Tech Brew Ride Home

I’ll get into the whole Twitter banning private jet tracking accounts thing, but use that to explain how and even if we’re going to cover this whole Elon/Twitter story going forward. Is mobile gaming the latest domino to fall in this year of “line also goes down?” A new consortium hopes to make mapping data better. And let me introduce you to the Battery Belt, every bit as important as the whole onshoring the chip industry trend. Links: Twitter Suspends the Accounts Tracking Musk’s Jet and The Man Behind It (Bloomberg) Twitter Suspends Over 25 Accounts That Track Billionaires’ Private Planes (NYTimes) Elon Musk offloads another $3.6bn of Tesla stock (FT) FTX Investor Impact: Timeline of Realized Cryptocurrency Gains and Losses Shows FTX Hit Investor Wallets Less Than Previous Crises (Chainalysis) 2022 will go down as the worst year for U.S. IPOs since 1990. (Axios Pro Rata) Mobile games market to decline for first time in over a decade (FT) Creating the ultimate smart map with new map data initiative launched by Linux Foundation (VentureBeat) 1 big thing: The "battery belt" widens (Axios) The electric car Battery Belt is reshaping America’s heartland (Axios) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apple is going to allow third-party app stores, but only in Europe for now. Your Tesla is now a full-fledged gaming rig. Instagram is testing a full-fledged BeReal clone. Has Twitter stopped paying its bills? And there is now actual US legislation to ban TikTok. Sponsors: Storyblok.com/ridehome Links: Apple to Allow Outside App Stores in Overhaul Spurred by EU Laws (Bloomberg) Tesla’s latest update adds Steam games and Apple Music (The Verge) Musk Shakes Up Twitter’s Legal Team as He Looks to Cut More Costs (NYTimes) Twitter is considering forcing users to let the company sell their data and phone numbers to advertisers, in potential breach of Apple rules (Insider) Binance CEO Zhao Warns Bumpy Road Ahead in Message to His Staff (Bloomberg) Instagram Challenges BeReal and Adds Notes Short-Message Feature (WSJ) Lawmakers unveil bipartisan bill that aims to ban TikTok in the U.S. (CNBC) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SBF is under arrest. The Feds have charged him. The SEC has charged him. The CFTC has charged him. CZ continues to try to reassure Binance users over withdrawals. I think it’s time I update you on the health I’m seeing of the Twitter platform. And what is “open source” intelligence and why is the US behind in this modern type of spycraft? Sponsors: InternetSociety.org/techmeme Storyblok.com/ridehome Links: Federal prosecutors, SEC unveil charges against Sam Bankman-Fried (Washington Post) FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried arrested in the Bahamas after U.S. files criminal charges (CNBC) Jim Edwards thread summarizing the SEC complaint Binance CEO addresses USDC outflows: 'feel free to withdraw any other stablecoin' (The Block) AI art apps are cluttering the App Store’s Top Charts following Lensa AI’s success (TechCrunch) Elon says Twitter will remove all legacy verifications ‘in a few months’ (TechCrunch) Radeon 7900 XTX and XT review: Faster, hotter, and cheaper than the RTX 4080 (ArsTechnica) Rise of Open-Source Intelligence Tests U.S. Spies (WSJ) Tickets to my comedy show at the end of January in San Francisco Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Xiaomi has released its newest flagship smartphones. A bunch of worrying headlines surrounding Binance. Twitter Blue is back. Have scientists finally made a major breakthrough in fusion energy tech? And why Google is hesitant to release its answer to ChatGPT. Masterclass.com/ride Links: The Xiaomi 13 series launches as true Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 darling (Android Police) Binance Is Trying to Calm Investors, but Its Finances Remain a Mystery (WSJ) 'Abnormal' Altcoin Trading on Binance 'Just Market Behavior,' Says CEO (Decrypt) US Prosecutors Look to Charge Binance, Executives on Possible Money Laundering Violations: Reuters (Coindesk) Twitter Blue to Relaunch Monday, With Blue Check Mark, Higher iOS Price, Company Says (CNET) US Says Scientists Make Breakthrough in Nuclear Fusion Energy (Bloomberg) The New Chatbots Could Change the World. Can You Trust Them? (NYTimes) Why Google Missed ChatGPT (Big Technology) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What were the biggest stories of 2022? What will be the biggest tech stories of 2023? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is going to make the situation in the gaming industry downright chaotic. The FTC has sued to block Microsoft's $69B Activision Blizzard acquisition. Sam Bankman Fried says he’s going to testify, under oath, before Congress. Why the salute emoji is hands down the symbol of the year 2022. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Sponsors: InternetSociety.org/techmeme Links: Twin complaints signal new FTC strategy to rein in tech industry (Washington Post) FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried agrees to testify at U.S. House hearing on Tuesday (CNBC) We Couldn’t Have Made It Through This Year Without the Saluting Emoji (Rolling Stone) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: How AI That Powers Chatbots and Search Queries Could Discover New Drugs (WSJ) The Hype Around Esports Is Fading as Investors and Sponsors Dry Up (Bloomberg) Programmable Ink (InkAndSwitch) How CoinDesk’s FTX scoop left a hole in its corporate overlord (The Verge) Enter the wind tunnel (Driving Conformity) 36 Hours - Wellington, New Zealand (NYTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apple is going back all in on privacy in a big way with Advanced Data Protection. I’ll explain. Did Sam Bankman-Fried also kill Terra and Luna? A look at those magic avatars from Lensa that everyone is using for their profile picture all of the sudden. And the winner for the most post-pandemic product goes to Dyson. Sponsors: Cyborg.co/ride