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Mon. 10/07 – Apple Intelligence Gets A Date Oct 07, 2024

Show notes

We finally have a date for Apple Intelligence. Meta has a new text to video AI model. Google could soon drop under 50% in the search ads market. More hope for level three automated driving. And how AI bots could revolutionize online dating.

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Fri. 10/04 – AI Slop Comes To Podcasting Oct 04, 2024

Show notes

Google has updated Lens and is taking a page out of Perplexity’s book. OpenAI’s new canvas workspace. Why an upcoming iPhone SE might have some interesting internals. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

Links:

Google Lens now lets you search with video (The Verge)
Google brings ads to AI Overviews as it expands AI’s role in search (TechCrunch)
OpenAI launches new ‘Canvas’ ChatGPT interface tailored to writing and coding projects (TechCrunch)
iPhone SE 4 to feature Apple’s first 5G modem, A18 chip, same cameras as iPhone 15 (9to5Mac)
159 employees are leaving Automattic as CEO’s fight with WP Engine escalates (TechCrunch)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

Saving Cyberpunk 2077: How CD Projekt Red recovered from one of video games' most disastrous launches (EuroGamer)
The Flying Car Is Finally Here. It’s Slightly Illegal. (Intelligencer)

Thu. 10/03 – The Monster OpenAI Raise Oct 03, 2024

Show notes

OpenAI raised their round, and it basically broke all the records. The whole Wordpress mess has gotten so crazy that WPEngine is suing. Using Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses to dox people in real time. And you’ll never guess the reason why you’re about to see more ads on streaming video. Hint: you’ll endure it.

Sponsors:

Lumen.me/ride

Links:

OpenAI raises $6.6 billion in largest VC round ever (Axios)
OpenAI asks investors not to back rival start-ups such as Elon Musk’s xAI (Financial Times)
OpenAI feels competitors breathing down its neck (Financial Times)
WP Engine sues WordPress co-creator Mullenweg and Automattic, alleging abuse of power (TechCrunch)
Someone Put Facial Recognition Tech onto Meta's Smart Glasses to Instantly Dox Strangers (404Media)
Spotify adds a new, automatically updating playlist for offline listening (TechCrunch)
Amazon to increase number of advertisements on Prime Video (Financial Times)
Venture Dealmaking Reflects Selective Tastes of Investors (Bloomberg)

Wed. 10/02 – A Tech Angle To The Hurricane Oct 02, 2024

Show notes

Catching you up on a bunch of other Microsoft announcements we missed yesterday. Is Nvidia trying to break open the black box of AI? It’s absolutely wild that there’s still no viable YouTube app for the Vision Pro. And we were worried about disruption to the semiconductor industry if a typhoon hit Taiwan, but it turns out, a hurricane hitting North Carolina can be bad too.

Links:

Microsoft is using AI to improve Windows search (The Verge)
Microsoft starts paying publishers for content surfaced by Copilot (TechCrunch)
Telegram CEO Downplays Service Term Changes Amid French Probe (Bloomberg)
Nvidia just dropped a bombshell: Its new AI model is open, massive, and ready to rival GPT-4 (VentureBeat)
Threads users can now see who follows them from other fediverse servers (TechCrunch)
Christian Selig’s unofficial YouTube app for the Vision Pro just got taken down (The Verge)
Hurricane Helene Will Send Shockwaves Through the Semiconductor Industry (Wired)

Tue. 10/01 – Running This Pod Through NotebookLM Oct 01, 2024

Show notes

Do we have the first IPO of the AI era? Do we have the first AI model beyond the transformer architecture? Microsoft has a bunch of new AI tools inside Windows. We try to explain that whole controversy around PearAI. And what about that NotebookLM feature that lets you create a two-hander podcast out of any text.

Links:

AI chipmaker Cerebras files for IPO to take on Nvidia (CNBC)
MIT spinoff Liquid debuts non-transformer AI models and they’re already state-of-the-art (VentureBeat)
Microsoft Copilot can now read your screen, think deeply, and speak aloud to you (TechCrunch)
Oura Nears $500 Million in Annual Revenue and Readies New Ring (Bloomberg)
Y Combinator is being criticized after it backed an AI startup that admits it basically cloned another AI startup (TechCrunch)
NotebookLM’s automatically generated podcasts are surprisingly effective (Simon Willison's Blog)

Mon. 09/30 – Controversial AI Bill Vetoed Sep 30, 2024

Show notes

That controversial AI bill in California has been vetoed by Governor Newsom. Is even Apple now thinking that its Vision Pro strategy might need a rethink? What really is OpenAI’s situation right now, and this time I’m talking money-wise? And the strange resurrection of the point and shoot camera.

Links:

Fri. 09/27 – Sam Altman Declines To Go “Founder Mode” Sep 27, 2024

Show notes

Founder Mode? Not for me, says Sam Altman, but we will see. A few new gadgets from Samsung. Maybe ARM should buy Intel. Are AI startups hitting revenue traction faster than SaaS startups did? And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

Links:

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

Thu. 09/26 – The Orion Smartglasses Sep 26, 2024

Show notes

There’s only two stories really. If you can believe it, more executive departures at OpenAI, as it looks like they’re serious about going for profit. And yes, Meta announced a new Quest headset, but the real headlines are the Orion smartglasses, which you can’t actually buy. What? I’ll explain.

Sponsors:

Thorne.fit/ridehome

Links:

OpenAI considering restructuring to for-profit, CTO Mira Murati and two top research execs depart (CNBC)
Exclusive: OpenAI to remove non-profit control and give Sam Altman equity (Reuters)
Meta’s cheaper Quest 3S might just be an upgrade (The Verge)
A Few Brief Thoughts on Meta Connect 2024 (Daring Fireball)
Meta pitches VR to mobile developers with new support for Android apps on Quest (TechCrunch)
Meta’s big tease (The Verge)

Wed. 09/25 – Caroline Ellison Sentenced Sep 25, 2024

Show notes

Caroline Ellison benefits from being cooperative. Has your company unknowingly hired remote workers from North Korea? What is going on with this WordPress back and forth? Why OpenAI has to let people look at their training data. And why is everyone upset at Marquess Brownlee?

Sponsors:

Hims.com/ride

Links:

Caroline Ellison sentenced to two years in prison for her role in FTX scandal (Axios)
Dozens of Fortune 100 companies have unwittingly hired North Korean IT workers, according to report (The Record)
The DOJ sues Visa for locking out rival payment platforms (The Verge)
Automattic sends WP Engine its own cease-and-desist over WordPress trademark infringement (TechCrunch)
OpenAI Training Data to Be Inspected in Authors’ Copyright Cases (The Hollywood Reporter)
Marques Brownlee says ‘I hear you’ after fans criticize his new wallpaper app (The Verge)

Tue. 09/24 – Sam Altman’s Few Thousand Days Sep 24, 2024

Show notes

Sam Altman has a manifesto. Kinda. Telegram is beginning to walk things back a bit. Cloudflare wants to help you block the AI bots. New streaming device from Roku. And I guess TikTok can’t win at everything.

Sponsors:

Lumen.me/ride

Links:

The Intelligence Age (Sam Altman)
Sam Altman catapults past founder mode into ‘god mode’ with latest AI post (TechCrunch)
OpenAI CEO: We may have AI superintelligence in “a few thousand days” (ArsTechnica)
Some Kaspersky customers receive surprise forced-update to new antivirus software (TechCrunch)
Telegram CEO Durov Says App to Provide More Data to Governments (Bloomberg)
New Cloudflare Tools Let Sites Detect and Block AI Bots for Free (Wired)
The new Roku Ultra is faster, has better Wi-Fi, and comes with a backlit remote (The Verge)
Spotify’s AI playlist builder is now available in the US (The Verge)
TikTok to Shut Down its Music Streaming Business in November (Bloomberg)

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