Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson Facebook is Dead; Long Live Meta, Does OpenAI Need to Log Off?, Questions on Bubbles, Blackberry, and Bell Labs
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Aug 15, 2025 The discussion kicks off with Meta's impressive earnings report and its newfound investor trust. Conversations shift to OpenAI's GPT-5, the challenges of user experience, and the ongoing AGI race. Nostalgia strikes as they explore Blackberry's comeback and intriguing tidbits about Bell Labs. Finally, they tackle the historical context of tech bubbles and Apple's corporate strategies, contemplating the balance between innovation and financial maneuvers, alongside a quirky analogy comparing Google's structure to slime mold.
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Meta’s Build-Then-Monetize Playbook
- Meta's pattern: build product, get users, then add monetization, so short-term dips can presage long-term growth.
- Investors often misread these cycles and have historically underappreciated Meta's organic monetization runway.
Feed As An Individualized Agent
- Meta's recent ad growth came from better recommendations and more short-form video inventory, not AGI-level breakthroughs.
- Meta now treats the feed as an individualized entertainment agent that captures attention and serves ads.
The Perils Of Being Too Online
- Consumer products face huge public pressure because tiny percentage changes affect millions of users who can be very vocal.
- Founders must balance online feedback with broad user data to avoid being hijacked by a small loud minority.