Best known for coining the phrase “net neutrality” and his book The Master Switch, Tim Wu has a new book coming out in November called The Curse of Bigness: Antitrust in the New Gilded Age. In it, he argues compellingly for a return to aggressive antitrust enforcement in the style of Teddy Roosevelt, saying that Google, Facebook, Amazon, and other huge tech ... Show More
Today
Maybe it's real, maybe it's Sora
Say this for OpenAI: it's very good at raising money, and it's very good at getting attention. David and Jake are joined by The Verge's Hayden Field to talk about OpenAI's demo day, the company's app store plans, why it's trying to build every possible ChatGPT feature all at the ... Show More
1h 29m
Oct 7
Google's extreme smart home makeover
Oh, you thought AI was just in your browser and on your phone? Well, the AI is coming from inside the house. The Verge's Jen Pattison Tuohy and Google's Anish Kattukaran both join the show to discuss last week's Google smart home news, including the company's big bet on the Gemin ... Show More
1h 23m
Oct 5
Version History: Hoverboards
In 2015, self-balancing scooters (which quickly became known as hoverboards) exploded in popularity, and then began literally exploding. Andrew Hawkins and Sean O’Kane join David Pierce to explore the multiple conflicting origin stories behind the hugely popular rideable, the man ... Show More
1h 7m
May 2024
Tim Wu on the Corporate Dangers of a Return to Fascism
In this episode of Just the Right Book with Roxanne Coady, we revisit our conversation with Tim Wu to discuss his book, The Curse of Bigness, now available in paperback and which examines the history of antitrust actions in the 20th century, making the argument that breaking up t ... Show More
40m 18s
Apr 2024
Fri. 04/26 – Net Neutrality Is Back
Net Neutrality has been voted back into existence. Earnings from Microsoft and Google, but it’s the YouTube numbers that continue to impress me. ByteDance claims it would rather be banned than sell US TikTok. The Onion finds a benevolent billionaire. And, of course, the Weekend L ... Show More
16m 8s
Feb 2023
Meta Shakes Off the FTC, and AAG Jonathan Kanter takes on Google
The Fed eases up on the brakes, Elon Musk looks for new ways to monetize Twitter, and Snap has another rough quarter. Also: Meta may have prevailed in a fight with the FTC. Today’s Friend of Pivot is Jonathan Kanter, Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division at the DO ... Show More
1h 26m
Mar 2024
The Miseducation of Google’s A.I.
When Google released Gemini, a new chatbot powered by artificial intelligence, it quickly faced a backlash — and unleashed a fierce debate about whether A.I. should be guided by social values, and if so, whose values they should be.Kevin Roose, a technology columnist for The Time ... Show More
30m 31s
May 2023
The Twitter DeSaster and the Surgeon General’s Social Media Warning
Meta will sell Giphy in an antitrust loss, and the man who ran a Twitter account tracking Elon Musk’s private jet is now tracking Ron Desantis. Also, the latest in the culture wars: A Florida school has limited access to Amanda Gorman’s poetry, and Target will remove some Pride m ... Show More
1h 3m
Apr 2020
Netflix’s Reed Hastings has a huge quarter, Facebook makes big investment in India, Bezos takes the reins at Amazon
Kara and Scott talk about Netflix's biggest quarter yet. The company doubled its projections for how many new subscribers it would acquire. They discuss Facebook's single biggest company investment into Jio – an Indian service provider. Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos is back at the wheel ... Show More
56m 22s
Jan 2023
The New McCarthy Era, A.I. on the Rise, and Guest Mike Allen
Kara and Scott are back together! They discuss the new power balance in Congress, how A.I. will and won't transform, and a potential ban on non-compete clauses. Plus, Jack Ma will give up control of Ant Group, and echoes of January 6th in Brazil. Today's Friend of Pivot is Mike A ... Show More
1h 13m