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Trump TV, Meta’s Muse Charm, and Xi in D.C.

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Trump TV, Meta’s Muse Charm, and Xi in D.C.

The podcast explores a range of critical topics centered on technology, media, and society. It highlights Constellation as a leader in clean energy, emphasizing its role in reducing emissions and supporting grid stability. DeepGram’s Flux TTS is presented as an innovative, interactive AI voice solution, accessible for free. Core Wave is positioned as a foundational AI cloud platform enabling breakthroughs in healthcare, education, and scientific research. A major focus is on the legal and ethical challenges facing press freedom, with a federal judge ruling against the Trump administration’s press ban, citing its lack of legitimacy and violation of First Amendment principles. The episode also critiques Trump’s “Trump TV” as a poorly received, autocratic media initiative. On international frontiers, the U.S.-China AI summit underscores the growing need for transparency and cooperation in AI governance, even if outcomes remain symbolic. Meta’s new AI hardware is assessed critically for privacy risks, inaccessibility, and poor user experience. Finally, the discussion turns to education, raising concerns about alternative schools like Horowitz & Andreson Academy, which, while innovative, risk replacing proven educational systems. The overarching theme is a society where technological advancement often outpaces ethical reflection, pressing questions about privacy, democracy, and the role of public institutions in shaping a just future.

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Support for the show is brought to you by Constellation. Carbon-free power is more important than ever, and businesses need clean energy they can also count on. Constellation is the nation's number one producer of emissions-free energy, generating about 10% of America's clean power and delivering abundant around the clock, base load power to the grid. That means Constellation's carbon-free energy helps avoid annual emissions equivalent to taking more than 32 million cars off the road, all while supporting communities and grids stability. That's why more than 2.5 million customers nationwide and 80% of Fortune 100 companies trust Constellation for reliable clean energy. See how you can reliably power your business operations at ConstellationEnergy.com. I've got a text. The summer might be almost over, but a new bombshell is entered the villa. Meet the voices of DeepGram Flux TTS. I'm Drew. Low-key casual. I'm Alexis, an upbeat morning person. I'm Haley, always cheerful. Flux TTS has some real personalities that are ready to speak. You can interrupt, pause, and keep talking without losing the plot. Bansy a chat? Come try all the voices free through September 12th at deepgram.com/keeptalking. Terms apply. Support for the show comes from Core Wave. Everywhere you look, AI is expanding what we thought was possible. And at the center of it all is Core Wave. Medical research and diagnosis, education, complex visual effects, removeies, science and technology breakthroughs. Core Wave powers AI pioneers around the world with purpose-built tech, building what's never been built before. Core Wave is the essential cloud for AI, ready for anything, ready for AI. To learn more about how Core Wave powers the world's best AI, go to Core Wave.com/readyforanything. Canning the press is like holding a breath to punish the air. Scott, we're both in hotel rooms, it's so seamy. Yeah, where are you? I'm in Vienna. Austria. Oh god, that sounds like a big speaking fee. You're in spig-speaking fee stand. No, I'm doing. I did a favor for a school here. They did fly me here. Anyway, you know I speak German, I don't know if you know that. I did. I did know that because you wanted to be a spy, but you're like, "I'm hearing, I'm queer, and I wouldn't let you," but you know, Austria's biggest accomplishment. Edelweiss? I don't know what. No, convincing everyone that Hitler was German. Oh. Start that. Open that. Open that tonight at your job. I think I shat. Open without. I shat. You know, it's great. I just ate it the most. That is good. That is good. That is good. I don't usually like Hitler jokes. They got it. The dude was Austria. Yeah. People think of them as being pretty German. Nope. Austria. Yeah. He's my favorite actor. Anything he stars in a watch. Seriously. I know. Anything with it. World War II in color. That's the whole discovery. The whole discovery. Success has been about that. Not about that. But there's a lot of these videos of Trump yelling at the pilots of Air Force One and all the helicopters, and so they call him Hissie Fittler, which that's pretty good. That's pretty good. That's pretty good. Let's not make any more Hitler jokes. Let's not do it. No. Let's not. Anyway. I'm here in Austria. Totally. It's a lovely, a beautiful place. And we're both in hotel rooms. It's very scenic. And for all of those men out there that have been texting me that they find me offensive. Yeah. And that I should really dial it back. Yeah. I think. No. Well, I've been contemplating and taking their remarks seriously as I make their wives boyfriend to sandwich. Oh my god. Stop. You stop. Yeah. What does that mean? People are mad at us. Well, no. Not mad at us. I am in the tabloids now because people are mad and disgusted with me. People are just like, I don't know. Yeah. Oh, Tara, she's leaving. It's none of them. No, no. Now I'm in the tabloids. I'm leaving because-- In the tabloids? Yeah. No. I'm in the tabloids now because the reason I'm leaving is because the person who runs CBS News I used to go out with their wife. And that seems to be interesting. That's my reason for leaving, which is insane. So I can verify. I can validate for all the people out there. That's not why you're leaving. You're leaving just because you're a pain in the ass. I'm a pain in the ass. That is correct. That is correct. And I just want to go. Just leave me alone. So anyway, I've said this many times. And I want them to stop because it's just irritate. I just want to go. That's all. I don't think these are good owners. When you say I want them to stop, stop. What care? Well, all this leaking and all that, like even covering it. Who cares? Who cares? Who me? I'm small. If it was like Anderson Cooper. Well, yeah, but you keep announcing you're leaving like, no, I don't let me do that. Don't make me dance. I'm leaving. You know, I'm just, people asked me, don't make, okay, but I brought there a piece. You're being a little bit of a diva. I understand that. I understand that. I understand that. You know what? Do you know they call me the spirit animal of CNN? Lots of people there. Very happy. The spirit. That's what Laughlin and Cartwright call me. I know. I'm there. I am speaking for a lot of people. I think you're more the spirit airlines. The spirit airlines. I'm just going to let's play the receipts. I'm walking right out of there the day they get there. No way. I'm working for these terrible people. I will be leaving. I don't care to stick around. I'm leaving. I'm as soon as I can. I don't want to work for the else. And I don't want to work for their hand-picked minions because I think they're incompetent. Anyway, look, I'm just going, you're right. I should hush. But I just. So as I said to my ex-wife, okay. Then leave. Okay. You know, I like them so much. I like to see and then people so much. Actually, that's not true. My ex is a wonderful woman. Yes. Yes. The exes are always wonderful. Our separation, unlike your separation from CNN was tragically amicable. Oh, was it most in line war? Most in line. But in general, you know, Megan's always around. You've seen Megan showing up to a million things, but I was married to her for a long time. Yeah. I like Megan. She's great. My favorite story about Megan was I did this big thing. It's health by Southwest. And there was a line of people to ask me questions. So she decided to help me out and stood next to me and answered most of the questions for me. That is Megan. That's Megan Classic. It was literally someone who said, what do you think of A.I. And I'm like, well, I could go good or bad and she'd immediately go, what he means by good is that. And I'm like, Jesus. Who is this? Scott Translator. Who is this? Anyway. Like all my exes, they all live in Texas, I don't know how I got here, but you know, I gave you my advice. I'm my prediction. Yeah. CNN does 1.8 million a year and 600 million in cash flow. The Ellisons aren't going to fuck with that. Yeah, maybe. We'll see. They can fuck with 60 minutes. Nobody cares. You know, that makes a lot of money. No, it doesn't. It's a tiny business. It's like a 60 or 80 million dollar business that I doubt even break. No, no, it makes money and makes money. And a lot of people say 80% of the wind that's still in its sales is because I think it precedes or follows football. Anyway, it reminds me of that scene in succession. Do you remember that scene with Tom is talking to the very handsome scars guard kid or the- Yes, yes. Yeah. Yeah. He's a tall brick element. I'd even like him to be my ex. But he's interviewing. I'm a lesbian. Go ahead. He's interviewing Tom to be the head of what is, I guess, supposed to be Fox. God, I just thought of another line when Logan Roy is running around the newsroom and Tom's friend. I forget the kid. Yeah, great. He looks like Santa Claus of Santa Claus or an assassin. I mean, nobody says what's your philosophy if he goes, you know, I serve up food. People eat what they want if they like this. He's sort of apolitical and the guy says decides to make him CEO because I think he realizes I need the cash flow. I think the elephants are going to make the same decision. I don't think they're going to fuck with it. Yeah. One hopes. One hopes. I would bet they massively up Mark Thompson's contract. I bet they won't. They're going to want it. They're smart and they are smart people. They're going to want to stabilize the boat. They're not going to want to come in with guns blazing. I mean, they wouldn't do anything really fucking stupid like bring in Elon. I know. You see that? You see that? Oh my God. I saw that. That's another one. I'm like, what is happening? You're going to have to defend me more. I'm trying to think every media story, literally every media company is becoming billionaire potluck. The same people show up with their own media company. It's like 14. Like, don't weigh you people. That's enough to send me out. That's not going to happen. I don't know. I'm like, him, that X of mine, I don't want to see again. You're going to leave twice. I'm going to leave twice. I'm going to leave again. How dare you. How dare you. How dare you. How dare you. So snap, snap. Anyway, you're like that guy, Phil Liotardo, and that great scene from the supremacist, where he's like, you know, talking about how back in the old country his family's disrespected and he's like, no more, no more, you know, my, I have that's my background. My grandfather was a minor figure in that area of the world. In the mob. In the mob. In the mob. In the mob adjacent. In the mob adjacent. That's what I would say. Anyway, we've got a lot to talk to today. No one cares about us. It's so, it's so stupid, but it's good to raise. Important issues about journalism, ethics and competence. Anyway, we've got a lot to get to today. So let's dig in. Oh, so. It matters. Oh, my God. I'm going to sell you white men. I know. You're very precious. No, we're not precious. You're so antipress. But let me tell you a federal judge ruled that Trump's fan on CNN, MS now in Politico was likely unconstitutional, granting a temporary restraining order telling the White House to immediately return reinstate and restore press credentials. It looks like they haven't gotten the memo. They're probably terrified of Trump in order to carry it out as of this recording. Some staff from all three outlets are still being denied access. not clear whether it's incompetence or Trump worry. They just filed for a request from emergency hearing. Of course, the story would probably change 15 more times by the time people listen to this episode. Maybe the people will be in whatever. The judge also rejected for now the administration's argument the ban was necessary to protect national security, which is spacious. He questioned the stories the White House used to justify the ban saying they were routine and noting that some were months or even years old. By the way, the source for a political story cited by the White House was vice president JD Vance according to status. I have been to those kind of briefings. What happens is they do these briefings where you say a source close to the president. It's always like either the president or the secretary of state. So that's, I've been to those. They're so ridiculous and stupid when you have to do them and I've stopped doing them. But if they're so incompetent, it's just, I can't tell whether it's incompetence or they just don't know what to do with Trump or they're worried Natalie's gonna be mad. I don't know, I just, he should back down 'cause the microphones are terrible. Like, it's really kind of comical to watch the whole thing going on and they, and speaking of Trump's TV coverage, I love your comments all this. The White House launched Trump TV a 24 hour YouTube channel with the administration's quote, "Greatest hits unfiltered, all in one place." It's not exactly breaking the internet. It peaked it around 8,000 viewers at launch and drop below 4,000 within 90 minutes as you record the stream currently has 667 viewers. Just so you know, most pivots have a couple hundred thousand or more. Luckily, Jimmy Kimmel has come to the rescue with some excellent programming ideas. Let's look at this promo. - Coming this fall to Trump TV, from the bigly mind behind some of your all-time favorite shows, Donald J. Trump presents, "Etertainment for every patriot in your life." The all-white Lotus. Survivor, Epstein Island. America's most dangerous windmills. Pimp my reflecting pool. Melania's book club. The pit where Kristi knows shot her dog. No friends. My two idiot sons. My father loves DJing. Small hands-ville. Extreme makeover, White House edition. Orange is the new president. How I met mother and Jimmy Kimmel dead. Trump TV is must-see TV. Literally, if you don't watch it, you will be deported. Streaming exclusively on your grandpa's Dell computer. I've still got it, Donald. Still got it. All right. So all of this is obviously autocratic handbooks and state-run TV. So this is ridiculous. I know you say distraction, but it really, there is something very meaningful here about the First Amendment and the ability of people to just report basic news from the White House. This seems insane on some and many letters. Your thoughts? Well, we always make predictions on Friday. This is an easy one. He's going to back down. Trump doesn't need CNN's respect. He needs its attention. And for him, attention and coverage is oxygen and banning the press is like holding a breath to punish the air. Yes. It really doesn't make any sense. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The most interesting thing here from a, quote, unquote, democracy standpoint is how many days of ignoring a judge's order do we begin to normalize? Right. Oh, very good point. Yeah. And I think at some point, unfortunately, one of the really many dangerous things about the Trump administration is they get these orders and then they hum and ha and kind of wait until the last minute. They are sort of playing chicken with our democracy constantly. So the, and then the kind of the fun one or the kicker is the vans detail. And that is the White House cited a leak as a national security threat. And of course, the leaker was the vice president. It's organized. Yeah. That's right. When people didn't get it. It's not a security breach. It's a mirror. It's literally they organize these things. Before the press who is working there and so they can quote someone from the administration without it be having his name on it. This is a common practice. And they, what they do is they, for people don't know, they bring groups to reporters in and vance briefs them. And then you have to say a source close to the administration that's, that's the rule. That's the rule of the thing. So that's even like, it's not even like secret leaking advanced it. This was organized leaking by presumably levitt when she was working there. I think they don't have a PR person there anymore, you know, and it's, it's Natalie and Trump sort of working it out. The Trump TV thing was pretty surprising. The numbers are so low like, wow, like gosh. When I was probably, I don't know when I was in junior high school in Westwood, we had something we had cable call it. It was called the Z channel and it was this box with little buttons on it for each channel. And it had a cord that ran all the way to the DV. Oh wow. And one of my first major business lessons was the cable guy was outside messing around with the cable box and I was watching him and I was bored and he was putting in all these things and they were blockers such that my mom and I couldn't afford cable TVs. So when I pulled up the Z channel of a go, and you couldn't see it, like, you could see it for a second and we are a 13 year old and you have cinematics. You would spend a half an hour just occasionally see a boob or something. And I walked up to this guy and I said are those blockers and he was like a nice man. He showed it to me and I'm like, I'm at unit seven and I gave him five dollars and he looked at me and he took the blockers out. I was kind of one of my first business lessons was the market for corruption. And oh my gosh, I did not sleep the next three semesters cable. When you're a third tier at whatever you were, when you're just coming of age, you still like a half a boob and then it went off. Cable TV for a 15 year old boy with a lack of adult supervision, you're just wow, this is. I would assume he do well on YouTube, but this is a surprise. It's boring, it's not, it's going to go away. The more disconcerting thing across a million disconcerting things, is that these people are clearly following a handbook from autocrats. Step one is attacking independent press, step two is favoring friendly press and step three is building your own. He's running all three at once. Now the third leg of the stool here isn't successful. The more dangerous thing is carving a, carving a press that already has massive viewership and doling it out to your friends and favorable parties. That's why it's important. Trump TV is meaningless and what's scary is again, the same people that happen to be Republican donors getting control of TikTok and CBS news in 60 minutes and now CNN, I granted the concentration there is scary. Yeah, it is, it is. Even if it's declining audiences, I think it's still powerful. It really is. And it's kind of like, and especially the Elon editions got, come on, like this is just ridiculous. It's being carved up for rich people and it's weird. Like go back to buying sports teams people. But what's important is the coverage isn't as good because the pools have declined, have declined to cover them essentially. And as we tape, the Trump G summit is kicking off at the White House, the head of the meeting, Treasury Secretary and Gray Pupon, spokesman Scott Bessent discussed a possible U.S.-China AI dialogue with his Chinese counterpart, which is necessary. That would reportedly include a communications channel for AI incidents that rise up to the national security level, which I cannot believe is not already in place. We ask the director of Green Mantle, Alice Han, about what she expects from the summit. Here's what she had to say. What do I expect coming under the summit? Well four things. Number one, commitment rhetorically in both sides for continued dialogue. I do believe there will be another chance for the two leaders to meet either in Shenzhen for APEC in November or for G20 in Miami in December. Number two, I do believe the Chinese will succeed in getting the Americans to lay the $14 billion in arms sales due to Taiwan. Number three, I do believe there will be continued signaling about the desire to extend the truth on tariffs and rare earths, Bessent has already announced a two-month truth up until January 10. And last but not least, I think the most important part of the bilateral discussion right now is AI controls, AI guardrails. It's coming at a time where we're getting a lot of news about rogue agents, the problems with AI alignment. And I do think both sides are invested and both leaders are invested in some kind of discussion about continued AI governance, guardrails, certain levels of controls being put in place. I don't think we'll get any big substance on this issue, but certainly some kind of rhetorical statement from both sides about the need for bilateral cooperation of AI. Well, that's great, that's really smart. You know, would a meaningful U.S.-China cooperation A-safety look like? I think that's really the question. And Trump has already said they were going to talk about AI, but he said, "But I wanted to let it go, except for one," forget it, it was something very minor he was talking about that the U.S. justice department will be the guardrail, essentially, your thoughts. So, look, they've rolled out a technology as a solution that was invented in 1963, right? The Washington High Line, after the Cuban Missile Crisis. It is, the boring stuff is what moves the needle. And there is some important stuff here, in 1972, we agreed with the Soviet Union. to have something called the Incidents at Sea Agreement. Because of a nuclear submarine crashed on the shelf of whatever, we needed both, everyone needed to know, okay, there's 60 nuclear warheads at the bottom of the ocean, and maybe we can help you rescue these people. And if we detect a nuclear submarine, and it looks like it's not moving, is it lining up for offensive actions? So it made sense to say, okay, when shit gets real for one of our submarines or a military or an attack ship at sea, we're gonna be graceful with each other, trying to help each other, and we are going to communicate with each other around what's going on. And one of the things we need for AI is the equivalent of the NTSB, the National Transportation Safety Board, then when there's an accident anywhere in China or the US, we know about it, we share it with each other. It's like I say to my kids, when you come home, if you've had a few drinks, if you tell me, I'm not gonna be mad. I just need to know. I wanna know what's going on with you. And I will afford you a lot of grace. I'm not saying I'll ignore things, but tell me, when something goes wrong, or you've had to, whatever they're called, those nicotine patches and come home and start throwing up, I wanna know why. And I don't want you to be scared to tell me, when they call nizz or rizz or the little things you've packed. Anyway, my point is there's something important to that. And then the other really, the most important thing of all of this, and it's again, another terrible move in my view, and it's acquiescing to Russia, or excuse me, to China, is that we've agreed to delay 14 billion in Taiwan arm sales in exchange for AI rhetoric. So basically we're trading hardware and defense of an ally for a press release, and it is so asymmetric, and you wanna talk about a bad deal. China has not agreed to stop arming or helping arm Russia in their fight against Ukraine or even Iran, as they begin, as we are in a war with them, but we're not gonna ship 14 billion in what would be defensive, defensive arms to Taiwan. - Tip abilities, I