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Are Insiders Cashing In on Trump’s Iran Talk? | Pivot

March 27, 2026 / 01:02:30

This episode of Pivot covers President Trump's technology council, AI policy, and social media addiction lawsuits. Hosts Carara Swisser and Scott Galloway discuss Trump's plans to include tech leaders like Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Ellison in shaping AI regulations, expressing concerns over the lack of diverse opinions in the council.

They also talk about the recent social media addiction lawsuits against Meta and YouTube, where both companies were found liable for harming young users. The hosts highlight the implications of these verdicts and the growing legal accountability for social media companies.

Additionally, the conversation touches on political dynamics, including surprising Democratic wins in Florida and the implications of potential insider trading linked to Trump. They analyze how these events may affect future elections and the political landscape.

Finally, the episode features a discussion about Amazon's rumored return to the phone market with a new AI-driven device, raising questions about the viability of such a product given past failures.

TL;DR

Trump's tech council raises concerns, social media firms face addiction lawsuits, and Amazon may re-enter the phone market.

Video

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You know what, Mark? Just pay the money

00:00:02

and fix it. Like, just stop.

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>> Hi everyone, this is Pivot from New York

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Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast

00:00:14

Network. I'm Carara Swisser

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>> and I'm Scott Galloway.

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>> There's so much going on.

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>> That listen, President Trump plans to

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install big tech names like Mark

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Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, and Jensen

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Wong to a technology council to weigh in

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on AI policies and other issues. We were

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not invited

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>> AI policy. Buy more of my [ __ ] US

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government buy more. Give me what I

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need. You know, it's again

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>> no regulation and buy more of my [ __ ]

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That's going to be their anybody who has

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a different alternative view that these

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are the only experts. Our invit say I

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would say our invitation's lost them in

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or the dog ate our invitation but he

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hates dogs. So Trump ate our invitation.

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I just don't this list is nobody who has

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any doubt about it, nobody who has any

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good research. No one whose interests

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are not aligned with it. No regulation

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with with any

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>> conflicts everywhere.

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>> Everywhere. I just

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>> Well, do you know Jensen Hong's a big

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fan of selling being able to sell his

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chips into China despite the fact these

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are the chips that you do with and track

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Ohio

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and and you know I just this god these

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people like you think if you were a real

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president and I think this guy is losing

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it every single day and including the

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polls which are just like look out below

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but um it's really amazing that he

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doesn't want other inputs like that may

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vary from his rich friends. It's just I

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find it it's just not good policy not to

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have people who doubt each other and

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debate it. I just I don't understand.

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We're waiting for an invite. Even just

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you. Even you if he needs the white guys

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and

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>> even you.

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>> Well, you be good.

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>> I love that. Well, I think you even you.

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I mean,

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>> you're the white guy. They're not going

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to have me. I'm irritating to all of

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these people. And so, uh, you know, I'm

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just saying. I'm just saying

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>> you uh speaking of which

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>> Oh, yeah. Someone was someone said I

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don't know on one of these many many

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platforms which are just so good for

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your mental health

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>> that car was a total shill for big tech

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>> and I I I

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wrote

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>> do you realize like I have been on when

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you go on a board and they don't want

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you on the board they stick you on the

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nominating and governance committee

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which has absolutely no power

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>> information okay

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>> and your job your job is to find new

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directors and it's just it It's it's

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literally like, you know, put them put

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them at the weird kids table. And so

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I've of course served on a lot of

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nominating and governance committees

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>> and where you're supposed to recruit new

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board members.

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>> If you weren't such a pain in the ass to

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these people,

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>> you'd be [ __ ] chairman of SpaceX

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right now. I would be

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>> because over the last 20 years we have

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correctly started saying all right let's

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try and broaden the aperture and bring

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in candidates who potentially don't look

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smell and feel like us and aren't

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members of the same country club. So, a

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a journalist, a a gay journalist who's

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covered tech, you were built in a

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factory of lesser.

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>> I'm gonna go on a board next year. Well,

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let's discuss that. You're

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>> I know, but the reason I I mean this

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sincerely, Cara, you're not going to

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have me on.

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>> The reason you haven't been invited uh

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to be on

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>> I was invited to one. I was invited to

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one.

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>> Okay. But the reason you haven't been

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invited to half a dozen

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>> is because you get in their face.

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>> Yeah.

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on boards. Nobody's going to put They

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don't mind someone who has alternative

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opinions or whatever,

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>> but ever since, quite frankly, I'll be

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blunt, ever since I started becoming

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more outspoken on podcasts,

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>> I used to get invited to go on three or

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four boards a year, it's gone way down.

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>> Wow. Interesting.

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>> Because the public CEOs are like,

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>> the public CEOs are like, "Okay,

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>> no,

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>> let's call him. Let's bring him in.

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Let's talk to him." But I don't want him

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in my boardroom.

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>> Let me address something though. This

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week, I gave a thing at Syracuse

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University. They asked me this amazing

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to

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>> the orange men and I was talking about

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things that I've talked about a lot

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about CNN and the Ellison's owning it

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and this and that and where AI is going.

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>> A little controversy this weekend. A

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little controversy. By the way, by the

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way, I just want to say you want to talk

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about it.

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>> I just I just want to say that I find

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David Ellison very attractive.

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>> I do too.

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>> And Larry Ellison is a huge big brain

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thinker.

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>> He's a nice guy. He makes great movies.

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>> I would absolutely love to work for

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them.

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>> Yes. Okay. All right. Listen. This is

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what happened. I was telling things I've

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said 109 times before. I don't want to

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work for a tech mogul. I don't. I just

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never have. Walt and I didn't take money

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from

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>> as opposed to a media mogul.

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>> You worked for media? Absolutely. Yes.

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Yes.

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>> I'm running challenge here. So, you'd

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rather work for Rupert Murdoch than

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Larry Ellison?

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>> I We left Rupert Murdoch, my friend. I

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>> You did work there. You did work there.

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You check as fast as I could get out. I

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got out.

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>> How long were you there? Hold on. Hold

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on. Hold on. How long are you there?

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>> Just like two years before we could get

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out.

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>> Was there two years?

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>> Yeah. No, I was there a long time, but

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he didn't buy it for a while. In any

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case, Scott, we left. We left News Corp

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because of Rupert Murdoch and that

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behavior around the the the the taping

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of that the dead girl was awful.

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>> Was awful. We left like very soon after

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and we we on purpose.

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>> Was this the voicemail thing?

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>> Yes.

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>> Oh god.

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>> I know. Exactly. So, we did that and we

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took money. We we were offered money

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from Silicon Valley venture capitalist

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and we took money from Terry Seml who

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was had a media fund.

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>> Oh, yeah. Yahoo. CBS.

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>> Yeah. Anyway, he's a lovely guy, amazing

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guy, amazing person. He had a media fund

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and then we took money from NBC, but we

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were offered venture capital money and

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we didn't take it because I was like,

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"These [ __ ] they're going to [ __ ]

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me."

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>> There's a word for that, venture

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capitalist. But anyways, go ahead.

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>> But anyway, I we didn't take the money

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and then I just don't want to work for

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tech people. And I've said that to you

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on this podcast a dozen [ __ ] times,

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right? Haven't I?

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>> A dozen. So, I I repeat that again. But

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what what what I did was Scott McFarland

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who left CBS and is now with Midas um

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touch which is a very fast growing thing

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and they're going into news now instead

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of just news aggregation which is a cool

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thing and they Scott is an astonishing

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journalist he did an amazing job

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>> around the January 6th and the justice

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department astonishing very handsome man

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by the way you would love his

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handsomeness very tall because he went

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to Syracuse and so he was the MC and as

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a joke he was like you know he was

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talking about going independent oh no

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cuz he looks like an ad for an anchor.

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He a typical TV anchor and he was, you

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know, he's like, "Oh goodness, I'm

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taking a big leap." And and I was like,

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"Oh, it's going to be great." And I said

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to him, I said, "You're you made the

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right decision." And I I was looking

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directly at him and joking. I'm like,

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"You don't want to work for the I you

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don't want to work for the Ellison's. I

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mean, he's a terrible person." I was

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just like like laying it on as a joke.

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The whole crowd laughed. I was not I

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don't think Larry Ellison's a terrible

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person. He's he's got he's a he's

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actually very funny. I don't agree with

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him on a lot of things. He's an amazing

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entrepreneur. He has great aesthetic

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taste, by the way, and his ship, his

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boats are fantastic. Like, I was joking

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to Scott McFarland directly, and somehow

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these reporters were like, "Cara Swisser

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thinks Larry Ellison is a terrible

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person." And it was crazy. And it's also

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all the things I've said before many

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times. Like, it's it's kind of weird.

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And then it became a thing. Whatever. I

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I like, by the way, let me just be

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clear. I like David Ellison. He's a nice

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guy. Larry Ellison is a tough dude. I'm

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sorry. He really is. And people can

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dislike him because he's had a really

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He's been a tough C cowboy over the many

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years. That said, I do think he's very

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innovative and has done astonishing

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things. And so, but I don't want to work

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I I don't want to work for tech people.

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I don't. And I I think it's perfectly,

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you know, legitimate. And frankly, the

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decisions they've made have been

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terrible around stuff that concerns me.

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And that worries me of them taking over

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salmon. So what big deal?

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>> I think you're being bigoted against

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wealthy white men. And you know,

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>> Larry Elson is a very funny guy. That is

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true. He's a very witty. Anyway, I don't

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think it's a big deal, but whatever.

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Whatever.

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>> You know, you wouldn't have to worry

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about this if you weren't living

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forever.

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>> See, this is the difference. The CNN

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people are like, huge premiering soon.

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and she insults the new owners. I mean,

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>> I'm I'm being very serious. I get I'm

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speaking at

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>> one of these events tonight. Um anyways,

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but um I get a huge amount of power from

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my atheism because I find it very

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comforting to know at some point

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>> everyone I'm worried about is going to

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be dead and so am I.

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>> Yeah.

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>> I find it actually quite liberating to

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realize,

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>> okay,

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>> squeeze all the juice you can out of

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this lemon called life cuz we're going

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to be dead soon and take risks. And if

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you [ __ ] up, it really doesn't matter.

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>> We are on the same wavelength.

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>> No. In a 100 years, no one's going to

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remember us or anybody we care about. So

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>> anyway, uh moving on. The Pentagon, this

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is troubling to me, is sending roughly

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2,000 troops uh from the 82nd Airborne

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Division to the Middle East. As of this

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recording, there's been no decision to

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put, I hate this expression, boots on

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the ground, but that's what it is. Um

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Trump is talking a lot of talk this

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week, saying the war has effectively

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been won. Iran wants to make a deal and

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negotiations are happening right now

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even as Iran disputes that and I hate to

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say it but I believe Iran and I don't

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like the people who are running Iran and

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he said he got a gift from Iran calling

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it a very big present worth a tremendous

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amount of money and tied to oil and gas

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no idea what that is the US is all I

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think he's just making [ __ ] up now the

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US has also well he always does he's

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also sent Iran a 15-point plan to end

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the war demands including dismantling

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nuclear sites ending enrichment and

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reopening the straight of Hormuz

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We certainly had some of those things in

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place before. And as potential talks may

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or may not be taking shape, there are

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reports that Iran would prefer to deal

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with Vice President J. D. Vance over

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Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. I Wow,

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that's a that's a choice, right? That's

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a choice. But I would agree with the

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Iranians on that. Um, and Vance has been

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um the person who, you know, is going to

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be running for president and could

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possibly be president and also has been

00:10:01

opposed to the war quietly. Um, he that

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he certainly ran on the idea of no more

00:10:06

wars and he's he's also a a veteran. Um,

00:10:10

I don't know what do what do you think

00:10:11

about that? What's going on there? It

00:10:13

seems insane. It's all um I mean I go to

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the markets you know so there was an

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unusual amount of futures that changed

00:10:22

hands at

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>> talk about this

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>> well I I believe that in a digital world

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where forensics and AI and investigative

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journalists

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u one of the wonderful things about

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America is that people see incentive in

00:10:38

in finding out what actually went down

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and I think that's one of the wonderful

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things about our our society

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I think you're going to see President

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Trump

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four or five years post his presidency

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sitting in front of a camera and a jury

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pretending to be too old and that he

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just doesn't remember him telling his

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buddies, his friends, his family members

00:11:01

that oh I think I'm going to announce

00:11:04

that the talks are going really well

00:11:05

even though according to the Islamic

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Republic there are no talks which will

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send the markets it's skyrocketing and

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then when it comes out 24 48 hours later

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that in fact there are no talks and then

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the markets oil surges again and the

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markets go down.

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>> This is an insider traders.

00:11:25

>> It's right from the White House. It's

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right from the White House.

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>> Ivan Boowki

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>> could not have dreamt of this situation.

00:11:32

>> The ability to trade

00:11:34

>> Yep.

00:11:35

>> uh on these on near certainty. The

00:11:38

president knows that if he just a he can

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say any he believes he can say anything

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he [ __ ] wants. It doesn't matter. I

00:11:44

can lie. I can be full of [ __ ] Just put

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out press releases. It doesn't matter.

00:11:48

Kind of the you know funding secured

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over and over. And I know that the

00:11:54

markets will respond swiftly to my

00:11:58

comments. There is now zero day options

00:12:01

where you can buy options that expire by

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the end of the day. And I'm going to go

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out on a limb here and think and say

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that sometimes the president doesn't

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have that much fidelity to rule of law

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or conflicts of interest.

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>> I find it like I this has happened over

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and over again. There is they must just

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he must just say things while on the

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toilet and people then trade or

00:12:21

whatever. And you know, interestingly,

00:12:23

let me note lawmakers are introducing

00:12:24

bipartisan bills to ban prediction

00:12:26

markets from listing there. There's a

00:12:28

lot of action on this now from listing

00:12:30

sports bets and to prohibit members of

00:12:32

Congress from trading in certain

00:12:34

markets. Facing the heat, Kowi plans to

00:12:36

block athletes, coaches, and officials

00:12:38

from betting on their sports and

00:12:39

political candidates from trading on

00:12:40

their campaigns. And Poly Market

00:12:42

announced finally enhanced market

00:12:44

integrity rules, including banning

00:12:46

trading on stolen confidential

00:12:48

information. I mean, this has happened

00:12:51

rather quickly and quite it's quite

00:12:54

important that this happen. Um, you

00:12:57

know, it's really uh it's it's just

00:12:59

grift. It's just out and out grift that

00:13:01

these numbers and you know that

00:13:03

Democrats are prepared. This is like so

00:13:06

deep in the heart of easy to prove,

00:13:08

right? This kind of stuff and who's

00:13:10

doing it. And so I think they better,

00:13:13

you know, they better hope uh they get

00:13:15

those pardons from from uh from Trump

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and he pardons himself because this is

00:13:20

just really it's let let me break it

00:13:23

down for regular people. They're making

00:13:25

money at your expense and cheating while

00:13:29

doing it. Like what? I don't know what

00:13:31

else to say.

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>> Look, the Democrats engage in what I'll

00:13:35

call small cap corruption. And that is

00:13:38

it's not illegal to trade stocks right

00:13:40

now is if you're a US Congress person.

00:13:43

>> I think it should be.

00:13:44

>> And and even though there are

00:13:46

regulations and guidelines against it,

00:13:48

the fines is a slap on the wrist. So the

00:13:50

incentives are if I'm sitting in a you

00:13:53

know the Senate if I'm on the in the

00:13:57

defense uh committee or the intelligence

00:14:00

committee and we're talking about a $30

00:14:04

billion contract to Northre Grumman and

00:14:06

it looks like it's going to go through

00:14:08

and my guess is Northre Grumman will put

00:14:10

out a press release in 72 hours.

00:14:13

Hey honey. Hey Paul Pelosi.

00:14:16

>> Mhm. I really like Northrup and I just

00:14:20

want to be even-handed here. I think

00:14:22

Trump

00:14:23

>> Scott, you do this every time. This is

00:14:24

like sh massive corruption in a

00:14:26

different

00:14:27

>> It's just corruption on a different

00:14:28

scale, but it's still corruption.

00:14:30

>> It is, but you tend to go right to Nancy

00:14:31

Pelosi who's leaving Congress. We we we

00:14:33

know we should have passed these

00:14:35

>> because,

00:14:36

>> okay,

00:14:36

>> because in order to be taken seriously,

00:14:38

we have to be critical thinkers and

00:14:39

apply to both sides of the aisle.

00:14:41

>> I understand this is

00:14:43

>> so but let's look at the data. over the

00:14:46

last what is it 20 years the S&P has

00:14:49

tripled and the Pelosi portfolio is up

00:14:51

sevenfold

00:14:53

>> and nothing she has done is illegal.

00:14:57

>> This is a certain type of corruption.

00:14:59

What Trump has done is said okay that's

00:15:02

small ball.

00:15:03

>> You're corrupt for millions. I'm going

00:15:05

to be corrupt for billions. Yeah,

00:15:07

>> because what he's done,

00:15:09

>> it's I'm not sure it's illegal, but

00:15:12

we've never we've been dependent upon

00:15:14

and Barry Goldwater predicted this 50

00:15:16

years ago.

00:15:17

>> We have been too dependent upon a series

00:15:19

of norms

00:15:20

>> as opposed to laws and slowly but surely

00:15:23

seated power.

00:15:24

>> Absolutely right.

00:15:24

>> So Trump says, "Oh, everyone's doing

00:15:27

it." Marjorie Taylor Green was doing

00:15:29

everyone in not everyone a significant

00:15:33

number of people in Congress have been

00:15:34

trading stocks and beating the market.

00:15:36

>> Mark Wayne Mullen was one of them.

00:15:38

>> Uh they can't and also in my solution I

00:15:42

think they should make I think people in

00:15:44

Congress I think representatives should

00:15:45

make a million dollars a year and

00:15:47

senators should make $2 million a year.

00:15:49

>> I agree.

00:15:49

>> Every they make I think 168 or $178,000

00:15:53

a year.

00:15:53

>> Small

00:15:54

>> if you have two homes and you're living

00:15:55

in DC

00:15:56

>> Yeah. And you you weren't rich before

00:15:58

running for Congress.

00:15:59

>> We should pay for their apartments. I

00:16:01

mean, I just

00:16:01

>> You can't afford you can't afford

00:16:03

>> You should have these nice apartments

00:16:04

for them that are actually secure. So,

00:16:06

put make them more secure.

00:16:08

>> The Singapore model, the probably the

00:16:10

best run nation in the world, the

00:16:11

Singapore model. They pay their elected

00:16:13

officials a lot of money and they have

00:16:16

zero tolerance.

00:16:18

>> You cannot go to work for a lobbying

00:16:19

firm or a pack company. There has to be

00:16:21

a sunlight period or whatever they call

00:16:23

it, sunshine period. You cannot in any

00:16:26

way have any insight domain benefit in

00:16:29

any way. We find out you've called your

00:16:32

cousin in the Philippines and here or

00:16:33

she is trading stocks. You're probably

00:16:36

going to get lashed. That's literally

00:16:37

what it's like in Singapore. And what do

00:16:38

you know? There's no corruption.

00:16:40

Anyways, my he has taken it to an

00:16:42

absolutely new level. But just circling

00:16:44

back where I started, we're going to

00:16:45

find out that the greatest levels volume

00:16:49

of insider trading in history are

00:16:52

happening and originating out of

00:16:54

Pennsylvania Avenue.

00:16:55

>> Absolutely. 100%. One of the things

00:16:57

that's uh problem I think there there's

00:17:00

there were people talking about whether

00:17:01

it's treasonous or not to release the

00:17:03

things because these are these are these

00:17:04

are boots on the ground that could get

00:17:06

hurt and everything else. There's a

00:17:07

whole level of complexity here because

00:17:09

they're betting on possible deaths of

00:17:11

Americans and others. Um

00:17:14

sending JD van, where do you imagine

00:17:16

this Iran thing because it is going back

00:17:18

and forth and back and forth and the

00:17:19

market is trying to grock it and it it

00:17:21

feels very whipssaw. Um so far they've

00:17:24

given it hasn't suffered that badly. You

00:17:26

had talked about a real decline in the

00:17:28

market. Um, is this the thing that will

00:17:31

pull it off or just very briefly because

00:17:33

we have to get to some other

00:17:34

>> the thing that pull you mean sending JD

00:17:35

Vance

00:17:37

>> but but sending Vice President Vance is

00:17:39

a signal. There's a few signals here.

00:17:41

One, the scariest signal is we have

00:17:43

amphibious ships and combat marine

00:17:46

marines being deployed to the region.

00:17:48

This is either you could argue he's just

00:17:49

playing poker or in fact he's planning

00:17:51

to put in the terminal like boots on the

00:17:53

ground in Carg and maybe do a swap where

00:17:56

I'll let the oil flow through CarG if

00:17:58

you ensure the Straits of Hormos are of

00:18:01

safe passage. There's all sorts of game

00:18:03

theory going on here. He has a tendency

00:18:05

to lie and then before before a quote

00:18:08

unquote surprise attack, which I think

00:18:09

is bad for our brand long term. America

00:18:11

has to be seen as doing what they say

00:18:12

and meaning what they say and saying

00:18:14

what they mean. Right.

00:18:15

>> But anyways, sending Vance is a signal

00:18:18

because

00:18:18

>> Well, no, they're not sending Vance. The

00:18:20

Iranians want Vance.

00:18:21

>> Well, but the Iranians want Vance. And

00:18:26

this is quite frankly, this is a signal

00:18:28

that for the people who want this to end

00:18:31

because Vance is on the record of saying

00:18:34

>> for a long time that these types of

00:18:36

misadventures overseas were a bad idea.

00:18:38

>> He's been really quiet.

00:18:40

>> Well, he hasn't. He's like, I think I

00:18:42

won't let send let let Scott Bent do

00:18:46

that. He the last thing he wants to do

00:18:48

is get on himself

00:18:49

>> with Kirsten Welker and have her bring

00:18:52

up about 5 million

00:18:54

>> times

00:18:55

>> tapes and where he said under no s World

00:18:58

War II under Biden. We could should

00:19:00

never get into these quagmires overseas.

00:19:02

>> There's just

00:19:03

>> he's trying his best to justify it.

00:19:05

>> He is literally just doing everything he

00:19:07

can to stay.

00:19:09

He's literally hiding behind the

00:19:10

curtain. He's like, "Don't ask me." Um,

00:19:12

he's he's done a few like real pretzel

00:19:15

moves that are really problematic. Um,

00:19:17

but it's

00:19:17

>> but the RGC probably believes correctly

00:19:20

he's more likely to to be empathetic to

00:19:23

want to deescalate. So, this is a good

00:19:27

side. The fact that the Trump

00:19:28

administration is entertaining this, he

00:19:31

he both sides, I think he is probably

00:19:34

the guy

00:19:36

>> that can find common ground here.

00:19:37

>> Not Rubio. Well, we'll see. Um I

00:19:40

>> Rubia is perceived as a bit of a hawk. A

00:19:41

lot of people think he's the shadow

00:19:43

president right now. What has been the

00:19:44

most militarily adventurous

00:19:46

administration in a long time

00:19:48

>> incredible and they're planning Cuba

00:19:50

next which is like oh god

00:19:51

>> that I mean

00:19:52

>> leave let them die themselves. They're

00:19:54

already on their last legs. Just let

00:19:56

them fall and then we'll move in the

00:19:58

hotels.

00:19:58

>> I'm sorry. Under the oposis of having an

00:20:00

opinion about [ __ ] I have no domain

00:20:01

expertise in. Let me just say that the

00:20:03

smartest thing we could do

00:20:04

geopolitically as it as it relates to

00:20:06

Cuba

00:20:07

>> would be to be sending humanitarian aid

00:20:09

to them right now.

00:20:10

>> If you want the people to rise up and

00:20:12

think, you know, the Americans aren't

00:20:13

that bad. Maybe we should normalize

00:20:15

relations. At some point, the Castro

00:20:17

family will die out.

00:20:19

>> It would be starching our hat white and

00:20:21

sending

00:20:23

>> sending power, fuel, and food to Cuba

00:20:25

right now. Yeah. and instead were anyway

00:20:29

>> it worked out so well for the Kennedy

00:20:31

administration. But what's really

00:20:32

interesting is this is all having an

00:20:34

effect. Democrats pulled off a

00:20:35

surprising win in Florida. Actually, a

00:20:37

pair of them, but one that was

00:20:38

particularly sort of surprising,

00:20:39

flipping two legislative seats,

00:20:41

including the district that covers Mara

00:20:43

Lago. Like in he now has a Democratic

00:20:45

representative. Emily Gregory, a

00:20:47

firsttime candidate with a background in

00:20:49

public health, won by a little over two

00:20:51

points. Astonishing. This was a big

00:20:53

Trump uh district. Trump has taken to

00:20:55

social media to support her opponent

00:20:57

obviously and President Trump who's

00:20:59

called voting by mail cheating voted by

00:21:01

mail in the election. I mean these the

00:21:03

dem the list of things Democrats have

00:21:05

won recently is really something else.

00:21:08

Um to see them winning in all sorts of

00:21:10

districts and from people I know down

00:21:12

there they're just furious at him.

00:21:14

They're they really are these are all

00:21:16

his fans like or people who voted for

00:21:18

him. Um, and it's really it's I'm not

00:21:22

sure it's a I think people I think they

00:21:24

they're going to try to steal the

00:21:25

election. I don't think it's going to be

00:21:26

possible givingven the overwhelming

00:21:28

numbers that are going to happen. And

00:21:30

and another thing that's affecting him

00:21:31

and these are two topic as we record

00:21:33

negotiations to end the fivewe DHS

00:21:35

shutdown or standstill with Congress

00:21:37

scheduled to go into recess any minute.

00:21:39

The Republicans have brought a number of

00:21:41

possibilities to Trump but he's turned

00:21:43

them all down and the Democrats are

00:21:45

sticking. The sticking points are still

00:21:47

ICE funding and enforcement reforms.

00:21:49

Very simple things. Don't wear masks. Uh

00:21:51

bring in judicial warrants and um and uh

00:21:56

and cameras. It's nothing is that hard.

00:21:59

No one was happy again from the latest

00:22:01

rose from the Republicans. TSA officers

00:22:03

will miss in their paycheck this Friday

00:22:04

if the deal hasn't reached. They've lost

00:22:06

hundreds of employees. On Tuesday

00:22:08

morning, Delta Airlines suspended

00:22:10

specialty services for members of

00:22:12

Congress. Yay. They're going to have to

00:22:14

wait in line like everybody else, which

00:22:15

I think is great, all of them. Um, you

00:22:18

said in your la our last show that

00:22:20

grounding private planes might move the

00:22:22

needle. Um, and I love that Delta and

00:22:25

others are pushing back. The TSA is

00:22:27

pushing back against

00:22:28

>> Delta. Great great brandenhancing.

00:22:32

Brilliant [ __ ] move by Delta.

00:22:34

>> And no one likes ICE there. Like they're

00:22:35

you TSA has said it's useless. The

00:22:38

airlines think it's useless. It's there

00:22:40

was a pilot that got on social media

00:22:43

where he's like this [ __ ] sucks

00:22:45

people. And I I have to say this is all

00:22:46

at Donald Trump's door because he's

00:22:48

refusing to deal because of the Save Act

00:22:51

and letting people wait in line. I love

00:22:53

that Congress people have to wait in

00:22:55

line. I love it. And so talk about this

00:22:57

win in Mara Lago and and what's

00:22:59

happening with TSA because besides Iran,

00:23:02

this is yet another series of things

00:23:04

that are indicators, leading indicators.

00:23:07

Thoughts? District 87, Palm Beach C

00:23:10

County, as you noticed, includes, you

00:23:12

know, White House, Florida. And a really

00:23:15

impressive young woman, I love this

00:23:17

Gregory.

00:23:18

>> Fantastic.

00:23:19

>> 40-year-old small business owner and

00:23:21

military spouse running for office for

00:23:23

the first time, defeated Republican John

00:23:26

Maples, who had Trump's complete and

00:23:28

total endorsement. She won with 51.2%

00:23:33

with turnout roughly at 29%. Trump

00:23:35

carried the district by 11 points in

00:23:37

2024. That's a lot.

00:23:39

>> The previous Republican incumbent, won

00:23:42

by 20 points. I mean, this is And then

00:23:45

let's go up

00:23:46

>> Let's go up the, you know, let's go up

00:23:48

the coast of the great state of Florida.

00:23:50

Democrat Brian Nathan, a Navy veteran

00:23:52

and Union organizer, upset Republican

00:23:56

Josie Tomcow by just 408 votes, a margin

00:23:58

of.5%,

00:24:00

which could trigger a machine recount.

00:24:02

But Tomcow outspent Nathan more than 3

00:24:06

to one. And Nate, it looks like Nathan

00:24:08

won and received over 400,000 in kind

00:24:11

contributions from the Florida

00:24:12

Republican Senatorial Campaign

00:24:13

Committee. The previous Republican

00:24:15

incumbent, Jay Collins, won the seat by

00:24:18

10 points in 2022. And this all bubbles

00:24:22

up to the most shocking, exciting, and

00:24:25

somewhat it almost I'm almost worried

00:24:26

we're peing too early right now.

00:24:28

>> No,

00:24:29

>> the prediction markets.

00:24:30

>> Mhm. uh Cali is saying for the first

00:24:33

time

00:24:34

that it's more likely than not

00:24:37

>> that Democrats

00:24:39

take the Senate.

00:24:41

>> Yeah. Mhm.

00:24:42

>> We When have we heard that? Everyone has

00:24:44

said it's

00:24:45

>> everyone the narrative so far from quote

00:24:47

unquote all the experts is it's likely

00:24:49

very likely Democrats will get control

00:24:52

of the House.

00:24:53

>> But the map is really difficult for

00:24:55

Senate. really difficult like looking at

00:24:57

the people

00:24:58

>> and now people more people are betting

00:25:01

their money on Democrats taking the

00:25:05

Senate. This is

00:25:06

>> it is I think the Democrats are fielding

00:25:08

much better candidate this woman and

00:25:10

seems I I love her. I was like I love

00:25:12

you. She was focusing in on maternal

00:25:14

health and affordability issues. You

00:25:16

know you have Abby Spanberger in

00:25:18

Virginia. You've got Mickey Cheryl.

00:25:20

You've got all even Mad people good

00:25:22

candidates everywhere. Yeah, Telerico

00:25:26

and not just centrist ones. Just really

00:25:28

good everywhere.

00:25:29

>> People fresh ideas.

00:25:31

>> Yeah. Fresh ideas, you know, tough

00:25:33

>> regulariz prostates, still childbearing,

00:25:36

actually think about kids, actually have

00:25:38

kids at home.

00:25:39

>> Yep.

00:25:39

>> Yeah.

00:25:40

>> I feel I feel really good about the

00:25:42

candidates. And the Trump ones look like

00:25:44

a bunch of cult members or acolytes that

00:25:46

really hate him secretly. And by the

00:25:48

way, let me stress to everybody, if you

00:25:51

hang around Republicans, off the record,

00:25:54

they eviscerate Trump. On the record,

00:25:56

they suck up to it makes them so awful.

00:25:59

Like, like, at least the Democrats fight

00:26:02

in public, I guess, than they do. Um,

00:26:04

but it's really um it's really something

00:26:07

to see what's happening here. That was I

00:26:09

think there's the Mara Lago one is

00:26:11

particularly notable obviously but

00:26:14

across the country in places where

00:26:16

Democrats have never won. Georgia,

00:26:17

Kansas, all these places they're they're

00:26:20

knocking up wins and and so that that

00:26:22

creates a real opportunity if Democrats

00:26:25

walk into it. And I think so far on the

00:26:27

local level like this, the candidates

00:26:29

have been speaking what they're

00:26:30

listening to voters and they're they're

00:26:32

they're not I don't think they're just

00:26:34

mouthing things like I think they

00:26:35

actually are concerned with what what do

00:26:37

voters want? This is our customers and

00:26:40

we're gonna give them what they want.

00:26:41

Anyway, Delta, let's give Delta a big

00:26:43

old

00:26:44

>> clap. I'm I'm uh I met the CEO there and

00:26:47

a good friend of mine's on the board.

00:26:49

>> Mhm.

00:26:49

>> The whoever whoever came up with this

00:26:52

idea.

00:26:53

>> Mhm.

00:26:54

>> Uh except that is one of the most

00:26:56

brandancing, thoughtful, egalitarian

00:26:58

American thing. This was such a an

00:27:00

amazing

00:27:01

>> Yeah.

00:27:02

um corporate move and it directly and

00:27:04

again it flies in the face of or not

00:27:06

flies in the face. It supports what I

00:27:07

believe is the greatest commercial

00:27:09

opportunity. I just had a phone call

00:27:11

with I think one of the most thoughtful

00:27:13

business leaders in America who runs an

00:27:15

iconic investment bank and I said to him

00:27:18

the greatest commercial opportunity in a

00:27:19

long time has been presented and that is

00:27:21

in a thoughtful nonad homminin

00:27:25

non-personal attack discussing values of

00:27:28

America and how they have been so

00:27:30

incredibly important to our capital

00:27:32

markets to do with Dario and Modi and

00:27:35

now to a certain extent what Delta

00:27:36

Airlines is saying and to say no this

00:27:39

isn't direct affront on the Trump

00:27:40

administration.

00:27:41

>> It's all Congress people. For people who

00:27:43

don't know, Congress people can sail

00:27:44

through security.

00:27:45

>> Yeah. But what this is saying is

00:27:47

>> people don't know that

00:27:48

>> the people blame Trump and the

00:27:50

Republicans mostly for this shutdown. So

00:27:52

by them saying this is unacceptable by

00:27:55

Delta saying this is unacceptable and

00:27:57

our leadership who has [ __ ] this up by

00:28:00

quite frankly demanding that the SEAB

00:28:02

act be a part of this or ICE funding.

00:28:04

>> We are no longer going to engage in

00:28:06

facilitating this.

00:28:08

>> Wait in line. Wait. Get in the back back

00:28:09

of the line. Back of the line, which is

00:28:11

great. All right. We we think it's

00:28:12

great. Get back in the line. Lines suck,

00:28:14

by the way. Um and it and it's terrible

00:28:16

for the TSA people who deserve to be

00:28:19

paid and ICE people are being paid and

00:28:20

they're doing nothing but buying coffee

00:28:22

and irritating people. They handed out

00:28:24

water in the line through security. How

00:28:26

stupid can you be? Okay, Scott, let's go

00:28:28

on a quick break. When we come back,

00:28:30

Meta and YouTube are found liable in the

00:28:32

first of the social media addiction

00:28:34

lawsuits. Support for this show comes

00:28:37

from Vanguard. If you're a financial

00:28:39

adviser, then you're probably thinking

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00:29:34

All investing is subject to risk.

00:29:36

Vanguard Marketing Corporation

00:29:38

distributor

00:29:41

Scott, we're back with more news. Meta

00:29:43

and YouTube have been found liable in of

00:29:45

harming a young user with features that

00:29:47

were addictive to her mental health. A

00:29:49

California jury found Meta must pay $4.2

00:29:52

million and YouTube 1.8 million. It's

00:29:54

not very much money. She asked for a

00:29:56

billion. The case focused on features

00:29:58

like infinite scroll and algorithmic

00:30:00

recommendations. As a reminder, both Tik

00:30:02

Tok and Snap settled before the trial

00:30:05

began. Uh Meta has also been found

00:30:07

liable for failing to protect young

00:30:09

people from online dangers in a New

00:30:11

Mexico case. There, Meta must pay 375

00:30:15

million, a little more, but still a

00:30:16

parking ticket for this company. The

00:30:18

company made 160 times that in revenue

00:30:20

last quarter. These verdicts are the

00:30:22

first in social media addiction trials,

00:30:24

social media impact trials. as the New

00:30:27

York uh Post cover said, metaculpa,

00:30:30

which we love. We love. Scott, what do

00:30:32

you think? Here we go. We're that we're

00:30:34

over the edge with juries involved.

00:30:37

Juries are tired of social media.

00:30:39

>> I generally want to get your viewpoint

00:30:41

on it, but my initial instinct is that

00:30:42

this is actually a big deal. It and it's

00:30:45

not about it's, as you said, it's not

00:30:47

about the parking tickets that have been

00:30:48

issued. It's that there's now legal

00:30:49

precedent for

00:30:52

what that the activities these firms

00:30:54

engage in is is makes them civily at

00:30:57

least liable. And the other piece of

00:31:00

information I got that I found

00:31:01

fascinating is their insurance companies

00:31:04

are trying to reject the claim saying

00:31:05

that they intentionally they knew they

00:31:07

were intentionally doing this and so

00:31:09

they're not covered by insurance. And my

00:31:12

sense is it's not about this case. It's

00:31:14

that the other several hundred or

00:31:16

several thousand cases against these

00:31:18

firms just got a lot stronger because of

00:31:20

this decision.

00:31:21

>> Yeah, there's a real there's a real

00:31:22

backup. You know, this has been

00:31:23

something you and I have been talking

00:31:24

about. I went back

00:31:25

>> Oh, you think?

00:31:26

>> Yes.

00:31:27

>> I thought I wrote I thought I wrote a

00:31:28

book on this about 10 years ago.

00:31:30

>> I did. I was just saying you wrote a

00:31:31

book on this and I wrote a book on this

00:31:33

and talking about these problems and how

00:31:35

liable they were, how lack of

00:31:36

accountability, lack of regulatory

00:31:39

scrutiny of anybody except some in other

00:31:41

countries. uh in fact rolling over for

00:31:44

them but both by Obama and Trump of

00:31:46

course because he takes money from them.

00:31:48

Um you know I think their high water

00:31:50

mark was standing in with Trump at the

00:31:53

inaugural. I think this was was in this

00:31:56

was starting to be in place when people

00:31:57

realized after January 6th I think that

00:32:00

social media has a real impact and it's

00:32:02

been a slow burn. That's for sure. And

00:32:04

our our regulators have done nothing.

00:32:07

Let me just say not in states in our

00:32:09

federal regulators and I don't mean to

00:32:10

say Amy Clolobachar and others have not

00:32:13

tried. I just think they have not been

00:32:15

successful because of the push back and

00:32:17

in this case I think you're going to see

00:32:19

furious push back by these companies

00:32:21

even for this small an amount right this

00:32:23

tiny amount of money. They're they're

00:32:25

because they don't want any

00:32:27

accountability for what they're doing.

00:32:29

They want to skate out of responsibility

00:32:32

and they can't because now it's in front

00:32:33

of juries and every person knows

00:32:36

addiction is an issue. Sloppy management

00:32:39

is an issue and threats to kids are an

00:32:42

issue.

00:32:43

>> I saw you on Anderson Cooper last night

00:32:46

and and you had I thought was exactly

00:32:49

the right point and we've been talking

00:32:51

about this and that is

00:32:52

>> the nation is actually pretty good at

00:32:54

recognizing externalities and harm. It

00:32:56

just doesn't act crisply. It took about

00:32:58

30 years with tobacco,

00:33:00

>> 20 years with opiates. Social went on

00:33:02

mobile in 2012,

00:33:04

>> it feels like that timing is about right

00:33:05

that about at 2032.

00:33:08

>> Unfortunately,

00:33:09

and I'm

00:33:12

personally agrieved quite frankly,

00:33:14

>> my kids got [ __ ] up on these things. I

00:33:17

>> you know, your kids, your your first

00:33:19

generation, your older kids, Alex and

00:33:22

Louie, had to endure this. And my sense

00:33:24

is they've come through it pretty pretty

00:33:26

>> unstable. And they had less of it. They

00:33:27

had less of it. It wasn't quite, you

00:33:29

know, they were, your kids are the zero,

00:33:32

ground zero. I think my kids were near a

00:33:34

blast zone, but not the same quite

00:33:36

thing. I think they they like YouTube.

00:33:38

They were a little bit on Snapchat, you

00:33:40

know what I mean? But it wasn't as

00:33:42

intense and hateful as it as it became

00:33:45

>> as as big tech always does. Mhm.

00:33:48

>> this praise on the poor

00:33:51

>> because if I'd had these devices and a

00:33:53

mother who was gone before I got up in

00:33:55

the morning and got home after sometimes

00:33:58

after I was asleep because she was

00:33:59

working and I was totally unsupervised

00:34:02

and I had YouTube and Snap and Uporn and

00:34:07

Meta and and Facebook,

00:34:10

>> I think I just would have been on these

00:34:12

things all damn day long. And as I was

00:34:16

going through puberty, my brain would

00:34:18

have been wired for constant squeezing

00:34:21

of a dopa bag, which I believe could

00:34:24

have very easily taken me away. I used

00:34:27

to leave my house to go hang out with my

00:34:29

friends cuz I was so bored. I'm not sure

00:34:32

I would have left my house.

00:34:33

>> You wouldn't. Why would you? Why would

00:34:34

you? I mean, one of the things that

00:34:36

they've done, and I think as as these

00:34:38

cases come to f, the discovery is going

00:34:40

to be brutal. I mean, I think they know

00:34:41

it. There's all kinds of evidence that

00:34:43

they know it in this case. A lot of

00:34:44

stuff came out that they want to they

00:34:46

want to attract tween cuz they're

00:34:48

lifelong customers, right? It's like

00:34:50

cigarette. It's literally like Joe Camel

00:34:52

when you read this stuff. If you put

00:34:53

cigarette in there um and what's

00:34:56

incredible here is I actually believe

00:34:58

the cigarette manufacturers knew exactly

00:35:00

the problem of nicotine. I think these

00:35:03

guys think that they're not it's not

00:35:05

their fault. It's never their fault. And

00:35:07

then they hide behind the first

00:35:08

amendment. Hey, it's just people

00:35:10

talking. And there was a great story in

00:35:12

the New York in the in the Washington

00:35:14

Post today about uh Republicans worried

00:35:16

about young Republicans being so

00:35:19

anti-semitic, Nazif focused, sort of

00:35:22

hateful. And where do you think this

00:35:24

comes from? And again, I don't blame

00:35:26

them fully. I don't I don't I don't

00:35:27

think it's fully, but they've created

00:35:29

addictive and necessary features without

00:35:33

any kind of guard rails in place or any

00:35:35

kind of what is it? It's It's not like

00:35:39

they're like, "Hey, let everything go."

00:35:40

And I think that's it's sort of like

00:35:42

they're evil babysitters, right? In some

00:35:45

fashion. And at some point, the

00:35:46

babysitter has to get dinged in in some

00:35:50

way. That that's they consider

00:35:51

themselves. It's not their fault if

00:35:53

people eat their shitty food. I I you

00:35:54

know what I mean? Like our tainted meat,

00:35:56

it's okay. Uh you know, and of course,

00:35:59

everyone else gets regulated but them.

00:36:01

>> Yeah. I I think the argument would be we

00:36:03

don't get any credit for all the good we

00:36:05

>> Yeah. all the good we

00:36:06

>> why aren't there parades

00:36:08

>> right that we that people do learn

00:36:10

people do it helps them with their

00:36:12

homework they do make connections you

00:36:14

know parents of kids with childhood rare

00:36:17

her childhood diseases social media does

00:36:19

add a lot of value it creates tremendous

00:36:21

economic growth a lot of highpaying jobs

00:36:24

there's a lot they would argue

00:36:26

>> they would argue we're a net good and I

00:36:29

would argue that's actually true the

00:36:31

problem is with the word net

00:36:34

>> and that is we're net beneficiary from

00:36:36

fossil fuels and pesticides. But we

00:36:38

still have we still have a Clean Air

00:36:40

Act. We still have an EPA. We still have

00:36:41

an FDA,

00:36:42

>> right?

00:36:43

>> And this is this is fossil fuels and

00:36:46

pesticides

00:36:47

>> with absolutely no emission standards.

00:36:50

>> No emissions. No.

00:36:51

>> No. When when I lived in LA, I was

00:36:53

talking I I went on vacation with a

00:36:55

buddy of mine. We grew up in LA

00:36:56

together. There were days where by the

00:36:58

end of the school day, you couldn't

00:37:00

breathe in,

00:37:01

>> right?

00:37:02

>> And they cleaned it up.

00:37:04

>> They cleaned it up. Unfortunately,

00:37:05

what's happening here?

00:37:06

>> Unfortunately, that I I thought of it

00:37:08

yesterday. I was trying to think I was

00:37:10

asked to go on and talk about this

00:37:12

>> and I instead I decided to go out and

00:37:14

drink uh cuz but the I was thinking okay

00:37:17

is this the beginning of the end? It's

00:37:18

not you know what this is this is the

00:37:20

end of the beginning. these fir this

00:37:22

industry is not going anywhere. But the

00:37:24

era of we, you know, we need to do

00:37:28

better from Cheryl Samberg or Mark

00:37:30

Zuckerberg weaponizing thousands of

00:37:32

lawyers and lobbyists to delay and

00:37:35

obuscate and gloss over the internal

00:37:38

research. I do think that era is coming

00:37:40

to a close.

00:37:41

>> Yeah. And um the the my favorite part of

00:37:45

the case is that uh there was an

00:37:48

undercover operation I think from the

00:37:50

attorney general in New Mexico where

00:37:53

they posed they created accounts posing

00:37:56

as an 11-year-old girl which was almost

00:37:59

immediately inundated with images and

00:38:01

targeted solicitations from wait for it

00:38:05

>> child abusers.

00:38:06

>> That's right. So, it took the attorney

00:38:09

general about 48 hours to figure this

00:38:11

[ __ ] out and we're supposed to believe

00:38:13

that Meta wasn't aware of it.

00:38:15

>> Yeah, we don't believe them and neither

00:38:17

did the jury, by the way. Um, we're

00:38:18

going to move on in a second, but I got

00:38:20

to say one of I did quote you last night

00:38:22

uh on Anderson um where you say, you

00:38:24

know, we're bound by the law but not

00:38:25

protected by it. And they're protected

00:38:27

by the law, not bound by it. Now they're

00:38:28

bound by it and they're going to fight

00:38:31

their asses off. You know what, Mark?

00:38:33

Just pay the money and fix it. Like,

00:38:35

just stop. like stop because the more

00:38:38

they resist the more a growing group of

00:38:41

people bipartisan across the country

00:38:44

recognizes the damage these companies

00:38:47

and then of course the same day Donald

00:38:49

Trump names all of these people to a

00:38:52

committee on AI with not ner a critic on

00:38:55

it right everybody with self-interest is

00:38:57

on that that that advisory committee and

00:39:00

nobody who's going to talk about the

00:39:02

possibilities of problem only up and to

00:39:04

the right and once again. They're going

00:39:06

to try to do it. And let me tell you

00:39:08

folks, we need to stop them now because

00:39:10

the damage they will do. They have shown

00:39:12

no no ability to control themselves. No.

00:39:17

>> No one under the age of 18 needs to be

00:39:18

on any of these.

00:39:19

>> And we hate to say that. I have to say I

00:39:21

hate to say that, but this is where we

00:39:22

are. Um, okay, Scott, moving on. I want

00:39:25

to start our next story by playing a

00:39:27

prediction you made just last week.

00:39:30

My prediction is OpenAI Sora social

00:39:33

media app will be shut down soon.

00:39:35

>> Oh, Sora, what do you know? You know

00:39:39

something?

00:39:39

>> No, I don't. I I've done no original

00:39:41

reporting, trust me.

00:39:43

>> Upon its release, Sora came out at

00:39:46

number one in the app store. Um, and

00:39:49

actually got more downloads out of the

00:39:51

gates than Chat GPT did. However, like

00:39:54

the parties ended. Downloads fell 32%

00:39:57

month over month in December and another

00:39:59

45% in January. And some Sora is the

00:40:02

little engine that didn't. And also

00:40:05

users continue to drop like flies.

00:40:08

You were right. I still think you had

00:40:10

inside information. Open a announced

00:40:11

this week that it's discontinuing the

00:40:13

Sora app. This is the video app they're

00:40:15

doing just months after launching it. Uh

00:40:17

this reportedly one of several steps the

00:40:19

company has taken to refocus the

00:40:20

business ahead of its potential IPO. Sam

00:40:22

Alman says, "The Sora team will now

00:40:23

shift to prioritizing longerterm bets

00:40:25

like robotics." Uh, as for the Disney

00:40:28

deal they did at the time, if you

00:40:29

remember, Scott and I talked about it, a

00:40:30

$1 billion investment in OpenAI, which

00:40:32

we thought they weren't really going to

00:40:34

give them that, and it was just a little

00:40:35

experiment that included licensing

00:40:37

characters for Disney is out. Disney's

00:40:40

out. Um, it was more of a press release

00:40:42

than anything yet. Um, so talk about

00:40:43

this prediction. And I I um just so I'll

00:40:46

also note Open A is closing in on a deal

00:40:47

to raise about $10 billion from

00:40:49

investors, bringing its latest funding

00:40:51

round to more than $120 billion. Jeez of

00:40:54

the [ __ ] we um so, uh talk about

00:40:58

this. I mean, they've had to shift very

00:41:00

quickly. I don't know what they're doing

00:41:01

in robotics, but they should just focus

00:41:04

on their core business, seems to me, but

00:41:07

uh thoughts on this? What did you know?

00:41:09

Come on, tell me the truth. Cara, Cara,

00:41:11

Cara. I don't I don't enjoy talking

00:41:13

about myself or taking credit for what

00:41:15

is arguably one of the most precient

00:41:18

>> predictions of the year in techn Oh my

00:41:20

god.

00:41:20

>> It was so good. I got to say I was like

00:41:23

he was right. Damn it.

00:41:24

>> My nipples are hard.

00:41:26

>> Mhm.

00:41:26

>> Touchdown Jesus.

00:41:28

>> I I approve these.

00:41:29

>> I am [ __ ] John Travolta when he was

00:41:31

thin and could dance. This is a ladies

00:41:34

for the for the people tuning in on the

00:41:35

YouTube channel. Watch his shoulders.

00:41:37

Watch his shoulders. Hello. to resist is

00:41:39

feudal. Um, okay. The weirdest thing

00:41:44

that was that was literally the easiest

00:41:45

prediction ever. By the way, it wasn't

00:41:47

>> Why did that why did you like when you

00:41:48

said it, I was like, why is he talking

00:41:50

about that? Like I get it, but

00:41:53

>> to be honest, this goes on a on a deeper

00:41:55

level. This goes to the notion greatness

00:41:57

is in the agency of others. I have a

00:41:59

data and research team that feeds me

00:42:01

with every good idea I ever had. And

00:42:03

this this young man named Dan Shalon, I

00:42:05

said, I need a prediction for Biba

00:42:06

today. and he wrote sore is going to be

00:42:08

closed down and he gave me a bunch of

00:42:10

data. So I can't take credit for this as

00:42:12

usual. I take credit for it but it was

00:42:14

my team that that came up with that

00:42:15

prediction.

00:42:16

>> He just saw the download because a lot

00:42:18

of apps go up and down right and many

00:42:20

like took forever for Meta to really

00:42:22

kill off the metaverse.

00:42:25

>> Okay. Open AI didn't shut down Sora

00:42:28

anthropic did.

00:42:29

>> Yeah. that of all the new of all the

00:42:32

incremental or new dollars being um

00:42:36

>> being won by AI companies in the

00:42:38

enterprise market. It used to be 60% of

00:42:42

new dollars being spent on AI from the

00:42:44

enterprise. We're going to we're going

00:42:46

to uh we're going to anthrop I'm sorry,

00:42:48

open AI. It's dropped to 30 cents on the

00:42:51

dollar and Anthropic has screamed to 70

00:42:54

cents on the incremental dollar being

00:42:57

spent by the enterprise on AI. Why?

00:42:58

Because see above, biggest commercial

00:43:01

opportunity in history. Say no to the

00:43:02

Trump administration. And also to be

00:43:04

fair, Anthropic's new products are just

00:43:07

outstanding. They are I have to say

00:43:10

>> they have more momentum right now than

00:43:11

any company in the world.

00:43:13

>> They're better. They're better. It's

00:43:14

like when you were using browsers. I

00:43:16

remember using Explorer and then

00:43:17

Netscape and then Explorer was better,

00:43:19

but then you know it was it was like

00:43:21

that. You're like, "Oh, that's like

00:43:22

Google. There was a lot of search engine

00:43:24

and then it was like, oh, this is

00:43:25

better. This is better." And to OpenAI's

00:43:28

credit and Sam's credit and the board's

00:43:30

credit, they've said, "Okay, the best

00:43:33

business strategy when you're starting

00:43:35

to wobble, quite frankly, is focus."

00:43:38

>> Moved fast. I would agree.

00:43:39

>> Focus. We Okay, folks. It it And by the

00:43:42

way, my

00:43:44

it doesn't end with Sora, folks, in

00:43:47

terms of [ __ ] that's about to be closed

00:43:48

down. And that's going to be my

00:43:49

prediction at the end of at the end of

00:43:51

the show. But you knew they were going

00:43:52

to have to focus. You knew this product

00:43:55

wasn't working. It was hemorrhaging

00:43:56

money. The whole visual space around AI

00:43:59

just hasn't panned out the way people

00:44:00

had hoped.

00:44:01

>> Slop. It's slop.

00:44:02

>> Yeah. It's just not It's so interesting.

00:44:04

The one

00:44:06

>> couple of things

00:44:06

>> just was what's one of the most

00:44:08

interesting things about Amazon is it

00:44:10

started in books and books has probably

00:44:12

been the least disrupted industry it's

00:44:15

gone into. The book publishing industry

00:44:17

although it's been consolidated is

00:44:19

actually still pretty strong. Big

00:44:21

advances.

00:44:22

>> Agents are still making money.

00:44:24

independent book sellers are actually

00:44:25

making a bit of a comeback. Anyways,

00:44:27

>> but what's so interesting I find about

00:44:30

if you'd said what's going to happen to

00:44:31

designers 24 months ago,

00:44:34

>> you would have said oh like customer

00:44:35

service and mediocre lawyers, they're

00:44:37

just going to get cleared out by Sora

00:44:39

and I forget Google's one. And what's

00:44:41

interesting is as a percentage of the

00:44:43

employee base, the number of designers

00:44:46

has actually gone up at tech companies

00:44:49

because it's the coding that is being

00:44:51

commoditized. But the front-end

00:44:54

humanfaced

00:44:56

UI design,

00:44:58

>> yeah,

00:44:58

>> really compelling is now the point of

00:45:00

differentiation. But because these

00:45:03

things, this AI, I've played with this

00:45:05

stuff. It's just not very good.

00:45:07

>> It's not good. You know, the only thing

00:45:08

I like is when they show they like do

00:45:10

all these like they have celebrities

00:45:13

like they did a Game of Thrones in high

00:45:14

school. Some of it's fun, but it's like

00:45:16

it's sort of like for a minute and then

00:45:18

you're like, "Okay, now I want to look

00:45:19

at something real." I think the human

00:45:21

eye can see it.

00:45:22

>> It exhausts you.

00:45:23

>> It is. The human eye is like not so I

00:45:26

don't think you'll get used to it

00:45:27

either. Everyone's like, "Oh, kids will

00:45:29

get used to it." I'm like,

00:45:29

>> it's ruined animal videos.

00:45:30

>> I don't think so. Yeah, animal videos.

00:45:32

>> Remember how amazing animal videos were?

00:45:34

animal videos were amazing because

00:45:36

>> now they have them do

00:45:37

>> when you saw a Norwal or a beluga whale

00:45:41

retrieving a Nerf football from

00:45:44

adventurers or scientists in the

00:45:46

Antarctic or wherever the [ __ ] that was.

00:45:47

You're like, "This is an incredible

00:45:49

moment." And now I see it and go, "Is it

00:45:51

[ __ ] AI?"

00:45:52

>> Yeah, exactly.

00:45:53

>> Because if it is AI, I don't care. I

00:45:54

don't It's not real. I don't

00:45:56

>> Yeah, I know. They make weird. I agree.

00:45:57

I agree. And that's It just It's not

00:46:00

satisfying in a way that real is. I have

00:46:03

to say. And I do think the human eye

00:46:04

could. It's just years ago when I was at

00:46:06

the MIT Media Lab when they were having

00:46:07

problems with robotics that talk to you,

00:46:10

you know, on a screen and it was always

00:46:12

the eyes. There's something wrong with

00:46:14

the eyes and humans perceive it.

00:46:16

>> Lips and the voice. I'm telling you

00:46:17

though, if AI starts producing

00:46:20

cute, cute pictures of babies seeing or

00:46:23

hearing for the first time, I'm out. I'm

00:46:25

logging off of every platform.

00:46:27

>> I would agree. Anyway,

00:46:28

>> it has to be real. Those things change

00:46:30

my day. Those things are

00:46:31

>> amazing prediction. Once again, you have

00:46:33

you have triumphed. Anyway, uh let's go

00:46:36

on a quick break. When we come back,

00:46:38

we'll talk about the return of the

00:46:40

Amazon iPhone.

00:46:42

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00:47:56

Scott, we're back with more news. Amazon

00:47:58

is reportedly getting back into the

00:48:00

phone business, working on a new device

00:48:01

internally known as, oh my good god, the

00:48:04

transformer. According to Reuters, what

00:48:07

a bunch of idiots they are. This would

00:48:09

potentially be an AIdriven phone that

00:48:11

syncs with Alexa and could eliminate the

00:48:12

need for traditional apps. Oh, sure, why

00:48:15

not? Details are slim. There's no clear

00:48:17

timeline or pricing. And sources say the

00:48:19

project could be scrapped, priorities or

00:48:21

finances change. That's a lot of may.

00:48:23

Um, but let's not forget Amazon's last

00:48:25

phone for I have not forgotten it since

00:48:27

I wrote about its creation and decline,

00:48:30

the Fire Phone, which launched in 2014

00:48:32

and quickly flopped leading to $170

00:48:35

million right down. And I remember

00:48:37

getting sented. I was like, it's like

00:48:38

the home, the Facebook home. I I kept

00:48:40

getting sent these things. I'm like,

00:48:42

what is this? And like I'm calling Steve

00:48:44

Jobs immediately because I need to talk

00:48:46

to someone who knows how to make these

00:48:48

things. Why would Amazon have a phone? I

00:48:49

want you to give me the argument why

00:48:51

it's a good idea despite their and I I

00:48:53

think people fail at things and they

00:48:54

come back, but I don't feel like Amazon

00:48:57

is my device place. I I think they got

00:49:00

they got knocked over in the um in in

00:49:04

the audible space. I think they got

00:49:05

knocked over in the uh the reader space.

00:49:08

I mean, it's still a business, but it's

00:49:10

not it's not on fire. It got knocked out

00:49:13

by the iPad in a lot of ways. Any

00:49:15

thoughts on the phone from Amazon and

00:49:17

why? Give me the argument. Well, the

00:49:19

argument could be that it becomes a new

00:49:22

piece of the flywheel around Amazon

00:49:24

Prime. And that is if you're an Amazon

00:49:26

Prime Plus member, you get a very

00:49:28

competent phone that perhaps has even

00:49:31

better bandwidth because Project Kyper

00:49:34

starts to pay off and they have

00:49:35

satellitebased connectivity. So what

00:49:38

this is is potentially I would imagine

00:49:42

in you know the conference rooms where

00:49:44

Amazon strategy group who are some

00:49:46

incredibly bright people are saying

00:49:48

>> yeah they need a thing

00:49:49

>> well what if why don't we go after

00:49:51

Android and that is we can offer people

00:49:53

>> oh okay

00:49:54

>> we can offer people an unbelievable

00:49:56

phone for free as part of their Amazon

00:49:58

Prime membership. Yeah.

00:49:59

>> And then say and get off of AT&T and

00:50:03

we'll we'll wrap it all into the

00:50:04

greatest loyalty program in history

00:50:06

which is Amazon Prime.

00:50:07

>> It is indeed.

00:50:08

>> So I think there's a really solid

00:50:11

argument. The problem is this all works

00:50:14

uh on a whiteboard and then people hold

00:50:16

these phones, the Facebook phone, the

00:50:18

Amazon Fire and they go, I don't like

00:50:20

it.

00:50:20

>> The Microsoft phones.

00:50:22

>> Yeah. All the all the handhelds. And by

00:50:24

the way, just a shout out, a colleague

00:50:25

of mine who teaches brand strategy at

00:50:27

another university called me and said

00:50:30

saying that Apple shouldn't go into a

00:50:31

lowerric computer is all wrong. And he

00:50:34

said he said my views on it were all

00:50:36

[ __ ] up and I just want to give him

00:50:38

his props. He said that look at all the

00:50:40

luxury car brands. They were all [ __ ]

00:50:42

posted for going into lower-end models

00:50:44

and it's expanded their share.

00:50:46

>> Yeah.

00:50:46

>> And I thought that was a really good

00:50:47

point. If they're going to give people a

00:50:49

really good version of

00:50:52

>> of it and then you have to buy the

00:50:53

shitty Dell version. Yeah. I

00:50:55

>> Well, all the Porsche purists said they

00:50:56

should never launch an SUV. They did. It

00:50:58

sells more than any other car in the

00:51:00

Porsche lineup. And also, Mercedes has

00:51:01

an Aclass in Europe. They have they have

00:51:04

the what is it not the E, the C-Class.

00:51:06

Anyway, well, they don't do it too much,

00:51:08

right? They you can't do it too much.

00:51:09

You have to do it just the three, the

00:51:12

two, the one. Anyways, I just want to

00:51:13

acknowledge the point cuz when when he

00:51:15

called me and told me this, I'm like,

00:51:16

"Okay, you're smart. Good Android. Now I

00:51:18

see. Thank you.

00:51:19

>> They they this could be the in my

00:51:22

opinion the biggest increase in

00:51:24

shareholder value that's

00:51:27

>> is a function of the friction between

00:51:29

silos of different companies. Y

00:51:31

>> the new co Disney should have something

00:51:33

called Disney Plus Plus and you get

00:51:37

Disney Plus videos, you get free

00:51:38

merchandise, you get the princess

00:51:41

experience and most importantly when you

00:51:43

come to the parks it's on only Disney

00:51:45

Plus members days where there are no

00:51:47

lines and it would be the ultimate

00:51:48

loyalty program

00:51:50

>> and Amazon

00:51:51

>> if they keep if they added telco and a

00:51:54

device into Amazon Prime

00:51:56

>> Yeah. I think theoretically it's worth,

00:51:59

you know, it's worth a couple billion

00:52:00

dollars to invest in.

00:52:01

>> They don't do that. They don't do that

00:52:02

often. You're right. They just like here

00:52:04

you go free. Here's it's like a it's

00:52:05

like a a club. And you would do that

00:52:07

with Amazon because they do deliver

00:52:09

really well. They're

00:52:10

>> talking about autonomous like

00:52:13

>> the core stuff they do they do really

00:52:15

well. So

00:52:16

>> preloaded free Amazon music, free Amazon

00:52:19

Zuks or whatever their their autonomous

00:52:22

is.

00:52:22

>> Those are cool. Zuks is cool. and just

00:52:24

say, "Okay, folks, we're going to take

00:52:26

care of you." Amazon is arguably the

00:52:28

most trusted brand in the world right

00:52:30

now.

00:52:30

>> Yeah, Kyper. They could offer that for

00:52:32

>> and they say, "All right, you don't need

00:52:34

you don't need to trust us when you're

00:52:35

in front of the TV screen or the

00:52:37

computer screen. You should trust us as

00:52:39

much when you're in front of the phone

00:52:40

screen."

00:52:41

>> The CEO, the the one person running at

00:52:43

the vision, I'm supposed to meet with

00:52:44

him. Anyway, one more quick break. We'll

00:52:46

be back for predictions. Okay, Scott,

00:52:49

let's hear a prediction. I'm going to

00:52:50

say very quickly uh just so you know at

00:52:52

the time of this taping SpaceX is aiming

00:52:54

to file its IPO within a week and I

00:52:56

predict I will not be asked on the board

00:52:58

as you noted at the beginning. I predict

00:53:01

>> I predict that

00:53:02

>> people literally don't if I was your

00:53:03

financial c your wealth adviser and I

00:53:05

kind of have been for the last few

00:53:07

years.

00:53:07

>> Yeah, you have.

00:53:07

>> But if I gotten a hold of you 10 or 15

00:53:09

years ago, I would have been like

00:53:11

>> tone down the anti anti- big tech thing

00:53:14

>> and we're going to make hundreds of

00:53:16

millions of dollars on boards.

00:53:17

>> I know. I know. I can't do What I just

00:53:19

said as a joke, Lar isn't a terrible

00:53:21

person. I can't help myself. That was a

00:53:23

joke.

00:53:23

>> You can't, you know, when you text me

00:53:25

mean things at 2 in the morning, it's

00:53:26

not a good idea. And you can't help

00:53:27

yourself. You literally can't mean some

00:53:30

of them are very

00:53:31

>> You can't help yourself. I get it.

00:53:33

>> I can't I can't I know I shouldn't drink

00:53:35

as much as I do.

00:53:37

>> Speaking of I was right about these

00:53:39

people. I was right. Anyway, your

00:53:41

prediction, please.

00:53:42

>> Okay. So,

00:53:45

what do we have here?

00:53:47

Open AAI is in a fivecar alarm right

00:53:51

now. In the last six months, they have

00:53:55

Oh, and by the way, this this Have you

00:53:57

seen the deals of this financing to top

00:53:59

off the round with I think it's TPG?

00:54:02

They are guaranteeing a 17.5% return.

00:54:06

>> What?

00:54:07

>> Yeah, they're guaranteeing the to top up

00:54:09

the round in private equity. The deal is

00:54:13

the deal is along the lines of the

00:54:14

following. It kind of makes industrial

00:54:16

sense, but it's a more of these circular

00:54:19

related party deals. They're saying to

00:54:20

these private equity firms, if you

00:54:22

invest and top up my round, I'll give

00:54:24

you se I'll guarantee you a 17.5%

00:54:26

return. Now the idea is it makes kind of

00:54:29

industrial logic because all of these

00:54:31

firms have massive

00:54:34

uh a massive portfolio company of of

00:54:36

firms which likely means they're going

00:54:40

to encourage these firms to adopt at an

00:54:42

enterprise level

00:54:43

>> open AI products. So open AI goes

00:54:45

immediately

00:54:46

>> we get

00:54:47

>> eat the dog food is what you're saying.

00:54:49

>> Yeah. We get industrial scale here and

00:54:52

because we're going public and Sam Sam's

00:54:54

bankers have probably said distinct of

00:54:57

the problems you're going to get X

00:54:59

valuation hundreds of billions or even

00:55:01

possibly trillion dollar plus valuation.

00:55:04

So he said to the private equity guys I

00:55:07

guarantee you a 17.5% return on your

00:55:10

money. The problem is a guarantee at the

00:55:12

top of the kind of the capital stack

00:55:14

means that the people underneath them

00:55:16

the investors might get squeezed out if

00:55:18

they have the first you know if if a

00:55:20

decent amount of returns has to go to

00:55:22

the top

00:55:23

>> but it is more of this kind of what I'll

00:55:24

call shell game and as long as things

00:55:27

keep increasing it's fine but this is

00:55:29

the kind of thing that could absolutely

00:55:31

>> oh yeah

00:55:32

>> brushed or trickle or if they don't make

00:55:33

people like you Scott that's not that's

00:55:35

like a let me pay you to be my friend

00:55:38

>> well this is

00:55:39

>> don't like it

00:55:40

>> it's really that's the most interesting

00:55:41

component of the deal is a you never

00:55:44

offer I have never seen it's a preferred

00:55:46

return that aggregates and there's

00:55:48

typically

00:55:48

>> would you invest that

00:55:51

>> um I would I would want for open AI I

00:55:56

feel that what I would want to do is the

00:55:58

following of just being purely

00:55:59

capitalist I'd want allocation in the

00:56:01

IPO because Sam is smart and Sam and his

00:56:04

bankers will say okay the first trade of

00:56:07

this is likely going to be 80 bucks so

00:56:09

let's price it at 50. So we can say

00:56:11

we're the best performing IPO of the

00:56:12

year.

00:56:12

>> Yeah, they'll do those tricks. That's

00:56:14

nothing new.

00:56:15

>> It's a once in a-lifetime

00:56:17

branding event, the IPO. So the

00:56:19

investment banks have an incentive

00:56:21

because they get to buy shares at a

00:56:22

discount. They get to give shares to

00:56:24

their buddies and institutions at a

00:56:26

discount. And the firm for a modest

00:56:28

dilution, 3 to 5% dilution, gets a

00:56:32

branding event that they're in the news

00:56:33

for the rest of the year as the best

00:56:34

performing IPO of the year or great

00:56:36

performing IPO of the year. So they

00:56:37

leave quite frankly SpaceX is going to

00:56:39

leave

00:56:39

>> they leave money on the table and it's

00:56:40

yet another transfer of wealth from the

00:56:42

lower middle class who don't have access

00:56:44

to preIPO or to the IPO.

00:56:48

>> Don't you think SpaceX will leave them

00:56:49

in the dust?

00:56:50

>> SpaceX in terms of an IPO.

00:56:52

>> Yeah, that'll get all that stuff.

00:56:54

That'll be that'll all be about

00:56:55

valuation cuz while SpaceX while SpaceX

00:56:58

has the biggest moes in the history of

00:57:00

business as far as I can tell

00:57:02

>> they're talking about a$1.5 trillion

00:57:04

valuation on 13 billion or 14 billion in

00:57:08

I mean that's a h 100red times revenue

00:57:09

so it's all about pricing but anyway so

00:57:12

this this where I was headed is the

00:57:14

following it is a fivecar alarm and Sam

00:57:17

and his board are smart they are

00:57:19

focusing first area of focus Sora We

00:57:23

barely knew you. You're gone. The next

00:57:26

area of focus, it won't be a headline

00:57:28

item. It'll be euthanized slowly.

00:57:34

Um, it is IO and that is the $6.5

00:57:39

billion acquisition of Johnny Ives

00:57:40

company to build hardware.

00:57:43

Uh, this is the metaverse on a smaller

00:57:45

level. This is Mark Zuckerberg's

00:57:49

consensual hallucination cost meta

00:57:51

shareholders uh 70 billion. This is

00:57:54

going to cost 6.5 billion to open AI. It

00:57:57

was an all stock transaction but there

00:58:00

is no way if I am on the board and I am

00:58:03

Sam Alman and I'm like okay play time's

00:58:05

order I am losing my core business to

00:58:07

Anthropic we need to focus that they're

00:58:11

not going to they're going to decide to

00:58:13

not play in the traffic of hardware. So,

00:58:15

>> okay. All right. If you look at it, big

00:58:17

deal. Okay. That's those are

00:58:19

>> there's been delays, technical

00:58:21

difficulty, unclear product definition,

00:58:23

high cost.

00:58:25

>> Uh, so

00:58:25

>> I think I'd buy the Amazon phone first.

00:58:27

So, that's a bad sign because I wouldn't

00:58:29

buy the Amazon.

00:58:30

>> Brutal cate brutal category. And then if

00:58:33

you look at what's going on here,

00:58:35

persistent technical problems. All

00:58:37

right.

00:58:37

>> Yeah, of course.

00:58:38

>> Compute constraints, always on AI

00:58:40

reliability, privacy concerns,

00:58:42

interaction without screens.

00:58:44

Basically, this isn't right now IO or

00:58:47

the division of quote unquote open AI's

00:58:49

hardware products. It's not just about

00:58:51

execution risk. It's unsolved product

00:58:54

physics.

00:58:55

>> I love it.

00:58:55

>> And the timeline, the timeline keeps

00:58:58

slipping. I've been tracking this.

00:58:59

Originally expected,

00:59:00

>> let me give you a piece of advice that I

00:59:02

heard a long time ago. Hardware is hard.

00:59:05

>> Thank you.

00:59:05

>> Well, it was orig

00:59:07

It was originally expected around 2026

00:59:09

and now they're saying it's not shipping

00:59:11

before 2027. Guess what? It's never

00:59:13

going to ship.

00:59:14

>> Oh, all right. There's a prediction

00:59:15

right there. All right. We'll see what

00:59:16

happens. Anyway, great job on your

00:59:18

prediction. I like this new one. Um, and

00:59:21

by the way, next week, I just want

00:59:22

people to know, speaking of predictions,

00:59:24

Jeffrey Epste's lawyer and accountant

00:59:26

just told Congress they were never

00:59:27

interviewed as part of a formal federal

00:59:29

investigation. We're going to talk about

00:59:30

this next week because we're not going

00:59:31

to let Epstein out of the news either.

00:59:33

Trump is making all sorts of handwaving

00:59:35

to in order to pay it. But this to me

00:59:37

was a malpractice on the part of federal

00:59:40

uh federal investigators. any in you

00:59:42

know that they were not interviewed as

00:59:44

part of a form I mean you you might talk

00:59:46

to the lawyer and accountant seems to me

00:59:49

they might they might know a few things

00:59:51

in any case we'll see where that goes

00:59:53

we're going to talk about it next week

00:59:54

so I want to get that back

00:59:55

>> so can I just have one addendum the

00:59:56

cloud and the silver lining of these

00:59:58

democratic wins

00:59:59

>> what

01:00:00

>> we need a Nancy a speaker Pelosi like

01:00:03

figure who understands how to

01:00:07

>> um tell the children what okay the

01:00:10

grown-up is here this is what you need

01:00:11

to do.

01:00:12

>> Mhm.

01:00:13

>> Uh, as good as things are for Democrats

01:00:16

on a um on a Senate and and on a

01:00:18

congressional election level, we are

01:00:20

about to snatch defeat from the jaws of

01:00:22

victory. And while no one was looking,

01:00:25

we're about to elect a president of the

01:00:27

fourth largest economy who's going to be

01:00:28

a Republican.

01:00:30

>> Mhm.

01:00:30

>> Because of the jungle voting construct

01:00:32

in California,

01:00:33

>> we'll talk about that Monday. Let's

01:00:35

>> We are probably going to elect a

01:00:36

Republican unless Democrats get their

01:00:38

heads out of their asses. and dropping

01:00:41

out. I'll do a little I've been

01:00:43

contacted by every one of those

01:00:44

Democratic candidates and also Steve

01:00:46

Hilton who I know well. Um I haven't

01:00:48

heard from the sheriff.

01:00:49

>> Gavin Newsome and Chuck Schumer. You

01:00:52

need to start promising these Democrats

01:00:53

something and getting them out of the

01:00:56

race.

01:00:56

>> I literally out of the race.

01:00:59

>> They they also had to cancel a thing.

01:01:01

They're the whole thing is a [ __ ]

01:01:02

mess. And and it's suicidal. It's

01:01:04

suicidal. It's really weird. And uh

01:01:06

>> and by the way, Governor Nuome, who I am

01:01:08

a huge fan of, if you don't show some

01:01:11

backroom dealing here and make sure that

01:01:13

the next that your era parent isn't a

01:01:15

Democrat, it's really going to hurt your

01:01:17

chances of getting the nomination.

01:01:18

>> They got to knock some heads. Um anyway,

01:01:20

uh we want to hear from you. Send us

01:01:22

your questions about business tech or

01:01:23

whatever's on your mind. Go to

01:01:24

nymag.com/pivot

01:01:26

to submit a question for the show or

01:01:28

call 8551 pivot. Before we go, I just

01:01:31

want to say my brother Jeff, who is a

01:01:33

friend of our pivot, had emergency

01:01:35

surgery this week, heart surgery. Um, he

01:01:37

had a blocked I don't know what I'm

01:01:39

going to say it wrong, but he had to put

01:01:40

have a stent put in and it was because

01:01:42

he he was on Kaiser or something like

01:01:44

that and he went on Medicare and the

01:01:46

internist said to him, "You should check

01:01:48

your calcium levels." Turned out he had

01:01:50

80 to 90% blockage. It's it's called the

01:01:53

widow maker, the the the the issue. Um,

01:01:56

and he got it all cleaned out and he's

01:01:58

doing great. But one of the things he

01:02:00

said for me to tell you is make sure you

01:02:02

all check things like that and get a

01:02:04

checkup. I just thank goodness that this

01:02:07

didn't happen because he would have died

01:02:08

of this very suddenly. So I wanted to

01:02:11

give him a shout out. In any case,

01:02:15

that's the show. But thanks for

01:02:16

listening to Pivot. Be sure to like and

01:02:18

subscribe to our YouTube channel. We'll

01:02:20

be back next week.

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March 27, 2026
Delta Airlines Takes a Stand
Delta Airlines suspended specialty services for Congress members, forcing them to wait in line like everyone else. This move is seen as a significant pushback against the ongoing government shutdown.
“I love that Delta and others are pushing back.”
@ 22m 22s
March 27, 2026
Legal Precedent in Social Media Lawsuits
Meta and YouTube were found liable for harming a young user with addictive features. This verdict sets a legal precedent for future social media addiction cases.
“This is a big deal. It’s not about the parking tickets.”
@ 30m 42s
March 27, 2026
The Dangers of Social Media
Discussion on how social media companies create addictive features without guard rails.
“They’ve created addictive and necessary features without any kind of guard rails.”
@ 35m 29s
March 27, 2026
Meta's Awareness of Child Abuse
An undercover operation revealed Meta's negligence in protecting children online.
“It took the attorney general about 48 hours to figure this out.”
@ 38m 11s
March 27, 2026
Amazon's New Phone Venture
Amazon is reportedly working on a new AI-driven phone, potentially integrating with Prime.
“This would potentially be an AI-driven phone that syncs with Alexa.”
@ 48m 01s
March 27, 2026
Porsche's SUV Success
Despite initial skepticism, Porsche's SUV now outsells all other models in their lineup.
“Well, all the Porsche purists said they should never launch an SUV. They did.”
@ 50m 55s
March 27, 2026
Amazon's Potential
Amazon could enhance Prime by adding telco services and autonomous devices, creating a loyalty program.
“Amazon is arguably the most trusted brand in the world right now.”
@ 52m 28s
March 27, 2026
OpenAI's IPO Predictions
Predictions about OpenAI's IPO suggest a guaranteed return for investors, raising concerns about equity.
“They’re guaranteeing a 17.5% return.”
@ 54m 07s
March 27, 2026

Episode Quotes

Key Moments

Liberating Mortality08:29
Political Complexity17:09
Delta's Bold Move22:22
Social Media Accountability30:52
Social Media Addiction35:29
Meta's Negligence38:11
Amazon Trust52:28
OpenAI IPO54:07

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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January 16, 2026

01:12:37

How Trump’s Global Chaos is Distracting from the Epstein Files | Pivot

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01:07:45

Scott Galloway Says Iran War is “The Definition of a Quagmire” | Pivot

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01:07:31

How Trump Is “Workshopping” His Iran War Plan | Pivot

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01:14:15

MAGA Civil War Erupts Over Iran | Pivot

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01:05:19

Scott Galloway Predicts a $10 Trillion Market Wipeout | Pivot

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55:27

Elon & Trump Fight! The Breakup of the Summer | Pivot

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55:53

Trump’s Iran Strategy: Strike, Then Shrug? | Pivot

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01:02:11

Kristi Noem Fired — Her New Role Sounds Like a “Bad Marvel Movie” | Pivot

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January 30, 2026

59:06

Resist and Unsubscribe: Scott Galloway’s Plan to Hit Big Tech Where It Hurts | Pivot

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01:05:16

Trump’s Military Parade Backfires as 'No Kings' Protesters Hit the Streets

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01:00:24

Are You Falling for Trump’s Distraction Tactics? | Pivot

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February 03, 2026

01:01:21

Epstein Files: How New Documents Expose a Wider Network | Pivot