The Exchanges

Q for Sam, um, but I will say that When you get this stuff, starting to understand physics, you're just a step closer to, I think, uh, the end goals. And ChatGPT, of course, like, seemed like a little toy at first, but obviously has emerged into something more. And, uh, I get this, the criticism, but I tend to side with Sam on this one. What do you think, Max?

A Yeah, I think it's, I think it's a tough call. I think I agree with Sam in some ways that he's right that ChatGPT, it wasn't really understood at first how this really was going to be a vehicle for a lot of people to use AI and a lot of people to actually get the benefits of AI. And I think we've completely seen that play out in the last few years. I think it's a little less clear to me how Sora gives, gives people the benefits of AI world models in the same way. I totally agree that The underlying technology is really impressive. I mean, when the first Sora came out, I think last year, it blew people away just with how realistic the videos were, with how accurate it could get certain details. Um, and this one is objectively better. And I, I think it's impossible to argue that there hasn't been a great leap in performance of the AI video models in the last year or two. Um, But ChatGPT at its core is about helping people. That is, I do actually take OpenAI at its face when it says that it optimizes ChatGPT to be helpful and not to just keep users in, you know, these engagement loops. Um, I do think that I go to ChatGPT all the time to get an answer, I get it, and then I get off the app. I think with Sora, it does feel to me like it is, I mean, he said it pretty plainly. It's, it's about And entertaining people. It's about, you know, it's supposed to be fun. And I think that thes…

AI assessment note: “I think it's a little less clear to me how Sora gives”

Q are scary, said OpenAI pre-training researcher John Holloman in a post on X. We're going to do our best to make sure AI helps. And does not hurt humanity. I mean, where have we heard that before? You had actually multiple, uh, current OpenAI employees being like, uh, I don't know about this. That's, that doesn't happen too often in a major launch. So talk about the significance of that.

A Yeah, I think the level of kind of concern expressed by a lot of OpenAI researchers at the launch of this product felt very unique to me, uh, in a way that you don't usually see. Usually when an AI company launches a product, everyone is very gung-ho about it. Everyone is really excited. And I think this time just felt a little different. Um, I think all, I think a lot of researchers at OpenAI were very aware that their company was not just launching a new product. It's not a new feature in ChatGPT. This is Social media app. This is uncharted territory for open AI. And I think that raised a lot of concerns for people. I mean, something, you know, I've heard over and over from AI executives, and I'm sure you've heard the same, Alex, is just, you know, they all talk about how we don't want to repeat the mistakes of the social media era. And I believe a lot of the researchers working out these labs don't want to do that. I think a lot of them grew up In an era where people were addicted to social media. Uh, and I think a lot of them don't want to create the same kind of dynamic with the products that they built. Um, but I, I do think that just the incentives of running a social media platform are sometimes going to be very, uh, intoxicating and strong. And, you know, I don't think Meta exactly set out to build, uh, you know, addictive Uh, platform, but that's what you do when you …

AI assessment note: “the level of kind of concern expressed by a lot of OpenAI researchers... felt very unique”

Q they're one of the first things that could be totally annihilated by AI. I think it's worth taking a minute to talk about this because you have this new technology and new app. It's obviously very engaging. Number one in the app store. But instead of the painstaking process of creating content online, you could just prompt it. So what do you think this means for the creator economy, Max?

A Yeah, it's really a interesting question. I mean, I think that people said some version of this for writers when ChatGPT came out that, you know, why would I hire a freelance journalist to write something if I could just ask ChatGPT to write it? And I mean, certainly there are countless websites out there with articles, uh, written by ChatGPT now. Uh, so to some extent that's proven to be true. Uh, and yet, uh, Alex, we, we still can make a living doing what we do. So, I think what have we learned from the text version of this story that's already played out is that people value the human touch and the human taste and judgment, um, and they value kind of a professional's opinion, uh, you know, on certain topics that has become actually, I think, more valuable in the AI era. And I think that was something that a lot of people missed when ChatGPT first came out, which is that, uh, it actually made really high quality human content more valuable. Um, I wouldn't be surprised if a similar thing happens with the creator economy. Like, I think that we will see just more content in general as a result of these AI video models and Sora. Um, and I think that it probably does make it harder for content creators to stand out. It probably, you know, advertisers are looking at these AI video models and going, huh, that's pretty interesting. Um, should I, you know, maybe Put some of my revenu…

AI assessment note: “I wouldn't be surprised if a similar thing happens with the creator economy.”

Q The economics of this AI boom, do they make sense if they just boil down to serving us better ads, or does it have to be something more?

A I think that ads have been the biggest business on the internet for a long time now, and I have no, I don't think that's going to change. Like, I, like, I think that that is going to continue being the case. I think it could probably be a bigger business than it is today. Um, I think you could probably get more specific kinds of ads and AI. I mean, I, I share so I and other people, everyone shares so much more information with an AI chatbot than you do With your Instagram feed, with Google, and you have to think that, you know, these companies that already have this great profile on you, if they could fine tune it even more to show you just the exact product that you want in the moment that you want it, uh, even better than they can today. I mean, there's clearly a lot of value there. Um, so yeah, I, I do think that even if it just boils down to ads, I mean, that's, that's gotten Google and meta pretty far. So I wouldn't, you know, doubt that.

AI assessment note: “I do think that even if it just boils down to ads”

Q had been planned for twenty-twenty-eight, but the company is now looking to accelerate development. This is, this is a massive story. Thanks to Mark Gurman from, from Bloomberg to, for reporting it out, but it's fascinating to me that Apple looking over at Meta now sees glasses as so important that it's shelving a big redevelopment of the Vision Pro, uh, reportedly to go after this. What's the significance, Max?

A Yeah, I mean, I think that, honestly, Meta's Ray-Ban display glasses were so impressive to a lot of people. I mean, if you try to book an appointment in the Bay Area to go demo these, uh, it's basically booked out for the next two or three months. Um, I mean, you basically just can't even, yeah, you can't even get an appointment right now. Um, so, uh, and you have to demo them to buy them, which is a weird detail about them. But But the, the demand for them I think has been incredible. I think people were really fascinated by this new computing form factor. I think it's a lot more compelling than putting a pair of big goggles like an Apple Vision Pro or a MetaQuest on your face. Um, I don't know about you. I can't stand, uh, the headsets to be completely frank. I think they get hot. I think they're kind of uncomfortable, but the glasses are very comfortable to slide on. And Uh, I, for one, am really excited about this development. I think this is like a much better direction for Apple to go in than making a better Vision Pro. Um, but of course, Apple is in a much better position to win here. I mean, they can connect it to iMessage. They can connect it to all the apps on your phone. So I'm not sure what claim Meta really has besides being first to market here.

AI assessment note: “I think this is like a much better direction for Apple to go in”

Q can upload short clips of themselves and insert them into Sora-generated worlds describing the idea, style, and scene they want to see. They can also connect with other users watching and commenting on their content. Uh, Max, just first question for you. We've, we're now a couple days into this Sora madness. It's the number one app on the App Store. Uh, how big do you expect this to get?

A Yeah. I mean, I could see this taking off quite significantly. I think in the last year, we've really seen AI generated images and videos, uh, really take over regular social feeds. And I think the idea here from opening eyes, let's capture some of that growth on one of our own platforms. And while it sounds terrible and, you know, at first it kind of makes you cringe at the idea of a completely AI generated feed. It's been. Surprisingly compelling, I think to a lot of people, as, as you can see by the growth on the app store and just my own personal experience, you go on there and it's like, this is terrible. And I, it's like, you can't take your eyes away. It's like watching a car crash on the side of the road.

AI assessment note: “I could see this taking off quite significantly.”