Rec Room shutdown, robot umps, FedEx meets Amazon, and OpenAI's odd media buy

This weekRec Room () , the Seattlebased social gaming platform once valued at $3.5 billion, is shutting down and Snap is picking up some of the pieces () .

Todd talks about what it was like fielding calls from distraught users on the night of the announcement. John offers his thoughts on what the shutdown says about the VR hype cycle, and whether everyone betting on the AI boom should take notes.

PlusMajor League Baseball's new automated ballstrike system () is already exposing umpires and creating a whole new kind of showboating including one player who was so confident the robot would overrule the ump that he just started walking to first base.

Also on the showTodd roadtests Amazon's new FedEx Office returns partnership () (pro tipdon't ask for stamps), OpenAI makes a headscratching move into media () by acquiring tech talk show TBPN, John gets fooled by an April Fools' prank, WSU researchers take on the torpedo bat () , and our weekly trivia segment ties Apple's 50th anniversary () to a piece of Microsoft lore.

Thanks to this week's sponsor: This episode is brought to you by Microsoft, proud to call Washington state home and committed to strengthening the communities that made its growth possible — investing in infrastructure, workforce development, education, and nonprofit partnerships to help ensure innovation drives broad-based prosperity across the state. Read more. (link)

With GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook. Edited by Curt Milton.

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