TBPN Podcast Summary

Episode: Meta AI Vibes & ChatGPT Pulse Reactions, Friend’s Billboard Blitz | Roon
Date: September 26, 2025
Hosts: John Coogan & Jordi Hays
Guest: Rune (AI thought leader, anonymous X poster)

Episode Overview

In this episode, John and Jordi dive deep into seismic product launches in the AI consumer space: Meta AI's Vibes and OpenAI's ChatGPT Pulse. They dissect the initial product demos, the industry's and public’s reaction, and what these launches mean for AI’s future. The episode also features discussion on virality and controversy of Friend.com’s massive billboard ad campaign, the evolving application layer of AI, Pulse's possible disruption of newsfeeds and social media, Vibes' reception, AI’s effects on productivity and jobs, the open-source AI movement, and Rune's insights about AI’s present and future. The hosts keep their commentary candid and reflective of AI and tech culture.

Key Topics and Insights

1. Meta AI Vibes & ChatGPT Pulse – Launches and First Impressions

The Launches

• Meta AI Vibes: A new feed in Meta AI app for short-form, AI-generated videos, leveraging a partnership with Midjourney.
• ChatGPT Pulse: OpenAI’s highly personalized news/content feed for ChatGPT, populated based on a user’s prior interactions and interests.

Product Reception and Market Dynamic

• Vibes was immediately polarizing—industry response on X was overwhelmingly negative, especially among technologists. Pulse received a far warmer reception.
• Timing: Both products launched within minutes of each other—fueling speculation about intentional competition between Meta and OpenAI.
  • “1226 Pacific. Alexander Wang launches Vibes. 1236. Sam Altman launches Pulse.” (B, 46:25)

Vibes Critique

• Host: “The reaction was almost universally negative... On X, yes. The question is, will children like it? Will the elderly like it? Moms like it?” (B, 02:46)
• The launch video showcased prototypical 'AI art’ style (astronaut on a bike, bears boxing, cat at news desk)—perceived as slop or low-value, generic AI-generated content.
• Sham Sankar quote: “Read the wall of quote tweets that categorically reject this AI slop. We are so back. We are going to win.” (B, 05:29)
• It’s not trying to hide its AI-ness—aesthetics are unapologetically “AI.” It feels like a “bull market in slop.” (A, 11:49)

Pulse Praise

• Pulse, in contrast, is deeply personalized based on user queries, and aimed at knowledge, not just entertainment. Only available for paying users.
• John: "My Pulse experience was wild... a breakdown of Mag 7 capex, deep dive on Nvidia’s Blackwell rollout cadence… all things I cared about." (A, 47:16)
• “It's like a newsfeed tailored to recent conversations. It reminded me of Perplexity's Discover feature, only way more personal.” (Simon Smith, 56:01)

Key Quote

• On Vibes: “Meta created a product that is giving slop. It’s a bull market in slop again.” (B, 11:49)
• On Pulse: “Such a great product and surface area to start building on. I'm extremely bullish on Pulse for OpenAI.” (A, 52:24)

2. Why Did Vibes Flop (So Far)? The Deeper Analysis

Launch Strategy Criticism

• Aggressive, public launch exposed Meta to a universal dunking from “Tech Twitter/X”, rather than rolling out more subtly through Instagram/Facebook's broad user base.
  • “This was like a very unforced, like, PR error... you can't tell somebody... you truly want and will build personal superintelligence. But then the first thing you launch is trough slop.” (B, 06:18)
• The feed is populated with curated, high-quality assets, but user-generated videos do not match that editorial quality.
  • “When you go to try to make a video the output is not at all on par with what you're seeing in the feed.” (B, 22:19)
• Not personal enough: Unlike viral AI moments (e.g., Studio Ghibli filter), Vibes doesn't tap into user’s own photos, content, or identity.

