Thu. 09/26 – The Orion Smartglasses

Silvergate Capital is shutting down, so the crypto winter just got colder. Microsoft says the new Bing has crossed 100 million daily active users. Why TikTok is responsible for the new Spotify redesign. Can police grab your Ring camera footage without your permission, even if you’re not the target of an investigation? And looks like Stripe won’t be going public this year after all. Sponsors: Thuma.co/techmeme Links: Silvergate will liquidate bank, wind down operations (The Block) Microsoft details how it could get Call of Duty: Warzone running on Switch (The Verge) Microsoft’s AI-Powered Bing Search Engine Surpasses 100 Million Daily Active Users (Gizmodo) Spotify’s new design is part TikTok, part Instagram, and part YouTube (The Verge) The privacy loophole in your doorbell (Politico) SCOOP: Stripe Is Raising $6 Billion to Resolve Taxes & Expiring Employee Shares, Delaying Public Listing (Newcomer) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

9 Maalis 202317min

Today, you might have heard about the latest Elon controversy where he criticized an employee, and then walked it all back. We’ll get into that. DuckDuckGo melds two AI tools together. A Large Visual Language Model that will help robots move around in the real world. I explain why I’m telling you about every new Generative AI advance seemingly every single day. And with Google officially announcing the date for I/O, is their headlong rush to release AI products the waking of a sleeping giant, or the second coming of Google+? Sponsors: RelationshipHero.com/techmeme Links: FTC Twitter Investigation Sought Elon Musk’s Internal Communications, Journalist Names (WSJ) Twitter just let its privacy- and security-protecting Tor service expire (The Verge) Elon Musk apologizes after mocking disabled Twitter employee (AP) DuckDuckGo Releases Its Own ChatGPT-Powered Search Engine, DuckAssist (Gizmodo) Google’s PaLM-E is a generalist robot brain that takes commands (ArsTechnica) Google’s Plan to Catch ChatGPT Is to Stuff AI Into Everything (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

8 Maalis 202318min

TikTok launches a paywall, but it’s all about the creators. Salesforce has its own generative AI product. More layoffs coming for Meta. Another autonomous driving startup bites the dust. Why Twitter broke yesterday, and new speakers from Sonos. Sponsors: This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/techmeme and get on your way to being your best self. Links: TikTok Launches ‘Series’ Feature, Which Lets Creators Sell Premium Episodes Up to 20 Minutes Each (Variety) Apple reveals a yellow iPhone 14 and 14 Plus (The Verge) Salesforce follows Microsoft in launching A.I. tools for salespeople with help from OpenAI (CNBC) Meta Plans Thousands More Layoffs as Soon as This Week (Bloomberg) Embark Trucks lays off workers, explores liquidation of self-driving truck assets (TechCrunch) How a single engineer brought down Twitter on Monday (Platformer) Apple First to Capture 8 Spots in List for Global Top 10 Smartphones (Counterpoint) Sonos Era 300 and Era 100 first look: you’re gonna want to hear these speakers (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

7 Maalis 202317min

As Microsoft begins to integrate AI into its core enterprise and productivity products, are we ready for the scamming that AI is going to be able to produce? Details on forthcoming new iMacs. A checkin on Twitter. And why does Meta seem hellbent on ignoring what most people use VR for in the first place? Sponsors: ZocDoc.com/techmeme RelationshipHero.com/techmeme Links: Microsoft’s Latest AI Assistant Is Meant for Marketers, Customer Reps and Work Apps (Bloomberg) They thought loved ones were calling for help. It was an AI scam. (WashingtonPost) OpenAI Rival Stable Diffusion Maker Seeks to Raise Funds at $4 Billion Valuation (Bloomberg) Multicoin Capital’s Hedge Fund Lost 91.4% Last Year, Investor Letter Reveals (CoinDesk) Apple Readies Its Next Range of Macs, Including — Finally — a New iMac (Bloomberg) Musk Delayed Paying Twitter’s Amazon Cloud Bill, Sparking Ad Threat (The Information) Twitter’s Revenue, Adjusted Earnings Fell About 40% in Month of December (WSJ) I don’t think Meta knows it’s a game company (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

6 Maalis 202317min

Checking in on the state of the tech job market with Grupa.io. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

4 Maalis 202316min

Everyone in crypto stops doing business with Silvergate. Brave search launches an AI summarizer. A look at TikTok's AI Bold Glamour filter. Maybe the Activision acquisition is going to skate through the regulators. And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: RelationshipHero.com/Techmeme Links: Silvergate Stock Drops Over 50% as Crypto Clients Flee Beleaguered Bank (CoinDesk) Brave Search launches an AI-powered summarization feature (TechCrunch) Why won’t TikTok confirm the Bold Glamour filter is AI? (The Verge) Microsoft’s Activision deal likely to be approved by EU regulators, says Reuters (The Verge) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Alexa, what happened? (Margins) The Satellite Hack Everyone Is Finally Talking About (Bloomberg) The next big threat to AI might already be lurking on the web (ZDNet) 50 YEARS LATER, WE’RE STILL LIVING IN THE XEROX ALTO’S WORLD (IEEE Spectrum) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

3 Maalis 202318min

A ChatGPT API for business is here. Microsoft gives Bing those nobs and dials that I’ve been talking about. What are multimodal LLMs? New turmoil in crypto, this time around one of the big crypto friendly banks. How is it going in terms of social platforms diversifying into subscription revenue? And why the FDA has rejected Neuralink’s applications to begin human testing of brain implants. Links: OpenAI launches an API for ChatGPT, plus dedicated capacity for enterprise customers (TechCrunch) Microsoft now lets you change Bing’s chatbot personality to be more entertaining (The Verge) Microsoft unveils AI model that understands image content, solves visual puzzles (ArsTechnica) Apple Blocks Update of ChatGPT-Powered App, as Concerns Grow Over AI’s Potential Harm (WSJ) Coinbase is no longer accepting, initiating payments with Silvergate (The Block) Snapchat will now let you pause your Snap Streaks (TechCrunch) TikTok Earned $205 Million More Than Facebook, Twitter, Snap And Instagram Combined On In-App Purchases In 2023 (Forbes) U.S. regulators rejected Elon Musk’s bid to test brain chips in humans, citing safety risks (Reuters) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2 Maalis 202320min

Decentralized social network Bluesky launches in the iOS App Store. TikTok adds wellbeing feature for families and kids. You know about eSIMs but say hello to iSIMs. Meta's entire four-year AR/VR roadmap. And I’m still banging the drum on laptops and smartphones where you can unroll the screen for more real estate. Sponsors: RelationshipHero.com/techmeme Links: Jack Dorsey-backed Twitter alternative Bluesky hits the App Store as an invite-only app (TechCrunch) Republican Bill That Gives Biden Power to Completely Ban TikTok Passes House Committee Super Fast (Gizmodo) TikTok rolls out new screen time controls, adds new default settings for teens and expands Family Pairing (TechCrunch) Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 phones are the first to support built-in 'iSIMs' (Engadget) This is Meta’s AR/VR hardware roadmap for the next four years (The Verge) Lenovo’s rollable laptop and smartphone are a compelling, unfinished pitch for the future (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 Maalis 202316min