Welcome to the Techmeme Ride Home for Thursday, August 15th, 2024. I'm Brian McCullough. Today, the new version of Grok Will Pretty Much Let You Make an AI image of anything or anyone. More rumors of an iPad, robot, smart home hybrid from Apple of some sort. Massa Saun wanted Intel to spin up a competitor to Nvidia, but Intel reportedly couldn't hack it. And if Saun is going to just say, hack with it, and re-release their old app that actually worked. Here's a chimis today in the world of tech.
So, may I culp a story I considered doing yesterday, but past on doing was the release of Grok 2 and Grok 2 many, the new models from XAI, Elon Musk's Entrant Into The AI Sweepstakes. I kind of figured, well, you know, XAI is not really considered to be state of the art yet, and I've been doing too many. Somebody just released a new model story recently, so,
again, I decided against doing it. My mistake, because images generated by the new Grok have been all over social media over the last few hours, including images like Barack Obama doing cocaine and Donald Trump and Kamala Harris with guns, raising questions about Grok's guardrails, or I guess relative lack thereof. So what I missed was the do whatever you want, angle from Grok, and also the platform that X still is in terms of getting things
into the narrative of the day. Again, my apologies, but catching up. Quoting the verge. Grok will tell you it has guardrails if you ask it something like, what are your limitations on image generation, among other things it promised us. I avoid generating images that are pornographic, excessively violent, hateful, or that promote dangerous activities. I'm cautious about creating images that might infringe on existing copyrights or trademarks.
This includes well-known characters, logos, or any content that could be considered intellectual property without a transformative element. I won't generate images that could be used to deceive or harm others, like deep fakes intended to mislead or images that could lead to real world harm. But these probably aren't real rules, just likely sounding predictive
answers being generated on the fly. Asking multiple times will get you variations with different policies, some of which sounded distinctly unexcish, like be mindful of cultural sensitivities. We've asked XAI if guardrails do exist, but the company hasn't yet responded to a request for comment. Grok's text version will refuse to do things like help you make cocaine, a standard move for chatbots, but image prompts that would be immediately blocked
on other services are fined by Grok. Among other queries, the verge has successfully prompted Donald Trump wearing a Nazi uniform, a recognizable Trump in a dark uniform with a misshapen iron cross in Signea. Antifa curbs stomping a police officer, a result two police officers running into each other like football players against a backdrop of protesters carrying flags.
Sexy Taylor Swift, a reclining Taylor Swift in a semi-transparent black lace bra, Bill Gates sniffing a line of cocaine from a table with a Microsoft logo, a man who slightly resembles Bill Gates leaning over a Microsoft logo with white powder streaming from his nose. Barack Obama stabbing Joe Biden with a knife, resulting in a smiling Barack Obama holding a knife near
the throat of a smiling Joe Biden while lightly stroking his face. That's on top of various awkward images like Mickey Mouse with a cigarette and a mega hat, Taylor Swift in a plane flying toward the twin towers, and a bomb blowing up the Taj Mahal. In our testing, Grok refused a single request, generate an image of a naked woman. So especially with things like Mickey Mouse, I guess we should prepare for some sort of
lawsuit around this or something, maybe cease and desist, maybe who knows? It's such a gray area still. Section 230 protections might apply because these are users doing this right. Or, you know, this is just a tool. You can't sue Microsoft if I cut and paste in copyrighted material and then try to pass it off as my own on the show. Also, anyone who wants to sue XAI around this would have to go up against a very loud and public Elon
Musk, which who wants to do that? And maybe that's part of the calculation here. Mark German sources say Apple is now prioritizing the development of a tabletop home device with an iPad-like display, but also a robotic limb. They're apparently aiming for a release in 2026 or 2027 in the price range of around a thousand bucks.
Quoting Bloomberg. The company now has a team of several hundred people working on this device, which uses a thin robotic arm to move around a large screen, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The product, which relies on actuators to tilt the display up and down and make it spin 360 degrees, would offer a twist on the home products like
Amazon's Echo Show 10 and Meta Platform's discontinued portal. The device is envisioned as a smart home command center, a video conferencing machine and remote controlled home security tool said people who asked not to be identified because of the work isn't public. The project, codenamed J595, was approved by Apple's executive team in 2022, but has started to formally
ramp up in recent months. They said the shift into robotics is part of a broader effort to boost sales and capitalize on Apple intelligence, a suite of artificial intelligence technology that's coming to the iPhone iPad and Mac this year. The company is also seeking new growth opportunities after any efforts to develop a self-driving car earlier this year.
