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What Are Circular AI Deals? · The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart

The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart

Bursting the AI Bubble with Ed Zitron

As Anthropic files for what may become the largest IPO in history, Jon is joined by Ed Zitron of EZ Primary Research, the “Where’s Your Ed At” newsletter, and the “Better Offline” podcast. Together, they break down the precarious financing structures, circular deals, and mounting debts propping up the AI boom—and whether the technology is actually…

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Notes

Has AI Produced Any Economic Payoff? at 6:54

Ed Zitron says the economic payoff from AI has not arrived, even as NVIDIA has grown incredibly rich selling the chips behind it. Full answer
Why Do AI Data Centers Take So Long to Build? at 12:53

Ed Zitron says an AI data center takes far longer to build than the race for more compute assumes. Full answer
Why Is Anthropic's IPO Filing Still Blank? at 21:17

Ed Zitron says Anthropic loses billions of dollars, fewer billions than OpenAI, and the latest quarter of its S-1 is blank. Full answer
What Are Circular AI Deals? at 22:11

Ed Zitron says the AI labs, the chipmakers, and the data-center landlords are renting and investing in one another. Full answer
How Much Has Anthropic Promised for AI Compute? at 24:32

Ed Zitron says Anthropic has $430 billion in non-cancellable commitments with Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Broadcom. The lab is not building its own compute. Full answer
What Is Exit Liquidity in an AI IPO? at 31:28

Ed Zitron says an Anthropic IPO is exit liquidity. Buyers are sold the idea of investing in the next Google or the next Meta. Full answer
What Is CoreWeave? at 38:34

Ed Zitron says CoreWeave is a neocloud, a company that raises debt, buys GPUs, and builds data centers. Full answer
Why Is Oracle's Stock Tanking? at 41:05

Ed Zitron says Oracle's stock is tanking because a $300 billion, five-year contract with OpenAI has nobody who can pay for it. Full answer
Who Carries the Debt on AI Data Center Leases? at 45:20

Ed Zitron says the hyperscalers and the other landlords carry the debt on AI data-center buildouts, while most of the labs' commitments are contracts rather… Full answer
Why Are Phones and Laptops More Expensive? at 49:42

Ed Zitron says NVIDIA chips are pushing up the price of phones, laptops, and every other consumer electronic because they crowd out ordinary computer memory. Full answer
Why Won't AI Data Centers Be Reused Like Dot-com Fiber? at 56:31

Ed Zitron says AI data centers will not get the second life that leftover dot-com fiber got, because a half-finished AI site is useful for AI and not for much… Full answer
Is an AI Bust as Bad as the Financial Crisis? at 1:05:17

Ed Zitron says an AI bust is not Great Financial Crisis level bad, but it will still be very bad, and a different kind of bad. Full answer
Should Sam Altman Be in Prison? at 1:12:42

Ed Zitron says Sam Altman should be in prison, or at least at a police station. Full answer
Is the OpenAI Boom a Confidence Game? at 1:17:17

Ed Zitron says the OpenAI boom is a shell game and a powerful confidence game. Full answer

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