Author: Alex Kantrowitz

Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) OpenAI has another new top executive structure 2) What is Sam Altman's role now? 3) Who is Fidji Simo, OpenAI's new CEO of Applications 4) OpenAI abandons total for-profit conversion 5) Microsoft's demands on OpenAI 6) Could Apple replace Google as the default search with AI? 7) Is it an either or decision? 8) Could Apple make AI companies bid for the default search position? 9) Everyone is cheating using ChatGPT in college 10) Do people need to change or does the education system need to change?

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Gary Marcus is a cognitive scientist, author, and longtime AI skeptic. Marcus joins Big Technology to discuss whether large‑language‑model scaling is running into a wall. Tune in to hear a frank debate on the limits of “just add GPUs" and what that means for the next wave of AI. We also cover data‑privacy fallout from ad‑driven assistants, open‑source bio‑risk fears, and the quest for interpretability. Hit play for a reality check on AI’s future — and the insight you need to follow where the industry heads next.

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Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice.

Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b

Questions? Feedback? Write to: bigtechnologypodcast@gmail.com

Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) What an 'AI-First Company' is 2) Aaron Levie's AI-first memo to Box. 3) Luis von Ahn's AI-first memo to Duolingo 4) Tobi Lutke's AI-first memo to Shopify 5) Can non-tech company be AI-first? 6) Apple earnings 7) Apple's federal government issues 8) Microsoft earnings 9) Amazon earnings 10) Meta Earnings 11) NVIDIA vs. Anthropic 12) More on AI consciousness 13) The very handy Mag2

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Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice.

Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b

Questions? Feedback? Write to: bigtechnologypodcast@gmail.com

Jamil Ghani is Amazon’s Vice President of Prime. Ghani joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss Amazon's position in the ongoing trade war and how Alexa Plus combined with Prime will appeal to its customers. Tune in to hear Ghani debunk the headline about tariff price labels, walk through Alexa Plus’s rollout, and outline why Amazon believes its approach to a contextually-aware assistant will work. We also cover Prime Day strategy, supply-chain regionalization, warehouse robotics, and Amazon’s growing AI alliance with Anthropic. Hit play for a fast, candid look at how the world’s largest online retailer is positioning itself for the next era of commerce and consumer tech.

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Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice.

Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b

Questions? Feedback? Write to: bigtechnologypodcast@gmail.com

Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) Anthropic researcher's assertion that there's a 15% chance Claude is conscious 2) What happens if people believe AI is sentient? 3) Why consciousness and intelligence are different 4) Hey, is this all just marketing? 5) Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's push for AI model interpretability 6) China's robot half-marathon 7) Tesla's wild earnings week 8) Why Google is thriving despite the ChatGPT threat 9) Are we going to shop directly within ChatGPT? 10) Kevin Systrom's flawed testimony against Facebook 11) Washington DC thinks Big Tech is getting broken up.

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Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice.

Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b

Questions? Feedback? Write to: bigtechnologypodcast@gmail.com

Dylan Patel is the founder and CEO of SemiAnalysis. He joins Big Technology Podcast to explain how generative AI work, explaining the inner workings of tokens, pre-training, fine-tuning, open source, and reasoning. We also cover DeepSeek’s efficiency breakthrough, the race to build colossal AI data centers, and what GPT-5’s hybrid training approach could unlock. Hit play for a masterclass you’ll want to send to every friend puzzled (or excited) about the future of AI.

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Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice.

Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack? Here’s 40% off for the first year: https://tinyurl.com/bigtechnology

Questions? Feedback? Write to: bigtechnologypodcast@gmail.com

Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) Is OpenAI's o3 model AGI? 2) Maybe it's AGI when you squint 3) Why people are floating the idea that OpenAi is close to AGI 4) Is OpenAI going to declare that GPT-5 is AGI 5) What's in it for companies saying they've achieved AGI first? 6) AI's new memory capabilities add something big to the experience 7) Is AI the new social media? 8) Facebook has moved away from friend sharing 9) Could Google be broken up? 10) Is Google's stake in the open web actually a good thing?

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Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice.

For weekly updates on the show, sign up for the pod newsletter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/6901970121829801984/

Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack? Here’s 40% off for the first year: https://tinyurl.com/bigtechnology

Questions? Feedback? Write to: bigtechnologypodcast@gmail.com

Grace Shao is a Hong Kong-based writer and analyst, and author of AI Proem on Substack newsletter. She joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss China's rise in artificial intelligence, and whether (and how) it can be a global player. Tune in to hear how China's AI startups are rapidly productizing cutting-edge tech, why it keeps developing open-source models, and why it's surging in robotics. We also cover AI agents like Manus, chip shortages, and the entrepreneurial resurgence transforming Chinese tech culture. Hit play for an essential conversation on China’s AI ambitions and their global implications.

You can read more from Grace here: https://open.substack.com/pub/aiproem

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Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice.

For weekly updates on the show, sign up for the pod newsletter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/6901970121829801984/

Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack? Here’s 40% off for the first year: https://tinyurl.com/bigtechnology

Questions? Feedback? Write to: bigtechnologypodcast@gmail.com

Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover 1) Ranjan's experience during the financial crisis 2) The uncertainty around operating a business today 3) Why bond traders are important 4) Could the U.S. position in global trade decline? 5) Was it the tariffs or the rollout that's causing chaos? 6) Why Apple manufactures in China 7) Exposure of Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Google, And Meta to tariffs 8) How this might end

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Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice.

For weekly updates on the show, sign up for the pod newsletter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/6901970121829801984/

Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack? Here’s 40% off for the first year: https://tinyurl.com/bigtechnology

Questions? Feedback? Write to: bigtechnologypodcast@gmail.com

Thomas Kurian is the CEO of Google Cloud Platform. He joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss how AI is changing the competitive balance in cloud services and why he believes Google has a chance to win. We also discuss the various use cases Google customers are finding for GenAI in the technology's early days, and whether the agent buzz is real. Finally, towards the end of the conversation we touch on tariffs and their impact on the cloud services business. Tune in for a wide ranging conversation with Google's top guy on cloud computing.