Podcast: The IPO
On Bloomberg's The Big Take podcast to discuss Anthropic's S-1 filing.
Column: Alphabet’s Wobbly Quarter Is No Sign of a Crisis
Not long ago, investors were deeply concerned that people would stop using Google altogether in favor of a competing AI product. Instead, the company has moved quickly to defend its position, and those fears have been largely unfounded. Search-query growth is at its highest in half a decade, the company disclosed on Wednesday. Monetization comes next, and investors need to be patient as the company manages that transition.
Alphabet’s Wobbly Quarter Is No Sign of a Crisisbloomberg.comInvestors were thoroughly unimpressed with Alphabet Inc.’s third-quarter earnings on Wednesday evening. Shares tumbled nearly 11% after the company missed sales and profit expectations. It was a sign, Bloomberg News reported, that Wall Street wasn’t satisfied that Google is seeing enough of a return on its artificial-intelligence bets.TV: Anthropic's 'anti-sell' S-1 on Businessweek Daily
Column: Anthropic Is Bringing the ‘Anti-Sell’ Strategy to Its IPO
Ahead of going public in mid-November, Anthropic has offered up to Wall Street an anti-sell S-1 prospectus, a doomsday document seeking to weed out investors who might not be able to stomach what lies ahead.
Anthropic Is Bringing the ‘Anti-Sell’ Strategy to Its IPObloomberg.comIn the introduction to Anthropic PBC’s filing for its initial public offering, published on Monday morning, the AI lab’s co-founders talk about the “anti-sell” they give prospective employees. It’s described as “a pitch deliberately designed to be unappealing to those who are a poor fit … while appealing to the type of person we want to hire.”Column: Meta’s Muse Can’t Be a Freeloader’s Paradise Forever
It’s easy to build a popular and useful service if money is no object. Think Club Tropicana, a great song about a questionable business model: The drinks were free. That’s where Meta Platforms Inc.’s AI assistant, Muse, is today: a breakout success, but one that Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg admitted on Wednesday is too expensive to scale because he’s basically giving it away.
Meta’s Muse Can’t Be a Freeloader’s Paradise Foreverbloomberg.comWhen I introduced my mother to Uber, she asked whether it was always the same driver. Imagine that! Some poor guy waiting around all day on the off chance I’d need a car. Uber’s innovation, obviously, was to pair me with any available driver nearby. Only then was it economical — and it still took more than a decade for the idea to turn a profit.Column: The Good Guys Notch a Victory in the AI-Cybersecurity Age
But like a thwarted terror attack, or the Year 2000 problem, the general feeling of a nothingburger can disguise the behind-the-scenes heroics that have — so far — averted catastrophe. That’s the case here: an incident that should be considered the most significant victory for the good guys so far in the new AI-cybersecurity age, a boon for the cybersecurity industry eager to prove it’s more valuable than ever.
The Good Guys Notch a Victory in the AI-Cybersecurity Agebloomberg.comThe headlines were unremarkable. Researchers had found a way to weaponize two vulnerabilities in PHP, a programming language used for websites and apps, and companies were being urged on Wednesday to install a patch. A smattering of websites and services were taken offline while it was installed. The US said it was looking into government systems and expediting mitigations. The media barely blinked.Column: Meta Investors Are Looking to Zuckerberg for the Muse Payoff
Muse can’t take the entire AI industry’s weight on its shoulders, but it can offer good signals on the moneymaking potential of consumer AI agents.
Meta Investors Are Looking to Zuckerberg for the Muse Payoffbloomberg.comMeta Platforms Inc. leads the tech pack this week, reporting its third-quarter earnings a week ahead of most of its peers. Take that as a sign of confidence, perhaps. The positive reception to the company’s Muse assistant has Wall Street investors wondering whether the personal artificial-intelligence agent is proof of an AI business model they have been desperately seeking.Column: Apple’s HomeView Is Boring on Purpose
The stakes are much higher today. Winning the home might mean winning consumer artificial intelligence.
Apple’s HomeView Is Boring on Purposebloomberg.comWhat do you mean it doesn’t wheel around the house with a long extendable neck? Sorry — it doesn’t fly? Zzzzz. Apple’s HomeView is so boring. Which is entirely the point.TV: Talking Muse honeymoon on The Close
Column: Meta’s Muse Is Ending Its Honeymoon Phase on Solid Ground
What Meta investors need to see now is proof that those who bought into the Muse idea are actually finding it useful. Users are fickle and will gladly abandon apps after mere minutes unless given a compelling reason to stick around.
Meta’s Muse Is Ending Its Honeymoon Phase on Solid Groundbloomberg.comYou can barely take a step on the New York subway lately without seeing the face of Meta Platforms Inc.’s furry Muse AI assistant. I’ve written already about how impressed I’ve been with the form and function of the breakthrough bot. Now, attention must move to assessing whether Muse has long-term staying power — or whether its launch will be just a flash in the pan.Elsewhere: CBS News - Amazon smart glasses
On CBS News discussing my Amazon smart glasses column.
Column: Apple’s Year Hinges on the Foldable iPhone Duo
A big question Apple Inc. analysts are asking is: How many consumers are waiting for the iPhone Duo?
Apple’s Year Hinges on the Foldable iPhone Duobloomberg.comA big question Apple Inc. analysts are asking is: How many consumers are waiting for the iPhone Duo?Video: Amazon's 'dystopian' smart glasses
Column: Amazon Drivers’ Smart Glasses Are Going to Be an Image Problem
Missing from the October announcement, however, was the true extent of the data that the glasses would be gathering: Static images of whatever the wearer sees, potentially several thousand captures in a single driver’s typical shift. The pictures taken would be of a quality “equivalent or lower than the standard proof of delivery photos,” Amazon said but declined to disclose the precise resolution. The images will be used with the company’s Wellspring platform, a system “powered by generative AI” that pulls together multiple data sources to map out neighborhoods for faster delivery.
Amazon Drivers’ Smart Glasses Are Going to Be an Image Problembloomberg.comComing soon up a garden path near you: an Amazon.com Inc. driver wearing smart glasses, almost constantly taking pictures and sending them back to the company to be analyzed by humans and fed into an AI system.Column: Can Sam Altman Catch Up While Slowing Down?
Sam Altman’s task is to demonstrate that his company can catch up with Meta while sending a clear message that it has a handle on the reckless behavior of its most powerful AI. Striking that balance will not be straightforward — a huge test for the perennially under-pressure 41-year-old boss.
Can Sam Altman Catch Up While Slowing Down?bloomberg.comStarting Tuesday, OpenAI will convene its annual developer conference. The timing isn’t ideal.