Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson

By Andrew Sharp and Ben ThompsonTechnology

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Typical duration
26 min
per episode

Based on Podcast App listening data

Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson episodes

April 03 (Preview) Five Questions on Apple at 50 Years Old, The Axios Hack and AI Security, Q&A on Starlink, AI IPOs, AirPods
Ben and Andrew begin with Q&A on Apple after 50 years, including thoughts on Steve Jobs weaknesses, putting iTunes on Windows, the best Apple ads, Chinese manufacturing counterfactuals, and tech company Mount Rushmore. From there: Thoughts on Apple’s AI bet and the downside risk, the signs that Cupertino sees AI as a disruptive technology, and extended thoughts on the Axios hack and why why AI will make security issue worse in the short-term, but may be the solution in the long run. At the end: Delta chooses Amazon Leo over Starlink, two questions on Anthropic and OpenAI IPOs, why headhunters won’t be disrupted by AI, streaming sports abroad, and new fronts emerge in the AirPods battle.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
Will AI Disrupt Apple? — Dithering
An Interview with Asymco’s Horace Dediu About Apple at 50 — Stratechery Interview
Apple’s 50 Years of Integration — Stratechery
Axios Supply Chain Attack, Claude Code Code Leaked, AI and Security — Stratechery Update
Original Apple iPhone 2G Commercials! 2007 Ads That Started It All! — YT: Latest Tech HD
Apple iPhone | Christmas Commercial 2013 — YT: Markedu
Fixed: The Sad iPad Ad — YT: Seth Godin
Apple - Think Different - Full Version — YT: Harry Piotr
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
March 27 (Preview) A Spring Break Mailbag: RIP Sora, Ads and Surplus, F1 Going in Reverse, Elon Inc., Smartphone Parenting, and More
Ben and Andrew interrupt Stratechery’s spring vacation with a mailbag. First, they discuss the end of Sora, the difference between Sora and Instagram, and where the OpenAI/Microsoft parallels break down. Then: A great take on advertising, ChatGPT engagement farming, Formula 1’s new era, the NFL’s world takeover, and how NBC solved tape delay at the Olympics. At the end: A question about Vision Pro and wives, whether elementary schoolers should have smart phones, Elon’s continued adventures with xAI, a Netflix dating show, LLM-aided dogfooding etymology, and Ben’s (admittedly boring) Taipei routine.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
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.
21 min
March 19 (Preview) OpenAI’s Enterprise Pivot, The Rise of Agents and Bubble Counterpoints, Nvidia Changes Its Inference Story
Ben and Andrew begin with the news that OpenAI is shifting away from “side quests” and allocating resources to the enterprise space, including Dropbox history to explain OpenAI’s present, lessons in the enterprise space generally (and what you learn in business school), and OpenAI taking cues from 1980s Microsoft. From there: Talking through Ben’s article on Monday, including the implications of agents and questions about integration as durable differentiation for Anthropic and OpenAI. At the end: Nvidia’s new messaging on inference chips and Groq integration, and a word about winters (and whiners) in Wisconsin.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
Jensen Huang and Andy Grove, Groq LPUs and Vera CPUs, Hotel California — Stratechery Update
Agents Over Bubbles — Stratechery
An Interview with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang About Accelerated Computing — Stratechery Interview
OpenAI to Cut Back on Side Projects in Push to ‘Nail’ Core Business — Wall Street Journal
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.
33 min
March 13 (Preview) Nerding Out with the Neo, Claude and the Integration Question, The End of Coding Language History
Ben and Andrew begin with the MacBook Neo, including Ben’s memory needs, Apple’s clever move to repurpose old iPhone chips, and the market for a $599 laptop. From there: A question about VisionOS, Andrew’s notes after six weeks of Vision Pro joy, and an extended discussion of Claude’s differentiation, harnessing, Microsoft’s AI strategy, and the future of integration and AI. At the end: A question on the end of coding language, what went wrong at the Washington Post, and being right points on AI group chats.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
MacBook Neo, The (Not-So) Thin MacBook, Apple and Memory — Stratechery Update
Copilot Cowork, Anthropic’s Integration, Microsoft’s New Bundle — 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.
18 min
March 06 (Preview) The Anthropic Mess Continues, Frontier AI and the Uncertain Future of Law, Q&A on Netflix, Dating Apps, F1
Ben and Andrew react to a week of Anthropic discussion, including Dario Amodei’s leaked memo to employees, why a compromise is still possible, and answering a variety of questions in response to Ben’s article this week. At the end: A terrible AI law for young parents, surveying the implications for Netflix after Paramount wins the Warner Brothers bidding, a dispatch from dating app hell, a question about feeds on chatbots, should Google be the model for ChatGPT ads?, and thoughts on the business of F1 and the new season.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
Read Anthropic CEO’s Memo Attacking OpenAI’s ‘Mendacious’ Pentagon Announcement — The Information
Anthropic and Alignment — Stratechery
Technological Scale and Government Control, Paramount Outbids Netflix for Warner Bros. — Stratechery Update
The End of the World As We Know It — Sharp Text
An Interview with Gregory Allen About Anthropic and the U.S. Government — Stratechery Interview
AI Homework — Stratechery
Pro-Neutrality, Anti-Title II — Stratechery
The Definitive Ranking of Tech Company Takeability — Sharp Text
F1 on Apple TV, Distribution as Differentiation, A Worthwhile Gamble — 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.
30 min
February 20 (Preview) The Roots of a Global Memory Shortage, Thick, Thin and Apple, Shopify is Fine, Actually
