Sunday, November 10, 2024

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Andreessen Horowitz partner Martin Casado understands AI technology in a way that most of us don't. Before joining a16z, he sold his networking infrastructure company, Nicira, to VMware for $1.26 billion. He now runs his firm's $1.25 billion infrastructure practice and has invested in AI startups, including World Labs, Cursor, Ideogram, and Braintrust.

So when he says that regulators are focusing on the wrong things when it comes to AI policies, he knows what he's talking about. He says that AI regulations were not written or supported by people who understand AI tech best, including academics and the companies building AI products. He's concerned that bills, like California's SB 1047, pander to people's fears about AI, rather than look at what the tech is actually doing now.

"Transformative technologies and regulation has been this ongoing discourse for decades, right? So the thing with all the AI discourse is it seems to have kind of come out of nowhere," he told the crowd at Disrupt 2024. "They're kind of trying to conjure net-new regulations without drawing from those lessons."

Keep reading to see what else TechCrunch is covering this weekend.

Weekend news and opinion

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Happy birthday to a true legend: As Firefox turns 20, Frederic Lardinois sat down with interim CEO Laura Chambers to chat about how the browser is thinking about the future. Hint: AI is involved, but Chambers admits that it's still a few years away.

Robotics jobs: We got news that a handful of tech companies laid off staff recently, including iRobot, which revealed last week that it had laid off 105 employees. But fear not: These 60 other companies are hiring. Are any of those jobs for you?

Top apps for Gen Z: The "mobile-first" generation knows a thing or two about apps and what's useful (or not). We've rounded up the top apps that these young adults are flocking to.

Pocket reading: The Boox Palma 2 is a phone-size e-reader, but it also has speakers, Bluetooth connectivity, and a camera. Sounds like a winner for those who love to read but hate schlepping around a Kindle. But at $280, we can't see these flying off the shelves anytime soon.

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What else we're reading

Image Credits: Tesla

I love a good love story, especially in a musical setting. And when the musical is a one-act show about two human-looking robots who fall in love in Seoul in 2064, I'll probably be in the front row.

According to The New York Times, "The story is about two outcast helperbots who meet at a robot retirement home and build a relationship while grappling with their own obsolescence." It stars Darren Criss and Helen J Shen, and opens on Broadway on November 12.