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Is Local AI the Unexpected Fix to the Obsolescence of Robot Vacuums?

Is Local AI the Unexpected Fix to the Obsolescence of Robot Vacuums?

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During a presentation at IFA 2025, Deebot parent company Ecovacs (full disclosure: travel and lodging were paid by Ecovacs, but Gizmodo did not guarantee any coverage as a condition of accepting the trip) said repeatedly that its new X11 OmniCyclone robot vacuum‘s AI smarts are all on-device. Or the bulk of them are, anyway. I returned to the booth later and spoke with a couple of the company’s representatives to try to figure out exactly how divorced from the cloud the Deebot X11 OmniCyclone truly is—is it an all-on-device experience, like the Matic robot vacuum, or does it still need an internet connection to keep its best functionality?

The Deebot X11 OmniCyclone’s promise is that it can use local AI smarts to do things like identify spills and messes on the floor and decide how best to clean them, and if mopping is required, what kind of mopping solution to use (the X11’s charging dock holds a couple of options). It can also learn from your routine, shifting and morphing its cleaning schedule and approach over time to suit your behavior.

© Wes Davis / Gizmodo

You, the owner, can talk to the AI Agent Yiko—the company’s name for its refreshed, generative AI-powered vacuum assistant—and give it some pretty broad, natural-language requests, at least according to Ecovacs. I didn’t get to test this out. I wanted to know how broad. Can you say, “Hey Yiko, only clean the bedroom on Fridays,” and it works? Ecovacs’s folks said yes. What about, “Hey Yiko, please clean up around my dining room table at 7 p.m. every night.” Yep, that’s apparently possible, too, although the rep told me you might need to name that table in the Ecovacs Home app and call it by that specific name when you speak your request. Again, I didn’t get to test any of this.

Not that it would matter if your internet went down—in that case, you’d lose a lot of functionality, according to the reps. The app would no longer work because it bounces through Ecovacs’ cloud infrastructure in the U.S. to do that. No more tapping around to tell the robot to clean specific rooms, or remotely controlling it from your smartphone, or seeing cloud-saved videos recorded while you were doing that. It also means no Yiko, because the device’s generative AI voice assistant is cloud-dependent, too.

But there’s a way to use the robot vacuum in which that doesn’t matter. There’s an “Agent Hosting” mode in the Ecovacs Home app where you can switch the Deebot X11 OmniCyclone to AI-only control, essentially putting all of your faith in it to clean your house properly. It might be able to do so, at least according to Ecovacs, which says it can recognize over 100 different categories of objects, as small as a grain of sand. If you switch it to that mode and find that it does just fine at cleaning your house, with no input from you, then you may never bother with the app again. And if that’s the case, you might never know when your internet is out or that the Deebot X11 OmniCyclone has lost its connection to your network.

That doesn’t mean the robot would be useless. Ecovacs’s reps told me that without an internet connection, the Deebot X11 OmniCyclone’s onboard AI would still do its thing, sliding its schedule around as needed, identifying messes, and switching up its cleaning approach as it goes along. I asked if the company sees a future where even the AI voice assistant is on-device, and the reps weren’t sure.

It’s not all the way to the world I want to see, where my smart home devices never need an internet connection to bring me their full feature set, or close enough to it for blues. But it is an encouraging move in that direction, assuming it all works the way Ecovacs says it will. And, with AI, that can be a big “if.”

 

 

 

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With clear skies tonight, you’ll be able to pick out a few details on the Moon’s surface. But what exactly are you looking at? With the help of NASA’s Daily Moon Guide, we have the answers.

What is today’s Moon phase?

As of Friday, June 5, the Moon phase is Waning Gibbous. Tonight, 79% of the moon will be be lit up, according to NASA’s Daily Moon Guide.

Without visual aids you should be able to spot the Mares Imbrium and Vaporum as well as the Tycho Crater . If you have binoculars you’ll also spot the Grimaldi Basin, and the Gassendi and Alphonsus Craters. And finally, with a telescope you’ll also see the Apollo 16 landing spot and the Caucasus Mountains.

When is the next Full Moon?

The next Full Moon will take place on June 29.

What are Moon phases?

