AI is evolving at breakneck speed, and sometimes, desperate business needs force rivals to bury the hatchet. This week, Morning Brew reported a blockbuster deal between AI lab Anthropic and Elon Musk's SpaceX. What makes this surprising? Just months ago, the two billionaires had serious public beef. In this episode, we break down the tech drama and learn five highly versatile B2+ expressions that work just as well in the boardroom as they do in your group chat.
⚡ 5 Key Expressions
Expression 01
Blockbuster
A massive, highly successful, or very expensive product, event, or agreement. While it originally referred to huge summer movies, it is frequently used in business and tech to describe deals that shake up the industry. A "blockbuster deal" implies huge sums of money and high stakes.
- "The pharmaceutical company just announced a blockbuster drug that could cure the disease."
- "They are hoping the new smartphone will be a blockbuster success this holiday season."
Expression 02
Come out of left field
To happen completely unexpectedly or strangely. This idiom comes from baseball, where a throw from the distant left fielder can catch runners by surprise. It is the perfect phrase to use when a decision, question, or event catches you off guard.
- "We were having a normal conversation, and then her question about my childhood just came out of left field."
- "The competitor's new ad campaign really came out of left field; we had no idea they were pivoting."
Expression 03
Beef
Slang for a grudge, conflict, or ongoing argument between people. It implies a history of negative feelings. While informal, it's widely used in pop culture and casual conversation. If you "have beef" with someone, you are currently at odds with them.
- "I don't know why Sarah is ignoring me; do we have beef?"
- "The two musicians have had beef for years, writing songs about each other."
Expression 04
A slew of
A large number or a wide variety of things. It functions exactly like "a lot of" but sounds much more polished and natural. Using "a slew of" elevates your vocabulary, particularly in professional contexts when describing multiple tasks, issues, or items.
- "When we launched the website, we ran into a slew of technical issues."
- "She gave me a slew of reasons why she couldn't make it to the party."
Expression 05
Come online
To become operational, active, or ready for use. It is predominantly used for facilities, power systems, software features, or large machinery. It doesn’t just mean connecting to the internet; it implies a system is officially 'flipped on' and doing its job.
- "The new solar farm will finally come online next spring."
- "The new security protocol is scheduled to come online at midnight."
🎭 The Dialogue: The Unlikely Landlord
Maya and Alex are grabbing coffee in the office breakroom. Maya is scrolling through her phone and shaking her head as she reads the morning tech news.
📍 The office breakroom, morning. Maya is scrolling her phone. Alex walks in to pour coffee.
Maya: Did you see the news about Anthropic's new blockbuster deal with SpaceX?
Alex: Yeah, that completely came out of left field! I thought Elon Musk and Anthropic had serious beef.
Maya: Right? He was just insulting them a few months ago. But Anthropic is desperate for processing power right now.
Alex: Makes sense. Their user base is exploding, so they're signing a slew of new contracts to keep up.
Maya: Exactly. And SpaceX has extra capacity at their giant supercomputer just waiting to be leased.
Alex: So they're renting it out to a rival. I guess business needs completely override personal drama.
Maya: Definitely. All that extra power comes online this month, so the app should run a lot smoother.
Alex: Good to know. I use Claude every day, so I'm just glad they figured it out.
🧠 Episode Quiz
Can you answer this?
Anthropic’s user base and revenue exploded recently, driving their desperate need for SpaceX's supercomputer. According to the CEO, how much did their revenue and usage jump in the first quarter of the year?
- A — 10-fold
- B — 40-fold
- C — 80-fold
✅ Answer: C — 80-fold. The CEO stated that their usage jumped 80 times over, which was eight times more than they had originally planned for. That astronomical growth is exactly why they had to bury the hatchet and lease massive amounts of compute power wherever they could find it!
📚 Bonus Vocabulary
Compute (noun) — The processing power and resources required by computers to run complex tasks, especially AI models. In tech circles, it is used as an uncountable noun. "The startup raised millions just to afford the compute needed to train their new model."
Override (verb) — To be more important than something else, or to overrule it. "The board's decision will override any personal objections from the management team."
Bury the hatchet (idiom) — To end a conflict and become friendly, or at least cooperative. "After years of arguing over the property line, the neighbors finally decided to bury the hatchet."