AI Aesthetic Fatigue

• “Now the reaction is that looks like AI. And people just don't think it’s cool.” (B, 05:17)
• “It does feel like it’s very much white-label Midjourney...but VO3 in Gemini gives way better results and an entirely different workflow.” (A, 24:53)

Product Iteration Hopes

• Hosts note that with better personalization (e.g., pulling from Instagram data), Vibes could become more viral—like Studio Ghibli AI moment.
  • “Go and preload a generative image for everyone's Instagram profile picture... That could create a viral moment where people are sharing... their own personality in an illustration.” (A, 22:10)

3. Social, Economic, and Ethical Implications

“Slop” Content and the Infinite Feed

• Referencing viral X post: “We at Meta are delighted to announce we've created the Infinite Slot Machine that Destroys Children…” (B, 38:37)
• Concerns about the addictive nature and low-value of infinite, AI-generated feeds. Is this a social/cultural risk?
  • “I don't know how much it will destroy children...Most parents are aware of technology and that it needs to be measured.” (A, 38:52)
• Children’s media consumption: “Average American five-year-old watches two to three hours of TV a day. That's a lot. That's really dark.” (B & A, 44:18)
• Counterpoint: Screen time isn’t monolithic—some content teaches, some is ‘candy.’

Game Theory & Adaptive Behavior

• Parental and peer filtering will create a “barbell” where some kids are protected and others aren’t, making “reading a book” alpha in a land of zombies. (A, 43:03)

4. The Application Layer Race: Personalization, Utility, and Monetization

Pulse – New Newsfeed/Discovery Paradigm

• Personalized feed, leverages ChatGPT interactions for deep curation, knowledge, and product recommendations.
• Monetization: Hosts anticipate Pulse will become a lucrative ad surface, akin to the Facebook News Feed or Google Search results.
  • “They’re going to be able to put ads in here. It’s going to be a hugely monetizable surface...” (A, 51:46)
  • “The reason this is potentially great as an ad unit is...it’s not putting it in a specific prompt, it’s putting it in between prompts...they can personalize the ad for you.” (B, 52:09)

The “AI Slop” Label – Not Just About Entertainment

• Hosts clarify, Pulse may look like “AI slop” but is actually useful—users come away feeling smarter, not dumber.
  • “I came away from that feeling like I had leveled myself up and...become a better person, more thoughtful, more knowledgeable.” (A, 48:10)

5. Talent Wars, Economic Boom, and Open Source

Talent and Economic Power

• “Most of the growth in the equity markets is just AI. For the past three years, there’s really nothing else.” (Rune, 113:19)
• Barnacle economy: “The entire global economy is sort of a barnacle [on OpenAI]” (B, 113:49)
• Insane compensation packages to engineers as 'distributed acquihires'. “It feels like an Aqua Hire…distributed Aqua hire.” (C, 147:51)

Open Source AI – Stated vs Revealed Preference

• Many demand open-source LLMs, but few actually use them versus easy, high-powered commercial APIs.
  • “People demanded it but didn't actually want it.” (C, 141:10)

6. Friend.com’s Billboard Blitz: Virality, Critique, and Hardware Productization

Ad Campaign Analysis

• Massive, controversial OOH campaign (“largest NYC subway campaign ever,” A, 96:19), minimalist ads, positioning the device as ‘your new roommate.’
• Criticism: Orders extremely delayed, negative reviews, possible risk of overhype before product readiness.
  • “Getting a whole new wave of customers that are then going to be waiting a long time for their device...feels incredibly risky.” (B, 99:14)
• “There's a lot of people that are going to be taking pictures just saying, look how dystopian this is, and posting it.” (B, 96:54)

7. Special Guest: Rune on Codex, Pulse, Consumer AI

Codex Mania!

