Group Chat News is back with the hottest news of the week, including:

DWP bills have Los Angeles furious. The viral clip, what everyone's latest bill looks like, and why the outrage is spreading.

Anthropic pledges up to 20% to a new public benefit fund. Where the money should go, whether it should go straight to kids under 18, and whether other AI companies will follow.

Two GLP 1s out earn AI. What GLP 1s mean for restaurants and grocery stores, why aisles may need to turn into beauty and wellness, and whether there will be a GLP 1 for social media.

Social media and the Social Reckoning movie, bots and fake news. Netflix cuts 6% of its workforce while YouTube takes the attention. Poppi's $2 billion Pepsi deal, the earnout in trouble, and why big companies buy challenger brands. The Elizabeth Holmes documentary, You Can See Everything. The midterms, France, and the state of politics.

Group Chat News, every week.

If you enjoy the show, please leave us a five star review on Apple or Spotify. It helps more than you know.

Group Chat News is back with the hottest news of the week, including:

The guys recap ComplexCon weekend at its 10th anniversary, the brands and creators that stood out, and why they go every year to take the pulse of the culture. Rick Rubin's Jay Z documentary on HBO sparks a debate on how rap storytelling has changed. Meta's Muse is saving people big money by cutting subscriptions and spending, Meta stock hits new highs after Connect, and the guys break down the Muse Charm, the camera free glasses, and why Zuck belongs on the Mount Rushmore of founders. Anthropic's $2 trillion IPO potential has the AI race heating up as Muse, Instinct, Grok in your Tesla, and Apple's missing AI fight for your personal agent, and only a tiny share of households pay for AI today.

Plus the death of the dinner party, why Americans have stopped hosting guests at home, how unstructured play and screen time are shaping kids, why social media is the fast food of entertainment, and why having no apps might become the ultimate status symbol.

If you enjoy the show, please leave us a five star review on Apple or Spotify. It helps more than you know.

Group Chat News is back with the hottest news of the week, including:

SpaceX is moving closer to becoming a phone carrier, and the group breaks down what SpaceX phone plans could mean for Verizon, AT&T and T Mobile, why telecom stocks dropped, and whether Elon builds a phone too. They also get into Starlink in India, flying with no Wi Fi, and why everyone seems to be on Full Self Driving.

Starbucks is reportedly exploring a takeover of Chipotle. The group talks about CEO Brian Niccol's path from Taco Bell to Chipotle to Starbucks, and whether the two brands make sense together.

A $3,000 LADWP bill sets off a conversation about skyrocketing power costs, data centers, and the ballot props. The group also gets into LA's cost of living, safety, and the election, whether it's time to test out Miami, and why LA felt different in the Entourage era.

Why nobody goes bowling anymore, from arcade prices to TikTok and AI slop.

The NFL's $23 billion in revenue, the push into flag football, what owners will mean for the league's future, and why Georgia Alabama was the biggest game of the weekend.

An AI model files a fake homicide tip with Philadelphia police, and the group debates whether AI leaders should release what they've built or stop sounding the alarm. Plus Elon's prediction that jobs could disappear in three years.

Group Chat News, every week.

If you enjoy the show, please leave us a five star review on Apple or Spotify. It helps more than you know.

Group Chat News is back with the hottest news of the week, including:

LA feels like it's losing its edge, and the guys debate whether it's gone for good. Nike loses Kylian Mbappé to On after nearly two decades, then bets its turnaround on Alexandre Arnault, the LVMH heir joining its board. Paramount threatens to leave California entirely over its Warner Bros Discovery merger fight. Meta's Muse is already catching up to the buzzier AI agents, a 23 year old's AI startup jumps from $50 million to a $10 billion valuation talk in months, and the guys ask if the whole thing is a bubble. Plus LeBron won't stop promoting Polymarket.

Group Chat News, every week.

If you enjoy the show, please leave us a five star review on Apple or Spotify. It helps more than you know.

Group Chat News is back with the hottest news of the week, including:

Dario Amodei, Sam Altman, and Elon Musk all agree AI needs to slow down, but is it real safety concern or a business strategy to lock out the competition. The guys break down the AI fear debate, why pessimists sound smart while optimists get rich, and what history says about doomsday predictions. Meta launched Muse, a new AI product, while every other tech CEO stayed quiet. Open Evidence is the AI tool doctors are now using to consult patients in real time. Anthropic is racing toward an IPO while OpenAI delays theirs.

Then Arch Manning and Texas complete a stunning comeback over Ohio State, Ben Shelton has America watching tennis again, a fantasy football punishment goes viral and the guys debate what to actually do with internet fame, and football is finally back.

If you enjoy the show, please leave us a five star review on Apple or Spotify. It helps more than you know.

Group Chat News is back with a midweek episode because there was too much news to wait.

Apple finally dropped the foldable. The iPhone Duo starts at $1,999, preorders open October 16 and it ships October 23. The guys get into whether a folding phone is actually worth two grand or whether it's pure novelty, why the phone might be the most valuable object you own even at that price, and what happens now that Tim Cook is out and John Ternus is running the company. The read on the new guy is that he's a gunslinger who takes big swings, and that the stock gets a lot more volatile from here.

Then Meta. Everybody counted Zuck out on AI and this week he dropped Muse, a consumer agent that connects to WhatsApp, your email, your calendar and your payments and actually does things instead of just talking to you. The stock jumped 7% on a $1.5 trillion company. The conversation goes into why Meta might be the only company that can connect all your worlds without a privacy fight, why consumer AI still feels boring compared to what businesses are doing with it, and the theory that most of this technology was built months ago and is being released slowly on purpose.

That leads into the resignation post that got 104 million views. A former AI lab employee walked out and torched the whole industry on the way, and the guys spend a while on why anyone would do that two weeks before an IPO. The theories get out of hand fast and it's the funniest stretch of the episode. Plus the argument that we have no idea what's already been built, and why prosperity might solve more problems than regulation ever will.

On the money side, gambling. Polymarket lets you sell your position mid game and the guys explain why that changes everything. LeBron signed a reported eight figure deal to be the face of it and is getting roasted. Bank of America data shows the average online bettor has 41% less in their bank account than someone who doesn't bet. The pitch here is simple: forget AI regulation, cap gambling at 10% of your income. Plus LIV Golf files for bankruptcy, Saudi money is drying up, and everything available is flowing into AI.

Then Ryan Tierney from Lo Siento joins to talk about what's actually happening in bars across the country. Whether Gen Z really stopped drinking, why a drink costs $30 in LA and $3.50 in Chicago, why wine is getting crushed while ready to drink cans are exploding, and how you build a tequila brand into 40 states in 60 days.

And football is back.

Group Chat News, every week.

If you enjoy the show, please leave us a 5-star review on Apple or Spotify. It helps more than you know.

Group Chat News is back and it's birthday week around here. Dee just turned 46 and, in his words, his body is weary.

That kicks off a conversation about hitting the back half of life, why time doesn't feel precious until friends start passing and your kids start growing, and whether younger people are actually living their lives or just watching everyone else live theirs. Then it's BTS selling out four nights at SoFi, Kanye in Chicago, and the argument that some artists get so big nothing can touch them, plus a whole generation of kids discovering Michael Jackson for the first time.

With Anand's birthday landing on September 11th, the guys get into the new Netflix documentary about how a generation that wasn't alive for it understands that day, whether it was the last time this country was actually unified, and how much of what we live with now traces back to it. That leads into surveillance. Flock cameras solving crimes in cities across America, Joe Rogan sounding the alarm about cops abusing access to them, and the uncomfortable truth that most people will trade their privacy for a shorter airport line.

On the money side there's a real enrollment crisis. LAUSD is down 50% in a decade, Syracuse now costs $69,000 a year, and the argument here is blunt: let the colleges fail. Then a pitch for the tech elites. Build the modern campus, charge 1995 prices, give them a football team, and earn back some trust while you're at it. Plus Nike gets removed from the S&P 100 after eighteen years, Nvidia is now 8% of the entire S&P 500, and everything that isn't AI is getting punished even when sales are up.

And of course: fantasy football, whether data ruined the draft, NIL, and why you should fire the dean if you lose your quarterback.

Group Chat News, every week.

If you enjoy the show, please leave us a 5-star review on Apple or Spotify. It helps more than you know.

Raissa Gerona and Michael Mente of Revolve are back on the show — two of the podcast's oldest friends, in the room together for the first time in a while.

Michael talks about the move to Vegas and what it's like running a company with your co-founder two states away after nearly twenty years side by side. Raissa gets into her new role as President of Brand and Partnerships, why she asked for it, and the friend who told her over dinner that presidents don't date presidents.

From there it goes everywhere. The fake NFL player who convinced dozens of people he was on an NFL roster and is now facing federal charges. Why nobody can tell who's real anymore when a watch, a car, and a house can all be rented. What "cool" even means when everyone has the same handbag and takes the same trip. Discovery ranches in Idaho, Nantucket in the summer, and why the best version of luxury might just be who you're with. Plus the guys get into AI, agents, and the robot that makes pancakes.

Group Chat News, every week.

If you enjoy the show, please leave us a 5-star review on Apple or Spotify it helps more than you know.