Monologue: AI Can't Afford To Slow Down
6/5/20266 min
In this week's Better Offline monologue, Ed Zitron runs you through how the “does AI have ROI?” debate is coming at the worst possible time for two companies that can’t afford to slow down thanks to their $1.1 trillion in compute commitments.
Newsletter: AI Doesn’t Have ROI https://www.wheresyoured.at/ai-doesnt-have-roi/
Ed on Bloomberg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbKDmkJPVvI
The AI industry's profit problem is getting bigger, says Goldman Sachs' equity research chief
https://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-ai-boom-profit-problem-semiconductor-chip-companies-investment-2026-6
Bloomberg: AI’s Bills Are Bigger Than Ever, And Coming Due https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2026-06-04/the-ai-boom-s-next-test-is-the-roi-worth-the-cost
Axios: AI sticker shock hits corporate America https://www.axios.com/2026/05/28/ai-spending-roi-enterprise-costs
Uber COO story: https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-coo-andrew-macdonald-ai-token-spending-harder-justify-2026-5
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
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Speaker 20:03
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Speaker 30:31
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Speaker 41:04
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