The New Yorker's excellent Sam Altman profile asks if Altman can be trusted.

I had another question: Why is Altman always described as having Steve Jobs-like persuasive powers, when he doesn't project that way in public?

Ronan Farrow's take, on Channels: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

Why OpenAI bought a talk show A head scratcher that isn't. And a vote for the value of live-streaming.

Hundreds of millions for a tech bro podcast with a small audience? Yes. And I can even squint and see the logic:

www.businessinsider.com/why-openai-b...

Why Prediction Markets Are Turning Everything Into a Bet — Channels with Peter Kafka Prediction markets are suddenly everywhere: in sports, in politics, in the media business — and, depending on who you ask, they’re either a useful forecasting tool or just gambling with better brandin...

Excellent @pkafka.bsky.social Channels podcast about prediction markets. Don’t call it the Wild West but it’s definitely the Wild West.

overcast.fm/+AAQL2d_OUY8

Why Prediction Markets Are Turning Everything Into a Bet Podcast Episode · Channels with Peter Kafka · March 25 · 46m

Prediction markets are going to change the world.

Or they're just going to be a way to do legal-ish sports betting in places where sports betting isn't legal.

Or both?

Wired's excellent @knibbs.bsky.social helps me think through it all on this week's Channels.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

OpenAI's Sam Altman changes his mind, a lot. That's a problem. What do you call a giant, world-changing company that pivots like a small startup?

"Please expect a very high rate of change from us" Sam Altman told us six months ago.

But OpenAI isn't a plucky startup. It's a giant, deeply tied to our current and future economy. Maybe take a breather on the changes for a bit.

New from me: www.businessinsider.com/openai-sam-a...

Elon Musk pauses X product head Nikita Bier's plan to improve X Elon Musk's head of product had a good idea that might have made X a better platform. Then his boss found out.

Periodic reminder that Twitter has one owner and one CEO and one head of product and they are all the same person.

New from me: www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-x-...

I talked to @mattbelloni.bsky.social about Sunday's Oscars, the future of Hollywood, and why he thinks David Ellison wants to build a new Fox News:
Excerpts here: www.businessinsider.com/oscars-predi...
Full chat on Channels: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

THREAD: I got laid off from NYMag/Vulture after 14 years. The family lost 75% of income + medical. Now mzs.press bookstore, once a side project. is do-or-die for Judith & I. I feel weird telling you this because others are doing much worse. But if you could like or share this, we'd be so grateful!

Paramount ally RedBird says using Middle East money to help buy Warner Bros. could be a good idea RedBird Capital's Gerry Cardinale is helping the Ellisons buy Warner Bros. He says using Gulf state money to finance the deal could be a good thing.

Paramount won't say if it's using $24 billion in Gulf money to help buy WBD.

If that *did* happen? Just part of being a "global company", says RedBird's Gerry Cardinale, the Ellison family's favorite private equity guy:

New from me via Puck's Matt Belloni:
www.businessinsider.com/paramount-gu...

Saudi Arabia, other Gulf states pledged to invest $24 billion in Paramount's WBD deal. Is that still on? Saudi Arabia and two other Gulf states were going to invest $24 billion to help the Ellisons buy WBD last year. Are those deals still in place?

Last year the Ellisons were going to use $24 billion in Gulf state money to help Paramount buy WBD.

Is that still happening? Paramount won't say.

New from me:
www.businessinsider.com/paramount-wb...

Two months ago Trump said it was "imperative" that CNN get new owners.

But Netflix boss Ted Sarandos says Trump's statement (or anything else he said in public) had nothing to do with Netflix backing away from its Warners bid.

www.businessinsider.com/netflix-sara...

New on Channels: A year ago David Ellison ran a "borderline irrelevant film studio." Now he's going to run a media empire. CNBC's Alex Sherman walks us through how we got here and what's next.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

Entirely possible. Otoh CNN's previous manager tried to move it right, so wouldn't be the first time. Re: HBO I would assume Ellison works hard to assure team, but he also lost Taylor Sheridan so dunno

Ding ding

We can guess why Netflix bailed.

But we know the outcome.

By me: www.businessinsider.com/why-netflix-...

A chat with CNN's @brianstelter.bsky.social about Trump's power when it comes to media deals. Which of course includes the future of WBD, which owns CNN: If Trump really wants new ownership for CNN, that means he'll favor Paramount over Netflix....

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

Saying the obvious: If the pro AI argument - this brings massive change! - pans out, that means doomer argument - this brings massive change! - pans out, too.

www.businessinsider.com/ai-economy-j...

It's extraordinary for the President of the United States to tell a company to fire someone he doesn't like.

But it's not unusual for Donald Trump.

New from me, on the new normal we shouldn't get used to. www.businessinsider.com/trump-netfli...

Warner Bros. Discovery board gives Larry and David Ellison another chance to buy the company. One of the world's richest men and his son get another shot at the media conglomerate, which includes Warner Bros., HBO and CNN.

Larry and David Ellison have a week to submit a new offer for WBD; then Netflix can respond. WBD says they expect the Ellisons to bid more than $31 a share.

www.businessinsider.com/ellisons-war...

ChatGPT's advertising era has started. It's rolling out ads to some US users. A ton of people use ChatGPT but don't pay to use it. Now those free users are about to become revenue-generating users.

Buzzy tech CEOs: Ads are gross. Certainly we can do better.

Buzzy tech CEOs, a few years later: The thing about ads is that they're great.

Welcome to the ChatGPT ads era:

www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-ads-...

Fun, and correct, to dump on Will Lewis.

But if you're not doing the same for Jeff Bezos - the man who owns the business, hired Lewis and made the business worse through his own decisions...

www.businessinsider.com/will-lewis-j...

After Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post, things went great — for a while. I asked an insider what happened. After Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post in 2013, the billionaire was considered a model owner. Not anymore. I asked an insider what happened.

Hard to remember now but Jeff Bezos and the Washington Post used to get along just great.

I talked to longtime Post vet @ErikWemple about what happened to his old paper, and his old owner.

Excerpts: www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-w...

Whole thing: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

Billionaires like Jeff Bezos can save The Washington Post until they decide they won't. We need a better model. The problem with billionaires like Jeff Bezos owning news properties like The Washington Post is they can decide one day to turn off the spigot.

Blame Jeff Bezos!

And, also: We need a business plan for news that doesn't rely on benevolent billionaires.

From me: www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-b...

YouTube star Markiplier made his own movie for much less than "Melania" and beat it at the box office Hollywood has been waiting to see if a big YouTuber could bring their fans to theaters. It just happened.

The big box office winner from the weekend wasn't "Melania"- $75mm costs, $7mm sales. It was @markiplier, whose "Iron Lung" cost ~ $3 million and grossed $22mm.

New from me: www.businessinsider.com/youtube-mark...

A banger if there ever was

These are times when you have to do what's needed, not what you want. So I went to see Melania.
www.businessinsider.com/melania-movi...

Media startups are hard. Semafor says it's working by targeting politicians, CEOs, and advertisers who want to reach them. Semafor CEO Justin Smith explains how his company bucked industry trends by focusing on Washington, DC, and the "global leadership class."

Launching a media startup is hard. One way to make it easier is by targeting Washington, where there's a lot of ad money around the industry/policy complex.

My interview with Semafor CEO @Justin_B_Smith. Excerpt: www.businessinsider.com/semafor-just... full audio podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

The Powell probe is an unprecedented move from Trump's familiar playbook The Federal Reserve is supposed to be independent from the president. The Justice Department investigation into Jerome Powell could change that.

Jerome Powell says Trump's dubious, transparently leverage-seeking investigation into the Fed is unprecedented.

That's true for the Fed. Very standard for Trump, and we see it every day.

New from me: www.businessinsider.com/trump-jerome...

truly what could a satirist make up that would be dumber and funnier than the White House East Wing sponsored by Roblox and defense contractors

Donald Trump's shadow hangs over the call to kill a '60 Minutes' story The new head of CBS News has been immersed in politics since she started. So of course her call to hold a story will be viewed from a political lens.

Sometimes Donald Trump actively meddles with media companies - a reality we've already gotten numb to in the last year.

Sometimes the *idea* of Trump is enough to mess with media companies. Which bring us to Bari Weiss and the Ellisons.

From me:

www.businessinsider.com/bari-weiss-6...