NASA explains that the Moon completes one full orbit around Earth in about 29.5 days, during which it moves through a sequence of eight phases. Even though the same side of the Moon always faces us, the amount of sunlight we can see changes as it travels along its path. This shifting light is what produces the lunar shapes, ranging from slim crescents to half-lit Moons and the bright Full Moon. All of these stages together make up the lunar cycle:

New Moon – The Moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it’s invisible to the eye).

Waxing Crescent – A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).

First Quarter – Half of the Moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-Moon.

Waxing Gibbous – More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.

Full Moon – The whole face of the Moon is illuminated and fully visible.

Waning Gibbous – The Moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)

Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) – Another half-Moon, but now the left side is lit.

Waning Crescent – A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.

#Moon #phase #today #explained #Moon #June">Moon phase today explained: What the Moon will look like on June 5, 2026 With clear skies tonight, you’ll be able to pick out a few details on the Moon’s surface. But what exactly are you looking at? With the help of NASA’s Daily Moon Guide, we have the answers.What is today’s Moon phase?As of Friday, June 5, the Moon phase is Waning Gibbous. Tonight, 79% of the moon will be be lit up, according to NASA’s Daily Moon Guide.Without visual aids you should be able to spot the Mares Imbrium and Vaporum as well as the Tycho Crater . If you have binoculars you’ll also spot the Grimaldi Basin, and the Gassendi and Alphonsus Craters. And finally, with a telescope you’ll also see the Apollo 16 landing spot and the Caucasus Mountains. When is the next Full Moon?The next Full Moon will take place on June 29.What are Moon phases?NASA explains that the Moon completes one full orbit around Earth in about 29.5 days, during which it moves through a sequence of eight phases. Even though the same side of the Moon always faces us, the amount of sunlight we can see changes as it travels along its path. This shifting light is what produces the lunar shapes, ranging from slim crescents to half-lit Moons and the bright Full Moon. All of these stages together make up the lunar cycle:New Moon – The Moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it’s invisible to the eye). Mashable Light Speed Waxing Crescent – A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).First Quarter – Half of the Moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-Moon.Waxing Gibbous – More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.Full Moon – The whole face of the Moon is illuminated and fully visible.Waning Gibbous – The Moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) – Another half-Moon, but now the left side is lit.Waning Crescent – A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again. #Moon #phase #today #explained #Moon #June

NASA’s Daily Moon Guide, we have the answers.

What is today’s Moon phase?

As of Friday, June 5, the Moon phase is Waning Gibbous. Tonight, 79% of the moon will be be lit up, according to NASA’s Daily Moon Guide.

Without visual aids you should be able to spot the Mares Imbrium and Vaporum as well as the Tycho Crater . If you have binoculars you’ll also spot the Grimaldi Basin, and the Gassendi and Alphonsus Craters. And finally, with a telescope you’ll also see the Apollo 16 landing spot and the Caucasus Mountains.

When is the next Full Moon?

The next Full Moon will take place on June 29.

What are Moon phases?

NASA explains that the Moon completes one full orbit around Earth in about 29.5 days, during which it moves through a sequence of eight phases. Even though the same side of the Moon always faces us, the amount of sunlight we can see changes as it travels along its path. This shifting light is what produces the lunar shapes, ranging from slim crescents to half-lit Moons and the bright Full Moon. All of these stages together make up the lunar cycle:

New Moon – The Moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it’s invisible to the eye).

Waxing Crescent – A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).

First Quarter – Half of the Moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-Moon.

Waxing Gibbous – More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.

Full Moon – The whole face of the Moon is illuminated and fully visible.

Waning Gibbous – The Moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)

Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) – Another half-Moon, but now the left side is lit.

Waning Crescent – A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.

#Moon #phase #today #explained #Moon #June">Moon phase today explained: What the Moon will look like on June 5, 2026

With clear skies tonight, you’ll be able to pick out a few details on the Moon’s surface. But what exactly are you looking at? With the help of NASA’s Daily Moon Guide, we have the answers.

What is today’s Moon phase?

As of Friday, June 5, the Moon phase is Waning Gibbous. Tonight, 79% of the moon will be be lit up, according to NASA’s Daily Moon Guide.

Without visual aids you should be able to spot the Mares Imbrium and Vaporum as well as the Tycho Crater . If you have binoculars you’ll also spot the Grimaldi Basin, and the Gassendi and Alphonsus Craters. And finally, with a telescope you’ll also see the Apollo 16 landing spot and the Caucasus Mountains.

When is the next Full Moon?

The next Full Moon will take place on June 29.

What are Moon phases?

NASA explains that the Moon completes one full orbit around Earth in about 29.5 days, during which it moves through a sequence of eight phases. Even though the same side of the Moon always faces us, the amount of sunlight we can see changes as it travels along its path. This shifting light is what produces the lunar shapes, ranging from slim crescents to half-lit Moons and the bright Full Moon. All of these stages together make up the lunar cycle:

New Moon – The Moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it’s invisible to the eye).

Waxing Crescent – A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).

First Quarter – Half of the Moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-Moon.

Waxing Gibbous – More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.

Full Moon – The whole face of the Moon is illuminated and fully visible.

Waning Gibbous – The Moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)

Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) – Another half-Moon, but now the left side is lit.

Waning Crescent – A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.

#Moon #phase #today #explained #Moon #June

When the company originally announced the Machine and Frame alongside its new Steam Controller late last year, it said that it would start shipping the new gadgets in early 2026. But in February, the company announced that the ongoing memory and storage crunch had forced it to revisit its pricing and shipping plans. And in March, Valve said in a blog post that it would be “shipping all three products this year” — though that was after the company initially said in the post that “we hope to ship in 2026,” which it removed in an update.

Valve opted to release the Steam Controller on its own, putting it up for sale in early May. For the Machine and Frame, while “summer” isn’t exactly a specific date, it narrows the window for when the products might finally come out.

Ahead of actually launching the devices, Valve is redesigning the Steam store and sharing information about the Verified programs for the hardware so that developers can prepare their games. Like with the Steam Deck, if a game is verified for the Machine or the Frame, the badge signals that the game should work well without any tweaks from the user.

For the Machine, the requirements for a game to be verified are “nearly identical” to what they are for the Steam Deck. With the Machine being “roughly six times as powerful” as the Deck, in theory, many more games will be verified for it. Valve also says that it’s testing “every title on Machine that fell below our performance requirements on Deck.”

For the Frame, Valve’s verified badge will signify games that run well while being played natively on the headset — as opposed to games that work well streamed to the headset, which the Frame is also capable of. “Like Steam Deck Verified, the Steam Frame Standalone Verified program focuses on the experience customers will have with the device out-of-the-box in standalone mode,” Valve says.

Now, we just need Valve to share exactly when the Steam Machine and Steam Frame will be released and how much they might cost. After last week’s price hikes for the Steam Deck, I’m gearing up for sticker shock.

#Valve #ready #launch #Steam #Machine #summerEntertainment,Gaming,News,PC Gaming">Valve says it’s ready to launch the Steam Machine this summerValve now says that the delayed Steam Machine PC and Steam Frame VR headset are set to launch sometime this summer. In a Thursday blog post detailing its Verified programs for both pieces of hardware, Valve concludes by saying that “We’re excited for players to try your titles on the new Steam hardware once they launch this summer.”When the company originally announced the Machine and Frame alongside its new Steam Controller late last year, it said that it would start shipping the new gadgets in early 2026. But in February, the company announced that the ongoing memory and storage crunch had forced it to revisit its pricing and shipping plans. And in March, Valve said in a blog post that it would be “shipping all three products this year” — though that was after the company initially said in the post that “we hope to ship in 2026,” which it removed in an update.Valve opted to release the Steam Controller on its own, putting it up for sale in early May. For the Machine and Frame, while “summer” isn’t exactly a specific date, it narrows the window for when the products might finally come out.Ahead of actually launching the devices, Valve is redesigning the Steam store and sharing information about the Verified programs for the hardware so that developers can prepare their games. Like with the Steam Deck, if a game is verified for the Machine or the Frame, the badge signals that the game should work well without any tweaks from the user.For the Machine, the requirements for a game to be verified are “nearly identical” to what they are for the Steam Deck. With the Machine being “roughly six times as powerful” as the Deck, in theory, many more games will be verified for it. Valve also says that it’s testing “every title on Machine that fell below our performance requirements on Deck.”For the Frame, Valve’s verified badge will signify games that run well while being played natively on the headset — as opposed to games that work well streamed to the headset, which the Frame is also capable of. “Like Steam Deck Verified, the Steam Frame Standalone Verified program focuses on the experience customers will have with the device out-of-the-box in standalone mode,” Valve says.Now, we just need Valve to share exactly when the Steam Machine and Steam Frame will be released and how much they might cost. After last week’s price hikes for the Steam Deck, I’m gearing up for sticker shock.#Valve #ready #launch #Steam #Machine #summerEntertainment,Gaming,News,PC Gaming

saying that “We’re excited for players to try your titles on the new Steam hardware once they launch this summer.”

When the company originally announced the Machine and Frame alongside its new Steam Controller late last year, it said that it would start shipping the new gadgets in early 2026. But in February, the company announced that the ongoing memory and storage crunch had forced it to revisit its pricing and shipping plans. And in March, Valve said in a blog post that it would be “shipping all three products this year” — though that was after the company initially said in the post that “we hope to ship in 2026,” which it removed in an update.

Valve opted to release the Steam Controller on its own, putting it up for sale in early May. For the Machine and Frame, while “summer” isn’t exactly a specific date, it narrows the window for when the products might finally come out.

Ahead of actually launching the devices, Valve is redesigning the Steam store and sharing information about the Verified programs for the hardware so that developers can prepare their games. Like with the Steam Deck, if a game is verified for the Machine or the Frame, the badge signals that the game should work well without any tweaks from the user.

For the Machine, the requirements for a game to be verified are “nearly identical” to what they are for the Steam Deck. With the Machine being “roughly six times as powerful” as the Deck, in theory, many more games will be verified for it. Valve also says that it’s testing “every title on Machine that fell below our performance requirements on Deck.”

For the Frame, Valve’s verified badge will signify games that run well while being played natively on the headset — as opposed to games that work well streamed to the headset, which the Frame is also capable of. “Like Steam Deck Verified, the Steam Frame Standalone Verified program focuses on the experience customers will have with the device out-of-the-box in standalone mode,” Valve says.

Now, we just need Valve to share exactly when the Steam Machine and Steam Frame will be released and how much they might cost. After last week’s price hikes for the Steam Deck, I’m gearing up for sticker shock.

#Valve #ready #launch #Steam #Machine #summerEntertainment,Gaming,News,PC Gaming">Valve says it’s ready to launch the Steam Machine this summer

Valve now says that the delayed Steam Machine PC and Steam Frame VR headset are set to launch sometime this summer. In a Thursday blog post detailing its Verified programs for both pieces of hardware, Valve concludes by saying that “We’re excited for players to try your titles on the new Steam hardware once they launch this summer.”

When the company originally announced the Machine and Frame alongside its new Steam Controller late last year, it said that it would start shipping the new gadgets in early 2026. But in February, the company announced that the ongoing memory and storage crunch had forced it to revisit its pricing and shipping plans. And in March, Valve said in a blog post that it would be “shipping all three products this year” — though that was after the company initially said in the post that “we hope to ship in 2026,” which it removed in an update.

Valve opted to release the Steam Controller on its own, putting it up for sale in early May. For the Machine and Frame, while “summer” isn’t exactly a specific date, it narrows the window for when the products might finally come out.

Ahead of actually launching the devices, Valve is redesigning the Steam store and sharing information about the Verified programs for the hardware so that developers can prepare their games. Like with the Steam Deck, if a game is verified for the Machine or the Frame, the badge signals that the game should work well without any tweaks from the user.

For the Machine, the requirements for a game to be verified are “nearly identical” to what they are for the Steam Deck. With the Machine being “roughly six times as powerful” as the Deck, in theory, many more games will be verified for it. Valve also says that it’s testing “every title on Machine that fell below our performance requirements on Deck.”

For the Frame, Valve’s verified badge will signify games that run well while being played natively on the headset — as opposed to games that work well streamed to the headset, which the Frame is also capable of. “Like Steam Deck Verified, the Steam Frame Standalone Verified program focuses on the experience customers will have with the device out-of-the-box in standalone mode,” Valve says.

Now, we just need Valve to share exactly when the Steam Machine and Steam Frame will be released and how much they might cost. After last week’s price hikes for the Steam Deck, I’m gearing up for sticker shock.

#Valve #ready #launch #Steam #Machine #summerEntertainment,Gaming,News,PC Gaming
Have you ever had the desire to see Sam Altman and Palmer Luckey square off over a moderately suspenseful card game? If so, you are in luck.

Silicon Valley’s leaders are rushing to embrace the power of media for the purposes of marketing and political capital. Now, in a sign of the times, Founders Fund, the venture capital firm co-founded by Peter Thiel, has launched its own game show.

MAFIA the GAME, will apparently be an ongoing thing, where prominent tech luminaries get together and face off over a game of cards (the show is named after the party-game favorite).

The spectacle is moderated by Pirate Wires editor Mike Solana (who is also the chief marketing officer at Founders Fund). The debut episode includes a who’s who of players, Altman, Luckey, Bryan Johnson, the famed biohacker who will (according to him) live forever, and Moxie Marlinspike, the founder of encrypted chat app Signal.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDCwQe7P8T0[/embed]

“I’m so f*cking bored with VC content,” Solana told Newcomer, which originally reported the show’s existence. “There has to be a more interesting way to get to know someone, and I think that this is a way more interesting way to get to know someone.”

TechCrunch reached out to Founders Fund for more information on the program.

In many ways, having a reality-TV-esque platform is just good business these days. The internet has turned the world into a population of chronic media consumers, and the average American spends around 2.5 hours on social media per day. Much of that time is spent scrolling through an endless flood of advertising-laced memes and videos.

In the modern era, the road to power and influence is paved by infotainment.

Companies and executives have sought to take advantage of this new reality in different ways. OpenAI recently raised some eyebrows when it procured TBPN, the buzzy founder-led podcast. Meanwhile, a number of tech’s most prominent players have leveraged virality to their advantage. Johnson, for instance, has managed to grow his following through a very active (and quite bizarre) social media presence. Elon Musk, meanwhile, has also managed to leverage his public persona to go viral (although arguments could be made that his online presence has sometimes hurt rather than helped his businesses).

This trend has also spread to the startup space, where people like Cluely CEO Chungin “Roy” Lee have demonstrated the power of being a one-man viral hype machine.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

#Founders #Fund #launches #game #show #starring #Sam #Altman #Palmer #Luckey #tech #elites #TechCrunchbryan johnson,Founders Fund,media,Palmer Luckey,sam altman">Founders Fund launches game show starring Sam Altman, Palmer Luckey, and other tech elites | TechCrunch Have you ever had the desire to see Sam Altman and Palmer Luckey square off over a moderately suspenseful card game? If so, you are in luck. Silicon Valley’s leaders are rushing to embrace the power of media for the purposes of marketing and political capital. Now, in a sign of the times, Founders Fund, the venture capital firm co-founded by Peter Thiel, has launched its own game show. MAFIA the GAME, will apparently be an ongoing thing, where prominent tech luminaries get together and face off over a game of cards (the show is named after the party-game favorite). The spectacle is moderated by Pirate Wires editor Mike Solana (who is also the chief marketing officer at Founders Fund). The debut episode includes a who’s who of players, Altman, Luckey, Bryan Johnson, the famed biohacker who will (according to him) live forever, and Moxie Marlinspike, the founder of encrypted chat app Signal. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDCwQe7P8T0[/embed] “I’m so f*cking bored with VC content,” Solana told Newcomer, which originally reported the show’s existence. “There has to be a more interesting way to get to know someone, and I think that this is a way more interesting way to get to know someone.” TechCrunch reached out to Founders Fund for more information on the program. In many ways, having a reality-TV-esque platform is just good business these days. The internet has turned the world into a population of chronic media consumers, and the average American spends around 2.5 hours on social media per day. Much of that time is spent scrolling through an endless flood of advertising-laced memes and videos. In the modern era, the road to power and influence is paved by infotainment. Companies and executives have sought to take advantage of this new reality in different ways. OpenAI recently raised some eyebrows when it procured TBPN, the buzzy founder-led podcast. Meanwhile, a number of tech’s most prominent players have leveraged virality to their advantage. Johnson, for instance, has managed to grow his following through a very active (and quite bizarre) social media presence. Elon Musk, meanwhile, has also managed to leverage his public persona to go viral (although arguments could be made that his online presence has sometimes hurt rather than helped his businesses). This trend has also spread to the startup space, where people like Cluely CEO Chungin “Roy” Lee have demonstrated the power of being a one-man viral hype machine. When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.#Founders #Fund #launches #game #show #starring #Sam #Altman #Palmer #Luckey #tech #elites #TechCrunchbryan johnson,Founders Fund,media,Palmer Luckey,sam altman

power of media for the purposes of marketing and political capital. Now, in a sign of the times, Founders Fund, the venture capital firm co-founded by Peter Thiel, has launched its own game show.

MAFIA the GAME, will apparently be an ongoing thing, where prominent tech luminaries get together and face off over a game of cards (the show is named after the party-game favorite).

The spectacle is moderated by Pirate Wires editor Mike Solana (who is also the chief marketing officer at Founders Fund). The debut episode includes a who’s who of players, Altman, Luckey, Bryan Johnson, the famed biohacker who will (according to him) live forever, and Moxie Marlinspike, the founder of encrypted chat app Signal.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDCwQe7P8T0[/embed]

“I’m so f*cking bored with VC content,” Solana told Newcomer, which originally reported the show’s existence. “There has to be a more interesting way to get to know someone, and I think that this is a way more interesting way to get to know someone.”

TechCrunch reached out to Founders Fund for more information on the program.

In many ways, having a reality-TV-esque platform is just good business these days. The internet has turned the world into a population of chronic media consumers, and the average American spends around 2.5 hours on social media per day. Much of that time is spent scrolling through an endless flood of advertising-laced memes and videos.

In the modern era, the road to power and influence is paved by infotainment.

Companies and executives have sought to take advantage of this new reality in different ways. OpenAI recently raised some eyebrows when it procured TBPN, the buzzy founder-led podcast. Meanwhile, a number of tech’s most prominent players have leveraged virality to their advantage. Johnson, for instance, has managed to grow his following through a very active (and quite bizarre) social media presence. Elon Musk, meanwhile, has also managed to leverage his public persona to go viral (although arguments could be made that his online presence has sometimes hurt rather than helped his businesses).

This trend has also spread to the startup space, where people like Cluely CEO Chungin “Roy” Lee have demonstrated the power of being a one-man viral hype machine.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

#Founders #Fund #launches #game #show #starring #Sam #Altman #Palmer #Luckey #tech #elites #TechCrunchbryan johnson,Founders Fund,media,Palmer Luckey,sam altman">Founders Fund launches game show starring Sam Altman, Palmer Luckey, and other tech elites | TechCrunch

Have you ever had the desire to see Sam Altman and Palmer Luckey square off over a moderately suspenseful card game? If so, you are in luck.

Silicon Valley’s leaders are rushing to embrace the power of media for the purposes of marketing and political capital. Now, in a sign of the times, Founders Fund, the venture capital firm co-founded by Peter Thiel, has launched its own game show.

MAFIA the GAME, will apparently be an ongoing thing, where prominent tech luminaries get together and face off over a game of cards (the show is named after the party-game favorite).

The spectacle is moderated by Pirate Wires editor Mike Solana (who is also the chief marketing officer at Founders Fund). The debut episode includes a who’s who of players, Altman, Luckey, Bryan Johnson, the famed biohacker who will (according to him) live forever, and Moxie Marlinspike, the founder of encrypted chat app Signal.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDCwQe7P8T0[/embed]

“I’m so f*cking bored with VC content,” Solana told Newcomer, which originally reported the show’s existence. “There has to be a more interesting way to get to know someone, and I think that this is a way more interesting way to get to know someone.”

TechCrunch reached out to Founders Fund for more information on the program.

In many ways, having a reality-TV-esque platform is just good business these days. The internet has turned the world into a population of chronic media consumers, and the average American spends around 2.5 hours on social media per day. Much of that time is spent scrolling through an endless flood of advertising-laced memes and videos.

In the modern era, the road to power and influence is paved by infotainment.

Companies and executives have sought to take advantage of this new reality in different ways. OpenAI recently raised some eyebrows when it procured TBPN, the buzzy founder-led podcast. Meanwhile, a number of tech’s most prominent players have leveraged virality to their advantage. Johnson, for instance, has managed to grow his following through a very active (and quite bizarre) social media presence. Elon Musk, meanwhile, has also managed to leverage his public persona to go viral (although arguments could be made that his online presence has sometimes hurt rather than helped his businesses).

This trend has also spread to the startup space, where people like Cluely CEO Chungin “Roy” Lee have demonstrated the power of being a one-man viral hype machine.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

#Founders #Fund #launches #game #show #starring #Sam #Altman #Palmer #Luckey #tech #elites #TechCrunchbryan johnson,Founders Fund,media,Palmer Luckey,sam altman

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