Tech Brew Ride Home

Amazon didn’t scare investors this Halloween. They’re quite pleased, actually. They’re not public but we now know how much money OpenAI lost this quarter. Nvidia’s generous investment strategy. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Amazon cloud records 20% sales growth, topping estimates (CNBC) Microsoft seemingly just revealed that OpenAI lost $11.5B last quarter (The Register) Sora...

Three big tech earnings reports give a mixed message. Wall Street wants you to spend on the AI buildout, but not too much, and maybe not you, Meta. Sora already has some new features. More details on OpenAI’s IPO timeline. And maybe the AI agents are not yet ready for prime time. Big Tech tests investors’ patience with $80bn AI investment spree (FT) OpenAI adds reusable ‘characters’ and video stit...

Nvidia announced a whole bunch of things yesterday and that sent their market cap above $5 trillion for the first time. Grammarly rebrands as Superhuman. Character.ai moves to banning kids outright. And is the first home robot actually here, or is this vaporware? Uber Eyes Fleet of 100,000 Nvidia-Based Robotaxis Beginning 2027 (Bloomberg) OpenAI’s Promise to Stay in California Helped Clear the Pat...

OpenAI has officially done its whole reorg to for-profit thing. Amazon is cutting a metric ton of employees and its blaming AI. Elon launches Grokpedia to take on Wikipedia. And does Anthropic’s success in the enterprise give it a leg up on OpenAI in the one metric that counts? Making money? OpenAI completed its for-profit restructuring — and struck a new deal with Microsoft (The Verge) Amazon to...

Did Microsoft use dark patterns to charge more for AI? The tech angle to that whole NBA gambling scandal. Forget the AI bubble, the Counter-Strike bubble definitely just burst. Halo is coming to PlayStation. And how AI is revolutionizing the old, faking your expense reports scam. Australia sues Microsoft over AI-linked subscription price hikes (Reuters) Using a Security Key on X? Re-Enroll Now or...

Baratunde Thurston shares his journey from a tech-savvy upbringing to becoming a prominent voice in comedy and digital media. Baratunde reflects on his time at The Onion and The Daily Show, emphasizing the importance of community and the intersection of technology and humor. He also shares his thoughts on the role of AI in society, advocating for a future where technology enhances human connection...

Clem discusses his journey from early computing experiences to founding Hugging Face, emphasizing the importance of community, collaboration, and open-source technology in the AI landscape. He reflects on the evolution of technology, the significance of user feedback, and the need for a diverse range of AI models. Clem also shares insights on the startup ecosystem in Europe and the unique advantag...

Just two stories. First, OpenAI launches a web browser, ChatGPT Atlas. What it does, and why are they doing it. Then, Samsung has made a cheaper Vision Pro. They call it the Galaxy XR headset. What IT does, and why are THEY doing it. OpenAI’s AI-powered browser, ChatGPT Atlas, is here (The Verge) Introducing ChatGPT Atlas (Simon Willison) Why OpenAI Needs Its Own ChatGPT-Enabled Browser, Atlas (Fo...

HBO Max might be on the market and I want Apple to buy it! Coinbase is on an acquisition tear. Is the Amazon job apocalypse nigh? Is OpenAI plotting to take over Wall Street in a literal sense? And a brain implant startup has leapfrogged Neuralink in terms of helping blind people see again. Warner Bros. Discovery says it’s open to a sale; shares jump 10% (CNBC) Coinbase Strikes Deal for Crypto-Inv...

Big AWS outage took down half the internet overnight. X wants you to be able to snap up dormant or desirable X handles. Blackwell chips look like they’ve hit volume production in the US. And you know who else is benefiting from the AI boom? Crypto miners and makers of plain old cables. Major AWS outage took down Fortnite, Alexa, Snapchat, and more (The Verge) OpenAI pauses Sora video generations o...

Do Skills for Claude represent a new sort of user paradigm for AI? Battlefield 6 seems to be doing what EA needs it to do. Nintendo seems to be killing it. Is Wikipedia in trouble because it’s losing human users? Now Uber drivers can earn new money thanks to AI. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Anthropic turns to ‘skills’ to make Claude more useful at work (The Verge) Claude Skil...

So, a huge, huge, like bigger than the entire world’s GDP fat finger episode in the world of stablecoins. Zuck has poached another one from Apple. Potentially huge state sponsored hack of a key infrastructure company. The most interesting new phone concept I’ve seen in a while. And are we in an AI bubble episode 72. Printing Money: Paxos Mints, Then Burns $300 Trillion in PayPal Stablecoins (Decry...

The new Apple M5 chips are here, and I’ll tell you what devices got them and what they can do. ChatGPT wants to allow you to have sexy time. Waymo is coming to London. Netflix wants to bring podcasts to your streaming diet. And its officially the end of the road for Windows 10. Apple’s 14-inch MacBook Pro gets an M5 chip bump and faster storage (The Verge) Sam Altman says ChatGPT will soon sext wi...

The Dutch government has taken control of a Dutch chipmaker that had Chinese owners. Yet another big OpenAI deal, this time with Broadcom. The first AI desktop workstations are arriving. And we check in with Matt Levine to get his take on what he says is Sam Altman’s genius for financial engineering. Dutch government takes control of Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia (FT) OpenAI, Broadcom Forge Mul...

Jenn Hyman shares her journey from early influences of entrepreneurship to founding Rent the Runway. She discusses the impact of the internet on her career, the challenges of fundraising during a recession, and the importance of building relationships in the fashion industry. Hyman emphasizes the unique advantages of starting a business in New York City and the collaborative spirit of the startup...

China is stirring the pot on the tech trade wars once again. Sora has grown faster than even ChatGPT did. Is OpenAI now better at vibe coding than Anthropic is? How just a handful of malicious documents and poison an LLM. And in the longreads, the one game that has the fate of EA on its shoulders. China blacklists major chip research firm TechInsights following report on Huawei (CNBC) OpenAI’s Sor...

Intel tries to punch its way back to relevancy with the release of Panther Lake, the first chip built on its 18A process. Is Cursor so successful it’s about to rocket to a $30 billion valuation? Big raise for a US Deep Seek competitor? And are we starting to get the first models moving beyond attention based architecture? Here is Panther Lake, Intel’s 2026 laptop chip with next-gen graphics (The V...

More on the circular nature of the recent AI deals. AI now accounts for more debt issuance than US banks. AI companies consider using the billions they’ve raised to pay off lawsuits since they can’t get insurance. Another way OpenAI is the new Microsoft. And at the end? Look at that! A non-AI story! OpenAI, Nvidia Fuel $1 Trillion AI Market With Web of Circular Deals (Bloomberg) Nvidia’s Huang say...

Forget building apps on TOP of ChatGPT, now they’ve put the apps INSIDE of ChatGPT. Why this is a play for ChatGPT to become the Windows of the AI era. The prediction market market continues to explode. Turning down the volume on streaming ads. And why Mr. Beast is worried about AI social media. OpenAI announces Apps SDK allowing ChatGPT to launch and run third party apps like Zillow, Canva, Spoti...

Another huge OpenAI deal, this time with AMD. The huge amount of chips Elon is buying for his Colossus II. It’s not just compute! How the AI boom is driving up prices for memory and storage chips. And does the math work out for those new fangled small nuclear reactors? AMD stock skyrockets 30% as OpenAI looks to take stake in AI chipmaker (CNBC) Elon Musk Gambles Billions in Memphis to Catch Up on...

Make It Snow is Snowflake’s go-to-market playbook, told by longtime CRO Chris Degnan and CMO Denise Persson. The central idea: sales and marketing must operate as “one brain in two bodies.” The takeaways are practical and candid: embed with customers sooner than feels comfortable, pick a clear foil, design programs you can rerun, centralize data so sales and marketing act from one truth, and treat...

Apple removes an app after the DOJ asked them to. People are using AI, but which AI are they actually paying for? Sora is now the number one app in all the land. And in the Longreads, now is it time to blame ChatGPT for breaking up marriages? Apple takes down ICE tracking apps after pressure from Bondi DOJ (Fox Business) A new a16z report looks at which AI companies startups are actually paying fo...

More fallout from the Sora explosion, including my take on using it. OpenAI is now officially the biggest startup in the galaxy. We now know what Mira Murati’s new startup is building. The Brave browser is hitting some impressive user milestones. And why are young people flocking back to… checks notes… AOL? OpenAI’s Sora 2 Copyright Infringement Machine Features Nazi SpongeBobs and Criminal Pikach...

Why Sora is all anyone can talk about, both the new social network and the new AI model. Satya Nadella is still Microsoft’s CEO but he’s taken some things off his plate. Oura gets colorful, and a hardware company that we’ve not spoken about in years is back, with AI onboard. OpenAI's Sora app lets friends swap AI video cameos (Axios) OpenAI made a TikTok for deepfakes, and it’s getting hard to tel...

All the headline’s from Amazon’s fall hardware event. Daniel Ek is stepping back from Spotify. A new Claude model. ChatGPT gets into the shopping biz. And OpenAI is likely launching it’s own TikTok clone soon to feature AI videos. And new buzzword alert! Microsoft wants you to start “vibe working.” Amazon announces new Kindle Scribes, including one with a color screen (The Verge) Amazon Revamps Ec...