am so certain they're going to surround Taiwan within the Trump. They've got only this two-year time frame to do it. They must do it. And especially when they get the nod from Trump, that's what this is, right? This idea of not defending this nation. And I think even the nation has given up on thinking the US, watching all the other allies get, where's all the others? I mean, everything's a press release with this guy. I mean, one of the things, he's trying to rebrand AI called super intelligence. This is not a new name for it. And I don't know why he doesn't like artificial. Just everything's such a fake, and as you know, the real stuff, like defending Taiwan, or feeling like there are ally, or treating them like the ally they've been. And by the way, we totally depend on them, which is still to this moment. It would be devastating if China did what everyone thinks it wants to do, and probably will do, which is surrounded or somehow get control of Taiwan. So yeah, right, this is all bullshit. It's so great. It took me so that I'm like, you are so stupid. I just don't know what to say. And you give away the farm every time with whatever malevolent ally heads are way, whether it's she or the government of Korea, or anywhere else, or he embraces dictators and rejects democratic leadership essentially. - But every victory on the battlefield for Ukraine against the invading Russian force makes it less likely China will invade Taiwan. It's people don't realize how important it is and what a great investment, helping the Ukrainian army continue to accomplish miracles on the battlefield is, 'cause you gotta think that the CCP looks at what's happened with a smaller military force that's technically sophisticated. I can't even imagine how technically sophisticated the Taiwanese asymmetric force would be. - I understand that they are like starting to live with the idea they might be a part of China. And that's what I've heard for a while. - And that's up to the Taiwanese people. Is it but my point is, if you want to-- - Oh, they don't want to be. They just think it's inevitable. - But it would be, I'm going to whether, I don't think it's gonna be, I don't think we're gonna have a hot war. They're first off, the CCP is very smart. They're very measured and look at what's happened to the two hostile powers, Russia and the US and Ukraine and Iran. They learn, they're students in history also. For all of their large army and everything, there's something very, I find interesting. There's not a single soldier in the Chinese armed services that has one day of combat experience. And it could be a disaster for them in a hot war with Taiwan. And Taiwan has mapped the shit out of the entry points. It would make Omaha look like, maybe that's a bad example. Anyways, the fear is that it's a soft, creeping economic invasion, right? It makes it just very difficult. But if Taiwan, if we continue to treat Taiwan, the way we treat our other allies and friends, you want to talk about if someone could go gangster on you. If Taiwan says we're gonna reconsider the supply chain for chips to the US, I mean, they dominate. And anyways, I don't, as always, our geopolitical strategy here makes no sense. - Yeah, it makes no sense. I think it is astonishing how much he turns on allies. And Taiwan has been one of our staunchest allies and one of the helpers of creating this digital revolution, too. It's just one of these, I know so many amazing technologists from Taiwan and a lot of people who are in Silicon Valley created these companies are from there. It is an astonishing country and always under siege. - Have you been there? I've never been. - Yes, once. And it's amazing. - Really? - And I've had a lot of friends who live there. Also, America's not just Taiwanese. It's such an important country to us. And we should be, you remember when Nancy Pelosi went over there and visited and freaked out? - I was just gonna say what would solve all of this is having Speaker Pelosi in a hot pink pantsuit on the runway in Taiwan in front of Air Force 2. - Well, who could, who could it be? I guess she could, yeah, she's not in power anymore. She was Speaker when she did that, I think. - It has to be someone else, someone now. - Yeah, well, again, you're cinnamon. If I were a Democratic candidate for president, I would make a trip to Taiwan. - Trip to Taiwan, yeah, that's a really good thing. Anyway, we're gonna move on. It's just Trump is so like, oh, he's a strategic, he's a rock, essentially. Okay, Scott, let's go on a quick break. We come back. Mark Zuckerberg shows off new glasses and gadgets. - So like any good millennial, I have a love-hate relationship with Gen Z. It's the phenomenon rattling millennials. - They just look at you. - They want something bigger themselves, lifestyle's a priority, motivation is being inspired. - But regardless of how you feel about Gen Z, it's undeniable that they're changing national politics. - Generation Z is increasingly showing less loyalty to traditional political parties. Many now more likely to identify as independent. - So what is going on with the kids? I think the biggest misconception about Gen Z's politics right now is that all of a sudden they're all socialists. That is just not the case. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - They are embracing candidates who are offering new bold ideas in the absence of those ideas from establishment Democrats. - This week on America, actually, Gen Z researcher, Rachel Jamfaza joins us to separate Gen Z fact versus fiction. - It's not rocket science and this is, you know, I keep saying like, young voters aren't that complicated after all, it's pretty simple. - Catch us every Saturday on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast. - I'm Phoebe Judge, and for more than a decade, I've hosted the podcast criminal. Telling stories about people who've done wrong, been wronged, or gotten caught somewhere in the middle. But while I was starting one of the very first true crime podcasts out there, I was also taking phone calls from my sister from prison. This fall, I'm going on tour and I'm telling a story I've never told before, my own. Get tickets at this is criminal.com/live. - Support for this show comes from Delete Me. Have you ever thought I should really be doing something to protect myself from stalkers, scammers, and hackers? But you're not sure what. Here's one thing you can do. Go to joindeleteMe.com/pivot and enter code pivot and get 20% off Delete Me. Delete Me finds and removes your personal information that's being sold online, which can be really useful thing in the age of AI when all of us are more susceptible than ever to scammers who can buy any of your personal data floating around to use for sophisticated fishing and social engineering attacks. I've been using Delete Me for many years, actually, and I am constantly surprised by how much information is out there about me, how it is collected, and brought together these data brokers very clever. And it's really important to take control of your privacy. See why more than 20% of Fortune 500 businesses trust Delete Me to keep their exacts and employees personal information protected. Now, with special discount for our listeners, get 20% off your Delete Me plan. When you go to joindeleteMe.com/pivot, use the promo code pivot at checkout. The only way to get 20% off is to go to joindeleteMe.com/pivot and enter the code pivot at checkout. That's joindeleteMe.com/pivot code pivot. Scott, more back, I have purposely not asked you what you think of this. because I want to be surprised. Now, Mari Zuckerberg and Meta are going all in on Muse. And now they want a new AI to be part of pretty much everything you do. At Wednesday's Meta Connect conference, Zuckerberg showed off several new pairs of smart glasses and a bunch of Muse integrations. He announced a partnership that will let Muse shop at Walmart, Best Buy and other stores, not Amazon, in which who he's having a beef with. And Zuckerberg also unveiled a new lightweight VR glasses priced at $12.99 and expected next spring. They've called them the sexiest pair of VR glasses you've ever seen, they are not. And from wearables to holdables, Meta is introducing a Muse charm, a small device that fits on a key chain unless you talk to Muse without using your phone, another iteration of Humane. Chatubt has one coming, these are, they think we all want tomogoo cheese fine. And that's what it looks like, Meta hoped to ship it in time for the holidays. I must have your thoughts on how he kicked off the keynote with smart glasses and talking to a hologram of his CTO, uh, check this out. Hey, Mark, how's it going? How's it going? Just putting some finishing touches on over here, you ready to do this? Yeah, man, we got a packed house out there. You better get on stage. Alright, I'll be out there in a minute. Let's go have some fun. Okay. See you soon, brother. Yeah. Playing Connect vibes playlist on Spotify. He's no Steve Jobs. Let's just say that. I just, he's still, he's not as awkward as he used to be. Let me pay him a compliment. He's not as hopelessly awkward. Yeah. He's only just, he's only just very awkward now. Very awkward. So what do you think of all this? I have no idea what you think. I will tell you what I think in a minute, but I want to hear what you think. Well, my observations are a little, power and age are the enemies of self-awareness. And typically really old people with a lot of power are the least self-aware people because you have so much, so much leverage and influence over people's well-being that they find the, the shortest route to improving their own well-being is to kiss your ass. That's kind of the highest ROI strategy. It's not to antagonize, it's not to disagree with them. I mean, everybody says, oh, I appreciate when people disagree with me. In the short run, there's just too much, if you got, if you got two minutes with the president, you're just going to say what a great guy is. And when you're, when you're hoping to get promoted to SVP and you get five minutes with Mark Zuckerberg, such that you can have more options and finally afford a home in the Bay Area, you're going to say, oh, by the way, the new glasses are amazing. The other thing these come as they're missing in my view is anthropologists. And that is people will, people are physically uncomfortable in any way, and this is a certain form out of the headset with a peripheral vision block because that's the shit, the shit that can eat you or you can eat doesn't come straight at you. It comes from the sides or behind. And so that's why you feel nauseous when you, when your peripheral vision is shocked. Your body is saying, no, no, don't block your peripheral vision. It's key to survival. The only thing people put on their face, it either is for survival that is glasses to help you read. If you can't see, you're more likely to be eaten, is that like, is that my son or a bear coming towards me? No, you probably are not to get eaten, Scott, but go ahead. Yeah, I see. By the way, I'm in Aspen. There's bears everywhere. Oh, okay. It's like dogs running around. It's like, oh, there's a bear. Okay. And I'm like, what do we do? And I use that joke. I'm like, of course, I said, well, you know, we should run and the person I was with said, we cannot run a bear. I'm like, no, no, I just need to run you. That's the old joke. That's the old thing. Anyways. But what do you think of these? So and thus, I don't think these people have learned the following. You only put something on your face for survival or that increases the elevation of your cheekbones such that you, more people want to have sex with you. The reason the only glasses that work here are Rayban meta glasses because it's Rayban first and computer second. People don't want a computer on their face. Maybe they'll put a cool pair of sunglasses on their face with a computer in them. But these guys just have haven't learned basics. Still not there. It's still not there. And it's still the cre. You know, he did a really interesting interview at Joanna Stern and she zeroed in on the creeper glasses. He got visibly annoyed in the interview. But the fact that he's not addressed, like it's annoyed by it rather than be like, yeah, get it. Kind of thing. That's one. These are better than the other, the ones before it and better than the ones before that. They're all very heavy and very invasive. I don't know what else to say. I wouldn't. I wouldn't subject other people to them. That's one. And so I'm not sure these will ever work properly. I think, again, they have to be in air pods for some reason so that they're much more subtle. They're so not subtle any of this stuff. I think they're useful. Some people play music or take a note. I'm interested in the charm. I will never carry a tomagotchi. I can tell you that. And it's really interested. They're all working on these versions of a little clip that you put on your humane was one. Again, Shadjipit. He's going to come out with one. I can't believe Apple will have some version of this. What do you think of this charm? I mean, everyone was like, wow, he did a charm. I'm like, this is like the 10th charm that I have seen. And he's trying to be adorable with it, with this little sort of squishy little, squidgy little thing. But I find it, I would not use it. I'm an adult, like, when my kids will, I doubt my son's music. No, again, I love pronouncing shit DOA. Immuse charm is the humane pin with a metal logo. Remember humane? It raised about a quarter. Of course, that's what I was just mentioning. Yeah. It raised about a quarter of a billion dollars. It charged 700 bucks and ended up selling its IP to HP for $116 million. And the Rabbit R1 had the same mark or has the same mark. Every AI gadget faces the same problem. There's a business problem, and there's an ego problem or a civil split personality problem here. And the business problem is the following. Every AI gadget is competing with the most successful consumer product in history, which is in your pocket. Phone. The iPhone. The iPhone is the most successful consumer product in history. Maybe the exception of, I don't know, the Kardashians or your CCP. I don't know. There's probably something else, or maybe Instagram might be at one, not even the iPhone. Nothing has been Toyota-like production volumes with Ferrari-like margins. Nothing has created the, anyways, enough already, the iPhone. The human element of this is the following. And I told this to the chair of the board of SNAP, who I think is a really bright guy, impressive guy. Mark Zuckerberg and Evan Spiegel think they're Steve Jobs. Yeah. They're not. They're both. They're both Mark Zuckerberg. They both have great social platforms, which by the way, are an amazing business. Yeah. I agree. And these companies keep trying to get into hardware. And I get it. And I think they should make a series of small bets and see where they pay off. And to be fair, Meta has a winner with its Ray Ben glasses. That is a winner. But they all have these fever dreams of being a hardware company. And they're not. He's tried the phone. He'd remember the phone. Amazon's tried. Amazon's tried. They've all tried. Google is still trying. Still trying. I still have those glasses. Still, I'm going to keep them and sell them for my, one of my college education from one of my kids someday. But here's two things. I, first of all, the charm. It's no way I'm carrying Tomaguchi. It's not happening. I didn't like Tomaguchi's when they were there. Maybe, I don't think you want to talk to these little things. They're very noisy. If you, if you ever had a Google glass or any of these glasses, they're super noisy in a public space. That's one thing. They're not subtle. The way airpods are very subtle. Like I, I was listening to, uh, I went to this very fancy restaurant here in Vienna and had one of these 90 course meals with by myself. Sausage and more sausage. Yeah. Sausage. Now it was like really fancy. Scott. It was really fancy. It was love. It was like all these like reductions. There was a lot of reductions happening. And, uh, but I had them on and I, I felt okay with them on, right? And even then I was like, can they see them, you know, because I'm a hair over them. Here's the other thing. One is they're not subtle, two, I am not giving Mark Zuckerberg my private information. I'm just not. I know there is, and some people will, I'll give them like, it's enough of it like on threads. I share things and I like the product. I love Instagram, but I share very little, you know, like my male. I wouldn't, this is a step further giving him my male and my calendar and access to that. No fucking way on this whole planet. It's not because it's me. I think a lot of people won't. The second, that's a real different relationship than just posting on social media. The second is, um, I'm waiting apple. I might, but maybe not now, like, you know what I mean? And I'm trying to think, would I let Google, they already have my male, they already have my calendar. So I might let Google do it because they already have it, right? Like I've already made that, that, that Faustian Barian with Google because I have Gmail. I, and, and this muse, which I think is well done, I will say it's well done, but it's not useful unless you're all in with your information. And then it's useful as an agent. So I'm not so sure people, people will not pause. Maybe they, maybe they'd find it easy, maybe they've done a nice job here. This Nathan Friedman, I think his name is, they've done a nice job here. A nice job, I care with the product, the product, it's, if you use muse as an app, but you know where it's useful on my iPhone, that's where it. And then the minute apple comes up with one, I'm out of there. That's it. Google I do so. Google one before that. - I worry though that the first off, the data shows there's huge consumer dissonance. And when people, you're the real deal. You value your privacy, you're concerned about it and you unplug Alexis in your house. The majority of people every day trade off privacy for utility. A thin layer of AI on top of your Uber data could find out everything about you, whether you terminate a pregnancy. If you're having a gay lover and their address, it could just figure out everything about you. And yet, I just love seeing that my QX60 made a left on broom and will be here in 30 seconds. So I do the trade off. I worry that sometimes our dialogue around, I would trust these guys, but I wouldn't trust these guys. I don't think we should have to have that debate and I think it's a distraction. I think what's important as the conversation around flock cameras, what's important is the conversation around what are the laws that ensure? - Can my privacy help? - HIPAA knows your HIV status. I'm not HIPAA, whatever the national. - Right, I get that. - We make trade off every day. - We have to ensure. So every governor and mayor right now is bragging that crime is at an all time low. Crime is at an all time low in the United States and almost every major city has seen a dramatic decline in crime. And of course, they stand up and say, "Oh, it's because of my policies." It's not. It's because of an invasion of privacy called flock. It's these flock cameras are very frightening, very or well in, and guess what? Really fucking effective. - Yeah, they can't be. - And if you're in New York or London, you've been on camera every 12 feet since 9/11 and since the IRA bombings of the 80s and 90s. The question is, do we have stringent enough law? Like, I believe for certain crimes, they shouldn't be allowed, Mr. Meaders, they shouldn't be allowed to access the footage of these things. If you're a friend of someone who committed a crime, I'm not sure you should be submittable, what your movements should be submissible. The key, I think the right focus in its boring is really stringent laws that maybe turn back the Patriot Act that say, "Okay, violent crime, fine. Anything resembling terror cells, fine." But the notion that we can start using this shit for all sorts of stuff, that's where the important discussion has to be. - I agree, I agree. And that's where it's going, absolutely. But I will say, I'm used as not to be a success. I don't think we've forgotten the social media stuff and he kind of wants us all to move along. I think the most troubling thing, I just need to read Sherry Terkel this week for her new book, Artificial Antimacy, which is amazing. One of the things is, and this sort of is in your kind of your area, but more that one, people used to have 15 friends and now most will have two, maybe one. And Mark's answer is, I will give you 12 fake friends, right? Versus why don't we try to encourage people to have friends in real places? Anyway, it's just, I just don't trust him. I still don't, I still don't, I just don't. I don't want to give him, I like, let me just say, Mark Zuckerberg, this product is well, and I don't think the Tamaguchi is good. It's fine, it's better than the last four that didn't work. But I think Muse is well done. I think Thread's is well done. I think Instagram is astonishing, and I think you've developed it beautifully, by the way, from the original. But am I gonna give you access to my house? You're not coming to my house, you're just not, and I just don't trust you. And that's, I think ultimately, we will have these agents in some fashion, but I suspect from people like Apple, maybe Google before him. But he's good trying. I like that he's trying, and he's brilliant in that regard. - Well, just one, you brought up what I think is the key point in all of this. And the most arguably the most dangerous thing about Big Tech is that their profit motive is directly correlated to sequestering you from other people. And specifically relationships in person. And after Mary Lurie called me, you know, when I, after I did that video on San Francisco, I did just a small deep dive into the homeless issue. And I was assumed that the greatest, the largest cohort of the homeless population were veterans. I'm wrong, it's only 4%. How does actually, in veterans affairs, have actually been very effective. Trying to ensure that veterans have access to housing. The largest cohort of homeless people is single adults. And that is adults who aren't connected to someone else. The greatest driver of good or bad outcomes in a hospital isn't the quality of the hospital, the quality of the doctor. It's whether you have an advocate who is in the hospital with you asking questions, asking where is the nurse? Why do you have painkillers? The answer, full stop, is in each other. And when people don't have someone else who is irrationally passionate about their well-being, their life begins to erode. And these companies, I'm not saying maliciously, have attached shareholder value into separating you from the most important thing in life. And that is other people. - Yep, I would agree. I think you're right, spot on. So we'll see. But good luck with the tomogoo cheese. There's no way I'm carrying one. All right, Scott, let's go on a quick break. When we come back, entries in Horowitz found to school. These tech people can't stop meddling in everybody's life. - Support for the show comes from CoreWave. 