Roundup: Cruise is doomed

Read to the end for some old but good technology

Shocker! After all the drama last weekend, Sam Altman took back the crown at OpenAI, and along the way wiped his rivals off the board and ensured it would be pretty hard not just to depose him, but even to question his path for the company in the future. I really don’t think there’s much more to say about the matter than what I wrote at the beginning of the week when it wasn’t even clear where Altman would end up: his power has increased and Microsoft is poised to benefit.

If you do want more about this, I spoke to New York Times technology reporter Mike Isaac all about the drama but also the bigger picture of what’s going on with OpenAI and the Microsoft relationship over on Tech Won’t Save Us if you want to check it out.

Beyond that, I wanted to do a bit of an update on Cruise this week. Earlier this month I wrote about the scandal that caused them to pull all their supposed robotaxis off the road and predicted there would be more details to come that would make it even harder for General Motors to ever make the division work — and that’s exactly what happened.

So, to get that update, along with all the recommended reads, labor updates, and other news you might have missed, all I ask is that you sign up as a paid supporter to ensure I can keep writing this newsletter!

Thanks, and have a great week!

— Paris