“I'm ready to turn on any dime that sounds smarter to me than the previous nickel.”
Recode Media · Media & Creator Economy · November 2026
Context
Kafka had noted that Diller walked away from both a planned MGM buyout and an earlier streaming push, and asked whether admitting a mistake is a trait he has always had. This is Diller's answer on reversing course when peers hold on out of ego or sunk cost.
Transcript
either they're dumb or I'm smart or I'm dumb.
Is this a trait you've had all your life or is it something you came to over time?
No, I think it's always been true with me. As I said earlier, I'm ready to turn on any dime that sounds smarter to me than the previous nickel.
We've been talking about AI throughout this conversation. You said you don't know what it's going to be like, but also you think some things like that. I'm sure it's going to be. Yeah. So you've made a hedge with MGM. You think that people have life in an AI world, but you're not sure what.
Oh, no, no. I'm quite sure what. I don't know. I mean, I can't tell you. I can tell you that for now, as I say, 11 straight quarters, we have grown while others have not. So I'm confident of our path of growth. I'm also increasingly confident that we are taking all of the knowledge we have, depth…
your name on something. And we would
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