Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson

Latest Episodes:

(Preview) The Delights of Images in GPT, The Future of Graphic Design, Signal and Multiple Dimensions of Security Mar 27, 2025

Show notes

Reactions to OpenAI's "Images in GPT," and thoughts on the Trump administration's Signal debacle, including a few points Ben neglected to emphasize earlier this week.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

@Stratechery Channel — YouTube

OpenAI’s New Image Model, Graphic Design and Google, More on Security — Stratechery Update

The Trump Administration Group Chat, Signal: The Coke of Secure Messaging, Transparency Versus Security — Stratechery Update

Mailbag: A Premature Twitter Eulogy, Netflix in Theaters, Buy or Sell: Strategy Consultants, The Six People You Meet in a Group Chat — Sharp Tech

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.

(Preview) Why Google Wants Wiz for $32 Billion, Xbox One and Bygone Streaming Hardware Dreams, Immortality and Daylight Saving Time Mar 24, 2025

Show notes

A look at the logic of Google's plans to purchase an Israeli cybersecurity firm for $32 billion, more tension between Apple, Google and the EU, and an email about Xbox One and Microsoft's checkered history of consumer tech ambitions. At the end: Moana 2 and what led to the decision to abandon windowing, Bryan Johnson's pursuit of immortality, and a few follow-ups on Daylight Saving Time.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

@Stratechery Channel — YouTube

Google acquires cybersecurity firm Wiz for $32 billion — The Verge

Brussels takes action against Google and Apple despite Trump threat — Financial Times

Black Box Strategy — Stratechery

It’s Time to Kill Surface — 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.

(Preview) Deep Research and OpenAI's Business Model, A Counterpoint on White Collar Concerns, The Future of Cognition and Companionship Mar 21, 2025

Show notes

After Ben's interview with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Andrew and Ben hold an impromptu symposium on AI and its implications, featuring questions from listeners. Topics include: The long-term UX for Deep Research, OpenAI's allergy to an ads-based business model, a confession from Ben after an Exponent take years ago, how AI might--or might not--change the White Collar economy, an era of startups capitalizing on AI-enabled cost structures, AI for companionship and adult content, and whether generative AI will slowly erode human cognition. At the end: A few follow-ups on Vision Pro, including proof of concept at a bluegrass concert.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

@Stratechery Channel — YouTube

An Interview with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman About Building a Consumer Tech Company — Stratechery Interview

Y Combinator startups are fastest growing, most profitable in fund history because of AI — CNBC

She Is in Love With ChatGPT — New York Times

Have humans passed peak brain power? — Financial Times

The Idea Adoption Curve — 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.

(Preview) Should Apple Buy Perplexity?, What Apple Could Learn from IBM, Vision Pro and Its Vaporware Mar 17, 2025

Show notes

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

@Stratechery Channel — YouTube

Metallica on Vision Pro, Non-Immersive Immersive Video, Ping and AI — Stratechery Update

Something Is Rotten in the State of Cupertino — Daring Fireball

Apple AI’s Platform Pivot Potential — Stratechery

A Google I/O Idea, The Smartphone AI Value Chain, Apple’s Developer Hang-Ups — Stratechery Update

Why Doesn’t Apple Enable Sustainable Businesses on the App Store? — 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.

Apple History and Apple Psychology, How Apple Should Capitalize On Its AI Potential, Why It Probably Won't Mar 13, 2025

Show notes

Revisiting Apple's nadir in the 1990s, along with internal friction that boiled over after Steve Jobs' passing, and explaining why Apple execs should—but probably won't—respond to the Apple Intelligence embarrassment by empowering third-party developers to build great AI products that run locally on the iPhone.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

@Stratechery Channel — YouTube

Something Is Rotten in the State of Cupertino — Daring Fireball

Apple AI’s Platform Pivot Potential — Stratechery

A Google I/O Idea, The Smartphone AI Value Chain, Apple’s Developer Hang-Ups — Stratechery Update

Why Doesn’t Apple Enable Sustainable Businesses on the App Store? — Stratechery (2013)

Macworld 1997: The return of Steve Jobs — YouTube

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.

