Peter Kafka
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pkafka.bsky.social
Peter Kafka
@pkafka.bsky.social
4.3K followers 310 following 270 posts
Bleep blop bloop. Talking https://link.chtbl.com/kafka typing https://www.businessinsider.com/author/peter-kafka
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pkafka.bsky.social
Lots to talk about with Atlantic mag CEO @nxthompson.bsky.social : Working for billionaire Laurene Powell Jobs, his side-hustle as a content creator; what worked, and didn't w/his OpenAI deal.

Excerpt: www.businessinsider.com/atlantic-nic...

Full pod: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
Atlantic CEO Nicholas Thompson on working for Laurene Powell Jobs, OpenAI, and making his own videos
Atlantic CEO Nicholas Thompson talks about his OpenAI deal, his billionaire owner, and why he makes his own videos
www.businessinsider.com
September 11, 2026 at 3:15 PM
pkafka.bsky.social
The federal government spent years talking about regulating Big Tech and did nothing except file lawsuits - and those have all been failures.

Still a couple last gasps left (Amazon and Apple suits) but I wouldn't hold your breath.

www.businessinsider.com/google-antit...
How Google, Meta and Big Tech have fought the US — and won.
The government can make Big Tech pay. But it can't make it smaller, which was the point.
www.businessinsider.com
September 3, 2026 at 3:21 PM
pkafka.bsky.social
Talked to Semafor's great @daveweigel.bsky.social who talks to humans outside of DC + San Francisco) about the techlash origin story.

Excerpts at BI www.businessinsider.com/voter-ai-bac... Full serving (with Flock and Elon #content) at Channels www.businessinsider.com/voter-ai-bac...
September 2, 2026 at 1:05 PM
pkafka.bsky.social
Paramount in June: Unnamed people who want to break up our Warner deal are antisemites.

www.businessinsider.com/paramount-la...

Paramount Friday: Actually we're talking about Mark Ruffalo:

variety.com/2026/film/ne...
Paramount's top lawyer says some people who don't like the Warner Bros. deal are antisemitic
Paramount's deal to buy Warner Bros. still needs regulators' approval, so it's striking to see him link some opponents of the tie-up to antisemitism.
www.businessinsider.com
August 24, 2026 at 2:36 PM
pkafka.bsky.social
The reason you don't like data centers is because China has brainwashed you, using the social media platforms run by the people who want to build data centers.

Wake up, sheeple.

By me:
www.businessinsider.com/china-data-c...
Tech responds to America's anti-AI backlash by blaming China. Good luck with that.
There are lots of reasons Americans overwhelmingly oppose data centers. But for some tech types, it's just easier to blame China.
www.businessinsider.com
August 21, 2026 at 4:31 PM
pkafka.bsky.social
One billion Zuck Bucks, coming to a data center near you.

www.businessinsider.com/meta-ai-data...
Data centers are unpopular. Meta thinks it can solve that with a $1 billion fund.
You can tell people AI data centers are good for them and they may never believe you. But a $1 billion check from Mark Zuckerberg might persuade them.
www.businessinsider.com
August 10, 2026 at 2:41 PM
pkafka.bsky.social
Some media criticism that's really just all of us criticism: Stuff that would properly be a 5 alarm fire is just a weekend news cycle now.

www.businessinsider.com/trump-pool-s...
Donald Trump peddled a story about his pool — and his prosecutors turned into federal charges
We are very used to Donald Trump saying things that aren't true. This is something different.
www.businessinsider.com
August 3, 2026 at 8:54 PM
pkafka.bsky.social
Some chatter about Paramount and the Ellisons being worried about a Democrat-run Congress this fall. Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw thinks that's overblown.

www.businessinsider.com/paramount-wa... full conversation on my Channels podcast podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
Why a settlement in the Paramount/Warner Bros. court case could be tough: Q&A with Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw
A conversation with Bloomberg Hollywood watcher Lucas Shaw about happens next in a blockbuster court case.
www.businessinsider.com
July 29, 2026 at 2:39 PM
pkafka.bsky.social
Facebook wants to become TikTok. It will start testing a new, TikTok-ified version of the app this fall.

Another move away from "social media" and towards endless streams of video.

www.businessinsider.com/facebook-tik...
Facebook is going to see what happens if it turns into TikTok
It's the circle of life, social media style.
www.businessinsider.com
July 24, 2026 at 6:02 PM
pkafka.bsky.social
You may think the NYT didn't adequately prepare readers for the consequences of a Trump victory in 2024.

Joe Kahn, the paper's top editor, disagrees.

From his Channels chat with me: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
July 8, 2026 at 3:27 PM
Reposted by Peter Kafka
bryancurtis.bsky.social
New PRESS BOX:

Trump's UFC Birthday Party
Vance's Book Tour
World Cup Takes
Mike Breen + the Knicks

PLUS: Fox-Roku and Rupert's NFL Gambit w/ @pkafka.bsky.social
open.spotify.com/episode/77Qz...
World Cup Takes and Trump’s UFC Birthday Party. Plus, Peter Kafka on Fox and Roku.
The Press Box · Episode
open.spotify.com
June 17, 2026 at 3:28 AM
pkafka.bsky.social
Why the Apple AI price hikes matter, even if you don't need a new MacBook:
"Tech usually succeeds by bringing people something new or making something radically cheaper. Now tech says the same stuff you bought yesterday costs much more today."
New from me:
www.businessinsider.com/apple-ai-pri...
Apple just told consumers they need to foot the bill for AI data centers
AI might be awesome in the future. Right now, it's making things more expensive.
www.businessinsider.com
June 25, 2026 at 3:10 PM
pkafka.bsky.social
There's a world where US regulators really scrutinize a $22b deal that gives a big media company control of a big distribution company. Luckily for the Murdochs we don't live in that world.

www.businessinsider.com/murdoch-roku...
June 15, 2026 at 6:34 PM
Reposted by Peter Kafka
joshsternberg.com
"It is the rare media story that has broken containment." @pkafka.bsky.social interviews @brianstelter.bsky.social about the CBS of it all. www.businessinsider.com/bari-weiss-b...
CNN's Brian Stelter on Bari Weiss, CBS News and David Ellison: 'They have eroded trust.'
Bari Weiss may be right to want to remake CBS News, says CNN's media analyst. But she could be "doing the right things, maybe in the wrong ways."
www.businessinsider.com
June 10, 2026 at 10:39 PM
Reposted by Peter Kafka
tariqpanja.bsky.social
“For the past year, FIFA, has leased an office on the 17th floor of New York’s Trump Tower that has sat all but empty. The rent goes to President Trump’s family business, but the space sits largely idle. Paying rent to the Trumps was the choice of Gianni Infantino.”

www.nytimes.com/2026/06/09/w...
A Yearslong Effort to Woo Trump Culminates With the World Cup
www.nytimes.com
June 10, 2026 at 12:02 PM
pkafka.bsky.social
Paramount won't tell me why its top lawyer says some people who don't like the Warners deal are antisemites.

So I took a guess.

www.businessinsider.com/paramount-la...
Paramount's top lawyer says some people who don't like the Warner Bros. deal are antisemitic
Paramount's deal to buy Warner Bros. still needs regulators' approval, so it's striking to see him link some opponents of the tie-up to antisemitism.
www.businessinsider.com
June 2, 2026 at 8:41 PM
pkafka.bsky.social
Excerpts for people in the "text space": www.businessinsider.com/jim-bankoff-...
May 20, 2026 at 9:14 PM
pkafka.bsky.social
New: My deeply conflicted conversation with Vox Media's Jim Bankoff about selling half his company - including the part I work with - to James Murdoch.

My main q: What does it tell us when a podcast network is the thing media buyers really want?

