> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://spyglass.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Big Tech Conference Season - URL: https://spyglass.org/big-tech-conference-season/ - Published: 2026-06-10T15:36:58.000Z - Updated: 2026-06-10T15:53:41.000Z - Description: A chat about Google I/O, WWDC, Meta's business model, and Anthropic's IPO... - Author: M.G. Siegler - Tags: big technology, podcasts, wwdc, google io, meta, apple, google, iphone ultra, iphone fold, ai, tim cook, john ternus, spacex, openai, anthropic, stocks, tech, #nodate In the midst of Big Tech conference season, Alex Kantrowitz and I used [our monthly discussion](https://spyglass.org/tag/big-technology/) on his [*Big Technology*](https://www.bigtechnology.com/?ref=spyglass.org) *Podcast* to mainly go over Google I/O and preview WWDC. ### Google I/O Basically, [it felt like I/O underwhelmed](https://spyglass.org/google-io-2026/) because it centered around a lot of stuff that wasn't ready to roll – namely, their new flagship model, Gemini 3.5 Pro. But there wasn't a risk this would be like Apple two years ago at WWDC with [vaporware](https://spyglass.org/apple-ai-vaporware/) galore, it was more just strange to have a big event with many of your announcements not yet ready. Perhaps it's time to re-think such events in the Age of AI as the cadence of releases is just different, clearly. Alex is worried that Google is once again falling behind in AI, and Sundar Pichai [sort of admitted as much](https://spyglass.org/oliver/#:~:text=%F0%9F%A4%96%20Google%20Admits%20Being%20Behind%20in%20AI%20Coding) at least when it comes to the all-important coding capabilities at the moment. This matters because it could be the key to powerful agents and perhaps even AGI eventually thanks to [recursive self-improvement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recursive%5Fself-improvement?ref=spyglass.org). I mean, Google doesn't even have [a "Super App" yet](https://spyglass.org/super-app/). What are they doing? The answer seems to be working on "Omni Models" – read: ["World Models"](https://spyglass.org/llms-vs-world-models-ai/). But those too aren't quite ready to roll, so... Instead, we got a lot of updates to Google Search, which are interesting, but there's a real concern that Google won't be able to fully push into uncharted AI territory because of their myriad legacy products. Is the PM on Gmail going to let their product die in favor of Gemini simply doing email [on your behalf](https://spyglass.org/with-ai-email-may-actually-morph-into-a-task-list/)? No. While Google has done an incredible job [righting there ship](https://spyglass.org/google-slams-on-the-ai-gas/) after the Bard [stumbles out of the AI gate](https://spyglass.org/google-isnt-lazy-its-timid-as-it-sadly-must-be/), Big Company issues will always persist on some level... ### WWDC Meanwhile, with WWDC also [now in the rearview](https://spyglass.org/siri-ai/), our preview and discussion seems to hold up well. I noted we weren't likely to see any hardware and that a lot of people would view the event as underwhelming because it would basically be a do-over – [or mulligan](https://spyglass.org/new-new-siri/) – of the WWDC AI promises [from two years ago](https://spyglass.org/apple-intelligence/). I was curious how they would play up (or not) [the new Google partnership](https://spyglass.org/apple-google-siri-ai/), and to the surprise of many, it did get a nice, juicy mention during the keynote. As did Visual Intelligence, which [may be the key](https://spyglass.org/shudder-button/) to Apple's AI future [on the iPhone](https://spyglass.org/apples-next-big-ai-thing-the-iphone/) and beyond. For now though, it will be [more about voice](https://spyglass.org/vocal-computing-ai/), which again, the keynote made clear. Alex is very interested in the iPhone Fold/Ultra and while I didn't think there was any chance they'd show that off early – which they didn't, the first betas of iOS 27 *do* actually give some [major hints](https://9to5mac.com/2026/06/08/apple-leaks-foldable-iphone-references-in-ios-27-beta/?ref=spyglass.org) about it in the code. But we'll have to wait until early September for John Ternus' first keynote to actually see and hear about the device and it's perhaps [funky new form-factor](https://spyglass.org/iphone-ultra-blackberry-typing/). Maybe the most wild part of the entire show is that *Ternus wasn't a part of it, at all*! Instead, Tim Cook signed off [one final time](https://spyglass.org/tim-cook-steps-down-as-ceo-of-apple/) with a nice message. So if Ternus is going to [pull a Satya Nadella](https://spyglass.org/10-years-of-satya-nadella/) and do something big to signal [the start of his era](https://spyglass.org/the-pledge-the-ternus-the-prestige/) – like, say, *changing the App Store fees*? – that will have to wait until the Fall as well. ### Meta+ For the last segment, we talked a bit about [Meta's messy new premium tiers](https://spyglass.org/meta-one-premium/) for their social networks and what the strategy is here (hint: operation diversify from their ads business, which is 98% of Meta's revenues, as we move towards the AI future). Will they actually roll out [some sort of cloud offering](https://spyglass.org/meta-manus-deal/) as Mark Zuckerberg has [suggested](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/27/mark-zuckerberg-says-meta-starting-cloud-business-on-the-table.html?ref=spyglass.org), or was that simply to throw Wall Street a bone amidst all the [continued CapEx](https://spyglass.org/apple-crazy-capex/)? I mean, if SpaceX is [now a "neocloud"](https://spyglass.org/anthropic-spacex-xai-data-centers/)... ### One More Thing... But wait, there was *one more thing* for us as well. While we were recording, [news broke](https://spyglass.org/inklings-nvidias-cpus-anthropics-ipo-apples-smart-glasses-in-2027-intels-new-ai-gpu-surface-laptop-ultra/#:~:text=%F0%9F%93%88%20Anthropic%20Files%20to%20go%20Public) that Anthropic had filed confidentially to go public. This was a legitimate surprise since the word has already leaked out that [OpenAI was about to file](https://spyglass.org/ai-ipo-race/), but their rival beat them to the punch! And that's potentially a big problem for OpenAI as it makes for [a very tricky narrative](https://spyglass.org/openai-anthropic-ipo-pressure/) on their own would-be roadshow. They're now behind in both top-line and bottom-line numbers versus Anthropic, and Google has pulled even in terms of Gemini monthly active users. Maybe the SpaceX listing [goes so well](https://spyglass.org/spacex-tesla-xai-cursor-mistral-ai/) that it raises all AI boats, as it were.[1](#one) But we're a long way from when Anthropic and/or OpenAI would list. [A lot can happen](https://spyglass.org/over-the-ai-rainbow/) between now and then. We'll see! --- 1 While we did talk about inclusion in the indicies almost immediately boosting these stocks, I did note that "maybe not the S&P 500" – and sure enough, [they later rejected](https://spyglass.org/inklings-s-p-500-maintains-rules-surface-nvidia-rtx-hands-on-microsofts-project-solara-mlb-salary-cap-big-tech-renewing-their-ipos-government-stakes-in-big-ai-anthropics-ai-development-/#:~:text=%F0%9F%9A%AA%20S%26P%20500%20Holds%20the%20Door) the notion of fast-tracking companies for inclusion (which is a good call). [↩](#)