Unit ⑧ Letter #202410
We decided to open up to our wider network and share a selection of our resources with our colleagues and followers. 🦾
Dear Unit ⑧ friends,
We have been internally exchanging readings for a while, sharing links we find relevant for our development as a small organization. We are looking for meaningful directions and keen to keep up-to-date in the realm of technology from a technical, political, ethical, and artistic point of view.
Here are some links to the articles we paid attention to these past weeks, covering topics from The Internet Archive, US voter polls, Bitcoin’s authorship and new books and projects around AI and blockchain. We hope you enjoy the reading!
The Internet Archive’s Fight
The Internet Archive, founded by Brewster Kahle, serves as a digital repository for preserving vast amounts of Internet history and culture. The Archive is known for projects like the Wayback Machine, which preserves billions of web pages and digital artifacts crucial for historical records. Kahle and the Internet Archive play a pivotal role in preserving digital history and democratizing access to information by creating a comprehensive digital library accessible to all. Wired’s article delves into the current legal challenges the Internet Archive faces over copyright issues. The publishers and music labels argue copyright infringement, threatening the Archive's operations and existence. Still, Kahle remains committed to the Archive's mission and societal importance despite legal setbacks.
The Intelligence Age
According to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, artificial intelligence has the transformative potential to revolutionize society by solving complex problems and enhancing human capabilities, leading to unprecedented levels of prosperity. In his article, Altman optimistically praises AI's potential to solve previously insurmountable problems and thus improve productivity and innovation. He promotes the investment in AI infrastructure, such as computing power and energy, which are crucial for the widespread adoption and democratization of AI-related benefits. Ultimately, the evolution of autonomous personal assistants might improve fields like healthcare and scientific research.
Poll indicates Broad Support
Most US registered voters strongly support regulating the use of generative AI in political advertising, driven by concerns over deception and manipulation. The article discusses the results of a Tech Policy Press/YouGov poll on the specified regulations, highlighting growing concerns about the use of AI-generated content and revealing voters' opinions based on their ability to identify such content. It also considers age disparities and California Legislation.
The WBTC drama
For Decentralised’s Substack, Saurabh Deshpande explores the evolving landscape of WBTC (Wrapped Bitcoin) solutions, focusing on the contrasting models of custodial and trust-minimized bridges. Deshpande catches up on a previous article in which he lists the types of Bridges that serve as fundamental models for cross-chain asset transfers, each with varying degrees of decentralization and security. He focuses now on a custody model for wrapped Bitcoin, which has significant implications for decentralization, security, and market dynamics within DeFi. In this context, Deshpande highlights BitGo's recent partnership with BiT Global, which raises concerns about centralization and security in the custody of WBTC. As it shifts control over WBTC custody, this may lead to increased centralization and regulatory risks. Furthermore, despite WBTC's market dominance, its revenue model faces challenges due to stagnating minting and redemption activity.
Satoshi
A new HBO documentary, "Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery" by Cullen Hoback, claims to have identified the mysterious creator of Bitcoin, known so far as Satoshi Nakamoto. Nakamoto's identity has remained a mystery since Bitcoin's inception in 2009, with previous attempts to uncover it proving inconclusive. Such a discovery could have profound implications for financial markets, public perception of cryptocurrencies, as well as legal and ethical questions surrounding Nakamoto’s role in Bitcoin's early days.
This anticipation led to the emergence of meme coins themed around Len Sassaman (LEN) and his cats, SASHA and ODIN, on Solana, Ethereum, and Bitcoin networks. Some tokens have seen significant market capitalizations driven by community interest and speculation around the documentary. Cryptobriefing, Politico, and Coindesk reported on these speculations, suggesting that Len Sassaman could be Nakamoto's true identity. Hal Finney was another option, as indicated by public opinion and historical evidence. Len Sassaman, known for privacy tools like PGP and Mixmaster, shares ideological alignment with Bitcoin's principles. In contrast, Hal Finney's early involvement and direct interaction with Satoshi in Bitcoin's early days suggest a strong candidacy.
In the aftermath of the release, Nathaniel Whittemore discussed the theories in his podcast The Breakdown, reporting accusations of sloppy journalism regarding the documentary’s “discoveries.” He references Izabella Kaminska's reports for Politico, which state that the documentary's actual subject is the Canadian cryptographer Peter Todd. The documentary explores his early involvement with Bitcoin, raising questions about his potential role. However, the claims are speculative, and Todd himself denies being Nakamoto.
Deniz Saat wrote a review of the film for Bitcoin Times, acknowledging that the documentary’s point is not to provide a definitive answer but to highlight the critical moments in Bitcoin’s journey since its inception and the chaos it has endured. This may be more important than the person standing behind it, but he claims that the hint of identifying this person was necessary for the film’s promotion.
BOOKS
AI Snake Oil: Separating Hype from Reality
Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor’s latest book, “AI Snake Oil,” examines the exaggerated promises surrounding AI technologies, particularly in areas like human resources, education, and criminal justice. While AI is powerful in pattern recognition, its capabilities in predicting complex human behavior are often overstated. The authors encourage some skepticism in evaluating AI’s real-world applications, calling for a more apparent distinction between what AI can genuinely deliver and what is merely marketing hype. Justin Hendrix conducted an interview with the authors of Tech Policy Press.
PODCAST
Could Bittensor End Up Being the Only Crypto/AI Project That Matters?
In her podcast, Unchain’s Laura Shin discloses Bittensor, a decentralized AI network and TAO token project. Bittensor is an alternative to the traditional centralized AI models, which is gaining traction in the crypto space due to its unique approach. In this interview, OSS Capital founder Joseph Jacks, also known as J.J. and his partner Sami Kassab recap OSS Capital's investment rationale in Bittensor. They also discuss the structure of Bittensor's ecosystem and technical aspects, such as launching subnets on the Polkadot SDK and the implications of EVM compatibility.
APE UNIT
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