Better Offline is a weekly show exploring the tech industry’s influence and manipulation of society - and interrogating the growth-at-all-costs future that tech...
In the second of this week's two-part series, Ed Zitron walks you through how SoftBank is mortgaging its future to keep OpenAI alive - and the dangerous consequences of over-funding an unprofitable, unsustainable company. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/ Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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34:10
Monologue: How Does This End?
In this week's monologue, Ed Zitron walks through how reckless members of the media continue to inflate the AI bubble - and the detailed notes he's been taking along the way. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/ Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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6:30
Microsoft Cuts The Power To AI
In the first of this week's two-part series, Ed Zitron walks you through how Microsoft pulling back from over a gigawatt of compute capacity is a dark omen for the so-called AI Revolution. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/ Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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25:09
Monologue: OpenAI Is Getting Desperate
In this week's monologue, Ed Zitron goes through the underwhelming release of OpenAI's GPT-4.5 - and how OpenAI's rumored new pricing structure suggests this company is in trouble. Here's the article cited from The Information: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openai-plots-charging-20-000-a-month-for-phd-level-agents?rc=kz8jh3 --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/ Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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8:43
How Growth Is Killing Video Games
In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by Gita Jackson and Nathan Grayson of worker-owned games site Aftermath to talk about how the growth-at-all-costs mindset is destroying games, how fandom culture naturally feeds extremism, how Aftermath does games journalism differently, and how despite everything, great games are still being made. Gita Jackson:https://bsky.app/profile/xoxogossipgita.bsky.social https://aftermath.site/author/gita-jackson Nathan Grayson: https://aftermath.site/author/nathan-graysonhttps://bsky.app/profile/nathangrayson.bsky.social Stream Big: The Triumphs and Turmoils of Twitch and the Stars Behind the Screenhttps://www.amazon.com/Stream-Big-Triumphs-Turmoils-Twitch/dp/1982156767 Article on Skin Deep from Aftermath: https://aftermath.site/skin-deep-steam-next-fest-demo-impressions-pc The New York Times: Video Games Can’t Afford to Look This Goodhttps://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/26/arts/video-games-graphics-budgets.html Aftermath - Fuck WBhttps://aftermath.site/warner-bros-discovery-games-wonder-woman-monolith-shut-down Pyre - https://www.supergiantgames.com/games/pyre/Supergiant Games - https://www.supergiantgames.comAvowed - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2457220/Avowed/ --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/ Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Better Offline is a weekly show exploring the tech industry’s influence and manipulation of society - and interrogating the growth-at-all-costs future that tech’s elite wants to build.
Combining narrative-form storytelling, one-on-one interviews and panel-based discussions, Better Offline cuts through the buzzwords and obfuscation of the tech industry, investigating and evaluating the schemes and scams of everyone from cryptocurrency scumbags to the greediest of the venture capital elite. Tech industry veteran Ed Zitron and a dynamic coterie of guests will help listeners understand the who, how and why of how tech’s most powerful players are changing the world - for better or for worse.