
Elon Musk vs OpenAI and the Met Gala tech takeover
From The Times Tech Podcast by The Sunday Times
May 7, 2026 · 40 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the intersection of technology and culture at the Met Gala, alongside Elon Musk's legal issues with OpenAI and the implications for the tech industry.
The Met Gala has been dubbed the “Tech Gala” after a heavy Silicon Valley presence and sponsorship from Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez. But as tech billionaires try to win over culture, Elon Musk’s court battle with OpenAI is exposing the messy origins of the AI boom. Danny Fortson has been covering the California trial, now in its second week, where OpenAI president Greg Brockman has taken the stand. He and Katie Prescott discuss Big Tech’s cultural rebrand, the courtroom drama, and why companies from Coinbase to Meta are increasingly linking layoffs and restructuring to AI. Plus, Bebo co-founder Michael Birch on relaunching the social network and why he thinks AI could become an existential threat. Get in touch: techpod@thetimes.co.uk Producer : Marnie Duke Executive Producer : Priyanka Deladia Image: Getty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
People in this episode
Host: Danny Fortson
Guests: Greg Brockman, Katie Prescott, Michael Birch
Topics covered
- AI
- court battle
- tech culture
- Met Gala
- Big Tech
- layoffs
- social media
Keywords
- Elon Musk
- OpenAI
- Met Gala
- AI boom
- Big Tech
- courtroom drama
- layoffs
- social network
- Michael Birch
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: OpenAI, Coinbase, Meta
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