The Vibes-Based Pricing of ‘Pro’ AI Software

Lauren Goode: All right. Actually, not. But last fall, I went to an event for Worldcoin, which is Sam Altman’s other company. It was a super weird, vibey crypto eye-scanning thing at a warehouse in the Mission District of San Francisco.

Michael Calore: The orb?

Lauren Goode: This party had everything. Yeah. But there was swag there, and there was a really nice sweatshirt that had “World” emblazoned on it. I looked at the label, and it’s by a company called Original Favorites, so I ordered one. I have the Sam Altman Worldcoin sweatshirt without the World logo on it. I’m showing it to you right now.

Michael Calore: Yeah. This is what you’re wearing.

Lauren Goode: And I love this sweatshirt. It’s like in the ’90s when you used to buy sweatshirts, and they were so rough and tough they almost felt like cardboard.

Michael Calore: Yes.

Lauren Goode: Like good old Champion sweatshirts, you know what I mean?

Michael Calore: Yes.

Lauren Goode: That feeling. And you’d wash it a hundred times, and it would still have that… This is what this is.

Michael Calore: It looks fabulous.

Lauren Goode: Thank you.

Michael Calore: Congratulations.

Lauren Goode: Mike, what’s your recommendation?

Michael Calore: Oh, gosh. I’m going to recommend some stand-up comedy for our times.

Lauren Goode: Do it.

Michael Calore: It’s the new Marc Maron stand-up special that’s on HBO. It came out a week ago or so. It’s called “Panicked,” and it is quite good. In particular, I’m recommending it because there’s a fantastic riff, like right in the middle, a whole bit about the app Watch Duty, which is the app that people use to track wildfires. It became very popular in Los Angeles at the beginning of 2025 when LA was devastated by all of the wildfires. Well, Marc tells the story about how he had Watch Duty and could not understand the notifications in the app. He didn’t know whether or not he should evacuate, so he grabbed all of his cats and evacuated and just absolutely did not need to. It’s this really fun, long story, but it’s also just very good. The whole thing is very good. If you’re familiar with Marc Maron’s comedy, you’ll know that he’s very dark, and this special does get very dark, particularly in the second half. But I can highly recommend it. If you know him and you like him, you will love it.

Lauren Goode: Adding it to the watch list.

Michael Calore: Great.

Lauren Goode: Adding it to Watch Duty. Our guy, Boone Ashworth, who used to produce this show for us, wrote a feature story this year about Watch Duty, too.

Michael Calore: He did. He did.

Lauren Goode: So we’ll include that in the show notes.

Michael Calore: Yes.

Lauren Goode: And Mike, you’re never leaving us again, right? No more vacations for you ever?

Michael Calore: Never ever.

Lauren Goode: Thank God.

Michael Calore: I’ll be sitting here behind the microphone until the end of time.

Lauren Goode: The best chatbot there is.

Michael Calore: Thanks for listening to Uncanny Valley. If you liked what you heard today, make sure to follow our show and rate it on your podcast app of choice. If you would like to get in touch with us with questions, comments, or show suggestions, write to us at uncannyvalley@wired.com. Today’s show is produced by Adriana Tapia and Marc Leyda. Amar Lal at Macrosound mixed this episode. Marc Leyda is our SF Studio engineer. Meghan Herbst fact-checked this episode. Daniel Roman fact-checked this episode. Kate Osborne is our executive producer. Katie Drummond is WIRED’s global editorial director, and Chris Bannon is Condé Nast’s head of Global Audio.

Original Author: Lauren Goode, Michael Calore, Reece Rogers | Source: Wired