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The new RCS messaging standard makes encryption universal, and even Apple is getting on the bandwagon. OpenAI calls for a US ban of DeepSeek. Is Apple about to turn your AirPods into the Universal Translator from Star Trek? And, of course, The Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Sponsors: FactorMeals.com/factorpodcast and code FACTORPODCAST Links: Apple will soon support encrypted RCS messaging with Android users (The Verge) OpenAI calls DeepSeek ‘state-controlled,’ calls for bans on ‘PRC-produced’ models (TechCrunch) Apple Plans AirPods Feature That Can Live-Translate Conversations (Bloomberg) Gemini can now personalize its answers based on your search history (The Verge) Sony’s new RGB backlight tech absolutely smokes regular Mini LED TVs (The Verge) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: ‘Ne Zha 2’s $2B+ Box Office Run: How It Happened And What Does Blockbuster Behemoth Mean For China & Hollywood Ahead (Deadline) The End Of Children (The New Yorker) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Intel has a new boss and they seem to want to double down on the Foundry strategy. Meta is testing community notes. Sonos is abandoning its big streaming video hardware project. Is Adobe falling behind in AI? Is Oracle the leader to take over TikTok US? And why is John Gruber so mad at Apple? Sponsors: Shopify.com/ride Links: Intel appoints chip industry veteran Lip-Bu Tan as CEO (Reuters) Intel CEO Signals That He’ll Stick With Contentious Foundry Plan (Bloomberg) Meta unveils new community notes program; will not apply distribution penalties nor limit flow of information (Fox News) Sonos has canceled its streaming video player (The Verge) Microsoft’s new Xbox Copilot will act as an AI gaming coach (The Verge) Adobe shares drop 13% as concerns about AI growth overshadow better-than-expected results (CNBC) Oracle Is Leading Contender to Help Run TikTok in New Deal (The Information) Something Is Rotten in the State of Cupertino (Daring Fireball) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Niantic officially sells to that Saudi-owned game developer. iRobot says it might not be alive in about 12 months time. Sam Altman believes he has an AI that can write believable fiction. Is the cavalry coming to save Intel? And why can’t we create a true AI Einstein in a data center? Sponsors: Acorns.com/ride Links: Pokémon Go developer Niantic to sell gaming business to Saudi group (The Verge) Saudi-owned Scopely buys Pokémon Go in $3.5bn gaming deal (FT) One-Time Amazon Takeover Target iRobot Warns Doubt on Future (Bloomberg) Google calls Gemma 3 the most powerful AI model you can run on one GPU (TheVerge) Sam Altman says OpenAI has trained a fiction writing AI model that’s actually decent (SiliconAngle) Google changes Chrome extension policies following the Honey link scandal (TheVerge) Exclusive: TSMC pitched Intel foundry JV to Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom, sources say (Reuters) Hugging Face’s chief science officer worries AI is becoming ‘yes-men on servers’ (TheVerge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are we about to get the biggest overhaul of iOS since 2013? Is inference the way that everybody is going to eat Nvidia’s lunch? Exactly how much to AI search engines get it wrong? Why is the global smartwatch market shrinking? And apparently the new Mac Studios are the thing you want to get, if you can afford it! Sponsors: Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code RIDEHOME at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: http://incogni.com/ridehome 1password.com/ride Links: Apple Readies Dramatic Software Overhaul for iPhone, iPad and Mac (Bloomberg) Exclusive: Meta begins testing its first in-house AI training chip (Reuters) How ‘inference’ is driving competition to Nvidia’s AI chip dominance (FT) Sony is experimenting with AI-powered PlayStation characters (The Verge) AI Search Has A Citation Problem (CJR) Global Smartwatch Shipments in 2024: Market Declines for First Time, China Leads for First Time (Counterpoint Research) Apple Mac Studio (Early 2025) Review: Renewed vigor with M4 Max and M3 Ultra (Tom's Hardware) Apple Mac Studio (M3 Ultra) first look: a weekend with an $8,000 powerhouse (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Well, do we have another DeepSeek moment on our hands? I tell you about Manus, which had some people losing their minds over the weekend. Now do we have the first signs of the AI M&A I’ve been looking for? Absolutely everybody wants to get in on the Stablecoin business. And the AI crisis at Apple delayed a product we might have seen this month. Sponsors: Kinsta.com/brian Timeline.com/ride Links: China’s Autonomous Agent, Manus, Changes Everything (Forbes) Manus probably isn’t China’s second ‘DeepSeek moment’ (TechCrunch) Undocumented commands found in Bluetooth chip used by a billion devices (BleepingComputer) ServiceNow Nears Deal to Buy AI Assistant Maker Moveworks (Bloomberg) Banks and fintechs join ‘stablecoin gold rush’ (Financial Times) Apple Clears the Decks With Rare Early-Year Product Frenzy (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

(Omnibus) Week Of 03/03/2025 Subscribe to get this every week AD-FREE at tech.supercast.tech Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will Apple have to allow side loading in Brazil? The US Strategic Crypto Reserve becomes a reality. Larry Page has a new startup. The concept of a startup being nothing more than an “AI Wrapper” is no longer a pejorative. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Sponsors: Tonal.com Promocode RIDE for $200 off Links: Brazilian court gives Apple 90 days to allow sideloading on iOS (9to5Mac) Donald Trump signs executive order for Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (CoinTelegraph) Drone Defense Startup Shield AI Lands $5.3 Billion Valuation (Bloomberg) Larry Page Has a New AI Startup (The Information) The Hottest AI Companies Right Now Are ‘Apps’ (Bloomberg) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: McDonald’s Gives Its Restaurants an AI Makeover (WSJ) YouTube at 20: How the Video Colossus Launched the Creator Economy and Turned From Hollywood Foe to Friend (Variety) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More signs the tech IPO logjam is breaking. Another cheap new AI model from China. Would you pay 20 THOUSAND dollars a month to use an OpenAI agent? The umpteenth foldable iPhone rumor, though this time with dates. And let me introduce you to YouTube Premium Lite. Sponsors: LinkedIn.com/ride Links: Klarna to File for $1 Billion-Plus IPO as Soon as Next Week (Bloomberg) Discord in Early Talks With Bankers for Potential I.P.O. (NYTimes) Alibaba’s new open source model QwQ-32B matches DeepSeek-R1 with way smaller compute requirements (VentureBeat) OpenAI Plots Charging $20,000 a Month For PhD-Level Agents (The Information) Google Search’s new ‘AI Mode’ lets users ask complex, multi-part questions (TechCrunch) Kuo: Apple's First Foldable iPhone to Feature Book-Style Design, Sell for Over $2,000 (MacRumors) New M4 MacBook Air fixes the line's biggest problem (Apple Insider) YouTube launches a $7.99 per month, ad-free Premium Lite subscription (TechCrunch) YouTube Music hits 125 million subscribers, adding 2m subs per month on average over the past year (Music Business Worldwide) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elon can’t stop OpenAI, but the case will go on. Trump wants to stop the Chips Act immediately. Apple released more new Macs today. If you can believe it, Digg is back! They’re coming for Reddit! And the AI chatbot that might have passed the uncanny valley when it comes to AI generated speech. Sponsors: Oracle.com/techmeme Links: Musk’s Fight With OpenAI Set for Expedited Trial This Year (Bloomberg) Trump Calls for End to $52 Billion Chips Act Subsidy Program (Bloomberg) Apple launches new Mac Studios with M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips (The Verge) Digg is coming back, thanks to its founder — and Reddit’s (The Verge) Bored Ape Creator Yuga Labs Says SEC Closing Investigation in 'Huge Win' for NFT Sector (Decrypt) Google Urges Trump DOJ to Reverse Course on Breaking Up Company (Bloomberg) Eerily realistic AI voice demo sparks amazement and discomfort online (ArsTechnica) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We have our first official IPO of the AI Era coming. Anthropic has a big new round. New iPads from Apple. New phones from Nothing. Waymo rolls out in Austin, Texas. And how the Kinnect technology lives on, as a tool for Ghostbusters. Sponsors: FreshBooks.com IQBar: Text TECHMEME to 64000 Links: AI cloud provider CoreWeave files for IPO (CNBC) Anthropic Finalizes Megaround at $61.5 Billion Valuation (Bloomberg) Apple launches a new M3-powered iPad Air (The Verge) Waymo is now available exclusively on Uber in Austin (The Verge) Nothing’s Phone 3A and 3A Pro use AI to organize all your stuff (The Verge) Ghost hunting, pornography and interactive art: the weird afterlife of Xbox Kinect (The Guardian) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maybe we really will be getting that national crypto reserve after all. TSMC doubles down on manufacturing in the US. Return to the office is one thing, but Sergey Brin things RTO could lead to AGI, at least at Google. And Mark Gurman says there is an AI crisis inside Apple. Sponsors: Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code RIDEHOME at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: http://incogni.com/ridehome QualiaLife.com/ride Links: Donald Trump Names Components Of Crypto Reserve (CoinDesk) Trump, Chip Maker TSMC Expected to Announce $100 Billion Investment in U.S. (WSJ) Google’s Gemini now lets you ask questions using videos and what’s on your screen (TechCrunch) Google’s Sergey Brin Urges Workers to the Office ‘at Least’ Every Weekday (NYTimes) Peter Thiel-backed fintech Ramp nearly doubles valuation to $13bn (Financial Times) Apple’s Artificial Intelligence Efforts Reach a Make-or-Break Point (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

OpenAI has launched GPT-4.5, but they want you to know, this is not a frontier model, it’s a stepping stone. Skype enters the Deadpool. Memecoins are ok by the SEC. Most criminality in crypto is now done with stablecoins. And in the Weekend Longreads Suggestions, how the MTA is using Pixel phones to do subway maintenance. Links: OpenAI announces GPT-4.5, warns it’s not a frontier AI model (The Verge) OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says the company is ‘out of GPUs’ (TechCrunch) Microsoft hangs up on Skype: service to shut down May 5, 2025 (TechCrunch) Microsoft is killing Skype after 14 years of neglect (Windows Central) Meta plans to release standalone Meta AI app in effort to compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT (CNBC) SEC says most meme coins are not securities (CNBC) Illicit Crypto Volume in 2024 Hit a Record $40B in 2024 (CoinDesk) Meta is firing about 20 employees for leaking information (The Verge) Weekend Longreads Suggestrions: The New York City Subway Is Using Google Pixels to Listen for Track Defects (Wired) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nvidia’s first earnings are out after the whole DeepSeek thing. Do they seem nervous or no? A pretty big price cut for the PlayStation VR2. Huge outflows from bitcoin ETFs. Can insecure code somehow make AI homicidal? And is the iPhone 16e worth your money? Links: Nvidia sales grow 78% on AI demand, company gives strong guidance (CNBC) Sony drops PlayStation VR 2 price to $399 (The Verge) Bitcoin ETFs Are Hit by a Record $1 Billion Outflow in One Day (Bloomberg) FAA targeting Verizon contract in favor of Musk’s Starlink, sources say (Washington Post) Researchers puzzled by AI that praises Nazis after training on insecure code (Ars Technica) iPhone 16E review: Eh, it’s alright (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amazon finally updated Alexa with generative AI. It’s called Alexa+ and it can do plenty of neat things, but unless you’re a Prime subscriber, it’s gonna cost ya. DeepSeek is rushing its next AI model to press its momentum. Zuck wants to build a $200B AI datacenter. And how the SteamDeck has created a whole new category in gaming. Sponsors: shopify.com/ride Links: Amazon announces AI-powered Alexa Plus (The Verge) Amazon unveils a new and improved Alexa, Alexa+ (TechCrunch) DeepSeek rushes to launch new AI model as China goes all in (Reuters) Meta Discusses AI Data Center Project That Could Cost $200 Billion (The Information) How North Korea pulled off a $1.5 billion crypto heist—the biggest in history (ArsTechnica) Three years later, the Steam Deck has dominated handheld PC gaming (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anthropic releases its latest cutting-edge model, Claude 3.7 Sonnet. Would you tolerate ads inside your Excel spreadsheet if you could use Excel for free? Why some journalists are joining AI companies. And let me introduce you to “tiny teams” the new startup meme in Silicon Valley. Links: Anthropic launches a new AI model that ‘thinks’ as long as you want (TechCrunch) AI Startup Anthropic Finalizing $3.5 Billion Funding Round (WSJ) Microsoft Quietly Launched a Free Ad-Supported Office App, and No One Noticed (Beebom) Apple’s $500 Billion U.S. Investment Is Mostly Already in the Books (WSJ) Meet the journalists training AI models for Meta and OpenAI (NeimanLab) A.I. Is Changing How Silicon Valley Builds Start-Ups (NYTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apple makes a huge investment in US manufacturing and hiring. Are SMS messages as 2-factor authentication on the way out? The biggest crypto theft of all time happened over the last few days. And why some school districts are turning to AI counseling for students. Sponsors: RobinHood.com/gold Links: Apple Will Add 20,000 US Jobs Amid Threat from Trump Tariffs (Bloomberg) Apple Abandons Budget Smartphone Market With the iPhone 16e (Bloomberg) Google Confirms Gmail To Ditch SMS Code Authentication (Forbes) Bybit Hit by Crypto’s Worst Hack With Almost $1.5 Billion Stolen (Bloomberg) Bybit Hack (CoinDesk) Microsoft Dropped Some AI Data Center Leases, TD Cowen Says (Bloomberg) When There’s No School Counselor, There’s a Bot (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Well, kinda... But we do talk about how the show started, get a bit into the process of what I do every day. But mostly we get deep into where AI is going, my fears for silicon valley if the M&A activity doesn't pick up, why I got into investing, what it means if Silicon Valley is bigger than the government (maybe?) what it's like when that weird dude you talk to at a tech meetup becomes a billionaire, and why this is still the greatest job I've ever had. Thank you all for listening. Here's to 2,000 more episodes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Microsoft is claiming a historical quantum breakthrough with its first quantum processor, the Majorana 1. Google is going all in on the Gemini brand. The world’s thinnest foldable phone. Rabbit releases a demo it probably should have led with. And James Bond now works for Amazon. Sponsors: Freshbooks.com/pricing-offer Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code RIDEHOME at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: Incogni.com/ridehome Links: Microsoft announces quantum computing breakthrough with new Majorana 1 chip (The Verge) Microsoft’s Xbox AI era starts with a model that can generate gameplay (The Verge) Google app on iOS removing Gemini as it pushes users to full app (9to5Google) The world’s thinnest foldable phone doesn’t come cheap (The Verge) Rabbit shows off the AI agent it should have launched with (The Verge) 'Bond' Producers Stepping Back From Iconic Franchise As Amazon MGM Studios Takes Creative Control (Deadline) Join us for the livestream tonight here: https://riverside.fm/studio/2000th-episode Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apple has announced the new iPhone 16e. I’ve got all the details for you. The Humane AI Pin is definitively dead, and HP is acquiring the ashes. Yet ANOTHER potentially big new AI player. And why some Bytedance investors kind of don’t care if TikTok US gets split off. In fact, they might even prefer it. Links: Apple launches new iPhone 16e: Here’s everything you need to know (9to5Mac) All of Humane's AI pins will stop working in 10 days (Engadget) ‘Pokémon Go’ Maker Nears $3.5 Billion Deal to Sell Games Unit (Bloomberg) Mira Murati debuts Thinking Machines Lab, her AI startup (Axios) ByteDance's US Backers Say China Growth to Counter Any TikTok Ban Damage (Bloomberg) Can AI Predict the Next Big IPO? Crunchbase Thinks So. (WSJ) 2000th episode livestream link: https://riverside.fm/studio/2000th-episode AI Engineer Summit Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

xAI and Elon Musk have launched Grok-3, their cutting-edge AI model. Is it really a step forward? It’s really the cutting-edge? Andrej Karpathy is gonna tell us. The first tri-foldable phone is here. Is there a new huge AI player? And how Apple’s move to manufacture in India is going. Sponsors: MackWeldon.com Promocode: BRIAN Links: Elon Musk’s xAI releases its latest flagship model, Grok 3 (TechCrunch) Impressions of Grok-3 (@karpathy) Huawei’s trifold phone launches outside of China (The Verge) Trump tariffs result in 10% laptop price hike in U.S. says Acer CEO (Tom's Hardware) OpenAI Co-Founder Sutskever’s Startup Is Fundraising at $30 Billion-Plus Valuation (Bloomberg) Apple’s quiet pivot to India (FT) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The vultures are circling Intel, if that’s not too aggressive an analogy. OpenAI’s board officially rejects Elon’s bid. Zelle is quietly the biggest player in P2P payments. Everybody wants to go after robotics as the next big thing. And why over a thousand tech unicorns are in trouble. Sponsors: QualiaLife.com/ride and code RIDE at checkout Links: TSMC Considers Running Intel’s US Factories After Trump Team Request (Bloomberg) Broadcom, TSMC Weigh Possible Intel Deals That Would Split Storied Chip Maker (WSJ) OpenAI Rejects Elon Musk’s $97.4 Billion Bid for Control of the Company (NYTimes) Zelle payments top $1 trillion in 2024 as network’s growth outpaces rivals including PayPal (CNBC) TikTok Grabs Market Share From Shein Despite Looming Risks (Bloomberg) Meta Plans Major Investment Into AI-Powered Humanoid Robots (Bloomberg) Apple and Meta Are Set to Battle Over Humanoid Robots (Bloomberg) The Unicorn Boom Is Over, and Startups Are Getting Desperate (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TikTok is back in the app stores. But the biggest news is that Arm is going to make its own chips, thereby upending how the entire semiconductor industry has been constituted. Why Reddit has been killing it lately. And in the Weekend Longreads Suggestions, what if TikTok, but for Wikipedia? Sponsors: Tonal.com promocode RIDE for $200 off Links: Apple, Google Restore TikTok App After Assurances From Trump (Bloomberg) Arm to launch its own chip in move that could upend semiconductor industry (Financial Times) Shein IPO plans hit by Trump’s low-cost parcels crackdown (Financial Times) AI Licensing Deals With Google and OpenAI Make Up 10% of Reddit's Revenue (AdWeek) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Forget DeepSeek. Large language models are getting cheaper still (The Economist) How a resurgent Walmart saw off the Amazon threat (Financial Times) Developer creates endless Wikipedia feed to fight algorithm addiction (Ars Technica) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We maybe have a roadmap for GPT-5, but also, is it not really GPT-5 just a renaming of what they already have in the pipeline? It’s kind of weird. Elon gives his conditions for dropping his takeover bid. Utility companies say the AI hype is real, but what if, in the end, the end users don’t actually show up? Sponsors: Shopify.com/ride Links: OpenAI postpones its o3 AI model in favor of a ‘unified’ next-gen release (TechCrunch) Elon Musk will withdraw bid for OpenAI’s nonprofit if its board agrees to terms (TechCrunch) Musk, Altman Spar Over $97.4 Billion OpenAI Bid in Court Filings (Bloomberg) The Apple TV app is now available on Android: watch Apple TV+ and MLS Season Pass (9to5Mac) Meta Opens Facebook Marketplace to Rivals in EU Antitrust Clash (Bloomberg) Data Center Power Demand Almost Doubled in Virginia, Utility Says (Bloomberg) AI Agents Are Everywhere…and Nowhere (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first big AI legal ruling has come down, and it might not be good news for AI startups. Apple launches its biggest health study yet. This one weird trick that tech companies are using to make their AI spending seem not so expensive. And Matt Levine on the whole Elon buying OpenAI thing. Sponsors: Kinsta.com/brian FactorMeals.com/ride50off Links: Thomson Reuters Wins First Major AI Copyright Case in the US (Wired) Apple Plans to Learn More About Your Holistic Health With Its New Apple Health Study. You Can Enroll Now (CNET) Meta In Talks To Buy Korean AI Chip Startup Founded By Samsung Engineer (Forbes) Meta Accounting Move on AI Servers to Boost Profit This Year (Bloomberg) Sam Altman Dismisses Elon Musk’s Bid to Buy OpenAI in Letter to Staff (Wired) Sure Elon Musk Might Buy OpenAI (Matt Levine/Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elon makes an unsolicited bid to buy OpenAI, or at least the non-profit that controls it, and maybe he doesn’t really want to own it, it’s complicated. I’ll explain. YouTube continues to be the biggest thing in media. Forget smartwatches, get ready for smart earbuds. And the crazy cheap Chinese EVs can now do crazy cheap self-driving too! Sponsors: 1Password.com/ride Links: Elon Musk-Led Group Makes $97.4 Billion Bid for Control of OpenAI (WSJ) Exclusive: OpenAI is not for sale, CEO Sam Altman says (Axios) Musk’s $97.4 Billion OpenAI Bid Piles Pressure on Sam Altman (WSJ) YouTube Surprise: CEO Says TV Overtakes Mobile as “Primary Device” for Viewing (THR) Google Calendar removed events like Pride and BHM because its holiday list wasn’t ‘sustainable’ (The Verge) Powerbeats Pro 2 Debut With Heart Rate Monitoring, H2 Chip, Active Noise Cancellation, and More (MacRumors) Chinese EV leader BYD to offer ‘God’s Eye’ self-driving system on all models (FT) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

According to the Super Bowl ad I saw last night, anyone can use Starlink on their phone soon, not just T-Mobile users. Was this the Super Bowl of crypto-betting? Are we seeing the first signs that AI is stealing jobs from tech workers? And a behind the scenes tale of how Sam Altman outflanked Elon Musk. Sponsors: Timeline.com/ride Links: T-Mobile to Charge $15 Per Month for Starlink Satellite Texting Feature (Bloomberg) Polymarket Bettors Punt $1.1B on Superbowl Results, Despite Regulatory Overhang (CoinDesk) Exclusive: OpenAI set to finalize first custom chip design this year (Reuters) IT Unemployment Rises to 5.7% as AI Hits Tech Jobs (WSJ) Exclusive: Anthropic's "index" tracks AI economy (Axios) Christie’s announces AI art auction, and not everyone is pleased (TechCrunch) How Sam Altman Sidestepped Elon Musk to Win Over Donald Trump (NYTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

(Omnibus) Week Of 02/03/2025 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is the UK government about to force Apple to put backdoors into all of our iPhones? Tallying up the Tech Earnings week of CAPEX announcements. We might get a new iPhone next week. The Weekend Longreads suggestions. And listen to the end of the show cause I’m running an experiment. Sponsors: IQBar. Text TECHMEME to 64000 Links: U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users’ encrypted accounts (Washington Post) Amazon plans to spend $100 billion this year to capture ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ in AI (CNBC) Tech Giants Double Down on Their Massive AI Spending (WSJ) Apple’s Long-Awaited Overhaul of iPhone SE Nears Release (Bloomberg) Softbank set to invest $40 billion in OpenAI at $260 billion valuation, sources say (CNBC) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: How is Fortnite's Attempt to Become the YouTube of Gaming Going? (Posting Nexus) The Sims Turned Players Into Gods. And Farmers. And Vampires. And Landlords. (NYTimes) Signup to the Premium Feed at tech.supercast.tech Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Now researchers say they have trained a cutting edge AI model for… checks notes… $50. Not $50 million dollars. $50. Dollars. Get ready for the superbowl of AI ads. Amazon has scheduled an Alexa AI event. And also, why does Amazon fail so hard when it comes to physical retail? Sponsors: Oracle.com/techmeme Links: Researchers created an open rival to OpenAI’s o1 ‘reasoning’ model for under $50 (TechCrunch) Google Kills Diversity Hiring Targets (WSJ) Google Unwinds Employee Diversity Goals, Citing Trump’s D.E.I. Orders (NYTimes) OpenAI Set to Make Super Bowl Ad Debut (WSJ) OpenAI to Air Its First Super Bowl Ad (AdWeek) Amazon's AI revamp of Alexa assistant nears unveiling (Reuters) Bill banning social media for youngsters advances (Politico) Trump's de minimis cancellation is bad news for Temu, but worse for Shein (Reuters) Amazon, King of Online Retail, Can’t Seem to Make Its Physical Stores Work (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Temu And Shein got a reprieve from the USPS, but they are still in deep, deep trouble. I’ll explain why. Alphabet earnings disappoint their investors but cheer investors of Nvidia. Google and Meta going in different directions when it comes to AI. And why are people increasingly refusing to pay ransomware? Sponsors: Acorns.com/ride Links: USPS Resumes Accepting Packages From China After Unexpected Suspension (Wired) Google expects to spend $75 billion this year on the AI race (The Verge) Google drops pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance (The Washington Post) Meta says it may stop development of AI systems it deems too risky (TechCrunch) After a bruising year, Sonos readies its next big thing: a streaming box (The Verge) 35% Year-over-Year Decrease in Ransomware Payments, Less than Half of Recorded Incidents Resulted in Victim Payments (Chainalysis) Apple Launches New 'Invites' App (MacRumors) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is the US government about to get into, or at least, heavily impact the VC investing business? Apparently, the trade war with China is still on. The resurrection of Twitterific. And how Spotify has quietly stopped investing, and started getting real about profitability. Sponsors: LinkedIn.com/ride Links: Trump Signs Executive Action to Create Sovereign Wealth Fund (Bloomberg) China Hits Back Against Trump’s Tariffs With Targeted Actions (Bloomberg) China targets Google, Nvidia and Intel as Trump tariffs bite (Financial Times) Twitterrific team launches new ‘Tapestry’ iPhone app for Bluesky, Mastodon, RSS, more (9to5Mac) Opera’s new browser might save you from doomscrolling (The Verge) Spotify Reports First Full-Year Profit (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

OpenAI unveils Deep Research, an AI agent just for that. I’ll explain. Are Shein and Temu first up to feel the brunt of the new Trump tariffs? Apple canceled the AR project I assumed they would be pivoting toward. And the Beatles won a Grammy last night with the first AI augmented song to ever win a Grammy. Sponsors: QualiaLife.com/ride and code RIDE Links: OpenAI unveils a new ChatGPT agent for ‘deep research’ (TechCrunch) Trump Targets Loophole Temu, Shein Used to Take On Amazon (Bloomberg) Shein to Face EU Consumer Law Probe Under E-Commerce Crackdown (Bloomberg) Apple Scraps Work on Mac-Connected Augmented Reality Glasses (Bloomberg) Stablecoins are finding product-market fit in emerging markets (TechCrunch) That AI-restored Beatles song won Grammy for Best Rock Performance (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If the entire world shifts after you launch your startup, what do you do? Terra Trust founder Mike DiPetrillo tells you how to do it. What was our original use-case? DOUBLE DOWN on what you do well. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apple’s earnings are decidedly mixed. Mark Zuckerberg’s complaints about everything he says leaking… leaked, and there are a lot of interesting details in those leaks. Looks like the SoftBank and OpenAI courtship is a serious one, and if the marriage happens, looks like Arm Holdings can be leveraged for the dowery. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Links: Apple shares rise 3% as boost in services revenue overshadows iPhone miss (CNBC) Mark Zuckerberg said that Meta missed TikTok's rise because it didn't seem 'social' enough, leaked recording reveals (Business Insider) OpenAI in Talks for Huge Investment Round Valuing It at Up to $300 Billion (WSJ) OpenAI’s Sam Altman and SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son Are AI’s New Power Couple (WSJ) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: DeepSeek Chief’s Journey From Math Geek to Global Disruptor (WSJ) Chinese Quant Whiz Built DeepSeek In The Shadow Of a Hedge Fund Rout (Bloomberg) DeepSeek Debates: Chinese Leadership On Cost, True Training Cost, Closed Model Margin Impacts (SemiAnalysis) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meta and Microsoft reported earnings, but all Wall Street cared about was getting Capex updates. Meta settles with… the President. Waymo’s expansion continues apace. Why Masa Son is the perfect white knight for OpenAI. And AI IS copyrightable. Sponsors: Shopify.com/ride Links: Microsoft shares slide as cloud forecast, AI spending disappoint (Reuters) Meta’s Reality Labs posts $5 billion loss in fourth quarter (CNBC) Zuck shrugs off DeepSeek, vows to spend hundreds of billions on AI (TechCrunch) Meta to Pay $25 Million to Settle 2021 Trump Lawsuit (WSJ) Waymo to test in 10 new cities in 2025, starting with Las Vegas and San Diego (The Verge) SoftBank in talks to invest up to $25bn in OpenAI (FT) Copyright Office Offers Assurances on AI Filmmaking Tools (Variety) Authors Guild sets up ‘Human Author’ portal to certify books come from ‘human intellect’ (AP) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Essentially, OpenAI suspects that DeekSeek might have copied them. I’ll explain the term, “distillation.” Could you soon be able to connect to Starlink on your iPhone? Is Comcast about to make the Internet… better? And the hopeful return of commercial supersonic flight. Links: OpenAI says it has evidence China’s DeepSeek used its model to train competitor (Financial Times) Microsoft Probing If DeepSeek-Linked Group Improperly Obtained OpenAI Data (Bloomberg) Alibaba releases AI model it says surpasses DeepSeek (Reuters) Alibaba Announces AI Model That ‘Outperforms ChatGPT & DeepSeek’ (Tech.co) Alibaba’s Qwen 2.5 surpasses DeepSeek as China’s AI race heats up (BGR) Apple and SpaceX Link Up to Support Starlink Satellite Network on iPhones (Bloomberg) Comcast is rolling out ‘ultra-low lag’ tech that could fix the internet (The Verge) Streaming prices climb in 2025 after already surpassing inflation rates (ArsTechnica) Netflix won the streaming wars, and we’re all about to pay for it (The Verge) Civilian jet breaks sound barrier during historic test flight over Mojave Desert (CBSNews) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More fallout from the DeepSeek realignment of everybody’s thinking about AI. Could this be a signal that the large model business model is over and value is going to be in the application layer? Pebble lives! Spotify says it pays out tons, but does it really? And the network of AI local news newsletters. Sponsors: Robinhood.com/gold Links: Viral AI company DeepSeek releases new image model family (TechCrunch) Smartwatch pioneer and Kickstarter darling Pebble is returning in a new form (TechCrunch) OpenAI launches ChatGPT Gov for U.S. government agencies (CNBC) Spotify Paid Out $10 Billion to the Music Industry in 2024 — $1 Billion More Than Last Year — and $60 Billion Total (Variety) Inside a network of AI-generated newsletters targeting “small town America” (NiemanLab) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s one of those days where there’s only one story. Maybe you saw that tech stocks got obliterated today. I’m here to tell you why. It’s solely because of DeepSeek and Chinese AI tech generally. How this tech is making people think twice about the AI boom, what DeepSeek did that is different and how this could affect all of Silicon Valley. Sponsors: TryJoyMode.com and use code RIDE Links: China’s DeepSeek Tops iPhone Downloads and Spurs AI Selloff (Bloomberg) The Short Case for Nvidia Stock (Jeffrey Emanuel) DeepSeek R1’s bold bet on reinforcement learning: How it outpaced OpenAI at 3% of the cost (VentureBeat) DeepSeek resets the board (Axios) 17 Thoughts About the Big DeepSeek Selloff (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

OpenAI releases its agentic bot that can do things on your behalf on your computer. Has the Stargate controversy driven a rift between Musk and Trump? Will the US government create a strategic crypto stockpile? And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Sponsors: MackWeldon.com promocode: BRIAN Links: OpenAI’s new Operator AI agent can do things on the web for you (The Verge) We Tried OpenAI’s New Agent—Here’s What We Found (Every) Trump staff ‘furious’ after Musk trashes AI project (Politico) Stargate artificial intelligence project to exclusively serve OpenAI (FT) Trump signs executive order promoting crypto, paving way for digital asset stockpile (CNBC) Mark Zuckerberg's Post (Facebook) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: As Netflix stock surges, an ‘anti-ESPN’ sports strategy emerges (The Athletic) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ok, that whole AI datacenter joint venture thing seems to have gotten messy. A ByteDance board member thinks TikTok might have a way out without selling. Netflix rakes in a bunch of Oscar nominations. And humanity’s final exam has been formulated to see when AI has actually graduated to true intelligence. Sponsors: Qualialife.com/ride and code ride Links: OpenAI, SoftBank Each Commit $19 Billion to Stargate Data Center Venture (The Information) OpenAI’s Stargate Deal Heralds Shift Away From Microsoft (WSJ) TikTok’s parent company is in active discussions about a deal, board member says (CNN) Co-founder of French Crypto Startup Freed After Kidnapping (Bloomberg) Subaru Security Flaws Exposed Its System for Tracking Millions of Cars (Wired) Oscar Nomination Scorecard: Netflix Leads Among Studios With 16, A24 Close Behind With 14 (Variety) When A.I. Passes This Test, Look Out (NyTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All the headlines from today’s Samsung event, including the S25 lineup. The Silk Road creator gets a pardon. A huge joint venture for a new AI datacenter effort. Will Elon take half of TikTok and the US the other half? And guess what? Netflix is raising prices again. Sponsors: Timeline.com/ride Links: The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra smooths out some sharp edges (The Verge) Trump Pardons Creator of Silk Road Drug Marketplace (NYTimes) OpenAI teams up with SoftBank and Oracle on $500B data center project (TechCrunch) 'Stargate' Squares Some AI Circles (Spyglass/MG Siegler) Trump Says He’s Open to Elon Musk or Larry Ellison Purchasing TikTok (Bloomberg) Meta Plans Oakley-Branded Glasses, Explores Watches and Earbuds (Bloomberg) Meta will soon let you link your WhatsApp account with Instagram and Facebook (TechCrunch) Netflix Adds 19 Million Subscribers in Latest Quarter (NYTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alright, I’ll sum up everything that happened this weekend with TikTik, but also get to all of the changes the new Trump administration has made, which is relating to tech, in just the past 24 hours. How folks are trying to eat TikTok’s lunch. Should Apple buy Sonos? And the IMDB loses its founder after 25 years. Sponsors: IQBar text TECHMEME to 64000 1Password.com/ride Links: Trump signs order refusing to enforce TikTok ban for 75 days (The Verge) Trump signs executive order to halt TikTok ban, risking legal showdown (Washington Post) President Trump signs exec order to make Musk’s DOGE commission more official (TechCrunch) Meta announces a new CapCut rival called Edits (TechCrunch) Bluesky adds TikTok mode while Elon mulls reviving Vine in the latest banning drama (Windows Central) Apple Is Unlikely to Buy Sonos, But Amazon or Spotify Might Consider It (Bloomberg) IMDb Founder Col Needham Steps Aside as CEO, COO Nikki Santoro Promoted to Chief Exec (Variety) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I speak to Senator Ron Wyden about the TikTok ban, AI and regulation, tech regulation in general, and his new book: It Takes Chutzpah: How to Fight Fearlessly for Progressive Change Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Supreme Court rules against TikTok, but at this point, I think this is all kabuki theater. Somehow TikTok is going to survive. Bumble’s founder returns to the company. Is Apple Intelligence really working for anyone? Does anyone care that the Chinese have allegedly hacked everything at this point? And, of course, The Weekend Longreads suggestions. Sponsors: MackWeldon.com promocode BRIAN Links: Supreme Court Upholds Law That Threatens US TikTok Ban (Bloomberg) Bumble Founder Whitney Wolfe Herd to Return as CEO in March (Bloomberg) iOS 18.3 temporarily disables Apple Intelligence notification summaries for select apps, more (9to5Mac) General Motors Is Banned From Selling Driving Behavior Data for 5 Years (NYTimes) FBI Warned Agents It Believes Phone Logs Hacked Last Year (Bloomberg) Chinese Hackers Accessed Yellen's Computer in US Treasury Breach (Bloomberg) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Charlwin Mao, the Chinese tech founder welcoming ‘TikTok refugees’ (Financial Times) Kids Turn to a Mental-Health Chatbot to Share Their Anxieties (WSJ) To release Animal Crossing in the West, Nintendo ‘had to change everything’ (Polygon) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nintendo finally takes the wraps off the Switch 2. Everybody seems to want to give TikTok more time, but can they find a way to do it? A big new AI research lab. A check in with Nothing. The company, I mean. And the weird story of when Walgreens tries to replace refrigerator doors with smartscreens. Sponsors: TryJoyMode.com and code RIDE at checkout Links: Here’s the Nintendo Switch 2 (The Verge) Trump considers executive order hoping to ‘save TikTok’ from ban or sale in U.S. law (Washington Post) Biden administration looks for ways to keep TikTok available in the U.S. (NBCNews) AI researcher François Chollet founds a new AI lab focused on AGI (TechCrunch) Phone Startup Nothing Raises Funding, Crosses $1 Billion in Lifetime Sales (Bloomberg) Walgreens Replaced Fridge Doors With Smart Screens. It’s Now a $200 Million Fiasco (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The SEC is suing Elon Musk. Big AI insertions in Microsoft Copilot, Google Workspace and even LinkedIn. How TikTok plans to handle the immediate aftermath of a shutdown. Another new Instagram alternative. And have your AirPods been misbehaving? Here’s what Apple did without telling anyone. Sponsors: Shopify.com/ride Links: Musk Accused by SEC of Cheating Twitter Investors Out of Millions (Bloomberg) Microsoft relaunches Copilot for business with free AI chat and pay-as-you-go agents (The Verge) Google Workspace business users getting full Gemini experience, price increasing (9to5Google) LinkedIn adds free AI tools for job hunters and recruiters (TechCrunch) TikTok Prepares for Immediate Shut-Off in the U.S. on Sunday (The Information) Decentralized Instagram alternative Pixelfed launches mobile apps (TechCrunch) Apple starts pushing AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 owners into Transparency or Noise Cancellation modes repeatedly, without an easy opt out (Key Discussions) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Break out your 2025 headline bingo cards. Did you have Elon Musk maybe buying TikTok on there? You’re a better bingo player than I am. Is the EU going to back off Tech in the Trump era? More layoffs come to Meta. The big streaming sports play that isn’t gonna happen now. And why is Barcelona a hub for spyware companies? Sponsors: LinkedIn.com/ride Links: China Weighs Sale of TikTok US to Musk as a Possible Option (Bloomberg) EU reassesses tech probes into Apple, Google and Meta (Financial Times) Meta to Cut Roughly 5% of Staff, Targeting Lowest Performers (Bloomberg) Databricks Inks $5 Billion of Private Credit, Bank Funding (Bloomberg) Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox Pull the Plug on Venu Sports Streaming Venture (THR) Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery call off plans to launch Venu sports streaming service (CNBC) How Barcelona became an unlikely hub for spyware startups (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Biden administration unveils its long planned new chip export rules, and Nvidia isn’t happy. That whole botched Sonos app debacle has cost the CEO his job. Why we might not see blockbuster tech IPOs this year. Why some of Nvidia’s customers are returning Blackwell chips. And say hello to China’s answer to Instagram. Sponsors: Robinhood.com/gold Links: US imposes export controls on chips for AI to counter China (FT) Sonos CEO Leaving After Botched App Revamp Led to Customer Revolt (Bloomberg) Sonos CEO Patrick Spence steps down after disastrous app launch (The Verge) Silicon Valley’s largest start-ups to shun IPOs in 2025 (Financial Times) Nvidia’s Top Customers Face Delays From Glitchy AI Chip Racks (The Information) Xiaohongshu, China’s answer to Instagram, hits no. 1 on the App Store as TikTok faces US shutdown (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The great Simon Willison joins SWYX and I to talk about everything we learned about LLMs in 2024, and what the state of AI is generally, as we go into 2025. Here is Simon's blog post we keep referring to: https://simonwillison.net/2024/Dec/31... 00:00 The State of AI in 2025 10:05 The Evolution of AI Models 19:54 Challenges in AI Agents 30:07 The Future of AI in Creative Industries 38:29 The Rise of AI Influencers 40:54 Credibility in the Age of AI 43:15 The Future of User Interfaces for LLMs 51:17 Local LLMs and Desktop AI Applications 55:17 AI Tools and Applications for Everyday Use 01:01:26 The Future of OpenAI and AI Regulation 01:08:08 The Need for Better Criticism of LLMs 01:10:41 The Future of Wearables and AI Integration Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All the controversies continue. I’ll update you on the Meta moderation controversy. The latest twist in the WordPress brouhaha. The TikTok thing is coming to a head right now as we speak, in the form of Supreme Court arguments. Asking again if the business model of Triple A gaming development is broken. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Sponsors: Qualialife.com/ride and code ride Links: Mark Zuckerberg gave Meta’s Llama team the OK to train on copyrighted works, filing claims (TechCrunch) Automattic says it will reduce its contribution to WordPress core project to match WP Engine (TechCrunch) Billionaire Frank McCourt's Project Liberty proposes bid for TikTok's US assets (Reuters) Candy Crush, Tinder, MyFitnessPal: See the Thousands of Apps Hijacked to Spy on Your Location (Wired) Call of Duty's massive development budgets revealed: $700 million for Black Ops Cold War (Game File) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: The New $30,000 Side Hustle: Making Job Referrals for Strangers (Bloomberg) The smart glasses era is here — I got a first look (The Verge) The Anti-Social Century (The Atlantic) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices