, and the funniest part of the complaint. At the end: IBM’s stock and the specific way AI may have affected mainframe spending, how AI will manifest in real-world software, an email about Meta’s messaging as a recruiting pitch, notification management, monetizing expertise, and a word about daylight savings time. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube Apple Sues OpenAI, Apple’s Real Problem — Stratechery Update The OpenAI Super App, ChatGPT = Codex, Whither Chat — Stratechery Update IBM Misses, IBM’s Mainframe Moat, IBM’s Many AI Problems — Stratechery Update Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
Summary(Preview) Meta and Its Messaging Problem, The XBOX Reset, Q&A on Token Costs, American Soccer, Starlink in Nature
4w ago00:21:53Summary readyOn today’s show Andrew and Ben begin with a look at the state of Meta. Topics include: Mark Zuckerberg’s sins of commission vs. omission as a messenger, Meta’s AI opportunity, directionally correct investments, the problems with Meta as a cloud provider, and the absence of religion in Menlo Park. From there: Why Microsoft should move on from the XBOX era, and the shift in gaming habits that doomed Game Pass from the outset. At the end: OpenAI introduces GPT-Live, a question about the cost of Ben’s vibe coding adventure spawns a digression on future token costs, the cost of youth sports, American soccer and learning Chinese, tech weirdos and the future of normie app building, and Ben gets castigated for bringing a Starlink on vacation. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube A Script for Mark Zuckerberg — Stratechery Meta’s AI Abundance — Stratechery XBOX Cuts; Bundling and the Internet Solvent; Transaction, Coordination, and Sunk Costs — Stratechery Update An Interview with Matthew Ball About Gaming and the Fight for Attention — Stratechery Interview Introducing GPT-Live, a new generation of voice models for natural human-AI interaction. — X:@OpenAI Why Chinese Is So Damn Hard — Pinyin Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
Summary(Preview) A Summer Break Mailbag: Memory Mania, Vibe Coding, Mafia PR, Caffeine Intake, Garages, and How to Fix Soccer
Jun 2600:26:20Summary readyBen and Andrew begin with an extended look at the market for memory chips, including market history, the supply crunch driving up today’s valuations, the myopia from SK Hynix, Samsung and Micron, new entrants from China, and why the timing of Apple’s price increases are a bearish signal. From there: Both hosts share their daily caffeine regimen, garage takes, and lots of thoughts on vibe coding after Ben’s 10-day foray into AI-assisted engineering. At the end: Codex marketing and an imminent OpenAI super app, Sam Altman’s appearance in a game of mafia, could the EU push Apple to better business strategy, stock buyback clarification, ocean data centers, metricmaxxing, and an update on last week’s hydration break take along with a better fix for international soccer. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube Memory Chips and China, Microsoft and Chinese Models — Stratechery Update An Interview with Dan Kim and Hassan Khan About CHIPS — Stratechery Interview Summer Top Fives: 2025 Bandwagons and Candy — Greatest of All Talk My Vibe Coding Adventure, The App and the Experience, Ten Takeaways — Stratechery Update Apple Price Increases, Apple Intelligence and the E.U. — Stratechery Update The SpaceX IPO and Data Centers in Space — Stratechery Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
Summary(Preview) The Anthropic Saga Continues, Fox and the Future of Streaming, Q&A on ChatGPT, Agentic Shopping, Autonomous Driving
Jun 1900:31:26Summary readyOn today’s show Ben and Andrew begin with a hydration break take as the World Cup continues before turning to the latest on Anthropic’s export control saga, what the Trump administration may not understand about AI cybersecurity, and what Anthropic still doesn’t understand about dealing with the government. From there: Fables differentiation, the dangers of ringfencing frontier AI within U.S. borders, and how open source Chinese AI may affect the marketplace. From there: Why Ben gives Fox the benefit of the doubt after its Roku purchase this week, whether Siri AI will nuke ChatGPT’s market, Noam Shazeer joins OpenAI, what e-commerce will and won’t be automated, and whether autonomous driving can scale on ICE vehicles. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube The State of Fable, The Jailbreak Problem, SpaceX Acquires Cursor — Stratechery Update Anthropic’s Safety Superpower — Stratechery The Window Has Closed — X: @AndrewCurran_ Fox Buys Roku, The Problem With Fox’s Smart Strategy, Streaming That Works — Stratechery Update An Interview with Michael Morton About E-Commerce in the Age of AI — Stratechery Interview Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
Summary(Preview) Five Questions on WWDC 2026, Fable 5 And Its Guardrails, What Anthropic Has in Common With Apple
Jun 1200:29:00Summary readyBen and Andrew begin by talking through five questions on WWDC in 2026, including thoughts on Apple’s answer to the critics, whether Apple is or is not thinking different, decoding the Google partnership and Craig Federighi’s corporate speak, the wide gap between Siri AI and frontier AI, and why memory concerns are misplaced. From there: Explaining the Fable 5 guard rails, Anthropic safety concerns that align with Anthropic business incentives, Ben’s first impressions of the Fable 5 performance, and a week of Anthropic angst that adds additional context to the company’s standoff with the Department of War. At the end: Passing another checkpoint on the AI 2027 journey, Microsoft on the hot seat in the AI era, and the United States of YouTube. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube The iPhone’s Last Stand — Stratechery Enterprise Philosophy and the First Wave of AI — Stratechery ChatGPT Gets a Computer — Stratechery Fable 5, Anthropic Alignment, AI Tiers — Stratechery Update Anthropic and Alignment — Stratechery An Interview with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella About Finding Core Competencies — Stratechery Interview Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
Summary(Preview) SpaceX Hype and the Elon Bargain, Nvidia and the Neoclouds, Q&A on Dropbox, Google, Ferrari Luce Backlash
May 2900:35:20Summary readyBen and Andrew begin with a look at SpaceX before its June IPO. Topics include: Why the S-1 math that doesn’t quite pencil out for now, the madness of analyzing Musk companies generally, the company’s ultimate upside, and why the IPO is worth applauding regardless. Then: Questions on terrestrial solutions vs. data centers in space, the durability of SpaceX’s rocket monopoly, Nvidia’s earnings and the future of the ACIE market, why neoclouds are advertising on podcasts, and the op-ed from Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince explaining his company’s AI-driven layoffs. From there: Dropbox as the Penny Hardaway of tech companies, an emailer worried about enshittifed AI chatbots yields discussion of the real reasons Google’s gotten worse. At the end: The Jony Ive-designed Ferrari Luce, why Ben regrets a tweet, how Ferrari will sell these cars, and more philsophical thoughts on why everyone was upset this week. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube The SpaceX IPO and Data Centers in Space — Stratechery It’s a Tesla — Stratechery Mistakes and Memes — Stratechery How I Choose Which Cloudflare Employees to Replace With AI — Wall Street Journal Enterprise Philosophy and the First Wave of AI — Stratechery Fake News — Stratechery Ferrari Luce — Ferrari Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
Summary(Preview) Inference in the Agentic Future, xAI Is Two Companies in One, Q&A on Elon’s Lawsuit, Intel, Apple
May 1500:25:57Summary readyBen and Andrew discuss the future of computing and its implications for the chip market, including what Cerebras is doing that’s different, why speed may no longer be a top priority for inference, good news for China’s AI ecosystem, the future for Nvidia, and questions on Pat Gelsinger’s role in Intel’s revival. From there: Both sides of the Anthropic-xAI deal, including Anthropic’s compute solution and the triumph of market principles, as well as the market’s message to Elon Musk and xAI, and the implications for SpaceX. At the end: Thoughts on Musk’s OpenAI lawsuit, a theory on Apple’s gross margins and a land grab, and a listener’s wife enters founder mode with Claude. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube The Inference Shift — Stratechery The Deployment Company, Back to the 70s, Apple and Intel — Stratechery Update SpaceX and Anthropic, xAI’s Two Companies, Elon Musk and SpaceXAI’s Future — Stratechery Update Elon’s OpenAI Lawsuit Is Boring and Insulting, and It’s Already a Success — Sharp Text Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
Summary(Preview) AWS History and Trainium’s AI Future, OpenAI Makes a Deal With Microsoft, Meta and the Future of Wearable Devices
May 100:24:02Summary readyBen and Andrew react to Amazon’s impressive earnings in AI with a cliffs notes history on AWS cloud computing strategy, how Amazon is returning to that playbook in AI, and why the Trainium bets look more reasonable than ever. From there: Understanding both sides of the OpenAI and Microsoft deal this week, including why OpenAI wants to be on AWS, and why Microsoft’s conflict of interest is now resolved. At the end: Extended thoughts on Meta Display glasses, the future of AR devices, the mother of all patent lawsuits, as well as a few Apple follow-ups, and an eye surgery epiphany. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube AWS re:Invent, Nova and Model Choice, AI as Commodity — Stratechery Update Paradigm Shifts and the Winner’s Curse — Stratechery An Interview with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and AWS CEO Matt Garman About Bedrock Managed Agents — Stratechery Interview AI Hardware, Meta Display, Redefining VR and AR — Stratechery Update Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
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