Techmeme Ride Home

Our big AI discussion with @ReamBraden and @swyx. Shawn just posted this new essay drawing on what we discussed here: Every Google vs OpenAI Argument, Dissected Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The SEC just officially labeled two crypto lending programs as unregistered securities? Is the regulatory tsunami beginning? Did Tim Cook actually ask Apple to cut his pay? Did the nascent industry of carbon capture just take its first steps? And in the longreads, I go in depth to explain that weird OpenAI/Microsoft deal. It’s complicated. Links: SEC charges Gemini and Genesis with unregistered securities offering (The Block) Apple’s Tim Cook Takes Rare CEO Pay Cut After Pushback (Bloomberg) Climate Startup Removes Carbon From Open Air in Industry First (WSJ) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Microsoft + OpenAI: Inside Tech’s Hottest Romance (The Information) Is Microsoft about to get the deal of the century? Or is Sam Altman unloading OpenAI at just the right time? (Gary Marcus) Robert Tinney’s Visions Of The Future (DocPop) Dungeons & Dragons content creators are fighting to protect their livelihoods (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is Apple finally ready to bring touchscreens to Macs? Sam Bankman Fried has a Substack. Apple Maps courts businesses. Is Twitter going to auction off user handles? And what tech publication that I quote from all the time has been using AI to write entire articles for months now? Links: Apple Is Working on Adding Touch Screens to Macs in Major Turnabout (Bloomberg) Sam Bankman-Fried sticks to his script (Axios) Apple Maps’ business listings are about to get more detailed with launch of ‘Apple Business Connect’ (TechCrunch) Twitter Said to Consider Selling User Names to Boost Revenue (NYTimes) Carta lays off 10% as CTO lawsuit looms (TechCrunch) CNET IS QUIETLY PUBLISHING ENTIRE ARTICLES GENERATED BY AI (The Byte/Futurism) OpenAI begins piloting ChatGPT Professional, a premium version of its viral chatbot (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yet another software snafu with the airlines this morning. Apple’s about to do its own screens, its own modems, what is left? Twitter makes a change that they’ve tried to make several times before. Why all the interesting raises are in AI right now. And what to expect from the Surface Duo 3. Sponsors: Zocdoc.com/techmeme Links: U.S. air travel rumbles back to life after FAA computer outage (Reuters) Apple to Begin Making In-House Screens in 2024 in Shift Away From Samsung (Bloomberg) Twitter defaults to a For You page now, just like TikTok (The Verge) DeepL, the AI-based language translator, raises over $100M at a $1B+ valuation (TechCrunch) Microsoft scraps plans for dual-screen Surface Duo 3, pivots to new foldable screen design (Windows Central) Samsung confirms February 1st Unpacked, its first in-person event in three years (The Verge) Tickets to the comedy show at SF Sketchfest Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Well, now there’s VALL-E, a text to speech technology that could fully replace me as this podcast narrator. It looks like Microsoft wants to do everything just short of buying OpenAI entirely. More layoffs at Coinbase. Why the whole 5G interfering with airplanes thing still isn’t resolved. And not everything that says it’s ChatGPT, is really ChatGPT. Sponsors: RefundsPro.com Links: Microsoft’s new AI can simulate anyone’s voice with 3 seconds of audio (ArsTechnica) Microsoft eyes $10 billion bet on ChatGPT (Semafor) Buy with Prime, which brings Prime to third-party sites, officially launches in U.S. on Jan. 31 (TechCrunch) Coinbase to slash 20% of workforce in second major round of job cuts (CNBC) FAA giving airlines another year to fix altimeters that can’t handle 5G signals (Ars Technica) Sketchy ChatGPT App Soars Up App Store Charts, Charges $7.99 Weekly Subscription (MacRumors) YouTube Experiment 1 YouTube Experiment 2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark Gurman tells us when Apple’s “Reality Pro” headset will be announced, made available to developers, and made available to consumers. Valve’s Steam gaming platform is breaking records. John Deere will let you repair your hundred-thousand-dollar smart tractor. A literal ThinkPad for smartphones. And why one big buzzword was largely missing from CES this year. Sponsors: Bombas.com/techmeme, code techmeme at checkout Zocdoc.com/techmeme Links: Apple Will Talk Up Its Mixed-Reality Headset in 2023 But Not Much Else (Bloomberg) Steam hits 10 million concurrent in-game players in record-breaking weekend (The Verge) Deere & Co. will allow farmers to repair their own equipment (Reuters) Insurer Beazley launches first catastrophe bond for cyber threats (FT) The Lenovo ThinkPhone by Motorola is a ThinkPad owner’s dream (The Verge) Where was 5G at CES? (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

OpenAI is raising more money. Apple’s headset launch might be delayed to the summer. But no worries, cause HTC unveiled their 099 Vive XR Elite headset to beat them to the punch. And that leads us into the CES wrapup for day two, including, the most interesting two laptops I’ve seen in a very long time. A true smarthome solution if you care about power. And the new electric trucks that have turned my head. Sponsors: RefundsPro.com Links: ChatGPT Creator in Investor Talks at $29 Billion Valuation (WSJ) Kuo: Apple's Mixed-Reality Headset Likely to Debut at Spring Media Event or WWDC (MacRumors) HTC Vive XR Elite: Another Mixed-Reality Headset Arriving Ahead of Apple (CNET) Lenovo’s new Yoga Book 9i laptop has a second screen above its screen (The Verge) OLED plus E Ink: Lenovo’s ThinkBook Twist is halfway to my dream laptop (The Verge) Coming soon: smart homes where the electricity isn’t so dumb (The Verge) Ram 1500 Revolution brings muscle car energy — and tons of gimmicks — to EV truck race (Th

Amazon’s layoffs are bigger than we thought. Meta’s new fines in Europe could be a way, way bigger deal than you might think. Apple is brining AI narrators to audiobooks. And a roundup of cool CES stuff. Sony and Honda have a new electric car brand. The first truly wireless TV. And a solar powered watch band means you might never need to charge it. Links: Amazon Layoffs to Hit Over 18,000 Workers, the Most in Recent Tech Wave (WSJ) €390M fine strikes blow to Meta’s ad-fueled business model (Politico) Death of the narrator? Apple unveils suite of AI-voiced audiobooks (The Guardian) Bankruptcy judge rules that Earn account assets belong to Celsius (Axios) CES Roundup: Sony and Honda just announced their new electric car brand, Afeela (The Verge) iOttie Velox Elite is an actively cooled MagSafe car charger to prevent overheating (Apple Insider) LG’s latest Signature OLED TV receives all of its audio and video wirelessly (The Verge) I'm thinking of ditching my Apple Watch for this solar and body

Is Microsoft gonna steal one on Google by bring ChatGPT to Bing search? What is Bonk, the new crypto coin posting monster gains this week? Is Apple bringing MagSafe charging to everyone, even Android users? Roku is launching its own TV sets. And how you could get a check in the mail from Tim Apple for those wonky keyboards. Sponsors: Upside App and promocode RIDEHOME Links: Microsoft and OpenAI Working on ChatGPT-Powered Bing in Challenge to Google (The Information) Salesforce to cut 10% of workforce in latest tech layoffs (Reuters) Sam Bankman-Fried Pleads ‘Not Guilty’ to Fraud, Conspiracy Charges (CoinDesk) Shiba Inu-Themed BONK Tokens Are Yielding Nearly 1,000% for Solana Liquidity Providers (CoinDesk) Nvidia upgrades GeForce Now with RTX 4080 performance for premium users (TechCrunch) Wireless Power Consortium works with Apple on next generation ‘Qi2’ standard based on MagSafe (9to5Mac) Qi2: How Apple might finally harness MagSafe by giving it away (The Verge) Roku does the obvious thin

CES kicks off with Intel detailing it’s new 13th gen chips for laptops. A big PyTorch warning. Why that whole Southwest Airlines mess happened. Layoffs are a problem for tech startups, but the number of tech workers is still growing in a healthy way. And pour one out for 3G technology. Sponsors: MeetFabric.com/ride RocketMoney.com/ride Links: Intel’s 13th Gen mobile processors include the first 24-core laptop CPU (The Verge) PyTorch discloses malicious dependency chain compromise over holidays (BleepingComputer) Southwest Meltdown Shows Airlines Need Tighter Software Integration (WSJ) Gemini’s Cameron Winklevoss Slams Crypto Exec Barry Silbert Over Frozen Funds (Bloomberg) Tech Layoffs Are Happening Faster Than at Any Time During the Pandemic (WSJ) As Silicon Valley Retrenches, a Tech Talent Shift Accelerates (NYTimes) Startups End a Bruising 2022, Stare Down Another Challenging Year (WSJ) Farewell to 3G (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wait, why are Alameda-linked wallets coming back to life all of the sudden? If you do things with a DAO that are technically allowed by the DAO, can that still be market manipulation? What if Amazon or somebody else created an ESPN for the streaming era? The most successful publicly traded tech stock of this miserable year. And somebody tell Mark Zuckerberg about what you can really do with modern avatar technology. Links: Alameda Research wallets swap several crypto tokens for bitcoin (The Block) U.S. charges fraud in Mango crypto manipulation case (Reuters) Crypto Trader’s Fraud Charges Show DeFi Isn’t Outside the Law (Bloomberg) Amazon Has Discussed a Stand-Alone Sports App as Andy Jassy Doubles Down on Prime Video (The Information) Tech stocks got whacked in 2022 — but one server maker soared almost 90%, beating all its peers (CNBC) ABBA’s successful avatar show in London offers a glimpse at a daring new direction for live music (CNBC) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone

Not an exchange blowing up, but is one of the biggest crypto projects in recent years losing developers and maybe entering a death spiral? More supply chain worries for Apple in China. More concerns about the accuracy and efficacy of our new AI bot overlords. And heads up about the new tech hotness from China. Say hello to Temu. It might be responsible for some of the presents you unwrapped recently. Sponsors: Storyblok.com/ridehome Links: Solana’s Top NFT Projects DeGods and Y00ts to Migrate Chains (CoinDesk) Apple’s business under growing threat from China’s Covid wave (Financial Times) Study finds AI assistants help developers produce code that's more likely to be buggy (The Register) IRS Delays $600 Tax Reporting Rule for Venmo, Etsy Sellers (Bloomberg) American Bargain Hunters Flock to a New Online Platform Forged in China (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SBF is in the US just in time to see two of his lieutenants have flipped on him to the Feds. Twitter rolls out Cashtags that are actually useful. ChatGPT lead to a “code red” at Google. Justice is coming for those expiring car warranty robo callers. And, surprise, the weekend longreads suggestions. Links: Two Bankman-Fried colleagues plead guilty to fraud (Washington Post) Twitter adds BTC and ETH price indexes to search function (CoinTelegraph) A New Chat Bot Is a ‘Code Red’ for Google’s Search Business (NYTimes) YouTube Paying Roughly $2 Billion a Year for NFL Sunday Ticket (WSJ) FCC proposes record $300 million fine against auto warranty robocall campaign (CyberScoop) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: How TikTok Became a Diplomatic Crisis (NYTimes) How the algorithm tipped the balance in Ukraine (Washington Post) Bob Gottlieb Is the Last of the Publishing Giants The 91-year-old editor waits for his 87-year-old star writer, Robert Caro, to turn in his book. (Vulture) Learn more about

A new prediction for 2023, the sports streaming wars. What’s with all the weirdness going on with Anker’s security cameras? Is Apple going to cancel the iPhone SE? Is the Google/Facebook ad duopoly over? And an interesting raise for a deepfake startup. Sponsors: Storyblok.com/ridehome InternetSociety.org/techmeme Links: Google’s YouTube in Talks for Rights to NFL Sunday Ticket (WSJ) Anker’s Eufy breaks its silence on security cam security (The Verge) Kuo: Apple to Cancel or Postpone 2024 iPhone SE 4 (MacRumors) Slow fade for Google and Meta's ad dominance (Axios) OpenAI releases Point-E, an AI that generates 3D models (TechCrunch) ‘South Park’ Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone Land $20 Million in Funding for Their Deepfake VFX Studio (Variety) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amazon settles two EU antitrust cases. An old crypto mystery resurfaces and dormant wallets spring back to life. TikTok will tell you why they recommended that video. Is growth at Mastadon a flood or a trickle? And Coinbase is now worth less than Doge. Sponsors: Storyblok.com/ridehome Microsoft's Worklab Podcast Links: Amazon Agrees to Settle EU Antitrust Cases, Avoiding Fines (WSJ) Bitcoin Addresses Tied to Defunct Canadian Crypto Exchange QuadrigaCX Wake Up (CoinDesk) TikTok’s new feature will tell you why a particular video appeared in your For You feed (TechCrunch) Apple to start making MacBooks in Vietnam by mid-2023 (NikkeiAsia) Netflix’s Ad-Supported Tier Was Its Least Popular Plan, Analytics Firm Estimates (WSJ) More than two million users have flocked to Mastodon since Elon Musk took over Twitter (The Verge) Magna to Buy Veoneer Vehicle Safety Unit for $1.5 Billion (Bloomberg) Silicon Valley start-ups race for debt deals in funding crunch (FT) Coinbase’s Value Is $1 Billion Belo

I dunno. Is Elon not the head of Twitter anymore? He posted a poll, people voted for him to step down. Who knows? I’ll give you the tick tock of what went down this weekend. ? Apple has canceled work on an M2 “extreme” chip. Google goes all in on encrypting Gmail. Why is everyone all in on encryption all of the sudden? And don’t worry, Meta is still all in on the metaverse. Sponsors: Masterclass.com/ride ZocDoc.com/techmeme Links: Twitter abruptly bans all links to Instagram, Mastodon, and other competitors (The Verge) Google is letting businesses try out client-side encryption for Gmail (The Verge) Binance.US to Buy Voyager Assets in $1.022 Billion Deal (Bloomberg) Bankman-Fried is ready to ‘face the music,’ prison official says (Washington Post) Apple Scales Back High-End Mac Pro Plans, Weighs Production Move to Asia (Bloomberg) Facebook’s Meta Will Devote 20% of Costs to Metaverse Next Year (Bloomberg) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emergency bonus episode! Is this the moment for Twitter alternatives? T2.social is one of them and the founder of that project, @gabor, joins us to kick it all around. So does our friend Alex Kantrowitz from @BigTechnology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elon Musk has once again proven that the flesh is weak because there’s a new Twitter controversy and I can’t help but tell you about it. Is it a good look when the accounting firm writing reports to prove crypto companies are solvent says it will no longer work with crypto companies? Is Netflix’s ad-supported tier not signing up as many eyeballs as advertisers hoped? And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Sponsors: InternetSociety.org/techmeme Storyblok.com/ridehome Links: Twitter suspends Mastodon’s account and bans links to Mastodon servers (TechCrunch) Twitter suspends journalists who have been covering Elon Musk and the company (NBCNews) Accountant That Vetted Binance Reserves Halts Crypto Work (Bloomberg) Netflix lets advertisers take their money back after missing viewership targets (Digiday) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Spotify’s grand plan to monetize developers via its open source Backstage project (TechCrunch) YouTube Stars Cash In Video Rights for Millions of Dollars

I’ll get into the whole Twitter banning private jet tracking accounts thing, but use that to explain how and even if we’re going to cover this whole Elon/Twitter story going forward. Is mobile gaming the latest domino to fall in this year of “line also goes down?” A new consortium hopes to make mapping data better. And let me introduce you to the Battery Belt, every bit as important as the whole onshoring the chip industry trend. Links: Twitter Suspends the Accounts Tracking Musk’s Jet and The Man Behind It (Bloomberg) Twitter Suspends Over 25 Accounts That Track Billionaires’ Private Planes (NYTimes) Elon Musk offloads another $3.6bn of Tesla stock (FT) FTX Investor Impact: Timeline of Realized Cryptocurrency Gains and Losses Shows FTX Hit Investor Wallets Less Than Previous Crises (Chainalysis) 2022 will go down as the worst year for U.S. IPOs since 1990. (Axios Pro Rata) Mobile games market to decline for first time in over a decade (FT) Creating the ultimate smart map with new map data initi

Apple is going to allow third-party app stores, but only in Europe for now. Your Tesla is now a full-fledged gaming rig. Instagram is testing a full-fledged BeReal clone. Has Twitter stopped paying its bills? And there is now actual US legislation to ban TikTok. Sponsors: Storyblok.com/ridehome Links: Apple to Allow Outside App Stores in Overhaul Spurred by EU Laws (Bloomberg) Tesla’s latest update adds Steam games and Apple Music (The Verge) Musk Shakes Up Twitter’s Legal Team as He Looks to Cut More Costs (NYTimes) Twitter is considering forcing users to let the company sell their data and phone numbers to advertisers, in potential breach of Apple rules (Insider) Binance CEO Zhao Warns Bumpy Road Ahead in Message to His Staff (Bloomberg) Instagram Challenges BeReal and Adds Notes Short-Message Feature (WSJ) Lawmakers unveil bipartisan bill that aims to ban TikTok in the U.S. (CNBC) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices