Good morning. It’s Monday, September 22. Today we are covering:
The great falls of Boeing, Intel, and Apple
How people are using ChatGPT
Europe's cookie law messed up the internet. Brussels wants to fix it.
Seattle, Tech Boomtown, Grapples With a Future of Fewer Tech Jobs
Low-risk defi can be for Ethereum what search was for Google
Let’s dive in
The great falls of Boeing, Intel, and Apple
By David Heinemeier Hansson via HEY
Boeing, Intel, and Apple each faltered about a decade after appointing CEOs without engineering or product backgrounds, leading to weakened cultures and stalled innovation.
Boeing’s cost-cutting era culminated in the 737 MAX crises, Intel stumbled on mobile and chip delays, and Apple missed on AI, the self-driving car, and the Vision Pro.
The piece argues that great companies require hands-on product leaders—not financial or logistics managers—to preserve ambition, culture, and long-term strength.
𝕏: "It takes ten years for the culture of a great company to fall apart once the CEO seat is given to someone without an engineering or product background. That's been the story of Boeing, Intel, and now Apple." - DHH (@dhh)
Openai
OpenAI and Harvard economist David Deming published the largest study to date on ChatGPT consumer usage, analyzing 1.5M conversations from 700M weekly active users.
Findings show narrowing gender gaps (women now 52% of identifiable users), rapid adoption in low- and middle-income countries, and heavy use for everyday tasks like writing, information-seeking, and planning.
About 30% of use is work-related and 70% personal, with both growing—demonstrating how ChatGPT drives economic value through productivity, decision support, and daily life improvements.
𝕏: We've released a large-scale study on how people are using ChatGPT. Consumer adoption has broadened beyond early-user groups, and lots of economic value is being created through both personal and professional use - Greg Brockman (@gdb)
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Europe's cookie law messed up the internet. Brussels wants to fix it.
By Ellen O'Regan via POLITICO
The EU’s 2009 e-Privacy Directive created today’s ubiquitous cookie consent banners, but regulators now admit the system has led to “consent fatigue” and want to simplify the rules.
Brussels is preparing an omnibus reform in December, considering browser-level settings and broader exceptions for “harmless” cookies, while industry pushes to fold cookie rules into the GDPR’s risk-based framework.
A showdown looms between advertisers and tech firms seeking flexibility and the privacy lobby, which warns reforms could open the door to expanded tracking ahead of the EU’s upcoming Digital Fairness Act.
𝕏: Good thing for every state legislature to read before we pass 30 different state level AI laws. Sen. Moynihan said legislators should have same rule as doctors “first do no harm.” - Bill Gurley (@bgurley)
Seattle, Tech Boomtown, Grapples With a Future of Fewer Tech Jobs
By Sebastian Herrera via Wall Street Journal
Seattle’s economy, long fueled by Amazon and Microsoft, is facing strain as tech hiring slows and layoffs ripple across the region.
Former tech professionals, some with master’s degrees and senior roles, are now applying for low-wage jobs like barista positions in Redmond.
The shift underscores the broader impact of the tech industry’s pullback, challenging the city’s identity as a stable tech boomtown.
Low-risk defi can be for Ethereum what search was for Google
Eth
Low-risk DeFi (payments, savings, and fully collateralized lending) is emerging as Ethereum’s key application, comparable to search for Google in generating sustainable revenue.
Unlike speculative cycles of NFTs or memecoins, this model provides real value aligned with Ethereum’s cultural goals: global, permissionless access to safe and positive-sum financial mechanisms.
With protocol security improving and risks decreasing, low-risk DeFi is already supporting Ethereum’s economy and paving the way for future use cases like undercollateralized lending, prediction markets, and alternative stable assets.
𝕏: search was the bridge between the internet and everyday people’s daily lives, low-risk defi is the same for ethereum. anyone, anywhere can safely compound wealth and build a life with it. and its value isn’t just in numbers but in futures and stories made possible. - Binji (@binji_x)
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