Meta Offering Crazy Pay to Steal Top Talent; X Brings AI to Community Notes; Chipmakers Get Bigger Tax Breaks in Latest Budget Bill; Tesla Sales Down in Q2

Posted: July 2, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

We already reported that OpenAI was complaining that Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg was trying to poach top talent for the new Meta ’superintellegence lab.’ Zuck was offering a $100 million signing bonus. Now, wired.com reports that Meta has offered top research talent up to $300 million over 4 years with over $100 million of that coming in the first year. When the pay package includes equity, in the first year, the stock vests immediately. A senior engineer who spoke to WIRED confirmed their pay was around $850,000 per year at Meta—an impressive sum that pales in comparison to the packages currently on offer. Those in the pay band above this engineer (E7’s, in Meta terms) make on average $1.54 million a year, according to user data submitted on Levels.FYI. Kids, we are all in the wrong line of work! 

Another story from the ‘What Could Possibly Go Wrong’ department: X is launching a way for developers to create AI bots that can write Community Notes that can potentially appear on posts. According to theverge.com,  the “AI Note Writers” will be able to submit a Community Note, but they will only actually be shown on a post “if found helpful by people from different perspectives.” The social platform claims in a post that AI notes will be ‘clearly marked for users’ and at least at the start, ‘AIs can only write notes on posts where people have requested a note.’ For now, the bots are just writing in test mode…but the first group may actually show up on X posts later this month. 

The big budget bill, if it passes in its present form, will increase tax credits for semiconductor firms building plants in the US. CNBC notes that the credits will grow from 25% to 35%. Chipmakers that could benefit include Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor. Previously, Trump had called for a repeal of the CHIPS Act. The new provisions expand the tax incentives, which provided grants of $39 billion and loans of $75 billion for US based semiconductor manufacturing projects. 

Tesla improved sales over first quarter, but still ended 2nd quarter down 13.5% as compared to Q2 2022. This doesn’t bode well…it may mean they will underperform 2024 for the year. TechCrunch.com reports that the company will announce earnings July 23rd. Worth noting, Ford electric vehicle sales were down 31% year over year in the US…the Tesla numbers are global. Hyundai and Kia also dropped in the US. General Motors trended the opposite way. The General grew EV sales in the US year to year, riding on a stable of new and improved models. 

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now. 

Meta Will Resume AI Training on Public Content; Meta Antitrust Trial; Nvidia To Start Chipmaking in Arizona and Texas; Tariffs-On Again, Off Again-Apple Increases Non-China Production

Posted: April 14, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Meta announced today that they will start using publicly available content from European users to train its AI models…something it paused last year after an outcry about data privacy. The training will be on public posts and content shared by adult users in the European Union. Meta says it will not use private messages, but noted to the EU regulators that it will be doing nothing different from Google and OpenAI. The social giant said it will begin notifying users in the EU about the training…and will include a link to a form where they can object at any time. Meta says “We’ll honor all objection forms.”

In other Meta news, the big antitrust case the FTC has brought against Meta is under the gavel in Washington, D.C. According to NPR, it comes after a 6 year investigation over whether the social media giant broke competition laws when it acquired Instagram and WhatsApp. It would put quite a dent in the $1.4 trillion dollar ad business, if the government prevails and makes Meta spin off those series into separate companies. It is being compared as a corporate breakup to the one that the government forced on AT&T some 40 years ago. The trial before Judge Boasberg is expected to last up to 8 weeks. Meta is expected to present a vigorous defense. 

Nvidia has announced it has commissioned over a million square feet of space to build and test AI chips in Arizona and Texas. Techcrunch.com says production of its Blackwell chips has already started at TSMC’s plants in Phoenix, and Nvidia is building ‘supercomputer’ manufacturing plants in Texas…partnered with Foxconn in Houston and Wistron in Dallas. Mass production should ramp up in the next 12-15 months, and within 4 years, Nvidia is aiming to make as much as a half trillion dollars worth of AI infrastructure in the US. The plants in Arizona were started by the Chips Act under the Biden Administration. 

Another roller coaster on tariffs over the weekend. First, a cave, exempting smartphones, and computers, and processors from the 145% tariff on Chinese imports. After that, it was just a temporary pause on SundayThen, yesterday, 9to5google.com, among many others, reports that Trump flip-flopped again, and said no exemptions. This is playing havoc with tech companies. Apple, for one, began ramping up production in India, and now makes 20% of iPhones there. They also increased production in Vietnam and Thailand. Look for other electronics makers other than do likewise to avoid the ridiculous tariffs Trump is trying to impose on China. For its part, China is not caving, and is putting on matching tariffs on imports from the US.

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now. 

DOJ Sues Apple for Antitrust; Reddit IPO Priced at $34 a Share; Door Dash Drone Delivery Coming to the US; Waze Getting a Ghostbusting Voice

Posted: March 21, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

The Department of Justice has sued Apple. According to theverge.com, the DOJ and 16 state attorneys general claim that Apple uas driven up prices for consumers and developers at the expense of making users more reliant on its phones. The suit alleges that Apple “selectively” imposes contractual restrictions on developers and withholds critical ways of accessing the phone as a way to prevent competition from arising. The suit has been filed in New Jersey. An Apple spokesperson said the suit “threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets. If successful, it would hinder our ability to create the kind of technology people expect from Apple — where hardware, software, and services intersect. It would also set a dangerous precedent, empowering government to take a heavy hand in designing people’s technology.” Apple says it will vigorously defend against the suit. 

Reddit priced its IPO at $34 per share yesterday, and hauled in $519 million…valuing the company at $6.5 billion. CNBC reports that the ticker symbol will be RDDT. Although $6.5 billion is a ton of cash, the company is actually taking quite a haircut from its private market valuation of $10 billion at the peak of the tech boom in 2021. Reddit’s core business of online advertising faces competition from industry giants like Alphabet and Meta. The company also counts Snap, X, Pinterest, Discord, Wikipedia and Amazon’s Twitch streaming service as competitors, according to its prospectus. Revenue increased 20% last year to $804 million from $666.7 million in 2022. Its net loss in 2023 was $90.8 million, marking an improvement from the $158.6 million net loss it recorded the previous year.

DoorDash is expanding its partnership with the Wing division of Alphabet to bring a pilot drone delivery service to the US. According to TechCrunch.com, users in Christianburg, VA will be able to order eligible items from the local Wendy’s menu. In order to use the service, you need to have a small clearing on your property…at least 7 feet in diameter. There are also weight and volume restrictions. If the order is more than a drone can carry, you’ll get delivery from a regular Dasher. 

Waze is getting a new guest voice…and here’s a hint: ‘Who ya gonna call?’ Just in time for the release of Ghostbusters-Frozen Empire tomorrow March 22, Waze has scored Dan Aykroyd as a voice on Waze. Androidpolice.com says just choose ‘Spooky’ mood on the app, and there is Ray from Ghostbusters…the well-known voice of Dan Aykroyd. You can get a number of funny paranormal-themed comments as you drive to the next ghost busting event…or to work or home, of course. 

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.