The Best One Yet - 🚨 “Sam-mergency” — OpenAI’s Code Red. American Eagle’s Anti-AI. Waymo’s safety report. +Wall Street Wrapped

Starting point is 00:00:00 This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Thursday the new Friday. December 4th. And today's pod is the best one yet. This is a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Oh, Yettys, thank you for all the love for our live tour launch yesterday. Austin, Texas, Washington, D.C., New York, New York, and Los Angeles. Tickets go on sale tomorrow. Oh, mark your calendar. Tickets on sale tomorrow. We got a link in this episode description to grab them. Next spring, we're going to announce the rest of the IPO tour. it's going to be legendary. Okay, but in the meantime, Jack, we've got three fantastic stories for today's show. What have we got on the T-Boy? For our first story, Sam Alton just sent a company-wide code-red emergency at Open AI. So we'll explain how the AI race is starting to look like a Mario cart race. For our second story, American Eagle stock surged 15% yesterday, thanks to Sydney Sweeney, Travis Kelsey, and Martha Stewart. But the real reason American Eagle is soaring? It's hashtag not AI. And our third and final story, if you live in Sanford,

Starting point is 00:01:00 Francisco, Austin, Atlanta, or Phoenix. Have you noticed that the robotaxies have started driving more aggressively? Uh, yeah. Waymo just confirmed it's true. A software update that Jack and I call crazy New York City taxi mode. But yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Whoa, I'm walking here. Where you going, Waymo? Your Instagram is probably still flooded by your friend's Spotify screenshots. That's right, a happy Spotify rap season to all those who celebrate. Spotify rap told me that my music taste is that of a 76-year-old. Jack, Spotify Rapp told me that I'm in the top 1% of listeners for both Baby Shark and Sabrina Carpenter. Okay, so Spotify thinks I'm very old and you're ridiculously young.

Starting point is 00:01:42 Yeah, we got to speak to a manager. But Yeties, did you know that when Spotify Rapp launched back in 2015, it was actually an intern's idea? And now every media CEO has stolen that intern's idea. YouTube, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Strava, they all do their own version of, year in review. Basically, Spotify wrapped, got sucked. So, right now, we're going to do the same. Yeah, let's do it. The best one yet's Wall Street wrapped. Yes, it's our year in review of the pop biz headlines. Jack, kick it off for us over there. In 2025, Wall Street's least favorite genre was a new one, slop balls. And Elon Musk averaged 143 tweets per a day. Kim Kardashian skim sold enough underwear

Starting point is 00:02:23 to circle planet Earth 12 times. And a trillion billion billion. investments were announced at the White House. Hollywood made 962 PG sequels, and prediction markets predicted that they'd become the top app out of all the predicted apps. Sam Altman launched 1,000 new products this year. Invita invested in 1 million new startups this year. And the Fed lowered interest rates, but not enough. And Apple, to round it all out, launched zero AI products. Even though they announced them last year. It's all right. You can still work on it, guys. Yeties, that is our Wall Street wrap for 2025. Drop in the comments. what we missed.

Starting point is 00:02:59 Yeah. What happened this year on Wall Street? What do you think we missed? What do you think we missed? What's in your Wall Street rap, 2025? Hit us up here, and Jack, what's in our three stories? Fifteen years before this song,

Starting point is 00:03:09 two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is a norm. That's it. I don't even think they need to practice. 50% that's a fat tip. Tea Boy City on your at list. If you know, you know, because we're ready to go.

Starting point is 00:03:27 We can't wait no more, so just start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor. For our first story, on Monday, Sam Altman called Code Red at OpenAI. It's a company-wide emergency. The reason? Google and Anthropic became the big men on the artificial intelligence campus. So Sammy slammed that emergency button. Code Red. Code Red.

Starting point is 00:04:03 That was the subject line of a company-wide email sent by Sam Altman on Monday at OpenAI. We don't know if he used the red flashing light. emoji like we used in the podcast title for today's episode, but if you're at Open AI, DM us in the comments. And the reason? Well, we'll let Jim Kramer explain. Push and play. I don't want to steal something because I've got these guys that I've won for a podcast this morning, TBOI. They're really pretty terrific. That's the best one yet. It's great podcast. But they're just saying, listen, what's happened here is that Open AI wants to be Alphabet, but we don't need OpenA. Because Alphabet is Alphabet. Alphabet is Alphabet. Alphabet has everything.

