The Pornhub Acquisition, Twitter, AI Doom, and more!

Hello and happy Sunday!

We're wishing a happy Easter to those who celebrate! This week's Digest is packed with original essays, another Succession review, and an AI hackathon for Every subscribers.

We're launching something new this week, and it's available for paid subscribers right now. Click here to get a sneak peek.

Now onto the articles!

We Don't Know Enough About the Pornhub Acquisition

Evan is 99% sure there's something weird about the sale of Pornhub's parent company—and he dives deep into understanding what it might be.

He examines the three possible financial scenarios for the buyout, explains why regulators should be paying more attention, and discusses the power wielded by tech giants with such immense audiences.

Read

AI Doomsday for People Who Don't (Yet) Wear Fedoras

Eliezer Yudkowsky, the AI researcher famous for warning that AI will kill us all, has been on a media tour lately. But his arguments can be difficult to parse—especially for those of us not steeped in the language of "Shoggoth" and "Instrumental Convergence".

In this article, Dan puts on his fedora and examines Eliezer's argument: should we really stop all AI progress to save ourselves? He dives deep into Eliezer's work to find out.

Read

How Much Longer Can Twitter Last, Really?

Twitter is in a really bad place. Ad revenue has fallen by 50%, there have been outages and failed product launches, and the company is even trying to sell office plants to employees.

But Dave Karpf warns there are two-time bombs under the surface—and if he had to guess, Twitter won't last more than six months. In this essay, he outlines why it could come crashing down.

Read

How to Design a Sabbatical

Do you feel like a cog in the wheel of work? Tobi did—so last November, he resigned and went on sabbatical. In this week's article, he shares how he designed her own sabbatical, and what you can expect from the emotional journey of taking time to wander.

If you're stuck on attempting to take the leap, it might just be the perfect solution for breaking out of your stasis.

Read

Updating iOS for the AI Era

Apple knows that the AI era is coming—and that it needs to adapt, or die. As an iPhone user since 2007, Nathan can't help but wonder how the smartphone will evolve in the face of this technology shift.

In this week's essay he looks at Apple's two choices and examines how they will decide which path to take as they update iOS for the AI era.

Read

Upcoming Events

Ben's Bites + Every: AI Hackathon - April 18th - April 20th

Dan is hosting an AI hackathon with Ben from Ben's Bites. Come hack with him over three days next week!

Succession Episode 2 Review

Hey there! As a fun addition to the Sunday Digest, Evan will be writing a mini-review for the final season of Succession. Each review will discuss the themes, writing, and dynamics of the show. 

Succession is a funhouse mirror of tech and media executives, except instead of distorting their body shape it raises their IQ by 20 points. Our media elites aren’t nearly as witty as they are portrayed as being on the show.

In the second episode of the season, this funhouse mirror phenomena was in full effect. In the midst of the usual corporate tom foolery, Logan Roy delivers a rousing speech at his employees while perched on top of office paper boxes. “You’re fu$%ing pirates!” he screams to thunderous applause. This is real life! Robert Murdoch, the owner of the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, did the exact same thing in 2007 when he bought the WSJ. Allegedly Murdoch’s speech wasn’t nearly as inspiring.

Another example from this episode: Logan is constantly toying with women, dangling power and money, to entice them into his web. His newest plaything, Kerry, is loosely promised a role as a news anchor but ends up being brutally denied the job in episode 2. We even learn during a confrontation with his children that Logan had committed Conner’s mother to a mental hospital. In parallel, Murdoch is on his fourth divorce and recently called off his engagement to his newest potential wife. Here is Murdoch, describing the latest flame, “I dreaded falling in love — but I knew this would be my last. It better be. I’m happy.” They called it off publicly 14 days later. 

Growing up and devouring culture from afar, I would read online about the elites of the world. Of the power in New York, and the intelligence of Silicon Valley. These depictions stood in stark contrast from where I grew up. It was a place of no power, no influence—just corn, cows, and chain restaurants. The supposed difference between me/my community versus the rich was intimidating and I believed that the people at the top were special. 

Spoiler: they are not. 

Succession is devoted to showing how inane the people at the top are. But, even in their parody, they still end up overly generous. At this point in my tech career, I have met more billionaires than I have fingers and more people worth over 10M than there are divorce lawyers in Beverly Hills. My experience is that the so called elite were elevated through a happy circumstance of interests, birth, and hard work. I’ve very rarely found someone who made it that far without tons of work, but I’ve never met someone who I thought was truly differentiated enough to be worth that much more than others. None of them are as funny as the characters in Succession. Many of the best from my hometown could’ve easily ended up there if they had been born in a different zip code. 

Episode 2 was full of the usual griping, sniping, ass kissing, roasting, and childhood trauma that makes the show so special. In some ways, writing a review feels pointless. Go watch it dummy—it's a top ten program of all time. For me the lingering question is whether the writer’s room will be able to stick the landing. Part of my concern here is driven by reality. In the real world, the Succession stories are still ongoing. Murdoch’s succession plans are still unknowable (again, similar to Logan). Perhaps the greatest mark of the writer’s skill will be their ability to forecast reality. Will Kendal and his self-destructive behavior win? Or will it be Roman’s sycophantic love? Which of Murdoch’s children inherit the crown? Only time, and a few more months of HBO subscription fees, will tell.