In his second appearance on the Newcomer Podcast, Ed Zitron sits down with Eric Newcomer to break down why he believes there is no real ROI in AI, how Sam Altman and Dario Amodei have hidden the true cost of their products behind subscription pricing, and why enterprises like Uber are already pulling back. Ed also makes the case that the entire culture around AI is a psyop designed to silence skeptics and protect a trillion-dollar house of cards.
Eric pushes back throughout, defending the long-term potential of AI and pressing Ed on whether pure skepticism is its own kind of shtick. The result is one of the most honest and combative conversations about AI you'll find anywhere.
00:00 Intro
00:44 Ed Zitron Returns
01:41 Why AI Writing Feels Dead
02:44 Eric Sets the Stakes
05:07 There Is No ROI in AI
07:20 The AI Psyop and Valley Culture
09:06 Should OpenAI and Anthropic Go Public?
12:06 The Uber vs AI Economics Debate
19:03 Why Token Pricing Changes Everything
29:17 Ed Admits He Got the Timing Wrong
32:44 Equity Raise Debate
33:11 Data Center Debt Crunch
35:16 Why AI Only Really Works at Code
37:16 The iPhone Comparison Argument
40:27 Manufactured Consent and AI Culture
41:48 Executive AI Psychosis
48:15 The Hallucinations Debate
56:13 Was the Trillion Dollars Worth It?
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