Techmeme Ride Home

As telegraphed for the last year, Reddit is going all in on being an all you can eat buffet for AI companies. Will new batteries give iPhones longer battery life like I want, or will they just make the phones thinner? A subtle but important improvement to ChatGPT and in the Longreads, a deep dive into what happened at Cruise.Links:OpenAI strikes deal to bring Reddit content to ChatGPT (Reuters)OpenAI strikes Reddit deal to train its AI on your posts (The Verge)Grand Theft Auto VI is launching in fall 2025 (The Verge)iPhone 16 Pro Max to get new battery that could last longer (AppleInsider)ChatGPT now lets you import files directly from Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive (VentureBeat)Twitter is officially X.com now (The Verge)Weekend Longreads Suggestions:In a single night, self-driving startup Cruise went from sizzling startup to cautionary tale. Here’s what really happened—and how GM is scrambling to save its $10B bet (Fortune)How cuddly robots could change dementia care (MIT Technology Review)Where Did All The Stocks Go? (Sherwood)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Some AI companies want to go after web search. But by hiring an Instagram founder, is Anthropic going in a social or app direction? Will AI kill the carbon neutral ambitions of the major tech players? Will tech companies now have to onshore EMPLOYEES from China? And Netflix with ads? Definitely working.Links:EU launches probe into Meta over social media addiction in children (Financial Times)Instagram’s co-founder is Anthropic’s new chief product officer (The Verge)Android will be able to detect if your phone has been snatched (The Verge)Microsoft’s AI Push Imperils Climate Goal as Carbon Emissions Jump 30% (Bloomberg)Microsoft Asks Hundreds of China-Based AI Staff to Consider Relocating Amid U.S.-China Tensions (WSJ)Stability AI, Facing Cash Crunch, Discusses Sale (The Information)Netflix ad-supported tier has 40 million monthly users, nearly double previous count (CNBC)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

All the announces from Google’s massive I/O event yesterday, including, yes, generative AI summaries are fully coming to Google Search. Plus, the camera-based AI system they teased that looks really cool. Ilya Sutskever officially leaves OpenAI. And is crypto the only place left where you can raise a billion-dollar seed round?Sponsors:Lumen.me code RIDE for $100 offLinks:Google rolls out AI Overviews in US with more countries coming soon (SearchEngineLand)Can Google Give A.I. Answers Without Breaking the Web? (NYTimes)Google's Project Astra uses your phone's camera and AI to find noise makers, misplaced items and more. (Engadget)OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever says he will leave the startup (CNBC)TikTok creators sue U.S. government over potential ban (Washington Post)Humanity Protocol Becomes Crypto’s New Digital Identity Unicorn (Bloomberg)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

OpenAI unveils GPT-4o which makes Siri look like the technical cul-de-sac it very much is. But what does it mean that this was NOT GPT-5? What does it mean for the gaming industry that the PS5 might be underperforming? More streaming bundles. And the 2024 iPad refresh reviews.Sponsors:YahooFinance.comConstantContact.comLinks:OpenAI debuts GPT-4o ‘omni’ model now powering ChatGPT (TechCrunch)OpenAI debuts new model with enhanced real-time voice abilities (Axios)Tom Warren's PS5 sales TweetComcast to Launch Peacock, Netflix and Apple TV+ Bundle at a ‘Vastly Reduced Price’ (Variety)The new Apple iPad Air is great — but it’s not the one to get (The Verge)Apple iPad Pro (2024) review: the best kind of overkill (The Verge)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Well, looks like my worries about solar weather being a threat to technology wasn’t just in my head. Ask farmers. Squarespace to go private. Raspberry Pi to go public? Waymo is setting some impressive records. And the new type of deal Apple and the other streamers want to offer Hollywood.Sponsors:ArcticWolf.com/techmemeShopify.com/rideLinks:Solar Storm Knocks Out Farmers' Tractor GPS Systems During Peak Planting Season (404Media)Website-design firm Squarespace to go private in $6.9 billion deal with Permira (Reuters)British tech firm Raspberry Pi lines up £500m float (The Times)Microsoft set to face EU competition charges over Teams software (Financial Times)Google’s Waymo Crosses 50,000 Paid Driverless Rides Per Week (The Information)Apple Nears Deal With OpenAI to Put ChatGPT on iPhone (Bloomberg)Apple, Netflix Amazon Want to Change How They Pay Hollywood Stars (Bloomberg)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Well that was fast. Apple apologized for the “Crush” Ad, saying they missed the mark on that one. Microsoft is launching a mobile game app store. Elevenlabs is getting into the music generating game. And of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.Links:Apple apologizes for iPad ‘Crush’ ad that ‘missed the mark’ (The Verge)Apple doesn’t understand why you use technology (The Verge)Microsoft Plans Mobile-Game Store, Vying With Apple, Google (Bloomberg)Apple to Power AI Tools With In-House Server Chips This Year (Bloomberg)ElevenLabs previews music-generating AI model (VentureBeat)Weekend Longreads Suggestions:Tim Cook Can’t Run Apple Forever. Who’s Next? (Bloomberg)World’s Biggest Construction Project Gets a Reality Check (WSJ)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

AlphaFold 3 is a new AI model to predict interactions and structures of proteins, the better to cure diseases and create medicine with. More cuts in Microsoft gaming. The community backlash erupting over at Stack Overflow. And that really weirdly tone deaf Apple commercial that has everyone so upset.Links:Google DeepMind unveils AI model for living cells (FT)Microsoft’s Xbox Is Planning More Cuts After Studio Closings (Bloomberg)Stack Overflow bans users en masse for rebelling against OpenAI partnership — users banned for deleting answers to prevent them being used to train ChatGPT (TomsHardware)Alphabet Progressing in Talks to Buy HubSpot, Sources Say (Bloomberg)That Weird Apple Ad "Crush!"See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Multiple Bethesda studios are being shut down by Xbox and gamers are worried. The new Pixel phone announcement yesterday that probably nobody heard about. What if OpenAI decides to go after web search? And the surprising fact that FTX investors could be made whole, and then some. With interest!Links:Microsoft Closes Redfall Developer Arkane Austin, Hi-Fi Rush Developer Tango Gameworks, and More in Devastating Cuts at Bethesda (IGN)US revokes licences for supply of chips to China’s Huawei (Financial Times)Exclusive: In Tesla Autopilot probe, US prosecutors focus on securities, wire fraud (Reuters)Google’s New $500 Pixel 8A Smartphone Will Get 7 Years of Software Updates (Wired)OpenAI Is Readying a Search Product to Rival Google, Perplexity (Bloomberg)TikTok Sues U.S. Government Over Law Forcing Sale or Ban (NYTimes)FTX Has Billions More Than Needed to Pay Bankruptcy Victims (Bloomberg)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

All the headlines from today’s Spring Apple event. New iPads? M4 chip? I don’t actually know cause I’m recording this bit beforehand. I can tell you Apple might make its own server chips tho. Nintendo has outlined plans to replace the Switch. And Microsoft is training its own high-end LLM, separate from OpenAI.Links:Apple Is Developing AI Chips for Data Centers, Seeking Edge in Arms Race (WSJ)Nintendo Teases Long-Awaited Switch Successor as Profit Slides (Bloomberg)Meet MAI-1: Microsoft Readies New AI Model to Compete With Google, OpenAI (The Information)Amazon’s Delivery Drones Won’t Fly in Arizona’s Summer Heat (Wired)China hacked Ministry of Defence, Sky News learns (SkyNews)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jack Dorsey abandoned Twitter and now he’s abandoned Bluesky as well. YouTube rolls out Jump Ahead. Threads launches post quote controls. More than 40 thousand books on Audible are now voiced by AI. The Air Force is planning more than a thousand AI fighter jets by the end of the decade. And if you’re listening to this on Apple Podcasts, please listen to the end for an important announcement.Sponsors:1Password.com/rideMackWeldon.com promocode: rideLinks:Jack Dorsey departs Bluesky board (TechCrunch)YouTube's AI-powered 'Jump Ahead' feature rolling out widely to Premium users (AndroidAuthority)Farewell, dunks? Threads launches quote controls for all users (TechCrunch)AI-Voiced Audiobooks Top 40,000 Titles on Audible (Bloomberg)An AI-controlled fighter jet took the Air Force leader for a historic ride. What that means for war (AP)Hugging Face launches LeRobot open source robotics code library (VentureBeat)Washed Out’s new music video was created with AI. Is it a watershed moment for Sora? (LATimes)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Apple earnings are out and revenue was down almost everywhere. Boy, AI can’t come fast enough for them. Did you know you can send Bluetooth signals to satellites in space? The full Rabbit R1 reviews turned out exactly how we expected. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads suggestions.Links:Apple Sales Fall as iPhone, China Businesses Remain Sluggish (WSJ)FDA Qualifies Apple’s AFib History feature as an MDDT (MyHealthyApple)Hubble Network makes Bluetooth connection with a satellite for the first time (TechCrunch)Coinbase’s First-Quarter Profit, Revenue Top Forecasts (Bloomberg)Rabbit R1 review: nothing to see here (The Verge)Weekend Longreads Suggestions:The Revenge of the Home Page (The New Yorker)Nick Bostrom Made the World Fear AI. Now He Asks: What if It Fixes Everything? (Wired)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The music is back on TikTok with a new deal struck. Maybe a third of Americans were affected by that Change Healthcare hack. Why are companies suddenly cutting teams you’d think would be sacred cows? Airbnb wants you to stay in the house from the movie Up. And we finally know just how much Google pays Apple for the search default in iOS.Sponsors:Kolide.com/rideLinks:TikTok and Universal Music Group Settle Royalty Dispute With New Licensing Agreement (Variety)UnitedHealthcare CEO says ‘maybe a third’ of US citizens were affected by recent hack (TechCrunch)UnitedHealth CEO tells lawmakers the company paid hackers a $22 million ransom (CNBC)Google lays off hundreds of ‘Core’ employees, moves some positions to India and Mexico (CNBC)Amazon-backed Anthropic launches iPhone app and business tier to compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT (CNBC)In Latest Stunt, Airbnb Lists the ‘Up’ House. It Floats. (NYTimes)Google’s Payments to Apple Reached $20 Billion in 2022, Antitrust Court Documents Show (Bloomberg)Microsoft Concern Over Google’s Lead Drove OpenAI Investment (Bloomberg)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Binance founder CZ looks like he’s heading to jail too, but for way less time than SBF. Is the Rabbit R1 just a fancy device for a glorified Android app? Has OpenAI floated a secret pre-release of GPT5? And finally, so much has happened, I decided we had to do an omnibus catch up with what’s going on in the world of Elon.Links:Binance founder Changpeng Zhao sentenced to four months in prison (The Verge)Rabbit R1, a thing that should just be an app, actually is just an Android app (Updated) (Android Authority)Powerful New Chatbot Disappears as Mysteriously as It Arrived (Gizmodo)Tesla conducting more layoffs, including entire Supercharger team (Electrek)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The FCC has fined all the major telecom companies. You’ll never guess why. Why the DMA actions from the EU might be a constant thing. Devs, how about an AI-powered IDE? You’ll never guess why Peacock thinks it can raise prices again. And is Marquess Brownlee right about underbaked hardware releases?Sponsors:ZocDoc.com/techmemeConstantContact.comLinks:FCC fines AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon nearly $200 million for illegally sharing location data (The Verge)Meta Risks EU Fines Over Kremlin Lies on Facebook, Instagram (Bloomberg)How an empty S3 bucket can make your AWS bill explode (Maciej Pocwierz)Copilot Workspace is GitHub’s take on AI-powered software engineering (TechCrunch)Peacock Hikes Subscription Prices Ahead of 2024 Paris Olympics (The Hollywood Reporter)Rabbit R1 Review (MKBHD)Marques Brownlee slams another AI product as “barely reviewable” after Humane AI Pin controversy (Dexerto)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Apple continues discussions with folks to partner for AI product. Will the upcoming iPad event kick off Apple’s AI strategy? Why does spending on AI seem to work for Google and Microsoft but not for Meta? Why were a bunch of Apple users signed out of their accounts this weekend? And has AI already ruined Meta’s family of apps?Sponsors:CutsClothing.com/RIDE, promocode RIDE for 20% offYahooFinance.comLinks:Apple Intensifies Talks With OpenAI for iPhone Generative AI Features (Bloomberg)Apple Rivals Retool to Challenge the iPhone and Vision Pro (Bloomberg)Investors Cheer AI Spending Boom in Big Tech—Just Not at Meta (WSJ)The Financial Times and OpenAI strike content licensing deal (Financial Times)Apple users are being locked out of their Apple IDs with no explanation (9to5Mac)AI is making Meta's apps basically unusable (Fast Company)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Net Neutrality has been voted back into existence. Earnings from Microsoft and Google, but it’s the YouTube numbers that continue to impress me. ByteDance claims it would rather be banned than sell US TikTok. The Onion finds a benevolent billionaire. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.Links:F.C.C. Votes to Restore Net Neutrality Rules (NYTimes)Google parent announces first-ever dividend; beats on sales, profit; shares soar (Reuters)OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Other Tech Leaders to Serve on AI Safety Board (WSJ)Exclusive: ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in US if legal options fail, sources say (Reuters)The Onion Is Sold by G/O Media (NYTimes)Weekend Longreads Suggestions:The Chips Act has been surprisingly successful so far (Financial Times)Why You Can’t Get a Restaurant Reservation (The New Yorker)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Meta’s earnings were fine, but it’s what Zuck warned about spending that has Wall Street nervous. Sub 2nm chips are on their way. An AI startup has a big new raise after its big raise just a month ago. Google Meet lets you jump devices. And the first reviews of the Rabbit R1 are out.Links:Zuckerberg Asks for Patience as Meta’s AI Push Spooks Market (Bloomberg)Zuckerberg says it will take Meta years to make money from generative AI (The Verge)TSMC aims to produce ultra-advanced 1.6-nm chips by 2026 (NikkeiAsia)Six-Month-Old AI Coding Startup Valued at $2 Billion by Founders Fund (The Information)Google Meet will let you transfer calls between web and phone with ‘Switch here’ (9to5Google)A morning with the Rabbit R1: a fun, funky, unfinished AI gadget (The Verge)Rabbit R1 hands-on: Already more fun and accessible than the Humane AI Pin (Engadget)Rabbit’s R1 is a little AI gadget that grows on you (TechCrunch)First Ones videos on YouTubeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The TikTok divestment bill has probably already been signed into law. What happens now? What are the legal arguments that this thing can stick? What about things like, you know, the First Amendment? Also, ads in Windows? Time to take Meta’s RayBan smartglasses seriously? And what it’s like to use AI inside of Instagram.Links:Senate passes TikTok ban bill, sending it to President Biden’s desk (The Verge)TikTok Ban Looms With Biden Poised to Start 270-Day Countdown (Bloomberg)How the TikTok ban could survive a court challenge (Platformer)Windows 11 Start menu ads are now rolling out to everyone (The Verge)The Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses get video calling, Apple Music, and a new style (The Verge)Meta’s A.I. Assistant Is Fun to Use, but It Can’t Be Trusted (NYTimes)"First Ones" YouTube VideosSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Microsoft has launched new lightweight AI models. Perplexity has a big new raise. Meta wants other people to build Quest headsets. Another reason Apple needs to find new revenue. And if Congress really is going to ban TikTok, are they ever going to tell us exactly why?Links:Microsoft launches Phi-3, its smallest AI model yet (The Verge)Meta Expands Its Mixed Reality Beyond the Quest Headsets (CNET)Meta wants to be the Microsoft of headsets (The Verge)China Smartphone Sales Remain in Black on Huawei, HONOR, Xiaomi Outperformance (Counterpoint)AI Search Startup Perplexity Valued at $1 Billion in Funding Round (Bloomberg)Adobe’s new Firefly model makes it easier to use Photoshop’s AI tools (The Verge)If TikTok Is Such a Threat, Show Us the Receipts (Bloomberg)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I know we’ve said this before, but TikTok really seems on the brink this time. What the heck is going on with Tesla? Tinder wants you to share your date. Streamers want you to stop dating around and playing the field. An open-source smarthome standard. And again, do we really need standalone AI devices when we already have smartphones?Links:TikTok ‘ban’ passes in the House again, moving to the Senate in foreign aid package (The Verge)Tesla lowers price of ‘Full Self-Driving’ to $8,000, down from $12,000 (Electrek)Tinder gets a ‘Share My Date’ feature for users to send date plans to their curious friends (TechCrunch)Americans’ New TV Habit: Subscribe. Watch. Cancel. Repeat. (NYTimes)The little smart home platform that could (The Verge)The future of AI gadgets is just phones (The Verge)Space Ghost Coast To Coast MarathonSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.