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Sorry, we gotta do more politics. Can’t avoid it cause now Trump likes TikTok and seemingly hates Mark Zuckerberg. Mistrals two new models. A big Pixel phone leak. And the interesting new “sketch to image” AI tool on the new Galaxy phones. Sponsors: CleanMyMac X with promocode: techmeme Links: Trump on Taxes, Tariffs, Jerome Powell and More (Bloomberg) Exclusive: Google-backed software developer GitLab explores sale, sources say (Reuters) Mistral releases Codestral Mamba for faster, longer code generation (VentureBeat) Giant Pixel 9 leak gives us our first real-world look at the Fold, faster charging specs, and more (AndroidAuthority) Samsung’s new image-generating AI tool is a little too good (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

JD Vance becomes the first Tech industry player, and especially Venture Capitalist, to ever be on a major presidential ticket. It’s never been easier for the cops to break into your phone. Why are the major record labels suing Verizon? And why an AI innovation around spreadsheets could be a big deal. Sponsors: Vanta.com/ride for $1000 off CleanMyMac X with promocode: techmeme Links: J.D. Vance Is Trump’s Pick for Vice President (Wired) It’s never been easier for the cops to break into your phone (The Verge) Microsoft Investigated by UK Over Ex-Inflection Staff Hires (Bloomberg) Record labels sue Verizon for not disconnecting pirates’ Internet service (ArsTechnica) Microsoft’s new AI system ‘SpreadsheetLLM’ unlocks insights from spreadsheets, boosting enterprise productivity (VentureBeat) Apple releases public betas for iOS 18, macOS, and more (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The biggest tech exit in years might be in the offing as Alphabet eyes scooping up Wiz. The weird story of that huge AT&T hack. A new ARM-powered CoPilot+ PC is maybe the most powerful yet. And is India the reason Apple’s stock has been on the rise lately? Sponsors: ArcticWolf.com/techmeme Shopify.com/ride Links: Google Near $23 Billion Deal for Cybersecurity Startup Wiz (WSJ) Zero to Billions: The Startup on the Verge of the Biggest Tech Exit in Years (WSJ) AT&T says criminals stole phone records of ‘nearly all’ customers in new data breach (TechCrunch) AT&T Paid a Hacker $370,000 to Delete Stolen Phone Records (Wired) HP's new OmniBook Ultra beats every single Copilot+ PC on the market in TOPS, and it runs on an AMD Ryzen AI 300 processor (Windows Central) Apple’s India Sales Surge 33% to Record in Shift From China (Bloomberg) India clings to cheap feature phones as brands struggle to tap new smartphone buyers (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adcho

More about Josh Wolfe and Lux Capital here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All the headlines from what was largely a foldable phone event from Samsung yesterday. Apple has settled with the EU. More numbers on Apple Vision Pro sales. Why the sparkle emoji is the defacto symbol of AI. And, of course, the Weekend Longread Suggestions. Sponsors: Lumen.me/ride Links: Galaxy Z Fold 6 goes official with 7 years of updates, wider displays, starting at $1,899 (9to5Google) Galaxy Z Flip 6 starts at $1,099 with battery, cover display, and camera upgrades (9to5Google) Apple Avoids EU Antitrust Threat With Tap-and-Pay Probe Settlement (Bloomberg) Apple’s Vision Pro Won’t Cross 500,000 Sales This Year, IDC Says (Bloomberg) Has Artificial Intelligence Co-opted the Sparkle Emoji? (Bloomberg) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Defeated by A.I., a Legend in the Board Game Go Warns: Get Ready for What’s Next (NYTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Suddenly nobody wants to be on OpenAI’s board, even as observers. I’ll tell you why. More on how AI has thrown everybody’s carbon neutral plans into chaos. A monster raise in the AI and robotics space. And a16z has found a way to get chips into the hands of their AI startups. Links: Microsoft and Apple drop OpenAI seats amid antitrust scrutiny (FT) Microsoft gives up observer seat on OpenAI board (Axios) Google Is No Longer Claiming to Be Carbon Neutral (Bloomberg) Amazon Says It Reached a Climate Goal Seven Years Early (NYTimes) Microsoft is hiking the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and launching a new ‘Standard’ tier (The Verge) This $1.5 Billion AI Company Is Building A ‘General Purpose Brain’ For Robots (Forbes) Andreessen Horowitz Is Building a Stash of More Than 20,000 GPUs to Win AI Deals (The Information) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The new nothing phone costs almost nothing. I’m not punning. Sam Altman has founded yet another AI startup. Is the hype around AI PCs underdelivering? And two other back the future stories about updating Notepad in Windows, and abandoning floppy disks in Japan. Sponsors: Dragon Ball Legends Links: Nothing’s CMF Devices Prove Yet Again Cheap Doesn't Have to Mean Boring (Wired) Amazon announces new $79 Echo Spot alarm clock (CNBC) OpenAI and Arianna Huffington are working together on an ‘AI health coach’ (The Verge) Spotify is going to let you leave comments on podcast episodes (The Verge) Qualcomm, Microsoft Lean on AI Hype to Spur PC Market Revival (Bloomberg) After 41 years Microsoft quietly adds spellchecking and autocorrect to Windows Notepad (Tom Hardware) Japan declares victory in effort to end government use of floppy disks (Reuters) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ok, fine. Give me a thinner watch if it’ll also somehow have a bigger screen. Apple and Epic are just petty, squabbling children at this point. What if AI as it currently exists, is simply too expensive to be profitable? And a new social network is sort of back to the future. Sponsors: Ramp.com/techmeme Miro.com Links: What’s Next for the Apple Watch: Bigger Screens But a Similar Look (Bloomberg) Apple okays Epic Games marketplace app in Europe (Reuters) In a major update, Proton adds privacy-safe document collaboration to Drive, its freemium E2EE cloud storage service (TechCrunch) AI industry needs to earn $600 billion per year to pay for massive hardware spend — fears of an AI bubble intensify in wake of Sequoia report (Tom's Hardware) noplace, a mashup of Twitter and Myspace for Gen Z, hits No. 1 on the App Store (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This about the man who invented the modern disc operating system (the OS) and the concept of the software platform. That man was Gary Kildall. And the question we examine in this episode is, why is Bill Gates the richest man in the world, and not Gary Kildall? Could things have turned out differently? In this episode we use audio from the following documentaries: Triumph of the Nerds and Computer Chronicles Special thanks to Justin Schwinghamer for the original score and the voice acting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This about the man who invented the modern disc operating system (the OS) and the concept of the software platform. That man was Gary Kildall. And the question we examine in this episode is, why is Bill Gates the richest man in the world, and not Gary Kildall? Could things have turned out differently? In this episode we use audio from the following documentaries: Triumph of the Nerds and Computer Chronicles Special thanks to Justin Schwinghamer for the original score and the voice acting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The deploying and then walking back of AI products and features is becoming something of a routine at this point. Apple is joining OpenAI’s board, kinda-sorta. Meta outlines 3D Gen. Proof that VC funding is coming back, baby. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Sponsors: A Better Paradise Podcast Links: Figma Disables AI App Design Tool After It Copied Apple’s Weather App (404 Media) Figma pulls AI tool after criticism that it ripped off Apple’s design (The Verge) Apple Poised to Get OpenAI Board Observer Role as Part of AI Pact (Bloomberg) Meta drops ‘3D Gen’ bomb: AI-powered 3D asset creation at lightning speed (VentureBeat) Investors Pour $27.1 Billion Into A.I. Start-Ups, Defying a Downturn (NYTimes) Weekend Longreads Suggestions Internet Browsers Are Getting a Makeover for the Workplace (WSJ) A.I. Begins Ushering In an Age of Killer Robots (NYTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A recent Evolve Bank and Trust cyberattack might impact a lot of tech customers. Why single points of failure impact cyberattacks. YouTube will soon let you take down videos like you’re a Hollywood studio. And big tech’s playbook for AI acquisitions that the regulators can’t frown at. Sponsors: CleanMyMac X Promocode: techmeme Links: Fintech company Wise says some customers affected by Evolve Bank data breach (TechCrunch) CDK Global Hack Shows Risk of One Software Vendor Dominating an Industry (WSJ) Supreme Court orders new look at social media laws in Texas and Florida (CBSNews) Exclusive: Nvidia set to face French antitrust charges, sources say (Reuters) YouTube now lets you request removal of AI-generated content that simulates your face or voice (TechCrunch) This is Big Tech’s playbook for swallowing the AI industry (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meta’s turn to be accused of breaching the DMA. Smarter AirPods as part of an AR/VR strategy. Better AI leaderboards. And is the Surface Laptop finally a true MacBook Air killer? Sponsors: Dragon Ball Legends Links: Meta's pay or consent model in crosshairs for breaching EU tech rules (Reuters) Kuo: Apple to begin mass production of AirPods with cameras by 2026 (9to5Mac) ‘Boring’ Bitcoin Sends Weekend Trading Volume to All-Time Lows (Bloomberg) Amazon’s Bargain Store Would Use Same Trade ‘Loophole’ as Temu, Shein (The Information) Chinese AI models storm Hugging Face's LLM chatbot benchmark leaderboard — Alibaba runs the board as major US competitors have worsened (Tom's Hardware) Surface Laptop review: Microsoft’s best MacBook Air competitor yet (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Find out more about Casemark at Casemark.ai. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The growing backlash over Perplexity is getting interesting. OpenAI possibly exiting China will be interesting in terms of a massive land grab. AI Al Michaels will deliver personalized Olympics updates for you. And in the Longreads: is the real King of All Media… YouTube? Sponsors: ConstantContact.com Links: Amazon Is Investigating Perplexity Over Claims of Scraping Abuse (Wired) OpenAI’s China Block to Reshape AI Scene as Big Players Pounce (Bloomberg) OpenAI Wants AI to Help Humans Train AI (Wired) An AI version of Al Michaels will deliver Olympic recaps on Peacock (The Verge) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: YouTube dominates streaming, forcing media companies to decide whether it’s friend or foe (CNBC) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is Uncle Sam about to unload a ton of Bitcoin? AI has helped Google Translate almost double the number of languages it supports. No surprise, but Amazon is gonna take a page out of Temu’s book. Figma’s big redesign. And another way the AI era is rhyming with the DotCom era: the consultants are back. Sponsors: Miro.com Links: Bitcoin Falls After U.S. Sends $240M Worth of Silk Road-Related BTC to Coinbase (Coindesk) Google Translate is getting support for more than 110 new languages (The Verge) Amazon To Launch Temu-Like Discount Section With Direct Shipping From China (The Information) Amazon Hits $2 Trillion in Value as AI Frenzy Fuels Rally (Bloomberg) Figma announces big redesign with AI (The Verge) Webtoon Entertainment to debut on Nasdaq as latest Korean cultural export success (Financial Times) The A.I. Boom Has an Unlikely Early Winner: Wonky Consultants (NYTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The ChatGPT macOS app is now available for everybody. Google drops continuous scroll for search. Waymo drops the waitlist in San Francisco. Are the AI characters on Character.ai somehow… changed? And is there an eInk phone that I might actually have to try out? Sponsors: Lumen.me/ride Links: OpenAI’s ChatGPT for Mac app is now available to everyone (9to5Mac) Google dropping continuous scroll in search results (Search Engine Land) Waymo ditches the waitlist and opens up its robotaxis to everyone in San Francisco (The Verge) Tech Investor Sean Parker Leads Rescue of Struggling AI Startup (WSJ) ‘No Bot is Themselves Anymore:’ Character.ai Users Report Sudden Personality Changes to Chatbots (404 Media) The Boox Palma is an amazing gadget I didn’t even know I wanted (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

History is rhyming today as AI music startups get the Napster treatment and Microsoft gets dinged for product bundling. Google wants you to build your own AI celebrity. Amazon wants to go at ChatGPT directly. And two hella-interesting and hella-big AI raises. Sponsors: Miro.com Links: Major record labels sue AI company behind ‘BBL Drizzy’ (The Verge) EU charges Microsoft with antitrust violations over Teams (FT) Apple Spurned Idea of iPhone AI Partnership With Meta Months Ago (Bloomberg) Uber Is Locking Out NYC Drivers Mid-Shift to Lower Minimum Pay (Bloomberg) Google Develops Challenger to Meta’s Chatbots and Character.AI (The Information) Amazon is secretly working on a ChatGPT killer (Business Insider) Etched is building an AI chip that only runs one type of model (TechCrunch) EvolutionaryScale lands $142 mln to advance AI in biology (Reuters) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Could Apple soon owe Europe a ton of money as they are the first to run afoul of the DMA? Could Meta soon join OpenAI as part of Apple Intelligence. Why food delivery apps are seeing plunging usage in NYC and Seattle. And a big new AI focused bill in California that AI startups are worried about. Sponsors: 1password.com/ride WashingtonPost.com/ride Links: Brussels accuses Apple of breaking EU ‘gatekeeper’ rules (FT) Apple is first company charged with violating EU’s DMA rules (The Verge) Apple Won’t Roll Out AI Tech In EU Market Over Regulatory Concerns (Bloomberg) Apple, Meta Have Discussed an AI Partnership (WSJ) Delivery Drivers Got Higher Wages. Now They’re Getting Fewer Orders. (WSJ) AI Doesn’t Kill Jobs? Tell That to Freelancers (WSJ) ‘Little Tech’ brings a big flex to Sacramento (Politico) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The government has banned Kaspersky antivirus sales in the US. People are losing their minds over Claude 3.5 Sonnet from Anthropic. Soon all devices can pair to your iPhone as easily as AirPods do. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Links: US bans sale of Kaspersky software citing security risk from Russia (TechCrunch) Anthropic claims its latest model is best-in-class (TechCrunch) Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet wows AI power users: ‘this is wild’ (VentureBeat) New iOS 18 API brings AirPods setup experience to third-party accessories (9to5Mac) SpaceX unveils backpack-sized ‘Starlink Mini’ satellite internet antenna for $599 (CNBC) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Why are mobile game ads so weird and bad? (Sherwood) From Infocom to 80 Days: An oral history of text games and interactive fiction (ArsTechnica) The song Stevie Nicks wrote to “haunt” Lindsey Buckingham (Far Out) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices