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Fri. 09/29 – Could Apple Have Bought Bing? Sep 29, 2023

Show notes

What if Apple had bought Bing and turned it into its own search engine? Why did France’s competition authority raid, we believe, Nvidia’s offices? Big layoffs and peel offs from Epic shows that the gaming industry is still hurting. And of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

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Microsoft Discussed Selling Bing to Apple as Google Replacement (Bloomberg)
Google adds a switch for publishers to opt out of becoming AI training data (The Verge)
Nvidia’s French Offices Raided in Cloud-Computing Antitrust Inquiry (WSJ)
Epic Games cuts around 830 jobs (The Verge)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions

The new phone call etiquette: Text first and never leave a voice mail (Washington Post)
Can FTX Be Revived—Without Sam Bankman-Fried? (Wired)
Could ‘The Terminator’ really happen? Experts assess Hollywood’s visions of AI. (Washington Post)
‘Nerfball’ introduces Nerf’s smartest foam yet — it detects dart impacts (The Verge)
Netflix Prepares to Send Its Final Red Envelope (NYTimes)

Thu. 09/28 – Meta Connect Sep 28, 2023

Show notes

The Meta Connect keynote was yesterday and they announced a bunch of stuff including AI chatbots, a new Quest 3, and the continuation of those Ray-Ban smart glasses that are actually getting kind of interesting. Looks like OpenAI is serious about working with Jony Ive. A big new open-source LLM available to download now. And the new Raspberry Pi 5.

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Facebook and Instagram will soon get a slew of AI-powered creator tools (The Verge)
Meta is putting AI chatbots everywhere (The Verge)
Meta Rolls Out Higher-Priced Quest 3 Headset, Just Ahead of Apple’s Vision Pro (Bloomberg)
Meta’s smart glasses can take calls, play music, and livestream from your face (The Verge)
OpenAI and Jony Ive in talks to raise $1bn from SoftBank for AI device venture (FT)
Mistral AI makes its first large language model free for everyone (TechCrunch)
Elon Musk Wins US Space Force Contract for Starshield (Bloomberg)
The Raspberry Pi 5 is finally here (The Verge)

Wed. 09/27 – The Big Amazon Lawsuit Sep 27, 2023

Show notes

The big FTC-led lawsuit against Amazon is live. Is Jony Ive working with OpenAI to create an AI hardware product? OpenAI might soon be 3x-ing its private valuation. What the writers won from Hollywood. And what it’s actually like to ride in the only street-legal Level 3 autonomous car.

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Tue. 09/26 – Spotify Pumps Up The Jam Sep 26, 2023

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Spotify’s new Jam product is kind of the coolest new feature I’ve heard in a while. Looks like the FCC is bringing net neutrality back. Google discontinues some products. New drone reviews and a new drone that either will eliminate police chases… or bring on the panopticon.

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Spotify launches Jam, a real-time collaborative playlist controlled by up to 32 people (TechCrunch)
Coinbase Role in Crypto Firm Celsius’s Bankruptcy Plan Questioned by SEC (Bloomberg)
FCC Aims to Reinstate Net Neutrality Rules After US Democrats Gain Control of Panel (Bloomberg)
Google killing Basic HTML version of Gmail In January 2024 (The Register)
Not just a Pixel thing: iPhone 15 series users are also reporting heating issues (Android Authority)
DJI Mini 4 Pro review: The best lightweight drone gains more power and smarts (Engadget)
This New Autonomous Drone for Cops Can Track You in the Dark (Wired)

Mon. 09/25 – Amazon Makes A Big Bet On Anthropic Sep 25, 2023

Show notes

Amazon makes a big bet on Anthropic. A big DeFi hack. The US government is weighing a sort of “know your customer” rule for big cloud providers. OpenAI has rolled out some cool new ways to interact with their AI. And why the number of smartphone brands around the world has basically collapsed.

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Amazon to invest up to $4bn in AI start-up Anthropic (Financial Times)
Defi Project Mixin Network Suspends Services After $200 Million Crypto Hack (Bloomberg)
Booking to appeal after EU vetoes $1.7 bln ETraveli deal (Reuters)
White House could force cloud companies to disclose AI customers (Semafor)
You can now prompt ChatGPT with pictures and voice commands (The Verge)
WGA and the studios reach tentative deal to end writers’ strike (Los Angeles Times)
Nearly 500 Brands Exited Smartphone Market During 2017-2023 (Counterpoint)

(Portfolio Profile) Play Sep 23, 2023

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Find out more about Play at CreateWithPlay.com

Fri. 09/22 – Microsoft… Wins? Sep 22, 2023

Show notes

The UK CMA looks like it’s folding, so the Microsoft/Activision acquisition can go through now? YouTube unveils some cool AI tools. Amazon is adding ads to Prime Video and raising the price. And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions.

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Microsoft’s Activision Deal Set to Clear Final UK Hurdle (Bloomberg)
Apple emergency updates fix 3 new zero-days exploited in attacks (BleepingComputer)
YouTube to add AI creator tools to find music for videos, add dubs (TechCrunch)
YouTube Shorts to gain a generative AI feature called Dream Screen (TechCrunch)
Amazon to Run Ads on Prime Video in Key Markets Starting in 2024 (Bloomberg)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

Amazon’s rumored home projector can turn anything into a screen (The Verge)
The Physical Process That Powers a New Type of Generative AI (Quanta)
Unraveling The AI-Generated Spiral Art Phenomenon (NFTNow)
The Early Days of American English (Lapham's Quarterly)

Thu. 09/21 – The Microsoft And Amazon Fall Events Sep 21, 2023

Show notes

All the headlines from the Microsoft Fall event. The Amazon Fall event. OpenAI teasing DALL-E 3. And one more review of a recent Apple product, and for the first time in a long time, the consensus seems to be it’s hot garbage.

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Microsoft unveils unified Copilot that extends across Bing, Edge, and Windows (Windows Central)
The Surface Laptop Go 3 starts at $799 and arrives on October 3 (Engadget)
Microsoft announces the Surface Laptop Studio 2 with upgraded chips and ports (The Verge)
The Surface Go 4 comes with a much-needed performance boost (The Verge)
All the biggest announcements from Amazon’s September 2023 product launch event (The Verge)
Amazon brings generative AI to Alexa (TechCrunch)
OpenAI releases third version of DALL-E (The Verge)
The new FineWoven iPhone cases are very bad (The Verge)

Wed. 09/20 – Even AI Could Benefit From An Encouraging Word Sep 20, 2023

Show notes

The UK looks like it’s going to make that Online Safety Bill into law. Instacart closed up, but Arm has been trending down on the markets. Could Apple really have considered getting into the stock trading game? Is the iPad finally getting a WhatsApp app? And what if you could get AI to perform better simply by giving it gentle words of encouragement.

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Tue. 09/19 – Bunch Of Microsoft Roadmaps Leak Sep 19, 2023

Show notes

Bunch of internal Microsoft documents have leaked, so now we know the new Xbox that is coming next year, and their full gaming roadmap which includes “convergence” by 2028. Microsoft’s Chief Product Officer looks like he might take over Alexa. Google sets Bard loose on your Gmail. And what’s new in those new OS releases from Apple.

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