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(Omnibus) Week Of 03/03/2025

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Will Apple have to allow side loading in Brazil? The US Strategic Crypto Reserve becomes a reality. Larry Page has a new startup. The concept of a startup being nothing more than an “AI Wrapper” is no longer a pejorative. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

Sponsors:

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Links:

• Brazilian court gives Apple 90 days to allow sideloading on iOS (9to5Mac)
• Donald Trump signs executive order for Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (CoinTelegraph)
• Drone Defense Startup Shield AI Lands $5.3 Billion Valuation (Bloomberg)
• Larry Page Has a New AI Startup (The Information)
• The Hottest AI Companies Right Now Are ‘Apps’ (Bloomberg)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

• McDonald’s Gives Its Restaurants an AI Makeover (WSJ)
• YouTube at 20: How the Video Colossus Launched the Creator Economy and Turned From Hollywood Foe to Friend (Variety)

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More signs the tech IPO logjam is breaking. Another cheap new AI model from China. Would you pay 20 THOUSAND dollars a month to use an OpenAI agent? The umpteenth foldable iPhone rumor, though this time with dates. And let me introduce you to YouTube Premium Lite.

Sponsors:

• LinkedIn.com/ride

Links:

• Klarna to File for $1 Billion-Plus IPO as Soon as Next Week (Bloomberg)
• Discord in Early Talks With Bankers for Potential I.P.O. (NYTimes)
• Alibaba’s new open source model QwQ-32B matches DeepSeek-R1 with way smaller compute requirements (VentureBeat)
• OpenAI Plots Charging $20,000 a Month For PhD-Level Agents (The Information)
• Google Search’s new ‘AI Mode’ lets users ask complex, multi-part questions (TechCrunch)
• Kuo: Apple's First Foldable iPhone to Feature Book-Style Design, Sell for Over $2,000 (MacRumors)
• New M4 MacBook Air fixes the line's biggest problem (Apple Insider)
• YouTube launches a $7.99 per month, ad-free Premium Lite subscription (TechCrunch)
• YouTube Music hits 125 million subscribers, adding 2m subs per month on average over the past year (Music Business Worldwide)

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Elon can’t stop OpenAI, but the case will go on. Trump wants to stop the Chips Act immediately. Apple released more new Macs today. If you can believe it, Digg is back! They’re coming for Reddit! And the AI chatbot that might have passed the uncanny valley when it comes to AI generated speech.

Sponsors:

• Oracle.com/techmeme

Links:

• Musk’s Fight With OpenAI Set for Expedited Trial This Year (Bloomberg)
• Trump Calls for End to $52 Billion Chips Act Subsidy Program (Bloomberg)
• Apple launches new Mac Studios with M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips (The Verge)
• Digg is coming back, thanks to its founder — and Reddit’s (The Verge)
• Bored Ape Creator Yuga Labs Says SEC Closing Investigation in 'Huge Win' for NFT Sector (Decrypt)
• Google Urges Trump DOJ to Reverse Course on Breaking Up Company (Bloomberg)
• Eerily realistic AI voice demo sparks amazement and discomfort online (ArsTechnica)

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We have our first official IPO of the AI Era coming. Anthropic has a big new round. New iPads from Apple. New phones from Nothing. Waymo rolls out in Austin, Texas. And how the Kinnect technology lives on, as a tool for Ghostbusters.

Sponsors:

• FreshBooks.com
• IQBar: Text TECHMEME to 64000

Links:

• AI cloud provider CoreWeave files for IPO (CNBC)
• Anthropic Finalizes Megaround at $61.5 Billion Valuation (Bloomberg)
• Apple launches a new M3-powered iPad Air (The Verge)
• Waymo is now available exclusively on Uber in Austin (The Verge)
• Nothing’s Phone 3A and 3A Pro use AI to organize all your stuff (The Verge)
• Ghost hunting, pornography and interactive art: the weird afterlife of Xbox Kinect (The Guardian)

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Maybe we really will be getting that national crypto reserve after all. TSMC doubles down on manufacturing in the US. Return to the office is one thing, but Sergey Brin things RTO could lead to AGI, at least at Google. And Mark Gurman says there is an AI crisis inside Apple.

Sponsors:

• Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code RIDEHOME at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: http://incogni.com/ridehome
• QualiaLife.com/ride

Links:

• Donald Trump Names Components Of Crypto Reserve (CoinDesk)
• Trump, Chip Maker TSMC Expected to Announce $100 Billion Investment in U.S. (WSJ)
• Google’s Gemini now lets you ask questions using videos and what’s on your screen (TechCrunch)
• Google’s Sergey Brin Urges Workers to the Office ‘at Least’ Every Weekday (NYTimes)
• Peter Thiel-backed fintech Ramp nearly doubles valuation to $13bn (Financial Times)
• Apple’s Artificial Intelligence Efforts Reach a Make-or-Break Point (Bloomberg)

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OpenAI has launched GPT-4.5, but they want you to know, this is not a frontier model, it’s a stepping stone. Skype enters the Deadpool. Memecoins are ok by the SEC. Most criminality in crypto is now done with stablecoins. And in the Weekend Longreads Suggestions, how the MTA is using Pixel phones to do subway maintenance.

Links:

• OpenAI announces GPT-4.5, warns it’s not a frontier AI model (The Verge)
• OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says the company is ‘out of GPUs’ (TechCrunch)
• Microsoft hangs up on Skype: service to shut down May 5, 2025 (TechCrunch)
• Microsoft is killing Skype after 14 years of neglect (Windows Central)
• Meta plans to release standalone Meta AI app in effort to compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT (CNBC)
• SEC says most meme coins are not securities (CNBC)
• Illicit Crypto Volume in 2024 Hit a Record $40B in 2024 (CoinDesk)
• Meta is firing about 20 employees for leaking information (The Verge)

Weekend Longreads Suggestrions:

• The New York City Subway Is Using Google Pixels to Listen for Track Defects (Wired)

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Nvidia’s first earnings are out after the whole DeepSeek thing. Do they seem nervous or no? A pretty big price cut for the PlayStation VR2. Huge outflows from bitcoin ETFs. Can insecure code somehow make AI homicidal? And is the iPhone 16e worth your money?

Links:

• Nvidia sales grow 78% on AI demand, company gives strong guidance (CNBC)
• Sony drops PlayStation VR 2 price to $399 (The Verge)
• Bitcoin ETFs Are Hit by a Record $1 Billion Outflow in One Day (Bloomberg)
• FAA targeting Verizon contract in favor of Musk’s Starlink, sources say (Washington Post)
• Researchers puzzled by AI that praises Nazis after training on insecure code (Ars Technica)
• iPhone 16E review: Eh, it’s alright (The Verge)

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Amazon finally updated Alexa with generative AI. It’s called Alexa+ and it can do plenty of neat things, but unless you’re a Prime subscriber, it’s gonna cost ya. DeepSeek is rushing its next AI model to press its momentum. Zuck wants to build a $200B AI datacenter. And how the SteamDeck has created a whole new category in gaming.

Sponsors:

• shopify.com/ride

Links:

• Amazon announces AI-powered Alexa Plus (The Verge)
• Amazon unveils a new and improved Alexa, Alexa+ (TechCrunch)
• DeepSeek rushes to launch new AI model as China goes all in (Reuters)
• Meta Discusses AI Data Center Project That Could Cost $200 Billion (The Information)
• How North Korea pulled off a $1.5 billion crypto heist—the biggest in history (ArsTechnica)
• Three years later, the Steam Deck has dominated handheld PC gaming (The Verge)

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Anthropic releases its latest cutting-edge model, Claude 3.7 Sonnet. Would you tolerate ads inside your Excel spreadsheet if you could use Excel for free? Why some journalists are joining AI companies. And let me introduce you to “tiny teams” the new startup meme in Silicon Valley.

Links:

• Anthropic launches a new AI model that ‘thinks’ as long as you want (TechCrunch)
• AI Startup Anthropic Finalizing $3.5 Billion Funding Round (WSJ)
• Microsoft Quietly Launched a Free Ad-Supported Office App, and No One Noticed (Beebom)
• Apple’s $500 Billion U.S. Investment Is Mostly Already in the Books (WSJ)
• Meet the journalists training AI models for Meta and OpenAI (NeimanLab)
• A.I. Is Changing How Silicon Valley Builds Start-Ups (NYTimes)

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Apple makes a huge investment in US manufacturing and hiring. Are SMS messages as 2-factor authentication on the way out? The biggest crypto theft of all time happened over the last few days. And why some school districts are turning to AI counseling for students.

Sponsors:

• RobinHood.com/gold

Links:

• Apple Will Add 20,000 US Jobs Amid Threat from Trump Tariffs (Bloomberg)
• Apple Abandons Budget Smartphone Market With the iPhone 16e (Bloomberg)
• Google Confirms Gmail To Ditch SMS Code Authentication (Forbes)
• Bybit Hit by Crypto’s Worst Hack With Almost $1.5 Billion Stolen (Bloomberg)
• Bybit Hack (CoinDesk)
• Microsoft Dropped Some AI Data Center Leases, TD Cowen Says (Bloomberg)
• When There’s No School Counselor, There’s a Bot (WSJ)

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Well, kinda... But we do talk about how the show started, get a bit into the process of what I do every day. But mostly we get deep into where AI is going, my fears for silicon valley if the M&A activity doesn't pick up, why I got into investing, what it means if Silicon Valley is bigger than the government (maybe?) what it's like when that weird dude you talk to at a tech meetup becomes a billionaire, and why this is still the greatest job I've ever had. Thank you all for listening. Here's to 2,000 more episodes.

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Microsoft is claiming a historical quantum breakthrough with its first quantum processor, the Majorana 1. Google is going all in on the Gemini brand. The world’s thinnest foldable phone. Rabbit releases a demo it probably should have led with. And James Bond now works for Amazon.

Sponsors:

• Freshbooks.com/pricing-offer
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Links:

• Microsoft announces quantum computing breakthrough with new Majorana 1 chip (The Verge)
• Microsoft’s Xbox AI era starts with a model that can generate gameplay (The Verge)
• Google app on iOS removing Gemini as it pushes users to full app (9to5Google)
• The world’s thinnest foldable phone doesn’t come cheap (The Verge)
• Rabbit shows off the AI agent it should have launched with (The Verge)
• 'Bond' Producers Stepping Back From Iconic Franchise As Amazon MGM Studios Takes Creative Control (Deadline)

Join us for the livestream tonight here: https://riverside.fm/studio/2000th-episode

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Apple has announced the new iPhone 16e. I’ve got all the details for you. The Humane AI Pin is definitively dead, and HP is acquiring the ashes. Yet ANOTHER potentially big new AI player. And why some Bytedance investors kind of don’t care if TikTok US gets split off. In fact, they might even prefer it.

Links:

• Apple launches new iPhone 16e: Here’s everything you need to know (9to5Mac)
• All of Humane's AI pins will stop working in 10 days (Engadget)
• ‘Pokémon Go’ Maker Nears $3.5 Billion Deal to Sell Games Unit (Bloomberg)
• Mira Murati debuts Thinking Machines Lab, her AI startup (Axios)
• ByteDance's US Backers Say China Growth to Counter Any TikTok Ban Damage (Bloomberg)
• Can AI Predict the Next Big IPO? Crunchbase Thinks So. (WSJ)

2000th episode livestream link: https://riverside.fm/studio/2000th-episode

AI Engineer Summit

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xAI and Elon Musk have launched Grok-3, their cutting-edge AI model. Is it really a step forward? It’s really the cutting-edge? Andrej Karpathy is gonna tell us. The first tri-foldable phone is here. Is there a new huge AI player? And how Apple’s move to manufacture in India is going.

Sponsors:

• MackWeldon.com Promocode: BRIAN

Links:

• Elon Musk’s xAI releases its latest flagship model, Grok 3 (TechCrunch)
• Impressions of Grok-3 (@karpathy)
• Huawei’s trifold phone launches outside of China (The Verge)
• Trump tariffs result in 10% laptop price hike in U.S. says Acer CEO (Tom's Hardware)
• OpenAI Co-Founder Sutskever’s Startup Is Fundraising at $30 Billion-Plus Valuation (Bloomberg)
• Apple’s quiet pivot to India (FT)

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The vultures are circling Intel, if that’s not too aggressive an analogy. OpenAI’s board officially rejects Elon’s bid. Zelle is quietly the biggest player in P2P payments. Everybody wants to go after robotics as the next big thing. And why over a thousand tech unicorns are in trouble.

Sponsors:

• QualiaLife.com/ride and code RIDE at checkout

Links:

• TSMC Considers Running Intel’s US Factories After Trump Team Request (Bloomberg)
• Broadcom, TSMC Weigh Possible Intel Deals That Would Split Storied Chip Maker (WSJ)
• OpenAI Rejects Elon Musk’s $97.4 Billion Bid for Control of the Company (NYTimes)
• Zelle payments top $1 trillion in 2024 as network’s growth outpaces rivals including PayPal (CNBC)
• TikTok Grabs Market Share From Shein Despite Looming Risks (Bloomberg)
• Meta Plans Major Investment Into AI-Powered Humanoid Robots (Bloomberg)
• Apple and Meta Are Set to Battle Over Humanoid Robots (Bloomberg)
• The Unicorn Boom Is Over, and Startups Are Getting Desperate (Bloomberg)

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TikTok is back in the app stores. But the biggest news is that Arm is going to make its own chips, thereby upending how the entire semiconductor industry has been constituted. Why Reddit has been killing it lately. And in the Weekend Longreads Suggestions, what if TikTok, but for Wikipedia?

Sponsors:

• Tonal.com promocode RIDE for $200 off

Links:

• Apple, Google Restore TikTok App After Assurances From Trump (Bloomberg)
• Arm to launch its own chip in move that could upend semiconductor industry (Financial Times)
• Shein IPO plans hit by Trump’s low-cost parcels crackdown (Financial Times)
• AI Licensing Deals With Google and OpenAI Make Up 10% of Reddit's Revenue (AdWeek)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

• Forget DeepSeek. Large language models are getting cheaper still (The Economist)
• How a resurgent Walmart saw off the Amazon threat (Financial Times)
• Developer creates endless Wikipedia feed to fight algorithm addiction (Ars Technica)

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We maybe have a roadmap for GPT-5, but also, is it not really GPT-5 just a renaming of what they already have in the pipeline? It’s kind of weird. Elon gives his conditions for dropping his takeover bid. Utility companies say the AI hype is real, but what if, in the end, the end users don’t actually show up?

Sponsors:

• Shopify.com/ride

Links:

• OpenAI postpones its o3 AI model in favor of a ‘unified’ next-gen release (TechCrunch)
• Elon Musk will withdraw bid for OpenAI’s nonprofit if its board agrees to terms (TechCrunch)
• Musk, Altman Spar Over $97.4 Billion OpenAI Bid in Court Filings (Bloomberg)
• The Apple TV app is now available on Android: watch Apple TV+ and MLS Season Pass (9to5Mac)
• Meta Opens Facebook Marketplace to Rivals in EU Antitrust Clash (Bloomberg)
• Data Center Power Demand Almost Doubled in Virginia, Utility Says (Bloomberg)
• AI Agents Are Everywhere…and Nowhere (WSJ)

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The first big AI legal ruling has come down, and it might not be good news for AI startups. Apple launches its biggest health study yet. This one weird trick that tech companies are using to make their AI spending seem not so expensive. And Matt Levine on the whole Elon buying OpenAI thing.

Sponsors:

• Kinsta.com/brian
• FactorMeals.com/ride50off

Links:

• Thomson Reuters Wins First Major AI Copyright Case in the US (Wired)
• Apple Plans to Learn More About Your Holistic Health With Its New Apple Health Study. You Can Enroll Now (CNET)
• Meta In Talks To Buy Korean AI Chip Startup Founded By Samsung Engineer (Forbes)
• Meta Accounting Move on AI Servers to Boost Profit This Year (Bloomberg)
• Sam Altman Dismisses Elon Musk’s Bid to Buy OpenAI in Letter to Staff (Wired)
• Sure Elon Musk Might Buy OpenAI (Matt Levine/Bloomberg)

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Elon makes an unsolicited bid to buy OpenAI, or at least the non-profit that controls it, and maybe he doesn’t really want to own it, it’s complicated. I’ll explain. YouTube continues to be the biggest thing in media. Forget smartwatches, get ready for smart earbuds. And the crazy cheap Chinese EVs can now do crazy cheap self-driving too!

Sponsors:

• 1Password.com/ride

Links:

• Elon Musk-Led Group Makes $97.4 Billion Bid for Control of OpenAI (WSJ)
• Exclusive: OpenAI is not for sale, CEO Sam Altman says (Axios)
• Musk’s $97.4 Billion OpenAI Bid Piles Pressure on Sam Altman (WSJ)
• YouTube Surprise: CEO Says TV Overtakes Mobile as “Primary Device” for Viewing (THR)
• Google Calendar removed events like Pride and BHM because its holiday list wasn’t ‘sustainable’ (The Verge)
• Powerbeats Pro 2 Debut With Heart Rate Monitoring, H2 Chip, Active Noise Cancellation, and More (MacRumors)
• Chinese EV leader BYD to offer ‘God’s Eye’ self-driving system on all models (FT)

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According to the Super Bowl ad I saw last night, anyone can use Starlink on their phone soon, not just T-Mobile users. Was this the Super Bowl of crypto-betting? Are we seeing the first signs that AI is stealing jobs from tech workers? And a behind the scenes tale of how Sam Altman outflanked Elon Musk.

Sponsors:

• Timeline.com/ride

Links:

• T-Mobile to Charge $15 Per Month for Starlink Satellite Texting Feature (Bloomberg)
• Polymarket Bettors Punt $1.1B on Superbowl Results, Despite Regulatory Overhang (CoinDesk)
• Exclusive: OpenAI set to finalize first custom chip design this year (Reuters)
• IT Unemployment Rises to 5.7% as AI Hits Tech Jobs (WSJ)
• Exclusive: Anthropic's "index" tracks AI economy (Axios)
• Christie’s announces AI art auction, and not everyone is pleased (TechCrunch)
• How Sam Altman Sidestepped Elon Musk to Win Over Donald Trump (NYTimes)

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(Omnibus) Week Of 02/03/2025

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Is the UK government about to force Apple to put backdoors into all of our iPhones? Tallying up the Tech Earnings week of CAPEX announcements. We might get a new iPhone next week. The Weekend Longreads suggestions. And listen to the end of the show cause I’m running an experiment.

Sponsors:

• IQBar. Text TECHMEME to 64000

Links:

• U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users’ encrypted accounts (Washington Post)
• Amazon plans to spend $100 billion this year to capture ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ in AI (CNBC)
• Tech Giants Double Down on Their Massive AI Spending (WSJ)
• Apple’s Long-Awaited Overhaul of iPhone SE Nears Release (Bloomberg)
• Softbank set to invest $40 billion in OpenAI at $260 billion valuation, sources say (CNBC)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

• How is Fortnite's Attempt to Become the YouTube of Gaming Going? (Posting Nexus)
• The Sims Turned Players Into Gods. And Farmers. And Vampires. And Landlords. (NYTimes)

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Now researchers say they have trained a cutting edge AI model for… checks notes… $50. Not $50 million dollars. $50. Dollars. Get ready for the superbowl of AI ads. Amazon has scheduled an Alexa AI event. And also, why does Amazon fail so hard when it comes to physical retail?

Sponsors:

• Oracle.com/techmeme

Links:

• Researchers created an open rival to OpenAI’s o1 ‘reasoning’ model for under $50 (TechCrunch)
• Google Kills Diversity Hiring Targets (WSJ)
• Google Unwinds Employee Diversity Goals, Citing Trump’s D.E.I. Orders (NYTimes)
• OpenAI Set to Make Super Bowl Ad Debut (WSJ)
• OpenAI to Air Its First Super Bowl Ad (AdWeek)
• Amazon's AI revamp of Alexa assistant nears unveiling (Reuters)
• Bill banning social media for youngsters advances (Politico)
• Trump's de minimis cancellation is bad news for Temu, but worse for Shein (Reuters)
• Amazon, King of Online Retail, Can’t Seem to Make Its Physical Stores Work (WSJ)

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Temu And Shein got a reprieve from the USPS, but they are still in deep, deep trouble. I’ll explain why. Alphabet earnings disappoint their investors but cheer investors of Nvidia. Google and Meta going in different directions when it comes to AI. And why are people increasingly refusing to pay ransomware?

Sponsors:

• Acorns.com/ride

Links:

• USPS Resumes Accepting Packages From China After Unexpected Suspension (Wired)
• Google expects to spend $75 billion this year on the AI race (The Verge)
• Google drops pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance (The Washington Post)
• Meta says it may stop development of AI systems it deems too risky (TechCrunch)
• After a bruising year, Sonos readies its next big thing: a streaming box (The Verge)
• 35% Year-over-Year Decrease in Ransomware Payments, Less than Half of Recorded Incidents Resulted in Victim Payments (Chainalysis)
• Apple Launches New 'Invites' App (MacRumors)

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Is the US government about to get into, or at least, heavily impact the VC investing business? Apparently, the trade war with China is still on. The resurrection of Twitterific. And how Spotify has quietly stopped investing, and started getting real about profitability.

Sponsors:

• LinkedIn.com/ride

Links:

• Trump Signs Executive Action to Create Sovereign Wealth Fund (Bloomberg)
• China Hits Back Against Trump’s Tariffs With Targeted Actions (Bloomberg)
• China targets Google, Nvidia and Intel as Trump tariffs bite (Financial Times)
• Twitterrific team launches new ‘Tapestry’ iPhone app for Bluesky, Mastodon, RSS, more (9to5Mac)
• Opera’s new browser might save you from doomscrolling (The Verge)
• Spotify Reports First Full-Year Profit (WSJ)

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OpenAI unveils Deep Research, an AI agent just for that. I’ll explain. Are Shein and Temu first up to feel the brunt of the new Trump tariffs? Apple canceled the AR project I assumed they would be pivoting toward. And the Beatles won a Grammy last night with the first AI augmented song to ever win a Grammy.

Sponsors:

• QualiaLife.com/ride and code RIDE

Links:

• OpenAI unveils a new ChatGPT agent for ‘deep research’ (TechCrunch)
• Trump Targets Loophole Temu, Shein Used to Take On Amazon (Bloomberg)
• Shein to Face EU Consumer Law Probe Under E-Commerce Crackdown (Bloomberg)
• Apple Scraps Work on Mac-Connected Augmented Reality Glasses (Bloomberg)
• Stablecoins are finding product-market fit in emerging markets (TechCrunch)
• That AI-restored Beatles song won Grammy for Best Rock Performance (The Verge)

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If the entire world shifts after you launch your startup, what do you do? Terra Trust founder Mike DiPetrillo tells you how to do it. What was our original use-case? DOUBLE DOWN on what you do well.

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Apple’s earnings are decidedly mixed. Mark Zuckerberg’s complaints about everything he says leaking… leaked, and there are a lot of interesting details in those leaks. Looks like the SoftBank and OpenAI courtship is a serious one, and if the marriage happens, looks like Arm Holdings can be leveraged for the dowery. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

Links:

• Apple shares rise 3% as boost in services revenue overshadows iPhone miss (CNBC)
• Mark Zuckerberg said that Meta missed TikTok's rise because it didn't seem 'social' enough, leaked recording reveals (Business Insider)
• OpenAI in Talks for Huge Investment Round Valuing It at Up to $300 Billion (WSJ)
• OpenAI’s Sam Altman and SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son Are AI’s New Power Couple (WSJ)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

• DeepSeek Chief’s Journey From Math Geek to Global Disruptor (WSJ)
• Chinese Quant Whiz Built DeepSeek In The Shadow Of a Hedge Fund Rout (Bloomberg)
• DeepSeek Debates: Chinese Leadership On Cost, True Training Cost, Closed Model Margin Impacts (SemiAnalysis)

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Meta and Microsoft reported earnings, but all Wall Street cared about was getting Capex updates. Meta settles with… the President. Waymo’s expansion continues apace. Why Masa Son is the perfect white knight for OpenAI. And AI IS copyrightable.

Sponsors:

• Shopify.com/ride

Links:

• Microsoft shares slide as cloud forecast, AI spending disappoint (Reuters)
• Meta’s Reality Labs posts $5 billion loss in fourth quarter (CNBC)
• Zuck shrugs off DeepSeek, vows to spend hundreds of billions on AI (TechCrunch)
• Meta to Pay $25 Million to Settle 2021 Trump Lawsuit (WSJ)
• Waymo to test in 10 new cities in 2025, starting with Las Vegas and San Diego (The Verge)
• SoftBank in talks to invest up to $25bn in OpenAI (FT)
• Copyright Office Offers Assurances on AI Filmmaking Tools (Variety)
• Authors Guild sets up ‘Human Author’ portal to certify books come from ‘human intellect’ (AP)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Essentially, OpenAI suspects that DeekSeek might have copied them. I’ll explain the term, “distillation.” Could you soon be able to connect to Starlink on your iPhone? Is Comcast about to make the Internet… better? And the hopeful return of commercial supersonic flight.

Links:

• OpenAI says it has evidence China’s DeepSeek used its model to train competitor (Financial Times)
• Microsoft Probing If DeepSeek-Linked Group Improperly Obtained OpenAI Data (Bloomberg)
• Alibaba releases AI model it says surpasses DeepSeek (Reuters)
• Alibaba Announces AI Model That ‘Outperforms ChatGPT & DeepSeek’ (Tech.co)
• Alibaba’s Qwen 2.5 surpasses DeepSeek as China’s AI race heats up (BGR)
• Apple and SpaceX Link Up to Support Starlink Satellite Network on iPhones (Bloomberg)
• Comcast is rolling out ‘ultra-low lag’ tech that could fix the internet (The Verge)
• Streaming prices climb in 2025 after already surpassing inflation rates (ArsTechnica)
• Netflix won the streaming wars, and we’re all about to pay for it (The Verge)
• Civilian jet breaks sound barrier during historic test flight over Mojave Desert (CBSNews)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

More fallout from the DeepSeek realignment of everybody’s thinking about AI. Could this be a signal that the large model business model is over and value is going to be in the application layer? Pebble lives! Spotify says it pays out tons, but does it really? And the network of AI local news newsletters.

Sponsors:

• Robinhood.com/gold

Links:

• Viral AI company DeepSeek releases new image model family (TechCrunch)
• Smartwatch pioneer and Kickstarter darling Pebble is returning in a new form (TechCrunch)
• OpenAI launches ChatGPT Gov for U.S. government agencies (CNBC)
• Spotify Paid Out $10 Billion to the Music Industry in 2024 — $1 Billion More Than Last Year — and $60 Billion Total (Variety)
• Inside a network of AI-generated newsletters targeting “small town America” (NiemanLab)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It’s one of those days where there’s only one story. Maybe you saw that tech stocks got obliterated today. I’m here to tell you why. It’s solely because of DeepSeek and Chinese AI tech generally. How this tech is making people think twice about the AI boom, what DeepSeek did that is different and how this could affect all of Silicon Valley.

Sponsors:

• TryJoyMode.com and use code RIDE

Links:

• China’s DeepSeek Tops iPhone Downloads and Spurs AI Selloff (Bloomberg)
• The Short Case for Nvidia Stock (Jeffrey Emanuel)
• DeepSeek R1’s bold bet on reinforcement learning: How it outpaced OpenAI at 3% of the cost (VentureBeat)
• DeepSeek resets the board (Axios)
• 17 Thoughts About the Big DeepSeek Selloff (Bloomberg)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

OpenAI releases its agentic bot that can do things on your behalf on your computer. Has the Stargate controversy driven a rift between Musk and Trump? Will the US government create a strategic crypto stockpile? And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

Sponsors:

• MackWeldon.com promocode: BRIAN

Links:

• OpenAI’s new Operator AI agent can do things on the web for you (The Verge)
• We Tried OpenAI’s New Agent—Here’s What We Found (Every)
• Trump staff ‘furious’ after Musk trashes AI project (Politico)
• Stargate artificial intelligence project to exclusively serve OpenAI (FT)
• Trump signs executive order promoting crypto, paving way for digital asset stockpile (CNBC)
• Mark Zuckerberg's Post (Facebook)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

• As Netflix stock surges, an ‘anti-ESPN’ sports strategy emerges (The Athletic)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ok, that whole AI datacenter joint venture thing seems to have gotten messy. A ByteDance board member thinks TikTok might have a way out without selling. Netflix rakes in a bunch of Oscar nominations. And humanity’s final exam has been formulated to see when AI has actually graduated to true intelligence.

Sponsors:

• Qualialife.com/ride and code ride

Links:

• OpenAI, SoftBank Each Commit $19 Billion to Stargate Data Center Venture (The Information)
• OpenAI’s Stargate Deal Heralds Shift Away From Microsoft (WSJ)
• TikTok’s parent company is in active discussions about a deal, board member says (CNN)
• Co-founder of French Crypto Startup Freed After Kidnapping (Bloomberg)
• Subaru Security Flaws Exposed Its System for Tracking Millions of Cars (Wired)
• Oscar Nomination Scorecard: Netflix Leads Among Studios With 16, A24 Close Behind With 14 (Variety)
• When A.I. Passes This Test, Look Out (NyTimes)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

All the headlines from today’s Samsung event, including the S25 lineup. The Silk Road creator gets a pardon. A huge joint venture for a new AI datacenter effort. Will Elon take half of TikTok and the US the other half? And guess what? Netflix is raising prices again.

Sponsors:

• Timeline.com/ride

Links:

• The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra smooths out some sharp edges (The Verge)
• Trump Pardons Creator of Silk Road Drug Marketplace (NYTimes)
• OpenAI teams up with SoftBank and Oracle on $500B data center project (TechCrunch)
• 'Stargate' Squares Some AI Circles (Spyglass/MG Siegler)
• Trump Says He’s Open to Elon Musk or Larry Ellison Purchasing TikTok (Bloomberg)
• Meta Plans Oakley-Branded Glasses, Explores Watches and Earbuds (Bloomberg)
• Meta will soon let you link your WhatsApp account with Instagram and Facebook (TechCrunch)
• Netflix Adds 19 Million Subscribers in Latest Quarter (NYTimes)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Alright, I’ll sum up everything that happened this weekend with TikTik, but also get to all of the changes the new Trump administration has made, which is relating to tech, in just the past 24 hours. How folks are trying to eat TikTok’s lunch. Should Apple buy Sonos? And the IMDB loses its founder after 25 years.

Sponsors:

• IQBar text TECHMEME to 64000
• 1Password.com/ride

Links:

• Trump signs order refusing to enforce TikTok ban for 75 days (The Verge)
• Trump signs executive order to halt TikTok ban, risking legal showdown (Washington Post)
• President Trump signs exec order to make Musk’s DOGE commission more official (TechCrunch)
• Meta announces a new CapCut rival called Edits (TechCrunch)
• Bluesky adds TikTok mode while Elon mulls reviving Vine in the latest banning drama (Windows Central)
• Apple Is Unlikely to Buy Sonos, But Amazon or Spotify Might Consider It (Bloomberg)
• IMDb Founder Col Needham Steps Aside as CEO, COO Nikki Santoro Promoted to Chief Exec (Variety)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I speak to Senator Ron Wyden about the TikTok ban, AI and regulation, tech regulation in general, and his new book: It Takes Chutzpah: How to Fight Fearlessly for Progressive Change

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Supreme Court rules against TikTok, but at this point, I think this is all kabuki theater. Somehow TikTok is going to survive. Bumble’s founder returns to the company. Is Apple Intelligence really working for anyone? Does anyone care that the Chinese have allegedly hacked everything at this point? And, of course, The Weekend Longreads suggestions.

Sponsors:

• MackWeldon.com promocode BRIAN

Links:

• Supreme Court Upholds Law That Threatens US TikTok Ban (Bloomberg)
• Bumble Founder Whitney Wolfe Herd to Return as CEO in March (Bloomberg)
• iOS 18.3 temporarily disables Apple Intelligence notification summaries for select apps, more (9to5Mac)
• General Motors Is Banned From Selling Driving Behavior Data for 5 Years (NYTimes)
• FBI Warned Agents It Believes Phone Logs Hacked Last Year (Bloomberg)
• Chinese Hackers Accessed Yellen's Computer in US Treasury Breach (Bloomberg)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

• Charlwin Mao, the Chinese tech founder welcoming ‘TikTok refugees’ (Financial Times)
• Kids Turn to a Mental-Health Chatbot to Share Their Anxieties (WSJ)
• To release Animal Crossing in the West, Nintendo ‘had to change everything’ (Polygon)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Nintendo finally takes the wraps off the Switch 2. Everybody seems to want to give TikTok more time, but can they find a way to do it? A big new AI research lab. A check in with Nothing. The company, I mean. And the weird story of when Walgreens tries to replace refrigerator doors with smartscreens.

Sponsors:

• TryJoyMode.com and code RIDE at checkout

Links:

• Here’s the Nintendo Switch 2 (The Verge)
• Trump considers executive order hoping to ‘save TikTok’ from ban or sale in U.S. law (Washington Post)
• Biden administration looks for ways to keep TikTok available in the U.S. (NBCNews)
• AI researcher François Chollet founds a new AI lab focused on AGI (TechCrunch)
• Phone Startup Nothing Raises Funding, Crosses $1 Billion in Lifetime Sales (Bloomberg)
• Walgreens Replaced Fridge Doors With Smart Screens. It’s Now a $200 Million Fiasco (Bloomberg)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The SEC is suing Elon Musk. Big AI insertions in Microsoft Copilot, Google Workspace and even LinkedIn. How TikTok plans to handle the immediate aftermath of a shutdown. Another new Instagram alternative. And have your AirPods been misbehaving? Here’s what Apple did without telling anyone.

Sponsors:

• Shopify.com/ride

Links:

• Musk Accused by SEC of Cheating Twitter Investors Out of Millions (Bloomberg)
• Microsoft relaunches Copilot for business with free AI chat and pay-as-you-go agents (The Verge)
• Google Workspace business users getting full Gemini experience, price increasing (9to5Google)
• LinkedIn adds free AI tools for job hunters and recruiters (TechCrunch)
• TikTok Prepares for Immediate Shut-Off in the U.S. on Sunday (The Information)
• Decentralized Instagram alternative Pixelfed launches mobile apps (TechCrunch)
• Apple starts pushing AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 owners into Transparency or Noise Cancellation modes repeatedly, without an easy opt out (Key Discussions)

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Break out your 2025 headline bingo cards. Did you have Elon Musk maybe buying TikTok on there? You’re a better bingo player than I am. Is the EU going to back off Tech in the Trump era? More layoffs come to Meta. The big streaming sports play that isn’t gonna happen now. And why is Barcelona a hub for spyware companies?

Sponsors:

• LinkedIn.com/ride

Links:

• China Weighs Sale of TikTok US to Musk as a Possible Option (Bloomberg)
• EU reassesses tech probes into Apple, Google and Meta (Financial Times)
• Meta to Cut Roughly 5% of Staff, Targeting Lowest Performers (Bloomberg)
• Databricks Inks $5 Billion of Private Credit, Bank Funding (Bloomberg)
• Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox Pull the Plug on Venu Sports Streaming Venture (THR)
• Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery call off plans to launch Venu sports streaming service (CNBC)
• How Barcelona became an unlikely hub for spyware startups (TechCrunch)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Biden administration unveils its long planned new chip export rules, and Nvidia isn’t happy. That whole botched Sonos app debacle has cost the CEO his job. Why we might not see blockbuster tech IPOs this year. Why some of Nvidia’s customers are returning Blackwell chips. And say hello to China’s answer to Instagram.

Sponsors:

• Robinhood.com/gold

Links:

• US imposes export controls on chips for AI to counter China (FT)
• Sonos CEO Leaving After Botched App Revamp Led to Customer Revolt (Bloomberg)
• Sonos CEO Patrick Spence steps down after disastrous app launch (The Verge)
• Silicon Valley’s largest start-ups to shun IPOs in 2025 (Financial Times)
• Nvidia’s Top Customers Face Delays From Glitchy AI Chip Racks (The Information)
• Xiaohongshu, China’s answer to Instagram, hits no. 1 on the App Store as TikTok faces US shutdown (TechCrunch)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The great Simon Willison joins SWYX and I to talk about everything we learned about LLMs in 2024, and what the state of AI is generally, as we go into 2025.

Here is Simon's blog post we keep referring to:

https://simonwillison.net/2024/Dec/31...

00:00 The State of AI in 2025

10:05 The Evolution of AI Models

19:54 Challenges in AI Agents

30:07 The Future of AI in Creative Industries

38:29 The Rise of AI Influencers

40:54 Credibility in the Age of AI

43:15 The Future of User Interfaces for LLMs

51:17 Local LLMs and Desktop AI Applications

55:17 AI Tools and Applications for Everyday Use

01:01:26 The Future of OpenAI and AI Regulation

01:08:08 The Need for Better Criticism of LLMs

01:10:41 The Future of Wearables and AI Integration

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

All the controversies continue. I’ll update you on the Meta moderation controversy. The latest twist in the WordPress brouhaha. The TikTok thing is coming to a head right now as we speak, in the form of Supreme Court arguments. Asking again if the business model of Triple A gaming development is broken. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

Sponsors:

• Qualialife.com/ride and code ride

Links:

• Mark Zuckerberg gave Meta’s Llama team the OK to train on copyrighted works, filing claims (TechCrunch)
• Automattic says it will reduce its contribution to WordPress core project to match WP Engine (TechCrunch)
• Billionaire Frank McCourt's Project Liberty proposes bid for TikTok's US assets (Reuters)
• Candy Crush, Tinder, MyFitnessPal: See the Thousands of Apps Hijacked to Spy on Your Location (Wired)
• Call of Duty's massive development budgets revealed: $700 million for Black Ops Cold War (Game File)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

• The New $30,000 Side Hustle: Making Job Referrals for Strangers (Bloomberg)
• The smart glasses era is here — I got a first look (The Verge)
• The Anti-Social Century (The Atlantic)

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Big new zero day to tell you about. Apple says Siri is safe, honest. Google rolls out an AI Daily Listen audio feature. Looking at the next wave of wearable AI. And let me tell you about WatchDuty, the app everyone in LA was using overnight.

Sponsors:

• Timeline.com/ride33

Links:

• Hackers are exploiting a new Ivanti VPN security bug to hack into company networks (TechCrunch)
• Apple says Siri isn’t sending your conversations to advertisers (The Verge)
• Google’s ‘Daily Listen’ lab is a personalized podcast based on your Discover feed (9to5Google)
• SoftBank’s Chip Designer Arm Considers Acquiring Ampere Computing (Bloomberg)
• Your Next AI Wearable Will Listen to Everything All the Time (Wired)
• With L.A. on alert, wildfire app Watch Duty adds 600,000 users overnight (Los Angeles Times)
• LA residents find a lifeline in this free wildfire-tracking app (The Verge)
• ‘It’s not just alerts, it’s a state of mind’: How a wildfire monitoring app became essential in the US west (The Guardian)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tons and tons of controversy and fallout from Meta’s announced content moderation changes yesterday. I’ve got I think a fair, comprehensive rundown of all the angles. Interesting new rounds for Bluesky and Anthropic. And the coolest stuff I’ve seen from CES thus far, including: are rollable laptop screens finally ready for prime time?

Sponsors:

• Acorns.com/ride

Links:

• Meta’s fact-checking changes are just what Trump’s FCC head asked for (The Verge)
• Social-Media Companies Decide Content Moderation Is Trending Down (WSJ)
• AI Startup Anthropic Raising Funds Valuing It at $60 Billion (WSJ)
• Lenovo’s Latest Laptop Has a Rollable OLED Screen (Wired)
• BMW’s new iDrive turns the whole windshield into a heads-up display (The Verge)
• New Nike Therapeutic Shoes at CES 2025 Look Like Nothing You've Ever Seen Before (CNET)
• EcoFlow’s Solar hat is better for the planet than your style (Engadget)
• Anker made a solar beach umbrella, because of course (Engadget)
• This Slim Little Battery I Saw at CES 2025 Is Like a Tesla Powerwall for Your Fridge (CNET)
• I Watched a Printer-Size Gadget Boost a Phone's Battery Life in Seconds (CNET)
• This toaster-looking gadget boosts your phone’s battery in seconds (The Verge)
• If you’re constantly losing cables, this could be your ideal charger (The Verge)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Meta is completely revamping its fact-checking program, going instead with a version of Community Notes. A new Tesla recall, but for a different reason. Dell is taking rebranding to new, Google-like lows. All the headlines from a jam-packed Nvidia keynote. And what about an AI copilot but for gaming?

Sponsors:

• LinkedIn.com/ride

Links:

• US opens probe into 2.6 million Tesla vehicles over remote driving feature (Reuters)
• Getty Images and Shutterstock agree to merge (Axios)
• Getty Images and Shutterstock to Merge in $3.7 Billion Deal (The Wrap)
• Dell kills the XPS brand (The Verge)
• Nvidia announces next-gen RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 GPUs (The Verge)
• Nvidia’s Project Digits is a ‘personal AI supercomputer’ (TechCrunch)
• Razer Project Ava: would you pay an AI to help you get good at games? (The Verge)

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Sam Altman says AGI isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? Superintelligence. Why is nobody using Meta’s AI profiles? Keep an eye on Zuck, is my advice. The big trend at CES so far is AI inside smart TVs. And our first day wrap up of some of the cool things we’ve seen so far at CES.

Sponsors:

• Oracle.com/techmeme

Links:

• Reflections (Sam Altman's Blog)
• Meta's AI Profiles Are Indistinguishable From Terrible Spam That Took Over Facebook (404 Media)
• Samsung spreads Vision AI across its 2025 TV portfolio (VentureBeat)
• LG and Samsung are adding Microsoft’s Copilot AI assistant to their TVs (The Verge)
• LG’s 2025 OLED TVs are its best yet — but they risk going overboard with AI (The Verge)
• CES 2025: We Spent Hours Watching a Robot Vacuum Pick Up Socks. It's a Dream Come True (CNET)
• Stop Scalding Your Tongue: This $25 Cat Robot 'Blows' on Your Drink to Cool It (CNET)
• Elvie unveils an app-controlled smart bouncer that transforms into a bassinet at CES 2025 (TechCrunch)
• TiVo-powered TVs are coming to the US (The Verge)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Apple pays a fine cause Siri was listening in on what you said. Strava does a tie-in with Apple Fitness+. Net Neutrality is dead again, and it looks like for good this time. The nuclear winter in the VC space, CES is coming for us all, and a Weekend Longreads Suggestion.

Links:

• Apple to pay $95 million to settle Siri privacy lawsuit (Reuters)
• Apple Fitness Plus and Strava are collaborating with a new integration (The Verge)
• US appeals court blocks Biden administration effort to restore net-neutrality rules (Reuters)
• AI-generated phishing scams target corporate executives (Financial Times)
• Number of US venture capital firms falls as cash flows to tech’s top investors (Financial Times)
• Asus, Samsung, and MSI announce world’s first 27-inch 4K OLED 240Hz monitors (The Verge)

Weekend Longreads Suggestion:

• AI Needs So Much Power, It’s Making Yours Worse (Bloomberg)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Among other things, learn how Miami Vice inspired the Golden Girls, how the Golden Girls helped finance the making of the movie Reservoir Dogs, whether or not Betty White and Bea Arthur hated each other, where the Golden Girls house was, and the real ages of the actresses when they were playing Golden Girls.

