IM 835: Glitch Lord - Inside OpenAI's Secret Struggles and the "Empire of AI" With Karen Hao

03/09/2025 2h 44min Episodio 835
IM 835: Glitch Lord - Inside OpenAI's Secret Struggles and the "Empire of AI" With Karen Hao

Listen "IM 835: Glitch Lord - Inside OpenAI's Secret Struggles and the "Empire of AI" With Karen Hao"

Episode Synopsis


Go behind the curtain at OpenAI as bestselling author Karen Hao shares stories of infighting, ego, and shifting agendas. Find out why even OpenAI's security had her face on alert during her investigation.
Karen Hao reveals OpenAI's secretive culture and early ambitions
OpenAI's shifting leadership and transparency: from nonprofit roots to Big Tech power
Defining AGI: moving goalposts, internal rifts, and philosophy debates
OpenAI's founders dissected: Altman, Brockman, and Sutskever's styles and motives
Critiquing the AI industry's resource grabs and "AI imperialism"
How commercialization narrowed AI research and the dominance of transformers
China's AI threat as Silicon Valley's favorite justification, debunked
Karen Hao details reporting process and boardroom chaos at OpenAI
GPT-5 skepticism: raised expectations, lackluster reality, and demo fatigue
Karen Hao's bottom line: AI's current trajectory isn't inevitable — pushback is needed
Harper Reed shares vibe coding workflows using Claude Code

AI commoditization—why all major models start to feel the same

Western vs. Chinese open-source models and global AI power shifts

Google antitrust ruling: AI's rise dissolves traditional search monopoly
"Algorithm movies" spark debate over art, entertainment, and AI's creative impact

Meta's AI talent grab backfires amid exits and cash-fueled drama
Anthropic's "historic" author settlement likely cements fair use for AI training

DIY facial recognition: Citizen activists unmask ICE using AI tools

Picks: Byte Magazine's 50th, AI werewolf games, Berghain bouncer AI test, and arthouse film "Perfect Days"
Get "Empire of AI" (Amazon Affiliate): https://amzn.to/4lRra9h
Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Paris Martineau
Co-Host: Harper Reed
Guest: Karen Hao
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