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Amazon's dropping $10.8 billion on Globalstar to beef up its Leo satellite network and challenge Starlink — and Apple's along for the ride. Plus, federal charges for the Sam Altman attacker, OpenAI acqui-hires a fintech startup, Google declares war on back button hijacking, data labeling startups are printing money, and Missouri voters revolt over a data center. Amazon agrees to acquire satellite operator Globalstar for $10.8B to expand Leo satellite network; Amazon and Apple say Leo will power some iPhone and Watch services (Amazon) Amazon to Acquire Globalstar in Satellite Cellular-Connection Push (WSJ) US DOJ charges Daniel Moreno-Gama, accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail at Sam Altman's home, with attempted murder and arson (CNN) Man who attacked OpenAI CEO's home had list of other AI executives (NYT) OpenAI acquires personal finance startup Hiro Finance (TechCrunch) Google designates "back button hijacking" as malicious, sites could be demoted in Search from June 15 (9to5Google) Data labeling startup Handshake's gross annualized revenue hits ~$1B; Mercor also at $1B+ pace (The Information) Voters in Festus, Missouri oust all four incumbent council members days after council approved a $6B data center (Politico) Learn more at liquid.trade/techbrew. Disclaimer: ● Initial 3 week subscription and 4 weeks of medication from $79 plus tax and $179 per month plus tax for 12 week subscription thereafter. Final pricing depends on program selection.● Noom GLP-1Rx Program involves healthy diet, exercise and support. Individual results vary. Meds & personalization based on clinical need. Not reviewed by FDA for safety, efficacy, or quality. No affiliation with Novo Nordisk Inc., the only US source of FDA-approved semaglutide. Not available in all 50 US states● Based on an analysis of self reported data from 1,254 engaged Noom users. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sam Altman's home has been targeted twice in three days, first a Molotov cocktail, then a shooting from a passing car. Apple is testing four designs for AI smart glasses. OpenAI is touting its Amazon partnership while publicly distancing from Microsoft. GPU prices are surging as an agentic AI compute crunch threatens the whole industry. And Mark Zuckerberg is still keen on photorealistic Metaverse avatars. Sam Altman's home targeted in second attack; two suspects arrested (SF Standard) Apple AI Smart Glasses Features, Styles, Colors, Cameras; Giannandrea Leaving (Bloomberg) OpenAI touts Amazon alliance in memo, says Microsoft has 'limited our ability' to reach clients (CNBC) AI Is Using So Much Energy That Computing Firepower Is Running Out (WSJ) Meta builds AI version of Mark Zuckerberg to interact with staff (FT) Learn more at liquid.trade/techbrew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The US government is taking the Anthropic warning seriously. Google is showing prediction markets alongside various search results. Europeans ARE beginning to decouple from US tech. Kicking the tires on SpaceX’s actual business. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Anthropic Model Scare Sparks Urgent Bessent, Powell Warning to Bank CEOs (Bloomberg) Google rolls out Gmail end-to-end encryption on mobile devices (Bleeping Computer) Google News Now Prominently Featuring Polymarket Bets (Futurism) France to ditch Windows for Linux to reduce reliance on US tech (TechCrunch) YouTube Premium is getting pricier (The Verge) OpenAI Backs Bill That Would Limit Liability for AI-Enabled Mass Deaths or Financial Disasters (Wired) SpaceX Posted Nearly $5 Billion Loss Last Year from AI Spending (The Information) Weekend Longreads Suggestion: An Internet of Checkpoints (Longreads) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Meta releases its first model in the great AI horserace catchup race. OpenAI is expecting to make as much money from ads as the biggest social media companies. Meta doesn’t want you to see ads encouraging you to join lawsuits against them. And Amazon’s big Starlink competitor is coming as soon as this summer. Meta releases first AI model since Zuckerberg’s spending spree (FT) AI Horserace Thread (@emollick) Anthropic Completes Tender Offer, But Employees Hold Onto Shares (Bloomberg) OpenAI Forecasts Advertising to Hit $102 billion by 2030 (The Information) Scoop: Meta removes ads for social media addiction litigation (Axios) Amazon’s Starlink competitor Leo gets a new date (The Verge) Deere settles US right-to-repair lawsuit with $99 million fund, repair commitments (Reuters) Gen Z Is Using A.I., but Doesn’t Feel Great About It (NYTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
I’ve got another potential tipping point day for you. Anthropic is making yet more shockwaves across the industry by NOT releasing a model. Why? Because it could potentially break everything software related. Does that matter if the Chinese AI companies will just release everything open source? And Elon says he personally doesn’t want a dime from Sam Altman. Anthropic says its most powerful AI cyber model is too dangerous to release publicly — so it built Project Glasswing (VentureBeat) AI joins the 8-hour work day as GLM ships 5.1 open source LLM, beating Opus 4.6 and GPT-5.4 on SWE-Bench Pro (VentureBeat) Elon Musk Asks for OpenAI’s Nonprofit to Get Any Damages From His Lawsuit (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Anthropic’s new deal with Google and Broadcom (and some newly released numbers) might be the tipping point in a couple of AI Horse Races. The gold rush/landgrab in the world model space. The dubious goldrush for SEO in the AI era. And an urgent wakeup call in the quantum computing will break cryptography space. Anthropic Tops $30 Billion Run Rate, Seals Deal With Broadcom (Bloomberg) Jeff Bezos’s new lab hires xAI co-founder from OpenAI (FT) How Accurate Are Google’s A.I. Overviews? (NYTimes) Can AI responses be influenced? The SEO industry is trying (The Verge) A Cryptography Engineer’s Perspective on Quantum Computing Timelines (Filippo Valsorda) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
There might be... and I know this is going to shock you... some drama going on over at OpenAI. Why is Anthropic cutting off Claude access to OpenClaw? Why are VCs covering the rent for founders who drop out of college? And maybe that two person unicorn I shared with you in the longreads is not what it was cracked up to be. OpenAI CEO and CFO Diverge on IPO Timing (The Information) Anthropic essentially bans OpenClaw from Claude by making subscribers pay extra (The Verge) Samsung Messages will be discontinued in July as part of Google Messages upgrade (9to5Google) Software job openings surge this year, defying AI fears (Business Insider) These AI Whiz Kids Dropped Out of College and Got Investors to Pay Their Bills (WSJ) The back story behind the first “$1.8 Billion” dollar “AI Company” (Marcus on AI) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This episode explores the fascinating journey of Demis Hesabis and the development of AI through the lens of Sebastian Malaby's book, The Infinity Machine. We delve into the minds of AI pioneers, their motivations, and the race to achieve superintelligence, offering insights into the future of technology and humanity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
SpaceX is officially kicking off the year of the biggest IPOs ever. More job cuts and more signs AI is the cause, in one way or another. Microsoft makes its first public moves to divorce itself from OpenAI when it comes to AI models. And a billion-dollar company with only two employees? You guessed it: AI is why. SpaceX Has Filed Confidentially for IPO Ahead of AI Rivals (Bloomberg) Larry Ellison’s Oracle cuts thousands of jobs after AI push (The Times of London) US Job-Cut Announcements in Tech Keep Rising With AI Adoption (Bloomberg) Cloudflare launches EmDash — the 'spiritual successor' that wants to take on WordPress (Tech Radar) Alibaba Unveils Third Closed-Source AI Model in Focus on Profit (Bloomberg) Microsoft launches 3 new AI models in direct shot at OpenAI and Google (VentureBeat) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: How A.I. Helped One Man (and His Brother) Build a $1.8 Billion Company (NYTimes) AI Perfected Chess. Humans Made It Unpredictable Again (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
OpenAI closes a monster round, but does Anthropic continue to steal their thunder? Is that Anthropic code leak from yesterday a bigger deal for them than I thought it was? What can happen when all the self-driving cars shut down at once. And you are finally able to change that embarrassing Gmail account you’ve been living with. OpenAI closes record-breaking $122 billion funding round as anticipation builds for IPO (CNBC) OpenAI raises $3bn from retail investors as part of record funding haul (FT) OpenAI Is Falling Out of Favor With Secondary Buyers (Bloomberg) Anthropic Races to Contain Leak of Code Behind Claude AI Agent (WSJ) Claude Code Leak Reveals Always-On ‘Kairos’ Agent (The Information) Robotaxi Outage in China Leaves Passengers Stranded on Highways (Wired) You can finally replace your embarrassing Gmail username (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Is the Iran war coming for US tech companies specifically? Meta unveils new smartglasses. A leak gives us a look at how Claude Code works. SpaceX is losing contact with satellites for reasons we don’t know yet. And Whoop is the big wearable player I guess we don’t talk about enough. Iran says it will target US tech companies in Middle East (The Hill) Iran’s hackers go to war (FT) The latest Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses are more customizable and expensive (Engadget) Claude Code's source code appears to have leaked: here's what we know (VentureBeat) Google commits to video generation, announces Veo 3.1 Lite (9to5Google) Another Starlink satellite has inexplicably exploded (The Verge) Whoop, a Wearable Health Device Maker, Raises $575 Million (NYTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
With everyone suddenly chasing Anthropic, are we getting strong signals AI is about to get more expensive? The dream of pairing AI models against each other and asking them to fight. We really are getting datacenters in space startups, aren’t we? And Project Hail Mary is Amazon’s biggest movie win ever. The Sudden Fall of OpenAI’s Most Hyped Product Since ChatGPT (WSJ) Andrew Curran X Post Claude is limiting usage more aggressively during peak hours — here’s what changed (TechRadar) Microsoft’s Researcher AI Agent Can Now Make GPT and Claude Models Work Together (Thurrott) Starcloud raises $170 million Series A to build data centers in space (TechCrunch) ‘Project Hail Mary’ becomes Amazon MGM’s biggest box office hit (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Is Anthropic about to release an AI model that will be a true step change? Is Apple about to open Siri up to everyone, not just ChatGPT? Is OpenAI already making serious bank from Ads? Is Elon trying to open the SpaceX IPO to normies? And of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Anthropic wins preliminary injunction in DOD fight as judge cites ‘First Amendment retaliation’ (CNBC) Exclusive: Anthropic acknowledges testing new AI model representing ‘step change’ in capabilities, after accidental data leak reveals its existence (Fortune) Apple Plans to Open Up Siri to Rival AI Assistants in iOS 27 Update (Bloomberg) Sony is raising PS5 prices by $100 in April (The Verge) OpenAI Surpasses $100 Million Annualized Revenue From Ads Pilot (The Information) Exclusive: Musk rewrites IPO playbook with large slice of SpaceX stock for retail investors, source says (Reuters) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Gemini task automation is slow, clunky, and super impressive (The Verge) How Apple Became Apple: The Definitive Oral History Of The Company's Earliest Days (Fast Company) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The big ruling from that big social media trial is in and it could have big implications for big tech going forward. Wikipedia bans the use of AI for creating Wikipedia entries. GitHub is about to train AI on what you do on GitHub. And the idea of lossless compression might sound like a Silicon Valley joke, but it could be a big deal. Jury in Los Angeles finds Meta, YouTube negligent in social media addiction trial (CNBC) Do Back-to-Back Courtroom Losses Herald Meta’s ‘Big Tobacco’ Moment? (WSJ) Nintendo confirms its US Switch 2 games will soon cost more as physical versions (VGC) Wikipedia bans AI-generated articles (The Verge) GitHub’s Copilot will use you as AI training data, but you can opt out (How-To Geek) Google unveils TurboQuant, a new AI memory compression algorithm — and yes, the internet is calling it ‘Pied Piper’ (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
OpenAI is abandoning Sora to do the big refocus they’ve been signaling. Meta is starting to rack up the losses in court. Is China going to block the Manus acquisition by Meta from going through? They’re not even letting the founders leave the country. And interesting raises from vertical AI startups. OpenAI Scraps Sora Video Platform Months After Launch (WSJ) Meta must pay $375 million for violating New Mexico law in child exploitation case, jury rules (CNBC) Supreme Court Sides With Internet Provider in Copyright Fight Over Pirated Music (NYTimes) China reviews $2bn Manus sale to Meta as founders barred from leaving country (Financial Times) AI Notetaker Granola Hits $1.5 Billion Value in $125 Million Funding (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Buying an internet router made outside the US is now verboten. Claude can now basically fully use your computer for you. More layoffs and surprising production cuts in the gaming industry. And the two big prediction markets try to close the barn door when it comes to insider trading. US regulator bans imports of new foreign-made routers, citing security concerns (Reuters) Anthropic's Claude Can Now Control Your Computer (CNET) Epic Games Cuts About 1,000 Jobs Across Company Amid ‘Fortnite’ Slump (Bloomberg) Nintendo Cuts Switch 2 Output by Over 30% on Weak US Sales (Bloomberg) Kalshi says it will block politicians and athletes from trading in markets they’re tied to (The Verge) Polymarket, Kalshi Take On Insider Trading as Scrutiny Grows (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mark Zuckerberg has spun up his own AI bot to do his job for him. Or help him do his job quicker, I guess. OpenAI hires an ad guru from Meta. Elon loses a case. Maybe some managers actually want you to use as many tokens as possible. And how to get your LLM to recursively improve itself? Maybe? Mark Zuckerberg Is Building an AI Agent to Help Him Be CEO (WSJ) OpenAI Taps Former Meta Executive to Lead Ad Push (WSJ) Samsung's Galaxy S26 Phones Will Work With Apple's AirDrop, Much Like the Pixel 10 (CNET) Musk Misled Twitter Investors Before 2022 Buyout, Jury Says (Bloomberg) More! More! More! Tech Workers Max Out Their A.I. Use. (NYTimes) ‘The Karpathy Loop’: Former OpenAI researcher’s autonomous agents ran 700 experiments in 2 days—and gave a glimpse of where AI is heading (Fortune) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
OpenAI is becoming a superapp. Does Amazon really want to try its hand at a smartphone again? Google is making further steps to obviate classic Google Search in that innovator’s dilemma way. And in the Longreads, why has AI gotten worse at writing. OpenAI Plans Launch of Desktop ‘Superapp’ to Refocus, Simplify User Experience (WSJ) White House releases AI policy blueprint for Congress (Politico) Exclusive: Amazon plans smartphone comeback more than a decade after Fire Phone flop (Reuters) Super Micro shares tank 25% after employees charged with smuggling Nvidia chips to China (CNBC) Google Search is now using AI to replace headlines (The Verge) Jeff Bezos in Talks to Raise $100 Billion for AI Manufacturing Fund (WSJ) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: ChatGPT did not cure a dog’s cancer (The Verge) The Human Skill That Eludes AI (The Atlantic) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In three parts I’ll make the case that in Q1 of this year, the AI race has become basically a land grab for design and development tasks. MLB fully embraces our new prediction market overlords. Even if they’re behind in AI Apple is still making big money from AI. And Uber is still placing bets in the self-driving race. Google introduces 'vibe design' with Stitch (The Deep View) OpenAI to Acquire Startup Astral, Expanding Push Into Coding (Bloomberg) Crypto.com cuts around 12% of staff as CEO pushes enterprise-wide AI integration (The Block) Major League Baseball Steps Into the Prediction Markets, Strikes Deal With Polymarket (WSJ) Apple Is Way Behind in AI—and Still Making a Fortune From It (WSJ) Uber to invest $1.25 billion in Rivian as part of new robotaxi deal (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
At long last, the government has issued guidance to crypto on what is or is not allowed. The blowup from gamers has caused Jensen to push back. A tale of contrasting IPOs from wildly different industries. And is your boss about to ask you to submit expense reports for your token use? SEC, CFTC Move to Define Which Digital Assets Are Securities (Bloomberg) Jensen Huang says gamers are 'completely wrong' about DLSS 5 — Nvidia CEO responds to DLSS 5 backlash (TomsHardware) Meta to Discontinue Key Metaverse Product for VR Headsets (Bloomberg) AI Drone Software Stock Jumps 520% in Best IPO Since Newsmax (Bloomberg) Crypto exchange Kraken freezes multibillion-dollar IPO plan due to difficult market conditions (CoinDesk) Apple Cracks Down on ‘Vibe Coding’ Apps (The Information) You’ve Finally Figured Out AI at Work—Now Comes the Bill (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
All the headlines from Nvidia’s big event yesterday. Can Apple make fetch happen with foldable phones cause nobody else seems to be able to. One hour deliveries is the new, screw it, we’re doing five razorblades. And the robots are really coming to Disney theme parks, right now. NVIDIA claims DLSS 5 will deliver 'photoreal' image quality with AI this fall (Engadget) Nvidia Makes Trillion-Dollar Forecast at Annual Product Expo (Bloomberg) Samsung to Stop Selling $2,899 TriFold Phone After Three Months (Bloomberg) Amazon rolls out 1-hour, 3-hour delivery as ultrafast shipping trend grows in the U.S. (CNBC) OpenAI to Cut Back on Side Projects in Push to ‘Nail’ Core Business (WSJ) I met Olaf — the Frozen robot who might be the future of Disney Parks (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Is Meta about to do the mother of all layoffs? New AirPods Max 2. Why OpenAI delayed its sexytime chat… the calls to do so were coming from inside the house. What does it mean if the San Francisco real estate market is ripping again? And what if it ends up Apple has played a blinder by sitting out AI CAPEX spending? Exclusive: Meta planning sweeping layoffs as AI costs mount (Reuters) Apple quietly launches AirPods Max 2 (TechCrunch) Encyclopedia Britannica sues OpenAI over AI training (Reuters) OpenAI’s Bid to Allow X-Rated Talk Is Freaking Out Its Own Advisers (WSJ) The AI Boom Has Exploded the San Francisco Housing Market (WSJ) The most brilliant move in corporate history? (ASYMCO) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Meta’s big new AI model is delayed because they still can’t get to state of the art. The social media addiction trial is winding down. All the video apps are going to end up looking exactly like one another eventually. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Meta Delays Rollout of New A.I. Model After Performance Concerns (NYTimes) Lawyers in landmark social media addiction trial make final appeals to the jury (AP) Peacock expands into AI-driven video, mobile-first live sports, and gaming (TechCrunch) Disney+ is rolling out its TikTok-like ‘Verts’ short-form video feed (TechCrunch) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Why ATMs didn’t kill bank teller jobs, but the iPhone did (David Oks's Blog) James Mason in a cave with a cat (Joel Morris's Substack) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More AI inspired job cuts. I gotta say, adding AI to Google Maps makes it sound like it might work much, much better. A new entrant into the AI health space. An Iran-war-related hacking takes down a company. And Mark Gurman tells us what to expect from a foldable iPhone. Atlassian slashes 10% of workforce to ‘self-fund’ investments in AI and enterprise sales (CNBC) You can now ask Google Maps ‘complex, real-world questions’ — and Gemini will answer (The Verge) Anthropic’s Claude AI can respond with charts, diagrams, and other visuals now (The Verge) Microsoft’s New AI Health Tool Can Read Your Medical Records and Give Advice (WSJ) Iran Expands War With Major Cyberattack Against U.S. Company (WSJ) Apple’s Foldable iPhone to Feature iPad-Like Interface When Opened (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sources say the US government is investigating Binance around Iranian sanction evasion. Meta is helping authorities worldwide crack down on scammers. YouTube literally now is, officially, the biggest media entity in the world. And the legal way to listen to full songs right inside of TikTok. Justice Department Probes Iran’s Use of Binance to Evade Sanctions (WSJ) Meta, Thai police shut down 150,000 scam accounts (Axios) Anthropic is launching a new think tank amid Pentagon blacklist fight (The Verge) YouTube Lays Claim to Another Crown: The World’s Largest Media Company (THR) Nintendo Shares Soar 10% as Surprise Hit Pokémon Game Lifts Mood (Bloomberg) TikTok Teams With Apple Music to Allow Users to Stream Full Songs (Variety) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Meta moves for the social network for AI bots. Code Review for Claude Code seems to be like another revolution for the software development industry. Yan LeCun raises the biggest European seed round of all time. And the MacBook Neo… worth investing in or not? Exclusive: Meta hires duo behind Moltbook (Axios) OpenAI and Google employees rush to Anthropic’s defense in DOD lawsuit (TechCrunch) This new Claude Code Review tool uses AI agents to check your pull requests for bugs - here's how (ZDNet) Amazon holds engineering meeting following AI-related outages (FT) Yann LeCun’s AI start-up raises more than $1bn in Europe’s largest seed round (FT) MacBook Neo review: the Mac for the masses (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Anthropic is fighting the government in court. Microsoft is turning to Anthropic to get agentic in all its productivity products. A big new hyperscaler startup has raised a monster round. And could the war with Iran be something that could pop the AI bubble? Anthropic is suing the Department of Defense (The Verge) Microsoft announces Copilot Cowork with help from Anthropic — a cloud-powered AI agent that works across M365 apps (VentureBeat) Nscale Raises $2 Billion and Adds Sandberg, Clegg to Board (Bloomberg) Iran War Imperils $300 Billion in Gulf AI Spending (The Information) When Using AI Leads to “Brain Fry” (HBR) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dario might need some message discipline as Anthropic is officially designated a risk by the US government. GPT-5.4 is here. Oracle is considering laying off a ton of people and Softbank is considering taking on a ton of debt, both for the same reason. An early warning system for AI job destruction. And, of course, The Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Anthropic says it will challenge Defense Department's supply chain risk designation in court (Engadget) Anthropic CEO apologizes for lashing out at Trump as he gears up for court battle with Pentagon (NYPost) OpenAI’s new GPT-5.4 model is a big step toward autonomous agents (The Verge) Oracle Plans Thousands of Job Cuts in Face of AI Cash Crunch (Bloomberg) SoftBank Seeks Record Loan of Up to $40 Billion for OpenAI Stake (Bloomberg) Anthropic launches AI job destruction detector (Axios) Labor market impacts of AI: A new measure and early evidence (Anthropic) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: SpaceX: the final frontier of IPOs (FT) Who needs data centers in space when they can float offshore? (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Is the long war between Google and Epic Games finally over? OpenAI wants you to know its revenue numbers are also stellar. Maybe ChatGPT isn’t so great at medical advice. Maybe the chip shortage isn’t great for Nintendo specifically. And maybe the MacBook Nano isn’t great for the Windows ecosystem generally. Google Revamps Android App Stores to Resolve Antitrust Claims (Bloomberg) Tim Sweeney signed away his right to criticize Google until 2032 (The Verge) Google’s AI-powered workspace is now available to more users in Search (The Verge) OpenAI Tops $25 Billion in Annualized Revenue as Anthropic Narrows Gap (The Information) ChatGPT Health 'under-triaged' half of medical emergencies in a new study (NBC News) Nintendo Switch 2 Users Face Storage Woes as Memory Crisis Bites (Bloomberg) I can't believe it: Apple’s $599 MacBook Neo just lit a monstrous fire under the Windows laptop market — Microsoft better be panicking (Windows Central) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apple unveils its Chromebook sort of competitor, the MacBook Neo. Anthropic might be the fastest growing startup in history. Polymarket will no longer let you bet on thermonuclear war. Sony will no longer plans to release its big single-player PlayStation 5 games on PC. Apple announces $599 MacBook Neo running A18 Pro chip — budget laptop features 16-hour battery and comes in fun colors (Tom's Hardware) MacBook Neo hands-on: Apple's $599 laptop feels shockingly great (Engadget) Anthropic’s Claude hits No. 1 on Apple’s top free apps list after Pentagon rejection (CNBC) Exclusive: Anthropic investors push to de-escalate Pentagon clash over AI safeguards, sources say (Reuters) Polymarket shelves nuclear detonation markets after outcry (CoinDesk) Sony Pulls Back From PlayStation Games on PC (Bloomberg) A Possible US Government iPhone-Hacking Toolkit Is Now in the Hands of Foreign Spies and Criminals (Wired) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apple continues its week of product refreshes, now with MacBooks, now with new M5 Pro and M5 Max chips. People continue to get rich frontrunning news on the betting markets. And Sam Altman says, no, sorry, we rushed things. The government swears it won’t use our AI for mass surveillance after we asked them nicely not to. Apple announces M5 MacBook Air with 2x storage, $1099 starting price (9to5Mac) Apple Unveils MacBook Pro Featuring M5 Pro and M5 Max Chips With New Fusion Architecture (MacRumors) Apple unveils M5 Pro and M5 Max chips with new ‘Fusion Architecture’ (TechCrunch) Polymarket Iran Bets Hit $529 Million as New Wallets Win Big (Bloomberg) Google unveils cost-efficient AI model Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite (SeekingAlpha) Audible Launches Cheaper Plan to Appeal to Streaming Audiences (Bloomberg) OpenAI makes changes to ‘opportunistic and sloppy’ Pentagon deal (Financial Times) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apparently, it’s going to be a week of Apple updates and it kicks off with the iPhone 17e and an M4 iPad Air. AWS service is struggling in the Middle East. An important ruling in terms of AI copyright. Anthropic makes it easy to switch to Claude. And what exactly went on with that whole Pentagon/Anthropic dispute. Apple announces the iPhone 17E (The Verge) Apple speeds up the iPad Air with an M4 upgrade, starting at $599 (TechCrunch) Amazon's cloud unit reports fire after objects hit UAE data center (Reuters) US Supreme Court declines to hear dispute over copyrights for AI-generated material (Reuters) Anthropic's Claude can now absorb your past conversations with other AI chatbots (Engadget) Inside Anthropic’s Killer-Robot Dispute With the Pentagon (The Atlantic) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
I’ve got everything for you today. OpenAI closed its round. Anthropic draws a line with the Pentagon and Sam Altman supports it. A huge AI inspired layoff round, maybe. Netflix walks away from the deal, and, of course, The Weekend Longreads Suggestions. OpenAI announces $110 billion funding round with backing from Amazon, Nvidia, SoftBank (CNBC) Sam Altman says OpenAI shares Anthropic's red lines in Pentagon fight (Axios) Employees at Google and OpenAI support Anthropic’s Pentagon stand in open letter (TechCrunch) Block shares soar as much as 24% as company slashes workforce by nearly half (CNBC) Netflix ditches deal for Warner Bros. Discovery after Paramount’s offer is deemed superior (CNBC) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: The Looming Taiwan Chip Disaster That Silicon Valley Has Long Ignored (NYTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nano Banana 2 is here already. Nvidia tries to assure everybody there IS no bubble. Marc Benioff tries to assure everybody there IS not SaaS-pocalypse. Did Google just do exactly what Apple has been unable to do? And how do you put an old AI model out to pasture? You give it a Substack. Google’s Nano Banana 2 brings advanced AI image tools to free users (The Verge) Nvidia Shares Slide After Sales Forecast Underwhelms Investors (Bloomberg) Salesforce chief dismisses ‘SaaS-pocalypse’ fears of AI overtaking business software (FT) New York sues video game developer Valve, says its 'loot boxes' are gambling (Reuters) Google and Samsung just launched the AI features Apple couldn’t with Siri (The Verge) Cloudflare experiment ports most of Next.js API 'in one week' with AI (The Register) Anthropic gives its retired Claude AI a Substack (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The new Galaxy S26 lineup is here. Remote control for Claude is here. But is Anthropic about to wash its hands when it comes to working with the Pentagon? Could Stripe buy PayPal. Oh, and speaking of AI and war, you might not want to hear how often AI chose thermonuclear war when it was asked to play a wargame. I tried the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and need the Privacy Display feature on my iPhone ASAP (ZDNet) Gemini is getting its first agentic capabilities (The Verge) Exclusive: Hegseth gives Anthropic until Friday to back down on AI safeguards (Axios) Anthropic digs in heels in dispute with Pentagon, source says (Axios) Anthropic just released a mobile version of Claude Code called Remote Control (VentureBeat) Payments Processor Stripe Expresses Interest in PayPal (Bloomberg) AI Models Deployed Nuclear Weapons in 95% of War Game Simulations, Study Finds (Implicator.ai) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
That AI essay I shared with you yesterday sure got Wall Street’s attention. Anthropic says Chinese models are training off of Claude. A significant new breakthrough in chip production technology. And as fun as that tri-fold phone might be, you probably want to wait for later iterations of the form factor. Software Stocks Are Having Another Ugly Day (WSJ) Anthropic Accuses Chinese Companies of Siphoning Data From Claude (WSJ) Meta and AMD Agree to AI Chips Deal Worth More Than $100 Billion (WSJ) Exclusive: ASML unveils EUV light source advance that could yield 50% more chips by 2030 (Reuters) Putting Samsung’s $2,899 TriFold To the Test as a Phone, Tablet and Laptop (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sam Altman has a lot of stuff to say about AI and let’s just say comms needs to have a quiet word with him. SaaS may or may not be dead, but is the replacement vertical AI? And a big thought experiment. If the AI bulls are right and AI transforms the economy, what might that look like? Sam Altman Says Companies Are ‘AI Washing’ Layoffs (Gizmodo) People Loved the Dot-Com Boom. The A.I. Boom, Not So Much. (NYTimes) Sam Altman would like to remind you that humans use a lot of energy, too (TechCrunch) Half the AI Agent Market Is One Category. The Rest Is Wide Open. (Garry's List) Google Restricts AI Ultra Subscribers Over OpenClaw OAuth, Days After Anthropic Ban (Implicator.ai) THE 2028 GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE CRISIS (Citrini Research) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
When your AI bot breaks your operations, even when you’re AWS. More on OpenAI’s hardware plans. Hey, remember Perplexity? What’s up with them? Is Uber roadkill in the self-driving car horserace? And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Amazon service was taken down by AI coding bot (FT) Ex-Googlers Charged With Stealing Phone Processor Secrets (Bloomberg) OpenAI Plans to Price Smart Speaker at $200 to $300, as AI Device Team Takes Shape (The Information) Microsoft has a new plan to prove what’s real and what’s AI online (MIT Technology Review) Perplexity’s Retreat From Ads Signals a Bigger Strategic Shift (Wired) Uber, Latest Victim of Disruption Panic, Still Has Role in Robotaxis (WSJ) Weekend Longreads Suggestion: Who needs a laptop when you have a folding phone? (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Gemini is getting with the increased cadence of AI releases. Honestly, can we even keep up at this point? A dispatch from the social media trial as Zuck takes the stand. At long last, Amazon dethrones Walmart. Apple seems poised to unleash a slew of AI wearables. And the new storage system to preserve data, Canticle for Leibowitz-style. Google announces Gemini 3.1 Pro for ‘complex problem-solving’ (9to5Google) Mark Zuckerberg said he reached out to Apple CEO Tim Cook to discuss ‘wellbeing of teens and kids’ (CNBC) Amazon Dethrones Walmart as World’s Biggest Company by Sales (Bloomberg) Apple Ramps Up Work on Glasses, Pendant, and Camera AirPods for AI Era (Bloomberg) Microsoft’s Glass Chip Holds Terabytes of Data for 10,000 Years (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
New pixel phone. A bunch of new AI models including Gemini’s entry into the music AI space. Everybody is trying to make AI fetch happen in India. And Matthew Ball’s state of the gaming industry report doesn’t paint as gloomy a picture as our own headlines might have suggested this year. The Pixel 10A is a little too much like last year’s phone (The Verge) Anthropic releases Sonnet 4.6 (TechCrunch) Google’s AI music maker is coming to the Gemini app (The Verge) Adani bets $100 billion on data centres to power India’s AI ambitions (Reuters) Nvidia secures multibillion-dollar Meta deal as it battles chip rivals (FT) Global game content sales rose 5.3% to $195.6bn in 2025 (GamesIndustry.biz) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The big regulatory guns are out for Grok. Memory chip shortage now hit the Steam Deck. Manus is already coming to your favorite messaging app. Turns out Buy Now Pay Later really works for vacations. And another lengthy AI essay, this time detailing what it’s doing, and has the potential to do to SaaS companies. EU privacy watchdog opens probe into Elon Musk’s X over sexualised AI images (FT) Valve’s Steam Deck OLED will be ‘intermittently’ out of stock because of the RAM crisis (The Verge) Raspberry Pi soars 40% as CEO buys stock, AI chatter builds (Reuters) Meta-owned Manus launches AI agents on Telegram (SiliconRepublic) Airbnb expands its “Reserve Now, Pay Later” globally (TechCrunch) 10 Years Building Vertical Software: My Perspective on the Selloff (@nicbstme) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
OpenClaw’s creator is joining OpenAI, but the OpenClaw project lives on. The AI-caused memory shortage might delay the next Playstation. Is the Pentagon about to cut ties with Anthropic? And Vitalik Buterin is growing concerned with the prediction markets. OpenClaw founder Peter Steinberger is joining OpenAI (The Verge) Peter Steinberger Chose OpenAI. The Code Was Never the Point. (Implicator.AI) Rampant AI Demand for Memory Is Fueling a Growing Chip Crisis (Bloomberg) ByteDance to curb AI video app after Disney legal threat (BBC) Exclusive: Pentagon threatens to cut off Anthropic in AI safeguards dispute (Axios) The hidden infrastructure crisis in mortgage and real estate finance that only tokenization can solve (Crypto.news) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Buy Chris' book: How To AI Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Anthropic raises the second largest financing round of all time. Other AI players are beginning to show hockey stick revenue growth. Meta wants to add facial recognition to its glasses. Ring pulls back from some recognition partnerships for its camera. And, of course, your Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Anthropic closes $30 billion funding round as cash keeps flowing into top AI startups (CNBC) Enterprise AI startup Cohere tops revenue target as momentum builds to IPO: Investor memo (CNBC) Meta Plans to Add Facial Recognition Technology to Its Smart Glasses (NYTimes) Ring cancels its partnership with Flock Safety after surveillance backlash (The Verge) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: The AI Gold Rush Is Breaking a Silicon Valley Taboo: Cashing Out Before the IPO (WSJ) The New Fabio Is Claude (NYTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aaannddd…. Right on time here come the Chinese AI models. Elon Musk kicks off a major reorg of xAI. Google is warning of AI distillation attacks. New Waymo cars hit the road. And another interesting AI essay to read to you. Chinese AI startup Zhipu releases new flagship model GLM-5 (Reuters) Musk announces xAI re-org following co-founder departures, SpaceX merger (CNBC) Elon Musk Wants to Build an A.I. Satellite Factory on the Moon (NYTimes) Google says attackers used 100,000+ prompts to try to clone AI chatbot Gemini (NBCNews) Waymo begins deploying next-gen Ojai robotaxis to extend its U.S. lead (CNBC) The AI Vampire (Steve Yegge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Forget the ChatGPT moment, is this the “Covid Moment” for AI, the moment when everything has changed its just that not everyone knows it yet? More weird musical chairs at the AI companies. TikTok but for around the block. And do we finally have a universal translator but for phone calls? Something Big Is Happening (Matt Shumer) OpenAI Executive Who Opposed ‘Adult Mode’ Fired for Sexual Discrimination (WSJ) TikTok launches an opt-in Local Feed in the US leveraging users’ precise location (TechCrunch) T-Mobile will live translate regular phone calls without an app (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
So, have you hit the ads in ChatGPT yet, cause they’re there. Spotify comes out of nowhere with killer good earnings. The coming tidal wave of Chinese AI launches. The coming deluge of social media trials. And does AI usage reduce the amount of work you do, or actually compound it? OpenAI begins testing ads in ChatGPT (Mashable) Spotify Shares Surge After Adding Record Number of New Users (Bloomberg) Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance Offer AI Red Packets to Lure Users (Bloomberg) New Mexico lawsuit accuses Meta of failing to protect children from sexual exploitation online (AP) AI Doesn't Reduce Work, It Intensifies It (HBR) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sam Altman assures staff that OpenAI has a good week, but is Anthropic definitively growing faster at this point? Is the CapEx spend about to eat ALL of Silicon Valley’s free cashflow while Apple sits out the party? And the Crypto.com guy runs the same playbook but now with Ai.com. Sam Altman touts ChatGPT’s reaccelerating growth to employees as OpenAI closes in on $100 billion funding (CNBC) How Capex Ramp Up Will Squeeze Google, Amazon, Meta (The Information) Apple is the only Big Tech company whose capex declined last quarter (Sherwood) A New AI Video Model From ByteDance is Making Waves (PetaPixel) Claude Code is the Inflection Point (SemiAnalysis) Crypto.com CEO unveils new AI agents to millions during Super Bowl (CoinTelegraph) From Svedka to Anthropic, brands make bold plays with AI in Super Bowl ads (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Claude Opus 4.6 arrives to crown Anthropic’s very good week, at least, for them it was good. You thought tech was spending big to build out for AI, but this week we’ve seen how big. Crypto seems to have really hit a sharp bear market. And in the Weekend Longreads Suggestions, tv piracy is back, baby! Anthropic Releases New Model That’s Adept at Financial Research (Bloomberg) Anthropic debuts new model with hopes to corner the market beyond coding (The Verge) Big Tech to Spend $650 Billion This Year as AI Race Intensifies (Bloomberg) Europe Accuses TikTok of ‘Addictive Design’ and Pushes for Change (NYTimes) Bitcoin Falls Below $70,000 as Market Faces a ‘Crisis of Faith’ (Bloomberg) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Inside Elon Musk’s $1.25 Trillion AI and Space Megamerger (WSJ) Everyone is stealing TV (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Alphabet earnings. Claude goes to the Superbowl. Why AI brand loyalty isn’t even remotely a thing yet. And is the whole Marc Andreessen theory of software eating the world in the process of being eaten by AI? Wall Street is worried about that very scenario. Google set to double AI spending to $185bn after strong earnings (FT) OpenAI Frontier is a single platform to control your AI agents (The Verge) Anthropic says ‘Claude will remain ad-free,’ unlike ChatGPT (The Verge) Microsoft’s Pivotal AI Product Is Running Into Big Problems (WSJ) New Data: OpenAI’s Lead Is Contracting as AI Competition Intensifies (Big Technology) Threat of New AI Tools Wipes $300 Billion Off Software and Data Stocks (WSJ) AI Won’t Kill the Software Business, Just Its Growth Story (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Check out Jaime's book: Ding Dong: How Ring Went From Shark Tank Reject To Everyone's Front Door Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
As SpaceX acquires xAI, all of Elon’s companies under one umbrella is pretty much an inevitability isn’t it? What is with this weird game of chicken that Nvidia and OpenAI and now Oracle are all engaging in all of the sudden. And self-driving cars are about to be ubiquitous, indication number 37. Musk’s SpaceX Combines With xAI at $1.25 Trillion Valuation (Bloomberg) SpaceX acquires xAI, plans to launch a massive satellite constellation to power it (ArsTechnica) OpenAI's Codex just got its own Mac app - and anyone can try it for free now (ZDNet) Exclusive: OpenAI is unsatisfied with some Nvidia chips and looking for alternatives, sources say (Reuters) Waymo Raises $16 Billion From Alphabet and Others to Expand (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Is Nvidia going through with their massive OpenAI investment or not? Does Apple have what it takes to win in the AI era or not? Is Elon the only one who can make datacenters in space happen or not? And a roundup of the continued fascination with Moltbook. The $100 Billion Megadeal Between OpenAI and Nvidia Is on Ice (WSJ) Nvidia CEO Says New OpenAI Investment May Be Largest Yet (Bloomberg) Apple’s Historic Quarter Doesn’t Change the Need for AI Reckoning (Bloomberg) SpaceX seeks FCC nod for solar-powered satellite data centers for AI (Reuters) How often do AI chatbots lead users down a harmful path? (ArsTechnica) Moltbook is the most interesting place on the internet right now (Simon Willison) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apple does a big acquisition. OpenAI is racing to IPO. Elon might just merge all his companies into one. Google’s Project Genie is the latest thing that will make you say, gee, AI can do that?! And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Apple buys Israeli start-up Q.AI for close to $2bn in race to build AI devices (FT) OpenAI Plans Fourth-Quarter IPO in Race to Beat Anthropic to Market (WSJ) SpaceX in merger talks with other Musk companies ahead of IPO (Reuters) Elon Musk’s SpaceX Said to Consider Merger With Tesla or xAI (Bloomberg) Google’s AI helped me make bad Nintendo knockoffs (The Verge) Moltbot Gets Another New Name, OpenClaw, And Triggers Security Fears And Scams (Forbes) Weekend Longread: To avoid accusations of AI cheating, college students are turning to AI (NBCNews) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Meta earnings good. The street like the AI spending. Microsoft earnings bad. Why is growth in their cloud business not as robust all of the sudden? Elon is following through on taking Tesla all in on robots and AI. The AI inspired layoffs are NOT just for the tech industry. And are you actually technical enough to run that Clawdbot? Zuckerberg teases agentic commerce tools and major AI rollout in 2026 (TechCrunch) Microsoft stock drops 7% on slowing cloud growth, light margin guidance (CNBC) Tesla scraps models in pivot to AI as annual revenue falls for first time (FT) Dow to Cut 4,500 Employees in AI Overhaul (WSJ) Waymo robotaxi hits a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica (TechCrunch) Tiny startup Arcee AI built a 400B-parameter open source LLM from scratch to best Meta’s Llama (TechCrunch) Clawdbot sheds skin to become Moltbot, can't slough off security issues (The Register) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Amazon layoffs showed up on schedule. Is Tether behind the rise in the price of gold? A new type of privacy screen tech from Samsung. Elon wants to IPO on his birthday. Anthropic raises more ahead of its IPO. And AI is finding weird stuff in Space. Amazon says it is laying off 16,000 employees (TechCrunch) Tether Is Shaking Up the Gold Market With Massive Metal Hoard (Bloomberg) Samsung confirms Galaxy S26's insane 'pixel level' privacy feature (SamMobile) SpaceX weighs June IPO timed to planetary alignment and Elon Musk’s birthday (FT) Anthropic doubles VC fundraising to $20bn on surging investor demand (FT) Anthropic Hikes 2026 Revenue Forecast 20% but Delays When It Will Go Cash Flow Positive (The Information) Astronomers used AI to find 1,400 ‘anomalous objects’ from Hubble archives (The Verge) RideHomeFund News: CrowdStrike buys identity security startup SGNL for $740 million in latest deal push Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
I think we have to gird ourselves for a slew of Chinese AI releases in the coming weeks. Are AI inspired layoffs poised to sweep the tech industry? Meta goes with subscriptions. Uber wants to train AI for others. And Dario Amodei has a pretty stark warning about AI. China’s Moonshot Unveils AI Model Ahead of DeepSeek Release (Bloomberg) Pinterest laying off 15% of workforce in push toward AI roles and teams (CNBC) TikTok says a power outage caused a 'cascading systems failure' that messed up its algorithm (BusinessInsider) Meta to test premium subscriptions on Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp (TechCrunch) Uber launches an ‘AV Labs’ division to gather driving data for robotaxi partners (TechCrunch) Thread On The Amodei Essay @aakashgupta Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Did you even notice that new TikTok privacy policy over the weekend? AirTags finally have a second generation. Microsoft confirms it will give out your BitLocker recovery keys if you’re silly enough to store them with them. And let me introduce you to Clawdbot. Since you can’t see the spelling, you won’t understand how this is different until I explain. TikTok Is Now Collecting Even More Data About Its Users. Here Are the 3 Biggest Changes (Wired) Apple launches AirTag 2 with improved range, louder speaker, more (9to5Mac) EU opens formal probe into Musk’s xAI over Grok deepfakes (FT) Latest ChatGPT model uses Elon Musk’s Grokipedia as source, tests reveal (The Guardian) Microsoft Gave FBI Keys To Unlock Encrypted Data, Exposing Major Privacy Flaw (Forbes) Clawdbot Showed Me What the Future of Personal AI Assistants Looks Like (MacStories) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Ok, ok, maybe the whole TikTok thing is a done deal at long last? Amazon is planning another major round of layoffs. Are Epic Games and Google doing an end-run around the judge? Capital One acquires Brex. And, of course, The Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Trump’s TikTok deal is a gift to China (FT) Exclusive: Amazon plans thousands more corporate job cuts next week, sources say (Reuters) Epic and Google have a secret $800 million Unreal Engine and services deal (The Verge) Apple Expands Hardware Chief's Role (Bloomberg) Capital One Strikes $5.15 Billion Deal for Fintech Brex (WSJ) Weekend Longreads Suggestion: Russia, Ukraine and the race for Chinese drone components (FT) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apple is developing their own AI wearable, the size of an AirTag. Anthropic overhauls Claude’s constitution. South Korea is the latest place to ride the AI rocket ship. And I think I know why your boss thinks AI is the solution to everything: it’s the solution to all of the work THEY have to do. Apple Developing AI Wearable Pin (The Information) Anthropic rewrites Claude’s guiding principles—and entertains the idea that its AI might have ‘some kind of consciousness or moral status’ (Fortune) Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin launches satellite internet service to rival SpaceX, Amazon (CNBC) South Korean leader celebrates ‘Kospi 5,000’ moment as stock market soars (FT) CEOs Say AI Is Making Work More Efficient. Employees Tell a Different Story. (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Anthropic continues to project strength in the AI race. How OpenAI is rolling out ads on ChatGPT. Netflix wants to become TikTok faster than TikTok can become them. YouTube wants to have it both ways when it comes to AI. And Elon wants SpaceX to win the great IPO race of 2026. Anthropic’s CEO stuns Davos with Nvidia criticism (TechCrunch) OpenAI rolls out age prediction on ChatGPT (Reuters) OpenAI Lines Up Advertisers, Reveals Key Details Ahead of Ads Launch (The Information) Netflix Is Testing Vertical Video Features For Mobile (THR) YouTubers will be able to make Shorts with their own AI likenesses (The Verge) YouTube CEO Neal Mohan’s Big Ideas for 2026: More Superstar Creators and Transparency, Less AI Slop (THR) Why Elon Musk Is Racing to Take SpaceX Public (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Netflix ups its bid with all cash. Sony is spinning off its legendary TV business with TCL. One of the biggest seed rounds I’ve ever heard of. Reels continues to win for Zuck. And let me introduce you to the “Assistant Axis” and what it might mean for AI. Netflix revises its offer for Warner Bros. Discovery. Now, it’s all cash (CNN) Sony’s TV business is being taken over by TCL (The Verge) An A.I. Start-Up Says It Wants to Empower Workers, Not Replace Them (NYTimes) Most of Instagram’s ads ran on Reels in 2025, data shows (CNBC) Anthropic Uncovers AI Personality Crisis as Models Secretly Switch Identities (eWeek) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Ads are finally coming to ChatGPT. Why everyone online can’t stop talking about going on Claude benders. Elon’s case against OpenAI moves forward again. The Thinking Machines saga roils on again. And the big movie about AI every is apparently watching. OpenAI brings advertising to ChatGPT in push for new revenue (FT) OpenAI's Revenue Soars Past $20 Billion After 233% Jump—But Explosive Growth Comes With Massive Compute Costs And A $17 Billion Burn Rate (Benzinga) Claude Is Taking the AI World by Storm, and Even Non-Nerds Are Blown Away (WSJ) ‘No Reasons to Own’: Software Stocks Sink on Fear of New AI Tool (Bloomberg) Musk Seeks Up to $134 Billion Damages From OpenAI, Microsoft (Bloomberg) Thinking Machines Exodus Tests Investor Appetite for a $50 Billion Valuation (The Information) There’s a Hit Movie Set Deep Inside an AI Lab—and It Will Give You Goosebumps (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More fallout from the Thinking Machines stuff. I’m officially calling it: I think the Metaverse is over, at least at Meta. Cloudflare continues to make an effort to protect the web and creators from AI strip mining. And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apparently their ain’t no drama like AI industry drama, proven once again by some high-profile defections from Thinking Machine Labs. Grok says it’s cleaned up its act. TSMC is winning thanks to AI. More price rises from Spotify. And why is Ireland missing out on the AI datacenter boom? Two Thinking Machines Lab Cofounders Are Leaving to Rejoin OpenAI (Wired) Grok was finally updated to stop undressing women and children, X Safety says (ArsTechnica) TSMC delivers another record quarter as profit jumps 35% fueled by robust AI chip demand (CNBC) Ireland Is Trying to Get Back on the Data Center Bandwagon (Bloomberg) Spotify Raises Premium Subscription Prices in US to $13 a Month (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nvidia can officially sell its chips in China, but not if China doesn’t let anyone buy them. Tesla will stop selling FSD beginning next month. Matthew McConaughey says NOT alright alright alright to unauthorized AI use of his voice. And another story about how AI is disrupting the consultancy game. Exclusive: China's customs agents told Nvidia's H200 chips are not permitted, sources say (Reuters) Meta is closing down three VR studios as part of its metaverse cuts (The Verge) Tesla Driver-Assist System FSD Will Switch to Subscription-Only, Musk Says (Bloomberg) Matthew McConaughey Trademarks Himself to Fight AI Misuse (WSJ) Microsoft’s Spending on Anthropic AI Is on Pace to Hit $500 Million (The Information) Apple Struggling With Key Material Shortage as AI Chips Drain Supply (MacRumors) McKinsey challenges graduates to use AI chatbot in recruitment overhaul (FT) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Microsoft tries to calm data center buildout backlash. Layoffs come to the Metaverse. Apple has a new creator subscription package. More implications from that Apple/Google AI deal from yesterday. And is Cowork for Claude the personal AI agent we’ve been waiting for? Microsoft responds to AI data center revolt, vowing to cover full power costs and reject local tax breaks (GeekWire) Meta Begins Job Cuts as It Shifts From Metaverse to AI Devices (Bloomberg) Apple debuts ‘Apple Creator Studio’ subscription, here’s what you get (9to5Mac) Google Gemini Partnership With Apple Will Go Beyond Siri Revamp (MacRumors) Anthropic’s new Cowork tool offers Claude Code without the code (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apple announces that its going with Google’s Gemini to power Siri later this year, and Google joins the $4T club on the news. Governments around the world are still mad at Grok. AI has essentially killed Stack Overflow but its making more money than it ever has. And how you get get AI to give you the full text of books. Apple picks Google’s Gemini to run AI-powered Siri coming this year (CNBC) UK’s Ofcom investigates X over Grok’s sexualised AI images of women and children (FT) Anthropic expands into healthcare a week after OpenAI launched a similar product (Business Insider) Stack Overflow’s forum is dead thanks to AI, but the company’s still kicking... thanks to AI (Sherwood News) AI’s Memorization Crisis (The Atlantic) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Grok dials back the AI image generation thing. Kinda. xAI just raised all that money cause it kinda has to. Looks like the next Deep Seek model is incoming. Why a16z is officially the biggest VC firm in all the world. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. No, Grok hasn’t paywalled its deepfake image feature (The Verge) Musk’s xAI Burns Almost $8 Billion, Reveals Optimus Plan (Bloomberg) Chinese Firms Dominated Global Humanoid Robot Shipments in 2025 (Bloomberg) DeepSeek To Release Next Flagship AI Model With Strong Coding Ability (The Information) Andreessen Horowitz raises $15 billion for new funds (Axios) A16z’s $15 Billion Fund Vacuumed Up A Fifth Of Venture Dollars Raised Last Year (Forbes) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: The Man Who Could Be Apple’s Next C.E.O. (NYTimes) The cost of America’s nuclear revival (FT) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Grok and X have been letting people create some risqué and in some cases, probably illegal images, and governments around the world are getting pissed. Does Google think AI can obviate your email inbox? And would you upload your medical history to ChatGPT? Sam Altman is asking you to. Grok Is Generating Sexual Content Far More Graphic Than What's on X (Wired) Google is taking over your Gmail inbox with AI (The Verge) OpenAI launches ChatGPT Health, encouraging users to connect their medical records (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
xAI has raised another monster round. Polymarket has yet another controversy around whether a bet should pay out or not. Could the AI datacenter buildout actually disrupt politics in local America? And a sort of roundup of what’s been at CES so far. Elon Musk’s xAI Raises $20 Billion (NYTimes) Polymarket refuses to pay bets that US would ‘invade’ Venezuela (FT) Americans Hate AI. Which Party Will Benefit? (Politico) The data center rebellion is here, and it’s reshaping the political landscape (Washington Post) Three Reasons We Can’t Get Enough of LinkedIn (WSJ) What surprised us the most at CES 2026 (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nvidia launches its next chip platform. AMD says, hey, us too! Also, did you know Nvidia is building self-driving car platforms? Did you know Dell is bring the XPS brand back? And did you know that the most interesting product launch I’ve seen so far has come from Lego? Nvidia launches Vera Rubin AI computing platform at CES 2026 (The Verge) AMD shows off new higher performing AI chip at CES event (Reuters) I tested Nvidia’s Tesla Full Self-Driving competitor — Tesla should be worried (The Verge) Dell Admits It Made a Huge Mistake When It Abandoned XPS (Gizmodo) Robot Vacuum Maker Roborock Shows Off Stair-Climbing Model With Legs (Bloomberg) Lego announces Smart Brick, the ‘most significant evolution’ in 50 years (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Coming to you live from Las Vegas with the first of the CES madness. More signs that insider betting on prediction markets is going to become something we’re going to have to live with. Is Reddit bigger than TikTok now, at least by one measure? And how Reels became bigger than YouTube by maybe the most important measure. Exclusive: Samsung to double AI mobile devices to 800 million units this year (Reuters) Voice control opening and closing comes to Samsung’s Family Hub smart fridges (The Verge) Someone made a ton of money betting on Maduro’s capture (The Verge) SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic prepare to launch landmark IPOs (Financial Times) Reddit overtakes TikTok in UK thanks to search algorithms and gen Z (The Guardian) How Meta’s Reels Became a $50 Billion Business (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More on Manus, who they are, how they got positioned to sell, and more on what Meta wants to do with them. Open AI is paying employees more than anyone in history. The TriFold phone is a bit a dud. And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestion. How Meta’s Newest Acquisition Target Got Around Worries Over Its Ties to China (WSJ) Manus: The Hands of AI Fate (Spyglass) Musk’s xAI Buys Building to Expand ‘Colossus’ Data Center (Bloomberg) OpenAI Is Paying Employees More Than Any Major Tech Startup in History (WSJ) AI Trade’s Next Leg Is All About Tech’s ‘Pick-and-Shovel’ Stocks (Bloomberg) Samsung’s First Trifold Phone Is Expensive and Half-Baked (Bloomberg) Weekend Longreads Suggestion: 2025 letter (Zhengdong Wang) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This flurry of M&A deals at the end of the year (I have another one to tell you about) are people getting out while the getting is good, or is this just the start of what’s going to be a big deal in 2026? And are half of the big VC raises we’re seeing just folks trying to build up cash reserves to hedge either way? Meta to Buy Manus, an AI Startup With Chinese Roots (Bloomberg) After a Year of Blistering Growth, AI Chip Makers Get Ready for Bigger 2026 (WSJ) AI start-ups amass record $150bn funding cushion as bubble fears mount (WSJ) Microsoft’s Nadella overhauls leadership as he plots AI strategy beyond OpenAI (FT) Waymo and Other Driverless Taxis Move Into a New Era (Bloomberg) Listen to This: Some Audiobooks Are Outselling Hardcovers (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nvidia kindaquires Groq I’ll tell you what we think the strategy is here. A shot across my bow that CES is next week. Accountants shut down remote testing because of AI. And for all the recent bullishness, an honest look at the immediate limitations of today’s robotics. Nvidia Reaches Technology Licensing Deal With Startup Groq (Bloomberg) Why Nvidia Struck a $20 Billion Megadeal with Groq (The Information) Samsung brings Google Photos to the biggest screen in your home (AndroidPolice) Accounting body scraps remote exams to combat cheating (Financial Times) Even the Companies Making Humanoid Robots Think They’re Overhyped (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Well, turns out my spidey sense was right cause there definitely seems to be a new tech trade war brewing between the US and Europe. Seems like ads are definitely coming to ChatGPT. How bitcoin miners are pivoting to AI. And why Netflix wants to get into dayparting. US bars five Europeans it says pressured tech firms to censor American viewpoints online (AP) OpenAI’s Ads Push Starts Taking Shape (The Information) AST SpaceMobile Launches Biggest Satellite to Challenge SpaceX (Bloomberg) Bitcoin Miners Thrive Off a New Side Hustle: Retooling Their Data Centers for AI (WSJ) YouTube Has a Firm Grip on Daytime TV (NYTimes) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: The Hottest Toy of the Year Is Made by a Tech Startup You’ve Never Heard Of (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
I hope you weren’t expecting Santa to leave a drone under the tree this week. Europe is forcing Apple to pair nicely with others. More signs of the AI fueled debt explosion. And in the year of the stablecoin, the rise of stablecoin-based banks. U.S. Bans New China-Made Drones, Sparking Outrage Among Pilots (WSJ) Pentagon Adds Grok-Derived Products to Something Called the ‘AI Arsenal’ (Gizmodo) iOS 26.3 Brings AirPods-Like Pairing to Third-Party Devices in EU Under DMA (MacRumors) AI debt boom pushes US corporate bond sales close to record (Financial Times) A $309 Billion Bet Fuels 24/7 Dollar Banking Without Borders (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Turns out when the lights go out, Waymo’s don’t handle that well. Larry Ellison actually puts his money on the line. Somebody is pirating music like it’s 1999. And two deep-dive looks at whether or not Google’s TPU’s really are a threat to Nvidia and OpenAI. Waymo resumes robotaxi service in San Francisco after blackout chaos — Musk says Tesla car service unaffected (CNBC) Paramount guarantees Larry Ellison backing in amended WBD bid (CNBC) Instacart Scraps All Price Tests After Customer Pushback (WSJ) Spotify Music Library Scraped by Pirate Activist Group (Billboard) ChatGPT will now let you pick how nice it is (The Verge) TPU Mania (The Chip Letter) Why Nvidia maintains its moat and Gemini won’t kill OpenAI (SiliconANGLE) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Has TikTok finally been sold, episode number 47… The Pennsylvania supreme court says police don’t need a warrant to read your search history. YouTube terminates some big accounts over AI usage. A new League of Legends is coming. And in the longreads, and in the show, a look at how Zuck’s big bet on AI is coming along. Scoop: TikTok signs deal for U.S. unit after yearslong saga (Axios) TikTok U.S. Deal to Close Next Month: Oracle and Silver Lake Confirmed in Buyer Consortium (The Hollywood Reporter) Pa. high court rules that police can access Google searches without a warrant (The Record) Meta Is Developing a New AI Image and Video Model Code-Named ‘Mango’ (WSJ) YouTube Shuts Down Channels Using AI To Create Fake Movie Trailers Watched By Millions (Deadline) Riot Has a Secret Plan to Remake Its ‘League of Legends’ Game (Bloomberg) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Inside Mark Zuckerberg’s turbulent bet on AI (FT) Economics of Orbital vs Terrestrial Data Centers (Andrew McCalip) Feeding the Machine (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Has China cracked a major puzzle for chip parity? Trump Media merges with a… Fusion Energy startup? Coinbase continues its efforts to let you trade everything. OpenAI is turning on the fundraising afterburners. And how to catch a North Korean IT infiltrator. China may have reverse engineered EUV lithography tool in covert lab, report claims — employees given fake IDs to avoid secret project being detected, prototypes expected in 2028 (Tom's Hardware) Trump media group agrees $6bn merger with Google-backed fusion energy company (FT) Coinbase adds prediction markets and stock trading in push to be one-stop trading app (CNBC) OpenAI Has Discussed Raising Tens of Billions at Valuation Around $750 Billion (The Information) Amazon Caught North Korean IT Worker By Tracing Keystroke Data (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
ChatGPT ups its image generation game. Now it’s Amazon’s turn to invest in OpenAI. WBD says it still wants to go with the Netflix offer. Waymo’s raising money again. And the new AI sort of newsletter Google wants to put in your inbox every morning. OpenAI’s ChatGPT Updated to Make Images Better and Faster (Bloomberg) ChatGPT Images just got a major upgrade — and it could change how we all create (TechRadar) OpenAI in Talks to Raise At Least $10 Billion From Amazon and Use Its AI Chips (The Information) Coursera to buy Udemy, creating $2.5 billion firm to target AI training (Reuters) Warner Rejects Paramount’s Hostile Bid, Saying Netflix Deal Still Superior (WSJ) Waymo Seeking Over $15 Billion Near $100 Billion Valuation (Bloomberg) Waymo in talks to raise funds at $100bn valuation (FT) U.S. Threatens Penalties Against European Tech Firms Amid Regulatory Fight (NYTimes) Google wants its AI assistant CC to replace your morning scroll (The Verge) Betting on prediction markets has exploded over past two years (FT) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tech continues to be a major geopolitical stumbling block, this time with the UK. Are we currently in the midst of the second mini-tech recession of the year? If Ford can pivot from EV’s to servicing datacenters, maybe you can too. And the civil war lining up in Hollywood, over AI. U.S.-U.K. Trade Deal Hits Stumbling Block (NYTimes) AI infrastructure selloff continues on Wall Street as Broadcom, Oracle shares slide (CNBC) CoreWeave’s Staggering Fall From Market Grace Highlights AI Bubble Fears (WSJ) Ford is starting a battery storage business to power data centers and the grid (TechCrunch) AI has the entertainment industry torn between keeping up and keeping talent happy. (BloombergBusinessweek) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Your Roomba is circling the drain with iRobot filing for bankruptcy. Remember credit default swaps? Turns out they’re not just for hedging housing anymore. Nano Banana looks so realistic because it’s mimicking your sub-par smartphone camera output. And why can’t everybody participate in early stage startup investing? Roomba Maker iRobot Files for Bankruptcy and Will Go Private (Bloomberg) How iRobot lost its way home (TechCrunch) Investors seek protection from risk of AI debt bust (FT) Kindle’s New AI Feature Can Answer Questions About Your Books (Whether Authors Want It or Not) (PCMag) AI image generators are getting better by getting worse (The Verge) Inside the Invitation-Only Stock Market for the Wealthy (WSJ) 🎧 The Ride Home - 2025 Wrapped Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Ok, fine, says Sam, here’s a new GPT model so you’ll hopefully stop saying we’re behind. Broadcom as another AI bellwether. Now that Disney is in bed with OpenAI, they’re ceasing and desisting Google. And, of course, The Weekend Longreads Suggestions. OpenAI Launches GPT-5.2 as It Navigates ‘Code Red’ (Wired) GPT-5.2 is OpenAI’s latest move in the agentic AI battle (The Verge) Trump threatens funding for states over AI regulations (Reuters) Broadcom beats on earnings and revenue, says AI chip sales will double in current quarter (CNBC) Disney Accuses Google of Using AI to Engage in Copyright Infringement on ‘Massive Scale’ (Variety) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Want This Hearing Aid? Well, Who Do You Know? (Wired) Tech bros head to etiquette camp as Silicon Valley levels up its style (The Washington Post) Why AGI Will Not Happen (Tim Dettmer) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Disney signs a blockbuster deal to license characters to OpenAI AND invest $1 billion dollars in the company. Oracle as the new bellwether for thinking about OpenAI’s prospects. More on the whole Data Centers In Space phenomenon. And let me introduce you to the Model Context Protocol to make the web safe for AI agents. Disney Inks Blockbuster OpenAI Deal to Bring More Than 200 Characters to Sora Video Platform, Will Invest $1 Billion in AI Company (Variety) Disney to Invest $1 Billion in OpenAI, License Suite of Characters for Sora in Landmark Deal (The Wrap) Oracle Can’t Escape OpenAI’s Shadow (WSJ) Spotify tests more personalized, AI-powered ‘Prompted Playlists’ (TechCrunch) Bezos and Musk Race to Bring Data Centers to Space (WSJ) MCP has already taken the industry by storm, and now Anthropic is giving it away. (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Instagram is giving you some control over your algorithm. Is Instacart using algorithmic pricing? SpaceX thinks it will be worth $1.5 trillion. Has DeepSeek been smuggling chips? And what if your startup’s side-hustle can plug into the AI CAPEX bonanza? Instagram Will Start Letting You Pick What Shows Up in Your Reels (Wired) Same Product, Same Store, but on Instacart, Prices Might Differ (NYTimes) SpaceX to Pursue 2026 IPO Raising Far Above $30 Billion (Bloomberg) DeepSeek is Using Banned Nvidia Chips in Race to Build Next Model (The Information) Boom Supersonic raises $300M to build natural gas turbines for Crusoe data centers (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Trump says Nvidia and others can ship chips to China, but the question is, will China take delivery. OpenAI is ending the code red in about a month, after getting a new model out the door. Meta wants a new Llama model, maybe in a month. And a new smart ring that is pretty intriguing… Trump greenlights Nvidia H200 AI chip sales to China if U.S. gets 25% cut, says Xi responded positively (CNBC) China set to limit access to Nvidia’s H200 chips despite Trump export approval (FT) Sam Altman’s Sprint to Correct OpenAI’s Direction and Fend Off Google (WSJ) From Llamas to Avocados: Meta’s shifting AI strategy is causing internal confusion (CNBC) Pebble Is Making a $75 Smart Ring (Wired) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Looks like that big Netflix bid for Warner Brothers isn’t gonna go smoothly as Paramount launching a hostile counter-bid. We’ve got a full-on executive suite crisis at Apple. SpaceX could IPO next year. And more data on how AI usage is evolving. Paramount Skydance launches hostile bid for WBD ‘to finish what we started,’ CEO Ellison tells CNBC (CNBC) Trump Warns Netflix-Warner Deal May Pose Antitrust ‘Problem’ (Bloomberg) Netflix and the Hollywood End Game (Stratechery) Apple Rocked by Executive Departures, With Chip Chief at Risk of Leaving Next (Bloomberg) Meta acquires AI-wearables startup Limitless (Reuters) SpaceX in Talks for $800 Billion Valuation Ahead of Potential 2026 IPO (WSJ) An Empirical 100 Trillion Token Study with OpenRouter (OpenRouter) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Turns out the Albanian army was triumphant as Netflix is buying HBO (and WBD’s studios). The NYT is suing Perplexity. Man, everybody is heading for the exits at Apple at the same time. And get ready for a slew of insider trading controversies in our prediction market world. Netflix agrees $83bn takeover of Warner Bros Discovery (FT) New York Times Sues A.I. Start-Up Perplexity Over Use of Copyrighted Work (NYTimes) X hit with $140 million EU fine for breaching content rules, TikTok settles (Reuters) Apple Departures Point to Challenges for iPhone’s Dominance (WSJ) Chatbots are now rivaling social networks as a core layer of internet infrastructure (The Decoder) Alleged Insider Nets $1 Million On Polymarket In 24 Hours (Forbes) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: 18,000 Reasons It’s So Hard to Build a Chip Factory in America (NYTimes) In Arizona Desert, Taiwanese Families Create Community and Build a Factor (NYTimes) A Growing U.S. Tech Hub Needs Workers. Colleges Try to Keep Up. (NYTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
On the one hand, Meta poached Apple’s design head in a major coup to make hardware and software for AI, but there are signs Zuck is souring on the Metaverse could even abandon it entirely. Is Amazon about to abandon your mailman? And why Dario Amodei is playing a blinder right now. Apple Design Executive Alan Dye Poached by Meta in Major Coup (Bloomberg) Meta’s Zuckerberg Plans Deep Cuts for Metaverse Efforts (Bloomberg) Amazon explores building its own delivery network to replace USPS deal (Washington Post) Anthropic CEO Says Some Tech Firms Too Risky With AI Spending (Bloomberg) Harvey, a Maker of A.I. Legal Software, Raises New Funds (NYTimes) Reddit’s CEO says r/popular ‘sucks,’ and it’s going away (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We might soon have the first big IPO of the AI era, and it doesn’t look like it will be OpenAI. Amazon takes another few swings at Nvidia’s dominance. Proof positive that self driving cars really are significantly safer. And the disastrous 4k upscaling of Mad Men. Anthropic taps IPO lawyers as it races OpenAI to go public (FT) Amazon’s Custom Chips Pose Another Threat to Nvidia (WSJ) Amazon Has New Frontier AI Models—and a Way for Customers to Build Their Own (Wired) AWS puts Kiro and other AI agents to work on truly autonomous software development (SiliconANGLE) The Data on Self-Driving Cars Is Clear. We Have to Change Course. (NYTimes) Microsoft Lowers AI Software Growth Targets as Customers Resist Newer Products (The Information) The ‘Mad Men’ 4K Stream on HBO Max Had So Many Problems (Not All of Which Involved a Barf Machine) (THR) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sam Altman declares a “Code Red” for OpenAI. All hands on deck. Molly, you in danger, girl, to quote Oda Mae Brown from the movie Ghost. Long term, is Apple in trouble cause of Google’s ascendency in AI? Samsung announces but does not launch a tri-fold phone. And Ben Thompson weighs in on the obsession of the day. OpenAI CEO Declares ‘Code Red’ to Combat Threats to ChatGPT, Delays Ads Effort (The Information) Apple AI Chief John Giannandrea Retiring After Siri Delays (MacRumors) Samsung’s Z TriFold is official and it looks like a tablet with a phone attached (The Verge) Google, Nvidia, and OpenAI (Stratechery) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
While Runway releases a new video model, let me break down the big analysis piece that had everyone concern trolling about Nvidia over the weekend. Why doesn’t Netflix want you to cast to your tv anymore? And AI means less jobs in consulting, but more jobs in a specific type of construction. Runway rolls out new AI video model that beats Google, OpenAI in key benchmark (CNBC) TPUv7: Google Takes a Swing at the King (SemiAnalysis) Nvidia takes $2 billion stake in Synopsys with expanded computing power partnership (CNBC) OpenAI Takes Stake in Thrive Holdings, a Buyer of Services Firms (NYTimes) Netflix kills casting from phones (The Verge) Top consultancies freeze starting salaries as AI threatens ‘pyramid’ model (FT) Data Centers Are a ‘Gold Rush’ for Construction Workers (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We're back again with Susan Lyne, to talk about running Martha Stewart's company when Martha went to prison, her startup career with Gilt Groupe, and her investing career with BBG Ventures. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
I’ve maybe never interviewed anyone in my entire time as a historian and podcaster who has had a career as broad and varied as Susan Lyne. Yes, I obviously wanted to talk to Susan about her role helping startup Gilt Group, and her current role as the managing partner of the VC firm BBG Ventures. But, holy how. Susan also launched and oversaw the golden era of Premiere Magazine. She was the CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia when Martha had to step away to, you know, go to prison. And she was the President of ABC Entertainment. She oversaw the development of shows like Grey’s Anatomy and Lost. So, like, yeah. We needed to do two episodes. So this is part one, with the great, Susan Lyne. Chapters 00:00 From Boston to Berkeley: A Transformative Journey 08:00 The Rise of Alternative Media: Village Voice Era 16:06 Hollywood Calling: The IPC Films Experience 23:12 Launching Premier Magazine: Inside Hollywood 36:14 Navigating the ABC Landscape: A New Era 40:28 Developing Grey's Anatomy And Lost Takeaways Susan's upbringing in Boston shaped her perspective on expectations and identity. Her time at UC Berkeley was transformative, exposing her to diverse ideas. Freelancing in journalism helped her develop a passion for storytelling. Working at City Magazine under Francis Ford Coppola was a unique experience. The Village Voice was a golden era for alternative media in New York. Susan's transition to Hollywood was driven by her love for storytelling. Premier Magazine aimed to provide in-depth insights into the film industry. At ABC, she focused on creating shows that appealed to women. Susan learned the importance of having a supportive partner in leadership. Her experience at ABC taught her valuable lessons about resilience and change. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Trump has a plan to boost AI innovation. Polymarket is now street legal in the US. Google thinks it needs to double AI capacity every 6 months. Is Starlink about to face its first serious competition. And for reasons I’ll explain, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Trump aims to boost AI innovation, build platform to harness government data (Reuters) Polymarket Secures CFTC Approval for Regulated U.S. Return (CoinDesk) In Las Vegas, Kalshi Is King (The Information) Google must double AI serving capacity every 6 months to meet demand, AI infrastructure boss tells employees (CNBC) Amazon’s Starlink competitor is launching with ‘world’s fastest satellite internet antenna’ (The Verge) RAM prices are so out of control that stores are selling it like lobster (The Verge) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Kicking Robots (Harper's Magazine) The Pentagon Can’t Trust GPS Anymore. Is Quantum Physics the Answer? (WSJ) I’m officially done with YouTube Kids (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Now Anthropic says it’s leapfrogged OpenAI with its new model and is the AI horserace in play? OpenAI is still focusing on things like shopping. Nvidia answers a question people weren’t asking. And is Google soaring because they also might be able to go after Nvidia’s chip throne? Anthropic introduces cheaper, more powerful, more efficient Opus 4.5 model (Ars Technica) ChatGPT's new shopping research tool is fast, fun, and free - but can it out-shop me? (ZDNet) Nvidia’s ‘I’m Not Enron’ memo has people asking a lot of questions already answered by that memo (The Verge) Google Further Encroaches on Nvidia’s Turf With New AI Chip Push (The Information) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What sort of a world do we live in if you can’t be sure where an X account comes from? Google isn’t out of the woods yet when it comes to antitrust. Insurers still don’t want to touch AI. Let me tell you about “AI grooming.” And we might be running out of capacity for specific types of chips. X’s messy About This Account rollout has caused utter chaos (The Verge) What OpenAI Did When ChatGPT Users Lost Touch With Reality (NYTimes) The Fate of Google’s Ad Tech Monopoly Is Now in a Judge’s Hands (NYTimes) Insurers retreat from AI cover as risk of multibillion-dollar claims mounts (Financial Times) Hundreds of English-language websites link to pro-Kremlin propaganda (The Guardian) AI boom is fueling a memory chip shortage that could hit cars and phones (CNBC) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Google phone users can now work with Airdrop on the iPhone cause Google cleverly found a way. Google might have jumped ahead in the AI race and Sam Altman knows it. I’ve heard of quantum computing, but a quantum internet? The Weekend Longreads suggestions, and at the end, a long rant about my latest AI experiments. Google cracked Apple’s AirDrop and is adding it to Pixel phones (The Verge) Altman Memo Forecasts ‘Rough Vibes’ Due to Resurgent Google (The Information) Source: Kalshi’s valuation jumps to $11B after raising massive $1B round (TechCrunch) Americans' Social Media Use 2025 (Pew Research Center) IBM, Cisco outline plans for networks of quantum computers by early 2030s (Reuters) IBM, Cisco to collaborate on ‘internet’ of quantum computers (Silicon Republic) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Google’s