Tech Brew Ride Home - Wed. 03/06 – OpenAI Claps Back At Elon’s Lawsuit

Episode Date: March 6, 2024

Apple shows how it is complying with the DMA. We’ve got a Microsoft hardware event coming up. I wonder if they’ll mention AI? Has BlackCat been defeated, or is this a clever ruse to rebrand? And OpenAI has clapped back at Elon’s lawsuit. Links: Apple Releases iOS and iPadOS 17.4 with Major Safari and App Store Changes in the EU, Transcripts for Podcasts, New Emoji, and More (MacStories) EXCLUSIVE: Microsoft will unveil OLED Surface Pro 10 and Arm Surface Laptop 6 this spring ahead of major Windows 11 AI update (Windows Central) 'Exit scam' - hackers that hit UnitedHealth pull disappearing act (Reuters) OpenAI Fires Back at Musk Allegations With Trove of Emails (Bloomberg) Sam Altman tells staff OpenAI investigation will 'soon' close, as employees brace for more surprises (Business Insider) YouTube Video Of The Guy Kawasaki Interview 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 Wednesday, March 6, 2024. I'm Brian McCullough today. Apple shows how it is complying with the DMA. We've got a Microsoft hardware event coming up. I wonder if they'll mention AI. Has Black Cat been defeated, or is this just a clever ruse to rebrand and reorganize? And OpenAI has clapped back at Elon's lawsuit. Here's what you miss today in the world of tech. In time for DMA Day, Apple has released iOS 17.4 with new default browser prompts in the European Union, support for third-party browser engines, transcripts for podcasts, 118 new emojis, and more, quoting Mac Stories.

If you live in the EU, the first change you're going to notice is after updating to iOS 17.4 is a new about-your-default browser screen that will appear the first time you open Safari, prompting you to pick a new default browser. While it was already possible to set an alternative default browser on iOS, the DMA, now requires Apple to prompt all of its EU users to actively make this choice. This screen includes a small explainer that lets you know about your ability to choose a different default browser at any time. After you tap continue, you will be presented with a list of alternative browsers. If you tap a browser in the list, you'll be presented with its App Store listing and will be able to install it with a single tap. If you tap not now at the

bottom of the screen, on the other hand, you will keep using Safari as your default web browser. It is impossible to re-envoke this screen after you dismiss it. You can still choose a different default browser in settings at any time as usual. For each EU member country, the list of alternative browsers contains the 12 most popular browsers from its App Store storefront and is displayed to the user in a random order. Third-party browser engine support in iOS17.4 effectively means that browser makers are now allowed to launch a version of their web browser that does not run on Apple's WebKit engine and runs on their own browser engine instead. In practice, Google is now allowed to launch a version of Chrome

for iOS running on their own blink engine and Mozilla, a version of Firefox running on their own Gecko engine. However, since support for third-party browser engines does not include iPadOS and is only available in the EU, Google and Mozilla have been highly critical of the conditions of this change. The latter underlining that, quote, the effect of this would be to force an independent browser like Firefox to build and maintain two separate browser implementations, a burden Apple themselves will not have to bear, end quote. Although I'm sure we will see independent developers release their own browsers in the EU built with third-party browser engines, it remains unclear at this time whether major browser makers like Mozilla and Google will launch separate versions of their browsers for iOS users in the EU built

on top of their own engines. Just like third-party browser engines, we have yet to see alternative app marketplaces launch on iOS in the EU, and we will be checking those out as soon as they become available. During the iOS 17.4 beta cycle, however, we had a preview of the confirmation screen that will appear when installing an app from an alternative app marketplace. The confirmation screen would appear upon installing any app from the iOS App Store in the EU, but Apple has since confirmed that this was a bug, and that users should not see the screen when they download an app from their default app marketplace, end quote. Now, you, like me, might have some questions about how all that will work in practice? Well, Apple says,

alternative app stores will stop working and the apps installed from them will stop updating if a user travels outside of the EU for, quote, too long. Quoting 9 to 5 Mac. In a new support document, Apple explains that availability of app marketplaces is meant to be available only to customers in the European Union. Apple says, in order for its system to consider you eligible, the country or region of your Apple ID must be set to one of the following countries, which, by the way, I won't list because it's too long, but, you know, EU countries.

quoting again. Additionally, you must be physically located in the European Union. The geolocation check happens on device and your exact location is not shared with Apple's servers. As long as your Apple ID origin is in one of those countries and you physically reside in them, the app marketplace features will be available. When available, you will be able to install an alternative app store through the browser to download apps from outside the Apple App Store. However, what might be unexpected is that your eligibility can be revoked if the system notices your location. changes. Apple says there is a grace period for short travel, but for longer stays outside of an eligible EU market, access to app marketplaces will be revoked. The exact period of time is not

specified. In this state, you won't be able to install new app marketplaces, and any apps you previously installed from alternative app marketplaces will no longer be available to update themselves. You'll either have to return to an eligible physical location or delete the app and read download an equivalent from the Apple App Store. This potential customer support problem is, yet another reason why third-party developers may be unwilling to embrace the third-party app store system. At time of writing, no alternative app marketplace is actually available, although a couple have been announced, end quote. Mark your calendars because Windows Central says Microsoft is planning a March 21st announcement of a Surface laptop 6 and an OLED Surface Pro 10. quote, they will be the first Surface PCs to ship with new Intel Core Ultra and Qualcomm

Snapdragon X Elite-based processors with NextGen NPUs, neuro-processing units for enhanced AI performance. I reported back in December that both product lines will be available in either Intel or Arm flavors, a first for the Surface laptop, which hasn't had an arm variant before. My contacts say these new chips will enable huge performance and efficiency gains over previous Surface Pro and Surface laptop models. Both devices are expected to achieve true all-day battery life and high-end performance capabilities. The devices will also sport other upgrades, including new displays, ports, and more. Specifically, the Surface Pro 10 will feature a similar design to the Surface Pro 9,

but with an upgraded anti-reflective OLED screen that's brighter and supports HDR content. The device will also feature a new ultra-wide front-facing webcam enhanced with AI studio effects and a built-in NFC reader. Surface Laptop 6 will feature a more notable design update. including centered display bezels with rounded corners, a new haptic touchpad, a dedicated co-pilot key, and an updated selection of ports, including two USBC and one USBA on the left-hand side, and the magnetic Surface Connect charger on the right. According to my sources, the new Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 will ship in two waves,

the first of which will begin in April and consist only of the Intel models, followed by the Arm variants later in June. I suspect the Arm versions will feature a customized version of the Snapdragon X Elite, similar to what Microsoft did with the Snapdragon 8CX Gen 3 in the Surface Pro 9. The new Surface Pro and Surface laptop will be some of the first devices on the market to support Windows 11's upcoming wave of next-gen AI experiences, which will launch later this year. These features include on-device copilot functionality, a new real-time live captions and translations feature, video game upscaling and frame rate smoothing, enhanced Windows studio effects,

and a new feature internally called AI Explorer. According to my sources, AI Explorer is the Blockbuster AI experience that will separate AI PCs from non-AIPCs. It's described as an advanced co-pilot with a built-in history slash timeline feature that turns everything you do on your computer into a searchable moment using natural language. It works across any app and allows users to search for previously open conversations, documents, web pages, and images. For example, you could type, Find Me That List of Restaurants Jenna said she liked, and Windows can bring up the exact conversation. were having when Jenna mentioned those restaurants. Even vague prompts should work, like, find me that thing about dinosaurs. Windows will pull up every word, phrase, image, and related topic about dinosaurs that you've previously opened on your computer, end quote.

A Black Cat Ransomware Gang website has begun showing a takedown notice, but the UK NCAA denies involvement, and experts suggest this may be a ruse, an attempt at an exit scam after an alleged United Health payment. Quoting Reuters. Security experts said the law enforcement denial and other clues make it look like the hackers had simply decided to shut up shop. This appears to be a classic exit scam, said researcher Will Thomas. In an exit scam, hackers pretend to be knocked out of commission only to quietly pocket

their partner's money and start over under a new name. Thomas said Blackcat was already believed to be a rebrand of a previous hacker group dubbed Darkside. It would not be a surprise if they return once. more in the not too distant future, he said. Even before the seizure notice, there were signs of something unusual following the intrusion at the tech unit of United Health, which has caused serious disruptions across the United States. Last week, Black Cat posted a message saying it had stolen millions of sensitive records from United Health only to delete the claim without explanation.

On Sunday, someone posting to a hacker forum alleged that the gang had cheated them out of their share of the $22 million ransom that United Health had allegedly paid to restore its systems. United Health had not commented on whether it paid a ransom and did not return a message on Tuesday seeking comment, end quote. Finally today, so OpenAI is clapping back at Elon Musk's lawsuit, and as I said, this whole thing is the eating popcorn jiff. OpenAI released a blog post accusing Musk of suing only when the company, quote, started making meaningful progress toward Open AI's mission without him, end quote. Quoting the blog post, we're sad that it's come to this with someone who, whom we've deeply admired, someone who inspired us to aim higher, then told us we would fail, started a competitor, and then sued us when we started making meaningful progress toward

OpenAI's mission without him. The company said in the post, which was co-authored by several of OpenAI's co-founders, including Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and Ilius Suscever. They also posted redacted emails from Musk to Brockman and Altman from 2015, where Elon says, quote, we need to go with a much bigger number than $100 million to avoid sounding hopeless. I think we should say that we are starting with a $1 billion funding commitment. I will cover whatever anyone else doesn't provide, end quote. The Post notes that the nonprofit raised less than $45 million from Elon. Quoting from the Post again, in late 2017, we and Elon decided the next step for the mission was to create a for-profit entity. Elon wanted majority equity, initial board control,

and to be CEO. In the middle of these discussions, he withheld funding. Reed Hoffman bridged the gap to cover salaries and operations. He couldn't agree to terms on a for-profit with Elon because we felt it was against the mission for any individual to have absolute control over OpenAI. He then suggested instead merging OpenAI into Tesla. In early February 2018, Elon forwarded us an email suggesting that Open AI should attach to Tesla as its cash cow, commenting that it was, quote, exactly right. Tesla is the only path that could even hope to hold a candle to Google. Even then, the probability of being a counterweight to Google is small. It just isn't zero, end quote. Elon soon chose to leave OpenAI saying that our probability of success was zero and that he planned to build an AGI competitor within Tesla. When he left in late February 2018, he told our team he was supportive of us finding our own path to raise billions of dollars. In December 2018, Elon sent us an email saying, quote, even raising several hundred million won't be enough. This needs billions per year immediately or forget it, end quote. Elon responded to this post with a tweet that merely read, Change Your Name.

Now, tangentially related, but I also wanted to read to you from this piece from Business Insider about what's going on with OpenAI at the moment. Remember Sam being fired by the board? Remember a promised internal investigation about that? Whatever happened with that? Quote, the expectation internally is that the investigation will be completed before the first quarter is up. A source said. A recent revelation to the SEC that Altman is the sole owner of OpenAI Startup Fund came as a surprise to employees because it was never disclosed internally. No one knew that. One of the people familiar said,

an SEC investigation into Altman's communications, as reported in the Wall Street Journal, was another recent surprise. Some employees are concerned with what the result of such a probe might be. There is also concern over the FTC's investigation into OpenAI and its ties with Microsoft. While most employees prefer to keep their heads down and work, many of whom are actively working on GPT5, the next version of OpenAIs generative AI system set to be released in the coming months. There is, quote, a lot of pressure that's come with increased public awareness of Altman, one of the people familiar said. Many employees are also confused, as are many observers, about the actual operational structure of OpenAI. It has a non-profit arm in control of a for-profit

arm, which itself has control of a holding company, which controls another for-profit entity, and that entity is what Microsoft is technically invested in. It doesn't make a lot of sense to anyone, one of the people familiar with the company's structure said. The person wondered if the various investigations would force some kind of change in the next year or so, perhaps simplifying the operational structure. I'm expecting some more drama from somewhere, the person added. Another opaque matter is the form of equity compensation employees receive in the form of profit participation units or PPUs, which make up a large portion of their expected pay. Employees are still not told how many PPUs are included in their grants, only the assigned dollar value. Although Open AI employees are

paid well. Many workers are increasingly concerned about how much risk they're assuming. Altman's Alster showed them the company was not as stable as they may have thought. Then there's the recent exit of Andrei Carpathie, a founding member of OpenAI who rejoined the company only a year ago. In an internal note to staff, Carpathie insisted that he was not leaving for another job and that he was, quote, very sad to be leaving at all, according to a person who viewed it. The person noted that Carpathie simply was not enjoying the work he was tasked with at OpenAI, leading a team developing an AI assistant. Yet the person wondered why the company wouldn't have wanted to keep someone of his stature within the AI community. Why not let him do whatever he wanted? The unsatisfying exit of

Carpathie is in addition to the ongoing invisibility of Ilius Suscever, OpenAI's respected co-founder and longtime chief scientists who played a big role in Altman's ouster. There is continued silence surrounding his future at the company, if any, both of the people familiar said. Open AI has yet to officially address Suskever's employment status, while he is no longer on the OpenA. an AI board, nor is Altman. His name remains in company systems like Slack, one of the people familiar said. A lawyer for Suskever did not respond to a request for comment. With more questions and answers, most employees are left to observe and infer. As for what the internal investigation into Altman will result in, employees aren't expecting any huge revelations, in part because Altman's mood

and demeanor have improved in recent weeks, one of the people said. The weight of the coup still appeared to hang over Altman at the start of this year. The person noted, now, quote, he seems a lot happier, end quote. Final link in the show notes today is to the YouTube video for this weekend's bonus episode, which is an interview with legendary Apple evangelist and current Canva evangelist, Guy Kawasaki. Guy has a new book out that has some key ideas for being successful in this industry we love, as well as some fun Apple and Steve Jobs stories. Guy also wants you to know he has a standing offer for listeners of this show. Anyone who buys 25 copies of his book, you have the right then to email Guy, send proof of your purchases, and Guy will personally spend 30 minutes online

reviewing and critiquing your pitch, your business plan, your proposal, what have you. His email is Guy Kawasaki at gmail.com. Please don't bug him unless you intend to take him up on this offer and buy 25 copies of the book, which is called Think Remarkable, by the way, on sale now. But if you do take them up on the offer, be sure to tell him the tech meme ride home sent you. Talk to you tomorrow.