Sam Altman’s Financial Engineering

Clem discusses his journey from early computing experiences to founding Hugging Face, emphasizing the importance of community, collaboration, and open-source technology in the AI landscape. He reflects on the evolution of technology, the significance of user feedback, and the need for a diverse range of AI models. Clem also shares insights on the startup ecosystem in Europe and the unique advantages of New York City for AI entrepreneurs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just two stories. First, OpenAI launches a web browser, ChatGPT Atlas. What it does, and why are they doing it. Then, Samsung has made a cheaper Vision Pro. They call it the Galaxy XR headset. What IT does, and why are THEY doing it. OpenAI’s AI-powered browser, ChatGPT Atlas, is here (The Verge) Introducing ChatGPT Atlas (Simon Willison) Why OpenAI Needs Its Own ChatGPT-Enabled Browser, Atlas (Forbes) Samsung’s Galaxy XR Headset Debuts at Half the Price of Apple’s Vision Pro (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

HBO Max might be on the market and I want Apple to buy it! Coinbase is on an acquisition tear. Is the Amazon job apocalypse nigh? Is OpenAI plotting to take over Wall Street in a literal sense? And a brain implant startup has leapfrogged Neuralink in terms of helping blind people see again. Warner Bros. Discovery says it’s open to a sale; shares jump 10% (CNBC) Coinbase Strikes Deal for Crypto-Investing Platform Echo (WSJ) Anthropic brings Claude Code to the web (TechCrunch) Amazon Plans to Replace More Than Half a Million Jobs With Robots (NYTimes) OpenAI Looks to Replace the Drudgery of Junior Bankers’ Workload (Bloomberg) This retina implant lets people with vision loss do a crossword puzzle (MIT Technology Review) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do Skills for Claude represent a new sort of user paradigm for AI? Battlefield 6 seems to be doing what EA needs it to do. Nintendo seems to be killing it. Is Wikipedia in trouble because it’s losing human users? Now Uber drivers can earn new money thanks to AI. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Anthropic turns to ‘skills’ to make Claude more useful at work (The Verge) Claude Skills are awesome, maybe a bigger deal than MCP (Simon Willison) Steam just broke its concurrent user record with 41.6 million gamers (TweakTown) Nintendo Aims to Make 25 Million Switch 2s to Set Gaming History (Bloomberg) Wikipedia Says AI Is Causing a Dangerous Decline in Human Visitors (404media) Uber Launches Data Tasks as Option for Some US Drivers to Earn Money (Bloomberg) Apple and F1 reach 5-year media deal, bringing all races to Apple TV streaming in the U.S. (CNBC) Weekend Longreads Suggestions AI Data Centers, Desperate for Electricity, Are Building Their Own Power Plants (WSJ) Joshua Kushner, Thrive Capital, and the American dream (Colossus) How Sam Altman Played Hollywood (The Hollywood Reporter) TiVo Has Sold Its Last DVR. These People Refuse to Let Go. (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So, a huge, huge, like bigger than the entire world’s GDP fat finger episode in the world of stablecoins. Zuck has poached another one from Apple. Potentially huge state sponsored hack of a key infrastructure company. The most interesting new phone concept I’ve seen in a while. And are we in an AI bubble episode 72. Printing Money: Paxos Mints, Then Burns $300 Trillion in PayPal Stablecoins (Decrypt) Apple’s Head of ChatGPT-Like AI Search Effort to Leave for Meta (Bloomberg) F5 says hackers stole undisclosed BIG-IP flaws, source code (BleepingComputer) Anthropic launches new version of scaled-down ‘Haiku’ model (TechCrunch) Honor’s Robot Phone concept features a fold-out camera arm (The Verge) ‘Of course it’s a bubble’: AI start-up valuations soar in investor frenzy (FT) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The new Apple M5 chips are here, and I’ll tell you what devices got them and what they can do. ChatGPT wants to allow you to have sexy time. Waymo is coming to London. Netflix wants to bring podcasts to your streaming diet. And its officially the end of the road for Windows 10. Apple’s 14-inch MacBook Pro gets an M5 chip bump and faster storage (The Verge) Sam Altman says ChatGPT will soon sext with verified adults (The Verge) Waymo’s robotaxis are coming to London (The Verge) Spotify partners with Netflix for video podcast distribution deal (TechCrunch) YouTube has a new video player (The Verge) OpenAI makes five-year business plan to meet $1tn spending pledges (FT) Windows 10 support “ends” today, but it’s just the first of many deaths (ArsTechnica) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Dutch government has taken control of a Dutch chipmaker that had Chinese owners. Yet another big OpenAI deal, this time with Broadcom. The first AI desktop workstations are arriving. And we check in with Matt Levine to get his take on what he says is Sam Altman’s genius for financial engineering. Dutch government takes control of Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia (FT) OpenAI, Broadcom Forge Multibillion-Dollar Chip-Development Deal (WSJ) Thinking Machines Lab Co-Founder Departs for Meta (WSJ) Nvidia to Start Selling $3,999 DGX Spark Mini PC This Week (PCMag) NotebookLM Video Overviews add Nano Banana visual styles, Brief or Explainer formats (9to5Google) OpenAI Keeps Doing Deals (Matt Levine) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jenn Hyman shares her journey from early influences of entrepreneurship to founding Rent the Runway. She discusses the impact of the internet on her career, the challenges of fundraising during a recession, and the importance of building relationships in the fashion industry. Hyman emphasizes the unique advantages of starting a business in New York City and the collaborative spirit of the startup ecosystem. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

China is stirring the pot on the tech trade wars once again. Sora has grown faster than even ChatGPT did. Is OpenAI now better at vibe coding than Anthropic is? How just a handful of malicious documents and poison an LLM. And in the longreads, the one game that has the fate of EA on its shoulders. China blacklists major chip research firm TechInsights following report on Huawei (CNBC) OpenAI’s Sora hit 1 million downloads in less than five days (CNBC) OpenAI Is Catching Up To Anthropic in AI Coding (The Information) Meta Tells Its Metaverse Workers to Use AI to ‘Go 5X Faster’ (Wired) It's trivially easy to poison LLMs into spitting out gibberish, says Anthropic (The Register) Kalshi, a Prediction Market, Raises Funds and Expands Overseas (NYTimes) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Battlefield 6 is a pivotal moment for the series — and EA (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Intel tries to punch its way back to relevancy with the release of Panther Lake, the first chip built on its 18A process. Is Cursor so successful it’s about to rocket to a $30 billion valuation? Big raise for a US Deep Seek competitor? And are we starting to get the first models moving beyond attention based architecture? Here is Panther Lake, Intel’s 2026 laptop chip with next-gen graphics (The Verge) Intel Debuts New Technology in Make-or-Break Moment for CEO’s Turnaround Bid (Bloomberg) Discord says 70,000 users may have had their government IDs leaked in breach (The Verge) Cursor-Maker Anysphere Considers Investment Offers at $30 Billion Valuation (The Information) Reflection AI, an A.I. Model Start-Up, Raises $2 Billion (NYTimes) Samsung AI researcher's new, open reasoning model TRM outperforms models 10,000X larger — on specific problems (VentureBeat) Microsoft Tries to Catch Up in AI With Healthcare Push, Harvard Deal (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices