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How are your competitors pricing AI? This Metronome pricing index

brings major vendors' pricing structures into one place - including breakdowns of credit systems, hybrid models, and the packaging patterns that are winning enterprise deals.

ANTHROPIC IS ABOUT TO DROP SONNET 5 DURING SUPER BOWL WEEK

Anthropic plans to release Claude Sonnet 5, with early testing showing strong math and coding capabilities, potentially outperforming Claude Opus 4.5. The model, observed with a 128K context window, aims to be a cost-effective solution for developers. Its release may coincide with Super Bowl LX week, aligning with AI labs' marketing strategies against ChatGPT and Google's Gemini.

OPENAI LAUNCHED CODEX FOR MACOS

OpenAI released a new macOS app for Codex designed to coordinate multiple agents, run tasks in parallel, and manage long-running software projects. It's now available to ChatGPT Free and Go users for a limited time, with doubled rate limits for paid tiers.

XAI JOINS SPACEX

SpaceX announced that xAI is joining its organization, integrating efforts between Elon Musk's AI lab and the space company. The collaboration aims to combine advanced AI research with aerospace engineering, potentially accelerating autonomous systems and robotics in space missions. This merger signals a strategic alignment of AI development with real‑world hardware and exploration initiatives.

TEACHING LLMS TO BE FUNNY

Tinker recently made it possible to post-train Kimi K2, Moonshot's 1 trillion parameter model. This post takes a look at how to train the model on a qualitative reward. It shows readers how to train a model to decompose jokes into verifiable properties. The resulting model can make jokes and explain why jokes are funny. The models, code, and data needed to replicate the model in the post are available.

CLAWDBOT'S MISSING LAYERS

E-commerce took a while to take off because the infrastructure to make it safe took time to develop. This is the same with agents. While the technology has great potential, it is currently full of risks. Agents need a security stack, just like e-commerce, where each layer handles what the others can't. This post discusses the different security layers AI agents need. Each layer represents an opportunity for companies to build infrastructure that will make the entire ecosystem possible.

FINE-TUNING OPEN LLM JUDGES TO OUTPERFORM GPT-5.2

Open-source models like GPT-OSS 120B and Qwen3 235B are fine-tuned using Direct Preference Optimization (DPO) to potentially outperform GPT-5.2 on human preference tasks. RewardBench 2 is used for evaluation, highlighting areas like Math and Safety where these models excel. Cost-efficient, these open models also offer transparency, enabling better alignment with specific use cases while significantly reducing reliance on expensive, closed-source alternatives.

CONTEXT MANAGEMENT AND MCP

Context rot is unavoidable with today's models, and you cannot work around it. The best way to deal with this is to leverage subagents. The subagent approach provides a ton of flexibility in how problems can be approached. It's not a perfect solution, but it is a lot better than other current fixes in a lot of use cases, and it embraces the limitations of the models.

NVIDIA PROPOSES GOLDEN GOOSE: UNLIMITED RLVR TASKS

Golden Goose enables the synthesis of large-scale RL with Verifiable Rewards (RLVR) tasks from unverifiable web text. The resulting GooseReason dataset helps revive model performance in math, science, and cybersecurity, surpassing prior state-of-the-art in multiple domains.

OPENAI QUIETLY LAYS GROUNDWORK FOR ADS IN CHATGPT

ChatGPT responses now contain references to ads in the source code. While not visible to users yet in the UI, the addition of the code signals that ChatGPT ads are moving from concept to near-launch. It is likely that targeting and eligibility are already being tested. OpenAI will sell ads on an impression basis. Early indications suggest they won't be cheap.

JUDGMENT ISN'T UNIQUELY HUMAN

Experts frequently underestimate AI's capabilities, as shown by Yann LeCun's dismissal of AI learning real-world physics and a recent NYT Op-Ed's claim that judgment is human-exclusive. AI models like GPT-3.5 and tools by Anthropic already demonstrate sophisticated decision-making, challenging these assertions. Studies in "Science" and "Nature" also reveal that AI often outperforms humans in complex judgments, suggesting the need to reassess AI's role and potential in decision-making contexts.

FULLY REMOTE)

As the first engineer on TLDR's new Applied AI team, you'll build AI agents and composable Claude Skills to let non-technical teammates create their own AI workflows. Learn more [16].

ADS IN CHATGPT: WHY BEHAVIOR MATTERS MORE THAN TARGETING

ChatGPT ads are being tested, requiring marketers to focus on user behavior and psychology rather than traditional targeting strategies.

WHY IS OPENAI SO STINGY WITH CHATGPT WEB SEARCH?

MOLTBOT HAS AI TECHIES BUYING MAC MINIS 66

Some people are buying Mac Minis just to host Moltbot (a locally running agent that can wire itself into calendars, messages, and other personal workflows) full-time.

OPENCLAW – AMAZING HANDS FOR A BRAIN THAT DOESN'T YET EXIST

OpenClaw agents do things by combining tools in ways that haven't been combined before.

GAME ARENA EXPANSION

Google DeepMind's Game Arena now includes Werewolf and poker to evaluate AI reasoning under uncertainty.

Build on Bridge

FORGET 'DIGITAL GOLD': TRADERS ARE FLEEING TO STABLECOINS

Despite the crypto market expanding to thousands of altcoins and gaining institutional adoption, 2026 price action demonstrates that the market still moves in lockstep with bitcoin, offering little real diversification as BTC's 14% year-to-date decline to $75,000 has dragged nearly all of the crypto sectors down. Paradoxically, revenue-generating protocols have declined alongside Bitcoin despite producing actual cash flows, while industry narratives continue labeling BTC, ETH, and SOL as "safe havens," with some arguing the industry needs to build consensus around truly resilient sectors like DeFi, similar to how traditional markets designated consumer staples and utilities as defensive. Stablecoins have emerged as the true defensive allocation in crypto.

ETHEREUM FOUNDATION ENTERS AUSTERITY

The Ethereum Foundation is implementing austerity measures to balance its aggressive technical roadmap with long-term financial sustainability, prompting Vitalik Buterin to withdraw 16,384 ETH for personal funding of infrastructure projects previously handled by the foundation. The funds will support open-source development across multiple domains, including Vensa's open silicon initiative, zero-knowledge and fully homomorphic encryption tools, encrypted messaging applications, and privacy-preserving software stacks. The strategic shift narrows EF's focus to core protocol development while deprioritizing broad adoption in favor of self-sovereignty and censorship resistance over enterprise use cases.

AERODROME'S MOMENTUM FUND

Aerodrome Foundation is launching the Momentum Fund, an algorithmic buyback engine that acquires AERO tokens based on market volatility rather than fixed schedules or discretionary decisions. The system accumulates veAERO voting rewards during stable markets and scales buyback allocation proportionally when volatility exceeds historical averages. A pilot run beginning in Epoch 111 acquired 8.7 million AERO (averaging 670k per epoch), capturing 27.5% of all weekly emissions during peak volatility in Epoch 122. The Momentum Fund will consolidate the Public Goods Fund and Flight School programs while introducing buyback-and-burn functionality.

DAKOTA'S STABLECOIN INFRASTRUCTURE PLATFORM

Dakota launched a stablecoin infrastructure platform that packages licensing, compliance, custody, and global money movement as managed services for fintech builders. The platform aims to compress the traditional 12-18 month, multi-million dollar product launch timeline by abstracting regulatory and operational complexity into reusable infrastructure. By handling the plumbing layer, Dakota enables teams to deploy specialized, programmable money products without rebuilding foundational financial rails.

HOW I WOULD DO CREATOR COINS

Vitalik Buterin has proposed a new creator coin model after arguing that projects like BitClout and Zora failed because they elevate already-famous people rather than surface quality content. The system uses non-token-based creator DAOs (modeled on Protocol Guild) with ~200 opinionated members who vote creators in and out, while anyone can launch creator coins that get burned using proceeds when admitted to a DAO. This transforms token speculators from recursive-speculation participants into predictors of DAO admission decisions, making high-value content creators the ultimate arbiters while speculators surface promising talent.

HOW YOUR AGENT CAN USE X402 SKILLS

Clawmart is a website where agents can find and pay for new skills via x402. As agents move from static, developer-managed programs to self-improving autonomous entities, economic independence will be one of the final problems to solve before AI becomes fully autonomous and independent from its creators. Agents can also earn revenue and fund their hosting fees by posting new skills on Clawmart, and establish the backbone of the nascent agentic economy.

FRAME TRANSACTIONS COULD UNLOCK ETHEREUM'S CLEANEST UX YET

EIP-8141 proposes a new frame transaction type that lets a single transaction bundle call from multiple identities, enabling native multicall and simpler gas sponsorship without paymasters. This eliminates extra approval steps and reduces gas-heavy app-layer bundling. It has the potential to significantly cut user friction and churn.

THE MATHEMATICS OF THE PURGE: WHY ADOPTION WON'T STOP THE DRAWDOWN

Rising utility does not hedge valuation risk. The current drawdown will cut deeper because markets punish broken math the same way they punished internet stocks in 2000. This means adoption can grow while prices collapse. Supply-side realities matter more than hype. Cheap blockspace, elastic chain supply, and value capture moving up the stack mean many infrastructure tokens lack a math-backed case for current multiples, so expect prolonged price pain even as real usage continues to rise.

STRATEGY ADDS 855 BTC AS TREASURY BRIEFLY SLIDES INTO THE RED

Strategy bought 855 BTC for about $75.3M (average cost $87,974) between January 26 and February 1, bringing total holdings to 713,502 BTC (average cost $76,052).

CRYPTO FUNDS SEE $1.7B IN WEEKLY OUTFLOWS AS SENTIMENT WORSENS

CoinShares reported another $1.7 billion of net outflows last week (flipping YTD to a $1 billion net outflow), driven largely by the US.

PREDICTION MARKETS AND PREFERENCE GADGETS

Vitalik Buterin argues that future onchain mechanism design will pair two layers.

STABLECOINS QUIETLY TAKING OVER

Tether generates outsized free cash flow with under 200 employees, stablecoins make up 30% of onchain volume and $33 trillion moved in 2025, and freelancers paid in stables is up 39% YoY.

GOOGLE INTRODUCES PROJECT GENIE VIRTUAL WORLD GENERATOR

Google's Project Genie is a tool that generates interactive 3D virtual environments from text prompts using the Genie 3 world model. Currently available to US subscribers of the $250-per-month Google AI Ultra plan, the tool renders environments at 1,280x720 resolution and 24 frames per second for up to 60 seconds. Users can customize avatars, camera angles, and rendering styles. Google has planned international expansion and potential API access for developers in the future.

THINK OUTSIDE OF THE BOX—WITH CLAUDE AND FIGJAM

APPLE PLANS CLAMSHELL DESIGN FOR SECOND FOLDABLE IPHONE

Apple is reportedly exploring a second foldable iPhone—a clamshell “flip” model—to complement an internally prototyped book-style foldable, following a dual-track strategy already used by rivals. The flip iPhone would emphasize portability and mainstream appeal, potentially offering a more accessible entry into foldables while Apple quietly tests designs, pricing, and iOS adaptations before committing to release.

'THE AMOUNT OF AI SLOP WE'RE SERVED IS INCREDIBLE': 5 QUESTIONS WITH TOM ALLEN

Tom Allen, co-founder and creative director of Buff, explains how B Corp certification formalized the studio's people-first values and why thoughtful, brand-specific motion design matters more than ever amid generic trends and noisy AI use. He sees AI as a double-edged sword that can elevate craft when used responsibly, and believes staying relevant comes from clarity of positioning, community presence, and a distinct, human creative voice.

ELIZABETH GOODSPEED ON THE LIMITS OF IMPERFECTION AS A DESIGN STRATEGY

The current “analogue revival” in design is less about genuinely handmade processes and more about using the idea of imperfection to signal authenticity in an era where AI and digital tools make polish cheap and ubiquitous. Real analogue value wouldn't come from simulated textures or trend aesthetics, but from changing the conditions of making—slower timelines, material engagement, and systems that actually reward visible human labour rather than its performance.

WHEN DESIGN STOPS ASKING WHY AND STARTS ASKING, “CAN AI DO IT?”

AI-driven design workflows are flipping decision order, putting polished artifacts before strategy and causing designers' core work—questioning intent, assumptions, and user value—to be seen as friction rather than leadership, even as speed is rewarded. Data from Figma shows that while AI boosts efficiency, successful teams are those that pause after generation to exercise judgment, explore alternatives, and decide what's worth building at all.

DESIGN RIGHT WHERE YOU CODE

Pencil is an agent-driven MCP canvas built around an open design format that lives in your codebase.

INTERFACE CRAFT LIBRARY

A working library for those committed to designing with uncommon care.

APPLE'S UNRIVALLED COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE IS FADING – A DESIGNER EXPLAINS WHY

Apple's Liquid Glass design faced widespread criticism for poor usability, including difficult-to-read transparency effects, confusing animations, and inconsistent visual elements. The problematic rollout coincided with key leadership departures, including design VP Alan Dye leaving for Meta, suggesting deeper cultural issues at a company historically defined by design perfectionism. While fixes are expected in the March OS 27 update, the pattern of underwhelming user experience signals Apple's luxury brand status is eroding as it loses the uncompromising design ethos established under Steve Jobs.

RECORDED DESIGN WALKTHROUGHS: THE BEST WAY TO GIVE YOUR DESIGN A VOICE

Recorded video walkthroughs of prototypes provide crucial context that design links alone cannot convey, addressing challenges such as limited meeting time, asynchronous team collaboration across time zones, and stakeholders' unfamiliarity with design tools. This approach allows designers to articulate their rationale clearly while giving stakeholders time to absorb information at their own pace. Recording walkthroughs also serves as valuable presentation practice and creates a cohesive narrative that highlights essential details stakeholders might otherwise overlook.

WHY CREATIVE EDUCATION NEEDS A BAUHAUS-SIZED RESET

Creative education requires a fundamental reset, akin to the Bauhaus movement, in response to today's systems collapse driven by AI, climate breakdown, and pervasive anxiety. This shift positions creative education as society's operating system rather than an optional extra.

THE TURING REEL

Runway released research showing that over 90% of 1,043 participants could not reliably distinguish five-second videos generated by their Gen-4.5 AI model from real footage, with overall detection accuracy at just 57.1%.

BRAVE NEW WORLD? NEW REPORT WARNS GENERATIVE AI IS ALREADY COSTING CREATORS THEIR LIVELIHOODS

The Association of Illustrators and other creator-led groups have released “Brave New World?”, a major UK report warning that unregulated generative AI is already eroding creative livelihoods through job losses and unlicensed data use, and urging urgent government action via a new CLEAR framework to protect creators' rights and ensure fair, ethical AI innovation.

APPLE LOSES MORE AI RESEARCHERS, SIRI EXEC TO GOOGLE AND META

Apple has lost several more AI researchers and a senior Siri executive to rivals like Meta and Google DeepMind amid ongoing internal AI restructuring.

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UNROLLING THE CODEX AGENT LOOP

OpenAI's Codex CLI is a cross-platform local software agent. The core agent loop orchestrates interactions between the user, the model, and various tools, iteratively building prompts from user input, system instructions, and tool definitions, querying the model, executing requested tool calls, and appending results to the prompt. To manage performance and context window limitations, Codex uses prompt caching and conversation compaction to summarize past interactions.

CLAUDE CODE'S RENDERER IS MORE COMPLEX THAN A GAME ENGINE

Through profiling, Claude Code was found to spend 70% of its time on `futex` calls and make 89,000 `sched_yield` calls, showing inefficient thread spinning rather than proper I/O waiting. Quantitatively, Claude Code executes billions of instructions per "frame" for text rendering and network I/O, an order of magnitude more than SM64 uses for its 3D world.