1 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:12,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey thereon 2 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to Tech Stuff, I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm 3 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:19,239 Speaker 1: an executive producer with iHeart Podcasts and how the tech 4 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:22,000 Speaker 1: are you? So for those of you who celebrate, I 5 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:24,080 Speaker 1: hope you had a merry Christmas. And for all those 6 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:26,639 Speaker 1: who do not, I hope you had a wonderful December 7 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 1: of the twenty fifth. And I thought it'd be fun 8 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:33,839 Speaker 1: to do a sort of retrospective episode that cheekily I 9 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:38,920 Speaker 1: call the Twelve Days of Tech Christmas. But really it's 10 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 1: about twelve days in twenty twenty three where important tech 11 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:48,199 Speaker 1: stuff happened, stuff that is in the tech field, not 12 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: tech stuff as in the name of this show. Also, 13 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:55,800 Speaker 1: I'm very sad to say these are not necessarily jolly 14 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 1: days as a whole. The dates in this episode reference 15 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:02,400 Speaker 1: important events in tech, and many of those important events 16 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:05,600 Speaker 1: are also sad or troubling ones. But hey, I guess 17 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 1: we all celebrate the holidays in our own way. Let's 18 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:13,679 Speaker 1: start off with Thursday, January fifth, twenty twenty three. That 19 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:16,320 Speaker 1: was the day that Amazon confirmed it would be laying 20 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:20,600 Speaker 1: off more than eighteen thousand staff, primarily from the Amazon 21 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:25,640 Speaker 1: Stores department, and the People, Experience and Technology divisions. The 22 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:29,560 Speaker 1: company cited economic uncertainty as the reason for the layoffs, 23 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:33,240 Speaker 1: a phrase that we would see repeated over the last 24 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:35,280 Speaker 1: couple of years as folks debate whether or not the 25 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:40,679 Speaker 1: word recession is applicable. Since recession has some specific qualifications 26 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:45,160 Speaker 1: to it, we typically settle on economic uncertainty. The reason 27 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:47,480 Speaker 1: I included here is not just because my heart goes 28 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:50,080 Speaker 1: out to all the folks who were affected directly or 29 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:53,000 Speaker 1: indirectly by those layoffs, but also because it was one 30 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:56,160 Speaker 1: of the earliest examples this year of companies making some 31 00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:59,360 Speaker 1: pretty significant cutbacks. A big part of the problem was 32 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 1: that tech c companies went on a hiring spree during 33 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:05,480 Speaker 1: the pandemic days, but once things began to calm down, 34 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:08,680 Speaker 1: suddenly these companies found themselves with a workforce that arguably 35 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 1: was larger than what it needed to be. And while 36 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:15,360 Speaker 1: a lot of companies had already held significant layoff rounds 37 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:20,520 Speaker 1: in twenty twenty two, this year things amped up considerably, 38 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:23,400 Speaker 1: so in addition to Amazon, a lot of other companies 39 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:29,240 Speaker 1: like Meta, IBM, Google, Microsoft, Qualcom, and many more held 40 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:32,640 Speaker 1: rounds of layoffs this year. Here's hoping next year is 41 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:38,440 Speaker 1: much more stable. Moving on Tuesday, February seventh, twenty twenty three, 42 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:41,639 Speaker 1: this was the day Microsoft announced new versions of its 43 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:45,720 Speaker 1: web browser Edge and its search engine BING and these 44 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:49,600 Speaker 1: new versions would benefit from the power of artificial intelligence, 45 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:54,799 Speaker 1: specifically chat GPT. Microsoft had previously committed to a ten 46 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 1: billion dollar investment deal into open AI. That's the company 47 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:02,440 Speaker 1: that makes check GPT, so you can look at this 48 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:06,800 Speaker 1: as the first of many AI implementations in Microsoft products. 49 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:10,440 Speaker 1: The integration into search met that being could provide answers 50 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:14,040 Speaker 1: to questions and thus remove the necessity to click through 51 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:16,800 Speaker 1: to search results. That's something that has a lot of 52 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:19,320 Speaker 1: companies upset. It's a lot of work to put together 53 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:21,799 Speaker 1: an informative website, at least it's a lot of work 54 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:24,640 Speaker 1: to make a good one, and to have a tool 55 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:27,840 Speaker 1: essentially crimp the relevant information from your site and then 56 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:30,880 Speaker 1: serve it up to someone who might have actually visited 57 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 1: your page directly. Otherwise that's not a comforting thought for 58 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:39,320 Speaker 1: content dependent sites. It's a very scary thought actually, And 59 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 1: on top of giving content sites the willies, this move 60 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:46,520 Speaker 1: has poured gas on the fire that was already lit. 61 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:49,240 Speaker 1: Among other companies that were looking into getting into AI. 62 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 1: Suddenly there was a very real world example of how 63 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:58,160 Speaker 1: everyone else was falling behind Microsoft. Next up. Friday, March tenth, 64 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:03,520 Speaker 1: twenty twenty three, the day federal regulators shut down Silicon 65 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: Valley Bank AKASVB. This marked the second largest bank failure 66 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:12,839 Speaker 1: in US history. The largest happened in two thousand and eight. 67 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:16,320 Speaker 1: And the reason that it's important to tech anyway is 68 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:20,359 Speaker 1: that Silicon Valley Bank was a critical component to the 69 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:25,760 Speaker 1: tech sector. It serviced countless tech startups, and the circumstances 70 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:27,960 Speaker 1: of twenty twenty three played a big part in why 71 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:32,520 Speaker 1: the bank ultimately failed. Startups usually aren't profitable, sometimes they 72 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:35,320 Speaker 1: don't even have a way of generating revenue, and tech 73 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:38,440 Speaker 1: companies can actually remain unprofitable for a really long time 74 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:42,400 Speaker 1: see also the history of Twitter. But it still costs 75 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:46,080 Speaker 1: money to operate, and that money has to come from somewhere. 76 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:49,120 Speaker 1: So in the tech world, that money typically comes from 77 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:52,000 Speaker 1: investors who are hoping to make out like bandits. Once 78 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:56,679 Speaker 1: the startup they're investing in either goes profitable, goes public 79 00:04:56,720 --> 00:05:00,279 Speaker 1: with an IPO, or perhaps if you're really lucky, it 80 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:03,320 Speaker 1: gets swallowed up by some larger company for a hefty 81 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:08,160 Speaker 1: acquisition fee. But this means that during times when economic 82 00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:11,840 Speaker 1: factors are less conducive, such as when interest rates are high, 83 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:14,920 Speaker 1: investors are less generous with their money, and that means 84 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:18,040 Speaker 1: startups might have to dip into their accounts to cover costs, 85 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:21,440 Speaker 1: and that means making withdrawals, and if the bank they're 86 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:24,400 Speaker 1: withdrawing from doesn't have the cash to cover all the 87 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:28,440 Speaker 1: withdrawals of all its clients, you've got a problem. Next thing, 88 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:30,599 Speaker 1: you know, there's around on the bank, and then you 89 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:33,359 Speaker 1: get George Bailey standing on a desk and say, no, Tom, 90 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:37,159 Speaker 1: your money's not here. It's in Billy's app developer company, 91 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:41,600 Speaker 1: and Charles, your money is in Timmy's ride hailing startup 92 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:44,240 Speaker 1: and so forth. That was a really bad reference to 93 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:46,080 Speaker 1: It's a wonderful life, In case you didn't pick up 94 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:50,360 Speaker 1: on that anyway, SVB collapsed. I remember I was on 95 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:52,560 Speaker 1: my way to south By Southwest when this was happening, 96 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:54,960 Speaker 1: and I saw folks all around me in the airport 97 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:58,400 Speaker 1: who are also traveling to Austin, Texas try to remain 98 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:02,000 Speaker 1: calm while simultaneous wondering if they had just lost access 99 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 1: to all their money. It was a wild experience. Now, 100 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:09,200 Speaker 1: in the end, the US Treasury Department reassured all the 101 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:11,800 Speaker 1: depositors that their money would be covered, and that was 102 00:06:11,839 --> 00:06:16,280 Speaker 1: a pretty darn significant accomplishment in its own right. We 103 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:20,240 Speaker 1: move on to Tuesday, April eighteenth, twenty twenty two. That's 104 00:06:20,279 --> 00:06:23,840 Speaker 1: when Reddit changed its API policy. So in tech and 105 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:27,599 Speaker 1: API is an application programming interface. So essentially, it's a 106 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:31,080 Speaker 1: tool that developers use to create new apps that tap 107 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:35,599 Speaker 1: into some other platform or applications capabilities. It's like using 108 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:38,160 Speaker 1: someone else's work to act as the foundation for your 109 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:42,120 Speaker 1: own work, and in an ideal situation, all parties benefit 110 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:45,600 Speaker 1: from this arrangement, but things were changing it. Reddit and 111 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:49,039 Speaker 1: AI is largely the reason why companies that are building 112 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:52,360 Speaker 1: out large language models need to train those models on 113 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:55,960 Speaker 1: massive data sets. One way that you can build a 114 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:59,000 Speaker 1: data set is to scrape data off a platform that 115 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:02,440 Speaker 1: has a ton of communication stored on it. Reddit is 116 00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:05,560 Speaker 1: such a platform, and the training can give lms a 117 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:08,479 Speaker 1: chance to build models that structure messages in a way 118 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:12,000 Speaker 1: that's more human, or at least more human in Reddit terms, 119 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:15,080 Speaker 1: which depending on which subredit you're on, can get pretty spicy. 120 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:18,360 Speaker 1: So Reddit wanted to make changes in order to charge 121 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:22,440 Speaker 1: these AI companies more money to scrape data off their site. 122 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:24,560 Speaker 1: They're like, we're providing the data, we should be making 123 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:27,240 Speaker 1: money off this. It could be a huge revenue generator, 124 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 1: but it had a lot of other consequences. While Reddit 125 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 1: was still working on the changes in April, the announcement 126 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 1: raised some alarms that got louder over the course of 127 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:39,400 Speaker 1: the spring. Reddit would charge developers money depending on the 128 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:44,200 Speaker 1: frequency at which their apps connected with Reddit. For popular apps, 129 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:46,360 Speaker 1: this would mean the developer could owe as much as 130 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:49,760 Speaker 1: a million dollars or more per month, a cost that 131 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:52,080 Speaker 1: no one could really afford, and so a lot of 132 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:56,440 Speaker 1: popular Reddit based apps had to shut down. This infuriated 133 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:59,640 Speaker 1: the Reddit community, and many subreddits went dark in response. 134 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:02,560 Speaker 1: T Some went further and conducted a form of online 135 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:07,440 Speaker 1: guerrilla warfare against Reddit, which prompted Reddit to backtrack on 136 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:11,440 Speaker 1: some of its changes. But it all got very ugly 137 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:16,160 Speaker 1: and the fallout isn't over yet. Next up, Monday, June fifth, 138 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 1: twenty twenty three, Apple shows off the Vision Pro mixed 139 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:23,840 Speaker 1: reality headset. For years, rumors were buzzing about Apple and 140 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:27,320 Speaker 1: the company's efforts to develop augmented reality glasses. They were 141 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:30,920 Speaker 1: right up there with other legendary rumored projects like an 142 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:34,240 Speaker 1: Apple branded television set or maybe even an Apple car. 143 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:37,280 Speaker 1: While we might still be waiting on those, Apple finally 144 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:41,679 Speaker 1: revealed an AR headset at the twenty twenty three WWDC 145 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:45,840 Speaker 1: or Worldwide Developer Conference. Now, this headset is not the 146 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:49,000 Speaker 1: stylish pair of eyeglasses that folks were hoping for. It's 147 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:52,880 Speaker 1: a form factor that Apple reportedly chased, but they found 148 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:55,160 Speaker 1: it difficult to actually make it work. And let's be 149 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:57,920 Speaker 1: fair to Apple, it's really hard to cram all the 150 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:01,840 Speaker 1: components you need for a really compelling, good working pair 151 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:06,000 Speaker 1: of AR glasses into a form factor that's just an 152 00:09:06,040 --> 00:09:09,080 Speaker 1: eyeglasses frame. Even if you want to go chunky with 153 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:11,000 Speaker 1: the frame, it's it would be really hard to do 154 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:14,480 Speaker 1: all of that. So Apple's device doesn't look like glasses. 155 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:17,520 Speaker 1: It looks more like a high tech pair of ski goggles. 156 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:21,280 Speaker 1: The technology reportedly will be controlled through various means, including 157 00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:26,080 Speaker 1: hand gestures, voice commands, and using your eyes to command 158 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:28,920 Speaker 1: the goggles to do stuff. It also sets you back 159 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:32,040 Speaker 1: a small fortune. Apple said these sets will start at 160 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:35,120 Speaker 1: three thy four hundred and ninety nine dollars a set. 161 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:37,760 Speaker 1: They're not available just yet. We'll have to wait till 162 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:40,560 Speaker 1: next year to actually get our hands on them. I've 163 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:43,160 Speaker 1: read various reviews of people who got a chance to 164 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:47,240 Speaker 1: experience at firsthand, the people who are at WWDC. They 165 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:50,880 Speaker 1: sound really nifty. I don't know if they sound nifty 166 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:54,079 Speaker 1: enough for people to PLoP down thirty five hundred dollars 167 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:57,560 Speaker 1: on them. But I also am not the kind of 168 00:09:57,559 --> 00:10:00,240 Speaker 1: person who has an extra three five hundred bucks just 169 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:02,320 Speaker 1: laying around to try it out. So what do I know? 170 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:05,240 Speaker 1: All Right, we're gonna take a quick break. When we 171 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:08,520 Speaker 1: come back, we will wrap up our twelve days of 172 00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:19,520 Speaker 1: Tech Christmas. We're back, and we're up to Sunday, July 173 00:10:19,679 --> 00:10:23,440 Speaker 1: twenty third, twenty twenty three, and on that night Elon 174 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:26,320 Speaker 1: Musk declared the era of Twitter had come to an end, 175 00:10:26,679 --> 00:10:30,080 Speaker 1: and from that point forward, Twitter would be known as X. 176 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:33,000 Speaker 1: Twitter had launched way back in two thousand and six. 177 00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:37,199 Speaker 1: It had adopted its bird logo, which was nicknamed Larry 178 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:40,839 Speaker 1: the Bird, back in twenty ten, but on this night 179 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:44,640 Speaker 1: in July, the letter X took over. Musk has long 180 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:48,040 Speaker 1: had an obsession with that letter. Back in nineteen ninety seven, 181 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:51,200 Speaker 1: he co founded x dot Com, one of the components 182 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:55,280 Speaker 1: that would eventually become PayPal, a company that ultimately forced 183 00:10:55,400 --> 00:10:57,559 Speaker 1: Musk out of it when the other leaders in the 184 00:10:57,600 --> 00:11:00,679 Speaker 1: group figured he was too troublesome to keep around, and 185 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:03,040 Speaker 1: Musk had wanted to build his own version of an 186 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:07,600 Speaker 1: everything app similar to we Chat in China. The rebranding 187 00:11:07,679 --> 00:11:11,320 Speaker 1: extends to what we call stuff posted to X. Before, 188 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:13,840 Speaker 1: if you posted something to Twitter, you called it a tweet. 189 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:18,160 Speaker 1: Now we typically call them posts, although Musk himself initially 190 00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:21,520 Speaker 1: suggested we call them x's, maybe we just still call 191 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 1: them tweets because a lot of folks continue to reference 192 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:27,400 Speaker 1: ex as Twitter anyway despite the official change. As I 193 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:30,880 Speaker 1: say in another episode, this rebranding shook things up in 194 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:33,080 Speaker 1: the tech world. A lot of people question the wisdom 195 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:35,840 Speaker 1: of the decision. They argued that Twitter had stored a 196 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:38,480 Speaker 1: lot of value in its brand and logo, and that 197 00:11:38,559 --> 00:11:41,120 Speaker 1: by tossing those things aside, Musk was really making things 198 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:46,439 Speaker 1: harder on himself. But here we are anyway. Next up. Tuesday, 199 00:11:46,559 --> 00:11:50,360 Speaker 1: September twelfth, twenty twenty three. This marked the opening day 200 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:54,320 Speaker 1: for the massive antitrust lawsuit that the US government has 201 00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:57,199 Speaker 1: brought against Google. So at the heart of the matter 202 00:11:57,280 --> 00:12:00,760 Speaker 1: our accusations that Google, through various means, has worked to 203 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:03,720 Speaker 1: ensure that Google Search is the default search engine for 204 00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:08,880 Speaker 1: various devices and platforms, that Google actively worked to discourage 205 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:12,680 Speaker 1: competition in the space, often by offering large payouts to companies, 206 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:15,200 Speaker 1: in an effort to secure Google Search as the default. 207 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:19,680 Speaker 1: It is the largest antitrust action brought against a tech 208 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:22,960 Speaker 1: company since the US government went after Microsoft a few 209 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:26,079 Speaker 1: decades ago. Now, back then, it was all due to 210 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:29,400 Speaker 1: how Microsoft positioned its web browser. At that time, the 211 00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:32,720 Speaker 1: web browser was Internet Explorer and made it the default 212 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:36,240 Speaker 1: browser on Windows devices, and further, how Microsoft worked to 213 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:41,040 Speaker 1: integrate its operating system and its browser together, which critics 214 00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:44,320 Speaker 1: argued was an attempt to make it impractical or even impossible, 215 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:47,280 Speaker 1: for someone to use some other form of browser. That 216 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:50,520 Speaker 1: case at one point led to a decision, a legal 217 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:54,559 Speaker 1: decision that would force Microsoft to break up into smaller companies, 218 00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:58,400 Speaker 1: but later on a different judge overturned that initial ruling 219 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:03,000 Speaker 1: and Microsoft was allowed to remain. Microsoft. Could Google face 220 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:06,560 Speaker 1: similar pressure to break up into smaller companies, It's hard 221 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:09,000 Speaker 1: to say. For more than two decades, the US government 222 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:12,040 Speaker 1: has been largely hands off as companies like Google have 223 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:16,200 Speaker 1: gained greater influence in power. Maybe we're seeing a genuine 224 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:19,240 Speaker 1: swing in the other direction, but it's an ongoing story 225 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:21,240 Speaker 1: that will stretch into next year at the very least. 226 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:23,160 Speaker 1: And the fact that the US is entering into an 227 00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:26,240 Speaker 1: election year and a change in administration could mean a 228 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:29,480 Speaker 1: drastic change in how we handle these sorts of cases. 229 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:33,280 Speaker 1: I wouldn't bet anything one way or the other at 230 00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:38,120 Speaker 1: this point. Next up, Friday, October thirteenth, twenty twenty three. 231 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:42,600 Speaker 1: Friday the thirteenth, that's also the day that Microsoft closed 232 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:46,600 Speaker 1: the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. It took nearly two years 233 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:49,520 Speaker 1: to do it. I think twenty months total. Microsoft first 234 00:13:49,559 --> 00:13:53,800 Speaker 1: announced the intent to acquire Activision Blizzard in January of 235 00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:57,559 Speaker 1: twenty twenty two. The deal reached the value of nearly 236 00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:01,960 Speaker 1: sixty nine billion with a B dollars. Initially, the plan 237 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:04,600 Speaker 1: was to close the deal by July of twenty twenty three. 238 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:06,800 Speaker 1: But these massive deals, you know, they take a really 239 00:14:06,800 --> 00:14:09,800 Speaker 1: long time to work out all the details. This one 240 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:14,239 Speaker 1: took longer than was planned, largely due to regulatory resistance 241 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:17,920 Speaker 1: all around the world. A lot of regulators raise concerned 242 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:20,800 Speaker 1: that Microsoft would be consolidating the video game space to 243 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:26,239 Speaker 1: a point that hurt competition. Sony representatives actively consulted with regulators, 244 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:29,960 Speaker 1: worried that Microsoft would lock popular video game titles like 245 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:33,720 Speaker 1: the Call of Duty series under an exclusivity agreement and 246 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:36,720 Speaker 1: thus deny other platforms the chance to carry those games. 247 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:41,600 Speaker 1: Microsoft and Activision repeatedly made promises to multiple parties that 248 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:44,360 Speaker 1: they wouldn't do that, at least not for another ten 249 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:46,800 Speaker 1: years or so, but the deal seemed like it was 250 00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:49,680 Speaker 1: up in the air for most of twenty twenty three. 251 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:52,760 Speaker 1: Even today, the US Federal Trade Commission is a bit 252 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:55,960 Speaker 1: dodgy on the whole thing. But I'll talk about this 253 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:59,760 Speaker 1: more in another episode, so let's just keep it moving along. Thursday, 254 00:14:59,840 --> 00:15:02,720 Speaker 1: no November twenty twenty three, the first of a lot 255 00:15:02,760 --> 00:15:07,680 Speaker 1: of November stories. Sam Bangman Freed aka SBF was found 256 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:11,640 Speaker 1: guilty of seven charges ranging from fraud to conspiracy. Now, 257 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:14,560 Speaker 1: if you're not familiar with SBF, he was co founder 258 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:19,400 Speaker 1: of two important cryptocurrency companies. The first, Alimeda Research, was 259 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:22,360 Speaker 1: a trading firm. Essentially, it allowed customers to invest in 260 00:15:22,440 --> 00:15:26,080 Speaker 1: various crypto related things. The second and more infamous of 261 00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:30,680 Speaker 1: the two companies was FTX and Actual Cryptocurrency Exchange. In 262 00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:33,360 Speaker 1: late twenty twenty two, FTX began to fall apart as 263 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:36,720 Speaker 1: folks discovered that the leaders of the company had secretly 264 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:40,880 Speaker 1: been funneling customer funds stored in FTX to cover costs 265 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:44,640 Speaker 1: over at Alameda Research, without telling anyone or asking permission 266 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:47,440 Speaker 1: to do so. The revelations led to the collapse of 267 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:50,520 Speaker 1: both companies, the arrest of much of the leadership of 268 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:53,880 Speaker 1: those companies, and various investigations into what was going on 269 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:56,800 Speaker 1: in crypto in general. We're still failing the consequences of 270 00:15:56,800 --> 00:16:00,640 Speaker 1: this disaster today, and SBF is now facing sent after 271 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:03,720 Speaker 1: being convicted. In fact, as I write this, the latest 272 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:06,760 Speaker 1: news is that SPF's lawyers had requested a delay in 273 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:09,320 Speaker 1: the sentencing and the judge has denied the request. He 274 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:13,560 Speaker 1: is due to be sentenced on March twenty eighth next year. Monday, 275 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:17,320 Speaker 1: November sixth, twenty twenty three. We work files for bankruptcy 276 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:20,160 Speaker 1: talk about a fall from grace, all right. First off, 277 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:23,520 Speaker 1: we work I don't think technically belongs in the tech sector, 278 00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:26,200 Speaker 1: except everyone treated it like it was a tech startup, 279 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:29,440 Speaker 1: largely because it did mimic a lot of tech startups, 280 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:32,560 Speaker 1: But really we Work is just about securing office space 281 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:36,680 Speaker 1: and then subleasing that space out to other entities. That's it. 282 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:39,240 Speaker 1: It's not a new business idea, and traditionally it's got 283 00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:42,160 Speaker 1: a pretty low profit margin that really feels the squeeze 284 00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:46,520 Speaker 1: during uncertain times, whether it's economic uncertainty or a pandemic 285 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:49,200 Speaker 1: where no one leaves the house. But once upon a time, 286 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:52,000 Speaker 1: the we Work business had hit a valuation of fifty 287 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:57,000 Speaker 1: billion with a B dollars. This year, the company declared bankruptcy. 288 00:16:57,440 --> 00:16:59,480 Speaker 1: I imagine someone standing up on one of those white 289 00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:02,640 Speaker 1: tables shared office environment and pulling a Michael Scott and 290 00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:07,679 Speaker 1: just yelling out, I declare bankruptcy. This doesn't mean the 291 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:10,199 Speaker 1: company's going away, by the way, it is going to 292 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:14,440 Speaker 1: restructure and in theory come back as a viable business. 293 00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:17,520 Speaker 1: We Work has already been the subject of numerous podcasts 294 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:20,720 Speaker 1: and even an Apple TV series called We Crashed. I'm 295 00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:23,520 Speaker 1: sure there will be even more media treatments on the 296 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:28,640 Speaker 1: whole story in the future. Friday, November seventeenth, twenty twenty three, 297 00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:33,400 Speaker 1: Open AI's board of directors fires CEO Sam Altman now 298 00:17:33,440 --> 00:17:35,760 Speaker 1: sometimes companies will make a big move on a Friday, 299 00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:38,840 Speaker 1: like holding massive layoffs that kind of thing. And there 300 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:41,040 Speaker 1: are a lot of different reasons for this, but one 301 00:17:41,119 --> 00:17:43,560 Speaker 1: big one is that it can marke an effort for 302 00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:46,080 Speaker 1: the company to try and avoid a big old stink 303 00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:49,280 Speaker 1: in the media because folks are switching to weekend mode. 304 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:52,320 Speaker 1: Perhaps that was why the board of directors for open ai, 305 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:57,880 Speaker 1: the company behind chat gpt to fire Sam Altman, the CEO, 306 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:01,600 Speaker 1: on a Friday over a zoom call of all things. Now, 307 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:04,119 Speaker 1: I've already talked about this on a recent episode, but 308 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:07,120 Speaker 1: generally speaking, the board of directors was concerned that Altman's 309 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:10,600 Speaker 1: leadership was contrary to the mission of open ai, which 310 00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:14,680 Speaker 1: started off as a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing artificial 311 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:18,320 Speaker 1: intelligence in a safe, measured way meant to benefit all 312 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:22,560 Speaker 1: of humanity. Altman, by contrast, was seen as an aggressive 313 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:25,800 Speaker 1: entrepreneur who was pushing products out into the market, perhaps 314 00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:28,760 Speaker 1: a little too quickly, and launching a for profit version 315 00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:31,240 Speaker 1: of open ai in order to secure funding for research 316 00:18:31,240 --> 00:18:34,359 Speaker 1: and development. The decision was a bombshell, but it didn't 317 00:18:34,359 --> 00:18:37,600 Speaker 1: exactly last long. Over the weekend, mounting pressure on the 318 00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:40,280 Speaker 1: board of directors forced them to reconsider their decision, and 319 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:43,000 Speaker 1: by the following week things would look very different at 320 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:46,120 Speaker 1: open Ai. All but one of the border directors stepped 321 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:49,560 Speaker 1: down to be replaced by new board members. Altman returned 322 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:52,120 Speaker 1: to the head of the company, and mega investor Microsoft 323 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:55,119 Speaker 1: wagged a finger at open Ai and said, you better 324 00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:59,000 Speaker 1: not pull that kind of stuff again. And twelfth and 325 00:18:59,119 --> 00:19:02,480 Speaker 1: final two day November twenty first, twenty twenty three, the 326 00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:06,600 Speaker 1: day that Chong Peng xau Akacz in his cryptocurrency exchange 327 00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:10,520 Speaker 1: Binance entered guilty please with regard to massive anti money 328 00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:14,240 Speaker 1: laundering cases brought against it by the United States Justice Department, 329 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:18,520 Speaker 1: essentially a year after the collapse of FTX, which CZ 330 00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:22,560 Speaker 1: arguably contributed to. CZ had to face the music. The 331 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:25,879 Speaker 1: US Department of Justice alleged that Binance had served as 332 00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:29,240 Speaker 1: a money laundering haven for criminals, that it also allowed 333 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:33,280 Speaker 1: parties to bypass official sanctions around the world, and that 334 00:19:33,359 --> 00:19:36,520 Speaker 1: it served as an unlicensed means to transfer money, something 335 00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:38,560 Speaker 1: that can come in awful handy if you're engaged in 336 00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:41,760 Speaker 1: less than legal enterprises. As part of the plea, the 337 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:44,720 Speaker 1: organization agreed to pay more than four billion with a 338 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:48,040 Speaker 1: b dollars in fines. CZ himself will have to pay 339 00:19:48,119 --> 00:19:51,560 Speaker 1: a personal fine of fifty million dollars. He's also agreed 340 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:55,080 Speaker 1: to step down as CEO. He could face jailed time 341 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:59,119 Speaker 1: up to eighteen months or longer if the prosecutors decided 342 00:19:59,119 --> 00:20:02,040 Speaker 1: to go harder on him. The agreement also called for 343 00:20:02,119 --> 00:20:05,639 Speaker 1: a government monitor to step in and oversee finance, and 344 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:08,200 Speaker 1: that CZ has not allowed any involvement in the company 345 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:11,760 Speaker 1: until three years after that monitor takes the gig. It 346 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:14,000 Speaker 1: was a tough blow to CZ, but compared to his 347 00:20:14,119 --> 00:20:18,560 Speaker 1: rival SBF, you could say he got off easy. And 348 00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:23,800 Speaker 1: that's it. Those were our twelve days of Tech Christmas, 349 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:28,760 Speaker 1: twelve important dates this past year where something in tech 350 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:33,800 Speaker 1: happened that really was notable. I hope you enjoyed this 351 00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:35,960 Speaker 1: look back. We're going to have a couple more look 352 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:40,160 Speaker 1: backs before we close out the year, and then, Heaven 353 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:42,560 Speaker 1: help us, we're going to look forward and try another 354 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:46,720 Speaker 1: kind of a predictions episode. I think we'll see. I'm 355 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:48,800 Speaker 1: nervous to do it because it's been so long and 356 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:51,680 Speaker 1: they are so hard to do, and it also means 357 00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:54,280 Speaker 1: that ultimately I have to hold myself accountable and take 358 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:56,600 Speaker 1: a look back at the end of next year to 359 00:20:56,640 --> 00:21:00,880 Speaker 1: see whether or not I was even remotely accurate. Really, 360 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:03,560 Speaker 1: I think what the tech Stuff predictions episodes show is 361 00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:06,560 Speaker 1: that it really is impossible to predict the future. In 362 00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:09,320 Speaker 1: the meantime, I hope you are all well and I'll 363 00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:19,400 Speaker 1: talk to you again really soon. Tech Stuff is an 364 00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:24,920 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio production. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 365 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:31,720 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.