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AI Regulatory Capture Bet: Why OpenAI & Anthropic Stopped Competing on Tech

More or Less

Shownote

You know we're deep into summer when Jess leaves the pod early to catch Benson Boone... for the eighth time. This week, the More or Less squad revisits the Anthropic and OpenAI IPO speculation. Their views haven't changed, but their AI usage certainly has. Dave ditches Anthropic for GLM 5.2 on cost, while Sam argues the AI model wars are effectively over, and the frontier labs know it, which is why they're spending more time in Washington than competing on model quality. America also gets its first serious open weights model. The squad also unpacks OpenAI's hardware ambitions after its much-hyped device turns out to be... an Alexa speaker. Sam explains why Sam Altman's $8 billion Johnny Ive acquisition was effectively free, thanks to narrative capitalism. Plus: real-time voice AI, passive listening devices, peptides, Hinge's new social proof feature, Jay-Z turning New York into a festival, and why biological age tests are basically the clout score of your body. Chapters: 0:00 Episode Teaser 0:44 Episode Start 2:18 Anthropic IPO This September? 5:29 Dave Dumps Anthropic for GLM 5. 28:22 When Is Better AI Worth Paying For? 12:15 AGI Is Dead, AI Is Political Now 16:15 America's First Open Weights Model By Thinking Machines 21:22 Why Sam Is Depressed About AI 29:07 OpenAI Built... an Alexa? The $8B Johnny Ive Bet 31:38 Silicon Valley Goes Hollywood 36:03 Would You Wear an Always-On Mic? 37:08 OpenAI's Live Voice Model 41:14 Sam's Peptide Experiment 43:36 Hinge Launches “Friend’s Take” 46:11 Jay-Z's NYC Takeover 48:16 Biological Age Is Just a Clout Score We’re also on ↓ X: https://twitter.com/moreorlesspod Instagram: https://instagram.com/moreorless YouTube: https://youtu.be/B6fO5V09xOc Connect with us here: 1) Sam Lessin: https://x.com/lessin 2) Dave Morin: https://x.com/davemorin 3) Jessica Lessin: https://x.com/Jessicalessin 4) Brit Morin: https://x.com/brit

Highlights

The podcast dives into the shifting landscape of AI, where the hosts debate whether the model quality wars are over and if the real competition has moved to politics and narrative. They also explore the implications of new open-weights models, the hype around AI hardware, and the cultural trends shaping Silicon Valley.
07:24
Open-source models have caught up to frontier labs.
19:22
AI competition has become political rather than technological
24:15
Policy proposals are political gestures, not plans.
31:49
Valuations depend more on narrative than revenue.
48:33
Biological age tests are clout scores for the body.

Chapters

Is the AI Model War Over? The Shift from Quality to Cost
00:00
From Technology to Politics: Why AI Companies Are Now Lobbying
12:17
OpenAI's 'Alexa' and the $8 Billion Narrative Capitalism Play
24:15
Silicon Valley Goes Hollywood: The Power of Story Over Revenue
29:26
Voice AI, Peptides, and the Clout Score of Your Body
38:40

Transcript

Sam Lessin: If the plan was, we America, we need to take our military and bomb every matrix multiplication facility globally, and we're going to have all of them, and then we're going to control AI, that would at least be logical. Dave Morin: One thing th...