Tech Brew Ride Home - Thu. 06/22 – So, Elon And Zuck Are Gonna Fight, I Guess

Episode Date: June 22, 2023

Well, I guess Elon and Zuck are gonna fight? Literally? New Stability AI. Xbox prices are going up. The visionOS SDK is out. A Motorola Razr Plus review. And why celebrities are racing to duplicate themselves using AI. Sponsors: JoinDeleteMe.com/techmeme Grammarly.com/go Links: Mark Zuckerberg is ready to fight Elon Musk in a cage match (The Verge) Startup Stability Debuts a New AI Model For Stable Diffusion (Bloomberg) Microsoft is hiking the price of Xbox Series X and Xbox Game Pass (The Verge) Apple releases visionOS SDK for creating Vision Pro apps, dev kit applications opening soon (9to5Mac) Motorola Razr Plus review: the right moves (The Verge) Celebrities Use AI to Take Control of Their Own Images (WSJ) 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 meme right home for Thursday, June 22nd, 2023. I'm Brian McCullough today. Well, I guess Elon and Zuck are going to fight. Literally. New stability AI. Xbox prices are going up. The Vision OS SDK is out. A Motorola Razor Plus review and why celebrities are racing to duplicate themselves using AI.

Here's what you miss today in the world of tech. This is the version of the simulation we're stuck in, I guess. after Elon Musk tweeted that he is, quote, up for a cage fight with Mark Zuckerberg, both parties seemingly agreed overnight to a fight. Musk suggested the Vegas Octagon as a location. Quoting the verge, after Elon Musk recently tweeted that he would be up for a cage fight with Zuckerberg, the meta CEO shot back by posting a screenshot of Musk's tweet with the caption, Send Me Location. I've confirmed, by the way, this is Alex Heath reporting,

that Zuckerberg's post on his Instagram account is, in fact, not a joke, which means the ball is now in Musk's court. The story speaks for itself. Meta spokesperson Iskasaric told me. After this story was published, Musk responded with two words, Vegas Octagon. He then tweeted, quote, I have this great move that I call the walrus, where I just lie on top of my opponent and do nothing, end quote. The backstory here, since I recently reported more details about meta's forthcoming Twitter competitor, Musk has been taunting Zuckerberg on Twitter with zingers like Zuck Mai, and then there's a rude emoji. During an internal all-hands meeting at Meta last week, Chief Product Officer Chris Cox told employees the company thinks creators want a version of Twitter that is, quote, sanely run,

drawing shears. I've always thought that Twitter should have a billion people using it, Zuckerberg said, during a recent podcast interview with Lex Friedman. In terms of tech billionaire CEOs literally fighting, Musk versus Zuckerberg would be as good as it gets. Musk 51 has the upper hand on Zuckerberg in terms of sheer physical size, and he has talked about being in quote, real hardcore street fights when he was growing up in South Africa. Meanwhile, Zuckerberg 39 is an aspirational MMA fighter who is already winning jujitsu tournaments. He also claims to have recently completed the grueling Murph Challenge workout in just under 40 minutes, end quote. A friend texted me this morning about this story knowing I'd have to talk about it on

the show today. And so he asked, Chat GPT to come up with names for such a fight if it were to happen. Here are some of the responses the AI came back with. Silicon Smackdown. Silicon Showdown. Billions Battle in the Octahage. Binary bouts. Geeky gazillionaires grapple.

And my personal favorite, control alt fight, a high-stakes battle of the tech billionaires. Stability AI has announced SDXL 0.9, a new model that produces more photorealistic images than SDXL due to a higher number of parameters available via clip drop. Quoting Bloomberg. In a blog post Thursday, Stability AI, which popularized the Stable Diffusion Image Generator, calls the new model SDXL 0.9, short for Stable Diffusion XL. Stability says the model can create images in response to text-based prompts that are better looking and have more compositional detail than a model called XDXL, which it introduced in April. The company said the improvements are due to a higher number of parameters,

which refer to the variables and AI system learns through its training in SDXL 0.9 as compared with the beta SDXL model. Stable diffusion emerged as a key rival to Open AI's image generator Dolly, and Stability AI has since trained and released numerous versions of the product. The company said that SDXL 0.9 can be used via ClipDrop, which offers AI image generating and editing tools. Stability announced in March that it acquired InitML, ClipDrops Maker. Stability AI said its application programming interface customers will soon have access to the latest model, which will be added to its Dream Studio image generation software. Stability AI plans to release SDXL 0.9 in mid-July as open source software, end quote.

Microsoft has increased Xbox Series X prices in most markets, and for the first time, the Xbox Game Pass price has gone up too, though Xbox Series X pricing remains the same, at least in the U.S. quoting the verge. Xbox Series X consoles pricing will largely match the price hike Sony announced for the PS5 last year, with the Xbox Series X moving to 479 pounds in the UK, 549 euro across most European markets, $649 Canadian, and $799.9. $29 in Australia starting August 1st. The Xbox Series S pricing will not be adjusted in any markets remaining at $299. Meanwhile, Xbox Series X pricing adjustments had been expected after Sony's move last year.

Xbox Chief Phil Spencer also hinted in October that pricing for subscriptions wouldn't hold forever. Xbox GamePass Ultimate and GamePass for console pricing will increase starting July 6th. Xbox GamePass Ultimate will move from 1499 per month to 1699. The base Xbox GamePass for console pricing will also move up from $9.99 a month to $1099. Microsoft is not changing PC GamePass pricing, though. If you're an existing GamePass monthly subscriber, then these new recurring prices won't take effect until August 13th or September 13th in Germany. New Xbox GamePass members will see the new prices immediately on July 6th.

If you're subscribed to Xbox GamePass through a yearly code, the new pricing won't take effect until you go to renew your subscription. Microsoft hadn't changed its Xbox GamePass pricing since launching the subscription in 2017, and the company is keen to stress that this isn't related to its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. These GamePass price adjustments are not related to the Activision Blizzard deal and are intended to match local market conditions, said a Microsoft spokesperson. Microsoft's Xbox subscription changes follow a general trend in price hikes over the past couple of years for entertainment subscriptions. Netflix raised prices again last year following a gradual price hike in recent years.

and Disney Plus and Hulu saw steep price hikes last year, too. Apple Music and Spotify have both increased in price in most markets in recent years, end quote. Apple officially released the VisionOS SDK and plans to open developer labs and applications for Apple Vision Pro developer kits next month. Quoting 9 to 5 Mac. Using the Vision OS SDK, Apple says that developers will be able to interact with their apps in the new Vision OS simulator. Quote, developers can build new experiences that take advantage of the groundbreaking features of Apple Vision Pro by using the same foundational frameworks they already know from other Apple platforms, including powerful technologies like X-Code,

SwiftUI, Reality Kit, AR kit, and test flight, the company explains. Apple also says it will open developer labs in Cupertino, London, Munich, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo next month for developers. These labs will allow developers to get hands-on time with Vision Pro to test their apps. Apple engineers will also be available on-site to provide support. Also starting next month, Apple will open applications for developers who'd like to receive a Vision Pro developer kit. This hardware kit can be used by developers to, quote, quickly build, iterate, and test right on Apple Vision Pro. The Vision OS SDK, updated Xcode, Simulator, and Reality Composer Pro are available for Apple developer program members via Apple's website, end quote.

Let's squeeze in a quick gadget review here, if we can. The Motorola Razor Plus is the latest foldable phone from Motorola with a huge cover screen on the outside when it's all folded up. It's got an all-day battery life, apparently, and a fun form factor, at least according to the Verge. Quote, the main attraction is the best place to start talking about the Razor Plus. That's the cover screen, of course. It's an OLED panel that's a few pixels shy of square. The sides and bottom of the front panel are curved, but the display stops well before the edges, and I didn't have any trouble with accidental touches. It works like this. You have a home screen with notifications, the time, etc., and some shortcuts to various full-screen panels, which you can tap on or swipe to cycle through. The panels are fine. There aren't a lot to choose from, and they're not as interactive as I'd like them to be. Take the calendar panel. You can tap an icon in the upper right to switch between a daily or monthly view, but nothing happens if you tap on the events on your calendar. The Spotify panel is designed to let you control your music or jump to one of your recent listens quickly.

but it's a little unreliable. It frequently told me I was offline when I was very much online. Guess what? There's a whole other phone attached to this phone. The inner screen is a familiar 6.9-inch OLED with up to 165 hertz refresh rate. It gets just bright enough to combat direct sunlight, and I have no qualms with it. There is, of course, a modest crease. It's something I noticed when I swiped my thumb across it, but in most situations it's actually quite hard to see unless you're looking for it. The Razor's hinge allows the two halves of the phone to close almost completely flat, not the case with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4, but unlike the flip, the Razor Plus's hinge doesn't quite support the screen open at every angle. Once you get it almost all the way open,

it kind of flops flat. Likewise, the top will flop shut once you close it down past 45 degrees. I ran up against this limit once when I was trying to angle the front camera just right, but otherwise it didn't bother me. Crucially, it will sit upright in the 90-degree laptop position to play Elmo for your toddler, so he will brush his teeth. Ask me how I know. The Razor Plus is actually two small phones wearing a trench coat, which means it has a very specific small phone problem, a small battery. There's a 3,800-m-a-amp-hour cell here, which falls well short of the 5,000-m-mph hour batteries on a lot of big phones these days, but I'm going to cut to the chase. battery life is fine. It is thoroughly average, and for a small battery, that's actually great.

I like the Razor Plus quite a bit, but I recommend it with some reservations. It requires you to be a little more hands-on with your phone than I think most people prefer, setting app permissions, wrangling apps on a small screen, dodging the occasional bug. You also need to be mindful that it's not as dust or water-resistant as most $1,000 phones. If you're prepared for all that, then using the Razor Plus is a rewarding experience. It's unfair to compare it to a phone that doesn't exist yet, but it's impossible to ignore the Galaxy Z Flip 5 loving on the horizon. We're expecting it to launch in July, and rumors all point to a bigger cover screen on that device, similar to the Razors. It'll likely come with the same IP68 rating that the last flip offered, as well as a more powerful

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset. If all that comes at the same $999 prices of the Razor Plus, then it's hard to see how Motorola will be able to compete. This is all based on speculation, but it is worth considering before you sink $1,000 into a new phone. The summer of 2020 is, as we all know, hot foldable summer and at least part of the excitement around the Razor Plus is that it finally presents some real competition for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip series. But more than that, this is a likable phone all on its own. Finding new use cases for the cover screen is genuinely delightful. I got some candid photos and videos of my kid that I don't think I could get with a slab-style smartphone. I generally just felt like I was more

in control of how engaged I wanted to be with my phone at any given time. For the right person, I think these things are worth $999.99. They're all things I absolutely want more of from my phone, and I'm glad that Motorola is back in the foldable conversation, end quote. Let's end today with another AI story for our times, according to the Wall Street Journal. Celebrities, including aging athletes, are signing deals to put AI duplicates of themselves into ad campaigns, helping brands deage them, among other uses. Quote, Celebrities, quote, get paid, but they don't have to turn up, says Tom Graham, chief executive of AI startup metaphysics. Stars just need to spend a few minutes in a studio with a

3D scanner, which can then create representations of them for countless hours of content. Last year, for instance, Puma launched a new product line at New York Fashion Week with the help of international soccer star Namar, who appeared at the event as an AI-generated 3D avatar created with the Metahuman app, part of Epic Games' Unreal Engine Suite, which was a originally designed to create lifelike characters for video games. The Avatar showed off Puma's new fashions on screen during a virtual event, coinciding with the brand's runway show. Puma can use Namar's digital double in a number of settings for the duration of its contract with the star, says Adam Petrick, Puma's chief brand officer, his likeness had previously appeared in a

2021 campaign in-game platform Fortnite. The rise of virtual duplicates could permanently change how celebrities deal with brands. In part, stars can appear in ways they never could before. In In 2021, Metaphysic used AI to create an approximation of former NFL star Dion Sanders, as he appeared on the night of the 1989 NFL draft for an ad promoting Procter and Gamble's Gillette Razor brand. Sanders was paid for the project and consulted on it. Golf legend Jack Nicholas recently agreed with AI company Soul Machines to create an AI-powered version of himself at the peak of his career when he was 38 years old. Nicholas is currently 83. In a digital sense, they are alive. They can connect emotionally.

They can entertain, they can interact in real time, says Soul Machine CEO Greg Cross. This is the future of marketing, end quote. Fashion models who don't historically own the rights to their own images have also begun exploring ways to more actively manage their digital identities. Supermodel Eva Herzegovah in April unveiled a virtual version of herself, also created on the Epic Games platform, that can walk the runway in online fashion shows. Ownership of the virtual version also rests with her and her agency rather than with a brand or a photography studio. It's an extension of her brand in many ways that opens up new opportunities

for her to creatively engage with brand partnerships or creative briefs, says Simon Windsor, co-founder and co-chief executive of Virtual Production Company Dimension Studio, which led the project. Fashion and beauty brands are currently in talks to use Herzegovas's digital double in their marketing campaign, says Gavin Myel, chief executive and co-owner of unsigned group, the agency that represents Herzegovah. The facsimile, which mimics her gait and mannerisms, will soon appear in an online e-commerce site to showcase various outfits for shoppers, he says. Marketers also anticipate consumers increasingly will be able to interact with the digital doubles. Soul Machines has already created interactive doubles for several celebrities. As of last

month, former NBA star Carmelo Anthony could follow his autonomous digital personality on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube. Digital Mello will respond to users' questions and promote the off-court activities of Anthony, who co-founded a private equity fund after his retirement. But the use of open-ended large language models like chat GPT bring new reputational risks, said Erica Rogers, an intellectual property attorney at law firm Warden Smith. From a brand's perspective, what you're really concerned about is a lack of control with digital celebrities that conduct AI-generated conversations, she says. Is the benefit worth the risk? The algorithms powering digital versions of Anthony, Nicholas and K-pop star Mark Twan, draw on hundreds of hours of interviews to mimic their

vocal affectations and determine how they might respond to a given question, Cross says. Soul machines take steps to ensure that its AI celebrities stay on message and don't make crude or potentially offensive remarks, according to Cross. In the case of Jack Nicholas, for example, the company created its own large language model rather than using existing tools such as chat GPT, he says. Determining legal ownership of AI generated likenesses is another concern. Roger says the tech, marketing, and entertainment industries must eventually develop some form of standard verification to protect both celebrities and consumers who may be fooled by deepfakes, she says, end quote. I sent out all the T2 invites I could. I might have a few more,

Brian at Techmeme.com, if you're interested. Please review us on Apple Podcasts first, though. Talk to you tomorrow.