10 Things in Tech: Amazon's AI scramble
Good morning, readers. Hallam Bullock, an editor in London, here. An inventor regretting their creation is a tale as old as time. Victor Frankenstein. The designer of Microsoft's "Clippy" assistant. And now, it seems, Sam Altman.
The OpenAI CEO says he is losing sleep over the fear that "we already have done something really bad by launching ChatGPT."
For many, AI has become the stuff of nightmares. Amazon, too, is said to be "really scared" by ChatGPT. That's where we kick things off today.
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1. Amazon is rushing to respond to ChatGPT. When ChatGPT launched, Amazon managers asked staff for ideas on how to leverage the chatbot at work. Some of those ideas were shared in an internal document that lists 67 potential use cases for ChatGPT. Insider obtained a copy.
- The document covered everything from auto-generating software code and marketing materials to providing better customer support.
- "Amazon must be really scared about being late on all of this," an Amazon employee told Insider. "Everything is 'ChatGPT' and it feels incredibly rushed."
- Our chief tech correspondent, Eugene Kim, has explored some of the ideas suggested in the document — and even some which already appear to be in the works, including a ChatGPT-type search bar for Amazon shoppers.
In other news
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3. Inside LA Tech Week. Taking place just 10 months after last year's event, the return of LA Tech Week served as the more polished but lower-energy summer sequel, Insider's Ben Bergman writes. What it was like.
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5. Only 26% of Meta employees are confident in the company's leadership. That's according to The Washington Post, who reported that morale is falling after months of layoffs and spending cuts at the company. More here
6. You might not like it, but Netflix's password-sharing crackdown is off to a great start in the US. In the first six days after the clampdown went into effect, Netflix had "the four single largest days of US user acquisition" since analytics company Antenna has tracked it. More here.
7. Nearly 3,500 subreddit forums are planning a 48-hour blackout today. Users are protesting Reddit's new pricing policy that charges third-party apps for using its API. Click here for the biggest subreddits that won't be available during this time. Read more on the blackout.
8. Ever wondered how an engineer spends their paycheck? This 39-year-old spends her $169,000 salary on Xbox, therapy, coffee, and skincare. Check out all of her spending habits.
Odds and ends:
9. An Apple exec showed off his guitar skills. During the company's Worldwide Developers Conference, Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of software engineering, stole the show with a guitar solo. But many didn't believe it was real — so he did it again.
10. The 54 best Father's Day gifts. Whether it's for Dad, Grandpa, or the father figure in your life, we've pulled together a list of budget-friendly products that play into their passions to luxurious splurges they'd never think to treat themselves to. The full guide.
Curated by Hallam Bullock in London. (Feedback or tips? Email hbullock@insider.com or tweet @hallam_bullock). Edited by Jack Sommers.