Get the inside story on the biggest tech developments from founders, former executives, and industry veterans who built companies like OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Meta Reality Labs, Apple Vision Pro, Microsoft HoloLens, and Unity. Join Charlie Fink (Forbes), Ted Schilowitz, (Red Camera, Fox, Paramount Futurist) & Rony Abovitz, (founder Magic Leap).as they interview startup CEOs, ex-Google/Meta/Apple insiders, Hollywood directors, and AI researchers reshaping spatial computing. Every week we break down the latest tech news with our signature hot takes, then dive deep with a founder or industry leader. We cover artificial intelligence breakthroughs, virtual reality hardware, augmented reality applications, synthetic media tools, and how enterprises are adopting these technologies. We're industry insiders who have the connections to get the biggest names on the show, but we're not afraid to ask the tough questions about where big tech is hea
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A Four-Day Coma Couldn't Stop This Game ft. Johnny Monsarrat, Founder of Turbine (MMO)
Oct 2, 202658 min
Charlie, Ted, and Rony open on the week's AI political theater, from the sudden rebrand of AI to "superintelligence" to Dario Amodei's uncomfortable White House appearance. From there, the conversation covers AMD's acquisition of Fei-Fei Li's World Labs, the curious divergence between OpenAI's and Anthropic's paths toward going public, and Rony's read on why liability risk may be the real story behind both. They also dig into Nvidia's push to regulate AI safety at the chip level, a stranger-than-fiction report about Anthropic bringing religious leaders in to discuss whether Claude might be conscious, OpenAI's new companion AI "Dots," and a candid look at where consumer VR actually stands right now. Johnny Monsarrat, founder of Turbine and now of Monserrat, joins to talk about building what he calls the next platform for outdoor gaming, ten years in the making. Johnny explains why Niantic, despite Pokémon Go's success, is really a mapping company rather than a game company, and how his own approach, built around full 3D game zones rather than map pins, is meant to unlock genres outdoor gaming has never supported. He also shares a genuinely harrowing story from just before this interview: a medical emergency that left him in a coma for four and a half days, unreachable, while his team had no idea whether he was alive. Key Moments: [00:25] AI's rebrand to "superintelligence" and a tense White House appearance [04:00] AMD acquires Fei-Fei Li's World Labs [05:28] OpenAI, Anthropic, and the liability question behind going public [08:37] Nvidia's push to regulate AI safety at the chip level [10:27] Anthropic brings religious leaders in to discuss AI consciousness [11:06] OpenAI's new companion AI, Dots, and the "Seven Sisters effect" [17:30] Where consumer VR actually stands right now [19:13] Johnny Monsarrat joins — and reveals he was just in a four-day coma [21:24] Why Niantic is a mapping company, not a game company [51:56] Johnny's pitch: outdoor gaming's "Atari moment" Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
How Quilty Is Opening Hollywood's Gates ft. Simon Horsman & Daniel Wood, Quilty.app
Sep 25, 202658 min
Cortney Harding steps in as guest co-host this week, joining Charlie to unpack a genuinely strong Meta Connect, new occluded VR glasses aimed squarely at the Vision Pro, a camera-free Ray-Ban, and Muse AI's surprise climb to the top of the app stores. From there, the conversation turns to Disney's newly created CTO role, the quiet fate of its big-money bets on Epic Games and Sora, and Jeffrey Katzenberg's open letter arguing entertainment has always been a technology business. They close out the news with a sharp exchange on Amazon's push into drone delivery and a pointed critique of DraftKings' use of AI to target its most engaged, and most vulnerable, customers. Simon Horsman and Daniel Wood, co-founders of Quilty.app, join to talk about building an AI-powered script coverage tool for screenwriters who have no access to Hollywood's traditional gatekeepers. The two walk through how Quilty scores a script the way a studio story analyst would, the leaderboard system built to surface strong writing, and a striking real-world comparison Simon shares from his years running a film fund: a big-budget historical epic north of $220 million versus a hybrid AI production covering similar ground for under a million dollars. The conversation closes with how Quilty is trying to connect writers directly to producers in a system that's traditionally shut most people out. Key Moments: [01:35] A confident, glitch-free Meta Connect and what it signals [11:35] Disney creates a company-wide CTO role, hired from Character AI [13:35] The quiet status of Disney's Epic Games and Sora deals [15:35] Jeffrey Katzenberg's open letter on tech and entertainment [19:35] The backlash brewing over Amazon's drone delivery push [21:35] DraftKings, AI, and the ethics of targeting engaged gamblers [24:35] Simon Horsman and Daniel Wood join to introduce Quilty.app [30:35] A real budget comparison: $220M studio epic vs. under $1M hybrid AI film [34:35] How Quilty scores scripts and connects writers to producers Brought to you by Zappar and Mattercraft, the leading visual development environment for immersive 3D web experiences. Start building at mattercraft.io. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Peloton for Gamers: Virtuix Goes Public ft. Jan Goetgeluk, CEO of Virtuix
Sep 18, 202656 min
Charlie and Rony open with Charlie's hands-on take on Snap's $2,200 Specs launch and Rony's theory on how big tech companies let smaller players pioneer risky new hardware first. From there, the conversation turns to a tense week in AI safety, sparked by Dario Amodei's call for frontier labs to slow down, and a sharp debate over whether the industry's talk of needing regulation is really about something else entirely. They close out the news with a look at how China is approaching AI development differently than the West, plus a genuinely stunning breakthrough in brain-computer interfaces. Jan Goetgeluk, founder and CEO of Virtuix, joins to talk about the company's path from a Shark Tank rejection to a recent Nasdaq listing (VTIX). Jan walks through Virtuix's VR treadmill business, the surprising overlap between gaming and fitness that's driving consumer sales, and why the company is leaning harder into defense contracts and location-based entertainment than the crowded consumer VR space. The conversation closes with what it's actually like running a public company day to day, and Jan's outlook for the next two years, including a possible move into autism therapy. Key Moments: [01:35] Charlie's hands-on impressions from the Snap Specs launch [04:35] Rony's theory: why big tech lets pioneers take the risk first [06:35] Dario Amodei's essay and the case for pacing frontier AI [08:35] Is AI safety talk really about dodging product liability? [12:35] China's practical approach to AI vs. the race for AGI [15:35] A brain-computer interface breakthrough restores speech [20:35] Jan Goetgeluk joins — Virtuix's path to Nasdaq [30:35] The surprising fitness angle driving VR treadmill sales [32:35] Virtuix's pivot toward defense contracts Brought to you by Zappar and Mattercraft, the leading visual development environment for immersive 3D web experiences. Start building at mattercraft.io. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Revisiting "Cyberselfish": Silicon Valley's Libertarian Culture, Then and Now ft. Paulina Borsook
Sep 11, 20261h 3m
Recorded on the 25th anniversary of 9/11, this episode opens on a somber note: Charlie, Rony, and Ted remember where they were in 2001 and reflect on where they are now. By happenstance, Ted is actually in New York right now & is joined by the team behind GLO, a mixed-reality graffiti tour running through the streets of Manhattan on Magic Leap 2 headsets, live from their office. After a brief catch-up with friends (and a promo code waiting for you at the end of this description), the news turns dark fast. Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon's resignation, and his warning that AI could kill us all within a decade, sparks a pointed debate about why the AI industry has no equivalent of the FAA or FDA, and why "regulate it like we regulate everything else dangerous" isn't the same as stopping innovation. Paulina Borsook, former Wired writer and author of the newly re-released Cyberselfish: a Critical Romp Through the Terribly Libertarian Culture of High Tech , joins to talk about the 26-year throughline connecting her original critique of Silicon Valley's libertarian culture to today's AI safety crisis. The conversation covers the amorality she identified in tech back in the 90s & 2000s, some candid psychological reads on the Tech Fascists of today, and a shared frustration with "spreadsheet philanthropy" and effective altruism's obsession with measurable ROI over genuine selflessness. Key Moments: [07:15] A live mixed-reality graffiti tour through Manhattan with the GLO.city team [15:32] Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon's resignation and AI risk warnings [19:30] Why AI has no FAA or FDA equivalent [22:50] Paulina Borsook joins as today's guest to discuss the 26-year legacy of her book, Cyberselfish [30:22] Silicon Valley's libertarian culture, then and now [57:27] A psychological read on Zuckerberg's philanthropic reversals [1:01:00] Effective altruism, "spreadsheet philanthropy," and doing good without an ROI Cyberselfish by Paulina Borsook is being re-printed via Tin House in 2026 and is available for purchase on September 15th. Find out more on where you can purchase the book in your territory at https://www.cyberselfish.com/ . Special offer: Get 25% off your mixed-reality graffiti tour of New York with promo code AIXR25. Visit www.glo.city , click Book Now to select your date and time, and enter AIXR25 at checkout. Follow Glo.City on Instagram, Tiktok, and X at @GLOdotcity. Brought to you by Zappar and Mattercraft, the leading visual development environment for immersive 3D web experiences. Start building at mattercraft.io. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
VR Winter 2.0 Just Claimed Its Biggest Casualty ft. Steve Grubbs (Victory XR) & Malia Probst (Scout House)
Sep 4, 202648 min
Rony and Charlie (running the show Ted-less this week) open with hard news that Engage XR, one of the last two open-world VR platforms, is shutting down after losing its largest customer. This leaves VRChat as the only major player standing. Steve Grubbs, CEO of Victory XR, drops in to explain how his education-focused VR business avoided the fallout by diversifying off Engage years ago, and what happens now to the schools and developers left searching for a new platform. From there: Nvidia's Hugging Face acquisition and what it means for open-source AI communities, OpenAI's escalating legal fight with the New York Times (with an unusual amicus brief from the Justice Department), Google's push to license Hollywood content for its Veo platform, and Rony's case for "sovereignty" as the defining concept of the AI era. Malia Probst, founding partner at Scout House and co-founder of the WXR Fund, joins for the back half to reflect on 11 years in immersive tech; from producing early narrative VR to helping platforms like Meta Horizon and Google build out their creator ecosystems. The conversation covers why this VR downturn feels different, the data behind why founding teams with women tend to outperform, and a wide-ranging closing discussion on career longevity, AI's effect on Hollywood, and what Charlie, Rony, and Malia are each watching most closely over the next two years. Key Moments: [01:35] Engage XR shuts down, leaving VRChat as the last major open-world platform [04:35] Nvidia's Hugging Face acquisition and the open-source community question [07:35] OpenAI vs. The New York Times, and the DOJ's amicus brief [16:35] Google's push to license Hollywood content for Veo [18:35] Steve Grubbs hops on to add insight into how Victory XR avoided Engage's collapse [23:35] VRChat's business model and whether this is "VR Winter" all over again [28:35] Malia Probst joins as both guest and host, after 11 years building Scout House and the WXR Fund [32:35] The data on why women-founded teams outperform [40:35] Career longevity, AI's effect on Hollywood, and predictions for the next two years Brought to you by Zappar and Mattercraft, the leading visual development environment for immersive 3D web experiences. Start building at mattercraft.io. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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