Techmeme
October 12, 2024, 3:25 PM

Top News

Gary Marcus / Marcus on AI:
Apple AI researchers say they found no evidence of formal reasoning in language models and their behavior is better explained by sophisticated pattern matching  —  Important new study from Apple  —  A superb new article on LLMs from six AI researchers at Apple who were brave enough …
Wes Davis / The Verge:
Threads users criticize Meta after the company posted AI-generated images of the Aurora Borealis on its Threads account  —  Meta has a suggestion for folks like me who forgot to go outside and look at the Northern Lights on Thursday night: just use AI to fake it!
Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal:
A profile of, and interview with, Meta's Yann LeCun, who says today's AI models aren't intelligent and warnings about AI's existential peril are “complete B.S.”  —  Yann LeCun, an NYU professor and senior researcher at Meta Platforms, says warnings about the technology's existential peril are ‘complete B.S.’
More: AIM and Cafe Hayek
Threads: @yannlecunMastodon: @jeffjarvis@mastodon.socialLinkedIn: Rahul Chadha and Hilal Lashuel
Mathew Ingram / The Torment Nexus:
Matt Mullenweg's feud with WP Engine not only presents a significant conflict of interest but has also dragged the WordPress community into a legal mess  —  Hi everyone!  Mathew Ingram here.  This is The Torment Nexus (you can find out more about me and this newsletter — and why I chose to call it that — in my inaugural post.)
Dario Amodei:
An essay on what a “powerful AI” may look like and how it could positively transform the world in biology, neuroscience, economic development, work, and more  —  How AI Could Transform the World for the Better  —  I think and talk a lot about the risks of powerful AI.
Rozanna Latiff / Reuters:
TikTok is laying off hundreds of employees globally, including less than 500 in Malaysia, as it shifts focus towards a greater use of AI in content moderation  —  Social media platform TikTok is laying off hundreds of employees from its global workforce, including a large number of staff in Malaysia …
Charlie Warzel / The Atlantic:
The bleak online discourse about hurricanes Milton and Helene revealed not just a misinformation crisis in the US but a cultural assault on reality itself  —  The truth is, it's getting harder to describe the extent to which a meaningful percentage of Americans have dissociated from reality.
Bloomberg:
Investigation: Uber and Lyft lockouts for 800+ NYC drivers occurred almost every hour of every day, saving the companies hundreds of millions of dollars in pay  —  One August morning in south Brooklyn, Mohamed Mohamed did what he's done almost every day for nine years: He woke up at 5 a.m. …
Hannah Lang / Reuters:
Adobe expects US BNPL spending to grow 11.4% YoY to $18.5B in Q4 2024; the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia says most BNPL users make their payments on time  —  As Amazon's Prime Day kicked off the holiday shopping season this week, U.S. consumers are expected to spend a record $18.5 billion using buy …
Dan Primack / Axios:
PitchBook: VCs in the US invested $37.5B via 2,794 deals in Q3 2024, down 32% QoQ, despite some big AI rounds, as a lack of exits restricts new deal activity  —  Venture capital's lack of exits is restricting new deal activity, according to the latest PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor.
More: PitchBook

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Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:
AI Device Wars Heat Up, RIP Metaverse?, Netflix Acquires Warner Brothers
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
The Social Radars:
Blake Scholl, Founder & CEO of Boom Supersonic
Come be a fly on the wall as Y Combinator's Jessica Livingston and Carolynn Levy talk to some of the most successful founders in Silicon Valley about how they did it.
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Grit:
The Pull to Build: Joubin Mirzadegan on Grit and Starting Roadrunner
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
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Lenny's Podcast:
The 100-person AI lab that became Anthropic and Google's secret weapon | Edwin Chen (Surge AI)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
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Channels with Peter Kafka:
"Hollywood is Truly Freaked Out." Inside the Netflix/WBD Deal with Lucas Shaw
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
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More News

Timothy B Lee / Understanding AI:
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Mia Sato / The Verge:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Earlier Picks

New York Times:
Steve Dent / Engadget:
Business Insider:
NPR: