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Gemini Flash Thinking a model making a serious run at “reasoning.” The FAA has had to ban drones in New Jersey cause of all those weird drone sightings. Self Driving technology continues to prove it is safer. An open source generative physics engine for robots.Sponsors:WashingtonPost.com/rideLinks:Google reveals AI ‘reasoning’ model that ‘explicitly shows its thoughts’ (The Verge)FAA Bans Drone Flights in Parts of New Jersey (Bloomberg)Instagram teases AI editing tools that will completely reimagine your videos (The Verge)Waymo still doing better than humans at preventing injuries and property damage (The Verge)New physics sim trains robots 430,000 times faster than reality (ArsTechnica)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Apple says Meta is getting annoying. You can now call 1800CHATGPT to, you know, talk to ChatGPT. Apple scraps plans for a hardware subscription package. Oura’s big new raise also indicates how well its smart-ring business is going. And has Bengaluru grown to quickly for its own good?Links:Apple hits out at Meta's numerous interoperability requests (Reuters)OpenAI makes ChatGPT available for phone calls and texts (CNBC)Apple Halts Effort to Build iPhone Hardware Subscription Service (Bloomberg)Smart ring start-up Ōura raises $200mn as valuation leaps to $5.2bn (Financial Times)Oura closes $200M round, bringing its valuation to $5.2B (TechCrunch)3 Changes That Would Make Samsung's Galaxy Ring So Much Better (CNET)PS5 Pro deep dive reaction: GPU and RT improvements, PSSR and Sony's new AMD Amethyst partnership (EuroGamer)Inside India's 'Silicon Valley' (BusinessInsider)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Is your home internet router about to be banned? The US has a new Chinese tech target. An AI dev kit from Nvidia. Who actually buys the most chips from Nvidia? Hollywood has flip-flopped on the whole theatrical release strategy. And why Instagram is officially king of the hill at Meta.Sponsors:Lumen.me/rideLinks:U.S. Weighs Ban on Chinese-Made Router in Millions of American Homes (WSJ)Nvidia's new $249 AI development board promises 67 TOPS at half the price of the previous 40 TOPS model (TomsHardware)Nvidia’s $249 dev kit promises cheap, small AI power (The Verge)Microsoft acquires twice as many Nvidia AI chips as tech rivals (Financial Times)Grubhub to pay $25 million for misleading customers, restaurants, drivers (Reuters)‘Red One’ Becomes Most-Watched Prime Video Film Debut Ever With 50 Million Viewers After Modest Theatrical Run (Variety)Here’s a Hollywood Twist: Streaming Success Runs Through Theaters (NYTimes)Instagram Expected to Generate 50% of Meta’s US Ad Sales in 2025 (Bloomberg)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On the same day that ByteDance asks the US Supreme Court to intervene, the TikTok CEO meets with Donald Trump. DeepMind’s big new competitor to Sora called Veo 2. The FTC comes down against so called “junk fees.” And on their historic raise, a deep dive look at Databricks, one of the biggest private companies in the world.Sponsors:Miro.comLinks:Trump meets with TikTok CEO as video app challenges potential ban (NBCNews)TikTok Asks Supreme Court to Block Law Banning Its U.S. Operations (NYTimes)Google DeepMind unveils a new video model to rival Sora (TechCrunch)FTC issues rules requiring hotels, ticket sellers to reveal ‘junk fees’ (WashingtonPost)Waymo to begin testing in Tokyo, its first international destination (CNBC)His Startup Is Now Worth $62 Billion. It Gave Away Its First Product Free. (WSJ)Google’s Whisk AI generator will ‘remix’ the pictures you plug in (The Verge)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I break down the coming battle of the titans that is going to likely play out in 2025 between Sam Altman and Elon Musk. Mark Gurman says Apple is finally going foldable. Oh, and that Magic Mouse is finally that sin against God charger design. Every country wants a Starlink. And the big legal battle happening this week.Links:Meta Urges California Attorney General to Stop OpenAI From Becoming For-Profit (WSJ)OpenAI hits back at Elon Musk's lawsuit in court filing (Axios)Sam Altman reckons with a growing threat to OpenAI: Elon Musk (Financial Times)Apple’s New Vision for Computing Is a Giant Foldable iPad (Bloomberg)Europe signs €10.6bn Iris² satellite deal in bid to rival Elon Musk’s Starlink (Financial Times)Chip groups Arm and Qualcomm square off in high-stakes US trial (Financial Times)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Brian on The Newsworthy podcast with Erica Mandy. Find out more about the show here.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ok, what if AI models are really the new OS for… everything. But also: smartglasses and a Vision Pro competitor. I’ll explain. Could NotebookLM become a fully fledged product? Seemingly the leader in the clubhouse in the race to create the next AI paradigm beyond the transformer model. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.Links:I saw Google’s plan to put Android on your face (The Verge)Google’s NotebookLM AI podcast hosts can now talk to you, too (The Verge)Google says its breakthrough quantum chip can’t break modern cryptography (The Verge)Liquid Set to Raise $250 Million to Build AI Inspired by Tiny Worm Brains (Bloomberg)Weekend Longreads Suggestions:The Cult of Claude (NYTimes)How WhatsApp ate the world (Rest Of World)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

More fallout from the whole Cruise wind-down. What it’s like to use some of the new Gemini 2.0 features. Has Apple, quite belatedly, finally done a feature update that provides the Vision Pro with a “killer app?” An Instagram-like app from China I had never heard of. And one singular, eye-popping datapoint from the CHIPS Act.Links:The end of Cruise is the beginning of a risky new phase for autonomous vehicles (The Verge)Gemini 2.0 Flash: An outstanding multi-modal LLM with a sci-fi streaming model (Simon Willison's Blog)FCC Opens Entire 6-GHz Band to Very-Low-Power Device Operations (TV Tech)The Vision Pro’s ultrawide Mac display is very close to being a killer app (The Verge)China’s Instagram-Style Xiaohongshu Crosses $1 Billion in Profit (Bloomberg)Harvard Is Releasing a Massive Free AI Training Dataset Funded by OpenAI and Microsoft (Wired)US chipmaking boom in doubt after Biden’s defeat (Financial Times)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

GM shocked everybody by shutting down the Cruise robotaxi business. ChatGPT is finally on your iPhone once you update it. Could all Apple watches someday have satellite texting? And then, I guess Google wanted to pre-empt Santa Sam, because they released an absolute slew of AI products today.Links:GM to refocus autonomous driving development on personal vehicles (GM Investor Relations)GM Calls It Quits on Mary Barra’s $50 Billion Robotaxi Dream (Bloomberg)Apple’s Next Ultra Smartwatch Will Be Able to Send Texts Via Satellite (Bloomberg)Google Rolls Out Faster Gemini AI Model to Power Agents (Bloomberg)Google’s new Trillium AI chip delivers 4x speed and powers Gemini 2.0 (VentureBeat)Gemini 2.0, Google’s newest flagship AI, can generate text, images, and speech (TechCrunch)Google unveils AI coding assistant ‘Jules,’ promising autonomous bug fixes and faster development cycles (VentureBeat)Google unveils Project Mariner: AI agents to use the web for you (TechCrunch)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You can now buy a car on Amazon. A new AI unicorn doing something with AI I hadn’t heard about before. New AI enhanced smartglasses. Microsoft says it has a new datacenter design that uses zero water. And if you were able to use Sora yesterday, what was that like?Sponsors:Shopify.com/rideLinks:You Can Buy a Car on Amazon Now (Wired)US finalizes $6.1 bln Micron chip-making subsidy (Reuters)Memory chip maker Micron’s $6.1 billion grant confirmed by Commerce Dept. (Washington Post)OpenAI-Backed Language Tutor Startup Doubles Value to $1 Billion (Bloomberg)Solos challenges Meta’s Ray-Bans with $299 ChatGPT smart glasses (The Verge)Microsoft Unveils Zero-Water Data Centers to Reduce AI Climate Impact (Bloomberg)Bluesky teases paid subscription, Bluesky+, in new mockup (TechCrunch)I just went hands-on with Sora — the good, the bad, and the wow (Tom's Guide)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

OpenAI’s Sora model is here! TikTok is still in trouble. China does more turnabouts is fair play, this time with Nvidia. I Apple, belatedly, getting serious about gaming on the Vision Pro? And did Google just make a huge, historic leap forward in quantum computing?Sponsors:1Password.com/rideMackWeldon.com promocode: brianLinks:Sora is here (OpenAI)OpenAI’s controversial Sora is finally launching today. Will it truly disrupt Hollywood? (LATimes)OpenAI releases Sora, its buzzy AI video-generation tool (CNBC)Appeals Court Upholds U.S. Ban of TikTok (WSJ)Nvidia Hit With China Probe in Global Tech War Escalation (Bloomberg)Apple, Sony Discuss Teaming Up on Gaming Controllers for Vision Pro (Blooomberg)Quantum Computing Inches Closer to Reality After Another Google Breakthrough (NYTimes)Google Debuts New Quantum Chip, Error Correction Breakthrough, and Roadmap Details (HPCWire)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Santa Sam has made his first delivery of the promised 12 days of launches from OpenAI. David Sacks is named the AI and Crypto Czar. Samsung’s entire UI is getting a radical overhaul. OpenAI is seemingly about to restructure everything. No more Surface Studios? And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.Links:OpenAI is charging $200 a month for an exclusive version of its o1 ‘reasoning’ model (The Verge)Trump Names David Sacks as White House AI and Crypto Czar (Bloomberg)Here’s everything new Samsung’s Android 15 update, One UI 7, and the full changelog [Gallery] (9to5Google)OpenAI seeks to unlock investment by ditching ‘AGI’ clause with Microsoft (Financial Times)The Surface Studio is dead? — Microsoft ends production on $4,500 Surface Studio 2+ as stock dwindles (Windows Central)Hawk Tuah memecoin dumps 90% amid backlash over controversial launch (Cointelegraph)What Pat Gelsinger’s exit means for Intel and the US Chips Act (Financial Times)Weekend Longreads Suggestions:He Was Going to Save Intel. He Destroyed $150 Billion of Value Instead. (WSJ)Friend or Faux (The Verge)When a Telescope Is a National-Security Risk (The Atlantic)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Bitcoin crosses the big $100k mark for the first time. We now know who Trump wants to fill the roles Silicon Valley cares about the most. Is Amazon about to become a top tier AI model player? Two new models from Google DeepMind, one of them promises to revolutionize weather prediction. And Waymo says bienvenido a Miami.Sponsors:WashingtonPost.com/rideLinks:Crypto Trading Volume Surged to $10 Trillion for the First Time in November (Bloomberg)Trump Picks Paul Atkins to Run the S.E.C. (NYTimes)Trump Taps Vance Aide Gail Slater as Top DOJ Antitrust Cop (Bloomberg)Amazon announces Nova, a new family of multimodal AI models (TechCrunch)First impressions of the new Amazon Nova LLMs (via a new llm-bedrock plugin) (Simon Willison's Blog)DeepMind’s Genie 2 can generate interactive worlds that look like video games (TechCrunch)Google Introduces A.I. Agent That Aces 15-Day Weather Forecasts (NYTimes)Key leaders behind Google’s viral NotebookLM are leaving to create their own startup (TechCrunch)Waymo to expand to Miami, aims to launch robotaxi service there in 2026 (CNBC)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Amid the Salt Typhoon hack, the US government wants you and me to go encrypted. Ubisoft shuts down XDefiant. Spotify Wrapped 2024 has NotebookLM baked right into it. And Google’s text to video AI model has beaten Sora to market, but is Sam Altman about to get all Santa on us?Sponsors:Lumen.me/rideLinks:U.S. officials urge Americans to use encrypted apps amid unprecedented cyberattack (NBCNews)Ubisoft shutting down XDefiant in 2025, laying off half of its team (Polygon)Spotify Wrapped 2024 adds an AI podcast powered by Google’s NotebookLM (TechCrunch)Smart Home Market Becomes Apple’s Next Strategic Target; New HomePod with Display Set to Be Key Product in Apple’s Smart Home Strategy (Ming-Chi Kuo)Google’s new generative AI video model is now available (The Verge)AWS announces Aurora DSQL, a new distributed SQL database that promises virtually unlimited scalability (TechCrunch)Kindle Scribe 2 review in progress: Is slightly useful AI worth the extra cash? (Engadget)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The