Tech Brew Ride Home

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

A whole bunch of things, including a major US bank getting into crypto custody, paying for Google cloud with crypto, Chromebooks made for gaming, the lack of anyone in the current slate of virtual worlds, the return of the cable bundle example 100, and did you know your Apple AirTags only last a year? Sponsors: Masterworks.com/ride Medcline.com/techmeme Links: America’s Oldest Bank, BNY Mellon, Will Hold That Crypto Now (WSJ) Google selects Coinbase to take cloud payments with cryptocurrencies and will use its custody tool (CNBC) Chips, canvases, and chats: Google Workspace’s plan to crush Office (The Verge) Google is trying to make Chromebooks built for cloud gaming (Engadget) It's Lonely in the Metaverse: DappRadar Data Suggests Decentraland Has 38 ‘Daily Active’ Users in $1.3B Ecosystem (CoinDesk) You Hated Your Cable Package. Your Streaming Services Are Bringing It Back. (WSJ) ‘The Owner of This iPhone Was in a Severe Car Crash’—or Just on a Roller Coaster (WSJ) How to change the AirTags battery (AppleInsider) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s another huge crypto hack and I’ll give you two guesses as to what folks think the culprit is. The Twitter/Elon trial is officially paused. Meta can’t get its own developers to use their metaverse products. Maybe my dream of Death Star style anklebots is over. And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Wealthfront.com/techmeme Links: Binance-linked blockchain hit by $570 million crypto hack (Reuters) The Elon Musk vs. Twitter trial is on hold until October 28th (The Verge) Meta’s flagship metaverse app is too buggy and employees are barely using it, says exec in charge (The Verge) Amazon Abandons Home Delivery Robot Tests in Latest Cost Cuts (Bloomberg) Samsung Details GDDR7 and 1,000-Layer V-NAND Plans (Tom's Hardware) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Even After $100 Billion, Self-Driving Cars Are Going Nowhere (Bloomberg) The Illustrated Stable Diffusion (Jay Alammar) Swiss Dropout Worth $14 Billion Moves Startup Away From Porn (Bloomberg) The Next Big Battle Between Google and Apple Is for the Soul of Your Car (WSJ) How To Download All of Wikipedia onto a USB Flash Drive in 2022 (Planet of the Paul) A Canticle for Leibowitz (Wikipedia) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All the headlines from the Made By Google event. Elon sure wants to avoid being deposed. Why a guilty verdict for Uber’s former Chief Security Officer could have broader ramifications in the tech world. And the new text to video AI systems, this time, from Google. Sponsors: Titan.com/ride Ted Tech Podcast Links: Google unveils Pixel 7 Pro with Tensor G2 processor, 5x telephoto, starts at $899 (9to5Google) Google gets serious about wearables with the Pixel Watch (TechCrunch) Elon Musk’s deposition delayed as he wrangles with Twitter over deal (Financial Times) Former Uber Security Chief Found Guilty of Hiding Hack From Authorities (NYTimes) Former Uber security chief convicted of covering up 2016 data breach (Washington Post) Google answers Meta’s video-generating AI with its own, dubbed Imagen Video (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yes, we’ll get into the whole Twitter/Elon thing. Seems he wants the original deal again… or does he? Tesla is removing more sensors from their cars. The hugely problematic launch of Overwatch 2. And the tech angle to that whole Chess cheating scandal. Links: Musk Revives $44 Billion Twitter Bid, Aiming to Avoid Trial (Bloomberg) Elon Musk says Twitter will eventually be part of ‘X, the everything app’ (MarketWatch) Musk offers to proceed with Twitter deal (Axios) Lawyers Lose Out on Millions in Twitter-Musk Legal Fees (Bloomberg) Tesla is now building Model 3 and Model Y vehicles without ultrasonic sensors (TechCrunch) DDoS attack on 'Overwatch 2' servers prevents fans from playing the game on launch day (Engadget) Chess Investigation Finds That U.S. Grandmaster ‘Likely Cheated’ More Than 100 Times (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The EU has made USB-C the charging port law of the land. Xiaomi’s new flagship smartphone with a 200MP camera. New Google Nest things. Is YouTube trying new ways to get you to pay up for Premium. And the big new robotics push in the world of… checks notes… retail pharmacy. Links: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024 (MacRumors) Xiaomi’s 12T Pro launches with high-resolution 200-megapixel camera (The Verge) Google debuts new Nest Doorbell Wired, Nest Wifi Pro and launches fully new Google Home app preview (ZDNet) YouTube is asking some users to purchase a Premium subscription to watch in 4K (TechCrunch) Meta launches AI software tools to ease switching between Nvidia, AMD chips (Reuters) Walgreens Turns to Prescription-Filling Robots to Free Up Pharmacists (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kim Kardashian has settled with the SEC over crypto promotion on social media. I continue to Wonder if, aside from TikTok, the biggest threat to Zuckerberg’s metaverse plans is actually Sony. The Supreme Court is gonna hear cases that could pierce the veil of Section 230. And the other social media law from Texas that Silicon Valley is fighting tooth and nail. Links: Kim Kardashian pays over $1 million to settle SEC charges linked to a crypto promo on her Instagram (CNBC) Celsius Network founder withdrew $10mn ahead of bankruptcy (FT) Sony Betting Big on Next VR Headset With Increased Production Plan (Bloomberg) Social Media Company Liability Draws Supreme Court Scrutiny (Bloomberg) Texas Social-Media Law on Web Censorship Upheld by Federal Appeals Court (Bloomberg) Tech companies are gaming out responses to the Texas social media law (Washington Post) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NFT Struggles, Google Stadia And New Kindles with @aidanfitzryan and @ArtSabintsev Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but Google is abandoning a major project, maybe it’s biggest cancellation ever. More cutbacks at Meta. Though one tech company is gonna test the IPO waters soon. Be a fly on the wall as Elon talks to everyone in Silicon Valley about maybe buying Twitter. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Links: Google is shutting down Stadia (The Verge) Meta to Cut Headcount for First Time, Slash Budgets Across Teams (Bloomberg) TripActions reportedly files to go public at $12 billion valuation (TechCrunch) Jack Dorsey tried to get Elon Musk on Twitter’s board but directors were too ‘risk averse,’ texts reveal (CNBC) Elon Musk’s Text Exchanges Show Twitter Deal Going Off The Rails (Big Technology) How Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey, and Parag Agrawal cratered the Twitter deal, in texts (The Verge) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Google is trying to reinvent search — by being more than a search engine (The Verge) Twitter Is in This Mess Because Jack Dorsey Was Too Busy Being a Bitcoin Influencer (Bloomberg) Here's Why Movie Dialogue Has Gotten More Difficult To Understand (And Three Ways To Fix It) (SlashFilm) Someone is pretending to be me. (Connor Tumbleson) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meta takes down an app that tried to strip out the cruft from Instagram (but also the ads). Bunch of new Maps features from Google. All the headlines from yesterday’s Amazon event, including a Kindle you can write on. And text to image generators are cool. But you know what’s really cool, text to video generators. Sponsors: Titan.com/ride Links: The OG App promised an ad-free Instagram feed then got pulled from App Store (TechCrunch) The 11 biggest announcements at Amazon’s hardware launch event (The Verge) Amazon’s Kindle Scribe is an E Ink tablet for reading and writing (The Verge) Here are all of the new features and updates coming to Google Maps (TechCrunch) SWIFT Partners With Crypto Data Provider Chainlink on Cross-Chain Protocol in TradFi Play (CoinDesk) Meta’s new text-to-video AI generator is like DALL-E for video (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On second thought, Apple is pulling back on iPhone production which suggests demand is not what they anticipated. Intel’s new 13th-Gen chips and new low-end GPU. Checking on the Elon/Twitter trial and the NFT market. And what to expect from this week’s Tesla AI event. Links: Apple Ditches iPhone Production Increase After Demand Falters (Bloomberg) The latest iPadOS 16 beta brings Stage Manager to older iPad Pro models (Engadget) Intel’s 13th Gen processors arrive October 20th with $589 flagship Core i9-13900K (The Verge) Intel Arc A770 graphics card to launch October 12 for $329 (PCGamer) NFT Trading Volumes Collapse 97% From January Peak (Bloomberg) Twitter says Elon Musk’s own data scientists did not back up bots claims (Financial Times) Turnstile is Cloudflare’s latest attempt to rid the web of CAPTCHAs (The Verge) How To Watch Tesla’s AI Day (Forbes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sam Bankman-Fried finally scoops up Voyager’s assets. Meta says Russia has launched the biggest disinformation campaign of the war. Nreal has finally brough the first real contender for the AR wars to American shores for the first time. And would you consider a Metaverse white paper from the sci-fi writer than inspired the very notion of a Metaverse? Sponsors: Online.UC.edu Masterworks.com/ride ** Links: Crypto Exchange FTX Wins Bankrupt Firm Voyager’s Assets (Bloomberg) ‘Smash and grab’: Meta uncovers Russia's ‘largest and most complex’ info op since the war began (Protocol) Meta makes it easier to switch between Facebook and Instagram accounts (CNBC) Nreal’s $379 AR glasses launch in the US today (The Verge) If you still miss Google Reader, Substack has a new web-based RSS client (The Verge) Walmart enters the metaverse with Roblox experiences aimed at younger shoppers (CNBC) Neal Stephenson’s Lamina1 drops white paper on building the open metaverse (GamesBeat) **Net est. returns for all realized and unrealized offerings is 15.3%, from inception through 6/30/22. See important Reg A and performance disclosures at masterworks.io/cd Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

UK police make an arrest many believe is related to those recent Uber and Rockstar hacks. Will the iPhone get a design overhaul next year? Cloudflare’s interesting new Zero Trust SIM. Maybe the first copyright for that new AI Art stuff? And why AI is allowing Darth Vader’s voice to live on forever. Sponsors: Medcline.com/techmeme ZocDoc.com/techmeme Links: UK Police arrests teen believed to be behind Uber, Rockstar hacks (BleepingComputer) One Week with the iPhone 14 Pro Max: Apple’s Not-So-Dynamic Island (Bloomberg) Cloudflare launches an eSIM to secure mobile devices (TechCrunch) TikTok Seen Moving Toward U.S. Security Deal, but Hurdles Remain (NYTimes) Artist receives first known US copyright registration for latent diffusion AI art (ArsTechnica) James Earl Jones Steps Back From Voicing Darth Vader, Signs Off on Using Archived Recordings to Recreate Voice With A.I. (Variety) Darth Vader’s Voice Emanated From War-Torn Ukraine (Variety) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Argyle is a BIM to Augmented Reality app for Heavy Construction. More at Argyle.Build Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If DAO’s are a modern, blockchain take on the corporation, I’ve got a big, worrying thing to tell you about them. Apple looks to cozy up to the NFL as Amazon seems to have found immediate success with Thursday Night Football. Fitbit takes a page out of the Oculus playbook, post-acquisition. And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Links: CFTC Penalizes Blockchain Protocol $250K, Files Action Against Successor DAO (CoinDesk) Apple to Sponsor the Super Bowl Halftime Show (NYTimes) Amazon Scores Big With First ‘Thursday Night Football’ Game (The Hollywood Reporter) Fitbit will require a Google Account to use new devices and features from 2023 onward (9to5Google) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: The Sneaky Genius of Apple’s AirPods Empire (Bloomberg) How a Quebec Lithium Mine May Help Make Electric Cars Affordable (NYTimes) Unauthorized Shein boutiques are popping up across Mexico (Rest of World) College Dropout Turns Thiel Fellowship Into a $2 Billion Figma Fortune (Bloomberg) Why Do All These 20-Somethings Have Closed Captions Turned On? (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More gaming hacks. Instagram wants to stop unsolicited sending of nudes. Layoffs come for Meta in all but name. The end-run Google wants to do around Dolby. Getty Images bans AI art. Larry Page’s flying car startup is shutting down. And a review of the new Apple Watch Ultra. Links: 2K Games says hacked help desk targeted players with malware (BleepingComputer) Instagram’s finally working on protecting users from unsolicited nude photos (The Verge) Meta Quietly Reduces Staff in Cost-Cutting Push (WSJ) Google wants to take on Dolby with new open media formats (Protocol) Getty Images bans AI-generated content over fears of legal challenges (The Verge) TikTok’s BeReal clone app is gaining traction outside the US (The Verge) Google co-founder’s flying car startup is winding down (CNBC) Apple Watch Ultra review: an aspirational debut (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Twitch is the main character of the show today, for good and bad reasons. YouTube takes a serious swing at TikTok. Microsoft releases Windows 11's first major update. Nividia outlines its next gen GPUs. Can Helium make it as an MVNO? And Google does Google things! Sponsors: Split.io/techmeme Links: Twitch to ban Stake.com streams and other unlicensed gambling content (The Verge) Child Predators Use Twitch to Systematically Track Kids Livestreaming (Bloomberg) YouTube will share ad revenue with Shorts creators (Engadget) Windows 11’s 2022 Update has something new for everyone (The Verge) Nvidia announces next-gen RTX 4090 and RTX 4080 GPUs (The Verge) Helium Founders, T-Mobile Launch Crypto-Powered 5G Mobile Service (Decrypt) Google is finally making its to-do list and reminder tools work together (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Now the hackers have come for the crypto market makers. Spotify gets into the Audiobooks game. Slack gets in on the whole productivity apps renaissance. Actual inflation is coming to the app store and 1 Euro apps will soon be no more. And the chat room that only opens its doors when your phone’s battery is about to die. Sponsors: Online.UC.edu Links: Crypto market maker Wintermute hacked for $160 million (The Block) Uber links breach to Lapsus$ group, blames contractor for hack (BleepingComputer) Rockstar comments on GTA 6 leak and claims project won’t be delayed (VideoGameChronicle) Nasdaq is preparing to launch an institutional crypto custody service (The Block) Spotify Launches Audiobooks Business With A La Carte Pricing, No Discounts for Subscribers (The Hollywood Reporter) Slack’s new Canvas feature puts a document editor in your chat window (The Verge) Apple to raise App Store prices in multiple countries next month (9to5Mac) Apple says software update coming next week to fix iPhone 14 Pro camera shake issue (9to5Mac) This Chatroom Only Opens When Your Phone’s About to Die (Motherboard) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did the same kid who allegedly hacked Uber allegedly leak GTA VI gameplay over the weekend? Interpol drops a red ball on Do Kwan. iPhone 14 Pro users report their cameras literally shake when they try to take pictures. Instacart wants to break the tech IPO hex. And the bull and bear case for the Figma acquisition. Links: GTA 6 gameplay leaks online in 90 videos (The Verge) South Korean prosecutors ask Interpol to issue red notice for Do Kwon (Financial Times) iPhone 14 Pro camera shaking and rattling in TikTok, Snapchat, and other apps (9to5Mac) 'No One Is Profitable': GPU Mining Faces Dark Days After Ethereum Merge (PCMag) Instacart Plans to Focus IPO on Selling Employee Shares (WSJ) The Adobe-Figma deal is historic for tech startups — if it goes through (Protocol) Why Figma is Worth $20B And Other Observations From The Adobe Acquisition (Hunter Walk) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Building the fundamental assets for the metaverse, with Treasury. If you want to learn more, contact me, or check out Treasury.space. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices