The chasm between the AI haves and have-nots is apparently now wide enough to drive a shopping cart full of random acquisitions through. While the rest of us are just trying to keep up with new terms like 'tokenmaxxing,' OpenAI is on a corporate spending spree, snapping up everything from finance apps to, for some reason, talk shows. Meanwhile, a certain shoe company has decided the future is in AI infrastructure, not footwear, and Anthropic has unveiled a model it deems 'too powerful to release publicly' but, curiously, not too powerful to demo for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
On the latest episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O'Kane attempt to make sense of this widening gap. They plan to dig into what is actually being built in the nebulous world of AI infrastructure, a field that now apparently includes sneaker brands. The discussion promises to cut through the hype to examine the tangible, and likely expensive, foundations being laid.
A key battleground under the microscope is the enterprise sector, where the hosts will analyze who is winning the high-stakes fight between OpenAI and Anthropic. This corporate arms race involves not just model capabilities but also strategic partnerships and, as evidenced, very eclectic shopping lists. The episode will also cover more of the week's headlines, presumably involving other companies hastily rebranding or declaring their own AI-powered futures.
For those wishing to hear this breakdown of spending, suspicion, and new vocabulary, the full episode is available. Listeners can subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, and all the other podcast platforms. You can also follow the podcast on X and Threads, at @EquityPod, presumably for real-time updates on which mundane industry will announce its AI transformation next.