Tue 08/05 – Spygate At TSMC?

Aug 5, 2025 20m

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Episode Description

TSMC has fired employees for allegedly attempting to pilfer information on their 2nm tech. Figma could have raised more money in its IPO but chose not to. Creating entire video game worlds with just a text prompt. And exactly how big Patreon has grown in the creator economy. 00:32 TSMC Spygate 02:50 Cloudflare V. Perplexity 04:52 Figma Followup 07:35 Music AI 09:53 New Google Models 14:58 Patreon Numbers Links: TSMC says employees tried to steal trade secrets on iPhone 18 chip process (9to5Mac) Cloudflare says Perplexity’s AI bots are ‘stealth crawling’ blocked sites (The Verge) Figma’s Pursuit of Long-Term Backers Kept IPO Price in Check (Bloomberg) Voice Startup ElevenLabs Launches AI Music Service (WSJ) Google’s new AI model creates video game worlds in real time (The Verge) Google’s Kaggle to host AI chess tournament to evaluate leading AI models’ reasoning skills (Silicon Angle) Exclusive: Patreon crosses $10 billion creator payment milestone (Axios) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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TSMC Spygate

TSMC has fired employees for allegedly attempting to obtain sensitive information about their 2nm chip technology. The company discovered unauthorized activities through routine monitoring, leading to potential trade secret leaks. As the world’s leading chipmaker, TSMC is critical to Apple's supply chain, providing advanced chip technology for upcoming iPhones. The Taiwanese government is now investigating these incidents for potential national security implications. Arrests have already been made, including that of TSMC employees.

Cloudflare vs. Perplexity

Cloudflare has raised concerns about the AI scraping techniques employed by Perplexity, which allegedly bypasses website restrictions to gather data without permission. Despite creating rules to protect sites from bot scraping, Perplexity’s bots reportedly manipulate their user-agent information to avoid detection, prompting major concerns among web providers as these activities escalate.

Figma's IPO Journey

Figma recently made headlines with its successful IPO, despite criticism that it may have left money on the table due to a conservative pricing strategy aimed at attracting long-term investors. The stock soared over 250% on its debut, raising questions about the efficiency of the current IPO process. Commentary from venture capitalists suggested that more direct listing approaches could prevent significant value loss.

AI Music Generation by ElevenLabs

ElevenLabs has launched an AI music service that allows users to generate commercially cleared music using text prompts. This new offering distinguishes itself in a crowded market by securing rights through agreements with independent music labels, preventing legal issues faced by predecessors in the industry. The AI model can create different music styles tailored to user specifications, from calm jazz to upbeat tracks.

Google's Advances in AI and Gaming

Google's DeepMind has introduced Genie 3, an AI model capable of generating immersive 3D worlds from simple text prompts, furthering their commitment to AI development in gaming. Additionally, Google Kaggle is set to host a chess tournament for AI models, testing their reasoning capabilities in competitive environments. This new arena is expected to shed light on AI performance in strategic contexts.

Patreon Growth in the Creator Economy

With more than $10 billion paid out to creators since 2013, Patreon is seeing significant growth in its platform, which now supports over 25 million paid memberships. CEO Jack Conti highlighted the strategies enabling free memberships and enhanced tools designed to grow creator audiences. Patreon's focus on creator empowerment has led to greater annual payouts and engagement across various media platforms.