God Mode Podcast

About God Mode Podcast

God Mode Podcast, hosted by Rik Eerdekens and Ben Broch, is the weekly show on AI News, Vibe Coding, Indie Hacking and Startups. Every week, Rik and Ben break down the week in AI: new models from OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI and Meta, the Claude vs GPT vs Grok race, AI agents, and what it all means for people actually shipping products.

Publisher

Rik Eerdekens & Ben Broch

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

9 Mar 2026

Latest episode

9 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

34 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   9 Oct 2026

   Which Personal AI Agent Is Worth Paying For? Claude vs Codex vs Grokbot vs Instinct | OpenAI Halved Its $200 Plan | Elon Put Claude Opus 5.5 in Grokbot | 98% of US Homes Pay for No AI | EP34

   OpenAI halved its $200 plan, Elon put Claude Opus 5.5 inside Grokbot, and 98% of US households pay nothing for AI. Which personal AI agent is worth paying for? Rik and Ben with Luca, back as a friend of the pod, and Laurits from Strawberry, the AI browser from Stockholm. This episode was booked by our agents. IN THIS EPISODE: • Elon says Grokbot will use the best model for every task, Claude Opus 5.5 included • Grokbot's limits: a $20 plan maxed out on two news reports a day • A free year of Claude Max through the Claude startup program, and the fine print • Opus 5.5 hands 80% of the work to Sonnet and Haiku, plus Haiku 5.5 vs GPT-6 Luna • OpenAI halved its plans: ChatGPT Pro from about $14,000 of value to $2,000 • Claude vs Codex on the same build • Strawberry: AI agents inside the browser you already use • The personal agent draft: one agent for work, one for life • a16z: 98% of US households pay nothing for AI, and Canva vs ChatGPT CHAPTERS: 00:00 Intro: which AI agent is worth paying for? 00:15 Our agents booked this episode 00:43 Elon puts Claude Opus 5.5 inside Grokbot 01:25 Grokbot's limits problem 05:15 A free year of Claude Max, and the fine print 07:33 Unlimited tokens, Haiku 5.5 vs GPT-6 Luna 12:26 OpenAI halved its plans, Claude gives 5x 13:48 ChatGPT Pro: $14,000 of value down to $2,000 15:33 Claude vs Codex on the same task 17:32 Strawberry: agents in the browser you already use 22:00 Instinct, iMessage and why habits win 25:06 What Stockholm learned from Lovable 28:17 The personal agent draft 39:33 98% of US homes pay nothing for AI 41:16 Is consumer AI worth building for? 43:44 a16z's top consumer AI apps 46:51 Will Anthropic eat the AI apps? Canva vs ChatGPT MENTIONED: Claude, Claude Opus 5.5, Sonnet 5.5, Haiku 5.5, Claude Max, Claude Code, Claude Cowork, Anthropic, OpenAI, ChatGPT Pro, ChatGPT Atlas, Codex, GPT-6 Luna, GPT-6.1 Sol, Dots, Grokbot, Elon Musk, SpaceX, Midjourney, Suno, Instinct, Meta Muse, Strawberry, Lovable, SemiAnalysis, a16z, Canva, DoorDash, Grubhub, Google, Nano Banana Strawberry: https://strawberrybrowser.com Elon's post: https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2107724314451878104 a16z on who pays for AI: https://x.com/a16z/status/2105726958021885977 HOSTS: Rik: https://x.com/rikventure Ben Broch: https://x.com/brochchain GUESTS: Luca Arrigo: https://x.com/LucaArrigo_ Laurits, founding operator at Strawberry Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@godmodepod Newsletter: https://godmodepod.substack.com/ New episodes drop every Saturday.

2. 

   4 Oct 2026

   Which AI Agent Do You Trust? OpenAI Dots, Grokbot, Instinct | Claude Code vs Codex | EP33

   Dots vs Grokbot: OpenAI's new AI agent against Elon's Grokbot, plus Instinct, and why Opus 5.5 made Rik un-cancel Claude. Rik and Ben on AI agents, Claude Code and Codex. Rik and Ben, two builders, break down the week in AI: the agent launch that Elon turned into a meme, who you can actually trust with your calendar and inbox, and what a $20 Claude plan buys you now. No guest this week. IN THIS EPISODE: • OpenAI's Dots vs Grokbot, and the dot.com redirect to the Grokbot download page • Why every AI agent looks cute: trust, lock-in and the agnostic stack nobody has built • Instinct, an AI agent that lives in iMessage or WhatsApp, and its network-effect business model • Opus 5.5 brought Rik back after 23 days off Claude: the $20 plan that feels like the $100 plan • Claude Code's graceful stop at the 5-hour limit, and the steer button debate with Codex • A $5,000 motion design video in 3 prompts, and AI commoditizing every media format • Faceless AI fitness accounts: gold rush or the next slop? • Tesla's Roadster demo delay, DoorDash Air drone deliveries and Freckle, the kids' phone CHAPTERS: 00:00 Cold open 00:11 The AI leaders' luncheon with Trump (and why Sam Altman missed it) 03:00 OpenAI Dots vs Grokbot (and the dot.com redirect) 08:19 One AI stack or many? Ben on lock-in and agnostic assistants 11:34 Instinct, the AI agent that lives in iMessage 16:00 Opus 5.5 brought me back to Claude 19:45 Claude Code's graceful stop at the 5-hour limit 20:13 Claude Code vs Codex: the steer button debate 23:08 Opus 5.5 motion design: a $5,000 video in 3 prompts 27:55 AI commoditizes every media format 28:51 Faceless AI accounts: gold rush or the next slop? 32:49 Tesla Roadster demo delayed: a flying car? 34:56 DoorDash Air drone deliveries 37:28 Freckle, the kids' phone for exploring 39:38 Outro MENTIONED: OpenAI Dots, Grokbot, OpenClaw, Muse, Instinct, Claude Code, Opus 5.5, Codex, Cursor, Grok, Tesla Roadster, DoorDash Air, Freckle HOSTS: Rik: https://x.com/rikventure Ben Broch: https://x.com/brochchain Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@godmodepod Newsletter: https://godmodepod.substack.com/ New episodes drop every Saturday.

3. 

   24 Sept 2026

   Three AI Models in 24 Hours: Grok 4.7, Opus 5.5, GPT-6 | Is Model Fatigue Real? | What Jev Actually Is | Meta's $1,300 VR Glasses | EP32

   Grok 4.7, Claude Opus 5.5, and GPT-6 Sol and Luna all dropped in the same 24-hour window this week, and instead of hype, Rik and Ben feel model fatigue. Guest Shawn Esquivel, an ex-Composio dev rel and full-time AI builder, joins to talk Grokbot versus Cursor, the Jev misconception everyone's getting wrong, and why Meta might have just nailed AI wearables with $1,300 glasses at 100 grams. Rik and Ben are joined by AI builder and former Composio dev rel Shawn Esquivel for a wide-ranging conversation on this week's model releases, subscription fatigue, and what's actually real about the Jev hype cycle. IN THIS EPISODE: Grok 4.7, Opus 5.5, and GPT-6 Sol and Luna all launch within 24 hours, and why model fatigue is a real reaction this time, not just a joke. Rik cancelled Claude 23 days before Opus 5.5 shipped 100 dollars in free API credits, and says it feels exactly like crypto FOMO. Shawn's Grokbot has been fabricating its own API cost reports for weeks. Ben clears up the single biggest misconception about Jev: it can't code, it can't speak, it only picks between outcomes. Shawn tells the story of DMing a stranger at a San Francisco hackathon and landing a job interview with zero applications. The episode closes on Meta's Muse launch and its new 1,300 dollar VR glasses against Apple's 3,700 dollar Vision Pro. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Cold open, intro, and meet guest Shawn Esquivel 00:26 Grok 4.7 drops 07:06 Every AI subscription is tightening 08:20 The Opus 5.5 FOMO 10:12 OpenAI vs Cursor gets savage 13:17 Why release the expensive model first 19:48 Opus 5.5, unpacked 26:01 Anthropic hires their own Tebow 29:09 Shawn's SF hustle story 37:02 Inside the Jev hype cycle 49:55 Meta's Muse and the new VR glasses MENTIONED: Grok 4.7, Claude Opus 5.5, GPT-6 Sol and Luna, Cursor, Grokbot, Codex, Codex Cloud, Jev, TypeSafe AI, Meta Muse, Meta VR glasses, Apple Vision Pro, Composio HOSTS: Rik — https://x.com/rikventure Ben Broch — https://x.com/brochchain Listen everywhere new episodes drop every Saturday. YouTube — https://youtube.com/@godmodepod Spotify — https://open.spotify.com/show/0ZBhl5IVFa8wZPvIKNTkRP Apple Podcasts — https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/god-mode-podcast/id1883959580 Substack — https://godmodepod.substack.com/

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Spotify

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Shows with a similar audience

• 

  Last Week in AI

• 

  Where It Happens

• 

  The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions

• 

  Moonshots with Peter Diamandis

• 

  All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg

• 

  Dwarkesh Podcast