Can AI stocks beat Big Tech? In this episode, I discuss OpenAI and its decision to expand a secondary share sale that lets insiders sell about $10.3 billion of stock at roughly a $500 billion valuation. Although skeptical at first, the calculations reveal there is a path for OpenAI to deliver outsized returns.

I cover:

(0:00) The $500B question

(01:11) Why the Nasdaq Index is the benchmark

(03:35) Inside the OpenAI-Microsoft deal

(05:50) The bull case: OpenAI’s trillion-dollar path

(09:33) The AI market explosion

(12:39) The bear case: Competition and constraints

(17:13) Exploring the models of tomorrow

(20:58) The disruption premium

(23:21) Where will OpenAI’s revenue come from?

(29:14) The final verdict

This is the single most important paper to come out in tech in recent weeks. Erik Brynjolfsson, Bharat Chandar and Ruyu Chen investigated whether generative AI is leading to job losses in roles most exposed to AI – and how these effects differ by age and the way AI is used. In this episode, I break down these results and their implications.

I covered:

(01:17) Key finding

(03:32) What’s going on here?

(06:13) A canary in the coal mine?

(8:21) The dataset studied and why it matters

(10:34) The sectors impacted and why it matters

(12:37) Why don't firms just reduce salaries?

(14:34) Historical parallels with electricity

(17:20) How leadership impacts job losses

(20:46) Implications for policy, education, equity

(24:53) Outro

Where to find me:

- Substack: https://www.exponentialview.co/

- Website: https://www.azeemazhar.com/

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azhar?originalSubdomain=uk

- Twitter/X: https://x.com/azeem

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Production by supermix.io and EPIIPLUS1

Nick Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, led one of the first major content licensing deals with OpenAI in 2024. In this conversation, he joins Azeem to unpack how AI is transforming media – and what that means for every business navigating the shifting economics of attention, trust, and discovery.

We cover:

(01:49) Journalism’s four horsemen

(5:33) The collapse of search

(9:07) Cloudflare’s counterattack

(13:56) Is this the search-traffic fix?

(17:42) Rise of the sovereign creator

(22:57) Do great writers need editors?

(26:22) Why conservatives win new media

(27:17) How Substack drives discovery

(31:08) East Coast vs. West Coast ethics

(35:11) How Nick uses AI in writing

(42:13) Is AI friend or foe to journalism?

(45:32) The Atlantic’s survival plan

Nick's links:

The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholasxthompson/

Twitter/X: https://x.com/nxthompson

Substack: https://nxthompson.substack.com

Azeem's links:

Substack: https://www.exponentialview.co/

Website: https://www.azeemazhar.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azhar

Twitter/X: https://x.com/azeem

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Produced by supermix.io and EPIIPLUS1 Ltd