• Rune: “Codex...and Claude code are like genuinely amazing...it’s a completely different way of life than anything I was doing before. It alone completely upends the software industry.” (C, 114:49; C, 114:57)
• Predicts step change in entry-level developer productivity; non-engineers are now shipping apps.
• Not sure about macro job implication – highly nonlinear, but “productivity of an entry level engineer is way higher than...five years ago.” (C, 116:40)

Pulse, Advice, and Human Interactions with AI

• Rune uses advanced models for information, not so much for interpersonal advice or therapy, but acknowledges that many do.
• Observes shift: AI outputs are becoming less conversational/more “essay” and less varied, but expects future will allow stylistic and tonal customization.

8. Other Notable Tech/AI News & Industry Discourse

• Meta AR/VR headset rumors: speculation on lighter, ultra-wide field-of-view headsets (A, 36:32)
• TikTok rumored $14B US deal & potential user/inflation metrics issue (B, 61:22)
• Adobe’s AI revenue push and perceived innovation lag (A & B, 87:12–91:09)
• Intel’s rebound with government and industry backing (A & B, 155:29–159:22)
• Viral “slop”/torment meme discourse: “We have created the Infinite Slot Machine that Destroys Children…” (B, 38:37)
• The infinite Jest/AI content-loop analogy (A, 73:39)
• Podcast’s own rebrand (from Technology Brothers to TBPN) after journalists labeled them “tech bros” (C & B, 130:26–131:25)
• Mark Zuckerberg to be played by Jeremy Strong in Aaron Sorkin's The Social Reckoning (A & B, 77:03–81:42)

Select Memorable Quotes and Timestamps

• On Meta's blunder:
  “Meta created a product that is giving slop. It's a bull market in slop again.” (B, 11:49)
• Pulse vs Vibes:
  “Pulse was like... learn what you're the biggest nerd about, and then surface really rich deep content. ...My results were wild!” (A, 45:29)
• Infinite slot machine concern:
  “We are delighted to announce we've created the Infinite Slot Machine that Destroys Children…” (B, 38:37)
• AI writing style change:
  “It's not that there's anything technically wrong with the current output, it's that reading the GPT-3 output was just much more enjoyable.” (B, 86:02)
• Economic impact of AI:
  “Most of the growth in the equity markets is just AI, you know, for the past like three years, there’s like really nothing else.” (Rune, 113:19)
• AI tool user agency:
  “Chat is breeding agency into kids.” (Dylan Patel, 66:52)
• On codex and transformative AI engineering:
  “Codex ... is like, I don’t understand how I did software engineering before this... It’s a completely different way of life than anything I was doing before...” (Rune, 114:57)

Timestamped Highlighted Segments

00:50–03:40 – Introduction, Vibes/Pulse launches, setting premise of the episode
05:17–12:45 – Vibes reactions, slop discourse, industry context
17:23–22:10 – Studio Ghibli filter positivity vs. Vibes approach
29:23–31:41 – Ben Thompson’s contrarian take on Vibes; differentiating “fake world”
34:04–40:00 – Friend.com billboard campaign analysis; societal/psychological effect of infinite feeds
45:29–53:36 – Detailed ChatGPT Pulse reactions, monetization angle
113:01–130:00 – Guest segment: Rune’s perspective on Codex, Pulse, consumer AI, coding productivity
147:51–149:24 – The new talent wars & founder-level compensation insight
143:26–142:34 – Open source AI said vs. revealed preferences
77:03–81:42 – “The Social Reckoning” movie news
87:01–91:09 – Adobe and the “AI revenue” wave

Conclusion – Original Tone & Takeaways

The episode, true to the unapologetically nerdy and self-aware TBPN style, unpacks major contemporary launches (Vibes, Pulse) with skepticism, humor, technical depth, and industry wisdom. Hosts champion authentic personalization, criticize shallow product launches and hype cycles, and highlight the evolving interface between AI, consumer apps, and economic systems. With Rune’s sharp commentary, the discussion remains rooted in the lived experience of AI practitioners and power users, signaling both AI’s dazzling promise and the risks of “slop” eating our collective brains.

Memorable sign-off:
John: “If you bring your own creativity you can probably have fun on [Vibes]. But be careful because you might just wind up in infinite jokes world.” (A, 112:12)