Are Insiders Cashing In on Trump’s Iran Talk? | Pivot

1. 0:00 – 0:21

   Intro

   1. KSKara Swisher0:00

      You know what, Mark? Just pay the money and fix it. Like, just stop. [upbeat music] Hi, everyone. This is Pivot from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network. I'm Kara Swisher.

   2. SGScott Galloway0:16

      And I'm Scott Galloway.

   3. KSKara Swisher0:17

      There's so much going on that-

   4. SGScott Galloway0:19

      Oh, that

   5. KSKara Swisher0:20

      ... that. Listen, President

2. 0:21 – 4:06

   Big Tech to Advise Trump

   1. KSKara Swisher0:21

      Trump plans to install big tech names like Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, and Jensen Huang to a technology council to weigh in on AI policies and other issues. W- we were not invited.

   2. SGScott Galloway0:30

      AI policy, buy more of my shit.

   3. KSKara Swisher0:31

      Buy more of my shit.

   4. SGScott Galloway0:32

      US government, buy more of my shit.

   5. KSKara Swisher0:33

      Give me what I need. You know, it's again, the ref-

   6. SGScott Galloway0:35

      No regulation and buy more of my shit. That's gonna be their-

   7. KSKara Swisher0:38

      The ref-

   8. SGScott Galloway0:38

      ... the recommendation

   9. KSKara Swisher0:39

      ... of anybody who has a different alternative view, that these are the only experts. Our invita- I would say, I would say our invitation is lost in, in, or the dog ate our invitation, but he hates dogs, so Trump ate our invitation. I just don't... This list is nobody who has any doubt about it, nobody who has any good research, no one whose interests are not aligned with it, no regulation with, with any kind of reg-

   10. SGScott Galloway1:03

       And conflicts everywhere.

   11. KSKara Swisher1:04

       Everywhere. I just, these, these people-

   12. SGScott Galloway1:06

       Well, you know, Jensen Huang's a big fan of selling g-

   13. KSKara Swisher1:08

       Yeah

   14. SGScott Galloway1:09

       ... uh, being able to sell his chips into China-

   15. KSKara Swisher1:10

       China

   16. SGScott Galloway1:10

       ... despite the fact these [laughs] are the chips that-

   17. KSKara Swisher1:12

       Yeah

   18. SGScott Galloway1:13

       ... you do warnings with and track our Ohio class submarines.

   19. KSKara Swisher1:15

       And Larry Ellison wants more data centers. And Ma- and you know. I just, this, ugh, God, these people. Like, you'd think if you were a real president, and I think this guy is losing it every single day, and including the polls, which are just, like, look out below. But, um, it, it's really amazing that he doesn't want other inputs, like, that may vary from his rich friends. It's just... I, I find it... It, it's just not good policy not to have people who doubt each other and debate it. I just, I don't understand.

   20. SGScott Galloway1:44

       Yeah.

   21. KSKara Swisher1:44

       We're waiting for our invite. Even just you, even you, if he needs the white guys. Yeah.

   22. SGScott Galloway1:48

       Even you.

   23. KSKara Swisher1:49

       Well, you'd be good.

   24. SGScott Galloway1:50

       That's, I love that. Why thank you.

   25. KSKara Swisher1:52

       [laughs]

   26. SGScott Galloway1:52

       Even you. I mean-

   27. KSKara Swisher1:53

       Well, you're the white guy. They're not gonna have me. I'm irritating to all of these people, and so, uh, you know, I'm just saying. I'm just saying.

   28. SGScott Galloway2:01

       You, uh, uh, uh, speaking of which-

   29. KSKara Swisher2:04

       Oh, yeah

   30. SGScott Galloway2:04

       ... someone was, someone said, I don't know, on one of these many, many platforms which are just-
3. 4:06 – 8:47

   Kara & The Ellisons

   1. KSKara Swisher4:06

      and where AI is going and-

   2. SGScott Galloway4:07

      Ooh, a little controversy this week.

   3. KSKara Swisher4:08

      Controversy.

   4. SGScott Galloway4:08

      I saw that.

   5. KSKara Swisher4:09

      Yeah.

   6. SGScott Galloway4:09

      A little controversy.

   7. KSKara Swisher4:10

      Yeah, you saw. No, there was a con-

   8. SGScott Galloway4:10

      By the way, speak, by the way-

   9. KSKara Swisher4:12

      But can I explain?

   10. SGScott Galloway4:12

       I just wanna say that I find-

   11. KSKara Swisher4:13

       Oh, you wanna talk about it? Okay, go ahead.

   12. SGScott Galloway4:14

       I, I just, I just wanna say that I find David Ellison very attractive.

   13. KSKara Swisher4:18

       I do too. He's very nice.

   14. SGScott Galloway4:18

       And Larry Ellison is a-

   15. KSKara Swisher4:20

       He's a nice guy

   16. SGScott Galloway4:20

       ... huge big brain thinker.

   17. KSKara Swisher4:21

       He's a nice guy. He makes great movies.

   18. SGScott Galloway4:23

       And I would absolutely love to work for them.

   19. KSKara Swisher4:25

       Yes. Okay. [laughs]

   20. SGScott Galloway4:25

       And-

   21. KSKara Swisher4:25

       All right. Listen, this is what happened. I was telling s- things I've said 109 times before. I don't wanna work for a tech mogul. I don't. I just never have. Walt and I didn't take money from Silicon Valley.

   22. SGScott Galloway4:36

       As opposed to a media mogul?

   23. KSKara Swisher4:38

       Yes.

   24. SGScott Galloway4:38

       You work for media moguls?

   25. KSKara Swisher4:39

       Actually, yes. Yes. Uh, yeah, we took money-

   26. SGScott Galloway4:40

       Yeah, I'm feeling challenged here. So you'd rather work for Rupert Murdoch-

   27. KSKara Swisher4:43

       No, you're not

   28. SGScott Galloway4:43

       ... than Larry Ellison?

   29. KSKara Swisher4:43

       I, we left Rupert Murdoch, my friend. I, I als-

   30. SGScott Galloway4:45

       But you did work there. You did work there.
4. 8:47 – 12:23

   Trump’s Iran Plans

   1. KSKara Swisher8:47

      this is troubling to me, is sending roughly two thousand troops, uh, from the eighty-second Airborne Division to the Middle East. As of this recording, there's been no decision to put, I hate this expression, boots on the ground, but that's what it is. Um, Trump is talking a lot of talk this week, saying the war has effectively been won, Iran wants to make a deal, and negotiations are happening right now, even as Iran disputes that. And I hate to say it, but I believe Iran, and I don't like the people, the, uh, who are running Iran. And he said he got a gift from Iran, calling it a very big present worth a tremendous amount of money and tied to oil and gas. No idea what that is. The US is all-- I think he's just making shit up now. The US is also-- Well, he always does. He's also sent Iran a fifteen-point plan to end the war demands, including dismantling nuclear sites, ending enrichment, and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. We certainly had some of those things in place before. And as potential talks may or may not be taking shape, there are reports that Iran would prefer to deal with Vice President J.D. Vance over Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. I-- Wow, that's a, that's a choice, [laughs] right? That's a choice. But I would agree with the Iranians on that. Um, a-and Vance has been, um, the person who, you know, is gonna be running for president and could possibly be president and also has been opposed to the war quietly. Um, he, that, he certainly ran on the idea of no more wars, and he's, he's also a, a veteran. Um, I don't know. What do you, what do you think about that? What's going on there? It seems insane right now.

   2. SGScott Galloway10:14

      It's all, um... I mean, I go to the markets.

   3. KSKara Swisher10:17

      [exhaling]

   4. SGScott Galloway10:18

      You know, so there was an unusual amount of futures that changed hands-

   5. KSKara Swisher10:22

      Oh, yeah

   6. SGScott Galloway10:22

      ... at six fifty-

   7. KSKara Swisher10:23

      Please talk about this.

   8. SGScott Galloway10:25

      Well, I, I believe that in a digital world where forensics and AI and investigative journalists, uh, one of the wonderful things about America is that people see incentive in, in finding out what actually went down, and I think that's one of the wonderful things about our, our society. I think you're going to see President Trump four or five years post his presidency sitting in front of a camera and a jury pretending to be too old, and he just doesn't remember him telling his buddies, his friends, his family members that, "Oh, I think I'm gonna announce that the talks are going really well," even though according to the Islamic Republic, there are no talks, which will send the markets skyrocketing. And then when it comes out twenty-four, forty-eight hours later that, in fact, there are no talks, and then the markets, oil surges again, and the markets go down. This is an insider trader's... It c-

   9. KSKara Swisher11:25

      It's right from the White House

   10. SGScott Galloway11:27

       ... Keith, Kevin-

   11. KSKara Swisher11:27

       It's right from the White House, it feels.

   12. SGScott Galloway11:28

       Ivan Boesky-

   13. KSKara Swisher11:29

       Yeah

   14. SGScott Galloway11:29

       ... could not have dreamt of this situation. [laughs]

   15. KSKara Swisher11:32

       I know.

   16. SGScott Galloway11:32

       The ability to trade-

   17. KSKara Swisher11:34

       Yep

   18. SGScott Galloway11:35

       ... uh, on these, o-on near certainty. The president knows that if he just, A, he can say any-- He believes he can say anything he fucking wants. It doesn't matter. I can lie. I can be full of shit, just put out press releases. It doesn't matter. Kinda the, you know, funding's secured over and over. And I know that the markets will respond swiftly to my comments. There is now zero-day options, where you can buy options that expire by the end of the day, and I'm gonna go out on a limb here and think and say that sometimes the president doesn't have that much fidelity to rule of law-

   19. KSKara Swisher12:12

       Yeah

   20. SGScott Galloway12:12

       ... or conflicts of interest and might-

   21. KSKara Swisher12:13

       I, I find it, like, a st- this has happened over and over again. There is-- They must just, he must just say things while on the toilet, and people then trade or whatever and-You know, interestingly,

5. 12:23 – 20:34

   Prediction Market Legislation

   1. KSKara Swisher12:23

      let me note, lawmakers are introducing bipartisan bills to ban prediction markets from listing. There, there's a lot of action on this now, from listing sports bets and to prohibit members of Congress from trading in certain markets. Facing the heat, Kalshi plans to block athletes, coaches, and officials from betting on their sports and political candidates from trading on their campaigns, and Polymarket announced finally enhanced market integrity rules, including banning trading on stolen confidential information. I mean, this has happened rather quickly and v- quite, it's quite important that this happened. Um, y- you know, it's really, uh, it's re- it's just grift. It's just out and out grift, th- these numbers, and you know the Democrats are prepa- this is, like, so deep in the heart of easy to prove, right? This kind of stuff and who's doing it, and so I think they better, you know, they better hope uh, they get those pardons from, from, uh, from Trump, and he pardons himself because this is just really, uh, it's... Let, let me break it down for regular people. They're making money at your expense and cheating while doing it. Like, [scoffs] what el- I don't know what else to say.

   2. SGScott Galloway13:31

      Look, it, the Democrats engage in what I'll call small-cap corruption, and that is it's not illegal to trade stocks right now-

   3. KSKara Swisher13:41

      Yeah

   4. SGScott Galloway13:41

      ... as if you're a US congressperson.

   5. KSKara Swisher13:43

      I think it should be.

   6. SGScott Galloway13:44

      And, and even though there are regulations and guidelines against it, the fines is a slap on the wrist, so the incentives are, if I'm sitting in a, you know, the Senate, uh, if I'm on the in, the Defense, uh, Committee or the Intelligence Committee, and we're talking about a thirty-billion-dollar contract to Northrop Grumman, and it looks like it's gonna go through, [chuckles] and my guess is Northrop Grumman will put out a press release in seventy-two hours, "Hey, honey. Hey, Paul Pelosi."

   7. KSKara Swisher14:16

      Mm-hmm.

   8. SGScott Galloway14:17

      "I really like Northrop, and I just wanna be even-handed here. I think what Trump is-

   9. KSKara Swisher14:22

      Okay, but Scott, you do this every time. This is like she- massive corruption in a different-

   10. SGScott Galloway14:27

       It's just corruption on a different scale-

   11. KSKara Swisher14:28

       Yep

   12. SGScott Galloway14:28

       ... but it's still corruption.

   13. KSKara Swisher14:29

       It is, but you tend to go right to Nancy Pelosi, who's leaving Congress. We, we, we know we should've passed these bills.

   14. SGScott Galloway14:35

       Because-

   15. KSKara Swisher14:36

       Okay

   16. SGScott Galloway14:36

       ... because in order to be taken seriously, we have to be critical thinkers and apply it to both sides of the aisle.

   17. KSKara Swisher14:41

       I understand.

   18. SGScott Galloway14:41

       And, uh-

   19. KSKara Swisher14:42

       This is... Okay

   20. SGScott Galloway14:42

       ... so let, but let's look at the data.

