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Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson

Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson

Hosted by email@sharptech.fm (Andrew Sharp and Ben Thompson)

Technology
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Episodes

293

Latest episode

Oct 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

A podcast about understanding how tech works and the way it is changing the world. Hosted by Andrew Sharp with Ben Thompson.

Listen to episodes

60 recent
October 23, 20261 hr 38 min

Netflix Angst, The End of the Internet, Q&A on Meta’s VR Glasses, Anthropic Alignment, You Can See Everything

Ben and Andrew begin with notes on the future of the podcast before turning to a raft of ominous Netflix shows and a question: what can Netflix fix, and what growth problems are more intractable? From there: A note on Elon’s investment in Skydance, Anthropic solves an NSA mystery, and reactions to a variety of ominous cybersecurity developments from the past several days. At the end: Meeting the Meta VR glasses in person, Anthropic’s branding spawns thoughts on alignment, why Apple has retained the “Siri” branding (so far), reading as an AI bottleneck, olive oil recs, podcast-listening speeds, and Andrew reverses his stance on the new Nathan Fielder movie.

October 15, 202623 min

(Preview) Apple Enters the Uncanny Valley, The SpaceX Play for Cellular, Q&A on The Ringer, Smartphones, AI Parenting

Ben and Andrew begin with reactions to Apple’s HomeView, including backlash to one of the company’s worst commercials ever, why the product category should exist, and whether Apple is the right company to execute in this space. From there: SpaceX moves full speed ahead with its plans for cellular coverage, why some airlines and carriers balked at partnering with SpaceX, and challenges the company will face going toe to toe with cellular incumbents. At the end: The Ringer’s new, Substack-forward model, the future of sports TV rights as AI spending continues, more on Amazon prices and the company’s logistic moat, building AI apps for iOS, the maddening centrality of smartphones in daily life, solidarity with Ben in his cupboard strategy and smart home instincts, the AI pitch that more companies should be emphasizing, and AI show & tell on a parenting use case that has paid dividends.

October 9, 202630 min

(Preview) Two Paths for Apple and Its Users, More on Amazon and Advertising, OpenAI and 722 Mathematical Manuscripts

Andrew and Ben begin with reflections on Ben’s changing relationship with the Mac and two markets that may ultimately be impossible to serve with one product and operating system. Then: Why Apple’s plans for your living room make sense, reactions to the Duo, and the near-term outlook for humanoid robots in the home. From there: More specifics on why agents put certain types of advertising at risk, thoughts on Amazon adopting a YouTube Premium model, and a question about product pricing that spawns a lesson in advertising, generally. Then: Reactions to OpenAI’s math progress, anxiety among mathematicians, inter-disciplinary skills, joining forces on Machine Intelligence Island, and a reminder that equating raw IQ with value is a bad idea. At the end: Grading Ben Affleck’s AI knowledge, Mike Tomlin’s Minecraft habit, and a digression on IBM, Compaq, and the decompilation of video games (and why fair use is not a viable defense for hackers).

October 2, 202622 min

(Preview) All About Agents: Dots Arrive, Google and Apple Questions, Muse Follow-Ups, Super Intelligence, and the Mandate of Heaven

Ben and Andrew begin with a note on VIM and reactions to a confusing product launch from OpenAI at Dev Day earlier this week. Then: Will personal agents be a winner-take-all market? What can Apple and Google do in the consumer agent space? Will normal people take longer than expected to adopt these products? And did Meta’s push into the enterprise break the company’s hot streak? From there: Emails on the future of payments, “super intelligence” branding for AI, America.gov, and firing Dario Amodei. At the end: AI Show & Tell with notes on generational adoption shifts (and Tamagotchis), movie games, a personalized sports page, App Store hell, and going full KGB on messaging.

September 25, 202626 min

(Preview) Three Weeks of Meta Momentum, The Ultimate Muse Upside, A King Kong vs. Godzilla Aggregator War

Ben and Andrew begin with the Meta Connect keynote and a simple question: is this the first time since 2021 that Meta has been cool? From there, new VR glasses, the Muse Charm, a basketball analogy for Meta Connect in 2026, and the infrastructure and talent investments that have helped Muse resonate over the past few weeks. Then: An emailer shares his Muse epiphany, a potential secondary effect of agents saving users money, why Muse is not sharing user data with Meta, and the ultimate “aggregator of aggregators” upside. Then: Extended thoughts on the Muse vs. Amazon tensions, why Meta’s Walmart deal was potentially crucial, and Amazon’s moat in logistics (and returns) that may prove durable in the agents era. At the end: A CarPlay victory lap, and a round of AI Show and Tell with a wedding planner, a SunOS coder, and a fantasy football league.

