The age of the AI device is upon us. At this year's Consumer Electronics Show, the undisputed star was the Rabbit R1, a standalone AI companion device which uses a 'large action model' to understand the things you like doing on your apps and platforms, and does them for you.  Will it work? Who knows. But Raph bought one. We discussed the hype about the Rabbit, as well as some of the other currents in AI devices which have emerged since the last time we talked about them. Links Say Hello to Rabbit R1: A Tiny Orange Box That Trades Phone Apps for AI – CNET See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The podcast discusses the recent lawsuit between the New York Times and OpenAI over copyright infringement. It explores the impact of AI on the future of content and journalism, comparing how AI and humans consume information. OpenAI's response and collaboration with news organizations is also discussed, along with the financial implications of hiring lawyers. The concept of AI gatekeepers and its disruption in the news industry is explored, highlighting the parallel between Google and OpenAI.

Happy New Year! We trust you're all well. Today, we're looking back on the 2023 that was – diving into some of the episodes we recorded and checking in how those things landed at the end of the year. These include: Afterpay/BNPL Crypto and NFTs Tech layoffs Instant groceries Dating apps See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is part 3 of Down Round's Christmas and New Years production, all recorded in one session. To get every part, sign up to Premium here. The Down Round Community is overflowing with geniuses. The next trillion dollar company will no doubt be founded by someone who is currently paying us $7 a month, representing one of the highest ROI investments anyone could make. For today's episode of the Down Round Experience, we're taking your pitches. Our Discord community came with the ideas, and we're evaluating them in the inaugutal Down Round Shark Tank. Joining us is producer and musician Joyride (Rowan Dix) from The Meeting Tree, whose enterpreneurial nous fills out the panel.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is part two of our marathon holiday record. This is a preview – the full episode is available for premium subs. Sign up here. The Down Round holiday episodes continue. As the beers continue to flow, we turn our critical attention to another major tech event of December: the hack and leak of Insomniac Games, a first-party developer owned by Sony.  Links Insomniac finally responds to hack that leaked ‘Wolverine’ game and more – The Verge GTA 6 hacker handed indefinite hospital order – BBC See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to our holiday special. We have recorded a marathon 4 hour podcast with much holiday spirit (we got drunk), and will be dropping it in parts throughout the holiday season. We started with a quick reflection on the latest news: Bird Scooters has gone under, and Adobe's planned acquisition of Figma has collapsed.  Plus, due to listener demand, we explain our not particularly complex recording and editing process. Our original Adobe episode. Descript audio/video editorSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We had it all planned out. A huge Xmas bonanza episode featuring guests, fun, laughs and all you could ever want from a Down Round variety show. But then Raph was struck by a mystery illness and we had to delay it by several days. So, until then, enjoy this delightful backup episode where we dig into the world's biggest companies by market cap, and opine on our future. It isn't financial advice. But we would not blame you if you took it that way.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is a preview of a premium post. To subscribe and get the full episode, go here. For many years, Apple has enforced iPhone dominance by refusing to adopt modern text messaging standards, meaning group chats and multimedia messages between iPhones and Android devices has been fundamentally broken. But last month, Apple announced it would adopt the RCS standard. But at the same time, it came down hard on Beeper Mini, an app which purported to bring the locked down iMessage experience to Android. In this ep, we dive into iMessage and the weird politics of the green bubble. Links Apple has seemingly found a way to block Android’s new iMessage app – The Verge Apple announces that RCS support is coming to iPhone next year - 9to5Mac Google's site pleading Apple to adopt RCS See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Poor Google. What used to be possibly the best business in human history has taken a few heavy body blows after the rise of generative AI, with the folks in Mountain View no longer looking like the obvious winners of the internet age. Though they were instrumental in building our current AI moment, companies like OpenAI are hogging the limelight. But they've been trying to wrestle that crown back. This month, Google announced Gemini, the model it hopes will challenge OpenAI. But will it? It already seems like it won't be that easy. We discuss. Links The demonstration video Google just launched a new AI and has already admitted at least one demo wasn’t real - The Verge See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is a preview of a premium post. To subscribe and get the full episode, go here. You probably know the story by now. Elon Musk replied positively to a weirdo's anti-Semitic post, which led to an advertiser exodus and Elon melting down at the New York Times DealBook conference. Now, X seems increasingly loaded up with crap tier chum advertising, which is never usually a good sign for a platform. Is the company spiralling? Is it at death's door? Who knows, but it's fun to talk about with friends.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.