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We get that first big test of M&A I was looking for as Alphabet acquires Wiz. Is Roku going to force us to watch ads just to turn on our TVs? The AI coding assistant space continues to be hot. The breakthrough in electric vehicle charging that could really change the game. And what exactly does Lumon Industries do? Sponsors: Robinhood.com/gold Links: Google Strikes $32 Billion Deal for Cybersecurity Startup Wiz (WSJ) “Awful”: Roku tests autoplaying ads loading before the home screen (Ars Technica) Critical RCE flaw in Apache Tomcat actively exploited in attacks (Bleeping Computer) Cognition AI Hits $4 Billion Valuation in Deal Led by Lonsdale’s Firm (Bloomberg) BYD Shares Jump to Record on Five-Minute EV Battery Charging (Bloomberg) They Named Their Companies Lumon. Then ‘Severance’ Aired. (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Europe wants to ween itself off of foreign big tech. Could this be the sign of a future rift with Silicon Valley? The weird case of Rippling versus Deel. Klarna lands a big fish. What the Coreweave IPO could mean for tech. And how the new iPhone Air signals a big hardware design change at Apple. Sponsors: QualiaLife.com/ride and promocode RIDE Links: European tech industry coalition calls for ‘radical action’ on digital sovereignty — starting with buying local (TechCrunch) Accusations of Corporate Espionage Shake a Software Rivalry (NYTimes) Klarna, nearing IPO, plucks lucrative Walmart fintech partnership from rival Affirm (CNBC) CoreWeave serves as bellwether for AI in soft IPO market (Semafor) Apple’s iPhone 17 ‘Air’ Is a Step Toward a Slimmer, Port-Free Era (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 me

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

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 a

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 w

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 subscribe

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/adchoice

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 Def

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://