Get 90% off RexMD with our exclusive link -> RexMD.com/ride Links: Apple Plans New Encryption System to Ward Off Hackers and Protect iCloud Data (WSJ) @matthew_d_green's twitter thread on Apple's new encryption push FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Is Said to Face Market Manipulation Inquiry (NYTimes) Coinbase CEO Sees Revenue Falling 50% or More on Crypto Rout (Bloomberg) AI selfies — and their critics — are taking the internet by storm (Washington Post) Ask these questions before you make your Lensa Magic Avatars (TechRadar) Dyson's Air Purifying Headphones Will Cost $949 (Gizmodo) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In an attempt to keep their acquisition of Activision… active, Microsoft wants to bring Call of Duty to the Nintendo Switch. That time SBF tried to give Taylor Swift $100M. She said no, apparently. You don’t have to give Telegram your phone number anymore. Mark Gurman rumor dump about the scaled back ambitions of the Apple Car. And yes. ChatGPT probably has Google over the classic innovator’s dilemma barrel. Sponsors: InternetSociety.org/techmeme Storyblok.com/ridehome Links: Microsoft says it will bring Call of Duty to Nintendo (Washington Post) FTX held talks with Taylor Swift over $100mn sponsorship deal (FT) Tim Cook says Apple will use chips built in the U.S. at Arizona factory (CNBC) Telegram drops SIM requirement for sign-ups, adds Global Auto-Delete timers (9to5Google) SpaceX unveils ‘Starshield,’ a military variation of Starlink satellites (CNBC) Twitter’s Rivals Try to Capitalize on Musk-Induced Chaos (NYTimes) Apple Scales Back Self-Driving Car and Delays Debut Until 2026 (Bloomberg) Google Faces a Serious Threat From ChatGPT (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is the government investigating Neuralink for animal cruelty? Why is Microsoft increasing prices for Xbox games? How much does it cost every time you ask ChatGPT a question? Is Meta really going to stop allowing you to post news links, or is this a bluff? And is that Arizona chip plant becoming a bigger deal every day? Sponsors: Masterworks.com/ride* Storyblok.com/ridehome Links: Elon Musk’s Neuralink is reportedly facing a federal probe on animal welfare grounds (The Verge) Exclusive: Musk’s Neuralink faces federal probe, employee backlash over animal tests (Reuters) Google Pixel 7 just got a bunch of exciting features — here’s what’s new (Tom's Guide) Microsoft Raising Prices on New, First-Party Games Built for Xbox Series X|S to $70 in 2023 (IGN) @sama's Tweets about ChatGPT Google Search brings continuous scrolling to desktop (The Verge) Facebook threatens to ban news from platform if U.S. bill passes (MarketWatch) TSMC triples Arizona chip investment to $40bn (FT) Our podcast TikTok account: techmeme_ride_home * “net returns” refers to the annualized internal rate of return net of all fees and costs, calculated from the offering closing date to the sale date. IRR may not be indicative of Masterworks paintings not yet sold and past performance is not indicative of future results. See important Reg A disclosures: Masterworks.com/cd Masterworks’ offerings are filed with the SEC, view all past and current offerings here: https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?company=masterworks&match=&filenum=&State=&Country=&SIC=&myowner=exclude&action=getcompany Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maybe put the breaks on an early release of that Apple AR/VR headset. And maybe pump the breaks on the AI excitement as Stack Overflow temporarily bans users from sharing responses generated by ChatGPT. A security issue at Rackspace. Are the Winkivii in trouble? And why has Sam Bankman Fried not been arrested yet? Sponsors: LetsTalkInTouch.com Hover.com/ride for 10% off Links: Kuo: Apple Headset Shipments Potentially Delayed Until Second Half of 2023 (MacRumors) Foxconn sees COVID-hit China plant back at full output in late Dec-early Jan -source (Reuters) Rackspace rocked by ‘security incident’ that has taken out hosted Exchange services (The Register) AI-generated answers temporarily banned on coding Q&A site Stack Overflow (The Verge) Crypto broker Genesis owes Winklevoss exchange’s customers $900mn (Financial Times) Why Hasn’t Sam Bankman-Fried Been Arrested Yet? (Intelligencer) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark Gurman has details on Apple ramping up development of its mixed-reality headset, targeting a launch next year. Elon has had to block his friend Ye from Twitter. Future is shutting down. Airplane mode might be a thing of the past soon. Is Nikola Tesla’s dream of wireless electrical transmission about to be a reality? And of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: InternetSociety.org/techmeme Storyblok.com/ridehome Links: Apple Renames Mixed-Reality Software ‘xrOS’ in Sign Headset Is Approaching (Bloomberg) Kanye West isn’t buying Parler after all (TechCrunch) Andreessen Horowitz's buzzy tech publication Future is shutting down (Insider) Payments giant Stripe jumps into Web3 with tool that helps companies turn cash to crypto (Fortune Crypto) AWS launches Application Composer, a low-code tool for building serverless apps (TechCrunch) No more airplane mode? EU to allow calls on flights (BBC News) Silicon Valley startup beaming electricity wirelessly raises $30 million (Reuters) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Generative AI: autocomplete for everything (Noahpinion) Your Creativity Won’t Save Your Job From AI (The Atlantic) The Grown-Up Art of Andor (The New Republic) A French Village’s Radical Vision of a Good Life with Alzheimer’s (New Yorker) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A summary of last night’s Sam Bankman Fried show. Elon visits Tim Cook and maybe they buried the hatchet? Now OpenAI has released a chat bot. Neuralink says it’s going to start implanting into humans very soon. And Arizona is gonna get the good stuff when it comes to chips. Sponsors: Storyblok.com/ridehome Links: FTX Missing Billions Remain Mystery After Bankman-Fried Grilling (Bloomberg) Elon Musk Meets With Apple CEO Tim Cook Amid Claims of Twitter App Store Dispute [Updated] (MacRumors) Musk at Twitter has 'huge work' ahead to comply with EU rules, warns bloc (TechCrunch) While everyone waits for GPT-4, OpenAI is still fixing its predecessor (MIT Technology Review) Musk’s Neuralink Hopes to Implant Computer in Human Brain in Six Months (Bloomberg) Disney Made a Movie Quality AI Tool That Automatically Makes Actors Look Younger (or Older) (Gizmodo) TSMC Plans to Make More Advanced Chips in US at Urging of Apple (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Covid lockdown at that Foxconn factory has lifted. The surprising strength of the smartwatch sector. The surprising failure of the Kindle Scribe. Gorilla Glass Victus 2. And Sony has an actual new idea for the Metaverse. Sponsors: InternetSociety.org/techmeme Links: China’s Zhengzhou, home to world’s largest iPhone factory, ends Covid lockdown. Other cities do the same (CNN Business) India Becomes Biggest Smartwatch Market in Q3 2022 (Counterpoint) Amazon Security Lake is a standards-based data lake for security data (TechCrunch) Amazon Kindle Scribe review: absolutely adequate (The Verge) Apple Music reveals top music in 2022 and listener charts (AP News) Gorilla Glass Victus 2 could save your big phone from disastrous falls on concrete (TechRadar) Sony is getting into the metaverse with a new motion-tracking system (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elon says he’s willing to go to war with Apple. Why now? Is Apple really threatening Twitter’s status in the App Store, as he claims? Where, exactly, is the money for Binance’s crypto recovery fund coming from? Amazon wants kids to get in on the generative AI game. And with all the explosion of AI tools, why aren’t we seeing more adoption of AI for the very tangible and very important use case of medical imaging? Sponsors: ZenGo.com/ride and code: ride Links: Elon Musk Claims Apple Has 'Mostly Stopped' Offering Ads on Twitter and Is Making Moderation Demands (MacRumors) Why some tech CEOs are rooting for Musk (Platformer) Twitter’s $5bn-a-year business hit as Elon Musk clashes with advertisers (Financial Times) Binance clarifies initial $1 billion recovery fund deposit came from own assets (The Block) Amazon’s Create With Alexa generates unique animated children’s stories on Echo Show (Engadget) Google partners with med tech company to develop AI breast cancer screening tools (The Verge) Special Series Part 3: AI Could Transform Medical Imaging — So Why Don’t We See It More? (Crunchbase News) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All of the protests erupting in China have, not only a definite tech angle, but might have been triggered by those lockdowns at that Foxconn factory. BlockFi officially files for bankruptcy. Binance attempts to prove its reserves. How to message yourself on WhatsApp. And how Minecraft might have led to a major new breakthrough in AI. Sponsors: LetsTalkInTouch.com Storyblok.com/ridehome Links: Twitter grapples with Chinese spam obscuring news of protests (Washington Post) US Bans Huawei, ZTE Telecom Equipment on Data-Security Risk (Bloomberg) Crypto Lender BlockFi Filing for Bankruptcy and Conducting Major Layoffs as FTX Contagion Claims Another: Source (Decrypt) Binance releases proof-of-reserves system, starting with bitcoin (The Block) WhatsApp rolls out a feature that makes it easier to message yourself (WhatsApp) A bot that watched 70,000 hours of Minecraft could unlock AI’s next big thing (MIT Technology Review) Special Series Launch: The Promises And Perils Of A Decade Of AI Funding (Crunchbase News) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Check out the extensive paper on LEO satellites and Internet from space at InternetSociety.org/techmeme Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Actual rioting happening at the major Foxconn factory that produces iPhones. Microsoft fully embraces Linux. Advertisers continue to flee from Twitter. What if your wifi router and mesh network was actually a fashionable home décor choice? And surprise! The weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: InternetSociety.org/techmeme Storyblok.com/ridehome Links: Violent Protests Erupt at Apple’s Main iPhone Plant in China (Bloomberg) Windows Subsystem for Linux generally available via Microsoft Store (BleepingComputer) Advertisers are dropping Twitter. Musk can’t afford to lose any more. (Washington Post) Nest Wifi Pro review: better, faster, shinier (The Verge) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: The Tiny and Nightmarishly Efficient Future of Drone Warfare (The Atlantic) Robert Iger Returns to Disney Facing Radically Different Streaming Landscape (WSJ) America has an earthquake early-warning system now — on your phone (Washington Post) The Weird-Looking, Fuel-Efficient Planes You Could Be Flying in One Day (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The contagion in crypto continues to teeter on a knife’s edge. Why were Sam Bankman Fried’s parents allegedly buying property in the Bahamas? Elon says Twitter is hiring again. Turns out the Alexa deathwatch is very real. And is Apple really the privacy company, or just like everybody else when it comes to ads? Sponsors: InternetSociety.org/techmeme RocketMoney.com/ride Links: Crypto Brokerage Genesis Is Said to Warn of Bankruptcy Without Funding (Bloomberg) Hedge funds left with billions stranded on FTX (FT) Exclusive: Bankman-Fried's FTX, parents bought Bahamas property worth $121 million (Reuters) Elon Musk says Twitter is done with layoffs and ready to hire again (The Verge) Amazon is gutting its voice assistant, Alexa. Employees describe a division in crisis and huge losses on 'a wasted opportunity.' (Insider) Apple Says Your iPhone's Usage Data is Anonymous, but New Tests Say That's Not True (Gizmodo) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ruh