Special guest, Christina Warren, @film_girl!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

AT&T and Verizon say they’ve rooted out Salt Typhoon. Trump asks the Supreme Court to intervene in the TikTok situation. All the banks want to be like Tether. And as we slide into this new year, it’s a USB-C world now, we’re just living in it.

Links:

• AT&T, Verizon Say Networks Now Clear After Salt Typhoon Hack (Bloomberg)
• Trump Asks Supreme Court to Pause Law Threatening TikTok Ban (Bloomberg)
• Biden administration proposes new cybersecurity rules to limit impact of healthcare data leaks (Reuters)
• Banks Want In on Tether’s Billions in Stablecoin Profits (Bloomberg)
• ‘Grand Theft Auto VI’ set to break records despite gaming slowdown (FT)
• The USB-C charging mandate arrives in the EU — here’s what that means (The Verge)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Microsoft and OpenAI are reportedly having problems deciding how make this whole, reclassifying as for-profit thing work. Oh, also, they secretly decided on a new definition of artificial general intelligence that is tied to tangible dollar value. At the tail end of the year, the most interesting new AI model of the year. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

Links:

• Microsoft and OpenAI Wrangle Over Terms of Their Blockbuster Partnership (The Information)
• Microsoft and OpenAI’s Secret AGI Definition (The Information)
• DeepSeek-V3, ultra-large open-source AI, outperforms Llama and Qwen on launch (VentureBeat)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

• Video Games Can’t Afford to Look This Good (NYTimes)
• Hawk Tuah Wasn’t What It Seemed (The Atlantic)
• The Paper Passport Is Dying (Wired)
• You Need to Create a Secret Password With Your Family (Wired)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Was Calvin And Hobbes the greatest comic strip ever? Or maybe a great work of art of the 20th Century? Why did Bill Watterson disappear? Was Calvin "good" (morally)? Was Hobbes "real"? Why were there never any toys? Would we ever really want Calvin and Hobbes to come back?

With special guest @kibblesmith!

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How about a Ring Doorbell, but from Apple? How about Meta Ray Ban’s but crossed with Google Glass? How everybody is combining forces to bid for defense contracts. How Tether won the crypto profitability wars. And how Britannica has not only survived the Internet era, but is actually thriving?

Sponsors:

• 1Password.com/ride

Links:

• Apple Explores a Face ID Doorbell and Lock Device in Smart Home Push (Bloomberg)
• Meta to add display to Ray-Bans as race over smart glasses intensifies (FT)
• Palantir and Anduril join forces with tech groups to bid for Pentagon contracts (FT)
• Tether Sees $10 Billion in Net Profits for 2024 (Bloomberg)
• Britannica Didn’t Just Survive. It’s an A.I. Company Now. (NYTimes)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Gemini Flash Thinking a model making a serious run at “reasoning.” The FAA has had to ban drones in New Jersey cause of all those weird drone sightings. Self Driving technology continues to prove it is safer. An open source generative physics engine for robots.

Sponsors:

• WashingtonPost.com/ride

Links:

• Google reveals AI ‘reasoning’ model that ‘explicitly shows its thoughts’ (The Verge)
• FAA Bans Drone Flights in Parts of New Jersey (Bloomberg)
• Instagram teases AI editing tools that will completely reimagine your videos (The Verge)
• Waymo still doing better than humans at preventing injuries and property damage (The Verge)
• New physics sim trains robots 430,000 times faster than reality (ArsTechnica)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Apple says Meta is getting annoying. You can now call 1800CHATGPT to, you know, talk to ChatGPT. Apple scraps plans for a hardware subscription package. Oura’s big new raise also indicates how well its smart-ring business is going. And has Bengaluru grown to quickly for its own good?

Links:

• Apple hits out at Meta's numerous interoperability requests (Reuters)
• OpenAI makes ChatGPT available for phone calls and texts (CNBC)
• Apple Halts Effort to Build iPhone Hardware Subscription Service (Bloomberg)
• Smart ring start-up Ōura raises $200mn as valuation leaps to $5.2bn (Financial Times)
• Oura closes $200M round, bringing its valuation to $5.2B (TechCrunch)
• 3 Changes That Would Make Samsung's Galaxy Ring So Much Better (CNET)
• PS5 Pro deep dive reaction: GPU and RT improvements, PSSR and Sony's new AMD Amethyst partnership (EuroGamer)
• Inside India's 'Silicon Valley' (BusinessInsider)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Is your home internet router about to be banned? The US has a new Chinese tech target. An AI dev kit from Nvidia. Who actually buys the most chips from Nvidia? Hollywood has flip-flopped on the whole theatrical release strategy. And why Instagram is officially king of the hill at Meta.

Sponsors:

• Lumen.me/ride

Links:

• U.S. Weighs Ban on Chinese-Made Router in Millions of American Homes (WSJ)
• Nvidia's new $249 AI development board promises 67 TOPS at half the price of the previous 40 TOPS model (TomsHardware)
• Nvidia’s $249 dev kit promises cheap, small AI power (The Verge)
• Microsoft acquires twice as many Nvidia AI chips as tech rivals (Financial Times)
• Grubhub to pay $25 million for misleading customers, restaurants, drivers (Reuters)
• ‘Red One’ Becomes Most-Watched Prime Video Film Debut Ever With 50 Million Viewers After Modest Theatrical Run (Variety)
• Here’s a Hollywood Twist: Streaming Success Runs Through Theaters (NYTimes)
• Instagram Expected to Generate 50% of Meta’s US Ad Sales in 2025 (Bloomberg)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On the same day that ByteDance asks the US Supreme Court to intervene, the TikTok CEO meets with Donald Trump. DeepMind’s big new competitor to Sora called Veo 2. The FTC comes down against so called “junk fees.” And on their historic raise, a deep dive look at Databricks, one of the biggest private companies in the world.

Sponsors:

• Miro.com

Links:

• Trump meets with TikTok CEO as video app challenges potential ban (NBCNews)
• TikTok Asks Supreme Court to Block Law Banning Its U.S. Operations (NYTimes)
• Google DeepMind unveils a new video model to rival Sora (TechCrunch)
• FTC issues rules requiring hotels, ticket sellers to reveal ‘junk fees’ (WashingtonPost)
• Waymo to begin testing in Tokyo, its first international destination (CNBC)
• His Startup Is Now Worth $62 Billion. It Gave Away Its First Product Free. (WSJ)
• Google’s Whisk AI generator will ‘remix’ the pictures you plug in (The Verge)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I break down the coming battle of the titans that is going to likely play out in 2025 between Sam Altman and Elon Musk. Mark Gurman says Apple is finally going foldable. Oh, and that Magic Mouse is finally that sin against God charger design. Every country wants a Starlink. And the big legal battle happening this week.

Links:

• Meta Urges California Attorney General to Stop OpenAI From Becoming For-Profit (WSJ)
• OpenAI hits back at Elon Musk's lawsuit in court filing (Axios)
• Sam Altman reckons with a growing threat to OpenAI: Elon Musk (Financial Times)
• Apple’s New Vision for Computing Is a Giant Foldable iPad (Bloomberg)
• Europe signs €10.6bn Iris² satellite deal in bid to rival Elon Musk’s Starlink (Financial Times)
• Chip groups Arm and Qualcomm square off in high-stakes US trial (Financial Times)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Brian on The Newsworthy podcast with Erica Mandy. Find out more about the show here.

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Ok, what if AI models are really the new OS for… everything. But also: smartglasses and a Vision Pro competitor. I’ll explain. Could NotebookLM become a fully fledged product? Seemingly the leader in the clubhouse in the race to create the next AI paradigm beyond the transformer model. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

Links:

• I saw Google’s plan to put Android on your face (The Verge)
• Google’s NotebookLM AI podcast hosts can now talk to you, too (The Verge)
• Google says its breakthrough quantum chip can’t break modern cryptography (The Verge)
• Liquid Set to Raise $250 Million to Build AI Inspired by Tiny Worm Brains (Bloomberg)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

• The Cult of Claude (NYTimes)
• How WhatsApp ate the world (Rest Of World)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

More fallout from the whole Cruise wind-down. What it’s like to use some of the new Gemini 2.0 features. Has Apple, quite belatedly, finally done a feature update that provides the Vision Pro with a “killer app?” An Instagram-like app from China I had never heard of. And one singular, eye-popping datapoint from the CHIPS Act.

Links:

• The end of Cruise is the beginning of a risky new phase for autonomous vehicles (The Verge)
• Gemini 2.0 Flash: An outstanding multi-modal LLM with a sci-fi streaming model (Simon Willison's Blog)
• FCC Opens Entire 6-GHz Band to Very-Low-Power Device Operations (TV Tech)
• The Vision Pro’s ultrawide Mac display is very close to being a killer app (The Verge)
• China’s Instagram-Style Xiaohongshu Crosses $1 Billion in Profit (Bloomberg)
• Harvard Is Releasing a Massive Free AI Training Dataset Funded by OpenAI and Microsoft (Wired)
• US chipmaking boom in doubt after Biden’s defeat (Financial Times)

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GM shocked everybody by shutting down the Cruise robotaxi business. ChatGPT is finally on your iPhone once you update it. Could all Apple watches someday have satellite texting? And then, I guess Google wanted to pre-empt Santa Sam, because they released an absolute slew of AI products today.

Links:

• GM to refocus autonomous driving development on personal vehicles (GM Investor Relations)
• GM Calls It Quits on Mary Barra’s $50 Billion Robotaxi Dream (Bloomberg)
• Apple’s Next Ultra Smartwatch Will Be Able to Send Texts Via Satellite (Bloomberg)
• Google Rolls Out Faster Gemini AI Model to Power Agents (Bloomberg)
• Google’s new Trillium AI chip delivers 4x speed and powers Gemini 2.0 (VentureBeat)
• Gemini 2.0, Google’s newest flagship AI, can generate text, images, and speech (TechCrunch)
• Google unveils AI coding assistant ‘Jules,’ promising autonomous bug fixes and faster development cycles (VentureBeat)
• Google unveils Project Mariner: AI agents to use the web for you (TechCrunch)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You can now buy a car on Amazon. A new AI unicorn doing something with AI I hadn’t heard about before. New AI enhanced smartglasses. Microsoft says it has a new datacenter design that uses zero water. And if you were able to use Sora yesterday, what was that like?

Sponsors:

• Shopify.com/ride

Links:

• You Can Buy a Car on Amazon Now (Wired)
• US finalizes $6.1 bln Micron chip-making subsidy (Reuters)
• Memory chip maker Micron’s $6.1 billion grant confirmed by Commerce Dept. (Washington Post)
• OpenAI-Backed Language Tutor Startup Doubles Value to $1 Billion (Bloomberg)
• Solos challenges Meta’s Ray-Bans with $299 ChatGPT smart glasses (The Verge)
• Microsoft Unveils Zero-Water Data Centers to Reduce AI Climate Impact (Bloomberg)
• Bluesky teases paid subscription, Bluesky+, in new mockup (TechCrunch)
• I just went hands-on with Sora — the good, the bad, and the wow (Tom's Guide)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

OpenAI’s Sora model is here! TikTok is still in trouble. China does more turnabouts is fair play, this time with Nvidia. I Apple, belatedly, getting serious about gaming on the Vision Pro? And did Google just make a huge, historic leap forward in quantum computing?

Sponsors:

• 1Password.com/ride
• MackWeldon.com promocode: brian

Links:

• Sora is here (OpenAI)
• OpenAI’s controversial Sora is finally launching today. Will it truly disrupt Hollywood? (LATimes)
• OpenAI releases Sora, its buzzy AI video-generation tool (CNBC)
• Appeals Court Upholds U.S. Ban of TikTok (WSJ)
• Nvidia Hit With China Probe in Global Tech War Escalation (Bloomberg)
• Apple, Sony Discuss Teaming Up on Gaming Controllers for Vision Pro (Blooomberg)
• Quantum Computing Inches Closer to Reality After Another Google Breakthrough (NYTimes)
• Google Debuts New Quantum Chip, Error Correction Breakthrough, and Roadmap Details (HPCWire)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Santa Sam has made his first delivery of the promised 12 days of launches from OpenAI. David Sacks is named the AI and Crypto Czar. Samsung’s entire UI is getting a radical overhaul. OpenAI is seemingly about to restructure everything. No more Surface Studios? And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

Links:

• OpenAI is charging $200 a month for an exclusive version of its o1 ‘reasoning’ model (The Verge)
• Trump Names David Sacks as White House AI and Crypto Czar (Bloomberg)
• Here’s everything new Samsung’s Android 15 update, One UI 7, and the full changelog [Gallery] (9to5Google)
• OpenAI seeks to unlock investment by ditching ‘AGI’ clause with Microsoft (Financial Times)
• The Surface Studio is dead? — Microsoft ends production on $4,500 Surface Studio 2+ as stock dwindles (Windows Central)
• Hawk Tuah memecoin dumps 90% amid backlash over controversial launch (Cointelegraph)
• What Pat Gelsinger’s exit means for Intel and the US Chips Act (Financial Times)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

• He Was Going to Save Intel. He Destroyed $150 Billion of Value Instead. (WSJ)
• Friend or Faux (The Verge)
• When a Telescope Is a National-Security Risk (The Atlantic)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Bitcoin crosses the big $100k mark for the first time. We now know who Trump wants to fill the roles Silicon Valley cares about the most. Is Amazon about to become a top tier AI model player? Two new models from Google DeepMind, one of them promises to revolutionize weather prediction. And Waymo says bienvenido a Miami.

Sponsors:

• WashingtonPost.com/ride

Links:

• Crypto Trading Volume Surged to $10 Trillion for the First Time in November (Bloomberg)
• Trump Picks Paul Atkins to Run the S.E.C. (NYTimes)
• Trump Taps Vance Aide Gail Slater as Top DOJ Antitrust Cop (Bloomberg)
• Amazon announces Nova, a new family of multimodal AI models (TechCrunch)
• First impressions of the new Amazon Nova LLMs (via a new llm-bedrock plugin) (Simon Willison's Blog)
• DeepMind’s Genie 2 can generate interactive worlds that look like video games (TechCrunch)
• Google Introduces A.I. Agent That Aces 15-Day Weather Forecasts (NYTimes)
• Key leaders behind Google’s viral NotebookLM are leaving to create their own startup (TechCrunch)
• Waymo to expand to Miami, aims to launch robotaxi service there in 2026 (CNBC)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Amid the Salt Typhoon hack, the US government wants you and me to go encrypted. Ubisoft shuts down XDefiant. Spotify Wrapped 2024 has NotebookLM baked right into it. And Google’s text to video AI model has beaten Sora to market, but is Sam Altman about to get all Santa on us?

Sponsors:

• Lumen.me/ride

Links:

• U.S. officials urge Americans to use encrypted apps amid unprecedented cyberattack (NBCNews)
• Ubisoft shutting down XDefiant in 2025, laying off half of its team (Polygon)
• Spotify Wrapped 2024 adds an AI podcast powered by Google’s NotebookLM (TechCrunch)
• Smart Home Market Becomes Apple’s Next Strategic Target; New HomePod with Display Set to Be Key Product in Apple’s Smart Home Strategy (Ming-Chi Kuo)
• Google’s new generative AI video model is now available (The Verge)
• AWS announces Aurora DSQL, a new distributed SQL database that promises virtually unlimited scalability (TechCrunch)
• Kindle Scribe 2 review in progress: Is slightly useful AI worth the extra cash? (Engadget)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The search for a new Intel CEO has begun in earnest, but a change in leadership probably makes a wholesale transformation of the company more likely. China goes tit for tat on banning things. Why ChatGPT can’t say certain names. And how is that shopping with AI agents thing going?

Links:

• Exclusive: Intel's CEO-shortlist candidates include former board member Lip-Bu Tan, sources say (Reuters)
• Intel CEO Forced Out by Board Frustrated With Slow Progress (Bloomberg)
• China retaliates against latest US chip restrictions (Financial Times)
• Why does the name ‘David Mayer’ crash ChatGPT? Digital privacy requests may be at fault (TechCrunch)
• The race is on to make AI agents do your online shopping for you (TechCrunch)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Pat Gelsinger is out at Intel. So where do they go from here? The first announces from the AWS re:Invent conference. More signs that crypto is in the ascendency. Elon files to block OpenAI from going for profit. Is he the greatest threat to that company? And a new startup taking on Nvidia.

Links:

• Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger retires (TechCrunch)
• AWS opens physical outlets that let customers upload their data (TechCrunch)
• Ripple-Linked XRP Soars to Third-Largest Token After Trump Win (Bloomberg)
• Elon Musk files for injunction to halt OpenAI’s transition to a for-profit (TechCrunch)
• Musk’s Rivals Fear He Will Target Them With His New Power (WSJ)
• Bezos Backs AI Chipmaker Vying With Nvidia at $2.6 Billion Value (Bloomberg)
• Open-source OpenWrt One router released at $89 — 'hacker-friendly device' sports two Ethernet ports, three USB ports, with dual-band Wi-Fi 6 (Tom's Hardware)

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It is maybe the one moment of tragedy where most 80s kids remember where they were when it happened. Today, RAD! 80s90s History is looking at the Challenger disaster.

Our guest is @fmanjoo

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Did you know that we could have had the answering machine decades before we actually got to buy one? Why the 1980s and 90s was an unusual time for an innovation explosion in communications technology. The history of the whole AT&T/Ma Bell breakup by the government. And how much did YOU beg your parents to get your own phone line in your bedroom?

The guest this episode is the actress Toni Trucks. @tonitrucks

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

OpenAI has suspended access to Sora after an activist stunt. Anyone can train AI on your Bluesky posts, but that is by design, in a way. Elon is readying a straight ChatGPT competitor. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

Links:

• OpenAI’s Sora video generator appears to have leaked (TechCrunch)
• OpenAI hits pause on video model Sora after artists leak access in protest (Washington Post)
• Someone Made a Dataset of One Million Bluesky Posts for 'Machine Learning Research' (404Media)
• Inside Elon Musk’s Quest to Beat OpenAI at Its Own Game (WSJ)
• Yes, That Viral LinkedIn Post You Read Was Probably AI-Generated (Wired)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

• Should You Still Learn to Code in an A.I. World? (NYTimes)
• Bad influence (The Verge)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Intel does get its money. Threads continues to feel the heat from Bluesky, and responds by… giving people what they want. The new Mate 70 flagship smartphone from Huawei. Is Apple trying to make the iPhone so thin it can’t put a sim card in it? And yes, the whole Drake/Kendrick Lamar beef.

Sponsors:

• LegalZoom.com promocode: techmeme

Links:

• Intel Gets Up to $7.9 Billion Award for U.S. Chip-Plant Construction (WSJ)
• Threads is testing the option to choose your own default feed (The Verge)
• Elon Musk Admits X is Throttling Links — Effectively Limiting People From Reading News (Mediaite)
• Starbucks, Other Retailers Hit by Ransomware Attack on Tech Provider (WSJ)
• China’s Huawei Takes Aim at Apple With Latest Smartphone (NYTimes)
• Apple’s Thin iPhone Has No Physical SIMs—That Could Dampen China Sales (The Information)
• Drake Accuses UMG & Spotify of Scheme to ‘Artificially Inflate’ Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ (Billboard)

Link to AI avatar experiment

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Is Sony about to get back into the mobile gaming hardware business? Is Bluesky in the dog house with the EU? Nvidia’s new AI model. Is Intel not going to get as much money as it hoped for? And the rise of AI superclusters.

Sponsors:

• MackWeldon.com promocode BRIAN
• 1Password.com/ride

Links:

• Sony Working on Handheld Console for PS5 Games to Rival Switch (Bloomberg)
• Bluesky breaching rules around disclosure of information, says EU (Financial Times)
• Nvidia shows AI model that can modify voices, generate novel sounds (Reuters)
• NVIDIA's new AI model Fugatto can create audio from text prompts (Engadget)
• Washington Curtails Intel’s Chip Grant After Company Stumbles (NYTimes)
• Klarna’s Planned IPO Sets the Stage for More Fintech Listings (Bloomberg)
• Exclusive: CoreWeave targets valuation of over $35 billion in 2025 US IPO, sources say (Reuters)
• AI’s Future and Nvidia’s Fortunes Ride on the Race to Pack More Chips Into One Place (WSJ)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Brian's appearance on Daily Detroit talking about creating new tech hubs around the country.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wait, how long is it going to take Apple to make Siri behave like ChatGPT already does today? Maybe that talk of OpenAI buying the Chrome browser isn’t completely far fetched after all. Is Threads feeling the heat from Bluesky? Do I want to wear a watch on my finger? And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

Links:

• Apple Readies More Conversational Siri in Bid to Catch Up in AI (Bloomberg)
• OpenAI Considers Taking on Google With Browser (The Information)
• Threads’ algorithm will focus more on the people you follow (The Verge)
• As Bluesky soars, Threads rolls out custom feeds globally (TechCrunch)
• Casio’s first smart ring has innovative features like a stopwatch and flashing alarm (The Verge)

The Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

• Here’s some cool stuff you can do with Bluesky (The Verge)
• How Mark Zuckerberg has fully rebuilt Meta around Llama (Fortune)
• Are the robots finally coming? (FT)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The DOJ has filed its “remedy” for Google but what would it mean for end users if their recommendations actually come to pass? Nvidia’s earnings continue to be historic but are they worried about current AI models hitting a wall? How AI might help make quantum computing become reality. And did a major new AI player just release its first product?

Sponsors:

• Lumen.me/ride

Links:

• US regulators seek to break up Google, forcing Chrome sale as part of monopoly punishment (Associated Press)
• Google could be forced to sell Chrome – here’s what it would mean for users (iNews)
• Apple Pay, Other Tech Firms Come Under CFPB Regulatory Oversight (Bloomberg)
• Nvidia’s CEO defends his moat as AI labs change how they improve their AI models (TechCrunch)
• AI Power For Quantum Errors: Google Develops AlphaQubit to Identify, Correct Quantum Errors (Quantum Insider)
• Elon Musk’s xAI Startup Is Valued at $50 Billion in New Funding Round (WSJ)
• H, the AI startup that raised $220M, launches its first product: Runner H for ‘agentic’ applications (TechCrunch)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Now authors are being approached about training AI on their books, and some are not pleased. The new Android development cadence is here. More signs crypto is ascendant. More signs that Bluesky has taken off. And a case in point for why governments and militaries are worried about smartphone tracking.

Links:

• Microsoft Signs AI-Learning Deal With News Corp.’s HarperCollins (Bloomberg)
• Penguin Random House underscores copyright protection in AI rebuff (The Bookseller)
• The first Android 16 developer preview just landed: Here’s what you need to know (Android Police)
• Sony’s new PlayStation Portal update lets you stream PS5 games from the cloud (The Verge)
• Howard Lutnick, Tether's Wall Street Banker, Is Trump's Pick for Commerce Chief, Not Treasury Secretary (CoinDesk)
• Bluesky tops 20M users, narrowing gap with Instagram Threads (TechCrunch)
• Anyone Can Buy Data Tracking US Soldiers and Spies to Nuclear Vaults and Brothels in Germany (Wired)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We have an idea of how the DOJ wants to breakup Google, and it seems to hinge a lot on selling the Chrome web browser. Sony wants the Elden Ring franchise. The outgoing administration is racing to give out Chips Act money. And all the headlines from today’s Microsoft Ignite event.

Sponsors:

• WashingtonPost.com/ride
• Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code RIDEHOME at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: http://incogni.com/ridehome

Links:

• Google’s Chrome to Fetch Up to $20 Billion If Judge Orders Sale (Bloomberg)
• Source: Google is turning Chrome OS into Android to compete with the iPad (AndroidAuthority)
• Exclusive: Sony is in talks to buy media powerhouse behind 'Elden Ring' (Reuters)
• Two undersea cables in Baltic Sea disrupted, sparking warnings of possible ‘hybrid warfare’ (CNN)
• Windows 365 Link is a $349 mini PC that streams Windows from the cloud (The Verge)
• Windows comes to the Meta Quest (TechCrunch)
• Want to speak Italian? Microsoft AI can make it sound like you do. (Washington Post)
• Biden Team Races to Deliver Chip Grants Before Trump Takes Over (WSJ)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We have the nomination for the next FCC chair. More hype around smartglasses. About that Jake Paul/Mike Tyson fight on Netflix. Is YouTube now the king of the podcast ecosystem? And a deeper dive on how AI is giving Wall Street a brand new window into the startup ecosystem.

Sponsors:

• ArcticWolf.com/techmeme
• Ramp.com/techmeme

Links:

• Trump Designates FCC Veteran Brendan Carr as Chair of Agency (Bloomberg)
• Report: Samsung XR glasses have Ray-Ban Meta specs with more features, seemingly no display (9to5Google)
• Netflix’s Tyson-Paul Boxing Bout Gets 65 Million Viewers at Peak (Bloomberg)
• Why Everyone Is Now Watching Podcasts on YouTube (WSJ)
• Nvidia Customers Worry About Snag With New AI Chip Servers (The Information)
• Wall Street's Elites Are Piling Into a Massive AI Gamble (Bloomberg)

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We talk to @cara_jacqueline about what its like when your startup dies. How do you know when it's over? What were the lessons she learned from her journey? One of my favorite episodes we've ever done.

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Eighteen states are suing the SEC over crypto regulation. The FTC might be going after Microsoft, but is this well timed or terribly timed? ChatGPT on Windows just got more available. NASA has created an AI Copilot for… Earth. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

Sponsors:

• Acorns.com/ride

Links:

• SEC, Gary Gensler Sued by 18 States Over Biden’s Crypto Crackdown (Decrypt)
• US regulators plan to investigate Microsoft’s cloud business (Financial Times)
• ChatGPT App for Windows Now Available to Everyone (PCMag)
• NASA’s AI Earth Copilot will take your questions about our planet (The Verge)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

• Not even Spotify is safe from AI slop (The Verge)
• Klarna’s Seb Siemiatkowski — from burger flipping to billionaire club (Financial Times)
• Inside the Billion-Dollar Startup Bringing AI Into the Physical World (Wired)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Buckle up cause it’s going to be a regulation heavy day. Meta is served up its first big EU fine. The FBI is investigating Polymarket? The CFPB might require regular inspections of Google? A new AI agent from OpenAI in about a month? And forget the streaming wars, are we entering the age of the puzzle wars?

Sponsors:

• Notion.com/ride

Links:

• Meta fined nearly €800mn for breaking EU law over classified ads practices (FT)
• Polymarket Investigated by DOJ for Allegedly Letting US Users Bet on Platform (Bloomberg)
• CFPB looks to place Google under federal supervision, setting up clash (WashingtonPost)
• OpenAI Nears Launch of AI Agent Tool to Automate Tasks for Users (Bloomberg)
• Live Scam Detection in calls rolling out to Pixel 6-9 Phone app (9to5Google)
• Apple Releases Updates to Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for the Mac and iPad (MacStories)
• Meta to Launch Ads on Threads in Early 2025 (The Information)
• Words With Friends takes on Wordle with new single-player daily puzzles (The Verge)

AI Avatar YouTube Experiment

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The guessing game on who the new tech regulators will be for the new administration. What is Amazon Haul? Why has Bluesky suddenly seen a flurry of activity? More on Apple’s smarthome ambitions. And more on why AI seems to be hitting a wall lately? Here’s what you missed today in the world of Tech.

Sponsors:

• Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code RIDEHOME at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: Incogni.com/ridehome

Links:

• Donald Trump’s potential antitrust enforcers may keep Big Tech in their sights (Financial Times)
• Amazon debuts discount store with everything under $20 to take on Temu and Shein (CNBC)
• With Surge in New Users, Bluesky Emerges as X Alternative (NYTimes)
• Apple’s Next Device Is an AI Wall Tablet for Home Control, Siri and Video Calls (Bloomberg)
• OpenAI, Google and Anthropic Are Struggling to Build More Advanced AI (Bloomberg)

Bluesky Techmeme Starter Pack

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Looks like Apple wants to get serious about smarthome tech. The EU gets Meta to change, but has another requested change from Apple. Signal has some new features. Netflix’s ad-tier continues to win. And a deeper dive into how AI can leap this scaling wall it seems to have run into. Here’s what you missed today in the world of tech.

Sponsors:

• Shopify.com/ride

Links:

• Kuo: Apple to release its own smart home camera in 2026, with AI features (9to5Mac)
• In Europe, Instagram Ads Are About to Get Less Personal (WSJ)
• Apple Gets EU Warning to Stop Geo-Blocking on App, ITunes Stores (Bloomberg)
• Nvidia’s new app replacement for GeForce Experience is now out of beta (The Verge)
• Signal calls now work a lot more like Meet and Zoom (The Verge)
• Netflix Says Ad Tier Reaches 70 Million Users Globally (Variety)
• OpenAI and others seek new path to smarter AI as current methods hit limitations (Reuters)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

FTX is suing basically anybody you can think of. Why will your iPhone now reboot itself if you don’t log into it for several days? Is OpenAI’s next flagship model underperforming what they were expecting? And I’ve found the one company most disrupted by AI. At least, so far.

Sponsors:

• 1Password.com/ride

Links:

• FTX Sues Binance, Ex-CEO Zhao Seeking $1.8 Billion Clawback (Bloomberg)
• FTX Sues Scaramucci to Recoup Money for Creditors (Bloomberg)
• Apple Quietly Introduced iPhone Reboot Code Which is Locking Out Cops (404Media)
• OpenAI Shifts Strategy as Rate of ‘GPT’ AI Improvements Slows (The Information)
• How ChatGPT Brought Down an Online Education Giant (WSJ)
• Painting by A.I.-Powered Robot Sells for $1.1 Million (NYTimes)

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Middle Mile is the next evolution of the gig economy. Make use of your spare garage/basement space to provide fullfillment for ecommerce brands. More here: GetMiddleMile.com

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Some interesting moves over at Block. Share to TikTok could be something major for the music industry. Amazon’s offer to invest again in Anthropic comes with some interesting strings attached. More signs that the smartglasses category is coming now. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

Sponsors:

• LegalZoom.com promocode Techmeme

Links:

• Block reports revenue miss but a slight beat on earnings (CNBC)
• Jack Dorsey's Square to Invest More in Bitcoin Mining and Shut Decentralized 'Web5' Venture (CoinDesk)
• TikTok’s latest feature lets music fans ‘Share to TikTok’ from Spotify and Apple Music (TechCrunch)
• Amazon Discussing New Multibillion-Dollar Investment in Anthropic (The Information)
• Baidu Readies AI Smart Glasses to Rival Meta’s Ray-Bans (Bloomberg)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

• Your TV set has become a digital billboard. And it’s only getting worse. (ArsTechnica)
• What I Learned From Destroying Myself at the NYC Marathon (Intelligencer)

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More in depth analysis of what the Trump victory might mean for Silicon Valley, and Elon Musk’s companies in particular. Canadian regulators going after TikTok. Australia wants to make sure no one uses social media until they’re sixteen. France is “aware” of Polymarket. And the reviews of all the new Macs.

Sponsors:

• Promevo.com/techmeme

Links:

• Elon Musk Helped Elect Trump. What Does He Expect in Return? (NYTimes)
• Canada orders shutdown of TikTok's Canadian business, app access to continue (Reuters)
• Labor backs 16 as the minimum age to use social media ahead of national cabinet meeting (ABCNews)
• French Regulator Examines Polymarket After Bets on Trump (Bloomberg)
• Apple Mac mini review (M4 Pro, 2024): Shockingly small, incredibly powerful (Engadget)
• Apple MacBook Pro M4 review: the Pro for everyone (The Verge)
• Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch and 16-inch review (2024): Brace yourself for M4 speed (Engadget)
• Apple iMac M4 review: More power, same great looks (Tom's Guide)

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The tech angle to the election news yesterday, and interestingly a lot of it is crypto related. The EU Commission looks like it will fine Apple and has opened a case against Corning? Perplexity is raising another massive new round. And a pretty definitive piece about how drone tech has changed warfare.

Sponsors:

• Head to Lumen.me/RIDE for 15% off your purchase.
• WashingtonPost.com/ride

Links:

• Polymarket, Prediction Betting Markets Vindicated by Trump's Strong Showing (Coindesk)
• Apple to Face First EU Fine Under Bloc’s Digital Markets Act (Bloomberg)
• Corning Faces EU Probe Into Smartphone ‘Gorilla Glass’ (Bloomberg)
• How Lina Khan Became an Election Hot Topic (NYTimes)
• Mozilla Foundation lays off 30% staff, drops advocacy division (TechCrunch)
• AI Startup Perplexity to Triple Valuation to $9 Billion in New Funding Round (WSJ)
• Battles of Precise Mass (Foreign Affairs)

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Big hacking arrest in Canada. More evidence Apple is thinking: “You know, maybe smartglasses are the way to go…” More signs OpenAI is focusing on hardware. More signs they’re about to go for-profit. And what it’s actually like to use GPT Search? Is it a Google killer or no?

Links:

• Canada Arrests Man Suspected of Hacks of Snowflake Customers (Bloomberg)
• Apple Explores Push Into Smart Glasses With ‘Atlas’ User Study (Bloomberg)
• Meta’s former hardware lead for Orion is joining OpenAI (TechCrunch)
• OpenAI in Regulator Talks to Become For-Profit Company (Bloomberg)
• Anthropic hikes the price of its Haiku model (TechCrunch)
• Uber’s Real Threat Isn’t From Robots (WSJ)
• ChatGPT Search is not OpenAI’s ‘Google killer’ yet (TechCrunch)

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Apple is investing more in Satellite technology, and also acquires Pixelmator. What does this all mean for them? Is the high end Vision Pro getting abandoned? What does it mean that Google Cloud is now growing faster than AWS? And how Coreweave and other “neocloud” startups are financing their crazy growth in a totally new way. Here’s what you missed today in the world of Tech.

Sponsors:

• Miro.com
• MackWeldon.com promocode BRIAN

Links:

• Apple expands iPhone satellite services deal, commits $1.1bn to expand capacity (9to5Mac)
• Apple is acquiring the popular image editing app Pixelmator (The Verge)
• Apple Finally Finds Its Gaming Console With the New Mac Mini (Bloomberg)
• Apple Vision Pro rumored to get M5 in 2025, but lower cost model is delayed (Apple Insider)
• X updates block feature, letting blocked users see your public posts (TechCrunch)
• Google’s cloud outpaces rivals in third quarter as AI battle heats up (CNBC)
• Early Apple M4 Pro and M4 Max benchmarks hint at a massive performance boost (Neowin)
• Wall Street frenzy creates $11bn debt market for AI groups buying Nvidia chips (Financial Times)

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OpenAI officially gets into the search game. Earnings from Apple and Amazon. Why Google is switching up how it does Android. And in the longreads, Meta to win AI even if doesn’t produce AGI, and how downsizing is helping game developers survive the jobspocalypse.

Links:

• OpenAI Brings Search Features to ChatGPT in Challenge to Google (Bloomberg)
• China Ruins Apple's Quarter (24/7WallStreet)
• Amazon Surges Past Earnings Forecasts (The Motley Fool)
• Google confirms Android 16 is coming earlier than usual, developer preview begins soon (Android Authority)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

• Meta’s AI Abundance (Stratechery)
• After Era of Bloat, Veteran Video-Game Developers Are Going Smaller (Bloomberg)

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We’ve got that day where all the tech earnings have come at once, but this time I’m gonna mention Uber too cause did you know they’re making bank these days? China says that two can play the sanctioning technology game. A niche little app from Nintendo. And a review of the Starlink Mini, which seems incredibly compelling for a specific type of user.

Links:

• Meta AI has more than 500 million users (Engadget)
• Meta’s Next Llama AI Models Are Training on a GPU Cluster ‘Bigger Than Anything’ Else (Wired)
• Microsoft says AI is on pace to be a $10 billion-a-year business (Axios)
• Uber shares slide on slowing bookings growth (Financial Times)
• Chinese sanctions hit US drone maker supplying Ukraine (Financial Times)
• Nintendo made a music streaming app for Switch Online subscribers (The Verge)
• Starlink Mini review: space internet goes ultraportable (The Verge)

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The Apple release week continues with new MacBook pros. GitHub goes multi-model. Alphabet earnings were good, but Reddit earnings were massive. Why Samsung is having such a hard time since the summer. And a summary of the color Kindle reviews. Here’s what you missed today in the world of Tech.

Links:

• Apple updates the MacBook Pro with M4 Pro and M4 Max chips (The Verge)
• Every MacBook Air now starts with 16GB of RAM at no extra cost (Engadget)
• GitHub Copilot will support models from Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI (The Verge)
• PlayStation Shutters Studio Behind ‘Concord’ Video-Game Flop (Bloomberg)
• More than a quarter of new code at Google is generated by AI (The Verge)
• Reddit shares soar 22% on earnings beat and better-than-expected forecast (CNBC)
• Samsung’s Sudden $122 Billion Wipeout Shows the Cost of Sleeping on AI (Bloomberg)
• Russian Hackers Are Targeting US Officials, Microsoft Says (Bloomberg)
• Kindle Colorsoft review: The missing link in Amazon’s ereader lineup (Engadget)

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A whole bunch of new Macs plus the first dribbles of Apple Intelligence. Apple is taking a big step in weening itself off of China reliance for manufacturing. Microsoft accuses Google of astroturfing. And potentially the return of startups buying startups? Here’s what you missed today in the world of Tech.

Links:

• Apple Announces iMac With M4 Chip, Upgraded Camera, Nano-Texture Display Option, and More (MacRumors)
• New Mac mini shrinks down, gains M4 and M4 Pro chips (SixColors)
• Apple Intelligence goes live with iOS 18.1 update (TechCrunch)
• Apple Taps India to Learn How to Build New iPhone (The Information)
• Microsoft says Google is running ‘shadow campaigns’ in Europe to influence regulators (CNBC)
• Sequoia to Rake in More Than $100 Million From Crypto Acquisition (Bloomberg)

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As Robinhood rolls out smart contract derivatives around the election, a look at how smart markets have seemed to have their mainstream breakthrough this year. TikTok now has a Fediverse, open-source competitor. AI now has an opensource definition, or something? And Meta opensourced their own AI podcast making tool. Here’s what you missed today in the world of tech.

Sponsors:

• 1Password.com/ride

Links:

• Robinhood jumps into election trading, giving users chance to buy Harris or Trump contracts (CNBC)
• Billions in election bets raise the stakes of the presidential race (Washington Post)
• Apple Blocked From Selling iPhone 16 Models in Indonesia (Bloomberg)
• The fediverse is getting its own TikTok competitor called Loops (TechCrunch)
• We finally have an ‘official’ definition for open source AI (TechCrunch)
• Even With Venture Slowdown, Megadeals Grow (CrunchBase)
• Netflix Adds ‘Moments’ Feature Allowing Users to Easily Share Favorite Scenes (EXCLUSIVE) (Variety)
• Meta Releases NotebookLlama, An Open-Source Podcast Generator (Techopedia)

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The Verge says we could get GPT-5 by December, but it might be called Orion. The biggest health care data breach in US history. Turns out Americans can actually produce high yield, quality silicon. Or, at least, Arizonans can. And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Here’s what you missed today in the world of Tech.

Sponsors:

• Acorns.com/ride

Links:

• OpenAI plans to release its next big AI model by December (The Verge)
• UnitedHealth says data of 100 million stolen in Change Healthcare breach (BleepingComputer)
• TSMC’s Arizona Chip Production Yields Surpass Taiwan’s in Win for US Push (Bloomberg)
• Bluesky raises $15M Series A, plans to launch subscriptions (TechCrunch)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

• The mystifying, acrimonious battle between Arm and Qualcomm (Financial Times)
• Who Gets the TikTok in the Divorce? The Messy Fight Over Valuable Social Media Accounts (WSJ)

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Raspberry PI does AI now too. Apple is cutting iPhone production orders. Microsoft says China, Russia and Iran are still doing the dirt as the election nears. What if Foxconn got into the business of manufacturing cars? And what if surge pricing, but for groceries? New electronic price tags could make that possible.

Sponsors:

• Notion.com/ride

Links:

• Raspberry Pi releases more AI-focused add-ons (TechCrunch)
• Raspberry Pi release higher performance AI HAT+ — 13 and 26 TOPS variants (TomsHardware)
• iPhone 16 orders cut by around 10 million units for 4Q24–1H25; no evidence yet that Apple Intelligence could boost iPhone shipments in the near term (Ming-Chi Kuo)
• Microsoft Warns Foreign Disinformation Is Hitting the US Election From All Directions (Wired)
• Roblox to Enact Child-Safety Changes Giving Parents More Control (Bloomberg)
• What if carmaking went the way of consumer electronics? (The Economist)
• Kroger and Walmart Deny ‘Surge Pricing’ After Adopting Digital Price Tags (NYTimes)

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A huge dispute in the semiconductor space has gone nuclear with implications that are crazy. Anthropic’s new AI app can control your computer for you. Runway’s new model lets you do your own motion capture. And farewell to Foursquare, the OG version at least.

Links:

• Arm to Scrap Qualcomm Chip Design License in Feud Escalation (Bloomberg)
• Anthropic’s new AI can use computers like a human, redefining automation for enterprises (VentureBeat)
• Apple Sharply Scales Back Production of Vision Pro (The Information)
• Runway’s Act-One uses smartphone cameras to replicate facial expression motion capture (Silicon Angle)
• ‘This is a game changer’: Runway releases new AI facial expression motion capture feature Act-One (VentureBeat)
• Farewell to Foursquare’s app (TechCrunch)

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Qualcomm has unveiled its big, next gen Snapdragon SoC which will someday be in all the phones. Except iPhones, of course. Is Netflix pulling back on its gaming strategy? Why a new marketplace from Epic might actually point the way to the metaverse. And how are various people trying to get AI to have a better personality?

Links:

• Snapdragon 8 Elite deep dive: A return to custom CPUs and much more (Android Authority)
• Scoop: Netflix shuts down 'AAA' Team Blue gaming studio, amid gaming shake-up (Game File)
• Netflix has closed its AAA gaming studio (Engadget)
• Hulu and Disney+ No Longer Support Signups and Payment Using App Store (MacRumors)
• Epic’s ambitious digital asset shop is now open (The Verge)
• Biden administration proposes new rules governing data transfers to adversarial nations (The Record)
• How AI groups are infusing their chatbots with personality (Financial Times)

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Google’s strategy of keeping it in the courts is already going to plan. New AI agents from Microsoft. New Open Source models from IBM. Perplexity is looking to raise again. How far behind Apple thinks it is in AI. And what it’s like to use your AirPods as hearing aids.

Sponsors:

• Ramp.com/techmeme
• Miro.com

Links:

• Epic judge lets Google keep its Android app store closed to competitors — for now (The Verge)
• Microsoft unveils new autonomous AI agents in advance of competing Salesforce rollout (GeekWire)
• AI Startup Perplexity in Funding Talks to More Than Double Valuation to $8 Billion (WSJ)
• IBM debuts open source Granite 3.0 LLMs for enterprise AI (VentureBeat)
• Apple’s New iPad Mini Highlights the Company’s Secret AI Advantage (Bloomberg)
• Apple’s AirPods Pro hearing health features are as good as they sound (The Verge)

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Did Nintendo try to kill GoldenEye 007 before it was completed? Why did Shigeru Miyamoto keep telling the development team to tone down the violence. And why did the famous multiplayer aspect of the game almost didn’t happen? It’s slappers only on Rad History, because we’re diving into the history of THE game of the late 1990s, GoldenEye 007.

With Special Guest: John Gruber

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Now Amazon is building some modular nuclear reactors. TSMC’s results cheer up the chips industry. Uber but for buying plane tickets. No, I mean, really, use Uber to buy plane tickets. And the controversial reason Meta is reportedly laying off some folks.

Sponsors:

• Lumen.me/ride

Links:

• Amazon goes nuclear, to invest more than $500 million to develop small modular reactors (CNBC)
• TSMC Hikes Revenue Outlook in Show of Confidence in AI Boom (Bloomberg)
• The FTC is finally making it easier to cancel your gym membership (The Verge)
• Uber explored takeover bid for Expedia (FT)
• Meta is laying off employees at WhatsApp, Instagram, and more (The Verge)
• Meta fires staff for abusing $25 meal credits (FT)
• Analogue’s 4K Nintendo 64 launches next year for $249 (The Verge)

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Kindles come roaring back, with significant updates to the Paperwhite and the Scribe, but also, for the first time ever, a Kindle with a color screen. Why has ASML suddenly plunged so much if chips are so hot right now? Android 15 is beginning to roll out. And Sonos is back to releasing new speakers again.

Sponsors:

• Promevo.com/techmeme

Links:

• Amazon’s new seven-inch Kindle Paperwhite is bigger and faster than ever (The Verge)
• Amazon’s new Kindle Scribe takes another step toward pen and paper (The Verge)
• Amazon finally has a color Kindle, and it looks pretty good (The Verge)
• Global Chip Stocks Erase $420 Billion After ASML Sales Warning (Bloomberg)
• YouTube takes a baby step toward labeling authentic video (The Verge)
• Android 15 is now available for Pixels (The Verge)
• Sonos announces ‘breakthrough’ Arc Ultra soundbar and Sub 4 (The Verge)

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The Nuclear Energy sector is clearly getting back in business, thanks to big tech and their AI needs. The latest back and forth in the Wordpress brouhaha. The US is considering caps on the chips Nvidia can deliver to a bunch of countries worldwide. And is Tether getting deeper into the global finance game?

Sponsors:

• 1Password.com/ride
• ArcticWolf.com/register

Links:

• Google Backs New Nuclear Plants to Power AI (WSJ)
• DHH's Original Post
• Matt Mullenweg's Original Response
• Matt's 2nd Response
• Apple Unveils New iPad Mini With A17 Pro Chip and Apple Intelligence (MacRumors)
• US Weighs Capping Exports of AI Chips From Nvidia and AMD to Some Countries (Bloomberg)
• Crypto Company Tether Talking to Commodity Traders About Lending Them Its Billions (Bloomberg)
• The War on Passwords Is One Step Closer to Being Over (Wired)

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Adobe unleashes its Firefly AI video model broadly. Mark Gurman lays out Apple’s headset strategy going forward. What’s been going on with the Internet Archive. What the heck IS going on with WordPress? VC deals are dropping precipitously. And a review of the Meta Quest 3S.

Sponsors:

• WashingtonPost.com/ride
• Shopify.com/ride

Links:

• Adobe’s AI video model is here, and it’s already inside Premiere Pro (The Verge)
• Apple Has a New Smart Home Strategy: Screens Everywhere (Bloomberg)
• The Internet Archive is back as a read-only service after cyberattacks (The Verge)
• In latest move against WP Engine, WordPress takes control of ACF plugin (TechCrunch)
• Venture capital deal activity is slowing down (Axios)
• Meta Quest 3S review: Impressive VR for $300 (Engadget)

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Why was Blockbuster so successful? Was it the DVD that killed Blockbuster? What was the deal with late fees? Is there any way Blockbuster, not Netflix, could have won out in the end?

Special guest: Venture Capitalist and Writer MG Siegler!

Subscribe to RAD! 80s90s History!

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All the headlines from Tesla’s robotaxi event. AMD unveils the chip it wants to use to go toe to toe with Nvidia. Are people actually making money building GPTs or not so much? And in the longreads, rebuilding Notre Dame as period accurately as possible.

Sponsors:

• Go to Hensonshaving.com/ride and enter RIDE at checkout to get 100 free blades with your purchase. (Note: you must add both the 100-blade pack and the razor for the discount to apply.)

Links:

• Tesla reveals 20 Cybercabs at We, Robot event, says you’ll be able to buy one for less than $30,000 (TechCrunch)
• Tesla's Cybercab Is Here (Wired)
• Tesla Robovan has something the Cybertruck definitely does not (T3)
• AMD launches AI chip to rival Nvidia’s Blackwell (CNBC)
• Xbox will sell games directly in the Android app next month (The Verge)
• OpenAI’s GPT Store Has Left Some Developers in the Lurch (Wired)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

• Google’s Nobel Haul Puts Spotlight on Changing Focus of Scientific Research (Bloomberg)
• The Miraculous Resurrection of Notre-Dame (GQ)

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Apple TV+ finally comes to Prime Video Channels. OpenAI says they’ve been disrupting AI election influence campaigns. But they won’t be profitable until when? How Google plans to beat the regulation rap. And a review of basically the highest end smartwatch you can buy.

Sponsors:

• Notion.com/ride

Links:

• Amazon Adds Apple TV+ to Its Channels Store for Streaming (Bloomberg)
• OpenAI says bad actors are using its platform to disrupt elections, but with little ‘viral engagement’ (CNBC)
• OpenAI Projections Imply Losses Tripling to $14 Billion in 2026 (The Information)
• Apple’s Dan Riccio, Key Executive in Both the Jobs and Cook Eras, to Retire (Bloomberg)
• Competition and the clock: how Google plans to deflect and delay a historic break-up threat (Financial Times)
• Garmin Fenix 8 review: only kind of smart (The Verge)

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The government says it does, in fact, want to break up Google. The Nobel Prize sure does love AI this year. Could Substack win by becoming the default way for creators to monetize? And listen to the end of the show today for a big announcement from me.

Links:

• US Weighs Google Breakup in Historic Big Tech Antitrust Case (Bloomberg)
• Unmasking Bitcoin Creator Satoshi Nakamoto—Again (Wired)
• Google DeepMind Scientists Share Nobel for AI Protein Work (Bloomberg)
• X Cleared to Return in Brazil After Musk Bows to Judge’s Demands (Bloomberg)
• Substack wants to do more than just newsletters (Semafor)

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Crack… at least for the Google Play store. Two AI scientists have won the Nobel Prize for physics?! Samsung is in a similar boat to Intel, just not quite as severely. And an unfortunate reminder that government mandated back doors are bad doors.

Sponsors:

• Dell.com/deals

Links:

• Google must crack open Android for third-party stores, rules Epic judge (The Verge)
• Apple Potentially Facing Worst Leak Since iPhone 4 Was Left in a Bar (MacRumors)
• ‘Godfather of AI’ Geoffrey Hinton Among Nobel Prize Winners (Bloomberg)
• Samsung Electronics apologises for disappointing profit as it struggles in AI chips (Reuters)
• The 30-year-old internet backdoor law that came back to bite (TechCrunch)

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We finally have a date for Apple Intelligence. Meta has a new text to video AI model. Google could soon drop under 50% in the search ads market. More hope for level three automated driving. And how AI bots could revolutionize online dating.

Sponsors:

• Miro.com

Links:

• Apple Slowly Moves Away From Its Annual Product Release Strategy (Bloomberg)
• Meta Unveils AI Video Generator, Taking On OpenAI and Google (Bloomberg)
• Google’s Grip on Search Slips as TikTok and AI Startup Mount Challenge (WSJ)
• GM is working on an eyes-off, hands-off driving system (TechCrunch)
• Uber and Lyft drivers use Teslas as makeshift robotaxis, raising safety concerns (Reuters)
• Grindr Aims to Build the Dating World’s First AI ‘Wingman’ (WSJ)

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Google has updated Lens and is taking a page out of Perplexity’s book. OpenAI’s new canvas workspace. Why an upcoming iPhone SE might have some interesting internals. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

Links:

• Google Lens now lets you search with video (The Verge)
• Google brings ads to AI Overviews as it expands AI’s role in search (TechCrunch)
• OpenAI launches new ‘Canvas’ ChatGPT interface tailored to writing and coding projects (TechCrunch)
• iPhone SE 4 to feature Apple’s first 5G modem, A18 chip, same cameras as iPhone 15 (9to5Mac)
• 159 employees are leaving Automattic as CEO’s fight with WP Engine escalates (TechCrunch)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

• Saving Cyberpunk 2077: How CD Projekt Red recovered from one of video games' most disastrous launches (EuroGamer)
• The Flying Car Is Finally Here. It’s Slightly Illegal. (Intelligencer)

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OpenAI raised their round, and it basically broke all the records. The whole Wordpress mess has gotten so crazy that WPEngine is suing. Using Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses to dox people in real time. And you’ll never guess the reason why you’re about to see more ads on streaming video. Hint: you’ll endure it.

Sponsors:

• Lumen.me/ride

Links:

• OpenAI raises $6.6 billion in largest VC round ever (Axios)
• OpenAI asks investors not to back rival start-ups such as Elon Musk’s xAI (Financial Times)
• OpenAI feels competitors breathing down its neck (Financial Times)
• WP Engine sues WordPress co-creator Mullenweg and Automattic, alleging abuse of power (TechCrunch)
• Someone Put Facial Recognition Tech onto Meta's Smart Glasses to Instantly Dox Strangers (404Media)
• Spotify adds a new, automatically updating playlist for offline listening (TechCrunch)
• Amazon to increase number of advertisements on Prime Video (Financial Times)
• Venture Dealmaking Reflects Selective Tastes of Investors (Bloomberg)

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Catching you up on a bunch of other Microsoft announcements we missed yesterday. Is Nvidia trying to break open the black box of AI? It’s absolutely wild that there’s still no viable YouTube app for the Vision Pro. And we were worried about disruption to the semiconductor industry if a typhoon hit Taiwan, but it turns out, a hurricane hitting North Carolina can be bad too.

Links:

• Microsoft is using AI to improve Windows search (The Verge)
• Microsoft starts paying publishers for content surfaced by Copilot (TechCrunch)
• Telegram CEO Downplays Service Term Changes Amid French Probe (Bloomberg)
• Nvidia just dropped a bombshell: Its new AI model is open, massive, and ready to rival GPT-4 (VentureBeat)
• Threads users can now see who follows them from other fediverse servers (TechCrunch)
• Christian Selig’s unofficial YouTube app for the Vision Pro just got taken down (The Verge)
• Hurricane Helene Will Send Shockwaves Through the Semiconductor Industry (Wired)

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Do we have the first IPO of the AI era? Do we have the first AI model beyond the transformer architecture? Microsoft has a bunch of new AI tools inside Windows. We try to explain that whole controversy around PearAI. And what about that NotebookLM feature that lets you create a two-hander podcast out of any text.

Links:

• AI chipmaker Cerebras files for IPO to take on Nvidia (CNBC)
• MIT spinoff Liquid debuts non-transformer AI models and they’re already state-of-the-art (VentureBeat)
• Microsoft Copilot can now read your screen, think deeply, and speak aloud to you (TechCrunch)
• Oura Nears $500 Million in Annual Revenue and Readies New Ring (Bloomberg)
• Y Combinator is being criticized after it backed an AI startup that admits it basically cloned another AI startup (TechCrunch)
• NotebookLM’s automatically generated podcasts are surprisingly effective (Simon Willison's Blog)

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That controversial AI bill in California has been vetoed by Governor Newsom. Is even Apple now thinking that its Vision Pro strategy might need a rethink? What really is OpenAI’s situation right now, and this time I’m talking money-wise? And the strange resurrection of the point and shoot camera.

Links:

• California’s Gavin Newsom Vetoes Controversial AI Safety Bill (WSJ)
• California Passes Law Protecting Consumer Brain Data (NYTimes)
• Meta’s New Headsets Show Apple Has Lost Its Way With the Vision Pro (Bloomberg)
• OpenAI’s Complex Path to Becoming a For-Profit Company (WSJ)
• Songs by Adele, Bob Dylan, Green Day, Many More Blocked by YouTube in Legal Dispute (Variety)
• This Camera Went Viral Two Years Ago. You Still Can’t Buy One (Bloomberg)

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Founder Mode? Not for me, says Sam Altman, but we will see. A few new gadgets from Samsung. Maybe ARM should buy Intel. Are AI startups hitting revenue traction faster than SaaS startups did? And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

Links:

• Sam Altman tells OpenAI staff there’s no plan for him to receive a ‘giant equity stake’ in company (CNBC)
• Samsung Galaxy S24 FE goes official starting at $649 – is it still a ‘Fan Edition?’ (9to5Google)
• Arm Is Rebuffed by Intel After Inquiring About Buying Product Unit (Bloomberg)
• Exponential growth brews 1 million AI models on Hugging Face (ArsTechnica)
• AI start-ups generate money faster than past hyped tech companies (FT)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

• McDonald’s touchscreen kiosks were feared as job killers. Instead, something surprising happened (CNN)
• Apple Rolls Back Its Big Plans to Release Movies in Theaters (Bloomberg)
• The 27-Year-Old Economic Adviser for Gen Z (WSJ)

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There’s only two stories really. If you can believe it, more executive departures at OpenAI, as it looks like they’re serious about going for profit. And yes, Meta announced a new Quest headset, but the real headlines are the Orion smartglasses, which you can’t actually buy. What? I’ll explain.

Sponsors:

• Thorne.fit/ridehome

Links:

• OpenAI considering restructuring to for-profit, CTO Mira Murati and two top research execs depart (CNBC)
• Exclusive: OpenAI to remove non-profit control and give Sam Altman equity (Reuters)
• Meta’s cheaper Quest 3S might just be an upgrade (The Verge)
• A Few Brief Thoughts on Meta Connect 2024 (Daring Fireball)
• Meta pitches VR to mobile developers with new support for Android apps on Quest (TechCrunch)
• Meta’s big tease (The Verge)

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Caroline Ellison benefits from being cooperative. Has your company unknowingly hired remote workers from North Korea? What is going on with this WordPress back and forth? Why OpenAI has to let people look at their training data. And why is everyone upset at Marquess Brownlee?

Sponsors:

• Hims.com/ride

Links:

• Caroline Ellison sentenced to two years in prison for her role in FTX scandal (Axios)
• Dozens of Fortune 100 companies have unwittingly hired North Korean IT workers, according to report (The Record)
• The DOJ sues Visa for locking out rival payment platforms (The Verge)
• Automattic sends WP Engine its own cease-and-desist over WordPress trademark infringement (TechCrunch)
• OpenAI Training Data to Be Inspected in Authors’ Copyright Cases (The Hollywood Reporter)
• Marques Brownlee says ‘I hear you’ after fans criticize his new wallpaper app (The Verge)

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Sam Altman has a manifesto. Kinda. Telegram is beginning to walk things back a bit. Cloudflare wants to help you block the AI bots. New streaming device from Roku. And I guess TikTok can’t win at everything.

Sponsors:

• Lumen.me/ride

Links:

• The Intelligence Age (Sam Altman)
• Sam Altman catapults past founder mode into ‘god mode’ with latest AI post (TechCrunch)
• OpenAI CEO: We may have AI superintelligence in “a few thousand days” (ArsTechnica)
• Some Kaspersky customers receive surprise forced-update to new antivirus software (TechCrunch)
• Telegram CEO Durov Says App to Provide More Data to Governments (Bloomberg)
• New Cloudflare Tools Let Sites Detect and Block AI Bots for Free (Wired)
• The new Roku Ultra is faster, has better Wi-Fi, and comes with a backlit remote (The Verge)
• Spotify’s AI playlist builder is now available in the US (The Verge)
• TikTok to Shut Down its Music Streaming Business in November (Bloomberg)

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Qualcomm as a white knight to save Intel? A huge bitcoin heist gets busted for the usual reasons. What if the US bans imports of all cars from China? And why can’t US car makers keep up when it comes, simply, to software?

Sponsors:

• Timeline.com/ride

Links:

• Qualcomm Approached Intel About a Takeover in Recent Days (WSJ)
• Intel Gets Multibillion-Dollar Apollo Offer as Qualcomm Circles (Bloomberg)
• Chip Giants TSMC and Samsung Discuss Building Middle Eastern Megafactories (WSJ)
• Suspects behind $230 million cryptocurrency theft arrested in Miami (BleepingComputer)
• US proposes banning Chinese software and components in vehicles (FT)
• Israel’s Pager Attacks Have Changed the World (NYTimes)
• Toyota and VW fall further behind in the software race (FT)

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You might want to hold off on updating to macOS 15 Sequoia. What, exactly, is Europe trying to get Apple to do? The AI energy crunch means they’re turning Three Mile Island back on. Could AI usage mean we use up all our 5G capacity? And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

Sponsors:

• 1password.com/ride
• QualiaLife.com/ride and code ride

Links:

• Apple’s new macOS Sequoia update is breaking some cybersecurity tools (TechCrunch)
• EU to tell Apple how to do interoperability, DMA style (TechCrunch)
• Microsoft AI Needs So Much Power It's Restarting Site of US Nuclear Meltdown (Bloomberg)
• AI is stressing networks out - Nvidia thinks AI can help (Fierce Network)
• Huawei 'super fans' fuming as left empty handed by $2,800 phone launch (Reuters)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

• American Vulcan - Palmer Luckey (TabletMag)
• The Death of the Minivan (The Atlantic)

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Looks like they finally got around to suing that Palworld game. Google volunteered to break up some of its businesses but the EU said no. AI is coming to YouTube in a big way. A new social media platform that is ENTIRELY AI. And Amazon wants to get into the Shark Tank business.

Sponsors:

• LinkedIn.com/ride

Links:

• Nintendo and Pokémon are suing Palworld maker Pocketpair (The Verge)
• Exclusive: Google offered to sell part of ad tech business, not enough for EU publishers (Reuters)
• YouTube will use AI to generate ideas, titles, and even full videos (The Verge)
• Apple Gets EU Warning to Open Up iPhone Operating System (Bloomberg)
• Musk's satellites 'blocking' view of the universe (BBC)
• SocialAI offers a Twitter-like diary where AI bots respond to your posts (TechCrunch)
• Amazon’s New ‘Shark Tank’-Style Show Gives Winners Top Billing in Its Store (WSJ)

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Messages between Android and iOS are about to be encrypted. A new XR headset from HTC and new Spectacles from Snap. A big movie studio has signed up to use AI. Neuralink has implants for blindness. And why I’m kinda NOT gonna do a review roundup of the new iPhones.

Sponsors:

• Ramp.com/techmeme

Links:

• RCS texts on the iPhone aren’t encrypted now, but that could change (The Verge)
• Here’s how green bubbles are getting upgraded in iOS (The Verge)
• HTC Vive's Focus Vision is a $999 stab at high-end VR and mixed reality (Engadget)
• Snap’s new Spectacles inch closer to compelling AR (The Verge)
• Instagram, Facing Pressure Over Child Safety Online, Unveils Sweeping Changes (NYTimes)
• Lionsgate, Studio Behind ‘John Wick,’ Signs Deal With AI Startup Runway (WSJ)
• Musk's Neuralink gets FDA's breakthrough device tag for 'Blindsight' implant (Reuters)
• Apple iPhone 16 Pro review: small camera update, big difference (The Verge)

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Intel announces a bunch of ways its hoping to turn its business around sooner rather than later. Is OpenAI about to have its chat bots query you? The whole TikTok divestment case is coming to a head right now. And speaking of turn arounds, darn if Netflix didn’t pull ITS turnaround off perfectly. Hollywood, not so much.

Sponsors:

• Shopify.com/ride

Links:

• Intel stock jumps on plan to turn foundry business into subsidiary and allow for outside funding (CNBC)
• Intel to Make Custom AI Chip for Amazon, Delay German Plant (Bloomberg)
• EssilorLuxottica extends smart glasses partnership with Meta (Reuters)
• OpenAI Says It's Fixed Issue Where ChatGPT Appeared to Be Messaging Users Unprompted (Futurism)
• TikTok is about to get its day in court (The Verge)
• Judges Show Some Skepticism of TikTok’s Fight Against Potential U.S. Ban (NYTimes)
• How Netflix won the streaming wars (FT)

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A bunch of Apple stories today. FDA approval for sleep apnea detection for the watch. Signs of poor pre-order sales for the phone. And a quick review of the new Airpods. Also, how did Intel lose out on making the chips for the next gen Playstation. And are dating apps responsible for income inequality?

Sponsors:

• ArcticWolf.com/register

Links:

• Apple Watch sleep apnea detection gets FDA approval (TechCrunch)
• iPhone 16 first weekend pre-order analysis: estimated total sales of about 37 million units; Pro series demand lower than expected (Ming-Chi Kuo)
• France picks Sejourne as nominee for EU Commission after Breton clash (Reuters)
• Slack now lets users add AI agents from Asana, Cohere, Adobe, Workday and more (VentureBeat)
• Exclusive: How Intel lost the Sony PlayStation business (Reuters)
• Apple AirPods 4 review: defying expectations (The Verge)
• Online Dating Caused a Rise in US Income Inequality, Research Paper Shows (Bloomberg)

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The first of the Strawberry models is here. YC plans to have four cohorts a year, but each one is getting smaller. Waymo is already ready to expand to more pretty big markets. And in the long reads, a deep dive look into the options Intel has at this point in time.

Sponsors:

• HensonShaving.com/ride code ride

Links:

• OpenAI releases o1, its first model with ‘reasoning’ abilities (The Verge)
• Notes on OpenAI’s new o1 chain-of-thought models (Simon Willison's Weblog)
• OpenAI's new models 'instrumentally faked alignment' (TransformerNews)
• Apple AirPods Pro granted FDA approval to serve as hearing aids (TechCrunch)
• Silicon Valley’s Y Combinator to Double Number of Cohorts Per Year (Bloomberg)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

• Intel Has Only Tough Options After Its Long and Stinging Fall From Grace (Bloomberg)

Link to the twitter poll about ads

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As expected, OpenAI is in talks for a new capital raise at a $150B valuation. More layoffs in Microsoft’s gaming division. More holes poked in our creaking internet infrastructure. The tiny SpaceX competitor who’s stock has been soaring lately. And a look at what Apple’s recent AirPods announcement could do to the hearing aid industry.

Links:

• OpenAI Fundraising Set to Vault Startup’s Valuation to $150 Billion (Bloomberg)
• The AI Spending Spree, in Charts (WSJ)
• Microsoft Lays Off Another 650 Staff From Its Video Game Workforce, Xbox Boss Phil Spencer Sends Memo to Staff (IGN)
• Rogue WHOIS server gives researcher superpowers no one should ever have (ArsTechnica)
• Adam Neumann’s Climate Company Is Issuing Refunds After Failing To Launch Crypto Token (Forbes)
• SpaceX’s Tiny Rival Soars 1,300%. Now Comes the Satellite Launch (Bloomberg)
• Apple turning AirPods into hearing aids underscores effort to crack massive health market (CNBC)

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Mistral goes multimodal for the first time. Meta admits to scraping the data of every adult Australian. The details on the new PS5 Pro. Wouldn’t it be wild if, through stablecoins, crypto BECOMES the banking system instead of replacing it. And a weird mystery in AI land.

Sponsors:

• Promevo.com/techmeme

Links:

• Mistral releases Pixtral 12B, its first multimodal model (TechCrunch)
• Facebook admits to scraping every Australian adult user's public photos and posts to train AI, with no opt-out option (ABC News)
• The $700 PS5 Pro doesn’t come with a disc drive (The Verge)
• Exclusive Hands-On: I Played Sony's All-New PS5 Pro (CNET)
• Americans used record 100 trillion megabytes of wireless data in 2023 (Reuters)
• Payments in Singapore With Stablecoins Rise to Almost $1 Billion (Bloomberg)
• Reflection 70B model maker breaks silence amid fraud accusations (VentureBeat)

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Apple loses its longest standing regulatory battle in the EU. Some drips and drabs from yesterday’s iPhone event. Would a phone you can fold three times be more enticing than a phone that folds two times? And are we about to see that new Strawberry AI model from OpenAI by the end of the month?

Sponsors:

• Timeline.com/ride

Links:

• Apple must pay 13 billion euros in back taxes, EU’s top court rules (CNBC)
• iPhone 16 battery life: How much better is it? (9to5Mac)
• Huawei launches $2,800 trifold phone hours after Apple debuts iPhone 16 (CNBC)
• Oracle’s Missteps in Cloud Computing Are Paying Dividends in AI (WSJ)
• New Details on OpenAI’s Strawberry; Apple’s Siri Makeover; Larry Ellison Doubles Down on Data Centers (The Information)
• Audible to Start Generating AI Voice Replicas of Select Audiobook Narrators (Bloomberg)
• JPMorgan Plans to Report Customers Who Exploited TikTok ‘Glitch’ to Authorities (WSJ)

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All the headlines from today’s iPhone event. It IS interesting the degree to which Elon’s various businesses have potential synergy. The Times digs into the content on Telegram and says, it ain’t pretty. And e-bikes seem to be back. In London, at least, anyway.

Links:

• Apple Announces iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max with Larger Displays, New Camera Control, and More (MacRumors)
• Apple announces iPhone 16: camera button, new colors, AI features (9to5Mac)
• AirPods Pro 2 adds ‘clinical grade’ hearing aid feature (9to5Mac)
• Musk’s xAI Has Discussed Deal for Share of Future Tesla Revenue (WSJ)
• How Telegram Became a Playground for Criminals, Extremists and Terrorists (NYTimes)
• London e-bike boom leads to clashes with councils (Financial Times)

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Pavel Durov speaks, and Telegram blinks, both for the first time since the French arrest. Are XR glasses tethered to smartphones the next big product category? What if your smartphone could cure your vision problems? And in the longreads, if Waymo is about to scale, what, exactly, is the business model, long-term?

Links:

• Pavel Durov: Telegram founder says France arrest is ‘misguided’ (The Guardian)
• Exclusive: Qualcomm explores acquiring pieces of Intel chip-design business (Reuters)
• Qualcomm says it’s working on mixed reality smart glasses with Samsung and Google (CNBC)
• Review: Honor Magic V3 (Wired)
• Exclusive: Honor's latest devices use AI to try to reverse nearsightedness (Android Central)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

• Waymo’s Robot Taxis Are Almost Mainstream. Can They Now Turn a Profit? (NYTimes)
• When the Bitcoin Scammers Came for Me (The Atlantic)
• Among the Idlers (Curbed)

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The DOJ says it has taken down a big election influence campaign allegedly directed by Russia. The Internet Archive loses a big case. Android 15 is here. And two really interesting new gadgets, one I probably need to buy and one I want to buy but probably won’t.

Sponsors:

• LinkedIn.com/ride

Links:

• Biden administration announces major actions to tackle Russian efforts to influence 2024 election (CNN)
• The Internet Archive Loses Its Appeal of a Major Copyright Case (Wired)
• Android 15 will be available on supported Pixel devices in the coming weeks (TechCrunch)
• DJI Neo hands-on: A powerful and lightweight $200 drone (Engadget)
• The Remarkable Paper Pro is as outrageous as it is luxurious (The Verge)

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SpaceX has agreed to block access to X, in Brazil, on Starlink. Looks like YubiKeys are hackable. Who is the mystery platform looking to expand AI datacenters at an historic scale? And the Catch 22 that Intel is in. They need CHIPS Act money, but can their troubles mean the CHIPS Act money shouldn’t be spent on them?

Sponsors:

• Ramp.com/techmeme
• Lumen.me/ride

Links:

• Starlink backtracks, complies with order blocking X in Brazil, says regulator (Reuters)
• No X in Brazil? No problem, Brazilians say. (Washington Post)
• Microsoft to announce ‘next phase of Copilot’ on September 16th (The Verge)
• YubiKeys are vulnerable to cloning attacks thanks to newly discovered side channel (ArsTechnica)
• Nvidia Gets DOJ Subpoena in Escalating Antitrust Probe (Bloomberg)
• Two AI Developers Are Plotting $125 Billion Supercomputers (The Information)
• Exclusive: Intel manufacturing business suffers setback as Broadcom tests disappoint (Reuters)
• Intel’s Money Woes Throw Biden Team’s Chip Strategy Into Turmoil (Bloomberg)

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