Good morning. If you thought your work life balance was bad, wait until you hear about Silicon Valley’s latest flex. Fast cars and lavish parties are out. Today’s tech founders brag about giving up dating, calling romance a distraction from startup success. It’s all part of a broader trend toward sobriety, strict diets, and relentless discipline. For the new money elite, self-denial is the ultimate luxury.
The buzz at Davos this year is all about AI ROI. 2025 was supposed to be the Year of the Agent, yet failed to deliver meaningful value. At the time leaders figured employees would be great at training their own replacements. Shockingly, this didn’t boost productivity or profits. Now the focus is shifting to a top-down approach, with CEOs calling the shots. They’re realizing that implementing AI at scale is not easy or cheap, and are turning to orchestration to get agents to do useful stuff. Naturally every big tech company at Davos is shilling their own AI agent orchestration layer – guaranteed to boost your productivity and their ROI. (Fortune)
Anthropic’s CEO says AI wealth should benefit everyone. Dario Amodei says we’re racing into an AI driven economic boom that could boost GDP up to 10%. But he also sees a darker possibility, where millions lose jobs and wealth flows directly into the pockets of tech insiders. Anthropic wants Washington involved to ensure the AI revolution isn’t another private party for a small group of elites. Amodei says scientist led AI companies think about impact, while the social media crowd will do what it always does and chase engagement like it’s the only metric that matters. (WSJ)
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Google’s latest project is a stadium-sized battery filled with CO2. They partnered with Energy Dome to build giant inflatable domes that store renewable energy for data centers. Carbon dioxide batteries store more energy, last 3x longer, and cost about 30% less than lithium-ion. A prototype in Italy already pumps out 200 megawatts. Neighbors might not love staring at a massive circus tent, but compared to other planet friendly alternatives like pumped hydro, Google figures people will adapt. (Utility Drive)
Stop acting like your AI has feelings. A surprising number of people insist their chatbots truly understand and care about them. Scientists call this an “illusion of agency,” meaning our brains falsely perceive AI as having its own thoughts or intentions. Researchers believe these interactions might teach us something surprising: not about AI consciousness, but about our own. When you talk to a chatbot, you may actually be talking to yourself, extending your feelings into the tech. It feels real, but your chatbot doesn’t really care. (Scientific American)
What exactly is ethical AI? Not long ago, Silicon Valley promised AI would benefit everyone. They swore they’d never exploit users like social media did. Now OpenAI and Microsoft are slipping ads into your chats, raising serious questions about trust. Experts warn these ads could influence your buying habits, or even your beliefs. Big tech insists ads won’t compromise transparency or fairness, but we’ve definitely heard that one before. Maybe ethical AI just means they promise to exploit you slightly less. (Inc)
fun stats
🪴 $480 million seed. Humans& is 3 months old and already valued at $4.48 billion. Built by major AI lab alumni, backed by Nvidia, Bezos, and Google Ventures. Pitching “people centric” AI at unicorn speed.
👻 53%. More than half of all crypto tokens launched since 2021 are dead. 86% failed in 2025. Congrats to the survivors. All twelve of them.
📬 706%. Increase in email pricing announced by Rackspace, as exploding AI demand drives up chip and storage costs.
🍪 70%. Projected share of all memory chips that data centers will grab in 2026. Get ready for your tv, speakers, and smart appliances to all get more expensive.