September 18, 202633 min

(Preview) Doom Debates Go Mainstream, AI Religion and the Economic Future, Several Vectors of the China Question

On today’s Ben and Andrew begin with Andrew’s article on AI alarmism, the primacy of the effective altruists in AI risk conversations, and why these discussions are exhausting without more evidence, even as AI risk becomes the biggest story in American politics. From there: A distinction between regulation malaise five years ago and where we are today, the grind of modern software, and questions responding to Ben’s Update on Monday, including thoughts on why OpenAI and Anthropic won’t unilaterally slow down, why Sam Altman and Elon Musk were incentivized to agree with Dario Amodei, and an emailer who asks whether doomerism hysteria is crowding out more urgent economic questions. Then: Questions on China’s incentives in AI, the strategic benefits of chip sales and distillation, military implications of American lead in AI, and China’s messy cybersecurity situation. At the end: An ode to ApplePay, Walmart, and Walton Goggins (but not Matt LaFleur).

September 10, 202624 min

(Preview) Astra (and AGI?) Arrives, Meta’s Muse and the Agent Opportunity, Anthropic and the Revival of (P)Doom Angst

Andrew and Ben begin with Ben’s article on Tuesday on the transformative value of LLMs writing things down. Topics include: How assistants have helped Ben solve his blindspots, the omnicompetent assistants that are now available to everyone, a brief detour into markdown file history, the arrival of OpenAI’s Astra models, a future of models that use computers, the astounding value of a pro subscription to Anthropic and OpenAI, and the pace of AI progress in the fall of 2026. From there: More on the Hugging Face incident, a listener asks for advice on getting started with agents, and Meta’s Muse arrives to help normal unlock the potential of agents. At the end: Reactions to a pair of viral p(doom) tweets from Anthropic employees, why one writer’s pandemic callback offers an unintentionally instructive parallel, and an emotional announcement about the iPhone Air.

September 3, 202625 min

(Preview) Fable 5.1 and Anthropic’s Data Retention Pivot, AI Civilizations and Related Matters, Q&A on Meta, Shopify, 3-D Printing

On today’s show Ben and Andrew begin with notes on a home networking project before turning to the release of Fable 5.1, including Anthropic’s announcement that it has walked back the data retention safety initiative the company announced earlier this year. From there: Reactions to a viral post on the OpenAI-Hugging Face incident, the problem with anthropomorphizing machines, and why Ben finds this discourse unhinged and unproductive. At the end: Follow-ups to last week’s Meta discussion on the tension between libertarian and conservative impulses, Shopify is a platform and not an aggregator (and that’s great), a well-timed question about 3-D Printing, an F1 app PSA, a listener’s girlfriend hates vibe coding, and apropos of last week, a pronunciation email.

August 28, 202622 min

(Preview) Meta’s New Restrictions for Teens, Nvidia’s Open Source Investments, Q&A on Netflix, Druckenmiller, Parameters and Performance

On today’s show Ben and Andrew begin with initial reactions to Meta’s settlement with 29 states, including behavioral remedies that will impose restrictions on teens using Facebook and Instagram. From there: Reactions to a report that Nvidia is set to acquire HuggingFace, including why a robust open source ecosystem looks increasingly urgent for Nvidia, and why OpenAI’s surprisingly impressive jalapeño chip underscores the point. At the end: Netflix pivots from a longstanding refusal to funnel customers to rivals, F1’s declining ratings on AppleTV, ESPN abandons the bottom line for college football, Stanley Druckenmiller uses AI for his Wall Street Journal op ed, a vibe coding question (and more adventures with Ben’s over-engineered psychosis), a coffee pot question, parameter sizes and the mysteries of model performance, and a hurling PSA yields an appreciation for various sports on TV.

August 21, 202620 min

(Preview) The App Store in the Shadow of AI, Offensive and Defensive Cybersecurity, Q&A on Financial Planning, AI Writing, American Sports

On today’s show Andrew and Ben begin with reflections on big Apple news that feels relatively small alongside a world of growth and dramatic questions across technology in the AI era. Then: They turn to the news that OpenAI is pausing its Internet model training, the incentive structure that makes cybersecurity challenging and how AI compounds the challenge, two digressions from Ben on misalignment and a new AI use case, and why black hat and white hat cybersecurity actors are both doing the same thing in the AI era. At the end: More thoughts on bubble benefits that may survive, an emailer considers a financial planning career but is concerned about AI, two follow-ups on AI and the writing process, and European emailer thinks Americans who love sports love everything but the actual sport.

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