Tech Brew Ride Home: Episode Summary
Episode Title: Is Oracle The New Nvidia?
Date: September 10, 2025
Host: Brian McCullough
Podcast: Tech Brew Ride Home (Morning Brew)
Overview
This episode unpacks some of the biggest tech stories of the day, with a special focus on Oracle’s dramatic rise and its comparison to Nvidia. It also covers Spotify’s long-awaited lossless audio rollout, Robinhood’s new social trading features, the continuing surge in quantum computing investment, and a glimpse into how AI is transforming podcast production. The rapid pace and insider tone give listeners actionable tech news in a concise, conversational style.
Key Topics & Insights
Oracle’s Meteoric Rise: “Is Oracle the New Nvidia?”
[00:04 – 08:21]
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Larry Ellison Becomes World’s Richest Person
- Oracle’s earnings announcement propelled Larry Ellison’s net worth to $393 billion, overtaking Elon Musk.
- Despite missing traditional quarterly estimates, Oracle’s promise of future AI-fueled growth rallied the market.
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AI Demand Drives Oracle’s Growth
- Oracle’s “remaining performance obligations” ballooned to $455 billion, an increase of 359% year-over-year.
- OpenAI’s deal with Oracle — to build 4.5 gigawatts of new U.S. data center capacity — is cited as a key catalyst.
- “Oracle missed earnings, but promised a tidal wave of AI earnings coming soon, and they thereby added $280 billion in market cap in a single day. That's the entire market cap of Coke... in a single day.” — Brian McCullough [00:37]
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Comparisons to Nvidia
- Oracle projects its cloud infrastructure revenue will soar from $10 billion to $114 billion by 2029.
- Market cap surged to about $950 billion after a 40% one-day stock jump.
- Oracle’s AI momentum and “more certain” revenues are likened to Nvidia’s transformation thanks to AI chips.
- Quote: “Oracle is the new Nvidia. For better or worse.” — Brian McCullough [02:36]
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Competitive Landscape
- Oracle faces bigger capital spenders (Amazon, Google, Microsoft) but boasts “creme de la creme technical expertise, access to capital, deep support from Nvidia, and independence.”
- Oracle’s growth is AI-inferencing driven — turning model training into usable products for millions.
Spotify’s Lossless Audio (Finally)
[04:11 – 06:45]
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After Years of Hype, It’s Here
- Spotify is launching lossless audio for all premium users in 50 markets — no price hike or new tier needed.
- Markets include US, UK, Germany, Australia, and more.
- “Lossless audio will be rolling out to all Premium subscribers... Spotify confirmed that it will not be changing its prices as part of the feature rollout.” — Brian McCullough [04:57]
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Details and Limitations
- Topped at 24-bit/44.1kHz FLAC — lower than Apple, Tidal, or Qobuz’s maximums.
- Device compatibility at launch includes Sony, Bose, Samsung, Sennheiser, with Sonos and Amazon next.
- Spotify becomes more competitive; YouTube remains the only major service without lossless.
Apple’s Major Security Upgrade Targets Spyware
[06:45 – 08:21]
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iPhone 17 Gets ‘Memory Integrity Enforcement’
- New memory safety enhancements target elusive spyware like Pegasus.
- Approach aligns with Microsoft’s and ARM’s similar security moves but is designed for default user protection.
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Technical Details
- Enhanced A19 chip security, memory bug protections, Spectre v1 mitigations — all with “virtually zero CPU cost.”
- “All of the changes making mercenary spyware even more expensive to develop.” — Brian McCullough [07:31]
Robinhood’s Social Trading Feed
[10:23 – 12:48]
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Bringing the ‘Meme Stock’ Experience In-App
- Robinhood will roll out a “social feed” where users can follow, copy, and review verified trades of others (including influencers and public figures).
- “Posted trades will be verified and investors can see when a post's author entered and exited a position. That solves one key challenge that investors can encounter on other social networks ... is real.” — Brian McCullough [10:53]
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Features
- Copy trading, performance stats, and easy trade initiation from within posts.
- Beta launches for 10,000 users in early 2026; full rollout to follow.
- Part of a broader push as Robinhood’s stock triples amid new S&P 500 membership and expansions into crypto, managed investing, and banking.
Quantum Computing Arms Race
[12:48 – 14:33]
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PSI Quantum’s Historic Funding
- Raised $1 billion (biggest-ever round for a quantum start-up), led by BlackRock and others; new $7B valuation.
- Goal: Build a million-qubit quantum computer by 2028, ahead of Google and IBM.
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Industry-wide Surge
- Intense new investment: rival Quantinuum ($600M at $10B value), Finnish firm IQM ($300M).
- Public companies IonQ, Rigetti, and D-Wave: market value jumps from $5B to $22B in under a year.
- “Quantum machines are expected to perform specialized calculations alongside supercomputers ... leading the AI chips group to work closely with a number of quantum companies...” — Brian McCullough [13:39]
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Caveats
- Error correction remains a gatekeeper; Google leads with actual progress.
- The field feels “emboldened by some of these recent results.” — PSI Quantum CSO Peter Shadbolt (quoted) [14:18]
AI Is Eating Podcasting
[14:33 – End]
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Inception Point AI’s Automated Hosts
- New company creates and owns AI-generated podcast hosts and influencer personas.
- Current production: 5,000+ shows, over 3,000 episodes weekly, and unit profitability if even 20 people listen.
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Podcast Creation Process
- Content topics and outlines chosen by AI based on trends; final human polishing before auto-publishing.
- AI hosts range from weather and biography to subject-specific personalities—e.g., “food expert Claire Delish, gardener and nature expert Nigel Thistledown.”
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Economics and Ethics
- “Why pay a celebrity podcast host millions when you can create your own using AI?” — Jeanne Wright, CEO, Inception Point AI (quoted by Brian McCullough) [14:57]
- Firm profits even on extremely niche shows; plans to scale up to thousands of AI personalities.
- Disclosure and ethics: AI hosts introduce themselves as AI; human backstories not yet used.
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Host Reflection
- “I told you AI can definitively do my job at this point.” — Brian McCullough [End]
Notable Quotes & Moments
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On Oracle:
“Oracle missed earnings, but promised a tidal wave of AI earnings coming soon, and they thereby added $280 billion in market cap in a single day. That's the entire market cap of Coke, Coca Cola, the 33rd largest company in the world in a single day.” — Brian McCullough [00:37] -
On Ripple Effects:
“Oracle is the new Nvidia. For better or worse.” — Brian McCullough [02:36] -
On Spotify Update:
“Lossless audio will be rolling out to all Premium subscribers... Spotify confirmed that it will not be changing its prices as part of the feature rollout.” — Brian McCullough [04:57] -
On Social Trading:
“Posted trades will be verified and investors can see when a post's author entered and exited a position. That solves one key challenge that investors can encounter on other networks ... is real.” — Brian McCullough [10:53] -
On AI Podcasts:
“Why pay a celebrity podcast host millions when you can create your own using AI?” — Jeanne Wright, CEO of Inception Point AI (quoted) [14:57]
“I told you AI can definitively do my job at this point.” — Brian McCullough [End]
Episode Timeline
| Segment | Start | End | |-----------------------------------|-----------|-----------| | Oracle’s Market Surge & AI Boom | 00:04 | ~04:11 | | Spotify Lossless Audio | 04:11 | 06:45 | | Apple Security Upgrade | 06:45 | 08:21 | | Robinhood Social Trading | 10:23 | 12:48 | | Quantum Computing Investments | 12:48 | 14:33 | | AI-Generated Podcasts | 14:33 | End |
Summary
An action-packed episode capturing seismic shifts in tech leadership (Oracle’s ascent), long-awaited consumer services (Spotify lossless), evolving fintech (Robinhood’s social layer), aggressive quantum computing bets, and the encroachment of AI into creative industries—all in Morning Brew's trademark punchy style. Brian McCullough finishes with existential reflections on an AI-powered future that can already automate his own podcasting job.