The Times Tech Podcast
The Times Tech Podcast
The Sunday Times
Elon Musk vs OpenAI and the Met Gala tech takeover
39 minutes Posted May 7, 2026 at 11:01 pm.
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Show notes

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.


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Producer: Marnie Duke

Executive Producer: Priyanka Deladia

Image: Getty


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