Hollywood Has to Learn to Love AI. You Too, Mr. Beast
October 31, 2025
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
Russia’s leadership is good at talking, stalling, and doing what it wants. Is OpenAI copying this tactic? ”OpenAI Cracks Down on Sora 2 Deepfakes after Pressure from Bryan Cranston, SAG-AFTRA” reports:
OpenAI announced on Monday [October 20, 2025] in a joint statement that it will be working with Bryan Cranston, SAG-AFTRA, and other actor unions to protect against deepfakes on its artificial intelligence video creation app Sora.
Talking, stalling or “negotiating,” and then doing what it wants may be within the scope of this sentence.
The write up adds via a quote from OpenAI leadership:
“OpenAI is deeply committed to protecting performers from the misappropriation of their voice and likeness,” Altman said in a statement. “We were an early supporter of the NO FAKES Act when it was introduced last year, and will always stand behind the rights of performers.”
This sounds good. I am not sure it will impress teens as much as Mr. Altman’s posture on erotic chats, but the statement sounds good. If I knew Russian, it would be interesting to translate the statement. Then one could compare the statement with some of those emitted by the Kremlin.
Producing a big budget commercial film or a Mr. Beast-type video will look very different in 18 to 24 months. Thanks, Venice.ai. Good enough.
Several observations:
- Mr. Altman has to generate cash or the appearance of cash. At some point investors will become pushy. Pushy investors can be problematic.
- OpenAI’s approach to model behavior does not give me confidence that the company can figure out how to engineer guard rails and then enforce them. Young men and women fiddling with OpenAI can be quite ingenious.
- The BBC ran a news program with the news reader as a deep fake. What does this suggest about a Hollywood producer facing financial pressure working out a deal with an AI entrepreneur facing even greater financial pressure? I think it means that humanoids are expendable first a little bit and then for the entire digital production. Gamification will be too delicious.
Net net: I think I know how this interaction will play out. Sam Altman, the big name stars, and the AI outfits know. The lawyers know. Who doesn’t know? Frankly everyone knows how digital disintermediation works. Just ask a recent college grad with a degree in art history.
Stephen E Arnold, October 31, 2025
Will AMD Deal Make OpenAI Less Deal Crazed? Not a Chance
October 31, 2025
Why does this deal sound a bit like moving money from dad’s coin jar to mom’s spare change box? AP News reports, “OpenAI and Chipmaker AMD Sign Chip Supply Partnership for AI Infrastructure.” We learn AMD will supply OpenAI with hardware so cutting edge it won’t even hit the market until next year. The agreement will also allow OpenAI to buy up about 10% of AMD’s common stock. The day the partnership was announced, AMD’s shares went up almost 24%, while rival chipmaker Nvidia’s went down 1%. The write-up observes:
“The deal is a boost for Santa Clara, Calif.-based AMD, which has been left behind by rival Nvidia. But it also hints at OpenAI’s desire to diversify its supply chain away from Nvidia’s dominance. The AI boom has fueled demand for Nvidia’s graphics processing chips, sending its shares soaring and making it the world’s most valuable company. Last month, OpenAI and Nvidia announced a $100 billion partnership that will add at least 10 gigawatts of data center computing power. OpenAI and its partners have already installed hundreds of Nvidia’s GB200, a tall computing rack that contains dozens of specialized AI chips within it, at the flagship Stargate data center campus under construction in Abilene, Texas. Barclays analysts said in a note to investors Monday that OpenAI’s AMD deal is less about taking share away from Nvidia than it is a sign of how much computing is needed to meet AI demand.”
No doubt. We are sure OpenAI will buy up all the high-powered graphics chips it can get. But after it and other AI firms acquire their chips, will there be any left for regular consumers? If so, expect their costs to remain sky high. Just one more resource AI firms are devouring with little to no regard for the impact on others.
