The Current Plus: Uber for big groups, web traffic is dying, lawmakersβ AI βroadmapβ β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β In partnership with Oracle NetSuite | Itβs Friday and Iβm feelinβ fine, friend! Hope you are, too. Trivia time in 3 β¦ 2 β¦ 1: Which tech CEO was the youngest when they founded their first business? Was it β¦ A.) Evan Spiegel (Snapchat), B.) Jack Dorsey (Twitter), C.) Whitney Wolfe Herd (Bumble) or D.) Bill Gates (Microsoft)? Answerβs at the end, as always! Speak your mind: At the end of todayβs top story, youβll see a quick poll β just one question! Be a pal and click an answer. This helps me come up with better topics for this newsletter. Appreciate you! Now, on to the tech goodies. β Kim π« First-time reader? Sign up here. (Itβs free!) IN THIS ISSUE π€ Your new bot helpers π Uber for you and the whole fam π Websites are dying |
TODAY'S TOP STORY The latest, greatest AI updates It was a big week in the world of AI. Both Google and OpenAI released major updates. You know Iβve got your back. I cut through their marketing speak to decipher what these updates actually mean for you and me. Gemini AI gets a bigger boat Google's latest AI model, Gemini 1.5 Pro, will handle tons of data. Need to summarize 1,500 pages of text? No problem. Itβs pretty nuts. Google goes βAsk Jeevesβ mode You can ask a question in the search bar and itβll summarize the answer for you. Great for you, sure, but not so great for websites that rely on search-based traffic. How to use it: Looking for the best way to clean a pair of leather boots? Googleβs new AI Overview will summarize detailed steps from your search results to restore them to mint condition β without you having to click a single link.Workspace gets a new intern Google Workspaceβs "AI Teammate" searches your messages, email threads and attachments. Think of it like that coworker whoβs been at the company for 20 years and knows every project, process or strategic conversation you might need to reference. How to use it: Ask the AI Teammate if youβre on schedule to launch a new product. Itβll pull relevant dates, action items and notes from your Workspace apps and give you a status report in bullet form. Super useful.Googleβs new βAsk Photosβ assistant for its Photos app can help you find an image in your camera roll or answer questions related to info stored in your photosβ data. No more scrolling through photos to find that random pic. How to use it: Ask something like, "Show me the best photo from each national park I've visited" or βWhat was the theme of my nephew's last birthday party?β Voila!OpenAIβs GPTβ4o gets an empathy upgrade What has Google pulling out all the stops? OpenAI. In a livestream just before Googleβs I/O announcements, OpenAI announced a bigger and better model of ChatGPT called GPTβ4o. GPTβ4o (the βoβ is for βomniβ) can respond to and generate any combo of voice, images or video twice as fast as its previous AI model. But what got my attention was that it's also gaining β¦ emotional intelligence. Now, it can pick up on different tones in a conversation and respond like it has feelings. How to use it: You can interrupt GPTβ4o in the middle of an answer, and itβll recalibrate and adjust its response based on your tone. (You know, like how frustrated you are with its original answer.)Youβve got to watch this video of ChatGPTβ4o tutoring a kid through math problems. I wish Iβd had this when Ian was in school! In another video, the botβs lifelike conversation and laugh totally freaked me out. FYI, I asked, and they told me ChatGPT Plus members will get access to the alpha version of ChatGPTβ4o in the next few weeks. I pay for Plus, but Iβd say most folks donβt need the upgrade. Just remember β¦ No matter how helpful they get, these bots are still machines. Always double-check their advice β and promise me you wonβt break into Windsor Castle because a chatbot told you to. Yeah, a British guy really did that last year. β
Now, I want to know what YOU think. Click the answer below that feels most true. Are you afraid of AI? π Yes π No I get your vote when you click. Only leave a comment if you want to! |
DEALS OF THE DAY Zip up something yummy When you want to treat yourself to a latte at home, foamy milk is a must. Here are three excellent milk frothers good for coffee, tea or anything else you want to sip. Handheld: The Milk Boss ($9.99) makes quick work of a cup of milk and also works great for mixing up matcha and protein powders. Manual: Do your own milk frothing with β10 to 100β pumps of the plunger in this stainless steel model ($18.97), which, by the way, is pretty enough to sit out on the table. Automatic: All it takes is one button to warm your milk and get it foamy with this electric frother ($33.99). Or skip the heat and make cold foam for iced lattes. |
WEB WATERCOOLER I vote for puns and pundits: Bipartisan lawmakers in Washington, D.C., finally drafted an AI plan β a 31-page "roadmapβ that includes $32 billion of research and development. Then, the plan is to hand off the legislative work to Senate committees. Iβm seriously thinking I should volunteer to help them out. π± The truth is out: Earlier this year, Raffaela Spone was accused of creating a deepfake video of her daughterβs cheerleading competitor vaping. The community turned on Spone, complete with death threats. Fast-forward β the video turned out to be real and the investigation was botched. Yeah, Sponeβs suing for $20 million. Uberβs new shuttle service: Each one will hold between 14 and 55 folks. Schedule shared rides and reserve up to five seats ahead of time in busy areas. Another change: Costco members (who donβt want the $1.50 hot dog deal) ordering through Uber Eats get discounts. Canβt roll my eyes hard enough: Coming soon to Windows 11, a warning to "repair" your system β¦ by switching back to Microsoftβs default search engine, Bing. It wonβt speed up your computerβs performance; Itβs just free promotion. π My prediction from two years ago is coming true: Web traffic is dying. On Google Search, Gemini AI is spitting out answers with its AI Overview, meaning no clicks are required. Of course, publishers are making zero money from AI results. If you get any revenue from website searches, itβs time to pivot your strategy, like, yesterday. Third zero-day in a week: An emergency Google Chrome patch fixes a bug in the V8 JavaScript engine that could allow attackers to run malicious code on your machine. Go to Settings > About Chrome, and click Relaunch to update. Competition is a win for consumers: AT&T and AST SpaceMobile are joining forces to provide internet service from space. The deal runs through 2030. Starlink has a similar arrangement with TβMobile. More competition = Cheaper prices. Love when that happens! Free AI test drive: Nothing has changed our lives quite like AI has β and will. Thatβs why you need to start using AI in your business before itβs too late. Take a free test drive of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure now at Oracle.com/kim. No one does data better than Oracle.* |
LISTEN UP | You canβt delete Meta AI Meta wants to make your Facebook or Instagram search bar work more like ChatGPT. You can't turn it off. Plus, a high school coach uses AI to frame a principal, the most dreaded word at work and a new TV projection breakthrough. Got a car? Here's how to make it into your next side hustle. Play Now β’ 39:50 βΆ |
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TECH LIFE UPGRADES Fake your location to get the lowest prices: A friend of mine in Phoenix booked a rental car in the U.K. It was $955. I told her to try this trick. She used her VPN to change her location to the U.K. and the same car for the same dates was $322. Just another reason why you need ExpressVPN* on all your devices. Use this link to get three months free. Windows 10 death date: Microsoft has announced you wonβt get any updates or support for Windows 10 after Oct. 14, 2025. Thatβs plenty of time to save up for a new Mac β¦ just sayinβ. Going gray: You want to spend less time scrolling but canβt stay away. Hereβs a trick: Put your phone in grayscale mode. On iPhone, head to Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size > Color Filters, and toggle on Color Filter > Grayscale. On Android, itβs under Settings > Accessibility > ββVisibility enhancements > Color adjustment options > Grayscale. Make bank: Vintage rugs in good condition are big sellers online. Pro tips: List the dimensions, call out imperfections like fraying and staining, and state upfront whether the rug comes from a smoke- or pet-free home. These are key phrases! My fave price is free: Pro video-editing software usually comes with a pro-level price β unless you know the best freebies. Kdenlive is free and open-source, and it gets new updates all the time. It works with Windows, Mac and Linux. |
Sick of QuickBooks? Join the club All right, thereβs no club, but there is a better option. Join over 37,000 companies that have upgraded to NetSuite by Oracle. Manage your financials, inventory, HR, eβcommerce and more, all in one spot. No more getting lost in an endless sea of spreadsheets and docs. Whether your business does a few hundred thousand dollars a year or a few hundred million, who wouldnβt love less paperwork, more insights and higher revenues? Itβs time for you to make a move. Stop running your business on gut feelings. Let the data speak to you. Take a sec and check out what NetSuite can do for you now. βΆοΈ For a limited time, NetSuite is offering a flexible financing program to help get you started. β |
BY THE NUMBERS 70% more searches For βstar bathing.β Yep, thatβs a new term you need to know. Campsite booking platform Hipcamp is seeing more guests looking for a site under clear skies so they can become one with nature. Itβs a little out there for me. 190.6 million people Play video games at least one hour per week in the U.S. The majorities of Gen Alpha (79%), Gen Z (76%) and millennials (65%) game. Roughly 53% of Gen X games, while 47% of baby boomers play, too. Do you? I donβt. $25 million How much cryptocurrency MIT-educated brothers swiped in just 12 seconds. Clever, except Anton, 24, and James, 28, just got arrested for their 2023 ethereum heist. They studied computer science and math. Now theyβll have plenty of time to calculate the years they could spend in jail. |
WHAT THE TECH? Paybacks are, you know, rough. |
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UNTIL NEXT TIME ... The answer: D.) Bill Gates (Microsoft). He was only 16 when he and Paul Allen launched their first biz in 1972. Evan Spiegel was 22, Jack Dorsey was 23, and Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd was 19. Bill Gates met Arnold Schwarzenegger once at a party and asked him if heβd upgraded to Windows 11 yet. Arnold said, βAh still love Vista, baby!β π Think of someone you like a lot and forward this newsletter to them. I bet theyβll love it, too! Or use your referral link above so you get credit. Prizes, here you come! See you back here tomorrow with genius tech tricks youβll totally thank me for. β Kim | |
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