Why Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg went to war over WordPress
Today, I’m talking with Matt Mullenweg, the founder and CEO of Automattic and the public face of WordPress. Last year, Matt essentially went to war, publicly and in the courts, against a hosting company called WP Engine, and there’s been significant fallout at Automattic and the broader WordPress community.
It’s been a long, drawn-out saga. That said, Matt was willing to come on the show and talk through some of this thinking here, why he made some of the decisions he did, and also what he regrets about how some of this went down.
Links:
The messy WordPress drama, explained | Verge
Celebrating 20 Years of Automattic | Automattic
Matt Mullenweg: ‘WordPress.org just belongs to me’ | Verge
Automattic offered employees another chance to quit over | Verge
WordPress owner Automattic is laying off 16 percent of workers | Verge
Tumblr will move all of its blogs to WordPress | Verge
Beeper was just acquired by Automattic | Verge
Automattic acquires relationship manager Clay | TechCrunch
How WordPress and Tumblr are keeping the internet weird | Decoder
How to buy a social network, with Tumblr CEO Matt Mullenweg | Decoder
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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1:09:03
Hinge CEO Justin McLeod says dating AI chatbots is 'playing with fire'
Today, I’m talking with Hinge founder and CEO Justin McLeod. Hinge is one of the biggest dating apps in the United States — it’s rivaled only by Tinder, and both are owned by the massive conglomerate Match Group, which has consolidated a huge chunk of the online dating ecosystem.
Justin and I dug into that here, and we also explored some of the thorny issues around AI and dating, Hinge’s monetization, and data privacy in the second Trump administration. This is a fun one, with a whole lot going on. I think you’ll like it.
Read the full interview transcript here on The Verge.
Links:
How We Do Things | Hinge
Hinge’s First Gen Z Report | Hinge
Hinge’s new AI feature judges your prompt responses | TechCrunch
When Cupid Is a prying journalist | NYT / Modern Love
Tinder CEO Faye Iosotaluno to step down in July | CNBC
Match Group CEO Rascoff to lead struggling Tinder app | WSJ
Replika CEO says it’s okay if we end up marrying AI chatbots | Decoder
Apple ordered to keep web links in the App Store | Verge
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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1:07:28
Monopoly isn’t a game (with Lina Khan)
Hey everyone, it’s Nilay. Decoder is on a short summer break right now, but we’ll be back starting June 23 with new episodes, and we’re very excited for what we have on the schedule.
In the meantime, we have an episode from the excellent podcast Stay Tuned with Preet, with host and former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. Last month, Preet sat down with former FTC Chair Lina Khan for a pretty high-level discussion about antitrust, monopoly power, and the ongoing shift from both political parties in the United States toward more aggressive, bipartisan regulation of Big Tech. I think you’ll find it really interesting.
Links:
Stay Tuned with Preet | Apple Podcasts
Google loses ad tech monopoly case | Verge
Judge greenlights FTC’s antitrust suit against Amazon | Verge
Judge rules that Google ‘is a monopolist’ in US antitrust case | Verge
Illegally fired FTC commissioners on Meta, bribes, and fighting for privacy | Decoder
The case for breaking up Google has never been stronger | Decoder
DOJ antitrust chief is ‘overjoyed’ after Google monopoly verdict | Decoder
DOJ’s Kanter says the antitrust fight against Big Tech is just beginning | Decoder
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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1:04:36
Taskrabbit CEO Ania Smith isn’t afraid of AI robots replacing human labor
Today, I’m talking with Taskrabbit CEO Ania Smith. Taskrabbit is an interesting company; it’s known best for being a platform for hiring people to put together your furniture, so much so that Ikea acquired it in 2017. But Taskrabbit is still operating as a mostly independent company all these years later, and Ania is now in charge of maneuvering a fast-changing labor market during uncertain economic times and a potentially major AI disruption to the workforce on the horizon.
Help us plan for the future of Decoder by filling out a brief survey: voxmedia.com/survey. We’d really appreciate it. Thanks!
Links:
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky wants to build the everything app | Decoder
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is okay with reinventing the bus | Decoder
Google’s Project Mariner | Google
Uber is testing a service that lets you hire drivers for chores | Verge
Taskrabbit CEO on using empathy in leadership | Fortune
Taskrabbit takes over on-demand moving service Dolly | GeekWire
Ikea integrates Taskrabbit booking service into checkout | Retail Dive
TaskRabbit to close its offices, go entirely remote | MarketWatch
IKEA has bought TaskRabbit | TechCrunch
Taskrabbit CEO: People will still power an AI workforce | Verge
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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1:11:45
Why Runway CEO Cris Valenzuela thinks AI filmmaking is the future
Today, I’m talking with Runway CEO and co-founder Cris Valenzuela. This one’s special: Cris and I were live at an event in New York City last month hosted by Alix Partners, so you’ll hear the audience from time to time.
Runway is a leading AI video generation platform, and it’s getting better all the time. That puts Cris and his company on the same collision course with creators, artists, and copyright law as every other part of the AI industry — and you’ll hear Cris and I really get into all that here.
Links:
AMC Networks inks deal with AI company Runway | Hollywood Reporter
We made a film with AI. You’ll be blown away — and freaked out | WSJ
Mark Zuckerberg just declared war on the entire advertising industry | Verge
Runway says its latest AI video model can generate consistent scenes, people | Verge
Runway releases an impressive new video-generating AI model | TechCrunch
Runway Trained on Thousands of YouTube Videos Without Permission | 404 Media
Runway partners with Lionsgate to train on its catalog of video | Verge
AI companies lose bid to dismiss parts of visual artists' copyright case | Reuters
Help us plan for the future of Decoder by filling out this brief survey. Thank you!
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Decoder is a show from The Verge about big ideas — and other problems. Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel talks to a diverse cast of innovators and policymakers at the frontiers of business and technology to reveal how they’re navigating an ever-changing landscape, what keeps them up at night, and what it all means for our shared future.
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