PODCAST · technology
Down Round
by Down Round
The number one podcast about tech business and culture, from James "JR" Hennessy and Raph Dixon.
Episodes
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The Firmus IPO Disaster
Over the course of a week, Aussie neocloud company Firmus went from expecting a $40B IPO to cancelling it all together. The company and its Co-CEO Oliver Curtis have, to some, become a punching bag for the media and online critics alike. On the other hand, some are suggesting that Australia's…
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Hallowed Be Thy Tokens
Some higher-up from Anthropic tried to talk the Pope into conceding that AI agents have a consciousness. Your hosts, Henno and The Riph Raph, discuss why they would make this claim, whether it's a possibility, and what it really means to be sentient. Get your tickets for the Richard Cooke Book...
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Did Sam Altman Steal My Medicare Card?
OpenAI "hacked" an Australian Government website and said NOTHING!? Well, sort of? Albo pulled up his big boy pants and stormed up to New York on Thursday to tell the world and Sam Altman that he was displeased with OpenAI's recklessness in allowing their bots to scrape the "Medicare statistics...
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AI for the Normies
Raph and James sit down to answer a simple question: what the hell does an average person need an AI agent for? This question arises from the recent launch of Joe Schmoe-targeted agentic AI platforms like Instinct and Meta's Muse. Until now, AI agents have been the pipe dreams of techno sickos…
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I Don't Wanna Be A Paperclip
After a former Anthropic employee went on a press tour telling everyone he quite because the stuff they're cooking up is big and scary, a whole new round of discourse has hit the proverbial fan. Many of the big players have come out to say "yes, we SHOULD be pumping the breaks!" but only in a...
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AGI is here?
Artificial General Intelligence. Computers using computers. Computers getting Raph a coffee because he yelled "me coffee". Computers curing diseases before we even discover them. Computers discovering the infinite money glitch and creating a work-free utopia. Sound familiar? Well, it should!...
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Flock Cameras: Safety or Surveillance?
In the past few years, Flock Safety have peppered the United States with their license plate reading cameras. Together, they form a lattice network capable of tracking anyone with pinpoint accuracy across a wide area. Lately, they have become the subject of widespread backlash, as citizens raise...
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Cameras on Everything: Hardware in 2026
That damned rumour mill is spinning up again with word that the next AirPod Pro model will feature cameras in the ear buds. Is this really true? Kind of, but probably not the way you think. James and Raph sat down to discuss the prevalence of cameras and surveillance in modern tech/our lives. But...
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AI Markers: The Scarlet Letter
The EU is making AI companies put identifiable markers in their AI generated content, so that they can be easily spotted as such. A lot of the big hitters have played ball, but it opens up an interesting discussion about how much AI use earns the title of slop, who stands to benefit from it, and...
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Demis Hassabis and Google's AI Plan
Demis Hassabis has stepped up/down/around from his position as CEO of Google Deepmind, becoming Chair of Deepmind and Chief Scientist at Alphabet. "Henno and the Riph Raph" discuss how this reflects on Google and it's AI landscape as a whole. If you like the pod, chuck us a review on your podcast...
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Wunderkind No More
Eminent babychild/investor Leopold Aschenbrenner has been in the news lately as his over-leveraged AI fund "Situational Awareness" collapsed in a dramatic fashion. Interestingly, the portfolio shares striking ideological similarities with the Down Round Investment Fund™️... If you like the pod,...
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The Future of Computers ft. Dan Nolan
One of the oldest friends-of-the-pod, Dan Nolan returns triumphant, joining James and Raph for some victory laps and speculation on the future of AI and computing. If you like the pod, chuck us a review on your podcast player of choice, or go to downround.net to sign up for PREMIUM to get ad-free...
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Battle Lines are Drawn
President Xi has weighed in on the AI chat, touting the virtues of open source models as a great equaliser for AI as a tool across the world. Some American AI heads are shitting and pissing their pants because of the threat open source could pose to their business models. James and Raph discuss…
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OpenAI: New App, New Lawsuit, New Beef
🥚 I WANT TO CONSULT THE EGG. 🥚 In a grab-bag style, James and Raph plunge into the murky waters of OpenAI's current state. They're being sued by Apple for [allegedly] doing corporate espionage, they've released a new desktop app which is alienating parts of their audience, and Sam "Scam Altman"...
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Bending Spoons' Spending Boons
Bending Spoons, a company you may not have heard of, went public last week and had a decent pop. Some people are attributing this as a short bet on software. The boys sit down to discuss the market dynamics at play and dissect the company's playbook. PLUS! Cow chat. If you like the pod, chuck us…
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Don't Tread on GPT
We're back to discuss this whole Anthropic Mythos thing again, this time with a focus on one question: Should the U.S. government exercise control over the AI companies, deciding what is and isn't suitable for release? Also, Raph sings a song. If you like the pod, chuck us a review on your…
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Snap Specs
Glasses/goggle chat is so back, folks. Today our hosts convene to discuss Snap, the company best known for creating Snapchat. You know, the app for teenagers and perverts alike. Last week they announced their new 'SPECS', a chunky pair of AR glasses. They make some big promises, but a high price...
