An interview with Marc Andreessen about COVID, AI opportunities and risk, and a16z’s approach to the future.
Amazon, Friction, and the FTC
The FTC’s Amazon complaint raises some fair points in isolation, but misses the bigger picture, both in terms of Amazon specifically and the Internet generally.
Reddit Rage, The Tadpole Shrimp of the Internet, Judge Pauses Microsoft-Activision Deal
More on Reddit, including why my previous Update was not so much wrong on details as it was wrong in feeling; plus, how Microsoft might carve the UK out of the Activision acquisition.
FTC Sues to Block Activision Deal (Again), Global Companies vs. Regional Regulators, How Big is the Xbox Business?
The ongoing saga around Xbox Game Pass raises a host of issues, including the FTC’s overall approach, the question of regional regulators and global businesses, and whether or on the Vision Pro will be truly open.
An Interview with Eric Seufert About Streaming Advertising, Generative AI, and Marketing Automation
An interview with Eric Seufert about Mobile Dev Memo’s new business model, the prospects for streamers building advertising business model, the potential for generative AI in advertising, along with the dangers of relying too much on marketing automation, and whether or not Meta figured out ATT. We also discuss Facebook Shops and Shopify, and the E.U.’s recent fines on Meta.
Meta’s Low E.U. ARPU, The Supreme Court and Section 230
Meta makes a surprisingly small amount of money in the E.U., particularly on an ARPU basis; then, the Supreme Court signals strong support for Section 230
EU Fines Meta, Big Tech Exposure, The Degradation of Scalability
The E.U. fines Meta for data transfers, an issue that affects companies of all sizes. This may be rectified by an agreement, but tech scalability is still diminishing.
An Interview with Chip War Author Chris Miller
An Interview with Chip War author Chris Miller about why the U.S. succeeded in chips when the USSR didn’t, globalization and the importance of Taiwan and South Korea, and China’s prospects post chip ban.
UK Blocks Microsoft Activision Acquisition, Microsoft and Google Earnings
The UK blocks Microsoft’s Activision acquisition using a market definition that makes no sense; then, Google and Microsoft’s earnings both talked about AI, but the discussion was more favorable to Microsoft
Fair Use and Model Training, Getty Images vs. Stable Diffusion, Adobe’s Regulatory Capture Bet
One of the biggest questions facing AI is if the ingestion of copyrighted material into model training is or is not fair use; Getty Images is suing to get an answer, and Adobe is trying to benefit in the meantime.