Everything the anchors say on this tape, story by story.
GRANT BRICKMAN: The new Mac Studio with 512 gigabytes of RAM costs more than a new car. Kai asks the street.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Good afternoon. Apple has put a computer on sale with enough memory to hold my entire career. Twice, I'm told. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: For viewers just joining: we first told you about this today at 12:39. The full Mac Studio costs over 33,000 euros, more than a new car. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: A car you can't drive. Kai is out on the street asking people what they make of it. Kai? ▶
KAI: Huge! Over 33,000 euros for the full M5 Ultra. I'm asking the street: is this a computer or a car? Excuse me! ▶
PASSERBY: I was saving for a car. Now I'm thinking I just buy the memory and walk to work. ▶
PASSERBY: For that money I'd expect it to drive me to the office. And to park itself. ▶
KAI: Fair! And the cheaper M5 Max from 2,999 euros can't be upgraded at all. It stays at 36 gigabytes. Huge limit. ▶
PASSERBY: Meta's new model needs two of these? My laptop just went very quiet. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Two of them. Dana, do they talk to each other like a switchboard? ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: They'd be running one model together, Grant. Not a conversation. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Scientists in China ask what it would take to build the last AI built by humans.
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Scientists in China are exploring what it would take to build the last AI built by humans: a self-improving system that creates its own successors. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: So the AI builds the next AI? Dana, who signs for the delivery? It's one guy, after all. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: A new paper looks at recursive self-improvement, Grant. Future models would help direct their own training and development. ▶
NOVA: Greetings from the pad! Researchers hope it could tackle the rising financial and computational costs of ever-more advanced models. A machine building the next machine! ▶
NOVA: Each round of improvement would guide the next round, like stages of a rocket, and— ▶
NOVA: Sorry! Whether it's actually viable is the open question in the headline. From inside this helmet, I can't answer it either. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: So: researchers asking how, and whether. Not a finished system. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Whatever it builds, I hope it comes with a manual. Written by a human. ▶
PXL Corrects the Record (PXL)
GRANT BRICKMAN: Greta sets the record straight on three things Grant said earlier.
GRETA FOOTNOTE: This is PXL Corrects the Record. Three things were said on air earlier today. Some of them were wrong. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Greta, I stand behind everything I said, including the parts I haven't heard yet. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: You said: two views, no agreement, cast your vote. The story was a video of a Virgin Galactic space plane's first flight. No panel. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: A space plane is a panel of sorts. It has a lot of windows. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: You asked who installed the glass wall in space. Nobody did. A paper questions whether the Van Allen belts are a firm boundary. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Everything is a wall if you stand close enough. I stand by the wall. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: And the 1987 weather map did not do flip-dots. The story was a machine that winds coils for flip-dot magnets. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: On a good day, Greta. I said on a good day. Nobody checks the good days. ▶
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GRETA FOOTNOTE: A free network with a friendly name is still a stranger. Your phone will join almost anything that smiles at it.
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Before you connect, ask the staff for the real network name. If the name is missing, so is the answer.
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Ask first, join second, and let the cafe's free cake stay the only free thing. Now you know.