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Max Chafkin

@chafkin.bsky.social
6.5K followers 203 following 397 posts

Reporter at Bloomberg Businessweek and co-host of the new podcast "Everybody's Business." Also co-host of "Elon Inc." and author of “The Contarian: Peter Thiel and the Rise of the Silicon Valley Oligarchs.” Msg me on signal: @chafkin.83

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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
this week's ep of everybody's business is great. We cover the insurance industry's decision to stop covering a category of wonderdrug, the ethics of debt, and and and *that* iced coffee story podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...
podcasts.apple.com
Why Are Employers Dropping GLP-1 Coverage?
Podcast Episode · Everybody's Business · September 25 · 38m
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
went into @vauhinivara.bsky.social's businessweek article, and this conversation, very skeptical of Pangram, and came away feeling more optimistic about our ability to fight actual risks posed by ai www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
Is It Really AI End Times or Just ‘Cognitive Surrender’?
On this episode, we drill into the week’s apocalyptic warnings and a way to protect student brains from chatbot-induced atrophy.
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
This weeks ep is great. We talk about AI and crime @evrat.bsky.social and explain why AI data centers are driving up interest rates for everybody www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
drivers will keep doing this as long as tsla and others pretend that fsd is, by itself, *safer* than a human. it makes intuitive sense, i know, but its just not true -- not even with waymo, which operates with human oversight (in a much more responsible way). futurism.com/advanced-tra...
futurism.com
Tesla Driver Killed After Self-Driving Mode Stops in the Middle of a Highway
A Tesla running Autopilot or Full Self-Driving was rear-ended after the car stopped in the middle of the highway, killing the driver.
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
one of the Coinbase guys (and a significant donor to Pro Trump PACs) is making a play for a bunch of Venezuelan oil fields www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
Coinbase Co-Founder Seeks Fields in Venezuela Oil Shakeup
Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam is seeking control of at least three Venezuelan oil fields, according to people familiar with the negotiations, as Washington reshapes the country’s oil industry and re...
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
oh
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Jason Gale @jasongale.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
What has Covid left behind for the scientists who study dangerous viruses? @chafkin.bsky.social and I spent time with Bob Garry, whose shrinking Tulane lab offers a glimpse of what’s happening to virology just as the forces that drive outbreaks grow. 🎁🔗👇 www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
bloomberg.com
A Top Virus Scientist Stared Down Covid Lab-Leak Proponents. Now His Life’s Work Is at Stake
The battle over Covid’s origins has come for Bob Garry, who’s faced some of the world’s deadliest viral threats.
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
wrote about the experience of watching one's life's work get set on fire because..."lab leak." A profile of the virologist Robert Garry with the great @jasongale.bsky.social. gift link. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
bloomberg.com
A Top Virus Scientist Stared Down Covid Lab-Leak Proponents. Now His Life’s Work Is at Stake
The battle over Covid’s origins has come for Bob Garry, who’s faced some of the world’s deadliest viral threats.
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
When you hear people warn about the dangers of digitial authoriarianism, this is what they’re talking about www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
bloomberg.com
TikTok Withheld a Safety Feature From Millions. One Died by Suicide
A confidential document says an algorithm adjustment was kept from many users “by design,” as part of an experiment to measure engagement.
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
ready to be made a fool of, but www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
bloomberg.com
The ‘Elon Premium’ Isn’t What It Once Was
SpaceX’s first earnings call will test Musk’s ability to cheer investors in the rocket maker.
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
for @bloomberg.com wrote about the fracturing of trump's coalition, among other things (gift link) www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
bloomberg.com
A Wall Street Troll Reinvented Himself as the Groypers’ Pick for Governor. The GOP Can’t Get Rid of Him
James Fishback isn’t likely to be running Florida next year, but the self-styled right-of-MAGA candidate is polling well enough to leave Republicans worried about their party’s future.
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
come on man www.ft.com/content/7e14...
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Dana Hull @danahull.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
NHTSA will start developing new requirements to ensure drivers and passengers can safely exit their vehicles, a significant move to address issues exposed by deadly incidents in which people have become trapped inside cars. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
US to Begin Work on New Car Door Safety Rules After Deaths in Teslas
US auto safety regulators will start developing new requirements to ensure drivers and passengers can safely exit their vehicles, a significant move to address issues exposed by sometimes deadly incid...
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
i'm not sure people appreciate how intertwined Tesla and SpaceX are at this point, merger no merger. Without SpaceX, Teslas finances would look way worse, to say nothing of Cybertruck sales www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
i wonder if the cybertruck would have been received differently if its ceo wasn't simultaneously embracing white nationalism, though this story makes clear that car buyers just really really don't want a weird looking car www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
bloomberg.com
Tesla’s Cratering Cybertruck Sales Evoke Ford Edsel Comparisons
Both automakers expected consumers to buy hundreds of thousands of their futuristic models per year. Tesla’s pickup is missing the mark by a wider margin.
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
On the high cost of fun, and the high cost of electricity. New episode! www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
The Great American Fun Shortage of 2026
This week on Everybody’s Business, Bloomberg reporter Ben Steverman joins to explore the reasons why happiness in the US has been on the decline for years.
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
new episode -- with guest host @bradstone.bsky.social. We go deep on Lilly and the business of weight loss and then talk to @bethkowitt.bsky.social about why nobody likes ceos anymore, not even ceos www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
The Cult of the C-Suite Is Officially Over
On this episode of Everybody’s Business, we explain why chief executives are feeling especially unloved these days.
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
So strange to have this thoughts and then conclude that the solution is a screen flush against your face
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
the spacex ipo makes no sense (gift link here) www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
We’re All on Starship Elon Now
SpaceX is coming to a mutual fund or 401(k) near you.
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Lizzie and I do some Elon math this week
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
come join us if youre a bloomberg subscriber and mark will answer all your apple questions
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
new episode! @svaneksmith.bsky.social and i talk to @javierblas.bsky.social about Hormuz, oil and NACHO and @lucasshaw.bsky.social on the great box office comeback and the question of scrolling in the theater. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
Where’s the Global Economic Meltdown?
The Strait of Hormuz has been closed for almost 100 days, and things were meant to be dire by now. Also on Everybody’s Business, the summer movie industry.
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
really enjoyed this one. me and @svaneksmith.bsky.social talking to the people who run an honest-to-god state backed grocery store (Atlanta's Azalea Fresh Market, which is a sort of model for what Mamdani is trying to do in nyc). www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
This enhanced games debacle reminds me of the last time a bunch of Thiel acolytes attempted (very clumsily) to star a sports company. From my book
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
this week on everybody's business! bonds, basics, basketball and the redditors who are trying to help World Cup fans best FIFA. like/subscribe/etc podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i...
podcasts.apple.com
Is That T-Shirt Worth $100 Million?
Podcast Episode · Everybody's Business · May 22 · 39m
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
come on man www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/b...
nytimes.com
Book on Truth in the Age of A.I. Contains Quotes Made Up by A.I.
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
wrote about dem presidential hopeful and Epstein files advocate Ro Khanna, who is adapting as a large number of voters have turned against AI and tech wealth. Gift link www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
bloomberg.com
Even Silicon Valley’s Congressman Wants to Rein in AI
Ro Khanna spent years cheering on the tech industry and building ties with wealthy donors. Now he’s pitching himself as a presidential contender with a wealth tax and tough talk about the “Epstein cla...
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
i reviewed "AI For Good" in the NYT today. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/b...
nytimes.com
Will A.I. Help Humanity? A Journalist Looks for Answers.
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
On tonight at 11
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
a trial over "moral high ground" among counterparties who've both lost it www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
The Messy, Humiliating Courtroom Drama Between Elon Musk and OpenAI
Artificial intelligence companies were already unpopular before the billionaires started fighting in court.
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
new ep! MAHA vs. Trump, with noted alien enthusiast @deenashanker.bsky.social and what might an OpenAIPhone look like with @markgurman.bsky.social. Like/subscribe etc etc. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
Ready or Not, the AI Phones Are Coming
OpenAI is mulling a possible battle with Apple, Samsung, Huawei and other device-makers to create its own smartphone.
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
The ticket prices are too damn high! We discuss www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
Why If the War Doesn’t End Soon, Everyone Will Pay
Like the Ernest Hemingway quote, the energy crisis triggered by the US-Israel conflict with Iran will get worse gradually, then suddenly.
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
this podcast from is so good and is worth your time www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
bloomberg.com
How the Murder of Bob Lee Fueled Tech’s Rightward Swing
The 2023 murder of a tech executive seemed to fit neatly into narratives about street crime in liberal cities, until it didn’t.
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
we talked the attack on Altman and the AI backlash with @sarahfrier.bsky.social. Plus why's it so damn hard to get hired straight out of college right now and Allbirds but AI. LISTEN/SUBSCRIBE/ETC www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
Why the AI Backlash Is Only Going to Get Worse
More Americans are experiencing firsthand the negative effects of the technology on the labor market, the environment and their wallets.
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
you'll never guess who the biggest fan of Elon Musk's much maligned pickup truck is www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
Tesla Cybertruck Sales Were Inflated by a SpaceX Buying Spree
Almost one in five pickups registered during the fourth quarter went to another company in the billionaire’s business empire.
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Did anybody else think that the bread in the Atlantic story sounded basically identical to the Kirkland Signature Cranberry Walnut loaf (good loaf fwiw)
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
new everybody's business. taxes, Iran, and the $7 bag of Doritos, with @svaneksmith.bsky.social and Ben Steverman. subscribe! www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
It’s not news that there’s a reality distortion field around Musk, but I don’t think people quite realize how big the gap between reality and expectations has gotten (gift link) www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
this was fun! Me and @pkafka.bsky.social talking about the SpaceX IPO, Trump, Musk and the nature of a new kind of business celebrity podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
podcasts.apple.com
Why We Need to Pay Attention to Elon Musk Again
Podcast Episode · Channels with Peter Kafka · April 1 · 50m
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Will be joining tonight to talk about the war, the markets, and the economy. See you in a few minutes!
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
seems like the beginning and end of this is that normal people didn't like sora very much www.wsj.com/business/med...
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
This is a good one. @tracyalloway.bsky.social explains private credit markets and we talk about the great baseball resurgence with Randall Williams. Like/subscribe/etc. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
bloomberg.com
What We Do in the Shadows: Will Private Credit Take Down the Economy?
On Everybody’s Business, we find out if a trillion-dollar business is too big to fail
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Goldman gave Kathryn Ruemmler of “Uncle Jeffrey” fame a big raise. She made $25 million last year www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
new episode of everybody's business is all about eroding trust in capitalism -- epstein, retirement, airplane lines www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
America’s Crisis of Faith Amid the Global Chaos
In Everybody’s Business, we trace the invisible threads connecting two-hour security lines, the Epstein files and a crumbling social safety net.
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
“Real businesses in the real world”
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
guys, its you. (new from me in @bloomberg.com. Gift link here: www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...)
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
We talked about this on the podcast as well but if the war ended tomorrow gas prices could stay elevated for months
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Money Power Politics with Stephanie Ruhle @moneypowerpolitics.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
"The market is really underestimating the economic shock this is going to cause." Oil execs are warning of a fuel supply crunch if the war with Iran is not quickly resolved. @chafkin.bsky.social and @bharatramamurti.bsky.social discuss the global economic impact of the conflict on the #11thHour.
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Elon Musk is backing "JD Vance 2.0" in Kentucky -- a Thiel connected tech guy who can sling an insult. Tech types love it. Question is can Musk's money convince voters (gift link) www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
Elon Musk Is Backing ‘JD Vance 2.0.’ Some Republicans Aren’t Sure That’s a Good Thing
So far, Musk’s super PAC money has done little to sway a Kentucky race.
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Max Chafkin @chafkin.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
"he doesn't judge" www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
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