10 Things in Tech: Free Apple AirTags, EV resistance, and ChatGPT Plus for all

It's tech Tuesday. I'm Diamond Naga Siu, and I've been working hard to meet people in San Diego. I attended my first rodeo, woke up early for a farmers' market, visited different pickleball venues, and tried other new things.

Many people told me that making friends as an adult is hard. And Insider's economic policy pro Eliza Relman broke down a big reason why Gen Zers and millennials are so lonely: the country's broken housing market.

We don't make enough money to afford to live somewhere that makes human interactions easy. And car-centric neighborhoods lack the public spaces necessary to help combat this loneliness epidemic.

Before I try interacting with more people, let's dive into today's tech.

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1. How to get everyone to like you on Zoom. The largest-ever database on Zoom interactions just dropped. Researchers examined 1,600 conversations (850 hours and 7 million words total) and measured how people reacted to the interactions.

• Firstly, IRL conversations involve a degree of back-and-forth that is hard to replicate digitally because of lag and missed cues.
• That said, people who spoke quicker and more intensely were rated better conversationalists by participants. Changing topics frequently and bringing new ideas also made people more likable.
• My colleague Adam Rogers breaks down the best (and worst practices) of video chatting.

Dive into how loud and fast you should talk on Zoom here.

In other news:

2. The "Godfather of AI" regrets his role in the possibly harmful technology. Geoffrey Hinton is worried that AI will share false information and get rid of jobs. "I console myself with the normal excuse: If I hadn't done it, somebody else would have," he said. More on his AI woes here.

3. TikTok's owner is looking into becoming a book publisher. ByteDance just applied to trademark the name 8th Note Press. It's also hiring people to help "discover and sign authors." Turn the page for TikTok's novel venture here.

4. IBM halts hiring for thousands of jobs that AI could do instead. CEO Arvind Krishna said he "could easily see 30%" of human resources getting cut. More on the AI-inspired job cuts here.

5. Elon Musk pays $10,000 to settle a defamation lawsuit. Randeep Hothi (a Tesla critic) sued Musk for saying Hothi "almost killed Tesla employees." Check out the defamation deal here. Bonus: Elon Musk's exhibit at the Museum of Failure.

6. Twitter has around 1,000 employees left. Elon Musk has cut around 90% of the company within half a year of taking over. "Performance reviews are constant," one former employee said. Get the bleak Twitter temperature check here.

7. NYC's mayor is handing out hundreds of free Apple AirTags. Eric Adams announced this initiative to try to reduce the number of auto thefts. The city also plans to fundraise to afford even more AirTags. Track down the details of the new program here.

8. More Americans of all ages don't want EVs. Long charging times, lack of charging stations, and other factors are repelling people from going electric. Hop in for the growing resistance here.

Odds and ends:

9. The US Navy begins taking apart a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. It's the second time in history that the Navy has started this slow and tricky process. Deactivating and defueling a 100,000-ton vessel has waves of hurdles along the way. All aboard for the risky business here.

10. "I worked closely with Bill Gates for eight years as an executive at Microsoft." Chris Williams is a former VP of HR at Microsoft and a podcaster, consultant, and TikTok creator. Here are three lessons Gates taught him that he will never forget.

What we're watching today:

• The Wall Street Journal kicks off The Future of Everything Festival. Featured speakers include former First Lady Michelle Obama, Slack CEO Lidiane Jones, and Google DeepMind cofounder/CEO Demis Hassabis.
• Quarterly earnings for Uber, Match Group, and other companies. Keep up with earnings here.
• Happy birthday (and Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month) to The Rock.

Curated by Diamond Naga Siu in San Diego. (Feedback or tips? Email [email protected] or tweet @diamondnagasiu) Edited by Shona Ghosh (tweet @shonaghosh) and Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.