EVERY SPOKEN WORD
55 min read · 10,539 words- 0:00 – 0:37
Intro
- SGScott Galloway
Elon put thrusters on a car for a YouTube clip, and Ukraine put explosives on a $500 drone so democracy could survive. [upbeat music]
- KSKara Swisher
Hi, everyone, this is Pivot from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network. I'm Kara Swisher.
- SGScott Galloway
And I'm Scott Galloway.
- KSKara Swisher
Scott, are you sad? Your lady is gone. Kate Zacharia.
- SGScott Galloway
Ugh. It was so short, but so good.
- KSKara Swisher
[chuckles] "So short, but so good," is that what you say about a lot of things?
- SGScott Galloway
Short but so good? Oh, there you go.
- KSKara Swisher
[laughs] I made a dick joke.
- SGScott Galloway
Now you're cooking with propane and gas.
- KSKara Swisher
We've got a lot to get to. There's so much going besides Katie.
- 0:37 – 6:11
Elon Giving SpaceX Shares to Kids
- KSKara Swisher
Elon Musk says he's gonna give every kid in America one share of SpaceX next year, and that, quote, "This will be the first of many." With roughly 73 million people under the age of 18 in the US, that would amount to about $10.5 billion worth of stock at current prices. He didn't explain how this is gonna work and whether these shares would be tied to Trump accounts. Elon's pledge comes on the heels of Anthropic announcing it's committing 5% of its shares for a new public benefit fund. Lots of companies do this. Elon responded to Anthropic's news by saying, "I recommend giving the shares directly to the public." I recommend them all paying more taxes-
- SGScott Galloway
Hundred percent
- KSKara Swisher
... in order, and, like, this is, seems so ridiculous waste of money. Just let them decide if they wanna buy SpaceX shares. Uh, what do you make of these plans? Just additional context, Elon owns about 4.8 billion SpaceX shares according to a August SEC filing. The number goes to 6.4 billion when you include unvested awards and stock options. Uh, I would really sort of like him just to be taxed correctly and give money, as does Mackenzie Scott, and let kids decide what they wanna buy. That's my whole take on the whole thing. You, your thoughts?
- SGScott Galloway
I think you're right. It, uh, so look, this is about, just the numbers here, it's about $11 billion across 73 million kids, about 144 bucks a share. It would amount to about 1 1/2% of Elon's 5 billion shares, or roughly 1.1% counting unvested shares. So he's kinda giving away the crumbs, not the meal, which is fine. Um, I, I actually... I really like... I, I like Trump bonds or baby bonds. I would've done what, um, what Ackman suggested, and that is give $7,000 to every baby that's born, and infantilize them and put it in an S&P or a low-cost index fund. And then when they're 65, assuming the market keeps performing at 9 or 10%, they have a million bucks. And in 30 years, you announce you're no longer gonna need Social Security, interest rates dive, and the whole world becomes more affordable for Americans, similar to kinda what Australia's done. So I like this. The, now, as it relates to individuals creating funds, m- my sense is exactly your point. Let them cook. Let them make as much profit as possible. They're, they're basically deciding the moral judgments and values of their shareholders.
- KSKara Swisher
It's like the YouTube thing being sent to you by Apple. I don't fucking want it. Like, I, don't... Let me buy it if I want it. That's what I say. Let them buy it if they want it.
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah, we should have, right now, so for example, because SpaceX loses so much money, it's not paying any taxes. Musk will pay taxes, lower tax rate after he moved to Texas from where he built his wealth in California. What we need is let... I, I don't even like when CEOs pretend to have virtue, because they're just signaling. CEOs and executives should keep their priorities, and their nonprofits, and their politics to themselves, drive as much shareholder value as possible, and then we should have an alternative minimum tax of about 40%-
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah
- SGScott Galloway
... on anyone making over a million dollars or any companies making over a billion dollars, and then let elected representatives elected by Americans decide how to allocate that capital.
- KSKara Swisher
That's right.
- SGScott Galloway
What he's trying to do, uh, what this is, is customer acquisition. He's trying to create 73 million retail shareholders that are rooting for SpaceX.
- KSKara Swisher
A single share, one share.
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah, and, and Anthropic is trying to Sandberg. They're trying to say, "Look, we're good people, and everyone's gonna participate."
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah. I don't want your-
- SGScott Galloway
I don't wanna-
- KSKara Swisher
I don't want your stuff
- SGScott Galloway
... I, I don't, I don't wanna be on, dependent, America shouldn't be dependent on the kindness of strangers. We should have a progressive tax policy. They should do what they can to make as much profits as possible and return, return, return, um, gains to their shareholders, and we need to tax these companies at a progressive rate, similar to what we did in the '80s, '90s, and throughout history.
- KSKara Swisher
Or, or why doesn't he just give this money and pull, you know, 100,000 kids out of poverty? Hmm, what about that? What about, like, funding all the kids, all the k- with AIDS in Africa, funding their medicine?
- SGScott Galloway
This has Trump written all over it.
- KSKara Swisher
It's such ridiculousness.
- SGScott Galloway
This is Trump calling Musk and the Dario guy and say, "I like the idea of the-
- KSKara Swisher
Shares
- SGScott Galloway
... I mean, to a certain extent, it's a little bit quite, it's rever- it's socialism.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah, it really is.
- SGScott Galloway
It's saying that-
- KSKara Swisher
I want your shares
- SGScott Galloway
... the government is the means of production, and you guys need to... You know, this whole notion that Trump wants to take a vig by investing in Intel, this is, I bet he called them and said, "Do this." No. Y- y- full-body contact violence that's regulated, and then we tax them, and then people elected get to decide what to do with this money.
- KSKara Swisher
This will have no impact.
- SGScott Galloway
Ha- having said that, I, it's hard to fault them for this, but I don't think it's how you operate an economy.
- KSKara Swisher
No, stop. I fault them for it. I say give, why don't you give money away? You have a lot of money. Maybe you should give some money away to really help people today. To not-
- SGScott Galloway
Well, he is, isn't he?
- 6:11 – 15:21
Tesla's “Flying” Roadster
- KSKara Swisher
he unveiled the new Tesla Roadster, and the car, I'm not gonna say it can fly, 'cause it can't. It's, it can suction The consuction, uh, sort of. Uh, the, the media really soiled itself in covering this. At an event last week, the Roadster drove upside down. It didn't really drive upside down on a curved track, and performed stunts including flying over a bunch of Teslas, which, you know, a car back in a Bon- in the Bond days was able to do without thrusters. They used thrusters designed with SpaceX. They were inside the car. They took up all the space in the car. Could only do it for a few seconds. Um, the, it says the car can go from zero to 60 in just 0.81 seconds. Again, you have to have the thrusters in your car. That means no passengers, and actually no passengers at all. Elon says production on the car will begin in 2028, quote, "Actually for real," he didn't reveal the price. Also, if you look down into the, um, it, thing, it, he may not even deliver it even if you give him the 250. So he's getting loans from people for maybe a nothing burger, which he's been promising for a long, long time, this Roadster. As you predicted, Tesla stock initially jumped 5% before falling back. Shares are now up around 3% as we record. Um, talk about what you thought this talks about Tesla's future. I thought this is what he has to offer, not a new inexpensive car for people that he could actually make money on. And tech analyst and longtime Tesla bull Gene Munster posted his two takeaways from the Tesla event. It was an engineering flex with no commercial value beyond embarrassing traditional car makers, sort of. Elon can't wait to bring Tesla and SpaceX together, which I have long predicted-
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah, you've said that for a while
- KSKara Swisher
... 'cause it makes sense. Yeah, so your thoughts?
- SGScott Galloway
Uh, this was a circus act, not a product release. I, I don't think this thing ever happens. He's been... I mean, let's just, let's just go over history here. Um, the Roadster is the same car that was supposed to ship in 2020, six years ago. He unveiled it in 2017, delayed it in 2020, 2021, 2023, and 2024. Production is now targeted for 2028. Reservations are $50,000 for the performance trim and $250,000 for the thrust trim. T- Tesla's fine, fine print even says it. It says it cannot guarantee when your vehicle will actually be delivered or if it will be delivered. In 2017, the first thousand Founder Series cars were tw- $250,000 each. They sold out. Tesla has been sitting on $250 million of customer mon- money for almost nine years. So you've lost, in that nine years, like I think inflation is a b- You've lost a third or half of your money just in inflation.
- KSKara Swisher
Just sitting there.
- SGScott Galloway
Also, let's just talk about the car. I mean, it was dr- Again, this dramatic fun gimmick, but this was an empty shell with air compressors in it. And let's talk, the air compression technology that expectorates to balance a rocket as it plunges towards Earth is not only amazing technology, it's amazing technology with a use. The amazing technology of these, these air-compressed thrusters on a car is amazing technology. It has abso-fucking-lutely no use. Let's talk about the practicality. You have to fill a tank to get five seconds of thrust, and it takes five hours [chuckles] to fill the tank, and you can't have anything else. This would never work with an electric car.
- KSKara Swisher
And if you have a cigarette, you're fucked. But go ahead.
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah, and you can't, you can't have an electric car there 'cause it's just too heavy. So, you know, uh, e- essentially what you have with Musk is that it's an e- it's... This was an engineering flex with no commercial value. It's, i- it should be called a marketing expense. Um, i- and you have a guy who is basically... [sighs] I mean, y- you have something. You don't need a seatbelt. You would need a G-suit and a chaplain here. This thing is dangerous and makes no sense. And when a CEO has to add, "For real," that's the tell. The Roadster was first promised in 2017. It's a recurring keynote, and I feel like this whole Roadster is SpaceX that happens to have a, a steering wheel. And i- i- to your point, Tesla is becoming a holding company for his narratives, and the car business funds the story, and the story kind of funds the stock. And I, you got this early. The merger's coming. He's not-
- KSKara Swisher
It has to
- SGScott Galloway
... building a car. He's building a bridge to SpaceX one, kind of one thruster at a time. But the merger, he's gonna announce it soon.
- KSKara Swisher
Uh, you know, I'm, the thing I'm sorry about, first of all, bread and circus is like I said, the stock thing and this, bread and cir- It's all meaningless. Uh, what, are you gonna make a car for people? No, you're probably not.
- SGScott Galloway
Well, BYD is doing that. [chuckles]
- KSKara Swisher
BYD is doing it. Why don't you do that? Like, and this is what you're doing, a car nobody can drive that's possibly dangerous and you can't ride on the road. It's, it, to me, it says everything of this is the choice he makes at this moment in time, and he thinks we're gonna, like, go, "Oh, ooh, it flipped." You know, I gotta tell you, Alex is here this weekend, and he was unimpressed as an t- engineer. He's like, "I mean, fine, but anyone can do that." Like, he was not... He said it was cool. He said it was cool, but it's not partic- He was trying to explain it, the whole thing that he did to me and, um, and he, basically, it's just a trick. It's just a trick. He can't do it very many times. And then the flipping over cars. Go to a monster truck rally. They do it all the time, just so you know. Or James Bond movies. They've done all manner of cool things with cars, you know, or Fast & Furious any day of the fucking week. Um, and it's all, it's not all fake, the kind of stunts they do. And so I just was like, "Are you kidding me?" And then, of course, all his stans were like, "Oh, he's so amazing. What a giant penis he has." [chuckles] I was like, "No, he doesn't. It's teeny tiny, which is why he needs to have a fake-"
- SGScott Galloway
The comments are pretty funny, though.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
He got mauled.
- KSKara Swisher
He got mauled.
- SGScott Galloway
A bunch of Trump acolytes-
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah
- SGScott Galloway
... or I'm sorry, Musk acolytes put out... And it is that dramatic photo of it-
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah, it is
- SGScott Galloway
... flipping upside down.
- KSKara Swisher
No question.
- SGScott Galloway
It's really cool.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
And they're like, and a bunch of them said, "Okay, China, your move."
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
I was like, "Yeah, China's working on-
- KSKara Swisher
China's laughing
- SGScott Galloway
... range."
- 15:21 – 24:19
Trump Cozies Up To Putin
- KSKara Swisher
to keep Putin at the bargaining table. Please, P- Putin has to be at the bargaining table. Trump signed an executive order late last week, putting sanctions against Russia that were part of a new bipartisan bill on hold, saying it was in the national interest. The decision is drawing huge backlash from both Republicans and Democrats, with GOP Senator Thom Tillis calling it beyond irresponsible, and everybody did, yeah, Cornyn, everybody. Ukrainian President Zelensky called the move a reward for Putin, warning that it will only encourage him to continue attacks. And all of this comes just a week after Trump struck a deal with Putin to get Russian diesel. As the headline in The Atlantic put it, "America is Now an Ally of Russia." Um, Putin is also reportedly, uh, floating a summit with Trump and President, uh, Xi Jinping to discuss the Ukraine deal. Zelensky is not included. Seems insane. What do they, who do they think they are, honestly? So, uh, your thoughts on what is happening here?
- SGScott Galloway
It's a high bar between tariffs, you know, ICE, uh, the corruption, the monetization of the White House, incredibly poor decision-making and execution around the war in Iran. But I do think that long term, the worst decision or the most damaging dec- decision of this administration is a concerted decision to undermine and abandon Ukraine. Even just the fact they're planning a summit with Xi, Putin, and Trump, if Zelensky isn't in the, at the table, it means that Ukraine's on the menu. And not only is it morally wrong to essentially go back to basically what is 1942 or 1943 and have Roosevelt say, "You know, we've decided to partner with that, that guy in Germany. We're gonna start buying equipment from... And Germany's not that bad," it also is minority rule. The majority of Americans are on the side of Ukraine. And regardless of the moral and ethical and geopolitical considerations of abandoning a murderous autocrat who is invading Europe and turning off and on and throttling Starlink and Starshield, and I love when Secretary Rubio said, "It just sort of happened. We're not sure what happened." They're all pointing fingers at each other. Musk is claiming it's the administration. [laughs] The administration is kind of soft-pedaling that it had something that Musk did it. Everyone is running from this because this is nothing short of backing away from the most successful military resistance of the last century. The Ukrainian, uh, rate-- I mean, it, distinct of the morals and the ethics here, you'd be backing, we're back, we'd be backing a winner, or we have stopped backing a winner. Europe is set up-
- KSKara Swisher
Be good for our country. Be so good for-
- SGScott Galloway
Good, good for technology, good for the economy, good for Europe. It, it says to Xi, "Think twice before you think about invading Taiwan"-
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah
- SGScott Galloway
... to have an ally, which will li- likely be the Silicon Valley of, of all of Europe when it comes back online, and also just backing a winner. The ratio of people being taken off the field, which is a polite way of saying injured or killed, was one to two, one Ukrainian for every two Russians. It is now one to eight. The Ukrainians are kicking ass, and few things Make me happier than seeing, being on a Saturday afternoon, coming back from Arizona, and seeing my favorite streaming video show of Russian refineries and server farms on fire, as they were in St. Petersburg. To think that they would be able to develop the technology to go on the offense and start taking these things down, and the fact that Zelensky is now on a very aggressive media tour, the silver lining of Trump abandoning Ukraine and allying with Russia is Zelensky is kind of like honey badger don't give a shit, and is going on TV everywhere and saying, "Americans are abandoning us." 'Cause I don't think enough... I think Americans are so distracted with tariffs and Iran that they don't realize we have abandoned essentially what is NATO, essentially what is the, the entity defending the West right now.
- KSKara Swisher
No, we're on Hitler's side, not Churchill's. Like, it- [laughs] You're sort of like, "Are you kidding me?" Like, the only time we should've been with Russia was in World War II to, to get rid of the Nazis. That's a good reason to ally with Russia. But this is like... This just plays into every trope about Donald Trump being a puppet, as Hillary Clinton said, of Putin. He is. The, it, it's just, it just completely solidifies that idea of like, what in the world do they have on him? Why is he doing this? Is it just 'cause he likes autocrats, or s- is something else happening? It just raises those things, and of course, right at the election, so you have to wonder what he's doing. Like, 'cause I don't think, I, I don't think being pro-Russia is really a plus politically.
- SGScott Galloway
It's not a good look.
- KSKara Swisher
Ever.
- SGScott Galloway
Even the, the silver li- a silver lining is Republicans are actually breaking ranks here.
- KSKara Swisher
Very much so.
- SGScott Galloway
Ted Cruz said, "I wish the president hadn't done it. I think it was a mistake." Tom Tellus, "What part of enforcing a law passed 86 to 11 by the Senate does the president and his advisors not understand?" Nikki Haley, "A terrible misjudgment of Putin." John Cornyn, "Lindsey would be appalled." The law is named for the late Lindsey Graham. His sister Darlene now holds his Senate seat, and she's against the waiver, too. She put, "I don't trust Putin, and I don't trust Russia," which is a surprisingly cogent 80 IQ statement from Lindsey's sister. The, but Republicans, I think they back away from this, and you're already starting to see it.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
I think he's-
- KSKara Swisher
I'm just doing it to be-
- SGScott Galloway
... going to the midterms.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
Him, him holding hands with Putin is not a good look.
- KSKara Swisher
No. I don't know what he's doing. I swear, that White House has got, has got to be in massive chaos. And of course, there's rumors that Susie Wiles is leaving and Stephen Miller will take over, which should bring us to new levels of darkness.
- SGScott Galloway
Jesus. [laughs]
- KSKara Swisher
I know, right? I know, right? You're like, "Oh, my. Oh, dear. Oh, dear, dear, dear." Um, it's a real misstep. I don't think this guy cares anymore. I honestly don't. He's sort of setting... What I think he's hoping is that if they, they get ahold of Ukraine, the Trump, the Trumps can get in there and, with their people, and make all the money from rebuilding it. That's my guess. I just, there's got, there's, the only thing would be monetary in terms of helping the Trump family, and by that time, if things go the way people think it's gonna be, several of them are gonna be in jail. Um, uh, so we'll see. We'll see. Probably they won't. They'll get away with it, as villains often do. Anyway, let's go on a quick break. When we come back, can a leadership shakeup get Netflix back on track? [gentle music]
- SGScott Galloway
Support for the show comes from Harvey AI. It starts with a handshake. Two people find common ground and shake on it. A word becomes an agreement. An agreement becomes a contract. A contract becomes bound by law. For centuries, law has made our promises durable. Agreements are how we live side by side, settle our differences, build businesses, and move forward together. Today, Harvey, the AI platform designed specifically for legal work, is writing the next chapter of that legacy, helping lawyers handle those agreements more effectively and bring their expertise to more people. Harvey is trusted by more than 3,000 customers across 70 countries. More than 200,000 lawyers, 80% of the Am Law 100, and 20% of the Fortune 500 are all building with Harvey. They're accelerating review, sharpening negotiations, uncovering insights, drafting first responses, and more, and they're doing it all in one secure place built for legal teams. This is how the future of agreements is being crafted now. Learn more at Harvey.ai. Harvey does not provide legal advice. Users should always independently review and verify any output from Harvey. [gentle music] Support for the show comes from Mint Mobile. In life, there are some things that are too good to be true, timeshares, those pop-ups that say you won a free iPhone, or that email from a prince offering you money. You know what's not too good to be true? Mint Mobile with their premium wireless plans. They start at $15 a month, and all of Mint's plans come with high-speed data and unlimited talk and text delivered on the nation's largest 5G network. Signing up is simple. Just do it online, and you don't need to get a new device or phone number when you switch. It's just a good deal. To get your new wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month, go to mintmobile.com/pivot. That's mintmobile.com/pivot. Cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com/pivot. That's it. There's no catch. $45 upfront payment required, equivalent to $15 a month. New customers on first three-month plan only. Speed slower above 40 gigabytes on unlimited plan. Additional taxes, fees, and restrictions apply. See Mint Mobile for details.
- KSKara Swisher
[gentle music] Before we get to our next topic, Scott and I want to talk to you about our upcoming Pivot Tour.
- SGScott Galloway
That's right. We're taking Pivot on the road live and hitting New York, Toronto, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Denver. New city, Denver, Colorado. Purple State. Denver, Mile High.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah, it's gonna be blue soon. It'll be just like a regular episode except nothing Scott says can be edited out, unfortunately.
- SGScott Galloway
Ah, you're welcome.
- KSKara Swisher
No, not you're welcome. Plus, we'll be doing a Q&A, so make sure you bring your best questions, especially if they're embarrassing to Scott. Get your tickets before they sell out at pivottour.com. That's pivottour.com. [upbeat music] Scott, we're back with more news. Netflix
- 24:19 – 32:14
Netflix's Leadership Shakeup
- KSKara Swisher
has replaced its chief content officer, Bella Bajaria, with former Disney executive Peter Rice and fired its head of film, Dan Lin, uh, in a major leadership shakeup. Bajaria oversaw Netflix's twenty billion dollar content budget, and Lin had greenlit or acquired eighty-eight movies since joining in twenty twenty-four. A replacement, Peter Rice, previously led Disney's, uh, television entertainment business before being fired in twenty twenty-two. Previously, he was at Fox. Uh, I know him very well. I like him very much. Um, the move comes as Netflix struggles with slowing growth, with its stock down nearly forty percent over the past year and roughly a thousand employees laid off, uh, just before the announcement. I, I wanna say a word. Bella Bajaria is a deeply talented, uh, uh, executive. Has, has, has been there, I think, ten years or more than that, or more than that. And she has overseen the huge growth in Netflix, um, influence in Hollywood. I, I, I see this nothing less, and I, it-- There were two executives, three a- executives above her, co-CEOs and a CFO. They have been fucking up of late, and someone had to go, and of course, they got the, the lady. Let's get the lady who had m- less to do than they did. They're not taking responsibility. Neither Ted, I know you like Ted.
- SGScott Galloway
You really think this is sexism?
- KSKara Swisher
Uh, I don't think it's sexism. I just think, no, she's the next one down. I, you know.
- SGScott Galloway
Right.
- KSKara Swisher
I, I, I don't necess- A little bit, a little bit. It's funny how-
- SGScott Galloway
Mm-hmm
- KSKara Swisher
... all the guys survived, and same thing over in Paramount. Cindy Holland was ousted and not the guys. Like, a little bit, a little bit. It doesn't-- gives you a kind of, when you're looking around, um, I don't think this is gonna... Dan Lin was controversial. I know that, and he, he just got there. Um, but you're not gonna fix things by getting rid of lower, not low, she, she was pretty high up. You know what I mean? Like, the problem is above, is at the top, and they have to really do that. Of course, I think the way they did it, she, sh- they made her do a lot of the layoffs and deal with it, and then she got, it got, um, put out and Matt Bellamy's co- thing got out, and she found out there. It just, like, what a, what a classless way to treat, uh, a, an executive who's done a really good job for you. I'm sure she'll get a job in seconds. And by the way, this is no shot off Peter Rice. I think he did a-- I liked him. He did a very, he's a very competent media executive. I think Paramount had talked to him, too. Um, and then the last thing I'd say is someone said the minute, um, uh, Ted Sarandos went to lunch at a very, there's a place in Los Angeles called Superba that a lot of Netflix executives go to, and he was seen having lunch with Casey Bloys, who Paramount managed to hold onto. The minute, someone said the minute he started dating, uh, you're, it, something bad was gonna happen to Bella [chuckles] . That's pretty much. And I think she was aware of it, um, but it was only rumors. And to me, I, I, the way it was done, the fact that they're not assessing their own faults is really, uh, I don't know. It just, just, I mean, Hollywood's a tough place, but seemed a little classless to me.
- SGScott Galloway
These classless things happen thousands of times every-
- KSKara Swisher
I get it
- SGScott Galloway
... day in corporate America.
- KSKara Swisher
I get it.
- SGScott Galloway
And to your point, Bella Bajaria is arguably one of the, like, greatest, most iconic content, uh, executives alive. Bella's gonna be just fine. [chuckles]
- KSKara Swisher
I agree. I agree.
- SGScott Galloway
Bella's already probably got [chuckles] five offers or, uh, uh, uh, someone who wants to back her production company. She's just gonna be fine. And a board, after the stock is down forty percent, and, uh, you know, it, there's gonna be fall guys and gals. You're saying it's the fall gal is, is oftentimes what happens here. I, I, I think there's probably some merit to that. But a company deciding they need a shift and they need to signal to the markets they're making a change, that's not that unusual. And quite frankly, it's, it's not sinister. It, this happens-
- KSKara Swisher
I don't think it's sinister
- SGScott Galloway
... every day in companies.
- KSKara Swisher
It's just shitty.
- SGScott Galloway
Bella's gonna be fine.
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
Netflix probably felt like they needed to do something. What, what I would argue is that, okay, Bella's the chef, and she had a buffet, and they're saying, "Oh, we don't like the food. You haven't come up with K-pop, demon hunters. You need the big hits, and we haven't had any this summer."
- KSKara Swisher
Well, she came up with in the first place, but go ahead. Yeah, go ahead.
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah, she's, like I said, C above-
- KSKara Swisher
Right. Right
- SGScott Galloway
... one of the most i- iconic content executives in history.
- KSKara Swisher
Or Stranger Things or whatever, yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
And yeah, I mean, I, I, I've been watching East of Eden, which I think is amazing, by the way. But here's the bottom line. I think they're missing... I, I, I can see why the board, and not even the board, I can see why Ted, and I think the co-CEO Greg did this. I get it. That, that they're, I don't think they're bad people for doing this. She's gonna be just fine, but what I think they're probably missing is the following. It's not that the food at the buffet or the content is the wrong content or the wrong food. It's that people aren't hungry. What do I mean by that? The format is changing. Everybody, uh, uh, and I, I wish I had more data here. Basically, YouTube is now at fourteen percent of all streaming. Netflix is at seven percent. Netflix is desperately trying to say, for a long time, they said, "We're the cheapest tech company, and we're growing like a tech company." Now they're growing thirteen percent a year, which is still good growth, but it's not tech growth, and their fear is their stock begins to trade like a media company, like Disney. They're trading at five times revenues. Disney was tr- Disney is trading at two, so they gotta find growth. And the problem is, they can create a lot more iconic shows, but until they move to kinda shorter form content or sports or podcasting, they, they're not serving what, what the people-- The people at the buffet are vegans all of a sudden.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
They want a different type-
- KSKara Swisher
You're absolutely right
- SGScott Galloway
... of content.
- 32:14 – 40:52
Trump's New AI Task Force
- KSKara Swisher
the White House new AI task force is, like, mighty white. It held its first annual, uh, first official meeting on Thursday, kicking-
- SGScott Galloway
That would be racism, not sexism.
- KSKara Swisher
Uh, I don't know what it is, but it was, like, ridiculous. All people with self-interests, pretty much all white, pretty much. But not-
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah, but none of them have any... No, it's not, it's not even racism or sexism.
- KSKara Swisher
Uh-
- SGScott Galloway
It's incompetence.
- KSKara Swisher
Incompetence.
- SGScott Galloway
None of these people-
- KSKara Swisher
So, so-
- SGScott Galloway
None of these people know anything about AI.
- KSKara Swisher
S- a few do. But kicking off 120-day push to develop a government response to the risks of advanced AI, the group will study three major areas: cybersecurity and critical infrastructure, biosecurity, and keeping AI models under control and accountable. It's still unclear how the government will enforce the rules, 'cause they don't wanna make regulations, 'cause it's self-policing, with officials floating export restrictions as one possibility to re-pressure companies into compliance. Members of the task force include, uh, Vice President JD Vance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, moron. Um, it just, uh, this is just, they, they cannot come up with any meaningful AI safeguards. The next Congress will, and they're gonna run it right over Donald Trump, uh, either now or two years from now. So, and it's gonna be a big topic in the election. But as usual, it's the same group of self-interested, either self-interested and competent or moronic and, and self-interested. I, I, I don't know what else to say. Your thoughts?
- SGScott Galloway
A, a task force is where urgency goes to die.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah. Agreed.
- SGScott Galloway
This is delay and obfuscation. And not one... Okay, the members are Vance, Bessent, and Hegseth. Not one of these people has built, trained, or studied an AI model.
- KSKara Swisher
Well, Jay Clayton's the head of it, and they have Emil Michael, one of the-
- SGScott Galloway
I, I know Jay.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
I think he's a very impressive, nice guy. He has no fucking business heading an AI task force. [chuckles]
- KSKara Swisher
That's, agree. Agree.
- SGScott Galloway
They, they-
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
Uh, uh, uh, I... And by the way, I thought he was a competent head of the SEC. And I don't think he's a terrible pick to head our security apparatus, other than getting in front of Congress and refusing [chuckles] , refusing to-
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah
- SGScott Galloway
... acknowledge that Biden won the election, which means he's not gonna-
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah
- SGScott Galloway
... stand up to the president, which if anyone-
- KSKara Swisher
Right
- SGScott Galloway
... needs to stand up to the president, it's the person-
- KSKara Swisher
Business person
- SGScott Galloway
... running our security apparatus.
- 40:52 – 52:30
Wins and Fails
- KSKara Swisher
some wins and fails. Would you like to go first or I go?
- SGScott Galloway
You go first.
- KSKara Swisher
Um, speaking of Netflix, by the way, B-Bella, thank you so much for The Diplomat. You'll love it, everyone. It's such a, [chuckles] it's such a wish fulfillment at the end if you see the whole drop of the season. Thank you for doing that. I appreciate it. But I'm gonna, gonna... The win-- It's a win fail. Win fail. Christiane Amanpour is leaving CNN in June-
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah, I saw that
- KSKara Swisher
... after four years. I love Christiane. She is... You know, she's had her troubles back and forth at CNN of late, but she's, she's just a legend, just one of these people who has contributed so much more, uh, to our society than I think anybody realizes. A great journalist, great job. I, uh-- She's, she's doing a bunch of different things, but-- And I know, I think she was frustrated with Paramount, I, I think. I, I haven't talked to her about it. But, um, I just think she's just one of these people that is just absolutely a, a classic that we should all look, look towards as, as a real, um, someone to really... I, I find her inspiring myself as a journalist. Um, and so I give her all, uh, all credit for everything. She deserves every fet. They should throw her a big party. I think she's the best, also a lovely person, um, on top, on top of all that. Uh, my fail, uh, Meta, even though it's revised its controversial website scraping policy after backlash from business and publishers over how the con- people could use their content, yet another grab by the information thieves that they are. I just... I ca... They will try to pull anything to get control of our content, anyone's content, and the fact that they're like, the same thing with, "Oh, we took down the No Kings rally thing by accident. Oh, I didn't mean to do that." They just constantly, uh, uh, uh, operate in bad faith in the same way, and I find it... I just am like, "When are you gonna stop being quite so, so pretend cloddish when you're doing things all in your self-interest. It's ex- it's ex- I find them as the most exhausting company a- around in that regard. Go ahead.
- SGScott Galloway
43 years at CNN, what a run. Christiana is not young, but she's not old. I think there's a dignity to leaving before you have to. And also, it's, uh, I think the, the person, I'm curious of your thoughts, I think the journalist most likely to occupy that, quote-unquote, "seat," 'cause Christiana Amanpour is sort of... She's kinda carved out what I think is the most important seat in global poli- global journalism through a US lens. She works for a US company, but she's wherever there's-
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah
- SGScott Galloway
... a hotspot, she goes there.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah, she's global. She really is.
- SGScott Galloway
She's seen as very trusted.
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
Um, uh, I think Clarissa Ward is-
- KSKara Swisher
Clarissa Ward
- SGScott Galloway
... really fantastic. And like-
- KSKara Swisher
Fareed Zakaria, probably.
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah, but Fareed's more commentary. He, I don't think of him as a journalist.
- KSKara Swisher
I know, but Christiana's combined those now in a much more way. Uh, Chri- Clarissa Ward is amazing. She's amazing.
- SGScott Galloway
My, my point is, I like it when people who aren't 90 leave before they need to, and there's someone really outstanding kind of ready, I think, to step up. Uh, so I, I'm, anyways, and, and I've only met, uh, Christiana Amanpour, um, a couple times, but I've been on her show a bunch, and I've always found her very... Anyway, she, you're right, she's a legend. She's a first-ballot Hall of Fame.
- KSKara Swisher
She's also become a friend, which I was so thrilled, uh, re- pretty recently, and, uh, I really, really, really just love her. She's the best.
- SGScott Galloway
Okay, my fail is the Tesla Roadster.
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
The original promise, 0 to 60 in 1.9 seconds, 620-mile range.
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
About 200,000 production in 2020. Now it's 2028. Open quote, "Actually, for real?" That's something my s- the 16-year-old says a lot. He's like, "Wait, actually? For real?" He says that all the time.
- KSKara Swisher
[laughs] Oh, that's funny.
- SGScott Galloway
I just got access to the new Ali G film, and he's like, "Actually? For real?" He always says that.
- KSKara Swisher
[laughs]
- SGScott Galloway
"Actually? For real?" That means he's impressed. Um, so-
- KSKara Swisher
Has a lot of meanings
- SGScott Galloway
... that's 11 years from unveiled to production. I mean, it's just, the car's been delayed. This, this car's been delayed more times than my colonoscopy, which I always find a reason not to get done.
Episode duration: 52:30
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