Jeff Dean Leaves Google, Airtable Sells, and the Bag-Securing Era

<p>Sam records from the beach while dealing with a broken bilge pump. Dave calls in after herding cattle. Fortunately, tech continues without them, which Sam takes as further proof that AGI is already running the industry. The crew unpacks Google&#39;s leadership shakeup and Jeff Dean&#39;s departure after 27 years, debates whether Airtable&#39;s sale to Bending Spoons is the blueprint for surviving the AI transition, and Sam argues that today&#39;s AI labs look increasingly like yesterday&#39;s overvalued SaaS companies. Along the way they explain why Sam&#39;s AI built his kid an iPhone game, why OpenAI&#39;s luxury creator retreat backfired, why Apple may have accidentally created its own lawsuit, and whether AI can ever overcome the growing public backlash against it. </p><p><br></p><p><strong>Chapters:</strong></p><p>0:00 Episode Trailer</p><p>1:07 Episode Start</p><p>2:08 Sam&#39;s Boston Whaler Beach Studio</p><p>3:13 Dave Herds Cattle in Montana</p><p>5:31 Google&#39;s AI Shakeup, Jeff Dean Leaves, Demis Steps Back</p><p>8:57 Why Great Researchers Don&#39;t Always Make Great CEOs</p><p>10:48 Recursive Self-Improvement and the AI Talent Wars</p><p>19:41 Airtable Sells to Bending Spoons</p><p>25:33 Not Every SaaS Company Is Dead</p><p>27:50 The Constellation Software Playbook</p><p>30:05 The Next Big Write Downs Are AI Labs</p><p>31:59 Apple vs. OpenAI, Courtesy of iCloud</p><p>35:20 OpenAI&#39;s Creator Summit Backlash</p><p>40:53 Why People Still Hate AI</p><p>43:39 AI Slop and the Content Problem</p><p>45:11 SpaceX&#39;s Lockup and Number Big</p><p>48:00 Nikita Bier Leaves X</p><p>50:22 Jess&#39;s Posting Dilemma</p><p>53:40 Next Week on More or Less</p><p><br></p><p><strong>We’re also on ↓</strong>X: https://twitter.com/moreorlesspodInstagram: https://instagram.com/moreorlessSpotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/moreorlesspod</p><p><strong>Connect with us here:</strong>1) Sam Lessin: https://x.com/lessin2) Dave Morin: https://x.com/davemorin3) Jessica Lessin: https://x.com/Jessicalessin4) Brit Morin: https://x.com/brit</p>