About
Writer and editor with a diverse background in business, literary, and artistic fields…
Articles by Darrell
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Let's chuck determinism and embrace our new AI co-creators
Let's chuck determinism and embrace our new AI co-creators
The kind of AI that powers ChatGPT – transformer-based generative AI – is transformative (not meant as a pun, honest)…
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What will grow through the cracks in Apple's pavement?
What will grow through the cracks in Apple's pavement?
Apple is facing down the barrel of the DOJ’s antitrust lawsuit, as well as the displeasure of the EU over its…
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Parallel pathing: The secret unlock of AI in the workplace
Parallel pathing: The secret unlock of AI in the workplace
At the recent Transform HR tech event in Las Vegas, ‘AI’ was mentioned in just about every single sentence I heard — in…
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Darrell Etherington reposted thisDarrell Etherington reposted thisAt PRE, we spend a lot of time studying how AI can correctly predict human behaviour. One pattern we keep seeing is surprising. In our testing, mid-sized LLMs often predict human actions better than the largest, most advanced models. As an example, in one set of experiments, GPT-5.4-mini reached ~90% accuracy, while GPT-5.4 was closer to 60%. We’ve seen similar patterns across other AI models (e.g. Claude, Gemini, etc.), experiments, and industries. Our hypothesis is simple: human choices are often fast and intuitive. Models that “overthink” may actually be worse at simulating what people will do. We’re expanding the testing now, but the signal is becoming hard to ignore.
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Darrell Etherington reposted thisDarrell Etherington reposted thisI can assure you I don't have these clothes. AI must have dressed me up for the picture. 🙂 But I will be at HumanX next week monitoring a couple of panels.
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Darrell Etherington reposted thisDarrell Etherington reposted thisQ1, in headlines. 💥 Top-tier placements, broadcast hits, and a few 'did that really just happen?' moments for our clients. More where that came from. 👀
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Darrell Etherington reposted thisDarrell Etherington reposted this🚨Signups to my newsletter are now open🚨 After more than a decade at TechCrunch, I’m starting my own tech publication. I’m calling it Hypertext. 💌 Click on the link in the first comment to sign up. So what is Hypertext exactly? It’s a hyperfocused newsletter about the most important stories shaping startups and venture capital in Europe — with more context, analysis, and opinion. My goal is simple: help people in the tech ecosystem make sense of what matters with better content than the average ChatGPT-fuelled misinformed BS that you can read in your newsfeeds. Have a good day ☀️ Romain #tech #startups #newsletter
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Darrell Etherington reposted thisExcited to join a true all-star team of PR professionals. What a month it’s been!Darrell Etherington reposted thisThe Brew Crew keeps growing. Welcome to the team, Jesse Platz, Sam Shillet, and Montana Gundry! Jesse brings nearly two decades of experience spanning journalism, military public affairs, and tech PR. From starting his career in Australia to leading communications in high-stakes global environments and advising top tech brands, he brings a unique ability to navigate complex narratives with clarity. Sam joins as a Senior Director with a foundation in fintech, crypto, and emerging tech, paired with a passion for media strategy, storytelling, and relationship building. Known for his hands-on leadership style, he excels at driving impactful coverage while fostering collaborative teams. Montana also joins as a Senior Director, bringing global agency experience across Australia and the US. She’s worked with household consumer and tech brands and is known for delivering sharp, honest counsel while finding creative angles that move the needle. Excited to have them on board 👏
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Darrell Etherington reposted thisDarrell Etherington reposted thisthis morning: I went to NYSE to join Ashley Mastronardi to talk about what the available public data + Ramp spend says about AI. It's not showing up in unemployment, GDP, or labor productivity. It IS showing up in financial markets, software industry shakeups, and an increasingly competitive battle for market share between OpenAI and Anthropic.
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Darrell Etherington reposted thisDarrell Etherington reposted this[🚨BREAKING NEWS🚨] I’m launching a newsletter: Hypertext. 💌 If you want an early look, like or comment on this post. Over the past decade, I’ve written thousands of articles for TechCrunch. Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about how tech news gets consumed today: constant updates, endless hot takes, and a lot of information with very little signal. That’s the idea behind Hypertext. I want to go back to writing and help you answer this simple question: why does this actually matter? A few examples of topics I want to cover: - Why Arthur Mensch now thinks AI companies should pay a content tax in Europe - What’s happening with Sequoia’s scout program in Europe - What Revolut’s growth really looks like, in charts - Who’s currently raising a VC fund in Paris, and how they’re pitching it The ambition is to make Hypertext a smart briefing on European tech for people who want more than the headline. Who’s in? #tech #startups #newsletter
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Darrell Etherington reposted thisDarrell Etherington reposted thisWhen the Strait of Hormuz closes, does the AI buildout slow? It's a reasonable assumption. The chip supply chain crosses seventy borders. East Asian fabs depend on Gulf energy. Specialty chemicals originate in the region. The Financial Times made the case carefully last week. I wanted to test whether the transmission mechanisms actually hold — working through energy costs, the US gas market structure, and the specialty chemical supply chains that fabs actually use (which are not always the ones you'd expect). The short answer is that each link in the causal chain breaks at the structural level, for reasons that are specific to how global commodity markets work. The longer answer is in the piece below. Would welcome pushback from anyone who sees it differently — particularly on the bromine point, which I think is the one case where the dependency is genuinely real.
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Darrell Etherington reposted thisDarrell Etherington reposted thisI'm beginning to recruit for a major role at Fortune that's very rare (and awesome!) these days in media: Executive Editor, Fortune Magazine. If you love print and are also a digital mind who wants to make our 96-year-old magazine and digital issues a continued must-read for the smartest executives in the world, please get in touch! Print and subscription experience is a must. Must be based in NYC. Send me a message if you know someone who could be great.
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Darrell Etherington liked thisDarrell Etherington liked thisHoly SMOKES!!! 🤯 New bar is set. Solo + AI agents. 0 → $1B in SALES in 14 months. Wow I had my research-to-study-guide agent run to try to learn from some patterns, mental models, and his journey. If anyone wants it just lmk and I'll DM you.
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Darrell Etherington liked thisDarrell Etherington liked thisyou know you and your client are in sync when you send over a concept proposal and before you even start going over it, you see them reading and smiling through the little zoom frame 🥰 happy friday yall!!
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Darrell Etherington reacted on thisDarrell Etherington reacted on thisAt PRE, we spend a lot of time studying how AI can correctly predict human behaviour. One pattern we keep seeing is surprising. In our testing, mid-sized LLMs often predict human actions better than the largest, most advanced models. As an example, in one set of experiments, GPT-5.4-mini reached ~90% accuracy, while GPT-5.4 was closer to 60%. We’ve seen similar patterns across other AI models (e.g. Claude, Gemini, etc.), experiments, and industries. Our hypothesis is simple: human choices are often fast and intuitive. Models that “overthink” may actually be worse at simulating what people will do. We’re expanding the testing now, but the signal is becoming hard to ignore.
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Darrell Etherington reacted on thisDarrell Etherington reacted on thisMoonbound! 🚀 Kepler is cheering on NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration as Artemis II begins its journey, marking a new chapter in lunar exploration defined by many historic firsts. Wishing the crew mission success as the world looks up! Throwback to the Kepler team welcoming Canadian Space Agency | Agence spatiale canadienne astronaut Jeremy Hansen to our Toronto headquarters, a special moment with the first Canadian to join the Artemis II crew #ToTheMoon.
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Darrell Etherington liked thisDarrell Etherington liked thisHear me out: One of the most (unexpectedly) fun parts of my job right now is…procurement? You get to learn a lot about how the tech stack is evolving and how buying and selling is changing right now (and how it’s not). At some level, there’s nothing new under the sun, right? We’re growing, we are consuming some of your favorite AI services quite quickly, we model things out, save on unit economics. But there’s something about how it’s working—the consumption models, what users actually experience in-product that feels tailor-made for them because of what AI can do—that makes working with the toolset to bring everything together really fun. Oh, and if you are in SF and looking for a new biz ops adventure, this is a really fun time to be at a place like Town. Managing the strategic stack is part of the gig, but so is monetization, new market entry—you name it, you’d be doing it. If this sounds like you, shoot me a message.
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Darrell Etherington liked thisDarrell Etherington liked thisWe just published our Latent Space Podcast episode with pmarca covering why agents are the new Unix, the upcoming death of the browser, and technical design decisions from the early browser days that might break today. Enjoy!
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Darrell Etherington reacted on thisDarrell Etherington reacted on thisBaseball season is back ⚾️ Not a bad view from the 829 rooftop 👀 Here’s to the Sox season kicking off – and a few more afternoons like this 👏
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