Middle Tech

In this episode, Logan and Evan cover a range of topics from Congo Brands' expansion to the latest AI developments at Meta and Apple. Congo Brands is investing $8.2 million in a new headquarters in Kentucky, which is expected to create 500 jobs over the next decade.

We also discuss Meta's new product group focused on generative AI and the impact it could have on the future of social media. Additionally, we explore Apple's new AI health coaching service, Quartz, which uses data from Apple Watches to create personalized programs for users.

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In this weeks episode, Logan and Evan discuss how Apple has teamed up with Goldman Sachs to introduce a high-yield savings account that offers a 4.15% APY, which is ten times the national average. Apple's foray into finance has been successful, with services like Apple Pay, Apple Card, and Apple Cash being well-received by consumers.

Next, we'll delve into the world of space travel and talk about SpaceX's Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket. Although the first test flight was successful, it was not without its challenges, including debris flying for miles and residents describing the noise and debris as "truly terrifying."

Finally, we'll explore Google's Code Red panic over the rise of ChatGPT and its failure to excite the world with its AI products. We'll discuss the implications of this and how it relates to the future of AI.

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This week, Logan and Evan dive into the latest developments in the world of artificial intelligence. Our first topic centers around Elon Musk's recent move to start a rival AI company called X.AI, after changing the name of Twitter to X corp. by merging the two companies together. We discuss his plans to build an everything app like WeChat in China and power it with AI likely trained on Twitter data. With his aggressive recruiting of engineers away from Deep Mind and Open AI, we explore the potential for Musk to create a new, powerful AI app that revolutionizes the way we consume information and interact on social media.

Our second topic covers Amazon's recent entry into the generative AI race with Bedrock Launch. We examine Amazon's approach of recruiting third parties to host models on AWS, which enables developers to build with pre-trained models within the AWS ecosystem, the largest cloud development platform in the world. With Amazon competing with Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI, we explore the potential impact of Bedrock Launch on the market and how it could shape the future of AI development.

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This week, Logan and Evan explore several topics that are currently shaping the tech industry. They start by discussing Jack Harlow's investment in Phocus, a Louisville-based drink brand, and highlight the potential benefits of the collaboration between the popular rapper and the beverage company.

We then delves into Tesla's recent decision to reduce the prices of its Model S and Model X vehicles, and the implications this may have on the automotive industry. The hosts also examine the proposed RESTRICT act and its potential risks, including the possibility of criminalizing the use of VPNs and authorizing additional surveillance of US citizens' online activity.

Finally, the podcast features an AI Edge segment that discusses Google's plan to integrate conversational AI features into its search engine, and how this move could change the user experience significantly.

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Dr. Stephen Carrithers is the founder and CEO of AmDx PrognostX, a biotechnology company working to develop an immunoassay blood test to identify early diabetes-related microvascular dysfunction. With 88 million Americans suffering from prediabetes, many remain unaware of their condition, leaving them at risk for developing type 2 diabetes and other serious health complications. The groundbreaking test by AmDx PrognostX aims to predict which prediabetic patients will progress into kidney disease and allow for proactive and preventative treatment.

In this episode, we discuss the challenges faced by prediabetic patients, the importance of early detection and intervention, and the unique family dynamic at AmDx PrognostX, which combines the expertise of MBAs, MDs, and PhDs. We also explore the company's recent successes, including receiving an SBIR Phase II grant from the NIH and their plan to bring the diagnostic test to market.

Learn more about AmDx PrognostX at PrognostXHealth.com.

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This week, Logan and Evan dive into the latest major battery projects in Kentucky, including EnerVenue's investment of $264m into a gigafactory in Shelby County, and Microvast's $504m investment in Hopkinsville. These announcements solidify Kentucky as the EV battery production capital of the United States.

We also discuss Kentucky's latest legislation on medical marijuana and sports betting, with the recent passing of Senate Bill 47 to legalize and regulate medical marijuana in Kentucky, and our thoughts on the potential pivot of AppHarvest to growing medical marijuana.

In our AI Edge Segment, we discuss the recent call by tech industry leaders, including Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak, for a six-month pause in the development of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4. They believe that the risk to society is too great as AI becomes increasingly human-competitive at general tasks, potentially flooding information channels with propaganda and causing job displacement on a massive scale. Goldman Sachs predicts that over 300 million jobs could be replaced by AI like ChatGPT worldwide. Finally, we ask ChatGPT to simulate a scenario related to AI alignment.

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This week Logan and Evan discuss the Fed's decision to raise their benchmark interest rate, and the current state of the banking industry. We also dive into the controversy surrounding TikTok's privacy policies and the possibility of forcing them to sell to an American company. For our AI Edge segment, we explore OpenAI's launch of plugins and the fundamental shift it creates in the way we interact with the internet. With plugins, all the internet's information and call-to-action will be at our fingertips in a chat interface. Lastly we interviewed Paul Ehlinger, CEO and Co-founder of Flamel.ai. We dive into their company and how they are thriving in the AI boom!

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This week Logan and Evan are join by Michael Lewis, Co-Founder at THESIS Education, to discuss the Silicon Valley Bank crisis that shook the tech industry. SVB received an influx of deposits due to the tech boom and VC, leading to unrealized losses when they invested poorly. They sold at a loss and raised more money, causing a run on the bank. We explore the misunderstanding of the $250k FDIC deposit insurance limit, the systemic risk, and the government response, including guaranteeing deposits and letting banks fail.

In our AI Edge segment, we showcase Chat-GPT 4's impressive abilities such as turning a napkin sketch into a website and generating recipes from grocery photos. We also delve into the backstory of OpenAI LP, a capped profit company spun up in 2019.

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In this episode, we caught up with Kate Van Pelt from Synaptek, who we previously interviewed in 2019. They've made significant progress in the field of concussion protocol management and are currently raising funds for their company. Kate shares insights on the new business model they're taking on with Synaptek and all of the exciting developments since we last talked to them.

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This week Logan and Evan discuss Figure releasing their first images of its humanoid robot. The also discuss how Neuralink was denied by the FDA to begin human testing and the future of the company. And we go recent news in the AI space in our AI Edge Segment!

0:00 - Intro

3:02 - Kentucky Invests $117 Million Toward Small Businesses

10:38 - Massive Growth Coming to Elizabethtown, Kentucky

13:51 - Giving Our Flowers to Governor Beshear

15:41 - Thoughts on Recession and Growth in Kentucky

17:07 - Figure Releases Images of their Humanoid Robot

18:57 - The Big Race for General Purpose Robots

21:48 - The Difference Between Boston Dynamics and Optimist

24:49 - Neuralink Gets Denied by the FDA

28:27 - Would You Get Neuralink?

30:20 - AI Edge

Articles

Figure emerges from stealth with the first images of its humanoid robot

Stable Diffusion can visualize human thoughts from MRI data

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