Big Take

The launch of Moonshot AI’s Kimi K3 model has taken the tech world — and Washington — by storm, raising urgent questions about how a Chinese startup can suddenly rival the world's most powerful AI systems.

On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, host Oanh Ha speaks with Bloomberg’s Mark Anderson about the distillation method behind Moonshot’s breakthrough and what it means for the high-stakes AI race between the US and China.

Read more: Moonshot Plans IPO in Six Months After China AI Breakthrough

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The online shopping app Phia raised over $43 million and captured media attention for its A-list investors and its high-profile co-founders — Phoebe Gates, daughter of Bill Gates, and her college roommate and podcast co-host Sophia Kianni.

But Bloomberg reporting suggests that Phia was pushing features that took credit for sales it didn’t drive. On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg technology editor Olivia Solon shares her reporting on Phia and what the startup’s founders may have known about those features.

Read more: 

• Gates Heir’s Shopping App Claimed Sales It Didn’t Drive
• Phoebe Gates Knew Phia Shopping App Took Credit for Sales It Didn’t Drive

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Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Julia Press; Reported by Olivia Solon.

Fact-checking by Victor Swezey and Brunella Tipismana Urbano; Engineering by Alex Sugiura and Emma Munger.

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

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US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s move to prop up the yen was as surprising as its impact was fleeting. By Monday, the yen lost half of its gains since last month’s intervention, raising questions about what comes next.

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s Daniel Flatley and Chris Anstey join David Gura to break down Bessent’s unorthodox currency strategy and to explore how far Bessent might be willing to go to support another country’s currency.

Read more:

How Bessent Brings a ‘Buy-Side’ Mindset to Economic Statecraft

Behind Bessent Moves, Wall Street Sees a Bond-Market Angst

Listen More:

Why a Weak Yen Is America’s Problem

Carry Trades, Explained

Hosted by David Gura; Produced by Laura Newcombe and David Fox; Reported by Daniel Flatley and Chris Anstey; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott.

Fact-checking by 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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Oh, the things you can find with an inquisitive mind – and a metal detector.

Today we’re bringing you Chapter 1 of Our Town, a limited-run series from The Big Take, hosted by Meribah Knight with Bloomberg’s Susan Berfield. The series tells the story of a battle over identity fought on small town soil, where acreage, heritage, and what it means to be an American are all up for grabs. 

The limited-run series will publish on Fridays in The Big Take. 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 with Julia Weaver and David Fox and help from Laura Newcombe Edited by: Ken Armstrong with Rebecca Laks Original Score and Mixing by: Alex Sugiura Fact-checking by: Annika Robbins Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer 

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Situational Awareness, a hedge fund run by a 24-year-old hailed as “Nostradamus of AI”, swelled to $45 billion in assets until a mix of highly leveraged bets, short sellers and a market swoon threw it into crisis.

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s Katherine Burton and Hema Parmar join Sarah Holder to discuss how risky bets led the fund to the brink and whether the episode speaks to broader vulnerabilities among hedge funds investing in AI.

Read more: 

• The 24-Hour Race to Salvage Situational Awareness’ AI Bets
• Bloomberg Opinion: Hedge Fund’s 439% Return Should Have Been the Warning
• Situational Awareness Returns to Investing With $400 Million Bet

Listen to Money Stuff Podcast: No Kiddie Pool 

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Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Rachael Lewis-Krisky; Reported by Katherine Burton and Hema Parmar; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott. Fact-checking by Victor Swezey and Laura Newcombe; Engineering by Sean Carter. Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

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When new neighbors move into Gainesboro, Tennessee, a small town at the foothills of Appalachia, locals are confused. Who are these self-proclaimed pioneers? And what do they want with their little town?

Locals soon discover the new arrivals are connected to something much larger: A network of far-right Christians who have ties to Washington and are backed by venture capital.

This is a story about a battle over identity fought on small town soil with small town spunk. Where acreage, heritage, and what it means to be an American are all up for grabs. Episode 1 will be available to Big Take listeners Friday, August 7.

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For generations, women have struggled to access information about menopause and how best to treat its symptoms. Social media and the rise of telehealth have filled some of that gap, giving way to a $19 billion economy. But is the commercial menopause marketplace serving women or leaving them behind?

On today’s Big Take podcast, health and science journalist Kristen V. Brown explores the benefits and risks of the menopause treatment gold rush, and we hear from a woman who spent years navigating the vast market herself.

Read more: The Menopause Gold Rush Is Failing Women

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Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Julia Press; Reported by Kristen V. Brown; Edited by Aaron Edwards.

Fact-checking by Rachael Lewis-Krisky and Victor Swezey; Engineering by Emma Munger.

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

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As the Japanese yen hit a 40-year low against the US dollar, Japan's government stepped in to support its currency. And it has a powerful ally in US President Donald Trump, who is putting the US financial might behind the historic currency intervention in what he called a “signal of friendship.”

On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, host K. Oanh Ha sits down with chief Asia foreign exchange correspondent Ruth Carson to unpack how the yen fell so far, what it could take to get it back on track and what’s at stake for the global economy.

Read more: Bessent Says Yen Level Problem for Japan, Other Currencies 

Further listening:

• Carry Trades, Explained
• Could the Chinese Yuan Ever Replace the US Dollar?

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

Hosted by K. Oanh Ha; Produced by Naomi Ng, Yang Yang, Rachael Lewis-Krisky and Victor Swezey; Reported by Ruth Carson; Edited by Paddy Hirsch and Tracey Samuelson. Fact-checking by Victor Swezey; Engineering by Emma Munger and Taka Yasuzawa. Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

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US crude prices fell below $80 for much of the day Monday as oil traders factored in a potential deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. But even as reports of imminent peace deals or attacks jolt oil markets, fuel prices at US gas stations have remained high. Late last week, US oil companies Exxon and Chevron reported their biggest profits in years.

On today’s Big Take podcast, oil reporter Mitchell Ferman joins host Sarah Holder to explain why oil companies are built for global conflict.

Read more: 

• Big Oil Set to Reap Profit Bonanza From Soaring Fuel Prices
• Exxon, Chevron Steer Windfall Profits Into Paying Down Debt

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

Hosted by Sarah Holder; Produced by Laura Newcombe; Reported by Mitchell Ferman; Edited by Jeffrey Grocott. Fact-checking by Rachael Lewis-Krisky and Victor Swezey; Engineering by Emma Munger. Senior Producer: Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Weaver. Executive Producer: Nicole Beemsterboer.

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Insurers have quietly become a major driver of the private credit boom, with numerous private equity shops striking deals with insurance companies or buying them outright. But the entanglement with private credit is also changing the insurance industry itself, raising a number of questions about risk and regulation.

In this week's Weekend Listen, Odd Lots speaks to Andrew Granato and Pranjal Drall, authors of a new paper, “Private Credit's State Backstop: How Private Equity Socializes Risk Through Insurers," examining the relationship between private credit and insurance. Granato (an assistant professor at the UT Austin Law School) and Drall (JD-PhD student in Financial Economics at Yale) talk to us about how PE got so interested in insurance in the first place, how both sides benefit from the relationship, and why taxpayers might ultimately be on the hook.

Read more:
Blue Owl Surges as Leaders Stress It’s More Than a Direct Lender
Ares $29 Billion Private Credit Fund Sees Uptick in Non-Accruals

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