In news that should surprise nobody, Humane and its AI Pin are closing down, with HP acquiring the remnants. CC-licensed photo by Ged Carroll on Flickr.
You can sign up to receive each day’s Start Up post by email. You’ll need to click a confirmation link, so no spam.
There’s another post coming this week at the Social Warming Substack on Friday at 0845 UK time. Free signup.
A selection of 9 links for you. Unsurprised. I’m @charlesarthur on Twitter. On Threads: charles_arthur. On Mastodon: https://newsie.social/@charlesarthur. On Bluesky: @charlesarthur.bsky.social. Observations and links welcome.
You can never truly go back • Garbage Day
Ryan Broderick on how Trump and the administration are governing in a new, yet old, way:
»
what’s left of the media, and the huge swathes of random internet users that have replaced it, are having trouble contextualizing this new content-as-governance strategy, either overstating its impact or dismissing it entirely.
I ruffled more than a few feathers on Bluesky earlier this month when I argued that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency should be thought of, first, as a propaganda outlet, and a federal agency second. I mean this literally. It is not an actual department and is, instead, classified as a “temporary organization” within the US Digital Service.
But it, also, has very little legal authority to do anything. Now, you can say that laws don’t matter in Trump’s America anymore, but if you honestly do think that, well, you’ve already lost the game. While we still have some semblance of a society, you should treat it as a rogue group of private contractors who are only succeeding in accomplishing anything because our clueless lawmakers are letting them. That doesn’t make DOGE any less dangerous, of course. Musk clearly has a plan to install his own shadow government within our own, powered by his shitty AI and run on the X social platform. But we are still early and these influencer-oligarchs that have installed themselves in Washington are still, thankfully, more concerned with the illusion of power and impact than they are the actual work required to truly capture it.
But because of how information works in our new world run by digital platforms, the difference between the illusion of power and the real thing is vanishingly small. And in an attention economy, they effectively become the same thing over time.
«
The idea of Musk as a sort of Goebbels – running the department of propaganda – makes an awful lot of sense when you consider how Musk doesn’t bother to verify things and carefully publish them on a government site; he screams them from a digital rooftop. Broderick’s whole essay is a must-read about the new digital media landscape.
unique link to this extract
Intel principal engineer bemoans potential TSMC takeover, touts company’s 18A tech advantage • Tom’s Hardware
Anton Shilov:
»
Joseph Bonetti, Principal Engineering Program Manager at Intel Corp., wrote his personal opinion in a LinkedIn post that the company is about to reclaim its process technology lead and gain customers among fabless chipmakers in the coming years, so handing TSMC control of Intel’s manufacturing would be counterproductive (Edit: the post has now been deleted).
“Intel Leaders, Intel Board, Trump Administration, please do not sell out and/or give control of Intel Foundry to TSMC, just as Intel is taking a technical lead and getting out of first gear. This would be a horrible, demoralizing mistake,” wrote Bonetti.
Contrary to reports suggesting it lags behind a key competitor, Bonetti argues, Intel is making significant advancements in semiconductor manufacturing. The company’s latest fabrication process, Intel 3, is already used to make Xeon 6 data center processors, while the company’s next-generation Intel 18A is nearing completion and is expected to be used to make Panther Lake processors for client PCs later this year. Meanwhile, TSMC’s equivalent process technology — N2 (2nm-class) — will only enter mass production phase in late 2025.
Intel is also ahead with its High-NA EUV initiatives. The company acquired two ASML Twinscan EXE machines and is the only chipmaker that has experience working with such tools. Despite financial struggles, Intel Foundry is poised to prove itself with major partners, which makes any potential deal that hands control to a rival a major strategic error.
«
The NY Times suggested on Friday that the Trump administration is behind the attempts to sell Intel’s foundries to TSMC. So those advantages – as yet unproven – might be as naught.
unique link to this extract
Odds of asteroid hitting Earth in 2032 climb again as impact probability hits new peak • Gizmodo
Isaac Schultz:
»
2024 YR4 first caught astronomers’ eyes on December 27, 2024, and was marked as an asteroid that may hit Earth in eight years’ time. Now, the asteroid’s impact odds have reached their highest likelihood yet.
The asteroid has a 1-in-32 chance of hitting Earth in 2032, according to the latest (and constantly updated) odds from NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies Sentry tool. That translates to a 3.1% chance of Earth impact—which of course also means a 96.9% chance that the rock misses our planet altogether.
That number means both a lot and very little at the same time. It means a lot because the asteroid tops CNEOS’ impact probability chart, meaning the rock’s cumulative likelihood of impact with Earth is the greatest compared to other closely watched asteroids.
NASA is constantly remodeling the asteroid’s impact likelihood—as well as that of many other Potentially Hazardous Asteroids, or PHAs, flying through space. On January 28, 2024 YR’s impact odds were 1-in-83, or 1.2%. That number charted up and, by early February, the rock had a 1-in-63 (1.58%) chance of hitting our world. On February 10, the odds jumped yet again, this time to a 1-in-45 chance, or a 2.2% chance of striking Earth. In response, NASA has scheduled some observation time with the Webb Space Telescope to further study the suddenly concerning asteroid.
