Better Offline

In this week's Better Offline monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through the seeming collapse of Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines, and why the AI bubble can’t survive the death of OpenAI. Save $10 off a year of my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/gzqwkv54e1 - I’d be so grateful!  Kylie Robison’s scoop about Thinking Machines: https://x.com/kyliebytes/status/2011572331798548899 Max Zeff of WIRED’s follow-on story: https://www.wired.com/story/thinking-machines-lab-cofounders-leave-for-openai/ YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 16 January 2026

In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by Steve Burke of GamersNexus to talk about AMD, Lenovo, NVIDIA and Intel’s CES keynotes - and how the tech industry has turned its back on consumers in favor of growth. Save $10 off a year of my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/gzqwkv54e1 - I’d be so grateful! GamersNexus: NVIDIA's AI Bubble: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFG3Ah-zf18  AMD Failed Us: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsCrKGY9F1o  Intel Pulls An NVIDIA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wNnLtsxNkY  "AMD & NVIDIA Abandoned This Segment" | Intel Arc GPU Factory Tour with Sparkle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwrUxG26ulk  Support GamersNexus’ AI Surveillance Dystopia Series: https://store.gamersnexus.net/ai-dystopia  https://www.youtube.com/gamersnexus https://gamersnexus.net/ https://bsky.app/profile/gamersnexus.bsky.social https://x.com/GamersNexus CES Videos:  Lenovo: https://youtu.be/vAa8ITmv54I?si=vfYqWhkbqGPa1avV&t=288 NVIDIA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NBILspM4c4 AMD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvBNWbFK2lY Intel: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/events/ces.html YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 14 January 2026

Welcome to Better Offline’s coverage of the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show - a standup radio station in the Palazzo Hotel with an attached open bar where reporters, experts and various other characters bring you the stories from the floor. In our CES epilogue, Ed is joined by author, activist and journalist Cory Doctorow, tech bubble newsletter writer Ed Ongweso Jr. and CES bartender Phil Broughton to talk about this year’s coverage, the upcoming venture apocalypse, and what we expect from 2026. EXCLUSIVE CES SALE! Get a *permanent* $10 off an annual subscription to my newsletter through January 13 2025: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/cue848p5sc Ed Ongweso Jr.: https://bsky.app/profile/bigblackjacobin.bsky.social Cory Doctorow: http://pluralistic.net/ https://www.eff.org/  Phil Broughton: https://bsky.app/profile/funranium.bsky.social/ The Tech Bubble Newsletter: https://thetechbubble.substack.com/  Matt Osowski: https://www.mattosowski.com/  Donate in Sean-Paul’s honor: https://www.perc-epilepsy.org/ --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 10 January 2026

Welcome to Better Offline’s coverage of the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show - a standup radio station in the Palazzo Hotel with an attached open bar where reporters, experts and various other characters bring you the stories from the floor. In Friday’s second episode, Ed is joined by author, activist and journalist Cory Doctorow, the Las Vegas Sun’s Kyle Chouinard, Ed Ongweso Jr. of the Tech Bubble Newsletter, Garrison Davis of It Could Happen Here, and Robert Evans of Behind The Bastards to talk about Vegas’ reaction to CES, the useful stuff getting pushed to the fringes, the hollow nature of this year’s CES, and an acoustic version of the Better Offline theme. EXCLUSIVE CES SALE! Get a *permanent* $10 off an annual subscription to my newsletter through January 13 2025: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/cue848p5sc  Ed Ongweso Jr.: https://bsky.app/profile/bigblackjacobin.bsky.social  Cory Doctorow: http://pluralistic.net/ https://www.eff.org/  Garrison Davis: https://bsky.app/profile/bishonentype.bsky.social  The Tech Bubble Newsletter: https://thetechbubble.substack.com/  Robert Evans: https://bsky.app/profile/iwriteok.bsky.social Kyle Chouinard: https://lasvegassun.com/staff/kyle-chouinard/ Donate in Sean-Paul’s honor: https://www.perc-epilepsy.org/ --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 10 January 2026

Welcome to Better Offline’s coverage of the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show - a standup radio station in the Palazzo Hotel with an attached open bar where reporters, experts and various other characters bring you the stories from the floor. In Friday’s first episode, Ed is joined by author, activist and journalist Cory Doctorow, YouTuber and CEO of Clicks Michael Fisher, Cherlynn Low of Engadget, Edward Ongweso of the Tech Bubble Newsletter and Garrison Davis of It Could Happen Here to talk about the Clicks Communicator, Amazon’s surveillance tech, the advances in tech in eyeglasses, engadget’s best tech of CES and why we’re worried about the future. EXCLUSIVE CES SALE! Get a *permanent* $10 off an annual subscription to my newsletter through January 13 2025: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/cue848p5sc  Ed Ongweso Jr.: https://bsky.app/profile/bigblackjacobin.bsky.social  Cory Doctorow http://pluralistic.net/ https://www.eff.org/  Michael Fisher - https://www.clicks.tech/ Cherlynn Low - https://www.engadget.com/about/editors/cherlynn-low/ https://bsky.app/profile/cherlynn.bsky.social Garrison Davis: https://bsky.app/profile/bishonentype.bsky.social The Tech Bubble Newsletter: https://thetechbubble.substack.com/ Donate in Sean-Paul’s honor: https://www.perc-epilepsy.org/ https://bookmaniac.org/ https://pluralistic.net/2026/01/09/quantity-break/#so-many-chips Cyber Fidget: https://youtube.com/shorts/JEEmhcTscP8?si=7_1O-GARnnBeSGuK https://petewarden.com/2025/10/16/why-does-a-local-ai-voice-agent-running-on-a-super-cheap-soc-matter/ https://petewarden.com/2025/11/29/i-know-were-in-an-ai-bubble-because-nobody-wants-me-%f0%9f%98%ad/ --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 10 January 2026

Welcome to Better Offline’s coverage of the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show - a standup radio station in the Palazzo Hotel with an attached open bar where reporters, experts and various other characters bring you the stories from the floor.  In Thursday’s second episode, Ed is joined by actress and standup comedian Chloe Radlciffe, Garrison Davis of It Could Happen Here, writer Westin Lee, Robert Evans of Behind The Bastards, Ed Ongweso of the Tech Bubble Newsletter, and tech writer Rob Pegoraro to talk about how this CES feels like something is missing, building things for actual people, how everybody is talking about “incremental” improvements in AI, OpenAI’s similarities to Theranos, and the problematic nature of mass-automation. EXCLUSIVE CES SALE! Get a *permanent* $10 off an annual subscription to my newsletter through January 13 2025:  https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/cue848p5sc Ed Ongweso Jr.: https://bsky.app/profile/bigblackjacobin.bsky.social Rob Pegoraro: https://bsky.app/profile/robpegoraro.com Westin Lee: https://bsky.app/profile/westinlee.bsky.social The Tech Bubble Newsletter: https://thetechbubble.substack.com/  Chloe Radcliffe: https://www.instagram.com/chloebadcliffe/?hl=en https://punchup.live/chloeradcliffe Donate in Sean-Paul’s honor: https://www.perc-epilepsy.org/ Here’s the robot we talked about: https://bsky.app/profile/iwriteok.bsky.social/post/3mbwvlat7dc23 --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 9 January 2026

Welcome to Better Offline’s coverage of the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show - a standup radio station in the Palazzo Hotel with an attached open bar where reporters, experts and various other characters bring you the stories from the floor. In Thursday’s first episode, Ed is joined by Devindra Hardawar of Engadget, actress and standup comedian Chloe Radlciffe, Edward Ongweso of the Tech Bubble Newsletter and Matt Binder of Mashable to talk about the anti-consumer electronics show, how AI buying up all the RAM is going to make computing unaffordable, Dell’s quasi-reversal on AI, why you should be buying all your tech used, and why it’s time to use tech to tell people you love their stuff. EXCLUSIVE CES SALE! Get a *permanent* $10 off an annual subscription to my newsletter through January 13 2025: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/cue848p5sc  Ed Ongweso Jr.: https://bsky.app/profile/bigblackjacobin.bsky.social  The Tech Bubble Newsletter: https://thetechbubble.substack.com/  Devindra Hardawar: https://www.engadget.com/about/editors/devindra-hardawar/ http://thefilmcast.com/ Matt Binder: https://mashable.com/author/matt-binder Chloe Radcliffe:  https://www.instagram.com/chloebadcliffe/?hl=en https://punchup.live/chloeradcliffe Donate in Sean-Paul’s honor: https://www.perc-epilepsy.org/ --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 8 January 2026

