tech

Max Knoblauch7/29/24

AI companies' content crawlers are saddling website owners with unexpected, crushing bandwidth charges

AI bots that crawl websites and scrape their content are becoming more difficult to block and it's costing websites thousands of dollars.

By looting large amounts of data without permission, AI bot crawlers can leave smaller sites (that make and write things) on the hook for big unexpected bandwidth charges.

One coding documentation site said a crawler accessed 73 terabytes of files in May, including 10 terabytes in a single day, costing it more than $5,000 in bandwidth fees.

The problem: AI-focused companies keep making new crawlers that companies haven't blocked yet, and some appear to be bypassing attempts to block their bots altogether. Last month, OpenAI and Anthropic were accused of ignoring attempts to block their crawlers. Wired reporting found that Jeff Bezos and Nvidia-backed AI search startup Perplexity AI has similarly ignored scraping blockers, prompting an investigation from Amazon's cloud division.

Websites are Blocking the Wrong AI Scrapers (Because AI Companies Keep Making New Ones)

Websites are Blocking the Wrong AI Scrapers (Because AI Companies Keep Making New Ones)

One coding documentation site said a crawler accessed 73 terabytes of files in May, including 10 terabytes in a single day, costing it more than $5,000 in bandwidth fees.

The problem: AI-focused companies keep making new crawlers that companies haven't blocked yet, and some appear to be bypassing attempts to block their bots altogether. Last month, OpenAI and Anthropic were accused of ignoring attempts to block their crawlers. Wired reporting found that Jeff Bezos and Nvidia-backed AI search startup Perplexity AI has similarly ignored scraping blockers, prompting an investigation from Amazon's cloud division.

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Some 8% of kids ages 5-12 have interacted with AI chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini, according to a new Pew Research Center survey of their parents. While that’s nowhere near the usage rates of other devices like smartphones or even voice assistants, it’s still notable for a relatively new technology — especially one that’s already had devastating consequences for young people.

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Ives says he’s “relatively disappointed” in the price point of lower-cost Tesla models

On Tuesday, Tesla unveiled its long-awaited lower-cost cars, which turned out to be downgraded versions of the existing Model Y and Model 3. Tesla bull and Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives wasn’t particularly impressed with the price point, noting that it’s “still relatively high versus other vehicles on the market.”

The Model Y Standard and Model 3 Standard cost about $40,000 and $37,000, respectively. That’s more than the Model Y Premium and Model 3 Premium — what previous editions (or “trim levels”) are now called — cost last month, before the US federal government’s $7,500 tax credit expired. And the Standard models are missing a lot of Premium features, including Autopilot, second-row screens, and Tesla’s iconic glass roofs, among numerous other downgrades.

In other words, Tesla buyers will now be paying more for less, in what amounts to car-sized shrinkflation.

The stock closed down 4.5% yesterday on the news.

Ives doesn’t think it’s the end of the world but is “disappointed” in the price tag:

“We believe the launch of a lower cost model represents the first step to getting back to a ~500k quarterly delivery run-rate which will be important to stimulate demand for its fleet with the EV tax credit expiring at the end of September but we are relatively disappointed with this launch as the price point is only $5k lower than prior Model 3’s and Y’s.”

tech

Nvidia helps boost xAI funding round to $20 billion

xAI’s latest funding round has now doubled to $20 billion from $10 billion a month ago, thanks in part to backing from Nvidia, which invested $2 billion in the equity portion of the transaction, Bloomberg reports. In an interview with CNBC, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang confirmed the investment, adding that his “only regret” was that he didn’t give xAI more money.

The mix of $7.5 billion in equity and $12.5 billion in debt will finance a special purpose vehicle that will purchase Nvidia chips that xAI will then rent. It’s one of many circular AI deals these days that’s contributing to chatter over an AI bubble by some, while being seen by others as a rational way for industry leaders to boost the potential size of the addressable market and lift their longer-term prospects in the process.

Investors in Elon Musk’s other company, Tesla, will vote next month at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on whether to invest in xAI as well — an outcome Musk has he said supports.

Musk’s xAI Nears $20 Billion Capital Raise Tied to Nvidia Chips

Musk’s xAI Nears $20 Billion Capital Raise Tied to Nvidia Chips

The mix of $7.5 billion in equity and $12.5 billion in debt will finance a special purpose vehicle that will purchase Nvidia chips that xAI will then rent. It’s one of many circular AI deals these days that’s contributing to chatter over an AI bubble by some, while being seen by others as a rational way for industry leaders to boost the potential size of the addressable market and lift their longer-term prospects in the process.

Investors in Elon Musk’s other company, Tesla, will vote next month at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on whether to invest in xAI as well — an outcome Musk has he said supports.

Tesla unveils cheaper Model Y and Model 3

The company announced a $39,990 Model Y today.

Tesla new model teaster

Jon Keegan10/7/25

In the past few weeks, OpenAI has announced a flurry of massive deals with Oracle, Nvidia, CoreWeave, AMD, and others as hundreds of billions fly between technology partners racing to expand AI infrastructure at unprecedented scale. The Financial Times tallied it all up and found that the company has signed about $1 trillion worth of deals, and it isn’t clear at all that it will be able to fund them.

The “circular” nature of some of these arrangements is also one factor playing into fears that we’re in an AI bubble.

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