Ben Thompson on elite pessimism
From What the Global Elite are Ignoring About AI | Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson · · Sharp Tech Podcast
“It was discouraging and disappointing the extent to which the supposed smartest people in the world, our elites, had such tiny imaginations.”
On , Ben Thompson, Founder at Stratechery, spoke about elite pessimism during What the Global Elite are Ignoring About AI | Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson on Sharp Tech Podcast.
About Ben Thompson
Ben Thompson, founder of Stratechery, has been writing and podcasting extensively about SpaceX's planned IPO and the potential for data centers in space. In a May 2026 article, Thompson argued that the case for space-based data centers rests on whether the concept is physically possible and whether there are reasons to believe it can happen, noting that SpaceX's track record with reusable rockets gives Elon Musk the benefit of the doubt. On his podcast, Thompson described SpaceX as "not a software company" that is "building real infrastructure that actually matters," and discussed the fundamental advantage of "free power" in space. He also expressed concern about the ability to "muster enough compute to fully realize the gains from AI" and said Musk's proposal for an alternative path to unlimited compute is "a relief." Thompson has also covered Anthropic's Mythos model, Apple's AI strategy, and the broader shift toward agentic inference. He wrote that Anthropic's decision not to make Mythos widely available reflects an "opportunity cost problem" regarding compute allocation, and that the company's willingness to pay for compute will drive supply. Regarding Apple, Thompson argued that the company's decision to open Siri to third-party AI assistants was a "good decision for short-term reasons" but may commit Apple to depending on third parties for AI "for the long run." He also discussed the "inference shift" in semiconductors, stating that the fundamental driver of the surge in chip stocks is the realization that "agents are going to need a lot of compute."