Tech Brew Ride Home

Latest Episodes:

Thu. 08/31 – In A Sense, Bundling Is Always Consumer Friendly Aug 31, 2023

Show notes

Microsoft unbundles Teams to stay ahead of EU antitrust action. But is that actually good for European consumers? Elon wants to collect your biometric data. Can AI police online smack talking in games? Lessons from the grocery delivery bubble. And, surprise, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

Links:

Microsoft Fends Off EU Antitrust Probe With Teams Deal (Bloomberg)
Microsoft is unbundling Teams from Office in Europe to address regulator concerns (The Verge)
X Plans to Collect Biometric Data, Job and School History (Bloomberg)
Call of Duty enlists AI to eavesdrop on voice chat and help ban toxic players starting today (PCGamer)
Bonfire of the groceries (FT)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

Despite Cheating Fears, Schools Repeal ChatGPT Bans (NYTimes)
A Startup in the New Jersey Suburbs Is Battling the Giants of Silicon Valley (WSJ)
Where do fonts come from? This one business, mostly (The Hustle)

Wed. 08/30 – OpenAI Making Bank Aug 30, 2023

Show notes

The FBI took down a huge botnet. OpenAI is apparently ahead of schedule in terms of making a ton of revenue. Why Samsung wants to apply AI to your refrigerator. Why OnStar is doubling down on AI. And we officially have the deets on the iPhone event scheduled for next month.

Links:

Qakbot botnet dismantled after infecting over 700,000 computers (BleepingComputer)
UAE launches Arabic large language model in Gulf push into generative AI (FT)
OpenAI Passes $1 Billion Revenue Pace as Big Companies Boost AI Spending (The Information)
Samsung debuts its own 'AI-powered' smart recipe app (Engadget)
GM is using Google’s AI chatbot to handle simple OnStar calls (The Verge)
Apple Announces 'Wonderlust' Event Expected to Feature iPhone 15, Apple Watch Series 9 and More (MacRumors)

Tue. 08/29 – The Crypto Regulators Come For NFTs Aug 29, 2023

Show notes

Google’s Cloud Next conference drops a ton of AI announces. OpenAI releases a business-oriented version of ChatGPT. The regulators have come for NFTs and now the question is, are all NFTs securities, or just the ones they just fined? And let me introduce you to Twitch’s big new competitor. But are they really eating their lunch or just a front for gambling related streaming?

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Links:

Google to Add AI Models from Meta, Anthropic to Its Cloud Platform (Bloomberg)
The new Google Chat borrows from Slack, Teams, Discord, and even ChatGPT (The Verge)
Google Meet’s new AI will be able to go to meetings for you (The Verge)
OpenAI launches a ChatGPT plan for enterprise customers (TechCrunch)
Musk, tech CEOs to attend Schumer’s AI Senate forum (The Hill)
SEC takes first action against an NFT project as an unregistered security (The Verge)
Twitch competitor Kick is dividing the internet's top streamers (NBCNews)
Robotaxis hit the accelerator in growing list of cities nationwide (Axios)

Mon. 08/28 – The Tech IPO Is Back? Aug 28, 2023

Show notes

Apple looks to refresh the iPad to reinvigorate sales. Huge network crash is grounding planes in the UK. Some tentative sign that the Tech IPO window might be creaking open. Do you need a 100 year domain renewal? And the Silicon Valley bigwigs who are investing big money to build a new Bay Area city from scratch.

Links:

Apple Bets on Revamped iPad Pro to Reignite Sluggish Tablet Sales (Bloomberg)
China’s BYD to Pay $2.2B to Expand Business With Apple (The Information)
UK air traffic control hit by network-wide failure (The Guardian)
Klaviyo files to go public in latest sign of life for IPO market (CNBC)
WordPress Announces 100-Year Domain Name Registrations (Search Engine Journal)
The Silicon Valley Elite Who Want to Build a City From Scratch (NYTimes)

Fri. 08/25 - ESPN To Amazon? Aug 25, 2023

Show notes

Amazon has apparently held talks with Disney about maybe teaming up for a streaming ESPN partnership. Dropbox ends its unlimited storage option. Shein takes over Forever21. A product release so star-crossed, it’s being recalled after just 3 months. And, of course, The Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

Links:

Amazon in Talks With Disney About ESPN Streaming Partnership (The Information)
Dropbox Ends Unlimited Cloud Storage Following Google Change (Bloomberg)
Shein Strikes Deal With Forever 21 (WSJ)
Citizen Is Suspending Sales of Its New Wear OS Smartwatch (Wired)
Threads on the web widely rolling out (9to5Google)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

Thu. 08/24 – Nvidia Blows The Roof Off The Place Aug 24, 2023

Show notes

Nvidia gives new meaning to the words “earnings beat.” Meta announces Code Llama. TikTok might start banning links to Amazon. SpaceX wants Starlink to be viable in cities too. And turning thoughts into speech via an AI interface becomes real.

Links:

Nvidia tops estimates and says sales will jump 170% this quarter, driven by demand for AI chips (CNBC)
Meta launches own AI code-writing tool: Code Llama (The Verge)
TikTok Shop on Track to Lose More Than $500 Million in U.S. This Year (The Information)
Epic offers devs 100 percent of net revenue for six months of EGS exclusivity (Engadget)
SpaceX Working with Cloudflare to Speed Up Starlink Service (The Information)
Brain implants give a voice to people who cannot speak (FT)

Wed. 08/23 – The Playstation Portal Aug 23, 2023

Show notes

Sony announces the PlayStation Portal handheld device. IBM announces an AI model to translate code from one type to another. OpenAI lets anyone fine tune. Is LinkedIn the big winner in social media right now? And what happens when you 3d printer comes alive like a zombie in the middle of the night.

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Links:

Sony’s portable PlayStation Portal launches later this year for $199.99 (The Verge)
PlayStation Portal: Hands On With Sony's New Remote Play Handheld (IGN)
IBM taps AI to translate COBOL code to Java (TechCrunch)
OpenAI brings fine-tuning to GPT-3.5 Turbo (TechCrunch)
Sorry, But LinkedIn Is Cool Now (Bloomberg)
Salesforce Leads Financing of AI Startup at More Than $4 Billion Valuation (The Information)
Tiger Global Nears Deal to Sell Slice of Cohere Stake at $3 Billion Valuation (The Information)
3D printers printing without consent is a cautionary tale on cloud reliance (ArsTechnica)

Tue. 08/22 – Is Elon Tanking Things On Purpose? Aug 22, 2023

Show notes

Microsoft tries to appease His Majesty’s Regulators. The Arm IPO is a go. Why Nvidia continues to be huge even in China. A new AI translation model from Meta. I continue to wonder if Elon is tanking things on purpose. And a new social media platform built on top of X?

Links:

Mon. 08/21 – Twit Pics Disappear Aug 21, 2023

Show notes

More X shenanigans over the weekend. Some solid evidence that some major LLMs have in fact been trained on copyrighted material. A ton of it, in fact. As Arm prepares to IPO, who might join them, depending on how things go? Bad news for Adyen is probably bad news for Stripe. And the rise of high tech sailing ships.

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Links:

Twitter Deletes All User Photos And Links From 2011-2014 (Forbes)
REVEALED: THE AUTHORS WHOSE PIRATED BOOKS ARE POWERING GENERATIVE AI (The Atlantic)
Silicon Valley start-ups revive listing plans as Arm reignites IPO market (Financial Times)
Europe’s Stripe rival Adyen saw $20 billion wiped off its value in a single day. Here’s what’s going on (CNBC)
UK to spend £100m in global race to produce AI chips (The Guardian)
A cargo ship that harnesses wind power has set sail on its maiden journey (Quartz)

Fri. 08/18 – Werner Herzog Is The AI Voice We Deserve Aug 18, 2023

Show notes

More drips and drabs Threads feature releases. Meta is readying a “Code Llama.” Throwback Friday with Uber and Lyft threatening to leave a major municipality. Our first fall hardware event is on the calendar. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

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