TBPN Podcast Summary: Super Bowl Ad Reactions, New Ferrari Design, Ads Launch in ChatGPT

Date: February 9, 2026
Hosts: John Coogan & Jordi Hays
Guests: Jason Fried, Bill Bishop, Jason Kelly, Dan Romero, Boris Sofman, Sara Hooker, Edward Mehr
Theme: Live reactions to Super Bowl ads (especially tech/AI), Ferrari’s new Jony Ive-designed EV, ads in chatbots, and global tech policy.

Episode Overview

This jam-packed episode sees John and Jordi return from the Super Bowl, bringing their trademark “SportsCenter energy for the LinkedIn crowd.” While dissecting the scene both on and off the field, the show delivers a rapid-fire, insightful breakdown of the Super Bowl’s most notable ads—especially the surge of tech and AI brands—as well as an exploration of Ferrari’s high-profile Jony Ive collaboration and the first appearance of ads in ChatGPT. Guests chime in on China’s leadership shakeup, the future of autonomous science labs, robotics, and how big-money marketing is reshaping the intersection of Silicon Valley, pop culture, and global economic policy.

Table of Contents

1. Super Bowl Experience & TVPN’s Own Ad
2. The “Claude with Ads” Experiment & Ads in LLMs
3. Super Bowl Ad Reactions – Tech’s Mainstream Moment
4. AI Company Ads: Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Coinbase, More
5. Guest Segment Highlights
   • Bill Bishop: China’s Military Purge & Economic Outlook
   • Jason Kelly: Ginkgo Bioworks, Autonomous Labs, AI for Science
   • Boris Sofman: Bedrock Robotics & Autonomous Construction
   • Sarah Hooker: Adaptive Labs & Continual Learning
   • Ed Mehr: Machina Labs & Flexible Manufacturing
   • Dan Romero: Tempo, Stablecoins, Stripe, and Crypto Sentiment
6. New Ferrari Electric Design by Jony Ive
7. French Social Media Drama & National AI Ambitions
8. Memorable Quotes & Timestamps

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1. Super Bowl Experience & TVPN’s Own Ad

• Hosts recount their first in-person NFL game in a decade (00:10–01:11), noting the unique perspective of watching the game live and missing the iconic Super Bowl ads.
• TVPN’s regional Super Bowl ad launch:
  • Ran in California—generated confusion and excitement, with some viewers thinking they’d “sat on the remote” (03:00).
  • Celebrated the 200k follower milestone on X; ad included a collage of past tech guests (“Seeing all the guest logos together made you realize how crazy 2025 was” – Ben, 03:31).
• Takeaway: There’s a “drive to survive”-style highlight for busy, modern tech fans—most catch the “diet TVPN” instead of long live broadcasts.
  Memorable moment: “We’re officially football fans now. Converted.” – Jordi, 00:55

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2. “Claude with Ads” Experiment & Ads Launching in LLMs

• Hosts executed a viral stunt: Built and launched “Claude with Ads,” placing inserts in Anthropic’s Claude chatbot (05:15).
• Sarah Hooker: Points out the underlying AI alignment question—Anthropic is anti-ad, yet their open model allowed for an ad wrapper to be built on top (06:01; “This is textbook misalignment”).
• Safety and trademark jokes abound. (06:27)
• Stats: 7,000+ users tried it in a weekend, 8,000 signed a petition to “bring ads to Claude” (05:50).
• Technical details (07:07–08:12):
  • Each new chat granted one “real” Claude API prompt (with an inserted ad); subsequent turns are hardcoded.
  • Prompt engineering discussed as a workaround.
• Meta-commentary: TVPN always integrates ads (turbo puffer, console laptops, etc.), likening the show’s chaos to an F1 race team (09:17).

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3. Super Bowl Ad Reactions – Tech’s Mainstream Moment

• Key theme: This year marked the “AI Super Bowl” — a flood of big money, mainstream ads from Silicon Valley, especially LLM and AI brands.
  • “The main story is not lab wars, it’s tech using the Super Bowl to explain what AI means to mainstream America.” (11:38)
• Jordi: “Super Bowl is where new tech and drugs (AI, weight loss meds, crypto, gambling) are introduced to the cultural mainstream.”
• Live Chat Feedback:
  • Anthropic and OpenAI ads “played well to the online crowd,” but mainstream viewers were confused or uninterested.
  • Google’s Gemini ad succeeds by emphasizing practical, family-oriented uses and visual multimodality (31:08).

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4. AI Company Ads: Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Coinbase, More

Anthropic (Claude) – Misunderstood by Masses

• “80% of watching group didn’t get it; needed explaining by AI bros.” (12:03)
• Ad is subtle, “beautifully shot” but “too early” for mass understanding.
• App store jumped from #36 to #23 post-ad (14:54).
• Scored bottom 3% of all Super Bowl ads on AdWeek survey (17:18).

OpenAI (Codex/ChatGPT) – Maybe Too Subtle

• Focused more on Codex and “building things” than ChatGPT consumer branding (19:48).
• “If you have a popular brand, you can just flash a logo. Otherwise, no context means no impact.” (27:06)
• Robotics “Easter eggs” featured their own team (19:33).

Google Gemini – Heartstrings & Clarity

• Called the “win” of AI ads (31:11): heartwarming, clear demonstration of AI’s use in family tasks.
• Multimodal functions on display; works for mainstream viewers.

Coinbase – Chaotic, “For Everybody”

• Polarizing pop-culture singalong ad; “If you’re talking about it, it worked.”
  • “People not fans, but I like that they try new formats each year.” (28:44)
• Previous QR code ad crashed servers in 2024.

Svedka Vodka (AI-Generated Ad) – “So Bad, It’s Iconic”

• Brands tried to ride the “AI hype” but failed with “worst ad of all time” (33:17).
• Hosts lambast it for being “unpleasant, plasticky, completely uninspired” (34:05).

Others

• Flexport: Viral, fully AI-generated spoof ad explained logistics with family/kid humor (35:38).
• Ramp: 360 campaign with real-life “Brian” lookalikes at the stadium, obvious messaging, plus Easter eggs for deep fans (23:02).
• Rippling, Squarespace, Dunkin’ & more: All involved celebrity cameos, meme content, and/or playful AI jabs.

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5. Guest Segment Highlights

Bill Bishop: China’s Military Shakeup & Economic View

• Covers recent PLA purges:
  • Dozens of high-level military and military-industrial officials detained or fired.
  • Historical context: “Promotions in the PLA used to be like angel investments; collect stake in a future general’s corrupt deals” (102:20).
• Takeaway: Short-term loss in readiness, but long-term goal may be to “decapitate the corrupt old guard.”
• China’s economy:
  • Not booming, not busting (“No cliff, no miracle.”)
  • Stock market, AI sector up recently (111:39).
• On AI:
  • China less focused on mega-models, more on diffusing practical AI across society (112:45).

Jason Kelly (Ginkgo Bioworks): Autonomous Labs & AI for Research

• Ginkgo’s journey: From human pipettors to fully autonomous labs.
• OpenAI partnership: Let GPT-5 design/plan lab experiments in protein synthesis—‘beat’ state of the art in just 6 rounds (128:41).
  • “The future: millions of scientists, like millions of software engineers today.” (133:44)
• On risks: Human pathogen research must remain tightly controlled (137:07+).
• Policy/future:
  • Biotech is leaving US for China due to cheaper pipetting labor: “If we want to keep up, we have to automate” (139:59).

Boris Sofman (Bedrock Robotics): Autonomous Heavy Machinery

• Problem: Huge labor shortage in skilled equipment operators (165:27).
• Solution: Retrofit kits for existing vehicles, “operatorless” construction machinery.
• Tech: Sensors, LIDAR, compute units can be bolted on; already working with Caterpillar, leveraging standard OEM “CAN bus” interfaces (175:06).
• $270M round announced live—with a celebratory super-sized “gong” (175:55).

Sarah Hooker (Adaption Labs): Adaptive, Continual AI Learning

• Mission: Move beyond “prompt engineering” by making foundational models efficient learners, adapting in real-time to new data (180:34).
• “Continual learning isn’t new, but it’s suddenly urgent.” (181:12)
• On AI infra: Data centers in space? Overhyped; training is the real bottleneck, inference is easier to distribute (185:13).
• Raised $50M for new ventures.

Ed Mehr (Machina Labs): Flexible, Agile Manufacturing

• Builds “Robocraft” metal forming robots—transforming the economics of custom manufacturing (189:10).
• Expanding: New 250,000 sq.ft. robotic facility; customers include Toyota, aerospace primes for missile airframes, defense (189:23).
• Strategy: Mix of off-the-shelf robots, proprietary software (199:58), and government backing in international facilities (203:11).

Dan Romero (Tempo, ex-Farcaster): Future of Payments, L1s, Crypto Sentiment

• Tempo: Stripe/Paradigm-backed L1 for stablecoin payments, targeting banks, fintechs, devs, governments (151:48–154:22).
• AI agent thesis: “Every API call to a model could be paid for via stablecoins on-chain, massively reducing friction”—critical for agentic future (155:06).
• “Real world impact for crypto is closer than ever. I’d say a year out for mainstream early adopters.” (161:47)

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6. New Ferrari EV & Jony Ive Collaboration

• Ferrari’s first electric, the Luce, interior designed by Jony Ive’s LoveFrom team (76:12–89:47).
• Guests’ reactions mixed:
  • Positive: “Super tactile, physical+digital blend, beautiful transitions.”
  • Criticisms: “Feels like a restomod; what if the coherent analog interior clashes with a modern hatch exterior? … Ferrari not known for electronic interface reliability (sticky buttons, etc.)” (81:28).
  • On CarPlay: Ironically, the worst-looking element of the beautiful UI; “Sweet revenge from Jony Ive?” (89:10).
• Quote: “We lost something when we abandoned skeuomorphism for flat design, and now cars are swinging back toward tactility, texture, and physical satisfaction.” – Jason Carmen, 84:06

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7. French Twitter Drama & National “AI Leadership” Boasts

• Jordi’s Tweet: Poked fun at France’s €30M “AI investment” announcement; went viral (205:10).
• Official French Government Twitter fired back: Attempted to explain it was academic—not AI—grants (206:21).
• Macron (personally) responded:
  • “This clown wants to make France an AI leader with 30 mil…”
  • Provided charts of foreign investment—Jordi counters with: “Until LVMH spends $100B/year on data centers, you’re not really in the game.” (208:11)
• Community responses: Pointed out chart errors, misaligned priorities.
  “I love France, I just want them to compete in AI.” – Jordi

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8. Notable Quotes & Timestamps

TVPN Hosts:

• “We’re officially football fans now. Converted.” (00:55)
• “You didn’t see a single ad in the stadium. Major FOMO.” (01:33)
• “Super Bowl is where tech tells America what AI can do.” (11:36)
• “80% of people in the room didn’t get the Claude ad; had to be explained by the AI bros, which was as bad as it sounds.” (12:03, paraphrasing ‘Orange’ from X)
• “If the audience hated your ad, that’s a loss in the short term—unless your real plan is buzz among X crowd.” (17:47)
• “Drive to survive is to F1 what diet TVPN is to our show.” (09:39)
• “You can’t spell Claude without a D. A as in aerospace…” (63:15)

Guests:

• Jason Kelly (Ginkgo): “If you have something that adds muscle mass or a year to lifespan—that’s a multi-trillion dollar drug. And now we can speedrun discovery with autonomous science.” (131:01)
• Bill Bishop: “PLA promotions were like angel investments. Groups would fund a rising officer to buy rank—then, when they got promoted, everyone got a cut of the corruption.” (102:20)
• Sarah Hooker: “Adaption’s goal is to make prompt engineering obsolete—because it’s just a symptom that models don’t actually work for people yet.” (187:13)

On Super Bowl Ads:

• “The Svedka robot ad: people are calling it the worst ad ever—not just Super Bowl, ever.” (33:17)
• “Coinbase: If you’re talking about it, it worked. Crypto is for everybody.” (28:44)

On Ferrari’s new EV:

• “The experience of being in a car is ruined by a bolted-on iPad. This design is refreshingly tactile, but will Ferrari’s software keep up with Ive’s vision?” (81:28)

[TIME-STAMPED SEGMENT GUIDE]

• 00:10: Hosts on Super Bowl experience & missing ads in-stadium
• 03:00: TVPN’s own ad confuses live TV viewers
• 05:15–08:12: The “Claude with Ads” prank/demonstration and what it says about model alignment
• 12:03–13:47: Live reactions to the Claude Super Bowl ad and how it missed with mainstream America
• 19:33–22:24: OpenAI’s “Codex” ad—strong on tech/lore, weak on broad consumer appeal
• 31:08–32:30: Google’s Gemini “family-friendly AI” ad deemed the big winner
• 33:17: Svedka’s AI ad blasted as “worst of all time”
• 76:12–89:47: Jason Carmen, Jony Ive’s Ferrari & the return of skeuomorphic design
• 102:20: China’s PLA promotions as “angel investments,” explained by Bill Bishop
• 128:41: Ginkgo’s GPT-controlled lab, AI beating scientists at experiment design
• 139:59: Why US biotech is losing ground to China: “cheaper pipetting hands”
• 175:55: Bedrock Robotics drops $270M fundraise “gong”
• 205:10–210:51: France–Jordi, Macron, and “the clown wants to make France an AI leader”

Overall Takeaways

• Super Bowl 2026 saw a blitz of AI, biotech, finance and tech ads aimed at mainstreaming AI and explaining its upsides—mixed results for more subtle or futuristic spots.
• Silicon Valley’s “ad-ification” of everything continues, with tech companies experimenting with physical and viral stunts as much as traditional media.
• Big money is pouring into infrastructure—from data centers to robotics and manufacturing, with the US, China, and even France jockeying for an edge.
• The collision of old-school iconography (Jony Ive, Ferrari) and cutting-edge tech (Claude, Codex, autonomous labs) makes for awkward beauty—and some growing pains.
• TVPN’s chaotic, high-touch coverage bridges the gap between the hyper-online and real-world tech adoption, breaking down practical impacts, business strategy, and meme-culture with insider guests and unfiltered banter.

Missed the Super Bowl, the hype, or just need to catch up on tech’s biggest week? This episode is your one-stop highlight reel for how AI, robotics, and Silicon Valley are taking their message mass market—and sometimes stumbling along the way.

End of summary.