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Decentralized social network Bluesky launches in the iOS App Store. TikTok adds wellbeing feature for families and kids. You know about eSIMs but say hello to iSIMs. Meta's entire four-year AR/VR roadmap. And I’m still banging the drum on laptops and smartphones where you can unroll the screen for more real estate. Sponsors: RelationshipHero.com/techmeme Links: Jack Dorsey-backed Twitter alternative Bluesky hits the App Store as an invite-only app (TechCrunch) Republican Bill That Gives Biden Power to Completely Ban TikTok Passes House Committee Super Fast (Gizmodo) TikTok rolls out new screen time controls, adds new default settings for teens and expands Family Pairing (TechCrunch) Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 phones are the first to support built-in 'iSIMs' (Engadget) This is Meta’s AR/VR hardware roadmap for the next four years (The Verge) Lenovo’s rollable laptop and smartphone are a compelling, unfinished pitch for the future (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AI-powered Bing is now integrated into Windows. Elon wants to compete with OpenAI, a company he co-founded. Major financial institutions continue to back away from crypto while NFTs on the bitcoin blockchain are on the rise. The iPhone SE might not be dead. And how the LastPass debacle happened. Links: Microsoft brings its new AI-powered Bing to the Windows 11 taskbar (The Verge) Fighting ‘Woke AI,’ Musk Recruits Team to Develop OpenAI Rival (The Information) Meta revamps AI unit to get generative tech into products (Axios) Visa, Mastercard pause crypto push in wake of industry meltdown - sources (Reuters) Kuo: New iPhone SE With 6.1-Inch OLED Display and Apple's 5G Chip Planned (MacRumors) Bored Ape Yacht Club Creator Yuga Labs Reveals First Bitcoin NFT Project (Decrypt) LastPass: DevOps engineer hacked to steal password vault data in 2022 breach (BleepingComputer) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Snap wants to go the route of the movie Her, with a personified chatbot inside of Snapchat. Interesting layoffs at Twitter. Yes. More. Inside Apple's Exploratory Design Group. The best AR glasses we’ve seen yet. And, right on schedule, here come the prompt engineers. Sponsors: This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/techmeme and get on your way to being your best self. Links: Snapchat is releasing its own AI chatbot powered by ChatGPT (The Verge) Twitter Blue head Esther Crawford is out at Twitter (The Verge) Google announces new features for Android and Wear OS (TechCrunch) Apple’s Secret ‘XDG’ Team Is Working on More Than Just a Glucose Monitor (Bloomberg) Exclusive: These are Xiaomi's new Wireless AR Smart Glasses, and they look like they're from the future (XDA Developers) Tech’s hottest new job: AI whisperer. No coding required. (Washington Post) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Find out more and see demos at Nanome.ai Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is the DOJ about to sue to stop of Adobe’s acquisition of Figma? Confirmation of the lower end mixed reality headset from Apple due next year. A reporter used an AI-generated replica of a voice to bypass the voice verification system of a major bank. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Sponsors: HelloFresh.com/techmeme65 and code techmeme65 for 65% off Links: DOJ Preps Antitrust Suit to Block Adobe’s $20 Billion Figma Deal (Bloomberg) Kuo: Apple to Launch High-End and Low-End Versions of Second-Generation Headset in 2025 (MacRumors) How I Broke Into a Bank Account With an AI-Generated Voice (Motherboard) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: What Is ChatGPT Doing … and Why Does It Work? (Stephen Wolfram) Getting My ChatGPT Plus Subscription Is an Inflection Point (HackerNoon) Why China Didn’t Invent ChatGPT (NYTimes) Meet the $10,000 Nvidia chip powering the race for A.I. (CNBC) Inside Meta’s Push to Solve the Noisy Office (WSJ) Are bioinspired drones the next big thing in unmanned flight? (TNW) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Coinbase wants to let a thousand Web3 flowers bloom by launching its own Layer 2 network. The new iPhone specs have leaked. Apple might have made a breakthrough in blood glucose monitoring. Satellite telephony continues to be a busy space, weirdly enough. And reviews of the Galaxy S23 lineup. Links: Coinbase Launches Layer 2 Blockchain Base to Provide On-Ramp for Ethereum, Solana and Others (CoinDesk) Exclusive: iPhone 15 CADs reveal larger 6.2-inch display, Dynamic Island, and more (9to5Mac) Apple Makes Major Progress on No-Prick Blood Glucose Tracking for Its Watch (Bloomberg) AI-created images lose U.S. copyrights in test for new technology (Reuters) Spotify Is Testing Token-Enabled Music Playlists (CoinDesk) Samsung is readying its own smartphone-to-satellite communication platform (Engadget) Samsung S23 and S23 Plus review: say ‘yes’ to the S (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This chatbot AI revolution has hit a major roadblock in China. What does it mean if science fiction publications are up in arms about AI generated content? Spotify has a new AI powered DJ. Uber has a redesigned version of its App. And why is Microsoft showing you ads for its products on other people’s websites? Links: China tells big tech companies not to offer ChatGPT services (NikkeiAsia) ChatGPT launches boom in AI-written e-books on Amazon (Reuters) Sci-Fi Mag Pauses Submissions Amid Flood of AI-Generated Short Stories (PCMag) Spotify launches ‘DJ,’ a new feature offering personalized music with AI-powered commentary (TechCrunch) Uber redesigns app for simpler, more personalized experience (TechCrunch) Microsoft aggressively trying to keep Chrome downloaders using Edge (9to5Google) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Microsoft tries again to convince people it won’t hoard Call of Duty as an Xbox exclusive. Linux now plays nice with Apple Silicon. Chrome swears it will play nicer with your battery life. Verified everything