Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson

8h ago

Andrew and Ben begin with reactions to ChatGPT’s new image capabilities, a reminder of OpenAI’s strategic advantages vs. Google, Disney’s deal with Sora, and Gemini 3 Flash. From there: Netflix and its competition for attention, Netflix continues its foray into podcasting, and a question about movie theaters highlights costs that Netflix will have to internalize going forward. Then: Extended thoughts on SpaceX and the possibility of data centers in space, while a listener does some field reporting on AWS usage. At the end: Strategies for a successful remote work life, Tesla and Rivian’s aversion to CarPlay, the new United app and developer trade-offs, oenophile preferences, Taco Bell, Christmas traditions, and an attack on Andrew for hypocrisy. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube ChatGPT Image 1.5; Apple v. Epic, Continued; Holiday Schedule — Stratechery Update Disney and OpenAI, Totems in an AI World, Google Versus the World — Stratechery Update Netflix and the Hollywood End Game — Stratechery An Interview with Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe About Building a Car Company and Autonomy — Stratechery Interview An Interview with Ryan Jones About Flighty and Building Apps in 2025 — 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.

Dec 12

Andrew and Ben talk through Netflix’s proposed $72 billion deal to buy Warner Brothers, including the logic for Netflix, the frictionless nature of competition on the internet, and the threat that Netflix sees from YouTube. Then: David Zaslav’s windfall, and an argument about the regulatory questions that may scuttle this deal. At the end: The better business model between YouTube and Netflix, an emailer wonders why everyone is mourning the end of a Hollywood business that can’t succeed in the modern marketplace, groupchats and the college experience, and a word about Flighty. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube Netflix and the Hollywood End Game — Stratechery Netflix and the Flattening of Everything — Sharp Text An Emergency Interview with Michael Nathanson About Netflix’s Acquisition of Warner Bros. — Stratechery Interview Economic Power in the Age of Abundance — Stratechery Spotify, Netflix, and Aggregation — Stratechery An Interview with Ryan Jones About Flighty and Building Apps in 2025 — 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.

Dec 5

Thoughts on OpenAI as Sam Altman declares a “Code Red” in response to Gemini 3, including real concerns about ChatGPT’s market position, why the missed ads opportunity is becoming more acute, and ominous Google history. From there: Context on Alan Dye’s departure from Apple, Meta’s emphasis on a new design language, and the Meta fundamentals regardless of AR/VR and its AI efforts. At the end: Amazon’s tranium chips and its AI efforts, Substack and the challenge of customer acquisition, defending tech at Thanksgiving dinner, and various F1 takes before this weekend’s finale in Abu Dhabi. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube Google, Nvidia, and OpenAI — Stratechery OpenAI CEO Declares ‘Code Red’ to Combat Threats to ChatGPT, Delays Ads Effort — The Information OpenAI Code Red, AWS and Google Cloud Networking — Stratechery Update Apple Design Executive Alan Dye Poached by Meta in Major Coup — Bloomberg Bad Dye Job — Daring Fireball Alan Dye Leaves Apple — Dithering An Interview with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg About AI and the Evolution of Social Media — Stratechery Interview An Interview with Atlassian CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes About Atlassian and 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.

Nov 26

The ways tech has improved suburban life, why urbanism may have peaked, and the first and second order effects of Tesla's full self-driving technology. Then: A Thanksgiving mailbag! Topics include: A note from the Gemini team, a correction on Llama 4, a hater’s question on the utility of ChatGPT group chats, Ben and Andrew share their daily use cases for AI and Ben shares his prompt, while an emailer wonders about a boss using Copilot to send holiday gifts. From there: A subject matter expert debates whether to train his AI replacement, a listener seeks advice about working for his father-in-law, a question about balancing work and young children, Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, robot vacuums, Ben's ancestry, and a word about the Giannis era. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube Robotaxis and Suburbia — Stratechery Gemini 3 Pro Is a Vast Intelligence With No Spine — Don’t Worry About the Vase Apps, People, and Jobs to Be Done — Stratechery The Definitive Ranking of Tech Company Takeability — 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.

Nov 21

Ben and Andrew begin with Gemini 3, what to make of its terrific benchmark results, and why TPUs provide Google a sustainable cost advantage in AI. From there: Google’s opportunity in the enterprise space, Apple’s white label deal, and questions about both OpenAI’s future growth and challenges that loom if ChatGPT can’t incorporate advertising. At the end: Thoughts on what Gemini means for Nvidia, Anthropic’s market in AI, why Amazon and OpenAI are losers of the Anthropic-Nvidia-Microsoft announcement, and a correction regarding Charter cellular coverage. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube New Bing, and an Interview with Kevin Scott and Sam Altman About the Microsoft-OpenAI Partnership — Stratechery Update Gemini 3, Winners and Losers, Integration and the Enterprise — Stratechery Update ChatGPT Group Chats, Meta and the Encryption Trade-off, Network Effects and Ad Models — Stratechery Update An Interview with Eric Seufert About Advertising and AI — Stratechery Interview ChatGPT Gets a Computer — 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.

Nov 14

Andrew and Ben analyze SpaceX's nearly $20 billion in purchases by first touching on cell carrier history and the power dynamics that iPhones upended 20 years ago. Then: Understanding the SpaceX business and Musk's approach to strategy, what Starlink is trying to do with satellite internet on airlines, a power play with cell carriers that appears to have failed earlier this year, and now, a Plan B that may involve an acquisition and a bid to partner with Apple. At the end: Why Yann LeCun leaving Meta is the right outcome for both sides, a question about big companies and innovation spawns regulation cautionary tales and a cigar anecdote, and wondering about the impact of big tech on AI's future. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube Why Do Carriers Subsidize the iPhone? — Stratechery SpaceX Buys More Spectrum, SpaceX’s Pivot, Why Apple and SpaceX Should Partner — Stratechery Update SpaceX Buys Spectrum, Spectrum Specifics, SpaceX’s Big Bet — Stratechery Update An Interview with Unity CEO Matthew Bromberg About Turnarounds — Stratechery Interview Meta chief AI scientist Yann LeCun plans to exit and launch own start-up — 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.

Nov 7

Ben and Andrew begin with reactions to the OpenAI CFO discussing a federal "backstop" for prospective financing, as well as Sam Altman's recent comments about OpenAI's spending. Then: An emailer objects to the discussion of Bubble benefits, and questions about Meta's AI spending and a looming the AI backlash as hiring contracts and electricity prices rise. From there: Unpacking the announcement that Apple will use Gemini to power Siri, and two follow-ups to last week's discussion of "Too Big to Fail" in tech. At the end: Thoughts on Amazon's grocery ambitions, Walmart's continued success, the YouTube TV-ESPN dispute, and a listener's mental model of Ticketmaster. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube The Benefits of Bubbles — Stratechery OpenAI Isn’t Yet Working Toward an IPO, CFO Says — Wall Street Journal The Deployment Age — Reaction Wheel Apple to Kick Off 50th Anniversary With Nearly $140 Billion Quarter — Bloomberg Amazon Earnings, AWS and OpenAI, Did Amazon Solve Groceries? — Stratechery Update An Interview with Michael Morton About AI E-Commerce — 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.

Oct 31

Discussing Ben's interview with Substrate CEO James Proud, including the "insane" challenge he's undertaken as Substrate attempts to compete with TSMC and ASML, and the ways in which a bubbly environment benefits innovation by incentivizing exactly that sort of moonshot. From there: Ben's thoughts on the "Too Big to Fail" era in tech that may be averted, reactions to the latest humanoid robot, and thoughts on both sides of the OpenAI-MIcrosoft announcement earlier this week. At the end: Taylor Sheridan leaves Paramount for greener pastures, Sharp Text and lessons from Grantland, a temperature check on Sora one month later, lessons from the Nexperia mess in Europe, a question about Magic: The Gathering, and a few corrections to last week's show. To email the show: email@sharptech.fm @SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube @Stratechery Channel — YouTube An Interview with Substrate CEO James Proud About Building a Disruptive Foundry in America — Stratechery Interview An Interview with Byrne Hobart About Bubbles and Escaping Stagnation — Stratechery Interview Nvidia GTC in DC, Qualcomm’s AI Chip, OpenAI’s Restructuring — Stratechery Update Why Taylor Sheridan Is Worth a Billion Dollars — 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.