this post was submitted on 09 Apr 2024
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Automattic purchases Beeper in $125 million deal; CEO to join

https://blog.beeper.com/2024/04/09/beeper-is-joining-automattic/

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Well that's some news. If they're good news we will see. I'm a Beeper user but never heard of Texts (stupid name) before, which seem to share the same misson as Beeper. Texts was purchased by Automattic last year (according to the Beeper blog).

What does that mean? Automattic punches with some weight in the chat space now. In general I don't like it if big companies buy small products. However Automattic still seems to bet on the Fediverse, so maybe if the teams from Beeper and Texts can work together on a Matrix-based, open source chat application, we could get something really good.

I've mixed feelings about this whole thing, some shy optimizm, some less shy pessimism.

Well, time will tell.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

given that they struck a deal with OpenAI and Midjourney to train them on Tumblr data, I'd be wary of using their stuff.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I know what you mean, but I think private chat and public posting are quite distinct. They'd destroy a lot more trust if they sell private messages compared to what they did with Tumblr. Especially if they continue to push local bridges, where they won't be able to read any message (you still have to trust them obviously).

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

If they push local OpenSource bridges, or if you're willing to self-host your own, then I'd consider using them.

Otherwise, any private "E2E" encrypted messages, will get decrypted on their bridges, and we'll have to play ToS whack-a-mole to find out whether they're fair game to train LLMs or not.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

You can just set up a synapse server and bridge all your chats manually btw

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (4 children)

Paywall ʕ ͡° ʖ̯ ͡°ʔ

[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago
[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Adding these rules to uBlock Origin allowed me to read the article:

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

it opened for me, I wouldn't have posted it otherwise. perhaps it's a regional thing.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

Did I say it was? I didn't downvote, I'm just whining

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I'm not really familiar with Automattic or any of their acquisitions (I know Tumblr and Pocket Casts, but I'm not a regular user of either). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automattic#Products

What's their track record here? Should we expect anything they acquire to be gutted and squeezed like they're Broadcom, or do they actually develop the things they acquire in a way that serves their users?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago

they've automatically opted Tumblr accounts into training LLMs, so... not great

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

Bring back the Pebble watch, its been dead for years and is still the best "smart watch"!