The AI XR Podcast had a massive news week and one of its best guest conversations of the year. Caspar Thykier and Connell Gauld, CEO and CTO co-founders of Zappar, joined Charlie Fink and Ted Schilowitz to talk about something deceptively simple: helping people find stuff.
Zappar's new product, Spaces, is app-free indoor navigation built on the web. QR code or link in a meeting invite — your phone shows AR breadcrumbs to the nearest restroom, the right meeting room, the hospital ward three floors away. No app download. No specific hardware. No Azure dependency. Caspar put the pitch simply: it's fundamentally just helping people find stuff. Connell's vision: the same technology running in glasses indistinguishable from a regular pair, within four to five years.
AI XR News: Elon Musk's $135 billion lawsuit against OpenAI went to trial in Berkeley. OpenAI's IPO may be pushed to 2027 over its CFO reporting structure and $600B CapEx problem. Meta is laying off 20% of its staff in two waves. Google earnings were up 10% while Meta got punished. Freepik rebranded as Magnifi with $230M ARR and a million paid subscribers. Samsung announced displayless AI smart glasses. Google partnered with Gucci for another AI glasses play. And Google put $40 billion into Anthropic.
Key Moments:
- [00:03:02] Elon vs. Sam: the $135 billion trial
- [00:05:09] OpenAI's IPO in jeopardy — CFO structure and $600B CapEx
- [00:07:12] Meta's 20% layoffs and Charlie's read on bad CEO behavior
- [00:10:32] Freepik becomes Magnifi: $230M ARR, a million subscribers
- [00:13:10] Samsung Galaxy XR and Google x Gucci smart glasses
- [00:15:15] Google puts $40B into Anthropic — a cloud play
- [00:21:06] Spaces: turn-by-turn AR indoor navigation, no app required
- [00:41:13] 16 years in XR: how Zappar survived by being the cockroach
Brought to you by Zappar, the company behind Mattercraft — the leading visual development environment for immersive 3D web experiences.
Start building at mattercraft.io.
Watch the Full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/HmOXA4HgBmo
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