is officially now a trend. And does Apple have a strangle hold on Gen Z? Links: Microsoft inks binding contract with Nintendo for ‘Call of Duty’ as it defends Activision deal (GeekWire) Linux 6.2: The first mainstream Linux kernel for Apple M1 chips arrives (ZDNet) Google Chrome rolls out long awaited battery saving features (AndroidPolice) Facebook and Instagram are testing selling you blue checks for $12 a month (The Verge) Official: Twitter will now charge for SMS two-factor authentication (The Verge) Almost-unbeatable AI comes to Gran Turismo 7 (ArsTechnica) How Apple captured Gen Z in the US — and changed their social circles (Financial Times) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The US is suing Terraform Labs and Do Kwon. The UK is investigating rumors that Google paid Apple NOT to spin up its own search engine. Susan Wojcicki stepping down as YouTube CEO is a major end of an era. And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Links: SEC Sues Over TerraUSD Stablecoin That Rocked Crypto (Bloomberg) What Brit watchdog redacted: Google gives Apple cut of Chrome iOS search revenue (The Register) TikTok is launching a $500,000 live trivia contest (The Verge) YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki is stepping down (Vox) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: It’s Always Sunny Inside a Generative AI Conference (Wired) Billionaire Kuok Family-Backed Music App BandLab Taps Into AI For TikTok’s Breakout Stars (Forbes) PlayStation VR2 is exciting, exhausting and a new standard for VR (Launcher) How Rust went from a side project to the world’s most-loved programming language (MIT Technology Review) I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (Wikipedia) Roko's basilisk (Wikipedia) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Microsoft is revealing what it’s learned from us poking around on the new Bing. It seems that once developers begin using generative AI to code, they DO keep using it. Apple has postponed its headset announce to WWDC. Banks are shying away from crypto exposure. And after 16 years, border control is finally making use of NFC technology in passports. Sponsors: ZocDoc.com/techmeme Links: Microsoft explains Bing's bizarre AI chat behavior (Engadget) GitHub Copilot update stops AI model from revealing secrets (BleepingComputer) SEC Proposal Could Bar Investment Advisers From Keeping Assets at Crypto Firms (CoinDesk) Banks Are Breaking Up With Crypto During Regulatory Crackdown (WSJ) Apple Pushes Back Mixed-Reality Headset Debut Two Months to June (Bloomberg) Whatever happened to the metaverse? (FT) US Border Patrol Is Finally Able to Check E-Passport Data (Wired) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More signs the chat bots are maybe a little undercooked, and whooo doggy. Wait until you hear what I mean. Some datapoints suggesting the faddish nature of these new tools. And wait until you hear the possible reason you’re seeing Elon’s tweets all of the sudden. This is maybe the pinnacle story of the whole Elon/Twitter saga. Sponsors: Podcast Guru App (Listener Ad!) Links: Microsoft’s new ChatGPT AI starts sending ‘unhinged’ messages to people (The Independent) The AI photo app trend has already fizzled, new data shows (TechCrunch) GitHub’s Copilot for Business is now generally available (TechCrunch) Adobe’s $20 Billion Figma Deal Faces EU Antitrust Probe (Bloomberg) Yes, Elon Musk created a special system for showing you all his tweets first (Platformer) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People are saying Elon is showing you his tweets whether you asked to see them or not. More fodder for the charge that these chat bots are being rolled out quick and dirty. More fodder for the charge that US regulators are fencing in crypto. TikTok is trying to court the olds. And Amazon’s autonomous shuttle service his hit real world roads. Sponsors: RelationshipHero.com/techmeme Links: Twitter is just showing everyone all of Elon Musk’s tweets now (The Verge) Twitter delays new paid API launch by 'a few more days' (AppleInsider) Microsoft’s Bing AI, like Google’s, also made dumb mistakes during first demo (The Verge) US Crackdown Seeks to Push Crypto Back to the Fringes of Finance (Bloomberg) TikTok Turns to New Tactics to Spur Growth as Boom Times End (The Information) Amazon chief vows to ‘go big’ on physical stores (FT) TikTok’s Parent Takes On Meta in Battle for Virtual-Reality Market (WSJ) Amazon’s Self-Driving Car Shuttles People on Public Roads for the First Time (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Binance’s stablecoin seems to be dead, but with regulatory questions swirling around Paxos, I’m wondering if all stablecoins might about to see a rug pull. Tons of uncertainty swirling around the metaverse all the sudden. Can the metaverse still happen if all of its funding get pulled? And are all of these AI tools being rushed to market in embarrassing ways? Sponsors: MeetFabric.com/ride RelationshipHero.com/techmeme Links: Regulator Orders Crypto Firm Paxos to Stop Issuing Binance Stablecoin (WSJ) PayPal Pauses Stablecoin Work Amid Regulatory Scrutiny of Crypto (Bloomberg) Meta delays setting team budgets as it plans fresh round of job cuts (FT) Microsoft Kills Its Industrial Metaverse Team After 4 Months (The Information) AI-powered Bing Chat spills its secrets via prompt injection attack (ArsTechnica) Apple Reportedly Planning to Limit iPhone 15's USB-C Port in the Same Way as Lightning (MacRumors) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More job cuts at Microsoft make me wonder if the HoloLens is still a thing. But also, we have data to explain why Apple hasn’t done layoffs yet. More AI chatbot announces coming fast and furious. But the other kind of bots, actual mechanical robots had their biggest year ever last year. And of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Sponsors: RelationshipHero.com/techmeme Links: Apple Avoids Job Cuts Because It Didn’t Overhire Like Google and Amazon (Bloomberg) Microsoft to demo its new ChatGPT-like AI in Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook soon (The Verge) Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com to launch ChatGPT-style product (CNBC) North American companies notch another record year for robot orders (Reuters) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: ‘Disrespectful to the Craft:’ Actors Say They’re Being Asked to Sign Away Their Voice to AI (Motherboard) ChatGPT Can Be Broken by Entering These Strange Words, And Nobody Is Sure Why (Motherboard) ChatGPT Is a Blurry JPEG of the Web (The New Yorker) The Inference Cost Of Search Disruption – Large Language Model Cost Analysis (SemiAnalysis) Stripe Can’t Lose (Every) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feel free to tweet your manifestos now as Twitter Blue subscribers can tweet up to 4,000 characters. Is the Fediverse failing or doing just fine, thank you very much? Is the SEC about to put the kibosh on crypto staking? Forget eggs, the real inflation is in triple A video game titles. And if the whole web becomes bot content, what do we train the bots on? Sponsors: Podcast Guru App (Listener Ad!) Links: Now Twitter Blue subscribers can write 4,000-character tweets (The Verge) Watch out, TweetDeck users—Elon Musk is about to ruin your Twitter experience (TechRadar) Lazy Reporters Claiming Fediverse Is ‘Slumping,’ Despite Massive Increase In Usage (TechDirt) Coinbase CEO Armstrong Decries Rumors of Possible US SEC Ban on Crypto Staking (Bloomberg) Meta Completes Acquisition of VR Fitness Company Within (CNET) Nintendo’s Zelda Price Hike Opens Door for More Expensive Games (Bloomberg) Google Stadia had less than 10% market share among cloud gaming services (9to5Google) Google confirms AI-generated content isn’t against Search guidelines (9to5Google) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Microsoft unveils a new Bing search that basically moves the yardsticks down the field in terms of what chat can do. But Google continues to drip-feed new tools as well. Also, some more traditional but useful additions to Google Maps. The UK might force the divestiture of Call of Duty to allow Microsoft to buy Activision. And if the Bank of England does a digital pound, it signals it might not do it on the blockchain. Sponsors: The Business of Tech (Listener ad!) Links: Microsoft announces new Bing and Edge browser powered by upgraded ChatGPT AI (The Verge) I Tried Microsoft’s New AI-Powered Bing. Search Will Never Be the Same. (WSJ) Google is still drip-feeding AI into search, Maps, and Translate (The Verge) Google Maps launches Immersive View in five cities, will roll out ‘glanceable directions’ soon (TechCrunch) Microsoft’s $69 Billion Activision Deal Could Harm UK Gamers, Watchdog Finds (Bloomberg) Digital Pound Holdings Could Be Limited to 10K, Central Bank Says (CoinDesk) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bored of phone and gadget launches, well prepare yourself for AI product launches, cause we’re getting a bunch of them starting now, this week. Meta is trying to revamp Horizon Worlds. Twitter is struggling to get people to pay up. But that doesn’t mean Mastadon is continuing to grow. And can you trick ChatGPT to do things it doesn’t want to do by threatening to kill it? Say hello to AI “jailbreaking.” Sponsors: RefundsPro.com Links: Google announces ChatGPT rival Bard, with wider availability in ‘coming weeks’ (The Verge) Baidu Surges as Hope Mounts over Chinese Answer to ChatGPT (Bloomberg) Getty Images sues AI art generator Stable Diffusion in the US for copyright infringement (The Verge) Meta Targets Teen Users in Broader Horizon Metaverse App Revamp (WSJ) Musk’s Twitter Has Just 180,000 U.S. Subscribers, Two Months After Launch (The Information) The Mastodon Bump Is Now a Slump (Wired) ChatGPT’s ‘jailbreak’ tries to make the A.I. break its own rules, or die (CNBC) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is Apple considering launching an “Ultra” version of the iPhone as soon as this year? Have the good Twitter bots gotten a reprieve from Elon Musk? Is the Microsoft/Activision merger toast because global regulators are coordinating? And might regulators look askance at all these generative AI investments from the big cloud computing platforms? Sponsors: ZocDoc.com/techmeme Bombas.com/techmeme Links: Apple Talks Up High-End iPhones in Sign Ultra Model May Be Coming (Bloomberg) Elon Musk says Twitter will provide a free write-only API to bots providing ‘good’ content (TechCrunch) Microsoft’s Activision Deal Tests a New Global Alignment on Antitrust (NYTimes) Big Tech companies use cloud computing arms to pursue alliances with AI groups (FT) A16z votes against proposal to deploy latest Uniswap iteration on BNB Chain (The Block) Pre-order Brady Dale's SBF Book! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earnings wrapups from Alphabet: investors just want to know when the AI is coming. From Apple: they’re still not planning any layoffs. From Amazon: Look, AWS is still a beast. And in the Weekend Longreads suggestions: the startup that wants to bring back the Dodo, Jurassic Park style. Links: AI will help Google parent Alphabet navigate a challenging macro environment, say analysts (MarketWatch) Google Shares Slip after Sales Miss as Advertising Demand Slows (Bloomberg) Apple Sales Shrink as Pandemic Rally Ends for iPhone Maker, Other Tech Giants (WSJ) Amazon stock falls as least profitable holiday quarter since 2014 leads to its worst annual loss on record (MarketWatch) Google invests $300mn in artificial intelligence start-up Anthropic (Financial Times) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: The generative AI revolution has begun—how did we get here? (ArsTechnica) Who will compete with ChatGPT? Meet the contenders | The AI Beat (VentureBeat) The Difference Between Speaking and Thinking (The Atlantic) A de-extinction company is trying to resurrect the dodo (MIT Technology Review) A Calculated Move: Calculators Now Emulated at Internet Archive (Internet Archive Blogs) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meta singlehandedly