#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, x.com/Jessicalessin and Brit (x.com/brit) hold down the fort (while the husbands ski Alaska’s powder) with media heavyweights Ben Smith (x.com/semaforben) of Semafor and Nick Carlson (x.com/nichcarlson) 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: linkedin.com/in/ben-smith-04b1403
2) Nicholas Carlson: linkedin.com/in/nicholasmcarlson

We’re also on ↓
X: twitter.com/moreorlesspod
Instagram: instagram.com/moreorless
Spotify: podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/moreorlesspod

Connect with us here:
1) Ben Smith: x.com/semaforben
2) Nicholas Carlson: x.com/nichcarlson
3) Sam Lessin: x.com/lessin
4) Dave Morin: x.com/davemorin
5) Jessica Lessin: x.com/Jessicalessin
6) Brit Morin: 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