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When invading a hostile territory or testing a new AI service, it’s best to move quietly and steal a march on your opponents. Google appears to have learned that lesson. It’s now possible, if you’ve got its latest Pixel or Samsung phones, to ask the Gemini app to order an Uber or a meal on DoorDash. I tried it today and it worked flawlessly, if slowly. (I ordered paper towels via DoorDash, and once Gemini had arranged the transaction, it sent me to DoorDash to click the order button).
OpenAI’s ChatGPT can’t yet offer quite the same thing. Score one for Google. This feature—what it calls task automations—is an example of an AI agent actually fulfilling its promise. Notably, Google hasn’t made a big splash about this so far, other than this low-key announcement last month.
The feature has only started showing up in the Gemini app in Pixel and Samsung phones in the past week or so, following a software update. The range of tasks it can accomplish is limited: mostly ordering food, groceries or a ride somewhere. It certainly takes longer than using the external apps: When I ordered an Uber in Gemini, that took longer than doing so directly in the Uber app. As The Verge said in this Saturday piece, the feature is “slow, clunky and super impressive.”
Whether consumers want AI agents to handle transactions they can easily do in existing apps remains a big question. Still, things will evolve. And by taking it slowly and quietly, Google can iron out the wrinkles without attracting undue attention. This approach is in contrast to that of OpenAI, which likes to make lots of grand announcements about new features, some of which it later abandons (such as the Instant Checkout shopping feature). As we reported today, these strategic U-turns affected its partners on shopping.
As a much older company, Google has had its share of highly publicized embarrassments, to be sure, including Google Glasses, Google+ and Google Stadia. Perhaps it has learned to keep quiet about new ventures until they’re actually working. Whatever the case, OpenAI could learn a thing or two from watching how Google handles things.
SpaceX Fans Find a Proxy—in EchoStar
SpaceX’s upcoming IPO may be one of the most anticipated public debuts of the year. But some investors have already figured out a way to get exposure to SpaceX—via EchoStar!
The satellite telecommunications company last fall struck a series of deals to sell wireless spectrum rights to SpaceX in exchange for $8.5 billion in cash and $11.1 billion in SpaceX stock. Once the deal closes next year, EchoStar will own a significant chunk of SpaceX, while SpaceX will use the spectrum for its next generation of Starlink direct-to-cell mobile service. The SpaceX stake will be one of EchoStar’s most important assets (EchoStar also owns Boost Mobile and Dish Network, neither of which has set the world on fire).
Shares of EchoStar have skyrocketed more than 300% since last August, when the company began selling off its spectrum (starting with a deal with AT&T). While the rally may reflect relief that EchoStar would survive—it had looked to be on the verge of bankruptcy before it did the deals with SpaceX and AT&T—some of the enthusiasm almost certainly reflects its newfound exposure to Elon Musk’s company.
In fact, EchoStar is so popular that it was added to the S&P 500 index on Monday morning.—Theo Wayt
In Other News
• OpenAI is hiring former Meta Platforms ad executive Dave Dugan as vice president in charge of global ad solutions, Dugan announced Monday on LinkedIn.
• Meta has hired the founders and team behind AI agent startup Dreamer. Dreamer co-founders Hugo Barra, David Singleton, and Nicholas Jitkoff will join Meta’s Superintelligence Labs group, Singleton announced in a post on X. As part of the move, Dreamer will license its technology to Meta, Singleton wrote.
• U.S. senators are introducing bipartisan legislation to ban prediction markets from offering sports-related contracts, the first bill seeking to regulate fast-growing platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket US.
Today on The Information’s TITV
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