«
I think the complacency here misses the point. The direction in which the odds are going is what’s concerning: they’ve more than doubled in just three weeks of observation. Meanwhile, cuts instituted by Trump (and/or Musk) mean that Nasa’s workforce will be about 10% smaller than when Trump came into power.
I really don’t want to be living through “Don’t Look Up”. Even if the asteroid is not an Earth-killer, just a city-killer, it will really screw a lot of things up if it hits the planet, even around the equator. And who’s to be sure it will keep that orientation over the next seven years?
Also: maybe it’ll just hit the moon. Not good either.
unique link to this extract
OpenAI seeks new powers to fend off hostile takeover from Elon Musk • Financial Times
George Hammond, Cristina Criddle and John Foley:
»
OpenAI is considering granting special voting rights to its non-profit board in order to preserve the power of its directors, as the $157bn start-up fends off an unsolicited takeover bid from Elon Musk.
Chief executive Sam Altman and other board members are weighing a range of new governance mechanisms after OpenAI converts into a more conventional for-profit company, according to people with direct knowledge of the discussions.
Giving the non-profit’s board outsized voting power would ensure it retained control of the restructured company and was able to over-rule other investors including existing backers such as Microsoft and SoftBank.
While no firm decisions have been made, special voting rights would also ensure OpenAI can fight off hostile bids from outsiders such as Musk. The billionaire made a surprise $97.4bn cash bid for the assets held by the non-profit, including its controlling stake in the start-up’s for-profit subsidiary.
«
At this rate it’s going to be completely routine for startups to have two tiers of shares – A which confers voting power, and B which yields dividends, if any. Facebook and Google are fans.
unique link to this extract
Humane’s AI Pin is dead • TechCrunch
Maxwell Zeff:
»
Humane announced on Tuesday that it has been acquired by HP. The hardware startup is immediately discontinuing sales of its $699 AI Pins. Humane told customers who had already purchased an AI Pin that their devices will stop functioning before the end of the month, at 12 PM PST on February 28, 2025, according to a blog post.
After that date, the company says its AI Pins will no longer connect to Humane’s servers. The devices will no longer be capable of calling, messaging, AI queries/responses, or cloud access. Humane is advising AI Pin owners to transfer their important photos and data to an external device immediately.
Humane made a splash in April 2024 by launching its AI Pin, which it positioned as a smartphone replacement. The Bay Area startup, founded by Apple employees Bethany Bongiorno and Imran Chaudhri, raised more than $230m to create the AI Pin.
«
This is going to be a big disappointment to all the remaining 15 users. But it’s not as though HP’s acquisition record with hardware/software companies is stellar: it bought Palm in 2010, and used the webOS software that Palm had developed to power a tablet called the TouchPad. Total disaster. The list of HP acquisitions down the years feels like the roll call of a donkey sanctuary.
unique link to this extract
Elon Musk’s startup rolls out new Grok-3 chatbot as AI competition intensifies • The Guardian
Guardian staff and agencies:
»
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI has introduced Grok-3, the latest iteration of its chatbot that integrates with X, formerly Twitter.
Grok-3 debut comes at a critical moment in the AI arms race as Musk looks to compete with the Chinese AI firm DeepSeek, Microsoft-backed OpenAI and Google. Musk’s bot has seen less widespread adoption than DeepSeek’s namesake chatbot, which wowed the world weeks ago and caused panic in stock markets, as well as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.
Grok-3 is being rolled out immediately to Premium+ subscribers of X, the social media platform owned by Musk. xAI is also launching a new subscription tier, SuperGrok, for users accessing the chatbot via its mobile app and Grok.com website. The chatbot can generate texts and images without many of the common guardrails against sexually suggestive imagery, vulgarity or the reproduction of well-known people’s likenesses. X users have deployed the chatbot to mock political figures, including Musk himself, create deepfakes of celebrities and manipulate copyrighted material.
“Grok-3 across the board is in a league of its own,” Musk said during a live stream alongside three xAI engineers late on Monday. He added the new model outperforms its predecessor, Grok-2, boasting of “more than 10 times” the computing power of the previous version and passing AI industry benchmark tests with flying colors. He called the bot “maximally truth-seeking AI, even if that truth is sometimes at odds with what is politically correct”. The billionaire CEO regularly spreads falsehoods to his 200 million followers on X.
«
Enjoyably enough Natasha Loder of The Economist asked Grok “what are the worst three bits of misinformation by Elon Musk on X in the last week” and got a pretty comprehensive – and accurate – answer.
unique link to this extract
Electricity demand surges for the world’s two biggest polluters • The Verge
Justine Calma:
»
China and the US, the world’s two top greenhouse gas polluters, could burn through a lot more electricity over the next couple of years, according to the latest forecast from the International Energy Agency (IEA). The steepest rise in global electricity demand in a while is expected over the next few years, with much of that coming from new data centers and the manufacturing of electric vehicles, batteries, solar panels, and semiconductors in the two countries.
That growth reflects broader changes across the world when it comes to how people consume information and what powers their lives. More vehicles and home appliances run on electricity these days. And new AI tools have led to a boom in energy-hungry data centers. That makes it all the more urgent to deploy new sources of energy that can make sure homes and businesses have enough electricity without creating a lot more pollution in the process.
“The acceleration of global electricity demand highlights the significant changes taking place in energy systems around the world and the approach of a new Age of Electricity. But it also presents evolving challenges for governments in ensuring secure, affordable and sustainable electricity supply,” Keisuke Sadamori, IEA director of energy markets and security, said in a Friday press release.
Globally, growth in demand is expected to be equivalent to adding more than Japan’s entire annual electricity consumption each year between now and 2027, according to the IEA.
«
You’re thinking: oh no! The two biggest polluters doing even more big polluting? But in that press release, the IEA says:
»
The new report forecasts that growth in low-emissions sources – primarily renewables and nuclear – is sufficient, in aggregate, to cover all the growth in global electricity demand over the next three years. In particular, generation from solar PV is forecast to meet roughly half of global electricity demand growth through 2027, supported by continued cost reductions and policy support.
«
In Japan-related energy news, it intends to make more use of nuclear, for energy security.
unique link to this extract
Acer to raise prices by 10∞ in response to Trump’s tariffs • Daily Telegraph
James Titcomb:
»
The boss of one of the world’s biggest computer makers has said he is putting prices up by 10% as a direct result of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Jason Chen, the chief executive and chairman of Acer, said the US price increase on laptops made in China would happen “by default” and apply from next month.
However, he said he would consider shifting manufacturing out of China, including to the United States.
“We will have to adjust the end user price to reflect the tariff,” Mr Chen said. “We think 10pc probably will be the default price increase because of the import tax. It’s very straightforward.”
Acer’s most expensive laptops cost up to $3,700 (£2,934), meaning the tariffs could add hundreds of dollars to what consumers pay at the till.
Mr Trump claimed on the campaign trail that tariffs would not raise consumer prices, although last week he conceded that they “could go up” as a result of the duties.
Mr Chen said he had made the decision to increase prices last week, but since tariffs do not apply to products that left China before February, the price increase may take some weeks.
He said that some companies were likely to use the tariffs as an excuse to raise prices by more than 10%. Almost 80pc of laptops imported into the US are made in China, which Mr Trump hit with a 10pc tariff this month.
Acer, based in Taiwan, is the fifth biggest seller of computers in the US, behind HP, Dell, Lenovo and Apple.
«
Unclear whether this price rise also applies to computers exported from China but not to the US. Though if Acer shifts manufacturing to the US, Trump will be delighted. And all the other big Windows PC makers may feel obliged to follow suit.
unique link to this extract
The ‘relationship of dependence’ between a barred coach and a Wimbledon champion • The Athletic
Matthew Futterman and Charlie Eccleshare on what seems to be an abusive coach-player relationship at the top of women’s tennis:
»
[World No.4 Elena] Rybakina arrived in New York for the [2024] U.S. Open having not slept in several days, sources said, adding that people around her had expressed concerns about her appearance and demeanour. [WTA chief executive Portia] Archer’s letter [in January 2025, following an investigation] informing [her former coach Stefano] Vukov of the WTA’s decision to ban him from contact with her, including coaching her, cited an email from Rybakina’s mother to Vukov in which, Archer writes, she asked her daughter’s coach not to make her cry again. Archer’s letter also specified a connection between what the investigation found to be Vukov’s “mental abuse” of Rybakina and her physical fitness, saying that the abuse “would sometimes manifest in the Player as a physical illness.”
For months, her friends and family had been concerned about her relationship with Vukov, according to multiple sources around Rybakina during that time. After conversations at her New York hotel, they appeared to have convinced her that she should break with him as a coach, they said. Rybakina informed her representatives that she was ready to make a change and asked them to do whatever was necessary to keep Vukov away — cancelling his hotel room and his credential for the tournament, according to the sources.
Vukov had just arrived in New York. He was at the hotel, roaming the lobby trying to find a way to speak with her. Rybakina had dismissed him and informed the rest of her team that he was no longer her coach several times before, the sources said. Then, they said, Vukov would find her, speak with her and convince her to take him back.
In New York, members of her team worked to prevent that cycle from happening again. Vukov refused to leave the hotel without speaking with Rybakina. He called her phone over 100 times and sent her numerous text messages, according to a person present who saw them as well as the WTA letter summarizing its investigation.
«
This is a detailed description of what, if it were a fictional drama, would be recognisable as an abusive/coercive control relationship, where the woman – Rybakina, aged 25 – is unable to break free of the abusive control of the man – Vukov, aged 37, who has been witnessed verbally abusing her in practice and matches.
Which goes to show that you can be rich and famous and still fall into relationships that other people would recognise and avoid. Power imbalances are everywhere.
unique link to this extract
| • Why do social networks drive us a little mad? • Why does angry content seem to dominate what we see? • How much of a role do algorithms play in affecting what we see and do online? • What can we do about it? • Did Facebook have any inkling of what was coming in Myanmar in 2016? Read Social Warming, my latest book, and find answers – and more. |
Errata, corrigenda and ai no corrida: none notified
The Overspill: when there's more that I want to say 