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SOFTBANK IS BETTING BILLIONS THAT OPENAI'S AGENTS WILL AUTOMATE WORK

SoftBank will pay $3 billion a year to force the companies in its portfolios to experiment with AI agents.

OPENAI SAYS ITS MODELS ARE MORE PERSUASIVE THAN 82 PERCENT OF REDDIT USERS

OpenAI rates o3-mini's persuasive capabilities as a 'Medium' risk, meaning that the model has comparable persuasive effectiveness to typical human written content.

TRUMP SAYS NEW US SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUND COULD PURCHASE TIKTOK

The US sovereign wealth fund is expected to be created in the next year by the US Treasury and Commerce Departments.

EL SALVADOR WALKS BACK ITS BITCOIN LAW

El Salvador has removed bitcoin's status as a legal currency, although it remains legal tender - its use is entirely voluntary but it cannot be used to pay taxes or settle government debt.

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OPENAI UNVEILS A NEW CHATGPT AGENT FOR ‘DEEP RESEARCH'

OpenAI has announced a new AI agent designed to help people conduct in-depth research. The new 'deep research' feature is designed for situations where users need to perform precise and reliable research using information from multiple sources. It is now available to ChatGPT Pro users, limited to 100 queries per month. OpenAI is targeting a Plus rollout about a month from now and support for Team and Enterprise users is planned. The release will be geo-targeted - there are currently no plans to release 'deep research' in the US, Switzerland, or the European Economic Area.

TIKTOK'S TRAFFIC BOUNCES BACK DESPITE BEING PULLED OFF APP STORES, FEARS OF SHUTDOWN

DNS traffic for TikTok-related domains is currently around 10% lower than pre-shutdown levels. The app briefly shut down in the US but came back online after President Trump said he would postpone enforcement of the ban. Traffic to TikTok alternatives peaked on the day TikTok returned online. Many creators are expanding their online presence to other platforms as TikTok's long-term future in the US remains uncertain.

CAN WE BUILD A FIVE GIGAWATT DATA CENTER?

AI labs will need data centers that require the power equivalent of some of the US' largest cities by 2030. Forecasts predict that training runs will require 5-gigawatt centers within five years - GPT-4 was reportedly trained with 30 megawatts of power. While tech leaders seem confident that they will be able to build data centers of unprecedented size, these plans are still in the planning and permission stages and actual sites that can support these projects are scarce for several reasons. The US currently doesn't have the power, funding, or permitting required to meet the forecasted AI data center infrastructure demands, but it might be possible by 2030 through permitting reform and substantial investment.

STABLECOINS ARE FINDING PRODUCT-MARKET FIT IN EMERGING MARKETS

SpaceX faced problems accepting payments in developing markets as its Starlink service expanded to more than 100 countries. This caused the startup to turn to stablecoins, which allowed it to accept cheap and near-instant cross-border transactions. Stablecoins are now a $205 billion market driven by real-world utility, particularly in emerging markets. They are becoming a core part of financial markets and it is possible they could replace outdated financial systems as adoption accelerates.

HOW TO WRITE A GOOD DESIGN DOCUMENT

This essay provides tips on how to write, organize, and edit an effective design document. A design document is a technical report that outlines the implementation strategy for a system in the context of tradeoffs and constraints. Its goal should be to convince the reader that the design is optimal given the situation. Writing a design document adds rigor to otherwise vague intuitions - it helps the author think better.

HOW TO HAVE A CAREER EVEN WHEN OPENAI'S O3 DROPS

There is a real anxiety among students and junior professionals regarding AI and its effects on their careers. The future will belong to people whose work cannot be easily reduced to a dataset and those who can use AI to become even better at what they do. Some jobs are currently vulnerable because we can create clear benchmarks for performance. AI will amplify the gap between high performers and the rest.

AMA WITH OPENAI'S SAM ALTMAN, MARK CHEN, KEVIN WEIL, SRINIVAS NARAYANAN, MICHELLE POKRASS, AND HONGYU REN (REDDIT THREAD)

Sam Altman, Mark Chen, Kevin Weil, Srinivas Narayanan, Michelle Pokrass, and Hongyu Ren from OpenAI recently held a Reddit Ask Me Anything session to talk about o3-mini and the future of AI. In the thread, the representatives answer questions about advanced voice mode, the upcoming 4o image generator, GPT-5, and more. OpenAI plans to cut API prices in half in August. It doesn't have a timeline for the release of GPT-5 yet - the company is still working on the 4o series.

META IN TALKS TO REINCORPORATE IN TEXAS OR ANOTHER STATE, EXIT DELAWARE

Meta is exploring its options as it plans to move its incorporation from Delaware. Texas has presented itself as a better destination for companies like Meta and the change wouldn't require that the company relocate its corporate headquarters. While a majority of Fortune 500 companies are incorporated in Delaware, many have recently considered moving due to rulings that bolster the rights of minority shareholders. Texas has set up its own specialized business court system, but it is too early to tell whether it will be more friendly to businesses than the Delaware court has been.

SAM ALTMAN'S STARGATE IS SCIENCE FICTION

It is entirely possible that the Stargate project will be scaled back - we don't even know yet if raw computing power is the path to artificial general intelligence.

APPLE REPORTEDLY GIVES UP ON ITS AR VIDEO GLASSES PROJECT

Apple has reportedly pulled the plug on N107, a project that aimed to produce AR glasses similar to regular glasses but with added displays on the lenses that could connect to a Mac.

THE FAILED STRATEGY OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE DOOMERS

AI Doomers, concerned with the scenario where computer systems outreason, outcompete, and doom humanity to extinction, oppose AI and seek to cripple it via weaponized regulation.

OPENAI HITS BACK AT DEEPSEEK WITH O3-MINI REASONING MODEL

OpenAI's o3-mini is optimized for STEM functions and has lower operating costs and latency than o1-mini.

A VISION RESEARCHER'S GUIDE TO SOME RL STUFF: PPO & GRPO

This post presents a deep dive into Policy Optimization (PPO), one of the most popular algorithms used in RLHF for LLMs, and Group Relative Policy Optimization (GRPO), a method proposed by DeepSeek.

WHAT FULLY AUTOMATED FIRMS WILL LOOK LIKE

AI agents will be able to be copied, distilled, merged, scaled, and evolved in ways that humans simply can't, resulting in AI firms that will grow, coordinate, improve, and be selected-for at unprecedented speed.

GOOGLE QUIETLY ANNOUNCES ITS NEXT FLAGSHIP AI MODEL

Google revealed its next-gen flagship AI model, Gemini 2.0 Pro Experimental, in a changelog for its Gemini chatbot app. The model was available to Gemini Advanced users beginning Thursday, but Google has since removed the mention of the model from its changelog. The new model provides better factuality and stronger performance for coding and mathematics-related tasks. It is still in early preview and can display unexpected behaviors. The model doesn't have access to real-time information and isn't compatible with some of the app's features.

OPENAI IN TALKS FOR HUGE INVESTMENT ROUND VALUING IT UP TO $300 BILLION

OpenAI is in early talks to raise up to $40 billion in a funding round led by SoftBank. SoftBank, which will invest between $15 billion to $25 billion, is helping assemble investors for the rest of the round. The round would value OpenAI as high as $300 billion - the AI startup was last valued at $157 billion in October. The funding will be used to help OpenAI fulfill its roughly $18 billion commitment to the Stargate project, which will construct new data centers in the US to power OpenAI's technology.

FDA APPROVES NEW CLASS OF PAINKILLER – THE FIRST IN MORE THAN 20 YEARS

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of a novel painkiller called suzetrigine for the treatment of short-term moderate-to-severe pain in adults. The new drug is the first of a new class of analgesics that aren't addictive. It selectively targets a sodium channel critical to pain signaling in the peripheral nervous system, inhibiting pain signals from being sent to the brain. The drug is not an opioid, which means that medical professionals now have an alternative to treating pain that doesn't require using a potentially addictive analgesic.

OPENAI PARTNERS WITH U.S. NATIONAL LABORATORIES ON SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, NUCLEAR WEAPONS SECURITY

The US National Laboratories will be using OpenAI's AI models for scientific research and nuclear weapons security. Up to 15,000 scientists working at the National Laboratories will be able to access OpenAI's reasoning-focused o1 series. The new partnership will involve scientists using OpenAI's technology to enhance cybersecurity to protect the US power grid, identify new approaches to treating and preventing disease, deepen the understanding of fundamental mathematics and physics, and work on nuclear weapons. OpenAI will also work with Microsoft to deploy one of its models on a supercomputer at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

JAVASCRIPT TEMPORAL IS COMING

JavaScript Temporal is a replacement for the Date object that makes date and time management reliable and predictable. It adds support for time zone and calendar representations and many methods for conversion, comparisons, computations, formatting, and more. JavaScript Temporal is starting to be shipped in experimental releases of browsers, making working with dates and times in JavaScript more simple. This post provides a quick overview of the new JavaScript object along with examples of how to implement it.

TYPEZERO

TypeZero is a zero-configuration TypeScript boilerplate for modern backend development. It features a blazing-fast development workflow with hot reload, enterprise-grade code quality tools, future-proof ESM architecture, and more. TypeZero can help developers build production-ready Node applications in seconds.

GOOGLE OFFERING ‘VOLUNTARY EXIT' FOR EMPLOYEES WORKING ON PIXEL, ANDROID

Google has announced a voluntary exit program for employees working in its Platforms & Devices group, which is responsible for Pixel hardware and Android software. The program applies to US employees in the division - Google has many people around the world working on its products, but the program is only for those stateside. Employees will receive a severance package. The program does not coincide with any product roadmap changes.

APPLE TOPS 1 BILLION SUBSCRIPTIONS, NEARLY $100B IN SERVICES REVENUE IN 2024

Apple's Services division, which includes the App Store, iCloud, Music, TV+, and other subscriptions, had an all-time revenue high of $26.3 billion last quarter. It generated nearly $100 billion in revenue over the past year. The company has over 1 billion subscriptions across its services. Expansions of offerings like Apple Arcade and Fitness+ contributed to the growth.

IS ENGINEERING STRATEGY USEFUL?

There's always an engineering strategy, even if there's nothing written down - strategy can be valuable for organizations that take it seriously.

CS16.CSS

cs16.css is a CSS library based on the Counter-Strike 1.6 UI.

MICROSOFT MAKES OPENAI'S O1 REASONING MODEL FREE FOR ALL COPILOT USERS

Microsoft will now offer Think Deeper, which was previously part of the $20 per month Copilot Pro subscription, for no extra cost to all Copilot users.

MARK ZUCKERBERG TEASES A 2025 RETURN TO ‘OG FACEBOOK'

It is clear that Meta is in desperate need of younger Facebook users to sustain itself for the next generation.

ADVICE FOR A FRIEND WHO WANTS TO START A BLOG

A collection of advice given from one friend to another about blogging.

BOREDOM, CHAOS, & THE EXPERIMENTAL CURVE

The barriers between rationality and experimentation are eroding as bandwidth constraints continue to collapse.

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ELON MUSK CLAIMS TESLA WILL LAUNCH A SELF-DRIVING SERVICE IN AUSTIN IN JUNE

Elon Musk claimed during a recent earnings call that Tesla plans to launch a paid ride-hailing robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, in June. The vehicles will use the yet-unreleased 'unsupervised' version of Tesla's Full Self-Driving software. That software is expected to be released to Tesla owners in California and other regions in the US this year. Tesla owners will not be able to add their cars to the Tesla ride-hail fleet until at least next year.

THE X EVERYTHING APP WILL LAUNCH THIS YEAR, AIMING TO COMPETE WITH APPLE PAY

X CEO Linda Yaccarino says that X will launch its Everything App this year. The app will allow for secure and instant funding to X Wallets via Visa Direct. Users will be able to connect their debit cards for P2P payments. There will be an option for users to instantly transfer funds to their bank accounts.

CHINA SECRETLY BUILDING WORLD'S LARGEST NUCLEAR FUSION LASER, US SATELLITE EXPOSES

China is developing a laser fusion research facility in the southwestern region of the country. It will be larger than the US National Ignition Facility, the current world's largest inertial confinement fusion facility. The new development could have huge implications for both nuclear weapons research and clean energy production. China has not revealed the purpose of the facility.

STEM CELLS USED TO PARTIALLY REPAIR DAMAGED HEARTS

A group of German researchers have developed a method for repairing the heart using new muscle generated from stem cells. The results are promising and they have started clinical trials. The technique involves creating sheets of cells and combining them into a single patch that can be attached to the heart's exterior. In experiments, the scientists found that the added tissues integrated into the hearts functionally and immature stem cells did not form tumors. The implants weren't problem-free - some of the stem cells in the sheets appeared to be uncommitted to a mature state and one animal generated an immune response to the implanted cells.

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KUBERNETES HISTORY INSPECTOR

Kubernetes History Inspector is a log visualization tool for Kubernetes clusters that transforms vast quantities of logs into an interactive, comprehensive timeline view. It is an invaluable tool for troubleshooting complex issues that span multiple components within Kubernetes clusters. The tool uses existing logs, allowing users to troubleshoot past issues as long as logs are still available. Examples of the interactive timeline visualizations the tool produces are available in the repository.

MATHESAR

Mathesar is a web app that enables users of all technical skill levels to view, edit, query, and collaborate on PostgreSQL databases using a familiar spreadsheet-like interface. It is self-hosted and can be deployed in minutes. Mathesar works directly with PostgreSQL databases, schemas, and tables without extra abstractions. Data never leaves users' servers and there is access control based on PostgreSQL roles and privileges to keep databases secure.

ON DEEPSEEK AND EXPORT CONTROLS

DeepSeek's achievements make export control policies more existentially important than they were a week ago. Export controls keep democratic nations at the forefront of AI development. The idea that the technology getting cheaper and more powerful is a reason to lift export controls makes no sense - they are one of the most powerful tools for preventing authoritarian governments from behaving aggressively on the world stage. DeepSeek's release is roughly on the expected cost reduction curve, which big tech has already factored into its calculations - it will still require billions of dollars of infrastructure to make AI that is smarter than almost all humans at almost all things.

ZUCK SHRUGS OFF DEEPSEEK, VOWS TO SPEND HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS ON AI

Mark Zuckerberg said during Meta's first-quarter earnings call on Wednesday that the company will be investing very heavily in AI this year. Meta considers DeepSeek a new competitor, but it says that it is way too early to tell if demand for chips will stop increasing, as they are still crucial for inference. The company is aiming to make Llama 4 the world's most competitive model. Llama 4 is expected to have multimodal and agentic capabilities.

WAYMO REPORTEDLY TESTING ROBOTAXIS IN 10 NEW CITIES IN 2025

Waymo will send less than 10 vehicles to each city, where they will be manually driven.

OPENAI ALLEGES DEEPSEEK USED ITS MODELS FOR AI TRAINING

OpenAI says it has evidence that Chinese AI startup DeepSeek used a technique called 'distillation' to use its models to train a competing open source model.