roh. Storm clouds gathering in crypto land again. This time it’s DCG and Genesis. The shocking CEO revolving door over at Disney. The surprising return of SwiftKey. What you missed this weekend in Twitter. And you’ve heard of Stable Diffusion; let me introduce you to Unstable Diffusion. Stable Diffusion but for porn. Sponsors: LetsTalkInTouch.com Masterclass.com/ride ZocDoc.com/techmeme Links: Grayscale won’t share proof of reserves, citing ‘security concerns’ (The Block) Grayscale refuses to share proof of reserves due to ‘security concerns’ as shares trade at a 45% discount to bitcoin (CNBC) Disney Shocker: Bob Iger Returning as CEO, Bob Chapek Exits (The Hollywood Reporter) SwiftKey is unexpectedly back on iOS (The Verge) Twitter’s Broken Its Copyright Strike System, Users Are Uploading Full Movies (Forbes) Kite is saying farewell (Kite.com) Meet Unstable Diffusion, the group trying to monetize AI porn generators (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The great Anil Dash joined us to talk about... well, what do you think we talked about? But also, a broader discussion about the crazy year that the tech industry has had. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I’m here with you all as we wait for the end of Twitter together. Unless it doesn’t die. In which case, I dunno. Masa Son is actually personally in hock to the Vision Fund now that all its investments have gone pear shaped. A weird end of an era for Facebook. It’s not about status updates anymore. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Sponsors: Storyblok.com/ridehome Links: Hundreds of employees say no to being part of Elon Musk’s ‘extremely hardcore’ Twitter (The Verge) Tweet thread on why @peterclowes left Twitter Masayoshi Son owes $4.7bn to SoftBank following tech rout (FT) End of an Era: Facebook Takes Sexuality, Religion, Address, and Politics Off of Your Profile (Gizmodo) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Tweet thread from @MosquitoCapital on the many ways Twitter could break Nvidia RTX 4080 review: performance, for a price (The Verge) 1Password wants to ditch passwords without locking you in to one platform (Fast Company) Why Big Tech Is Throwing $1 Billion at Sucking CO2 From the Air (CNET) My Mastodon handle: @[email protected] Sign up for Post: https://post.news/?r=zXrzh Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The guy who handled the Enron bankruptcy says FTX is the worst he’s ever seen. Xbox gets full Discord integration. Apple’s plans for Major League Soccer are revealed. Evernote finds a forever home. A new Deepfake detector from Intel and supercomputing in the cloud from Microsoft and Nvidia. Sponsors: Storyblok.com/ridehome Medcline.com/techmeme Links: New FTX Boss Condemns Management of the Crypto Exchange During Sam Bankman-Fried's Tenure (CoinDesk) Built-in Discord voice chat is now rolling out to all Xbox users (Engadget) Apple Kicks Off Major League Soccer Plans With Pricing & Launch Details (Deadline) Bending Spoons acquires Evernote, marking the end of an era (TechCrunch) Google rolls out new features across Maps, Search and Shopping (TechCrunch) Intel unveils real-time deepfake detector, claims 96% accuracy rate (VentureBeat) Cloud computing: Microsoft and Nvidia are building a 'massive' AI supercomputer. Here's why (ZDNet) Microsoft and Nvidia team up to build massive cloud AI supercomputer (SiliconRepublic) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon chip. DuckDuckGo’s App Tracking blocker but for Android, the latest headlines from the two stories you know we have to hit, and what if I told you there’s a new startup that wants to do for home appliances, what Tesla did for automobiles? Sponsors: Akamai.com/techmeme Kinsta.com Links: Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 gives us a glimpse of 2023’s Android flagships (The Verge) DuckDuckGo’s App Tracking Protection beta is now available to all Android users (The Verge) Netflix's new feature lets subscribers kick devices off their accounts (TechCrunch) Musk issues ultimatum to staff: Commit to ‘hardcore’ Twitter or take severance (Washington Post) Induction cooking heats up with a $20M cash injection for Impulse (TechCrunch) Protocol, the tech-news focused website, will shutter and lay off its entire staff (CNN Business) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you tell Elon he doesn’t know what he’s doing, you could get fired. Matt Levine looks into the abyss of the FTX balance sheet and finds the abyss staring back at him. Is the Alexa platform in danger? Nike still believes in NFTs. And what it’s actually like to use Apple’s Emergency SOS feature. Sponsors: Hover.com/ride for 10% off Split.io/techmeme Links: Musk Publicly Punishes Twitter Engineers Who Call Him Out Online (Bloomberg) Is Elon Musk’s Twitter about to fall out of the GDPR’s one-stop shop? (TechCrunch) FTX’s Balance Sheet Was Bad (Bloomberg) Amazon Is Said to Plan to Lay Off Thousands of Employees (NYTimes) Nike to Open Its Own Virtual Sneaker Store and Trading Platform (Bloomberg) Nike Launches Web3 Platform Offering Virtual Apparel and Other NFT-Based Products (CryptoNews) Here’s what it’s like to use Apple’s Emergency SOS via satellite (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Twitter still lives, at least at the time of this writing. But thousands more contractors have been laid off. CZ wants to start a fund to save crypto projects. Paging Jonah Hill to play SBF in the movie that Michael Lewis is shopping around Hollywood. Meta is exiting the Portal business. And a big review of the Meta Quest Pro is just downright befuddling. Sponsors: LadderLife.com/ride Storyblok.com/ridehome Links: Twitter reportedly cut thousands of contractors without warning (The Verge) SpaceX just bought a big ad campaign on Twitter for Starlink (CNBC) Binance Starts Recovery Fund for Crypto Projects Facing Liquidity Crisis (CoinDesk) Exclusive: Jeff Bezos says he will give most of his money to charity (CNN Business) Nearly half of Meta job cuts were in tech, reorg underway - execs say (Reuters) Meta Quest Pro review: get me out of here (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just two big stories, as it’s been all week, but instead of ONLY giving you the latest, I want to try to sum up where I think we’re at as this week ends. What, I think, in the end, actually happened with FTX. And are we SURE Elon isn’t trying to tank Twitter on purpose? And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Storyblok.com/ridehome Links: Sam Bankman-Fried steps down as FTX CEO as his crypto exchange files for bankruptcy (CNBC) FTX US Warns of Trading Halt Hours After Bankman-Fried Says It's '100% Liquid' (CoinDesk) Crypto Lender BlockFi Pauses Withdrawals in Wake of FTX Collapse (CoinDesk) Does Twitter Have Any Employees Left Who Remember That The Company Is Under A Strict Consent Decree With The FTC? (TechDirt) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Basically everything on Amazon has become an ad (Vox) Can Crypto’s Richest Man Stand the Cold? (Bloomberg) Matter is here, but it’s still a long road to the simple smart home (The Verge) Twitter alternative: how Mastodon is designed to be “antiviral” (UXCollective) Unfollow? Block? And who gets custody of the WhatsApp groups? How to break up in the digital age (The Guardian) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More twists and turns in the FTX, SBF, CZ saga as the entire crypto sector continues to get rocked. I’d love to tell you what is going on with Twitter’s whole checkmark saga, but I don’t know, Elon doesn’t know, and frankly, by the time you hear this, it’s likely to have changed anyway. GitHub is getting into the voice assistant game. And Amazon becomes the first company to LOSE a Trillion dollars in valuation. Sponsors: Akamai.com/techmeme Storyblok.com/ridehome Links: Binance Walks Away From Deal to Rescue FTX (WSJ) SBF Tweet Storm This Morning FTX’s Collapse Spurs $10 Billion Drop in Decentralized Finance (Bloomberg) Twitter begins to roll out, then kills, grey checkmarks for high-profile accounts (TechCrunch) Apple will spend $450 million with Globalstar and others to enable emergency satellite texting (CNBC) ‘Hey, GitHub!’ will let programmers code with just their voice (The Verge) Amazon Becomes World’s First Public Company to Lose $1 Trillion in Market Value (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Meta layoffs are here and they’re brutal. But rumors are, TikTok is cutting back also. What even is the new Twitter subscription product at this point? Does anybody know? And if you look at today’s show title, and it’s just a bunch of gibberish, hopefully I can explain the big crypto blowup from yesterday. Sources: Kinsta.com Storyblok.com Links: Meta confirms 11,000 layoffs, amounting to 13% of its workforce (TechCrunch) TikTok slashes global revenue targets by at least $2bn (Financial Times) Twitter’s solution for ruining verification is another check mark (The Verge) Disney+ reaches 164.2M subscribers as it prepares for ad-supported tier launch (TechCrunch) The Story of Sam Bankman-Fried’s Backroom Deal With Binance’s CZ (CoinDesk) Lucas Nuzzi (Twitter Thread) FTX Venture Investors Fear Total Wipeout in Binance Rescue Deal (The Information) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why has FTX appeared to have halted withdrawals? Innocent explanation, or could we have another big crypto blowup brewing? What if Elon just says, screw it, and puts all of Twitter behind a paywall? What happens if NFT marketplaces stop honoring royalties? And why is Apple having a hard time with its design team? Sponsors: Masterworks.com/ride Links: Binance to Sell Rest of FTX Token Holdings as Alameda CEO Defends Firm's Financial Condition (CoinDesk) Musk discusses putting all of Twitter behind a paywall (Platformer) Mysterious company with government ties plays key internet role (Washington Post) OpenSea Breaks Silence on NFT Royalties, But Creators Don't Like What They Hear (Decrypt) Apple’s Brain Drain Hinders Efforts to Pick Its Next Jony Ive (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Looks like those rumors of massive Meta layoffs might be coming true this week. Covid has led to brand new iPhone shortage worries. Is Apple about to make it easier to invoke Siri? Airbnb has made it easier to understand the true cost of a rental. And this weekend in the Twitter Clown Car. Sponsors: Storyblok.com/ridehome Links: Facebook Parent Meta Is Preparing to Notify Employees of Large-Scale Layoffs This Week (WSJ) Apple Issues iPhone 14 Pro Shipment Warning Ahead of Holiday Shopping Season (MacRumors) Apple’s Next Change for Siri: Dropping ‘Hey’ From ‘Hey Siri’ Trigger (Bloomberg) Airbnb to Make Cleaning Fees Clearer on Searches After Customer Complaints (WSJ) Elon Musk Appears To Threaten Advertisers Wary Of His Twitter Takeover (HuffingtonPost) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The layoffs have begun at Twitter. And while Twitter might shutter its Substack competitor, Substack has moved into Twitter’s turf by launching a sort of discussion platform. DALL-E API’s are now available for you to use. What it’s like to use Netflix’s new ad-supported tier. And, of course, The Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Sponsors: hiddenheroes.netguru.com Links: Elon Musk’s Twitter layoffs are starting (The Verge) Substack targets Twitter with launch of discussions feature, Substack Chat (TechCrunch) Amazon pauses hiring for corporate workforce (CNBC) DALL-E API released by OpenAI in public beta, potential boon for app builders (VentureBeat) With Netflix’s ads tier, you never know what you’re going to get (The Verge) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Bored Ape Yacht Club tell all: The untold story of the $4 billion crypto startup (FastCompany) The ‘Viral’ Secure Programming Language That’s Taking Over Tech (Wired) The Race to Be Figma for Devs: CodeSandbox vs. StackBlitz (TheNewStack) The Most Vulnerable Place on the Internet (Wired) Inside the weirdly competitive industry of robots writing letters in human handwriting (FastCompany) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is TikTok still in danger of running afoul of government bans? WhatsApp gets Groups. Gmail gets package tracking. Instagram gets NFT minting. Patreon gets video hosting. Layoffs come for Stripe. Yes, there was some Twitter news too. And is the Adobe/Figma deal in trouble? Sponsors: hiddenheroes.netguru.com Split.io/techmeme Links: TikTok tells European users its staff in China get access to their data (The Guardian) WhatsApp officially launches its new discussion group feature, Communities (TechCrunch) Gmail to add a new package tracking feature ahead of holiday shopping season (TechCrunch) Meta’s Instagram Plans NFT Minting, Trading Tools (Decrypt) Patreon’s long-awaited video hosting feature is finally rolling out to creators (The Verge) Elon Musk Aims to Start Charging for Twitter Verification Next Week (Bloomberg) Stripe Cuts Headcount by 14%, Prepares for ‘Leaner Times’ (Bloomberg) DOJ takes aim at Adobe's $20 billion deal (Politico) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We know when the PlayStation VR2 is coming, when you can pre-order it, and how much it’s gonna cost. What do you know? A bunch of news in the whole Twitter saga. The reality of the ransomware industrial complex. And an interesting new Mac app to help you remember everything you’ve ever done on your computer. Sponsors: Akamai.com/techmeme Links: PlayStation VR2 launches on February 22nd for $549.99 (The Verge) Elon Musk to charge verified Twitter users to give ‘power to the people’ (SiliconRepublic) Elon Musk’s Twitter is working on paid-video feature with ‘high’ risk (Washington Post) Tumblr will now allow nudity but not explicit sex (The Verge) Twitch opens Guest Star up so anyone can run their own talk show not (TechCrunch) U.S. banks processed roughly $1.2 billion in ransomware payments in 2021, according to federal report (CNBC) Rewind wants to revamp how you remember, with millions from a16z (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will charging for blue checks actually help Twitter monetarily or… frankly, any way, at all? Amazon has expanded ad-free Music. YouTube is bundling streaming services. Why Uber Eats is interesting inside of Uber earnings. And is it time to start worrying about Sony’s strategy with the Playstation? Sponsors: Medcline.com/techmeme Links: Scoop: Musk team working to reboot Vine this year (Axios) Jack Dorsey just saved Elon Musk about $1 billion by rolling over his shares of Twitter into a stake in the new private company (Insider) YouTube’s Primetime Channels bring streaming movies and TV into the YouTube app (The Verge) Amazon Prime now comes with a full music catalog of 100 million songs and ad-free podcasts (TechCrunch) Uber Shares Jump as Strong Ridership Eases Inflation Worries (Bloomberg) PlayStation Plus has lost nearly 2 million subscribers since its revamp (VGC) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just, massive wholesale changes at Twitter, including possibly making folks pay up for features. Pitty the poor tech billionaires who have collectively lost half a trillion in wealth this year. When the M2 MacBook Pros should be showing up. And what colors might you be blocked from using on Adobe products? Sponsors: RocketMoney.com/ride Links: Elon Musk wastes no time changing Twitter (The Verge) Twitter is planning to start charging $20 per month for verification (The Verge) The 20 Richest Tech Billionaires Have Lost Nearly Half a Trillion Dollars This Year (WSJ) Apple Gears Up to Launch Its Next Crop of Macs Early Next Year (Bloomberg) India's Central Bank to Start Wholesale CBDC Pilot Nov. 1 (CoinDesk) You’re Going To Have To Pay To Use Some Fancy Colors In Photoshop Now (Kotaku) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Readocracy is restoring sanity to the world by making how you inform yourself count for something. Troll-free, bot-free, ad-free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Area man completes acquisition of social media platform. And now the fun begins? Amazon had bad earnings, but Apple mostly didn’t. YouTube is trying to be like TikTok too, but they’re giving their users options. And of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Wealthfront.com/techmeme Links: How Twitter Will Change as a Private Company (NYTimes) Amazon stock sinks 13% on weak fourth-quarter guidance (CNBC) Apple reports strong quarter but expects sales slump (Silicon Republic) YouTube redesign gives long-form videos, Shorts and Live videos their own tabs on channel pages (TechCrunch) Weekend Longreads Suggestions Smartphone Storage Space Is the New Turf War for Game Makers (Bloomberg) The First Minute of Every Phone Call Is Torture Now (The Atlantic) The Try Guys and the Prison of Online Fame (NYTimes Magazine) The Crypto Story (Matt Levine/Bloomberg Businessweek) Which AI Creates the Best (and Most Terrifying) Art? (PC Mag) The Fantasy of Instant Delivery Is Imploding (Bloomberg) The beginning of the monster Game of Thrones Twitter Thread (Ben Schwartz) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

