The Pulse #125: swarm of AI coding tool launches
Anthropic, GitHub, and Google launch new AI coding tools for devs, DeepSeek bucks expectations by triggering higher GPU demand, VC funding down with AI funding up, and more
The Pulse is a series covering insights, patterns, and trends within Big Tech and startups. Notice an interesting event or trend? Send me a message.
Today, we cover:
Industry pulse. Amazon launches Alexa+, VS Code pulls “epic” but malicious theme, Meta cuts stock awards by 10%, Humane sells to HP, and more.
Swarm of AI coding tool launches. Anthropic launches Sonnet 3.7 (a supposedly even more capable LLM for coding) and Claude Code. GitHub ships Copilot Code Reviews, and Google makes Gemini Code Assist free for individual users (from $22.80 per month). Us devs are showered with new tools that all aim to improve workflows.
DeepSeek triggers higher GPU demand? It’s been predicted that more efficient LLMs will decrease demand for GPUs, but DeepSeek is 4-5x as efficient as some current LLMs, and appears to be driving up demand. Also, a look at the very clever “hacks” DeepSeek uses to boost performance on NVIDIA GPUs.
VC funding down, AI funding up. VC firms are increasingly shutting down, with overall funding levels dropping. AI-related funding is up – along with competition among startups to get funded. We predicted VC funding could dry up due to interest rate changes, and the data seems to show this happening.
What does “zero” mean for dates in COBOL? A reminder that “0” and “null” might not mean what you expect in some programming languages and systems.
1. Industry Pulse
Amazon launches Alexa+
A year ago, I analyzed how Alexa had become left behind in the conversational AI race by missing the LLM wave, despite Amazon Alexa being a great use case for an integrated LLM, in order to provide better conversational experiences and new capabilities.
Well, 12 months later, Amazon seems to have caught up. This week, the online retail giant announced Alexa+, which is a revamped, more capable conversational assistant. It promises to make reservations or book rides by using apps like OpenTable and Uber, buy things on Amazon (obviously), manage smart speakers in the home, discover new music, and more.
The launch demo looks very polished and capable. But then, Apple’s glossy launch demos for Apple Intelligence didn’t stop the feature still feeling half-baked months later.
Under the hood, Alexa is partially powered by Claude, which Amazon didn’t announce, and Anthropic did. This suggests Anthropic’s models are ahead of Amazon’s own Nova models. Still, Amazon is clearly creating optionality for itself by not advertising Alexa’s dependence on Claude; when and if the Nova models are good enough, Amazon could replace Anthrophic’s solution with its own.
The Amazon+ pricing is puzzling: Alexa+ is free for Amazon Prime members ($14.99 monthly), and $19.99 per month for everyone else. This seems to make little sense; why charge so much more for a standalone subscription than for a bundle? Is it because Amazon wants to dis-incentivize customers just subscribing to Alexa+?
Either way, Amazon is making a stronger-than-ever case for customers to choose Amazon Prime for $14.99: which is probably the goal of upgrading Alexa.