Episodes

April 17, 2023

Mon. 04/17 – Is Google About To Lose Samsung?

Hey everybody, back from Ireland, and man, the universe dumped all the news on me this morning. Google is rushing to add AI to search because they’re afraid Samsung is about to jump ship to Bing. More chaos at Twitter. Meta has to make nice with advertisers. Spotify seems to be abandoning it’s payw…
April 14, 2023

Fri. 04/14 - AWS Enters the Gen AI Race

AWS has begun offering customers access to LLMs made by Anthropic, Stability AI, and AI21 Labs, as they look to be a neutral platform for generative AI features. WhatsApp is rolling out new verification and protection features, including defenses against SIM jacking and social engineering attacks. …
April 13, 2023

Thu. 04/13 - They're Trying Their Damnedest To Ruin The HBO Brand

The stocks of Apple suppliers Cirrus Logic and AAC are down after reporting that iPhone 15 Pro models won’t have solid-state buttons after all. IBM is reportedly looking into selling The Weather Company, for quite a bit less than they paid for it in 2015. LinkedIn has new identity verification via …
April 12, 2023

Wed. 04/12 - Twitter Inc. No Longer Exists?

Elon Musk did a big spontaneous interview with the BBC last night on Twitter Spaces, but here’s two things that didn’t make the interview: Twitter appears to be working on generative AI for reasons yet unknown and Twitter Inc. doesn’t exist as a company anymore. Global VC funding for crypto startup…
April 11, 2023

Tue. 04/11 - China's ChatGPT Competitors Are Here

Alibaba revealed its ChatGPT-style bot, and mere hours later the Cyberspace Administration of China announced plans to require security reviews of generative AI tools before they’re released. The Winklevoss twins made a $100 million loan to their crypto exchange, Gemini Trust, after it failed to ra…
April 10, 2023

Mon. 04/10 - Would You Believe Me If I Told You Elon Changed His Mind?

Twitter has stopped throttling tweets with Substack links in them, but only after Elon Musk denied they were ever blocked. About 270 US Apple Stores have held staff meetings about unionization risks in the past two weeks. A New York Times article about the environmental and economic impact of bitco…
April 8, 2023

(BNS EP) Anyone In Control Of Big Tech? W/ David Auerbach

Check out David Auerbach's books: Meganets: How Digital Forces Beyond Our Control Commandeer Our Daily Lives and Inner Realities Bitwise: A Life in Code
April 7, 2023

Fri. 08/07 – Twitter Blocking Substack?

Shenanigans from some Elon companies. Twitter looks like it’s blocking Substack. Not just links to Substack but even mentioning the name, the word Substack, in some cases. Oh, and Tesla employees apparently liked to view videos from your car and share them with each other internally. Last quarter w…
April 6, 2023

Thu. 04/06 – The Secret Bitcoin Easter Egg On Your Mac

More examples of chatbots hallucinating might lead to the first lawsuits. Did you know that you have a copy of the bitcoin white paper on your Mac right now? You don’t know it, but you do. I’ll tell you why. Substack is the latest to launch a Twitter clone. And why E3 had to die. It’s called direct…
April 5, 2023

Wed. 04/05 – The Grand Theory Of AI Varietals

Sony might be developing a sort of PS Vita mark 2. Sad news of the death of a well-known silicon valley luminary. Meta says its not going to be left behind in the AI race. What happens if the kids aren’t keen on the Metaverse. And I sketch out an example of our grand theory of AI varietals.
April 4, 2023

Tue. 04/04 – Dogecoin Twitter Logo (Cause Why Not?)

We’ve said before that Elon owns Twitter, so if he decides to change the logo to a Shiba Inu, you know, why not? Apple kinda sorta bites the bullet on layoffs. What’s going on with the Apple Weather app? Do we want universities to call the use of ChatGPT plagiarism? And data on the corporate takeov…
April 3, 2023

Mon. 04/03 – Schrödinger’s Blue Check

The blue checks went away on Twitter over the weekend. Or did they? More interesting details on those Pinduoduo app allegations. In a headline from 2019, Paris says no to e-scooters. And what does the recent move by GM say about the relationship between the car companies and the tech platforms?
March 31, 2023

Fri. 03/31 – Is E3 Dead?

I can tell you E3 is officially cancelled this year, but I’m kinda thinking it might be dead for good. Bunch of stuff about Twitter and checkmarks. Italy has temporarily banned ChatGPT. Some of the signatories of that AI letter are having second thoughts. And, of course, the weekend longreads sugge…
March 30, 2023

Thu. 03/30 – No Headset Reveal At WWDC?

Wait, are we NOT going to see the new Apple headset at WWDC? Twitter’s new API tiers? Ads are coming to Bing Chat. Is Elon Musk guilty of laundering his grudge against OpenAI through AI concern trolling? And is TikTok creating more one hit wonders?
March 29, 2023

Wed. 03/29 – Hit Pause On AI Development?

Over 1,000 big names sign a petition urging a pause on AI development. What analysts think AI could to for or to the economy. North Korean hackers allegedly have a new trick. And did you know ByteDance has an Instagram rival? Well, it looks like they’re putting the pedal to the metal on that.
March 28, 2023

Tue. 03/28 – Rise Of The Blue Checks

I titled an episode last week “Twilight Of The Blue Checks.” Well, today is the sequel, “Rise Of The Blue Checks” cause starting April 15, you’ll have to be a blue check to appear on Twitter’s For You tab. Also: the feds go after Binance. Disney cuts its entire metaverse unit. And the UK cancels it…
March 27, 2023

Mon. 03/27 – SVB Finds A New Home

Looks like the short, sharp, SVB saga has reached the beginning of a conclusion. Twitter source code has been leaked. The doubts inside Apple about the upcoming mixed reality headset. Why has no one presented any evidence for why TikTok might need to be banned? And, again, will generative AI lead t…
March 25, 2023

(Portfolio Profile) Investor Update (And How To Do Them) With Rownd

Robert from Rownd shares his most recent investor update live and in real time, so you can hear how these things go.
March 24, 2023

Fri. 03/24 – Twilight Of The Blue Checks

Twitter is finally sunsetting its legacy verified program. OpenAI rolls out ChatGPT plugins. Do Kwan has been detained and is facing formal charges here in the US. The FTC’s “click to cancel” proposal. And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions.
March 23, 2023

Thu. 03/23 – Coinbase Wells Notice

Coinbase got a Wells Notice, which is not good. Hindenburg research has a new note out and is making short run on Block, which is not good. Apple might expand its sports streaming and release more things in actual theaters. And the space startup that 3d prints its own rockets.
March 22, 2023

Wed. 03/22 – Google Bard Joins The Fray

Well, we’ve got Google Bard. We’ve got a new Copilot from GitHub. Bing Image Creator is rolling out. Mozilla AI launches. The low hanging fruit that is plugging AI into NPCs to make games more realistic. And at the very end, some actual non AI news!
March 21, 2023

Tue. 03/21 – TikTok Showdown

Ahead of a major showdown in Congress this week, TikTok wants the US to know exactly how popular it is. Why ChatGPT was shut down for a while yesterday. Why Google is suspending PinDuoDuo from the play store. The AI powered doctor’s office of the future. And is Andy Jassy the David Moyes of Amazon?…
March 20, 2023

Mon. 03/20 – Robots All The Way Down

New bots to make video from text prompts. Fending off the bots from biting your style. Falling in love with the bots. In the streaming wars, the ad supported experiments are working, and pricing power is a thing. And the startup that says it’s about to introduce humanoid bots. Real, definitional ro…
March 17, 2023

Fri. 03/17 – Midjourney 5 Is Amazing

Amazon Kindle gets out of the magazine business. An ironically named PE firm is buying Porn Hub. Midjourney v5 is really mind blowing. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.