bucks the narrative that it’s the sick man of Silicon Valley. Twitter is cutting off free access to its API. ChatGPT launches a product, and is Bing search getting GPT4 in like, a matter of weeks? Discord is coming to Playstation and the wrapup of yesterday’s Samsung event. Sponsors: Upside App promocode ridehome Links: Meta stock perks up as the company promises a ‘year of efficiency’ (TechCrunch) 2 reasons Meta stock is exploding 20% after a whopper earnings miss (Yahoo Finance) Twitter to end free access to its API in Elon Musk’s latest monetization push (TechCrunch) OpenAI launches ChatGPT Plus, starting at $20 per month (TechCrunch) ChatGPT is about to get even better and Microsoft's Bing could win big (Semafor) Discord arrives on PS5 for beta testers today (The Verge) Netflix hasn’t confirmed its plans to stop password sharing just yet (The Verge) Amazon’s No-Fly Zone: Drone Delivery Largely Grounded Despite Splashy Launch (The Information) The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is a minor update to a spec monster (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You think things are bad in your corner of the tech sector? Wait until I tell you about the memory chip industry. OpenAI releases a tool to let you check if something was created by OpenAI. Netflix might be going a tad overboard on this password sharing crackdown. Meta wins round one against the FTC. And the interesting new app from the founders of Instagram. Sponsors: Portant.co code techmeme (Listener!) Podcast Guru App (Listener!) Links: Hynix Posts Record Loss on Slump in Memory-Chip Prices (Bloomberg) Historic Crash for Memory Chips Threatens to Wipe Out Earnings (Bloomberg) OpenAI releases tool to detect machine-written text (Axios) Google is asking employees to test potential ChatGPT competitors, including a chatbot called ‘Apprentice Bard’ (CNBC) Confirmed: Netflix Unveils First Details of New Anti-Password Sharing Measures (The Streamable) Meta Wins Court Nod to Buy Virtual Reality Startup in Loss for Khan’s FTC (Bloomberg) Meta Plans to Shut Down One of Its Most Popular and Long-standing Multiplayer VR Games (Road To VR) Instagram's co-founders are mounting a comeback (Platformer) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, some weird headlines from the world of gaming. Is VR gaming a big nothingburger for gamers themselves? Is E3 dead as a gaming industry event? Stripe is apparently raising a pretty significant down round. And the first Level 3 autonomous driving platform to receive regulatory approval belongs to Mercedes-Benz. Sponsors: Radial.llc/ride (Listener Ad!) Links: Sony Slashes PlayStation VR2 Headset Output After Pre-Orders Disappoint (Bloomberg) Exclusive: Xbox, Nintendo, and Sony Won't Be Part of E3 2023 (IGN) Showtime to Be Rebranded ‘Paramount+ with Showtime,’ Added to Paramount+ Premium Tier (The Streamable) Thrive Capital Said to Lead Potential Investment in Stripe (NYTimes) Twitter Makes First Interest Payment on Musk Buyout Debt (Bloomberg) Mercedes-Benz is the first to bring Level 3 automated driving to the US (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Après ChatGPT, prepare yourself for the generative AI deluge. Amazon says the free lunch for grocery delivery is over. More speculation about foldable iPads. San Francisco wants Waymo and Cruise to pump the breaks on their self-driving car experiments because the actual cars have been literally pumping the breaks too much. And my wager on whether or not 2023 will actually go down as the year that AI breaks through. Sponsors: The Business of Tech (Listener ad!) RelationshipHero.com/techmeme (Listener ad!) Links: Chinese Search Giant Baidu to Launch ChatGPT-Style Bot (Bloomberg) Amazon adding new fees for grocery delivery (GeekWire) Apple Supplier in India Begins Making Components for AirPods (Bloomberg) Foldable iPad could arrive as early as next year, claims noted Apple analyst (The Verge) Two companies race to deploy robotaxis in San Francisco. The city wants them to hit the brakes. (NBCNews) Scientists at Salesforce develop proteins with AI that can eat trash (NeoWin) AI has designed bacteria-killing proteins from scratch – and they work (New Scientist) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What can make Buzzfeed hit our headlines two days in a row? How about jumping on the ChatGPT bandwagon? Amazon is apparently launching a major NFT project, like it’s 2021 or something. Is Stripe going to be our big tech IPO savior? And of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: NFTTallinn.com and code RIDE for 10% of all tickets (Listener ad!) Radial.llc/ride (Listener ad!) Links: BuzzFeed to Use ChatGPT Creator OpenAI to Help Create Quizzes and Other Content (WSJ) Amazon NFT Initiative Coming Soon: Exclusive (Blockworks) Stripe Sets One-Year Timetable to Decide on Going Public (WSJ) Longreads The ‘Enshittification’ of TikTok (Wired) The Chess World’s New Villain: A Cat Named Mittens (WSJ) Welcome to the Shoppy Shop (Grub Street) The Disappearance of the Ashtray (Clive Thompson) Why Not Mars (Idle Words) RSVP For The Listener Meetup Tickets For The Comedy Show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I get all metaphysical about where the tech industry is going right now with a record slowdown in smartphone shipments, Masa Son seemingly misplacing his investing shoes, Meta and Buzzfeed joining forces to stave off irrelevancy, and universities offering degrees in AI for the first time. Oh, and are you SURE you want to spin up that Mastadon server? Sponsors: Instafloss.com (Listener!) RocketMoney.com/ride Links: Smartphone Shipments Suffer the Largest-Ever Decline with 18.3% Drop in the Holiday Quarter and a 11.3% Decline in 2022, According to IDC Tracker (IDC) SoftBank Deals Hit Record Low, Sapping Funding for Startups (Bloomberg) Meta Pays BuzzFeed Millions to Generate Creator Content for Facebook and Instagram (WSJ) University of Texas Will Offer Large-Scale Online Master’s Degree in A.I. (NYTimes) We tried to run a social media site and it was awful (Financial Times) RSVP For The Listener Meetup! Buy Tickets for the Comedy Show! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I’m gonna tell you why I think the latest antitrust suit against Google might be the most important one in terms of the overall tech ecosystem. And maybe the biggest threat Google is facing. Twitter reverses another thing they shouldn’t have broken in the first place. Why aren’t folks paying ransomware ransom as much anymore? And why are consumers not keeping their smart clothes dryers connected? Sponsors: Upside App and use promocode ridehome How To Fix The Internet podcast eff.org/podcast Links: US Sues Google to Break Up Ad Unit in Heated Antitrust Fight (Bloomberg) DOJ's new suit puts Google's ad business at risk (Axios) Google's most serious antitrust challenge to date (Platformer) Microsoft Cloud Strength Drives Second Quarter Results (Microsoft Investor Relations) Twitter for web will now stay on your preferred timeline (The Verge) Riot Games receives ‘ransom email’ for stolen source code following social engineering attack (The Record) Ransomware Revenue Down As More Victims Refuse to Pay (Chainalysis) LG, Whirlpool Target Customers Disconnected From ‘Smart’ Appliances (WSJ) After inking its OpenAI deal, Shutterstock rolls out a generative AI toolkit to create images based on text prompts (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alright. It’s on. Mark Gurman has literally all the details on Apple’s forthcoming mixed reality headset. The DOJ might already have sued Google by the time you hear this. Amazon adds subscription prescriptions as a service. And it turns out that AI CNET used was good at… plagiarizing. Sponsors: HopelessMope.com code: ridehome (Listener ad!) The Business Of Tech (Listener ad!) Links: How Apple’s Upcoming Mixed-Reality Headset Will Work (Bloomberg) DOJ Poised to Sue Google Over Digital Ad Market Dominance (Bloomberg) Amazon launches RxPass, a $5/month Prime add-on for all-you-need generic drugs covering 80 conditions (TechCrunch) CNET's AI Journalist Appears to Have Committed Extensive Plagiarism (Futurism.com) RSVP For The Listener Meetup This Saturday: https://lu.ma/tx4vez9x Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More tech layoffs, and why I’m suggesting we might only be in the early innings of this tech retrenchment. Big Wall Street banks are coming for PayPal and Apple Pay. TikTok might be putting it’s thumb on the scales to favor certain content. Would you pay $42 a month for a ChatGPT Pro plan? And how far has Apple Silicon come, exactly. Sponsors: Radial.llc/ride (Listener!) MeetFabric.com/ride Links: Spotify to trim 6% of workforce in latest tech layoffs (Reuters) Elliott Management Takes Big Stake in Salesforce (WSJ) Banks Plan Payment Wallet to Compete With PayPal, Apple Pay (WSJ) TikTok’s Secret ‘Heating’ Button Can Make Anyone Go Viral (Forbes) ChatGPT users report $42 a month pricing for ‘pro’ access but no official announcement yet (The Verge) Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023) review: the core count grows (The Verge) Buy tickets for the comedy show! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Now Alphabet has monster layoffs to announce. How much of it is about getting Google ready to battle OpenAI? More Twitter bans, but this time, the bans are for all 3rd party clients. The big executive shakeup at Netflix. Genesis officially files for bankruptcy, and in the Weekend Longreads Suggestions, the reasons why the humble pizza box is one of the worst designed products in existence. Sponsors: The Pegasus Investment Round! Email [email protected] (Listener ad!) NFTTallinn.com and code RIDE for 10% of all tickets! (Listener ad!) Links: Google to Cut 12,000 Jobs in 6% Reduction of Global Workforce (Bloomberg) Twitter’s new developer terms ban third-party clients (Engadget) Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings to step down as chief executive (FT) Crypto Lender Genesis Files for Bankruptcy as Crisis Spreads (Bloomberg) Google Calls In Help From Larry Page and Sergey Brin for A.I. Fight (NYTimes) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: How Amazon Became Ordinary (Ritholtz.com) Who Owns the Generative AI Platform? (a16z) The Steam Deck wasn’t born ready, but it’s ready now (The Verge) A WIRED compendium (The Future, Now and Then) You Don’t Know How Bad the Pizza Box Is (The Atlantic) Brian's Episode on the Metacast podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is Genesis finally on the verge of bankruptcy? Instagram wants you to take a break… from Instagram… and they’re even giving you tools to do so. Frowny-face for Amazon for shutting down the AmazonSmile program. Wikipedia gets a big redesign. Some numbers on where the investor dollars are going right now, and is San Francisco back, baby? Maybe cause I’m coming to visit. Sponsors: LayerDesks.com/ride, code ride for 10% off (listener sponsor!) Links: Genesis creditors negotiating prepackaged bankruptcy: Sources (The Block) Crypto Media Outlet CoinDesk Taps Bankers for Potential Sale (WSJ) Instagram’s new ‘Quiet Mode’ helps you take a break from the app (TechCrunch) Amazon to close charitable program AmazonSmile (The Hill) Wikipedia gets its first makeover in over a decade… and it’s fairly subtle (TechCrunch) Apple to Expand Smart-Home Lineup, Taking On Amazon and Google (Bloomberg) Web 3 Startup Funding Q4 Drop (Crunchbase) New AngelList Data Shows Startup Fundraising Pain in Second Half of 2022 (Newcomer) It looks like people are actually moving back to San Francisco (really) (Vox) Tweet on LA startup investment numbers (@emollick) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The original HomePod is basically back, even though it’s not the original cause it’s been updated. Apple’s AR/VR plans continue to be maddeningly confusing, at least to me. Microsoft has announced huge layoffs. Does even the AI revolution require human moderators working in boiler-room like conditions? And I guess we have all the specs for those new Galaxy phones about to be announced. Links: Apple announces revamped full-size HomePod two years after discontinuing original (The Verge) Apple Delays AR Glasses, Plans Cheaper Mixed-Reality Headset (Bloomberg) Full memo: Microsoft to cut 10k jobs, about 5% of workforce, and take $1.2B restructuring charge (GeekWire) Exclusive: OpenAI Used Kenyan Workers on Less Than $2 Per Hour to Make ChatGPT Less Toxic (Time) Galaxy S23 spec leak leaves few surprises ahead of February launch (The Verge) Twitter Manager: Daily Revenue Has Dropped 40%, 500 Top Advertisers Have Left (The Information) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New Macs and New M2 chips from Santa Tim this morning. Microsoft has made its Azure OpenAI Service generally available. But will lawsuits slow down the AI revolution? Is Google about to reveal its own AirTag-like product? And the law of if it’s too good to be true, it probably is, continues to hold, at least when it comes to hard drives for sale on Amazon. Sponsors: ZocDoc.com/techmeme Links: Apple Announces New MacBook Pros With M2 Pro and M2 Max Chips, Up to 96GB RAM, 8K HDMI, Wi-Fi 6E, and More (MacRumors) Apple Unveils M2 Pro and M2 Max Chips With 20% Faster CPU and More (MacRumors) Microsoft to Add ChatGPT to Azure Cloud Services ‘Soon’ (Bloomberg) Microsoft Plans to Build OpenAI Capabilities Into All Products (WSJ) Getty Images is suing the creators of AI art tool Stable Diffusion for scraping its content (The Verge) AI art tools Stable Diffusion and Midjourney targeted with copyright lawsuit (The Verge) Google reportedly working on AirTag-like location trackers (The Verge) Why the Heck Is Amazon Selling These Fake 16 Terabyte Portable SSD Drives? (ReviewGeek) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our big AI discussion with @ReamBraden and @swyx. Shawn just posted this new essay drawing on what we discussed here: Every Google vs OpenAI Argument, Dissected Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The SEC just officially labeled two crypto lending programs as unregistered securities? Is the regulatory tsunami beginning? Did Tim Cook actually ask Apple to cut his pay? Did the nascent industry of carbon capture just take its first steps? And in the longreads, I go in depth to explain that weird OpenAI/Microsoft deal. It’s complicated. Links: SEC charges Gemini and Genesis with unregistered securities offering (The Block) Apple’s Tim Cook Takes Rare CEO Pay Cut After Pushback (Bloomberg) Climate Startup Removes Carbon From Open Air in Industry First (WSJ) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Microsoft + OpenAI: Inside Tech’s Hottest Romance (The Information) Is Microsoft about to get the deal of the century? Or is Sam Altman unloading OpenAI at just the right time? (Gary Marcus) Robert Tinney’s Visions Of The Future (DocPop) Dungeons & Dragons content creators are fighting to protect their livelihoods (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is Apple finally ready to bring touchscreens to Macs? Sam Bankman Fried has a Substack. Apple Maps courts businesses. Is Twitter going to auction off user handles? And what tech publication that I quote from all the time has been using AI to write entire articles for months now? Links: Apple Is Working on Adding Touch Screens to Macs in Major Turnabout (Bloomberg) Sam Bankman-Fried sticks to his script (Axios) Apple Maps’ business listings are about to get more detailed with launch of ‘Apple Business Connect’ (TechCrunch) Twitter Said to Consider Selling User Names to Boost Revenue (NYTimes) Carta lays off 10% as CTO lawsuit looms (TechCrunch) CNET IS QUIETLY PUBLISHING ENTIRE ARTICLES GENERATED BY AI (The Byte/Futurism) OpenAI begins piloting ChatGPT Professional, a premium version of its viral chatbot (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yet another software snafu with the airlines this morning. Apple’s about to do its own screens, its own modems, what is left? Twitter makes a change that they’ve tried to make several times before. Why all the interesting raises are in AI right now. And what to expect from the Surface Duo 3. Sponsors: Zocdoc.com/techmeme Links: U.S. air travel rumbles back to life after FAA computer outage (Reuters) Apple to Begin Making In-House Screens in 2024 in Shift Away From Samsung (Bloomberg) Twitter defaults to a For You page now, just like TikTok (The Verge) DeepL, the AI-based language translator, raises over $100M at a $1B+ valuation (TechCrunch) Microsoft scraps plans for dual-screen Surface Duo 3, pivots to new foldable screen design (Windows Central) Samsung confirms February 1st Unpacked, its first in-person event in three years (The Verge) Tickets to the comedy show at SF Sketchfest Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Well, now there’s VALL-E, a text to speech technology that could fully replace me as this podcast narrator. It looks like Microsoft wants to do everything just short of buying OpenAI entirely. More layoffs at Coinbase. Why the whole 5G interfering with airplanes thing still isn’t resolved. And not everything that says it’s ChatGPT, is really ChatGPT. Sponsors: RefundsPro.com Links: Microsoft’s new AI can simulate anyone’s voice with 3 seconds of audio (ArsTechnica) Microsoft eyes $10 billion bet on ChatGPT (Semafor) Buy with Prime, which brings Prime to third-party sites, officially launches in U.S. on Jan. 31 (TechCrunch) Coinbase to slash 20% of workforce in second major round of job cuts (CNBC) FAA giving airlines another year to fix altimeters that can’t handle 5G signals (Ars Technica) Sketchy ChatGPT App Soars Up App Store Charts, Charges $7.99 Weekly Subscription (MacRumors) YouTube Experiment 1 YouTube Experiment 2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark Gurman tells us when Apple’s “Reality Pro” headset will be announced, made available to developers, and made available to consumers. Valve’s Steam gaming platform is breaking records. John Deere will let you repair your hundred-thousand-dollar smart tractor. A literal ThinkPad for smartphones. And why one big buzzword was largely missing from CES this year. Sponsors: Bombas.com/techmeme, code techmeme at checkout Zocdoc.com/techmeme Links: Apple Will Talk Up Its Mixed-Reality Headset in 2023 But Not Much Else (Bloomberg) Steam hits 10 million concurrent in-game players in record-breaking weekend (The Verge) Deere & Co. will allow farmers to repair their own equipment (Reuters) Insurer Beazley launches first catastrophe bond for cyber threats (FT) The Lenovo ThinkPhone by Motorola is a ThinkPad owner’s dream (The Verge) Where was 5G at CES? (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

OpenAI is raising more money. Apple’s headset launch might be delayed to the summer. But no worries, cause HTC unveiled their 099 Vive XR Elite headset to beat them to the punch. And that leads us into the CES wrapup for day two, including, the most interesting two laptops I’ve seen in a very long time. A true smarthome solution if you care about power. And the new electric trucks that have turned my head. Sponsors: RefundsPro.com Links: ChatGPT Creator in Investor Talks at $29 Billion Valuation (WSJ) Kuo: Apple's Mixed-Reality Headset Likely to Debut at Spring Media Event or WWDC (MacRumors) HTC Vive XR Elite: Another Mixed-Reality Headset Arriving Ahead of Apple (CNET) Lenovo’s new Yoga Book 9i laptop has a second screen above its screen (The Verge) OLED plus E Ink: Lenovo’s ThinkBook Twist is halfway to my dream laptop (The Verge) Coming soon: smart homes where the electricity isn’t so dumb (The Verge) Ram 1500 Revolution brings muscle car energy — and tons of gimmicks — to EV truck race (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amazon’s layoffs are bigger than we thought. Meta’s new fines in Europe could be a way, way bigger deal than you might think. Apple is brining AI narrators to audiobooks. And a roundup of cool CES stuff. Sony and Honda have a new electric car brand. The first truly wireless TV. And a solar powered watch band means you might never need to charge it. Links: Amazon Layoffs to Hit Over 18,000 Workers, the Most in Recent Tech Wave (WSJ) €390M fine strikes blow to Meta’s ad-fueled business model (Politico) Death of the narrator? Apple unveils suite of AI-voiced audiobooks (The Guardian) Bankruptcy judge rules that Earn account assets belong to Celsius (Axios) CES Roundup: Sony and Honda just announced their new electric car brand, Afeela (The Verge) iOttie Velox Elite is an actively cooled MagSafe car charger to prevent overheating (Apple Insider) LG’s latest Signature OLED TV receives all of its audio and video wirelessly (The Verge) I'm thinking of ditching my Apple Watch for this solar and body heat-powered band (TechRadar) Shower pods are here to turn your bathroom into a spa (The Verge) Samsung Display’s latest foldable concept can both slide and fold (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is Microsoft gonna steal one on Google by bring ChatGPT to Bing search? What is Bonk, the new crypto coin posting monster gains this week? Is Apple bringing MagSafe charging to everyone, even Android users? Roku is launching its own TV sets. And how you could get a check in the mail from Tim Apple for those wonky keyboards. Sponsors: Upside App and promocode RIDEHOME Links: Microsoft and OpenAI Working on ChatGPT-Powered Bing in Challenge to Google (The Information) Salesforce to cut 10% of workforce in latest tech layoffs (Reuters) Sam Bankman-Fried Pleads ‘Not Guilty’ to Fraud, Conspiracy Charges (CoinDesk) Shiba Inu-Themed BONK Tokens Are Yielding Nearly 1,000% for Solana Liquidity Providers (CoinDesk) Nvidia upgrades GeForce Now with RTX 4080 performance for premium users (TechCrunch) Wireless Power Consortium works with Apple on next generation ‘Qi2’ standard based on MagSafe (9to5Mac) Qi2: How Apple might finally harness MagSafe by giving it away (The Verge) Roku does the obvious thing and announces its own TV line (The Verge) MacBook owners have two months to claim up to $395 over butterfly keyboard woes (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CES kicks off with Intel detailing it’s new 13th gen chips for laptops. A big PyTorch warning. Why that whole Southwest Airlines mess happened. Layoffs are a problem for tech startups, but the number of tech workers is still growing in a healthy way. And pour one out for 3G technology. Sponsors: MeetFabric.com/ride RocketMoney.com/ride Links: Intel’s 13th Gen mobile processors include the first 24-core laptop CPU (The Verge) PyTorch discloses malicious dependency chain compromise over holidays (BleepingComputer) Southwest Meltdown Shows Airlines Need Tighter Software Integration (WSJ) Gemini’s Cameron Winklevoss Slams Crypto Exec Barry Silbert Over Frozen Funds (Bloomberg) Tech Layoffs Are Happening Faster Than at Any Time During the Pandemic (WSJ) As Silicon Valley Retrenches, a Tech Talent Shift Accelerates (NYTimes) Startups End a Bruising 2022, Stare Down Another Challenging Year (WSJ) Farewell to 3G (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wait, why are Alameda-linked wallets coming back to life all of the sudden? If you do things with a DAO that are technically allowed by the DAO, can that still be market manipulation? What if Amazon or somebody else created an ESPN for the streaming era? The most successful publicly traded tech stock of this miserable year. And somebody tell Mark Zuckerberg about what you can really do with modern avatar technology. Links: Alameda Research wallets swap several crypto tokens for bitcoin (The Block) U.S. charges fraud in Mango crypto manipulation case (Reuters) Crypto Trader’s Fraud Charges Show DeFi Isn’t Outside the Law (Bloomberg) Amazon Has Discussed a Stand-Alone Sports App as Andy Jassy Doubles Down on Prime Video (The Information) Tech stocks got whacked in 2022 — but one server maker soared almost 90%, beating all its peers (CNBC) ABBA’s successful avatar show in London offers a glimpse at a daring new direction for live music (CNBC) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Not an exchange blowing up, but is one of the biggest crypto projects in recent years losing developers and maybe entering a death spiral? More supply chain worries for Apple in China. More concerns about the accuracy and efficacy of our new AI bot overlords. And heads up about the new tech hotness from China. Say hello to Temu. It might be responsible for some of the presents you unwrapped recently. Sponsors: Storyblok.com/ridehome Links: Solana’s Top NFT Projects DeGods and Y00ts to Migrate Chains (CoinDesk) Apple’s business under growing threat from China’s Covid wave (Financial Times) Study finds AI assistants help developers produce code that's more likely to be buggy (The Register) IRS Delays $600 Tax Reporting Rule for Venmo, Etsy Sellers (Bloomberg) American Bargain Hunters Flock to a New Online Platform Forged in China (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SBF is in the US just in time to see two of his lieutenants have flipped on him to the Feds. Twitter rolls out Cashtags that are actually useful. ChatGPT lead to a “code red” at Google. Justice is coming for those expiring car warranty robo callers. And, surprise, the weekend longreads suggestions. Links: Two Bankman-Fried colleagues plead guilty to fraud (Washington Post) Twitter adds BTC and ETH price indexes to search function (CoinTelegraph) A New Chat Bot Is a ‘Code Red’ for Google’s Search Business (NYTimes) YouTube Paying Roughly $2 Billion a Year for NFL Sunday Ticket (WSJ) FCC proposes record $300 million fine against auto warranty robocall campaign (CyberScoop) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: How TikTok Became a Diplomatic Crisis (NYTimes) How the algorithm tipped the balance in Ukraine (Washington Post) Bob Gottlieb Is the Last of the Publishing Giants The 91-year-old editor waits for his 87-year-old star writer, Robert Caro, to turn in his book. (Vulture) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new prediction for 2023, the sports streaming wars. What’s with all the weirdness going on with Anker’s security cameras? Is Apple going to cancel the iPhone SE? Is the Google/Facebook ad duopoly over? And an interesting raise for a deepfake startup. Sponsors: Storyblok.com/ridehome InternetSociety.org/techmeme Links: Google’s YouTube in Talks for Rights to NFL Sunday Ticket (WSJ) Anker’s Eufy breaks its silence on security cam security (The Verge) Kuo: Apple to Cancel or Postpone 2024 iPhone SE 4 (MacRumors) Slow fade for Google and Meta's ad dominance (Axios) OpenAI releases Point-E, an AI that generates 3D models (TechCrunch) ‘South Park’ Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone Land $20 Million in Funding for Their Deepfake VFX Studio (Variety) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amazon settles two EU antitrust cases. An old crypto mystery resurfaces and dormant wallets spring back to life. TikTok will tell you why they recommended that video. Is growth at Mastadon a flood or a trickle? And Coinbase is now worth less than Doge. Sponsors: Storyblok.com/ridehome Microsoft's Worklab Podcast Links: Amazon Agrees to Settle EU Antitrust Cases, Avoiding Fines (WSJ) Bitcoin Addresses Tied to Defunct Canadian Crypto Exchange QuadrigaCX Wake Up (CoinDesk) TikTok’s new feature will tell you why a particular video appeared in your For You feed (TechCrunch) Apple to start making MacBooks in Vietnam by mid-2023 (NikkeiAsia) Netflix’s Ad-Supported Tier Was Its Least Popular Plan, Analytics Firm Estimates (WSJ) More than two million users have flocked to Mastodon since Elon Musk took over Twitter (The Verge) Magna to Buy Veoneer Vehicle Safety Unit for $1.5 Billion (Bloomberg) Silicon Valley start-ups race for debt deals in funding crunch (FT) Coinbase’s Value Is $1 Billion Below ‘Joke’ Token Dogecoin’s (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I dunno. Is Elon not the head of Twitter anymore? He posted a poll, people voted for him to step down. Who knows? I’ll give you the tick tock of what went down this weekend. ? Apple has canceled work on an M2 “extreme” chip. Google goes all in on encrypting Gmail. Why is everyone all in on encryption all of the sudden? And don’t worry, Meta is still all in on the metaverse. Sponsors: Masterclass.com/ride ZocDoc.com/techmeme Links: Twitter abruptly bans all links to Instagram, Mastodon, and other competitors (The Verge) Google is letting businesses try out client-side encryption for Gmail (The Verge) Binance.US to Buy Voyager Assets in $1.022 Billion Deal (Bloomberg) Bankman-Fried is ready to ‘face the music,’ prison official says (Washington Post) Apple Scales Back High-End Mac Pro Plans, Weighs Production Move to Asia (Bloomberg) Facebook’s Meta Will Devote 20% of Costs to Metaverse Next Year (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emergency bonus episode! Is this the moment for Twitter alternatives? T2.social is one of them and the founder of that project, @gabor, joins us to kick it all around. So does our friend Alex Kantrowitz from @BigTechnology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elon Musk has once again proven that the flesh is weak because there’s a new Twitter controversy and I can’t help but tell you about it. Is it a good look when the accounting firm writing reports to prove crypto companies are solvent says it will no longer work with crypto companies? Is Netflix’s ad-supported tier not signing up as many eyeballs as advertisers hoped? And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Sponsors: InternetSociety.org/techmeme Storyblok.com/ridehome Links: Twitter suspends Mastodon’s account and bans links to Mastodon servers (TechCrunch) Twitter suspends journalists who have been covering Elon Musk and the company (NBCNews) Accountant That Vetted Binance Reserves Halts Crypto Work (Bloomberg) Netflix lets advertisers take their money back after missing viewership targets (Digiday) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Spotify’s grand plan to monetize developers via its open source Backstage project (TechCrunch) YouTube Stars Cash In Video Rights for Millions of Dollars (WSJ) ChatGPT and the Imagenet moment (Ben Evans) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices