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R1 1776 (HUGGING FACE HUB)

Perplexity has post-trained R1 to remove Chinese censorship. They do so in a way that doesn't harm underlying reasoning. It is Perplexity's first open weights release.

GOOGLE'S FLOOD HUB FEATURES

Google is introducing new tools for flood experts in Flood Hub, including an inundation history map and basin view, while collaborating with aid groups like GiveDirectly and the IRC to assist flood-affected communities.

GROK 3 OVERVIEW

This article provides a comprehensive overview of xAI's Grok 3.

RL A QUICK START GUIDE

Great X article by PufferLib maintainer. It dives into the key differences between types of RL and gives a great guide for base hyperparameters.

OPENAI CONSIDERING 16 STATES FOR DATA CENTER CAMPUSES AS PART OF TRUMP'S STARGATE PROJECT

OpenAI is considering building data center campuses in 16 states as part of President Trump's Stargate initiative, in partnership with Oracle, SoftBank, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Arm, aiming to invest up to $500 billion over four years.

ACADEMIC RESEARCHERS FIND A WAY TO TRAIN AN AI REASONING MODEL FOR LESS THAN $50

Researchers at Stanford and the University of Washington have trained an AI reasoning model for under $50 using distillation and modifications to an Alibaba AI model.

OPENAI NOW REVEALS MORE OF ITS O3-MINI MODEL'S THOUGHT PROCESS

OpenAI has updated the "chain of thought" for its o3-mini model, enhancing transparency in its reasoning steps for both free and paid ChatGPT users.

PROPOSED US GOLD RESERVE AUDIT COULD SPUR BLOCKCHAIN ADOPTION FOR SOVEREIGN RESERVE TRACKING, ANALYSTS SAY

Audit of U.S. gold reserves could drive blockchain adoption for asset tracking to improve transparency and accountability in financial oversight. Gold prices have continued to rise because of geopolitical tensions, trade policy concerns, and speculation over potential tariffs, with Goldman Sachs raising its year-end target to $3.1K per ounce.

FTX'S $1.2B REPAYMENTS MARK KEY MOMENT IN CRYPTO INDUSTRY RECOVERY

FTX Digital Markets will repay $1.2 billion to creditors on February 18, marking a major step in the exchange's bankruptcy process and a potential boost for crypto market sentiment. While the repayments offer relief to affected users, some criticize the valuation method, and the overall market impact may be limited.

HYPEREVM GOES LIVE

Hyperliquid has launched the HyperEVM mainnet, bringing general-purpose programmability to its financial system while maintaining security through HyperBFT consensus. Developers and users can now interact with HyperEVM, with ongoing improvements and a bug bounty program incentivizing security reports.

HOW MONAD WORKS

Monad is a high-performance, EVM-compatible blockchain with 500ms block times and 1-second finality. It uses MonadBFT for scalable consensus, RaptorCast for efficient data distribution, and optimistic parallel execution with MonadDb for fast state access. With low hardware costs, Monad delivers high throughput while maintaining decentralization.

HOW @NASEEM MADE $100M SNIPING $TRUMP ON SOLANA

Crypto sniper @naseem turned $1.09M into $109M by front-running the launch of $TRUMP on Solana. Using advanced blockchain analysis and split wallets, he secured tokens at the lowest price before others had a chance. While some suspect insider trading, Naseem claims he simply spotted an unintentional leak.

WHAT TO EXPECT AT CONSENSUS HONG KONG

Consensus Hong Kong, scheduled for February 18-20, is the conference's first appearance in Asia and boasts over 300 speakers and thousands of attendees. It features keynotes from Hong Kong's Financial Secretary and head of Securities and Futures Commission and Bitcoin OG Adam Back. Side events include a hackathon, pitchfest, and crypto fight night.

QWQIAO'S 2025 STARTUP IDEAS

Alliance shares AI and crypto-enabled startup ideas across finance, social, entertainment, and education, encouraging founders. The list includes AI-driven remittances, decentralized lending, token-based loyalty, and privacy-preserving AI education, emphasizing solving real problems.

LIBRA - RUGGED

Argentina's president, Javier Milei, endorsed and then quickly distanced himself from the $LIBRA token, which skyrocketed to $4.5 billion before crashing to $300 million in what many are calling a political meme coin rug pull. Insiders controlled 82% of the supply, extracting millions while retail investors were left with heavy losses. This scandal, which featured fraudulent promotions, insider trading, and political fallout, highlights the growing trend of political tokens being used as get-rich-quick schemes rather than true financial innovations.

ELIZAOS PRODUCT ROADMAP

Crypto AI agent framework ElizaOS (formerly ai16z DAO) has outlined its product roadmap, with three core focuses: DegenSpartanAI (a crypto-native trading agent), Autonomous Investor (a social-trading intelligence layer), and the Agent Marketplace (a token launchpad with no-code agent creation).

STANDARD CHARTERED SEES MORE SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS BUYING BITCOIN

Geoffrey Kendrick (Standard Chartered) expects more sovereign wealth funds, state pension funds, and institutional investors to buy bitcoin.

COINBASE AND BASE: IS CRYPTO JUST BECOMING TRADITIONAL FINANCE 2.0?

Crypto's evolution has been increasingly diverging from Satoshi's original vision of decentralization, with Coinbase's Base L2 exemplifying this trend through its centralized sequencer and reliance on USDC.

ABSTRACT CHAIN INVESTIGATING AS SOME USERS REPORT WALLET DRAINS, APPARENTLY RELATED TO CARDEX

Abstract Chain is looking into wallets being drained, allegedly linked to the onchain fantasy game Cardex.

ADOBE LIGHTROOM AND CAMERA RAW ARE GETTING TWO NEW AI EDITING FEATURES

Adobe has introduced several new features for Lightroom and Camera Raw, including Adaptive Profiles, which optimize image adjustments, and Distraction Removal, which eliminates unwanted elements from photos. Lightroom now also includes a Find Duplicates feature, allowing users to declutter their libraries more effectively.

YOUTUBE FINALLY EXPLAINS ITS SUBTLE LOGO REDESIGN

HP IS BUYING HUMANE AND SHUTTING DOWN THE AI PIN

HP is acquiring Humane for $116 million and shutting down all services for its AI Pin devices. AI Pins will stop functioning after February 28, losing access to calling, messaging, AI queries, and cloud features. Humane has offered limited refunds and advises users to download their stored data before the shutdown.

“WTF IS HAPPENING?” – HOW AI IS RESHAPING DESIGN

AI is transforming design, with senior designers leveraging it as a tool while juniors feel threatened, highlighting an industry-wide experience gap. Designers are self-teaching AI skills, frustrated with current tools but optimistic about their future, emphasizing the need for education, ethical use, and creative adaptation.

SHOW, DON'T TELL

DeepSeek, a Chinese AI app, quickly topped the App Store, rivaling ChatGPT at a fraction of the cost. Its breakthrough feature—displaying chain-of-thought reasoning—creates a “Key Product Moment,” making AI interaction feel intuitive and magical. OpenAI has since introduced a similar feature, highlighting the power of visible innovation.

THE BEGINNING AND THE END OF THE USER EXPERIENCE

User experience (UX) extends beyond digital interfaces, encompassing all user and brand interactions. Key touchpoints include marketing, onboarding, usability, payments, customer support, and reviews. UX is a customer experience (CX) component that requires collaboration across departments. Designers influence UX but must navigate external decisions and constraints while ensuring consistency.

UI TO CODE CONVERTER

Convert your designs to HTML, CSS, and more in seconds.

EVERY HEX CODES

This comprehensive collection of 16.7 million hex color codes allows you to easily search, discover, and utilize every possible color for your design projects.

FAT KARTING LEAGUE'S NEW GAMING-INSPIRED IDENTITY AIMS TO GET YOUNG RACERS ONTO THE TRACK

The FAT Karting League's new gaming-inspired identity, designed by Amsterdam Berlin, merges real-world racing with 1990s gaming culture to make karting more accessible. With a 96% cost reduction and a modernized design, the league aims to attract diverse young talent and foster the first female F1 champion.

THE GREAT AI UI UNIFICATION

AI interfaces are evolving, with OpenAI planning to replace ChatGPT's model picker drop-down with a more intuitive system that detects user intent. This shift towards streamlined design, also embraced by companies like Anthropic, contrasts with Google's cluttered AI product landscape.

THE DESIGN GAME HAS CHANGED AND I DON'T KNOW WHERE I FIT ANYMORE

After two decades in design, Pascal Potvin reflects on shifting industry dynamics and personal fulfillment. Once driven by hustle and success, he now prioritizes meaningful work and balance. Questioning personal branding's role, he explores adapting to evolving trends while staying true to creativity, mentorship, and well-being in an ever-changing field.

ILLUSTRATION TRENDS: WHAT CREATIVE DIRECTORS ARE COMMISSIONING IN 2025

Comic-style art remains popular, medical illustration demand continues to grow, live event illustrators have gained traction, and YA book cover art has seen rising interest, especially among female readers.

PUSHING FOR PLURALITY: IMPERFECT INDEX IS DECONSTRUCTING THE OUTDATED GRAPHIC DESIGN CANON

The Imperfect Index challenges Eurocentric graphic design norms through talks and publications promoting diversity, nonlinear navigation, and inclusive design.

MEGHAN MARKLE'S CLASSY REBRAND SHINES IN ITS SIMPLICITY

Meghan Markle has relaunched her lifestyle brand as As Ever, featuring a sleek crest and calligraphic wordmark.

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AIRBNB 4Q24 BUSINESS UPDATE

This post highlights Airbnb's accelerating revenue growth (+12% YoY) alongside a small margin drop due to fresh product investments. The gist is that they're pouring money into new features and global traction is paying off; free cash flow remains strong, so investors see a balanced mix of near-term execution and long-term ambition.

GROK 3: ANOTHER WIN FOR THE BITTER LESSON

xAI's new Grok 3 model—trained at a huge scale—has vaulted to state-of-the-art territory. This leap underscores a “bitter lesson” in machine learning: more compute and data often beat smaller, clever hacks. While some point to streamlined approaches like DeepSeek as an alternative, raw scale still wins long term. Once again, bigger clusters and massive training runs seem to outpace all else.

IBM'S $7B BET ON VERTICAL AI AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR SAAS FOUNDERS

IBM invests $7 billion in Vertical AI, focusing on industry-specific solutions through its WatsonX platform. The approach targets economic efficiencies, leveraging smaller models like Instruct Lab for significant cost and time savings. Strategic partnerships with firms like ServiceNow and Salesforce aim to accelerate enterprise AI adoption, offering SaaS founders new opportunities for domain-specific innovation.

DID YOU KNOW… “WHEN YOU CARE ENOUGH TO SEND THE VERY BEST”

Hallmark's famous tagline is dissected as a masterclass in emotional marketing. By tying greeting cards to a sense of genuine caring, Hallmark turned what could be a mundane commodity into an emotional must-have for any “important” occasion. Founders can learn from how Hallmark uses social norms, trigger events (like birthdays or holidays), and subtle fear-of-regret messaging to make card-giving feel essential.

WHY YOU, WHY US, WHY US TOGETHER

A simple formula for founders when making an offer to a key candidate: clarify why that person is uniquely suited for the role, why your company stands out for them, and why combining forces creates an extra spark. It suggests drafting a short “three reasons” memo to accompany any job offer, ensuring mutual alignment is explicit. This tactic aims to strengthen trust right from the get-go.

HOW TO MASTER SOFTWARE RELEASE CYCLES IN 2025

Velocity is becoming a key metric in DevOps, with top performers like Amazon and Netflix excelling in rapid release cycles. Traditional enterprises struggle with slower cycles due to rigid structures, impacting their competitiveness. Improving velocity requires smarter resource allocation and leveraging data for insights into inefficiencies.

WOZ

Idea to mobile app in minutes.

CO.DEV (PRODUCT)

Co.dev lets you create scalable, modern full-stack apps using natural language, all while keeping full ownership of your code.

LLAMAO (PRODUCT)

Llamao is a private, offline ChatGPT alternative that ensures total privacy while you work, travel, or explore.

OUTCOME ORIENTATION AS A CURE FOR INFORMATION OVERLOAD

Manage perpetual info overwhelm not by blocking every new source, but by staying crystal clear on what outcome you want from any article, video, or conversation. If you're just reading the news or listening to a podcast for “no reason,” you'll spiral into a flood of noise. When you tie your consumption to a specific goal, you'll naturally filter out the extra and keep your mental space tidy.

3 WAYS TO CREATE AND NURTURE GREAT CUSTOMERS FOR LONG-TERM SUCCESS

Workato emphasizes hiring Customer Success early, even before expanding sales, to enhance SaaS company growth. Early CS investment improves retention, speeds up expansion revenue, and fosters honest sales cycles. Aligning CS with marketing boosts customer satisfaction and drives efficient business growth.

HOW TO SPEED UP PRODUCT VALIDATION AND REACH MARKET FIT

In Q3 2023, 311,000 new businesses launched in the US, but many won't survive past the startup phase, highlighting the importance of product validation. Product validation helps startups assess demand, reduce risk, and save resources before product launch. Key steps include identifying a market need, researching competitors, developing MVPs, and iterating based on feedback.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS HARD BUT YOU CAN'T DIE

Steve Blank recounts a defining moment as a young electronics repairman during the Vietnam War, when a missing plane slot on the flight line hammered home the reality of life and death stakes.

PALMER LUCKEY ON WHAT HE LOOKS FOR WHEN HIRING PEOPLE AT ANDURIL

Palmer Luckey focuses on one core principle: find folks who've proven they're driven by their own obsessive curiosity, not by any manager's marching orders.

NEW YORK POWERHOUSE VC INSIGHT PARTNERS NABS ANOTHER $12.5B AFTER $8B IN EXITS

Insight Partners closed its latest flagship and Opportunity funds, totaling $12.5 billion, increasing its assets under management to $90 billion.