Route 12B

Just announced: Google’s NotebookLM app is coming “May 20th on iOS and Android.” It’s being touted as one of their best AI tools yet, offering users tons of flexibility.

For those unfamiliar with NotebookLM, it’s essentially Google’s answer to AI-assisted research and note taking. The tool has previously existed in a more limited form (only on the web), but this standalone app release shows Google’s confidence in its capabilities. I particularly enjoy using NotebookLM because it understands your documents, allowing you to have conversations about your content instead of just searching through it. There’s a podcast feature as well, although I haven’t tried that bit yet.

My biggest use case for it so far has been with random user manuals for home appliances, tools, and other household doodads. We have a cabinet where we keep these, but have not once gone back to reference them. With NotebookLM, I can scan the manuals in as PDFs and then ask questions in chatbot form later, which decreases friction tremendously.

For those of us who’ve been waiting for the app version of NotebookLM, the wait appears to be nearly over.

Sources: www.tomsguide.com/ai/google… x.com/OfficialL…

Recently, I was thinking about all the new AI startups that are in the news pretty much constantly. Many are founded by Open AI alumni. It turns out OpenAI isn’t just a leading AI company. It’s also become Silicon Valley’s newest “mafia,” much like the OG PayPal network. Over the past few years, about 70 alumni have ventured out to launch 30+ startups, covering AI safety, search, robotics, edtech, climate tech, enterprise tools… You name it.

Some examples:

• Anthropic (natch) (Dario and Daniela Amodei and John Schulman) - tackling next‑gen safety challenges.
• Safe Superintelligence (Ilya Sutskever) - also tackling safety challenges.
• Perplexity (Aravind Srinivas) - AI‑powered search.
• Thinking Machines Lab (Mira Murati) - “customizable” AI.
• Cleanlab (Anish Athalye), Symbiote AI (Taehoon Kim) and Aidence (Tim Salimans) - basically a grab bag of applications for AI: data‑quality tooling to real‑time 3D avatars to medical imaging.
• Several more, such as Covariant, Prosper Robotics, Living Carbon, Daedalus, Eureka Labs , Pilot, Cresta, and Adept AI Labs.

Essentially, OpenAI’s blend of mission‑driven R&D, a collaborative culture, and early exposure to bleeding edge models is effectively acting as a de facto incubator. No formal accelerator needed.

The “OpenAI Mafia” is a real thing, and its ripple effects are definitely being felt. Watching these founders go from colleagues to competitors is pretty exciting. And frankly tough to keep up with. But it’s cool to watch it all unfold.

Sources: techcrunch.com/2025/04/2… analyticsindiamag.com/global-te…

New Pixar movie on the way: Titled “Mysterious and Important”. 4 friends go on an adventure.

Alot has already been said about this.

Here’s Gruber.

Here’s 9to5mac.

Here’s Primary Technology’s podcast where Stephen and Jason spend the first 35 minutes on it.

As far as Apple itself, we’re seeing some immediate effects of this where they are changing the App Store rules to allow outside purchases, something judge Gonzalez Rogers emphasized in her ruling that was something the company was supposed to do in the first place.

But I want to talk about something a little different. After digesting this news for a day or two and listening to some podcasts about it, my main takeaway was the reaction to the hugeness of it. Most folks who cover Apple love their products. There’s a genuine enjoyment in showing others how easy and fun it is to touch and feel and use iPhones, Macs, iPads, etc. The software is intuitive, beautifully designed, almost eye candy. Additionally, there’s some joy in contrasting with other companies' products where the same design and joyfulness is decidedly absent.

However, now these same people can no longer ignore the fact that Apple has behaved in a manner that is clearly anti-user, not to mention anti-developer. One commenter on 9to5mac summed it up pretty well: 

“Apple makes some of my favorite technology products, while at the same time engaging in some of the most anti-competitive, anti-consumer practices we see today. I celebrate this ruling. I believe it’s possible both to love Apple products and want the company to do better.” - Ryan W.

When other Big Tech companies are naughty, that’s big news too. And it’s covered just as thoroughly. But the reaction is a little more muted, to my ears at least. Nowadays, in 2025, we almost expect Google, Meta, Amazon, et al. to misbehave from time to time. Their revenue model doesn’t align perfectly with user experience, and so it’s no surprise that Google wants all of our data or Meta wants to show us more targeted ads. And it’s not really much of a shock when they’re accused of lying and cheating the system. “Oh, Zuck weaseled his way through that senate hearing? Cool. What’s for lunch?”

But when Apple ignores a judge’s ruling and an Apple executive is allegedly caught lying under oath, the subtext of the reaction is different: Apple is better than this. They should have known better. Indeed, Phil Schiller appealed to the other execs' better natures back when the first ruling occurred in 2021 and basically said (paraphrasing): “guys, let’s just do what they’re asking and move on”.

It’s an interesting contrast. Apple is so huge nowadays that it really shouldn’t be a surprise that they’re engaging in anti-competitive behavior. Just like all the others, they can afford an army of analysts and lawyers to figure out ways to game the system. What’s different though, is when the Googles and Metas of the world do it, we seem to shrug our shoulders. But when Apple does it, we’re genuinely hurt because our expectations of the company that was founded by Steve Jobs are much higher.

Apple (and Tim Cook) done messed up.

Yet again from the “life imitates Black Mirror” files is a report from Joanna Stern at WSJ highlighting wearable AI devices. The Bee Pioneer captures conversations to provide summaries and reminders. The Limitless Pendant records audio to offer behavioral feedback, aiming to improve personal interactions. Finally, Plaud Note transcribes and summarizes recordings using AI, assisting with tasks like meeting notes and to-do lists. These devices record everything you say, all the time, around the clock.

I’m amazed at the proliferation of surveillance products designed to blend seamlessly into daily life, and our willingness to tolerate such surveillance. I experienced this firsthand when my daughter convinced my wife and me to get a pet bunny. Wanting to monitor the adorable animal while away, we installed a Google Nest camera, linking it to my daughter’s account. During setup, she remarked, “Sure, Google, take all of my information. Google has all of our data anyway.” Her comment underscored our growing acceptance of constant monitoring.

And now, it’s not just our smartphones. Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses, for instance, resemble regular eyewear but can discreetly record videos and livestream content. A recent incident involved an influencer using these glasses to film women without their consent.

Even before this latest report and the experience with the bunny cam, I was mildly aware that someone might record me while I was out in public. But now, I think I will have to operate under the very accute paranoia that any interaction could be recorded and shared out of context to millions. In response, counter-surveillance tools are emerging, which merely underscores society’s ambivalence toward these advancements.

So where does that leave us? Swimming around in our little surveillance fishbowl, occasionally waving at the cameras we know about.

To be fair, I’m not abandoning my smart devices. That ship has sailed. However, I am more discerning about what I bring into my home, and how I behave while out in public.

Bluesky, the “decentralized” social network built on AT Protocol, went down for an hour despite being designed specifically not to. The outage was due to “major PDS networking problems”. These are personal data servers that Bluesky itself still largely controls. Folks on Mastodon were quite amused.

Two separate reports out of the Wall Street Journal detail the renaissance IBM is currently experiencing under CEO Arvind Krishna.

The first report details investments related to AI (natch). The second story reports on a massive investment in (wait for it) mainframe and quantum computing systems. Mainframes in 2025? Indeed.

First thing’s first: Big Blue has amassed $6 billion in generative AI bookings, mostly through consulting services. Quite the remarkable turnaround story for IBM, whose software division has found new life after shedding its IT outsourcing unit Kyndryl in 2021. For a company once considered a relic of computing’s past, this pivot represents a meaningful shot at relevance in our current AI-driven moment.

However, IBM’s track record with emerging technologies should give us pause. Despite pioneering achievements like Deep Blue and Watson, the company has consistently stumbled when translating innovation into market dominance. The cloud computing revolution offers a sobering example, where IBM watched as AWS and Microsoft Azure captured the market it could have led.

Speaking of cloud computing, don’t count IBM out just yet: they made quite the bold move in another area of investment. The company announced a staggering $150 billion investment in the US over the next five years, with over $30 billion earmarked specifically for R&D in mainframe and quantum computing systems. Cloud computing gets all the glory, true. But the backbone of global finance, healthcare, and government operations still runs on these powerhouse mainframes. IBM’s z-Series mainframes process 90% of all credit card transactions globally and handle core operations for 92 of the world’s top 100 banks.

And in the quantum computing realm, let’s talk about those qubits. The $30+ billion earmarked for quantum R&D is pretty impressive and potentially industry-defining. While Google, Microsoft, and others have made significant quantum computing advancements, IBM’s financial commitment here dwarfs previous investments in the space.

This isn’t just about computing power, it’s about establishing leadership in what will likely become the most transformative technology of our lifetime (including AI). When practical quantum computing arrives at scale, everything changes: drug discovery, materials science, cryptography, AI training, climate modeling, you name it. All of them revolutionized.

Krishna is breathing new life into IBM and recognizing AI’s transformative potential. The company’s stock is up, investors are taking notice, and there’s genuine excitement about IBM for the first time in years. For longtime IBM watchers, this feels like a critical inflection point. It might either be the beginning of a true renaissance or just another false start.

Sources: www.wsj.com/tech/ai/i… www.wsj.com/finance/i…