Cynthia Murrell, October 31, 2025
AI Will Kill, and People Will Grow Accustomed to That … Smile
October 30, 2025
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
I spotted a story in SFGate, which I think was or is part of a dead tree newspaper. What struck me was the photograph (allegedly not a deep fake) of two people looking not just happy. I sensed a bit of self satisfaction and confidence. Regardless, both people gracing “Society Will Accept a Death Caused by a Robotaxi, Waymo Co-CEO Says.” Death, as far back as I can recall as an 81-year-old dinobaby, has never made me happy, but I just accepted the way life works. Part of me says that my vibrating waves will continue. I think Blaise Pascal suggested that one should believe in God because what’s the downside. Go, Blaise, a guy who did not get to experience an an accident involving a self-driving smart vehicle.
A traffic jam in a major metro area. The cause? A self-driving smart vehicle struck a school bus. But everyone is accustomed to this type of trivial problem. Thanks, MidJourney. Good enough like some high-tech outfits’ smart software.
But Waymo is a Google confection dating from 2010 if my memory is on the money. Google is a reasonably big company. It brokers, sells, and creates a market for its online advertising business. The cash spun from that revolving door is used to fund great ideas and moon shots. Messrs. Brin, Page, and assorted wizards had some time to kill as they sat in their automobiles creeping up and down Highway 101. The idea of a self-driving car that would allow a very intelligent, multi-tasking driver to do something productive than become a semi-sentient meat blob sparked an idea. We can rig a car to creep along Highway 101. Cool. That insight spawned what is now known as Waymo.
An estimable Google Waymo expert found himself involved in litigation related to Google’s intellectual property. I had ignored Waymo until the Anthony Levandowski founded a company, sold it to Uber, and then ended up in a legal matter that last from 2017 to 2019. Publicity, I have heard, whether positive or negative, is good. I knew about Waymo: A Google project, intellectual property, and litigation. Way to go, Waymo.
For me, Waymo appears in some social media posts (allegedly actual factual) when Waymo vehicles get trapped in a dead end in Cow Town. Sometimes the Waymos don’t get out of the way of traffic barriers and sit purring and beeping. I have heard that some residents of San Francisco have [a] kicked, [b] sprayed graffiti on Waymos, and/or [c] put traffic cones in certain roads to befuddle the smart Google software-powered vehicles. From a distance, these look a bit like something from a Mad Max motion picture.
My personal view is that I would never stand in front of a rolling Waymo. I know that [a] Google search results are not particularly useful, [b] Google’s AI outputs crazy information like glue cheese on pizza, and [c] Waymo’s have been involved in traffic incidents which cause me to stay away from Waymos.
The cited article says that the Googler said in response to a question about a Waymo hypothetical killing of a person:
“I think that society will,” Mawakana answered, slowly, before positioning the question as an industry wide issue. “I think the challenge for us is making sure that society has a high enough bar on safety that companies are held to.” She said that companies should be transparent about their records by publishing data about how many crashes they’re involved in, and she pointed to the “hub” of safety information on Waymo’s website. Self-driving cars will dramatically reduce crashes, Mawakana said, but not by 100%: “We have to be in this open and honest dialogue about the fact that we know it’s not perfection.” [Emphasis added by Beyond Search]
My reactions to this allegedly true and accurate statement from a Googler are:
- I am not confident that Google can be “transparent.” Google, according to one US court is a monopoly. Google has been fined by the European Union for saying one thing and doing another. The only reason I know about these court decisions is because legal processes released information. Google did not provide the information as part of its commitment to transparency.
- Waymos create problems because the Google smart software cannot handle the demands of driving in the real world. The software is good enough, but not good enough to figure out dead ends, actions by human drivers, and potentially dangerous situations. I am aware of fender benders and collisions with fixed objects that have surfaced in Waymo’s 15 year history.
- Self driving cars specifically Waymo will injure or kill people. But Waymo cars are safe. So some level of killing humans is okay with Google, regulators, and the society in general. What about the family of the person who is killed by good enough Google software? The answer: The lawyers will blame something other than Google. Then fight in court because Google has oodles of cash from its estimable online advertising business.
The cited article quotes the Waymo Googler as saying:
“If you are not being transparent, then it is my view that you are not doing what is necessary in order to actually earn the right to make the roads safer,” Mawakana said. [Emphasis added by Beyond Search]
Of course, I believe everything Google says. Why not believe that Waymos will make self driving vehicle caused deaths acceptable? Why not believe Google is transparent? Why not believe that Google will make roads safer? Why not?
But I like the idea that people will accept an AI vehicle killing people. Stuff happens, right?
Stephen E Arnold, October 30, 2025
The Good Old Days of Mainframes? Is Vibe the Answer?
October 29, 2025
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
I like mainframe stories. I read a very good one titled “That Time I Trashed The Company Mainframe, And The Lesson I Learned.” The incident took place decades ago. The main idea is that a young programmer wrote an innocuous program, stuffed it in a mainframe, and generated instant chaos. The lesson for the young programmer was to check and double check one’s code. Easy to say.
There were several gems in the write up. I want to highlight these.
The future is in the hands of smart software. Thanks, Venice AI. Good enough.
First, there is a reference to the programming required for the F-16. Keep in mind that these aircraft are still operational today. The aircraft entered service in the early 1980s. Yep, mainframe code. What does that tell you about fixing up software for some F-16s? Some special knowledge is going to be required. This information is not routinely presented in university computer science courses. My mainframe wizard is darned old and not too peppy. Just whip out your iPhone and bang out some Rust. You can get the F-16 up to speed in no time.
Second, a number of product names appear in the essay. These include:
- Fortran, yep just like JavaScript
- Zilog 8000, a definite fave in electrical engineering courses today
- Job Control Language, easy peasy.
What’s interesting is that I believe that many major systems today are still in daily use.
Third, the write up captures the approach that made those who worked in data centers so darned popular. Emily Post’s mom approved of this behavior:
In 1982, we had no email (executives did, but no one else); therefore, we all had a phone as our primary communication device. When I picked up the phone, all I heard was a lot of swear words and yelling. The IBM mainframe operator was screaming at me for submitting a job that caused his operator console to overflow with errors. He was acting as if I had trashed the entire mainframe and made his life a living hell.
Would some of the young data snowflakes melt with this professional exchange. Gee, of course not. Just head to a Googley relaxation pod and chill. You hope.
I wish to quote form the wrap up of the cited article:
That is the lesson I learned here: reading source code is essential, and I could actually understand a codebase I had never seen before. Confidence-building things like this really helped me move forward in becoming a more professional programmer.
Just keep in mind that smart software is going to do this type of job in the future. There will be absolutely no problems. I am confident that experienced humans will fail their automated hiring tests administered by a tailored large language model. A perfect world with perfect software is arriving.
Stephen E Arnold, October 29, 2025
Think It and the It May Not Happen. Right, OpenAI?
October 29, 2025
The collaboration that was meant to revolutionize how humans interact with technology has hit some snags. Coming up with another iPhone-level idea is tough, it seems. Ars Technica reports, “OpenAI, Jony Ive Struggle with Technical Details on Secretive New AI Gadget.” While he was at Apple, Ive designed some of that company’s most iconic products. When OpenAI bought his startup for $6.5 billion in May, Altman and Ive promised a radical new AI assistant that would eclipse Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant: a palm-sized, screenless device that would incorporate real-world context and adapt to each user’s needs.
In order to achieve this grand vision, OpenAI hired at least a dozen Apple device experts on top of the 20-some former Apple employees at Ive’s startup. We are told it also poached some workers from Meta’s Quest headset and smart glasses projects. However, that pool of considerable talent has not ensured smooth sailing. We learn:
“Despite having hardware developed by Ive and his team—whose alluring designs of the iMac, iPod, and iPhone helped turn Apple into one of the most valuable companies in the world—obstacles remain in the device’s software and the infrastructure needed to power it. These include deciding on the assistant’s ‘personality,’ privacy issues, and budgeting for the computing power needed to run OpenAI’s models on a mass consumer device.”
Ah yes, computing power. The reason data centers are springing up like thirsty weeds across the land. While Amazon and Google have plenty of compute to power their assistants, we learn, OpenAI has some catching up to do. As for those privacy issues, the write-up does not elaborate. We would be curious to know those details.
Then there is the issue of the virtual aide’s personality. The write-up tells us:
“Two people familiar with the project said that settling on the device’s ‘voice’ and its mannerisms were a challenge. One issue is ensuring the device only chimes in when useful, preventing it from talking too much or not knowing when to finish the conversation—an ongoing issue with ChatGPT. ‘The concept is that you should have a friend who’s a computer who isn’t your weird AI girlfriend… like [Apple’s digital voice assistant] Siri but better,’ said one person who was briefed on the plans. OpenAI was looking for ‘ways for it to be accessible but not intrusive.’ ‘Model personality is a hard thing to balance,’ said another person close to the project. ‘It can’t be too sycophantic, not too direct, helpful, but doesn’t keep talking in a feedback loop.’”
Yes, one would not want to annoy the end user with cyclic conversations. Or a “weird AI girlfriend.” (By the way, have we given up hope on default male or gender-neutral AI voices? Just wondering.) The article notes a couple devices that sound similar to Altman and Ive’s vision have not fared well. Humane, a firm funded in part by Altman personally, has ditched its AI pin. Meanwhile, the Friend AI necklace has been widely reviled. Will the Apple vets (eventually) succeed where others have failed? But in OpenAI Land the “Sky” is the limit. He, just buy stuff. That sometimes is easier.
Cynthia Murrell, October 29, 2025
Okay Business Strategy Experts: What Now for AI Innovation?
October 29, 2025
As AI forces its way into our lives, it requires us to shift our thinking in several areas. On his Substack, Charlie Graham examines how AI may render a key software strategy obsolete. He declares, “’Be Different’ Doesn’t Work for Building Products Anymore.” Personally, we believe coming up with something lots of people want or something rich people must absolutely have is the key to success. But it is also a wise develop something to distinguish oneself from the competition. Or, at least, it was. Now that approach may be wasted effort. Graham writes:
“In the past, the best practice to win in a competitive market was to differentiate yourself – ‘be different,’ as Steve Jobs would say. But product differentiation is no longer effective in this new world.
- Differentiate on an amazing UX? You used to rely on your awesome UX team for a sustainable advantage. Now, dozens of competitors can screenshot (or soon video) your flow and give it to an AI to reproduce quickly.
- Differentiate by excelling at one feature? You might get a temporary lead, but it’s now pretty trivial for competitors to get close to your functionality.
- Differentiate on business model? If it starts working, dozens of your recently started competitors will vibe-code a switch over.
- Differentiate on ‘proprietary data’? This isn’t the key differentiator it was expected to be, as we are finding data can be simulated or companies can find similar-enough data to get 80% of the way there.
Instead we live in a red ocean where features are copied in days or weeks and everyone is fighting with similar products for the same scraps. So what does work?”
The post proposes several answers to that question. For example, those with large, proprietary distribution networks still have an advantage. Also, obscure, complex niches come with fewer competitors. So does taking on difficult or expensive product integrations. On the darker side, one could guard against customer loss by compounding data lock-in, making migration away as painful as possible. Then there is networking– a consistent necessity; social media and online marketplaces now fill that need. See the post for details on each of these points. What other truisms will AI force us to reconsider?
Cynthia Murrell, October 29, 2025
Google and Anthropic: Sharing a Sleeping Bag. Will They Get Married?
October 28, 2025
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
“Anthropic to Use 1 Million Google TPUs” contains a couple of interesting allegedly true factoids. The hook for the story is that Google has worked out a deal for Anthropic to use a few of Google’s smart processors. According to the Analytics India article:
The expansion is valued at ‘tens of billions of dollars,’ with an expected capacity of over a gigawatt coming online in 2026.
The numbers are the first thing that caught my attention. One million chips. Tens of billions. A gigawatt of power. I worked at Halliburton Nuclear years ago. If I remember what one of the Couchmans (either Don or Mel) told me. A gigawatt would could power about one million homes simultaneously. Think in terms of San Jose which has about a million residents I think.
Thanks, MidJourney. Good enough.
Second, I noted this statement:
The company [Anthropic] reported serving over 300,000 business customers, and the number of large accounts—those generating more than $100,000 in annual revenue—has increased nearly sevenfold in the past year.
The numbers are smaller. 300,000 business customers. What’s a business customer? Not defined. Dun & Bradstreet and other company tracking services split businesses up by revenue, their business sector, and other slices. Okay, 300,000. The estimable US Small Business Administration has kicked out a number of 36 million businesses in the US. (Is this number correct? What? You are doubting the US government data? Incredible.) The point is that Anthropic has 0.9375% of this SBA number of businesses. Now let’s assume that Anthropic gets four times its 300,000 business users in the next two years. That means Anthropic’s power demands for 1.2 million business users means that it will require the electrical generation capacity of Los Angeles. No big deal, right? The only hitch in the git along is that Anthropic-type growth could move more quickly than the folks who have to build, expand, or invent new energy sources. You see the problem. Big numbers don’t match the reality of power availability.
But Anthropic and Google are in one of those circular deals. Google invests in Anthropic; Anthropic buys a few processors. Analytics India says:
Google has been involved in various funding efforts for Anthropic, and a report from The New York Times earlier this year stated that it owns 14% of Anthropic, citing legal findings.
Several observations:
- This AI sector is into really big numbers. Most people cannot think about really big numbers. Most people think about a $300 property tax bill or paying for groceries at the price leader. (Did you think Whole Foods or Kroger?)
- The diffusion of AI to a tiny percentage of US businesses has a fairly hefty need for power, chips, and assorted infrastructure. That’s good for those in that business.
- The power generation shortfall is a bit of pothole, a deep pothole.
So what? Just Anthropic will require power equivalent to keeping the lights on in four LAs or one Istanbul.
Do you see a problem? I don’t because I believe that magical Google and Anthropic can solve any problem.
A rough calculation is that a human brain consumes 0.000002% of a gigawatt in 24 hours. That’s efficient. But I have confidence in Google and Anthropic. No problem is too big or complex for these bright, energetic professionals.
Stephen E Arnold, October 28, 2025
Will Edge Give Way? If So, Will We Hear Screams of Terror?
October 28, 2025
There are so many play of word titles to make with Microsoft Edge, but we’d be here all day if we indulged ourselves about the browser’s current situation, as found on TechRadar:“Microsoft Is Literally Losing Its Edge, As Browser Reportedly Sheds A Quarter Of Its Users In Six Months – But I’m Not Surprised.” Users are jumping off the edge left and right and zooming over to Google Chrome. Statcounter has the numbers: 73.81% of PC users prefer Chrome and people are on the Edge with the aforementioned browser at 10.37%.
What does this mean?
“That represents a loss of 1.36% over this past month, and a very worrying drop since May 2025, when Edge had a 13.64% market share going by Statcounter’s estimation (and of course, it is just that – an estimation). Matters just seem to be going from bad to worse for Microsoft here.”
Apple users prefer Safari and other browsers like Firefox and the Dark Web’s Tor have their fans. What will Microsoft do in the event that PC users switch to Chrome indefinitely? Will it be another fiasco like Bing?
It sounds like Microsoft is on the edge of a big change. Desktop users can easily download an alternate browser, but mobile devices will probably come preprogrammed with Edge. Not a big deal right? Nope! Microsoft could prevent users from downloading another browser and block their rivals. That will never happen, right? Wrong! It’ll probably happen then there will be this big to do in court because it violates US law.
Whitney Grace, October 28, 2025
Microsoft, by Golly, Has an Ethical Compass: It Points to Security? No. Clippy? No. Subscriptions? Yes!
October 27, 2025
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
The elephants are in training for a big fight. Yo, grass, watch out.
“Microsoft AI Chief Says Company Won’t Build Chatbots for Erotica” reports:
Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman said the software giant won’t build artificial intelligence services that provide “simulated erotica,” distancing itself from longtime partner OpenAI. “That’s just not a service we’re going to provide,” Suleyman said on Thursday [October 23, 2025] at the Paley International Council Summit in Menlo Park, California. “Other companies will build that.”
My immediate question: “Will Microsoft build tools and provide services allowing others to create erotica or conduct illegal activities; for example, delivery of phishing emails from the Microsoft Cloud to Outlook users?” A quick no seems to be implicit in this report about what Microsoft itself will do. A more pragmatic yes means that Microsoft will have no easy, quick, and cheap way to restrain what a percentage of its users will either do directly or via some type of obfuscation.
Microsoft seems to step away from converting the digital Bob into an adult star or Clippy engaging with a user in a “suggestive” interaction.
The write up adds:
On Thursday, Suleyman said the creation of seemingly conscious AI is already happening, primarily with erotica-focused services. He referenced Altman’s comments as well as Elon Musk’s Grok, which in July launched its own companion features, including a female anime character. “You can already see it with some of these avatars and people leaning into the kind of sexbot erotica direction,” Suleyman said. “This is very dangerous, and I think we should be making conscious decisions to avoid those kinds of things.”
I heard that 25 percent of Internet traffic is related to erotica. That seems low based on my estimates which are now a decade old. Sex not only sells; it seems to be one of the killer applications for digital services whether the user is obfuscated, registered, or using mom’s computer.
My hunch is that the AI enhanced services will trip over their own [a] internal resources, [b] the costs of preventing abuse, sexual or criminal, and [c] the leadership waffling.
There is big money in salacious content. Talking about what will and won’t happen in a rapidly evolving area of technology is little more than marketing spin. The proof will be what happens as AI becomes more unavoidable in Microsoft software and services. Those clever teenagers with Windows running on a cheap computer can do some very interesting things. Many of these will be actions that older wizards do not anticipate or simply push to the margins of their very full 9-9-6 day.
Stephen E Arnold, October 27, 2025
A Meta Believe It or Not: No Spying on Our Users. No, No, No
October 24, 2025
This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.
Why worry about the data big tech collect about users. The grannies at the European Union wring their hands. In the US, it’s no problemo. Therefore, social media companies, cellphone and Internet providers, Kroger-like grocery chains, and even the local utility monopolies harvest data and sell it to advertisers. Case in point: I was speaking with a friend about a particular coffee brand I enjoy on a private text. When I turned on my TV, I saw a commercial for that exact same coffee brand. Coincidence? Sure, just like those ads for puffy jackets on Web sites after I buy a nifty blue puffer on Amazon. Yeah, I am going to buy another puffy after I just bought one.
That’s scarier than a R-rated horror movie and dumber.
Big Tech companies like Meta assure consumers they aren’t spying on them, but The Verge suspects otherwise: “Adam Mosseri’s ‘We’re Totally Not Spying On You’ Video Is Raising A Lot Of Questions."
Meta announced it will soon use AI chats to personalize ads. In poor timing, Adam Mosseri released a myth breaking video that attempted to assure users that Meta is not listening in on their conversations or reading their messages.
Meta’s ad system, however, is precise to the point of paranormal activity. Mosseri did offer explanations that reads like digital cookies and lies:
One, maybe you actually tapped on something that was related or even searched for that product online on a website, maybe before you had that conversation. We actually do work with advertisers who share information with us about who is on their website to try to target those people with ads. So if you were looking at a product on a website, then that advertiser might have paid us to reach you with an ad.
Two, we show people ads that we think that they’re interested in, or products we think they’re interested in, in part based on what their friends are interested in and what similar people with similar interests are interested in. So it could be that you were talking to someone about a product, and they, before, had to actually looked for or searched for that product, or that, in general, people with similar interests were doing the exact same thing.
Three, you might have actually seen that ad before you had a conversation and not realized it. We scroll quickly, we scroll by ads quickly, and sometimes you internalize some of that, and that actually affects what you talk about later.
Four, random chance, coincidence, it happens.”
Yeah, coincidence. Humans are programmed to notice patterns in their environment. It’s a survival instinct. Many of these patterns have transformed into odd conspiracy theories and rampant paranoia. Back in the day, these “coincidences” could have been chalked up to odd circumstances. Now it’s because Big Tech is watching. Anyone want a cup of coffee?
Whitney Grace, October 21, 2025
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