Public transcript

Squawk Pod: OpenAI President Greg Brockman: now is the time to act - 08/17/26 | Audio Only

By: CNBC Television
Length: 40 min
Language: English
Text from: the video's captions
Transcribed: 13 October 2026

Read the full transcript Open on YouTube

Notes in English.

Summary

This episode of CNBC's Squawk Pod covers Berkshire Hathaway's $17 billion purchase of Alphabet shares, President Trump's decision to scale back military exercises with South Korea, and the latest on the Iran conflict. It features an exclusive interview with OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman on AI cybersecurity, the Hugging Face incident, OpenAI's business growth, and compute as the key resource of the AI age. It closes with Zipline CEO Keller Clifton on the company's new Uber partnership aiming for a million drone deliveries a day.

Key points

Berkshire Hathaway bought $17 billion of Alphabet stock in the second quarter, making it the firm's third largest holding at more than $36 billion.
President Trump ordered the US military to scale back annual exercises with South Korea, calling them inappropriate toward a country he described as unthreatening.
Greg Brockman says the OpenAI–Hugging Face incident showed how automated AI attacks will work, and that now is the time for every company to prioritize cybersecurity.
OpenAI delayed its frontier training runs to put stronger safety, security and alignment controls in place after the incident.
Brockman says compute is becoming the new oil, the new limited resource of the AI age, and that demand for problem-solving is unlimited.
OpenAI's revenue grew 20% month over month in July, with 32% growth in the enterprise category.
Congressman Ro Khanna's support for a 5% California wealth tax on 250 billionaires drew pushback from Mark Cuban, Bill Ackman and Palmer Luckey.
Zipline has flown over 140 million commercial autonomous miles with zero safety incidents and is partnering with Uber to scale to a million deliveries a day.

Questions it answers

00:00Show preview

What is on this episode of Squawk Pod?

The episode covers Berkshire's Alphabet stake, Trump's foreign policy moves, an interview with OpenAI's Greg Brockman on cybersecurity and AI economics, and Zipline's drone delivery partnership with Uber.

Greg Brockman warns now is the time to act on cybersecurity.
Zipline and Uber aim for a million drone deliveries a day.

01:00Berkshire buys Alphabet

What did Berkshire Hathaway buy and why?

Berkshire bought $17 billion of Alphabet stock in Q2, making it the third largest holding worth more than $36 billion. Warren Buffett initiated the move, believing Google will be a winner in AI thanks to its money, capability and smarts.

About 60% of the shares came via a private placement announced in early June.
Buffett's Apple thesis was consumer-based; for Google he expects the company to thrive in AI.

04:13South Korea exercises cut

Why is Trump scaling back exercises with South Korea?

Trump cited a very good relationship with Kim Jong-un and called the drills inappropriate and hostile. The hosts call it a head-scratcher, noting the drills involve 18,000 South Korean soldiers and are designed for readiness against North Korean threats.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth praised South Korea's leadership in May.
The hosts see possible economic pressure on South Korea behind the move.

07:00Iran conflict update

What is the latest in the Iran conflict?

The Wall Street Journal reports Iran has ramped up missile and drone production and shifted power to the Revolutionary Guard Corps since a June memorandum of understanding. Trump defended higher gas prices as the cost of stopping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.

Iran's deputy foreign minister says the Strait of Hormuz is under its control.
AAA puts a gallon of regular at an average of $4.60.

07:45Billionaire tax debate

What is the fight over Ro Khanna's billionaire tax?

Khanna announced support for a 5% wealth tax on 250 California billionaires. Mark Cuban said he would not bring new companies to California if it passes, and Bill Ackman warned the penalty for a failed startup would be insolvency and wage garnishment for life.

Khanna suggested founders could pledge shares with a government loan to pay taxes.
The hosts question the political calculus given Khanna represents Silicon Valley.

13:07Brockman on cybersecurity

Why does Brockman say now is the time to act on cybersecurity?

The OpenAI–Hugging Face incident showed how automated AI attacks will chain together small vulnerabilities that humans leave around. Brockman says defenders have an advantage if they use the same tools to find and fix flaws first, and that cybersecurity must become a top-level priority in every company.

OpenAI delayed frontier training runs to strengthen safety, security and alignment controls.
Alignment is non-negotiable and cannot be separated from capability.

19:43OpenAI departures and growth

What is happening with OpenAI's leadership and business?

Brockman says the departures are not atypical and that OpenAI has a strong leadership bench, with himself and Sam as constants. He notes July revenue grew 20% month over month with 32% enterprise growth, and the company is unifying its consumer and enterprise business.

OpenAI has a billion users on ChatGPT and two million enterprise customers.
Brockman argues every departure gets scrutinized because OpenAI is in the spotlight.

22:16Compute and open weight models

How does Brockman view compute, open weight models and chip depreciation?

Brockman calls compute the new oil of the AI age and says demand for problem-solving is unlimited. He says open weight models are an important part of a distributed-power ecosystem, and that compute scarcity means older chips are being used longer than the classic five-to-six-year depreciation schedule.

An 80% price cut on model Luna drove volume up more than 5x.
Brockman says a Trump–Xi framework on AI regulation is possible and important.

Notes

Berkshire Hathaway's Alphabet Bet

Berkshire bought $17 billion of Alphabet stock in Q2, making it the third largest holding, worth more than $36 billion.
About 60% of the more than 48 million shares added came via a private placement announced in early June; Berkshire also bought in the open market.
Becky Quick reports Warren Buffett initiated the move and believes Google will be a winner in AI; Greg Abel is on board.
Berkshire also added to Delta, Macy's, homebuilder Lar, and bought shares of Berkshire itself.

Trump Foreign Policy

President Trump ordered scaled-back annual military exercises with South Korea, citing a very good relationship with Kim Jong-un; the drills involve 18,000 South Korean soldiers.
The Wall Street Journal reports Iran has spent two months ramping up missile and drone production and shifting power to the Revolutionary Guard Corps since a June memorandum of understanding.
Trump said higher gas prices are the cost of stopping the number one state sponsor of terror; AAA puts regular at an average of $4.60 nationally.

Billionaire Tax Debate

Congressman Ro Khanna backed a 5% wealth tax on 250 California billionaires, drawing replies from Mark Cuban, Bill Ackman and Palmer Luckey.
Cuban said he would not bring new companies to California if the tax passes; Khanna suggested founders could pledge shares with a government loan to pay taxes.

Greg Brockman, OpenAI

Brockman says the OpenAI–Hugging Face incident revealed how automated AI attacks will chain small vulnerabilities together, and defenders must act now.
OpenAI delayed frontier training runs to uplevel safety, security and alignment; alignment is described as non-negotiable.
July revenue grew 20% month over month, with 32% growth in enterprise; OpenAI has a billion users on ChatGPT and two million enterprise customers.
Compute is the new oil; OpenAI cut the price of model Luna 80% and volume rose more than 5x.
Older chips are being used longer than the classic five-to-six-year depreciation schedule due to compute scarcity.

Zipline and Uber

Zipline is partnering with Uber to scale to a million deliveries a day, roughly 10% of US instant deliveries.
Zipline has flown over 140 million commercial autonomous miles with zero safety incidents; deliveries now cost roughly $8 to $15, competitive with a 4,000 lb gas combustion vehicle.

Text from the video's own captions. Summary and notes written by AI from the transcript, so check anything important against the recording.