(Preview) The Murky Future for the NBA, A Variety of Notes on Apple and AI, In Defense of Tech That Removes Friction Mar 10, 2025

Show notes

A question about the future of the NBA as the league sees record revenues and declining ratings, several emails about Apple's continued adventures in AI, and follow-ups to last week's episode on Formula 1, Amazon, chatbots as the AI UI, and tech that removes friction.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

@Stratechery Channel — YouTube

Apple Delays Siri Upgrade Indefinitely as AI Concerns Escalate — Bloomberg

Apple’s Shifting Differentiation — Stratechery

Behind the scenes with Netflix’s ‘Drive to Survive,’ capturing the F1 drama of Season 7 — The Athletic

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.

(Preview) YouTube Shall Inherit the Earth, NBC’s Peacock Strategy Then and Now, The Grim Future for Cable Networks Mar 06, 2025

Show notes

Surveying the streaming landscape in 2025, including YouTube’s opportunity to solve problems for millions of frustrated entertainment consumers, Peacock’s murky future, HBO and the Max mess, and lots more.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

@Stratechery Channel — YouTube

An Interview with Michael Nathanson About the Streaming Endgame — Stratechery Interview

NBCUniversal is pinning Peacock’s streaming success on its $2.45 billion per year NBA deal — CNBC

Spotify Wants to Sell You Concert Tickets — Bloomberg

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.

(Preview) Amazon Introduces an AI-Powered Alexa, Is OpenAI the New BlackBerry?, The Social Costs of Removing Friction Mar 03, 2025

Show notes

Andrew and Ben react to Amazon's announcement for an AI-powered Alexa that has been "100 percent re-architected," and then answer mailbag questions about OpenAI's long-term future, LLM confidence, LLMs and the future of the English language, how a hardware business like Manna should approach aggregators, and the social costs of tech that optimizes for efficiency and eliminates friction. At the end: A word about the most exciting app of 2025.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

@Stratechery Channel — YouTube

With Alexa Plus, Amazon finally reinvents its best product — The Verge

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.

AI Promises and Chip Precariousness, Policy Recommendations and a Changing World, Concerns and Counterpoints Feb 27, 2025

Show notes

A discussion of Ben's Stratechery article AI Promises and Chip Precariousness, including basic geography and evolving geopolitical considerations informing today's Taiwan tensions, the recent history of US policy surrounding chips, considerations for US policies going forward, and various concerns with lifting the chip ban and implementing stricter controls on chipmaking equipment.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

@Stratechery Channel — YouTube

AI Promise and Chip Precariousness — Stratechery

Trump Team Seeking to Toughen Biden’s Chip Controls Over China — Bloomberg

Fab Whack-A-Mole: Chinese Companies are Evading U.S. Sanctions — SemiAnalysis

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.

(Preview) Apple’s Answer to the UK, Encryption History and Privacy’s Future, Waiting for Drone Delivery in the U.S. Feb 24, 2025

Show notes

The history underlying Apple’s decision to pull its Advanced Data Protection feature from the UK market, criticisms of the UK, Apple and a few of Apple’s loudest critics, and thoughts on the future of drone delivery after Ben’s interview with Manna CEO Bobby Healy. At the end: font guidance and memecoins.

To email the show: email@sharptech.fm

@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube

@Stratechery Channel — YouTube

The iPhone 16e; Apple Intelligence Table Stakes; Apple vs. U.K, Continued — Stratechery Update

The U.K. Demands Back Door From Apple, Elon Musk’s OpenAI Bid — Stratechery Update

Encryption and the Uneasy Compromise, Netflix Earnings, The Aggregator’s Compounding Advantage — Stratechery Update

An Interview with Manna Founder and CEO Bobby Healy About Drone Delivery — Stratechery Interview

What Is a Tech Company? — Stratechery

Spotify and Joe Rogan, Culture and Principles, Music Versus Podcasts and the Long Run — Stratechery Update

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.

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