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
Channels with Peter Kafka
Business News Podcast · Updated Weekly · Media and tech aren’t just intersecting — they’re fully intertwined. And to understand how those worlds work, and what they mean for you, veteran journalist Pe...
podcasts.apple.com
May 20, 2026 at 9:06 PM
pkafka.bsky.social
Bonus chat at the end: Why Charlie has reluctantly returned to posting over at...
pkafka.bsky.social Peter Kafka @pkafka.bsky.social · May 13
Very belated news: Last week I talked to the Atlantic's excellent @cwarzel.bsky.social about all the things: Why AI slop may not be inevitable; why Charlie jumped face-first into YouTube; working in old media, then Substackland and back to old media, and more.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
The Internet’s Let-It-Rip Era, With The Atlantic's Charlie Warzel
Podcast Episode · Channels with Peter Kafka · May 6 · 1h 4m
podcasts.apple.com
May 13, 2026 at 2:19 PM
pkafka.bsky.social
Very belated news: Last week I talked to the Atlantic's excellent @cwarzel.bsky.social about all the things: Why AI slop may not be inevitable; why Charlie jumped face-first into YouTube; working in old media, then Substackland and back to old media, and more.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
The Internet’s Let-It-Rip Era, With The Atlantic's Charlie Warzel
Podcast Episode · Channels with Peter Kafka · May 6 · 1h 4m
podcasts.apple.com
May 13, 2026 at 2:19 PM
pkafka.bsky.social
On the one hand, Byron Allen is paying $120 million for half of BuzzFeed, and Wall Street thinks all of BuzzFeed is only worth $30 million.

On the other hand, Allen is only paying $20 million today.

Last hand: The 2010s were great until they weren't.

www.businessinsider.com/buzzfeed-why...
Byron Allen wanted to own Paramount. He's buying BuzzFeed instead.
BuzzFeed was supposed to be the future of media. But that future wasn't supposed to be a last-ditch sale.
www.businessinsider.com
May 11, 2026 at 11:19 PM
pkafka.bsky.social
MURDOCH: I'm publishing a story about your birthday note to Epstein.

TRUMP: I'm suing you for $10 billion.

MURDOCH: Cool. Hey I need a favor: Can you help me squeeze the NFL?

www.businessinsider.com/murdoch-trum...
Why Rupert Murdoch is asking Donald Trump for help fighting the NFL
Rupert Murdoch's Fox depends on the NFL for ratings. And he's worried that streaming deals will give the NFL even more leverage.
www.businessinsider.com
May 8, 2026 at 4:03 PM
Reposted by Peter Kafka
mims.bsky.social
Who's going to buy into the gigantic IPOs of companies with no profits and questionable paths to profitability, such as SpaceX and OpenAI?

You will, through your employer's retirement plan, writes @jmackin2.bsky.social

www.wsj.com/finance/stoc...
Stock Indexes Are Contorting Themselves to Include SpaceX and OpenAI
Index funds holding trillions of dollars of 401(k)s and other investments are rushing to change their rules as the IPOs of SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic draw closer.
www.wsj.com
May 3, 2026 at 10:32 AM
pkafka.bsky.social
I talked with the excellent @ftrain.bsky.social about the revolution in coding, why you (me, really) shouldn't feel bad about not vibe coding - and what all this means for normals.

Excerpts: www.businessinsider.com/ai-code-vibe... Whole pod on Channels: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
Paul Ford wrote the seminal story on coding. Now, he's blown away by AI.
Coder and writer Paul Ford says he's blown away by the work AI can do in software now. "It's a very shocking moment."
www.businessinsider.com
May 1, 2026 at 2:32 PM
pkafka.bsky.social
Donald Trump owns Truth Social. But when his wife wanted to use the power of the White House to silence Jimmy Kimmel, she relied on Elon Musk's X.

New from me: www.businessinsider.com/melania-trum...
April 27, 2026 at 6:49 PM