Ben Schroeter

competition economist, optimist, trail runner // tech & policy // building the future of travel @bookingcom // #ForçaBarça & #SVB04 // my opinions

[Philipp Kloeckner @pip_net]

Google (Gemini) is poised to win the consumer market. $GOOG has all it takes:
(1) Unparalleled Distribution: 13 apps reaching 1B+ users
(2) Cheapest Inference Infrastructure: Only TPUs allow serving AI for free to 3B+ users - OpenAI will not be able to subsidise forever
(3) Data: No company on earth has more aggregated AND personal data
(4) Team: Nobel-winning DeepMind lab assembles the best of the best
(5) Robust Cash-Flow: The most efficient ad marketplace allows serving AI without a subscription

[Ben Schroeter @ben_schroeter]

Everything that is wrong with the EU in one tweet: Paternalism towards consumers and a focus on propping up industries of the past.

[EU Perspectives @EUPerspectives]

The cow has entered the chat.

The European Parliament has backed new rules that would reserve words like “meat”, “steak” and “bacon” for animal-based products only. Lab-grown and plant-based alternatives are not being banned, they may just need to stop borrowing the old names. 👉https://t.co/UhlsdBblG3

[Ben Schroeter @ben_schroeter]

@szilagyipal If you include ASML, then you should prob. also add Infineon (both were spun out from conglomerates). If we go beyond tech, there are companies like Inditex and some energy companies I believe (but would have to check).

[Amit Segal @AmitSegal]

Exactly one year and a day ago, more than 200 Israeli fighter jets tore through Iranian skies, striking over 100 military and nuclear sites and eliminating more than 20 of the regime’s most senior commanders in the first hour. What followed was twelve days of relentless, largely lopsided war, with Israeli air power systematically dismantling the Iranian nuclear apparatus. Yet all eyes stayed fixed on a single target: the deeply buried Fordow enrichment facility, beyond the reach of any Israeli bomb. Then came the Hollywood finish—seven American B-2 stealth bombers, “Flight of the Valkyries” all but playing in the background, dropped fourteen 30,000-pound GBU-57 bunker-busters from 50,000 feet, collapsing the underground fortress and ending the war in a single dramatic blow. Benjamin Netanyahu declared it a “historic victory, which will stand for generations.”

That historic achievement would be matched only seven months later, when Operations Roaring Lion and Epic Fury began. On the morning of February 28, the U.S. and Israel launched nearly 900 joint strikes in the first twelve hours alone, hitting more than 1,000 targets within the first day. A synchronized wave of over 100 American aircraft—alongside more than 200 from the Israeli Air Force—struck Iran’s air defenses, missile sites and naval bases. In a stunning decapitation strike, the opening salvo killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and dozens of other top officials before they could slip into hiding. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called it a “clear, devastating, decisive mission” that would ensure Iran “will never have nuclear weapons.”

Now, on the first anniversary of that first campaign, and as we confront a deal that threatens to undo much of what was achieved, we must ask: are we in a better place than we were on June 13, 2025?

.....

Read the rest in today's edition of It's Noon in Israel

https://t.co/P1zILP0Mrd

[Justin Schroeder @jpschroeder]

Fable isn't the first.

In 1999 the department of defense blocked exports of the PowerMac G4 for crossing the 1 gigaflop threshold.

Steve Jobs turned it into an ad.

[Ben Schroeter @ben_schroeter]

Europe2031 is here.

[Tom Chivers @TomChivers]

Here's a project I've been working on recently: a vision of what happens if Europe doesn't take AI seriously, inspired by AI 2027 https://t.co/b6PBu3nmeK

[Ben Schroeter @ben_schroeter]

@Euractiv Time to sack her and the entire EEAS. Complete waste of our tax money.

[Ben Schroeter @ben_schroeter]

@hwieduwilt Es geht alles, wenn man es denn will. Das hier ist übrigens der Wartebereich im Bürgeramt von Amsterdam. Ich habe das Foto nach unserem Umzug von Berlin gemacht - aus Schock.

[Ben Schroeter @ben_schroeter]

Fathers are using paternity leave to watch the World Cup. Based.

[Juan Luis Jiménez @JuanLuis_JG]

Unos 1.000 hombres que fueron padres en España en 2022 (1,3% del total de padres), solicitaron la baja de paternidad estratégicamente, no sólo para cuidar a sus hijos sino para ver el campeonato del mundo de fútbol de Qatar 2022.

[Ben Schroeter @ben_schroeter]

@FDavidsonT Is this available in Europe?

[Ben Schroeter @ben_schroeter]

Digital Service Taxes are paid by EU consumers, not the companies they target.

[Dominika Langenmayr @D_Langenmayr]

Consumers therefore bear much of the tax burden.

For every €1 of DST revenue generated by a transaction, consumer prices rise by about:
• €1.5 in France
• €1.7 in Spain
• £2.5 in the UK
That is more than full pass-through. Why? Likely rounding to .99 etc. 6/7

[Magnus Norell @navahoscout]

My new report on the rising antisemitism in Europe after October 7, 2023. For the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies (Brussels).

https://t.co/AeKNZx350I

[Ben Schroeter @ben_schroeter]

The comments below this post tell you everything you need to know about the mental state of Israel’s critics.

[Amb. Zvi A. Vapni @vapni]

I had a open and cordial meeting with @DefensieMin Dilan Yeşilgöz. We spoke about the current situation in the ME and the destabilising threat of the Iranian regime. I raised concerns about growing Antisemitism in the Netherlands and the festering antisemetic and anti-israeli activism in campuses.

I appreciate the support and longstanding friendship of @DilanYesilgoz to Israel.

[Ben Schroeter @ben_schroeter]

@kry_kor @Europarl_EN @EU_Commission That’s fair. But can we get Polish GDP growth rates in return?

[Ben Schroeter @ben_schroeter]

@pieter_haeck @eurofounder @compliantvc @EUAITaxonomy It’s pretty obvious that these are parody accounts, which use exaggeration as a stylistic element. Not sure how many people mistakenly believe these takes to be true.

[Ben Schroeter @ben_schroeter]

Link to full paper: https://t.co/FsvzRjy0r4

[Ben Schroeter @ben_schroeter]

New causal research: Airbnb came to Madrid in 2010. House prices initially dropped, then increased. About 4% of the rise can be explained by the rise in short-term rentals. Fairly negligible compared to other factors.

[Ben Schroeter @ben_schroeter]

@ahall_research Great research, but there's an obvious sampling bias. Historically, the first major use-case of every new online technology has been porn/romance. It's hard to believe that's different this time.

[Ben Schroeter @ben_schroeter]

@robbysoave @CoreyWriting This is the best time in human history to be born.