Authorization, Gemini, Sora, Tech Layoffs, Toys, and Physics
Weekly Review of News in Technology, UX and AI
Here’s the latest news, resources, and use cases from the world of product, UX, AI and technology. Let’s go:
🖼️ Scaling Authorization
🎧 Gemini
🟦 Sora
🛂 Reddit
🚙 Tech Layoffs
🧸 Toys
🦾 Unknown Physics
Podcast
Scaling Authorization with Jake Moshenko: Lessons for Product Leaders
In this episode, I sit down with Jake Moshenko, co-founder and CEO of AuthZed, to discuss his journey from working at major tech companies to becoming a two-time founder. After his first company Quay (a Docker registry service) was acquired, he founded AuthZed to solve application permission challenges. Jake shares the contrasts between his two founding experiences, transitioning from a bootstrapped two-person company to a venture-backed enterprise-focused business. He emphasizes the importance of choosing the right problem space and being prepared for the long journey of entrepreneurship. We also discuss the significance of open-source in modern software development and his perspectives on AI technology.
News and Useful Reads
Google Reveals Gemini 2, AI Agents, and a Prototype Personal Assistant
The AI races continue, with Google making some announcements about its latest capabilities.
Google announced Gemini 2, a new version of its flagship AI model that has been trained to plan and execute tasks on a user’s computers and the web, and which can chat like a person and make sense of the physical world as a virtual butler.
Sora’s AI video revolution is still a ways off
Sora was released this week, and it seems like an early version still. If you don’t have an account already, you’ll have to wait. But it’s $200/month to unlock all the features.
The first version of OpenAI’s Sora can generate video of just about anything you throw at it — superheroes, cityscapes, animated puppies. It’s an impressive first step for the AI video generator. But the actual results are far from satisfactory, with many videos so heavily plagued with oddities and inconsistencies that it’s hard to imagine anyone finding much use for them.
Reddit is removing links to Luigi Mangione's manifesto
It’s a weird thing to target, especially given everything else on Reddit.
In a widely viewed post in r/popculturechat, a moderator explained that Reddit had instructed them to remove posts of the manifesto. “We have officially been notified by Reddit that we must adhere strictly to their site-wide rules regarding violent content,” moderator clemthearcher wrote. “Specifically, Reddit has told us that we are not allowed to post Luigi Mangione’s manifesto, even if it is reported neutrally.”
A comprehensive list of 2024 tech layoffs
2024 was another difficult year in tech, from layoffs to job searches. I don’t expect 2025 to be any better…
The tech layoff wave is still going strong in 2024. Following significant workforce reductions in 2022 and 2023, this year has more than 130,000 job cuts across 457 companies, according to independent layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi. Companies like Tesla, Amazon, Google, TikTok, Snap and Microsoft have conducted sizable layoffs in the first months of 2024. Smaller-sized startups have also seen a fair amount of cuts, and in some cases, have shut down operations altogether.
'We're absolutely in panic mode': Toymakers are bracing for Trump's tariffs
It’s not just electronics that could be hit by tariffs in January. Most toys are also made in China. And that could become a big problem for anyone buying or selling toys.
Most of the toys sold in the U.S. are manufactured in China, and companies are worried they could get a lump of coal next year — in the form of steep import taxes promised by President-elect Donald Trump.
Other Interesting Finds
Scientists Just Confirmed the Presence of Unknown Physics in Our Universe
There is plenty we don’t understand about our universe, and we can confidently add one more thing to the list.
And that is the Hubble tension—those numbers should be the same, but they’re not. And when expectation doesn’t match observation in astronomy, it means one of two things: there’s something wrong with our measurement techniques, or there’s something wrong with our understanding of physics.
