πŸ”₯ Microsoft & OpenAI - From Power Couple to Cold War? πŸ₯Ά

πŸ”₯ Microsoft & OpenAI - From Power Couple to Cold War? πŸ₯Ά

Good Morning from San Francisco,

The tech world's most intriguing power couple hits turbulent waters. Microsoft and OpenAI, once joined at the hip, now eye each other warily across the dinner table.

Their fairy-tale romance began in a Sun Valley stairwell in 2018. Five minutes with Satya Nadella convinced Sam Altman to accept Microsoft's billions. ChatGPT turned that bet into gold. πŸ’°

Now Microsoft courts Altman's rival Suleyman while secretly plotting independence. OpenAI demands more computing power. They've traded spontaneous texts for rigid weekly calls – like a marriage running on autopilot. πŸ€–

Both still hold the nuclear option: Microsoft could block OpenAI's restructuring, while OpenAI might cut off access to its latest tech. Talk about relationship leverage. πŸ’£

Stay curious,

Marcus Schuler


From 'Best Partnership in Tech' to Frenemies: Microsoft-OpenAI Story

The tech world's most famous marriage is heading for couples therapy. Microsoft and OpenAI, who sparked the AI revolution together, now find themselves drifting apart as their interests diverge, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Their partnership started with a chance encounter in a Sun Valley stairwell in 2018. That five-minute chat between Microsoft's Satya Nadella and OpenAI's Sam Altman led to Microsoft pouring billions into OpenAI. The investment paid off spectacularly when ChatGPT exploded onto the scene in 2022.

But now tensions simmer. Microsoft hired Altman's rival Mustafa Suleyman and launched secret projects to reduce dependence on OpenAI. Meanwhile, OpenAI wants more computing power and chips from Microsoft, who claims they're giving everything possible.

The companies still hold significant leverage over each other. Microsoft can block OpenAI's profitable restructuring plans, potentially costing them billions. OpenAI's board could cut off Microsoft's access to their latest tech.

Even their communication style has changed. Gone are the days of rapid-fire text exchanges between the CEOs. Now they stick to scheduled weekly calls, like an aging couple trying to maintain appearances.

Why this matters:

  • The strain between tech's AI power couple reveals deeper industry tensions about who will control humanity's most powerful technology
  • Both companies now hedge their bets, showing that even the strongest tech partnerships can't survive the pressures of a gold rush

Read on, my dear:

Wall Street Journal: Altman and Nadella, Who Ignited the Modern AI Boom Together, Are Drifting Apart


AI Photo of the Day

Credit: midjourney
Prompt:
a symmetrical front-facing photo of an asian model with big botox-filled lips posing with clear neutral lighting and no shadows

Survey: AI Gets Thumbs Down from News Readers

Americans don't want robots writing their news. A new Pew survey reveals widespread skepticism about artificial intelligence in journalism, with half of U.S. adults predicting AI will harm news quality over the next 20 years.

The numbers paint a grim picture. Only 10% see AI improving news, while 59% expect it to slash journalism jobs. The remaining respondents split between seeing mixed effects or throwing up their hands in confusion.

Education shapes these views dramatically. College graduates show more skepticism than high school graduates - 56% versus 44% predict negative impacts. It seems the more you know, the more you worry.

The findings cross political lines. Republicans and Democrats, usually divided on media trust, share remarkably similar concerns. About two-thirds of both groups fear AI will spread misinformation.

When it comes to writing articles, humans still win. Four in ten Americans say AI would do worse than professional journalists at crafting stories. Only 19% think the bots could outwrite humans. Perhaps HAL 9000 should stick to chess.

Why this matters:

  • Americans fear AI could accelerate journalism's decline while spreading more misinformation
  • The rare agreement between Republicans and Democrats suggests these concerns transcend partisan media skepticism

Read on, my dear:


AI & Tech News

AI Chatbot Gets Buy Button, No Ads (Yet)

OpenAI adds shopping to ChatGPT's arsenal but swears they won't take money from retailers - for now. The AI chatbot will scan billions of web searches to suggest products, then send shoppers to merchant websites to seal the deal.

AI Takes Over at Duolingo, Contractors Get the Boot

Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn announced the company is going "AI-first," which means gradually phasing out contractors whose work can be handled by artificial intelligence. In a move echoing Shopify's recent strategy, the language learning company will now require teams to prove they've exhausted AI solutions before requesting additional human headcount - presumably because robots don't need lunch breaks or complain about owl mascots.

Retail Giant Demands Price Cuts as Trade War Bites

Amazon wants steep discounts from suppliers to offset Trump's new China tariffs, leaving vendors with a stark choice: cut prices or lose their biggest customer. In a move that would make even its owl-mascoted rival blush, the tech giant is demanding double-digit price cuts while offering to absorb just a third of tariff costs on non-Chinese goods - proving that when it comes to supplier negotiations, Amazon's bargaining power remains as subtle as a gorilla in a china shop.0

Amazon Launches First Internet Satellites, Takes on SpaceX

Amazon just fired its first shot in the internet space race, launching 27 Kuiper satellites to challenge SpaceX's Starlink dominance. While SpaceX already has 8,000 satellites up there beaming internet to Earth, Amazon plans to catch up by throwing $10 billion at the project - though at this rate, they might need Prime delivery to meet their mid-2026 deadline.

Security Experts Stand Up to Trump's Krebs Investigation

The Electronic Frontier Foundation and top cybersecurity experts are demanding Trump halt his investigation of former cyber chief Chris Krebs, who was fired in 2020 for debunking election fraud claims. While Trump wants Krebs's security clearance revoked, the experts argue this sets a dangerous precedent - essentially threatening security researchers to either play along with political narratives or face career destruction, which seems like a cybersecurity strategy straight out of "How to Lose Friends and Alienate Security Experts."

Hugging Face Debuts $100 Robot Arm You Can Print at Home

Hugging Face just launched a $100 robot arm that you can 3D print yourself and train to pick up Legos. While the SO-101 arm sounds like a bargain, buyer beware - once you add assembly fees and Trump's China tariffs, that $100 could balloon to $500, making this less "impulse buy" and more "arm and a leg."

Pony AI Cuts Robot Car Costs by 70%, Still Not Making Money

Pony AI says it can now build self-driving taxis for $41,000 instead of $137,000, bringing it closer to making money on each new robotaxi. But with just 300 cars on the road and needing 50,000 for real profits, this feels less like a victory lap and more like the start of a very long autonomous journey.


New AI Model Thinks Before It Speaks - And It's Not Just a Gimmick

An AI that knows when to pause and think - and when to shoot from the hip? That's Qwen3, released today by the Qwen team. This new language model packs dual personalities: a thoughtful mode for tackling complex problems and a rapid-fire mode for simple queries.

The model runs on a hefty 235 billion parameters but only activates 22 billion at a time. Think of it as having a big brain but only using the parts it needs. This clever design helps it compete with heavyweight models like DeepSeek-R1 and Gemini-2.5-Pro while keeping energy costs in check.

What sets Qwen3 apart is its linguistic range. It speaks 119 languages, from widely-used ones like English and Mandarin to less common tongues like Lombard and Friulian. And yes, it even understands Klingon. (Just kidding about that last one - testing if you're paying attention.)

The team trained Qwen3 on 36 trillion tokens - double the data of its predecessor. They fed it everything from web pages to textbooks, using older AI models to help digest and clean up the information. It's like having a younger sibling learn from both parents and older siblings' mistakes.

Why this matters:

  • Finally, an AI that knows when to ponder deeply and when to give quick answers - just like humans do
  • The model's efficiency trick (using only 10% of its brain at once) could reshape how we build AI systems that are both powerful and practical

Read on, my dear:


πŸš€ AI Profiles: The Companies Defining Tomorrow

Pony.ai: Racing Toward Autonomous Dominance

Pony.ai burst onto the self-driving scene in 2016, fusing Silicon Valley innovation with Chinese market access. The startup has transformed from ambitious upstart to publicly-traded robotaxi pioneer with operations spanning two continents.

The Founders πŸš€

  • James Peng & Lou Tiancheng launched Pony.ai in late 2016 in Fremont, California
  • Both are Baidu alumni with elite engineering backgrounds (Peng has Stanford PhD, spent 11 years at Google/Baidu; Lou worked at Google's self-driving project)
  • Company now employs 500+ across R&D centers in Fremont, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen

The Product πŸ€–

  • Full-stack autonomous driving system (software + hardware) that transforms regular vehicles into self-driving ones
  • Latest seventh-generation system slashed costs by 70% - critical for commercial viability
  • Operates 250+ robotaxis across Chinese cities, some already fully driverless
  • Complementary robotruck fleet (190 vehicles) handles commercial freight delivery
  • PonyPilot app boasts 220,000+ registered users with average 15 rides daily per vehicle

The Competition 🏁

  • Faces off against Baidu's Apollo Go in China - similar scale but fierce rivalry for market dominance
  • Trails U.S. leader Waymo (250,000 weekly rides) in deployment volume
  • Claims 20-30% cost advantage over Waymo's current robotaxis
  • Unique cross-border positioning gives access to both U.S. innovation and China's massive market - something rivals like Cruise and Waymo can't match

Financing πŸ’°

  • IPO'd on Nasdaq in November 2024, raising $413 million at $5.3 billion valuation
  • Toyota holds 13.4% stake after $400+ million investment
  • Other backers include Sequoia Capital China, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Saudi Arabia's Neom
  • Stock performance volatile - currently trading well below IPO price despite recent rallies

The Future ⭐⭐⭐⭐

2025 marks Pony.ai's entry into mass-produced robotaxis with three new models unveiled. The company's dramatic 70% cost reduction puts "single-unit breakeven" within reach - a game-changer for profitability. CEO targets full profitability by 2029, with unique U.S.-China footprint providing strategic advantage as autonomous transport shifts from novelty to necessity. 😎

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