Inklings #023 📧

NVIDIA is paying $6 billion to investors in Poolside for a licensing deal to access its open model 'factory', while offering jobs to 109 employees but excluding the founders, who will raise $1 billion from NVIDIA at a $12 billion pre-money valuation. The deal, described as a 'hackquisition' without founders, highlights NVIDIA's aggressive spending in AI infrastructure.

Inklings 023 📧 Did you miss me while I was away? Not that I wasn't https://spyglass.org/meta-cloud/ busy https://spyglass.org/netflix-binge-distribution-model/ still https://spyglass.org/there-is-no-phone/ writing https://spyglass.org/gpt-live/ in https://spyglass.org/chatgpt-gets-to-work/ between https://spyglass.org/openai-chat-robot/ planes https://spyglass.org/netflix-vs-youtube/ and https://spyglass.org/open-vs-closed-ai/ pools https://spyglass.org/open-weight-ai-models/ . But I come back bearing gifts. Well, a gift – albeit one long requested by many of you... full RSS feeds for paid members of The Inner Ring https://spyglass.org/the-inner-ring/ . Yes, over two years in the making – well, more like a few hours, thanks to our AI overlords helping me out – I finally cracked the code. Unfortunately, it still needs a fairly manual deployment at the moment – which is to say, if you're interested and a paid member https://spyglass.org/ /portal/account/plans , shoot a note to subs at spyglass.org. If not, carry on. The current RSS feed will continue to work just fine, albeit truncated. Happy last days of Summer. And Friday https://x.com/PatWolf/status/2090756085615415393?ref=spyglass.org . Thoughts On... 💸 Yet Another New Flavor of Hackquisition – NVIDIA is paying $6B to the investors in Poolside for... something. Technically, it sounds like a license to access their "open" model "factory", which sounds a lot like technology created – perhaps after a couple pivots – to be acquired by NVIDIA. After all, Jensen Huang's two favorite words of late are " open https://spyglass.org/open-weight-ai-models/ " and " factory https://spyglass.org/the-ai-inference-inflection-point/ ". Not on that list is " acquired https://spyglass.org/nvidia-groq-deal/ " – this is the word that shall never be mentioned https://spyglass.org/microsoft-inflection-deal-terms/ in such deals https://spyglass.org/microsoft-acquires-inflection-ai/ , lest regulators come calling https://spyglass.org/microsoft-inflection-ftc/ . Again, this is just a licensing deal and some job offers – 109 of them, to be exact. But interestingly, unlike most other " hackquistions https://spyglass.org/tag/hackquisition/ " to date, this one explicitly does not include the founders. In fact, they're staying back with the remaining parts if any of the company, and raising $1B from NVIDIA at a new $12B pre valuation for their troubles. I mean, what ? What could possibly go wrong https://spyglass.org/failed-hackquisitions/ ? The only thing that is clear here is that NVIDIA has way too much money on their hands, and they seemingly can't give it away fast enough. Newcomer 🔒 💨 Pissing in the Wind – While I've largely been on the side of Epic's Tim Sweeney over many years now with regard to the App Store rules – and I think I correctly read https://500ish.com/apple-won-a-battle-to-lose-the-war-3ce6c3701918?ref=spyglass.org long ago the game he seemed to be playing https://spyglass.org/apple-epic-battle-royale/ to continuously bait Apple https://spyglass.org/epics-feigning-floundering-to-keep-apple-under-pressure/ – his comments the last few days in light of Apple and the EC seemingly reaching a detente https://spyglass.org/apple-eu-app-store-new-rules/ over the rules in the EU seem disingenuous https://spyglass.org/apple-eu-app-store-new-rules/ update at best and unhinged at worst. This would seem to be some last-ditch effort to keep the EC fighting, but come on, it's over dude. You got some of what you wanted Distribution outside of the App Store is here and payments on the web are mandated – including, importantly, in the US https://spyglass.org/tear-down-the-app-store-walls/ , which was largely you're doing https://spyglass.org/epic-apple-beatdown/ It's true that those payments won't be completely free of charge https://spyglass.org/apple-app-store-cut-death/ , and I get that the EC de facto accepting that makes the US case even harder, but come on, this was never going to be some sort of flawless victory. Take the W. Or sell to Disney https://spyglass.org/disney-plus-apple/ . Xitter ⚖️ Meta's Make Or Break Trial – " Big Techbacco https://spyglass.org/big-techbacco/ " indeed. Unlike with the silly antitrust case https://spyglass.org/big-tech-antitrust-broken/ against Meta https://spyglass.org/meta-trial/ , it feels like the stakes can't get much higher for the company here. Four states representing 25 others are more or less trying to take down social media represented by Meta much as yes, the tobacco companies were once taken down. While $200B is the headline potential damages number here, technically the fines could reach $1.4T https://www.reuters.com/business/meta-says-us-states-are-seeking-14-trillion-penalties-august-youth-safety-trial-2026-07-07/?ref=spyglass.org – which is exactly Meta's market cap. So yeah, that feels pretty existential. More importantly, it could completely upend Meta's actual business, in a time https://spyglass.org/meta-apple-ai-strategy/ when they need it https://spyglass.org/meta-cloud/ to be pumping out cash https://spyglass.org/you-are-the-tokens/ more than ever so they can pump it into AI https://spyglass.org/ai-frontier-race/ . While there is an 8-person jury here, they're merely meant to be advisory to the judge who will issue the verdict and award any would-be damages. That judge? Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, whose name may look awfully familiar to anyone who has followed the Apple/Epic ongoing situation https://spyglass.org/epic-apple-beatdown/ see: above . Meta should probably hope they don't piss her off https://spyglass.org/tear-down-the-app-store-walls/ as Apple did So far, things seem up https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jul/22/florida-teen-drops-meta-lawsuit?ref=spyglass.org and down https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/former-meta-engineer-resumes-testimony-landmark-trial-over-social-medias-harm-2026-08-19/?ref=spyglass.org . NYT 💬 OpenAI Keeps Right On Poking the Bear – ChatGPT for Apple Messages support seems interesting https://x.com/ChatGPT/status/2090499359641329950?ref=spyglass.org , it also sounds like something Apple will absolutely hate https://x.com/JoshuaKarchmer/status/2090553110737412606?ref=spyglass.org . Given that this is on the Mac, and the ChatGPT app clearly https://spyglass.org/chatgpt-gets-to-work/ isn't distributed through the Mac App Store, I'm not sure what they can actually do here – certainly send some strongly worded messages to OpenAI and perhaps the public about security – while noting that Apple will be happy to do such AI things for you shortly https://spyglass.org/siri-ai/ , with new Siri https://spyglass.org/new-new-siri/ – but if this was an iOS feature, well, such an app would never get approved. Add this to allegedly https://spyglass.org/openai-picks-an-apple-fight/ threatening to sue Apple, then Apple actually https://spyglass.org/apple-v-openai-lawsuit-lines/ suing OpenAI, and you have quite the https://spyglass.org/openai-vs-apple-emails/ situationship here https://www.macrumors.com/2026/08/20/apple-fires-back-openai-bid-toss-lawsuit/?ref=spyglass.org . I'm reminded when Twitter tried to connect https://techcrunch.com/2010/06/23/twitter-facebook-friends-linkedin/?ref=spyglass.org to Facebook's Friend Graph back in the day. That didn't last long https://techcrunch.com/2010/06/23/facebook-blocks-twitter/?ref=spyglass.org . Nor did Instagram images on Twitter https://techcrunch.com/2012/12/05/kevin-systrom-on-pulling-twitter-cards-integration-we-want-images-viewed-on-instagram-com/?ref=spyglass.org , after the sale. 9to5Mac 🪙 'The Stripe of AI' Joins Stripe – With the clear disclosure that I invested in Stripe back in the day so of course I'm biased here, I found Ben Thompson's thoughts on the then still rumored https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-16/stripe-nears-deal-to-buy-ai-firm-openrouter-for-over-7-billion?ref=spyglass.org OpenRouter deal insightful. This seemingly makes sense on a number of fronts – first and foremost if you consider tokens to be the currency for companies building with AI, as Patrick Collison clearly does https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/why-a-payments-giant-is-paying-7-billion-for-the-stripe-of-ai-f5832e54?ref=spyglass.org . But at the highest level, nearly anyone else who could afford to buying OpenRouter would ruin, at least in part, their value proposition by destroying the "Switzerland" nature of the product. Stripe just enhances it. Stratechery 🔒 🥒 The Vision Pro Pickle – Beyond the layoffs within the group – following the defection of their leader to, where else https://spyglass.org/apple-vs-openai/ : OpenAI, a couple months back https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-26/apple-s-vision-pro-and-smart-glasses-chief-paul-meade-is-leaving-for-openai?ref=spyglass.org – it's really pretty wild just how bad Apple's timing was here. I mean, I've been saying this from the get-go https://spyglass.org/vision-pro-launch-disaster/ , but that was simply around product/market fit. Arguably worse is the fact that they released their most expensive device at least from a starting-point perspective just as the world of component prices were set to explode https://spyglass.org/apple-price-changes/ due to the AI boom. They couldn't have known that, of course. But also, maybe they should have https://spyglass.org/predicting-googles-ai-earthquake/ ? In a weird way, Apple is probably happy they're not selling too many because the price to manufacture them must have gone up dramatically. And while there was a price increase https://spyglass.org/inklings-snaps-specs-apples-price-increases-epics-open-plea-siris-rebuild/ :~:text=%F0%9F%8D%8E%20%E2%80%9CUnfortunately%2C%20price%20increases%20are%20unavoidable.%22 $3,500 is now $3,700 , they also can't afford to raise it too much here – again, it was already the most expensive device and clearly wasn't selling in no small part due to that price. Also, can you imagine a world where Apple would prioritize chips and memory for the Vision Pro versus, say, the iPhone, iPad, or Mac? Given the component issues are likely to last into 2027 and beyond, it's increasingly https://spyglass.org/apple-vision-pro-mistake-smart-glasses/ fair to wonder if the device will ever get another refresh especially with so much else going on https://spyglass.org/airpods-vision/ . Apple will support it as best they can given the numbers, but I'm fairly worried about true support here, even if they won't admit it right now. Which is too bad, as it was finally coming https://spyglass.org/vision-pro-nba-game-vr/ into https://spyglass.org/submerged-in-apple-vision-pro/ its own https://spyglass.org/vision-pro-metallica-concert/ , content-wise https://spyglass.org/apple-television-pro/ . AppleInsider I Wrote... I Quote... "If Mark makes something a priority, mountains move in months." – Arturo Bejar , a former Facebook safety engineer and Instagram consultant, testifying against Meta https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/former-meta-engineer-resumes-testimony-landmark-trial-over-social-medias-harm-2026-08-19/?ref=spyglass.org in the opening of the aforementioned trial. Notably, he also testified in the New Mexico case which Meta lost https://spyglass.org/big-techbacco/ . Asides... - SpaceX's record $75B IPO https://www.reuters.com/world/musks-spacex-prices-record-75-billion-ipo-135-share-2026-06-11/?ref=spyglass.org which ended up more like $86.2B https://x.com/wallstengine/status/2090502760936755577?ref=spyglass.org raised should hold for, I don't know, three or four months? Could Anthropic's IPO hit $100B? I mean, OpenAI raised $122B in a private round. Bloomberg 🔒 - Meanwhile, Operation Revenue Ramp in ways that Anthropic cannot https://spyglass.org/openai-ads-in-chatgpt/ is well underway at OpenAI , with AI ads rolling out in 31 new markets. AdWeek - Lest they be left behind https://spyglass.org/copilot-ai-super-app/ in the "Super App" race https://spyglass.org/super-app/ , there's now a Meta AI Mac app . It's... fine? But unlike, Claude and now ChatGPT https://spyglass.org/chatgpt-brings-back-chatgpt/ , I think it's native? We'll see how long that lasts as they inevitably try https://spyglass.org/super-apps-last-all-summer-long/ to make it more "super". Verge - There's not only a growing backlash against " smart glasses " from consumers, even ICE is now banning Meta's various wares you wear. Apple needs to https://spyglass.org/airpods-vision/ tread carefully as they enter this world https://spyglass.org/meta-apple-smartglasses-nightmare/ . And they will. Meta though https://spyglass.org/i-am-the-great-glassholio/ ... NYT - It took a developer a day to make https://x.com/Dhananjay Tech/status/2090390050181960105?ref=spyglass.org the Pixel ' HiLight ' feature infinitely more useful https://spyglass.org/google-pixel-hilight-lowlight/ than Google could in months years? of development. 9to5Google BlackBerry – yes,– is back Positive cash flow for the first time in almost a decade, that one which was just after they stopped selling phones Now they're all about QNX and Secusmart – two deals done in the 2010s. Sure, they're a shadow of what they once were, but still, it's wild that both they and Nokia figured out and forged completely new paths. FT 🔒 - I missed this from a couple weeks back, but Sam Neil's last film will apparently be https://thoughts.spyglass.org/i/168483112/i-spy?ref=spyglass.org next year's https://thoughts.spyglass.org/p/a-wwdc-trapped-in-frozen-liquid?utm source=post-email-title&publication id=4805853&post id=165688295&utm campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=1em7l&triedRedirect=true :~:text=Not%20all%20good%20news%20out%20of%20Nintendo%20though%2C%20as%20The%20Legend%20of%20Zelda%20movie%20has%20been%20pushed%20back%2C%20but%20oddly%2C%20just%20by%20a%20few%20weeks%3A%20from%20March%202027%20to%20May%202027.%20Presumably%20they%E2%80%99re%20still%20writing%20it%3F%20Don%E2%80%99t%20want%20to%20miss%20this%20current%20nostalgia%20wave%2C%20Nintendo%E2%80%A6%20%5BTHR%5D ... The Legend of Zelda Deadline I Spy... I saved this chart https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/26/business/apple-nvidia-tesla-spacex-stock-market-winners.html?ref=spyglass.org a couple months ago, and it remains wild. The top 20 companies in terms of wealth creation over the past century in the stock market are... completely dominated by tech companies. Perhaps not too surprising given the state of the world right now. But this is since 1926 Even crazier, as recently as 2016, Exxon still topped the list. Now they're all the way down at 7, with Apple having more than 3x'd them in that regard. Apple and Exxon – remember when that was a race https://techcrunch.com/2011/07/18/id-shut-it-down-and-give-money-back-to-investors/?ref=spyglass.org ? I do https://techcrunch.com/2011/08/09/apple-exxon-valuable-company/?ref=spyglass.org NVIDIA only went public in 1999 and is 2. Again of all public companies over the past 100 years. To highlight just how bonkers the recent run-up has been, SpaceX, which went public a whole two months ago , was briefly in the top 30 before the slide post IPO pop . 🎶 Listening to Doors Live by Noah Kahan 🍺 Enjoying a Time Better Spent IPA by Tap Social 🇬🇧 Sent from London, England