Tech Brew Ride Home - Thu. 04/04 – How About A TRUE iRobot?

Starting point is 00:00:00 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 meme right home for Thursday, April 4th, 2024. I'm Brian McCullough. Today is Apple pivoting to home robotics now that the Apple car project is dead. Is Google about to pivot to subscription-based search? Why is X handing back

Starting point is 00:00:48 blue check marks whether people want them or not? Why Amazon merchants are upset over return scams and why the band Kiss might live forever. Here's what you miss today in the world of tech. Well, that new vein of revenue has to come from somewhere, doesn't it? it. Mark German's sources are telling him that Apple is exploring home robotic devices, including a mobile robot that can follow users around the house, and a tabletop device that uses robotics to move a display. Is robotics the next big thing, in quotes, now that the Apple car is dead? Quoting Bloomberg. Engineers at Apple have been exploring a mobile robot that can follow users around their homes, said the people who asked not to be identified because the Skunk Works Project is

Starting point is 00:01:36 private. The iPhone maker has also developed an advanced tabletop home device that uses robotics to move a display around, they said. With robotics, Apple could gain a bigger foothold in consumers' homes and capitalize on advances in artificial intelligence. But it's not yet clear what approach it might take, though the robotic smart display is much further along than the mobile bot. It has been added and removed from the company's product roadmap over the years, according to the people. The robotics work is happening within Apple's hardware engineering division and its AI and machine learning group, which is run by John Giann Andrea, Matt Costello and Brian Lynch, two executives focused on home products have overseen the hardware development. Still, Apple hasn't committed

Starting point is 00:02:16 to either project as a company, and the work is still considered to be in the early research phase. A spokeswoman declined to comment. Before the EV project was canceled, Apple told its top executives that the company's future revolved around three areas, automotive, the home, and mixed reality. But now the car isn't happening, and Apple has already released its first mixed reality product, the Vision Pro headset. So the focus has shifted to other future opportunities, including how Apple can better compete in the smart home market. The Tabletop Robotics Project's first excited senior Apple executives a few years ago, including hardware engineering chief John Ternus and members of the industrial design team. The idea was to have the display mimic the head movements,

Starting point is 00:02:57 such as nodding, of a person on a FaceTime session. It would also have features to precisely lock onto a single person among a crowd during a video call. but the company has been concerned about whether consumers would be willing to pay top dollar for such a device. There have also been technical challenges related to balancing the weight of a robotic motor on a small stand. The primary obstacle has been disagreement among Apple executives over whether to move forward with the product at all, according to the people. Near its campus in Cupertino, California, Apple has a secret facility that resembles the inside of a house, a site where it can test future devices and initiatives for the home. Apple has been exploring other ideas for that market, including a new home hub device.

Starting point is 00:03:36 with an iPad-like display. The original concept for the robot was a device that could navigate entirely on its own without human intervention like the car and serve as a video conferencing tool. One pie-in-the-sky idea within Apple was to have it be able to handle chores like cleaning dishes and a sink, but that would require overcoming extraordinarily difficult engineering challenges, something that's unlikely this decade. On its website, Apple is advertising for robotics-related roles, indicating that it's trying to expand the teams working on the project, end quote. Becoming perplexity before perplexity can become them or maybe vice versa. Google search as a subscription play. Sources are telling the FT that Google is considering adding certain AI-powered

Starting point is 00:04:26 search features to its premium subscription services, which already offer access to things like Gemini in Gmail and docs. Quote, the proposed revamp to its CashCal search engine would mark the first time the company has put any of its core product behind a paywall and shows it is still grappling with a technology that threatens its advertising business almost a year and a half after the debut of ChatGPT. Engineers are developing the technology needed to deploy the service, but executives have not yet made a final decision on whether or not to launch it, one of the people said. Google's traditional search engine would remain free of charge while ads would continue to appear alongside search results even for subscribers. But charging would represent the first time that

Starting point is 00:05:07 Google, which for many years offered free consumer services funded entirely by advertising, has made people pay for enhancements to its core search product. Google began testing an experimental AI-powered search service in May last year, presenting more detailed answers to queries, while also continuing to present users with links to further information and advertising. However, it has been slow to add any of the features from what it calls its search generative experience experiment to its main search engine. These kinds of search results, which include an AI-powered snapshot, are more costly for Google to serve up than its traditional responses, because generative AI consumes a lot more computing resources. It has offered access to SGE to only a select few

Starting point is 00:05:49 users, including some subscribers to its Google One bundle that offers benefits such as extra cloud storage for a monthly fee. It is unclear how exactly the company would seek to integrate AI-powered search into these paid-for services, which offer different price. TIEC-Torrs or when the AI-powered search offering would be ready to launch. Google could still decide to launch certain elements of its experimental AI-powered service into its main free search engine over time, according to people familiar with its thinking, end quote. X, the artist formerly known as Twitter, is adding blue checks back to some large accounts as part of its plan to give free premium memberships to users with at least 2,500 verified subscriber

Starting point is 00:06:36 followers. So the whole value proposition strategy of the blue checkmark continues to be shrug-shoulder emoji, quoting the verge. Multiple X users on Wednesday reported seeing the familiar blue verified checkmark next to their handles, despite not paying for either paid X subscription tier. Musk last week announced that X accounts with over 2,500 verified subscriber followers would receive a free premium membership, while accounts with over 5,000 would receive a free premium plus membership. Before Musk's takeover, the verified symbol on the platform known as Twitter was generally applied to celebrities, politicians, journalists, and others in the public eye. After the platform rolled out paid verification, it became a label anyone could obtain,

Starting point is 00:07:19 along with purchasing a premium membership. Previously verified ex-users who refused to pay lost their check marks, though Elon Musk personally intervened to push it on people like Stephen King and LeBron James, and it was eventually added to many accounts with more than a million followers, which also verified accounts for many people who died or otherwise had not requested it. Now it appears that many influential X accounts with already large followings in the tens or hundreds of thousands, which may translate to verified followings that cross the benchmark, are once again checkmarked or will be whether they like it or not, end quote. A Washington state judge has barred the use of AI-enhanced video as trial evidence,

Starting point is 00:08:05 and ruling that experts say may be the first of its kind in a... U.S. criminal court. Quoting NBC News. A Washington State judge overseeing a triple murder case barred the use of video enhanced by artificial intelligence as evidence in a ruling that experts say may be the first of its kind. The ruling signed Friday by King County Superior Court Judge Leroy McCullough, no relation, and first reported by NBC News, described the technology as novel and said it relies on, quote, opaque methods to represent what the AI model thinks should be shown, end quote. This court finds that admission of this AI enhanced evidence would lead to a confusion of the issues and a muddying of eyewitness testimony and could lead to a time-consuming trial

Starting point is 00:08:48 within a trial about the non-peer-reviewable process used by the AI model. The judge wrote in the ruling that was posted to the docket Monday. Lawyers for a man accused of opening fire outside a Seattle area bar in 2021, killing three people and wounding two, had sought to introduce cell phone video enhanced by machine learning software court filing show. The deadly confrontation was captured in cell phone video. To enhance the video, the defendant's lawyers turned to a man who had not previously handled a criminal case, but had a background in creative video production and editing according to the prosecutor's filing. Prosecutors in the case said there appeared to be no legal precedent allowing the technology in a U.S. criminal court,

Starting point is 00:09:27 according to a February filing in King County Superior Court. Jonathan Hack, a solicitor and barrister in Canada and an expert on image-based evidence in the United States and elsewhere, said this was the first case he was aware of where a criminal court had weighed in on the matter, end quote. I've been hearing about this for a while now, so maybe it's time to finally mention it. Some Amazon merchants have been complaining about scam returns where buyers ship junk back to sellers, claiming that they are legitimate returns. The sellers say they can't win these disputes due to Amazon's policies tilting so heavily in favor of customers, quoting the journal. Nicole Barton, one of the millions of merchants who sell products on Amazon, had to rebuild

Starting point is 00:10:12 her business after a peculiar sort of theft became overwhelming. Her online store where she sold clothing and apparel was overrun with fraudulent returns. Amazon shoppers regularly switched coach wallets for no-name dupes and Nike football cleats for flip-flops. She tried to get Amazon's help, but filing complaints became a hit-or-miss process. She eventually changed her inventory and now sells consumable products like pet supplies, which have significantly reduced theft. Return theft represents one sore point in what has become an often contentious relationship between Amazon and its independent sellers. And Amazon spokeswoman said the company has, quote, no tolerance for fraudulent returns on Amazon. She said the company invests significantly in detecting and preventing

Starting point is 00:10:55 fraud, including employing teams devoted to the issue and that it provides seller resources to report abuse and receive reimbursements. The National Retail Federation says return fraud has become a, quote, major issue for our industry. About 13.7% of returns in 2023 were fraudulent, accounting for $101 billion in overall losses for retailers, the Federation said. As more consumers have adopted online shopping, return theft has become prevalent and Amazon hasn't done enough to stop it, sellers said. Barbara Boschon sells household items but has received TV cable boxes and use soap bars back. Jess Nebstad, who sells outdoor coffee products like a travel franchise, Press said he has gotten back Christmas ornaments and toy planes. Kevin Fox, also in Amazon

Starting point is 00:11:41 seller, received used dog nail trimmers for what should have been human nail clippers, end quote. The journal also has a look at how some MBA programs in the United States are reorienting their courses around AI by adding AI-related classwork, encouraging using AI to solve lab assignments and more. Quote, at the Wharton School this spring, Professor Ethan Mollick assigned students the task of automating away part of their jobs. Mollick tells his students at the University of Pennsylvania to expect to feel insecure about their own capabilities once they understand what artificial intelligence can do. You haven't used AI until you've had an existential crisis, he said. You need three sleepless nights. Top business schools are pushing MBA candidates

Starting point is 00:12:32 and undergraduates to use artificial intelligence as a second brain. Students are eager for the instruction as employers increasingly higher talent with AI skills. American University's Co-Good School of Business is putting an unusually high emphasis on AI, threatening on the technology through 20 new or adapted classes from forensic accounting to marketing, which will roll out next school year. Professors this week started training on how to use and teach AI tools. Understanding and using AI is now a foundational concept, much like learning to write or reason, said David Marchik, Dean of Kogood. Every young person needs to know how to use AI in whatever they do, he said of the decision to embed AI instruction into every part of the business school's undergraduate core curriculum. Marchik, who uses ChatsyBT to prep presentations to alumni and professors, ordered a review of Kogood's coursework in December after Brett Wilson, a venture capitalist with Swift Ventures, visited campus and told students that they wouldn't lose jobs to AI, but rather to professionals who are more skilled.

Starting point is 00:13:36 in deploying it. Americans' new AI classwork will include text mining, predictive analytics, and using ChatGPT to prepare for negotiations, whether navigating workplace conflict or advocating for a promotion. New courses include one on AI and human resource management and a new business and entertainment class focused on AI, a core issue of last year's Hollywood Writers' Strike. Officials and faculty at Columbia Business School and Duke University's Fuqua School of Business say fluency and AI will be key to graduate success in the corporate world, allowing them to climb the ranks of management. 40% a prospective business school students surveyed by the Graduate Management Admission Council

Starting point is 00:14:14 said learning AI is essential to a graduate business degree, a jump from 29% in 2022, end quote. And finally, rock band Kiss has sold the rights to its music, name, image, and likeness to Swedish entertainment company Pop House to create a live show. A source says the deal was in the $300 million range, and in a way, obviously, this is the band to do this with. Kiss was a band of made-up characters behind makeup, so why not keep the characters going in perpetuity? Quoting the FT, Pop House hopes to keep the band in the public eye for many years after the actual members of Kiss have stopped touring. The company said the deal would, quote, unlock new audiences and revenue streams. The sale also demonstrates how some investors are taking a more active approach to their

Starting point is 00:15:07 ownership of music rights, which have become a popular asset class in the past few years. Music rights yield an income stream based on streaming revenues and record sales, but investors can also push up values through licensing deals for movies and TV shows. The acquisition of the name, image, and likeness of Kiss, a notably theatrical U.S. rock band that has sold more than 100 million records worldwide over a 50-year career, gives Pop House further opportunities to create new revenue streams off the band's heritage. Jean Simmons, bassist and co-founder of Kiss, said, there were various plans in development, including the virtual concert, a biopic, and a kiss-themed, quote, experience.

Starting point is 00:15:45 Johan Lagerloff, head of investment at Pop House said the company's mission was, quote, to fulfill the band's vision to become immortal, adding, Kiss is one of the most recognized and iconic bands in the history of music. They redefine the concept of rock shows and have always taken their artistry to new uncharted territories. Pop House began investing in music catalogs in 2022 by acquiring the majority share of the catalogs, of Swedish dance acts Avichi and Swedish House Mafia. It is the lead investor and co-producer behind the Abba Voyage virtual concert. Pop House has also acquired Cindy Lopper's music catalog. Pop House's chief executive Per Sunden was previously managing director of Universal Music Sweden and president of Universal Music Nordics from 2008 to 2019. Sundin first signed

Starting point is 00:16:31 Avichi in 2010 and is the co-founder of Avichy experience, a museum dedicated to the artist. Sunden said the deal would breathe, quote, new life into their characters and personas while also leveraging and elevating the visual world of kiss, end quote. I guess I should probably do kiss lyrics here after that last story. Problem is, I don't know Kiss very well. What's their most well-known songs? Rock and Roll All Night, Detroit Rock City, Beth. I used to live in Detroit, so you got to lose your mind in Detroit Rock City.

Starting point is 00:17:10 Get up. everybody's going to move their feet get down everybody's going to leave their seat talk to you tomorrow

Tech Brew Ride Home - Thu. 04/04 – How About A TRUE iRobot?

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