Kara and Scott question Elon Musk's sense of humor after he bans comedian Kathy Griffin (and others who spoofed his account) over the weekend. They also talk about the layoff trend in the tech industry, as Meta reportedly prepares for a massive reduction in its workforce this week. Friend of Pivot Matt Stoller stops by with reasons to be optimistic about the ... Show More
Oct 30
Trump's War on "Artificial Intelligence," Elon v. Scott, and Google's Wall Street Meltdown
Kara and Scott unpack Trump's bizarre attempt to ban the term “AI,” Elon Musk finally taking aim at Scott, and the final countdown to the midterms. Then, they discuss Microsoft's earnings win, Alphabet's Wall Street stumble, and Nvidia's increasingly circular AI investments. Plus ... Show More
1 h
Oct 27
Anthropic's IPO Filing, Elon's Talarico Obsession, and Elizabeth Holmes' Box Office Surprise
Kara and Scott break down Anthropic’s IPO filing — the revenue, the losses, and the risks to humanity. Then, with just a week to go before the midterms, Elon Musk pours millions into the Texas Senate race, and James Talarico fires back. Plus, Elon admits to restricting Ukraine’s ... Show More
1h 5m
Oct 25
Pivot Extra: From ‘Trump Curious’ to ‘Trump Furious’: Inside the Midterm Odds
With just under two weeks until the midterms, Democrats have reason for cautious optimism. Analysts at the Cook Political Report project the party could flip the House. The Senate, meanwhile, has swung from Republican confidence earlier this year to a jump ball, and the Democrati ... Show More
1h 9m
Nov 2022
E103: Tech layoffs surge, big tech freezes hiring, optimizing for profits, election preview & more
(0:00) Jason's new brand deal (1:18) Bestie updates (9:12) "Ligma/Johnson" blunder outside of Twitter HQ (15:38) Surge of tech layoffs at Twitter, Stripe, Lyft, Opendoor, Chime and others; preparing for a longer downturn than originally anticipated (35:28) Macro trends, big tech ... Show More
1h 28m
Jan 2023
What’s With All the Tech Layoffs?
Amazon, Google, Facebook and the entire tech sector just laid off tens of thousands of employees. How did America’s fastest growing industry become its most troubled? Annie Lowrey, staff writer at The Atlantic, joins Offline to break it down. She makes the case that while this mo ... Show More
45m 57s
Dec 2024
One Thing: Elon Musk, Bans and Free Speech: What Happens Next?
Two years ago, three reporters were kicked off Twitter by its new owner, Elon Musk. Now with Musk firmly entrenched in President-elect Donald Trump’s orbit, they reunite to discuss what's changed, what hasn’t, and how TikTok can avoid being banned in the US starting next month.
... Show More
29m 12s
Mar 2024
The clash of two tech titans
Elon Musk is suing OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, saying the artificial intelligence company abandoned its founding mission to prioritize the benefit of humanity over profit. Is this just a bunch of industry drama, or could it be a real turning point in the development of genera ... Show More
31m 54s
Apr 2022
E75: Fast shuts down, board culpability, Elon buys 9% of Twitter, deplatforming's evolution & more
0:00 Jason's big night out, bestie intros, All-In Summit update and more 8:01 Layoffs and shutdowns: Fast, Better.com, GoPuff; Chamath gives a macro- and micro- overview for startups 14:09 Preventing layoffs, culpability in Fast's shutdown, VC diligence strategy, VC/founder model ... Show More
1h 17m