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OpenAI to buy AI startup from Jony Ive

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Re: OpenAI to buy AI startup from Jony Ive

#631

So does openai know how to widen the context window without it taking more money? Otherwise Google wins, again. And this is all boring. Gemini 2.5 pro preview where you can just insert all files you have and actually it doesn't compress and has it in memory is just what you want. All the compression tricks etc really are shit compared. 32k input tokens is a joke now once you tried this. As in bearish on openai if the…

I agree we are watching the turning point.

If raw AI power is the key, Google seems to be in pole position form here on out. They can make their own TPUs, have their own data center. No need to "Stargate" with Oracle and Softbank in tow. Google also has Android, YouTube and G-Suite.

However, OpenAI has been going down the product route for a few years now. After a spout of high-profile research exits it is clear Altman has purged the ranks and can now focus on product development.

So if product is a sufficient USP, and if Altman can deliver a better product, they still have a chance. I guess that is where Ive comes into picture. And Google is notoriously bad at product that is internally developed.

Re: OpenAI to buy AI startup from Jony Ive

#632

What the other commenters are forgetting is that this is the same Sam Altman who planned and executed the extraction of Reddit from Condé Nast. This acquisition (and the Windsurf acquisition) are all-stock deals, which have the added benefit of reducing the control the nonprofit entity has over the for profit OpenAI entity. How do you extract the for profit entity out of the hands of a nonprofit? - Step 1: you have c…

That is interesting given that reddit has gone from a cultural powerhouse to something most people talk about shamefully, if at all.

Culture powerhouse? Lol, for nerds maybe. I'm pretty sure most of my non tech friends have never visited the site.

Re: OpenAI to buy AI startup from Jony Ive

#633

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This still means 1.5B were paid in cash for a company from what I understood has neither clients nor even a product. Not exactly pocket money.

It kind of is, when they were given $500B and told to make a return in 10-ish years. They have to put the capital in play where it has the largest ROI potential. They are gambling that Jony has another iPhone in him. I don't know enough about any of this to weigh in on it, but when you take investor money, you aren't supposed to sit on it or do slow burn (at least not VC money), its meant to be gasoline, and you moon…

> when they were given $500B

You're off by an order of magnitude here.

Re: OpenAI to buy AI startup from Jony Ive

#634

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is interesting given that reddit has gone from a cultural powerhouse to something most people talk about shamefully, if at all.

>something most people talk about shamefully, if at all Only if you go there for rage bait content. Small subs are better than ever. And no Lemmy is not an alternative.

I don't know if reddit is better than ever, but the continued existence and popularity of old.reddit.com seems to be a sign that it is not well-run. (in the sense of they wrecked their UX years ago and never fixed it).

Re: OpenAI to buy AI startup from Jony Ive

#635

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it sounds like the CEO of OpenAI wants to use investor's money to buy his other company. Too bad we can't short it or otherwise stop it, because investment for the things we could start will dry up once the world figures this out. We're all correlated to companies like FTX whether we like them or not...

Sam and Elon are both ethically dubious power players who seem to be really good at inside dealing to benefit themselves, while all the other people in their companies just have to deal with it. As I write this out, it reminds me of another polarizing leader who has been really good at being in the news every day for the last 6 months, and for a 4 year period a decade ago.

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Re: OpenAI to buy AI startup from Jony Ive

#636

No question that Ive is a legend, but I do think the fall of Humane (also ex-Apple) and the challenges at Meta, Apple, and Google in terms of VR/AR adoption (Meta Ray Ban, Apple Vision, Google Glasses and the new thing) are instructive here. The $6.5B almost feels like the largest ever aquihire.

Agreed. It's hard to think of a new product category for smart devices ... unless maybe Smart HATS! OK folks so remember where you heard it first - ultra stylish head gear with flip-down visor screen anyone?

Eye contacts that have a HUD could be cool. But that’s not really something you need someone like Ive for.

Re: OpenAI to buy AI startup from Jony Ive

#637

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Growing up in a strong Southern Christian / Baptist / Pentecostal household [1], WorldCoin feels like the most "Mark of the Beast" plot I've ever seen. 1990's televangelists like John Hagee and Pat Robertson would be screaming to high heaven about Sam Altman being the antichrist if they were still around. Transacting with your eyeball? Directly out of the Book of Revelations! [1] I took a strong interest in biochemis…

[flagged]

> It's also a hoot to just see LDS missionaries waiving their iPhones around with the Genesis Apple clearly visible.

To be fair, the LDS doctrine around the fruit from the Garden of Eden and the fall is quite different from the Catholic understanding, it’s seen as a necessary, even a good thing, in the overall plan.

Re: OpenAI to buy AI startup from Jony Ive

#638
post #617

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Sam Altman who planned and executed the extraction of Reddit from Condé Nast Relevant thread where Sam acknowledges the plan. https://old.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/3cs78i/whats_the...

Am I the only one who read samaltman's comment as obvious sarcasm?

I mean no, but it could also be plausible deniability?

Re: OpenAI to buy AI startup from Jony Ive

#639

These product-focused moves feel like a tacit admission that AGI is further away than they’ve been preaching. If it was close at hand, spending precious resources on anything other than pursuing AGI wouldn’t make sense.

Does anyone seriously think we're anywhere close to AGI with LLMs? I know CEOs like to say things to blow smoke up investors asses, but does anyone with actual credibility think that?

I expect a fair number of non-technical LLM proponents, and probably some engineers as well, have likely built machines quite capable of helping them fool themselves that it is.

Re: OpenAI to buy AI startup from Jony Ive

#640

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Growing up in a strong Southern Christian / Baptist / Pentecostal household [1], WorldCoin feels like the most "Mark of the Beast" plot I've ever seen. 1990's televangelists like John Hagee and Pat Robertson would be screaming to high heaven about Sam Altman being the antichrist if they were still around. Transacting with your eyeball? Directly out of the Book of Revelations! [1] I took a strong interest in biochemis…

Signing posts with a hash tied to a thing that might prove you are human instead of a LLM astroturfing might actually be a good value proposition for blockchain.

You don't need a blockchain for that, just cryptographic signatures and PKI. The EU is implementing a system for national IDs that would enable this, and could be done with perfect privacy through zero-knowledge proofs.
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