el producto #378 đ
Self-driving Uber Eats, How Amplitude grows, AI salaries, Google paid (AI)search, Alternative iPhone app store, Prototyping resources, Strategy frameworks, & more
Hey friends,
Happy weekend and welcome to a new edition of el producto!
đ° The week in figures
$32B: Alphabet has been talking to its advisers about making an offer for HubSpot, an online marketing company with a $32B market value
$1B: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and former Apple design head Jony Ive are in talks to secure funding for their secretive AI-powered device, previously rumored to be a smartphone. Sources indicate Ive is seeking to raise up to $1B
$400M: Indian fintech startup Navi is gearing up to raise between $200M and $400M
$1M: Tesla is increasing pay for its AI engineers to keep them from being lured away by companies like OpenAI. In the heated talent race driven by the AI boom, tech companies are offering compensation packages in the $1M+ range annually, among other incentives. The median salary recently offered to 6 employees by OpenAI was $925,000 annually, according to Levels.fyi
600k: OpenAI COO says ChatGPT Enterprise has 600K+ paying customers, up from ~150K in January, and 2024 is going to be the âyear of adoption for AI in the enterpriseâÂ
600: Apple has laid off over 600 employees in California, including those developing smartwatch screens and its now-canceled car project.The cuts were disclosed in Apple's reports to the state under the WARN program, which requires companies to file reports for each California address affected by a layoff
70%: up to 70% of Amazonâs Just Walk Out checkout purchases were verified by humans based in India. This week Amazon announced the closure of several Just Walk Out stores. Amazon will also replace its 'just walk out' cashierless payment recognition tech in many stores with a smart grocery cart system
25%: In China, 25% of all online sales now take place through livestreams
10%: .ai domain names have contributed to more than 10% of Anguilla GDP, thanks to tech companies registering web addresses that end in .ai
đ° Whatâs going on
Uber Eats rolls out delivery services with Waymo's self-driving cars in the Phoenix area, Uber's seventh site with autonomous deliveries and first with Waymo
Meta plans to label a wider range of video, audio, and image content as âMade with AIâ starting in May, following feedback from its independent Oversight Board
Meta is testing giving cash bonuses to creators who post engaging content on Threads, as part of an invite-only program
Facebook is taking on TikTok with the launch of a new fullscreen video playeron Facebook. The new player standardises the format of all videos on the platform including Reels, Live Videos and longer videos.
LinkedIn is also testing vertical video in a new dedicated app tab
Google is considering charging for its AI-powered search capabilities, making the first time it would put a Search feature behind a paywall. Google is testing generative AI in its search engine to answer questions within a chat, generate summaries, and offer follow-up questions and web links
OpenAI has launched a new synthetic voice cloning tool, Voice Engine, that can create an AI-generated voice using just 15 seconds of reference audio. The company confirmed that it is taking a âcautious approachâ to the new technology given the potential for abuse and is currently available in private beta only
Altstore, a new alternative to the iPhone app store has launched in Europe thanks to the DMA. At first glance itâs a commendable effort but browsing apps outside of the official App Store does feel like a strange, knock-off version of the official store
Apple's AI and hardware engineering teams are exploring personal robots, including a mobile robot designed to follow users in their homes. The company has been working on AI algorithms to help robots navigate cluttered home environments
Amazon is luring startups to its Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform by offering free credits to cover the cost of AI models from various providers, including Anthropic, Meta, Mistral AI, and Cohere. The initiative aims to increase the market share of Amazon's AI platform Bedrock
Stability AI releases Stable Audio 2.0, letting users create three minute sound clips from copyright-free audio samples, available for free via its website
đ Good reads
How Pinterest built its text-to-SQL feature. Writing queries to solve analytical problems is a core task for many PMS. At Pinterest, they noticed how translating an analytical problem into correct and efficient SQL code can be a challenging task in a fast-paced environment. Pinterestâs engineering teams explain how they solved this problem
23 prototyping resources to bookmark right now. Figmaâs Ana Boyer has hand curated a comprehensive list of resources to get you going on your Figma prototyping journey, from informative livestreams and hands-on community files, to quick videos and social posts
The only strategy framework you need. Copy-pasting strategy templates is generally a bad idea, because you end up missing the context that makes your product or company unique. Guiding questions are not a template. Rather, they help create a mental model for thinking strategically. Bandan Jot Singh shared 10 questions that can help with just that
Navigating new waters: 10 tips for first-time founder success, by First Round Review. Tactical advice from seasoned founders like Thumbtackâs Marco Zappacosta and Dropboxâs Drew Houston about the biggest mistakes to avoid as a first-time startup founder
How Amplitude grows: making moneyballers - by Jaryd Hermann. Lessons, playbooks, and tactical product strategies from building Amplitude
The reading mind: surprising science-based benefits of reading everyday; and how to cultivate a reading habit - by Anne-Laure Le Cunff
Thatâs all for this week. As usual, feel free to reach out and share your thoughts by replying back to this email or commenting on Substack
Thanks for your support!
Angel