Pivot · Jan 10, 2025

Meta Ends Fact Checking, Trump Tries to Redraw the Map, and the Los Angeles Fires

Automatic transcript of the end of the episode, from 52:14. Speakers are labeled by software and may contain errors. Highlighted passages are Scott’s predictions.

Kara Swisher · 52:14 Let me tell you. Someone from Facebook who Amanda ran into, said said something, about... Doesn't like what's happening there and said something like, just let it happen. Just let them do it. Let them see see how it turns out when they do it. I think a lot of people are in that zone. Like, okay. Let's watch this play out. Scott Galloway · 52:33 Yeah. Catch the car. Kara Swisher · 52:35 Catch the car. Go for it. It's all yours. Like, that's a little dangerous for some people, but, but that's... A lot of people seem resigned that way. Okay, Scott. Let's pivot to a listener question. This question comes from Stacy in Los Angeles. Stacy, I hope you're safe, and and you're doing well. Let's listen. Speaker · 52:58 Hi, Karen Scott. Question for you with all of the, talk about podcasts recently. As traditional media consumption continues to wane and people are increasingly turning to media like podcasts for their news, What measures can we take, you take, everyone take to stem the tide of myths and disinformation in this space? There's obviously been lots of discussion about regulating social media, but what about podcasts? What are the potential checks and balances when it comes to things like fact checking? And I think my biggest question is really how can we collectively encourage responsible podcast listening and producing? Wanted to hear your thoughts on this. Love the show and never miss it. Keep up the good work. Oh, and this is Stacy in Los Angeles. Thanks. Kara Swisher · 53:43 Oh, Stacy, that's a great question. You know, actually, we do have regulations, libel defamation. You know, even Joe Rogan can be sued, FYI. And he says a lot of nutty stuff when he gets on there. You know, it just depends on the listenership. Some people just like, for example, those pro... I I use Joe Yorgen as the example. Some of his stuff is good. Some of it's nutty. Some of it's absolutely inaccurate, and he does not pay... Seem to pay a price for that. He does get pilloried. At some point, probably someone will sue him, and he gets to be sued just like we do or anybody else. So there is a check and balance on most media, just not Mark Zuckerberg. So, you know, I think it's... There... You have to pick and choose your podcasts as you feel like if... Especially in areas you know. That seems right. That doesn't seem right. You have to... We have pack checkers on our... On our podcasts. As Scott and I know, we have... Things get changed on our podcast when we make mistakes. And so we think that's important. I have them over on on. I think you have them over on professor g Scott, checking to make sure you're accurate. Because accuracy, in the end, away from opinions and our thoughts on things, accuracy is really important because then we look like horse's ass if they're not correct. Scott? Scott Galloway · 54:57 Yeah. I... Look. I I do think in podcasting, there is... It's become sort of the... I don't know. It's the new it's the new lame stream media in the sense that it reflects some of the same dynamics in media. It's ad supported. There's there's fact checking. There is... We're... As you said, we're liable. We're legally liable if we say something false. We know it's false, and it defames or slanders someone or something and it's malicious, we can incur economic harm, and we have to pay for insurance. So it is similar to media that way. Also, the most popular podcast over the last several years in news has been The Daily from The New York Times. And there is a lot of conservative... I I think it bifurcates, and that is I think a lot of podcasts are are are not news. They're commentators. And people have to decide whether they find it entertaining or interesting. I think the key to trust is checking several outlets from kind of different angles. Like, go to the Feet. Go to the bay... BBC, and then check it against something more conservative, The Wall Street Journal, whatever it might be. But it's... There is no... It used to be... I didn't get nearly as many questions around who can I trust? It's become a big issue. And there are now... I I think the podcasts that are sort of rising to the top are one or two things. They're either incredibly entertaining, or people think if I'm going to listen to The Daily, it has a bias. It's The New York Times. I hated the New York... I hated... Absolutely hated the interview with Anthony Blinken. I thought the reporter that did that brought so much bias in her... The way she framed her questions. Kara Swisher · 56:39 It's Lulu Garcia, the guy. Scott Galloway · 56:42 Having said that, they they do fact check. They take it very seriously. And, you know, is the word salad for saying I don't know? Kara Swisher · 56:52 Yeah. Well, it's just like regular media, Stacy. What is. We've got... That's what we have to do, and we use fact checking. Every podcast is different. Most of them do use fact checkers. I'll tell you that. Many of them because they're worried about the things that you worry about and getting it wrong, and especially, especially ours. We think it's really important, and we take things out when things are wrong and, and fix them all the time. Anyway, if you've got a question of your own that you like answered, send it our way. Go to nymag.com/pivot to submit a question for the show, or call 85551 Alright, Scott. One more quick break. We'll be back for predictions. [Ad break] — Predictions segment begins — Kara Swisher · 59:40 Okay, Scott. Let's hear a prediction. Scott Galloway · 59:42 Well... Okay. So, collectively, we're disappointed in the lack of leadership, spine, testicles, manhood that is being represented by our tech leaders, not not standing up for the American values they've benefited so greatly from. Having said that, just looking at it very unemotionally, the AI company of 2025 is gonna be meta. And if you look at the kind of grist or the fossil fuel for AI, it's raw training data. And Meta has more unique human language data than Google, Reddit, Wikipedia, and X combined because of the amount of time and content on it. In terms of attention, nine out of 10 Internet users, sans China, are active on Meta platforms monthly. And in terms of compute, get this, Meta has purchased more NVIDIA Hopper GPUs, the latest and most advanced AI hardware, than any US company other than Microsoft, giving it unmatched AI training and deployment capacity. And you're also gonna love this one. And I just wanna acknowledge this. While we were early and I think right around... Mixed around VR headsets, You know what the tech product of 2025 is? Kara Swisher · 1:00:58 No. What is it? Scott Galloway · 1:00:59 Meta's Ray Ban smart glasses. They're sold out in the majority of stores in Europe. They have greater margins. They retail for $300. They look good. The Financial Times reported that Meta plans to add a smart... Small display to the Ray Bans in 2025. The display would likely be used to show notifications or responses for Meta's virtual assistant. The tens of billions of dollars of investing and the steadfast commitment he's had to technology, micro cameras, and VR, when you match their data, when you match their consumer interface, when you match their GPUs that they're purchasing, and you match their progress in in smart glasses or hardware, I think that the AI company of 2025 is gonna be meta. Think I this guy is really fucking smart. Kara Swisher · 1:01:52 Alright. You know what he is, but he's an asshole. The the thing that, that I think is gonna... Might happen, and I know you like to insult Apple, is they too have a lot of great stuff. I think, as you say, the second bird, second bird gets the worm... Whatever. What what's your expression? Scott Galloway · 1:02:06 Second mouse gets the cheese. Kara Swisher · 1:02:08 Mouse gets the cheese. They'll come in with a glasses that's better looking, better done, possibly, and and hopefully do that. They've done that a number of times and used all the experience they've had with their stuff and created glasses that you... That are... And then by the way, I like the Meta ones. They're... They have limited use, but I like the use that they have, if that makes sense. Mhmm. And I like that it has limited use. But I feel like Apple could possibly come in here and grab it from them if they want it. Scott Galloway · 1:02:33 If Well, that... That's that's what they do. But I just look at the data. I look at the investment he's making. Kara Swisher · 1:02:39 It's a lot of money to spend on glasses, though. Scott Galloway · 1:02:41 The data they have, the money he's spending on GPUs, and the consumer access they have. And I just thought, oh my gosh, this guy is playing chess. Anyways, that's my prediction. Do you have any? — Predictions segment ends — Kara Swisher · 1:02:55 No. I don't. I don't have a prediction right now. By the way, people really enjoyed our debate about the post, so we'll do some more of it as it moves forward. Scott Galloway · 1:03:02 As it moves forward. I wanna run the style section. Can I run the fashion section or the style section? Kara Swisher · 1:03:08 Yes. A 100 fucking percent, Scott. Scott Galloway · 1:03:10 I want this. Movie reviews. Speaker · 1:03:12 Yes. I'll do the TV reviews. Kara Swisher · 1:03:13 Yes. Anything Scott wants. That's how I'll say it. That's Scott. Scott's part of the package. Scott Galloway · 1:03:17 Oh, thanks. I like it. I'm on board then. I hope it works out for you. It's a great idea. Kara Swisher · 1:03:20 I'm on my seventh billionaire, and they all kinda like it. I'm just telling you. Scott Galloway · 1:03:24 I'm in for 30,000. Kara Swisher · 1:03:25 Okay. If if I don't get through to Jeff, I'm getting through to Lauren. That's what... I'm gonna somehow finagle a lunch with Lauren because I think she's the brains of the operation. Lauren, you're the brains of the operation. We all know it. Anyway, that's the show. Elsewhere in the Scott and Cara universe this week, as he mentioned, Scott kicked off the year with Ian Bremmer to discuss the geopolitical state of play and the top risks for 2025. Let's listen. Guest · 1:03:49 The US in particular has just fundamentally rejected the idea that we're gonna be global leaders supporting rule of law and multilateral institutions. It's America first, baby. It's our way or the highway. And we're gonna tell other countries, you're gonna work with us and do the things we want our way, or there's gonna be hell to pay. And so, that sounds a lot like a reversion to the law of the jungle, that the powerful and strongest countries and people get to do what they want. Kara Swisher · 1:04:22 Scott, that sounds like a great interview. Sounds really nice, really well done. I love Ian. Scott Galloway · 1:04:26 Yeah. And his his and my back and forth actually got quite salty over Kara Swisher · 1:04:30 Oh, salty. Scott Galloway · 1:04:31 Over Israel. And... But we're friends. And he and I have a similar relationship to you, that is we can disagree and and still like each other. But I'm a big I'm a big fan. He's my Alec Baldwin. Alec Baldwin has hosted SNL 17 times, and Ian has now been on Prop G eight times. Kara Swisher · 1:04:48 Yeah. He's a good he's a good Perian thruster with you, so to speak. I mean, I'm not... That's not sexual in any way. I know. Perion Jesus. Scott Galloway · 1:04:54 I wonder it's going. Hot. Don't know what that means. Kara Swisher · 1:04:56 Little hot. Little hot. Scott Galloway · 1:04:58 So have a strap on? What... Where's the where's the battery go in the Perion thruster? Kara Swisher · 1:05:02 No. I'm talking about sword fighting. You keep your mind out of the gutter. Scott Galloway · 1:05:05 Too Kara Swisher · 1:05:05 well. I hope your breath work went well with him. Anyway, you can find the rest of that interview over at the professor g pod. We'll be back on Tuesday with more pivot. And, again, to the people of Los Angeles, I love Los Angeles, one of my... And so does Scott. And I just wanna note that California, Hollywood, Silicon Valley, everything else contributes so much to this country. It's a giver state. Scott Galloway · 1:05:27 Great point. Kara Swisher · 1:05:27 You should you should worry about Wither California and stop ducking on it because it's a giver state. Guess lots of red states are not. And so you should hope that everything goes well in Los Angeles and everyone should contribute so much to this economy. Such an important thing. You should get in there and help and do whatever you can to help the citizens there. We're really sorry for what's happening there. So, Scott, read us out. Scott Galloway · 1:05:49 Today's show was produced by Lara Nayman, Zoe Marcus, and Taylor Griffin. Ernie Intertaud engineered this episode. Thanks to Hosselda Jubrowes, Mia Severio, and Dan Shulan. Nishat Kerwa is Vox Media's executive producer of audio. Make sure you subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. Thank you for listening to Pivot from New York Magazine and Vox Media. You can subscribe to the magazine at nymag.com/pod. We'll be back next week for another breakdown of all things tech and business. [Ad break]