Episode 518: It Is What It Is

This week, we unpack what Uber’s CEO said, why the CNCF exists, and how companies chase the money. Plus, Coté stands alone in his love for rice cakes. Watch the YouTube Live Recording of Episode 518 (https://www.youtube.com/live/h0RVI_IOZvo?si=tbRl4R8iwhDsLzu7) Runner-up Titles Go feral You’ve ruined eating for me Cultural tombstone The next step is “I told you so” Culture is what happens when you’re not talking about culture. You know, it’s terrible to run over someone The robots are just fine Center of Attention Rundown Uber CEO says changing employee benefits 'is a risk we decided to take' (https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/06/uber-ceo-says-changing-employee-benefits-is-a-risk-we-decided-to-take.html) Waymo is reducing serious crashes and making streets safer for those most at risk (https://waymo.com/blog/2025/05/waymo-making-streets-safer-for-vru) CNCF and Synadia Align on Securing the Future of the NATS.io Project (https://www.cncf.io/announcements/2025/05/01/cncf-and-synadia-align-on-securing-the-future-of-the-nats-io-project/) Oxide and Friends | Shootout at the CNCF Corral (https://oxide-and-friends.transistor.fm/episodes/shootout-at-the-cncf-corral) New D&D core rules are now CC-BY (https://www.dndbeyond.com/srd?srsltid=AfmBOorzpL2Y57RWJ966OdFDTICTiWTAAQL6Dn8FFvcB09HJClZkbWli). ‘Cook chose poorly’: how Apple blew up its control over the App Store (https://www.theverge.com/apple/659296/apple-failed-compliance-court-ruling-breakdown) Relevant to your Interests I use Zip Bombs to Protect my Server (https://idiallo.com/blog/zipbomb-protection) "AI-first" is the new Return To Office - Anil Dash (https://www.anildash.com/2025/04/19/ai-first-is-the-new-return-to-office/) Find and Buy with AI: Visa Unveils New Era of Commerce (https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250430580204/en/Find-and-Buy-with-AI-Visa-Unveils-New-Era-of-Commerce?utm_source=www.therundown.ai&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=visa-mastercard-give-ai-credit-cards&_bhlid=3ec615c11c0429835c326dbeaabe5bca0dddaf66) Google dusts off Google Voice and adds three-way calling (https://www.theverge.com/news/659719/google-voice-app-update-call-ui-merge-three-way) Anthropic to Buy Back Employee Shares at $61.5 Billion Valuation (https://www.theinformation.com/articles/anthropic-buy-back-employee-shares-61-5-billion-valuation) IBM unveils capabilities meant to accelerate AI agent adoption (https://siliconangle.com/2025/05/06/ibm-unveils-capabilities-meant-accelerate-ai-agent-adoption/) Getting things "done" in large tech companies (https://www.seangoedecke.com/getting-things-done/) A.I. Is Getting More Powerful, but Its Hallucinations Are Getting Worse (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/05/technology/ai-hallucinations-chatgpt-google.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20250505&instance_id=153899&nl=the-morning&regi_id=55370892&segment_id=197320&user_id=861fd8fcc0091c6690e3b338636d5995) This NAS brand just called out the competition and says you should own your hardware (https://www.techradar.com/pro/asustor-makes-veiled-dig-at-synologys-proprietary-hard-drive-philosophy-with-open-and-unlocked-stance) Microsoft Earnings, Microsoft’s Core Capability, Amazon Earnings (https://stratechery.com/2025/microsoft-earnings-microsofts-core-capability-amazon-earnings/) Amazon beats on top and bottom line but issues light second quarter guidance (https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/01/amazon-amzn-q1-earnings-report-2025.html) Amazon Takes Aim at Cursor With New AI Coding Service (https://www.theinformation.com/articles/amazon-takes-aim-cursor-new-ai-coding-service) OpenAI caves to pressure, keeps nonprofit in charge (https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/05/openai_keep_nonprofit_in_charge/) OpenAI Reaches Agreement to Buy Startup Windsurf for $3 Billion (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-06/openai-reaches-agreement-to-buy-startup-windsurf-for-3-billion) Anysphere, which makes Cursor, has reportedly raised $900M at $9B valuation (https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/04/c