Allbirds Chases the AI Bubble

The AI vibes continue to find all-time lows. David and Nilay open the show by talking through the absurd Allbirds pivot to AI, the attacks on Sam Altman, and the increasing divide between what AI companies say is inevitable and what people actually want. Then, the Hype Desk crew talks Coachella and RAMageddon, before David and Nilay catch up on the Live Nation-Ticketmaster monopoly suit and the increasing price of everything. In the lightning round, it's time for Brendan Carr is a dummy, satellite internet, brain-computer interfaces, and the Trump Phone.

Further reading:

• Allbirds announced a switch from shoes to AI and its stock jumped 600 percent 

• The Allbirds pivot to… meme stock? 

• The attacks on Sam Altman are a warning for the AI world 

• Sam Altman reportedly targeted in second attack 

• Altman attack suspect proposed “Luigi’ing some tech CEOs.” 

• Stanford’s AI study

• NYT: Half of Gen Z Uses AI, but Their Feelings Are Souring, Study Shows

• Reese Witherspoon on Threads on AI

• Ticketmaster is an illegal monopoly, jury finds 

• A jury is about to decide the fate of Ticketmaster 

• Microsoft counters the MacBook Neo with freebies for students

• YouTube Premium is getting pricier 

• RAMageddon has come for Microsoft’s Surface Pro and Surface Laptop 

• Meta blames RAM shortage for $100 Quest 3 price hike

• FCC’s Brendan Carr again blasts deals between NFL and streaming services

• The FCC just saved Netgear from its router ban for no obvious reason 

• Netgear and the FCC have not responded to our emails. 

• Did Neuralink make the wrong bet?

• Apple and Amazon are teaming up to challenge Starlink’s smartphone ambitions 

• Point, Musk. 

• Amazon’s Starlink competitor now has an airplane antenna. 

• Amazon’s Starlink competitor Leo gets a new date 

• The new Trump Phone design is here 

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--EPISODE RUNDOWN--

(Timestamps are approximate.)

00:00:00 Allbirds Goes AI

00:06:00 From Shoes to Tech Hype

00:09:00 Altman Attacks and Backlash

00:13:00 Why AI Feels Threatening

00:18:00 Gen Z Polls and Trust Gap

00:29:00 Reese Witherspoon AI Pushback

00:35:00 Hype Desk Returns

00:36:00 RAM Apocalypse and Wikifeet

00:39:00 Coachella Livestream Era

00:43:00 Ticketmaster Monopoly Verdict

00:47:00 MacBook Neo Spurs Microsoft

00:49:00 OpenAI Clouds and Copilot Backlash

00:51:00 Windows vs Mac Value Shift

00:54:00 The Pricing Apocalypse Hits

00:55:00 Why YouTube Premium Costs More

01:02:00 Lightning Round

01:03:00 Brendan Carr is a Dummy

01:07:00 NFL Antitrust Exemption Fight

01:15:00 Amazon Buys Globalstar

01:22:00 FCC Router Ban Chaos

01:27:00 Trump Phone Gets Realer

01:31:00 Neuralink Bet

01:32:00 Wrap Up

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