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- [00:04]
Brian McCullough
Welcome to the Tech Meme Ride home from Monday, February 3rd, 2025. I'm Brian McCullough. Today OpenAI unveils Deep Research, an AI agent. Just for that I'll explain. Are Shehan and Temu first up to feel the brunt of the new Trump tariffs? Apple canceled the AR project I assumed they would be pivoting toward and the Beatles won a Grammy last night with the first AI augmented song ever to win a Grammy. Here's what you missed today in the world of tech. Over the weekend, OpenAI unveiled Deep Research, an AI agent for creating in depth reports available to $200 per month ChatGPT Pro subscribers and limited to 100 queries per month. Quoting TechCrunch, OpenAI said in a blog post published Sunday that this new capability was designed for people who do intensive knowledge work in areas like finance, science, policy and engineering, and need thorough, precise and reliable research. It can also be use, the company added, for anyone making purchases that typically require careful research like cars, appliances and furniture. Basically, ChatGPT, deep research is intended for instances where you don't just want a quick answer or summary, but instead need to assiduously consider information from multiple websites and other sources. Quoting the Verge, Instead of simply generating text, it shows a summary of its process in a sidebar with citations and a summary showing the process used for reference. Users can ask questions using text, images and additional files like PDFs or spreadsheets to add context, and then it will take anywhere from five to 30 minutes to develop a response provided in the chat window, with promises that in the future it will also be able to include embedded images and charts. OpenAI also notes limitations for Deep Research, saying it can sometimes hallucinate and makes up facts, struggle with telling the difference between authoritative info and rumors, and register how certain it should rate a response and quoting the Guardian, OpenAI said deep research was for professionals who work in areas such as finance, science and engineering, but it can also examine purchases such as cars and furniture. It is based on O3, OpenAI's latest reasoning model, which takes longer to process queries than conventional models and has yet to be released in full publicly. It comes after OpenAI announced the release on Friday of another derivation of O3, a free, slimmed down version called O3 Mini. Deep research will be available in the US for users of OpenAI's Pro tier, which costs $200 a but at a limit of up to 100 queries a month, reflecting the cost of processing every query under the tool. It is not available in the UK and Europe, end quote. You may have heard a little something about tariffs over the weekend, and in the flurry of executive orders and whatnot, I've found a tech angle. President Trump's recent executive order for levies on China says the day minimus exemption for items under $800 no longer applies would seriously affect Alibaba, JD.com, sheehan, Temu and others because that loophole was sort of their main advantage. Quoting Bloomberg, Trump's executive orders directing 25% levies on Canada and Mexico plus a 10% duty on China specify that the de minimis exemption for small packages no longer applies. Under the exemption, products below that dollar amount are able to enter the US without tariffs, a boon for China's e commerce retailers, who often ship cheaper wares directly to consumers in the Washington is taking aim at a loophole that retailers from PDD holdings Temu to fashion focused Shein have exploited for years to expand rapidly in the US that's given Chinese linked e commerce companies, which grew by hawking smaller packages in much higher volumes to consumers, huge advantages over market incumbents such as Amazon. Critics say the flood of parcels from China is hard to monitor and may contain illegal or dangerous goods. Trump's decision, while earlier than some analysts expected, had been largely anticipated by Temu and Shein. Since last year, they've begun diversifying their logistics chains, expanding networks in the US and moving to bigger bulk orders. Still, a formal closure is expected to hit a fast growing market segment. TAMU US accounts for a low teen percentage of PDD's revenue, Jefferies has estimated Alibaba Group holding and JD.com have thriving US businesses, and it raises questions about Shein's highly anticipated initial public offering, a megadebut investors expect to take place as soon as this year, end quote. But it's not just from that angle that they're facing new headwinds. Sources say the EU Commission and four member nations are planning a probe into Shein specifically over illegal products, opening the fast fashion marketplace up to potential fines Quoting a different Bloomberg piece, the Chinese founded massive online marketplace Shein faces potential fines with the European Union imminently set to open a probe into its compliance with consumer laws over the sale of illegal products, the bloc's executive branch, the European Commission, will lead national consumer protection regulators in a coordinated action against the fast fashion marketplace, according to two people familiar with the matter who were granted anonymity to discuss confidential plans. The commission is increasingly relying on a mechanism known as the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network, which aims to marshal national authorities to form a unified front against large online platforms suspected of breaching consumer protection rules. Chinese owned E commerce service Temu and Apple also faced similar actions in November for potential violations. Companies found to have broken the law can be hit by fines by now national regulators in individual EU member states. End quote. I continue to be fascinated by Tether. They recently reported that they had $13 billion in net profits in 2024, including around $7 billion from its U.S. treasuries and repo holdings, and $5 billion from unrealized appreciation of gold and bitcoin holdings. But they're just the largest face of a whole movement. As TechCrunch points out, stablecoins are becoming a core part of financial infrastructure in emerging markets, expanding beyond cross border payments into consumer finance and more. Five years ago, SpaceX launched Starlink, which has since grown into its biggest revenue driver, expanding to more than 100 countries. But as Starlink scaled, it faced a major hurdle, accepting payments in developing markets where traditional banking infrastructure is unreliable, slow and prone to blocking transactions. Many local banks across Africa, Latin America and Asia struggle with international payments, forcing SpaceX to look for alternatives to bypass these challenges. SpaceX turned to stablecoins, a fast growing method for cross border payments already widely used in emerging markets. The company partnered with Bridge, a stablecoin payments platform, to accept payments in various currencies and instantly convert them into stablecoins for its global treasury. This move positioned Bridge as a viable alternative to correspondent banks in markets where traditional financial systems fall short. Soon after, Stripe took notice, acquiring the startup for more than $1 billion and solidifying Bridge's reputation and driving up its valuation as an infrastructure player solving inefficiencies in global finance. The rise of stablecoins, now a $205 billion market, is driven by real world utility, not speculation, particularly in emerging markets where the most compelling use cases unfold. Cross border payments in those regions are typically slow and expensive, involving multiple intermediaries. For example, a textile manufacturer in Brazil paying a supplier in Nigeria might have to go through several banks and currency exchanges, each adding fees and delays. Stablecoins remove this friction, enabling cheaper near instant transactions. This growing demand has led to massive transaction volume growth for startups, providing stablecoin cross border solutions for businesses in Africa and emerging markets. Yellow Card, which provides a platform that lets users convert Fiat to crypto and back to Fiat, doubled its annual transaction volume to $3 billion in 2024 from 1 and billion in 2023. Conduit, which enables stablecoin payments for import export businesses in Africa and Latin America saw its annualized TPV jump to $10 billion from $5 billion. Lagos based Juicyway, which facilitates cross border payments using stablecoins, has processed $1.3 billion in total payments volume to date. Investor interest has also surged with top venture firms backing stablecoin powered fintechs targeting these markets. Tether itself invested a sizable check in an African stablecoin infra and liquidity provider TechCrunch. Meanwhile, Conduit, which raised a $6 million seed round last year, is finalizing another round with some big name backers. End Quote if someone would have told me that there are science backed ingredients that could help me feel 15 years younger in a matter of months, I wouldn't have believed it. Then I tried Qualio Senolytic as we age, everyone accumulates senescent cells in their body. 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- [10:08]
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- [11:19]
Brian McCullough
Mark Gurman over the weekend said that Apple has canceled another project, this one a project to build AR glasses that would pair with the Mac. The company is still working on successors to the Vision Pro, apparently, but I kind of thought they might move in the direction of Mac accessory, I guess not quoting Bloomberg Apple has canceled a project to build advanced augmented reality glasses that would pair with its devices, marking the latest setback in its effort to create a headset that appeals to typical consumers. The company shuttered the program this week, according to people with knowledge of the move. The now canceled product would have looked like normal glasses but include built in displays and require a connection to a Mac, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the work wasn't public. An Apple representative declined to comment. The project had been seen as a potential way forward after the weak introduction of the Apple Vision Pro, a $3,499 model that was too cumbersome and pricey to catch on with consumers. The hope was to produce something that everyday users could embrace, but finding the right at the right cost has proven to be a challenge. Apple risks losing ground to Meta platforms, which already sells a popular set of Ray Ban smart glasses. Meta is working to create a version that adds augmented reality, the superimposing of images and data on real world views, and expects to have a product ready by 2027. That's when Apple had previously intended to sell its device Connected glasses, which were codenamed N107. The decision to wind down work on the N107 product followed an attempt to revamp the design, according to the people the company had. Init wanted the glasses to pair with an iPhone, but it ran into problems over how much processing power the handset could provide. It also affected the iPhone's battery life, so the company shifted to an approach that required linking up with a Mac computer, which has faster processors and bigger batteries. But the Mac Connected products performed poorly during reviews with executives, and the desired features continued to change. Members of Apple's Vision Products Group, which worked on the device grew increasingly concerned that the project was on the rocks. Sure enough, the final word came this week that the effort was over. The Vision Pro remains a technical marvel, even with its slow start. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook touted the product during an earnings conference call Thursday, saying that more corporate customers are embracing it. But employees in Apple's Vision Products Group, or vpg, believe there's a lack of focus and clear direction within the team, which is overseen by Mike Rockwell and company hardware chief John Ternus. The N107 retreat is just the latest failed attempt to make Apple's headset technology successful, they say, and that's hurting morale. The company is still working on successors to the Vision Pro, including updated versions of the original model. It also has other concepts in the works, such as AirPods with cameras, and executives still hope to eventually create a set of standalone AR glasses someday. Apple has made other recent changes. Last week, one of its Vision Pro team's top executives moved to the AI division. The N107 device had advanced projectors that could display information, images and video in the field of view for each eye, similar to augmented reality glasses being developed by Meta and others. Despite the project being shuttered, Apple is still working on underlying technologies that could be used in AR glasses down the road, including custom microled type screens, Bloomberg News reported this week. The holy grail for the industry is creating fully standalone glasses with their own screens, processor and operating system that wouldn't require a smartphone or computer. Last year, Meta previewed prototype glasses called Orion that come close to this design, though they do connect to a wireless puck that handles the computing. Meta expects developers to start buying Test units in 2026, helping them create software for the dev. The launch of a consumer version, codenamed Artemis, is planned for 2027. With its AR glasses project, Apple had hoped to capitalize on one of the more compelling features of Vision os, the operating system that runs the Vision Pro. It can link up with a Mac and let people handle computing tasks in mixed reality. That means the Vision Pro can serve as a giant virtual monitor that feels like it curves around a user. Prototypes of the device were light enough to not require a strap to wrap around a wearer's head, a requirement of the heavier Vision Pro. Apple also removed the front facing screen on today's Vision Pro shows a wearer's eyes, though that technology is one of the more memorable aspects of the current headset. The feature adds costs and weight, but the device did still have some bells and whistles. The company worked on including lenses that could change their tint depending on what a user is doing. The idea was to tell an onlooker if the person is present and approachable, or busy working on computing tasks. End quote finally today, the Beatles now and Then, a new song from the band created using AI and an original 1970s lo fi demo, won Best Rock Performance at the Grammys last night. Quoting the Verge, the Beatles have won their eighth competitive Grammy Award thanks to a little help from artificial intelligence. The 2023 track now and Then, which Billboard reports is the first song knowingly created with AI assistance to earn a Grammy nomination, was awarded Best Rock Performance on Sunday, beating out competition Green Day, Pearl Jam, the Black keys, Idols and St. Vincent. The track was pieced together using a demo that John Lennon recorded in the late 1970s with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison later providing their own contributions in the mid-90s with the aim of including the final song in the Beatles Anthology project. Now and Then wasn't released, however, due to technical limitations at the time preventing Lennon's vocals and piano from being separated from the original Lo Fi demo. End quote it was director Peter Jackson and his team who developed the AI needed to isolate the various components that allowed for the track to be finally pieced together on release. Paul McCartney said, quote, to be clear, nothing has been artificially or synthetically created. It's all real and we all play on it. We cleaned up some existing recordings, a process which has gone on for years. End quote if you haven't heard the song, is it any good? Well, well. Quoting Boygenius Report Objectively, it's not a great song, and it's not a great song because Lennon never finished it in his lifetime. It was just a song fragment. If he was alive today. I just cannot see him being fine with putting the track out in its current form, especially with its kind of boring melody and in one instance some mind bogglingly stupid lyrics that I assume were more placeholder lines at the time for Lennon, like and if you go I know you'll never stay. Which is as asinine is saying, if you, you won't be here. Certainly McCartney and Starr had the approval to do this from Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, who handed over the cassette of Lennon's demo by way of officially blessing the project. But her approval is not the same as his, and I haven't even touched on the fact that the late George Harrison is also present in the song via some of his harmonies that were snatched from an earlier Beatles song and adjusted to fit the new song's key. The Beatles fan in me certainly loves that we have new music from the greatest pop rock group of all time. However, just because that we can resur the voice of a dead artist and enjoy it in a way that he or she might not have wanted, doesn't mean we should. End quote. So remember that illness that I told you about last week that had come on all of a sudden? Yeah. Turns out it was Covid. I got head faked because my daughter daughter had gotten the flu earlier in the week, so I figured I got grazed by that. But timely reminder, when you get a bad sore throat with an illness like needles in the back of your throat bad, that's when you need to think of COVID It's still out there, y'all. Talk to you tomorrow.