Layoff Season, Humanoid Robots & Bitcoin | The Hi-Tech Discussion

I don't know if you can't tell, but I haven't been this hyped about a Rabbit since Eminem starred in 8-Mile. If you want to read the full article of what it is and what it does, click here, because today we'll glaze over the device in favor of other news from Tech.

Welcome back to the Hidalgo Tech Discussion – the weekly LinkedIn series that saves you the effort of going through tech news... all while keeping you more entertained than these other media outlets who write with the energy of someone who's been fasting for a week.

Layoffs: Instagram, Amazon, Unity & Cloudflare

A young woman by the name of Brittany Pietsch has been making the rounds on social media today – and rightfully so. Turns out, Cloudflare laid her off along several members of the salesforce using as alleged reason a performance standard she couldn't have had the time to meet in just three months of tenure.

My note to Brittany: Tons of people have been criticising the decision to record. Whether people agree or not, you brought malpractice to the forefront. Well done. I hope you find a new company to grow in soo.

My note to Cloudflare: You guys will need an expert to fix that broken culture, HR malpractice, and manage your reputation. Hit me up.

Cloudflare is by far not the only company letting people go. Instagram laid off 60 program managers. The list counts also Twitch , Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios , Audible and even Discord . The question is: Why? And for how long will it go on?

To the first question I can only answer that all these companies have something in common – they grew too fast during the pandemic. In the frenzy of piling up stacks of money, they forgot to think that the pandemic was going to end at some point... resulting in this post-disaster hangover.

When will it end? Hard to tell. But I hope soon, and I'm sure all those laid off professionals will find a stable place in talent-hungry startups.

Humanoid Robots: Is Terminator Coming?

Tesla 's Optimus dancing humanoid robot & Boston Dynamics ' athletic machine have high-profile competition now. It comes from Sweden, and has the backing of none other than OpenAI : The company is called 1X , and they just got $100M of funding to develop a humanoid robot.

This move by the disruptive and drama-prone ChatGPT investor is significant, because it shows the intention finally create Skynet.

Jokes aside, the decision is truly important: This positions OpenAI as a key player in the race towards a humanoid system that can be integrated with AI.

How will it pan out? Only God knows. But I can't wait till the moment one of those things can play the words "Hasta la vista, baby."

The Bitcoin ETF Is Here. For Real.

After the SEC posted the infamous tweet that got them accused of market manipulation, and that they attributed to a successful hacking initiative, turns out that the whole drama was probably just an early announcement with dire consequences:

Bitcoin, aka $BTC, has now seen its first spot ETF approve for 11 issuers.

This is great news for all crypto enthusiasts and, perhaps, even a step towards regulation in a financial Wild West that has left most people I know in the industry scammed.

This his even more amazing news for the day-traders who were active when the early "hack" announcement came from the SEC Twitter account: I bet more than one deca-millionaire was made in those 20 minutes.

South America Is On The Map

Something you probably don't know about me: I'm Venezuelan. Which means that I get beyond hyped every time my continent – perhaps one of the most underrated areas of the world – pops up on the radar.

The news this week is two-fold:

• Prometeo gets funding from none other than Paypal & Samsung with one goal: Accelerating the adoption of open banking in South America. Instead of focusing on an approach tailored to each country, Prometeo will cater to the continent as a whole – and they are already present in Brazil and Mexico. Can't wait to see this play out.
• 谷歌 is building a massive underwater cable that will connect Chile and Australia. The project is called "Humboldt", and with its 9.200 miles / 15.000 km of length it will join the several other cables that cross the Pacific, and will improve the continent's internet infrastructure.

Open AI: Back In The News

I don't know about you, but I feel like there hasn't been a single week where OpenAI hasn't been in the news. They're like Conor McGregor in 2017: Unavoidable.

This time, not only did Sam Altman get married, but the company launched the GPT Store and a Teams subscription.

• The Store: It's not Apple's App Store, but it is still very interesting. You can now create your custom GPTs and, if you set them public, you will have the option to get them approved and featured by the OpenAI team. GPTs don't require you to be a coder, and you can use it for anything, from talking to your favorite Roman philosopher to swallowing all your company knowledge-base and becoming your internal consultant.
• Teams: No, not the horrible Microsoft Teams app you dread. This is the ChatGPT Team subscription, which will allow you to share GPTs and custom apps, as well as to get exclusive functionalities when available. The price? $60 per user per month, paid annually.

For Your Summer Vacation: Overmoon

Now, if you're anything like me, there's a chance you don't like Airbnb. I prefer hotels – and it seems like someone is trying to build precisely a hybrid between these two business models.

That someone is Overmoon : Instead of being a marketplace for property owners, they own the homes they offer – adding a much-needed layer of consistency to the service quality.

Unfortunately, I think don't offer hotel-grade breakfast, but they have concierge services in their portfolio.

They don't have many properties yet but, if I were you, I would at least check them out.

?? That's it my friend – the Hi-Tech Discussion salutes you for this week. We had two issues, and one of them was fairly successful, too.

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