Techmeme Ride Home: Thu. 05/29 – Somebody Knows Victoria’s Secrets
Release Date: May 29, 2025
Host: Brian McCullough
1. Nvidia’s Stellar Earnings and China Export Challenges
Brian McCullough opens the episode by highlighting Nvidia's remarkable financial performance. Nvidia has reclaimed its position as the most valuable company globally, reporting a 69% year-over-year increase in Q1 revenue, reaching $44.06 billion, surpassing estimates of $43.31 billion. Notably, their data center revenue surged by 73% to $39.1 billion, and net income rose by 26% to $18.78 billion.
However, Nvidia faces significant headwinds due to U.S. export restrictions. The company's guidance predicts $45 billion in sales for the current quarter, slightly below the LSEG estimate of $45.9 billion. This shortfall is attributed to a recent U.S. government-imposed export license requirement on its China-bound H20 chips, resulting in $4.5 billion in charges related to excess inventory and a potential loss of $2.5 billion in sales.
Quote [02:15]:
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on earnings call:
"The $50 billion market in China for AI chips is effectively closed to US industry. The H20 export ban ended our hopper data center."
Bloomberg adds depth to this narrative, emphasizing that Chinese competitors are rapidly evolving. Huang pointed out that Huawei Technologies, despite being blacklisted, has become a formidable force in the AI chip market, closing the gap in performance with Nvidia’s offerings.
Quote [05:40]:
Bloomberg on Huang's comments:
"You cannot underestimate the importance of the Chinese market... we can't ignore the fact that the Chinese market is very important."
Despite these challenges, Nvidia continues its aggressive growth, driven by robust demand for AI infrastructure crucial for applications like OpenAI's ChatGPT.
2. Nvidia Expands into Gaming with GeForce Now for Stream Deck
Shifting focus to Nvidia's ventures beyond AI, McCullough discusses the company's latest foray into the gaming sector. Nvidia has launched a native GeForce Now app for Stream Deck, enabling gamers to stream games in up to 4K resolution at 60 frames per second.
Quote [08:50]:
Windows Central praises the new app:
"Nvidia's GeForce Now has rapidly become my favorite cloud gaming service as it dramatically outperforms Xbox's own cloud platform today."
The integration simplifies access for Steam Deck users, offering seamless gameplay with features like HDR10 support and DLSS4 upscaling. The native app not only enhances gaming performance but also extends the Steam Deck's battery life by up to 50%, ensuring longer and more efficient gaming sessions.
3. Victoria’s Secret Suffers Major Cybersecurity Breach
A significant part of the episode delves into the cybersecurity incident affecting Victoria’s Secret. The retailer has taken its website offline, replaced with a message acknowledging a security breach, and has temporarily closed some in-store services.
Quote [12:30]:
Bleeping Computer reports:
"We identified and are taking steps to address a security incident... We have taken down our website and some in-store services as a precaution."
The breach impacts approximately 1,380 retail stores across nearly 70 countries, with annual revenues reported at $6.23 billion for the fiscal year ending February 1, 2025. External experts have been engaged to investigate the incident, though the exact nature of the breach remains undisclosed.
McCullough contextualizes this event within a broader trend of increased cyberattacks targeting major retailers. Recent incidents include breaches at Dior, Adidas, Harrods, Co-op, and Marks & Spencer, the latter facing potential losses of up to £300 million ($402 million) due to operational disruptions.
Quote [15:20]:
Bloomberg on similar breaches:
"Adidas has also revealed a data breach last week after threat actors who hacked a customer service provider stole some of its customers' data."
A Twitter highlight from Nick Freshette amusingly encapsulates the widespread impact:
"Somebody knows Victoria's Secret, maybe a lot of them 👀"
4. Apple to Rename Operating Systems by Year
In a noteworthy shift, Apple is set to rebrand its operating systems to follow a year-based naming convention instead of numerical versions. This strategic move aims to bring consistency and clarity to their product lineup.
Quote [18:45]:
Mark Gurman on Twitter:
"The next Apple operating systems will be identified by year rather than with a version number... iOS 18 will give way to iOS 26."
Each platform will adopt the year-based nomenclature: iPadOS 26, Mac OS 26, WatchOS 26, TVOS 26, and Vision OS 26. Scheduled to be officially announced at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 9th, this initiative, internally dubbed Solarium, will coincide with refreshed user interfaces designed to enhance cross-device cohesion.
5. DeepSeek’s R1 Update: A Game-Changer in AI Competition
DeepSeek has quietly released an R1 Reasoning Model update that significantly boosts its performance in mathematics, programming, and logical reasoning. Despite minimal external promotion, the update positions DeepSeek competitively against giants like OpenAI's GPT-4 and Google's Gemini 2.5 Pro.
Quote [22:10]:
Implicator AI newsletter highlights:
"Deepseek released an Update to its R1 Reasoning Model early Thursday morning... performance numbers tell a different story."
Key improvements include:
- Mathematics: Accuracy increased from 70% to 87.5% on the AIM 2025 math test.
- Coding: Live code bench scores rose from 63.5% to 73.3%.
- Complex Competitions: Pass rates on HMMT 2025 jumped from 41.7% to 79.4%.
Furthermore, DeepSeek introduced R10528Q038B, a distilled 8-billion-parameter model that matches the performance of models thirty times larger on specific tasks. This advancement democratizes access to sophisticated AI, making high-level reasoning more accessible and cost-effective.
6. Anthropic’s CEO Warns of AI-Induced Job Apocalypse
In a stark warning, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodai has publicly cautioned that artificial intelligence could eliminate half of all entry-level white-collar jobs, potentially increasing U.S. unemployment by 10-20% within the next one to five years.
Quote [26:40]:
Axios interviews Amodai:
"AI companies and government need to stop sugarcoating what's coming—the possible mass elimination of jobs across technology, finance, law, consulting, and other white-collar professions."
Amodai emphasizes the dual-edged nature of AI, highlighting both its potential for immense good and the risk of significant societal disruption. He criticizes the lack of proactive measures from both government and industry leaders to address impending job losses.
Quote [29:15]:
Amodai on societal impact:
"Cancer is cured, the economy grows at 10% a year, the budget is balanced, and 20% of people don't have jobs."
He outlines a three-step scenario leading to this outcome:
- Rapid AI Advancement: Continuous improvement of AI models surpassing human capabilities.
- Government Inaction: Minimal regulation or public awareness initiatives.
- Unnoticed Transition: Gradual replacement of human jobs with AI, leading to widespread unemployment before public realization.
Amodai urges immediate attention and action to mitigate these risks, stressing that the potential for a “job apocalypse” is real and imminent.
Conclusion
Brian McCullough wraps up the episode by underscoring the multifaceted challenges and breakthroughs shaping the tech landscape. From Nvidia's triumphs and tribulations in the global market to the alarming implications of AI on the future workforce, the episode offers a comprehensive overview of the current technological zeitgeist.
This summary encapsulates the key discussions and insights from the May 29, 2025, episode of Techmeme Ride Home, providing listeners with a detailed overview of significant developments in the tech world.