Together with
Bougie bot. What a time to be alive, FutureParty people. A tiny robotics company in Japan recently unveiled a real-life Transformer (dubbed Archax) that can morph into a fully operational vehicle. While we’re not sure how street-legal the $3 million robot will be when it’s officially released, there are certainly less cool ways to get a traffic ticket.
In other news… researchers try to write a crowdsourced AI constitution, John Legend tunes up a new startup, and Anyplace gives WFA workers a place to call home.
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ENTERTAINMENT
We the Bots… // Illustration by Kate Walker
Anthropic turns to users to help craft an AI Constitution
The Future. Anthropic’s “Collective Constitutional AI” experiment put governance in the hands of the American people, testing whether a written set of rules (like Isaac Asimov’s “Three Laws of Robotics”) could program advanced AI systems to be safer for society. The move provides a potential alternative to government regulation, making things open source, or putting too much power in the hands of fanatics in Silicon Valley. Ultimately, the experiment may force the world to reckon with what universal human values must be coded in our machines.
Of the AI, by the people
The company gave 1,000 adults — selected with the help of the Collective Intelligence Project, crowdsourcing site Polis, and survey site PureSpectrum — a set of principles and asked which ones they agreed with and which ones were missing.
Those principles were whittled down to a list of 75, including ones in Anthropic’s in-house constitution (AI should be trustworthy, AI shouldn’t be harmful) and new ones (AI should accommodate users with disabilities).
When the “public constitution” was finalized (Anthropic kept ultimate approval power), the system was integrated into a test version of the company’s chatbot, Claude.
Compared to the company’s standard Claude, both performed nearly the same… but the one with the public constitution was slightly less biased.
Anthropic has seemingly been a little more focused on the safe development of AI than its competitors, basing its system’s constitution on a number of high-profile third-party texts, including the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Apple’s terms of service (a hilarious juxtaposition from NYT’s Kevin Roose).
But the firm hopes to find a solution that offloads some of the weighty responsibility of crafting AI guardrails to a more democratic process (a move that Meta has tried with its Oversight Board). But as more voices enter the fray, the more complex the process may become — whose voice from which background should Claude adhere to? Should Claude have a different constitution depending upon which country it operates in?
Complicated stuff… much like running a democracy.
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TECHNOLOGY
Look at this stuff, isn’t it neat? // Illustration by Kate Walker
John Legend wants you to know what’s good
The Future. Musician and entrepreneur John Legend and renowned photographer Mike Rosenthal are finally going public with their Yelp competitor, It’s Good, which hopes to be a recommendation platform that’s free of the negativity on the internet. Peppered with a social networking capability, It’s Good may be one of the few places left online where highlighting anything but yourself is the whole point.
Legendary picks
When it comes to looking for dinner and hotel recommendations, John Legend only wants good vibes.
Legend and Rosenthal’s It’s Good aims to be the more curated version of Yelp and Google Reviews.
It’ll focus solely on recommendations, not starred reviews. So, if you have nothing good to say, It’s Good won’t let you say it.
The app will algorithmically serve recs from friends, as well as from celebrities, critics, influencers, and public figures (catering to the creator economy).
It’s Good has already raised $5 million from Lightspeed Ventures, Momofuku restaurant founder David Chang, and actress and The Honest Company founder Jessica Alba. Chang, Alba, actress Minka Kelly, and NBA player Harrison Barnes are already users. (The app, which stealthily launched in March, is currently invite-only.)
For now, Legend and Rosenthal say the app will be indefinitely focused on growth… but hint partnerships in the food and hospitality industries will likely be revenue drivers, as well as a potential reservation-booking feature à la OpenTable.
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Together with Tiege Hanley
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Tiege Hanley is a luxury skin care system created with men (and those who identify as men) in mind. And it’s affordable AF. Their skin system includes a daily face wash, exfoliating scrub, and AM/PM moisturizers. So, your skin can do its thing while you do yours — without breaking the bank.
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WORK
Courtesy of Anyplace
Anyplace wants to give digital nomads a home base
The Future. As office vacancies continue to occur at record highs, Anyplace is positioning itself as the Airbnb for the work-from-anywhere crowd (sure to make Airbnb annoyed when it comes to its NYC operations). If the company has long-term success, it may become the successor to the constantly-struggling shared-workspace WeWork model… showing that paying for a space you can live and work in may make more sense for people.
Moveable roof
Anyplace allows remote workers to book furnished apartments for over 30 days that are outfitted with “fully equipped” offices with high-speed internet.
The apartments aren’t located in far-flung locales but in the heart of industry centers like NYC, San Francisco, LA, and San Diego. (Anyplace manages over 100 units in each of those cities, with an occupancy rate of over 80%.)
That means they’re marketed more towards the tech and knowledge workers who bounce between cities (and may want something cozier than the now-illegal $700/month sleeping pods).
The rooms will eventually include a local concierge service and be stocked with products from local businesses.
Armed with a fresh $8+ million in funding (in a round led by LAUNCH Fund), Anyplace hopes to expand to cities that became tech-migration meccas during COVID, including Miami and Austin.
Although return-to-office mandates are picking up, CEO Steve Saturo Naito says there’ll always be plenty of digital nomads to fill units.
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Hedonova is 200% better
Investing in alternative assets can be unhinged. Hedonova makes it easy. And since late 2019, Hedonova has outperformed the S&P 500 by more than 200%. That’s, like, 100% amazing.
But what does Hedonova do exactly? It serves as a single access point to a diverse portfolio of alternative assets, including media royalties, pre-IPO startups, wine, and fine art. It’s so legit it even won the multi-strategy hedge fund award at the 2023 Hedgeweek European Awards.
Highlights
The best curated daily stories from around the web
Media, Music, & Entertainment
NBCUniversal is staking out a permanent horror experience destination titled “Universal Horror Unleashed” in Las Vegas, hoping it can scare up the success of Halloween Horror Nights all year round. Read more → deadline
Netflix is reportedly angling to release a new Grand Theft Auto installment on its platform… just in time for Netflix Gaming to hit TVs. Read more → complex
B.J. Novak’s Chain restaurant is hosting a two-day festival called ChainFEST in December to celebrate the iconic cuisine of staples like Chili’s and Pizza Hut. Read more → thr
Fashion & E-Commerce
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam has suspended the sale of limited edition Pokémon cards of Pikachu in the style of the famous artist because in-store demand became too chaotic. Read more → hypebeast
Eyewear giant Marchon found one of the best plastic alternatives to make products is oil from castor beans. Read more → fastcompany
TikTok Shop is debuting a luxury handbag authentication tool that could be scaled to rival a similar tool from eBay. Read more → insider
Tech, Web3, & AI
Amid criticism for mishandling misinformation about the Israel-Hamas war, YouTube is rolling out a new watch page of “authoritative sources” on its mobile app, and X is now requiring fact checks on its Community Notes to be backed up by sources. Read more → theverge
Tesla will start warning drivers if they appear drowsy using the vehicle’s cabin camera to analyze facial characteristics and driving behavior. Read more → electrek
UNESCO and the global police force Interpol are collaborating on a virtual museum housing stolen cultural artifacts, with the museum emptying as items are returned to their home countries. Read more → artnet
Creator Economy
TikTok is going IRL with its new product “Out of Phone,” which places native ads on cinema screens, billboards, and other physical venues. Read more → techcrunch
YouTube is giving influencers the ability to add timestamps with a shopping button to their videos to pinpoint where they recommend products. Read more → theverge
Reddit’s blockchain-based Community Points tokens are shutting down — a sudden announcement that’s cratered their value and cost users thousands of dollars. Read more → arstechnica
JOBS OF THE WEEK
Explore a weekly curated list of the latest and greatest opportunities in business, tech, and entertainment. For more listings, check out the complete job board.
Senior Mobile Software Developer
eClerx
Toronto, Canada
Senior System Software Engineer, Performance - CUDA Driver
NVIDIA
Santa Clara, CA
Reinsurance Client Analyst
The Travelers Companies
Hartford, CT
Intern, Strategy Analyst (Summer 2024)
Lucid Motors
Newark, CA
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Today’s email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited by Nick Comney. Copy edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar.