Wed. 08/06 – OpenAI’s Open-Weight Models

More fallout from the whole Cruise wind-down. What it’s like to use some of the new Gemini 2.0 features. Has Apple, quite belatedly, finally done a feature update that provides the Vision Pro with a “killer app?” An Instagram-like app from China I had never heard of. And one singular, eye-popping datapoint from the CHIPS Act. Links: The end of Cruise is the beginning of a risky new phase for autonomous vehicles (The Verge) Gemini 2.0 Flash: An outstanding multi-modal LLM with a sci-fi streaming model (Simon Willison's Blog) FCC Opens Entire 6-GHz Band to Very-Low-Power Device Operations (TV Tech) The Vision Pro’s ultrawide Mac display is very close to being a killer app (The Verge) China’s Instagram-Style Xiaohongshu Crosses $1 Billion in Profit (Bloomberg) Harvard Is Releasing a Massive Free AI Training Dataset Funded by OpenAI and Microsoft (Wired) US chipmaking boom in doubt after Biden’s defeat (Financial Times) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

12 Dec 202415min

GM shocked everybody by shutting down the Cruise robotaxi business. ChatGPT is finally on your iPhone once you update it. Could all Apple watches someday have satellite texting? And then, I guess Google wanted to pre-empt Santa Sam, because they released an absolute slew of AI products today. Links: GM to refocus autonomous driving development on personal vehicles (GM Investor Relations) GM Calls It Quits on Mary Barra’s $50 Billion Robotaxi Dream (Bloomberg) Apple’s Next Ultra Smartwatch Will Be Able to Send Texts Via Satellite (Bloomberg) Google Rolls Out Faster Gemini AI Model to Power Agents (Bloomberg) Google’s new Trillium AI chip delivers 4x speed and powers Gemini 2.0 (VentureBeat) Gemini 2.0, Google’s newest flagship AI, can generate text, images, and speech (TechCrunch) Google unveils AI coding assistant ‘Jules,’ promising autonomous bug fixes and faster development cycles (VentureBeat) Google unveils Project Mariner: AI agents to use the web for you (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

11 Dec 202416min

You can now buy a car on Amazon. A new AI unicorn doing something with AI I hadn’t heard about before. New AI enhanced smartglasses. Microsoft says it has a new datacenter design that uses zero water. And if you were able to use Sora yesterday, what was that like? Sponsors: Shopify.com/ride Links: You Can Buy a Car on Amazon Now (Wired) US finalizes $6.1 bln Micron chip-making subsidy (Reuters) Memory chip maker Micron’s $6.1 billion grant confirmed by Commerce Dept. (Washington Post) OpenAI-Backed Language Tutor Startup Doubles Value to $1 Billion (Bloomberg) Solos challenges Meta’s Ray-Bans with $299 ChatGPT smart glasses (The Verge) Microsoft Unveils Zero-Water Data Centers to Reduce AI Climate Impact (Bloomberg) Bluesky teases paid subscription, Bluesky+, in new mockup (TechCrunch) I just went hands-on with Sora — the good, the bad, and the wow (Tom's Guide) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10 Dec 202416min

OpenAI’s Sora model is here! TikTok is still in trouble. China does more turnabouts is fair play, this time with Nvidia. I Apple, belatedly, getting serious about gaming on the Vision Pro? And did Google just make a huge, historic leap forward in quantum computing? Sponsors: 1Password.com/ride MackWeldon.com promocode: brian Links: Sora is here (OpenAI) OpenAI’s controversial Sora is finally launching today. Will it truly disrupt Hollywood? (LATimes) OpenAI releases Sora, its buzzy AI video-generation tool (CNBC) Appeals Court Upholds U.S. Ban of TikTok (WSJ) Nvidia Hit With China Probe in Global Tech War Escalation (Bloomberg) Apple, Sony Discuss Teaming Up on Gaming Controllers for Vision Pro (Blooomberg) Quantum Computing Inches Closer to Reality After Another Google Breakthrough (NYTimes) Google Debuts New Quantum Chip, Error Correction Breakthrough, and Roadmap Details (HPCWire) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

9 Dec 202415min

Santa Sam has made his first delivery of the promised 12 days of launches from OpenAI. David Sacks is named the AI and Crypto Czar. Samsung’s entire UI is getting a radical overhaul. OpenAI is seemingly about to restructure everything. No more Surface Studios? And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Links: OpenAI is charging $200 a month for an exclusive version of its o1 ‘reasoning’ model (The Verge) Trump Names David Sacks as White House AI and Crypto Czar (Bloomberg) Here’s everything new Samsung’s Android 15 update, One UI 7, and the full changelog [Gallery] (9to5Google) OpenAI seeks to unlock investment by ditching ‘AGI’ clause with Microsoft (Financial Times) The Surface Studio is dead? — Microsoft ends production on $4,500 Surface Studio 2+ as stock dwindles (Windows Central) Hawk Tuah memecoin dumps 90% amid backlash over controversial launch (Cointelegraph) What Pat Gelsinger’s exit means for Intel and the US Chips Act (Financial Times) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: He Was Going to Save Intel. He Destroyed $150 Billion of Value Instead. (WSJ) Friend or Faux (The Verge) When a Telescope Is a National-Security Risk (The Atlantic) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

6 Dec 202420min

Bitcoin crosses the big $100k mark for the first time. We now know who Trump wants to fill the roles Silicon Valley cares about the most. Is Amazon about to become a top tier AI model player? Two new models from Google DeepMind, one of them promises to revolutionize weather prediction. And Waymo says bienvenido a Miami. Sponsors: WashingtonPost.com/ride Links: Crypto Trading Volume Surged to $10 Trillion for the First Time in November (Bloomberg) Trump Picks Paul Atkins to Run the S.E.C. (NYTimes) Trump Taps Vance Aide Gail Slater as Top DOJ Antitrust Cop (Bloomberg) Amazon announces Nova, a new family of multimodal AI models (TechCrunch) First impressions of the new Amazon Nova LLMs (via a new llm-bedrock plugin) (Simon Willison's Blog) DeepMind’s Genie 2 can generate interactive worlds that look like video games (TechCrunch) Google Introduces A.I. Agent That Aces 15-Day Weather Forecasts (NYTimes) Key leaders behind Google’s viral NotebookLM are leaving to create their own startup (TechCrunch) Waymo to expand to Miami, aims to launch robotaxi service there in 2026 (CNBC) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

5 Dec 202417min

Amid the Salt Typhoon hack, the US government wants you and me to go encrypted. Ubisoft shuts down XDefiant. Spotify Wrapped 2024 has NotebookLM baked right into it. And Google’s text to video AI model has beaten Sora to market, but is Sam Altman about to get all Santa on us? Sponsors: Lumen.me/ride Links: U.S. officials urge Americans to use encrypted apps amid unprecedented cyberattack (NBCNews) Ubisoft shutting down XDefiant in 2025, laying off half of its team (Polygon) Spotify Wrapped 2024 adds an AI podcast powered by Google’s NotebookLM (TechCrunch) Smart Home Market Becomes Apple’s Next Strategic Target; New HomePod with Display Set to Be Key Product in Apple’s Smart Home Strategy (Ming-Chi Kuo) Google’s new generative AI video model is now available (The Verge) AWS announces Aurora DSQL, a new distributed SQL database that promises virtually unlimited scalability (TechCrunch) Kindle Scribe 2 review in progress: Is slightly useful AI worth the extra cash? (Engadget) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

4 Dec 202417min

The search for a new Intel CEO has begun in earnest, but a change in leadership probably makes a wholesale transformation of the company more likely. China goes tit for tat on banning things. Why ChatGPT can’t say certain names. And how is that shopping with AI agents thing going? Links: Exclusive: Intel's CEO-shortlist candidates include former board member Lip-Bu Tan, sources say (Reuters) Intel CEO Forced Out by Board Frustrated With Slow Progress (Bloomberg) China retaliates against latest US chip restrictions (Financial Times) Why does the name ‘David Mayer’ crash ChatGPT? Digital privacy requests may be at fault (TechCrunch) The race is on to make AI agents do your online shopping for you (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

3 Dec 202417min