Elizabeth Lopatto
So which VC is going to throw money at this hot new LLM?
Look, I’m more of an Oxford English Dictionary girlie, but I respect the hustle from Merriam-Webster. I hope our terminally online dictionary raises a cool billion.
Elizabeth Lopatto
Senior Reporter
Senior Reporter
More From Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
Will Gavin Newsom let California regulate AI?
The California governor, who is already angling for a presidential run, has a stack of AI regulation bills he can veto before October 12th. Newsom has a slew of tech donors — and may want more tech money for a presidential run. OpenAI is also staffed up with Newsom-affiliated operators. So will Newsom sign the bills?
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We're about to find out if Silicon Valley owns Gavin Newsom
[Blood in the Machine]
Elizabeth Lopatto
The WSJ notices that the AI industry has an “underpants gnomes” theory of profit.
Current AI spending means the industry needs $2 trillion in annual revenue by 2030, according to estimates from Bain & Co. That’s “more than five times the size of the entire global subscription software market,” write Eliot Brown and Robbie Whelan. But there’s a plan: 1. Build data centers. 2. ???? 3. Profit. Anyway, I’ve been wondering about this for a while now.
Elizabeth Lopatto
Cass Sunstein on Henry Kissinger and... Star Wars?
This interview goes wildly off the rails, starting just before this anecdote:
I wrote a book a few years ago on Star Wars. We invited Dr. Kissinger to my Star Wars book party, and he said, “You wrote a book about Star Wars? Why’d you write a book about Star Wars?” He was puzzled and courteous, but really confused. And then he came to the book party, which was quite generous. He was a busy person.
Can Liberalism Be Saved?
[The New Yorker]
Elizabeth Lopatto
Another gold rush in San Francisco.
Delightful scene report about a bunch of children who think they’re building god. Highlights include: appearances from Dumpster Boyfriend, “a sperm-racing start-up,” and “Carsten, a Swiss German 27-year-old who was designing AI-involved sandals but recently pivoted to drug testing.” Claude, is this a top signal?
The AI Kids Take San Francisco
[Intelligencer]
Elizabeth Lopatto
A profile of Larry Ellison and his budding media empire.
Fun tidbits here, including that if all the proposed acquisitions and mergers go through, “portfolio and power could exceed those of fabled predecessors like Hearst and Pulitzer.” This is to say nothing of the broader family’s holdings.
Larry Ellison, a Media Mogul Like No Other
[nytimes.com]
Elizabeth Lopatto
The Vice President of the US has blessed hunting people down for Charlie Kirk wrongthink.
Elizabeth Lopatto
The Wall Street Journal’s fuckup while covering Charlie Kirk’s killing needs more than an editor’s note.
Elizabeth Lopatto