AI capex math demands $2.5T in revenue
Good morning. Infrastructure constraints and massive capital requirements are forcing a re-evaluation of the AI trade.
Scott Galloway calculates that hyperscalers must generate $2.5 trillion in incremental revenue to justify their current AI capital expenditures. With cumulative artificial intelligence sales sitting at just $150 billion today, the required 15x expansion dwarfs the entire existing top line of big tech, signaling a severe valuation mismatch.
The Tape
What the smartest operators are pricing in today — names and trades.
▲ Bull
“I do think people are forgetting how powerful Google is and how much they own. All of the integration they can do, all of the tools, all of the data they have on us.”
Hayden Field · Decoder with Nilay Patel
▼ Bear
“I could see a lot of people fleeing in the next few months because Jeff Dean seemed to be... the person keeping a lot of people at Google.”
Hayden Field · Decoder with Nilay Patel
▲ Bull
“I think these franchises, whether it's core Disney, Pixar, Lucasfilm, Marvel, are just like luxury brands. You cannot kill them. They will have up times and they will have down times, but they will always come back”
David Rosenthal · Acquired
▼ Bear
“then the excess profits in the long term will just be captured by the rights holders like the NFL and the NBA.”
Ben Gilbert · Acquired
▲ Bull
“what folks are seeing is that the free cash flow in the business is really starting to inflect, which is allowing us to offset dilution, to strengthen our balance sheet”
Evan Spiegel · TBPN
▼ Bear
“I think Snap is dramatically overvalued. And I think at some point, Evan has to wake up from this decade-long hallucination where he's wasted $3.5 billion to try and prove he's Steve Jobs.”
Scott Galloway · Prof G Markets
▲ Bull
“he is a beast at copying mimicking and competing he's going to be the open source hero from america he is going to have the best open source model in the next year i guarantee it”
Jason Calacanis · All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg
▼ Bear
“Metaverse was a $61 billion loss for Facebook. They spent $150 billion of the last three years. They lost another $150 billion this year on AI. And they're saying that they're going to lose more next year”
Cory Doctorow · Hidden Forces
▲ Bull
“Nvidia could become, and these are effectively royalties, these revenue shares, they could very quickly become a very large cloud with a capital light business.”
Gavin Baker · All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg
▼ Bear
“The reason those are staying in place is because there's no replacement for them. You have data centers that are built for a particular assumption around cooling. New GPUs don't fit that assumption.”
Ben Thompson · Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson
“I do think people are forgetting how powerful Google is and how much they own. All of the integration they can do, all of the tools, all of the data they have on us.”
Today's Signals (16)
Operator-validated investment signals before they reach consensus.
“once any component of a sovereign's debt stock gets large enough and the sovereign faces severe financial distress, it's going to have to be restructured. There is no notion of an inviolable or senior type of debt instrument.”
bearish · 10/10 conviction
Discussing: the myth of inviolable sovereign bonds
“But that was the great loss of innocence in the market. And of course, in this century, all of this debt has been in the form of bonds. And friends, once any component of a sovereign's debt stock gets large enough and the sovereign faces severe financial distress, it's going to have to be restructured. There is no notion of an inviolable or senior type of debt instrument. In some people's eyes, there are, especially if you hang out at the IMF for long enough.”
Money Talks: Live from the Library of Mistakes · Aug 4, 2026
“OpenAI and the other AI companies are the money-losingest companies in the history of the human race. No one has ever lost as much money as quickly as they have.”
bearish · 9/10 conviction
Discussing: OpenAI's financial sustainability
“I want to say that there's like a big difference between a company that squeezes you in order to extract more revenue and a company that squeezes you because they're doomed and they're basically like grabbing onto you and pushing you under the water to kind of buoy themselves up to get a few more sips of air before they sink too. OpenAI and the other AI companies are the money-losingest companies in the history of the human race. No one has ever lost as much money as quickly as they have. And it's not like they're losing less money. They're losing more.”
The AI Enshittification Bubble | Cory Doctorow · Aug 3, 2026
“I think these franchises, whether it's core Disney, Pixar, Lucasfilm, Marvel, are just like luxury brands. You cannot kill them. They will have up times and they will have down times, but they will always come back”
bullish · 9/10 conviction
Discussing: Disney's long-term franchise durability
“So, okay, bold case. I will take the exact opposite side of what you just laid out in the long run. I think these franchises, whether it's core Disney, Pixar, Lucasfilm, Marvel, are just like luxury brands. You cannot kill them. They will have up times and they will have down times, but they will always come back because these are the core myths of our society.”
Disney: The Renaissance and the Empire · Aug 10, 2026
“what folks are seeing is that the free cash flow in the business is really starting to inflect, which is allowing us to offset dilution, to strengthen our balance sheet”
bullish · 9/10 conviction
Discussing: Snap's Q2 earnings beat
“It was a great quarter for Snap, and I think what folks are seeing is that the free cash flow in the business is really starting to inflect, which is allowing us to offset dilution, to strengthen our balance sheet, and, of course, to continue investing in the future, which is so important to us. Okay, let's talk about the future, because there's a couple different pieces of that story.”
Bending Spoons Buys Airtable, Snap Rips, Ads in BMW | Grace Li, Samir Kaji, John Quinn, Nikhil Reddy, Art Levy & Russell Kaplan, Brendan Carr · Aug 4, 2026
“he is a beast at copying mimicking and competing he's going to be the open source hero from america he is going to have the best open source model in the next year i guarantee it”
bullish · 9/10 conviction
Discussing: Meta's open source AI models
“Then you look at the models. And by the way, congratulations, you got Zuckerberg on your ass. Go ask MySpace, go ask Snapchat what it's like to have Zuckerberg in the review mirror. literally the t-rex coming at the frontier models he is a beast at copying mimicking and competing he's going to be the open source hero from america he is going to have the best open source model in the next year i guarantee it here on the”
Anthropic's $2T IPO, Zuck's AI Manifesto, Nvidia's $500B AI Bet, Grok's Comeback · Aug 14, 2026
“I do think people are forgetting how powerful Google is and how much they own. All of the integration they can do, all of the tools, all of the data they have on us.”
bullish · 8/10 conviction
Discussing: Google's structural advantages in AI
“Is this just a catastrophe for its bleeding edge efforts? I feel like it's really bad, but I do think people are forgetting how powerful Google is and how much they own. All of the integration they can do, all of the tools, all of the data they have on us. I think they have a huge safety net is what I'm saying, like a huge cushion.”
Does Google even want to win in AI? · Aug 13, 2026
“I could see a lot of people fleeing in the next few months because Jeff Dean seemed to be, according to my sources that I spoke with there, the person keeping a lot of people at Google.”
bearish · 8/10 conviction
Discussing: Google AI talent retention
“Jeff Dean even signed an amicus brief in support of Anthropic with the whole Department of War situation, which Google ended up signing. and just kind of letting the Department of War do whatever with their AI. So I could see a lot of people fleeing in the next few months because Jeff Dean seemed to be, according to my sources that I spoke with there, the person keeping a lot of people at Google. So I don't know, I could see a big exodus happening in the next few months.”
Does Google even want to win in AI? · Aug 13, 2026
“to the extent to which these stablecoin demand reaches those levels, then they need to have, as a backing, 4 trillion T-bills. And that will, of course, create pressure in terms of return, compressing returns.”
bullish · 8/10 conviction
Discussing: stablecoin demand impact on T-bills
“So, effectively, You know, these issuers, as you pointed out, are inelastic in terms of return. They just need to have T-bills as backing for regulatory reasons. So, to the extent to which these stablecoin demand reaches those levels, then they need to have, as a backing, 4 trillion T-bills. And that will, of course, create pressure in terms of return, compressing returns. So this is actually the idea of the other paper that we wanted to work on, the effects of stablecoin on T-bills rates, what we call the stablecoin compression premium.”
Gianluca Benigno on Central Bank Balance Sheets, Stablecoins, and Nonlinear Inflation · Aug 10, 2026
“Energy leading the way. I'm a fan because it's anti-beta to the S&P now. Energy's beta has collapsed. It's like 2% of the market.”
bullish · 8/10 conviction
Discussing: Energy sector performance
“All right. How about this? Energy leading the way. I'm a fan because it's anti-beta to the S&P now. Energy's beta has collapsed. It's like 2% of the market. Yeah. Okay. So if you don't want to take a big swing, you buy natural resources ETF where you're going to get energy and materials and maybe some other stuff. But energy's beta is negative to the S&P. It is just a complete collapse. So it's a hedge necessarily, especially when bonds aren't hedging.”
It's a bull market and nobody drinks anymore. · Aug 14, 2026
“then the excess profits in the long term will just be captured by the rights holders like the NFL and the NBA.”
bearish · 8/10 conviction
Discussing: Long-term economics of ESPN
“So the structural force, though, that's working against ESPN here is that ESPN used to be the only place that you could go to watch highlights and replays. And now you can get a lot of that on social media. So in the long run, if the main reason to subscribe to any given channel ends up being actually about the game content itself and not differentiated by stuff around the game, then the excess profits in the long term will just be captured by the rights holders like the NFL and the NBA.”
Disney: The Renaissance and the Empire · Aug 10, 2026
“seven of the top 10 DeFi protocols would face a massive capital exodus. So that's, I mean, so I don't know if that blows, that to me is, seems like that's blowing up DeFi.”
bearish · 8/10 conviction
Discussing: impact of stake tapering on DeFi
“Essentially, yield approaches zero as staked ETH approaches 50%. Mike, what would happen in DeFi as a repercussion of this proposal? Yeah, I mean, the seven of the top 10 DeFi protocols would face a massive capital exodus. So that's, I mean, so I don't know if that blows, that to me is, seems like that's blowing up DeFi. So all the big DeFi protocols stop, you know, DeFi-ing.”
