Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of my current or any previous employer. This blog may also contain links to other websites or resources. I am not responsible for the content on those external sites or any changes that may occur after the publication of my posts.
End Disclaimer
I want to be with you 'til the world ends
I want to be with you 'til the whole world ends
-Coldplay, Orphans
AIML
Do AI companies work?- from
“What, then, is an LLM vendor’s moat? Brand? Inertia? A better set of applications built on top of their core models? An ever-growing bonfire of cash that keeps its models a nose ahead of a hundred competitors? “
OpenAI and Anthropic Revenue Breakdown- Great numbers article from
“Despite a lot of buzz around Anthropic’s latest class of models including Sonnet, and around Claude and features such as Artifacts, the vast majority of people who use ChatGPT have likely never even tried or heard of Anthropic’s Claude.”
“I’m a bit surprised by how close things seem to be on the API front. It would appear that OpenAI is somewhere around ~$1.2-1.5B in run-rate revenue from its API revenue, while Anthropic is at around ~$800M in run-rate revenue. That would put OpenAI only about 50-100% larger than Anthropic on the API side, which is a much smaller gap than in aggregate.”
California governor vetoes major AI safety bill-
“While well-intentioned, SB 1047 does not take into account whether an AI system is deployed in high-risk environments, involves critical decision-making or the use of sensitive data. Instead, the bill applies stringent standards to even the most basic functions .”
Yes, Claude is very, very good…
Things are getting weird…
Painting
Old Woman Examining a Coin by a Lantern, 1623, Gerrit van Honthorst
Cyber
This Teenage Hacker Became a Legend Attacking Companies. Then His Rivals Attacked Him. -
“Roughly two weeks into his stay, just after 9 p.m., officers entered Kurtaj’s room. An Amazon Fire Stick—a small streaming device with internet access—was plugged into the hotel room TV. There was a keyboard and mouse, and a gold-toned iPhone on the bed, just under the duvet. “
Markets
“There are even some people who have a genuine intellectual interest in making money. This is distinct from mere greed. They just can't help noticing when something is mispriced, and can't help doing something about it. It's like a puzzle for them.”
Clever Way to Land Software Engineer Interview:
That Luxury Home Comes With an Ocean View—and Surging Insurance Costs -
“Luxury homeowners pay more in part because their properties often sit along the coastlines, forests and deserts that have become hotbeds for climate disasters in recent years.
Major insurance companies have pulled back from those parts of the country, as disasters have turned more frequent and severe. In states such as Florida and California, some companies have left completely. “
Why Mortgage Rates Haven’t Fallen Since the Fed Cut -
“The key is not necessarily whether the Fed cuts short-term rates by 25 or 50 [basis points] but how that reduction is interpreted further out on the yield curve by bond market participants,” says Mark Palim, chief economist at Fannie Mae.”
A tiny town just got slammed by Helene. It could massively disrupt the tech industry-
“As far as we know, there’s only a few places in the world that have ultra-high-quality quartz,” according to Ed Conway, author of Material World: The Six Raw Materials That Shape Modern Civilization. Russia and Brazil also supply high-quality quartz, he says, but “Spruce Pine has far and away the [largest amount] and highest quality.”
The dockworkers’ strike could hit Americans where it hurts: Bananas -
“Bananas are the most popular fruit in the United States. Virtually all of them enter the country through US ports. “
“About 75% of bananas imported to the US come in through ports that are currently at a halt, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.”
Misc
Stolen Ferrari worth $575,000 was found by tracking the owner’s AirPods- Buy an AirTag and hide it in your car
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre at 50: a brutal yet artful shock horror- One of the most effective horror movies ever
The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books -
“Many students no longer arrive at college—even at highly selective, elite colleges—prepared to read books.”
Podcasts for a Road Trip
Chameleon: Hollywood Con Queen
Books
My Favorite Business Mischief Books
4 books I’ve read and 5 books I want to read
AI and ML Reading List: My Favorites