💬 The Google engineer who thinks the company's AI has come to life

Today’s pick

The Google engineer who thinks the company's AI has come to life. Google engineer Blake Lemoine opened his laptop to the interface for LaMDA, Google's artificially intelligent chatbot generator, and began to type. “Hi LaMDA, this is Blake Lemoine...,” he wrote into the chat… (Nitasha Tiku / Washington Post)

Nitasha Tiku @nitashatiku

Google's AI ethicists warned about the risks of using AI to impersonate humans. Now one of Google’s own thinks there’s a ghost in the machine My story on this portentous moment of religiosity & hype around AI and AGI and how it's impacted one individual

washingtonpost.comThe Google engineer who thinks the company’s AI has come to lifeThe chorus of technologists who believe AI models may not be far off from achieving consciousness is getting bolder.

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Crypto lender Celsius pauses withdrawals, transfers citing 'extreme market conditions'. Cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network, recently valued at about $3 billion, told customers Sunday evening that it is pausing “withdrawals, swap, and transfers between accounts” in a move that is sparking discussions and has prompted… (Manish Singh / TechCrunch)

John Cassidy @JohnCassidy

"Celsius allows users to deposit their Bitcoin...and receive weekly interest payments..the platform offers as much as 18% interest a year." What could go wrong?

techcrunch.comCrypto lender Celsius pauses withdrawals, transfers citing ‘extreme market conditions’ – TechCrunchCelsius Network, one of the biggest crypto lenders, told customers Sunday evening that it is pausing withdrawals, swap, and transfers between accounts in a move that has sparked discussions and prompted the price of the firm’s token to take a 60% tumble in the past one hour to as low as 19 ce…

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The ad industry is bracing itself for 'rough waters ahead' amid an impending spending downturn. Here are all the ways it could play out. The economic downturn is about to hit the ad industry, with global ad spend expected to decline. But consumers are still buying, and ad spend might just shift to different areas. Digital platforms and streaming TV are bright spots, while… (Ryan Joe / Business Insider)

Lara O'Reilly @larakiara

Ad sellers are preparing for an ad spending downturn...but nobody seems to have much clarity on where the cuts will come from, how big they could be, and how long they might last. Latest from @threefirstnames, @lmoses, and I

businessinsider.comThe ad industry is bracing itself for ‘rough waters ahead’ amid an impending spending downturn. Here are all the ways it could play out.Advertisers are adjusting spending to the economic downturn in vastly different ways.

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Bitcoin briefly drops below $25,000 as $150 billion wiped off crypto markets over the weekend. Bitcoin tumbled below $25,000 late on Sunday, hitting its lowest level since December 2020, as investors dump crypto amid a broader sell-off in risk assets. Meanwhile, a crypto lending company called Celsius has paused withdrawals for its… (Arjun Kharpal / CNBC)

Arjun Kharpal @ArjunKharpal

Yikes! #Bitcoin down 10%, falling below $25,000: - Lowest level since December 2020 - 64% off all-time high - $150 billion wiped off crypto market over weekend - #Celsius pauses withdrawals adding fuel to the fire - Macro issues weigh on crypto $BTC cnb.cx/3twuoqa

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Why Urban Life Suddenly Got Way More Expensive. Several weeks ago, I needed a ride home after some late-night drinks about two miles from my place in Washington, D.C. I pulled up the Uber app and entered my address. When the price on the screen popped up, I assumed I'd entered the wrong street… (Derek Thompson / The Atlantic)

Derek Thompson @DKThomp

I wrote about why urban life has suddenly got much more expensive theatlantic.com/newsletters/ar… It's not just inflation. It's the end of the Millennial Consumer Subsidy: With markets down and rates up, consumer tech companies are actually doing a capitalism and trying to make money.

theatlantic.comWhy Urban Life Suddenly Got Way More ExpensiveIt’s not just inflation. It’s the end of the Millennial Consumer Subsidy.

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