Big Take

"The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade." An X post by a former employee of both OpenAI and Anthropic went viral and is prompting big questions.

On today’s Big Take podcast, host Sarah Holder and Bloomberg’s Mike Shepard talk through what an AI safety reckoning could look like — and whether an industry in the midst of intense competition can slow down.  

Read more: 

• Anthropic Worker Quits Over AI Firms ‘Gambling With Our Lives’ 
• Moonshot Secretly Routed User Requests Through Claude, Anthropic Says 

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Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Guest: Mike Shepard; Edited by Naomi Shavin and Aaron Edwards. Fact-checking by Brunella Tipismana Urbano; Engineering by Sean Carter. Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

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Oil prices topped $100 per barrel on Wednesday, keeping gas prices and the Iran war at the center of the US midterms conversation. Can President Trump burnish his affordability credentials with what he’s calling “the biggest oil deal in world history”?  

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg Opinion Energy columnist Liam Denning and Andes Bureau Chief Patricia Laya join David Gura to discuss what we know so far about the administration’s plan to take a stake in Venezuelan oil producer North American Blue Energy Partners — and what obstacles the deal could face.

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The bond market has been grabbing headlines and roiling global markets, particularly in the US and in Japan, where yields are surging and buyer interest remains low.

That matters, because as Bloomberg Opinion’s John Authers says, the yield on the 10-year treasury note is the most important number in world finance. 

On today’s Big Take podcast, John Authers joins Stacey Vanek Smith to explain what surging bond yields mean for interest rates and why we could be seeing a correction, not a crisis.

Read more:
It’s Still Endless Summer for Bond Yields
Volatility Limits Post-Labor Day US Bond Rush to Six-Year Low 

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Hosted by Stacey Vanek Smith; Produced by Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Guest: John Authers; Edited by Naomi Shavin. Fact-checking by Brunella Tipismana Urbano; Engineering by Sean Carter. Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

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The wellness and longevity boom has come for a new kind of consumer: your pet. But with clinical trials still underway and questions lingering about the safety and efficacy of off-label drugs and treatments, how are owners navigating the growing industry?

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s Annika Inampudi and host Sarah Holder dig into the latest frontier in the predicted $165 billion market for pet spending in the US. Plus, we meet a Manhattan dog owner who’s trying just about everything to keep his furry friends healthy.

Read more: Can Your Dog Live Forever? Pet Owners Are Trying Everything

Further listening: The Underground Peptide Market Is Getting Ready to Go Mainstream

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Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Julia Press and Victor Swezey; Reported by Annika Inampudi and Anna Edney; Edited by Aaron Edwards and Tracey Samuelson.

Fact-checking by Rachael Lewis-Krisky and Brunella Tipismana Urbano; Engineering by Alex Sugiura.

Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

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Energy consumers are used to a pretty simple transaction with utility companies: get electricity to power your home, pay up every month. Now, more consumers are stockpiling their own energy using solar panels and batteries. And some are even making money by selling that energy back to the grid.

On today’s Big Take podcast, host Sarah Holder talks to Zero host Akshat Rathi about a new class of at-home energy trader that’s vibe coding its way to daily energy savings and big profits.

Read more: Almost Anyone Can Make Money Selling Electricity With AI and Batteries

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Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Julia Press; Reported by Akshat Rathi and Olivia Rudgard; Edited by Aaron Edwards.

Fact-checking by Rachael Lewis-Krisky, Victor Swezey and Brunella Tipismana Urbano; Engineering by Emma Munger.

Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

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Hundreds of hydropower workers remain missing in Nepal after a glacial collapse caused catastrophic flooding. The disaster laid bare the rising climate risks across Asia and the danger of building in an increasingly volatile environment.

On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, guest host Rebecca Choong Wilkins sits down with Bloomberg’s Clara Ferreira Marques and Bloomberg Opinion’s David Fickling to talk about the human and economic toll of the disaster, why the catastrophe is a warning for the rest of the world and how Nepal’s big bet on clean energy may now be at risk.

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Hosted by Rebecca Choong Wilkins; Produced by Yang Yang; Reported by Clara Ferreira Marques, David Fickling; Edited by Paddy Hirsch, Crispina Robert and Tracey Samuelson.

Fact-checking by Naomi Ng; Engineering by Alex Sugiura

Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver; Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

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Russia escalated attacks on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv this past weekend. It’s the latest signal that Ukraine could face a brutal, decisive winter in this conflict.

Meanwhile, the CIA director paid Moscow a visit last week, and “hybrid” attacks in Europe that have been linked to Russia are heightening concern among NATO countries that the conflict could widen as Russia takes the upper hand. 

On today’s Big Take podcast, host Sarah Holder and Bloomberg Opinion’s Marc Champion unpack the latest developments in the Russia-Ukraine war, the state of European and American involvement and why the next few months could be so crucial. 

Read more: 

• Russia’s Escalating Hybrid Attacks Put Europeans in a Bind 
• Ukraine Is In More Danger Than It Seems

We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer.

Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Guest: Marc Champion; Edited by Naomi Shavin. Fact-checking by Big Take team; Engineering by Sean Carter. Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

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Meta has agreed to pay a $17 billion settlement over a range of claims related to the safety and privacy of its platforms, including youth use of social media. The outcome, announced last week, could have implications for other companies, too.

On today’s Big Take Podcast, Bloomberg investigative reporter Olivia Carville talks to host Sarah Holder about the landmark case, and how new information about the death of a teenage TikTok user in 2022 could shape the debate around child safety online.

If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide or self-harm, a global list of helplines is available at blog.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines.

Read more: TikTok Withheld a Safety Feature From Millions. One Died by Suicide

We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer.

Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Reported by Olivia Carville; Edited by Aaron Edwards and Julia Weaver. Fact-checking by Brunella Tipismana Urbano; Engineering by Sean Carter. Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

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 A 12-foot grim reaper becomes a neighborhood war cry, and the preacher-podcaster crosses the street.

Today on The Big Take: Chapter 4 of Our Town, a limited-run series from Bloomberg and The Big Take, hosted by Meribah Knight with Bloomberg’s Susan Berfield.

Our Town tells the story of a battle over identity fought on one small town’s soil, where acreage, heritage, and what it means to be an American are all up for grabs.

New episodes of Our Town publish on Mondays, but you can listen early on Fridays right here in The Big Take feed. We have a special Bloomberg subscription offer for podcast listeners at Bloomberg.com/podcastoffer. 

Hosted by Meribah Knight with Susan Berfield Produced by: Rebecca Laks and David Fox with Julia Weaver and help from Laura Newcombe Edited by: Rebecca Laks and Ken Armstrong Original Score and Mixing by: Alex Sugiura Fact-checking by: Annika Robbins and Rachael Lewis-Krisky Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer 

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With Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh set to deliver the biggest speech of his tenure on Friday, anticipation is spreading well beyond bankers and traders. Bond yields are rising, as global economies send up inflationary signals. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s efforts to tamp down rates by buying bonds may complicate the Fed’s approach. And the keynote speaker himself has suggested that he’s not comfortable sending messages about Fed intentions. So what can he say?

On today’s Big Take podcast, Odd Lots co-host Joe Weisenthal joins Sarah Holder to tee up Warsh’s speech at the Kansas City Fed’s symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and the challenges facing Warsh and other global central bankers.

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Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Julia Press; Guest: Joe Weisenthal; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott. 

Engineering by Emma Munger.

Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

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