This Week in Google (Audio)

TWiG 745: Livvy Rizzed Up Baby Gronk - Google Gemini AI, Beeper Mini

Wed, 06 Dec 2023 19:34:03 PST

Misinformation researcher Joan Donovan accuses Harvard of bowing to Facebook
Meet Gemini AI, Google's ChatGPT Killer
The Inside Story of Microsoft's Partnership with OpenAI
How Elon Musk and Larry Page's AI Debate Led to OpenAI and an Industry Boom
Beeper Cloud and Product Roadmap Update
Spotify Cancels Two Acclaimed Podcasts — 'Heavyweight,' 'Stolen'
Salt-Hank Gordon Ramsey duet!!
Google's Gemini AI model is coming to the Pixel 8 Pro for recording summaries and smart replies
Do you know what 'rizz' is?? It's Oxford's 2023 Word of the Year.
Rob Reiner Remembers Norman Lear: We've Lost 'a Real Champion of America'
Linda Yaccarino's Very Unmerry X Mess
Picks of the week
(Paris) WeCroak, a great app for the fun nihilists
(Paris) 10 years of The Information! How Jessica Lessin's The Information Has Survived a Decade of Media Tumult
(Jeff) Pornography websites will have to check users' ages, under draft UK guidelines
(Jeff) AI-powered pickleball calls

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Paris Martineau

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TWiG 744: Giant Red Ties - Google Online News Act, DeepMind AI

Wed, 29 Nov 2023 20:12:07 PST

Federal government reaches deal with Google on Online News Act
Google DeepMind researchers use AI tool to find 2mn new materials
Some Pixel 8 Pro displays have bumps under the glass
Reflecting on 18 years at Google
Google's new geothermal energy project is up and running
AWS Unveils Next Generation AWS-Designed Chips
Amazon Introduces Q, an A.I. Chatbot for Companies
Does Black Friday and Cyber Monday Matter?
Adobe's $20 Billion Purchase of Figma Would Harm Innovation, U.K. Regulator Provisionally Finds
Elon goes full Pizzagate. How does this end?
A new low in manels
Sports Illustrated Published Articles by Fake, AI-Generated Writers
OpenAI Made an AI Breakthrough Before Altman Firing, Stoking Excitement and Concern
Hugging Face CEO on What Comes After Transformers
Hinton vs LeCun vs Ng vs Tegmark vs O
Anthony Levandowski Reboots Church of Artificial Intelligence
Unauthorized "David Attenborough" AI clone narrates developer's life, goes viral
Google Slides getting built-in presentation recording tool
Google Will Start Deleting Old Accounts This Week. Here's How to Save Your Google Account
Google's .meme domain is here to serve your wackiest websites
Some Google Drive for Desktop users are missing months of files

Picks of the week

(Paris) The 2000 cinematic masterpiece Chicken Run
(Paris) Pentiment
(Jeff) Jezebel to Be Resurrected by Paste Magazine
(Jeff) After 151 years, Popular Science will no longer offer a magazine
(Ant) City Nerd on YouTube
(Jason) No Ads in Albania, Ethiopia and Myanmar

Hosts: Jason Howell, Jeff Jarvis, Paris Martineau, and Ant Pruitt

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TWiG 743: Competitive Pantomime - OpenAI deep dive, Musk's Media Matters lawsuit, Stable Video Diffusion

Wed, 22 Nov 2023 20:52:48 PST

From King to Exile to King Again: The Inside Story of Sam Altman's Whiplash Week
OpenAI's Misalignment and Microsoft's Gain – Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Ilya Sutskever on X: "I deeply regret my participation in the board's actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we've built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company."
Altman Argued With OpenAI Board Member Toner Before Ouster
Microsoft exits OpenAI drama with 'one of best possible outcomes'
Dear Elon Musk, here are five things you might want to consider about AGI
DeepMind releases new music model
Google is embedding inaudible watermarks right into its AI generated music
Introducing Stable Video Diffusion — Stability AI
Google Meet can now detect when you physically raise your hand
Google Chrome will limit ad blockers starting June 2024
Google Maps' new look may frustrate Calif. drivers as Thanksgiving travel begins
Google will work with Apple on implementing RCS on iPhone
Anthropic Introduces Claude 2.1 With 200K Context Window
Sarah Silverman Hits Stumbling Block in AI Lawsuit Against Meta
Congrats To Elon Musk: I Didn't Think You Had It In You To File A Lawsuit This Stupid. But, You Crazy Bastard, You Did It!
What Spotify's New Royalty Model Really Means
MC HAMMER on X: "Salute and congratulations to the 710 plus @OpenAI team members who gave an unparalleled demonstration of loyalty, love and commitment to @sama and @gdb in these perilous times it was a thing of beauty to witness. Salute
Parents Sue Gaming Companies Over 'Video Game Addiction', Because That's Easier Than Parenting

Picks:

Paris - a beautiful 2 minutes in live caller history. Stephen A. Smith vs a guy who tries to ask about Cars
Paris - And.... from the mind that brought you basement eel guy: TikTok tunnel girl
Jeff - No evidence screen time is negative for children's cognitive development and well-being: Oxford Study
Ant - Great Review From Mr Sargent and Mr Nielsen - Shot on iPhone 15
Ant - LumaFusion Update Includes Editing on SSD
Ant - Bittersweet and Grateful

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, Paris Martineau, and Ant Pruitt

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google.

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TWiG 742: More Eel Guys Than You Know - Leo's GPTs, Alex Stamos on election disinformation, deepfakes, eels!

Wed, 15 Nov 2023 19:34:24 PST

Discussion of upcoming Black Friday sales on Google Pixel phones and tablets
Concerns with the Pixel tablet including laggy performance, inability to use independently from dock, and high pricing
Leo shares his epiphany on the usefulness of AI for expert systems and personalized agents
Demonstration of Leo's custom AI assistants for Lisp and Emacs programming languages
Talk of Elon Musk's reputation decline after acquiring Twitter
Discussion of studies showing people perceive AI-generated faces as more human than real faces
Overview of lawsuit allowing school districts to sue social media companies for youth addiction
Interview with Alex Stamos, former Facebook CSO and current Stanford professor
Alex's perspective on risks of deepfakes in elections vs for individual harassment
Thoughts on moral panic around social media and youth mental health
Alex recounts attending a closed-door Senate AI hearing led by Senator Schumer
Discussion of social media companies loosening policies on election misinformation
Concerns about TikTok as a news source and possible propaganda risks
Talk of new book "A History of Fake Things on the Internet" by Walter Shirer
Alex's suggestion for comprehensive federal privacy regulations
Revelation during Google antitrust trial of Apple's cut of Google search revenue

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paris Martineau, and Jason Howell

Guest: Alex Stamos

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TWiG 741: The Whole Muffin - OpenAI GPTs, Article 45, iMessage regulation, Bored Ape dancing

Wed, 08 Nov 2023 20:32:30 PST

OpenAI debuts GPTs allowing companies to further optimize GPT-4 for specific domains.
Article 45, an EU regulation, will roll back web security by 12 years by banning website fingerprinting used for fraud detection.
GM halts production on its Cruise driverless van over safety concerns after recent crashes.
The SAG strike continues as negotiations with AMPTP stall. AMPTP proposed using AI to replace actors.
AI academics voice concerns about AI CEOs like Sam Altman having too much unilateral control over powerful technologies like GPT-4.
Meta allegedly tried to buy the domain name threads.com from a company called Threads and kicked them off Facebook when they refused to sell.
Google petitions regulators to force Apple to open up iMessage to improve Android interoperability and reduce lock-in.
Mark Zuckerberg leans into WhatsApp's strengths like groups, communities, and encryption to differentiate it from iMessage and Signal.
Attendees at a Bored Ape NFT event suffer "severe eye burns" after lazers engraved NFT images directly onto their retinas.
TikTok announces it is shutting down its $2 billion creator fund amidst advertiser pullback and recession worries.
Camps teaching kids how to become YouTube and social media stars are proliferating.
YouTube is testing new generative AI features like video captioning, a comments summarizer, and conversational assistance to enhance the platform.
Google Keep will replace the functionality of Assistant Notes and the Assistant Shopping List as Google consolidates its services.
Waze adds a new feature to warn drivers about accident-prone roads and intersections to improve safety.
Google Chrome can now display how much memory each open tab is using, helping diagnose slowdowns.
Google brings its conversational AI-powered Search to over 120 more countries and territories, expanding access globally.
Picks: GifCities, Vintage Byte Magazine Library, YouTube's ad blocking crackdown faces privacy laws, TriCounty For Foster Kids, Ya EARNED It

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, Paris Martineau, and Ant Pruitt

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TWiG 740: Michelangelo's Nunchucks - AI Executive Order, Sergey Brin's Airship, WeWork Bankruptcy, .ing Domain

Wed, 01 Nov 2023 20:35:42 PDT

Facebook's demographic targeting and personalized recommendations
Government regulations for controlling AI in the US
The threat of militarization of AI and autonomous weapons
Eco-friendly transportation like blimps and cross-country train trips
Don LaFontaine's train car recordings
Google's questionable business practices and dominance
Viral courtroom sketches from Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX trial
Google switching to mobile-first indexing
Google's new .ing domain name
Humane's new smart pin device created with OpenAI and Jony Ive
Nostalgic retro flip clocks and video games
Concept of time and futuristic hotels like TWA Hotel

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Paris Martineau

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google.

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TWiG 739: Panic in the Cul-de-sac - Cruise ousted in CA, online dating, Humane AI Pin, Dimension 20

Wed, 25 Oct 2023 19:13:37 PDT

DMV suspends Cruise's robo-taxi permit in San Francisco after pedestrian accident
Debate over regulating approval process for autonomous vehicles between NHTSA and NTSB
Analysis of Google's disappointing Q3 financial results and advertising revenue drop
Impact of dating apps like Tinder on relationships and matchmaking
The demise of Twitter rival Pebble aka T2
Online interactions and social media - federation, verification, addiction
Lawsuits and moral panic surrounding Meta and Instagram's impact
AI wearable technology like Humane AI pin's features and risks
Google Chrome's dominance
Ethics of AI - risks of automation, data poisoning, copyright
Role of AI in society, regulating development, technology concerns
Picks include - corn mazes, Dimension 20, Jezebel up for sale, Pixel 8 Pro camera review

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, Paris Martineau, and Ant Pruitt

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google.

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TWiG 738: The Deorbiting Professor - X charges $1, Netflix theme park, Andreessen Manifesto, Meta Glassholes

Wed, 18 Oct 2023 20:54:55 PDT

Elon Musk says charging $1 a year to Twitter users could reduce bots
VC Mark Andreessen loses it in controversial tech manifesto
Meta Quest 3 brings back glassholes to the wild
Amazon launches satellites to compete with SpaceX Starlink
Peter Norvig and Blaise Aguera y Arcas claim AGI is already here
51% of teens spend 4+ hours daily on social media
YouTube getting AI-powered ads targeting pop culture moments
Mass tech layoffs in 2022 - reasonable correction or problematic?
Google Wallet adds support for digital IDs and ticket scanning
Adobe focuses on AI over Figma acquisition amid antitrust scrutiny
Picks: Trust & Safety Tycoon game, beautiful coffee videos, laptop advice

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Ant Pruitt

Guest: Paris Martineau

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TWiG 737: Gormless - Google's Sonos Victory, Search Modification, California Right-to-Repair, Adobe MAX

Wed, 11 Oct 2023 20:30:00 PDT

Google's "enshittification" memos
A Note From WIRED Leadership
Moonlighting comes to Hulu... starring Jeff Jarvis!
Elon Musk's X Strips Article Headlines on Shared Links
Did Elon Musk Endorse Biden, Come Out as Transgender and Die of Suicide?
Elon Musk Is Personally Undermining X's Efforts to Curb Israel-Hamas War Disinformation
Sure, There's Disinfo On ExTwitter, But The EU Should Not Be Demanding Censorship
Alexa says the 2020 election was stolen. What does it mean for 2024?
The Journalist and the Fallen Billionaire
The fraud was in the code
Newsom signs bill that would make it easier to delete online personal
Google is already bringing back the software features it removed because of Sonos' lawsuit
Right-to-repair is now the law in California
Meta Is Paying Creators Millions for AI Chatbots
Google Will Drop Claim That YouTube TV Is '$600 Less Than Cable' After Charter Complaint to Advertising Board
Zuzalu: From a hacker house to a hacker resort
I Gave ChatGPT an IQ Test. Here's What I Discovered
Google rolls out Pixel Buds Pro 5.9 update with Conversation Detection
Google Meet brings 1080p streaming to group calls
Google Accounts will prompt users at login to set up passkey
Google bringing Flood Hub forecasts to the US
Google Fi 'upgrade' takes $400 off Pixel 8 Pro with no trade-in
Adobe MAX: Adobe Unveils the Future of Creativity and AI at Adobe MAX 2023

Picks:
Cathy - Restoration of Notre Dame
Jeff - Video of Unsupervised
Ant - ADOBE MAX 2023: WHY AI WILL NOT TAKE JOBS FROM CREATORS
Ant - How to Read a Defense | A Guide to the Basics of Football Coverage

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Ant Pruitt

Guest: Cathy Gellis

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TWiG 736: Socks on the Beach - Pixel 8, Chromebook Plus, paid social media, what happened to Masterclass?

Wed, 04 Oct 2023 21:00:00 PDT

Google's Pixel hardware event and new devices
Debate over adding AI to search functions - risks to accuracy?
Laws challenging social media's First Amendment rights
Movies released on TikTok by studios
High production costs of Masterclass
Streaming vs DVDs and the shrinking open web
Spotify's attempts to expand beyond music in audiobooks
Amazon's algorithms manipulating prices
Supreme Court case involving copyright of legal search tools
Paywalls and closed platforms replacing the open web
Pushback against heroic tech biographies and access journalism
Impacts of inexpensive screens and cameras everywhere
Testing social media subscription models
Using AI to create realistic fake photos and videos

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Ant Pruitt

Guest: Paris Martineau

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google.

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