This is indeed fast! Also seems to be no issue interrupting it while speaking. Is this using WebRTC echo cancellation to avoid microphone and speaker audio mix ups?
Yes, echo cancellation via the browser (and maybe also at OS-level too, if you're on a Mac with Sonoma.) The accuracy of speech detection vs. noise is largely thanks to Silero, which runs on the client via WASM. I'm surprised at how well it works, even in noisy environments (and a reminder that I should experiment more with AudioWorklet stuff in the future!)
My conclusion was that Sam slipped up somewhere and lost Ilya. Which maybe because of the reason you mentioned. Previously it seems like it was a 3 cofounders vs 3 non cofounders board split. Ilya switched teams after being upset by something.
If I may wear my conspiracy hat for a second. Adam D'Angelo is a billionaire or close to it so he has a war chest for a battle to hold on to the crown jewel's of AI. Sam has powerful friends but so does D'Angelo(Facebook mafia). I don't think the board anticipated the 90% potential employee turnover, so there is a small chance they leave the board because of that reason. But my guess is there is a 4 letter company that starts with an 'M' and ends with an 'a' that comes into the picture eventually.
I'm starting to wonder if it was a gang of four or if it was a gang of three and they used one of the cofounders (Ilya) to turn on his cofounders to get control of the company.
Likely the second or it was a gang of one who used the inexperience of the other board members to get them to act against their own long term interests. That does not absolve them, they are still board members and they should own their decisions.
My personal belief was after 2016 there was a Trump effect. Once everyone saw you could say WHAT!? and still become the president of the United States. I think that made a lot of people bolder in what they could think, say and do from business people to sports athletes.
It's complex. On one hand, some people feel emboldened to reveal their "true side". On the other hand, we realize the guardrails we thought protect society from illogical or immoral behavior... aren't really there.
From that point on we have a choice. Accept increasing chaos and corruption, or build up the missing guardrails we thought were there. However, from what I see, things aren't going strongly in the right direction as I see it, so far...
I certainly expect the HR heads of the big tech companies know each other and talk now and then. Even if they're not colluding in some illegal way, I'd actually be a bit surprised if they weren't discussing COVID-related matters.
To be honest, I’d be way more pissed if my HR and Facilities teams weren’t talking to their peers in the industry and sharing learning/best practices throughout all this.
There's no need to collude when you can just notice how the wind is flowing; expect a flood of these announcements over the next weeks.
Apple didn't just decide to do it because Google did, they'd already decided it was coming, and perhaps moved up the announcement now that someone (Putin? Google?) took the news cycle.
Yeah I wonder why this is. Perhaps misplaced idealism of human nature and authority. The Judge, CEO, or the Journalist despite their lofty titles are human too and can be influenced by others. They also are not immune to their own personal desires and biases as well.