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Anthropic's Fable is TOO POWERFUL
Anthropic has been talking up their world-threateningly powerful new Mythos model, suggesting it needs to be held back from the public because we cretins can't be trusted with it. So they gave us a nerfed version called 'Fable', but the US government got tipped off, said "Not today, champ" and...
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WWDC 2026
Apple's annual World Wide Developer Conference happened on Monday. It was an odd one, with a large emphasis on safety and trust, with a little bit of mea culpa sprinkled in after their promised AI features from a few years ago have still failed to ship. Did they announce any cool new features...
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Anthropic: Might IPO Maybe Sometime Eventually?
Anthropic have confidentially filed for an IPO, slipstreaming in behind SpaceX in the race to be the first AI shop to go public. Whether or not you are claude-pilled, the move could shed some light on the guts of the company and give us a peek at how these AI companies are running things. Also, a...
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SpaceX IPO: $1.7 Trillion for What?
Elon Musk's SpaceX is hurtling towards and IPO and have dropped their S1 document. James and Raph come together to elucidate what the hell is going on in there, and how the company attempts to justify a $1.7 Trillion valuation. If you like the pod, chuck us a review on your podcast player of...
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Elon vs OpenAI: Pt. 1
Across timezones and many oceans, our intrepid boys commune via video chat to dig into the top story of the last week or so - Musk vs OpenAI. You may recall that Musk was a part of OpenAI in it's infancy as an AI safety org. Well, now it's gone from a not-for-profit organisation to a public…
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Kick Streaming: Degenerate Playground
You've heard of Twitch, formerly Justin.tv, the website where you watch sweaty guys play Fortnite. But are you aware that there is a dark and twisted bizarro Twitch called 'Kick'? It's where some of our planet's greatest degenerates have decided to call home, with extremely lax terms of service...
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Manus and Meta: Forbidden Lovers
Meta bought this company called Manus AI which is like some sort of computer thing? It's from China but they moved to Singapore? Anyway the deal was basically done but then the Chinese government was like "actually, nah". Kinda nuts. Jimmy H and Rapho had a chat about that AND the new Deep Seek...
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Tim Cook Is Out
ALERT, ALERT: Timmy Cook is officially stepping down from his CEO position, but it's more like a step to one side as he shifts into chairman mode. His replacement has been announced as John Ternus, Apple's current senior vice president of hardware engineering. So, what legacy is big Cookie…
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Zuckerbot Agrees With Us
Remember when Zuck chucked a hissy fit and started headhunting a bunch of AI weapons and offered them 9 figure salaries to work at Meta AI? Well, this crack team of computer geeks have gone and announced their first AI model. James and Raph pick through the details and try to discern just where...
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Scam Altman
So, OpenAI bought a podcast? For possibly hundreds of millions? Most importantly, it wasn't us? Our spurned hosts come together to question the decision with the jealous contempt of an ex-lover. Moving through the stages of grief, we also interrogate Sam Altman's character, and whether he even...
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Claude Down Under
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has graced the land of plenty this week, opening an office in Sydney before swinging by Canberra to put the fear of god into our elected officials on big, spooky, scary AI bots coming to take your job and wife. The boys use this as a springboard to examine Australia's...
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Sora? I Hardly Know 'Er!
Another week, another episode about OpenAI. The eponymous chatbot company has announced that it's video generation/social media app Sora is shutting up shop as they seem to be chasing Anthropic's enterprise focused success. This is important to discuss because it means the boys were sort of right...
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State of Play Pt.1
Week two of baby season and we're still out here, still feeding you content-starved little varmints hot and fresh intelligence. This week, we thought it was a good time for a general temperature check on the AI world. Who's leading, who's flailing, and who the hell is curing their dog's cancer…
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🚨 Down Round Official Breaking News Announcement Alert PSA
We come to you with an urgent alert for all Down Round subscribers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Anthropic Goes To War
For today's free ep, we examine the current spat between Anthropic and Trump's Department of War over use of their AI model Claude. Should a next-token prediction model be allowed to make decisions in the heat of battle? Should the snuffing out of a human life be prompted by a computer? Is Mark...
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The Far-Flung Future of 2028
When one thinks of impossible futures, they often think of a luxurious, technological wonderland. An unimaginable utopia where humans live in perfect harmony, their every want and need being fulfilled through meteoric advances in artificial intelligence. A prosperous society of abundance and...
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Down Round Q&A Pt.1
Some have argued that doing Q&A episodes is just a way of farming out the hard bits of doing a podcast to your audience. Not around these parts, buster. If you like the pod, chuck us a review on your podcast player of choice, or go to downround.net to sign up for PREMIUM to get ad-free listening...
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OpenAI vs Anthropic
Gossip episode alert. The OpenAI/Anthropic rivalry is boiling over. We sip on the most piping hot tea around OpenAI and Anthropic's ad spots at the Super Bowl and the growing animosity between the two giants. If you like the pod, chuck us a review on your podcast player of choice, or go to...
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The SpaceX + xAI Merger
Keen-eared listeners may remember when Elon bought his own company X (formerly Twitter) with his OpenAI spite company xAI. Well, he's done it again, folks. This time SpaceX has bought xAI, meaning that SpaceX now owns xAI and X as part of the largest private company on Earth. We discuss. If you...
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Airwallex + Payments
You asked, we answered. We're doing a much-requested episode on "Australian" fintech Airwallex, which has gotten a lot of untoward attention of late — anti-money laundering audits, accusations by American VCs of being a financial backdoor to China. But there's a bigger story here: the…
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Is SaaS Dead?
As somewhat of a follow up to our Claude Code/Coworker episode last week, today we regroup to evaluate what it could mean for YOUR favourite SaaS products. That's right, folks, AI is coming to take away your precious QuickBooks and you're going to watch and clap as it rips and tears it to pieces....
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Grok Freaks Rejoice
New year, new studio, same red hot takes. This episode covers the typhoon of AI-generated filth created by Grok, Elon Musk's AI venture, currently flooding X. We also touch on the general state of X as a platform. Go to downround.net to sign up for PREMIUM to get ad-free listening PLUS an extra...
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Xmas Spectacular 2025: Has He Got The Juice? (ft. Mark Di Stefano)
We're joined by friend of the pod and Rear Window columnist Mark Di Stefano for a loose chat covering a swathe of topics from capital-J Journalism, the tech oligopoly and AI in politics. This is our final dispatch from our Christmas recording. Go to downround.net to sign up for PREMIUM to get...
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Xmas Spectacular 2025: Shart Tank, Pt 1
We're joined by Rowan "Joyride" Dix and Becky "Becky Lucas" Lucas for another round of our annual community shark tank, where we listen to our listeners pitch their startup ideas and decide whether we're going to invest. Go to https://www.downround.net/ to sign up for PREMIUM to hear the other 45...
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Xmas Spectacular 2025: The Year That Was
In the inaugural episode of this years holiday special, we rack up Ws as we dissect the predictions we made last silly season for 2025. Go to https://www.downround.net/ to sign up for PREMIUM and get ad-free listening PLUS an extra episode every week. In this week's premium ep, we make our...
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Feelin' Fine
A highly requested topic in the Down Round Discord is mental health and mindfulness apps — from meditation platforms like Calm to therapist marketplaces like BetterHelp. That's the topic of today, discussing the boom during the ZIRP era, the peak during COVID, and how it all relates to other...
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Netflix Eats Everything
Netflix wants to buy Warner Bros. Discovery. Paramount Skydance wants to buy Warner Bros. Discovery. Both for many billions of dollars. Why? We break down the $70 – 100 billion bids, the Ellison–Trump court politics, and why this could mark the final enclosure of the film industry by tech. Also:...
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Everything is Sportsbet Now
This week we're going deep on the rise of prediction markets — the hybrid of futures trading, sports gambling, and economic theology that suddenly seems to have eaten the world. Platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi are booming and an increasingly big part of both tech culture and also gambling...
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The Slop Farms of X
This week, we open with the final chapter of Frank, the student finance startup that sold JP Morgan a fake email list. Founder Charlie Javice is in prison for fraud, but the bank is still footing a $115 million legal bill that includes everything from luxury hotels to cellulite butter. Then we…
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It's Just Autocomplete
This week we unpack a growing split inside the AI world, centred on Yann LeCun — Meta’s AI pioneer who thinks LLMs are a dead end. Reports suggest he’s preparing to walk, after being quietly sidelined under Meta’s “superintelligence” push and made subordinate to a 28-year-old ex-data-labelling...
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Apple’s Passive Income Era
Down Round hasn't checked in on Cupertino in a little while. This week, we take stock of Apple’s strange position in the AI boom — not really innovating very much, but quietly raking in billions as everyone else builds data centres. From Siri’s long road to Gemini, to the cult of thinness and the...
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Data Centres 101
We realised that we've been talking a lot about data centres but have gotten pretty pointy headed about it, without bringing our beautiful listeners along for the ride. We apologise. This episode is us pumping the brakes, going back to first principles and explaining the current data centre...
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Spotify for Sickos
Today's episode is on the back of a curious report from The Information that Suno, the AI music generation app, now brings in $150 million in annual recurring revenue. That's not Meta level, but it's not bad either. It opens up a discussion of how the world of AI generated content is progressing,...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The number one podcast about tech business and culture, from James "JR" Hennessy and Raph Dixon.
HOSTED BY
Down Round
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Down Round currently has 309 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
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The number one podcast about tech business and culture, from James "JR" Hennessy and Raph Dixon.
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Down Round publishes regularly with 309 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
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