The EIP That Destroys DeFi | Stani Kulechov & Mike Silagadze · Aug 10, 2026
“My prediction for this week, same as you, I think there is so much selling pressure coming down the pipeline for SpaceX. I think this thing falls another 20 to 30% by the end of the year.”
bearish · 8/10 conviction
Discussing: SpaceX lockup expiration
“So we'll see if it holds, but I actually, I think that Met is one of the only big tech stocks right now that is actually still relatively under value because I think so much fear and anxiety is priced into that with good reason. But I think that we hit the bottom. Seems like we did. My prediction for this week, same as you, I think there is so much selling pressure coming down the pipeline for SpaceX. I think this thing falls another 20 to 30% by the end of the year.”
Bulls vs. Bears: Who’s Right About This Market? · Aug 10, 2026
Sector Heat
Where conviction's concentrated this week — and where it's cooling.
Information Technology
▼ 148.0%headwind
Hyperscaler capital expenditure fatigue is setting in as investors demand concrete revenue metrics over infrastructure promises.
Communication Services
▼ 30.0%watching
Streaming platforms are pivoting toward bundled content strategies to offset rising customer acquisition costs and churn.
Real Estate
▼ 8.0%tailwind
Commercial property valuations are stabilizing as buyers anticipate a shift from bear to bull market conditions.
From the Conversations
The AI Enshittification Bubble | Cory Doctorow
Aug 3, 2026 · 53m · 2 quotes pulled
▶ Listen“OpenAI and the other AI companies are the money-losingest companies in the history of the human race. No one has ever lost as much money as quickly as they have.”
“I want to say that there's like a big difference between a company that squeezes you in order to extract more revenue and a company that squeezes you because they're doomed and they're basically like grabbing onto you and pushing you under the water to kind of buoy themselves up to get a few more sips of air before they sink too. OpenAI and the other AI companies are the money-losingest companies in the history of the human race. No one has ever lost as much money as quickly as they have. And it's not like they're losing less money. They're losing more.”
Disney: The Renaissance and the Empire
Aug 10, 2026 · 4h 32m · 2 quotes pulled
▶ Listen“I think these franchises, whether it's core Disney, Pixar, Lucasfilm, Marvel, are just like luxury brands. You cannot kill them. They will have up times and they will have down times, but they will always come back”
“So, okay, bold case. I will take the exact opposite side of what you just laid out in the long run. I think these franchises, whether it's core Disney, Pixar, Lucasfilm, Marvel, are just like luxury brands. You cannot kill them. They will have up times and they will have down times, but they will always come back because these are the core myths of our society.”
All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg
Anthropic's $2T IPO, Zuck's AI Manifesto, Nvidia's $500B AI Bet, Grok's Comeback
Aug 14, 2026 · 1h 39m · 2 quotes pulled
▶ Listen“he is a beast at copying mimicking and competing he's going to be the open source hero from america he is going to have the best open source model in the next year i guarantee it”
“Then you look at the models. And by the way, congratulations, you got Zuckerberg on your ass. Go ask MySpace, go ask Snapchat what it's like to have Zuckerberg in the review mirror. literally the t-rex coming at the frontier models he is a beast at copying mimicking and competing he's going to be the open source hero from america he is going to have the best open source model in the next year i guarantee it here on the”
Sources
▶ ListenDecoder with Nilay Patel
Does Google even want to win in AI?My guest today is The Verge’s Hayden Field, and we’re discussing a question that’s been rocketing around the tech industry for the past week: Is Google losing the AI race? That's because last week, the company announced a bombshell reorganization of its AI division. You can read these moves, and Google’s reaction, in a lot of different ways. So I really wanted to sit down with Hayden to dig into some of the smartest analysis we’ve seen this past week, and what we think is really going on here. Links: The messy politics behind Google’s big AI shakeup | The Verge Gemini is cooked but GCP is cooking | SemiAnalysis Google announced a major shakeup of its top AI leadership | The Verge AI lab musical chairs hits Google the hardest | Axios Demis Hassabis said this might be the ‘foothills of the singularity.’ What? | The Verge Google’s AI architect lived rent-free in Elon Musk’s head | The Verge Sundar Pichai on AI, search, and the future of the web | The Verge Subscribe to The Verge to access the ad-free version of Decoder! Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Decoder is produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt. This episode was edited by Ursa Wright. Our supervising producer is Greg Ott, and our editorial director is Kevin McShane. The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
▶ ListenMacro Musings with David Beckworth
