?? Silly Valley News: October 1st 2024 ??

Last week I had the ultimate privilege of getting on stage at Adweek’s Brandweek conference in Arizona and telling marketers how to suck less at their jobs. Let’s just say Brandweek looked very different from the tech conferences I’ve been spending so much time in! Mostly that people who attended Brandweek were far better dressed. Not much else to report on my end, other than my men’s league baseball team lost in the semi-finals (while I was at a wedding) and I’m currently way more depressed than I probably should be about our season coming to an end…

Okay enough about me - let’s dive into some stories from this week!

This Week’s Pipin' ???? (Hot 'Tent)

?? Y Combinator-Backed Startup Admits It Blatantly Copied another YC-Backed Startup

?? You’re Not Crazy. More Dogs Are Traveling on Planes Than Ever Before

?? Port Workers’ Strike Could Cost $5B Per Day

?? More incredibly hot business goss' for the water cooler warriors...

The Silly Valley

?? Y Combinator-Backed Startup Admits It Blatantly Copied a Competitor. PearAI founder, Duke Pan, admitted the company cloned Continue, another AI coding editor, without initially complying with the open-source Apache license. After criticism and a viral Twitter thread, Pan apologized for basically stealing from Continue and corrected the licensing error. Critics also noted the lack of innovation in PearAI’s offering and some questioned Y Combinator’s selection process for startups. Especially since they’d already funded similar AI code editors… like Continue! The company that had their code stolen! Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan defended the startup, citing open-source benefits, but that didn’t really help considering the founder already apologized and corrected the mistake.

?? OpenAI Faces $5B Loss on $3.7B Revenue For The Year. Thanks to operational costs, employee salaries, and office rent, OpenAI faces significant financial losses despite astronomical revenue growth. The company generated $300M just last month, a 1,700% increase since early last year. It projects $11.6B in sales next year. Already backed by Microsoft, they’re in the midst of a funding round led by Thrive Capital that is expected to close at a valuation exceeding $150B. OpenAI’s board is also contemplating a restructuring to make the company a for-profit entity, though it would maintain a nonprofit segment. After several leaders left the company over the past year, their CTO Mira Murati left last week leading to more speculation of dysfunction and worries that the people with a conscience are leaving before they’re part of the reason why robots take over the world.

?????? Gavin Newsom Blocks AI Regulations Bill in California. Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have imposed regulations on AI development. The bill targets large models costing over $100M and using 10^26 FLOPS. 10^26 FLOPS is a measure of computer power. Only a few companies have achieved over 10^25 FLOPS so far including OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft. The bill was authored by State Senator Scott Wiener and aimed to hold companies accountable for AI safety protocols. While the bill passed the state legislature, it faced strong opposition from the Silly Valley and Nancy Pelosi who said it could stifle innovation among smaller companies and academia. Newsom expressed concerns that the bill is not nuanced enough and he continues to consult experts like Fei-Fei Li to craft more effective policies. While this was blocked, 18 other AI Bills have already been passed in California so there is hope that robots won’t take over the world!

Sales Tip of the Week

Presentations using visuals are 43% more persuasive than those without, according to a study by 3M.

Outside The Bubble

?? Hundreds of thousands of Verizon users experienced outages this week. Users took to social media to share that their phones were stuck in SOS mode. While some blamed Hurricane Helene, Verizon announced that the disruption was unrelated. On Monday evening (Sept 30), Verizon posted on Twitter stating,? “...Service has returned to normal levels…If you are still having issues, we recommend restarting your device…” The FCC is aware of the disruption in service and is looking into the causes.? As a Verizon customer I have to say, restarting my device didn’t solve the problem… Naturally the next thing I tried was complaining to anyone who would listen. Shockingly, that didn’t help either. When AT&T had a similar issue earlier in the year it provided all customers with a $5 credit. I guess we’ll have to wait and see what Verizon’s customer service solution is. If I don’t deem their solution satisfactory you can bet the Verizon customer service line will be hearing from me… And by me I mean my wife because I’m too scared to talk to strangers.?

?? You’re Not Crazy. More Dogs Are Traveling on Planes Than Ever Before. About 22% of dog owners took their pups on at least three flights over the past year, up from 13% in 2022. Cats traveling on planes is up 14%. Why? People are becoming more comfortable traveling with pets. Also, the cost of boarding a pet can be as high as $350 per day so it’s often more expensive to leave them behind. That’s despite the fact that airline fees for pets are higher than they’ve ever been with most charging $150 per animal. Another reason for the increase in pet travel is the spike in pet ownership during the pandemic. 63% of American households now have at least one pet. If your pet is too big to fit under the seat, Bark Air runs charter flights between NYC, LA, London, and Paris for up to $8K (that’s a one-way fare for a pet and owner combo). Unfortunately, Bark Air doesn’t travel to Washington, D.C. where you can get a “Lab of Luxury” package at the Conrad Hotel. It comes with a Hermès pet collar and leash, a Tiffany & Co. water bowl, a pet photo session and an afternoon picnic with a car service to several dog-friendly wineries in northern Virginia. All for the reasonable price of $5,999, which includes a $500 donation to the Humane Society. Woof.

?? Port Workers’ Strike Could Cost $5B Per Day. Around 45,000 dockworkers at 36 ports on the East and Gulf Coasts began striking today. These ports handle approximately 60% of U.S. shipping traffic, and a strike could cause an estimated $5 billion in daily economic damage. Freight costs have already increased 20% in anticipation of the strike. Dockworkers, represented by the International Longshoremen's Association, are demanding a $5 per hour raise each year for the next six years and protections against job loss due to automation. The president of the Longshoremen’s Association, Harold Daggett, also pointed to the fact that dock workers were forced to work through the most dangerous times of the pandemic and were never compensated accordingly. No need to run to your local convenience store to stock up on toilet paper, I’ve already purchased all of it!?

Last Week’s Pipin' ???? (Hot 'Tent)

When a job title makes you legitimately better than everyone else:

Everything you need to know about Taking Performance Enhancers at Work:

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