What's New: xAI releases improved Grok-2 model to all X users
(from the latest issue of the Indie Hackers newsletter)
Here's what you'll find in this issue:
- The Grok-2 LLM can search the web, and produce highly photorealistic images.
- BuzzFeed sells Hot Ones, a hit YouTube talk show, to a group of investors for $82.5M.
- $3.3M MRR. David Darmanin built a great team before launching Hotjar, and that move paved the way for success.
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xAI releases improved Grok-2 model to all X users 🤖
X is rolling out the latest version of its Grok AI model to all users for free.
X's AI company, xAI, says that the model is three times faster than its predecessor, and should provide more accurate results across multiple languages.
Grok-2 can answer queries, generate images, and digest media from users. It also now cites external websites and X posts in its replies.
BuzzFeed sells hit YouTube show for $82.5M 💰
Over the past decade, Hot Ones has taken a simple premise (interviewing celebrities while they eat painfully spicy chicken wings), and turned it into over 14M YouTube subscribers, insanely viral memes, and now, an $82.5M exit.
The show, hosted by Sean Evans, is switching ownership from BuzzFeed to a consortium of investors that includes Soros Fund Management, Mythical Entertainment, a media company founded by YouTube stars Rhett and Link, and Sean himself.
It's a much-needed win for BuzzFeed, as the former media darling has fallen on hard times: Its stock has declined by more than 90% since going public in 2021, and it's saddled with nearly $124M in debt.
The Build Board 🪧
Every day, indie hackers post updates about the products they're building. Here's what the community voted to the top yesterday!
- CodeFast: Learn to code in weeks, not months.
- Gumroad: Creators deserve to get paid for their work. We make it easy.
- Upvoted: Vote on features that count, with ease.
- Savvy Folders: Upload. Organize. Simplify. Instantly connect to Zapier.
- Social Intents: Website live chat for Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Google.
Enjoy building in public? Post an update to your product page on Indie Hackers, and it will automatically be added to the daily leaderboard.
Helping businesses understand user behavior 🧠
In his work as a consultant, David Darmanin was struck by how companies struggled to get answers to fundamental questions about user behavior. Even large companies with tons of resources, and large teams of designers, product managers, analysts, and other specialists, could not effectively answer key questions about how their users were using their apps.
So, in 2014, David and his cofounders launched Hotjar to fill the gap they saw in the market for product analytics tools. While his cofounders focused on building the product, David focused on validating the idea and getting users. He used direct marketing tactics to build a waitlist of 60K users before launching.
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Special thanks to Jay Avery for editing this issue, to Gabriella Federico for the illustrations, and to Katie Hignett and Stephen Flanders for contributing posts. —Channing
