Better Offline

In this week's Better Offline monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through the seeming collapse of Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines, and why the AI bubble can’t survive the death of OpenAI.
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Kylie Robison’s scoop about Thinking Machines: https://x.com/kyliebytes/status/2011572331798548899
Max Zeff of WIRED’s follow-on story: https://www.wired.com/story/thinking-machines-lab-cofounders-leave-for-openai/
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In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by Steve Burke of GamersNexus to talk about AMD, Lenovo, NVIDIA and Intel’s CES keynotes - and how the tech industry has turned its back on consumers in favor of growth.

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GamersNexus:
NVIDIA's AI Bubble: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFG3Ah-zf18
AMD Failed Us: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsCrKGY9F1o
Intel Pulls An NVIDIA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wNnLtsxNkY
"AMD & NVIDIA Abandoned This Segment" | Intel Arc GPU Factory Tour with Sparkle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwrUxG26ulk
Support GamersNexus’ AI Surveillance Dystopia Series: https://store.gamersnexus.net/ai-dystopia
https://www.youtube.com/gamersnexus
https://gamersnexus.net/
https://bsky.app/profile/gamersnexus.bsky.social
https://x.com/GamersNexus
CES Videos:
Lenovo: https://youtu.be/vAa8ITmv54I?si=vfYqWhkbqGPa1avV&t=288
NVIDIA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NBILspM4c4
AMD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvBNWbFK2lY
Intel: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/events/ces.html
YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more.
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LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks
Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/
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Ed's Socials:
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https://www.instagram.com/edzitron
https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com
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Email Me: [email protected]
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Better Offline’s coverage of the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show - a standup radio station in the Palazzo Hotel with an attached open bar where reporters, experts and various other characters bring you the stories from the floor.

In our CES epilogue, Ed is joined by author, activist and journalist Cory Doctorow, tech bubble newsletter writer Ed Ongweso Jr. and CES bartender Phil Broughton to talk about this year’s coverage, the upcoming venture apocalypse, and what we expect from 2026.

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Ed Ongweso Jr.: https://bsky.app/profile/bigblackjacobin.bsky.social
Cory Doctorow: http://pluralistic.net/
https://www.eff.org/

Phil Broughton: https://bsky.app/profile/funranium.bsky.social/
The Tech Bubble Newsletter: https://thetechbubble.substack.com/

Matt Osowski: https://www.mattosowski.com/

Donate in Sean-Paul’s honor: https://www.perc-epilepsy.org/
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https://www.instagram.com/edzitron
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Email Me: [email protected]
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Better Offline’s coverage of the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show - a standup radio station in the Palazzo Hotel with an attached open bar where reporters, experts and various other characters bring you the stories from the floor.

In Friday’s second episode, Ed is joined by author, activist and journalist Cory Doctorow, the Las Vegas Sun’s Kyle Chouinard, Ed Ongweso Jr. of the Tech Bubble Newsletter, Garrison Davis of It Could Happen Here, and Robert Evans of Behind The Bastards to talk about Vegas’ reaction to CES, the useful stuff getting pushed to the fringes, the hollow nature of this year’s CES, and an acoustic version of the Better Offline theme.

EXCLUSIVE CES SALE! Get a *permanent* $10 off an annual subscription to my newsletter through January 13 2025:
https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/cue848p5sc

Ed Ongweso Jr.: https://bsky.app/profile/bigblackjacobin.bsky.social

Cory Doctorow: http://pluralistic.net/ https://www.eff.org/

Garrison Davis: https://bsky.app/profile/bishonentype.bsky.social

The Tech Bubble Newsletter: https://thetechbubble.substack.com/

Robert Evans: https://bsky.app/profile/iwriteok.bsky.social
Kyle Chouinard: https://lasvegassun.com/staff/kyle-chouinard/
Donate in Sean-Paul’s honor: https://www.perc-epilepsy.org/
---
LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks
Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/
Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at
Ed's Socials:
https://twitter.com/edzitron
https://www.instagram.com/edzitron
https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com
https://www.threads.net/@edzitron
Email Me: [email protected]
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Better Offline’s coverage of the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show - a standup radio station in the Palazzo Hotel with an attached open bar where reporters, experts and various other characters bring you the stories from the floor.

In Friday’s first episode, Ed is joined by author, activist and journalist Cory Doctorow, YouTuber and CEO of Clicks Michael Fisher, Cherlynn Low of Engadget, Edward Ongweso of the Tech Bubble Newsletter and Garrison Davis of It Could Happen Here to talk about the Clicks Communicator, Amazon’s surveillance tech, the advances in tech in eyeglasses, engadget’s best tech of CES and why we’re worried about the future.

EXCLUSIVE CES SALE! Get a *permanent* $10 off an annual subscription to my newsletter through January 13 2025:
https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/cue848p5sc

Ed Ongweso Jr.: https://bsky.app/profile/bigblackjacobin.bsky.social

Cory Doctorow http://pluralistic.net/ https://www.eff.org/

Michael Fisher - https://www.clicks.tech/
Cherlynn Low - https://www.engadget.com/about/editors/cherlynn-low/
https://bsky.app/profile/cherlynn.bsky.social
Garrison Davis: https://bsky.app/profile/bishonentype.bsky.social
The Tech Bubble Newsletter: https://thetechbubble.substack.com/
Donate in Sean-Paul’s honor: https://www.perc-epilepsy.org/
https://bookmaniac.org/
https://pluralistic.net/2026/01/09/quantity-break/#so-many-chips
Cyber Fidget: https://youtube.com/shorts/JEEmhcTscP8?si=7_1O-GARnnBeSGuK
https://petewarden.com/2025/10/16/why-does-a-local-ai-voice-agent-running-on-a-super-cheap-soc-matter/
https://petewarden.com/2025/11/29/i-know-were-in-an-ai-bubble-because-nobody-wants-me-%f0%9f%98%ad/
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LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks
Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/
Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at
Ed's Socials:
https://twitter.com/edzitron
https://www.instagram.com/edzitron
https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com
https://www.threads.net/@edzitron
Email Me: [email protected]
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.