Techmeme Ride Home

Google has fired 28 employees for political protests yesterday. A well-known coding school has been fined by the CFPB. Game emulators come to the iPhone. TikTok’s Instagram clone is rolling out. Has Sony perfecting Mini LED TVs? And the Atlas robot has been reborn in a new body!Links:Google fires 28 employees after sit-in protest over Israel cloud contract (The Verge)Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fines BloomTech for false claims (TechCrunch)Third-party iPhone app store AltStore PAL is now live in Europe (The Verge)TikTok Notes starts rolling out as a new rival to Instagram (The Verge)US Air Force confirms first successful AI dogfight (The Verge)Sony might have perfected Mini LED TVs with its new 2024 lineup (The Verge)Boston Dynamics’ Atlas humanoid robot goes electric (TechCrunch)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

T-Mobile and Verizon employees are being offered bribes for SIM swaps. How much coding copilots have taken over. How much would you value Mistral or Cohere in the LLM race? How popular has Airchat gotten? How big has Amazon Prime gotten? And one of the original modern robots is being retired.Links:T-Mobile, Verizon workers get texts offering $300 for SIM swaps (BleepingComputer)Microsoft’s AI Copilot Is Starting to Automate the Coding Industry (Bloomberg)Mistral, an OpenAI Rival in Europe, in Talks to Raise Capital at a $5 Billion Valuation (The Information)Invitation-Only Audio Social Network Is the Hot New App in Tech Circles (Bloomberg)Musk’s Starlink Cracks Down on Growing Black Market (WSJ)Amazon Prime Memberships in US Gain 8% to New High After Lull (Bloomberg)Atlas shrugged: Boston Dynamics retires its hydraulic humanoid robot (TechCrunch)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Microsoft continues to spread its AI bets. Disney wants to bring back tv channels. YouTube is not gonna let you block ads. What did Humane get wrong with the AI Pin? And can Limitless do any better with its AI Pendant?Sponsors:MackWeldon.com, promocode rideYahooFinance.comLinks:Microsoft to invest $1.5bn in Abu Dhabi AI group G42 (Financial Times)To Keep Viewers, Disney Plans a New Streaming Concept: Old-Style TV Channels (The Information)YouTube cracking down on third-party apps that block ads (9to5Google)YouTube Accounted for Nearly 10% of All TV Viewing in March, Nielsen Says (TheWrap)Oh the Humanity (Sandofsky.com)Limitless is a new AI tool for your meetings — and an all-hearing wearable gadget (The Verge)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Really looks like high-end re-shoring of chip tech is happening, and happening soon. What if satellite telephony becomes a table-stakes smartphone feature? Get ready for the bitcoin halving. Does anyone have invites to Airchat? And get ready for 4TB, yes, TB, SD cards.Sponsors:Shopify.com/rideArcticWolf.com/techmemeLinks:Samsung boosts Joe Biden’s chipmaking ambitions with Texas plant upgrade (Financial Times)Exclusive: Google Pixel 9 series to get emergency satellite connectivity, new modem (Android Authority)Bitcoin ‘Halving’ Will Deal a $10 Billion Blow to Crypto Miners (Bloomberg)ChatGPT essay cheats are a menace to us all (Financial Times)Naval Ravikant’s Airchat is a social app built around talk, not text (TechCrunch)4TB SD cards are arriving in 2025 for your cameras and laptops (The Verge)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Now a big business intelligence company has been breached. Do you get the sense that people are laying the groundwork for something? Google discontinues a product, but this time, its probably our fault. M4 chips are coming from Apple. OpenAI continues to be the drama queen of Silicon Valley. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.Links:US government urges Sisense customers to reset credentials after hack (TechCrunch)Google One VPN will be discontinued, Pixel VPN remains with upgrade coming (9to5Google)X’s Premium users can no longer hide their blue checks (The Verge)Apple Plans to Overhaul Entire Mac Line With AI-Focused M4 Chips (Bloomberg)OpenAI Researchers, Including Ally of Sutskever, Fired for Alleged Leaking (The Information)Is Google's AI Actually Discovering 'Millions of New Materials?' (404 Media)Weekend Longreads Suggestions:AI-Music Arms Race: Meet Udio, the Other ChatGPT for Music (RollingStone)How Bluey Became a $2 Billion Smash Hit—With an Uncertain Future (Bloomberg)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Apple is notifying people their iPhones may have been compromised. Spotify wants you to mix up your music. Adobe is paying handsomely for videos. And the biggest new gadget review event in a long time.Link:Apple alerts users in 92 nations to mercenary spyware attacks (TechCrunch)Spotify Plans New Remixing Tools for the TikTok Generation (WSJ)Adobe Is Buying Videos for $3 Per Minute to Build AI Model (Bloomberg)Humane AI Pin review: not even close (The Verge)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

More AI announces from Google. More hints on how Apple will bring AI to iPhones. And a bunch of interesting datapoints: how much Apple has moved away from manufacturing in China, how much money TikTok’s parent company is making, are kids warming up to VR and are alternative browsers benefitting from the DMA?Links:Google Launches Coding AIs That Could Rival Microsoft's Github Copilot (PCMag)Apple's new AI model could help Siri see how iOS apps work (AppleInsider)Apple’s India iPhone Output Hits $14 Billion in China Shift (Bloomberg)ByteDance Profit Jumps 60%, Taking It Past Archrival Tencent (Bloomberg)Exclusive: EU's new tech laws are working; small browsers gain market share (Reuters)Survey shows that teenagers are using more VR devices in the US (9to5Mac)Kobo announces its first color e-readers (The Verge)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Google has a ton of AI announces, including new Arm-based AI chips, utilizing Google search in Gemini, and more. They also released their own Find My network. Microsoft is confident they can release chips that can best Apple Silicon. And maybe OpenAI DID train on YouTube videos after all. Everybody is desperate for data right now.Sponsors:1Password.com/rideLinks:Google Expands In-House Chip Efforts in Costly AI Battle (WSJ)Google Shows AI Model Is Enterprise-Ready After Gemini Mishaps (Bloomberg)Gmail adding voice input, Gemini for Google Chat, Meet ‘Translate for me,’ & more (9to5Google)Google rolling out Find My Device network for Android (9to5Google)Microsoft is confident Windows on Arm could finally beat Apple (The Verge)Spotify launches personalized AI playlists that you can build using prompts (TechCrunch)How Tech Giants Cut Corners to Harvest Data for A.I. (NYTimes)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

David Marcus comes on the pod to discuss what he's been working on since leaving Meta. Specificially: Lightspark, and efforts to expand the Lighting Network and bitcoin.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Apple joins the tech layoff club. Microsoft warns China is planning to disrupt elections using AI. Disney+ is joining Netflix in cracking down on password sharing. How much is the going rate to buy pictures or videos to train AI models on? And, of course, the Weekend Longreads suggestions.Links:Apple Cut at Least 600 Workers When Car, Screen Projects Stopped (Bloomberg)China will use AI to disrupt elections in the US, South Korea and India, Microsoft warns (The Guardian)Disney+ will crack down on password sharing in June (CNN)Inside Big Tech's underground race to buy AI training data (Reuters)YouTube Says OpenAI Training Sora With Its Videos Would Break Rules (Bloomberg)Weekend Longreads Suggestions:How One Tech Skeptic Decided A.I. Might Benefit the Middle Class (NYTimes)How WhatsApp became the world’s default communication app (Engadget)The 18 most interesting startups from YC’s Demo Day show we’re in an AI bubble (TechCrunch)YC’s latest Demo Day shows fascinating wagers on healthcare, chip design, AI and more (TechCrunch)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Is Apple pivoting to home robotics now that the Apple Car project is dead? Is Google about to pivot to subscription based search? Why is X handing back blue checkmarks whether people want them or not? Why Amazon merchants are upset over return scams. And why the band Kiss might live forever.Sponsors:Kolide.com/rideLinks:Apple Explores Home Robotics as Potential ‘Next Big Thing’ After Car Fizzles (Bloomberg)Google considers charging for AI-powered search in big change to business model (FT)X’s ‘complimentary’ Premium push gives people blue checks they didn’t ask for (The Verge)Washington state judge blocks use of AI-enhanced video as evidence in possible first-of-its-kind ruling (NBCNews)Amazon Sellers Plagued by Surge in Scam Returns (WSJ)Business Schools Are Going All In on AI (WSJ)Rock band Kiss sells rights for $300mn to firm behind Abba hologram show (FT)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Have we just had a major breakthrough in Quantum Computing? The earthquake in Taiwan might lead to some chip issues. We don’t quite know yet. Amazon is retooling it’s Just Walk Out technology. Venture capitalists are having a hard time raising money. And in the last segment of the show, I actually break some news about Coinbase.Links:Microsoft and Quantinuum say they’ve ushered in the next era of quantum computing (TechCrunch)AI-generated songs are getting longer, not necessarily better (The Verge)Top musicians among hundreds warning against replacing human artists with AI (Axios)TSMC Facilities to Resume Production Overnight After Quake (Bloomberg)Amazon’s Grocery Stores to Drop Just Walk Out Checkout Tech (The Information)Venture capital reckons with the end of ‘megafund’ era (Financial Times)YouTube Of Our Interview With David MarcusSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Big trove of AT&T customer data dumped online. Microsoft is unbundling Teams. Amazon is readying its own big LLM. We should probably assume Section 230 does not cover AI. And what do you name an AI supercomputer? Stargate, apparently.Links:AT&T resets account passcodes after millions of customer records leak online (TechCrunch)Exclusive: Microsoft to separate Teams and Office globally amid antitrust scrutiny (Reuters)Amazon scrambles for its place in the AI race (The Verge)Gen-AI Search Engine Perplexity Has a Plan to Sell Ads (Adweek)The AI Industry Is Steaming Toward A Legal Iceberg (WSJ)Microsoft and OpenAI Plot $100 Billion Stargate AI Supercomputer (The Information)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What prolific AI investor Nat Friedman expects from GPT-5, Microsoft's general strategy in AI, how he invests in startups, and his background an philosophy when it comes to investing.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

SBF gets 25 years. X is maybe about to NSFW. Apple’s new OLED iPads should be coming in May. I can’t cram another acronym in here to tell you about Apple suing an employee for leaking. And, of course, the WLS… Weekend Longreads Suggestions.Links:Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years for multi-billion dollar FTX fraud (Reuters)Elon Musk’s X Is Testing ‘Adult Content’ Groups for Users (Bloomberg)Apple Sues Former Employee for Leaking iPhone's Journal App and More (MacRumors)Apple Plans New iPad Pro for May as Production Ramps Up Overseas (Bloomberg)Reddit shares plunge almost 25% in two days, finish the week below first day close (CNBC)Weekend Longreads Suggestions:How We’ll Reach a 1 Trillion Transistor GPU (IEEE Spectrum)How Jesse Plemons Came to Star in, Well, Pretty Much Everything (Texas Monthly)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There’s a new king of the AI hill as Anthropic bests OpenAI for the first time. Amazon invests more in Anthropic and is investing a TON more in datacenters. Is that GPT sort of App Store not exactly catching fire? A big acquisition in gaming. And the tiny Caribbean island nation that is one of the biggest winners of the AI moment so far.Links:“The king is dead”—Claude 3 surpasses GPT-4 on Chatbot Arena for the first time (ArsTechnica)Amazon spends $2.75 billion on AI startup Anthropic in its largest venture investment yet (CNBC)Amazon Bets $150 Billion on Data Centers Required for AI Boom (Bloomberg)OpenAI’s app store draws investors and students seeking artificial aids (FT)Oregon’s governor signs right-to-repair law that bans ‘parts pairing’ (The Verge)Take-Two Buys Gearbox From Embracer, Confirms Development on New Borderlands Game (IGN)The A.I. Boom Makes Millions for an Unlikely Industry Player: Anguilla (NYTimes)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Disney launches Hulu on Disney+. Apple schedules WWDC. Some Apple users report being victims of MFA bombing attacks. What it will mean to be certified as an AI PC. And more crazy data on the hunt for talent in the AI Wars.Links:Hulu on Disney+ Launches Out of Beta With Marketing Push to Grow Subscribers (The Hollywood Reporter)The Disney Plus-Hulu merger is way more than a streaming bundle (The Verge)Apple Announces WWDC 2024 Event for June 10 to 14 (MacRumors)Recent ‘MFA Bombing’ Attacks Targeting Apple Users (KrebsonSecurity)Databricks launches DBRX, challenging Big Tech in the open source AI race (VentureBeat)Databricks open-sources its own large language model, DBRX (SiliconAngle)Databricks spent $10M on new DBRX generative AI model, but it can’t beat GPT-4 (TechCrunch)Intel shares Microsoft's new AI PC definition, launches AI PC Acceleration Programs and Core Ultra Meteor Lake NUC developer kits at AI conference (Tom's Hardware)The Fight for AI Talent: Pay Million-Dollar Packages and Buy Whole Teams (WSJ)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Executive shuffling indicates that Microsoft is serious about reorganizing itself around AI. The US and UK move against those alleged Chinese infrastructure hackers. OpenAI seems to be courting Hollywood for its Sora tool. And is the IPO window finally open for tech companies?Links:Microsoft has a new Windows and Surface chief (The Verge)Canva Strikes Biggest Acquisition Yet in Chase to Take on Adobe (Bloomberg)US sanctions APT31 hackers behind critical infrastructure attacks (BleepingComputer)OpenAI shows off first examples of third-party creators using Sora (VentureBeat)OpenAI Courts Hollywood in Meetings With Film Studios, Directors (Bloomberg)Reddit options launch draws bulls, as shares soar (Reuters)IPO Window Cracks Open and Silicon Valley Sees Some Daylight (Bloomberg)Meta’s new opt-out setting limits visibility of politics on Instagram and Threads (The Verge)Elon Musk’s Starlink Terminals Are Falling Into the Wrong Hands (Bloomberg)Nat Friedman YouTube VideoSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

They said this law would be one that was capable of moving fast. The EU has already opened formal DMA investigations into Apple and Google. Stability AI seems to be circling the Deadpool. Checking in on the health of X. Greater homescreen control coming to iPhones? And what should we make of tech insiders selling massive amounts of shares?Sponsors:MackWeldon.com promocode RIDELinks:EU probes Apple, Meta and Alphabet under landmark new law (Financial Times)Stability AI Founder Emad Mostaque Plans To Resign As CEO, Sources Say (Forbes)Fewer people are using Elon Musk’s X as the platform struggles to attract and keep users, according to analysts (NBCNews)Spotify adds video learning courses in latest experiment (The Verge)Sources: iOS 18 Lets Apps Be Placed Anywhere on Home Screen Grid (MacRumors)Justice Department Risks Picking the Wrong Fight With Apple (Bloomberg)Thiel, Bezos and Zuckerberg join parade of insiders selling tech stocks (Financial Times)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Everyone is analyzing the DOJ’s case against Apple. An unpatchable vulnerability in Apple Silicon has been uncovered. Threads joins the Fediverse. How that whole Microsoft hiring the Inflection AI team actually maths out. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.Links:Apple CarPlay is anticompetitive, too, US lawsuit alleges (The Verge)U.S. versus Apple: A first reaction (Six Colors)Unpatchable vulnerability in Apple chip leaks secret encryption keys (ArsTechnica)Threads’ fediverse beta opens to share your posts on Mastodon, too (The Verge)Microsoft Agreed to Pay Inflection $650 Million While Hiring Its Staff (The Information)Weekend Longreads Suggestions:8 Google Employees Invented Modern AI. Here’s the Inside Story (Wired)China’s Super-Cheap EVs Offer Hope for Average American Buyers (Bloomberg Businessweek)Indie, rocked (The Verge)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.