OpenAI faces more leadership changes

OpenAI co-founder John Schulman has passed away company for rival AI startup Anthropic. Also co-founder and CEO of OpenAI Greg Brockman is taking an extended leave of absence after nine years at the company to “rest and recharge.” Schulman said his decision was driven by a desire to deepen his focus on AI alignment — the science of ensuring AI behaves as intended — and engage in more hands-on technical work.

Google was found to have acted unlawfully maintain its monopoly on online search. The U.S. District Court decision, if upheld, is a major setback for Google that could change the structure of the Internet as we know it. The ruling accuses Google of abusing its monopoly in the search industry, in part by paying companies like Apple to present its search engine as the default choice on their devices and web browsers. Google, of course, says it will appeal.

X filed an antitrust lawsuit against the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) and the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA). X CEO Linda Yaccarino accused the organizations of “systematic illegal boycotts” of the platform. GARM was founded to “help the industry address the challenge of illegal or harmful content on digital media platforms and its monetization through advertising.” Following the lawsuit, the WFA said it was “ceasing” GARM’s operations.

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News

Rest in peace, Chromecast! Google has unveiled its latest streaming box, the Google TV Streamer, which will mark the end of the Chromecast line. Chromecast has sold over 100 million units in 11 years. Read more

OpenAI hits the road: OpenAI is taking DevDay to San Francisco, London, and Singapore this fall as part of a series of developer engagement sessions on the road. But don’t expect a GPT-5 announcement. Read more

Rivian lost $1.46 billion in revenue: Rivian said it lost $1.46 billion in the second quarter of 2024, down from a $1.45 billion loss in the first quarter. The loss was nearly $300 million worse than the second quarter of last year. Read more

Instagram is receiving a flood of photos: Get ready for longer mood boards and meme dumps on Instagram. The social media app is introducing a feature that lets you add up to 20 photos or videos to carousel posts. Read more

Lyft copes with dynamic pricing: The ride-sharing app will test a feature that lets passengers set a maximum price for a ride over a certain period of time via a subscription, part of Lyft’s broader plan to “open the loot box” on dynamic pricing. Read more

OpenAI can detect cheaters: OpenAI says it has a tool that could potentially catch students cheating using ChatGPT — but the company is reportedly considering whether to make it public. Read more

This robot can play table tennis at a decent level: In a recently published article, Google DeepMind showcases a robot that is a “solid amateur” at table tennis against human opponents. Read more

You can only move on Thursdays: Thursday wants to shake up online dating. The catch? You can only use the dating app on Thursdays. The company launched in San Francisco to combat what people call “swipe fatigue.” Read more

The drawing is shown in Figure 02: Figure has announced a successor to its Figure 01 humanoid robot, which brings new natural language capabilities thanks to its long-standing partnership with OpenAI. Read more

Airbnb wants to move away from short-term rentals: Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky has hinted that the company will soon expand into co-hosting, a relaunch of Airbnb “experiences,” guest services and more. Read more

Analysis

What would the internet be like without Google? The web without Google Search, Chrome, Gmail, and Maps would be a very different place. While there are alternatives to Google’s popular freemium products, it’s hard to imagine what that would look like because Google is so deeply embedded in the web. Natasha Lomas explores how breaking up Google could provide an opportunity to reshape the web as we know it. Read more

Amazon has problems in India: Fast-paced commerce is gaining popularity in India, giving customers access to a range of categories from groceries to electronics that they can get delivered in minutes. So why does Amazon seem to be ignoring this growing market entirely? As Manish Singh reports, by failing to capitalize on the huge opportunity in fast-paced delivery, Amazon is losing a key overseas market to American tech giants. Read more