E70: OpenAI’s Open Source Strategy, Volatility & Tariffs, and Automation’s Consequences w/ Byrne Hobart

"The Riff" with Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg

This week, Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg explore how technological advancements, policy shifts like Trump's tariffs and U.S. industrial policy, the re-industrialization of America, the influence of institutions like Harvard, the evolving role of the U.S. dollar, and the rise of OpenAI are reshaping global markets, businesses, and the future of artificial intelligence.

---

🙏 Help shape our show by taking our quick listener survey at https://bit.ly/TurpentinePulse.

---

Highlights from the Episode:

• Trump's Tariffs and Economic Impact: The recent tariff implementation appeared more spontaneous than strategic compared to earlier Trump administration policies.
• US-China Trade Relations: Debate over which country has more leverage: China can maintain production without US customers in the short term, but faces demographic challenges long-term.
• Strategic Industrial Policy: Byrne suggests focusing on industries with national security implications (drones, rare earth processing) rather than attempting to rebuild entire sectors.
• OpenAI Developments: Discussion of OpenAI's potential open-source strategy and how it might reinforce rather than undermine their business model.
• White Collar Employment Futures: Byrne explores whether white-collar workers might experience a similar pattern to manufacturing workers as AI adoption increases.

--

SPONSORS:

NetSuite

More than 41,000 businesses have already upgraded to NetSuite by Oracle, the #1 cloud financial system bringing accounting, financial management, inventory, HR, into ONE proven platform. Download the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine learning: https://netsuite.com/102

---

LINKS:

Byrne’s writing: https://thediff.co

---

X / TWITTER:

https://twitter.com/ByrneHobart (Byrne)

https://twitter.com/TurpentineMedia (Turpentine)