Ben and Andrew discuss the global memory shortage and answer a listener’s question: how did this happen? Topics include: What memory chips have in common with logic chips, why Intel left the memory market in the 1980s, how the international shipping market explains today’s shortage, how major players will address the problem going forward, possibly with some help from the Chinese. From there: A look at the “thin” future of AI computing as memory and performance takes precedent, AI computing that will still be done on device, and Apple’s AI strategy. At the end: Responses to Shopify concerns in the AI era, a question about the future of brands as AI finishes what digital advertising started, Shopify preferencing its own AI tools, and a looming test of Apple’s commitment to the Vision Pro.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
Rampant AI Demand for Memory Is Fueling a Growing Chip Crisis — Bloomberg
Thin Is In — Stratechery
Shopify Earnings, Shopify’s AI Advantages — Stratechery Update
Dreamer – why we built it! — David Singleton
Apple and the Ghosts of Companies Past — 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.
16 min
February 13 (Preview) Spotify Spreads Its Wings, CapEx Explosions and Distinctions, Q&A on Viral AI Tweets, Anthropic, Giannis
Ben and Andrew react to a killer round of earnings for Spotify and Daniel Ek’s final earnings call, including thoughts on Spotify’s transformation of the music industry, how a record company oligopoly helped create the definitive tech bundle, and why Spotify’s personalization requires an addendum to aggregation theory. From there: The difference between AI spending at Google and Amazon, why the AI buildout should be funded by debt, un-optimized tech companies, and the logic and risks of Amazon’s AI future. At the end: Reactions to a viral essay on AI job loss, a note about the Princeton Law Review, an ad man strikes back after Ben’s Anthropic criticism, and thoughts on Giannis’ investment in Kalshi.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
Spotify Earnings, Individualized Networks, AI and Aggregation — Stratechery Update
Amazon Earnings, CapEx Concerns, Commodity AI — Stratechery Update
An Interview with Ben Thompson by John Collison on the Cheeky Pint Podcast — Stratechery Interview
Something Big Is Happening — X: @mattshumer_
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.
31 min
February 06 (Preview) SaaSmageddon and the Future, Microsoft After a Market Correction, Anthropic’s Super Bowl Lies
Ben and Andrew react to a bloodbath for public Saas companies with thoughts on the future of software in the AI era, beginning with why companies choose to outsource solutions to Saas companies today, and why those moats may be more durable than skeptics think. Then: Why SaaS skepticism remains fair, including an analogy to the newspapers in the ’90s, the absence of anti-fragility, a variety of headwinds that will impact pricing power, start-ups with superior cost structures, and looming consolidation and layoff questions. At the end: The biggest SaaS company of them all and what Microsoft’s roadmap should look like, a response to data center skepticism, supply and demand for hyperscalers, why Ben hated the Anthropic Super Bowl ads, should AI hallucinations be good case law?, and a Vision Pro announcement.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
Microsoft and Software Survival — Stratechery
An Interview with Benedict Evans About AI and Software — Stratechery Interview
OpenAI Bets on Super Bowl to Break Through the Competition — Bloomberg
Sam Altman’s Response to Anthropic — X: @sama
Anthropic’s Super Bowl ads — X: @jmsltnv
Hallucinated Cases Are Good Law — X: @ProfRobAnderson
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.
28 min
January 30 (Preview) Meta’s Plans to Spend $135 Billion, The ‘AI Bubble’ Bubble?, Why Hyperscalers Should NOT Invest in TSMC
Unpacking the latest round of Meta earnings, including Wall Street’s about-face after last year’s CapEx squeamishness, whether Zuckerberg’s astronomical CapEx plans are more evidence he yearns to be more than an app maker, why Meta owes a thank you to Apple, Apple and Meta in the AI era, and a word about Instagram messages. Then: Are we in an “AI is a Bubble” bubble? Thoughts on mass adoption among software makers, demand that looks insatiable, product managers vs. engineers, and the era of perfect competition among employees. From there: Why hyperscalers should not solve the CapEx problem by co-investing in TSMC, why Ben sympathizes with TSMC, and a note on Samsung. At the end: Andrew shares his experience with Bucks-Lakers in the Vision Pro and reviews Ben’s takes.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
Meta Earnings, Turning Dials, Zuckerberg’s Motivation — Stratechery Update
Barrels and Ammunition — Conor Dewey
TSMC Risk — 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.
29 min
January 23 (Preview) A Call to Action for TSMC’s AI Customers, Wall Street’s Netflix Anxiety, Q&A on Tech’s Cignetti, OpenAI, Starbucks
TSMC’s pricing power in the AI era, a brief history of TSMC’s culture and CapEx decisions, and ongoing capacity constraints that should be pushing tech companies to build up competitors. Then: Thoughts on Netflix after Ben’s interview with co-CEO Greg Peters, including Wall Street’s concerns despite enormous success, whether and how the Warner Brothers acquisition could be a counter to YouTube, and the difference between Netflix content and user generated YouTube content. At the end: Questions about the Curt Cignetti of tech, a victory lap on OpenAI, advertising in chatbots, advertising as a force for good, and Andrew’s Starbucks habit.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
An Interview with Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters About Engagement and Warner Bros. — Stratechery Interview
TSMC Earnings, The TSMC Brake Revisited, Why AI Needs Foundry Competition — Stratechery Update
Ads in ChatGPT, Why OpenAI Needs Ads, The Long Road to Instagram — 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.
36 min