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That way, you're only paying for exceptional quality and not brand markup. I just got a set of not clothes, but Quince sheets. I was very surprised how soft they were. They were made of organic cotton. They feel expensive and they aren't, and that's what I liked about them. No scratchiness, I slept like a baby in them, and I was really happy, and I'm gonna buy more sets 'cause they're some of the best sheets I have slept on. Find the fall pieces you'll reach for most at Quince, download the Quince app for app exclusive offers, you go to quince.com/pivot, get free shipping on your order and 365 day returns now available in Canada and the UK too. That's q-u-i-n-c-e.com/pivot. (upbeat music) Scott, we're back. Andreson Horowitz is backing a new San Francisco school designed as an alternative to college aimed at young people who want to work in tech and build companies. The Horowitz andreson Academy will have no grades, tests or traditional homework. I'm okay with that. Instead, focusing on AI, hands-on projects, internships and mentorship. From tech leaders, the first class will start in 2027 with no tuition, but the school is unaccredited, meaning students won't receive a degree or transferable college credits. That's open AI meta, Nvidia and through up another tech companies are founding partners in the project, pending regulatory approval, the school plans to expand a two-year program in 2028 with tuition comparable to an elite university so they're keeping up the prices. This is sort of what Peter Till has been talking about forever. I don't mind. It sounds like a school to create workers for them. I mean, the thing I first thought was soiling green as people. I don't know. I don't trust them. I don't trust them to do that. This is not who I want to be. And I think this stuff should be in colleges and in high schools as part of curriculum, but they just hate education. They hate our current education system and there's a lot to hate. Your thoughts, this is your absolutely your area. - Well, anyone who? who says that higher ed is not important and that your kid doesn't need to go to college, that means one of two things. They went to Stanford undergrad and grad or two, their son just hit the bed on the ACT and they're trying to make themselves feel better. When you manage to get through college, and it's not for everybody, but I think everyone should have the option because when you get a college degree, you become much less likely to kill yourself. You become much more likely to get married, you become much more likely to vote much less likely to be obese and on average, you earn about $1.2 million more over your lifetime. Going, if we had a drug that made you healthier, happier, and a better citizen, would we hoard it? And that's the problem with higher ed is we are hoarding what is the miracle drug of the West. In 1900, only 10% of kids had a high school degree. By the 50s, it was 50%. Now it's upward of 80%. And draw a line between that and our prosperity and what you see is that education, including higher education, is the miracle drug that has advanced the West. I think it's important, just as Texas and Florida compete with California and New York and force them to offer better services at a lower price, I like these sorts of things. I think it's important we have competition, but what they fail to realize is in school, we don't educate, we certify. And having a school like this with a Harvard tuition without the Harvard logo is like having an air med scarf without the air med logo. You're just not gonna be able to charge the same amount. The Tiel Fellowship paid kids $100,000 to drop out and produce a few home runs and a lot of kind of quiet outcomes. The founding partners here, Google Metto Open AI and Vidyanthropic, this is not like a town with a campus. What they're trying to do is create a pipeline of talented 18-year-olds. That's that before these kids know their market value. And now again, I like this because college has become a caste system. Elite schools reject 95% of their applicants and grow their endowments in their class sizes. And if universities won't expand their freshman class, I think they deserve to have their lunch eaten and have their feet held to the fire. UCLA and Berkeley, 9% and 11% admissions rate respectively. There's no one in there in the summer, there's no one there at night. We should expand our freshman class size by 20 or 30%. We are public servants, not a fucking Chanel, but-- If only someone was on the board of this that could make these kind of changes. But in my view, the answer isn't in these VC-backed competitors. The answer isn't our great public universities and doubling down on them. And let me just give you some stats about the University of California real quick. Disclose, you're on the board. Just for people who don't know, I was making a joke. I can't imagine anyone doesn't know that 'cause I'm excited about it and I drop that every 10 seconds when I meet people. It's how I introduce myself now. Hi, I'm Regent Galloway. Anyways, and my nickname is Tripod in the fraternity, just to give you more credibility. Once again, there we go. Bring it down, bring it back a little bit. Bring it back just so they know who they're talking to. Just to try pod, okay, Regent, try pod, give us the thing. What percentage of kids at a University of California campus do you think pay no tuition? Not loans, pay no tuition through financial aid and grants. What percentage? I don't know, 20? 53%. The majority of students, the majority of students at the University of California don't pay tuition. What percentage care of students graduate without one penny of student debt? No debt whatsoever. I don't know. 63%. Wow. 80% of kids who apply to a University of California system get into at least one campus. One of them doesn't have many. Why don't they help the University of California? Why are they doing this? Word sister. I want to think big. I'm like, let's go ask Jensen Horne for a billion dollars. Berkley has the brightest minds in the world trying to cut, thread the needle between social policy and technology policy. Jennifer Doudne is there. Jennifer Doudne needs money for that instant. You see Riverside has amazing people. I mean, there are so many amazing, where we have this infrastructure. It's already doing an amazing job. If these guys really were concerned about the future of America and youth and footing to the opportunity, they would fund our great UC system and also the unsung hero of California, the great amazing Cal State system. Instead, they all want to pretend they're innovators and fine. Have at it. Yes. Here's the thing. They literally, they are such fucking grumpy asses and they have to say everything doesn't work and they never want to be part of fixing things that have worked or have problems but need extra help, right? You can say, okay, there's all these problems here. That may be, but instead they focus on, oh, DEI at Berkley and I'm going to do my own thing. They literally are the most anti-social and social good people on the fucking planet. That really just chaps my ass. I gotta tell you, Scott, please come and give to the University of Melbourne. It also prays. Women are about 58% of undergrads and alternative path is fine. But these unaccredited paths disproportionately catch young men who can at least afford to miss the traditional path of certification, finding a mate. If these guys were really serious, they would increase freshman class sizes at Cal State in UC by 50%, not have these boutique VC-backed things that quite frankly. This is my prediction. In five to seven years, these guys get bored with this and it dies at slow death. That is correct. Like all of their efforts at creating your own universities. They should just have a tantrum, essay and the Atlantic and then get to fixing it to what works. They'd rather burn things down. I actually respect yours, Peter too, because he's like, okay, I'm just going to say don't go to college and I'm going to give you money to do projects for me, so maybe I'll fund you some day. It seemed pretty selfish and I got it. I kind of got it with him. This is just such a waste of their money and time, and well, oh, well, Cox got Galloway and talked to him about it. Yeah, that's going to happen. That's good. Yeah, that's not going to happen. All right. I'm so glad you're having a good time doing that. You know, Newsom, when I complained to him that he never asked me on anything, he said one of his like, people who give those things out and said, which one do you want? And I said, the yoga committee, there's some yoga. There's a crazy amount of things, I don't know if it's yoga, but there was, there's a crazy amount of like appointed positions that the governor does and some of them are so esoteric. It's nuts. It's like nuts, like all the stuff. So I'm going to join something that's really esoteric. I don't like the Oyster commission. Come on in. The water's fine. I'll tell you one thing. The University of California, when you do everyone's ship post government, you feel better about America. You meet all these incredibly smart people at the heart and the right place, trying to do the right thing. Yeah. I think it makes you feel great about America. Yeah. I'm going to pick one. I don't know anything. Not I don't know anything about that. I know something adjacent about. And then see if I can help. You're right. We're very civic, Scott and Tara. All right. One more quick break. We'll you back for predictions. Support for this show comes from IMAT. 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These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. AI panic is everywhere. We do not want a data center in this county. AI models are becoming superhuman in their ability to break in and out of computer systems. The clocked cameras were all ahead of those things. But where is that panic really coming from? According to a poll from the New York Times and Sienna, less than 1% of voters listed artificial intelligence or data centers as their top priority in this year's midterms. I'm an old school person. I don't care about AI. That doesn't register for you. And sometimes I wonder, do they care about AI in so-called real America? What people in my district are saying is, we think the risks outweigh the benefits. This week on America, actually, I'm talking the Michigan Congressional candidate Will Lawrence. On why he shaped his entire campaign around confronting the AI revolution. Really, it's about control. I think above all, who decides? Because people feel like they just are not really given any say-so in the whole matter. It's just every Saturday on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast. And I'm Jake Sullivan, and we're the host of The Long Game, a weekly national security podcast. This week, journalist Ann Applebaum joins us to discuss her reporting on how private wealth and far-right ideology are reshaping American foreign policy. The episode is out now. Search for and follow The Long Game, wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, Scott, prediction time. I predict Kara's leaving CNN. No, thank you. Oh god, here we go. How dare you, sorry. I'm leaving. I'm back. I'm leaving again. If I go to the door, it's right there. Wait, don't be like, wait, you're going to be like that kid from high school who had his popular, and like hangs out on the parking lot two years after he graduated. And everyone's like, what's he doing? It's always a Matthew McConaughey thing. That's how he, don't they have anything to do? I know, that's me. Good bye, sir. Anyway, I'm going to work top hat as I go. Anyway, go ahead. What's your prediction? God. I look good in the top hat. Let's be clear. I have a bunch of little ones. All right. Okay, the muse charm, the muse charm ships, sells poorly and quietly dies by mid-2027, along with these niche VC-backed universities. The humane pin is its closest comparison. Trump TV goes dark or gets rebranded within six months. An Alison-led group is going to bring in money from the Gulf, but it's not going to bring an Elon. I think if they brought an Elon, I think you would see names even bigger than yours. Say, I'm leaving. Join you on the exit boss. My bigger prediction is that a company called Aura, which does kind of, which is a wearable. No, it's like a frame, right? The frame, the frame company, Aura. One of the frame company. The ring company. Oh, you are. There's Aura, which is a frame company, which is an excellent product. Which by the way, I bought that two mother's days in a row for my mother-in-law, and the second time was not a good moment when she unwrapped it, and it was the same thing I've got it last year because I forgot. Yeah. Anyway, you're a good president. It is a great president, not twice though. Works great. Let me just say, I use it for my mom. Aura is going public, pricing next week, and this company is arguably the most successful wearable. There's just some data on it. The wellness space, there's very few places, so disclosure, I'm doing everything I can to try and find shares in this IPO. Why do I think this is going to be such a successful IPO? The wellness space is booming. And there are very few ways as a retail investor to play the wellness space right now. It's not easy to invest in a spa or red light therapy or testosterone. It's not easy to find a concierge medical services. It's a difficult field to play in. This is a way to play in it. Its revenues have doubled in the last year, 20 or almost a quarter. Its revenues are recurring revenues. And that is you have to pay six bucks a month. They have between 83 and 88% renewal rates. The renewal rates on these rings are stronger than software. And the data you get from this thing around your sleep, your resting heart rate, your pulse, a thin layer of AI. I think it's going to be able to tell people, you are now have a 20% likelihood of breed the diabetes in three years. These are the lifestyle changes you need to make. 70% of their customer base is women. And their fertility tracker is their killer app. People are obsessed with this thing. Doubled its revenues. Big margins. Because of the AI overhang, the word I've seen is that it's going to price at a reasonable price. Anyways, my prediction is that Aura, which I believe is the most successful, arguably the most successful hardware product since the iPhone is going to have a really strong market reception. And here's the killer thing about this company. There are very, the most valuable companies in the world have one thing in common. They collect first-party data directly. And the Aura ring collects it 23 hours a day. No other hardware company in history, whether it's your iPhone, whether it's YouTube, can collect 23 hours a day, first-party data on you. That is the mother load. I've had them since the beginning. And I know the CEO pretty well who contacted me during COVID because he was seeing them able to predict COVID from these rings. And it was really interesting at the time. And that's when I first heard from the founder, I guess. Here's the thing. I had one for a long time. They're a little clunky. They've gotten a lot better. No question. Like initially clunky better and better. I stopped wearing mine relatively recently because it was just, I found the information, it's sort of like steps, vaguely useless. Like it doesn't, what does it mean? And it sounds weird, but here I am wearing my wedding ring instead. Like, which is interesting. I don't like rings in general. They find them uncomfortable in jewelry in general. And I took it off and it's in a drawer now. And I was surprised. It's the only one that stayed around as long as it did. But ultimately I found the information useless or not useful as I thought it would be. And that was interesting to me. And I was like, why am I taking it off? And I really think it's beautifully done. I think the dashboard is amazing. I talked about it in my series on CNN, where I'm leaving. But I took it off. So is that a worry for you? And I'm the person who might want to wear it. And finds all that data interesting. And I do trust them too, because it's information that I think is okay. Like I feel like I have a good trust in relationship, but I don't have a cause. And at this stuff that gets out, how much do I sleep? Who cares, right? You know what I mean? Is that a worry that people just like move on from it? Like they did from a peloton or any of these other kind of things? So everybody has a drawer full of fuel bands. Jaw bones. I have, wow. We all have that drawer. Fewer people are taking off their aura ring after a year than any other wearable in history. It's somewhere between '83 and '80. Somewhere between '8 and 9 out of 10 people after the first year. Not only are you still wearing it, but agree to sign up for another $6 a month indefinitely. Yeah, and get the new ring. But this is the only thing I keep on, that I do not want to take off. And I am pissed it out. Apple every now and again. No, for some stupid statue or changing like America. But this one, I really value it for lots of different reasons. I have to find my phone, the Apple Watch. I'm carrying the Apple Watch. Oh, the Apple Watch. This one, I wear all the time and I don't take it off. And I kind of sometimes want to. But I find myself drawn back to it. Both it and the phone together. The Apple Watch should be clear. It had the backing of the best brand in the world. The Apple Watch sells more watches now. It's in the rest of the watch industry combined. It's useful. There's no doubt about it. It's interesting. Is that one, you get better data and better information. And I did not know this because of the blood flow in your finger versus your wrist. 100%. It's better, yeah. And I would argue, and the truth here is that, and the reason I'm so excited about this company, there's no company that tracks your data 23 hours a day. People maybe 24 hours a day. It doesn't Apple buy it. Why does it not Apple buy it? I thought when this company announced a test one that Samsung or Apple were going to buy it, I just, I can't imagine why Apple would let any hardware company with this level of first-party data and usage get out in front of them. Because Apple doesn't have a ring. It has the watch, but it is a little bit different. Yeah, and the people I talk to, and again, I'm using anecdotal evidence as you did, they're obsessed with this thing. They love it. They are men and women. You're right. It's not just some white dude VC. I think that's its power. What hardware product, with first-party data, has a greater following among women. And also, if you think of the wellness spaces huge, everyone, I went to dinner last night, I'm an assman. Everyone is just talking about the peptides or the teeth therapy or the fractal laser they're getting or their new kettlebell workout. It's so sad. It is a little bit sad. But you just know there is real bank going on here. And my question is, how do you play it as a retail investor? What do you invest in? How do you play it? How do you play it? So really interesting company. I think has got the goods. They do. I just feel like that app, why isn't Apple done it? Why isn't Apple have a like a Tamaguchi? Why doesn't Apple have like more AI? Like maybe it's Apple's fucking fault. But yeah, this is a good prediction. So you're trying to get in here. It's going to be big is your prediction. My prediction is I think it's probably, I don't know exactly but I think it's pricing next week. I think this is going to be a very successful IPO. All right, that's a great prediction. Fascinating IPO. I'll send you my ring. You can have it. Anyway, we want to hear from you. Send us your questions about business tech or whatever's on your mind. If you'd like our advice on something, go to nymag.com/pivot. Just a minute question for the show. We're called 855-51 Pivot. As a reminder, we're going on tour. We'll be hitting up New York, Toronto, Minneapolis, LA, San Francisco, and Denver. Go to pivottour.com for tickets. Okay, that's the show. Thanks for listening to Pivot. Be sure to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel. Don't forget to grab tickets for our live show at pivottour.com. They're moving fast. So snag one now. Several cities are very close to sold out. We'll be back next week. I think I'll be talking to you from LA because I'm interviewing Ari and Man. and you will be in the lot. - Oh nice. - One of us is gonna make it off that stage. Anyway, Scott. - Today's show is produced by Larry Neiman, Zoe Marcus, Taylor Griffin, and Todd Weisman. Ernie, your Todd Engineer at this episode. Thanks also to you, Burroughs, Missive Area, and Dan Shalon. Your shot, Kura, is VoxMedia's executive producer podcast. Make sure to follow Pivot on your favorite podcast platform. Thanks for listening to Pivot from VoxMedia. We'll be back next week for another breakdown of all things tech and business. (upbeat music) [BLANK_AUDIO]

Podcast Summary

Key Points:

  1. Constellation is the top producer of carbon-free energy in the U.S., providing reliable, baseload power that prevents emissions equivalent to removing 32 million cars from the road.
  2. DeepGram’s Flux TTS offers realistic, personality-driven AI voices that allow users to interrupt, pause, and continue conversations seamlessly, with free access available through September 12.
  3. Core Wave powers leading AI innovations across healthcare, education, and science, offering a purpose-built cloud platform designed for complex AI workloads and real-world applications.
  4. A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration’s ban on press access to the White House is likely unconstitutional, rejecting claims of national security threats and highlighting systemic disengagement from press freedoms.
  5. Trump’s launch of a 24-hour YouTube channel, "Trump TV," with low viewership and questionable content, reflects an autocratic pattern of discrediting independent media and promoting state-controlled narratives.
  6. The U.S. and China are discussing AI governance at a summit, with mutual recognition of the need for transparency, cooperation, and guardrails—though concrete progress remains limited.
  7. Meta’s new AI hardware and wearable products, including smart glasses and a Tamagotchi-style charm, face criticism for privacy concerns, user discomfort, and lack of subtlety compared to existing devices.
  8. The growing trend of tech-backed alternative education models, like the Horowitz & Andreson Academy, raises concerns about undermining traditional education systems despite their potential to foster innovation.

Summary:

The podcast explores a range of critical topics centered on technology, media, and society. It highlights Constellation as a leader in clean energy, emphasizing its role in reducing emissions and supporting grid stability. DeepGram’s Flux TTS is presented as an innovative, interactive AI voice solution, accessible for free.

Core Wave is positioned as a foundational AI cloud platform enabling breakthroughs in healthcare, education, and scientific research. A major focus is on the legal and ethical challenges facing press freedom, with a federal judge ruling against the Trump administration’s press ban, citing its lack of legitimacy and violation of First Amendment principles. The episode also critiques Trump’s “Trump TV” as a poorly received, autocratic media initiative.

-China AI summit underscores the growing need for transparency and cooperation in AI governance, even if outcomes remain symbolic. Meta’s new AI hardware is assessed critically for privacy risks, inaccessibility, and poor user experience. Finally, the discussion turns to education, raising concerns about alternative schools like Horowitz & Andreson Academy, which, while innovative, risk replacing proven educational systems.

The overarching theme is a society where technological advancement often outpaces ethical reflection, pressing questions about privacy, democracy, and the role of public institutions in shaping a just future.

FAQs

Flux TTS is an AI-powered text-to-speech platform with realistic, personalized voices like Drew, Alexis, and Haley. You can try it for free through September 12th at deepgram.com/keeptalking, where you can interrupt, pause, and continue conversations without losing context.

Constellation provides carbon-free, round-the-clock energy to businesses, generating about 10% of America’s clean power. It helps avoid emissions equivalent to taking over 32 million cars off the road and is trusted by more than 2.5 million customers and 80% of Fortune 100 companies.

CoreWave is the essential cloud platform for AI, powering complex workloads in medical research, education, and science. It offers purpose-built infrastructure and expert support, enabling breakthroughs in AI and helping build what has never been built before.

Experts express concern that such devices invade privacy by collecting personal data and could lead to surveillance or misuse. They are also seen as intrusive, noisy, and lacking in subtlety, making them less suitable for everyday use.

The Horowitz & Andreson Academy is a tech-focused school for young people with no grades, tests, or traditional homework. Instead, it emphasizes AI, hands-on projects, and mentorship. It will start in 2027 and is unaccredited, meaning students won’t earn college credits or degrees.

Higher education is linked to better health, marriage, voting, and lifetime earnings. Data shows that education increases life expectancy and prosperity, making it a vital public good, especially in advancing societal stability and opportunity.

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