Starting point is 00:04:41 that Open AI would like to have. I think it's a great analysis, and I think it became true to people over the last 100 points, that Alphabet is the best of all these. And if Open AI thinks they can take on Alphabet, they're greatly mistaken. Pretty cool that Jim Kramer mentioned us on CNBC.

Starting point is 00:04:57 Jimmy, thanks for the shout-out, buddy! But Sam Altman must also have internal data that people are using Open AIs chatbot less, and to be honest, I'm one of them. Yeah, you're one of them. Why are you telling the Yetis? I was using OpenAI's Atlas browser ever since we covered it on the pot, but I consistently came into annoying issues that made me miss Google Chrome.

Starting point is 00:05:17 Yeah. So Jack went back. And now Google's stock is up 92% in the last six months. And Jack, how are Open AI shareholders doing in that time? Well, Open AI doesn't have stock, but it's shareholders do. And Microsoft, Nvidia, and Oracle are all down. Hence the code read. Sam Altman told everyone to stop all non-core projects and double down on improving the

Starting point is 00:05:39 Chatbot, chat GPT. It's like the red goal light at a hockey game, and it is whaling right now. But besties, chat cheap T is not only being attacked on the left flank, it's also being attacked on the right flank, too. From Google on one side and Anthropic on the other. Anthropic, the number two pure play generative AI company they are known for their chatbot Claude. Anthropic is the Pepsi to opening eyes Coke.

Starting point is 00:06:02 It's the Puma to opening eyes Indetus. The made well to its anthropology, Jack. Yeah, it is. We were shocked by these numbers. Anthropic is catching up to OpenAI in terms of its business. Anthropics doing $10 billion in annualized revenue rate right now. That's like the same ballpark as OpenAI. And Anthropic also just got a $15 billion private investment,

Starting point is 00:06:24 led by Microsoft and NVIDIA, who were supposed to be dating OpenAI. Yeah, OpenEI, I was like, Microsoft's Nvidia. I thought you guys were with me. But Jack, worst of all, the Financial Times reports that Anthropic has hired lawyers to IPO as early as next year. The report say that the IPO would be one of the biggest of any company ever, a $300 billion valuation if Anthropic IPOs next year.

Starting point is 00:06:48 It's like 30 lifts. If Anthropic beats Open AI to the stock market, it could become the darling of retail traders. So Sam Altman, in just a couple months, has gone from unstoppable tech emperor on a conquest for world domination. Genghis A.I. Khan to tech entrepreneur in retreat, asking why Nvidia and Microsoft or sleeping with the competition. Jack, I love a Game of Thrones analogy right here,

Starting point is 00:07:14 but I prefer our Mario Kart 1, so let's get to the takeaway. What's the takeaway for our buddies over at OpenAI? There is no first mover advantage when it comes to AI. In fact, it's the first mover disadvantage. Yeties, until 2022, Google was the leader in AI. It was believed to be on the brink of a new chatbot. But then Open AI became the leader,

Starting point is 00:07:34 and since they've expanded into every tech product category. But Jack, now Google and Anthropos, or Copin and OpenAI's best product features and doing them better. Remember that tweet we just saw from Mark Benioff? He said, I've used ChatGAPT every day for three years, but I just spent two hours on Google's Gemini 3, and I'm not going back. The leap is insane.

Starting point is 00:07:54 Basties, this reminds us of Mario Kart, the video game. Remember, like, heading to the finish line, you want to be the second player in Mario Kart, so you get the red shell to unseat the first player. If you're in first, you're going to get a banana, and you're not going to win. You always want to be in second place in Mario Kart. While Yeti's the race to win AI, it is still very much competitive.

