Tech Brew Ride Home - Fri. 06/07 – It’s Backlash Day

Episode Date: June 7, 2024

As we prep for WWDC on Monday, word of a completely new Passwords app from Apple. Also, it’s a day of backlashes. The backlash against Adobe’s terms of service. The backlash against Windows Recall. The new social media app that is riding the backlash against AI. And, of course, the Weekend Longread Suggestions. Sponsors: get.StoryBlok.com/ridehome Links: Here’s Everything Apple Plans to Show at Its AI-Focused WWDC Event (Bloomberg) Apple to Debut Passwords App in Challenge to 1Password, LastPass (Bloomberg) Adobe responds to vocal uproar over new Terms of Service language (VentureBeat) Adobe terms clarified: Will never own your work, or use it for AI training (9to5Mac) A PR disaster: Microsoft has lost trust with its users, and Windows Recall is the straw that broke the camel's back (WindowsCentral) A social app for creatives, Cara grew from 40k to 650k users in a week because artists are fed up with Meta’s AI policies (TechCrunch) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Behind ‘Suicide Squad,’ the Year’s Biggest Video-Game Flop (Bloomberg) The Unistellar Odyssey smart telescope made me question what stargazing means (ArsTechnica) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On April 4th, 2023, around 2 in the morning, a man was found stabbed multiple times on a sidewalk in downtown San Francisco. Hey, who did this to you? What happened next turned the story into a political firestorm. Reports have identified the victim as Bob Lee, the founder of Cash App. From Bloomberg Podcasts, this is Foundering, the Killing of Bob Lee, beginning April 16. Welcome to the Tech Memeride Home for Friday, June 7th, 2024. I'm Brian McCullough today as we prep for WWDC on Monday. Word of a completely new passwords app from Apple.

Also, it's a day of backlashes. The backlash against Adobe's Terms of Service. The backlash against Windows recall. The new social media app that is writing the backlash against AI. And of course, the weekend long read suggestions. Here's what you miss today in the world of tech. Here's your regular warning that Monday's show will be significantly late. as I will be waiting to watch the WWDC keynote in order to summarize it for you.

Mark German, though, has a couple of pieces out right now, summarizing what to expect on Monday. I've got links to those pieces in the show notes. I won't be summarizing all that he said now, but I will make note of two new details from Mark's rundown. Apparently, the branding for the whole new AI system from Apple will be called Apple Intelligence and will account for about half of the keynote presentation itself, which usually runs about two hours. But also, this is interesting. Apple will outline a new

passwords app in MacOS15, iOS 18, and iPadOS 18 powered by ICloudOS 18, powered by ICloud Keychain, which will let users import passwords from rival services. Quoting Mark, the new app is powered by the ICloud keychain, a long existing Apple service that can sync passwords and account information between different devices. This capability was previously hidden inside the company's settings app or presented when a user logs into a website. By turning the feature into a dedicated app, Apple is trying to get more people to use secure passwords and bolster the privacy of its devices. But the move also ramps up competition with third-party software. The new app will take on password managers like OnePass and LastPass, and Apple will allow users to import passwords

from rival services. The app features a list of user logins and splits details into different categories such as accounts, Wi-Fi networks, send pass keys, and Apple-promoted password replacement that relies on Face ID and Touch ID. Like most password managers, the data can be auto-filled into websites and apps when a user goes to log in. The software will also work on the Vision Pro headset and Windows computers. It can support verification codes and serve as an authentication app similar to Google Authenticator, end quote. Adobe has been facing a backlash over its terms of service that say Adobe may access user content via, quote, automated and manual methods to improve its services and software. Quoting Venture Beat. Adobe has been one of the leading

legacy enterprise software companies to embrace generative AI and make it accessible to users through the likes of its proprietary and Enterprise Safe Firefly AI image generation model, generative Phil, and other Gen. Gen.A.I. Features in Photoshop and just today, an AI assistant for its customer experience software, plus much more. But the company has also taken backlash among some of its users and Adobe stock contributors for this pro-Gen AI stance. And lately, as Gen AI tech overall faces an increasing number of critics and doubters, Adobe has found itself in hot water over new terms of service language that it is requiring users to agree to before continuing to use its apps. The TOS doesn't actually mention AI,

apart from a reference to machine learning, which can be used to train Gen AI models, but also many other programs, and a clause stating that AI models cannot be trained on Adobe software. The language of the Adobe Terms of Service sent out this week to many customers of Adobe's Creative Cloud Suite, which counts more than 20 million users globally, states, well, I'm not going to read the whole thing, but continuing to quote from the piece. In particular, users have objected to Adobe's claims that it, quote, may access view or listen to your content through both automated and manual methods using techniques such as machine

learning in order to improve our services and software and the user experience, end quote, many took to be a tacit admission both of surveilling them and of training AI on their content, even confidential content for clients protected under non-disclosure agreements or confidentiality clauses slash contracts between said Adobe users and clients. As San Santala tweeted, So am I reading this right, Adobe Photoshop? I can't use Photoshop unless I'm okay with you having full access to anything I create with it, including NDA work, end quote. ultimately, Adobe appears to be trying to give itself permission to analyze and moderate content uploaded to the Creative Cloud accounts, which it manages for possible illegal activity,

such as child abuse, physical abuse, and non-consensual pornography, or violations of its terms of service, end quote. Indeed, overnight Adobe clarified these terms, saying it does not train Firefly Gen. Gen. AI models on customer content and will never assume ownership of a customer's work. Quoting 9 to 5 Mac. However, the company did subsequently, realize the issue wasn't going to go away until it offered a proper explanation. It did so through a blog post. The company offered a general explanation that it wanted to be transparent about the content checks it performs, along with a change log which highlighted the amendments. The focus of this update was to be clearer about the improvements to our moderation processes that we have in

place. Given the explosion of generative AI and our commitment to responsible innovation, we have added more human moderation to our content submissions review process. The highlighted changes reflect the fact that Adobe now uses manual as well as automated scanning. Specifically, automated flagging will then be escalated for human review. They go on to specify that this review is for CSAM as well as app usage, which breaks the company's terms of use, such as for spamming or hosting adult content outside of the area designated for this. The company also confirmed that thumbnail creation is one reason for the terms. Finally, it offered two key assurances. Quote, Adobe does not train Firefly Gen. A.I. Models on customer content. Firefly generative AI models are trained on a data set of license content,

such as Adobe stock and public domain content where copyright has expired. Adobe will never assume ownership of a customer's work. Adobe hosts content to enable customers to use our applications and services. Customers own their content and Adobe does not assume any ownership of customer work, end quote. Funny enough, something similar is happening with Windows. Quoting Windows Central. It's a nightmare scenario for Microsoft, the headlining feature of its new copilot plus PC initiative, which is supposed to drive millions of PC sales over the next couple of years, is under significant fire for being what many say is a major breach of privacy and security on Windows. The featuring question is Windows Recall, a new AI tool designed to remember

everything you do on Windows. On paper, it's a cool idea. As CEOs such in Adela described it, Windows now has a photographic memory that uses AI to triage and index everything you've ever done on your computer, enabling you to semantically search for things you've seen, using natural language. It's a new and improved way of finding things on Windows, and in our testing of the feature, it works really well. However, for a tool like this to be feasible, trust between the user and the platform is required a luxury Microsoft doesn't appear to have with its Windows user base right now. Recall operates by taking and storing captures of your screen every few seconds to build a database that the user can later search with screenshots as

visual aids. That database is stored locally on your device and never uploaded to the cloud. In fact, Microsoft goes so far as to promise that it cannot see the data collected by Windows Recall, that it can't train any of its AI models on your data, and that it definitely can't sell that data to advertisers. All of this is true, but that doesn't mean people believe Microsoft when it says these things. In fact, many have jumped to the conclusion that even if it's true today, it won't be true in the future. Microsoft is fully aware that the concept of Windows Recall sounds creepy. I know that the company spent a lot of time internally figuring out how to communicate. this feature to the world, but it turns out there's no good way to communicate something like

this when your users don't trust you. Users are describing the feature as literal spyware or malware and droves of people are proclaiming they will proudly switch to Linux or Mac in the wake of it. Microsoft simply doesn't enjoy the same benefit of the doubt that other tech giants like Apple may have. Had Apple announced a feature like recall, there would have been much less backlash, as Apple has done a great job of building loyalty and trust with its users, prioritizing polished software experiences and positioning privacy as a high-level concern for the company. Microsoft, on the other hand, has done a lot to degrade the Windows user experience over the last few years, everything from obtrusive advertisements to full-screen pop-ups, ignoring app defaults,

forcing a Microsoft account, and more have eroded the trust relationship between Windows users and Microsoft. It's no surprise that users are already assuming that Microsoft will eventually end up collecting that data and using it to shape advertisements for you. That really would be a huge invasion of privacy and people fully expect Microsoft to do it, and I can't help but feel like it's those bad Windows practices that have led people to this conclusion, end quote. Kara, an artist-run anti-AI social network, has grown from 40 to 650,000 users in just the past week alone, as some Instagram artists are leaving Instagram over plans to train AI on user data. Kara has been at the top of the App Store charts.

Have you noticed a sort of unplanned theme here to the segments today? Today's the day of backlashes. It's weird how things kind of work out like that sometimes. Quoting TechCrunch. Instagram is a necessity for many artists who use the platform to promote their work and solicit paying clients. But Meta is using public posts to train its generative AI systems, and only European users can opt out since they're protected by GDPR laws.

Generative AI has become so front and center on meta's apps that artists reached their breaking point. When you put AI so much in their face and then give them the option to opt out, but then increase the friction to opt out, I think that increases their anger level. Like, okay, now I've really had enough. Gigno Zang, a renowned photographer and founder of Kara, told TechCrunch, Kara, which has both a web and mobile app, is like a combination of Instagram and X, but built specifically for artists. On your profile, you can host a portfolio of work, but you can also post updates to your feed like any other micro-blogging site. Zhang is perfectly positioned to Helman Artiscentric Social Network, where they can post without the risk of becoming part of a training dataset for AI. Zhang has fought on behalf of artists recently winning an appeal in a Luxembourg court over a painter who copied one of

her photographs, which she shot for Harper's Bazaar Vietnam. Zhang and three other artists are also suing Google for allegedly using their copyrighted work to train Imagine an AI image generator. She's also a plaintiff in a similar lawsuit against stability AI, mid-jurney, deviant art, and runway AI. Words can't describe how dehumanizing it is to see my name use more than 20,000 times in Mid-Journey, she wrote in an Instagram post. My life's work and who I am reduced to a meaningless fodder for a commercial image slot machine. end quote. Artists are so resistant to AI because of the training data behind many of these image generators includes their work without their consent. These models amassed such a large

swath of artwork by scraping the internet for images without regard for whether or not those images are copyrighted. It's a slap in the face for artists. Not only are their jobs endangered by AI, but that same AI is often powered by their work. Founded in late 2022, Kera is fully bootstrapped, and much of its engineering support comes from volunteers. Any company would struggle with an unexpected 1,5% increase in users, let alone one that's operating with such a small team. On Wednesday, Zhang opened her email to find a horrible shock. Her bill for using Versel, a web hosting company, would cost $96,280 for just the last week. After she posted on X about the bill, Versel's vice president of product, Lee Robinson, replied publicly,

claiming that his team attempted to reach out ahead of time, but Zhang was so swamped by the platform's rapid growth that she missed Versel's email. The team and I are standing by ready to work with you to ensure your app is running as efficiently as possible on our infra, Robinson wrote to Zhang on X, but it's unclear how this issue will pan out and if it could put Kara on life support. Zhang told TechCrunch that she hasn't sought out venture funding because she doesn't want to have to answer to outside investors, and it can't be easy to find an angel investor who's committed to supporting the interests of artists, end quote. If any listeners out there know, Zhang, tell them to get in touch with me. I know someone who would be willing to cut an angel size check to help out here. Time for the weekend long read suggestions. First up, Business Week takes a look at how Suicide Squad became the biggest video game

flop of 2024 so far, including a tumultuous development and delayed release. WBD is apparently taking a $200 million loss on just this one game. Quote, the development of Suicide Squad killed the Justice League was a tumultuous affair plagued by countless delays. The game failed for a number of reasons, said the people, including a constantly shifting vision, a culture of rigid perfectionism, and a genre pivot that was ill-suited for the studio. The costly miss could extend beyond Warner Brothers and, quote, further deter investment in gaming by traditional media firms when they should be expanding, said Juist Van Durenen,

who teaches the video game business at New York University. The high-profile failure came at a particularly bad time for Warner Brothers Chief Executive Officer David Zazlov. The parent company of CNN, HBO, TNT, and other cable networks was already grappling with challenges on multiple fronts, from plunging TV ad sales and struggling movie theaters to escalating sports rights fees and growing threats from AI. Over the past two years, the company's share price had plummeted from $26 in April 2022 to a little over $8 the day of the call. The game's division was supposed to be a rare bright spot for Zazlov and his investors, particularly following the success of Hogwarts' legacy and adaptation of the Harry Potter's series,

series, which was the best-selling title of 2023 and has sold more than 24 million copies worldwide. Instead, Rocksteady delivered a historic dud. For Warner Brothers, it was a painful reminder that big, ambitious video games like Blockbuster-style movies have the potential to amass both huge windfalls and gaping losses, end quote. Yes, and for those of you who know video game history, I believe in some convoluted family tree of corporate mergers and acquisitions, the current Warner Brothers' discovery is the linear descendant of Warner Communications, which is the company that acquired Atari in 1976, which was a grand slam of an acquisition until the great video game crash of 1983 nearly bankrupted that company. So weirdly, if my genealogy of those companies is right,

it's just history repeating itself. Finally, this piece from Ars Technica is a bit too complicated to summarize. It's a review of a telescope. That's right. A modern tech-enabled telescope that does stargazing in such a way that it does things telescopes have never been able to do, but also in a way that makes you wonder, am I still really stargazing? Here, this tweet from the author of the piece Tim Stevens summarizes it. It's rare I find a product that makes me rethink everything I know about the space in which that product competes, but such are the offerings from at Unisteller Scope, tiny, lightweight, and yet capable of delivering amazing images. Unistellar's New Age Telescope,

are far better than traditional scopes, right? Absolutely yes, but also maybe not. It's complicated. I hope you'll check out my piece over at Ars Technica, end quote. So the bonus episode this weekend is a portfolio profile episode of the first AI investment I ever made. A company called Trace Loop. It's basically observability for LLM applications.

Anyone working in the LLM space will want to give this a try. Listen for that. Listen for what it's like to be doing a startup in the, AI space right now, but also listen for the most in-depth story about what it's like to apply and get into Y Combinator that I think we've ever had on the show. And reminder again, Monday's show will be a tad late because WDC. Talk to you then.