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Bilawal Sidhu

Chronological feed of everything captured from Bilawal Sidhu.

podcast_episode / Apr 14

The AI XR Podcast: The AI/XR Podcast July 25th, 2025 ft. Bilawal Sidhu, former Google Maps PM, TED AI curator, and generative AI media pioneer

<p><br></p><p>In Episode 250 of the AI/XR Podcast, Charlie Fink, Ted Schilowitz, and Rony Abovitz are joined by Bilawal Sidhu, former Google Maps PM, TED AI curator, and generative AI media pioneer. The hosts discuss Trump’s executive orders on AI and censorship, South Park's viral Trump satire, and the emerging ethics of deep fakes. Sidhu shares his journey from Flash animations at age 7 to working on immersive Google Earth VR and launching Google Maps' Immersive View. He reflects on the future of agentic AI, spatial computing, and whether 3D interfaces will ever go mainstream. The conversation veers in...

tweet / Apr 14

Is the Strait of Hormuz actually open? There's been a lot of back and forth since the ceasefire was brokered. Let's take a look at what the actual data says. Before the conflict -- roughly 135 ships

Is the Strait of Hormuz actually open? There's been a lot of back and forth since the ceasefire was brokered. Let's take a look at what the actual data says. Before the conflict -- roughly 135 ships transited per day. On the first day of the ceasefire, 15 got through. Now we're seeing about 6. Iran published a map confirming mines in the normal shipping lanes, forcing vessels through a new corridor past Iranian-controlled islands near Larak -- putting them within range of light artillery. Some ships are reportedly paying $1-2 per barrel to transit through Iran's toll system. That's $2-3+ million per ship. Two bottlenecks are keeping traffic at a fraction of normal: insurance prices have skyrocketed and Iran's toll system is throttling throughput to one ship at a time. Peace talks are slated for Pakistan this weekend. But as it stands -- the strait is "open" on paper and barely functional in practice.

tweet / Apr 14

After the ceasefire was announced, the Strait of Hormuz was supposed to reopen. So I loaded up God's Eye to see what the data actually says. Before: ~135 ships/day Ceasefire Day 1: 15 Now: ~6 But th

After the ceasefire was announced, the Strait of Hormuz was supposed to reopen. So I loaded up God's Eye to see what the data actually says. Before: ~135 ships/day Ceasefire Day 1: 15 Now: ~6 But there's a lot more to this story. Full breakdown: https://t.co/oShXvKvOz3 Iran claims there are mines in the normal lanes. Some ships are being rerouted past Iranian islands within artillery range. Insurance has skyrocketed. The toll booth is still running. Meanwhile Israel hit 100+ targets in Lebanon in 10 minutes, Iran retaliated across the Gulf, and both sides can't agree on what the deal says. New video breaks down why the strait is barely functional despite the ceasefire -- mines in the shipping lanes, skyrocketing insurance, Iran's toll system -- plus the OSINT speculation about what 155 aircraft and 100 SOF operators were really doing 50km from Iran's nuclear facilities at Isfahan.