New post format: a weekly roll up of links, comments on news, activity updates and attempts at humor. The intention is quicker hits in addition to the less frequent big posts, plus more timely nattering on about my favorite topics. We made it to week two!
Another Day, Another Google Communications App
2-4-6-8: Deprecate! Don’t think I realized this one existed.
Related: Killed By Google
Italy Makes OpenAI Offer They Can’t Refuse
Italy shakes down OpenAI to comply with GDPR, which looks ever more surreal when applied to LLMs. The day will come when, instead of accommodating increasingly surreal bureaucratic edicts, companies may just decline to serve Europe or provide a neutered version of product (“EI: its AI, but for Europe”).
Related: rest of Europe wants to get in on this game with “tough new measures” and “hoped to align” 😜
Related: Tim O’Reilly: “You Can’t Regulate What You Don’t Understand” (works at multiple levels)
“EU says Broadcom’s proposed VMware deal could restrict competition“
“The European Commission on Wednesday said U.S. chipmaker Broadcom’s proposed $61 billion takeover of cloud computing company VMware could restrict competition in the market for certain hardware components.” Almost makes one suspect some of those component makers are European. No mention of other potential consequences of this deal.
“Thoma Bravo lost out in race for coveted tech group amid antitrust fears“
Qualtrics (aka SurveyMonkey but “for the enterprise”) was “coveted”? Perhaps if you’re rolling up competitors. I am going to write about antitrust and private equity because they pair together so well.
“Ahem, We Do AI Too”: Amazon Edition
Still way too much time dedicated to revisionist history but Amazon is slowly waking up. They don’t seem to have Google-esque safetyism, so what is the problem?
“Ahem, We Do AI Too”: IBM Edition
IBM PR pitch: “If AI is hot, Watson must be back!”
Entrepreneur magazine (renowned for its savvy tech takes): “Sure, we’ll print that!”
Related: IBM belatedly cleaning up other business messes that start with W. WebSphere up next?
Best Descriptor for Chinese LLMs: ChatXi or ChatCCP?
What happens if you train a LLM solely on the corpus of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for the New Era? Will there be a Great Stochastic Firewall?
Best Nickname for Emmanuel Macron: Le Petit Fromage or Piglet?
Not content with his efforts to be Putin’s Parisian pal, the French President also wants to be China’s chum and definitely not an American “vassal”.
Related: China bans Winnie the Pooh film after comparisons to President Xi
Fundraising in Saudi Arabia
It’s one thing to be a traditional amoral financier but the degree of difficulty goes up when you have to walk the fine line between your American Dynamism investing thesis and taking money from Bone Saw Fund L.P.
I spoke with @Ned1313 and @ecbanks on the @DayTwoCloudShow about CAPEX (what else?) and what evidence there is, if any, of cloud repatriation actually happening. Did my “Google Cloud is a hobby” spiel again.
Podcast link
