Mon. 06/02 – How DoorDash Has Quietly Been Killing It

I titled an episode last week “Twilight Of The Blue Checks.” Well, today is the sequel, “Rise Of The Blue Checks” cause starting April 15, you’ll have to be a blue check to appear on Twitter’s For You tab. Also: the feds go after Binance. Disney cuts its entire metaverse unit. And the UK cancels its NFT. Sponsors: Miro.com/podcast Notion.com/ride Links: Elon Musk says Twitter’s For You page will only recommend verified accounts (The Verge) The secret list of Twitter VIPs getting boosted over everyone else (Platformer) Binance and founder Changpeng Zhao violated compliance rules to attract U.S. users, CFTC alleges (CNBC) Disney Eliminates Its Metaverse Division as Part of Company’s Layoffs Plan (WSJ) NFT: Plans for Royal Mint produced token dropped (BBC News) Lyft CEO and president to step down, former Amazon exec David Risher named as replacement (CNBC) Amazon just opened up its Sidewalk network for anyone to build connected gadgets on (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

28 Mar 202317min

Looks like the short, sharp, SVB saga has reached the beginning of a conclusion. Twitter source code has been leaked. The doubts inside Apple about the upcoming mixed reality headset. Why has no one presented any evidence for why TikTok might need to be banned? And, again, will generative AI lead to a physical robot revolution? Sponsors: Miro.com/podcast GetSunday.com/ride for 20% off Links: First Citizens to Buy SVB After Biggest Failure Since 2008 (Bloomberg) Twitter Says Parts of Its Source Code Were Leaked Online (NYTimes) Apple’s Best Hope for New Headset: a Smartwatch-Like Trajectory (Bloomberg) France bans all recreational apps – including TikTok – from government devices (The Register) Pinduoduo App Malware Detailed by Cybersecurity Researchers (Bloomberg) Tech’s AI Armies Are Huge, Yet Struggling to Innovate (Bloomberg) For Smarter Robots, Just Add Humans (Wired) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

27 Mar 202316min

Robert from Rownd shares his most recent investor update live and in real time, so you can hear how these things go. Also, want to learn more about Rownd? From Robert: Demo site: https://demo.rownd.com. Try out Rownd! We put Rownd into a webflow site to show how easy it works! Sign in with google or email, add biometrics (if you choose), create a wallet, and get an NFT!   Do you have a mobile app or eCommerce company? Reach out at robert@rownd.io or sign up at https://app.rownd.io. We offer all podcast listeners 2 months free + 50% off for a year! Just email me! Have some feedback? Grab some time with Rob:  https://calendly.com/rob-rownd/mutant-podcast-army. Try a few Rownd customer sites to see the experience!  https://stardust.app (mobile experience) https://masrefund.com (web + mobile) https://nextbigideaclub.com (e-commerce + web + mobile) https://spouse-ly.com (e-commerce) SMS Fraud link: https://interactive.twilio.com/sms-traffic-pumping-calculator Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

25 Mar 202325min

Twitter is finally sunsetting its legacy verified program. OpenAI rolls out ChatGPT plugins. Do Kwan has been detained and is facing formal charges here in the US. The FTC’s “click to cancel” proposal. And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Headspace.com/RIDE30DAY Links: Twitter to Revoke ‘Legacy’ Verified Badges in April, Leaving Only Paying Subscribers With Blue Check-Marks (Variety) OpenAI is massively expanding ChatGPT’s capabilities to let it browse the web and more (The Verge) Do Kwon Charged With Fraud by US Prosecutors in New York (Bloomberg) The FTC wants to ban those tough-to-cancel gym and cable subscriptions (The Verge) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Cheating is All You Need (Sourcegraph Blog) The Age of AI has begun (GatesNotes/Bill Gates) The secret history of Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and OpenAI (Semafor) The case for slowing down AI (Vox) Epic’s new motion-capture animation tech has to be seen to be believed (ArsTechnica) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

24 Mar 202318min

Coinbase got a Wells Notice, which is not good. Hindenburg research has a new note out and is making short run on Block, which is not good. Apple might expand its sports streaming and release more things in actual theaters. And the space startup that 3d prints its own rockets. Sponsors: Thuma.co/techmeme for a $25 credit Links: Coinbase warned by SEC of potential securities charges (CNBC) SEC charges Tron founder Justin Sun, celebrities Lindsay Lohan, Jake Paul with crypto violations (CNBC) Jack Dorsey’s Block Falls After Hindenburg Says It’s Short the Stock (Bloomberg) Hindenburg takes aim at Dorsey's payments firm Block; shares plunge (Reuters) Apple Considers Bidding for English Football Streaming Rights (Bloomberg) Apple to Spend $1 Billion a Year on Films to Break Into Cinemas (Bloomberg) Canva Launches ‘Magic’ AI Tools For Its Design Software’s 125 Million Users (Forbes) Chatbot Start-Up Character.AI Valued at $1 Billion in New Funding Round (NYTimes) Relativity Space’s first launch fails to reach orbit, but proves its 3D-printing rocket tech works (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

23 Mar 202317min

Well, we’ve got Google Bard. We’ve got a new Copilot from GitHub. Bing Image Creator is rolling out. Mozilla AI launches. The low hanging fruit that is plugging AI into NPCs to make games more realistic. And at the very end, some actual non AI news! Links: Google opens early access to its ChatGPT rival Bard — here are our first impressions (The Verge) Microsoft’s GitHub to Add OpenAI Chat Functions to Coding Tool (Bloomberg) Microsoft brings OpenAI’s DALL-E image creator to the new Bing (TechCrunch) Mozilla launches a new startup focused on ‘trustworthy’ AI (TechCrunch) Ubisoft’s new AI tool automatically generates dialogue for non-playable game characters (TechCrunch) GPT-4 and professional benchmarks: the wrong answer to the wrong question (AI Snake Oil) Amazon is flooding the zone with new TVs as it crosses 200 million Fire TV devices sold (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

22 Mar 202316min

Ahead of a major showdown in Congress this week, TikTok wants the US to know exactly how popular it is. Why ChatGPT was shut down for a while yesterday. Why Google is suspending PinDuoDuo from the play store. The AI powered doctor’s office of the future. And is Andy Jassy the David Moyes of Amazon? If you get that reference, congratulations. Down Round Podcast (Listener Ad!) Links: TikTok says it now has 150m monthly active users in the US (MusicAlly) TikTok bans deepfakes of nonpublic figures and fake endorsements in rule refresh (The Verge) Google flags apps made by popular Chinese e-commerce giant as malware (TechCrunch) OpenAI Shut Down ChatGPT to Fix Bug Exposing User Chat Titles (Bloomberg) Amazon’s post-Bezos experiment hasn’t gone exactly as planned (CNBC) OpenAI-powered app from Microsoft will instantly transcribe patient notes during doctor visits (CNBC) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

21 Mar 202317min

New bots to make video from text prompts. Fending off the bots from biting your style. Falling in love with the bots. In the streaming wars, the ad supported experiments are working, and pricing power is a thing. And the startup that says it’s about to introduce humanoid bots. Real, definitional robots. Sponsors: Dot Tech Domains: Go.tech/tm Links: Generative AI’s Next Frontier Is Video (Bloomberg) Glaze protects art from prying AIs (TechCrunch) AI love: What happens when your chatbot stops loving you back (Reuters) Netflix’s Ad Tier Hits 1 Million Users. Is That Good or Bad? (Bloomberg) Disney+ Users Paid Up When the Price Rose (WSJ) Humanoid robots are coming (Axios) Figure Promises First General-Purpose Humanoid Robot (IEEE Spectrum) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

20 Mar 202317min