Philipp Westermeyer retweeted
Probably the most fun I ever had on a podcast: Live recording with the one and only @Westermeyer. Talked about my early career, why I joined @langdock, what we are building, why everybody - esp. in Germany - needs to drive the damn bus now, end even my largely non-existent exercise routine 💀.
Link below (German only).
Philipp Westermeyer retweeted
Wenn @Westermeyer mich fragt ob ich meine „Bus-Analogie“ erzählen kann 🫡
Philipp Westermeyer retweeted
i'm obsessed with what's happening in AI reforestation right now
this Franco-Brazilian startup called MORFO took a patch of land in Brazil that was rock-hard and compacted from years of cattle farming. they replanted it using a single drone. months later the ground was covered in grass, bushes, and small trees. the land came back to life.
here's how the whole thing works.
1. drones scan the terrain with high-resolution cameras and sensors
2. AI analyzes the imagery alongside soil samples, moisture levels, slope, and surrounding vegetation
3. the system picks from a catalog of 300+ native species, deciding exactly which plants will thrive in which specific spot
4. the drone fires biodegradable seed pods packed with seeds, nutrients, and moisture at 180 capsules per minute
5. satellite and drone imagery monitors regrowth over time, with AI tracking vegetation cover and biodiversity
6. two people and one drone cover 50 hectares a day. a person planting by hand manages about one hectare.
and MORFO isn't alone. AirSeed in Australia drops 250,000 seed pods per day into bushfire-scarred koala habitat, replanting swamp mahogany that koalas depend on to survive. Flash Forest in Canada fires 50,000 pods daily into wildfire-destroyed boreal forest, planning the replanting alongside Cree Indigenous communities. re-green won Prince William's Earthshot Prize after planting 6 million seedlings across 30,000 hectares of Amazon and Atlantic Forest.
five companies across four continents built this same approach independently. nobody coordinated. the physics of the problem demanded it.
knowing which seeds belong in which soil used to require years of ecological fieldwork, manual planting crews, and budgets that made large-scale restoration nearly impossible. now two people with a drone and an AI model trained on local soil data can replant 50 hectares before lunch.
this is the AI work that'll still matter in 50 years.
Philipp Westermeyer retweeted
A few weeks ago, on German OMR podcast with @Westermeyer, I said that in ~10 years we may no longer need human labor at all - thanks to advances in AI and robotics.
That statement triggered a lot of backlash.
But look at what’s already happening.
First, companies quietly have reduced white-collar hiring since a while now because AI dramatically increased productivity.
Now we are entering the next phase: active replacement. Yesterday’s post from @jack is another signal that this shift is accelerating.
And notice something equally important: the stock jumped 20%. This will entice CEOs who may have hesitated - fearing public backlash around layoffs - to act faster and more decisively. Markets reward efficiency. Once boards see that replacing labor with AI drives immediate shareholder value, hesitation disappears.
The final blow for the labour market will come once AI systems truly understand physical reality and seamlessly integrate with robotics. That will kill most blue-collar jobs. Not because humans are incapable. But because machines will simply be more efficient, cheaper, and available 24/7.
Within five years, there will be only two types of companies: Those that fully embrace AI - and those that are dead. There will be very little in between.
The real question is not whether this transformation happens. The question is how we design the world around it.
I don’t believe this has to be dystopian. If managed intelligently, humanity could thrive. We could decouple survival from labor. We could redesign incentives. We could focus on creativity, relationships, health, exploration, and meaning.
The end of labor does not have to mean the end of purpose. It could be the beginning of it.
This is the first AI cut.
And it will send shockwaves.
Remember: Jack is one of the greatest founders of all time. He created this platform that we’re all on, and has been early to many technological shifts. And Block was doing very well as a business.
So, for him to cut 40% of headcount in this way is a signal to everyone in tech: get good now. Become indispensable. Work nights and weekends. Learn the AI tools and raise your game. Or you might not make the cut, as an employee or as a company.
I know. That sucks. But capitalism is natural selection. The market is unforgiving, because you are the market. After all, it’s not like you’re buying some random gallon of milk from the store; you’re always buying the best product at the best price.
So too for apps: your customers are always installing the best piece of code they can get. And because AI is going to create new winners, if you aren’t the best in your market, someone may become better with AI. Particularly with the new agentic workflows.
To be clear: Block’s severance is generous by any measure. 20 weeks of pay, six months of health insurance and vested equity, all of that goes far beyond any typical package. Jack did his level best to cushion the disruption. The laid off are a temporarily unfortunate class, as opposed to a permanent underclass.
But had he not leaned into the AI transition, he might have had to lay off more people, slowly, and over time, as faster competitors went after his market share.
How would they do that? Sure, AI isn’t a panacea by any means, but the closer you are to software engineering the more aggressively you need to embrace agentic workflows. The AI companies are already doing that, and places like Stripe, Shopify, Coinbase, and now Block are pushing hard on this area.
There will be overcorrection. But the fundamental technical innovation is real. And you need to either disrupt yourself or get disrupted.
Philipp Westermeyer retweeted
For anyone speaking German, I recorded a podcast with @Westermeyer from OMR and it was a ton of fun.
lnk.to/omr-podcast
Philipp Westermeyer retweeted
Bei @Westermeyer im OMR-Podcast gewesen. In 1.45h fast alles gesagt. (Demokratie, KI, der Zustand der Medien, 80 Jahre @DIEZEIT, Verbot von Social Media, Epstein-Files, (Video-)Podcasts, Hacking, Elon Musk, Kinderfragen an Satya Nadella, die Migrationspolitik der USA, China, Singapur, The Future is Asian, Firmen gründen, Chaostheorie, Apple, Google, Facebook, Autorenmedien, Lokalmedien, Polarisierung, Deutschland spricht)
youtu.be/PS1OwLVre3s?si=K150…
Philipp Westermeyer retweeted
Had a great time with @Westermeyer on his OMR Podcast - a true tour de force across many topics, from dinosaur cloning to US politics. And psychedelics + @enhanced_games
In German - but thankfully, there are excellent AI translation tools these days
omr.com/de/daily/christian-a…
Philipp Westermeyer retweeted
Ich würde mir wünschen, dass wir einen Kanzler für Deutschland hätten, der genau wie der Telekom CEO Tim Höttges in diesem Podcast spricht.
Absolute Hörempfehlung.
Es geht natürlich um die Telekom, das USA-Geschäft und ist überraschend politisch.
Wir brauchen mehr davon @Westermeyer.
open.spotify.com/episode/0N3…
Philipp Westermeyer retweeted
Die wahrscheinlich schönste (motivierend, spannend, relevant) Folge im @Westermeyer OMR Podcast seit Jahren. Wie geil!
Philipp Westermeyer retweeted
🎧🎄 Im achten Türchen des #OMR-Podcast-Adventskalenders ist heute TK-Chef Jens Baas zu Gast bei @Westermeyer. Zu hören gibt es unter anderem eine Buch- und Filmempfehlung. Zur Folge von @officially_omr👇
open.spotify.com/episode/1hH…
Philipp Westermeyer retweeted
Hörtipp: @Westermeyer im Gespräch mit Uli Hoeneß inkl. schöner Anekdote zu Klopp und Klinsmann (hier direkt verlinkt): open.spotify.com/episode/3DG… #fcbayern #omr
Philipp Westermeyer retweeted
Der Mann hinter "Der Aktionär": @Foertsch im Interview mit @Westermeyer 🎙️
➡️ Neuer OMR (@officially_omr) Podcast: open.spotify.com/episode/2gI…
Philipp Westermeyer retweeted
Goodbye Hamburg, you’ve been lovely.
Huge thank you to @Westermeyer and @officially_omr for welcoming chess into your world 🙏
Philipp Westermeyer retweeted
Im Mai 2002 fing @HansKoenigsmann als erst 4. Ingenieur bei #SpaceX an. Es wurden dann über 19 Jahre. Erster Meilenstein: Der erste Orbitalstart auf einer winzigen Atoll-Insel im September 2008.
Eine Podcast-Folge von @Westermeyer und @cathrin_gilbert: youtube.com/watch?v=2a-tV82M…
Philipp Westermeyer retweeted
Hoffe das Karsten Wildberger als Minister für Digitales und Staatsmodernisierung gute Arbeit leisten kann um unser Land endlich auf den Stand der Zeit zu bringen. Im Interview mit
@Westermeyer
im OMR Podcast schienen seine Ansichten und Ambitionen in dem Bereich sehr Positiv
Philipp Westermeyer retweeted
Pod mit @Westermeyer von @officially_omr seit heute morgen live!
Wir sprechen über das OMR Festival , den OMR Podcast und weitere Podstars Podcast Produktionen, OMR Reviews und Education, die Dokumentation bei RTL, Bootstrapping, Höhen & Tiefen und verpasste Chancen.
Philipp Westermeyer retweeted
#impact #podcast Tipp am Sonntag: OMR Gespräch mit Ben Unterkofler, Gründer von share. Ich finde vor allem das „soziale“ Lizenzmodell sehr spannend - open.spotify.com/episode/3v5…
Philipp Westermeyer retweeted
"Ich habe nichts Besseres gefunden", sagt Rainer Esser nach 26 Jahren im @zeitverlag. Im @officially_omr-Podcast mit @Westermeyer erinnert ert sich u.a. an sein erstes Treffen mit @DIEZEIT-Herausgeber Helmut Schmidt, der ihn zunächst warten lassen wollte. turi2.de/aktuell/hoer-tipp-h…
Philipp Westermeyer retweeted
Heute bin ich mal in einem Podcast zu Gast. Hat Spaß gemacht mit @Westermeyer zu diskutieren: podcasts.apple.com/de/podcas…
Philipp Westermeyer retweeted
Video-/Hör-Tipp: @ZDF-Intendant Norbert Himmler spricht mit @Westermeyer u.a. über Abwerbeversuche vom Privat-TV. Diese habe es gegeben, allerdings stehe Himmler "schon sehr hinter der Mission, die wir hier haben". turi2.de/aktuell/video-hoer-…

























