The AI Industry Must Stop Doom Trolling w/ Cal Newport

Monologue: Meta Admits It Bought Too Many GPUs

In this week's Better Offline monologue, Ed Zitron runs you through Meta’s plans to sell its AI compute, and how this is an admission to the grim fact that there isn’t really a reason for anyone to be building all these AI data centers. Ed Zitron on CNBC: Generative AI's Business Model Does Not Work, And Tech Is Out Of Hypergrowth Ideas https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/comments/1ulm3a6/ed_zitron_on_cnbc_generative_ais_business_model/ [https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/comments/1ulm3a6/ed_zitron_on_cnbc_generative_ais_business_model/] Bloomberg - Meta Is Planning a Cloud Business to Sell AI Computing Power  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-01/meta-is-building-a-cloud-business-to-sell-excess-ai-compute [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-01/meta-is-building-a-cloud-business-to-sell-excess-ai-compute] The Information - Nvidia Says It Will Take a Cut of Some Customers’ Cloud Revenues https://www.theinformation.com/articles/nvidia-says-will-take-cut-customers-cloud-revenues?rc=kz8jh3 [https://www.theinformation.com/articles/nvidia-says-will-take-cut-customers-cloud-revenues?rc=kz8jh3] Please subscribe to my premium newsletter - save $10 off a year of my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/gzqwkv54e1 [https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/gzqwkv54e1] YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline [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 [https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks] Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ [https://www.wheresyoured.at/] Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/ [https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/]  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at [https://discord.com/invite/QUUQUP9szv] Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron [https://twitter.com/edzitron] https://www.instagram.com/edzitron [https://www.instagram.com/edzitron] https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com [https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com] https://www.threads.net/@edzitron [https://www.threads.net/@edzitron] Email Me: ez@betteroffline.com [ez@betteroffline.com] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

The WSJ On Polymarket's Questionable Ads

In this week’s Better Offline, Ed talks with the Wall Street Journal’s Caitlin Ostroff and Katherine Long about how Polymarket is working with influencers to show videos of fake bets cashing out - and how the prediction markets have grown into a large, barely-regulated operation. Please support me by subscribing to my premium newsletter - here’s $10 off your first year of annual https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/84rt762qen [https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/84rt762qen]  They Looked Like They Were Getting Rich on Polymarket—but None of It Was Real - https://www.wsj.com/business/media/polymarket-social-media-bets-prediction-market-441cdeb5?st=57dR12&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink [https://www.wsj.com/business/media/polymarket-social-media-bets-prediction-market-441cdeb5?st=57dR12&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink]  Caitlin Ostroff  https://x.com/ceostroff [https://x.com/ceostroff] https://bsky.app/profile/ceostroff.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/ceostroff.bsky.social] https://www.wsj.com/news/author/caitlin-ostroff [https://www.wsj.com/news/author/caitlin-ostroff] Katherine Long https://bsky.app/profile/klong.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/klong.bsky.social] https://x.com/ByKLong [https://x.com/ByKLong] https://www.wsj.com/news/author/katherine-long [https://www.wsj.com/news/author/katherine-long] YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline [https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline] and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. Buy our new “FUCK DATA CENTERS” shirts today! --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks [https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks] Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ [https://www.wheresyoured.at/] Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/ [https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/]  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at [https://discord.com/invite/QUUQUP9szv] Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron [https://twitter.com/edzitron] https://www.instagram.com/edzitron [https://www.instagram.com/edzitron] https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com [https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com] https://www.threads.net/@edzitron [https://www.threads.net/@edzitron] Email Me: ez@betteroffline.com [ez@betteroffline.com] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Monologue: Tokenpocalypse Now

In this week's Better Offline monologue, Ed Zitron runs you through how organizations are freaking out after having to pay the real cost of AI tokens, and how the surge of competitive open weight models could lead to the post-bubble locally-run future of LLMs. Save $10 off a year of my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/gzqwkv54e1 [https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/gzqwkv54e1] - I’d be so grateful! YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline [https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline] and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. Buy our new “FUCK DATA CENTERS” shirts today! --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks [https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks] Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ [https://www.wheresyoured.at/] Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/ [https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/]  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at [https://discord.com/invite/QUUQUP9szv] Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron [https://twitter.com/edzitron] https://www.instagram.com/edzitron [https://www.instagram.com/edzitron] https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com [https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com] https://www.threads.net/@edzitron [https://www.threads.net/@edzitron] Email Me: ez@betteroffline.com [ez@betteroffline.com] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Monologue: Silicon Valley is A Cargo Cult

In this week's Better Offline monologue, Ed Zitron runs you through how AI is the pinnacle of Silicon Valley monoculture, and a monument to the cargo cult desperation of a tech industry that celebrates mediocrity and has run out of ideas. Newsletter: Cargo Culture: https://www.wheresyoured.at/cargo-culture/ [https://www.wheresyoured.at/cargo-culture/] OpenAI Exclusive: https://www.wheresyoured.at/exclusive-openai-financials/ [https://www.wheresyoured.at/exclusive-openai-financials/] Save $10 off a year of my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/gzqwkv54e1 [https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/gzqwkv54e1] - I’d be so grateful! YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline [https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline] and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. Buy our new “FUCK DATA CENTERS” shirts today! --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks [https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks] Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ [https://www.wheresyoured.at/] Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/ [https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/]  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at [https://discord.com/invite/QUUQUP9szv] Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron [https://twitter.com/edzitron] https://www.instagram.com/edzitron [https://www.instagram.com/edzitron] https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com [https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com] https://www.threads.net/@edzitron [https://www.threads.net/@edzitron] Email Me: ez@betteroffline.com [ez@betteroffline.com] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

The AI Industry Must Stop Doom Trolling w/ Cal Newport

In this week’s Better Offline, Ed talks with computer science professor and writer Cal Newport about AI companies “doom trolling” consumers using scary stories about conscious computers, and how we need to make fun of the scare-mongering and ridicule the executives peddling in it. Please support me by subscribing to my premium newsletter - here’s $10 off your first year of annual https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/84rt762qen [https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/84rt762qen]  Cal Newport’s “Dear A.I. Companies: The Doom Trolling Needs To Stop https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/17/opinion/ai-dangerous-openai-anthropic.html [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/17/opinion/ai-dangerous-openai-anthropic.html]  Podcast & Videos: https://www.youtube.com/@CalNewportMedia/ [https://www.youtube.com/@CalNewportMedia/] Newsletter: https://calnewport.com [https://calnewport.com] New Yorker archive: https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/cal-newport [https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/cal-newport] YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline [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 [https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks] Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ [https://www.wheresyoured.at/] Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/ [https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/]  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at [https://discord.com/invite/QUUQUP9szv] Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron [https://twitter.com/edzitron] https://www.instagram.com/edzitron [https://www.instagram.com/edzitron] https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com [https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com] https://www.threads.net/@edzitron [https://www.threads.net/@edzitron] Email Me: ez@betteroffline.com [ez@betteroffline.com] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.