The great Simon Willison joins SWYX and I to talk about everything we learned about LLMs in 2024, and what the state of AI is generally, as we go into 2025. Here is Simon's blog post we keep referring to: https://simonwillison.net/2024/Dec/31... 00:00 The State of AI in 2025 10:05 The Evolution of AI Models 19:54 Challenges in AI Agents 30:07 The Future of AI in Creative Industries 38:29 The Rise of AI Influencers 40:54 Credibility in the Age of AI 43:15 The Future of User Interfaces for LLMs 51...
Jan 11, 2025•1 hr 16 min
All the controversies continue. I’ll update you on the Meta moderation controversy. The latest twist in the WordPress brouhaha. The TikTok thing is coming to a head right now as we speak, in the form of Supreme Court arguments. Asking again if the business model of Triple A gaming development is broken. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Sponsors: Qualialife.com/ride and code ride Links: Mark Zuckerberg gave Meta’s Llama team the OK to train on copyrighted works, filing cla...
Jan 10, 2025•18 min
Big new zero day to tell you about. Apple says Siri is safe, honest. Google rolls out an AI Daily Listen audio feature. Looking at the next wave of wearable AI. And let me tell you about WatchDuty, the app everyone in LA was using overnight. Sponsors: Timeline.com/ride33 Links: Hackers are exploiting a new Ivanti VPN security bug to hack into company networks (TechCrunch) Apple says Siri isn’t sending your conversations to advertisers (The Verge) Google’s ‘Daily Listen’ lab is a pers...
Jan 09, 2025•16 min
Tons and tons of controversy and fallout from Meta’s announced content moderation changes yesterday. I’ve got I think a fair, comprehensive rundown of all the angles. Interesting new rounds for Bluesky and Anthropic. And the coolest stuff I’ve seen from CES thus far, including: are rollable laptop screens finally ready for prime time? Sponsors: Acorns.com/ride Links: Meta’s fact-checking changes are just what Trump’s FCC head asked for (The Verge) Social-Media Companies Decide Content Mode...
Jan 08, 2025•17 min
Meta is completely revamping its fact-checking program, going instead with a version of Community Notes. A new Tesla recall, but for a different reason. Dell is taking rebranding to new, Google-like lows. All the headlines from a jam-packed Nvidia keynote. And what about an AI copilot but for gaming? Sponsors: LinkedIn.com/ride Links: US opens probe into 2.6 million Tesla vehicles over remote driving feature (Reuters) Getty Images and Shutterstock agree to merge (Axios) Getty Images ...
Jan 07, 2025•18 min
Sam Altman says AGI isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? Superintelligence. Why is nobody using Meta’s AI profiles? Keep an eye on Zuck, is my advice. The big trend at CES so far is AI inside smart TVs. And our first day wrap up of some of the cool things we’ve seen so far at CES. Sponsors: Oracle.com/techmeme Links: Reflections (Sam Altman's Blog) Meta's AI Profiles Are Indistinguishable From Terrible Spam That Took Over Facebook (404 Media) Samsung spreads Vision AI across its 2025 TV portfolio (...
Jan 06, 2025•16 min
Apple pays a fine cause Siri was listening in on what you said. Strava does a tie-in with Apple Fitness+. Net Neutrality is dead again, and it looks like for good this time. The nuclear winter in the VC space, CES is coming for us all, and a Weekend Longreads Suggestion. Links: Apple to pay $95 million to settle Siri privacy lawsuit (Reuters) Apple Fitness Plus and Strava are collaborating with a new integration (The Verge) US appeals court blocks Biden administration effort to resto...
Jan 03, 2025•18 min
Among other things, learn how Miami Vice inspired the Golden Girls, how the Golden Girls helped finance the making of the movie Reservoir Dogs, whether or not Betty White and Bea Arthur hated each other, where the Golden Girls house was, and the real ages of the actresses when they were playing Golden Girls. Special guest, Christina Warren, @film_girl ! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Jan 01, 2025•1 hr 2 min
AT&T and Verizon say they’ve rooted out Salt Typhoon. Trump asks the Supreme Court to intervene in the TikTok situation. All the banks want to be like Tether. And as we slide into this new year, it’s a USB-C world now, we’re just living in it. Links: AT&T, Verizon Say Networks Now Clear After Salt Typhoon Hack (Bloomberg) Trump Asks Supreme Court to Pause Law Threatening TikTok Ban (Bloomberg) Biden administration proposes new cybersecurity rules to limit impact of healthcare...
Dec 30, 2024•18 min
Microsoft and OpenAI are reportedly having problems deciding how make this whole, reclassifying as for-profit thing work. Oh, also, they secretly decided on a new definition of artificial general intelligence that is tied to tangible dollar value. At the tail end of the year, the most interesting new AI model of the year. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Links: Microsoft and OpenAI Wrangle Over Terms of Their Blockbuster Partnership (The Information) Microsoft and OpenAI’...
Dec 27, 2024•19 min
Was Calvin And Hobbes the greatest comic strip ever? Or maybe a great work of art of the 20th Century? Why did Bill Watterson disappear? Was Calvin "good" (morally)? Was Hobbes "real"? Why were there never any toys? Would we ever really want Calvin and Hobbes to come back? With special guest @kibblesmith ! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Dec 25, 2024•1 hr 33 min
How about a Ring Doorbell, but from Apple? How about Meta Ray Ban’s but crossed with Google Glass? How everybody is combining forces to bid for defense contracts. How Tether won the crypto profitability wars. And how Britannica has not only survived the Internet era, but is actually thriving? Sponsors: 1Password.com/ride Links: Apple Explores a Face ID Doorbell and Lock Device in Smart Home Push (Bloomberg) Meta to add display to Ray-Bans as race over smart glasses intensifies (FT) P...
Dec 23, 2024•16 min
Gemini Flash Thinking a model making a serious run at “reasoning.” The FAA has had to ban drones in New Jersey cause of all those weird drone sightings. Self Driving technology continues to prove it is safer. An open source generative physics engine for robots. Sponsors: WashingtonPost.com/ride Links: Google reveals AI ‘reasoning’ model that ‘explicitly shows its thoughts’ (The Verge) FAA Bans Drone Flights in Parts of New Jersey (Bloomberg) Instagram teases AI editing tools that wil...
Dec 20, 2024•16 min
Apple says Meta is getting annoying. You can now call 1800CHATGPT to, you know, talk to ChatGPT. Apple scraps plans for a hardware subscription package. Oura’s big new raise also indicates how well its smart-ring business is going. And has Bengaluru grown to quickly for its own good? Links: Apple hits out at Meta's numerous interoperability requests (Reuters) OpenAI makes ChatGPT available for phone calls and texts (CNBC) Apple Halts Effort to Build iPhone Hardware Subscription Servi...
Dec 19, 2024•17 min
Is your home internet router about to be banned? The US has a new Chinese tech target. An AI dev kit from Nvidia. Who actually buys the most chips from Nvidia? Hollywood has flip-flopped on the whole theatrical release strategy. And why Instagram is officially king of the hill at Meta. Sponsors: Lumen.me/ride Links: U.S. Weighs Ban on Chinese-Made Router in Millions of American Homes (WSJ) Nvidia's new $249 AI development board promises 67 TOPS at half the price of the previous 40 TOPS mod...
Dec 18, 2024•17 min
On the same day that ByteDance asks the US Supreme Court to intervene, the TikTok CEO meets with Donald Trump. DeepMind’s big new competitor to Sora called Veo 2. The FTC comes down against so called “junk fees.” And on their historic raise, a deep dive look at Databricks, one of the biggest private companies in the world. Sponsors: Miro.com Links: Trump meets with TikTok CEO as video app challenges potential ban (NBCNews) TikTok Asks Supreme Court to Block Law Banning Its U.S. Operations ...
Dec 17, 2024•17 min
I break down the coming battle of the titans that is going to likely play out in 2025 between Sam Altman and Elon Musk. Mark Gurman says Apple is finally going foldable. Oh, and that Magic Mouse is finally that sin against God charger design. Every country wants a Starlink. And the big legal battle happening this week. Links: Meta Urges California Attorney General to Stop OpenAI From Becoming For-Profit (WSJ) OpenAI hits back at Elon Musk's lawsuit in court filing (Axios) Sam Altman reckons with...
Dec 16, 2024•17 min
Brian on The Newsworthy podcast with Erica Mandy. Find out more about the show here . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Dec 14, 2024•17 min
Ok, what if AI models are really the new OS for… everything. But also: smartglasses and a Vision Pro competitor. I’ll explain. Could NotebookLM become a fully fledged product? Seemingly the leader in the clubhouse in the race to create the next AI paradigm beyond the transformer model. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Links: I saw Google’s plan to put Android on your face (The Verge) Google’s NotebookLM AI podcast hosts can now talk to you, too (The Verge) Google says its...
Dec 13, 2024•19 min
More fallout from the whole Cruise wind-down. What it’s like to use some of the new Gemini 2.0 features. Has Apple, quite belatedly, finally done a feature update that provides the Vision Pro with a “killer app?” An Instagram-like app from China I had never heard of. And one singular, eye-popping datapoint from the CHIPS Act. Links: The end of Cruise is the beginning of a risky new phase for autonomous vehicles (The Verge) Gemini 2.0 Flash: An outstanding multi-modal LLM with a sci-fi stre...
Dec 12, 2024•16 min
GM shocked everybody by shutting down the Cruise robotaxi business. ChatGPT is finally on your iPhone once you update it. Could all Apple watches someday have satellite texting? And then, I guess Google wanted to pre-empt Santa Sam, because they released an absolute slew of AI products today. Links: GM to refocus autonomous driving development on personal vehicles (GM Investor Relations) GM Calls It Quits on Mary Barra’s $50 Billion Robotaxi Dream (Bloomberg) Apple’s Next Ultra Smart...
Dec 11, 2024•17 min
You can now buy a car on Amazon. A new AI unicorn doing something with AI I hadn’t heard about before. New AI enhanced smartglasses. Microsoft says it has a new datacenter design that uses zero water. And if you were able to use Sora yesterday, what was that like? Sponsors: Shopify.com/ride Links: You Can Buy a Car on Amazon Now (Wired) US finalizes $6.1 bln Micron chip-making subsidy (Reuters) Memory chip maker Micron’s $6.1 billion grant confirmed by Commerce Dept. (Washingto...
Dec 10, 2024•17 min
OpenAI’s Sora model is here! TikTok is still in trouble. China does more turnabouts is fair play, this time with Nvidia. I Apple, belatedly, getting serious about gaming on the Vision Pro? And did Google just make a huge, historic leap forward in quantum computing? Sponsors: 1Password.com/ride MackWeldon.com promocode: brian Links: Sora is here (OpenAI) OpenAI’s controversial Sora is finally launching today. Will it truly disrupt Hollywood? (LATimes) OpenAI releases Sora, its buzzy AI video-gene...
Dec 09, 2024•15 min
Santa Sam has made his first delivery of the promised 12 days of launches from OpenAI. David Sacks is named the AI and Crypto Czar. Samsung’s entire UI is getting a radical overhaul. OpenAI is seemingly about to restructure everything. No more Surface Studios? And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Links: OpenAI is charging $200 a month for an exclusive version of its o1 ‘reasoning’ model (The Verge) Trump Names David Sacks as White House AI and Crypto Czar (Bloomberg) He...
Dec 06, 2024•21 min
Bitcoin crosses the big $100k mark for the first time. We now know who Trump wants to fill the roles Silicon Valley cares about the most. Is Amazon about to become a top tier AI model player? Two new models from Google DeepMind, one of them promises to revolutionize weather prediction. And Waymo says bienvenido a Miami. Sponsors: WashingtonPost.com/ride Links: Crypto Trading Volume Surged to $10 Trillion for the First Time in November (Bloomberg) Trump Picks Paul Atkins to Run the S.E.C. &...
Dec 05, 2024•17 min
Amid the Salt Typhoon hack, the US government wants you and me to go encrypted. Ubisoft shuts down XDefiant. Spotify Wrapped 2024 has NotebookLM baked right into it. And Google’s text to video AI model has beaten Sora to market, but is Sam Altman about to get all Santa on us? Sponsors: Lumen.me/ride Links: U.S. officials urge Americans to use encrypted apps amid unprecedented cyberattack (NBCNews) Ubisoft shutting down XDefiant in 2025, laying off half of its team (Polygon) Spotify W...
Dec 04, 2024•17 min
The search for a new Intel CEO has begun in earnest, but a change in leadership probably makes a wholesale transformation of the company more likely. China goes tit for tat on banning things. Why ChatGPT can’t say certain names. And how is that shopping with AI agents thing going? Links: Exclusive: Intel's CEO-shortlist candidates include former board member Lip-Bu Tan, sources say (Reuters) Intel CEO Forced Out by Board Frustrated With Slow Progress (Bloomberg) China retaliates agai...
Dec 03, 2024•18 min
Pat Gelsinger is out at Intel. So where do they go from here? The first announces from the AWS re:Invent conference. More signs that crypto is in the ascendency. Elon files to block OpenAI from going for profit. Is he the greatest threat to that company? And a new startup taking on Nvidia. Links: Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger retires (TechCrunch) AWS opens physical outlets that let customers upload their data (TechCrunch) Ripple-Linked XRP Soars to Third-Largest Token After Trump Win  ...
Dec 02, 2024•18 min
It is maybe the one moment of tragedy where most 80s kids remember where they were when it happened. Today, RAD! 80s90s History is looking at the Challenger disaster. Our guest is @fmanjoo See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Nov 29, 2024•1 hr 17 min
Did you know that we could have had the answering machine decades before we actually got to buy one? Why the 1980s and 90s was an unusual time for an innovation explosion in communications technology. The history of the whole AT&T/Ma Bell breakup by the government. And how much did YOU beg your parents to get your own phone line in your bedroom? The guest this episode is the actress Toni Trucks. @tonitrucks See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice a...
Nov 28, 2024•1 hr 8 min