search for a new Intel CEO has begun in earnest, but a change in leadership probably makes a wholesale transformation of the company more likely. China goes tit for tat on banning things. Why ChatGPT can’t say certain names. And how is that shopping with AI agents thing going?Links:Exclusive: Intel's CEO-shortlist candidates include former board member Lip-Bu Tan, sources say (Reuters)Intel CEO Forced Out by Board Frustrated With Slow Progress (Bloomberg)China retaliates against latest US chip restrictions (Financial Times)Why does the name ‘David Mayer’ crash ChatGPT? Digital privacy requests may be at fault (TechCrunch)The race is on to make AI agents do your online shopping for you (TechCrunch)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Pat Gelsinger is out at Intel. So where do they go from here? The first announces from the AWS re:Invent conference. More signs that crypto is in the ascendency. Elon files to block OpenAI from going for profit. Is he the greatest threat to that company? And a new startup taking on Nvidia.Links:Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger retires (TechCrunch)AWS opens physical outlets that let customers upload their data (TechCrunch)Ripple-Linked XRP Soars to Third-Largest Token After Trump Win (Bloomberg)Elon Musk files for injunction to halt OpenAI’s transition to a for-profit (TechCrunch)Musk’s Rivals Fear He Will Target Them With His New Power (WSJ)Bezos Backs AI Chipmaker Vying With Nvidia at $2.6 Billion Value (Bloomberg)Open-source OpenWrt One router released at $89 — 'hacker-friendly device' sports two Ethernet ports, three USB ports, with dual-band Wi-Fi 6 (Tom's Hardware)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It is maybe the one moment of tragedy where most 80s kids remember where they were when it happened. Today, RAD! 80s90s History is looking at the Challenger disaster.Our guest is @fmanjooSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Did you know that we could have had the answering machine decades before we actually got to buy one? Why the 1980s and 90s was an unusual time for an innovation explosion in communications technology. The history of the whole AT&T/Ma Bell breakup by the government. And how much did YOU beg your parents to get your own phone line in your bedroom?The guest this episode is the actress Toni Trucks. @tonitrucksSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

OpenAI has suspended access to Sora after an activist stunt. Anyone can train AI on your Bluesky posts, but that is by design, in a way. Elon is readying a straight ChatGPT competitor. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.Links:OpenAI’s Sora video generator appears to have leaked (TechCrunch)OpenAI hits pause on video model Sora after artists leak access in protest (Washington Post)Someone Made a Dataset of One Million Bluesky Posts for 'Machine Learning Research' (404Media)Inside Elon Musk’s Quest to Beat OpenAI at Its Own Game (WSJ)Yes, That Viral LinkedIn Post You Read Was Probably AI-Generated (Wired)Weekend Longreads Suggestions:Should You Still Learn to Code in an A.I. World? (NYTimes)Bad influence (The Verge)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Intel does get its money. Threads continues to feel the heat from Bluesky, and responds by… giving people what they want. The new Mate 70 flagship smartphone from Huawei. Is Apple trying to make the iPhone so thin it can’t put a sim card in it? And yes, the whole Drake/Kendrick Lamar beef.Sponsors:LegalZoom.com promocode: techmemeLinks:Intel Gets Up to $7.9 Billion Award for U.S. Chip-Plant Construction (WSJ)Threads is testing the option to choose your own default feed (The Verge)Elon Musk Admits X is Throttling Links — Effectively Limiting People From Reading News (Mediaite)Starbucks, Other Retailers Hit by Ransomware Attack on Tech Provider (WSJ)China’s Huawei Takes Aim at Apple With Latest Smartphone (NYTimes)Apple’s Thin iPhone Has No Physical SIMs—That Could Dampen China Sales (The Information)Drake Accuses UMG & Spotify of Scheme to ‘Artificially Inflate’ Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ (Billboard)Link to AI avatar experimentSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.