Tech Brew Ride Home

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) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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? Sponsors: Notion.com/ride 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) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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: What Happened to Wirecutter? (The Atlantic) Michael Mann Fulfills a 30-Year Journey Directing the Operatic, Thrilling ‘Ferrari’ — And Teases ‘Heat 2’: ‘I Don’t Think About Mortality. I’m Busy’ (Variety) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Sponsors: Skip the waitlist and invest in blue-chip art for the very first time by signing up for Masterworks: https://www.masterworks.art/techmeme Purchase shares in great masterpieces from artists like Pablo Picasso, Banksy, Andy Warhol, and more. See important Masterworks disclosures: https://www.masterworks.com/cd 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) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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: Microsoft to sell off Activision cloud gaming rights to Ubisoft in bid for UK approval (The Verge) Arm files for Nasdaq listing, as SoftBank aims to sell shares in chip designer it bought for $32 billion (CNBC) Why China remains hungry for AI chips despite US restrictions (FT) Meta releases an AI model that can transcribe and translate close to 100 languages (TechCrunch) X is planning to hide headlines from news links for ‘improved aesthetics’ (TechCrunch) Social Platform Friend.tech Gains 100K Users in Days Even in Depths of a Bear Market (CoinDesk) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Sponsors: Collective.com/ride TryNom.com/ride 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) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Sponsors: Nutrafol.com/men code ridehome Links: Threads gets retweets — sorry, reposts — in the reverse-chronological feed (The Verge) Meta’s Next AI Attack on OpenAI: Free Code-Generating Software (The Information) Lyft and Uber say they will leave Minneapolis if the mayor signs a minimum wage bill for drivers (CNN) Microsoft to hold ‘special event’ in New York City on September 21st (The Verge) Spotify Looked to Ban White Noise Podcasts to Become More Profitable (Bloomberg) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: A Rare Look Into the Finances of Elon Musk’s Secretive SpaceX (WSJ) How the iMac saved Apple (The Verge) A Living History of The Humble Paper Airplane (Popular Mechanics) A New Role for Werner Herzog: The Voice of A.I. Poetry (NYTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

OpenAI makes its first acquisition. Has AI really done anything for Bing marketshare? A really cool looking new gaming handheld. The most recent tally of tech industry layoff numbers. And Eric Schmidt says he wants to pull a Sam Altman. Sponsors: Zbiotics.com/ride code ride Links: OpenAI acquires AI design studio Global Illumination (TechCrunch) Microsoft Struggles to Gain on Google Despite Its Head Start in AI Search (WSJ) Exclusive Images: This is the Lenovo Legion Go Gaming Handheld (WindowsReport) Cyber security researchers become target of criminal hackers (FT) Tech Firms Are Slowing Layoffs But Still Not Yet Resuming Hiring (Bloomberg) Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt to launch AI-science moonshot (Semafor) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By the time you hear these words, I guess I’ll be a blue subscriber cause I’m locked out of Tweetdeck otherwise. Coinbase gets regulatory approval from one agency, while another is suing them. Generative AI in Google search, while Google DeepMind is contemplating doing it for everything. And I guess we’ve entered the true first self-driving car test phase. Hold on to your hats. Sponsors: Shopify.com/ride Mindbloom.com/techmeme code techmeme Links: TweetDeck is officially becoming a paid service (The Verge) Elon Musk’s X is throttling traffic to websites he dislikes (The Washington Post) Coinbase obtains regulatory approval to offer crypto futures trading to eligible clients (The Block) Google’s AI search experience adds AI-powered summaries, definitions and coding improvements (TechCrunch) Google Tests an A.I. Assistant That Offers Life Advice (NYTimes) Robotaxis are driving on thin ice (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Very interesting executive departure at Amazon. A popular Mac service is gonna launch an alternative iOS app store. Now nation states are trying to stockpile Nvidia chips, not just tech companies. And what is the maximum capacity of your iPhone’s battery, and should you check on it? Links: Amazon’s Leader on Alexa, Echo and Other Devices Plans to Leave (WSJ) Scoop: X shuts down $100M promoted accounts ad business (Axios) Setapp plans to launch EU-only alternative iOS App Store (Apple Insider) Saudi Arabia and UAE race to buy Nvidia chips to power AI ambitions (FT) Linear TV Falls Below 50 Percent of Viewing for First Time (The Hollywood Reporter) iPhone 14 Pro users complain of major drops in battery health and capacity after less than a year (9to5Mac) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apple is planning a huge revamp for the Apple Watch in honor of it’s 10th birthday. Amazon is using generative AI to summarize product reviews. It’s finally official. Paying for all the big streaming services is now more expensive than just paying for cable. And if that self driving car is rocking, maybe don’t go a-knocking. Sponsors: Hillsdale.edu/ride Links: Apple Plans Major ‘Watch X’ Overhaul for Device’s 10-Year Anniversary (Bloomberg) Amazon taps generative AI to enhance product reviews (TechCrunch) Google-backed Anthropic raises $100 mln from South Korea's SK Telecom (Reuters) Hollywood calls time on golden era of cheap streaming (FT) Could a True Streaming Bundle Be Upon Us? (Vulture) San Franciscans Are Having Sex in Robotaxis, and Nobody Is Talking About It (The San Francisco Standard) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A major regulatory breakthrough is going to open the floodgates for self-driving taxis in California. Two different stories about dealing with the China restrictions, including one US company that is directly benefiting, and Meta’s AR ambitions, which are not. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Links: Robotaxis score a huge victory in California with approval to operate 24/7 (The Verge) Skydio closing consumer drone business (TechCrunch) Behind Meta’s ‘Made in USA’ AR Glasses: a Military-Grade Material (The Information) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Where have all the fitness bands gone? (The Verge) 4 Actual Use Cases for Blockchain and AI That Are More Than Just Hype (CoinDesk) The Looming Catalog Crisis (Vulture) Paul F. Tompkins Is Getting Back Into It (Vulture) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oh why not? Disney+ is raising prices too. A new executive order targeting Chinese tech. New features in Threads, but not the ones they need. Are the robot card shufflers in Vegas easily hackable? And we did the Flip. Now the Galaxy Z Fold 5 review. Links: Prices of Disney+, Hulu Premium Plans to Get Jacked Up but New Duo Bundle Will Offer Deep Discount (Variety) Biden Restricts U.S. Investment in China (WSJ) You can now verify your Threads profile on Mastodon (The Verge) Apple Can Keep App Store Rules for Now as Top Court Spurns Epic (Bloomberg) Hackers Rig Casino Card-Shuffling Machines for ‘Full Control’ Cheating (Wired) Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 review: a little better is just good enough (The Verge) Messina joins Ride Home Fund’s new $15M AI vehicle, backed by Andreessen, Dixon, Crowley (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Slack announces its biggest ever redesign. Sony signals that the smartphone recession is real and is not getting better anytime soon. Is WeWork circling the drain? Why a Gizmodo editor is suing Apple over Tetris. And guess what? The bots are better at solving CAPTCHAs than you are. Something something, Turing Test. Sponsors: Zbiotics.com/ride and code ride for 15% off Links: Slack’s biggest redesign ever tries to tame the chaos of your workday (The Verge) Netflix launches a game controller app for playing games on your TV (TechCrunch) Sony Expects Smartphone Rebound Only in 2024 After China Fizzles (Bloomberg) WeWork Tumbles After Raising ‘Substantial Doubt’ About Future (Bloomberg) Apple's 'Tetris' movie ripped off tech writer's book, lawsuit says (Reuters) New ‘Downfall’ Flaw Exposes Valuable Data in Generations of Intel Chips (Wired) Bots are better than humans at cracking ‘Are you a robot?’ Captcha tests, study finds (The Independent) Podcast fantasy league: https://fantasy.premierleague.com/leagues/auto-join/9jpcof Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hackers accessed the UK Electoral Commission, so how worried should we be? Apple, Samsung and others can’t wait to buy Arm stock. OpenAI explains how its bot is crawling the web. More details on the new M3 chips Apple is testing. And Apple Music finally edges closer to the one thing Spotify still does so much better. Sponsors: Notion.com/ride Links: Millions of UK voters’ data accessible in cyber-attack, says Electoral Commission (The Guardian) Apple, Samsung to invest in Arm as it eyes September IPO (NikkeiAsia) OpenAI Launches GPTBot With Details On How To Restrict Access (SearchEngineJournal) Zoom can now train its A.I. using some customer data, according to updated terms (CNBC) Even Zoom Is Making People Return to the Office (NYTimes) Apple Tests M3 Max Chip, Setting Stage for Most Powerful MacBook Pro Yet (Bloomberg) Apple Music debuts new algorithmic Discovery Station radio (AppleInsider) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In earnings last week, Apple was forced to admit softness in iPhone sales. But the big question is, will the iPhone 15 be enough to turn things around? A stablecoin from PayPal. What the world being flooded with cheap AI-produced content already means in the real world. And a review of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5. Sponsors: Kolide.com/ride Collective.com/ride Links: Apple Admits There Is a Smartphone Slowdown Ahead of iPhone 15 Debut (Bloomberg) PayPal Launches a Stablecoin in Latest Crypto Payments Push (Bloomberg) New acoustic attack steals data from keystrokes with 95% accuracy (BleepingComputer) A New Frontier for Travel Scammers: A.I.-Generated Guidebooks (NyTimes) Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 review: the flip phone we’ve been waiting for (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Check out more about the Ride Home AI Fund at RideHomeFund.com. And subscribe to the Big Technology Podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apple and Amazon earnings make me wonder if the law of large numbers is dead. Coinbase is willing to argue over what the definition of is is. Threads continues its precipitous decline. The Weekend Longreads Suggestions. And be sure to listen to the end of the show for some big, big show news. Biggest news in a while. Among other things, why haven’t there been bonus episodes for a while? Where has Chris been? Listen to the end! All will be revealed. Links: Apple reports third quarter results (BusinessWire) Amazon.com Announces Second Quarter Results (BusinessWire) Coinbase argues it doesn’t trade securities, so the SEC’s lawsuit should be dismissed (The Verge) Bitcoin launderer pleads guilty, admits to massive Bitfinex hack (CNBC) Threads user count falls to new lows, highlighting retention challenges (CNN) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: The Chip Titan Whose Life’s Work Is at the Center of a Tech Cold War (NYTimes) When AI Is Trained on AI-Generated Data, Strange Things Start to Happen (Futurism) How “windfall profits” from AI companies could fund a universal basic income (Vox) How Modelo became America’s new favorite beer (Vox) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two stories today of startups who flew high during the pandemic, but have crashed down to earth in meaningful ways. NFT trading volumes might be sinking, but developers continue to flood into the space. And does Goldman Sachs want out of the whole Apple Card partnership? Links: Johnny Boufarhat steps down as CEO of Hopin (Sifted) ‘A Nice Bike, When It Works’: Riders Fret After E-Bike Maker Goes Bust (NYTimes) IRS expects faster refunds in 2024 for people who stop using paper (Washington Post) NFT Trading Volume Is Sinking, But It’s Not Stopping Developers From Entering Web3 (Coindesk) Kenya suspends Worldcoin's crypto project over safety concerns (Reuters) Why are people lining up for Worldcoin eyeball scans? “Easy $50” (Rest of World) How the Partnership Between Apple and Goldman Sachs Soured (The Information) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Seems like I’ll have to be paying up for an X Blue subscription any day now. Meta releases a new AI music generator. We might actually be getting a big tech IPO in a matter of weeks. Amazon is readying an aggressive new push into groceries. And what happens when an online creator replaces themselves with an AI bot? Links: X, formerly Twitter, now lets paid users hide their checkmarks (TechCrunch) TweetDeck is now called ‘XPro’ (9to5Google) Meta’s AI music generator could be the new synthesizer — or just muzak (The Verge) SoftBank’s Arm Targets $60 Billion Value in September IPO (Bloomberg) Microsoft Teams adds spatial audio for more immersive conference calls (The Verge) Amazon Unveils Biggest Grocery Overhaul Since Buying Whole Foods (Bloomberg) One of Gaming’s Biggest YouTubers Wants to Replace Himself With AI (Wired) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Uber reports meaningful, not gimmicky profitability for the first time ever. Meta’s gonna give you AI chatbots with personality. Google is overhauling Assistant with AI stuff. Even Pierson is getting ahead of the whole, let AI tutor you on stuff, stuff. Nintendo is probably giving us a new console next year. And the prisoner’s dilemma that is fueling quantum computing development, but heck, let’s be honest, fueling AI development as well. Links: Uber Delivers First-Ever Operating Profit in Drive to Curb Losses (WSJ) Meta prepares chatbots with personas to try to retain users (FT) Scoop: Google Assistant to get an AI makeover (Axios) Amazon wants Alexa to bring AI into the home (Axios) Pearson Offers New AI Study Tools in Time for Back-to-School (Bloomberg) Sources: Nintendo targets 2024 with next-gen console (VCG) Quantum Tech Will Transform National Security. It’s Testing U.S. Alliances Now. (NYTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brian