Derek Thompson

And that was one of the most read newsletters I've ever published.

So clearly, this is a topic of massive interest.

and massive uncertainty.

And I wanted to give somebody really smart a chance to essentially push back on everything, persuade me that I'm wrong.

And your work was recommended more than anybody else's.

So here you are to persuade me that I'm wrong, that Paul's wrong, hopefully in a way that is mostly polite.

But if it gets impolite, I'm fine with that too.

I think maybe a useful place for us to start is with the very basics here.

Azeem, what is a bubble?

Well, you've mentioned the housing bubble, the global financial crisis.

You've mentioned the dot-com bubble.

What feels similar this time around and what feels different?

And for some reason, I still remember his tan.

I don't remember that much visually about the global financial crisis or the housing crash, but I remember that man's tan and it was spectacular.

And this is where it's confusing for me, because I have to admit that I use ChatsBT.

I acknowledge that Claude is extraordinary, and some of these gen AI tools are fantastic.

And at the same time, I read headlines about Thinking Machines, the AI startup that's helmed by the former OpenAI executive, Mira Marotti, which just raised the largest seed round in history, $2 billion in funding at a $10 billion valuation.

That company has not released a product,

It has not described to investors what product they're even trying to build.

There was a quote from one investor who met with Maradi, who by all accounts seems like an absolutely brilliant woman.