Welcome to Better Offline’s coverage of the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show - a standup radio station in the Palazzo Hotel with an attached open bar where reporters, experts and various other characters bring you the stories from the floor. In Wednesday’s second episode, Ed Zitron is joined by Karissa Bell of Engadget, Jared Newman of the Advisorator newsletter, standup comedian and host of the Factually Podcast Adam Conover, Ed Ongweso Jr. of the Tech Bubble Newsletter, Robert Evans of Behind The Bastards and standup comedian and actor Chloe Radcliffe to talk about very slow laundry robots, the return of the pebble watch (and their new ring), robotic assistive technology products, the sloppification of CES, and asking “who cares?” to every single booth. EXCLUSIVE CES SALE! Get a *permanent* $10 off an annual subscription to my newsletter through January 13 2025: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/cue848p5sc  Ed Ongweso Jr.: https://bsky.app/profile/bigblackjacobin.bsky.social  The Tech Bubble Newsletter: https://thetechbubble.substack.com/  Karissa Bell https://www.engadget.com/about/editors/karissa-bell/ Jared Newman: https://advisorator.com/members/signup/ https://cordcutterweekly.com/  Chloe Radcliffe: https://www.instagram.com/chloebadcliffe/?hl=en https://punchup.live/chloeradcliffe Robert Evans:  https://bsky.app/profile/iwriteok.bsky.social  https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/behind-the-bastards/id1373812661?l=en-GB  Adam Conover: https://www.instagram.com/adamconover/?hl=en  www.adamconover.net/tourdates Donate in Sean-Paul’s honor: https://www.perc-epilepsy.org/  --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 8 January 2026

Welcome to Better Offline’s coverage of the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show - a standup radio station in the Palazzo Hotel with an attached open bar where reporters, experts and various other characters bring you the stories from the floor. In Wednesday's first episode, Ed is joined by Garrison Davis of It Could Happen Here, Matt Binder of Mashable, Ben Rudolph of Cartographiq, standup comedian and host of the Factually Podcast Adam Conover, Ed Ongweso Jr. of the Tech Bubble Newsletter, and standup comedian and actor Chloe Radcliffe to talk about an “agent-powered” BBQ, showstoppers, the multiple wife cubes being shown on the floor, how solving male loneliness comes from male introspection, empathy and kindness, and how CES perpetuates a culture of trying to make women the solution instead. EXCLUSIVE CES SALE! Get a *permanent* $10 off an annual subscription to my newsletter through January 13 2025: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/cue848p5sc Ed Ongweso Jr.: https://bsky.app/profile/bigblackjacobin.bsky.social  The Tech Bubble Newsletter: https://thetechbubble.substack.com/  Matt Binder: https://mashable.com/author/matt-binder Gare Davis: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:jm6ufvsw3hg5zgdpnd3zb4tv Chloe Radcliffe: https://www.instagram.com/chloebadcliffe/?hl=en https://punchup.live/chloeradcliffe Adam Conover:  https://www.instagram.com/adamconover/?hl=en  www.adamconover.net/tourdates Ben Rudolph: https://www.cartografiq.com/ https://x.com/benthepcguy Donate in Sean-Paul’s honor: https://www.perc-epilepsy.org/ --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 8 January 2026

Welcome to Better Offline’s coverage of the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show - a standup radio station in the Palazzo Hotel with an attached open bar where reporters, experts and various other characters bring you the stories from the floor.  In Tuesday’s second episode, Ed is joined by Victoria Song of The Verge, writer Rory Cellan-Jones,  Robert Evans of Behind The Bastards, standup comedian and host of the Factually Podcast Adam Conover, and standup comedian and actor Chloe Radcliffe to talk about the useless numbers generated by wearables, Chinese peptides, how absolutely nobody at CES is Steve Jobs, LLMs getting read-write access to your taxes, and a bunch of stuff about sex toys that I recommend you do not listen to if you have children around. EXCLUSIVE CES SALE! Get a *permanent* $10 off an annual subscription to my newsletter through January 13 2025:  https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/cue848p5sc Rory Cellan-Jones: https://rorycellanjones.substack.com/ https://www.moversandshakerspodcast.com/ Robert Evans: https://bsky.app/profile/iwriteok.bsky.social  https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/behind-the-bastards/id1373812661?l=en-GB  Chloe Radcliffe: https://www.instagram.com/chloebadcliffe/?hl=en Adam Conover: https://www.instagram.com/adamconover/?hl=en Donate in Sean-Paul’s honor: https://www.perc-epilepsy.org/ --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 7 January 2026

Welcome to Better Offline’s coverage of the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show - a standup radio station in the Palazzo Hotel with an attached open bar where reporters, experts and various other characters bring you the stories from the floor.  In Tuesday’s first episode, Ed is joined by Ed Niedermeyer of the Autonocast, Henry Casey of CNN Underscored, Gare Davis of It Could Happen Here and Ed Ongweso Jr. of The Tech Bubble newsletter to talk about smart glasses, wireless TVs, and the big lie of consumer robotics. EXCLUSIVE CES SALE! Get a *permanent* $10 off an annual subscription to my newsletter through January 13 2025:  https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/cue848p5sc Ed Ongweso Jr.: https://bsky.app/profile/bigblackjacobin.bsky.social The Tech Bubble Newsletter: https://thetechbubble.substack.com/ Gare Davis: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:jm6ufvsw3hg5zgdpnd3zb4tv Henry Casey - https://www.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/about/henry-t-casey  https://bsky.app/profile/henrytcasey.net Ed Niedermeyer of The Autonocast: https://www.autonocast.com/https://bsky.app/profile/niedermeyer.online Donate in Sean-Paul’s honor: https://www.perc-epilepsy.org/ LG’s robot: https://www.cnet.com/home/kitchen-and-household/lg-brought-a-robot-that-cooks-folds-laundry-and-empties-the-dishwasher-to-ces/  The Aura TV with a soundbar built in: https://global.dreametech.com/products/dreametv-s100 Displace Wireless TV: https://displace.tv/ --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 7 January 2026

Welcome to Better Offline’s coverage of the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show - a standup radio station in the Palazzo Hotel with an attached open bar where reporters, experts and various other characters bring you the stories from the floor. In the first episode, Ed introduces you to Better Offline’s CES coverage, we talk about NVIDIA’s tepid press conference, smart glasses, LLMs on TV and Robert’s new exoskeleton. Featuring Ed Ongweso Jr. (The Tech Bubble Newsletter), David Roth (Defector), Scott Stein (CNET), Lisa Eadicicco (CNN) and Robert Evans (Behind The Bastards). We’ll be here all week - one episode from Monday, then two from Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and an epilogue from Saturday. David Roth, Defector: https://bsky.app/profile/davidjroth.bsky.social  Defector: Defector.com It’s Christmastown Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/its-christmastown/id1407429849 Ed Ongweso Jr.: https://bsky.app/profile/bigblackjacobin.bsky.social The Tech Bubble Newsletter: https://thetechbubble.substack.com/ Matt Binder: https://bsky.app/profile/mattbinder.bsky.social https://mashable.com/author/matt-binder Scott Stein https://www.cnet.com/profiles/scottstein8/  Lisa Eadicicco https://www.cnn.com/profiles/lisa-eadicicco  Robert Evans: https://bsky.app/profile/iwriteok.bsky.social  Donate in Sean-Paul’s honor: https://www.perc-epilepsy.org/ YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 6 January 2026

In part four of this week’s four-part case against generative AI, Ed Zitron walks you through how there’s literally not enough money in the world to pay for OpenAI’s estimated $1 trillion four-year burn, and why the media tell the truth about AI to save retail investors. Original Air Date: 10.3.25 YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 2 January 2026

In part three of this week’s four-part case against generative AI, Ed Zitron walks you through how “AI replacing software engineers” is a myth spread by the media and investors - and how Microsoft only has 8 to 12 million active paying customers for Microsoft 365’s AI Copilot out of 440 million users. Original Air Date: 10.2.25 YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 31 December 2025

In part two of this week’s four-part case against generative AI, Ed Zitron walks you through how NVIDIA funds and pumps money into unprofitable, debt-ridden “neoclouds” all to create vehicles to buy more GPUs - all to cover up the lack of demand for generative AI compute. Original Air Date: 10.1.25 YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 26 December 2025

In part one of this week’s four-part case against generative AI, Ed Zitron walks you through how generative AI is sold through a complete misunderstanding of the concept of labor - and myth-building by companies like NVIDIA and OpenAI. Original Air Date: 9.30.25 YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 24 December 2025

In part three of this week's three-part NVIDIA series, Ed Zitron walks you through why there are millions of Blackwell GPUs sitting in warehouses, and why AI’s lack of any profits makes NVIDIA’s future entirely dependent on endless debt and venture capital. This series took a lot of work, so if you want to support me, why not subscribe to my premium newsletter? Get $10 off a year’s subscription today: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/p94my1c5ya YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 19 December 2025

In part two of this week's three-part NVIDIA series, Ed Zitron walks you through the history of Enron, why it differs from NVIDIA, and why growth-desperation led big tech to waste hundreds of billions of dollars on GPUs. This series took a lot of work, so if you want to support me, why not subscribe to my premium newsletter? Get $10 off a year’s subscription today: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/p94my1c5ya YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 18 December 2025

In part one of this week's three-part NVIDIA series, Ed Zitron walks you through why NVIDIA is specifically nothing like Enron, WorldCom or Lucent, and why investors might be thinking that’s the case anyway. Thank you to Ben Cahn of the Ben and Emil show for voicing "NVIDIA" - listen here - https://www.youtube.com/@benandemilshow This series took a lot of work, so if you want to support me, why not subscribe to my premium newsletter? Get $10 off a year’s subscription today: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/p94my1c5ya YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 17 December 2025

In this week's Better Offline monologue, Ed Zitron lists the questions he’s asking - and the things he’s looking for - that he believes will actually burst the bubble.  Reach out at ezitron.76 on Signal. Want to support me? Get $10 off a year’s subscription to my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/w08jbm4jwg YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 12 December 2025

Welcome to Radio Better Offline, a tech talk radio show recorded out of iHeartRadio's studio in New York City. Ed is joined in-studio by CNN Tech Editor Lisa Eadicicco to talk about the state of consumer electronics, Samsung’s Vision Pro competitor, and why every phone kind of looks the same. https://www.cnn.com/profiles/lisa-eadicicco https://x.com/LisaEadicicco Want to support me? Get $10 off a year’s subscription to my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/w08jbm4jwg YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 10 December 2025

In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by Nathan Grayson of worker-owned games site Aftermath to talk about building an independent media outlet and the state of the game industry writ large. Nathan Grayson:  https://aftermath.site/author/nathan-grayson https://bsky.app/profile/nathangrayson.bsky.social Celebrate Aftermath’s anniversary by subscribing - just $1 for your first month! https://aftermath.site/11-06-2025-01-12-00-2ndbirthdayoffer  Buy Aftermath’s “Destroy AI” Hoodie: https://aftermath.site/destroy-ai-aftermath-kim-hu-hoodie-shirt/ YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 5 December 2025

In this week's Better Offline monologue, Ed Zitron breaks down how economically irrelevant AI is, and how no bailout is coming to save the Large Language Model era. Want to support me? Get $10 off a year’s subscription to my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/w08jbm4jwg It would mean a lot! YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 4 December 2025

In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by Steve Burke of GamersNexus to talk about Valve’s new console-like Steam Machine and Vision Pro-like Steam Frame, and what this means for the future of gaming. GamersNexus:   Valve Steam Machine, Desktop SteamOS, Steam Frame VR, & Controller | ft. Engineering Discussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWUxObt1efQ  Valve Steam Frame Engineering Deep-Dive: Water Cooling, Thermals, Power, Acoustics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NSjvJDe6Ic Support GamersNexus’ AI Surveillance Dystopia Series: https://store.gamersnexus.net/ai-dystopia  https://www.youtube.com/gamersnexus https://gamersnexus.net/ https://bsky.app/profile/gamersnexus.bsky.social https://x.com/GamersNexus Steam Machine: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/steammachine Steam Frame: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/steamframe YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 3 December 2025

In this week's monologue, Ed Zitron thanks you for being such wonderful listeners. If you ever have a tip, reach out on ezitron.76. Want to support me? Get $10 off a year’s subscription to my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/w08jbm4jwg YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 27 November 2025

In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by Carl Brown, a veteran software developer and host of The Internet of Bugs, to talk about the realities of software development, what coding LLMs can actually do, and how the media gets it wrong about software engineering at large. Original Air Date: 6.4.25 https://www.youtube.com/@InternetOfBugs New GitHub Copilot Research Finds 'Downward Pressure on Code Quality' - https://visualstudiomagazine.com/articles/2024/01/25/copilot-research.aspx Report: AI coding assistants aren’t a panacea - https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/21/report-ai-coding-assistants-arent-a-panacea/ Internet of Bugs Videos to watch: Debunking Devin: "First AI Software Engineer" Upwork lie exposed! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNmgmwEtoWE&t=3s AI Has Us Between a Rock and a Hard Place https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJGNqnq-aCA Software Engineers REAL problem with "AI" and Jobs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQmN6xSorus&list=PLv0sYKRNTN6QhoxJdyTZTV6NauoZlDp99 AGILE & Scrum Failures stuck us with "AI" hype like Devin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C1Rxa9DMfI&t=1s YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 26 November 2025

In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by Gerrit De Vynck of The Washington Post to discuss what an analysis of 47,000 ChatGPT conversations can tell us about how people use the service - and how willing it is to fuel basically any conversation. We analyzed 47,000 ChatGPT conversations. Here’s what people really use it for - https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/11/12/how-people-use-chatgpt-data/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/gerrit-de-vynck/  https://x.com/GerritD  https://bsky.app/profile/gerritd.bsky.social YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 20 November 2025

In a Better Offline exclusive, Ed Zitron reveals how much OpenAI spent on inference in 2024 and 2025, as well as how much it paid Microsoft as part of its 20% revenue share. Inference costs are much higher - and implied revenues much lower - than previously reported. (Free) Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/oai_docs/ The Information - OpenAI’s First Half Results: $4.3 Billion in Sales, $2.5 Billion Cash Burn - https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openais-first-half-results-4-3-billion-sales-2-5-billion-cash-burn?rc=kz8jh3  The Information (reference to $6bn inference spend) - http://theinformation.com/articles/openai-forecasts-revenue-topping-125-billion-2029-agents-new-products-gain?rc=kz8jh3 Want to support me? Get $10 off a year’s subscription to my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/w08jbm4jwg it would mean a lot! YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 12 November 2025

This week’s Better Offline is a recording of a panel held by Clarion West in Seattle earlier this year with Cory Doctorow and Ed Zitron, discussing enshittification, The Rot Economy, and the destruction of modern tech platforms, moderated by Whitney Beltrán. Cory Doctorow: https://craphound.com/ Whitney Beltrán: https://brightwhitney.com/ Get involved with Clarion West: https://www.clarionwest.org/get-involved/give/ Clarion West is a nonprofit literary organization that runs an acclaimed six-week residential workshop every summer, online classes and workshops, one-day and weekend workshops, a reading series every summer, and other events throughout the year. At Clarion West, you’ll be among award-winning and best-selling writers in science fiction, fantasy, games, horror, and more. Our workshops and classes are taught by world-class instructors from across the field of speculative fiction. Wherever you may be in your career, whether novice or sage, we offer a diverse listing of classes that is packed with valuable information to take your writing to the next level. Want to support me? Get $10 off a year’s subscription to my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/w08jbm4jwg it would mean a lot! YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 12 November 2025

In this week's Better Offline monologue, Ed Zitron talks about OpenAI hinting they’d want a federal backstop for data center loans, NVIDIA’s weird, desperate post about China, and his deep suspicion about OpenAI’s leaked numbers. Want to support me? Get $10 off a year’s subscription to my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/w08jbm4jwg It would mean a lot! WSJ: OpenAI Made a $12 Billion Loss Last Quarter, Microsoft Results Indicate https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-dow-sp-500-nasdaq-10-31-2025/card/openai-made-a-12-billion-loss-last-quarter-microsoft-results-indicate-e71BLjJA0e2XBthQZA5X The Register: Microsoft seemingly just revealed that OpenAI lost $11.5B last quarter https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/29/microsoft_earnings_q1_26_openai_loss/ YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 7 November 2025

Welcome to Radio Better Offline, a tech talk radio show recorded out of iHeartRadio's studio in New York City. Ed is joined in-studio by founder and writer Charlie Meyer to talk about the BS of vibe coding, why the valley went so crazy about scaling laws, and the realities of AI coding. https://blog.charliemeyer.co/ https://csmeyer.substack.com/ Code Doesn’t Happen To You - https://csmeyer.substack.com/p/code-doesnt-happen-to-you The Trillion Dollar Chart (scaling laws piece) - https://blog.charliemeyer.co/the-trillion-dollar-chart/ Replit’s Existential Problem - https://blog.charliemeyer.co/replits-existential-problem/ Want to support me? Get $10 off a year’s subscription to my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/w08jbm4jwg it would mean a lot! YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 5 November 2025

In this week's Better Offline monologue, Ed Zitron takes a moment to discuss the current state of the bubble, and the way we’re all feeling at this time in history. Want to support me? Get $10 off a year’s subscription to my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/w08jbm4jwg it would mean a lot! The Register: Microsoft seemingly just revealed that OpenAI lost $11.5B last quarter https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/29/microsoft_earnings_q1_26_openai_loss/ YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron Email Me: ez@betteroffline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 31 October 2025

Welcome to Radio Better Offline, a tech talk radio show recorded out of iHeartRadio's studio in New York City. Ed is joined in-studio by Paris Martineau of Consumer Reports and freelance writer Ashwin Rodrigues to talk about the amount of lead in protein shakes, why people turn to the internet for medical advice, and how supplements are the wild west of e-commerce.  Paris Martineau https://www.consumerreports.org/about-us/our-people/our-experts/paris-martineau/ https://bsky.app/profile/paris.nyc Protein Powders story: https://www.consumerreports.org/lead/protein-powders-and-shakes-contain-high-levels-of-lead-a4206364640/ Ashwin Rodrigues https://bsky.app/profile/ashwinrodrigues.com Supplements Story: https://archive.ph/L6OZz/again?url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/well/doctors-supplements.html Want to support me? Get $10 off a year’s subscription to my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/w08jbm4jwg YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 29 October 2025

In this week's Better Offline monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through why nobody should be afraid of generative video, and how it’s impossible, impractical and expensive to make movies with Sora. https://www.npr.org/2025/10/20/nx-s1-5567119/sora-2-openai-hollywood https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/video-generation https://mediashower.com/blog/first-ai-viral-ad/ https://x.com/PJaccetturo/status/1932893269228466270 Want to support me? Get $10 off a year’s subscription to my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/w08jbm4jwg YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 24 October 2025

In a Better Offline exclusive, Ed Zitron reveals how much Anthropic spent on Amazon Web Services in 2024 and 2025, and how the costs of running their services are increasing linearly with their revenue, suggesting there may be no path to profitability for LLMs. (Free) Newsletter: www.wheresyoured.at/costs/ Want to support me? Get $10 off a year’s subscription to my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/w08jbm4jwg YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 20 October 2025

In this week’s Better Offline monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through data from Deutsche Bank that shows ChatGPT’s growth is flatlining in Europe, and how advertising isn’t going to save OpenAI. OpenAI’s ‘flatlining’ subs in Europe: The AI boom’s poster child may be struggling to recruit new subscribers, Deutsche Bank warns https://finance.yahoo.com/news/openai-flatlining-subs-europe-ai-145343677.html Get $10 off a year’s subscription to my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/w08jbm4jwg YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 17 October 2025

In this week’s episode of Better Offline, Ed flies out to North Carolina for a deep interview with Steve Burke of Gamersnexus about the state of PC hardware, AI, Linux gaming, their extremely scientific hardware testing, and building a channel watched by 2.5 million people. https://www.youtube.com/gamersnexus  Get $10 off a year’s subscription to my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/w08jbm4jwg YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 15 October 2025

In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by writer Brian Merchant to talk about US AI regulation, and how governments never seem to make the effort to understand technology. https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/ https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/were-about-to-find-out-if-silicon Get $10 off a year’s subscription to my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/w08jbm4jwg YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 10 October 2025

Welcome to Radio Better Offline, a tech talk radio show recorded out of iHeartRadio's studio in New York City. Ed Zitron is joined in studio by The Verge’s Victoria Song and Defector’s David Roth to talk about Sora 2, Meta’s AR glasses, the “friend” pendant, and why none of these products can ever truly deliver meaningful friendship. Victoria Song: https://www.theverge.com/authors/victoria-song https://bsky.app/profile/vicmsong.bsky.social David Roth, Defector: https://bsky.app/profile/davidjroth.bsky.social Defector: Defector.com It’s Christmastown Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/its-christmastown/id1407429849 YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 8 October 2025

In part four of this week’s four-part case against generative AI, Ed Zitron walks you through how there’s literally not enough money in the world to pay for OpenAI’s estimated $1 trillion four-year burn, and why the media tell the truth about AI to save retail investors. Latest Premium Newsletter: OpenAI Needs A Trillion Dollars In The Next Four Years: https://www.wheresyoured.at/openai-onetrillion/ YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 3 October 2025

In part three of this week’s four-part case against generative AI, Ed Zitron walks you through how “AI replacing software engineers” is a myth spread by the media and investors - and how Microsoft only has 8 to 12 million active paying customers for Microsoft 365’s AI Copilot out of 440 million users. Latest Premium Newsletter: OpenAI Needs A Trillion Dollars In The Next Four Years: https://www.wheresyoured.at/openai-onetrillion/ YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 2 October 2025

In part two of this week’s four-part case against generative AI, Ed Zitron walks you through how NVIDIA funds and pumps money into unprofitable, debt-ridden “neoclouds” all to create vehicles to buy more GPUs - all to cover up the lack of demand for generative AI compute. Latest Premium Newsletter: OpenAI Needs A Trillion Dollars In The Next Four Years: https://www.wheresyoured.at/openai-onetrillion/ YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 1 October 2025

In part one of this week’s four-part case against generative AI, Ed Zitron walks you through how generative AI is sold through a complete misunderstanding of the concept of labor - and myth-building by companies like NVIDIA and OpenAI. Latest Premium Newsletter: OpenAI Needs A Trillion Dollars In The Next Four Years: https://www.wheresyoured.at/openai-onetrillion/  YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline use free99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. Newsletter: wheresyoured.at Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/betteroffline Discord chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials - http://www.twitter.com/edzitron instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron email me ez@betteroffline.com SOURCE LINKS: http://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 30 September 2025

In this week’s Better Offline monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through NVIDIA and OpenAI’s nonsense deal, and how OpenAI now needs $600 billion in the next four years to survive. OpenAI and NVIDIA Announce Strategic Partnership to Deploy 10 Gigawatts of NVIDIA Systems https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/openai-and-nvidia-announce-strategic-partnership-to-deploy-10gw-of-nvidia-systems  New York Times - OpenAI to Join Tech Giants in Building 5 New Data Centers in U.S. https://archive.is/vUf0t  The Information - In OpenAI Megadeal, Nvidia Discusses a New Business Model: Chip Leasing https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openai-megadeal-nvidia-discusses-new-business-model-chip-leasing?rc=kz8jh3 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 26 September 2025

Welcome to Radio Better Offline, a tech talk radio show recorded out of iHeartRadio's studio in New York city. Ed Zitron is joined in studio by astrophysicist Adam Becker to talk about his new book More Everything Forever, the BS AGI story, why Eliezer Yudkowsky should never be taken seriously, and why billionaires love LLMs. https://bsky.app/profile/adambecker.bsky.social  https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/adam-becker/more-everything-forever/9781541619593/  YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline use free99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. Newsletter: wheresyoured.at Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/betteroffline Discord chat.wheresyoured.at  Ed's Socials - http://www.twitter.com/edzitron instagram.com/edzitron  https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitron email me ez@betteroffline.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 24 September 2025

In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by software engineer Colt Voege to talk about how AI isn’t 10xing the productivity of software engineering, the truth about coding LLMs, and what we can actually expect AI to do for software in the future. YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. BUY A LIMITED EDITION BETTER OFFLINE CHALLENGE COIN! https://cottonbureau.com/p/XSH74N/challenge-coin/better-offline-challenge-coin#/29269226/gold-metal-1.75in --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 19 September 2025

Welcome to Radio Better Offline, a tech talk radio show recorded out of iHeartRadio's studio in New York City. Ed Zitron is joined in studio by Allison Morrow of CNN, Ed Ongweso Jr. of the Tech Bubble newsletter to talk about the AI vibe shift, OpenAI’s burn rate, what will finally burst the bubble, and something called “Critterz.” Allison Morrow https://www.cnn.com/profiles/allison-morrow https://bsky.app/profile/amorrow.bsky.social Ed Ongweso Jr. https://thetechbubble.substack.com/ https://bsky.app/profile/edwardongwesojr.com OpenAI Hopes Animated 'Critterz' Will Prove AI Is Ready for the Big Screen - https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/openai-hopes-animated-critterz-will-prove-ai-is-ready-for-the-big-screen/ The AI vibe shift is upon us - https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/22/business/ai-vibe-shift-nightcap The Silicon Valley Consensus & the "AI Economy" - https://thetechbubble.substack.com/p/the-silicon-valley-consensus-and-614 YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. BUY A LIMITED EDITION BETTER OFFLINE CHALLENGE COIN! https://cottonbureau.com/p/XSH74N/challenge-coin/better-offline-challenge-coin#/29269226/gold-metal-1.75in --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 17 September 2025

In the final part of this week's three-part Better Offline Guide To Arguing With AI Boosters, Ed Zitron walks you through why generative AI is nothing like Amazon Web Services, how the media misled the public about ChatGPT, and why ChatGPT’s popularity does not mean it’s a mass-market product. Latest Premium Newsletter: Why Everybody Is Losing Money On Generative AI: https://www.wheresyoured.at/why-everybody-is-losing-money-on-ai/ YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. BUY A LIMITED EDITION BETTER OFFLINE CHALLENGE COIN! https://cottonbureau.com/p/XSH74N/challenge-coin/better-offline-challenge-coin#/29269226/gold-metal-1.75in --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 12 September 2025

In part two of this week's three-part Better Offline Guide To Arguing With AI Boosters, Ed Zitron walks you through why the AI bubble is nothing like the dot-com bubble, how the cost of inference is actually going up, and why OpenAI’s massive burnrate is nothing like Uber’s. Latest Premium Newsletter: Why Everybody Is Losing Money On Generative AI: https://www.wheresyoured.at/why-everybody-is-losing-money-on-ai/ YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. BUY A LIMITED EDITION BETTER OFFLINE CHALLENGE COIN! https://cottonbureau.com/p/XSH74N/challenge-coin/better-offline-challenge-coin#/29269226/gold-metal-1.75in --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 11 September 2025

In part one of this week's three-part Better Offline Guide To Arguing With AI Boosters, Ed Zitron walks you through why AI is nothing like the early days of the internet, why it isn’t the early days of the AI industry, and why every booster argues in the future tense. Latest Premium Newsletter: Why Everybody Is Losing Money On Generative AI: https://www.wheresyoured.at/why-everybody-is-losing-money-on-ai/ YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. BUY A LIMITED EDITION BETTER OFFLINE CHALLENGE COIN! https://cottonbureau.com/p/XSH74N/challenge-coin/better-offline-challenge-coin#/29269226/gold-metal-1.75in --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 10 September 2025