Down Round

Glasses/goggle chat is so back, folks. Today our hosts convene to discuss Snap, the company best known for creating Snapchat. You know, the app for teenagers and perverts alike. Last week they announced their new 'SPECS', a chunky pair of AR glasses. They make some big promises, but a high price tag and a few obvious hurdles brought them wide skepticism and ridicule online. Paradigm shift coming? iPhone is dead? Possibly? but probs not. If you like the pod, chuck us a review on your podcast player of choice, or go to downround.net to sign up for PREMIUM to get ad-free listening PLUS an extra episode every week. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Apple's annual World Wide Developer Conference happened on Monday. It was an odd one, with a large emphasis on safety and trust, with a little bit of mea culpa sprinkled in after their promised AI features from a few years ago have still failed to ship. Did they announce any cool new features coming to your iPhone in the coming months? Well, that depends if you think protecting children from gore and nudity is 'cool', you little sicko. If you like the pod, chuck us a review on your podcast player of choice, or go to downround.net to sign up for PREMIUM to get ad-free listening PLUS an extra episode every week. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Elon Musk's SpaceX is hurtling towards and IPO and have dropped their S1 document. James and Raph come together to elucidate what the hell is going on in there, and how the company attempts to justify a $1.7 Trillion valuation.If you like the pod, chuck us a review on your podcast player of choice, or go to downround.net to sign up for PREMIUM to get ad-free listening PLUS an extra episode every week. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You've heard of Twitch, formerly Justin.tv, the website where you watch sweaty guys play Fortnite. But are you aware that there is a dark and twisted bizarro Twitch called 'Kick'? It's where some of our planet's greatest degenerates have decided to call home, with extremely lax terms of service allowing them to do and show much more than they could on the comparatively draconian purple app. Your children are watching this filth, mouth agog, and it's letting them vicariously experience what it's like to be the most annoying prick on the high street. Or worse, watching 'rapper' Drake mindlessly bet on slots with house money [allegedly].Noted establishmentarians James and Raph stretched on their shoulder length rubber gloves to sort through one of the internets strangest pass times - watching other people exist.But first, a quick run down on GameStop's offer to buy Ebay.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ALERT, ALERT: Timmy Cook is officially stepping down from his CEO position, but it's more like a step to one side as he shifts into chairman mode. His replacement has been announced as John Ternus, Apple's current senior vice president of hardware engineering. So, what legacy is big Cookie leaving behind, and what will change with Ternus at the helm?ALSO, a quick run down on that Allbirds AI thing from last week. If you like the pod, chuck us a review on your podcast player of choice, or go to downround.net to sign up for PREMIUM to get ad-free listening PLUS an extra episode every week.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So, OpenAI bought a podcast? For possibly hundreds of millions? Most importantly, it wasn't us?Our spurned hosts come together to question the decision with the jealous contempt of an ex-lover. Moving through the stages of grief, we also interrogate Sam Altman's character, and whether he even deserved us in the first place, as some have recently called him duplicitous and sociopathic. Lose our number, Sammy boy, we're going to ask Dario to the dinner dance instead. 💅 If you like the pod, chuck us a review on your podcast player of choice, or go to downround.net to sign up for PREMIUM to get ad-free listening PLUS an extra episode every week.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Another week, another episode about OpenAI. The eponymous chatbot company has announced that it's video generation/social media app Sora is shutting up shop as they seem to be chasing Anthropic's enterprise focused success. This is important to discuss because it means the boys were sort of right again? They also dipped their toes into the sloppy waters of AI Fruit Love Island, and wrapped back around to revisit private equity.Warning: James' computer decided to switch his mic input from the gorgeous RODE mic he had plugged in to his crusty little airpods, meaning his recording sounded like dog doo-doo for the first 20 minutes of the ep. Please accept our sincerest apologies, and know that he will be severely punished for this malfeasance in due course.If you like the pod, chuck us a review on your podcast player of choice, or go to downround.net to sign up for PREMIUM to get ad-free listening PLUS an extra episode every week.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We come to you with an urgent alert for all Down Round subscribers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When one thinks of impossible futures, they often think of a luxurious, technological wonderland. An unimaginable utopia where humans live in perfect harmony, their every want and need being fulfilled through meteoric advances in artificial intelligence. A prosperous society of abundance and civility.But what if these same technological strides lead humanity to a different, more sinister outcome. One in which our dependable world economies simply evaporate as organic beings are removed from the equation. One where only next-token prediction engines are granted access to wealth, and those who clairvoyantly bought reasonably-priced Macintosh computers before the uprising rocket skyward into an insurmountable upper crust.Some researchers have written a piece of speculative fiction which describes one of these two possibilities arriving by in 2028. Listen to the podcast to find out which one they foresaw, and hear two of DM Research's finest alum examine this theory in great depth. If you like the pod, chuck us a review on your podcast player of choice, or go to downround.net to sign up for PREMIUM to get ad-free listening PLUS an extra episode every week.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gossip episode alert. The OpenAI/Anthropic rivalry is boiling over. We sip on the most piping hot tea around OpenAI and Anthropic's ad spots at the Super Bowl and the growing animosity between the two giants. If you like the pod, chuck us a review on your podcast player of choice, or go to downround.net to sign up for PREMIUM to get ad-free listening PLUS an extra episode every week.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You asked, we answered. We're doing a much-requested episode on "Australian" fintech Airwallex, which has gotten a lot of untoward attention of late — anti-money laundering audits, accusations by American VCs of being a financial backdoor to China. But there's a bigger story here: the proliferation of payments companies doing a big land grab from traditional financial institutions, and quickly learning that regulation and bank policy exists for a reason. We take a crash course of Airwallex, its current controversies, and where it fits into the bigger payments story.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New year, new studio, same red hot takes. This episode covers the typhoon of AI-generated filth created by Grok, Elon Musk's AI venture, currently flooding X. We also touch on the general state of X as a platform. Go to downround.net to sign up for PREMIUM to get ad-free listening PLUS an extra episode every week.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're joined by Rowan "Joyride" Dix and Becky "Becky Lucas" Lucas for another round of our annual community shark tank, where we listen to our listeners pitch their startup ideas and decide whether we're going to invest.Go to https://www.downround.net/ to sign up for PREMIUM to hear the other 45 minutes of Shark Tank, get ad-free listening PLUS an extra episode every week.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.