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Thu. 02/16 – Microsoft Reflects On The New Bing Feb 16, 2023

Show notes

Microsoft is revealing what it’s learned from us poking around on the new Bing. It seems that once developers begin using generative AI to code, they DO keep using it. Apple has postponed its headset announce to WWDC. Banks are shying away from crypto exposure. And after 16 years, border control is finally making use of NFC technology in passports.

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Microsoft explains Bing's bizarre AI chat behavior (Engadget)
GitHub Copilot update stops AI model from revealing secrets (BleepingComputer)
SEC Proposal Could Bar Investment Advisers From Keeping Assets at Crypto Firms (CoinDesk)
Banks Are Breaking Up With Crypto During Regulatory Crackdown (WSJ)
Apple Pushes Back Mixed-Reality Headset Debut Two Months to June (Bloomberg)
Whatever happened to the metaverse? (FT)
US Border Patrol Is Finally Able to Check E-Passport Data (Wired)

Wed. 02/15 – The New Bing Is Questioning Its Own Existence Feb 15, 2023

Show notes

More signs the chat bots are maybe a little undercooked, and whooo doggy. Wait until you hear what I mean. Some datapoints suggesting the faddish nature of these new tools. And wait until you hear the possible reason you’re seeing Elon’s tweets all of the sudden. This is maybe the pinnacle story of the whole Elon/Twitter saga.

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Microsoft’s new ChatGPT AI starts sending ‘unhinged’ messages to people (The Independent)
The AI photo app trend has already fizzled, new data shows (TechCrunch)
GitHub’s Copilot for Business is now generally available (TechCrunch)
Adobe’s $20 Billion Figma Deal Faces EU Antitrust Probe (Bloomberg)
Yes, Elon Musk created a special system for showing you all his tweets first (Platformer)

Tue. 02/14 – Elon, If You Want It Or Not Feb 14, 2023

Show notes

People are saying Elon is showing you his tweets whether you asked to see them or not. More fodder for the charge that these chat bots are being rolled out quick and dirty. More fodder for the charge that US regulators are fencing in crypto. TikTok is trying to court the olds. And Amazon’s autonomous shuttle service his hit real world roads.

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Twitter is just showing everyone all of Elon Musk’s tweets now (The Verge)
Twitter delays new paid API launch by 'a few more days' (AppleInsider)
Microsoft’s Bing AI, like Google’s, also made dumb mistakes during first demo (The Verge)
US Crackdown Seeks to Push Crypto Back to the Fringes of Finance (Bloomberg)
TikTok Turns to New Tactics to Spur Growth as Boom Times End (The Information)
Amazon chief vows to ‘go big’ on physical stores (FT)
TikTok’s Parent Takes On Meta in Battle for Virtual-Reality Market (WSJ)
Amazon’s Self-Driving Car Shuttles People on Public Roads for the First Time (Bloomberg)

Mon. 02/13 – Are Stablecoins Dead? Feb 13, 2023

Show notes

Binance’s stablecoin seems to be dead, but with regulatory questions swirling around Paxos, I’m wondering if all stablecoins might about to see a rug pull. Tons of uncertainty swirling around the metaverse all the sudden. Can the metaverse still happen if all of its funding get pulled? And are all of these AI tools being rushed to market in embarrassing ways?

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Regulator Orders Crypto Firm Paxos to Stop Issuing Binance Stablecoin (WSJ)
PayPal Pauses Stablecoin Work Amid Regulatory Scrutiny of Crypto (Bloomberg)
Meta delays setting team budgets as it plans fresh round of job cuts (FT)
Microsoft Kills Its Industrial Metaverse Team After 4 Months (The Information)
AI-powered Bing Chat spills its secrets via prompt injection attack (ArsTechnica)
Apple Reportedly Planning to Limit iPhone 15's USB-C Port in the Same Way as Lightning (MacRumors)

Fri. 02/10 – A Record Year For Bots (The Other Kind Of Bots) Feb 10, 2023

Show notes

More job cuts at Microsoft make me wonder if the HoloLens is still a thing. But also, we have data to explain why Apple hasn’t done layoffs yet. More AI chatbot announces coming fast and furious. But the other kind of bots, actual mechanical robots had their biggest year ever last year. And of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

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Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

‘Disrespectful to the Craft:’ Actors Say They’re Being Asked to Sign Away Their Voice to AI (Motherboard)
ChatGPT Can Be Broken by Entering These Strange Words, And Nobody Is Sure Why (Motherboard)
ChatGPT Is a Blurry JPEG of the Web (The New Yorker)
The Inference Cost Of Search Disruption – Large Language Model Cost Analysis (SemiAnalysis)
Stripe Can’t Lose (Every)

Thu. 02/09 – Twitter Blue Breaks The Character Barrier Feb 09, 2023

Show notes

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?

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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)

Wed. 02/08 – AI’s Big Week Continues Feb 08, 2023

Show notes

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.

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Tue. 02/07 – AI’s Big Debut Week Is NOW! Feb 07, 2023

Show notes

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.”

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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)

Mon. 02/06 – iPhone Ultra? Feb 06, 2023

Show notes

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?

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Fri. 02/03 – The Startup Planning To De-Extinct The Dodo Feb 03, 2023

Show notes

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)

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