Spyglass - Road Apples

As promised, I'm on the road and it's late. But there remains a lot to read and remark upon. Mainly, Apple really seems to be going on the offensive now. Actually meaningful AI updates. New products next week. Push back against the negative Vision Pro narrative. And a range of other, smaller updates that continue to trickle out...

I Think…

🏴‍☠️ Peter Todd Was ‘Unmasked’ As Bitcoin Creator Satoshi Nakamoto. Now He’s In Hiding – He's absolutely, 100% in hiding – except when responding to emails from Wired, apparently. He also, it seems sent the publication some screenshots of his inbox to show everyone just how wild it has been for him, post-documentary, with a lot of people emailing to ask for money. He also sent pictures of himself doing things out and about during some alleged times of Nakamoto communications – of course, as Wired notes, such images easily could have had the metadata doctored. It's a strange situation. On one hand, it feels a bit too much like a feigned "oh please stop asking... oh and one more thing on this topic..." – like Todd really actually wants people to believe he's Nakamoto by almost lackadaisically saying he's not. On the other, the evidence is interesting – not a slam dunk, of course, and if anything, it seems like Todd might be part of a small group that was Nakamoto. And that Todd, perhaps may have possibly destroyed the keys required to access Nakamoto's Bitcoin, thus locking it away, and removing temptation, forever. Or not. It's either all smart misdirection and gamesmanship, or incredibly stupid misdirection and gamesmanship. But please, Todd would really, truly like you to stop asking him questions while he's in top super secret hiding. [Wired 🔒]

🤯 How Intel Got Left Behind in the A.I. Chip Boom – Steve Lohr and Don Clark do not bury the lede here: nearly 20 years ago, Paul Otellini, Intel's CEO at the time, put forth the idea to the board to buy NVIDIA. The cost would have been around $20B. Today, NVIDIA is worth $3.5T – trillion – it's the second-most valuable company in the world and may overtake Apple again soon. Intel is worth $95B, similar to what it was worth back then. Hindsight is 20/20 (billion) and all that, but wow. Otellini gets a lot of shit for passing on the iPhone (it was undoubtedly more nuanced), but this would have been quite the call. Though, yes, Intel undoubtedly would have messed it up in some way and it's quite likely that NVIDIA simply would never have become the NVIDIA that it is today. There are some other great details in here, including some tidbits about current Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger's attempts to compete with NVIDIA in graphics that went nowhere. Also a great picture of Gelsinger looking roughly 50 years younger 20 years ago. Bonus: the NYT report on the government perhaps getting some cold feet with their major CHIPS act partner even though Gina Raimondo seems to be trying her damndest to sell working with Intel to others – including maybe Amazon? [NYT]

💻 Apple Makes Headway on M4 MacBook Air – A few nuggets buried in this Mark Gurman report. First, the new MacBook Airs would seem to be coming sooner than anticipated. Not in time for next week's product unveils (now confirmed, btw), but perhaps by January. Second, that product unveil next week won't be a big event, but likely a shorter pre-recorded one similar to last year's Halloween event (or perhaps even just press releases issued each morning – maybe with some videos?). Third, the M4 Mac Studio is no longer coupled with the Air and is coming later in 2025 (M4 'Ultra' related?). Fourth, next year's 'iPhone Air' would replace the 'Plus' model in the lineup, which is in line with a Jeff Pu report from last week and makes sense as that model apparently hasn't been selling well. Fifth, that strange, square-screen new home device is indeed targeted for next year... [Bloomberg 🔒]

🎬 A Chat with 20th Century Studios Boss Steve Asbell – I think Asbell just shot to the top of my favorite Hollywood execs after this interview. He answers almost everything and confirms a number of pretty huge projects in the works! Almost casually. Those include a sequel to Alien: Romulus – no real surprise given its success, but I just hope they more directly tie it into the Prometheus timeline, what is Rain and Andy find David out there next... There's some sort of secret Predator movie being released ahead of the not-so-secret next Predator movie? They're closing in on a prequel to Master and Commander! And it sounds like Speed 3 with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves is on the table... Also some smart thoughts about "upgrading" films to cinemas when warranted. [THR]

I Wrote…

Apple Boosts Their Intelligence

Apple Intelligence in iOS 18.2 beta is fitter, happier, more productive…

Spyglass •M.G. Siegler

I Link...

• Speaking of Satoshi Nakamoto, Tyler Cowen lays out the reason why it actually matters who "he" is – despite the insistence from Peter Todd and other crypto folks that it doesn't matter. Imagine a religion with its creator still around to influence and change things... [Bloomberg 🔒]
• Google is trying to streamline the "edited with AI" notion in photo metadata. Seems like a no-brainer. [Verge]
• Are you an AI startup that wants to sell itself? Make sure your assets or sales are below $23.9 million or the value of the deal is below $119.5 million (it can be higher if the acquiring company is also small). Otherwise, it's hackquisition or bust for you. [Information 🔒]
• Hans Zimmer’s brilliant score for Dune: Part 2 isn't eligible for the Oscars because it reuses too much from another score: his work on Dune. This is stupid. [Variety]
• It would seem that OpenAI keeps upping their senior non-technical talent, with smart key hires in compliance (from Uber) and economics (from the Biden administration). [Bloomberg 🔒]
• Apple pushed out some really nice updates to TestFlight, including screenshots and tester criteria. [MacRumors]
• I've been a big fan and avid user of Eero's WiFi products for years – my current set up has six of them in my home and it's great. Now they're taking their game outdoors with a product that will work from -40 F to 130 F. In intense rain, wind, etc. [Verge]
• Tesla is less a car company than it is a carbon credit and battery company – but really, it's a bet on Elon Musk company. [FT 🔒]
  • Though they're doing alright selling cars once again as well – this ebbs and flows, some growth can come from a cheaper EV, but the real keys to the kingdom are now with Cybercab... [Information 🔒]
• Not all bad news for Intel today as they won a court fight in the EU to throw out a $1.1B fine they were supposed to pay. Which also just showcases how ridiculous the EC fines are as this one stemmed from 15 years ago and is now fairly irrelevant – as many of the proceedings today will be in that timeframe when they're ultimately decided after endless appeals. [Bloomberg 🔒]

I Quote...

"We have an interesting hybrid model, where we’re releasing theatrically but then quickly going to streaming."

-- Chris Ottinger, president of worldwide distribution and acquisitions at MGM, now a part of Amazon, of course. And yes, I like Amazon's general approach here. They also need to make better movies than, say, The Tomorrow War, but they seemingly knew how to hype it at least. Netflix should copy it.

I Spy...

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger back in the 1990s when he was a CompUSA technician, thinking about auditioning for the role of Harry Potter...

I kid, I kid, this was him a mere 18 years ago, when the then SVP was showing off some new Intel data center chips.