OpenAI, Elon's Grok, and China vs the US

Would you like to spend less time keeping up with Tech industry news?

I've got just the right thing for you.

You see, writing an article that got picked up by LinkedIn News and placed above Satya Nadella's post was a lot of fun. So much that I decided to turn my passion for tech news into a new series: The Hidalgo-Tech (Hi-Tech, for friends) Discussion.

Each Friday I will cover the main news in the industry, while keeping it as short as humanly possible. Welcome.

In this issue:

• OpenAI: The Aftermath
• Twitter/X: Elon & Grok vs Advertisers
• Tech Warfare: The US & China in a Battle Without Bullets
• Crypto: The SBF Syndrome Returns & CZ Steps Down as CEO

OpenAI: The Dust Settles & We See The Horizon

After a tumultuous start to the week, Sam Altman made it: He is back in the chair as CEO with a checkmate so powerful it didn't just win the game but it also wiped the entire Board.

The stock of OpenAI 's brand is higher than ever and there's a high chance that the entire company is working with a fire in their bellies, but the road ahead doesn't lack challenges:

• Will the leadership team recover from the high-level civil war?
• What is the mysterious breakthrough everybody keeps hinting at?
• The old Board never disclosed the reasons for Sama's firing: The new one won't disclose them either, but what will they think of those reasons? How will they handle it?
• Will there ever be an AI ethicist in the Board?

The future looks good for OpenAI, but we should never forget that business is a game of perceptions as much as it is one of money and politics. It takes years to build a reputation and a split second to destroy it: Sam Altman's challenge will now be to uphold a now-beloved brand and living up to the Vision of advancing AI for the benefit of humanity.

Twitter: Grok's Debut is Imminent

As of today, only a few high-profile users like my friend Alex "NFT God" Finn had early access to Grok, Twitter's ChatGPT killer. That's about to end:

Next week, Premium+ users will be able to access the hyped AI.

Grok has real-time access to the X feed, and it can go from making fun of you to actually being useful. Now, Elon is not famous for meeting the timeframes he mentions, but there's been enough hype around Grok to make me believe it'll happen.

But if you follow me, you know already that I hate when tech products have no differentiator to them, because it makes them incapable of answering a basic question: Why should I use or buy this when there are more established and familiar alternatives?

Well xAI has an answer:

• Personality: Grok comes with an edge, making it probably the black sheep of the chatbot family in honor of X, the forever black sheep of social media.
• Uncensored: Grok not only has an attitude, but it is uncensored. As useful as it can be, now you can make jokes about all sides of the political spectrum. If you're into that – have fun, I guess. If you're not into it, you at least have to admit that it having a source of knowledge that doesn't hide knowledge based on who programmed it is a big deal.
• Knowledge: Grok is going to access live everything that's happening on X., According to some, this might even make Grok able to predict the market accurately (but before we claim that and you start gambling, let's see how many lose their money trying).

Grok's release is something that I believe will happen next week especially due to one very relevant factor: Twitter/X, a platform that hasn't been profitable since its very dawn, is once again losing money. Marvel, Paris Hilton and many other advertisers pulled the plug on their spending.

Premium+ is thus the company's new revenue stream. Time will tell if it will have a significant impact. But remember: Betting against Elon Musk is historically a losing endeavor.

Financial Warfare: The US Ban on Chip Exports Starts Hurting

Big Chinese companies had time to spend millions in securing the chips needed to stay afloat long enough to develop their on version of OpenAI.

However, the US ban on chip exports is a delayed-effect poison that it's already paralysing a very important target: Startups with less budget than your average government-backed behemoth.

Now, there have been new LLMs coming out of China, but how effective and how they match up to GPT4 is still something the world will have to find out.

In the meantime, the US and China will keep throwing wrenches against each other, teasing yet another war that the world doesn't need. But, at least for now, we can at least rejoice that the fight over AI won't start it.

The Crypto World Takes Another Hit

The Binance CEO Chanpeng "CZ" Zhao is in hot waters.

Unlike the famous frog from the metaphor, he won't boil in it until it's over: Changpeng Zhao stepped down after pleading guilty to money laundering accusations. At least he had more common sense than SBF and put the company first, but it does beg the question: Is this all that's going on in the crypto world?

Scammers and abuse of power galore in any emerging market, but the crypto economy sure does stand out.

And here's something that impressed me even more: How do you write a post about being guilty of money laundering, and in that same post claim you are going to move on as an advisors for other web3/crypto companies?

CZ, in the remote case you're reading this: You need someone to consult you on your public image, and Binance needs damage control. Hire a strategist. It's for the good of the industry.

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