Fri. 05/03 – Apple Earnings Underline Their Predicament

All the AI announcements from Microsoft Build. I know it’s only been a minute, but is Humane already circling the Deadpool? They’re supposedly shopping themselves, but at a valuation that seems… shall we say, on brand for them? Don’t forget Alexa needs an AI upgrade. And the efforts to peek inside the black box that is the Large Language Model.Links:Microsoft’s new Copilot AI agents act like virtual employees to automate tasks (The Verge)Microsoft is bringing ‘Windows Volumetric Apps’ to Meta Quest headsets (The Verge)Wearable AI Startup Humane Explores Potential Sale, Sources Say (Bloomberg)Google Search’s New AI Overviews Will Soon Have Ads (Wired)Amazon plans to give Alexa an AI overhaul — and a monthly subscription price (CNBC)AI Is a Black Box. Anthropic Figured Out a Way to Look Inside (Wired)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There are only 2 stories today, but they’re big ones. First, at an event yesterday, Microsoft showed off what they want the PC to look like in the AI era. Plus, this Recall app is super interesting. Then, look, it’s the Scarlett Johansson/OpenAI thing. It’s gotten weird. And more importantly, it’s continuing to highlight how OpenAI itself is… weird.Sponsors:Miro.com for 3 free boards!Links:The new, faster Surface Pro is Microsoft’s all-purpose AI PC (The Verge)Microsoft announces an Arm-powered Surface Laptop (The Verge)Microsoft unveils Copilot+ PCs with generative AI capabilities baked in (Engadget)Recall is Microsoft’s key to unlocking the future of PCs (The Verge)Scarlett Johansson says she was 'shocked, angered' when she heard OpenAI's voice that sounded like her (NBCNews)Midler v. Ford Motor Co. (Wikipedia)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

No, that ChatGPT voice is not Scarlett Johansson, stop asking. In fact, that voice is going away. What does it mean if OpenAI’s entire superalignment team has gone away? Is Apple News+ the partner publishers have been waiting for? And if you want to be a digital nomad, you’ve got a lot of options these days.Sponsors:Pivotal PodcastTo access The Washington Post for just 50 cents per week, head to WashingtonPost.com/rideLinks:OpenAI to Pull Johansson Soundalike Sky’s Voice From ChatGPT (Bloomberg)What We Lose When ChatGPT Sounds Like Scarlett Johansson (NYTimes)Apple Needs to Evolve to Compete in the Artificial Intelligence Era (Bloomberg)OpenAI’s Long-Term AI Risk Team Has Disbanded (Wired)As clicks dry up for news sites, could Apple’s news app be a lifeline? (Semafor)Countries wooing corporate digital nomads hope to make them stay (FT)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As telegraphed for the last year, Reddit is going all in on being an all you can eat buffet for AI companies. Will new batteries give iPhones longer battery life like I want, or will they just make the phones thinner? A subtle but important improvement to ChatGPT and in the Longreads, a deep dive into what happened at Cruise.Links:OpenAI strikes deal to bring Reddit content to ChatGPT (Reuters)OpenAI strikes Reddit deal to train its AI on your posts (The Verge)Grand Theft Auto VI is launching in fall 2025 (The Verge)iPhone 16 Pro Max to get new battery that could last longer (AppleInsider)ChatGPT now lets you import files directly from Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive (VentureBeat)Twitter is officially X.com now (The Verge)Weekend Longreads Suggestions:In a single night, self-driving startup Cruise went from sizzling startup to cautionary tale. Here’s what really happened—and how GM is scrambling to save its $10B bet (Fortune)How cuddly robots could change dementia care (MIT Technology Review)Where Did All The Stocks Go? (Sherwood)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Some AI companies want to go after web search. But by hiring an Instagram founder, is Anthropic going in a social or app direction? Will AI kill the carbon neutral ambitions of the major tech players? Will tech companies now have to onshore EMPLOYEES from China? And Netflix with ads? Definitely working.Links:EU launches probe into Meta over social media addiction in children (Financial Times)Instagram’s co-founder is Anthropic’s new chief product officer (The Verge)Android will be able to detect if your phone has been snatched (The Verge)Microsoft’s AI Push Imperils Climate Goal as Carbon Emissions Jump 30% (Bloomberg)Microsoft Asks Hundreds of China-Based AI Staff to Consider Relocating Amid U.S.-China Tensions (WSJ)Stability AI, Facing Cash Crunch, Discusses Sale (The Information)Netflix ad-supported tier has 40 million monthly users, nearly double previous count (CNBC)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

All the announces from Google’s massive I/O event yesterday, including, yes, generative AI summaries are fully coming to Google Search. Plus, the camera-based AI system they teased that looks really cool. Ilya Sutskever officially leaves OpenAI. And is crypto the only place left where you can raise a billion-dollar seed round?Sponsors:Lumen.me code RIDE for $100 offLinks:Google rolls out AI Overviews in US with more countries coming soon (SearchEngineLand)Can Google Give A.I. Answers Without Breaking the Web? (NYTimes)Google's Project Astra uses your phone's camera and AI to find noise makers, misplaced items and more. (Engadget)OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever says he will leave the startup (CNBC)TikTok creators sue U.S. government over potential ban (Washington Post)Humanity Protocol Becomes Crypto’s New Digital Identity Unicorn (Bloomberg)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

OpenAI unveils GPT-4o which makes Siri look like the technical cul-de-sac it very much is. But what does it mean that this was NOT GPT-5? What does it mean for the gaming industry that the PS5 might be underperforming? More streaming bundles. And the 2024 iPad refresh reviews.Sponsors:YahooFinance.comConstantContact.comLinks:OpenAI debuts GPT-4o ‘omni’ model now powering ChatGPT (TechCrunch)OpenAI debuts new model with enhanced real-time voice abilities (Axios)Tom Warren's PS5 sales TweetComcast to Launch Peacock, Netflix and Apple TV+ Bundle at a ‘Vastly Reduced Price’ (Variety)The new Apple iPad Air is great — but it’s not the one to get (The Verge)Apple iPad Pro (2024) review: the best kind of overkill (The Verge)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Well, looks like my worries about solar weather being a threat to technology wasn’t just in my head. Ask farmers. Squarespace to go private. Raspberry Pi to go public? Waymo is setting some impressive records. And the new type of deal Apple and the other streamers want to offer Hollywood.Sponsors:ArcticWolf.com/techmemeShopify.com/rideLinks:Solar Storm Knocks Out Farmers' Tractor GPS Systems During Peak Planting Season (404Media)Website-design firm Squarespace to go private in $6.9 billion deal with Permira (Reuters)British tech firm Raspberry Pi lines up £500m float (The Times)Microsoft set to face EU competition charges over Teams software (Financial Times)Google’s Waymo Crosses 50,000 Paid Driverless Rides Per Week (The Information)Apple Nears Deal With OpenAI to Put ChatGPT on iPhone (Bloomberg)Apple, Netflix Amazon Want to Change How They Pay Hollywood Stars (Bloomberg)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Well that was fast. Apple apologized for the “Crush” Ad, saying they missed the mark on that one. Microsoft is launching a mobile game app store. Elevenlabs is getting into the music generating game. And of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.Links:Apple apologizes for iPad ‘Crush’ ad that ‘missed the mark’ (The Verge)Apple doesn’t understand why you use technology (The Verge)Microsoft Plans Mobile-Game Store, Vying With Apple, Google (Bloomberg)Apple to Power AI Tools With In-House Server Chips This Year (Bloomberg)ElevenLabs previews music-generating AI model (VentureBeat)Weekend Longreads Suggestions:Tim Cook Can’t Run Apple Forever. Who’s Next? (Bloomberg)World’s Biggest Construction Project Gets a Reality Check (WSJ)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

AlphaFold 3 is a new AI model to predict interactions and structures of proteins, the better to cure diseases and create medicine with. More cuts in Microsoft gaming. The community backlash erupting over at Stack Overflow. And that really weirdly tone deaf Apple commercial that has everyone so upset.Links:Google DeepMind unveils AI model for living cells (FT)Microsoft’s Xbox Is Planning More Cuts After Studio Closings (Bloomberg)Stack Overflow bans users en masse for rebelling against OpenAI partnership — users banned for deleting answers to prevent them being used to train ChatGPT (TomsHardware)Alphabet Progressing in Talks to Buy HubSpot, Sources Say (Bloomberg)That Weird Apple Ad "Crush!"See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.