Ed Zitron walks you through how career manager Adam Mosseri pushed out Instagram's original founders, turning it into an ultra-profitable app that barely works, and how Sam Altman, the so-called hero of the AI boom, is a lobbyist dressed as a technologist best-known for being an absent, self-obsessed demagogue.

Ed Zitron walks you through how career manager Adam Mosseri pushed out Instagram's original founders, turning it into an ultra-profitable app that barely works, and how Sam Altman, the so-called hero of the AI boom, is a lobbyist dressed as a technologist best-known for being an absent, self-obsessed demagogue.

Better Offline is a weekly show exploring the tech industry’s influence and manipulation of society - and interrogating the growth-at-all-costs future that tech’s elite wants to build. 

Combining narrative-form storytelling, one-on-one interviews and panel-based discussions, Better Offline cuts through the buzzwords and obfuscation of the tech industry, investigating and evaluating the schemes and scams of everyone from cryptocurrency scumbags to the greediest of the venture capital elite. Tech industry veteran Ed Zitron and a dynamic coterie of guests will help listeners understand the who, how and why of how tech’s most powerful players are changing the world - for better or for worse.

Better Offline is a weekly show exploring the tech industry’s influence and manipulation of society - and interrogating the growth-at-all-costs future that tech’s elite wants to build. 
Combining narrative-form storytelling, one-on-one interviews and panel-based discussions, Better Offline cuts through the buzzwords and obfuscation of the tech industry, investigating and evaluating the schemes and scams of everyone from cryptocurrency scumbags to the greediest of the venture capital elite. Tech industry veteran Ed Zitron and a dynamic coterie of guests will help listeners understand the who, how and why of how tech’s most powerful players are changing the world - for better or for worse.

Better Offline

Better Offline is a weekly show exploring the tech industry’s influence and manipulation of society - and interrogating the growth-at-all-costs future that tech’s elite wants to build.



Combining narrative-form storytelling, one-on-one interviews and panel-based discussions, Better Offline cuts through the buzzwords and obfuscation of the tech industry, investigating and evaluating the schemes and scams of everyone from cryptocurrency scumbags to the greediest of the venture capital elite. Tech industry veteran Ed Zitron and a dynamic coterie of guests will help listeners understand the who, how and why of how tech’s most powerful players are changing the world - for better or for worse.

Better Offline is a weekly show exploring the tech industry’s influence and manipulation of society - and interrogating the growth-at-all-costs future that tech’s elite wants to build.
 
Combining narrative-form storytelling, one-on-one interviews and panel-based discussions, Better Offline cuts through the buzzwords and obfuscation of the tech industry, investigating and evaluating the schemes and scams of everyone from cryptocurrency scumbags to the greediest of the venture capital elite. Tech industry veteran Ed Zitron and a dynamic coterie of guests will help listeners understand the who, how and why of how tech’s most powerful players are changing the world - for better or for worse.

The Cult of Failing Upwards

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/2aaf82b9-7c17-4a7e-b632-b162017d2816/transcript

In this week's Better Offline, Ed is joined by comedian Chloe Radcliffe and critic Ed Ongweso Jr. to talk about AI’s attempts to interfere with the creative arts, horrible little robots, Mark Zuckerberg’s terrible AI essay, and why we can’t respect people writing using AI. 

Chloe’s Show Cheat - https://publictheater.org/performances-jp/2026/c/chloe-radcliffe-cheat/ - August 19th and 20th in NYC!
Chloe Radcliffe: https://www.instagram.com/chloebadcliffe/?hl=en 
Ed Ongweso Jr.: https://bsky.app/profile/bigblackjacobin.bsky.social
Ed Ongweso’s newsletter https://www.thetechbubble.info/



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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

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https://www.instagram.com/edzitron

https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com

https://www.threads.net/@edzitron

Email Me: ez@betteroffline.com

In this week's Better Offline, Ed is joined by comedian Chloe Radcliffe and critic Ed Ongweso Jr. to talk about AI&rsquo;s attempts to interfere with the creative arts, horrible little robots, Mark Zuckerberg&rsquo;s terrible AI essay, and why we can&rsquo;t respect people writing using AI. Chloe&rsquo;s Show Cheat - https://publictheater.org/performances-jp/2026/c/chloe-radcliffe-cheat/ - August 19th and 20th in NYC! Chloe Radcliffe: https://www.instagram.com/chloebadcliffe/?hl=en Ed Ongweso Jr.: https://bsky.app/profile/bigblackjacobin.bsky.social Ed Ongweso&rsquo;s newsletter https://www.thetechbubble.info/ 
Save $10 off a year of my premium newsletter: <a href="https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/gzqwkv54e1">https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/gzqwkv54e1</a>&nbsp;- I&rsquo;d be so grateful!&nbsp;
YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to&nbsp;<a href="https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline">https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline</a> and use code&nbsp;FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more.
---
LINKS: <a href="https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks">https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks</a>
Newsletter: <a href="https://www.wheresyoured.at/">https://www.wheresyoured.at/</a>
Reddit: <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/">https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/</a>&nbsp;
Discord: <a href="https://discord.com/invite/QUUQUP9szv">chat.wheresyoured.at</a>
Ed's Socials:
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<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com">https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com</a>
<a href="https://www.threads.net/@edzitron">https://www.threads.net/@edzitron</a>
Email Me: <a href="mailto:ez@betteroffline.com">ez@betteroffline.com</a>

AI Creativity Doesn't Exist With Chloe Radcliffe and Ed Ongweso Jr.

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/4e462ab4-bbaf-474a-b26f-b4a5016960fa/transcript

In this week's Better Offline monologue, Ed Zitron runs through NVIDIA’s entirely-theoretical $500 billion AI infrastructure partnership with various asset managers, all to keep up with analyst expectations that it will make more than $1.6 trillion in the next three years.

Chloe’s Show Cheat - https://publictheater.org/performances-jp/2026/c/chloe-radcliffe-cheat/ - August 19th and 20th
News Story: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/10/nvidia-wall-street-asset-managers-500-billion-ai-push.html 
Jensen Huang Tweet: https://x.com/JensenHuang/status/2086934705207959965?s=20 
WSJ story on Anthropic IPO: https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anthropic-tries-to-shore-up-investor-confidence-ahead-of-blockbuster-ipo-0ff736ad 

Numbers: Consensus analyst estimates for revenue for the next three years are utterly fucking insane. NVIDIA made about $216 billion dollars in fiscal year 2026 - which ended on January 25th 2026, frustratingly - and analyst expectations have it at $393.7 billion dollars in Fiscal Year 2027, or a little under doubling its revenue year-over-year. In Fiscal Year 2028, expectations are at $565.7 billion dollars, and in Fiscal Year 2029, NVIDIA is expected to make $694 billion dollars. Over 90% of its revenues come from selling GPUs and other data center hardware.

I realize that’s a lot of numbers, so I’ll put it simply: NVIDIA is expected to sell over $1.6 trillion dollars’ worth of GPUs by January 2029, and the vast majority of its customers - including hyperscalers - are having to take out hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of debt to pay for it.

Save $10 off a year of my premium newsletter: 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 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.com

 

In this week's Better Offline monologue, Ed Zitron runs through NVIDIA&rsquo;s entirely-theoretical $500 billion AI infrastructure partnership with various asset managers, all to keep up with analyst expectations that it will make more than $1.6 trillion in the next three years.
Chloe&rsquo;s Show Cheat - <a href="https://publictheater.org/performances-jp/2026/c/chloe-radcliffe-cheat/">https://publictheater.org/performances-jp/2026/c/chloe-radcliffe-cheat/</a> - August 19th and 20th News Story: <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/10/nvidia-wall-street-asset-managers-500-billion-ai-push.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/10/nvidia-wall-street-asset-managers-500-billion-ai-push.html</a>&nbsp; Jensen Huang Tweet: <a href="https://x.com/JensenHuang/status/2086934705207959965?s=20">https://x.com/JensenHuang/status/2086934705207959965?s=20</a>&nbsp; WSJ story on Anthropic IPO: <a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anthropic-tries-to-shore-up-investor-confidence-ahead-of-blockbuster-ipo-0ff736ad">https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anthropic-tries-to-shore-up-investor-confidence-ahead-of-blockbuster-ipo-0ff736ad</a>&nbsp;
Numbers: Consensus analyst estimates for revenue for the next three years are utterly fucking insane. NVIDIA made about $216 billion dollars in fiscal year 2026 - which ended on January 25th 2026, frustratingly - and analyst expectations have it at $393.7 billion dollars in Fiscal Year 2027, or a little under doubling its revenue year-over-year. In Fiscal Year 2028, expectations are at $565.7 billion dollars, and in Fiscal Year 2029, NVIDIA is expected to make $694 billion dollars. Over 90% of its revenues come from selling GPUs and other data center hardware.
I realize that&rsquo;s a lot of numbers, so I&rsquo;ll put it simply: NVIDIA is expected to sell over $1.6 trillion dollars&rsquo; worth of GPUs by January 2029, and the vast majority of its customers - including hyperscalers - are having to take out hundreds of billions of dollars&rsquo; worth of debt to pay for it.
Save $10 off a year of my premium newsletter: <a href="https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/gzqwkv54e1">https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/gzqwkv54e1</a>&nbsp;- I&rsquo;d be so grateful!&nbsp;
YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to&nbsp;<a href="https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline">https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline</a> and use code&nbsp;FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more.
---
LINKS: <a href="https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks">https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks</a>
Newsletter: <a href="https://www.wheresyoured.at/">https://www.wheresyoured.at/</a>
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Discord: <a href="https://discord.com/invite/QUUQUP9szv">chat.wheresyoured.at</a>
Ed's Socials:
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<a href="https://www.threads.net/@edzitron">https://www.threads.net/@edzitron</a>
Email Me: <a href="mailto:ez@betteroffline.com">ez@betteroffline.com</a>
&nbsp;

Monologue: NVIDIA's No IT Loads Refused Cash Dump

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/5d0337c7-b762-4a7b-955d-b4a400145a07/transcript

In this week's Better Offline monologue, Ed Zitron runs through how 70% of Microsoft, Google and Amazon’s AI revenues are from Anthropic and OpenAI, with 7% of Microsoft’s FY26 revenue coming from OpenAI alone, and how this is cast-iron proof that demand for AI doesn’t exist at a scale that warrants any of the trillion dollars in capex they’ve spent.

Save $10 off a year of my premium newsletter: 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 and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more.

---

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Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/

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Ed's Socials:

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https://www.instagram.com/edzitron

https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com

https://www.threads.net/@edzitron

Email Me: ez@betteroffline.com

In this week's Better Offline monologue, Ed Zitron runs through how 70% of Microsoft, Google and Amazon&rsquo;s AI revenues are from Anthropic and OpenAI, with 7% of Microsoft&rsquo;s FY26 revenue coming from OpenAI alone, and how this is cast-iron proof that demand for AI doesn&rsquo;t exist at a scale that warrants any of the trillion dollars in capex they&rsquo;ve spent.
Save $10 off a year of my premium newsletter: <a href="https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/gzqwkv54e1">https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/gzqwkv54e1</a>&nbsp;- I&rsquo;d be so grateful!&nbsp;
YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to&nbsp;<a href="https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline">https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline</a> and use code&nbsp;FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more.
---
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Email Me: <a href="mailto:ez@betteroffline.com">ez@betteroffline.com</a>

Monologue: The Pale Horsemen Arrive

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/2fb438b7-de79-478f-8c91-b49e018a617b/transcript

The Cult of Failing Upwards

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