(BOMB SOUND). That’s the sound of Meta’s disastrous earnings announcement yesterday. That’s the sort of insightful analysis you come to this podcast for. But also, Argo AI is shutting down. Google Cloud has a new blockchain tool for developers. And the Elon Twitter thing is happening. It’s really happening, people. Behave accordingly. Sponsors: ZocDoc.com/techmeme Links: Meta Tumbles as Sales Forecast Shows Depth of Ad-Market Weakness (Bloomberg) Meta Plummets 25% as Zuckerberg’s Plea for ‘Patience’ Falls Flat (Bloomberg) It’s Official: Meta Is a Disaster (Intelligencer) Mark Zuckerberg Is Going To Kill His Company (Ed Zitron's Where's Your Ed At) Ford, VW-backed Argo AI is shutting down (TechCrunch) Samsung's Third-Quarter Profit Plunges Amid Chip Market Woes (CNET) Google's new service helps Web3 developers build for blockchain-based platforms (ZDNet) Elon Musk Is In Twitter’s Office and Will Address Staff Friday (Bloomberg) Elon Musk, on Eve of Twitter Deal Close, Promises Advertisers It Won’t Become a ‘Free-for-All Hellscape’ (Variety) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meta and Spotify both call Apple out on their recent App Store aggressiveness. Soft earnings from Microsoft and worrying earnings from Alphabet. Twitter seems to already be hemorrhaging its power users. LinkedIn fights its own bot war. And are unicorns back to becoming a rare thing? Sponsors: Akamai.com Links: Apple’s new App Store tax on ads is a direct shot at Meta (The Verge) Spotify says Apple is ‘choking competition’ and ruining its audiobook store (The Verge) Spotify Boosts Subscribers and Revenue, Says 2023 Price Increases Likely (WSJ) Microsoft Plunges on Forecast for Lackluster Azure Growth (Bloomberg) Twitter Asks: Where Have All the Tweeters Gone? (Gizmodo) Alphabet misses on earnings as YouTube shrinks; company will cut headcount growth by half in Q4 (CNBC) Intel unit Mobileye prices IPO above range to raise $861 mln (Reuters) Developers Complain About Gambling Ads Appearing in Their App Store Listings (MacRumors) First on CNN: LinkedIn knows there are fake accounts on its site. Now it wants to help users spot them (CNN Business) The billion-dollar tech unicorn is becoming rare again (The Washington Post) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apple tries to wedge the App Store vig into another market. Prices are going up for your favorite Apple services. Shutterstock is partnering with OpenAI cause if you can’t something them, join them! And what is the deal with Stage Manager on the iPad? Sponsors: Hover.com/ride for 10% off Links: App Store guidelines updated with new rules for apps with NFT and ad managers (9to5Mac) Apple is raising the price of Apple Music, Apple TV+ and Apple One from today (9to5Mac) Project Volterra launches today as the 'Windows Dev Kit 2023' with 32GB RAM and costs less than a Mac mini (Windows Central) Meta shareholder writes critical open letter saying company needs to slash headcount and stop spending so much money on ‘metaverse’ (CNBC) Shutterstock will start selling AI-generated stock imagery with help from OpenAI (The Verge) Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 (13.5-inch) review: a few steps forward and one big step back (The Verge) Microsoft Surface Pro 9 (SQ3) review: Windows on Arm is not ready (The Verge) iPadOS 16’s Stage Manager is not the future of multitasking you were hoping for (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did investing in Chinese tech become a fool’s errand over the weekend? A deep dive on how TSMC is caught in the middle of all the things. Is Elon’s Twitter deal presenting systemic risk to corporate finance? Are M2 Mac Pro and Macbook Pro’s still coming soon? And Bono tries to justify putting that U2 album on your iphone. Sponsors: Masterclass.com/ride for 15% off Links: China Stocks Crater in US as Alibaba Leads $130 Billion Wipeout (Bloomberg) TSMC: the Taiwanese chipmaker caught up in the tech cold war (Financial Times) Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover Debt to Be Held by Banks Amid Turbulent Markets (WSJ) These artists found out their work was used to train AI. Now they’re furious (CNN Business) The iPad Lineup Is Perplexing — Here’s How Apple Could Fix It (Bloomberg) Bono on the birth of U2, that iTunes album and Live Aid: ‘There’s only one thing I can see when I watch it: the mullet’ (The Guardian) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Talking this week's big week for AI, with Parker Thompson (@pt) plus@miguelisolano&@mignano Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I said Elon’s name five times in front of a mirror and the whole Elon/Twitter headlines came flooding back into our lives. Forbes alleges that they’ve caught TikTok doing the thing that everybody fears. What if I told you there was a third huge AI raise story to round out this week? And of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Links: Documents detail plans to gut Twitter’s workforce (Washington Post) Twitter Tumbles as US Weighs Security Reviews for Musk Deals (Bloomberg) TikTok Parent ByteDance Planned To Use TikTok To Monitor The Physical Location Of Specific American Citizens (Forbes) OpenAI, Valued at Nearly $20 Billion, in Advanced Talks with Microsoft For More Funding (The Information) Snap plunges more than 25% on third-quarter revenue miss (CNBC) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Technology that lets us “speak” to our dead relatives has arrived. Are we ready? (MIT Technology Review) How Gamers Beat NFTs (Bloomberg) The Hottest App Right Now? One Where Teens Have to Say Nice Things About Each Other (WSJ) I Turned My Home Into a Fortress of Surveillance (The Atlantic) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The big Solana challenger had a terrible first day of trading. Previews of the new Thunderbolt standard. Reviews of the new Raptor Lake chips. Uber takes a page out of the New York City taxi playbook. And the first hands-on, quasi-review of Meta’s high end VR headset. Sponsors: Zengo.com/ride and code ride Split.io/techmeme Links: Aptos Token Plummets 40% After APT Airdrop for 'Early Network Participants' (Decrypt) Android 13 (Go edition) announced with Material You, Google Play System Updates, and more (9to5Google) The next generation of Thunderbolt seems nice but less necessary than ever (The Verge) Intel Core i9-13900K review: an AMD Zen 4 beater (The Verge) Uber rolls out ad business to reach more riders (FT) I Tried the $1,500 Quest Pro and Saw the Best of the Metaverse (NYTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Netflix actually beat on earnings and customer additions. Why their pivot to ads might actually be in line with their long-term strategy. Yesterday’s iPad releases were even more complicated, and stranger, frankly, than I told you. Bluesky is still plugging away on decentralized social media. And another monster interesting raise in the AI space. Links: Netflix adds more than 2.4 million subscribers, reveals details about password-sharing crackdown (CNBC) The New Netflix Age Has Arrived (Puck/Julia Alexander) The iPad’s erratic odyssey continues (Jason Snell/Six Colors) Jack Dorsey-Founded Bluesky Unveils Roadmap for Decentralized Social Networks (Decrypt) AI content platform Jasper raises $125M at a $1.5B valuation (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New iPad Pros and new Apple TV 4ks. Meta walks away from the Giphy acquisition. Layoffs at Microsoft. High attrition at Amazon. Mobileye is probably going to IPO at a significant discount than people hoped? And why I’ve been telling you that the energy in Silicon Valley is switching to AI startups. Sponsors: Merge Conflict Podcast Links: Apple introduces next-generation iPad Pro, supercharged by the M2 chip (Apple Newsroom) Apple announces new 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro with M2 chip, Apple Pencil hover feature (9to5Mac) Apple Announces 10th-Generation iPad With Complete Redesign, 10.9-Inch Display, USB-C, and More (MacRumors) Meta gets final order to sell Giphy from UK antitrust watchdog (TechCrunch) Microsoft becomes latest tech firm to cut staff (Axios) Exclusive: Amazon’s attrition costs $8 billion annually according to leaked documents. And it gets worse. (Engadget) Intel Eyes Significantly Lower Valuation in IPO of Mobileye Unit (WSJ) Stability AI Raises Seed Round at $1 Billion Value (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Looks like Ye, née Kanye West, is going to try to buy the social network Parler. A look at the Chinese export controls that could potentially force American executives to choose between their jobs and their American citizenship. Wait until you hear about the Mango Markets exploit. And what do you think is the global population of robots, right now? Today? Sponsors: RocketMoney.com/ride Links: Kanye West is buying ‘free speech platform’ Parler (The Verge) Kanye West to buy social media app Parler (The Verge) Decentralized Solana-based trading platform Mango reportedly hit by $100 million exploit (Fortune) Biden declares economic war on the Chinese semiconductor industry (Noahpinion) With New Crackdown, Biden Wages Global Campaign on Chinese Technology (NYTimes) American Executives in Limbo at Chinese Chip Companies After U.S. Ban (WSJ) Meet the Army of Robots Coming to Fill In for Scarce Workers (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We now know how much Netflix with Ads will cost; we think we know how many ads they have to show us to make up for the lost revenue. What is unclear is if people will watch that many ads. It looks like Zuck lied to us about having legs in the Metaverse. Something something, eventually every company becomes a bank. I’m talking about the Apple savings account. And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: See NordPass Business in action now with a 3-month free trial here nordpass.com/techmeme with code TECHMEME Links: Netflix’s ad tier will cost $6.99 a month and launch in November (The Verge) Meta Avatar Legs Demo ‘Created By Motion Capture’, Not Live VR (UploadVR) Facebook's Legs Video Was A Lie (Kotaku) Apple Card to Offer Savings Account for Daily Cash (MacRumors) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: WhatsApp is now a spammers’ paradise in India (Rest of World) The GIF Is on Its Deathbed (The Atlantic) Can Kickstarter’s new CEO help the company get its mojo back? (Fast Company) The computer errors from outer space (BBC Future) How the Glengarry Glen Ross “Coffee Is for Closers” Scene Got Made (Vanity Fair) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Signal is phasing out SMS and MMS. Microsoft is sunsetting Microsoft Office branding. The SEC is poised to officially ban some Chinese hardware. Is AR not living up to its promise as a tool for soldiers on the battlefield? And would you ghostwrite tweets for prominent venture capitalists? There’s good money in it. Sponsors: Merge Conflict Podcast Links: Signal will remove support for SMS text messages on Android (BleepingComputer) Microsoft Office will become Microsoft 365 in major brand overhaul (The Verge) FCC poised to ban all U.S. sales of new Huawei and ZTE equipment (Axios) Microsoft’s Army Goggles Left US Soldiers With Nausea, Headaches in Test (Bloomberg) TikTok Parent ByteDance Sets Sights on Spotify With Music-Streaming Expansion (WSJ) I made $200,000 last year ghostwriting tweets for superstar VCs. It takes me 5 hours a week. Here's how I found my clients and built a booming side hustle from scratch. (Insider) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Only two big stories really. We break down yesterday’s Meta VR event, including the new high end Quest Pro. But did Zuck show us anything that will get anyone excited about the Metaverse yet? And Microsoft’s Surface event had a lot of Surface refreshes, but was the big news actually their integration of DALL-E 2 with a new Designer app? The productivity space is hot… Sponsors: TED Tech Podcast Links: The Meta Quest Pro costs $1,499 and ships October 25th (The Verge) What happened to the virtual reality gaming revolution? (Ars Technica) It’s painful how hellbent Mark Zuckerberg is on convincing us that VR is a thing (TechCrunch) Zuckerberg’s $1,499 Headsets Won’t Help Meta (Bloomberg) Surface Pro 9 lets you pick between Intel or Arm 5G and new color options (The Verge) Microsoft's (barely) refreshed Surface Laptop 5 starts at $1,000 (Engadget) Microsoft’s Surface Studio 2 Plus ships with an RTX 3060 for $4,299 (The Verge) Microsoft brings DALL-E 2 to the masses with Designer and Image Creator (TechCrunch) Microsoft’s Adaptive Accessories finally have a release date (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices