Fri. 04/11 – Why COULDN’T Apple Make An iPhone In The US?
Europe says it could tax social media ads if the tariff wars get really nasty. Why COULDN’T Apple make an iPhone in the US as President Trump wants? Is OpenAI cutting corners on safety in order to stay ahead in the AI race? And as always, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Sponsors: Oracle.com/techmeme Links: EU could tax Big Tech if Trump trade talks fail, says von der Leyen (Financial Times) Why Trump’s Dream of Made-in-the-USA iPhones Isn’t Going to Happen (Bloomberg) OpenAI updates ChatGPT to reference your past chats (TechCrunch) OpenAI slashes AI model safety testing time (Financial Times) Mira Murati doubled the fundraising target for her new AI startup to $2 billion. It could be the largest seed round in history. (Business Insider) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: 12 Graphs That Explain the State of AI in 2025 (IEEE Spectrum) Generative AI is learning to spy for the US military (MIT Technology Review) How Apple Fumbled Siri’s AI Makeover (The Information) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
11 Apr 18min
Thu. 04/10 – JK, JK, JK
At the time of this writing, the tariffs are back off, but who know what will happen by the time you hear this. OpenAI sues back. Google wants a framework for AI agents to talk to each other. Oh, and how many iPhones can you pack in a jumbo jet? Sponsors: Acorns.com/ride Links: Trump temporarily drops tariffs to 10% for most countries, hits China harder with 125% (CNBC) Nintendo Gains Time to Prep Switch 2 Debut With Tariff Pause (Bloomberg) How Many New iPhones Can Fit on a Freight Plane? (Daring Fireball) Wall Street Consultant Paul Atkins Confirmed to Lead SEC (Bloomberg) OpenAI countersues Elon Musk, claims harassment (Reuters) Google launches Agent2Agent protocol to connect AI agents across platforms (Testing Catalog) OpenAI launches program to design new ‘domain-specific’ AI benchmarks (TechCrunch) AI is set to drive surging electricity demand from data centres while offering the potential to transform how the energy sector works (IEA) AI to double data centre energy demand by 2030 (Silicon Republic) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
10 Apr 17min
Wed. 04/09 – Instagram iPad App But For REAL This Time?
Google unveils its new TPU’s, this time with inference! Temu and Shein officially get nuked from orbit. More signs of pullback in AI datacenter buildout. Are we actually, for real, about to get an iPad Instagram app? And a cute little home robot from ages ago, looks like it’s finally coming to a house near you this summer. Sponsors: Shopify.com/ride Links: Ironwood is Google’s newest AI accelerator chip (TechCrunch) Google announces ‘Workspace Flows’ automation with Gems, audio in Docs, and more Gemini (9to5Google) US Raises Charges on Small Parcels, Targeting Chinese Retailers (Bloomberg) Microsoft pauses $1bn data center plans in Licking County, Ohio (Data Center Dynamics) Instagram’s Mosseri Positions App for TikTok Turmoil (The Information) Amazon Seeks Partners for $15 Billion Warehouse Expansion Plan (Bloomberg) Google Maps is launching tools to help cities analyze infrastructure and traffic (The Verge) Samsung Taps Google AI to Launch Long-Promised Ballie Robot With Video Projector (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
9 Apr 18min
Tue. 04/08 – It’s Already Starting…
Uh oh, it looks like the tech price hikes are already starting! People are accusing Meta of doing some weird things with those latest AI models. Shopify tells workers that they need to embrace AI for everything. Is AI killing web traffic? And how AI is being used to automatically create sequels for books. Sponsors: Kinsta.com/brian LinkedIn.com/ride Links: Framework “temporarily pausing” some laptop sales because of new tariffs (ArsTechnica) Exclusive: Micron to impose tariff-related surcharge on some products from April 9, sources say (Reuters) Apple Plans to Source More iPhones From India as Potential Tariff Fix (WSJ) Apple Customers Dash to Stores to Buy iPhones Ahead of Tariffs (Bloomberg) Meta got caught gaming AI benchmarks (The Verge) Shopify CEO says staffers need to prove jobs can’t be done by AI before asking for more headcount (CNBC) Google AI Search Shift Leaves Website Makers Feeling ‘Betrayed’ (Bloomberg) THE A.I. ROMANCE FACTORY (Bloomberg Businessweek) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
8 Apr 17min
Mon. 04/07 – Will Tech Raise Prices Cause Of Tariffs?
TikTok lives! Again. Again. At least for another 75 days. Meta’s big new Llama models are out. AI coding assistant Cursor has become the big breakout hit of the AI moment. And then yes, we get into the tariff situation, including, me polling tech execs who make consumer facing gadgets: do you plan to raise prices? Here’s what they told me. Sponsors: Robinhood.com/gold Qualialife.com/ride and code RIDE Links: Trump extends TikTok deadline for the second time (CNBC) Meta releases two Llama 4 AI models (The Verge) AI Coding Assistant Cursor Draws a Million Users Without Even Trying (Bloomberg) Tariffs are tanking tech stocks, so why is Microsoft escaping the worst of the bloodbath? (Fortune) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
7 Apr 17min
(BNS) The Legality Of The AI Stuff
Is what happened with the Studio Ghibli ChatGPT image generation stuff even legal? I spoke with AI lawyer Rob Rosenberg, former general counsel at Showtime Networks and founder and principal of Telluride Legal Strategies about it, and what he told me was very interesting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
5 Apr 31min
Fri. 04/04 – Has Intel Found A Way Out?
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4 Apr 17min
Thu. 04/03 – How Tariffs Might Impact Tech
Well we gotta talk about this tariff thing because the early indications are this could impact almost every nook and cranny of the tech industry. Could we get an announcement about TikTok within days? I think I figured out why CoreWeave’s stock popped back up. And how Nintendo plans to fight the scalpers. Links: Trump’s New Tariffs Test Apple’s Global Supply Chain (NYTimes) Trump to Outline TikTok Deal Proposal, With ByteDance Retaining Stake (The Information) Google in Advanced Talks to Rent Nvidia AI Servers From CoreWeave (The Information) AI Video Startup Runway Valued at $3 Billion in Funding Round (Bloomberg) Amazon targets April 9 launch of first Kuiper internet satellites (Reuters) Nintendo’s Switch 2 preorder process has strict requirements to thwart scalpers (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
3 Apr 17min
