Tech investors offer top predictions for the new year 

• "The genie is certainly out of the bottle on AI as a fundamental platform shift and it’s here to stay.” — Madin Akpo-Esambe

• "Brace for a year where innovation and specialization intersect to shape the future of model development.” — Sheila Gulati

• "By the end of 2024, machines will write more than half of the new code generated globally.” — Greg Gottesman

• Above, clockwise from top left: Kellan Carter of Fuse; Madin Akpo-Esambe of Tacoma Venture Fund; Maria Gilfoyle of Madrona Venture Group; Greg Gottesman of Pioneer Square Labs; and Sheila Gulati of Tola Capital. Read more of their takes.

AI’s “toothbrush test”: Our guest on the latest GeekWire Podcast is Oren Etzioni, the Seattle-based computer scientist, entrepreneur, and longtime AI leader. He says usage of AI is poised to soar in the coming year, referring to the “toothbrush test” that estimates how many times a product is used each day. “I think that in 2024, the toothbrush test for AI is going to explode,” he says. “We’re going to find that we’re using it two, three, 10, 20 times a day.”

• Plus, GeekWire’s John Cook and Todd Bishop discuss The New York Times Co.’s suit against Microsoft and OpenAI over their use of its articles in GPT-4 and other AI models. 

Read more and listen here, and subscribe to GeekWire in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.

This VR arcade was fun, but was it worth a return trip? GeekWire’s Taylor Soper joined friends for “Squid Game Virtuals” at Sandbox VR in Seattle and had a blast inside the experience based on the hit Netflix show. But the price could be considered too much for too little return. Read the review.

Hot Links:

• Want to learn more about tech in Vancouver, B.C.? Register for the Annual Vancouver Tech Ecosystem Briefing. (Eventbrite)

• U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts weighed in on the potential impact of AI on the courts in a year-end report. “AI is based largely on existing information, which can inform but not make such decisions ... I predict that human judges will be around for a while,” he wrote, in part. (NPR)

Thanks for subscribing to the GeekWire newsletter, and have a great start to your year. — GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop, todd@geekwire.com, and GeekWire reporter Kurt Schlosser, kurt@geekwire.com.