Starting point is 00:08:15 Open AI, Anthropic, Google, they are neck, neck, neck. And it all proves there's no first mover advantage in AI. In fact, it could be a disadvantage. For our second story, the top stock yesterday, American Eagle, it soared 15% in the markets. It wasn't just a Sydney-Sweeney surge. American Eagle is soaring because of its anti-AI pledge. Now, Yetis, to kick off this story, quick question, drop your answer in the comments. Jack, what's the question?

Starting point is 00:08:45 What celebrities are you putting on Gen Z's Mount Rushmore? All right, I got some here. Jack, you're ready for this? How about Travis Kelsey, Cocoa Gough, and Sidney, Sweeney? Well, because American Eagle has signed all of them. Oh, and American Eagle just signed Martha Stewart last month, my friend. There's nothing a 23-year-old respects more than a crispy pumpkin pie prepared in a gingham apron and a awesome candle. earning nearby on the counter.

Starting point is 00:09:11 That's a nice touch. Hiring Gen Z's Mount Rushmore as brand ambassadors is paying off for American Eagle. Get this. American Eagle just announced record revenues, which grew 6%. They just had their best Thanksgiving weekend as sales in history. Nick, if American Eagle signs Zendaya and Timothy Shalameh, the stock may head an all-time high. But besties, here's what Jack and I find.

Starting point is 00:09:31 Fascinating. 6% sales growth. That is good, but it's not exactly great. I'm not writing home about 6% sales growth. No, no, no, no. the bigger reason why American Eagle is all the rage now, it's anti-AI pledge. In October, American Eagles underwear brand, Airy, went on social media to do what many teens do. An emotional Instagram post. Here it is. Today we commit no AI generated bodies or people, real people only. Then

Starting point is 00:09:59 Erie went on and said in the post, no retouching, no AI, 100% Airy Real. At the American Eagle lunch table, Chechee Pee can't sit with us. No, and the result of, So this Instagram post, it became their top performing post of the entire year. Forget Travis Kelsey thirst trap picks and torn American Eagle Denham. Yeah, Jack. American Eagles' best post this year is five lines of text that we hope were written by humans about AI. Because besties, remember the story we did earlier this year on Jay Cruz's epic AI mistake? Yeah, the biggest fashion faux pa of the year.

Starting point is 00:10:32 Jay Cruz sneakily used AI to create vintage-looking images for their magazine. But upon further review, the model's foot was backwards and the popped collar was like hallucinated awkwardly. Jay Crew got dragged for using AI, so American Eagle is doing the opposite. That got Jack and I thinking, and we whipped up this takeaway. Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at American Eagle? Anti-AI is the new organic. Yeties, as AI floods the zone, we are already seeing a popular pushback. And we've seen this before in another industry, the food industry.

Starting point is 00:11:06 Most companies are embracing AI, just like most companies embraced processed food at first. AI allows companies to scale productivity. Artificial ingredients allowed companies to scale their produce. Both were scientific innovation, and initially, both were broadly popular. But eventually, cultural and scientific backlash arrived, leading to a new consumer equilibrium. We tolerate artificial ingredients, but we admire organic ones. American Eagle taps into that exact admiration, that the market will also enthusiastically support what is natural.

Starting point is 00:11:38 It's the start of the growing anti-AI trend. We call it digitally organic. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, Waymo just announced that after 100 million miles, their self-driving cars had 90% fewer accidents than human drivers did. So guess what?

Starting point is 00:12:02 They just tweaked their algorithm to make Waymo's drive like crazy New York City cow drivers. Hey, watch out over there! Oh, Yetis, Waymo's nationwide expansion kind of feels like the NFL draft the way Jack and I see it. Everyone is waiting to get selected. Dun, done, done. The latest draft picks, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis,

Starting point is 00:12:23 congratulations, step on up. Waymo test robotaxies are headed your way. Google's self-driving car operation is now active in five cities, and 18 more cities have been announced. Basties, check the Waymo blog, Milwaukee. You could be next. I don't think Burlington, Vermont is next. No, I don't think it is either, Jack.

Starting point is 00:12:43 But for Alphabet, whose stock has become the best on Wall Street lately, they have even more to gloat about with Waymo. Because Waymo released their biggest study yet on whether their Waymo's are actually safe. And Jack and I call it the Declaration of Dependence. As it turns out, you can depend on Robotaxies more than you realize, right? That's really good. It's good. Run with that Waymo. Run with it. Waymos, it turns out, are much safer than human drivers.

Starting point is 00:13:08 although maybe not for long. Waymo released data covering 100 million driverless miles that their vehicles have taken across four different American cities. And here's the hero stat. Waymos are involved in 91% fewer crashes that seriously injure people compared to human-driven cars. They were also involved in 96% fewer collisions with pedestrians at intersections compared to human-driven cars.

Starting point is 00:13:32 Yet he's out all up. And honestly, Jack and I, as a couple guys who take Waymos all the time, not that surprised. Waymos don't get distracted by text messages coming in. They don't try to answer their phone when someone's calling. And they don't try to eat tacos while they're driving the car. And they don't try to text while eating the tacos. Now, we should point out, there have been two deaths involving Waymos,

Starting point is 00:13:52 but both were caused by the human driver in the other car. And we should also point out, Jack, that a Waymo did run over an unleashed dog down the street in San Francisco on Sunday night, which is tragic. But still, let's look at the bigger picture. They're 90% safer. Nick, for a technology this young, that's incredible. It sounds like for the investors, Evwaimo. It did. And scaled across more cities, more cars, and more miles, self-driving cars are going to be a huge public health win.

Starting point is 00:14:22 Not trying to be techno-optimus here, but delaying self-driving, it's kind of missing a chance to save lives. It's missing a chance to make intersections where pedestrians cross the street 96% safer. But besties, all of that declaration of dependence is what would be. makes the next part of our story so awkward. Waymo just updated the software in their cars to drive like insane humans, not computers. Oh yeah. Hmm. Honk, honk.

Starting point is 00:14:49 You can let me out right here, actually. So, Jagg, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Waymo? Waymo thinks it can drive like a New York City cab and still drive carefully. Yeties. In San Francisco, tourists stand in front of Waymos, block them and take pictures. Honestly, it's a tourist attraction. It's happened to be a bunch. It's kind of fun, but it slows you down.

Starting point is 00:15:07 And the Waymos don't mind. Waymos are so polite. They will wait forever until you slowly cross the road. You can mess with them, and they won't mind at all. But not anymore. The Wall Street Journal just reported that Waymos and San Francisco suddenly got more aggressive. More like New York City cabbies,

Starting point is 00:15:25 according to the Wall Street Journal. They're making daring passes and tunnels. They're not coming to full stops every time. They're even making illegal U-turns sometimes. Jack, remember you're with me in a way. Waymo a few weeks ago, and it just took off down the street? It went zero to 60, like, fast. Yet Yet he's Jack actually said, whoa there, girl. Like it was a horse. It was so weird, but that's why he did it. I get this. Waymo actually confirmed to the Wall Street Journal, this is true. They adjusted the

Starting point is 00:15:49 settings in their cars to be, and I quote, confidently assertive. Because Waymo says the vehicle's passiveness was holding it back. And we understand that too. For example, if a construction vehicle was blocking the lane, in the past Waymo's would just wait forever. Now they'll cross the double yellow to make a safe pass. Add it all up and Waymo made a software update, boom, it went from passive to a little bit pushy. Waymo says this won't come at the expense of the safety that they just bragged about either. Because computers can still predict and avoid collisions better than a human, even while hanging a Uie. Jack, and you'll whip up the takeaways for us for the new Friday. OpenAI declared a company-wide code red because it's lost its AI lead to Google and anthropic.

Starting point is 00:16:34 Besties, when it comes to AI, there's no first mover at a lot of, It's a first mover disadvantage. For our second story, American Eagle stock jumped 15% yesterday, but not just on Sydney Sweeney, on an anti-AI pledge. There's a grown anti-AI trend, and we call it digitally organic. And our third and final story, Waymo data shows they're 90% safer than human-driven cars, but now they're driving more aggressive. Waymo thinks it can drive like a New York City cabby and still be careful.

Starting point is 00:17:05 You can just let me out right here. It's like, oh, yay, easy buddy. Hey, I'm walking here. But besties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, Nike advertisements in the United Kingdom just got banned by the UK's advertising watchdog. The reason?

Starting point is 00:17:20 Misleading claims on sustainability. So it just did it, but then had to undo it. Yeah, Nike had an ad promoting their environmental credibility, but it wasn't backed up by enough evidence. Allbirds loves this news. Yeah, it's a case of greenwashing and the Brits won't have it. And second, we're finally. getting the bill on the government shutdown, and for Delta, who is 200 million bones.

Starting point is 00:17:42 The CEO said in the earnings yesterday that they lost 200 million in potential profit because they had to cancel 2,000 flights during the 43-day government shutdown. Maybe that is why Delta is jacking up the price of my next flight to New York City. Come on, guys. And finally, rage bait. I'm not doing rage bait. Rage bait is the Oxford word of the year. That's right.

Starting point is 00:18:03 There are 30,000 submissions and other top words of the year. were aura farming and biohacking. Don't know what aura farming is, but isn't it a type of biohacking? No, you don't know what aura farming is, Jack, but rage bait one, which, Jack, could you use rage baiting in a sentence for us, please?

Starting point is 00:18:19 Yeah, it's when you post something intentionally to drive emotional, strong reactions from people. Basically, you bait people into rage responses. Yeah, like, Jack, sometimes I'll order a half-calf coffee with Molly, but then I'll only drink half of the half-calf, so it's a quarter-calf, and that's basically rage-baiting. It's kind of rage-baiting. I don't think she likes it.

Starting point is 00:18:37 Actually, rage bates the barista. They worked hard on that thing. Well, now I just feel guilty. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one sent in as a response to the story we did yesterday on smell. Did you know that Somaliers literally grow a larger smell processing area in their brain than non-Somoliers? That's right, wine smeliers, the wine experts at restaurants who smell your wine before they serve it to you. Years of aroma training increased the size of that brain region that handles scent and memory.

Starting point is 00:19:12 Wow. Ain't no schnaz like a Somelier schmaz. No, this is about his brain, not a schnaz. See, that's ragebidding. What you did right there, Jack, that's ragebidding. Yeties, you look fantastic. Tomorrow, the tickets for our live 26 IPO tour go on sale tomorrow. It is the ultimate expression of Nick and me in this show.

Starting point is 00:19:34 and man, I am so pumped to go on the road next year. We can't wait to see you there. Don't worry, we'll remind you again tomorrow to snag your tickets before they go. In the meantime, celebrate the ones. And before we go, a happy 60th birthday to legendary Yeti, Eric, Jontra, and Tyler, Texas, who's been listening to this show since the early days and is coming to our Austin live show. We'll see you there. Hey, oh, happy birthday to Teddy Panzer, over in Montclair, New Jersey.

Starting point is 00:20:04 And Evan Frederick in Columbus, Ohio loves to spell out, oh, H-I-O. I see what you did there, Evan, and I don't like it. Bradley T. is turning 30 years old celebrating the big one in lovely Connecticut. Happy 23rd birthday to Libby Guy Isler in West Hartford, Connecticut. This is a finance gal. Karen Braswell over in San Francisco is a barroom dancer with the best birthday yet. Happy 10th birthday to Cassidy Felix in Belmore, New York, and a big cheer competition coming this weekend. Be excited. Be excited.

Starting point is 00:20:34 And Lauren Lyon, our number one listener of the Princess Ross, the question. Queen of Northern California. Thank you for making the best one yet and the best idea yet. You are best yet. And get this, Rodrigo Tomaz, his Spotify wrapped had both of our shows as number one and number two. Oh, we got so more of those, Jack. Oh, Rodrigo, you're a legend. We want to give you a hug at our live show. And finally, to Brian Johnson.

Starting point is 00:20:59 Congratulations on now having a girlfriend. Lucky God. This is Jack, Nick owns stock in Nike, and we both own stock in Spotify and Apple. Thank you.

The Best One Yet - 🚨 “Sam-mergency” — OpenAI’s Code Red. American Eagle’s Anti-AI. Waymo’s safety report. +Wall Street Wrapped

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