Armstrong strongly hints that US regulators believe only Bitcoin is legal. A deep dive into what we can expect from this year’s iPhones. Is the US crackdown on tech to China having a real impact? And the artist that tried to take his art out of Stable Diffusion, only to have the community pull him back in. Sponsors: TryNom.com/ride CalderaLab.com code ride for 20% off Links: SEC asked Coinbase to halt trading in everything except bitcoin, CEO says (FT) The iPhone 15 Pro Will Have Thinner Bezels in Step Toward Apple’s Dream (Bloomberg) U.S. Hunts Chinese Malware That Could Disrupt American Military Operations (NYTimes) China’s Tech Distress Grows as U.S. Chip Sanctions Bite (WSJ) An Internet Veteran’s Guide to Not Being Scared of Technology (NYTimes) Greg Rutkowski Was Removed From Stable Diffusion, But AI Artists Brought Him Back (Decrypt) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The whole Threads saga has been a whirlwind. At the beginning of the month I asked if Threads had already won. At the end of the month, I’m wondering if the clock is ticking in terms of their chances of survival. Generative AI but for robots. Again. Real robots. Are VCs pulling back from the crypto space? And, of course, the Weekend Longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Nutrafol.com/men code ridehome Crashplan.com code techmeme Links: Meta plans retention 'hooks' for Threads as more than half of users leave app (Reuters) Aided by A.I. Language Models, Google’s Robots Are Getting Smart (NYTimes) App Store to require developers to describe why their apps use certain APIs (9to5Mac) Sequoia Capital Slashes Crypto Fund as It Downsizes Amid Startup Crunch (WSJ) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Large language models, explained with a minimum of math and jargon (UnderstandingAI.org) The making of ‘Acquired,’ the No. 1 tech podcast sensation (Fast Company) Internet cafes introduced Uganda to the internet (Rest of World) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meta’s earnings say, hey, let’s just forget the last two years even happened. Is the next iPhone about to get an “action” button? What does it mean if Waymo is basically hitting pause on self driving trucks? Checking in on SBF. And a super fast new version of 5G. Sponsors: Crashplan.com code techmeme Links: Meta’s Improved Ad Sales Buy Time for Zuckerberg’s Metaverse (Bloomberg) Microsoft Faces European Antitrust Investigation Over Bundling of Teams Software (WSJ) iPhone 15 Pro Action Button Options Potentially Revealed in iOS 17 Code: Flashlight, Shortcuts, Voice Memos, and More (MacRumors) Alphabet’s Waymo Self-Driving Unit Slows Autonomous Trucking (Bloomberg) Sony has sold 40 million PS5s (The Verge) Prosecutors want Sam Bankman-Fried sent to jail after witness-tampering allegations. Judge issues gag order (CNN) T-Mobile says its ultrafast 5G capable of up to 3.3Gbps is rolling out now (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All the headlines from the big Galaxy Unpacked event today. This was the foldable event, but there were interesting watch announces too. Quick earnings roundup. Threads gets a follower tab. And the group that wants to battle Apple and Google in maps dominance has released their first product. Sponsors: Crashplan.com code techmeme Mindbloom.com/techmeme and promocode techmeme Links: The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 gets a big little screen upgrade (The Verge) Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 hands-on: Is Samsung squandering its head start? (Engadget) The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 series is all about the bezels (The Verge) Meta’s Threads app is rolling out a Following feed (TechCrunch) OpenAI Quietly Shuts Down Its AI Detection Tool (Decrypt) Meta, Microsoft and Amazon team up on maps project to crack Apple-Google duopoly (CNBC) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Big potential vulnerability in AMD chips. Fallout from the whole X re-branding continues. Now TikTok is cloning Twitter. The Arc Browser is now available for anyone to try out. And if you think Elon likes to have his hand in a lot of pies, a look at the increasing, and increasingly ambitious portfolio of Sam Altman-related companies. Links: AMD 'Zenbleed' Bug Leaks Data From Ryzen, EPYC CPUs: Most Patches Coming Q4 (Updated) (TomsHardware) Musk Explains Why He’s Axing Twitter Name, Iconic Bird Logo (Bloomberg) TikTok is adding support for text posts (TechCrunch) The excellent Arc browser is now available for anyone to download (The Verge) Spotify now has 220 million paying subscribers (The Verge) Sam Altman’s vision for AI puts him on collision course with regulators (Financial Times) Sam Altman explains why he’s helping to take nuclear microreactor company Oklo public via SPAC (CNBC) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elon makes good on his promise to rebrand Twitter as… X. Moar price hikes in streaming! Worldcoin has officially rolled out its token, so long as you’ve scanned your eyeball. Let me introduce you to the Flipper Zero. And should it be titled: Hollywood Strike: Rise Of The TikTok Stars? Sponsors: Collective.com/ride startups.tech/techmeme Links: Twitter is being rebranded as X (The Verge) Twitter has officially changed its logo to ‘X’ (TechCrunch) It’s Spotify’s turn to increase prices (The Verge) Peer-to-Peer Crypto Exchanges Lose Ground in Shrunken Market (Bloomberg) Sam Altman’s Worldcoin crypto project begins international rollout (FT) The Flipper Zero is a Swiss Army knife of antennas (The Verge) The Flipper Zero has an app store now (The Verge) The creator economy was already exploding. Then Hollywood went on strike. (Washington Post) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reddit is choosing violence with their biggest holdouts. More data on the ebbing of Threads usage. AI seems to be bringing Sergey Brin back into the office. Why you should be getting your paycheck quicker. And an Oppenheimer-themed Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Sponsors: ZBiotics.com/ride and code ride for 15% off Links: Reddit takes over one of the biggest protesting subreddits (The Verge) Threads Is Already Losing Its Allure for Users, Adding Urgency for New Features (WSJ) Meta, Google, and OpenAI promise the White House they’ll develop AI responsibly (The Verge) The Federal Reserve’s 24/7 payment system could deposit your paycheck instantly (The Verge) Sergey Brin Is Back in the Trenches at Google (WSJ) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: A $25,000 Prize Still Sits in the Maine Woods. Meteorite Hunters Aren’t Giving Up. (WSJ) Fable unveils Showrunner AI to create South Park-like TV shows with you as the star (VentureBeat) The Airstocracy: Six things to know about flying with the superrich. (NYMag) THE REAL LESSON FROM THE MAKING OF THE ATOMIC BOMB (The Atlantic) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rumors that Apple already has an LLM framework and their own generative chatbot. Google is shopping an AI bot that can write news stories to various journalism outlets. Has GPT-4 actually gotten dumber of late? More streaming price raises. And it’s the last chance saloon for Microsoft’s AR headset for the US Military. Sponsors: BirdDogs.com/ride notion.com/ride Links: Apple Tests ‘Apple GPT,’ Develops Generative AI Tools to Catch OpenAI (Bloomberg) Google Tests A.I. Tool That Is Able to Write News Articles (NYTimes) Study claims ChatGPT is losing capability, but some experts aren’t convinced (ArsTechnica) Meta open-sources Llama 2, but with strings attached (MoneyControl) Apple slams UK surveillance-bill proposals (BBC News) Google raising price of YouTube Premium to $13.99 per month (9to5Google) Microsoft Poised to Deliver Improved Combat Goggles, US Army Says (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Microsoft announced aggressive pricing for their AI products and got rewarded with an all-time high stock market valuation. More price aggression in the streaming wars. Meta released Llama 2. Google is asking for employees to voluntarily work on air gapped machines. And let me introduce you to the concept of “synthetic data” for LLMs. Links: Microsoft and Activision Blizzard extend merger agreement to October (The Verge) Microsoft will charge businesses $30 per user for its 365 AI Copilot (Engadget) Microsoft closes at record after revealing pricing for new A.I. subscription (CNBC) Netflix Shakes Up Pricing: ‘Basic’ Tier Axed in UK, US (Cord Busters) Meta launches Llama 2, an open source AI model that allows commercial applications (Ars Technica) Google restricting internet access to some employees to reduce cyberattack risk (CNBC) Why computer-made data is being used to train AI models (FT) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been… two weeks. Let’s check in on how Threads is doing. Streaming players continue to raise prices. Microsoft still plans on fighting for its prize. Are the incumbents winning the AI race? And the interesting startup that wants to use light instead of electricity in computer chips. Sponsors: Notion.com/ride Links: The spam bots have now found Threads, as company announces its own ‘rate limits’ (TechCrunch) Five reasons Threads could still go the distance (Platformer) Peacock to raise its subscription prices on August 17 (TechCrunch) Microsoft-Activision Deal Poised to Close Later Than Planned (Bloomberg) Wix’s new tool can create entire websites from prompts (TechCrunch) UK chip designer raises millions from Agnelli fund (FT) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sony and Microsoft have made nice. Bitcoin ETFs continue to look like a possibility. How the Vision Pro is shaking up Apple’s org structure in a meaningful way for the first time since the Steve Jobs Era. And why Netflix’s recent turnaround have rekindled those perpetual rumors that Apple is gonna end up buying Disney some day. Sponsors: CalderaLab.com code RIDE for 20% off Hillsdale.edu/ride Links: Sony agrees to 10-year Call of Duty deal with Microsoft (The Verge) SEC accepts BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF application, signaling regulatory review (CoinTelegraph) The shady world of Brave selling copyrighted data for AI training (StackDiary) Hacker News Thread On The Brave Thing Typo leaks millions of US military emails to Mali web operator (Financial Times) Apple’s New Vision Group Reflects Shift Away From Steve Jobs Approach (Bloomberg) Bob Iger Shifts From Building an Empire to a Disney Yard Sale (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elon has made good on his promise to share ad revenue with some big Tweeters. The fact that you can’t use Threads in Europe continues to be weird. Meta unveils a new AI image generator that they say is significantly smaller and better. Why AI is at the center of the Hollywood strike part eleven. And one choice Weekend Longreads Suggestion. Links: Twitter starts sharing ad revenue with verified creators (TechCrunch) Musk's Twitter sues four Texas entities for data scraping, seeks damages (Reuters) Meta confirms it is blocking EU-based users from accessing Threads via VPN (TechCrunch) Meta claims its new art-generating model is best-in-class (TechCrunch) Exclusive: AP strikes news-sharing and tech deal with OpenAI (Axios) Actors say Hollywood studios want their AI replicas — for free, forever (The Verge) Here’s the new default font for Microsoft Outlook and Word: Aptos (CNBC) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Apple, Lionel Messi and the $2.5bn question: What’s next? (The Athletic) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elon has launched his own AI company with some pretty big names involved. The FTC will appeal! Roblox is coming to Zuckerberg’s metaverse. Meta does plan to commercialize LLaMA. And a cool new “do a napkin sketch and have AI turn it into an actual work of art” tool. Links: Musk Unveils xAI in New Bid to Rival Startup OpenAI (Bloomberg) FTC appeals its loss to Microsoft in Activision Blizzard case (The Verge) Ex-Celsius CEO Mashinsky Charged in Latest DOJ Crypto Case (Bloomberg) Roblox is coming to Meta’s Quest VR headsets (The Verge) macOS Sonoma Brings Apple Password Manager to Third-Party Browsers (MacRumors) Meta to release commercial AI model in effort to catch rivals (FT) Stability AI releases Stable Doodle, a sketch-to-image tool (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A big win for Microsoft leads critics of FTC chair Lina Khan to come out of the woodwork. Anthropic has released its Claude 2 chatbot. Say hello to the Nothing Phone (2). And while the market caps of the big players might have been boosted by AI, might the need for on premises AI lead to a unique opening for the likes of Dell and Hewlett Packard Enterprise? Links: Microsoft-Activision deal moves closer as judge denies FTC injunction request (CNBC) Microsoft and UK regulators agree to pause their Activision battle to negotiate (The Verge) FTC would face tough appeal of Microsoft-Activision order, experts say (Reuters) F.T.C.’s Court Loss Raises Fresh Questions About Its Chair’s Strategy (NYTimes) AI Startup Anthropic Releases a New Version of Its ChatGPT Rival, Claude (Bloomberg) Why SUSE is forking Red Hat Enterprise Linux (TechCrunch) Bigger, Brighter, More Expensive: Nothing Reveals the Phone (2) (Gizmodo) The AI Boom Is Here. The Cloud May Not Be Ready. (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Could Massachusetts pass the first meaningful anti-tracking law in the country? With social media in transition, what’s the lane for someone like Tumblr? Instagram is going after Twitter, but is someone coming for Instagram at the exact same time? And the sad state of affairs for video game history. Sponsors: https://www.birddogs.com/RIDE SwissAmerica.com/ride Links: Selling Your Cellphone Location Data Might Soon Be Banned in U.S. for First Time (WSJ) Tumblr says it’s going to ‘fix’ its ‘core experience’ to appeal to new users (The Verge) HCA Healthcare patient data stolen and for sale by hackers (CNBC) A New VC-Beloved Startup Rips a Page From Meta’s Playbook (The Information) THE GAME AVAILABILITY STUDY, EXPLAINED (Video Game History Foundation) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Time to get worried about your Evernote files. Looks like Meta won’t have to leave the EU. OpenAI has a new product that people are raving about. More analysis of if AI can be useful to doctors. And I’ll tell you the one simple reason Threads has hit 100 million users so fast. The answer is right in front of us. Sponsors: startups.tech/techmeme ZocDoc.com/techmeme Links: Bay Area tech company Evernote lays off most staff, relocating to Europe (SFGate) EU Seals New Transatlantic Data-Transfer Pact With US in Third Attempt (Bloomberg) Code Interpreter comes to all ChatGPT Plus users — ‘anyone can be a data analyst now’ (VentureBeat) Sarah Silverman is suing OpenAI and Meta for copyright infringement (The Verge) In Battle With Microsoft, Google Bets on Medical AI Program to Crack Healthcare Industry (WSJ) Snap’s Push to Tempt Creators Seems to Be Working (WSJ) Instagram’s Threads app reaches 100 million users within just five days (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been my job for over a decade now to analyze the competitive landscape of the tech industry, and I’ve simply never seen anything like what Threads has achieved in less than 48 hours. Though, Elon is threatening to sue. Uber, DoorDash and GrubHub are suing NYC. Volkswagen is rolling out its self-driving cars. And, of course, The Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Sponsors: Earnin App (type in Techmeme under PODCAST when you sign up) Links: Threads Becomes Most Rapidly Downloaded App, Raising Twitter’s Ire (NYTimes) Zuck's Threads halo (Axios) Twitter is threatening to sue Meta over Threads (Semafor) OpenAI makes GPT-4 generally available (TechCrunch) Food-Delivery Companies Sue New York City Over Minimum Pay Law (NYTimes) Volkswagen's Self-Driving Cars Begin Testing In Texas (Jalopnik) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: What Did People Do Before Smartphones? (The Atlantic) The Man Who Broke Bowling (GQ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s only one story today. Threads. Threads. Threads. Has Threads already won? Links: Meta launches Instagram Threads in a direct challenge to Twitter (CNBC) Threads profile can only be deleted by deleting Instagram account, Meta says (TechCrunch) Instagram Threads works, but it’s sterile, dull and worst of all – it’s still run by Mark Zuckerberg (iNews) Meta unspools Threads (Platformer) So where are we all supposed to go now? (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chaos at Twitter emphatically did NOT take the 4th of July weekend off. Instagram’s Twitter clone looks like it’s going to take advantage of this chaos to launch now. The Reddit app apocalypse has happened. Oh, and the mods for Reddit AMA’s have downed tools. And how drone technology is disrupting the traditional Fireworks industry. Sponsors: Kolide.com/ride Notion.com/ride Links: Instagram’s Twitter competitor, Threads, briefly went live on the web (The Verge) The Reddit app-pocalyse is here: Apollo, Sync, and BaconReader go dark (The Verge) The Reddit moderators who coordinate many celebrity AMAs will no longer do so (The Verge) Fireworks Have a New Competitor: Drones (NYTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Originally published April 2015 It’s part two of our Amazon founding story. How did Amazon come to completely dominate e-commerce? How did Jeff Bezos’ “Get Big Fast” strategy evolve? How and why did Amazon become the quintessential “dot com” and dot-com-era stock? The answers are within. Bibliography: The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon The Playboy Interview: Moguls Amazon.com: Get Big Fast One Click: Jeff Bezos and the Rise of Amazon.com http://jimromenesko.com/2013/08/11/i-interviewed-jeff-bezos-when-amazon-was-an-insignificant-speck-in-the-book-selling-universe/#more-49306 http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/7.03/bezos_pr.html http://www.fastcompany.com/50541/inside-mind-jeff-bezos http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB832204437381952500 http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303339904576405922077032468 http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?p=irol-corporateTimeline_pf&c=176060 http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,992927-2,00.html http://www.vox.com/2015/1/4/7490013/ecommerce-shopping-mall http://mashable.com/2014/05/08/amazon-sales-chart/ http://www.statista.com/statistics/185283/total-and-e-commerce-us-retail-trade-sales-since-2000/ http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-01-07/amazon-surges-to-record-high-on-global-e-commerce-growth http://www.thewire.com/business/2014/05/amazon-has-basically-no-competition-among-online-booksellers/371917/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Originally published February 2015. Finally, the long-promised foray into e-commerce, starting with… not the first… but practically the first… player in the space… and ironically enough, the 800 pound gorilla in the space to this day. Amazon. Dot com. We examine Jeff Bezos, the man. We consider Amazon, the idea. We look at e-commerce, the concept. It’s interesting. It’s groundbreaking. It’s available with free 2-day shipping for Prime members. Just kidding. Bibliography: The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon The Playboy Interview: Moguls Amazon.com: Get Big Fast One Click: Jeff Bezos and the Rise of Amazon.com http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/7.03/bezos_pr.html http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1999/01/11/253770/index.htm http://partners.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/03/biztech/articles/14amazon.html http://www.retireat21.com/blog/10-companies-started-garages http://davidsheff.com/article/jeff-bezos/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Second time the charm for Apple to close above $3 trillion? Google says it will remove news links in Canada. Meta will allow you to download apps directly from Ads. Self driving cars are giving cops more surveillance tape. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Links: Apple’s market cap tops $3 trillion (CNBC) Canada’s ‘link tax’ law could break how the web works, says Google (Android Police) Meta is planning to let people in the EU download apps through Facebook (The Verge) Fidelity Joins Spot-Bitcoin ETF Race With Fresh SEC Filing (Bloomberg) Police Are Requesting Self-Driving Car Footage For Video Evidence (Bloomberg) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: When Will AI Generate a Hollywood Blockbuster? “Give It About Three Years.” (Inverse) These Tech Companies Think They Can ‘Solve’ the Wildfire Crisis (Motherboard) Who killed Google Reader? (The Verge) Mixtape Sites Like DatPiff Propelled Rap. Can They Be Preserved? (NYTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Satya Nadella had his day in court. Looks like the FTC is finalizing its big case against Amazon. YouTube has advertisers asking for refunds. Big new interesting raises in the AI space. And ahead of the Fourth of July travel weekend, we may not have the autonomous driving we want, but maybe we can get the autonomous rental car delivery we deserve. Links: Microsoft and Activision Chiefs Testify Merger Will Benefit Consumers (NYTimes) Lina Khan Is Coming for Amazon, Armed With an FTC Antitrust Suit (Bloomberg) Advertising industry seeks refunds over YouTube skippable ads (FT) ChatGPT maker OpenAI faces a lawsuit over how it used people’s data (Washington Post) Inflection AI Raises $1 Billion (Forbes) Halo Car launches remotely piloted rental car deliveries in Las Vegas (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Even in bankruptcy, even FTX is like, maybe we’ll hold on to these AI investments. Could Windows itself become a fully cloud product? Has Google canceled its AR project? How AI is making even Billy Bean look like old school baseball. And who needs a Mac Pro when you’ve got a perfectly good Mac Studio or even Mac Book? Links: FTX Halts Sale of Its $500 Million Stake in AI Startup Anthropic (Bloomberg) AI Frenzy Draws Hordes to Private Markets in Industry Gold Rush (Bloomberg) Microsoft wants to move Windows fully to the cloud (The Verge) Google killed its Iris augmented-reality smart glasses as it shifts attention to building AR software (Insider) DoorDash launches hourly rates and location sharing for couriers (The Verge) Baseball Scouts Call In Artificial Intelligence Help From the Bullpen (WSJ) The Mac Pro’s biggest problem is the MacBook (The Verge) Eat Your Heart Out, Tesla. Mercedes-Benz May Have the Fastest EV Yet. (Barron's) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Checking in with the FTC vs. Microsoft case. Checking in with the effort to recover funds from FTX. What if OpenAI did its own Copilot? Would Microsoft be pissed? And reviews of the Pixel Fold include one reviewer’s unit dying after a mere few days. Sponsors: stpp.co/techmeme ZocDoc.com/techmeme Links: Microsoft exec was ready to ‘go spend Sony out of business’ to strengthen Xbox (The Verge) FTX Bankruptcy Team Says the Exchange Owed Customers $8.7B (CoinDesk) Thomson Reuters buys Casetext, an AI legal tech startup, for $650M in cash (TechCrunch) OpenAI Plans ChatGPT ‘Personal Assistant for Work,’ Setting Up Microsoft Rivalry (The Information) RIP to my Pixel Fold: Dead after four days (ArsTechnica) Google Pixel Fold review: closing the gap (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Well, this AI moment is only about 6 months old, but it looks like the mergers and acquisitions are beginning in earnest. Wait, we’re still worried about 5G interfering with airplanes? Amazon wants your local florist to deliver your packages. An Amazon/FTC kerfuffle we missed. And what are the OTHER Apple products we can expect in the next year or so? Sponsors: JoinDeleteMe.com/techmeme The Traceroute Podcast Links: Databricks Strikes $1.3 Billion Deal for Generative AI Startup MosaicML (WSJ) Pete Buttigieg Warns of Flight Delays as 5G Deadline Looms (WSJ) Exclusive: Amazon launches local business delivery network (Axios) FTC sues Amazon over ‘deceptive’ Prime sign-up and cancellation process (CNBC) Amazon, Friction, and the FTC (Stratechery) Apple Has Finally Unveiled the Vision Pro. Here’s What It’s Launching Next (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Find out more at ThePlayerslounge.io Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices