Down Round

Anyone who lives in Australia would be aware of Foxtel's new streaming box Hubbl, thanks to an absolutely overwhelming ad campaign pitching it. We talk about the Hubbl, and use it as an excuse to dive into streaming more generally, and what's been going on since the last time we talked about it.

Links

• Foxtel faces its streaming apocalypse – AFR
• Down Round on X
• Down Round on Instagram
• Down Round on TikTok
• Sign up for Down Round Premium

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Well, it happened: the US passed legislation to force ByteDance to divest TikTok in the country. Now, the company technically has 12 months to make it happen. But is that the end of the story? In this episode, we discuss how we arrived at this point, what avenues TikTok has left, and who or what might acquire TikTok if it comes down to that.

Links

• TikTok could soon be sold. Here's how much it's worth and who could buy it. – CBS
• Byte-Dance was told to sell TikTok or face a ban. There are legal complications – NPR
• Down Round on X
• Down Round on Instagram
• Down Round on TikTok

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everything is chatbots now. Every company must become a purveyor of bespoke chatbots.The latest cab off the rank is Meta, which just unveiled Llama 3, the latest version of its open source LLM. But this time they have integrated it deeply into Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, whacking a big nasty chatbox over the searchbar in all these apps.

In this episode, we talk about Meta's strategy in AI, and what Zuck might be cooking.

Links

• The Dwarkesh pod with Zuckerberg
• Down Round on X
• Down Round on Instagram
• Down Round on TikTok

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is a free preview of a premium episode. To subscribe to Down Round Premium and get access, head here.

As Downies will know well, one of the themes we're keeping an eye on is the number of products and product categories that are trying to replace the smartphone, which has been lagging in sales and hype of late. Two devices which pitched a bold new path forward are the Humane AI Pin and the Apple Vision Pro.

Based on reviews, neither of them are looking very good at all. We discuss.

Links

• Humane AI Pin review: not even close – The Verge

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over the past few weeks, there has been a surprising amount of movement in the AI music space. Suno and Udio are two lavishly funded AI music generation startups which just launched new models, which allow you to make songs in a wide range of genres from prompts. While not perfect, they both sound pretty good.

At the same time, Spotify is trialling AI-generated playlists, seemingly laying the groundwork for their own generative music. In this ep, we talk about the new models and what they might be used for.

Links

• AI-Music Arms Race: Meet Udio, the Other ChatGPT for Music - Rolling Stone
• Former Google DeepMind researchers launch AI-powered music creation app Udio

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Launching Money Stuff podcast discussing financial news and reader submissions; new episodes on Fridays, available on major platforms. Feedback welcome via email. It's an additional option, won't affect newsletter readers.

In the 1960s, the government attempted to limit tax-free stock swaps in funds primarily holding liquid assets; wealth managers found loopholes. Amazon plans to offer employees more cash instead of stock, reflecting a trend across tech firms. Amazon, Meta, Costco, and Pepsi have varying levels of stock-based compensation. KPMG Netherlands falls under PCAOB oversight due to its US business involvement. Macy's Inc. bonds indenture details conditions considered as 'Change of Control.'

Passi can work at CaaS despite securities industry ban due to its reclassification; McKinsey didn't comment on 2022 banking trends presentation; Black missed Nobel due to posthumous policy, Nobel in Economics is technically not a Nobel Prize.

Sheep mowing didn't save money but were liked; still needed to be financially sensible.

This week, we're joined by Kyle Harrison, who is General Partner at Contrary, a US venture capital fund. As well as investing, Kyle writes the newsletter Investing 101 2.0, where he shares his various insights into the VC ecosystem – including where, in his view, it's all gone wrong.

Kyle joins us to chat about the state of VC after the end of the tech boom, why he doesn't think anyone has learned their lesson, and what he thinks will happen with AI on both the tech and the investment side.

Links

• The Puritans of Venture Capital – Kyle Harrison

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.