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☀️ Good Morning from San Francisco,
China's first robot marathon turned into a comedy of mechanical mishaps. The star athlete, Tien Kung Ultra, lumbered through 13 miles in 2 hours and 40 minutes – with three battery changes 🔋🔋🔋. That's double the time of human runners.
Other robots fared worse. Huanhuan plopped down mid-race like a tired toddler 😴. Shennong smashed into a fence, its arm dangling uselessly 💥. Most competitors never crossed the finish line.
China aims to dominate humanoid robotics by 2027. But that's how you start if you want to become a world leader in this field.
Stay curious,
Marcus Schuler
P.S. At least China dared to try. Your move, America and Europe. 🎯
China staged its first-ever robot half-marathon in Beijing, pitting 21 humanoid runners against thousands of humans. The result? A mix of triumph and technical tumbles that would make any robot's motherboard blush.
Leading the pack was Tien Kung Ultra, a 5'9" mechanical athlete sporting an orange tank top and an expressionless face that never broke into a victory grin. The robot completed the 13-mile course in 2 hours, 40 minutes - roughly twice the time of the human winner. But at least it finished, which is more than most of its metal companions could claim.
The race quickly turned into a comedy of mechanical errors. One robot, Huanhuan, simply gave up and sat down mid-course like a tired toddler. Another, named Shennong, crashed spectacularly into a fence, leaving its arm dangling like a broken windshield wiper. The robots required battery changes more often than a TV remote, with Tien Kung Ultra needing three swaps to cross the finish line.
Race organizers had to extend the cutoff time to allow more robots to finish, though most still couldn't make it. The event showcased China's ambitious goal to lead the world in humanoid robotics by 2027 - a target that, based on this performance, might need some recalibration.
Why this matters:
Read on, my dear:
Prompt:
A blue humanoid robot in the flower shop holding a bunch of flowers, cinematic style
TSMC, the world's largest chipmaker, just confessed to a major blind spot. It can't really tell where its AI chips end up after they leave the factory.
The admission comes fresh on the heels of an awkward discovery: TSMC's advanced chips somehow found their way into Huawei's latest AI processor, despite U.S. sanctions. The Taiwanese manufacturing giant now faces a delicate balancing act between keeping Washington happy and managing a complex global supply chain.
In its annual report, TSMC didn't mince words about the challenge. Once chips leave its pristine fabrication plants, they vanish into a maze of intermediaries, resellers, and end-users. It's like trying to track a single drop of water in a river - theoretically possible, but practically impossible.
The timing couldn't be more sensitive. The U.S. just tightened the screws on AI chip exports to China, while simultaneously demanding that manufacturers like TSMC play detective with their customers. Meanwhile, crafty middlemen keep finding new ways to redirect chips to restricted buyers.
Why this matters:
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YouTube wants to use AI to automatically dub any video into any language, complete with matching lip movements. Right now they're testing the tech with 8 languages - and for those videos, 40% of views come from people watching in a dubbed version.
Just one day after Trump extended US chip export bans to China, Huawei announced its new Ascend 920 AI chip. Set for production in late 2025, the chip aims to fill the gap left by now-banned Nvidia products. It's a fast response to US restrictions that could cost Nvidia $5.5 billion in lost sales.
A major new academic paper argues that AI isn't a superintelligent threat - it's just normal technology that will spread gradually like electricity or the internet did. The paper from Princeton researchers points out that even game-changing tech takes decades to transform society, since organizations need time to figure out how to use it effectively.
Krutrim, India's billion-dollar AI startup, now aims to raise $300 million instead of its earlier $500 million target - and even that's proving tricky. While Matrix Partners has pledged $25 million, the company's founder Bhavish Aggarwal faces skepticism from investors who note the venture hasn't published any peer-reviewed research or shown its tech actually works at scale.
Scientists have created brain implants that turn thoughts into speech, helping people who've lost their voice due to strokes or ALS. A recent breakthrough at UC San Francisco cut the delay between thinking and speaking to just one second - though at 47 words per minute, it's still slower than normal chat.
A clever phishing attack found a way to send fake Google security alerts that pass all verification checks. The scammers abuse Google's OAuth system, making their message appear legitimate by naming their app with the phishing text - a bug Google is now working to fix.
Foxconn's massive iPhone factory is turning a quiet farming town in southern India into a real estate bonanza, reports "Rest Of The World". Property prices in Devanahalli have shot up 35% since the tech giant broke ground.
The $2.5 billion facility spans 13 million square feet - enough space for 220 football fields. It's set to create 40,000 jobs and double India's iPhone production to 30 million units. Developers are racing to build apartments, with prices ranging from $40,000 to a eye-watering $700,000.
The transformation is swift and stark. Where farmers once grew pomelos and silk, property agents now hawk luxury apartments "near Foxconn." The company has already leased 900 homes to house thousands of workers from China and Southeast Asia. Food delivery bikes zip through streets that were once too broken for service.
Local IT professional Neethu Ramagiri spotted her opportunity early. She bought an apartment after seeing a billboard, and now rents to three Foxconn executives. Her property value has jumped 70%. The bonus? Her tenants rarely cook, since Foxconn feeds them.
But not everyone's celebrating. Some farmers continue to protest, demanding better compensation for their land. They're skeptical of promises about tech jobs, noting that most villagers lack the skills for factory work.
Why this matters:
Read on, my dear:
Rytr burst onto the AI writing scene in 2021 as a lean, user-friendly assistant that turns blank pages into polished content with just a few clicks. Recently acquired by Copysmith, it's now part of a growing AI content suite.
The Founders: Created in 2021 by Abhi Godara (IIT/LSE alum) and Atul Yadav (software developer from Mumbai). Based officially in Delaware, USA, with a distributed team. Founded to eliminate writer's block and make content creation instant for small businesses. 💻
The Product: AI writing assistant supporting 40+ content types from blog posts to social captions. Features include one-click generation, rich-text editing, built-in plagiarism checking, "My Voice" customization to match personal style, and AI image generation. Supports 40+ languages and offers browser extensions plus API access. Used by 7-8 million people worldwide, including major brands like Dell and IKEA. 📝
The Competition: Faces tough rivals like Jasper (unicorn status, $125M funding), Copy.ai ($11M Series A), Writesonic (YC-backed), and Writer.com ($1.9B valuation). Also competes with general-purpose tools like ChatGPT. Rytr stands out with its simpler interface, affordability, and integrated workflow features. 🏆
Financing: Bootstrapped with minimal external funding before being acquired by Copysmith in October 2022 for an undisclosed amount. No traditional VC rounds or institutional investors. Now operates as part of Copysmith's "Copyrytr" suite alongside Frase. 💰
The Future: ⭐⭐⭐ Faces commoditization in a crowded market with better-funded competitors. FTC scrutiny over fake reviews highlights regulatory risks. Strong points include massive user base, team features, and integration with SEO tools as part of Copyrytr. Success depends on carving out a niche while navigating shifting AI capabilities and regulations. 🔮
Good Morning from San Francisco 🌉 Silicon Valley, who once begged for AI guardrails, now wants them gone. Their new battle
Good Morning from San Francisco, AI just rattled Google's $20 billion Apple deal. In court, Apple's
Jensen Huang spots $50 billion vanishing before his eyes. But Nvidia's CEO isn't blinking. As Washington tightens the AI screws on China, he's gambling on a bold strategy that could reshape tech's biggest battleground. The stakes? Nothing less than America's AI crown.
Good Morning from San Francisco, 🌉 Apple swallowed its pride and tapped AI startup Anthropic to rescue its failing developer tools.
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