   21. KSKara Swisher14:45

       Mm-hmm.

   22. SGScott Galloway14:46

       Over the last, what is it, 20 years, the S&P has tripled, and the Pelosi portfolio is up sevenfold, and nothing-

   23. KSKara Swisher14:53

       A problem

   24. SGScott Galloway14:53

       ... she has done is illegal. The, this is a certain type of corruption. What Trump has done is said, "Okay, that's small ball."

   25. KSKara Swisher15:03

       Mm-hmm.

   26. SGScott Galloway15:03

       "You're corrupt for millions. I'm gonna be corrupt for billions."

   27. KSKara Swisher15:07

       Yeah.

   28. SGScott Galloway15:07

       Because what he's done, it's, I'm not sure it's illegal, but we've never, we've been dependent upon-

   29. KSKara Swisher15:14

       Oh

   30. SGScott Galloway15:14

       ... and Barry Goldwater predicted this 50 years ago.
6. 20:34 – 21:34

   Democrats Win in Florida

   1. KSKara Swisher20:34

      Democrats pulled off a surprising win in Florida, actually a pair of them, but one that was particularly-

   2. SGScott Galloway20:38

      Yeah, that was big

   3. KSKara Swisher20:39

      ... surprising, flipping two legislative seats, including the district that covers Mar-a-Lago. Like, in... He now has a Democratic representative. Emily Gregory, a first-time candidate with a background in public health, won by a little over two points. Astonishing. This was a big Trump, uh, district. Trump has taken to social media to support her opponent, obviously, and President Trump, who's called voting by mail cheating, voted by mail in the election. I mean, these... The dem- the list of things Democrats have won recently is really something else, um, to see them winning in all sorts of districts. And from people I know down there, they're just furious at him. They're, they really are. These are all his fans, like, or people who voted for him. Um, and i- it's really... It, it's... I'm not sure it's a... I think peop- I think they, they're gonna try to steal the election. I don't think it's gonna be possible given the overwhelming numbers that are gonna happen. And, a- and another thing that's affecting him, and these are two topic as we record, negotiations

7. 21:34 – 29:42

   DHS Shutdown

   1. KSKara Swisher21:34

      to end the five-week DHS shutdown or standstill with Congress scheduled to go into recess any minute. The Republicans have brought a number of possibilities to Trump, but he's turned them all down, and the Democrats are sticking. The sticking points are still ICE funding and enforcement reforms, very simple things. Don't wear masks. Uh, bring in judicial warrants and, um, and, uh, and cameras. It's... Nothing is that hard. No one was happy. Again, from the latest proposal from the Republicans, TSA officers will miss on their paycheck this Friday if the deal hasn't reached. They've lost hundreds of employees. On Tuesday morning, Delta Airlines suspended specialty services for members of Congress. Yay. They're gonna have to wait in line like everybody else, which I think is great, all of them. Um, you said in your la- our last show that grounding private planes might move the needle. Um, and I love that Delta and others are pushing back. The TSA is pushing back-

   2. SGScott Galloway22:27

      Great move-

   3. KSKara Swisher22:27

      ... against ICE

   4. SGScott Galloway22:27

      ... by Delta.

   5. KSKara Swisher22:29

      What?

   6. SGScott Galloway22:29

      Great, great-

   7. KSKara Swisher22:30

      Great move

   8. SGScott Galloway22:30

      ... brand-enhancing-

   9. KSKara Swisher22:32

      Yeah

   10. SGScott Galloway22:32

       ... brilliant fucking move by Delta.

   11. KSKara Swisher22:34

       And no one likes ICE there. Like, they're u- the TSA has said it's useless. The airlines think it's useless. It's... There was a pilot that got on social media where he's like, "This fucking sucks, people." And I, I have to say, this is all at Donald Trump's door, 'cause he's refusing to deal because of the SAVE Act and letting people wait in line. I love that congresspeople have to wait in line. I love it. And so talk about this win in Mar-a-Lago and the, and what's happening with TSA, because besides Iran, this is yet another series of things that are indicators, leading indicators. Thoughts?

   12. SGScott Galloway23:08

       District 87, Palm Beach Co- County, as you notice, includes, you know, White House, Florida, and a really impressive young woman. I love this.

   13. KSKara Swisher23:17

       I do too.

   14. SGScott Galloway23:17

       Emily Gregory.

   15. KSKara Swisher23:18

       She looks fantastic.

   16. SGScott Galloway23:19

       40-year-old small business owner and military spouse running for office for the first time defeated Republican John Maples, who had Trump's complete and total endorsement. She won with 51.2% with turnout roughly at 29%. Trump carried the district by 11 points in 2024.

   17. KSKara Swisher23:38

       Yeah, that's a lot.

   18. SGScott Galloway23:39

       The previous Republican incumbent-

   19. KSKara Swisher23:41

       Mm-hmm

   20. SGScott Galloway23:41

       ... won by 20 points.

   21. KSKara Swisher23:43

       I know.

   22. SGScott Galloway23:43

       I mean, this is... And then let's go up, let's go up the, you know, let's go up the coast of the great state of Florida. Democrat Brian Nathan, a Navy veteran and union organizer, upset Republican Josie Tomkow by just 408 votes, a margin of 0.5%, which could trigger a machine recount. But Tomkow outspent Nathan more than three to one, and Nath- it looks like Nathan won and received over 400,000 in kind contributions from the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee. The previous Republican incumbent, Jay Collins, won the seat by 10 points in 2022, and this all bubbles up to the most shocking, exciting, and somewhat... It almost... I'm almost worried we're peaking too early right now.

   23. KSKara Swisher24:28

       [chuckles] No.

   24. SGScott Galloway24:29

       The prediction markets-

   25. KSKara Swisher24:30

       Mm-hmm

   26. SGScott Galloway24:31

       ... uh, Kalshi is saying for the first time-That it's more likely than not-

   27. KSKara Swisher24:37

       Mm-hmm

   28. SGScott Galloway24:37

       ... the Democrats take the Senate.

   29. KSKara Swisher24:41

       Yeah. Mm-hmm.

   30. SGScott Galloway24:42

       We-- When have we heard that?
8. 29:42 – 39:24

   Meta and Youtube Found Liable

   1. KSKara Swisher29:42

      with more news. Meta and YouTube have been found liable in, of harming a young user with features that were addictive to her mental health. A California jury found Meta must pay $4.2 million and YouTube $1.8 million. It's not very much money. She asked for a billion. The case focused on features like infinite scroll and algorithmic recommendations. As a reminder, both TikTok and Snap settled before the trial began. Uh, Meta has also been found liable for failing to protect young people from online dangers in a New Mexico case. There, Meta must pay 375 million, a little more, but still a parking ticket for this company. The company made 160 times that in revenue last quarter. These verdicts are the first in social media addiction trials, social media impact trials. As the New York, uh, Post cover said, "Mea culpa," which we love. We love. Scott, what do you think? Here we go. We're, we're over the edge with juries involved.Juries are tired of social media.

   2. SGScott Galloway30:39

      I, I generally wanna get your viewpoint on it.

   3. KSKara Swisher30:41

      Mm-hmm.

   4. SGScott Galloway30:41

      But my initial instinct is that this is actually a big deal.

   5. KSKara Swisher30:44

      It is.

   6. SGScott Galloway30:44

      And, and it's not about... It's, as you said, it's not about the parking tickets that have been issued, it's that there's now legal precedent for what the, the activities these terms engage in i- is, makes them civilly at least liable. And the other piece of information I got that I found fascinating is their insurance companies are trying to reject the claim saying that they intentionally, they knew they were intentionally doing this, and so they're not covered by insurance. And m- my sense is it's not about this case, it's that the other several hundred or several thousand cases against these terms just got a lot stronger-

   7. KSKara Swisher31:20

      Yeah

   8. SGScott Galloway31:20

      ... because of this decision.

   9. KSKara Swisher31:21

      Yeah.

   10. SGScott Galloway31:21

       Your thoughts.

   11. KSKara Swisher31:21

       Yeah, there's a real, there's a real back up. You know, this has been something you and I have been talking about. I went back and found-

   12. SGScott Galloway31:25

       Oh, you think? [laughs]

   13. KSKara Swisher31:26

       Yes. Yes. [laughs] I mean-

   14. SGScott Galloway31:27

       I thought I wrote, I thought I wrote a book on this about 10 years ago.

   15. KSKara Swisher31:30

       You did. I was just saying, you wrote a book on this, and I wrote a book on this and talking about these problems and how liable they were, h- lack of accountability, lack of regulatory scrutiny of anybody except some, in other countries, uh, in fact, rolling over for them, but both by Obama and Trump, of course, because he takes money from them. Um, I, you know, I think their high water mark was standing in f- with Trump at the inaugural. I think this was, it was in, this was starting to be in place when people realized after January 6th, I think, that social media has a real impact, and it's been a slow burn, that's for sure, and our r- our regulators have done nothing. Let me just say, not in states, in our federal regulators. And I don't mean to say Amy Klobuchar and others have not tried. I just think they have not been successful because of the pushback. And in this case, I think you're gonna see furious pushback by these companies, even for this small an amount, right? This tiny amount of money. They're, they're... Because they don't want any accountability for what they're doing. They wanna skate out of responsibility. And they can't, because now it's in front of juries. And every-

   16. SGScott Galloway32:35

       Mm-hmm

   17. KSKara Swisher32:35

       ... person knows addiction is an issue, sloppy management is an issue, and threats to kids are an issue.

   18. SGScott Galloway32:43

       I saw you on Anderson Cooper last night.

   19. KSKara Swisher32:46

       Yes.

   20. SGScott Galloway32:46

       And a- and you had, I thought, was exactly the right point, and we've been talking about this, and that is the nation is actually pretty good at recognizing externalities and harm. It just doesn't act crisply. It took about 30 years with tobacco-

   21. KSKara Swisher33:00

       Mm-hmm

   22. SGScott Galloway33:00

       ... 20 years with opiates. Social went on mobile in 2012. It feels like that timing's about right, that about-

   23. KSKara Swisher33:06

       Yeah

   24. SGScott Galloway33:06

       ... at 2032, unfortunately, and I'm personally aggrieved, quite frankly-

   25. KSKara Swisher33:14

       Mm-hmm

   26. SGScott Galloway33:14

       ... my kids got fucked up on these things. I-

   27. KSKara Swisher33:16

       Yeah

   28. SGScott Galloway33:17

       You know, your kids, y- your first generation, your older kids, Alex and Louie, had to endure this.

   29. KSKara Swisher33:23

       Yeah.

   30. SGScott Galloway33:23

       And my sense is they've come through it pretty f- pretty, pretty unscathed.
9. 39:24 – 47:57

   OpenAI Shuts Down Sora

   1. KSKara Swisher39:24

      Scott, moving on. I wanna start our next story by playing a prediction you made just last week.

   2. SGScott Galloway39:30

      My prediction is OpenAI Sora social media app will be shut down soon.

   3. KSKara Swisher39:35

      Oh.

   4. SGScott Galloway39:36

      Uh-

   5. KSKara Swisher39:36

      Sora.

   6. SGScott Galloway39:37

      Well-

   7. KSKara Swisher39:37

      What do you know? You know something.

   8. SGScott Galloway39:39

      No, I don't. I, I've done no original reporting.

   9. KSKara Swisher39:41

      [chuckles] Okay.

   10. SGScott Galloway39:41

       Trust me.

   11. KSKara Swisher39:42

       Okay. All right.

   12. SGScott Galloway39:43

       Upon its release, Sora came out at number one in the App Store, um, and actually got more downloads out of the gates than ChatGPT did. However, like, like, the party's ended. Downloads fell thirty-two percent month over month in December, and another forty-five percent in January, and some Sora is the little engine that didn't. And also, users continue to drop like flies.

   13. KSKara Swisher40:08

       You were right. I still think you had inside information. OpenAI announced this week that it's discontinuing the Sora app. This is the video app they're doing just months after launching it. Uh, this reportedly one of several steps the company's taking to refocus the business ahead of its potential IPO. Sam Altman says the Sora team will now shift to prioritizing longer term bets like robotics. Uh, as for the Disney deal they did at the time, if you remember, Scott and I talked about it, a one billion dollar investment in OpenAI, which we thought they weren't really gonna give them that, and it was just a little experiment that included licensing characters for Sora. Disney is out. Disney's out. Um, it was more of a press release sending it. Um, so talk about this prediction. I, I, um, just so I'll also note, OpenAI is closing in on a deal to raise about ten billion dollars from investors, bringing its latest funding round haul to more than a hundred and twenty billion dollars. Jeez, the fucking wee's. Um, so, uh, talk about this. I mean, they've had to shift very quickly. Uh, I don't know what they're doing in robotics, but they should just focus on their core business, seems to me. But, uh, thoughts on this? What did you know? Come on, tell me the truth.

   14. SGScott Galloway41:10

       Kara, Kara, Kara, I don't, I don't enjoy-

   15. KSKara Swisher41:12

       I feel excited

   16. SGScott Galloway41:13

       ... talking about myself or taking credit-

   17. KSKara Swisher41:15

       [laughs]

   18. SGScott Galloway41:15

       ... for what is arguably one of the most prescient predictions of the year in tech now. Oh my God!

   19. KSKara Swisher41:20

       It was so good.

   20. SGScott Galloway41:21

       Kara.

   21. KSKara Swisher41:21

       I gotta say.

   22. SGScott Galloway41:22

       Kara.

   23. KSKara Swisher41:22

       Oh, I was like, "He was right. Damn it."

   24. SGScott Galloway41:24

       My nipples are hard.

   25. KSKara Swisher41:25

       Mm-hmm.

   26. SGScott Galloway41:26

       Touchdown, Jesus.

   27. KSKara Swisher41:28

       I, I approve these hard nipples.

   28. SGScott Galloway41:29

       I am fucking John Travolta when he was thin and could dance. This is a... Ladies, for the, for the people tuning in on the YouTube channel, watch his shoulders. Watch his shoulders. Hello.

   29. KSKara Swisher41:39

       All right.

   30. SGScott Galloway41:39

       To resist is futile.
10. 47:57 – 52:48

    Amazon’s New Phone

    1. KSKara Swisher47:57

       we're back with more news. Amazon is reportedly getting back into the phone business, working on a new device internally known as, oh my good God, the Transformer, according to Reuters. What a bunch of idiots they are. This would potentially be an AI-driven phone that syncs with Alexa and could eliminate the need for traditional apps. Oh, sure. Why not? Details are slim. There's no clear timeline or pricing, and sources say the project could be scrapped if priorities or finances change. So that's a lot of maybes. Um, but let's not forget Amazon's last phone foray. I have not forgotten it since I wrote about its creation and decline, the Fire Phone, which launched in twenty-fourteen and quickly flopped, leading to a hundred and seventy million dollar write-down. And I remember getting sent it. I was like, "It's like the Home, the Facebook Home." I, I kept getting sent these things. I'm like, "What is this?" And, like, I'm calling Steve Jobs immediately because I need to talk to someone who knows how to make these things. Why would Amazon have a phone? I want you to give me the argument why it's a good idea despite their... And I, I think people fail at things, and then they come back.

    2. SGScott Galloway48:55

       Mm-hmm.

    3. KSKara Swisher48:55

       But I don't feel like Amazon is d- my device place. I, I think they got, they got knocked over in the, um, in, in the Audible space. I think they got knocked over in the, uh, the reader space. I mean, it's still a business, but it's not as... It's not f- on fire. It got knocked out by the iPad in a lot of ways. Any thoughts on the phone from Amazon, and why?Give me the argument

    4. SGScott Galloway49:18

       Well, the argument could be that it becomes a new piece of the flywheel around Amazon Prime, and that is if you're an Amazon Prime Plus member, you get a very competent phone that perhaps has even better bandwidth because Project Kuiper starts to pay off, and they have satellite-based con-connectivity. So what this is, is potentially, I would imagine in, mm, you know, the conference rooms where Amazon strategy group are some incredibly bright people are saying-

    5. KSKara Swisher49:48

       Yeah, they need a thing

    6. SGScott Galloway49:49

       ... Well, what if, why don't we go after Android? And that is we can offer people-

    7. KSKara Swisher49:53

       Oh, okay

    8. SGScott Galloway49:54

       ... we can offer people an unbelievable phone for free as part of their Amazon Prime membership-

    9. KSKara Swisher49:59

       Yeah

    10. SGScott Galloway49:59

        ... and then say, "And get off of AT&T, and we'll, we'll wrap it all into the greatest loyalty program in history, which is Amazon Prime."

    11. KSKara Swisher50:07

        Yep. It is indeed.

    12. SGScott Galloway50:08

        So-

    13. KSKara Swisher50:09

        It is. Hmm

    14. SGScott Galloway50:09

        ... I think there's a really solid argument. The problem is this all works, uh, on a whiteboard, and then people hold these phones, the Facebook phone-

    15. KSKara Swisher50:18

        That's right

    16. SGScott Galloway50:18

        ... the Amazon Fire, and they go, "I don't like it."

    17. KSKara Swisher50:20

        And the Microsoft phones are-

    18. SGScott Galloway50:22

        Yeah, all the, all the handhelds

    19. KSKara Swisher50:23

        All of them

    20. SGScott Galloway50:23

        And by the way, just a shout-out, a colleague of mine who teaches brand strategy at another university called me and said, "Saying that Apple shouldn't go into a, a lower priced computer is all wrong." And he said, he said, "My views on it were all fucked up," and I just wanna give him his props. He said that, "Look at all the luxury car brands. They were all shitposted for going into lower end models, and it's expanded their share."

    21. KSKara Swisher50:46

        Yeah.

    22. SGScott Galloway50:46

        And I thought that was a really good point.

    23. KSKara Swisher50:48

        If they're gonna give people a really good version of-

    24. SGScott Galloway50:52

        Yeah

    25. KSKara Swisher50:52

        ... of it, and then you have to buy the shitty Dell version, yeah. I, I think, yeah

    26. SGScott Galloway50:55

        ... Well, all the Porsche purists said they should never launch an SUV. They did.

    27. KSKara Swisher50:58

        Yeah

    28. SGScott Galloway50:58

        It sells more than any other car in the Porsche lineup.

    29. KSKara Swisher51:00

        Yeah

    30. SGScott Galloway51:00

        And also Mercedes has an A-Class in Europe. They have, they have the, what is it, not the E, the C-Class.
11. 52:48 – 1:02:26

    Predictions

    1. KSKara Swisher52:49

       Okay, Scott, let's hear a prediction. I'm gonna say very quickly, uh, just so you know, at the time of this taping, SpaceX is aiming to file its IPO within a week, and I predict I will not be asked on the board, as you noticed at the beginning. [laughs] I predict, I predict that. Sorry.

    2. SGScott Galloway53:02

       People literally don't... If I was your financial ca- your-

    3. KSKara Swisher53:04

       Yeah

    4. SGScott Galloway53:04

       ... wealth advisor, and I kind of have been for the last few years.

    5. KSKara Swisher53:07

       Yeah. You have.

    6. SGScott Galloway53:07

       But if I'd gotten a hold of you 10 or 15 years ago, I would've been like, "Tone down the anti-Musk, anti-big tech thing-

    7. KSKara Swisher53:14

       Oh, sorry

    8. SGScott Galloway53:14

       ... and we're gonna make hundreds of millions-

    9. KSKara Swisher53:16

       I can't do it

    10. SGScott Galloway53:16

        ... of dollars on boards."

    11. KSKara Swisher53:17

        I know. I know. I can't do it. I just said-

    12. SGScott Galloway53:19

        No, I know. You can't do it

    13. KSKara Swisher53:19

        ... as a jokeler as a terrible person.

    14. SGScott Galloway53:21

        You can't do it.

    15. KSKara Swisher53:22

        I can't help myself.

    16. SGScott Galloway53:23

        You can't do it.

    17. KSKara Swisher53:23

        That was a joke.

    18. SGScott Galloway53:23

        You can't. You know when you text me mean things at 2:00 in the morning, it's not a good idea, and you can't help yourself.

    19. KSKara Swisher53:28

        I can.

    20. SGScott Galloway53:28

        You literally can't.

    21. KSKara Swisher53:29

        Not mean. Some of them are very good.

    22. SGScott Galloway53:31

        You can't help yourself.

    23. KSKara Swisher53:33

        Oh.

    24. SGScott Galloway53:33

        I get it.

    25. KSKara Swisher53:33

        I can't. I can't.

    26. SGScott Galloway53:34

        I get it.

    27. KSKara Swisher53:34

        I cannot. I cannot.

    28. SGScott Galloway53:35

        I know I shouldn't drink as much as I do.

    29. KSKara Swisher53:36

        By the way, speaking of I was right about these people, I was right. Anyway, your prediction, please.

    30. SGScott Galloway53:42

        Okay. So what do we have here? OpenAI is in a five car alarm right now. In the last six months, they have... Oh, and by the way, this, this f- have you seen the deals of this financing? To top off the round with, I think it's TPG, they are guaranteeing a 17 and a half percent return.

Episode duration: 1:02:29