Nathaniel Whittemore

In my opinion, it's a good thing that Spotify is working on AI music tools with the major labels.

Lots of the AI industry is exploitative.

AI built on people's work without permission served up to users who get no say in the matter.

This sounds like it will be different.

AI features built fairly with artist permission presented to fans as a voluntary add-on rather than an inescapable funnel of AI slop.

To be clear, Spotify's general stance on AI music is not good.

They seem happy to allow AI slop on the platform without labeling it, even featuring it in recommended playlists.

This needs to change.

But credit where it's due.

Licensing music for training instead of taking it without permission is very welcome.

The devil will be in the details, but in tone at least, this is a positive development.

Now, that might not sound all that positive to you, but given how absolutely contentious the relationship is between the AI and anti-AI crowd, that is not just a fig leaf, that's a fig tree.

Whether Oracle can actually pull off that line remains to be seen, but I think that they are in a good position to give it a shot.

A couple quick product updates.

General purpose agent Manus has been updated for version 1.5.

The team wrote faster, better quality results, unlimited context, build full stack web apps with real AI features, backends, user logins, custom domains, and analytics.

Run your biz, start your side hustle, or just have fun.

If you can dream it, Manus can build it.

Manus claimed that tasks are now four times faster on average, and the performance boost should allow tasks that once failed to be completed successfully.

Manus's internal benchmark showed a 15% improvement in task quality and a 6% increase in user satisfaction.