The Atlantic's Nick Thompson: Inside Signalgate, Trump’s tariffs, and AI’s future | Rapid Response
About Nicholas
- CEO of The Atlantic since 2021, leading record subscriber growth and profitability
- Guided The Atlantic to 3 Pulitzer Prizes, 3 National Magazine Awards (2021–2026)
- Former WIRED editor-in-chief; built successful digital revenue streams and new business models
- Co-founder of The Atavist (sold to WordPress) and Speakeasy.ai (sold to Amplica Labs)
- Author of acclaimed memoir 'The Running Ground' and 'The Hawk and the Dove'
- Life member, Council on Foreign Relations; board, Nat’l Committee on American Foreign Policy
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When government officials accidentally included The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg in a Signal group chat discussing U.S. military plans, all hell broke loose. The Atlantic’s CEO, Nicholas Thompson joins Rapid Response to discuss the scandal now known as “Signalgate”, revealing insider details about how the story came to be and sharing how the publication managed to capitalize on the business opportunities that sprouted. Thompson also breaks down the implications of Trump’s latest tariff turnaround and what Elon Musk’s plan to merge X with his AI company means for the future of your digital life.
Chapters
00:00 Introducing Nick Thompson
01:28 Trump’s unpredictable retreat on tariffs
02:53 How Signalgate impacted The Atlantic’s business
08:18 Balancing business and political perceptions
15:01 The intellectual argument for tariffs
16:34 Tech industry’s cautious stance with Trump
18:00 Companies & institutions standing up for core values
21:58 The privacy concerns behind X’s sale to xAI
26:04 The two big global forces: Trump & AI
29:20 What’s at stake for America?