Gianluca Benigno on Central Bank Balance Sheets, Stablecoins, and Nonlinear Inflation<p>Gianluca Benigno is a professor of economics at the University of Lausanne. Previously, he was a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and an economist at the Bank of England. Gianluca returns to the program to discuss financial r-star, the changing landscape of central bank balance sheets, the unique challenges facing the Swiss National Bank, how stablecoins could affect Treasury markets and the demand for reserves, the return of nonlinear inflation, its implications for monetary policy, and much more.</p> <p>Watch <a href="https://youtu.be/wvlrClvH09E">the full length video</a> on our new YouTube Channel!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Check out the <a href= "https://www.mercatus.org/macro-musings/gianluca-benigno-central-bank-balance-sheets-stablecoins-and-nonlinear-inflation">transcript</a> for this week's episode, now with links.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Recorded on June 22nd, 2026</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Subscribe to David's Substack: <a href= "https://macroeconomicpolicynexus.substack.com/">Macroeconomic Policy Nexus</a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Follow David Beckworth on X: <a href= "https://twitter.com/DavidBeckworth">@DavidBeckworth</a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Follow Gianluca Benigno on X: <a href= "https://x.com/BenignoGianluca">@BenignoGianluca</a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Follow the show on X: <a href= "https://twitter.com/Macro_Musings">@Macro_Musings</a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Check out our Macro Musings <a href= "https://www.bonfire.com/store/mercatus-podcast-swag/">merch!</a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Timestamps<br /> 00:00:00 - Intro<br /> 00:01:41 - R-Double-Star<br /> 00:04:10 - Central Bank Balance Sheets<br /> 00:09:22 - Swiss National Bank<br /> 00:32:05 - Working Paper on the Regulation of Stablecoins<br /> 00:45:41 - Inflation<br /> 00:53:19 - Outro</p>
▶ ListenThe Compound and Friends
It's a bull market and nobody drinks anymore.On episode 255 of The Compound and Friends, Downtown Josh Brown and Michael Batnick are joined by Todd Sohn, Chief ETF Strategist at Baird Strategas, to discuss the record-breaking ETF boom, the rise of thematic and leveraged products, buffer and option-income ETFs, AI and compute as emerging investment themes, and where investor money is flowing now. They also get into the battle for ETF brand loyalty, whether $1 billion is the new benchmark for a fund that matters, prediction-market ETFs, the outlook for crypto and small caps, healthcare’s comeback, and the trillions of dollars still sitting in retail money-market funds. Plus, why professional sports franchises are starting to look a lot like the stock market—and what Wall Street might package into an ETF next. This episode is sponsored by VanEck. To learn more about RAAX, visit https://www.vaneck.com/RAAXCompound Sign up for The Compound Newsletter and never miss out: thecompoundnews.com/subscribe Instagram: instagram.com/thecompoundnews Twitter: twitter.com/thecompoundnews LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/the-compound-media/ TikTok: tiktok.com/@thecompoundnews Investing involves the risk of loss. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be or regarded as personalized investment advice or relied upon for investment decisions. Michael Batnick and Josh Brown are employees of Ritholtz Wealth Management and may maintain positions in the securities discussed in this video. All opinions expressed by them are solely their own opinion and do not reflect the opinion of Ritholtz Wealth Management. The Compound Media, Incorporated, an affiliate of Ritholtz Wealth Management, receives payment from various entities for advertisements in affiliated podcasts, blogs and emails. Inclusion of such advertisements does not constitute or imply endorsement, sponsorship or recommendation thereof, or any affiliation therewith, by the Content Creator or by Ritholtz Wealth Management or any of its employees. For additional advertisement disclaimers see here https://ritholtzwealth.com/advertising-disclaimers. Investments in securities involve the risk of loss. Any mention of a particular security and related performance data is not a recommendation to buy or sell that security. The information provided on this website (including any information that may be accessed through this website) is not directed at any investor or category of investors and is provided solely as general information. Obviously nothing on this channel should be considered as personalized financial advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any securities. See our disclosures here: https://ritholtzwealth.com/podcast-youtube-disclosures/ VanEck Disclosure: Investing involves substantial risk and high volatility, including possible loss of principal. Call 1-800-826-2333 or visit vaneck.com to read and consider the prospectus, containing the investment objective, risks, and fees of the fund, carefully before investing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
▶ ListenHidden Forces
The AI Enshittification Bubble | Cory Doctorow<p dir="ltr">In <a href= "https://hiddenforces.io/podcasts/the-ai-enshittification-bubble-cory-doctorow"> Episode 492</a> of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with science fiction author, journalist, and digital rights activist Cory Doctorow—who coined the term "enshittification"—about why he believes the AI bubble will prove more damaging than the 2008 financial crisis and rival the equity sell-off of the 2020 Covid pandemic, the theory he has developed to explain why everything keeps getting worse, why the companies leading the AI boom are structurally unprofitable and existentially dependent on a runaway growth narrative, and where the value in AI may actually accrue once the bubble deflates or bursts entirely.</p> <p dir="ltr">The first hour covers the central argument of Doctorow's book on enshittification, which goes beyond simply describing how things are getting worse—from the extractive nature of online relationships to the soul-sucking experience of dealing with burned-out call-center operators and mindless chatbots—to put forward a theory for why, based on what has happened to competition, regulation, interoperability, and the bargaining power of workers. From there, they compare the prevailing business models and unit economics of the early web companies and large platforms to those leading the charge in AI, and why Doctorow believes the latter are not only structurally unprofitable but existentially dependent on a growth narrative of runaway AI that will run out of capital before it ever delivers the promise and profits its investors are banking on.</p> <p dir="ltr">The second hour continues the conversation about the AI boom—how retirement accounts and index-fund concentration have raised the stakes of an eventual bust, and how new forms of regulatory forbearance, including the mechanics of the recent SpaceX public listing, along with other more explicit government bailouts, will be needed to prop up otherwise unsustainable valuations. They close with the narrative gap between AI-driven job displacement and what the data actually tells us, and where the value in AI may accrue once the bubble deflates—from open-source models and cheap hardware to the skilled workers and infrastructure needed to capitalize on them.</p> <p dir="ltr">Subscribe to our premium content—including our premium feed, episode transcripts, and Intelligence Reports—by visiting <a href= "https://hiddenforces.io/subscribe">HiddenForces.io/subscribe</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">If you'd like to join the conversation and become a member of the Hidden Forces Genius community—with benefits like Q&A calls with guests, exclusive research and analysis, in-person events, and dinners—you can also sign up on our subscriber page at <a href= "https://hiddenforces.io/subscribe">HiddenForces.io/subscribe</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">If you enjoyed today's episode of Hidden Forces, please support the show by:</p> <ul> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Subscribing on <a href= "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hidden-forces/id1205359334">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href= "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8URhgYos5fjHqFSO4RSIEg">YouTube</a>, <a href= "https://open.spotify.com/show/0TK6u251zGSlMgJKH6cOaP">Spotify</a>, <a href= "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/demetri-kofinas/hidden-forces">Stitcher</a>, <a href="https://soundcloud.com/hiddenforces">SoundCloud</a>, <a href="https://castbox.fm/channel/2629539">CastBox</a>, or via our <a href="http://hiddenforces.libsyn.com/rss">RSS Feed</a></p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Writing us a review on <a href= "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hidden-forces/id1205359334">Apple Podcasts</a> & <a href= "https://open.spotify.com/show/0TK6u251zGSlMgJKH6cOaP">Spotify</a></p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Join our mailing list at <a href= "https://hiddenforces.io/newsletter/">https://hiddenforces.io/newsletter/</a></p> </li> </ul> <p dir="ltr">Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas<br /> Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou</p> <p dir="ltr">Subscribe and support the podcast at <a href= "https://hiddenforces.io/">https://hiddenforces.io</a>.<br /> Join the conversation on <a href= "https://www.facebook.com/hiddenforcespod/">Facebook</a>, <a href= "https://www.instagram.com/hiddenforcespod/">Instagram</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/hiddenforcespod">Twitter</a> at @hiddenforcespod<br /> Follow Demetri on Twitter at <a href= "https://twitter.com/kofinas">@Kofinas</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Episode Recorded on 07/27/2026</p>
▶ ListenSlate Money
Money Talks: Live from the Library of Mistakes<p>In this Money Talks: <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/authors/APo9WbueZ4A/felix-salmon" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Felix Salmon</a> sits down with <a href="https://3vb.com/barrister/lee-c-buchheit/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lee Buchheit</a> for an in-depth chat on sovereign debt at a live event hosted by <a href="https://www.libraryofmistakes.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Library of Mistakes</a>. </p><br><p>Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slate Money show page on<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/slate-money/id876523888" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Apple Podcasts</a> and<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/2AgxNbNcUOckZSww9mk8mX" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Spotify</a>. Or, visit<a href="https://slate.com/podcast-plus?utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=plus_pod&utm_content=Money&utm_source=episode_summary" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> slate.com/moneyplus</a> to get access wherever you listen. </p><br><p><br></p><p>Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.</p><br><p><br></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
▶ ListenAcquired
Disney: The Renaissance and the Empire<p>In 1984, the Walt Disney Company was worth more dead than alive. Disney Animation — the heart of Walt's famous flywheel — had stagnated for years, bleeding away talent while corporate raiders circled, salivating over offers to sell off the film library to MGM and offload the parks to hotel operators. But what followed instead was the greatest turnaround in media history under Michael Eisner and Frank Wells. Beauty and the Beast. The Lion King. Broadway. Bringing the Disney Vault home on VHS and DVD. And the greatest media acquisition of all time — ESPN.</p><p><br>And then... it all almost fell apart. Again. Euro Disney turned into a money pit. Boardroom and executive infighting ran rampant. Animation descended into a dumpster fire. (Remember Chicken Little? Us neither.) Comcast — Comcast!! — tried to steal the company via a hostile takeover. Out of the chaos, a new generation of Disney management emerged under Bob Iger to stage yet another epic comeback with Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm, creating the defining media empire of the 21st century… until the tech companies came along. Tune in for the ultimate Acquired thrill ride: Disney, Part II.</p><p><strong>Sponsors:</strong></p><p>Many thanks to our fantastic Fall '26 Season partners:</p><ul><li><a href="https://link.acquired.fm/sierra">Sierra</a></li><li><a href="https://link.acquired.fm/sentry">Sentry</a></li><li><a href="https://link.acquired.fm/workos">WorkOS</a></li><li><a href="https://link.acquired.fm/claude">Anthropic</a></li></ul><p><strong>Links:</strong></p><ul><li><a href="https://www.acquired.fm/email">Sign up for email updates</a>, get our takeaways and research photos from each episode, and vote on future topics!</li><li><a href="http://acquired.fm/meetup">The Official Acquired Meetup on Sept 17th with our friends at Sentry. Join us!</a></li><li><a href="https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/disney-the-renaissance-and-the-empire#companion">The Acquired Disney Part II Companion PDF</a></li><li><a href="https://worldlypartners.com/businesshistory">Worldly Partners' Multi-Decade Disney Study</a></li><li><a href="https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/disney-the-renaissance-and-the-empire#sources">All episode sources</a></li></ul><p><strong>Carve Outs:</strong></p><ul><li><a href="https://www.warbyparker.com/eyeglasses/light-responsive">Warby Parker Transitions Extra Active</a></li><li><a href="https://youtu.be/FBcwt3QlY_8?si=fp92rR-B46Sz74GG">Michael Arndt's Toy Story 3 Story Presentation</a></li><li><a href="https://valkyries.wnba.com/">The Golden State Valkyries</a></li></ul><p><strong>More Acquired:</strong></p><ul><li><a href="https://www.acquired.fm/email">Get email updates</a> and vote on future episodes!</li><li><a href="https://acquired.fm/slack">Join the Slack</a></li><li>Check out the latest swag <a href="https://www.acquired.fm/store">in the ACQ Merch Store</a>!</li></ul><p>00:00:00 Start<br>00:00:50 Intro<br>00:05:07 Disney in Chaos (1984)<br>00:11:33 Eisner, Wells, Katzenberg Arrive (1984)<br>00:24:30 Animation Renaissance & CAPS Tech (1989)<br>00:37:33 Flywheel Extensions: Home Video, Retail & Broadway<br>00:54:32 Challenges & ABC/ESPN Acquisition (1994-1995)<br>01:05:55 ESPN: Disney's Accidental Goldmine<br>01:21:26 Eisner's Decline & Save Disney Campaign (2001-2004)<br>01:34:53 Comcast Hostile Takeover Bid (2004)<br>01:41:58 Bob Iger's Vision & Pixar Acquisition (2005-2006)<br>01:52:17 Pixar: From Lucasfilm to Steve Jobs (1979-1995)<br>02:03:11 Toy Story, IPO & Eisner Conflict (1995)<br>02:34:30 Disney Acquires Pixar (2006)<br>02:46:37 Marvel & Lucasfilm Acquisitions (2009-2012)<br>02:58:01 Streaming Pivot: Cord Cutting & BAMTech (2015)<br>03:06:30 The Disney+ Strategy & FOX Acquisition (2017-2019)<br>03:19:01 The Disney+ Launch, COVID, & Chapek's Tenure (2019-2022)<br>03:42:15 Iger's Return, Challenges & Parks Revival (2022-2026)<br>03:50:54 The Business Today: Parks & Streaming Focus<br>03:59:22 Analysis: Disney+ Strategy & The New Media Landscape<br>04:10:01 Analysis: Bull/Bear Cases<br>04:21:20 Quintessence<br>04:24:39 Carve-Outs + Outro</p><p>Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.</p>
▶ ListenBankless
The EIP That Destroys DeFi | Stani Kulechov & Mike SilagadzeEthereum’s latest staking proposal is sparking backlash across DeFi. Aave founder Stani Kulechov and EtherFi CEO Mike Silagadze join David to break down why stake tapering could push ETH yield toward zero, weaken solo staking, drive capital out of DeFi, and make ETH less attractive to institutions. They debate Ethereum’s monetary policy, whether the network is overpaying for security, and why trying to make ETH more like Bitcoin could undermine what makes Ethereum valuable in the first place. Subscribe for more conversations from the frontier of crypto. --- 📣SPOTIFY PREMIUM RSS FEED | USE CODE: SPOTIFY24 https://bankless.cc/spotify-premium --- BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS: 🔓NEAR | TRADE CONFIDENTIALLY, GET 20% BACK https://bankless.cc/near-pod 🔑BITKEY | GET 10% OFF USE CODE: BANKLESS | #bitkeypartner https://bankless.cc/bitkey ✈️COINBASE ONE CARD | EARN 5% BACK IN BITCOIN https://bankless.cc/coinbase-one-card 📊BITGET | TOKENIZED STOCKS 2.0 https://bankless.cc/bitget-stocks 🎯THE DEFI REPORT | ONCHAIN INSIGHTS https://thedefireport.io/bankless --- TIMESTAMPS Intro 0:00 0:09 Ethereum’s Staking Debate 2:41 Stani’s First Reaction 7:48 Mike’s Centralization Concerns 14:37 DeFi Under Pressure 17:15 Stani on Yield and Cash Flow 24:54 The Case for Vanilla Ether 27:20 Mike Pushes Back 34:27 Issuance and Monetary Policy 35:16 Minimum Viable Issuance 40:47 Institutions Need Predictability 46:10 Conservative Yield, Not Zero 47:46 Legitimacy and Process 52:54 Final Verdict on the EIP --- RESOURCES Stani Kulechov https://x.com/StaniKulechov Mike Silagadze https://x.com/MikeSilagadze --- Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
▶ ListenTBPN
Bending Spoons Buys Airtable, Snap Rips, Ads in BMW | Grace Li, Samir Kaji, John Quinn, Nikhil Reddy, Art Levy & Russell Kaplan, Brendan Carr<p></p><ul><li>(01:04) - Bending Spoons Buys Airtable </li> <li>(17:14) - Snap Earnings </li> <li>(27:02) - Apple Escalates OpenAI Lawsuit </li> <li>(31:08) - Ads in BMW </li> <li>(40:34) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions </li> <li>(44:25) - Grace Lee, co-founder and CEO of Intelligence, discusses how Design Arena uses human preferences to improve AI-generated designs, games, and websites. She outlines the company’s vision for an intelligence marketplace and creative superintelligence that can turn ideas into real-world outputs with minimal friction. </li> <li>(59:27) - Samir Kaji, co-founder and CEO of Allocate, discusses the rapid growth of private markets, Allocate’s role connecting wealth advisors with private funds, and the risks of soaring AI valuations. He also examines emerging venture funds, solo general partners, public-market investing, and the dangers of leverage in venture capital. </li> <li>(01:20:59) - John Quinn discusses his successful appeal representing Perplexity against Amazon and the emerging legal challenges surrounding agentic AI, including contracts, liability, copyright, and unauthorized access. A prominent trial lawyer and founder of Quinn Emanuel, he also examines AI’s transformative impact on legal practice, data-center disputes, and litigation strategy. </li> <li>(01:49:31) - Nikhil Reddy discusses founding Kaizen in 2022 after working as an early engineer at Anduril, with the goal of modernizing outdated government software. He highlights Kaizen’s new counter-drone marketplace, which streamlines procurement for defense agencies, law enforcement, and allied nations while improving speed, usability, and taxpayer value. </li> <li>(01:59:06) - Art Levy & Russell Kaplan. Art discusses his new role as Cognition’s vice president of global partnerships, drawing on his experience building alliances and partner ecosystems. He explains how deep partnerships can drive sales, integrations, co-marketing, and acquisitions while helping Cognition expand globally and attract talented founders. </li> <li>(02:13:12) - Brendan Carr discusses his work as FCC chairman to strengthen U.S. technology and national security while reducing regulatory barriers. He covers restrictions on foreign-made robotics and drones, safer electronics testing, school screen time, satellite internet, and efforts to streamline FCC rules and approvals.</li> </ul><p><br></p><p>TBPN is made possible by:</p><p>Ramp - https://ramp.com</p><p>Public - https://public.com</p><p>Cisco - https://www.cisco.com</p><p>Console - https://www.console.com</p><p>CrowdStrike - https://www.crowdstrike.com</p><p>Figma - https://www.figma.com</p><p>MongoDB - https://www.mongodb.com</p><p>NYSE - https://www.nyse.com</p><p>Railway - https://railway.com</p><p>Shopify - https://www.shopify.com</p><p>Codex - http://openAI.com/codex</p><p><br></p><p>Follow TBPN: </p><p>https://TBPN.com</p><p>https://x.com/tbpn</p><p>https://open.spotify.com/show/2L6WMqY3GUPCGBD0dX6p00?si=674252d53acf4231</p><p>https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tbpn/id1772360235</p><p>https://www.youtube.com/@TBPNLive</p>
▶ ListenProf G Markets
Bulls vs. Bears: Who’s Right About This Market?Scott Galloway and Ed Elson break down the bull and bear cases for the market at new record highs. They unpack how dependent the market has become on cash-burning companies like OpenAI and Anthropic, and therefore how fragile the AI trade is. Then they turn to SpaceX and check in on the stock following the company’s first earnings report and share lockup expiration date. Subscribe to the Prof G Markets Youtube Channel Subscribe to the Prof G Markets newsletter Order "Notes on Being a Man," out now Note: We may earn revenue from some of the links we provide. Follow the podcast across socials @profgmarkets Follow Scott on Instagram Follow Ed on Instagram, X and Substack Send us your questions or comments by emailing [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
▶ ListenAll-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg
Anthropic's $2T IPO, Zuck's AI Manifesto, Nvidia's $500B AI Bet, Grok's Comeback<p>(0:00) Gavin Baker joins the show!</p> <p>(2:36) Anthropic IPO report: $2T valuation, $100B+ run rate, October listing</p> <p>(27:32) Zuck's AI manifesto: What it means for Meta and frontier AI</p> <p>(56:41) All-In Summit Speaker Announcements!</p> <p>(58:13) Nvidia's $500B financing plan, how the AI market could fall apart</p> <p>(1:14:29) NJ and Mamdani take on Amazon over subcontracted drivers</p> <p>(1:27:32) Grok 4.6 launch: SpaceX's high-ceiling, high-floor AI strategy</p> <p>(1:35:21) Workday in talks to be acquired by Silver Lake for ~$43B</p> <p>Apply for Summit 2026:</p> <p><a href= "https://allin.com/events">https://allin.com/events</a></p> <p>Follow Gavin:</p> <p><a href= "https://x.com/gavinsbaker">https://x.com/gavinsbaker</a></p> <p>Follow the besties:</p> <p><a href="https://x.com/chamath">https://x.com/chamath</a></p> <p><a href="https://x.com/Jason">https://x.com/Jason</a></p> <p><a href= "https://x.com/DavidSacks">https://x.com/DavidSacks</a></p> <p><a href= "https://x.com/friedberg">https://x.com/friedberg</a></p> <p>Follow on X:</p> <p><a href= "https://x.com/theallinpod">https://x.com/theallinpod</a></p> <p>Follow on Instagram:</p> <p><a href= "https://www.instagram.com/theallinpod">https://www.instagram.com/theallinpod</a></p> <p>Follow on TikTok:</p> <p><a href= "https://www.tiktok.com/@theallinpod">https://www.tiktok.com/@theallinpod</a></p> <p>Follow on LinkedIn:</p> <p><a href= "https://www.linkedin.com/company/allinpod">https://www.linkedin.com/company/allinpod</a></p> <p>Intro Music Credit:</p> <p><a href="https://rb.gy/tppkzl">https://rb.gy/tppkzl</a></p> <p><a href= "https://x.com/yung_spielburg">https://x.com/yung_spielburg</a></p> <p>Intro Video Credit:</p> <p><a href= "https://x.com/TheZachEffect">https://x.com/TheZachEffect</a></p> <p>Referenced in the show:</p> <p><a href= "https://www.ft.com/content/840ac156-af1c-4a82-b260-ae791072fcfa">https://www.ft.com/content/840ac156-af1c-4a82-b260-ae791072fcfa</a></p> <p><a href= "https://polymarket.com/event/ipos-before-2027">https://polymarket.com/event/ipos-before-2027</a></p> <p><a href= "https://polymarket.com/event/which-company-has-best-ai-model-end-of-2026"> https://polymarket.com/event/which-company-has-best-ai-model-end-of-2026</a></p> <p><a href= "https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-13/anthropic-said-in-talks-to-buy-ai-startup-decart-for-6-billion"> https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-13/anthropic-said-in-talks-to-buy-ai-startup-decart-for-6-billion</a></p> <p><a href= "https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2052069691372478511">https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2052069691372478511</a></p> <p><a href= "https://www.meta.com/thefutureisforeveryone">https://www.meta.com/thefutureisforeveryone</a></p> <p><a href= "https://x.com/Home_of_Fight/status/2086504599444140344">https://x.com/Home_of_Fight/status/2086504599444140344</a></p> <p><a href= "https://x.com/JensenHuang/status/2086934705207959965">https://x.com/JensenHuang/status/2086934705207959965</a></p> <p><a href= "https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/04/nj-amazon-antitrust-lawsuit-delivery-contractors.html"> https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/04/nj-amazon-antitrust-lawsuit-delivery-contractors.html</a></p> <p><a href= "https://www.google.com/finance/beta/quote/WDAY:NASDAQ">https://www.google.com/finance/beta/quote/WDAY:NASDAQ</a></p> <p><a href= "https://www.amazon.com/Vision-Anointed-Self-Congratulation-Social-Policy/dp/046508995X"> https://www.amazon.com/Vision-Anointed-Self-Congratulation-Social-Policy/dp/046508995X</a></p> <p><a href= "https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/10/nyregion/mamdani-amazon-delivery-workers-nyc.html"> https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/10/nyregion/mamdani-amazon-delivery-workers-nyc.html</a></p>
▶ ListenSharp Tech with Ben Thompson
(Preview) Nvidia’s Answer to Capital Constraints, Google’s Attrition and Direction, Q&A on AI Writing, Vision Pro, Vibe CodingBen and Andrew begin with Nvidia’s announcements of a new funding model for AI infrastructure, including the differences and similarities with railroad expansion 150 years ago, why LLMs were a gift and curse to Nvidia’s business, the pressure on Nvidia coming from Google and Amazon, and the expanded blast radius as Nvidia works to mobilize third party funding. From there: Why the turnover at Google may actually be a good sign for Google’s frontier efforts, and extended thoughts the future of AI-generated output, ideas and substantiation, and Anthropic’s plan to watermark outputs. At the end: A question about the Vision Pro, the obstacles for Starlink Mobile, and a cranky emailer yields a clarifying answer on why Ben is excited about his vibe coded app.
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