We just posted a new Core Intuition all about the chaos at OpenAI over the last several days, including the resolution with Sam Altman returning as CEO. The full episode is all on this, the relationship with Microsoft, the odd company structure of OpenAI, and the impact of AI on… well, everything.
Happy to keep growing the list of formats that Micro.blog can import to your blog. As of today: Twitter, WordPress, Medium, Tumblr, Ghost, Markdown, Substack, Goodreads, and Write.as. Plus cross-posting out of Micro.blog: Medium, Mastodon, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Flickr, Bluesky, Nostr, and Pixelfed.
Doing a little more tinkering with Stimulus. @vincent and I have talked about refactoring more of my clunky, old-school JavaScript to use Stimulus. It would at least provide a nice structure for all the code without feeling too abstracted and bloated.
Most companies would delay any product changes if they were in the middle of leadership chaos. Rolling out ChatGPT Voice to everyone this week says a lot about their confidence. Who is even CEO? Who cares, let’s ship it.
Pretty big deal that Spotify didn’t have to pay Google the usual in-app purchase fees. The inconsistencies across developers is just as unsustainable as the high 15% or 30% cut. As I’ve been saying forever, the ultimate solution is side-loading and external payments. Getting closer to that future.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/20/23969690/google-spotify-android-billing-commission-secret-deal
Uptown in Dallas over the weekend, coffee and work at Foxtrot as the trolly goes by in the background.
Catching up this morning on all the OpenAI and Microsoft news. Hard to overstate how dramatic a weekend this was for the tech world. As a (small) OpenAI customer, I’m not sure where this leaves me. One thing is clear: Satya Nadella is a really impactful CEO. He turned a crisis into a triumph.
Wanted to make my blog Creative Commons licensed again, so I created a little Micro.blog plug-in that adds a rel="license" tag. Defaults to “CC BY” but can be changed to another license in the settings. Not sure yet how licenses should interact with our future AI overlords, though, if at all.
Om Malik on the OpenAI news:
"…the big question is what this really means in the long term for the forward momentum of artificial intelligence and its impact on the broader technology ecosystem. While it might sound pessimistic, the past 24 hours have exposed a massive and obvious foundational risk in placing all bets on a single entity."
I’ve been quite happy with OpenAI as a developer. We use their API to transcribe podcasts hosted on Micro.blog. It’s cheap enough that we can include the feature for everyone at no extra charge. I’ll admit I don’t know much about Sam Altman beyond the superficial, though. Ready for leaks.
The latest Core Intuition has everything about my road trip, getting COVID, seeing U2 in Vegas, and then back to blog-related topics with the state of Tumblr under Automattic’s ownership.
Friday bombshell, Sam Altman is gone from OpenAI:
"Mr. Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities. The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI."
Didn’t see even a hint that something like this might happen. Pretty shocking.
https://openai.com/blog/openai-announces-leadership-transition
Amazing that we’re only a month and a half away from Steamboat Willie being in the public domain. Hoping animators experiment with remixing it, within the limits of copyright. I think there’s a lot you could do. Probably won’t have time myself but maybe one day.
Lillihub is a new Micro.blog web client by @heyloura! It’s got a bunch of features and a really unique style compared to the other Micro.blog apps. Check it out if you’re looking for something new or just want to try a different browsing experience.
Very positive review of Coyote vs. Acme over at Cartoon Brew. This is the film that was finished but cancelled anyway as a tax write-off. Did the Warner CEO even watch it? When money comes before art, you’ve lost your way. (This is even worse than when Warner botched the marketing for Iron Giant.)
Good news from Bluesky that a public web interface is coming this month. They’ve had a “staging” web app, but it required signing in. Also:
"As a reminder, Bluesky is a public social network, so your posts, likes, etc. have always been publicly accessible through the API. We designed Bluesky with the openness of the internet in mind, and you can think of your profile as a blog on the internet."
In the future, it will be easier to have actual blogs that seamlessly act as ActivityPub and AT Protocol profiles. We’re halfway there with Micro.blog already.
Great news that Apple will be adopting RCS, via 512 Pixels. iMessage is the biggest lock-in to Apple platforms for me. RCS won’t change that overnight, but if it makes Android interoperability better, I’m for it.
Uncertain future for Tumblr https://www.manton.org/2023/11/16/uncertain-future-for.html
Going to record a new @coreint today. It’s been a while… Traveling and getting sick didn’t help the schedule.