
Is the A.I. Bubble Bursting? | 2025 in Review
About this episode
All this week, What Next and What Next: TBD are re-airing some of our favorite conversations from throughout the year and checking back with the people in those conversations to see how things have – or haven’t – changed. This episode originally aired in September.
We’ve been told that artificial intelligence can write, code, generate images—it can do everything…except feasibly turn a profit. But investing in A.I. has nevertheless become a pillar of the U.S. economy. Where is this leading us?
Guest: Ed Zitron, author of the newsletter Where’s Your Ed At and host of the podcast Better Offline.
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