Apple CEO Tim Cook<\/p>\n
AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Welcome back to The Prompt, <\/p>\n
Apple\u2019s iconic assistant Siri finally got its AI makeover. At its annual developer conference WWDC, the tech titan unveiled a new, revamped version powered by Google\u2019s Gemini. After years of being largely useless, Siri is able to produce more conversational answers and use the camera on your phone to answer questions about things in your surroundings. It\u2019s also integrated into apps like Safari, Messages and Photos while keeping data private and secure on your device. <\/p>\n
The AI features aren\u2019t noticeably different from other tools, and they\u2019re not particularly impressive. But Siri is front and center on the iPhone, and is much more accessible for people who don\u2019t use AI. Apple\u2019s got a big advantage: it knows so much about its users through their texts, emails and photos. Now it\u2019s finally trying to use that context to help AI to address requests like finding an address buried inside your messages, or digging up information from an email to add to a to-do list. <\/p>\n
These abilities aren\u2019t being rolled out widely. The new Siri is slated for launch later this year in iPhones that are compatible with Apple Intelligence (including the iPhones 17, 16 and 15). It also won\u2019t be available in the EU and China because of regulatory issues. The limited availability is in part thanks to a memory shortage driven by the AI data center buildout, chips needed to run the most powerful AI on-device are limited, Wall Street Journal<\/a> reported. <\/p>\n Now let\u2019s get into the headlines. <\/p>\n BIG PLAYS <\/p>\n OpenAI has finally filed paperwork to go public<\/a>, the company announced on Monday. The ChatGPT maker still hasn\u2019t decided when the IPO will happen and cautioned that \u201cit may be a while because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company.\u201d The announcement comes just a week after rival Anthropic also filed for an IPO. Another early buzzy player, search startup Perplexity, plans to go public in 2028, CEO Aravind Srinivas told CNBC<\/a>. With SpaceX\u2019s offering scheduled for this week, the listings will be a test of investors\u2019 appetite for mega IPOs. <\/p>\n SHOW ME THE MONEY<\/p>\n Popular AI coding tool Cursor crossed $4 billion in annualized revenue last week, hitting a key financial milestone ahead of its expected acquisition by SpaceX for $60 billion, Forbes<\/a> reported. While the buzzy startup started out as a developer tool, it has begun pushing into the enterprise. 75% of its total run rate comes from businesses, it said in May. <\/p>\n AI DEAL OF THE WEEK<\/p>\n Vibe coding outfit Lovable, which lets people spin up apps and websites from text-based prompts, is in talks to raise at a $12 billion valuation, Forbes<\/a> reported. The Stockholm-based company topped $400 million in annual recurring revenue in February as demand for such tools surges despite stiff competition from startups like Cursor and Replit. <\/p>\n DEEP DIVE<\/p>\n HED: The Nerdy Escorts Cashing In On Silicon Valley\u2019s AI Boom <\/p>\n In 2024, Meida Marek (her online pseudonym), was a recent college graduate working an entry-level finance job when she started doing the mental math that\u2019s fast becoming a rite of passage in such industries: What happens when AI can do this better than I can?<\/p>\n So Marek took inventory. She was intelligent and naturally supportive. She was good at talking to people. She likes futurist rabbit holes: AI, biohacking, cryptocurrency, the sort of topics that can turn dinner into a three-hour debate.<\/p>\n So she decided to turn that toolkit into a new career\u2014and became an escort.<\/p>\n For Marek, it\u2019s sex work with a particular angle: high-end companionship for Silicon Valley\u2019s most online, most technical clients\u2014often the kind who work in AI or around it. Lately, she\u2019s been getting a lot of clients from Nvidia.<\/p>\n There are only a handful of women like Marek. And like their clientele, they are also killing it financially.<\/p>\n \u201cI would call it a \u2018nerd-first\u2019 approach,\u201d says Aella, an internet-famous sex worker who became a sensation on X for applying a data science perspective to her own love life. These days she spends more time on AI safety advocacy work\u2014an AI doom bootcamp for creators called Plz Don\u2019t Kill Us<\/a>\u2014but she still talks about the demand she saw up close: men who want the hot, smart girl to also take their ideas seriously.<\/p>\n These escorts\u2019 nerd literacy is baked into their marketing materials. All have active X accounts where they post provocative selfies, mixed with commentary on topics like AI and longevity. Marek\u2019s booking portal is built like a text-based role-playing game where users must complete interactive prompts. On Talia Sable\u2019s site, she markets herself as \u201ca huge nerd,\u201d and notes that she is an ex-programmer interested in Dungeons and Dragons, AI and supply chains. Sable charges $3,000 an hour.<\/p>\n \u201cPosting about AI works,\u201d says Ada Hopper (also an online pseudonym), who used to go by the descriptor \u201cAutistic Courtesan\u201d on X. \u201cYou’ll have random Nvidia bros who are like, \u2018What? You know what a GPU is? Oh my God, wow.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n If you want to understand the economics, just look at the menu. On Tryst, a directory for escorts, $1,000 an hour is already high. Marek charges $3,500. She has no problem getting it, and her rate has almost doubled since the beginning of the year. Currently, she says she\u2019s booked out for the next few months, and is getting so many inquiries that she\u2019s considered raising rates again.<\/p>\n Read the full story on Forbes<\/a>. <\/p>\n MODEL BEHAVIOR<\/p>\n