Mon. 09/23 - Google Play Pass And WeWork Soap Opera

Feel free to tweet your manifestos now as Twitter Blue subscribers can tweet up to 4,000 characters. Is the Fediverse failing or doing just fine, thank you very much? Is the SEC about to put the kibosh on crypto staking? Forget eggs, the real inflation is in triple A video game titles. And if the whole web becomes bot content, what do we train the bots on? Sponsors: Podcast Guru App (Listener Ad!) Links: Now Twitter Blue subscribers can write 4,000-character tweets (The Verge) Watch out, TweetDeck users—Elon Musk is about to ruin your Twitter experience (TechRadar) Lazy Reporters Claiming Fediverse Is ‘Slumping,’ Despite Massive Increase In Usage (TechDirt) Coinbase CEO Armstrong Decries Rumors of Possible US SEC Ban on Crypto Staking (Bloomberg) Meta Completes Acquisition of VR Fitness Company Within (CNET) Nintendo’s Zelda Price Hike Opens Door for More Expensive Games (Bloomberg) Google Stadia had less than 10% market share among cloud gaming services (9to5Google) Google confirms AI-generated content isn’t against Search guidelines (9to5Google) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

9 Feb 202318min

Microsoft unveils a new Bing search that basically moves the yardsticks down the field in terms of what chat can do. But Google continues to drip-feed new tools as well. Also, some more traditional but useful additions to Google Maps. The UK might force the divestiture of Call of Duty to allow Microsoft to buy Activision. And if the Bank of England does a digital pound, it signals it might not do it on the blockchain. Sponsors: The Business of Tech (Listener ad!) Links: Microsoft announces new Bing and Edge browser powered by upgraded ChatGPT AI (The Verge) I Tried Microsoft’s New AI-Powered Bing. Search Will Never Be the Same. (WSJ) Google is still drip-feeding AI into search, Maps, and Translate (The Verge) Google Maps launches Immersive View in five cities, will roll out ‘glanceable directions’ soon (TechCrunch) Microsoft’s $69 Billion Activision Deal Could Harm UK Gamers, Watchdog Finds (Bloomberg) Digital Pound Holdings Could Be Limited to 10K, Central Bank Says (CoinDesk) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

8 Feb 202317min

Bored of phone and gadget launches, well prepare yourself for AI product launches, cause we’re getting a bunch of them starting now, this week. Meta is trying to revamp Horizon Worlds. Twitter is struggling to get people to pay up. But that doesn’t mean Mastadon is continuing to grow. And can you trick ChatGPT to do things it doesn’t want to do by threatening to kill it? Say hello to AI “jailbreaking.” Sponsors: RefundsPro.com Links: Google announces ChatGPT rival Bard, with wider availability in ‘coming weeks’ (The Verge) Baidu Surges as Hope Mounts over Chinese Answer to ChatGPT (Bloomberg) Getty Images sues AI art generator Stable Diffusion in the US for copyright infringement (The Verge) Meta Targets Teen Users in Broader Horizon Metaverse App Revamp (WSJ) Musk’s Twitter Has Just 180,000 U.S. Subscribers, Two Months After Launch (The Information) The Mastodon Bump Is Now a Slump (Wired) ChatGPT’s ‘jailbreak’ tries to make the A.I. break its own rules, or die (CNBC) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

7 Feb 202319min

Is Apple considering launching an “Ultra” version of the iPhone as soon as this year? Have the good Twitter bots gotten a reprieve from Elon Musk? Is the Microsoft/Activision merger toast because global regulators are coordinating? And might regulators look askance at all these generative AI investments from the big cloud computing platforms? Sponsors: ZocDoc.com/techmeme Bombas.com/techmeme Links: Apple Talks Up High-End iPhones in Sign Ultra Model May Be Coming (Bloomberg) Elon Musk says Twitter will provide a free write-only API to bots providing ‘good’ content (TechCrunch) Microsoft’s Activision Deal Tests a New Global Alignment on Antitrust (NYTimes) Big Tech companies use cloud computing arms to pursue alliances with AI groups (FT) A16z votes against proposal to deploy latest Uniswap iteration on BNB Chain (The Block) Pre-order Brady Dale's SBF Book! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

6 Feb 202318min

Earnings wrapups from Alphabet: investors just want to know when the AI is coming. From Apple: they’re still not planning any layoffs. From Amazon: Look, AWS is still a beast. And in the Weekend Longreads suggestions: the startup that wants to bring back the Dodo, Jurassic Park style. Links: AI will help Google parent Alphabet navigate a challenging macro environment, say analysts (MarketWatch) Google Shares Slip after Sales Miss as Advertising Demand Slows (Bloomberg) Apple Sales Shrink as Pandemic Rally Ends for iPhone Maker, Other Tech Giants (WSJ) Amazon stock falls as least profitable holiday quarter since 2014 leads to its worst annual loss on record (MarketWatch) Google invests $300mn in artificial intelligence start-up Anthropic (Financial Times) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: The generative AI revolution has begun—how did we get here? (ArsTechnica) Who will compete with ChatGPT? Meet the contenders | The AI Beat (VentureBeat) The Difference Between Speaking and Thinking (The Atlantic) A de-extinction company is trying to resurrect the dodo (MIT Technology Review) A Calculated Move: Calculators Now Emulated at Internet Archive (Internet Archive Blogs) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

3 Feb 202319min

Meta singlehandedly bucks the narrative that it’s the sick man of Silicon Valley. Twitter is cutting off free access to its API. ChatGPT launches a product, and is Bing search getting GPT4 in like, a matter of weeks? Discord is coming to Playstation and the wrapup of yesterday’s Samsung event. Sponsors: Upside App promocode ridehome Links: Meta stock perks up as the company promises a ‘year of efficiency’ (TechCrunch) 2 reasons Meta stock is exploding 20% after a whopper earnings miss (Yahoo Finance) Twitter to end free access to its API in Elon Musk’s latest monetization push (TechCrunch) OpenAI launches ChatGPT Plus, starting at $20 per month (TechCrunch) ChatGPT is about to get even better and Microsoft's Bing could win big (Semafor) Discord arrives on PS5 for beta testers today (The Verge) Netflix hasn’t confirmed its plans to stop password sharing just yet (The Verge) Amazon’s No-Fly Zone: Drone Delivery Largely Grounded Despite Splashy Launch (The Information) The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is a minor update to a spec monster (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2 Feb 202318min

You think things are bad in your corner of the tech sector? Wait until I tell you about the memory chip industry. OpenAI releases a tool to let you check if something was created by OpenAI. Netflix might be going a tad overboard on this password sharing crackdown. Meta wins round one against the FTC. And the interesting new app from the founders of Instagram. Sponsors: Portant.co code techmeme (Listener!) Podcast Guru App (Listener!) Links: Hynix Posts Record Loss on Slump in Memory-Chip Prices (Bloomberg) Historic Crash for Memory Chips Threatens to Wipe Out Earnings (Bloomberg) OpenAI releases tool to detect machine-written text (Axios) Google is asking employees to test potential ChatGPT competitors, including a chatbot called ‘Apprentice Bard’ (CNBC) Confirmed: Netflix Unveils First Details of New Anti-Password Sharing Measures (The Streamable) Meta Wins Court Nod to Buy Virtual Reality Startup in Loss for Khan’s FTC (Bloomberg) Meta Plans to Shut Down One of Its Most Popular and Long-standing Multiplayer VR Games (Road To VR) Instagram's co-founders are mounting a comeback (Platformer) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 Feb 202316min

Today, some weird headlines from the world of gaming. Is VR gaming a big nothingburger for gamers themselves? Is E3 dead as a gaming industry event? Stripe is apparently raising a pretty significant down round. And the first Level 3 autonomous driving platform to receive regulatory approval belongs to Mercedes-Benz. Sponsors: Radial.llc/ride (Listener Ad!) Links: Sony Slashes PlayStation VR2 Headset Output After Pre-Orders Disappoint (Bloomberg) Exclusive: Xbox, Nintendo, and Sony Won't Be Part of E3 2023 (IGN) Showtime to Be Rebranded ‘Paramount+ with Showtime,’ Added to Paramount+ Premium Tier (The Streamable) Thrive Capital Said to Lead Potential Investment in Stripe (NYTimes) Twitter Makes First Interest Payment on Musk Buyout Debt (Bloomberg) Mercedes-Benz is the first to bring Level 3 automated driving to the US (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

31 Jan 202316min