#92: The Signal Scandal & DOGE Drama! (with Ben Smith and Nicholas Carlson)

The debate is heating up—DC and Silicon Valley are deeply split over DOGE.

This week on More or Less, Jessica and Brit hold down the fort (while the husbands ski Alaska’s powder) with media heavyweights Ben Smith of Semafor and Nick Carlson of Dynamo.

This week’s big swings:

• The Signal Group Chat Scandal

• DOGE divides: Silicon Valley cheers efficiency, DC smells ideology

• China’s BYD overtakes Tesla: Is Elon losing supporters?

Plus, whispers of fake AI revenue, ChatGPT’s image wizardry, and a nod to The Information’s SABEW haul.

Featuring:

1) Ben Smith: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-smith-04b1403/

2) Nicholas Carlson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholasmcarlson/

We’re also on ↓

X: https://twitter.com/moreorlesspod

Instagram: https://instagram.com/moreorless

Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/moreorlesspod

Connect with us here:

1) Ben Smith: https://x.com/semaforben

2) Nicholas Carlson: https://x.com/nichcarlson

3) Sam Lessin: https://x.com/lessin

4) Dave Morin: https://x.com/davemorin

5) Jessica Lessin: https://x.com/Jessicalessin

6) Brit Morin: https://x.com/brit

00:00 Trailer

01:29 Our guests and our husband clones

08:23 The Signal group chat scandal

12:01 The Atlantic's marketing

19:25 Ethics impact

23:27 DOGE divides

35:06 Trump, the tech giants and pragmatism

39:35 Wiz deal, arms race,

42:44 11X and straight up fraud

49:50 ChatGPT's Image Generator

51:41 Using AI: what would JD Vance do?

55:40 AI and journalism side by side

57:02 Outro