Tippets #189
AI customer service, Waymo, Internet business models, vacation, and more. Enjoy!
A warm welcome to new readers getting this for the first time, and thank you for letting me be a small part of your week! As a reminder, I’m Rishi Taparia, Co-founder and General Partner at Garuda Ventures, a pre-seed focused fund partnering with founders to pull the future into the present. Tippets is a curated set of tidbits and snippets (get it…tippets…) from my reading around the web.
Tippets from Around the Web:
Klarna AI assistant handles two-thirds of customer service chats in its first month
Talk about AI-driven productivity gains. Fintech unicorn Klarna has seen some serious productivity gains thanks to its new AI customer service assistant.
(3-minute read - Klarna)
Waymo approved by regulator to expand robotaxi service in Los Angeles, San Francisco Peninsula
14 years and billions of dollars later, Google’s Waymo driverless robotaxi service has gotten approval to expand its use in LA and the SF Bay Area. As Aaron Levie put it on X, “Persistence pays off.” And in this case, having boatloads of money.
(3-minute read - CNBC)
What If LLMs Change the Business Model of the Internet?
Last week, we discussed Reddit's agreement to sell its data to Google for $60 million a year. This week, my friend Tomasz Tunguz published a post that eloquently captures several concepts I've been contemplating regarding the future of internet business models.
What if the revenue from data sales dwarfs the revenue from ads?…One day, we may visit websites that have fewer ads or none at all. The revenue model of the Internet will have changed. Publishers’ sell the data directly to the search companies…The days of the ad network may be numbered & with it, an era of a new business model for the Internet.
(2-minute read - Tomasz Tunguz)
Budget 2024 debate: MPs discuss impact of AI, measures to help ITE students and seniors in workforce
MPs in Singapore debated the future of artificial intelligence this week. The debate highlighted the importance of preparing for AI's impact on the economy and workforce, emphasizing the need for soft human skills that AI cannot replicate. The most interesting part was the focus on addressing age discrimination in the workforce and providing opportunities for older workers to reskill and upskill. It’s worth watching the below video, where MP Tan Wu Meng thoughtfully articulates the technological changes he is seeing, impact on the world, and why he wants to support providing a subsidy for mid-career workers to pursue another degree.
That's why it's so important because it recognizes that in the world that changing so quickly, what you learn in school in education at age 20 may, have changed, transformed, been replaced by a New World by the time your age 40. This recognizes that change and supports middle-age and older workers and having mid career workers learning new skills alongside younger workers a middle-aged mid-career worker alongside. Someone who's 18 19, 20+ years old learning together that will also transform the education experience in our institutes of Higher Learning because older workers bring life experience, life skills, living wisdom into the classroom.
(4-minute watch - YouTube)
The Rise of the Do-Nothing Vacation
The pendulum is swinging away from jam-packed trips and Instagram-worthy adventures and toward vacations with little to write home about beyond a pretty sunset and a cold drink…More vacationers say they want a true break to rest and recharge during their time off. Their do-nothing vacations have no schedule. These aren’t beach trips that involve surfing or kayaking, or foodie tours requiring hours of research—and decision fatigue.
I feel seen.
(7-minute read - WSJ)
Founders swim out holding on to logs
Quote I'm thinking about: “Life will throw everything but the kitchen sink in your path, and then it will throw the kitchen sink. It’s your job to avoid the obstacles.” - Andre Agassi
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Please share what you’re reading! If you have insight on anything mentioned above or have any interesting links/papers/books that you think would be worth sharing in future issues of Tippets, please reach out! Click here, reply to this email, or DM me on Twitter at @taps.