Mon. 02/12 – Luddite Riots?
Is actual neo-ludditeism going to become a thing, as some people have predicted? Google reveals the strength of its subscription businesses. A review of Google’s Gemini. Bluesky is open and doing some interesting things. And what about the strategic position Snap suddenly finds itself in? Sponsors: ArcticWolf.com/techmeme Links: A crowd destroyed a driverless Waymo car in San Francisco (The Verge) Google One hits 100 million subscribers (The Verge) Google’s Gemini assistant is a fantastic and frustrating glimpse of the AI future (The Verge) ASML's next chip challenge: rollout of its new $350 mln 'High NA EUV' machine (Reuters) Meta turns its back on politics again, angering some news creators (Washington Post) Bluesky Opens Up (TechDirt) It’s Snap versus the world (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
12 Feb 202414min
Fri. 02/09 – Sam Altman Wants To Raise $5 Trillion Dollars. With a T.
Sam Altman wants to raise more money for his chip ambitions than the entire semiconductor industry. The Feds might put the breaks on Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision… again. Is Ring raising its subscription doorbell prices too much? And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Robinhood.com/boost Links: Sam Altman Seeks Trillions of Dollars to Reshape Business of Chips and AI (WSJ) Exclusive: Nvidia chases $30 billion custom chip market with new unit -sources (Reuters) Disney’s Epic Deal Values Fortnite Maker at $22.5 Billion, a Sharp Cut (The Information) Activision Had Planned Layoffs Before Merger, Microsoft Says (Bloomberg) Ring video doorbell customers angry at 43% price hike (BBC) Ring is raising the price of its cheapest subscription plan by 25 percent (The Verge) Arm shares surge 48% after SoftBank-controlled chip designer issues strong forecast (CNBC) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Can AI Unlock the Secrets of the Ancient World? (Bloomberg Businessweek) AI Just Discovered 'Unreadable' Ancient Scrolls (National Geographic) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
9 Feb 202417min
Thu. 02/08 – Google Releases Gemini Ultra 1.0
Google has released Gemini Ultra 1.0, renamed Bard as Gemini and looks to be replacing Google Assistant with Gemini. Disney has invested in a big stake of Epic Games to get at Fortnite IP. Leaked images of the Pixel Fold 2. And what if OpenAI is facing the same strategic dilemma that Mark Zuckerberg was never able to overcome? Sponsors: Robinhood.com/boost Links: Google’s AI now goes by a new name: Gemini (The Verge) Google Assistant Just Got Supercharged With AI. It Might Be the Biggest Update in Google's History. (Gizmodo) Google Prepares for a Future Where Search Isn’t King (Wired) Google Joins Effort to Help Spot Content Made With A.I. (NYTimes) Disney to take $1.5 billion stake in Epic Games, work with Fortnite maker on new content (CNBC) China had "persistent" access to U.S. critical infrastructure (Axios) Exclusive: This could be the Google Pixel Fold 2 (Android Authority) OpenAI Shifts AI Battleground to Software That Operates Devices, Automates Tasks (The Information) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
8 Feb 202415min
Wed. 02/07 – AI Watermarks And New Apple AI Models
OpenAI is adding watermarks to Dall-E 3 images. A new AI model from Apple. A new open source model that is king of the LLM hill. More rumors of a foldable iPhone. A new streaming service that will be like Hulu but for sports. And the specific words and phrases that will get your college application essay flagged as being AI-generated. Sponsors: TryFum.com/ride to save 10% off the Journey Pack today. Links: OpenAI is adding new watermarks to DALL-E 3 (The Verge) Apple Develops a Foldable Clamshell iPhone (The Information) ESPN, Fox and Warner Team Up to Create Sports Streaming Platform (WSJ) Apple releases ‘MGIE’, a revolutionary AI model for instruction-based image editing (VentureBeat) Meet ‘Smaug-72B’: The new king of open-source AI (VentureBeat) Did You Use ChatGPT On Your School Applications? These Words May Tip Off Admissions (Forbes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
7 Feb 202415min
Tue. 02/06 – Don’t Forget Your Vision Pro Password!
Don’t forget your Vision Pro password, or else you’re going to have to return it to the Apple Store to use it again. Why are the gaming platforms willing to play nice all of the sudden? The AI that can spit out fake IDs in seconds. Does Google owe you yet more money? And more signs the tech recession is over. Sponsors: Miro.com/podcast Hims.com/ride Links: Forgot Your Apple Vision Pro’s Passcode? You May Have to Take It Back to Store (Bloomberg) YouTube says a Vision Pro app is ‘on the roadmap’ (The Verge) Microsoft to share details on bringing Xbox games to PlayStation next week (The Verge) Roblox rolls out real-time AI translation for all users — is this the start of true global multiplayer? (Tom's Guide) Inside the Underground Site Where ‘Neural Networks’ Churn Out Fake IDs (404Media) Google agrees to pay $350 million settlement in data privacy case (Washington Post) Digital ad market shows signs of sharp rebound as Meta, Amazon point to growth (CNBC) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
6 Feb 202415min
Mon. 02/05 – The Most Shocking Deepfake Scam Of The AI Era
Let me tell you the story of the most shocking AI deepfake scam we’ve heard yet, because it’s a warning to all of us going forward. An Apple Vision Pro teardown explains why EyeSight looks so blurry. Another sign that Google is losing interest in the web. And an interesting peek behind the curtain revealing the economics and motivation of tech media. Sponsors: ShipStation.com/ride code: ride Links: Finance worker pays out $25 million after video call with deepfake ‘chief financial officer’ (CNN) Vision Pro Teardown—Why Those Fake Eyes Look So Weird (iFixIt) Google Search’s cache links are officially being retired (The Verge) TECHCRUNCH+ TERMINATION ("Securities") YouTube Video Of Vision Pro Demos Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
5 Feb 202416min
(Bonus) a16z's Chris Dixon On His New Book And Web3
Our friend Chris Dixon is back to talk about his new book: Read Write Own! How Web3 and the blockchain can save the web as we know it! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
3 Feb 202432min
Fri. 02/02 – Facebook’s Golden Age Is Now
A run down of some interesting details from Tech’s big earnings day yesterday. Rufus is Amazon’s AI-powered shopping assistant. The Browser Company continues to be the catalyst for me thinking about how AI is going to change the web. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Sponsors: Nutrafol.com/men code: RIDEHOME Links: Amazon debuts ‘Rufus,’ an AI shopping assistant in its mobile app (TechCrunch) Cloudflare hacked using auth tokens stolen in Okta attack (BleepingComputer) The Browser Company Announces Act II for Arc: ‘The Browser That Browses For You’ (MacStories) The Arc browser is getting better bookmarks and search results, all thanks to AI (The Verge) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: AI Can Speed Drug Discovery. But Is It Really Better Than a Human? (Bloomberg) The scariest sound on TikTok (The Verge) The 150 Greatest Science Fiction Movies of All Time (Rolling Stone) LATE BLOOMER (Vanity Fair) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
2 Feb 202417min