new AI image creator took my shirt off (The Verge) Google’s Nano Banana Pro generates excellent conspiracy fuel (The Verge) The new silicon valley (literally) (The Verge) How America’s Hottest Chicken Chain Keeps Its Secret Sauce a Secret (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Are we about to have a battle over who gets to regulate AI? Now there’s Nano Banana Pro. The creator ecosystem is exploding for advertisers. Battlefield did exactly what EA needed it to do. And I’m telling you, the consumer robots for your home… they’re actually starting to arrive. Here’s the Trump executive order that would ban state AI laws (The Verge) Google rolling out Gemini 3-powered ‘Nano Banana Pro’ image gen, editing (9to5Google) Ad Spend in the Creator Economy Expected to Hit $37 Billion in 2025 (The Wrap) Nintendo and ‘Battlefield 6’ Pushed US Game Sales Up in October (Bloomberg) This Home Robot Clears Tables and Loads the Dishwasher All by Itself (Wired) Bo Jackson AI Experiment Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tons of things today. Google’s new Gemini 3 model. Signs the “second tier” of AI startups is starting to get product market fit. The EU has announced that watering down of GDPR that was rumored. And will Meta’s big win against the government mean mergers and acquisitions are back on the tech menu? Google is launching Gemini 3, its ‘most intelligent’ AI model yet (The Verge) AI Music Platform Suno Valued at $2.45 Billion (WSJ) TikTok will let you choose how much AI-generated content you want to see (TechCrunch) Europe is scaling back its landmark privacy and AI laws (The Verge) Meta Did Not Violate Antitrust Law, Judge Rules (NYTimes) Meta’s Victory Opens the Way for Silicon Valley to Go Deal Shopping (NYTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What happened with Cloudflare this morning. Grok’s new model wants to be creative. Catching you up on the bloodbath in crypto if you were unaware. Databricks is 12 years old but it seems to be one of the big AI winners. And debt continues to pile in to the AI buildout. A massive Cloudflare outage brought down X, ChatGPT, and even Downdetector (The Verge) Grok 4.1 has arrived — and it's bringing the fight to ChatGPT with these new features (Tom's Guide) Crypto market sheds $1.2tn as traders shun speculative assets (Financial Times) Google boss says trillion-dollar AI investment boom has 'elements of irrationality' (BBC) Amazon Raises $15 Billion in First US Bond Sale in Three Years (Bloomberg) Databricks in Talks to Raise Capital at a Valuation Above $130 Billion (The Information) Roblox will require age estimation to chat starting next year (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jeff Bezos is going to be a CEO once again. Could Tim Cook step down from Apple’s CEO position in a matter of months? Maybe don’t buy an AI teddy bear. What big AI startup would you short, if you could? And data-centers in spaaaaaaacceee… Jeff Bezos Creates A.I. Start-Up Where He Will Be Co-Chief Executive (NYTimes) Apple intensifies succession planning for CEO Tim Cook (FT) Apple’s iPhone Overhaul Will Reduce Its Reliance on Annual Fall Spectacle (Bloomberg) Happy holidays: AI-enabled toys teach kids how to play with fire, sharp objects (The Register) At a major AI conference, one startup got voted most likely to flop (Business Insider) Now Tech Moguls Want to Build Data Centers in Outer Space (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A portfolio profile episode of Hypercubic.ai, a seed-stage company that wants to not only preserve knowledge in legacy code, but legacy knowledge in enterprises. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
OpenAI is testing out group chats as a sort of collaborative prompting experience. The hyperscalers are lining up against Nvidia in one specific arena. The Sam Altman Elon Musk feud isn’t over. Google knows who sent you that fake UPS shipment alert text. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. ChatGPT launches pilot group chats across Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and Taiwan (TechCrunch) Amazon and Microsoft Back Effort That Would Restrict Nvidia’s Exports to China (WSJ) OpenAI, Apple Lose Bid to Toss Musk xAI Suit Over Competition (Bloomberg) AI startup Cursor raises $2.3 billion funding round at $29.3 billion valuation (CNBC) You know those fake USPS texts? Google says it's found who's behind them (Fast Company) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Sundar Pichai Is Google’s AI ‘Wartime CEO’ After All (Bloomberg) CRYPTO: Realm of the Coin (Vanity Fair) I'm Going to Be a Dad. Here's Why I'm Not Posting About My Kid Online (CNET) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Valve is taking on gaming consoles and creating a new type of VR headset, all at the same time. GPT-5 gets “warmer.” Cursor’s new raise means it has 10x’d its valuation in the span of a year. And we’re one step closer to your phone completely replacing your wallet. Valve brings back Steam Machine and Steam Controller — hands-on with Valve's new AMD-based living room gaming hardware (Tom's Hardware) The Steam Frame is a surprising new twist on VR (The Verge) Microsoft to Use OpenAI’s Custom Chip Work to Help In-House Effort (Bloomberg) OpenAI says the brand-new GPT-5.1 is ‘warmer’ and has more ‘personality’ options (The Verge) The AI Coding Startup Favored by Tech CEOs Is Now Worth $29.3 Billion (WSJ) Apple launches Digital ID, a way to carry your passport on your phone for use at TSA checkpoints (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Forget text-to-video AI, we’re rapidly moving into the text-to-world-generating AI models. What if you showed up to your Airbnb and the fridge was already fully stocked? It seems like there is NO uncanney valley when it comes to AI generated music. And does the Big Short guy have a point when he concern trolls about the AI CAPEX buildout? Fei-Fei Li’s World Labs speeds up the world model race with Marble, its first commercial product (TechCrunch) Airbnb Will Test Adding Instacart Grocery Delivery to Its App in Services Push (Bloomberg) Are you listening to bots? Survey shows AI music is virtually undetectable (Reuters) 50,000 AI tracks flood Deezer daily – as study shows 97% of listeners can’t tell the difference between human-made vs. fully AI-generated music (MusicBusinessWorldwide) The AI Bubble Is Ignoring Michael Burry’s Fears (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The iPhone Air isn’t selling, and it isn’t selling to the degree that Apple is delaying the next version. Yan LeCun is gonna strike out on his own. The big illegal streaming site takedown you might not have hear about. And Facebook doesn’t like likes anymore, at least not external likes. Apple Delays Release of Next iPhone Air Amid Weak Sales (The Information) Meta chief AI scientist Yann LeCun plans to exit and launch own start-up (FT) SoftBank sells Nvidia stake for $5.8bn as it prepares for AI investments (FT) Anthropic Is on Track to Turn a Profit Much Faster Than OpenAI (WSJ) Streameast: How the authorities took down the world’s largest illegal sports streaming platform (The Athletic) Meta is killing off the external Facebook Like button (Engadget) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Is the EU about to pull back on tech regulation because they are feeling FOMO about AI? Is the whole initial COIN offering craze about to come back? Is Apple Music falling behind because they don’t have a free tier? And it turns out AI might not be that good at trading crypto. Brussels knifes privacy to feed the AI boom (Politico) Coinbase Launches Platform for Digital Token Offerings (WSJ) TSMC Posts Slowest Growth in 18 Months Amid AI Bubble Debate (Bloomberg) Apple Music Risks Losing the Next Generation of Listeners (Bloomberg) AI models given $10K to compete in first-of-its-kind crypto-trading competition — and most crashed and burned (NYPost) Clem Delangue IHP Episode Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Here is how Wikipedia happened. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Elon’s $1T payday… nice deal if you can get it. The lawsuits against OpenAI are exploding. The new Grand Theft Auto gets delayed (again). Now the Texas Attorney General is going after Roblox. And, of course, The Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Tesla Shareholders Approve Elon Musk’s $1 Trillion Pay Package (WSJ) Lawsuits Blame ChatGPT for Suicides and Harmful Delusions (NYTimes) ‘Grand Theft Auto VI’ Is Postponed Again — to November 2026 (Bloomberg) Alibaba-backed Moonshot releases its second AI update in four months as China’s AI race heats up (CNBC) Texas sues Roblox for 'putting paedophiles and profits' over safety (BBC) 'It's organized crime': TikTok Shop says it's fighting a new wave of AI scammers (Business Insider) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: How AGI became the most consequential conspiracy theory of our time (MIT Technology Review) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apple is probably going to let Gemini power the new Siri, at least for a while. Does OpenAI want the government to backstop its AI buildout? And two new AI products. How about an AI smart-ring to remember your shower-thoughts, and what if Foursquare, but for the AI era? Apple Nears $1 Billion-a Year Deal to Use Google AI for Siri (Bloomberg) OpenAI Isn’t Yet Working Toward an IPO, CFO Says (WSJ) Microsoft Lays Out Ambitious AI Vision, Free From OpenAI (WSJ) Google’s rolling out its most powerful AI chip, taking aim at Nvidia with custom silicon (CNBC) Whisper Into This AI-Powered Smart Ring to Organize Your Thoughts (Wired) The Foursquare founder's new app is an AI-powered 'DJ' for neighborhood updates (Engadget) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Google and Epic Games settle their beef. Ripple wants to claim the stablecoin crown. Hyperscalers are about to claim the power generation equivalent to 40 million homes. And the wonkiest analysis I’ve seen in a while on whether or not AI can scale productivity in some sort of up and to the right way. Google proposes app store reforms in settlement with ‘Fortnite’ maker Epic Games (Reuters) Cloud streaming finally arrives on the PlayStation Portal (The Verge) Citadel Securities and Fortress take stakes in Ripple at $40bn valuation (FT) How many ‘bragawatts’ have the hyperscalers announced so far? (Financial Times) Amazon Sues to Stop Perplexity From Using AI Tool to Buy Stuff (Bloomberg) Thoughts by a non-economist on AI and economics (Windows On Theory) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apple brings the App Store to the web. When the cyber white hats turn black hat. Jensen didn’t get what he really wants from Trump. Coca-Cola says nobody cares if the commercials are AI. Is Common Crawl the secret AI infrastructure? And why Google Cloud is the thing sending Google stock to new all-time highs. Apple brings its App Store to the web (The Verge) Prosecutors allege incident response pros used ALPHV/BlackCat to commit string of ransomware attacks (Cyberscoop) Waymo’s robotaxis are coming to three new cities (The Verge) Trump Officials Torpedoed Nvidia’s Push to Export AI Chips to China (WSJ) Coca-Cola Injects ‘Holidays Are Coming’ Ads With an Upgraded Dose of AI (WSJ) The Nonprofit Doing the AI Industry’s Dirty Work (The Atlantic) AI turned Google Cloud from also-ran into Alphabet’s growth driver (Reuters) Steven Bartlett's Steve Jobs Cartoon Video Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Well, another day, another OpenAI deal, but this is their big move to get in bed with AWS. More monitoring of the moment prediction markets are having. Is Big Tech’s dominance of the stock market getting even more extreme? And more speculation about AI and podcasting. OpenAI signs $38 billion compute deal with Amazon, partnering with cloud leader for first time (CNBC) How sports gambling took over prediction markets in the US (FT) Alphabet, Amazon Stakes in Anthropic Boost Profit by Billions (Bloomberg) Big Tech’s market dominance is becoming ever more extreme (FT) For Podcasters, a Voice Clone Is a Double-Edged Sword (NYTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sanjay Poonen, CEO of Cohesity, discusses the strategic acquisition of Veritas' data protection business, emphasizing the benefits for customers and the company's growth trajectory. He highlights the importance of rapid recovery in cybersecurity, the integration of AI for enhanced data insights, and the company's aspirations for an IPO, positioning Cohesity as a leader in the data protection market. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Amazon didn’t scare investors this Halloween. They’re quite pleased, actually. They’re not public but we now know how much money OpenAI lost this quarter. Nvidia’s generous investment strategy. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Amazon cloud records 20% sales growth, topping estimates (CNBC) Microsoft seemingly just revealed that OpenAI lost $11.5B last quarter (The Register) Sora now lets you pay extra to make more AI videos (The Verge) Nvidia to Invest Up to $1 Billion in AI Startup Poolside (Bloomberg) Nvidia Is Accelerating Its Investing Spree in AI Startups (Bloomberg) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Nike says its first ‘powered footwear’ is like an e-bike for your feet (The Verge) Some People Can’t See Mental Images. The Consequences Are Profound (The New Yorker) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Three big tech earnings reports give a mixed message. Wall Street wants you to spend on the AI buildout, but not too much, and maybe not you, Meta. Sora already has some new features. More details on OpenAI’s IPO timeline. And maybe the AI agents are not yet ready for prime time. Big Tech tests investors’ patience with $80bn AI investment spree (FT) OpenAI adds reusable ‘characters’ and video stitching to Sora (The Verge) AI Coding Leader Cursor Says New Agent Fields Tougher Tasks (Bloomberg) Exclusive: OpenAI lays groundwork for juggernaut IPO at up to $1 trillion valuation (Reuters) AI Agents Are Terrible Freelance Workers (Wired) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nvidia announced a whole bunch of things yesterday and that sent their market cap above $5 trillion for the first time. Grammarly rebrands as Superhuman. Character.ai moves to banning kids outright. And is the first home robot actually here, or is this vaporware? Uber Eyes Fleet of 100,000 Nvidia-Based Robotaxis Beginning 2027 (Bloomberg) OpenAI’s Promise to Stay in California Helped Clear the Path for Its IPO (WSJ) Grammarly is changing its name to Superhuman (The Verge) AI start-up Character.ai bans teens from talking to chatbots (FT) Tens of Thousands of White-Collar Jobs Are Disappearing as AI Starts to Bite (WSJ) 1X Neo is a $20,000 home robot that will learn chores via teleoperation (Engadget) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
OpenAI has officially done its whole reorg to for-profit thing. Amazon is cutting a metric ton of employees and its blaming AI. Elon launches Grokpedia to take on Wikipedia. And does Anthropic’s success in the enterprise give it a leg up on OpenAI in the one metric that counts? Making money? OpenAI completed its for-profit restructuring — and struck a new deal with Microsoft (The Verge) Amazon to Cut 14,000 Jobs as Jassy Looks to Reduce Bureaucracy (Bloomberg) Elon Musk launches a Wikipedia rival that extols his own ‘vision’ (The Washington Post) Photoshop and Premiere Pro’s new AI tools can instantly edit more of your work (The Verge) OpenAI’s Less-Flashy Rival Might Have a Better Business Model (WSJ) Jimmy Wales on IHP Margit Wennmachers on IHP Fred Wilson on IHP Blog post to post on Hacker News Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Did Microsoft use dark patterns to charge more for AI? The tech angle to that whole NBA gambling scandal. Forget the AI bubble, the Counter-Strike bubble definitely just burst. Halo is coming to PlayStation. And how AI is revolutionizing the old, faking your expense reports scam. Australia sues Microsoft over AI-linked subscription price hikes (Reuters) Using a Security Key on X? Re-Enroll Now or Your Account Will Be Locked (PC Mag) $10,000 Card Shufflers Hit the Spotlight After NBA Poker Scandal (Bloomberg) Market for ‘Counter-Strike’ Items Falls $3 Billion (Bloomberg) Xbox’s Prized Sci-Fi Franchise Is Heading to PlayStation (NYTimes) ‘Do not trust your eyes’: AI generates surge in expense fraud (FT) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Baratunde Thurston shares his journey from a tech-savvy upbringing to becoming a prominent voice in comedy and digital media. Baratunde reflects on his time at The Onion and The Daily Show, emphasizing the importance of community and the intersection of technology and humor. He also shares his thoughts on the role of AI in society, advocating for a future where technology enhances human connections. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Clem discusses his journey from early computing experiences to founding Hugging Face, emphasizing the importance of community, collaboration, and open-source technology in the AI landscape. He reflects on the evolution of technology, the significance of user feedback, and the need for a diverse range of AI models. Clem also shares insights on the startup ecosystem in Europe and the unique advantages of New York City for AI entrepreneurs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Just two stories. First, OpenAI launches a web browser, ChatGPT Atlas. What it does, and why are they doing it. Then, Samsung has made a cheaper Vision Pro. They call it the Galaxy XR headset. What IT does, and why are THEY doing it. OpenAI’s AI-powered browser, ChatGPT Atlas, is here (The Verge) Introducing ChatGPT Atlas (Simon Willison) Why OpenAI Needs Its Own ChatGPT-Enabled Browser, Atlas (Forbes) Samsung’s Galaxy XR Headset Debuts at Half the Price of Apple’s Vision Pro (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
HBO Max might be on the market and I want Apple to buy it! Coinbase is on an acquisition tear. Is the Amazon job apocalypse nigh? Is OpenAI plotting to take over Wall Street in a literal sense? And a brain implant startup has leapfrogged Neuralink in terms of helping blind people see again. Warner Bros. Discovery says it’s open to a sale; shares jump 10% (CNBC) Coinbase Strikes Deal for Crypto-Investing Platform Echo (WSJ) Anthropic brings Claude Code to the web (TechCrunch) Amazon Plans to Replace More Than Half a Million Jobs With Robots (NYTimes) OpenAI Looks to Replace the Drudgery of Junior Bankers’ Workload (Bloomberg) This retina implant lets people with vision loss do a crossword puzzle (MIT Technology Review) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Big AWS outage took down half the internet overnight. X wants you to be able to snap up dormant or desirable X handles. Blackwell chips look like they’ve hit volume production in the US. And you know who else is benefiting from the AI boom? Crypto miners and makers of plain old cables. Major AWS outage took down Fortnite, Alexa, Snapchat, and more (The Verge) OpenAI pauses Sora video generations of Martin Luther King Jr. (TechCrunch) X to launch marketplace for buying inactive handles (TechCrunch) Oura redesigns app with expanded stress tracking (The Verge) Exclusive: Nvidia and TSMC unveil first Blackwell chip wafer made in U.S. (Axios) $500 purple cables put this little-known company in the middle of the AI boom (CNBC) Crypto Miners Riding the AI Wave Are Leaving Bitcoin Behind (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Do Skills for Claude represent a new sort of user paradigm for AI? Battlefield 6 seems to be doing what EA needs it to do. Nintendo seems to be killing it. Is Wikipedia in trouble because it’s losing human users? Now Uber drivers can earn new money thanks to AI. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Anthropic turns to ‘skills’ to make Claude more useful at work (The Verge) Claude Skills are awesome, maybe a bigger deal than MCP (Simon Willison) Steam just broke its concurrent user record with 41.6 million gamers (TweakTown) Nintendo Aims to Make 25 Million Switch 2s to Set Gaming History (Bloomberg) Wikipedia Says AI Is Causing a Dangerous Decline in Human Visitors (404media) Uber Launches Data Tasks as Option for Some US Drivers to Earn Money (Bloomberg) Apple and F1 reach 5-year media deal, bringing all races to Apple TV streaming in the U.S. (CNBC) Weekend Longreads Suggestions AI Data Centers, Desperate for Electricity, Are Building Their Own Power Plants (WSJ) Joshua Kushner, Thrive Capital, and the American dream (Colossus) How Sam Altman Played Hollywood (The Hollywood Reporter) TiVo Has Sold Its Last DVR. These People Refuse to Let Go. (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
So, a huge, huge, like bigger than the entire world’s GDP fat finger episode in the world of stablecoins. Zuck has poached another one from Apple. Potentially huge state sponsored hack of a key infrastructure company. The most interesting new phone concept I’ve seen in a while. And are we in an AI bubble episode 72. Printing Money: Paxos Mints, Then Burns $300 Trillion in PayPal Stablecoins (Decrypt) Apple’s Head of ChatGPT-Like AI Search Effort to Leave for Meta (Bloomberg) F5 says hackers stole undisclosed BIG-IP flaws, source code (BleepingComputer) Anthropic launches new version of scaled-down ‘Haiku’ model (TechCrunch) Honor’s Robot Phone concept features a fold-out camera arm (The Verge) ‘Of course it’s a bubble’: AI start-up valuations soar in investor frenzy (FT) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The new Apple M5 chips are here, and I’ll tell you what devices got them and what they can do. ChatGPT wants to allow you to have sexy time. Waymo is coming to London. Netflix wants to bring podcasts to your streaming diet. And its officially the end of the road for Windows 10. Apple’s 14-inch MacBook Pro gets an M5 chip bump and faster storage (The Verge) Sam Altman says ChatGPT will soon sext with verified adults (The Verge) Waymo’s robotaxis are coming to London (The Verge) Spotify partners with Netflix for video podcast distribution deal (TechCrunch) YouTube has a new video player (The Verge) OpenAI makes five-year business plan to meet $1tn spending pledges (FT) Windows 10 support “ends” today, but it’s just the first of many deaths (ArsTechnica) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Dutch government has taken control of a Dutch chipmaker that had Chinese owners. Yet another big OpenAI deal, this time with Broadcom. The first AI desktop workstations are arriving. And we check in with Matt Levine to get his take on what he says is Sam Altman’s genius for financial engineering. Dutch government takes control of Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia (FT) OpenAI, Broadcom Forge Multibillion-Dollar Chip-Development Deal (WSJ) Thinking Machines Lab Co-Founder Departs for Meta (WSJ) Nvidia to Start Selling $3,999 DGX Spark Mini PC This Week (PCMag) NotebookLM Video Overviews add Nano Banana visual styles, Brief or Explainer formats (9to5Google) OpenAI Keeps Doing Deals (Matt Levine) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jenn Hyman shares her journey from early influences of entrepreneurship to founding Rent the Runway. She discusses the impact of the internet on her career, the challenges of fundraising during a recession, and the importance of building relationships in the fashion industry. Hyman emphasizes the unique advantages of starting a business in New York City and the collaborative spirit of the startup ecosystem. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
China is stirring the pot on the tech trade wars once again. Sora has grown faster than even ChatGPT did. Is OpenAI now better at vibe coding than Anthropic is? How just a handful of malicious documents and poison an LLM. And in the longreads, the one game that has the fate of EA on its shoulders. China blacklists major chip research firm TechInsights following report on Huawei (CNBC) OpenAI’s Sora hit 1 million downloads in less than five days (CNBC) OpenAI Is Catching Up To Anthropic in AI Coding (The Information) Meta Tells Its Metaverse Workers to Use AI to ‘Go 5X Faster’ (Wired) It's trivially easy to poison LLMs into spitting out gibberish, says Anthropic (The Register) Kalshi, a Prediction Market, Raises Funds and Expands Overseas (NYTimes) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Battlefield 6 is a pivotal moment for the series — and EA (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Intel tries to punch its way back to relevancy with the release of Panther Lake, the first chip built on its 18A process. Is Cursor so successful it’s about to rocket to a $30 billion valuation? Big raise for a US Deep Seek competitor? And are we starting to get the first models moving beyond attention based architecture? Here is Panther Lake, Intel’s 2026 laptop chip with next-gen graphics (The Verge) Intel Debuts New Technology in Make-or-Break Moment for CEO’s Turnaround Bid (Bloomberg) Discord says 70,000 users may have had their government IDs leaked in breach (The Verge) Cursor-Maker Anysphere Considers Investment Offers at $30 Billion Valuation (The Information) Reflection AI, an A.I. Model Start-Up, Raises $2 Billion (NYTimes) Samsung AI researcher's new, open reasoning model TRM outperforms models 10,000X larger — on specific problems (VentureBeat) Microsoft Tries to Catch Up in AI With Healthcare Push, Harvard Deal (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More on the circular nature of the recent AI deals. AI now accounts for more debt issuance than US banks. AI companies consider using the billions they’ve raised to pay off lawsuits since they can’t get insurance. Another way OpenAI is the new Microsoft. And at the end? Look at that! A non-AI story! OpenAI, Nvidia Fuel $1 Trillion AI Market With Web of Circular Deals (Bloomberg) Nvidia’s Huang says he’s surprised AMD offered OpenAI 10% of company in ‘clever’ deal (CNBC) At $1.2 Trillion, More High-Grade Debt Now Tied to AI Than Banks (Bloomberg) Without data centers, GDP growth was 0.1% in the first half of 2025, Harvard economist says (Fortune) Insurers balk at multibillion-dollar claims faced by OpenAI and Anthropic (Financial Times) OpenAI Sneezes, and Software Firms Catch a Cold (Wired) Amazon Pharmacy introduces kiosks that can quickly dispense medications at the doctor’s office (GeekWire) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Forget building apps on TOP of ChatGPT, now they’ve put the apps INSIDE of ChatGPT. Why this is a play for ChatGPT to become the Windows of the AI era. The prediction market market continues to explode. Turning down the volume on streaming ads. And why Mr. Beast is worried about AI social media. OpenAI announces Apps SDK allowing ChatGPT to launch and run third party apps like Zillow, Canva, Spotify (VentureBeat) OpenAI’s Windows Play (Stratechery) NYSE Owner to Invest Up to $2 Billion in Polymarket (WSJ) California law forces Netflix, Hulu to turn down ad volumes (Politico) MrBeast says AI could threaten creators’ livelihoods, calling it ‘scary times’ for the industry (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Another huge OpenAI deal, this time with AMD. The huge amount of chips Elon is buying for his Colossus II. It’s not just compute! How the AI boom is driving up prices for memory and storage chips. And does the math work out for those new fangled small nuclear reactors? AMD stock skyrockets 30% as OpenAI looks to take stake in AI chipmaker (CNBC) Elon Musk Gambles Billions in Memphis to Catch Up on AI (WSJ) AI data centers are swallowing the world's memory and storage supply, setting the stage for a pricing apocalypse that could last a decade (Tom's Hardware) OpenAI and Jony Ive grapple with technical issues on secretive AI device (FT) US and investors gambling on unproven nuclear technology, warn experts (FT) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Make It Snow is Snowflake’s go-to-market playbook, told by longtime CRO Chris Degnan and CMO Denise Persson. The central idea: sales and marketing must operate as “one brain in two bodies.” The takeaways are practical and candid: embed with customers sooner than feels comfortable, pick a clear foil, design programs you can rerun, centralize data so sales and marketing act from one truth, and treat culture as GTM infrastructure. If you’re a founder, CRO, CMO, or operator trying to go from zero to billions without losing the plot, Make It Snow is a field manual for aligning people, narrative, and pipeline at every stage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apple removes an app after the DOJ asked them to. People are using AI, but which AI are they actually paying for? Sora is now the number one app in all the land. And in the Longreads, now is it time to blame ChatGPT for breaking up marriages? Apple takes down ICE tracking apps after pressure from Bondi DOJ (Fox Business) A new a16z report looks at which AI companies startups are actually paying for (TechCrunch) AI is not killing jobs, US study finds (Financial Times) OpenAI wraps $6.6 billion share sale at $500 billion valuation (CNBC) OpenAI’s invite-only video generation app Sora tops Apple’s App Store (CNBC) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Egon Durban’s $55bn buyout bet raises stakes for Silver Lake (Financial Times) Silver Lake Cements Power Broker Status With $55 Billion EA Deal (Bloomberg) ChatGPT Is Blowing Up Marriages as Spouses Use AI to Attack Their Partners (Futurism) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More fallout from the Sora explosion, including my take on using it. OpenAI is now officially the biggest startup in the galaxy. We now know what Mira Murati’s new startup is building. The Brave browser is hitting some impressive user milestones. And why are young people flocking back to… checks notes… AOL? OpenAI’s Sora 2 Copyright Infringement Machine Features Nazi SpongeBobs and Criminal Pikachus (404Media) OpenAI Valuation Reaches $500 Billion, Topping Musk’s SpaceX (Bloomberg) Apple Shelves Vision Headset Revamp to Prioritize Meta-Like AI Glasses (Bloomberg) Mira Murati’s Stealth AI Lab Launches Its First Product (Wired) Google Translate Rival DeepL Explores US IPO (Bloomberg) Brave Now Has Over 100 Million Users (Thurott) Exclusive: Yahoo nears deal to sell AOL to Italy's Bending Spoons for $1.4 billion, sources say (Reuters) https://sora.chatgpt.com/profile/brianmccul Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Why Sora is all anyone can talk about, both the new social network and the new AI model. Satya Nadella is still Microsoft’s CEO but he’s taken some things off his plate. Oura gets colorful, and a hardware company that we’ve not spoken about in years is back, with AI onboard. OpenAI's Sora app lets friends swap AI video cameos (Axios) OpenAI made a TikTok for deepfakes, and it’s getting hard to tell what’s real (The Verge) Satya Nadella appoints a new CEO to run Microsoft’s biggest businesses (The Verge) Oura adds colorful ceramic rings and charging case to lineup (The Verge) I got sweaty with Peloton's new Bike and Tread — but Peloton IQ is just as impressive (Tom's Guide) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
All the headline’s from Amazon’s fall hardware event. Daniel Ek is stepping back from Spotify. A new Claude model. ChatGPT gets into the shopping biz. And OpenAI is likely launching it’s own TikTok clone soon to feature AI videos. And new buzzword alert! Microsoft wants you to start “vibe working.” Amazon announces new Kindle Scribes, including one with a color screen (The Verge) Amazon Revamps Echo Speakers, Displays in Hardware Reboot (Bloomberg) Spotify Founder Daniel Ek Leaving CEO Job (WSJ) Anthropic launches Claude Sonnet 4.5, its best AI model for coding (TechCrunch) Etsy pops 16% as OpenAI announces ChatGPT Instant Checkout for the shopping site (CNBC) OpenAI Is Preparing to Launch a Social App for AI-Generated Videos (Wired) Microsoft launches ‘vibe working’ in Excel and Word (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The biggest sign yet of the state of the gaming industry, EA is being taken private. DeepSeek’s new model might start a new AI price war. OpenAI announces their parental controls for teen users. And, the Wall Street Journal says debt financing is now playing an increasing role in AI CAPEX buildout. Electronic Arts Goes Private for $52.5 Billion in Largest LBO Ever (WSJ) EA Agrees to $55 Billion Sale in Largest Leveraged Buyout on Record (Bloomberg) EA Buyout Talk Highlights Gaming Struggles as Growth Slows (Bloomberg) DeepSeek Debuts ‘Sparse Attention’ Method in Next-Gen AI Model (Bloomberg) Jaguar Land Rover Gets Government Loan Guarantee to Support Supply Chain; Restarts Production (WSJ) OpenAI Adds Parental Safety Controls for Teen ChatGPT Users. Here’s What to Expect (Wired) Debt Is Fueling the Next Wave of the AI Boom (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
One of the very first VCs of the Internet Era, and especially the NYC tech ecosystem, Jerry Colonna reflects on his journey from growing up in New York to becoming a successful journalist and venture capitalist. Jerry discusses his transition to venture capital, the founding of Flatiron with Fred Wilson, and the challenges faced during the dot-com bubble and 9/11. He emphasizes the importance of curiosity and the human experience in his coaching practice, aiming to alleviate suffering and transform lives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Maybe… the TikTok thing has finally reached a resolution. Again. Maybe Amazon owes us all some money. Maybe that Neon app from yesterday was a bad idea. OpenAI and Meta make some super interesting strategic AI moves. And, of course, The Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Trump signs executive order supporting proposed deal to put TikTok under US ownership (AP) TikTok Being Sold for a Song (Spyglass) Amazon agrees largest ever civil penalty in $2.5bn settlement with US regulators (Financial Times) Viral call-recording app Neon goes dark after exposing users’ phone numbers, call recordings, and transcripts (TechCrunch) OpenAI really, really wants you to start your day with ChatGPT Pulse (The Verge) Meta launches ‘Vibes,’ a short-form video feed of AI slop (TechCrunch) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: AI isn't replacing radiologists (Works In Progress) HSBC claims quantum trading breakthrough (FT) Jerry Colonna Interview On YouTube Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Another lawsuit against OpenAI, this time from xAI. Intel approached Apple about bailing them out. What if crypto was reversable so you could recover fraud. Drama in open source land. And would you like to get paid to train AI on your phone calls? You’re in luck! Musk's xAI accuses rival OpenAI of stealing trade secrets (Reuters) Intel Is Seeking an Investment From Apple as Part of Its Comeback Bid (Bloomberg) Spotify to label AI music, filter spam and more in AI policy change (TechCrunch) Stablecoin issuer Circle examines ‘reversible’ transactions in departure for crypto (Financial Times) Microsoft embraces OpenAI rival Anthropic to improve Microsoft 365 apps (The Verge) Shopify, pulling strings at Ruby Central, forces Bundler and RubyGems takeover (Joel Drapper) Neon, the No. 2 social app on the Apple App Store, pays users to record their phone calls and sells data to AI firms (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Stargate gets off the ground, or at least, announces it is. What if OpenAI leases the chips from Nvidia instead of buying them. I go a bit deep in this episode in terms of the incentives behind all these AI moves. And what happens if AI makes translation as ubiquitous as spell check? OpenAI Teams Up With Oracle and SoftBank to Build 5 New Stargate Data Centers (Wired) In OpenAI Megadeal, Nvidia Discusses a New Business Model: Chip Leasing (The Information) Nvidia’s $100bn bet on ‘gigantic AI factories’ to power ChatGPT (FT) Alibaba Shares Soar After Hiking AI Budget Past $50 Billion (Bloomberg) VCs to AI Startups: Please Take Our Money (Bloomberg) Disney+, Hulu, ESPN to Hike Prices Again in October (The Wrap) WhatsApp adds built-in text translations on iPhone and Android (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nvidia is investing $100B in OpenAI, and there are a billion angles to that fact, so get ready to dive into it. Why were there giant sim farms popping up around NYC? The new AI to help you with Candy Crush, I guess. And new buzzword alert: say hello to “workslop.” Nvidia is partnering up with OpenAI to offer compute and cash (The Verge) Altman, Huang and the last-minute negotiations that sealed the $100 billion OpenAI-Nvidia deal (CNBC) Secret Service Thwarts Plot to Take Out Cell Service Near UN (Bloomberg) Play Games Sidekick is Gemini Live for Android games (9to5Google) AI Generated "Workslop" Is Destroying Productivity (Harvard Business Review) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Once again, I THINK a TikTok deal is happening, so updates on that. Why lots of folk in the tech industry are worried about new H-1B visa rules. Might those annoying cookie consent checkboxes be going away? And why the real land grab in data center building is happening in Scandinavia. Inside Trump's deal to save TikTok (Axios) Startup leaders warn new $100K H-1B visa fee will hurt U.S. entrepreneurship and innovation (GeekWire) Big Tech companies, foreign governments scramble after Trump slaps $100,000 fee on H-1B visas (CNBC) Europe’s cookie law messed up the internet. Brussels wants to fix it. (Politico) Oura Ring Maker to Become $11 Billion Company With Latest Raise (Bloomberg) Coinbase CEO: We Want To Become A Super App (CoinDesk) Nordic Data Center Boom Fueled by Low Prices, Empty Land and Cool Weather (Bloomberg) My most recent AI content experiment Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today I’m joined by Olivier Pomel, cofounder/CEO of Datadog. We trace his path from French open-source tinkerer to NYC founder, the dev-vs-ops friction that sparked Datadog, finding product-market fit through integrations, and the choice to stay independent en route to a 2019 IPO and S&P 500. Olivier shares scaling war stories, culture and GTM lessons, and what observability means in an AI era. If you build software—or companies—this one’s packed with playbooks, from hiring to pricing to platform bets that work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
(Sorry about the editing error earlier) Nvidia is investing in self-driving AI tech. Google has given up the ghost and is making Chrome a full AI tool. Would you tolerate advertisements on the screen of your smart refrigerator? And why Apple executives are growing worried about OpenAI’s hardware plans. Nvidia in talks for $500mn investment in UK self-driving start-up Wayve (FT) Google Injects Gemini Into Chrome as AI Browsers Go Mainstream (Wired) Software update shoves ads onto Samsung’s pricey fridges (ArsTechnica) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Since Leaving Washington, Elon Musk Has Been All In on His A.I. Company (NYTimes) OpenAI Raids Apple for Hardware Talent, Manufacturing Partners (The Information) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Has Intel found the big customer for its Foundry that it needs to survive? The big tie up with Nvidia announced this morning. All the announces from Meta’s event last night. Smartglasses and maybe the Metaverse is still a thing. And AI pattern matching might work as well for health prediction as it has proven to do with weather forecasting. Nvidia and Intel announce jointly developed 'Intel x86 RTX SOCs' for PCs with Nvidia graphics, also custom Nvidia data center x86 processors — Nvidia buys $5 billion in Intel stock in seismic deal (Tom's Hardware) Hands-on: Meta Ray-Ban Display Glasses & Neural Band Offer a Glimpse of Future AR Glasses (Road to VR) Meta is bringing an all-in-one movie and TV streaming hub to Quest headsets (The Verge) New AI model predicts susceptibility to over 1,000 diseases (FT) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The framework of a TikTok deal is finally coming together. Nvidia suffers another major setback in China. Bunch of new AI stuff from YouTube. A coming MacBook with a touchscreen. And a roundup of the reviews of the iPhone Air. U.S. Investors, Trump Close In on TikTok Deal With China (WSJ) China bans tech companies from buying Nvidia’s AI chips (FT) YouTube to use AI to help podcasters promote themselves with clips and Shorts (TechCrunch) YouTube announces new generative AI tools for Shorts creators (TechCrunch) Kuo: OLED MacBook Pro to Feature Touch Screen Display (MacRumors) AI Chip Startup Groq Raises $750 Million at $6.9 Billion Valuation (Bloomberg) Apple iPhone Air review: statement piece (The Verge) Listener survey link: https://www.theverge.com/tech/779588/apple-iphone-air-review-battery-camera Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Looks like we’re going to be getting new Meta smartglasses later this week. OpenAI wants to up its AI for coding game. Is the whole TikTok saga finally coming to a conclusion? Almost half a billion people use Spotify for free? And how to use the best feature of the new iOS. 'Meta Ray-Ban Display' Glasses Design & HUD Clips Leak Ahead Of Connect (Upload) OpenAI upgrades Codex with a new version of GPT-5 (TechCrunch) Beijing says TikTok’s US app will use Chinese algorithm (Financial Times) Spotify will now let free users pick and play tracks (TechCrunch) iOS 26 Review: A New Look I'll Be Happy With for the Next 12 Years (CNet) Podcast Listener Survey: https://www.morningbrewbreakroom.com/c/r/Tech-Brew-Ride-Home Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nano Banana is such a hit that Gemini is suddenly ahead of ChatGPT, at least if we’re measuring by the app store. Lots of interesting new data about how people are actually using AI. A new accelerator program from OpenAI itself, and is the AI boom like the dawn of the microprocessor or more like the dawn of containerization? Google Gemini is the top free iPhone app (9to5Google) Here’s what the data says people ask ChatGPT (Washington Post) Anthropic Finds Businesses Are Mainly Using AI to Automate Work (Bloomberg) China Targets Nvidia Over 2020 Deal, Straining Trade Talks (Bloomberg) PayPal Links lets you send and receive money much faster now - even crypto (ZDNet) OpenAI announces new mentorship program for budding tech founders (CNBC) AI Will Not Make You Rich (Colossus) Listener Survey: https://www.morningbrewbreakroom.com/c/r/Tech-Brew-Ride-Home Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
John Borthwick on Betaworks shares his journey from a tech-savvy youth to a prominent figure in the New York City tech scene. He discusses his early experiences with computers, the transformative impact of the World Wide Web, and the vibrant tech culture of the 90s. Borthwick reflects on his role in creating Total New York, the lessons learned from the AOL acquisition, and the challenges faced during the dot-com bubble burst. He also highlights the rise of social media platforms like Photolog and the evolution of BetaWorks as a hub for innovation, particularly in the AI space. Throughout the discussion, Borthwick emphasizes the importance of creativity, constraints, and the ever-changing landscape of technology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
OpenAI and Microsoft say they have ironed out their differences… tentatively. Not officially. I’ll explain why that is interesting. With new FDA clearance for the Apple watch are millions of people about to discover they have hypertension? What if AI is less corrupt than humans? And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. OpenAI and Microsoft reach tentative deal to revise partnership (Axios) OpenAI Takes Big Steps Toward Its Long-Planned Reorganization (NYTimes) OpenAI & Microsoft Agree to Agree, Tentatively (Spyglass) Apple Watch hypertension alerts feature receives FDA clearance (9to5Mac) Albania appoints AI bot as minister to tackle corruption (Reuters) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Why is AI struggling to discover new drugs? (Financial Times) Online travel platforms prepare for rise of artificial intelligence ‘agents’ (Financial Times) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Well we now know one of the big contracts that sent Oracle shares flying. OpenAI of course. We have another IPO pop. YouTube videos now have multilanguage dubbing. Is it risky to bet on just one version of AI? And a deep dive analysis of how Oracle got AI religion. Oracle, OpenAI Sign $300 Billion Cloud Deal (WSJ) Klarna Climbs 15% in Trading Debut After $1.37 Billion IPO (Bloomberg) Microsoft's first preview of Visual Studio 2026: Deeper AI and a design refresh (The Register) YouTube’s multi-language audio feature for dubbing videos rolls out to all creators (TechCrunch) AI’s $344 Billion ‘Language Model’ Bet Looks Fragile (Bloomberg) How Oracle’s Larry Ellison rode the AI ‘tsunami’ (Financial Times) Paris 1944: Occupation, Resistance, Liberation: A Social History Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Larry Ellison becomes the richest person in all the land! Is Oracle the new Nvidia? Spotify finally delivers on lossless audio. Robinhood is going to roll out true social trading. Quantum computing continues to be hot. And the startup that’s taking my AI podcast experiment to the next, logical level. Oracle Is the New Nvidia, for Better or Worse (WSJ) Spotify adds lossless streaming after 8 years of teasing (The Verge) Apple says the iPhone 17 comes with a massive security upgrade (The Verge) Robinhood, a Broker Built for Social-Media Age, to Launch Its Own Social Network (WSJ) Quantum computing company raises a record $1bn (FT) 5,000 Podcasts. 3,000 Episodes a Week. $1 Cost Per Episode — Behind an AI Start Up’s Plan (The Hollywood Reporter) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
All the headlines from the iPhone event earlier today, including the new iPhone Air. The judge isn’t happy with Anthropic’s $1.5 B payday to authors. OpenAI isn’t happy with California and might leave. And despite what it’s said publicly, Google recently argued in court that the post-AI web is already dying. Links: Apple announces iPhone Air: the thinnest iPhone ever (9to5Mac) Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro has the biggest battery of any iPhone (The Verge) Anthropic Judge Blasts $1.5 Billion AI Copyright Settlement (2) (Bloomberg Law) Xbox is coming to cars thanks to an LG and Microsoft partnership (The Verge) OpenAI Executives Rattled by Campaigns to Derail For-Profit Restructuring (WSJ) Microsoft mandates a return to office (The Verge) New Google Court Doc: Open Web Is In Rapid Decline (Search Engine Roundtable) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Anthropic has agreed to pay $1.5 billion dollars to authors of books that might have trained their AI. Would my book qualify for some of that money? Also, why this is interesting in general. OpenAI is making a movie. Tokenizing the stock market. Three interesting raises, and at the end of the show, let me tell you about my weekend experiment with AI. Links: Anthropic Reaches $1.5 Billion Author Copyright Settlement (Bloomberg) OpenAI Backs AI-Made Animated Feature Film (WSJ) Nasdaq makes push to launch trading of tokenized securities (Reuters) Mistral Set for $14 Billion Valuation With New Funding Round (Bloomberg) Databricks Crosses $4 Billion in Annual Revenue Rate (WSJ) ElevenLabs to Let Staff Sell Shares at $6.6 Billion Valuation (Bloomberg) AI Generated 'Boring History' Videos Are Flooding YouTube and Drowning Out Real History (404Media) My AI Experiment: The History of Amazon My AI Expeirment: The History of Google Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Julie Samuels shares her journey from a journalism major to a prominent figure in the tech advocacy space, detailing her experiences at NCSA, her work with EFF, and her role in founding Tech NYC. She discusses the evolution of the internet, the cultural differences between Silicon Valley and New York City, and the importance of community engagement in shaping the future of technology. Julie emphasizes the need for tech companies to be involved in civic issues and how Tech NYC aims to support and represent the tech industry in New York. 00:00 Introduction and Early Internet Experiences 02:11 Career Beginnings at NCSA 05:08 Transitioning to Journalism and Early Online News 08:00 The Shift in Journalism and the Dot Com Bubble 10:53 The Evolving New York Tech Scene 13:54 Joining EFF and First Amendment Advocacy 16:55 Mainstreaming of Internet Issues 19:53 Reflections on the Impact of Technology 21:05 The Optimism of the Tech Boom 24:19 Contrasting Silicon Valley and New York Tech 32:25 The Birth of Tech NYC 42:34 Tech NYC's Role in Today's Landscape Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
From the, this wasn’t on my bingo card file, OpenAI has launched a sort of job board? Why Broadcom might become Nvidia’s big rival. Is AI image generation about to have its Napster moment? And in the Longread Suggestions, a deep-dive state of the job market in tech. 00:00 Intro 00:33 OpenAI Job Search 04:22 Broadcom Competes With Nvidia? 07:41 AI Image Napster Moment? 11:30 Nividia's "Self Dealing"? 15:35 Longreads Links: OpenAI Plans Jobs Platform, Certification Program for AI Roles (Bloomberg) OpenAI set to start mass production of its own AI chips with Broadcom (FT) Warner Bros. Discovery Sues AI Giant Midjourney for Copyright Infringement In Major Legal Battle (The Hollywood Reporter) Nvidia to Pay $1.5 Billion to Rent Back Its Own Chips From Cloud Startup (The Information) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: State of the software engineering job market in 2025 (The Pragmatic Engineer) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mark Gurman lays out how Apple intends to jump into AI search as soon as this Spring. You’ll never guess who’s one of the biggest players in quantum computing. The Browser Company gets a soft landing, and after a decade and a half of waiting, we finally have the iPad app for Instagram you say you always wanted. Links: Apple Plans AI-Powered Web Search Tool for Siri to Rival OpenAI, Perplexity (Bloomberg) Nvidia’s Venture Arm Invests in Honeywell’s Quantinuum (Bloomberg) Atlassian agrees to acquire The Browser Co. for $610 million (CNBC) Roblox expands use of age-estimation tech and introduces standardized ratings (TechCrunch) New AI model turns photos into explorable 3D worlds, with caveats (ArsTechnica) Instagram is coming to iPad, 15 years later (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Google whistles past the graveyard with the remedy ruling on its antitrust case. OpenAI makes a big acquisition. Anthropic has a big new raise and a huge new valuation to boot. And why are AI companies finding it so hard to engineer safe interactions with Chatbots? Links: Google stock jumps 8% after search giant avoids worst-case penalties in antitrust case (CNBC) Google, Apple, and Mozilla Win in the Antitrust Case Google Lost (Spyglass) Google’s Big Win Is Even Bigger for Apple (WSJ) OpenAI starts building out its app team (The Verge) Anthropic’s $13bn Series F raise sees it triple in value to $183bn (SiliconRepublic) Acer Veriton GN100 is a mini AI workstation (VideoCardz) The problem of AI chatbots discussing suicide with teenagers (Financial Times) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Trump family’s big new crypto coin makes its debut. OpenAI outlines new safety guardrails. Dolby announces its biggest new TV tech in years. Say hello to Dolby Vision 2. Fintech seems to be back. And as the price per token for AI models has fallen, why are costs for developers rising? Links: Trump family’s World Liberty Financial token falls in trading debut (FT) Parental controls are coming to ChatGPT ‘within the next month,’ OpenAI says (CNNBusiness) Dolby Vision 2 goes beyond HDR with more AI and ‘authentic motion’ smoothing (The Verge) UK fintechs explore buying US banks to speed up push for licences (FT) Cutting-Edge AI Was Supposed to Get Cheaper. It’s More Expensive Than Ever. (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this conversation, Bradley Tusk discusses his unique career at the intersection of politics and technology. He shares insights from his early experiences in New York City politics, his time working with Senator Schumer, and his role as Deputy Governor of Illinois. Tusk reflects on the Bloomberg campaign during the financial crisis and how he merged political strategies with business through Tusk Strategies. He highlights the regulatory challenges faced by Uber and the importance of understanding the political landscape for startups. Tusk also addresses the future of AI and the necessity of regulation to protect society while fostering innovation. 00:00 The Intersection of Tech and Politics 05:58 The Rise of Tech in New York City 12:08 Governance and the Role of a Deputy Governor 18:03 Tusk Strategies: Merging Politics with Tech 23:55 Navigating Regulatory Challenges in Startups 33:52 The Need for AI Regulation 40:06 Addressing the Challenges of Gambling Regulations Bradley Tusk identifies as a political junkie rather than a tech junkie. His early career choices were influenced by his experiences in politics and writing. Working under Henry Stern provided Tusk with a deep understanding of municipal politics. Tusk learned the importance of media and messaging while working for Senator Schumer. His role as Deputy Governor of Illinois involved managing a significant budget deficit. The Bloomberg campaign was marked by innovative use of technology and media. Tusk's strategies for Uber involved mobilizing customers to advocate for the service. He emphasizes the need for startups to recognize regulatory challenges early on. Tusk believes in the necessity of regulating AI to prevent societal harm. He advocates for a taxation structure to redistribute wealth generated by AI. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
China continues to show signs that it might not need American AI chips much longer. A weird story about that big recent Tesla trial ruling. Look, AI being too much of a sycophant is clearly becoming a big problem. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Links: Alibaba Creates AI Chip to Help China Fill Nvidia Void (WSJ) Tesla said it didn’t have key data in a fatal crash. Then a hacker found it. (Washington Post) Intel gets $5.7 billion from Trump deal as White House says details are ‘being ironed out’ (CNBC) Zuckerberg’s AI hires disrupt Meta with swift exits and threats to leave (Financial Times) A Troubled Man, His Chatbot and a Murder-Suicide in Old Greenwich (WSJ) Weekend Longreads Suggestions AI Is Eliminating Jobs for Younger Workers (Wired) This Visiting Interstellar Comet Just Keeps Getting Weirder (Gizmodo) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nvidia’s earnings are ok, but maybe showing signs of normalizing. Copilot for your TV. A blockchain for your cloud. I catch you up on that whole Nano Banana image AI craze sweeping the internet. And a summary of the Pixel phone reviews. Links: Nvidia beats on top and bottom lines as company expects breakneck AI spend to continue (CNBC) Microsoft expands Xbox Cloud Gaming to Game Pass Core and Standard subscribers (The Verge) Microsoft’s Copilot AI is now inside Samsung TVs and monitors (The Verge) Google Cloud is developing its own blockchain for payments, currently in private testnet (The Block) Google Gemini’s AI image model gets a ‘bananas’ upgrade (TechCrunch) Nothing busted using professional photos as Phone 3 samples (The Verge) Google Pixel 10 Pro review: the best AI phone on the market (The Shortcut) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against OpenAI. The continuing saga of what the heck is going on over at Meta AI? Is “vibe hacking” the big new threat we need to be worried about? Anthropic had to settle because it was afraid it would be sued out of existence. And when the iPhone event is gonna happen. Links: OpenAI Plans to Update ChatGPT After Parents Sue Over Teen’s Suicide (Bloomberg) A Teen Was Suicidal. ChatGPT Was the Friend He Confided In. (NYTimes) Researchers Are Already Leaving Meta’s New Superintelligence Lab (Wired) ‘Vibe-hacking’ is now a top AI threat (The Verge) Anthropic Settles Major AI Copyright Suit Brought by Authors (3) (Bloomberg Law) Apple Makes Music Push in Radio After Losing Ground to Spotify (WSJ) Apple Event Announced for September 9: 'Awe Dropping' (MacRumors) Fantasy League Link: https://fantasy.premierleague.com/leagues/auto-join/poyeg1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Elon Musk is taking his beef with Sam Altman AND Tim Apple to court. The Trump administration could sanction EU officials over the Digital Services Act. Spotify has added DMs. And Ben Thompson’s deep analysis of the whole Intel situation. Links: Elon Musk's xAI sues Apple and OpenAI over AI competition, App Store rankings (Reuters) Exclusive: Trump administration weighs sanctions on officials implementing EU tech law, sources say (Reuters) Spotify is adding DMs (The Verge) Attorneys General To AI Chatbot Companies: You Will ‘Answer For It’ If You Harm Children (404Media) Intel says Trump deal has risks for shareholders, international sales (CNBC) U.S. Intel (Stratechery) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The government has indeed taken a stake in Intel. Apple might turn to Google to save Siri. Meta turns to Midjourney. Perplexity wants to cut publishers in on the action. And how DHL is using AI to shore up a workforce that is aging out. Links: Trump, Intel Agree to 10% U.S. Stake as President Promises More Deals (NYTimes) Apple Explores Using Google Gemini AI to Power Revamped Siri (Bloomberg) Meta partners with Midjourney on AI image and video models (TechCrunch) Perplexity to Let Publishers Share in Revenue from AI Searches (Bloomberg) Netflix Sets Opening Dates for Permanent Entertainment and Shopping Venues in Philadelphia, Dallas (Variety) Inside DHL’s AI upgrade: ‘Love it or hate it, you have to work with it’ (FT) 8 Women, 4 Bedrooms and 1 Cause: Breaking A.I.’s Glass Ceiling (NYTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We talked recently about how Nvidia wasn’t home free in China just yet, and low and behold, they’re stopping H20 chip production over Chinese concerns. Did Elon Musk talk to Mark Zuckerberg about buying OpenAI together? And of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Links: Nvidia Orders Halt to H20 Production After China Directive Against Purchases (The Information) Meta Signs $10 Billion-Plus Cloud Deal With Google (The Information) Elon Musk tried to enlist Mark Zuckerberg in $100bn bid for OpenAI (Financial Times) OpenAI Is Challenging Google—While Using Its Search Data (The Information) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: He Sold His Likeness. Now His Avatar Is Shilling Supplements on TikTok. (NYTimes) Bill Gates meets Willy Wonka: How Epic’s 82-year-old billionaire CEO, Judy Faulkner, built her software factory (CNBC) Mutant Podcast Army Fantasy Football League Link poyeg1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What is going on at Meta AI story number 77. A deeper look at that new chip that Google unveiled with the Pixel phones yesterday and what that could suggest for Google’s hardware strategy. And an interesting startup that is making AI smartglasses happen now. Links: Meta Freezes AI Hiring After Blockbuster Spending Spree (WSJ) Suddenly, Silicon Valley Is Lowering AI Expectations (NYMag) Google did more than just switch to TSMC for Tensor G5 — This is what’s new (9to5Google) DeepSeek Touts Model That Outdoes Flagship in Agentic AI Step (Bloomberg) Sony is raising PS5 prices, starting tomorrow (The Verge) Harvard dropouts to launch ‘always on’ AI smart glasses that listen and record every conversation (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
All the headlines from the Made By Google event where we saw the new Pixel 10 lineup and the 4th gen Pixel Watch. We have a release date for those new Xbox handhelds. More seeming chaos at Meta’s AI headquarters. And a report back from the first ever AI film festival. Links: The Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold is the first fully dust-resistant foldable (The Verge) Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL are all about upgrades you can’t see, still starting at $999 [Hands-on] (9to5Google) Google debuts Pixel Watch 4 with domed display, emergency Satellite Communication (TechCrunch) Microsoft and Asus’ new Xbox Ally handhelds launch on October 16th (The Verge) Mark Zuckerberg Shakes Up Meta’s A.I. Efforts, Again (NYTimes) US tech stocks hit by concerns over future of AI boom (FT) I Saw the Future of AI Film and It Was Empty (Wired) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Masa Son is investing $2B into Intel, and the Uncle Sam might join in as well. Small AI models continue to have a moment. Chamath is reentering the arena with a new SPAC. The Texas AG is investigating AI chatbots. And does GPT-5 prove that we’ve hit an AI ceiling, even if only temporarily? Links: Intel is getting a $2 billion investment from SoftBank (CNBC) Nvidia releases a new small, open model Nemotron-Nano-9B-v2 with toggle on/off reasoning (VentureBeat) ‘SPAC King’ Chamath Palihapitiya is back with a new one (Pitchbook) Texas attorney general accuses Meta, Character.AI of misleading kids with mental health claims (TechCrunch) Is AI hitting a wall? (FT) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Meta is readying smartglasses with a display, but also, a look at their theoretical and prototype roadmap for the future of headware hardware generally. Is all the money in the world not actually going to get Zuck what he wants in AI? And is the acquihire in all but name trend of recent months breaking Silicon Valley’s fundamental business model? Links: Apple’s Vision Pro Is Suffering From a Lack of Immersive Video (Bloomberg) Meta Tiramisu "Hyperrealistic VR" Hands-On: A Stunning Window Into Another World (UploadVR) Meta Boba 3 Prototype Hands-On: Ultra-Wide Field Of View Without Compromise (UploadVR) Startup down rounds are at a 10 year high, according to PitchBook data (Fortune) Meta Plans Fourth Restructuring of AI Efforts in Six Months (The Information) Zuckerberg Squandered His AI Talent. Now He’s Spending Billions To Replace It. (Forbes) Big Tech Is Eating Itself in Talent War (WSJ) Enough is enough—I dumped Google’s worsening search for Kagi (ArsTechnica) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Will the US government take a stake in Intel? Why was Meta letting spicy conversation happen with their AI bots? What does it mean if Foxconn’s AI business is now bigger than its gadget assembly business? And of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Links: Trump Administration Said to Discuss Taking Stake in Intel (Bloomberg) Meta’s AI rules have let bots hold ‘sensual’ chats with kids, offer false medical info (Reuters) Forget Foxconn the iPhone factory. AI’s made it a server-slinger first and foremost (The Register) Apple returns blood oxygen monitoring to the latest Apple Watches (The Verge) Whoop Refuses to Pull Blood Pressure Tool After FDA Warning (Bloomberg) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Big Tech’s A.I. Data Centers Are Driving Up Electricity Bills for Everyone (NYTimes) Behind Wall Street’s Abrupt Flip on Crypto (NYTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
New York is suing Zelle. Another IPO pop has me raising my eyebrows. Maybe Perplexity really was serious, at least about getting a browser. Does Apple want to make basically that Pixar lamp? And AI has so broken the hiring process that some companies are resorting again to in-person interviews. Links: New York sues Zelle, says security lapses led to $1 billion consumer fraud losses (Reuters) Crypto Firm Bullish Soars 84% in Debut After $1.1 Billion IPO (Bloomberg) Before Wild Chrome Bid, Perplexity Had Been Hunting for Browsers (The Information) Apple Plots Expansion Into AI Robots, Home Security and Smart Displays (Bloomberg) AI Is Forcing the Return of the In-Person Job Interview (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Perplexity offers to acquire Chrome, but how serious are they? Fine, says OpenAI, have your GPT-4o back. Are AI companions the next breakout AI business beyond coding help? And is GM getting back in the self-driving car business for real this time? Links: Perplexity Makes Longshot $34.5 Billion Offer for Chrome (WSJ) OpenAI brings GPT-4o back as a default for all paying ChatGPT users, Altman promises ‘plenty of notice’ if it leaves again (VentureBeat) OpenAI rolls out Gmail, Calendar, and Contacts integration in ChatGPT (BleepingComputer) UK porn site traffic plunges as age verification rules take effect (Financial Times) AI companion apps on track to pull in $120M in 2025 (TechCrunch) GM Plans Renewed Driverless-Car Push After Cruise Debacle (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Elon says he might take legal action against Apple, but it’s probably his beef with Sam Altman rearing its head once again. A long piece looking at how Jenson won in China, though also, HAS he won WITH China… yet? And is the race to the bottom in AI pricing happening already? Links: Musk says xAI to take legal action against Apple over App Store rankings (Reuters) Tech giants Apple and Google lose landmark court case as federal judge rules they engaged in anti-competitive conduct (ABC) China Urges Firms to Avoid Nvidia H20 Chips After Trump Resumes Sales (Bloomberg) With Billions at Risk, Nvidia CEO Buys His Way Out of the Trade Battle (WSJ) Anthropic offers Claude chatbot to US lawmakers for $1 (FT) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nvidia and AMD are paying the US government 15% of revenue to sell AI chips to China. Remember how with GPT-5, they took away the old models? Well, the old models are back. Some critical analysis of the whole GPT-5 moment. And you know what is finally never coming back? AOL dialup internet. Links: Nvidia and AMD to pay 15% of China chip sale revenues to US government (FT) Trump Bid for Cut of Chip Revenue Risks ‘Dangerous World’ (Bloomberg) Intel CEO Singled Out by Trump to Visit White House on Monday (WSJ) OpenAI Faces Backlash for Retiring Older Models With GPT-5 Launch (PCMag) GPT-5: Overdue, overhyped and underwhelming. And that’s not the worst of it. (Gary Marcus) A BEST CASE SCENARIO FOR AI? (David Sacks) AOL discontinues its dial-up internet, and we're just surprised they even offered it in 2025 (PCGamer) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
I spoke with the great Paul Kedrosky to discuss the significant impact of AI capital expenditure (CapEx) on the economy, exploring how it contributes to GDP growth and the implications of this spending. Qw delve into the rapid growth of AI-related investments, the short lifespan of data centers, and the potential risks associated with this economic phenomenon. 00:00 The Impact of AI Capital Expenditure on the Economy 09:34 The Dynamics of Data Center Investments 19:39 Debt Financing and Its Implications 30:09 Potential Risks and Future Outlook for AI Investments Articles mentioned on this episode: Paul Kedrosky: Honey AI Capex Ate The Economy Chris Mims in the WSJ Noah Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tracking the fallout and implications from GPT-5’s rollout yesterday. Why is Google’s AI chatbot filled with self-loathing and recrimination? Are President Trump’s comments just the latest worry for the CEO of Intel? Are those AI coding companies actually making any money? And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Links: GPT-5: Key characteristics, pricing and model card (Simon Willison) GPT-5 Hands-On: Welcome to the Stone Age (Latent Space) Google says it's working on a fix for Gemini's self-loathing 'I am a failure' comments (Business Insider) Intel’s Chief Holds Firm After Trump Demands His Resignation (NYTimes) High costs and thin margins threatening AI coding startups (TechCrunch) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: AI Is Coming for the Consultants. Inside McKinsey, ‘This Is Existential.’ (WSJ) SEO Is Dead. Say Hello to GEO. (NYMag) Is Perrier as pure as it claims? The bottled water scandal gripping France (BBC) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
All the news around the big unveiling of GPT-5. President Trump calls on the CEO of Intel to “resign immediately.” Also, the threat of 100% tariffs on chips and semiconductors. But Apple gets a pass because they’re committing to building more in the US. Links: GPT-5 is being released to all ChatGPT users (The Verge) OpenAI Unveils GPT-5, Its Latest and Most Powerful Model, After Two-Year Wait (WSJ) OpenAI’s GPT-5 is here (TechCrunch) Trump Urges ‘Conflicted’ Intel CEO Tan to Resign Immediately (Bloomberg) Trump Eyes 100% Chips Tariff, Exempting Firms That Invest in US (Bloomberg) Apple Announces $100 Billion US Investment Ahead of Trump Event (Bloomberg) Could AI Datacenter Spending Blow Up The Economy? With Paul Kedrosky (YouTube) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Disney is making big streaming moves with the new ESPN app and a revamp to Hulu. Then, it’s all basically AI announces. OpenAI’s new open-weight models. Grok’s new spiciness is already generating nudity. A new AI model to identify malicious software autonomously. And Nvidia wants you to know: no back-doors! Links: ESPN flagship streaming service to launch Aug. 21 (CNBC) Hulu App to Be Phased Out as Disney Is ‘Fully Integrating’ Service Into Disney+ (Variety) OpenAI Just Released Its First Open-Weight Models Since GPT-2 (Wired) Anthropic's powerful Opus 4.1 model is here - how to access it (and why you'll want to) (ZDNet) Qwen-Image is a powerful, open source new AI image generator with support for embedded text in English & Chinese (VentureBeat) Grok’s ‘spicy’ video setting instantly made me Taylor Swift nude deepfakes (The Verge) Microsoft’s new AI reverse-engineers malware autonomously, marking a shift in cybersecurity (GeekWire) Nvidia defiant over backdoors and kill switches in GPUs as U.S. mulls tracking requirements — calls them 'permanent flaws' that are 'a gift to hackers' (Tom's Hardware) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
TSMC has fired employees for allegedly attempting to pilfer information on their 2nm tech. Figma could have raised more money in its IPO but chose not to. Creating entire video game worlds with just a text prompt. And exactly how big Patreon has grown in the creator economy. 00:32 TSMC Spygate 02:50 Cloudflare V. Perplexity 04:52 Figma Followup 07:35 Music AI 09:53 New Google Models 14:58 Patreon Numbers Links: TSMC says employees tried to steal trade secrets on iPhone 18 chip process (9to5Mac) Cloudflare says Perplexity’s AI bots are ‘stealth crawling’ blocked sites (The Verge) Figma’s Pursuit of Long-Term Backers Kept IPO Price in Check (Bloomberg) Voice Startup ElevenLabs Launches AI Music Service (WSJ) Google’s new AI model creates video game worlds in real time (The Verge) Google’s Kaggle to host AI chess tournament to evaluate leading AI models’ reasoning skills (Silicon Angle) Exclusive: Patreon crosses $10 billion creator payment milestone (Axios) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Robotaxies are coming to Europe. Apple wants Answers. Literally. The AI researcher who turned down a billion and a half dollars. How the vibe seems to have definitively shifted in Silicon Valley. And will rollable laptop screens become mainstream? 00:33 Robotaxis In Europe 02:12 Apple Wants Answers 03:57 Lina Khan 05:54 Billion Dollar Turn-Down 07:54 AI Trading Bots 10:25 The Silicon Valley Boom Is Back 14:23 A Rollable Laptop Links: Lyft Partners With Baidu on Robotaxis in European Expansion (Bloomberg) Apple’s New ‘Answers’ Team Eyes ChatGPT-Like Product in AI Push (Bloomberg) Lina Khan points to Figma IPO as vindication of M&A scrutiny (TechCrunch) Thanks for Your $1 Billion Job Offer, Mark Zuckerberg. I’m Gonna Pass. (WSJ) ‘Dumb’ AI Bots Collude to Rig Markets, Wharton Research Finds (Bloomberg) Silicon Valley Is in Its ‘Hard Tech’ Era (NYTimes) Lenovo’s rollable laptop is the coolest computer I’ve used all year (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Well, it looks like Tech IPO’s might be back on the menu because Figma’s first day pop was like the good old days. Anthropic seems to be getting traction, OpenAI raises again. Earnings from Apple and Amazon, and of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Chapters: 00:33 Figma IPO 04:57 Anthropic And Open AI Numbers 08:45 New Deep Think Model 11:08 Tech Earnings Omnibus 14:35 Longreads Links: Figma more than triples in NYSE debut after selling shares at $33 (CNBC) Anthropic Revenue Pace Nears $5 Billion in Run-Up to Mega Round (The Information) Exclusive: OpenAI Secures Another Giant Funding Deal (NYTimes) Google rolls out Gemini Deep Think AI, a reasoning model that tests multiple ideas in parallel (TechCrunch) Reddit wants to be a search engine now (The Verge) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: The first commercial space station is nearly here. And it could change space forever (BBC Science Focus) A Deadly Fungus Killed 10 Scientists Working in a Tomb. It Could Be a Breakthrough in Curing Cancer. (Popular Mechanics) What happens once we spot the asteroid that will hit Earth? (FT) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Microsoft and Meta earnings suggest AI is paying off so far, at least for the big guys. Has OpenAI’s revenues tripled so far in 2025? Devs are using AI more than ever, but that doesn’t mean they trust it. And at the end of the show, as promised, the huge podcast announcement. Links: Microsoft officially tops $4 trillion in market cap, joining Nvidia in exclusive club (CNBC) Investors Cheer an A.I. Spending Bonanza (NYTimes) Meta shares climb 10% on revenue beat, raised forecast (CNBC) Apple, Google, OpenAI to Work With Federal Agencies to Make Health Data Helpful (Bloomberg) OpenAI Hits $12 Billion in Annualized Revenue, Breaks 700 Million ChatGPT Weekly Active Users (The Information) Stack Overflow data reveals the hidden productivity tax of ‘almost right’ AI code (VentureBeat) Google DeepMind says its new AI can map the entire planet with unprecedented accuracy (VentureBeat) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Age verification for web users is sweeping the globe. ChatGPT debuts a study mode for students. What, exactly is Zuckerberg trying to achieve by hiring everyone in AI? Maybe Cohere is the real dark horse in the AI model race. And what if the real money in AI video is in training robots? Links: YouTube rolls out age-estimation tech to identify US teens and apply additional protections (TechCrunch) ChatGPT’s Study Mode Is Here. It Won’t Fix Education’s AI Problems (Wired) Apple Loses Fourth AI Researcher in a Month to Meta’s Superintelligence Team (Bloomberg) Meta’s AI Recruiting Campaign Finds a New Target (Wired) AI Startup Cohere Projects $200 Million Revenue Pace as New Funding Nears (The Information) Runway, Luma Target Sales to Robotics Companies (The Information) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sony says Tencent has ripped off one of their biggest games. Microsoft wants to get ahead of the whole AI browser thing. Are rate limits coming for AI usage as some people are using AI too much? Waymo is coming to Dallas. And further proof of my thesis that smartglasses are the next big thing in tech hardware. Links: Sony sues Tencent for allegedly ripping off 'Horizon' video games (Reuters) Microsoft revolutionizes Edge as an AI-powered web browser with new experimental 'Copilot Mode' — here's how to enable it right now (Windows Central) Anthropic unveils new rate limits to curb Claude Code power users (TechCrunch) A Second Tea Breach Reveals Users’ DMs About Abortions and Cheating (404Media) Waymo, Avis Plan Dallas Robotaxi Launch in Multiyear Deal (Bloomberg) Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses revenue tripled over the year, EssilorLuxottica says (CNBC) Oakley Meta glasses review: A familiar formula with some upgrades (Engadget) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Samsung’s foundry business gets a shot in the arm from Tesla. Zuck’s hiring spree nabs a Chat GPT creator. Anthropic is raising and leveling up in a big way. And no sooner did the hot new dating app Tea get hot, then it got hacked. Tea was spilt, if you will. Links: Samsung to Make Tesla AI Chips in Multiyear Texas Deal (Bloomberg) Donald Trump freezes export controls to secure trade deal with China (FT) Meta names Shengjia Zhao as chief scientist of AI superintelligence unit (TechCrunch) PayPal to Roll Out ‘Pay With Crypto’ Feature for Merchants (Bloomberg) AI start-up Anthropic open to Mideast funds in talks to double valuation to over $150bn (FT) Women are anonymously spilling tea about men in their cities on viral app (NBCNews) Hackers leak 13,000 user photos and IDs from the Tea app, designed as a women's safe space (NBCNews) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Could Intel exit the high-end chip game entirely? Why are public companies loading up on crypto? GPT-5 is probably coming in a matter of weeks. What if it’s actually AI jobpocalypse… not now? And in the Longreads, the best explainer of those GLP-1 drugs I’ve read so far. Links: Intel beats on revenue, slashes foundry investments as CEO says ‘no more blank checks’ (CNBC) Google is testing a vibe-coding app called Opal (TechCrunch) Companies load up on niche crypto tokens to boost share prices (Financial Times) OpenAI prepares to launch GPT-5 in August (The Verge) Is AI killing graduate jobs? (FT) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: First Look: macOS Tahoe Public Beta (SixColors) If GLP-1 Drugs Are Good For Everything, Should We All Be on Them? (Derek Thompson) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The White House has rolled out its big AI Action Plan. Google reported earnings but really wanted you to know about consumer adoption of its AI. A new Kindle Colorsoft. TMobile’s Starlink service is available to anyone, and the Switch 2 is now the fastest selling console in history. Links: Trump Signs AI Orders, Vows US Will Win Race Over New Technology (Bloomberg) Donald Trump blocks AI groups with ‘ideological bias’ from government work (FT) Google’s AI Overviews have 2B monthly users, AI Mode 100M in the US and India (TechCrunch) Google Photos adding free photo-to-video, Remix, and Create tab (9to5Google) Amazon is launching a cheaper color Kindle (The Verge) Starlink-powered ‘T-Satellite’ service is now live on T-Mobile (The Verge) The Nintendo Switch 2 Is the Fastest-Selling Gaming Hardware in U.S. History (IGN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Don’t sleep on that SharePoint exploit from earlier this week as it seems to have led to a ton of still active breaches. Apple has a new insurance plan for you. Elon wants even more money for xAI. The Chinese are still churning ahead with their AI models. And three different stories about AI and privacy. Links: Microsoft links Sharepoint ToolShell attacks to Chinese hackers (BleepingComputer) Apple Launches $20-a-Month AppleCare One Plan Covering Up to Three Devices (Bloomberg) Musk Allies to Raise Up to $12 Billion for xAI Chips as Startup Burns Through Cash (WSJ) Qwen3-Coder: Agentic Coding in the World (Simon Willison) Alibaba’s new open source Qwen3-235B-A22B-2507 beats Kimi-2 and offers low compute version (VentureBeat) Amazon buys Bee AI wearable that listens to everything you say (The Verge) Proton is launching a privacy-focused AI chatbot (The Verge) OpenAI CEO Sam Altman warns of an AI ‘fraud crisis’ (CNN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Well, just like that, AI’s winning the Math Olympiad is commonplace. Is Stargate struggling to get off the ground, or is Sam Altman just going to do Stargate on his own without Masa Son? The AI company who’s stated mission was to do AI ethically explains why it needs to get its hands dirty. And even if AI isn’t making scientific breakthroughs yet, there are early signs it is shaking things up nonetheless. Links: OpenAI and Google outdo the mathletes, but not each other (TechCrunch) SoftBank and OpenAI’s $500 Billion AI Project Struggles to Get Off Ground (WSJ) Oracle to Supply OpenAI With 2 Million AI Chips for Data Centers (Bloomberg) Leaked Memo: Anthropic CEO Says the Company Will Pursue Gulf State Investments After All (Wired) AI Comes Up with Bizarre Physics Experiments. But They Work. (Quanta Magazine) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Serious zero-day has been uncovered that is affecting everybody all around the world. There is a patch tho. Mark Gurman dishes on the foldable iPhone. TSMC joins the Trillion-Dollar-Club. If you’re an expert in a given field you too can join the AI goldrush. And did we just take a big step toward AGI, or is this just the latest in the hype-cycle? Sponsors: AGNTCY.ORG Links: Hackers Exploit Microsoft SharePoint as Firm Works to Patch (Bloomberg) The First Foldable iPhone Will Arrive Next Year in Un-Apple-Like Fashion (Bloomberg) Nvidia's CUDA platform now supports RISC-V — support brings open source instruction set to AI platforms, joining x86 and Arm (Tom's Hardware) TSMC’s Taiwan Stock Value Surpasses $1 Trillion Amid AI Frenzy (Bloomberg) AI groups spend to replace low-cost ‘data labellers’ with high-paid experts (FT) OpenAI's experimental model achieved gold at the International Math Olympiad (Engadget) OpenAI's gold medal performance on the International Math Olympiad. (Simon Willison's Weblog) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices