Perhaps you read last month about Day 1 of the Wired25 event in San Francisco. Many a newsmaker spoke, and it was an A-list event from a speaker and attendee POV. Less was written about Day 2 — “Culture & Fam” Day, Wired called it. The formula may become a brand-builder in the 2020s as the second digital generation comes of age.
Last week’s Techonomy NYC 19 event attracted a small, passionate audience that heard brilliant and inspirational speakers. Amid the topics of IoT, 5G and AI were appearances by social media pioneer Jeremiah Owyang, Bank of America chief operations and technology office Cathy Bessant, and two presidential candidates, Andrew Yang and John Delaney.
What makes Techonomy different? Founder and EIC David Kirkpatrick asks himself that every day. When David launched the brand in 2010, few event producers addressed how technology was transforming society. In 2010, President Obama finally got around to sending a Tweet. In 2016, candidate Donald Trump averaged 375 Tweets a month.
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FRIDGE NOTES
While the NYT pursues its suit against OpenAI, the Financial Times has chosen to license its content to help OpenAI train current and future LLMs. The NYT seems to be on the wrong side of this issue, with the Associated Press and Axel Springer also choosing to see OpenAI as a source of income, rather than an enemy.
Here’s the opposing view, from Press Gazette’s Dominic Young, who advises publishers to play a game of chicken with OpenAI and its LLM competitors.
… and it has no problem disclosing how. Reporters still run the joint, but they are getting AI assistance.
The Atlantic’s Karen Hao, in conjunction with the Pulitzer Center, is designing a course in AI for journalists. Classes begin next month. Details here. Might be something to alert your friendlies about. Karen hopes to help train 1,000 journalists in AI over the next two years.
Joshua Topolsky‘s edit project for Robinhood is optimized for mobile but you can peruse it here. The design seems crazy. Context from Axios’s Sara Fischer here.
‘The Prompt” is not out yet, but you can sign up for it here.
That’s the strategy as expressed to NYT’s Katie Robertson by Axios CEO Jim VandeHei. First up: Eleanor Hawkins, Sara Fischer and Dan Primack.
