Michael Koukoullis

@JEChalmers reduce government spending

New numbers show inflation was steady in January but still higher than we’d like for longer than we’d like. That’s why we are rolling out cost of living relief to help people make ends meet, and why addressing these inflationary pressures will be a key focus of the Budget in May #auspol #ausecon

@DavidPocock Wealth tax? Nah, that’s straight-up asset seizure, the government already took its cut when you earned it, now it’s just raiding your private property because it exists.

Alan Kohler talking about the urgent need to tackle inequality. The major parties talk about it a lot but don't seem to want to do what it'll take: 💸 changes to CGT discount on investment properties 💸 start taxing wealth more than work 💸 get a fair return for our natural resources abc.net.au/news/2026-02-2…

Marc Andreessen: AI coding doesn’t eliminate programmers — it redefines them. The job is no longer typing code line by line, it’s orchestrating 10 coding bots in parallel, arguing with them, debugging their output, changing the spec, and pushing them toward the right result. But here’s the catch: if you don’t understand how to write code yourself, you can’t evaluate what the AI gives you. The next layer of programming isn’t writing scripts — it’s supervising AI that writes them. Today’s best programmers spend their day jumping between terminals, managing multiple coding bots, fixing mistakes, and refining instructions. The irony? You still need deep fundamentals, because without them, you won’t know when the AI is wrong. The job of the programmer has changed. Now it’s about arguing with coding bots, debugging AI-generated code, and understanding why something doesn’t work or isn’t fast enough. AI abstracts the work — but only people who truly understand code can tell if the abstraction is doing the right thing. Programmers aren’t going away — they’re becoming 10x, 100x, even 1,000x more productive. Tasks are changing, the job is changing, but humans are still overseeing the process, evaluating results, fixing errors, and making judgment calls. AI changes how we code, not who is responsible. The future programmer isn’t replaced by AI — they’re upgraded by it. You still need to learn how to write and understand code, because when the AI gets it wrong, humans are the ones who have to know why. That up-leveling of capability is the real revolution.

@Similarweb @chamath At what frequency is this report generated? How can I access them going forward?

@chamath Thank you for sharing our data, @chamath. Here is our concise Global AI Tracker for exploring trends across various sub-industries. similarweb.com/corp/wp-conten…

Here are two very important charts about the current AI boom. Chart 1: Distribution Matters Open AI is still the clear leader but, interestingly, they are loosing percentage share as the market grows. This is normal for a category leader but it’s curious who they are losing share to. It’s not really to other startups but incumbents with existing, massive distribution. This means that Google has a huge runway ahead of itself as their models and services become better. It also means that when/if Meta gets their act together, they will be able to gain share quickly. Lastly, it likely means that xAI will need to license Grok aggressively OR acquire existing distribution for their models - Snapchat, Pinterest etc. Chart 2: Coding Agents are Slopware App-crappers It should be concerning that this category is shrinking. I think the reason why is obvious but we aren’t allowed to talk about it. The reason is vibe coding is a joke. It is deeply unserious and these tools aren’t delivering when they encounter real world complexity (building quick demos isn’t complex) in any meaningful enterprise. Hence people try, pay, churn. This trend is not good.

@EddyJokovich I stopped watching about 3 years ago, it’s a crap shoot.

I gave up on #QandA some time ago, but watched 15 minutes of it tonight. I’ve hated so many episodes in recent years, but the first time I felt embarrassed for everyone involved. The audience, the panelists, the producers, the presenters. All the resources to deliver substance…

@Jason I’ve stopped listening to the pod. Too much politics and David Sacks is an insufferable partisan.

I agree Sacks should consider other bestie’s opinion more — and do so in good faith. The podcast is a conversation to be shared, not a debate to be won. All In is fantastic when we have a thoughtful discussion, but right now many folks tell me they feel we’re using the podcast to try to win an election. 🤷‍♀️ I can assure you I am not.

AI is replacing LSD dealers

@mattjcan I rarely agree with you but you’re spot on with this.

Even the RBA is saying that high government spending is stopping them from cutting interest rates. You're paying more on your mortgage thanks to Labor's addiction to spending large amounts of your money.

I rarely agree so completely with anything as this

@vel_is_lava @elonmusk and who has the time to listen to it!

How does @elonmusk have 8.5 hours for a chat?!

@marquelawyers I can’t find that tweet on his timeline, are you sure this is real?

@AdamBandt I vote for you, but this is a silly idea. government can’t run a chook raffle let alone an airline.

The Prime Minister should consider just buying Rex Airlines. Transport is an essential service, so why not protect people who rely on regional services by bringing this critical airline into public hands?

PG is one of the best all-around people i've ever met. to anyone who knows him well, this is a preposterous episode of "this week in twitter drama". there are many actual anti-semites in the world; it is important we keep the power in the word and not let it get diluted. PG is very much not an anti-semite and it's crazy to me that he's getting smeared for it; expressing opinions on the war in gaza and hating jewish people are the not the same thing.

Netanyahu is not only a war criminal. He is a liar. All humanitarian organizations agree: Tens of thousands of children face starvation because his extremist government continues to block aid. Israelis want him out of office. So he came to Congress to campaign.

@elonmusk @KanekoaTheGreat You don't have to invent conspiracy theories to explain what happened here. The simplest explanation is also the true one. He was declining due to old age, and in denial about it. His party rebelled. When enough of them told him to drop out, he dropped out.

OMG! Pete Buttigieg just DEMOLISHED JD Vance on Bill Maher’s show. Vance is a fraud and Secretary Buttigieg perfectly explains how. This is absolutely worth a watch.

We're almost there, folks.

Newly hired developer setting up their local development environment on their first day at work:

The Salary Trap: The worst mistake I've ever made.

Jillian Segal is an envoy for Israel, banking misconduct, and not much else by @BernardKeane ‘Jillian Segal has criticised ceasefire calls in Gaza and defended bombing hospitals. That, and her record at NAB, makes her a poor choice for a government role.’ ‘As immediate past president of the ardently pro-Israel Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Segal last November savaged Labor for daring to criticise Israel for bombing hospitals, calling such criticism a “libel” in a joint statementwith the right-wing Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler.’ Segal ‘was a director of the National Australia Bank (NAB) from 2004-16, during which numerous instances of misconduct occurred as part of a widespread pattern of banking scandals that led to the banking royal commission. NAB had already been forced in 2015 to start remediating victims of its wealth management arm, before the royal commission, for misconduct dating back to 2009. The royal commission revealed astonishing abuse of NAB’s “Introducer” program, which it hid from the corporate regulator, involving bribery and forgery.’ crikey.com.au/2024/07/10/jil…