Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson

By Andrew Sharp and Ben ThompsonTechnology

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Typical duration
26 min
per episode

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Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson episodes

July 17 (Preview) The Continuing Adventures of OpenAI, Apple’s Trade Secrets Lawsuit, Q&A on Mainframes, Meta, Daylight Savings Time
On today’s show Ben and Andrew begin with a raft of OpenAI news, including reactions to the first reports of what OpenAI’s first hardware product will be, the logic of OpenAI’s hardware business generally, the Codex push in the mac app, and a request for a Codex computer. From there: The Apple-OpenAI trade secrets lawsuit, including Apple history, a reckless OpenAI employee, and the funniest part of the complaint. At the end: IBM’s stock and the specific way AI may have affected mainframe spending, how AI will manifest in real-world software, an email about Meta’s messaging as a recruiting pitch, notification management, monetizing expertise, and a word about daylight savings time.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
Apple Sues OpenAI, Apple’s Real Problem — Stratechery Update
The OpenAI Super App, ChatGPT = Codex, Whither Chat — Stratechery Update
IBM Misses, IBM’s Mainframe Moat, IBM’s Many AI Problems — Stratechery Update
Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
23 min
July 10 (Preview) Meta and Its Messaging Problem, The XBOX Reset, Q&A on Token Costs, American Soccer, Starlink in Nature
On today’s show Andrew and Ben begin with a look at the state of Meta. Topics include: Mark Zuckerberg’s sins of commission vs. omission as a messenger, Meta’s AI opportunity, directionally correct investments, the problems with Meta as a cloud provider, and the absence of religion in Menlo Park. From there: Why Microsoft should move on from the XBOX era, and the shift in gaming habits that doomed Game Pass from the outset. At the end: OpenAI introduces GPT-Live, a question about the cost of Ben’s vibe coding adventure spawns a digression on future token costs, the cost of youth sports, American soccer and learning Chinese, tech weirdos and the future of normie app building, and Ben gets castigated for bringing a Starlink on vacation.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
A Script for Mark Zuckerberg — Stratechery
Meta’s AI Abundance — Stratechery
XBOX Cuts; Bundling and the Internet Solvent; Transaction, Coordination, and Sunk Costs — Stratechery Update
An Interview with Matthew Ball About Gaming and the Fight for Attention — Stratechery Interview
Introducing GPT-Live, a new generation of voice models for natural human-AI interaction. — X:@OpenAI
Why Chinese Is So Damn Hard — Pinyin
Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
22 min
June 26 (Preview) A Summer Break Mailbag: Memory Mania, Vibe Coding, Mafia PR, Caffeine Intake, Garages, and How to Fix Soccer
Ben and Andrew begin with an extended look at the market for memory chips, including market history, the supply crunch driving up today’s valuations, the myopia from SK Hynix, Samsung and Micron, new entrants from China, and why the timing of Apple’s price increases are a bearish signal. From there: Both hosts share their daily caffeine regimen, garage takes, and lots of thoughts on vibe coding after Ben’s 10-day foray into AI-assisted engineering. At the end: Codex marketing and an imminent OpenAI super app, Sam Altman’s appearance in a game of mafia, could the EU push Apple to better business strategy, stock buyback clarification, ocean data centers, metricmaxxing, and an update on last week’s hydration break take along with a better fix for international soccer.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
Memory Chips and China, Microsoft and Chinese Models — Stratechery Update
An Interview with Dan Kim and Hassan Khan About CHIPS — Stratechery Interview
Summer Top Fives: 2025 Bandwagons and Candy — Greatest of All Talk
My Vibe Coding Adventure, The App and the Experience, Ten Takeaways — Stratechery Update
Apple Price Increases, Apple Intelligence and the E.U. — Stratechery Update
The SpaceX IPO and Data Centers in Space — Stratechery
Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
27 min
June 19 (Preview) The Anthropic Saga Continues, Fox and the Future of Streaming, Q&A on ChatGPT, Agentic Shopping, Autonomous Driving
On today’s show Ben and Andrew begin with a hydration break take as the World Cup continues before turning to the latest on Anthropic’s export control saga, what the Trump administration may not understand about AI cybersecurity, and what Anthropic still doesn’t understand about dealing with the government. From there: Fables differentiation, the dangers of ringfencing frontier AI within U.S. borders, and how open source Chinese AI may affect the marketplace. From there: Why Ben gives Fox the benefit of the doubt after its Roku purchase this week, whether Siri AI will nuke ChatGPT’s market, Noam Shazeer joins OpenAI, what e-commerce will and won’t be automated, and whether autonomous driving can scale on ICE vehicles.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
The State of Fable, The Jailbreak Problem, SpaceX Acquires Cursor — Stratechery Update
Anthropic’s Safety Superpower — Stratechery
The Window Has Closed — X: @AndrewCurran_
Fox Buys Roku, The Problem With Fox’s Smart Strategy, Streaming That Works — Stratechery Update
An Interview with Michael Morton About E-Commerce in the Age of AI — Stratechery Interview
Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
32 min
June 12 (Preview) Five Questions on WWDC 2026, Fable 5 And Its Guardrails, What Anthropic Has in Common With Apple
Ben and Andrew begin by talking through five questions on WWDC in 2026, including thoughts on Apple’s answer to the critics, whether Apple is or is not thinking different, decoding the Google partnership and Craig Federighi’s corporate speak, the wide gap between Siri AI and frontier AI, and why memory concerns are misplaced. From there: Explaining the Fable 5 guard rails, Anthropic safety concerns that align with Anthropic business incentives, Ben’s first impressions of the Fable 5 performance, and a week of Anthropic angst that adds additional context to the company’s standoff with the Department of War. At the end: Passing another checkpoint on the AI 2027 journey, Microsoft on the hot seat in the AI era, and the United States of YouTube.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
The iPhone’s Last Stand — Stratechery
Enterprise Philosophy and the First Wave of AI — Stratechery
ChatGPT Gets a Computer — Stratechery
Fable 5, Anthropic Alignment, AI Tiers — Stratechery Update
Anthropic and Alignment — Stratechery
An Interview with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella About Finding Core Competencies — Stratechery Interview
Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
29 min
May 29 (Preview) SpaceX Hype and the Elon Bargain, Nvidia and the Neoclouds, Q&A on Dropbox, Google, Ferrari Luce Backlash
Ben and Andrew begin with a look at SpaceX before its June IPO. Topics include: Why the S-1 math that doesn’t quite pencil out for now, the madness of analyzing Musk companies generally, the company’s ultimate upside, and why the IPO is worth applauding regardless. Then: Questions on terrestrial solutions vs. data centers in space, the durability of SpaceX’s rocket monopoly, Nvidia’s earnings and the future of the ACIE market, why neoclouds are advertising on podcasts, and the op-ed from Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince explaining his company’s AI-driven layoffs. From there: Dropbox as the Penny Hardaway of tech companies, an emailer worried about enshittifed AI chatbots yields discussion of the real reasons Google’s gotten worse. At the end: The Jony Ive-designed Ferrari Luce, why Ben regrets a tweet, how Ferrari will sell these cars, and more philsophical thoughts on why everyone was upset this week.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
The SpaceX IPO and Data Centers in Space — Stratechery
It’s a Tesla — Stratechery
Mistakes and Memes — Stratechery
How I Choose Which Cloudflare Employees to Replace With AI — Wall Street Journal
Enterprise Philosophy and the First Wave of AI — Stratechery
Fake News — Stratechery
Ferrari Luce — Ferrari
Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
36 min
May 15 (Preview) Inference in the Agentic Future, xAI Is Two Companies in One, Q&A on Elon’s Lawsuit, Intel, Apple
Ben and Andrew discuss the future of computing and its implications for the chip market, including what Cerebras is doing that’s different, why speed may no longer be a top priority for inference, good news for China’s AI ecosystem, the future for Nvidia, and questions on Pat Gelsinger’s role in Intel’s revival. From there: Both sides of the Anthropic-xAI deal, including Anthropic’s compute solution and the triumph of market principles, as well as the market’s message to Elon Musk and xAI, and the implications for SpaceX. At the end: Thoughts on Musk’s OpenAI lawsuit, a theory on Apple’s gross margins and a land grab, and a listener’s wife enters founder mode with Claude.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
The Inference Shift — Stratechery
The Deployment Company, Back to the 70s, Apple and Intel — Stratechery Update
SpaceX and Anthropic, xAI’s Two Companies, Elon Musk and SpaceXAI’s Future — Stratechery Update
Elon’s OpenAI Lawsuit Is Boring and Insulting, and It’s Already a Success — Sharp Text
Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
26 min
May 01 (Preview) AWS History and Trainium’s AI Future, OpenAI Makes a Deal With Microsoft, Meta and the Future of Wearable Devices
Ben and Andrew react to Amazon’s impressive earnings in AI with a cliffs notes history on AWS cloud computing strategy, how Amazon is returning to that playbook in AI, and why the Trainium bets look more reasonable than ever. From there: Understanding both sides of the OpenAI and Microsoft deal this week, including why OpenAI wants to be on AWS, and why Microsoft’s conflict of interest is now resolved. At the end: Extended thoughts on Meta Display glasses, the future of AR devices, the mother of all patent lawsuits, as well as a few Apple follow-ups, and an eye surgery epiphany.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
AWS re:Invent, Nova and Model Choice, AI as Commodity — Stratechery Update
Paradigm Shifts and the Winner’s Curse — Stratechery
An Interview with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and AWS CEO Matt Garman About Bedrock Managed Agents — Stratechery Interview
AI Hardware, Meta Display, Redefining VR and AR — Stratechery Update
Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
25 min
April 17 (Preview) Six Questions on Frontier AI Labs, Messaging AI to a Skeptical Public, Amazon (and Apple?) Ramps Up Competition with Elon
Ben and Andrew begin with six emails on AI, including a question about the future of AI consumer demand, Gemini’s quiet few months, whether compute constraints should lead to price hikes, and divergent approaches to AGI at Anthropic and OpenAI. From there: An extended answer to a question about AI messaging in the face of widespread skepticism, an Einstein AI thought experiment, and extended thoughts on Amazon’s acquisition of Globalstar, Apple’s role, and what Amazon wants from LEO satellites. At the end: Emails on Allbirds and pivots, the ZIRP/NBA cap spike analogy for displaced engineering talent, Evan Spiegel’s advice for Meta, and two notes on the news business.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
An Interview with F1 Driver and Venture Capitalist Nico Rosberg About the Drive to Win — Stratechery Interview
Mythos, Muse, and the Opportunity Cost of Compute — Stratechery
TSMC Risk — Stratechery
Amazon Buys Globalstar, Delta to Add Leo, The Apple Angle — Stratechery Update
Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
24 min
April 10 (Preview) Mythos and Project Glasswing, The Year of Anthropic Continues Apace, Q&A on the NYT, Altman, De-globalization
Ben and Andrew begin with reactions to Anthropic’s Mythos announcement and Project Glasswing, including thoughts on the security risks, the business benefits of keeping this model private, lessons on the “Boy Who Cried Wolf,” and renewed focus on Anthropic’s relationship with the U.S. government. From there: Anthropic’s new deal with Broadcom and Google, a year of stunning Anthropic success that began in 2024, the threats that Anthropic poses to Microsoft, and where AI can and can’t help with taxes. At the end: How the New York Times is adapting to the future, understanding Sam Altman’s history at OpenAI, and a question on the implications of de-globalization.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
Anthropic’s New Model, The Mythos Wolf, Glasswing and Alignment — Stratechery Update
Anthropic’s New TPU Deal, Anthropic’s Computing Crunch, The Anthropic-Google Alliance — Stratechery Update
ChatGPT Gets a Computer — Stratechery
An Interview with New York Times CEO Meredith Kopit Levien About Betting on Humans With Expertise — Stratechery Interview
In Defense of The New York Times — Stratechery
Hormuz, Rushmore, and a Sam Altman Story That Missed the Story — Sharp Text
Sam Altman May Control Our Future—Can He Be Trusted? — The New Yorker
Get all episodes of Sharp Tech, Sharp China, Stratechery Updates and Interviews, Greatest of All Talk, Asianometry and the Dithering Podcast as part of Stratechery Plus for $15/month or $150/year.
22 min