Good Morning from San Francisco, 🌁

Holy shrinkage! 🤏 Alibaba just proved size isn't everything in AI.

Their new QwQ-32B model strutted into the party of giant language models wearing nothing but a single GPU – and still outperformed the behemoths wearing entire data centers.

Meanwhile, in space drama: 🚀 Elon Musk's Starlink might snag a piece of a $42B federal internet pie. The Trump administration flipped the rules faster than a satellite in orbit.

Fiber advocates are having connectivity conniptions, insisting their earth-bound cables still win the speed race. But hey, who doesn't want their internet beamed from space by a billionaire's tin cans?

In this week's plot twist: David KO's Goliath in AI, while Uncle Sam considers funding the world's most expensive game of space ping-pong. 🎯

Stay curious,

Marcus Schuler

Small But Mighty: Alibaba's New AI Punches Above Its Weight

Alibaba's AI team just pulled off an impressive magic trick. Their new QwQ-32B model matches the performance of massive AI systems while using just a fraction of the computing power.

The new model packs 32 billion parameters - tiny compared to DeepSeek-R1's whopping 671 billion. Yet it tackles complex reasoning tasks with surprising agility. Think of it as the AI world's equivalent of a lightweight boxer taking on heavyweights.

QwQ-32B runs on a single GPU with 24GB of memory. Its bigger rival, DeepSeek-R1, demands a small data center's worth of processing power - 16 high-end GPUs with 1500GB of memory. Talk about a size difference.

Alibaba released the model under an Apache 2.0 license. This means anyone can download, modify, or sell products based on it. No strings attached. No lawyers required.

The AI research community has already started buzzing. Hugging Face's Vaibhav Srivastav called it "blazingly fast." Others marvel at how it sometimes outperforms models 20 times its size.

Why this matters:

• We've entered an era where bigger isn't always better in AI. QwQ-32B proves that clever engineering can trump raw computing power.
• This democratizes advanced AI capabilities. Companies no longer need a tech giant's budget to deploy powerful reasoning models.

Read on, my dear:

• Venture Beat: Alibaba’s new open source model QwQ-32B matches DeepSeek-R1 with way smaller compute requirements

Musk's Internet Empire Gets a White House Boost

The Trump administration just rebooted its $42 billion internet expansion plan. The plot twist? Elon Musk's Starlink satellites might get a slice of the pie.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick trashed the old rules that favored fiber-optic cables. The new "tech-neutral approach" opens doors for satellite internet providers like Starlink, which beams internet from space to nearly five million subscribers.

Musk's critics smell a conflict of interest. The Tesla and X boss advises Trump on government efficiency while his Starlink service eyes billions in federal funds. Meanwhile, fiber advocates argue their cables still deliver the fastest speeds in the galaxy.

The timing raised eyebrows. Musk's growing influence in Washington matches his expanding business empire. Last year, the FCC rejected Starlink's bid for $900 million in rural internet subsidies. Now, the winds have shifted.

Why this matters:

• The battle between space and ground internet just got political - and personal
• Your rural internet connection might soon depend on which billionaire wins in Washington

Read on, my dear:

• New York Times: Federal Grant Program Opens Door to Elon Musk’s Starlink

AI Photo of the Day

Prompt:

a hyperrealstic woman made out of blue and white shiny porcelain, crying out of her closed eyes

Move Over ChatGPT: Google's Search Just Got a Brain Upgrade

Google just strapped a rocket to its search engine. The tech giant unleashed "AI Mode," a new experimental feature that turns Google Search into your personal research assistant.

The upgrade targets Google One AI Premium subscribers. It packs Gemini 2.0 under the hood and tackles complex questions that would normally send you down a rabbit hole of multiple searches.

Want to compare sleep tracking between smart rings, watches, and mats? AI Mode spits out a detailed analysis faster than you can say "sweet dreams." Then it sticks around for follow-up questions, like your most persistent friend who actually read the manual.

Users already flex this muscle. Their searches run twice as long as traditional queries. A quarter of them keep the conversation rolling with follow-ups. It's like having a librarian who never gets tired of your questions - or shows any judgment about your weird midnight research habits.

The system employs "query fan-out," a fancy term for asking multiple questions simultaneously. Think of it as dispatching a swarm of digital librarians who compare notes before giving you an answer.

Why this matters:

• Google finally admits machines can handle nuanced conversations better than a list of blue links
• The search giant just fired a warning shot across ChatGPT's bow - and it's aiming for the crown

Read on, my dear:

TechCrunch: Google Search’s new ‘AI Mode’ lets users ask complex, multi-part questions

AI Whispering: How to Boss Around Chatbots

Analyze my daily habits and identify one highly effective optimization that boosts my productivity without compromising my work-life balance. Consider scientific insights on focus, energy management, and decision psychology. Create an actionable 7-day plan with clear steps and brief explanations of why each measure is effective.

AI & Tech News

Tech's Gender Gap: Show Me the Money (But Only If There's a Man Around)

Female founders snagged $38.8 billion in U.S. funding last year - a 27% jump that looks great until you peek behind the curtain. The brutal plot twist? Companies with only women founders claimed a measly 2% of venture capital, proving that in tech, having a man on the team still works better than any pitch deck.

Europe Ready to Ghost Musk's Space Wi-Fi

Italy just peeked into its crystal ball and saw trouble. A €1.5 billion handshake with Musk's Starlink suddenly feels like grabbing a live wire. Trump's latest NATO comments sent Rome sprinting toward Europe's own satellite champion, Eutelsat.

Ex-Google Chief Warns Against AI Arms Race

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and two other tech heavyweights just poured cold water on America's AI ambitions. In a policy paper, they warn that rushing to build superintelligent AI could provoke China into a cyber showdown - and nobody wins in that game of digital chicken.

The $2,500 iPhone That Bends (On Purpose This Time)

Apple plans to launch its first foldable iPhone in 2026. It'll sport a 7.8-inch crease-free screen that morphs into your pocket - along with two grand from your bank account. Your thumb, not your face, will unlock this titanium-clad marvel, as Apple ditches Face ID for the retro charm of Touch ID.

Apple Just Added AI to Your App Store Experience

Apple's latest iOS beta sneaks in a clever trick. The App Store now uses AI to digest thousands of user reviews into bite-sized summaries. Think of it as your personal app critic, but without the snark. The feature rolls out first in the US, targeting English-language apps with enough reviews to make the AI's job worthwhile.

Amazon Wants AI to Dub Your Movies

Amazon just cast artificial intelligence in a starring role. The tech giant will test AI dubbing on twelve Prime Video shows, starting with English and Spanish translations. But don't panic - human voice professionals still get to babysit the robots, making sure they don't butcher those dramatic monologues too badly.

AI Decoded 🔓: E-Mail Tools

Your guide to mastering AI tools - no tech degree required.

🚀 AI Tools That Supercharge Your Emails

✍️ Grammarly hunts down your writing sins in real-time. This AI watchdog catches typos, polishes your style, and saves you from embarrassing grammar fails. Perfect for anyone who'd rather not be known as "that person who can't write."

📧 Lavender dissects your emails down to the last comma. It tells you if your message rambles, rushes, or hits the sweet spot. It even judges your tone - keeping your friendly request from accidentally starting World War III.

✨ WriteMail.ai turns email chaos into crystal-clear communication. The AI suggests snappy phrases and ensures your message lands - even with readers who have the attention span of a caffeinated squirrel.

🎯 YouWrite kicks writer's block in the teeth. This You.com tool tackles emails, blog posts, and essays with AI muscle. No more staring at a blank screen until your eyes glaze over.

🤖 Jasper cooks up emails like a master chef. Armed with templates and AI smarts, it transforms even the driest business correspondence into something humans actually want to read.