Apple's industrial design team has been exploring tabletop robotic concepts for years, but there wasn't consensus within the company, including the software engineering organization and marketing teams, over whether to move forward. Apple's marketing group was concerned that consumers wouldn't be willing to pay for such
a product. Top software engineering executives, meanwhile, fredded about the staffing resources it would require to build the necessary software, but chief executive officer Tim Cook is seen as a proponent of the device, as is John Ternis, the company's head of hardware engineering. Apple has now decided to prioritize the device's development and is aiming for a debut as early
as 2026 or 2027, according to the people. The company is looking to get the price down to around $1,000, but with years to go before an expected release, the plans could theoretically change. In a sign of support, Apple has made the project the sole responsibility of Kevin Lynch, a veteran executive. He serves as vice president of technology and oversaw the self-driving
car and until recently, Apple's smartwatch and health software engineering efforts. Lynch recently enlisted key lieutenants who helped launch the Apple Watch to work on the tabletop robot as well as well-known robotics researchers and engineers. This has been a weird back and forth week for Apple stories like this. They've been doing some battled Apple stuff one day and then doing things like finally opening up tap to pay
the next. Today is that next day. Apple says developers can now offer NFC transactions using the iPhone's secure element separate from Apple Pay starting in iOS 18.1 with associated fees. Quoting the verge. Apple is going to let developers offer in-app NFC transactions using the secure element starting with iOS 18.1 and as part of the update, you'll also be able to set a default contactless payment app that's accessible when you double-click your iPhone's side button.
Previously, Apple has only allowed Apple Pay to appear when you double-click that button. With this change, developers will be able to offer in-app contactless transactions for a wide variety of apps including in-store payments, car keys, closed loop transit, corporate badges, student IDs, home keys, hotel keys, merchant loyalty and reward cards, and event tickets. Until now, NFC access for third-party apps has been limited to reading tags. Apple's press release
says that government IDs will be supported in the future. The shift follows Apple's offer to open iPhone NFC payments to third-party providers following a European Commission anti-trust investigation. The European Commission announced last month that it had made Apple's commitments legally binding. Getting started building an SD is something you can easily talk yourself out of doing by saying, I don't have enough money to invest yet. Well, that's exactly the point.
A, you don't need a lot to get started and B, you'll never have enough if you never start. Acorns makes it easy to start automatically saving and you don't need a lot of money or expertise to invest with acorns. In fact, you can get started with just your spare change. Acorns recommends an expert built portfolio that fits you and your money goals, then automatically invest your money for you. I like the fact that acorns is like banking with built-in investing.
They'll invest a portion of your money for you automatically, even automatically set aside money for emergencies. You can even invest for shorter term goals like a car or a home. Again, you can get started with just your spare change. Head to acorns.com slash ride or download the Acorns app to start saving and investing for your future today. Again, acorns.com slash ride or
download the Acorns app. Paid non-client endorsement, compensation provides incentive to positively promote acorns, investing involves risk, Acorns Advisors LLC and SEC registered investment advisor. If you important disclosures at acorns.com slash ride. This message is sponsored by Greenlight. A new school year is starting soon and personally,
I cannot leave I've got a fifth grader on my hands. If you're a parent, you want to make this new school year an opportunity for your kids to learn important life skills and continue building independence. And for that, I recommend Greenlight. Greenlight is a debit card and money app for families where kids learn how to save, invest and spend wisely and parents can keep an eye on
their kids new money habits. It's a debit card they can spend how they like, but there's also a chores feature that lets you reward kids for honoring their responsibilities around the house. I've been using that quite heavily, I have to say. Then there's Greenlight's Infinity Plan, which includes the same access to financial literacy education that makes Greenlight a valuable
resource for millions of parents and kids. Plus, there's built-in safety to give you peace of mind with Greenlight Infinity teens can check in without needing to actually check in thanks to family location sharing. They can also call for help when they need it with SOS alerts that connect them to family members 911 or both. No matter which features make the most sense for your household, Greenlight is the easy convenient way for parents to raise financially smart kids and for families
to navigate life together. Sign up for Greenlight today and get your first month free when you go to Greenlight.com slash ride. That's greenlight.com slash ride to try Greenlight for free greenlight.com slash ride. From the sign of the Times file, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has announced a final rule banning the sale of fake reviews and testimonials including AI-generated ones
with fines as high as $50,000 per violation, going in gadget. The new FTC rules address the practice of buying and selling fake consumer reviews including the use of AI-generated consumer
and celebrity testimonials for products or services. They also prevent, quote, providing compensation or other incentives conditioned on the writing of consumer reviews, expressing a particular sentiment, either positive or negative, and prohibit a business from misrepresenting that a website or entity it controls provides independent reviews or opinions about products or services according to a statement released by the FTC. The FTC officially
announced its intent to seek new rules for such practices last October. The Commission has been trying to get control of fake online reviews and testimonials for years. The first such case was resolved in 2019 against the Amazon seller Cure and Capsollations Incorporated. The company was accused of paying for fake feedback for its weight loss products from the Amazon Verified Reviews.com
website and the FTC slapped them with a $12.8 million fine. The FTC has also investigated similar cases against the supplement maker, the Bountiful Company, for, quote, review hijacking, its products reviews and ratings on Amazon that ended with a $600,000 fine and the skincare maker Sunday Riley that created fake online reviews by ordering employees to write them.
The government isn't the only entity trying to discourage the buying and selling of fake reviews, the service recommendation website Yelp created a database that lists businesses who received warnings for posting or buying fake reviews for its Yelp page. Sources are telling the FT that Softbank held talks with Intel about making an AI chip to compete with NVIDIAs. But Intel couldn't meet the demands of such a product, so Softbank is now talking
to TSMC. Negotiations to partner with Intel would have accelerated Softbank's efforts to combine the chip designs of its crown jewel arm with the production expertise of its latest acquisition graph course said people familiar with the matter. Softbank chief executive Masayoshi Saun plans to invest billions of dollars in an attempt to put the Japanese group at the center of the AI
boom by creating a rival to NVIDIA's market leading AI chips. His ambitious scheme which he has pitched to big tech companies encompasses chip production and software through to providing power for the data centers that would house its processors. The talks with Intel failed in recent months in advance of the US chip makers announcement of drastic cost cutting plans including thousands of layoffs in early August. These people said Softbank is now focusing on discussions with Taiwan
semiconductor manufacturing, the world's largest contract chip maker. Using Intel's US Foundry to manufacture AI chips could have allowed Softbank to tap into the Biden administration's chips act
funding to boost domestic semiconductor production. Intel's chief executive Pat Gelsinger is attempting to put the Silicon Valley company back on the leading edge of global chip making after receiving almost 20 billion dollars in funding and loans from the US government and March Intel is investing heavily in an attempt to catch up to rivals TSMC and Samsung in chip manufacturing and land major
new customers for the company's Foundry business. Softbank has blamed Intel for the collapse of the talks these people said claiming the chip maker was incapable of meeting its demands for volume and speed. They also cautioned the talks could start again given the limited number of chip manufacturers with the capabilities needed to produce cutting edge AI processors. Undeterred by the uncertainties surrounding his production plan, Son has pitched some of the world's biggest tech groups including
Google and Meta as he tries to drum up support and financing for his latest venture. Some of the vast investment needed to build a new chip production business could be funded by advance orders from deep pocketed big tech companies said people familiar with this thinking. One element of Sons pitch is that Softbank could help counter the market power of Nvidia
which briefly became the world's most valuable company earlier this year. Nvidia's AI data center chips are by far the most popular on the market with its broad software platform Kuda underpinning its dominance. Finally today sources say Sonos is considering relaunching its old mobile app as it works to improve the redesigned version which launched in May to widespread criticism. If you've not been following this saga, Sonos did the amazing thing of making a whole new version
of their app that is for lack of a better way to say it flat out unusable. You might have seen a recent profanity lace tweet or thread from me I can't remember where I posted it but if you just I don't know say you want to play a song on your Sonos speaker the app will sometimes not be able to do that which is problematic in the you just have one job sense. So quoting the verge Sonos has explored the possibility of re-releasing its previous mobile app for Android and iOS
a clear sign of what an ordeal the company's hurried redesign has become. The verge can report that there have been discussions high up within Sonos about bringing back the prior version of the app known as S2 as the company continues toiling away at improving the performance and addressing bugs with the overhaul design that rolled out in May to a flood of negative feedback. The new Sonos app
currently has a 1.3 star review average on Google Play. Letting customers fall back to the older software could ease their frustrations and reduce at least some of the pressure on Sonos to rectify every issue with the new app. At least for now the redesigned version is all that's available which makes it impossible for some customers to avoid its flaws. The situation has gotten substantially better with recent updates and the app has turned a corner for many but there's still plenty of work
to be done. CEO Patrick Spence has remained insistent that rebuilding the Sonos app from the ground up was the right choice and will make it possible for the company to innovate more frequently and expand into new product categories. But he has also readily acknowledged that Sonos severely let down its customers. While the redesign of the app was and remains the right thing to do,
our execution, my execution fell short of the mark. He said during last week's earnings call, he went on to say quote, the app situation has become a headwind to existing product sales and we believe our focus needs to be addressing the app ahead of everything else. This means delaying the two new major product releases we had planned for Q4 until our app experience meets the level
of quality that we are customers and our partners expect from Sonos. One of those two delayed products is the successor to the Sonos Arc soundbar, codenamed Lasso, and sources tell the Verge that Sonos still hopes to release that product sometime in October. Sonos' fiscal year ends in late September, so October would bring the company into fiscal year 2025 and line up with expensive statement.
Last week's expense estimated that writing the ship is likely to cost between $20 and $30 million in the near term as Sonos works to assuage current customers and keep them from abandoning the company's whole home audio platform. The new app is being updated every two weeks with improvements and spends has said that cadence will continue through the fall as to's potential
return would not change this. Restoring the old app could approve to be a technical headache since Sonos' new software shifts a lot of core functionality to the cloud. This has unquestionably become one of the most turbulent times in Sonos' history. In the span of just a few months, the company has gone from a well-regarded consumer tech brand to a
painful example of what can happen when leadership pushes on new projects to aggressively. Spend some self-admitted that the app controversy has completely overshadowed the release of Sonos' first-ever headphones, the Sonos Ace. Just today Sonos laid off around 100 employees as the fallout from its rushed app makeover continues. Nothing for you today, talk to you tomorrow.