Slumming It

SLUMMING IT… Squid’s lair is nothing flashy, just a cozy spot for Squid and Squid’s faithful canine companion Rosco P. Coltrane. Yet there are those who demand to occupy tonier digs, with one company planning to profit off that demand in Carmel Valley.

Squid refers to ONE Carmel, formerly known as September Ranch, which has taken around three decades to come to fruition. The Morgans Family, owners since 1966, sold the ranch in 2018 to DL Holdings Group, with plans to develop 73 luxury homes on 10 percent of nearly 900 acres, the remaining 90 percent permanently protected. Part of the approval by the County required 22 affordable homes.

After a gold-shovel groundbreaking in 2022, DL Holdings is finally advertising the 73 properties to “high-net-worth buyers,” according to a story in the Robb Report. Homesites start at $6 million, move-in ready homes at $15 million. Two-tiers of “bespoke residences” designed by ONE Carmel’s architects are available: estate homes starting at $15 million and larger “trophy compounds” that begin at $25 million.

The 22 affordable homes are coming up for discussion at the Monterey County Planning Commission on July 8, but are nowhere to be found in ONE Carmel advertising. No need to worry the high-net-worth buyers.

SEA NOISE… As a writer, Squid prides Squidself on the fact that Squid has never used generative AI, not only because Squid would rather rely on Squid’s brain but also because of the massive amount of water and energy needed to generate em dash-heavy essays.

Squid lives outside the glass of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but nonetheless was shocked to see a social media post by the Aquarium promoting a collaboration with Google, where the movements of jellyfish held captive at the Aquarium were interpreted by Google DeepMind’s Lyria Realtime generative AI model to create “music.”

Those in the comment section shared Squid’s disbelief, calling the collaboration “disgusting,” and writing, “Disappointing to see a conservation organization incorporating AI. Completely off-base and unnecessary.” One user pointed out “a very long list of brilliant musicians based in Monterey County” could have created the music.

An Aquarium spokesperson tells Squid’s colleague that the collaboration was a one-off project for the Google I/O developer conference and adds, “As an organization dedicated to inspiring conservation of the ocean, we believe pro-environmental voices should be present in spaces where future technologies are being discussed and developed.”

However, Squid cannot wrap Squid’s tentacles around the concept of inspiring conservation with “music” built from energy-intensive technology.