Tuesday, January 14, 2025

Welcome to TC PM! Today we are learning about a weird phenomenon with OpenAI's o1 "reasoning" model; we are digging into new info on AI data centers; and we are checking out a fun new feature on WhatsApp. ¡Andale!

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: OpenAI

🤔 Reasoning in Chinese: Users of OpenAI's o1 "reasoning" AI model have noticed that sometimes if they prompt the model in English, it will answer in English, but will show it is "thinking" in another language. OpenAI hasn't acknowledged the strange behavior. Comforting! Read more

⛔️ The DOJ be deleting: U.S. authorities confirmed today that back in August they deleted malware linked to Chinese hackers off of thousands of affected U.S. computers. The FBI said it first observed this malware all the way back in 2012. Read more

😓 Meta layoffs: Meta plans to reduce its workforce by 5% through performance-based layoffs. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that these roles will be backfilled. This is just the latest string of layoffs for Meta, which held a round of layoffs in October. Read more

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Afternoon must-reads

Image Credits: Thoras

☁️ You can do both: Companies want their software to work but can't spend an infinite amount of dollars and resources mitigating each reliability issue. Thoras looks to help companies solve their reliability issues while also managing their cloud spend. Read more

📝 Biden stays busy: President Biden signed an executive order today that will allow private sector AI companies to apply to lease federal land on which to build data centers. Companies will need to bring online enough renewable energy to offset how much energy their data center needs. Read more

⚡️ Speaking of data centers: Data centers use a lot of energy. A new report from JLL found that data center power needs could double by 2029 and that the majority of data centers may be underpowered by 2027. Read more

🚚 A flare fight: Aurora Innovation is taking federal safety regulators to court because safety regulations said Aurora wasn't exempt from a requirement that semi-trucks put out physical warning triangles when they are pulled over. This case could have big implications for self-driving trucks. Read more

🤪 Silly stickers: WhatsApp is releasing a whole host of new features that allow users to create stickers from selfies and share sticker packages in addition to new camera effects. This is the AI that people want. Read more

Around the web

🕵 A spy signoff: Many TikTok users are poking fun at the looming TikTok ban next week. The Verge reports that a popular trend among users on the platform is that they are thanking their Chinese spy for giving them a perfect algorithm. I love this. Read more

📊 Quick turnaround: Remember how Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's comments last week about quantum computers being years away sent quantum stocks spiraling? It's clear that was just a blip; the stocks normalized just days later. Read more