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

January 16 (Preview) Apple And Its Lack of Vision, The Transformation of United Airlines, Q&A on Grok, Meta, and Streaming Economics
A call for Apple to finally be confident in its Vision Pro hardware, a brief history of broadcasting sports on TV, and yet another reminder that immersive live experiences should be the killer use case that brings users to the Vision Pro platform. Then: Q&A on the AVP, a question on the Siri and Gemini partnership, and thoughts Ben’s interview with United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby and on how tech spearheaded the company’s revival. At the end: Questions on Meta Compute and the end of Aggregation Theory, Grok and its offensive bikini problems, and follow-ups on Baumol’s Cost Disease, humans wanting humans, streaming economics, and venting about the Green Bay Packers.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
Apple: You (Still) Don’t Understand the Vision Pro — Stratechery
An Interview with United CEO Scott Kirby About Tech Transformation — Stratechery Interview
Meta Compute, The Meta-OpenAI Battle, The Reality Labs Sacrifice — Stratechery Update
Grok is undressing anyone, including minors — The Verge
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
January 09 (Preview) The Economy in the 22nd Century, Amoral Tech and Silicon Valley Micro-Culture, What Nvidia Is Getting From Groq
Andrew and Ben return from the holidays to discuss Ben’s Article AI and the Human Condition, and various responses to the preponderance of pessimistic forecasts for what AI will mean for the future, including thoughts on employment, sex, and the problem with trying to regulate human nature. Then: An email about OpenAI spawns discussion of cultural assumptions, market incentives vs. social incentives, and tech as an amoral force. At the end: Unpacking the logic of Nvidia’s deal with Groq, a regulator’s own-goal, questions on streaming TV vs. music, sperm racing, and advice for a listener debating whether to embrace suburban living.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
AI and the Human Condition — Stratechery
Capital in the 22nd Century — Philosopher Count
Nvidia Reaches Technology Licensing Deal With Startup Groq — Bloomberg
Nvidia and Groq, A Stinkily Brilliant Deal, Why This Deal Makes Sense — Stratechery Update
Post by Eric Zhu on X — @ericzhu
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
December 19, 2025 (Preview) An OpenAI Reminder, Netflix’s Expanding Appetite, Q&A on Remote Work, Taco Bell, and Data Centers in Space
Andrew and Ben begin with reactions to ChatGPT’s new image capabilities, a reminder of OpenAI’s strategic advantages vs. Google, Disney’s deal with Sora, and Gemini 3 Flash. From there: Netflix and its competition for attention, Netflix continues its foray into podcasting, and a question about movie theaters highlights costs that Netflix will have to internalize going forward. Then: Extended thoughts on SpaceX and the possibility of data centers in space, while a listener does some field reporting on AWS usage. At the end: Strategies for a successful remote work life, Tesla and Rivian’s aversion to CarPlay, the new United app and developer trade-offs, oenophile preferences, Taco Bell, Christmas traditions, and an attack on Andrew for hypocrisy.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
ChatGPT Image 1.5; Apple v. Epic, Continued; Holiday Schedule — Stratechery Update
Disney and OpenAI, Totems in an AI World, Google Versus the World — Stratechery Update
Netflix and the Hollywood End Game — Stratechery
An Interview with Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe About Building a Car Company and Autonomy — Stratechery Interview
An Interview with Ryan Jones About Flighty and Building Apps in 2025 — 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
December 12, 2025 (Preview) Netflix Opportunities and Anxieties, Merger Hurdles to Come, Hollywood’s Endgame and What Comes Next
Andrew and Ben talk through Netflix’s proposed $72 billion deal to buy Warner Brothers, including the logic for Netflix, the frictionless nature of competition on the internet, and the threat that Netflix sees from YouTube. Then: David Zaslav’s windfall, and an argument about the regulatory questions that may scuttle this deal. At the end: The better business model between YouTube and Netflix, an emailer wonders why everyone is mourning the end of a Hollywood business that can’t succeed in the modern marketplace, groupchats and the college experience, and a word about Flighty.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
Netflix and the Hollywood End Game — Stratechery
Netflix and the Flattening of Everything — Sharp Text
An Emergency Interview with Michael Nathanson About Netflix’s Acquisition of Warner Bros. — Stratechery Interview
Economic Power in the Age of Abundance — Stratechery
Spotify, Netflix, and Aggregation — Stratechery
An Interview with Ryan Jones About Flighty and Building Apps in 2025 — 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.
21 min
December 05, 2025 (Preview) OpenAI Declares a ‘Code Red,’ Alan Dye Leaves Apple for Meta, Questions on Tranium 3, Substack, and F1
Thoughts on OpenAI as Sam Altman declares a “Code Red” in response to Gemini 3, including real concerns about ChatGPT’s market position, why the missed ads opportunity is becoming more acute, and ominous Google history. From there: Context on Alan Dye’s departure from Apple, Meta’s emphasis on a new design language, and the Meta fundamentals regardless of AR/VR and its AI efforts. At the end: Amazon’s tranium chips and its AI efforts, Substack and the challenge of customer acquisition, defending tech at Thanksgiving dinner, and various F1 takes before this weekend’s finale in Abu Dhabi.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
Google, Nvidia, and OpenAI — Stratechery
OpenAI CEO Declares ‘Code Red’ to Combat Threats to ChatGPT, Delays Ads Effort — The Information
OpenAI Code Red, AWS and Google Cloud Networking — Stratechery Update
Apple Design Executive Alan Dye Poached by Meta in Major Coup — Bloomberg
Bad Dye Job — Daring Fireball
Alan Dye Leaves Apple — Dithering
An Interview with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg About AI and the Evolution of Social Media — Stratechery Interview
An Interview with Atlassian CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes About Atlassian and 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.
26 min
November 26, 2025 (Preview) How Tech is Transforming the Suburbs, Q&A on Gemini, LLM Use Cases, Working With Your In-Laws, UAPs, and More
The ways tech has improved suburban life, why urbanism may have peaked, and the first and second order effects of Tesla's full self-driving technology. Then: A Thanksgiving mailbag! Topics include: A note from the Gemini team, a correction on Llama 4, a hater’s question on the utility of ChatGPT group chats, Ben and Andrew share their daily use cases for AI and Ben shares his prompt, while an emailer wonders about a boss using Copilot to send holiday gifts. From there: A subject matter expert debates whether to train his AI replacement, a listener seeks advice about working for his father-in-law, a question about balancing work and young children, Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, robot vacuums, Ben's ancestry, and a word about the Giannis era.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
Robotaxis and Suburbia — Stratechery
Gemini 3 Pro Is a Vast Intelligence With No Spine — Don’t Worry About the Vase
Apps, People, and Jobs to Be Done — Stratechery
The Definitive Ranking of Tech Company Takeability — 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.
22 min
November 21, 2025 (Preview) Google Starts Dancing, The Winners and Losers of Gemini Week, OpenAI Has an Advertising Problem
Ben and Andrew begin with Gemini 3, what to make of its terrific benchmark results, and why TPUs provide Google a sustainable cost advantage in AI. From there: Google’s opportunity in the enterprise space, Apple’s white label deal, and questions about both OpenAI’s future growth and challenges that loom if ChatGPT can’t incorporate advertising. At the end: Thoughts on what Gemini means for Nvidia, Anthropic’s market in AI, why Amazon and OpenAI are losers of the Anthropic-Nvidia-Microsoft announcement, and a correction regarding Charter cellular coverage.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
New Bing, and an Interview with Kevin Scott and Sam Altman About the Microsoft-OpenAI Partnership — Stratechery Update
Gemini 3, Winners and Losers, Integration and the Enterprise — Stratechery Update
ChatGPT Group Chats, Meta and the Encryption Trade-off, Network Effects and Ad Models — Stratechery Update
An Interview with Eric Seufert About Advertising and AI — Stratechery Interview
ChatGPT Gets a Computer — 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.
33 min
November 14, 2025 (Preview) How Apple Changed the Cellular Economy, What SpaceX Wants to Do With Spectrum, Airlines and Carriers, Yann LeCun Departs Meta
Andrew and Ben analyze SpaceX's nearly $20 billion in purchases by first touching on cell carrier history and the power dynamics that iPhones upended 20 years ago. Then: Understanding the SpaceX business and Musk's approach to strategy, what Starlink is trying to do with satellite internet on airlines, a power play with cell carriers that appears to have failed earlier this year, and now, a Plan B that may involve an acquisition and a bid to partner with Apple. At the end: Why Yann LeCun leaving Meta is the right outcome for both sides, a question about big companies and innovation spawns regulation cautionary tales and a cigar anecdote, and wondering about the impact of big tech on AI's future.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
Why Do Carriers Subsidize the iPhone? — Stratechery
SpaceX Buys More Spectrum, SpaceX’s Pivot, Why Apple and SpaceX Should Partner — Stratechery Update
SpaceX Buys Spectrum, Spectrum Specifics, SpaceX’s Big Bet — Stratechery Update
An Interview with Unity CEO Matthew Bromberg About Turnarounds — Stratechery Interview
Meta chief AI scientist Yann LeCun plans to exit and launch own start-up — Financial Times
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
November 07, 2025 (Preview) OpenAI Wants Help from the Government, Apple Taps Google for AI, Q&A on Bubbles, Amazon Groceries, and YouTube TV
Ben and Andrew begin with reactions to the OpenAI CFO discussing a federal "backstop" for prospective financing, as well as Sam Altman's recent comments about OpenAI's spending. Then: An emailer objects to the discussion of Bubble benefits, and questions about Meta's AI spending and a looming the AI backlash as hiring contracts and electricity prices rise. From there: Unpacking the announcement that Apple will use Gemini to power Siri, and two follow-ups to last week's discussion of "Too Big to Fail" in tech. At the end: Thoughts on Amazon's grocery ambitions, Walmart's continued success, the YouTube TV-ESPN dispute, and a listener's mental model of Ticketmaster.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
The Benefits of Bubbles — Stratechery
OpenAI Isn’t Yet Working Toward an IPO, CFO Says — Wall Street Journal
The Deployment Age — Reaction Wheel
Apple to Kick Off 50th Anniversary With Nearly $140 Billion Quarter — Bloomberg
Amazon Earnings, AWS and OpenAI, Did Amazon Solve Groceries? — Stratechery Update
An Interview with Michael Morton About AI E-Commerce — 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.
19 min
October 31, 2025 (Preview) The Hidden Benefits of Bubble Economics, Microsoft and OpenAI Make a Deal, Notes on Taylor Sheridan, Sora, and Nexperia
Discussing Ben's interview with Substrate CEO James Proud, including the "insane" challenge he's undertaken as Substrate attempts to compete with TSMC and ASML, and the ways in which a bubbly environment benefits innovation by incentivizing exactly that sort of moonshot. From there: Ben's thoughts on the "Too Big to Fail" era in tech that may be averted, reactions to the latest humanoid robot, and thoughts on both sides of the OpenAI-MIcrosoft announcement earlier this week. At the end: Taylor Sheridan leaves Paramount for greener pastures, Sharp Text and lessons from Grantland, a temperature check on Sora one month later, lessons from the Nexperia mess in Europe, a question about Magic: The Gathering, and a few corrections to last week's show.
To email the show: [email protected]
@SharpTechPodcast Channel — YouTube
@Stratechery Channel — YouTube
An Interview with Substrate CEO James Proud About Building a Disruptive Foundry in America — Stratechery Interview
An Interview with Byrne Hobart About Bubbles and Escaping Stagnation — Stratechery Interview
Nvidia GTC in DC, Qualcomm’s AI Chip, OpenAI’s Restructuring — Stratechery Update
Why Taylor Sheridan Is Worth a Billion Dollars — 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.
33 min