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Why Is Kevin Launching Machine Gods After Leaving the New York Times? · Channels with Peter Kafka

Channels with Peter Kafka

Larry Ellison’s Media Ambitions & Kevin Roose on AI’s Biggest Gamble

Larry Ellison bought his son a media empire. What does he want from it? Vanity Fair’s Tom Dotan joins me to talk about the billionaire behind Paramount and Warner Bros., his connection to TikTok, and his politics. Tom’s reporting suggests there may be less of a master plan than you’d think. We also discuss why even Ellison’s enormous fortune has limits—and…

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Notes

  1. How Does Peter Kafka Describe the Media Empire Larry Ellison Bought for David Ellison? at 1:46

    Peter Kafka opens the episode by calling Larry Ellison an 82-year-old billionaire and one of the 10 richest men in the world. Full answer

  2. Why Don't Larry Ellison's Media Buys Form One Plan? at 5:45

    A grand plan would be easier to understand. Full answer

  3. Why Can David Ellison Spend Larry Ellison's Money on Media? at 10:00

    David Ellison wanted to combine traditional media companies and scale them to compete with Netflix, Amazon, or YouTube. Full answer

  4. Why Does Oracle Want to Host the TikTok Algorithm? at 11:39

    Peter Kafka says Oracle sells technology to other technology companies, which is a way for Oracle to be involved with TikTok. Full answer

  5. Why Is a Direct pro-Israel Tilt of TikTok Hard to Pin on Oracle's 15% Stake? at 15:36

    Oracle owns 15% of TikTok. The stake is no larger than the stake held by Silver Lake or by Andreessen Horowitz. ByteDance keeps a huge stake. Full answer

  6. How Did Larry Ellison Drop From Richest to Eighth? at 17:29

    Oracle's value shot up last fall during an AI boomlet and made Larry Ellison briefly the richest man in the world. Full answer

  7. Why Were Believers in a Human-level System Treated as Fringe Weirdos in San Francisco? at 24:02

    Ten years ago, when the book starts, there was no such thing as real AI. Full answer

  8. Why Is Kevin Launching Machine Gods After Leaving the New York Times? at 53:41

    The new podcast with NPR is called Machine Gods. It begins the week of October 19th and will cover the week's news plus interviews with people in the industry. Full answer

  9. Why Does a Ten Percent Chance of Catastrophe Make Kevin an Optimist in San Francisco? at 59:16

    Kevin usually puts the probability that it all goes super bad at about ten percent. In most of the world that sounds crazy. Full answer

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