Good morning. Remember those futuristic gadgets in spy movies that could hack top-secret servers and crack impossible codes? Now imagine a budget version marketed to desperate students trying to survive finals week. Meet the “AI Smart Pen,” a device hyped on YouTube as a magical cheat for straight A’s. But don’t believe everything you swipe past. In reality, these things are glitchy text scanners that spit out nonsense answers. They might help you cheat your way into summer school, though.
ICYMI: What AI Bubble? Nvidia’s revenue is up, so the AI party grooves on.
Why is Tesla lobbying to keep robotaxi data private? Waymo wants California to make ride-hailing safety data public, but Musk is pushing back. Tesla’s Robotaxi still needs a human driver and runs the same software found in every other Tesla. And it’s not exactly going great. Tesla’s Austin pilot racked up 7 accidents since June, about 2x the rate of Waymo’s fully driverless cars. Even worse, their “safety drivers” were caught sleeping behind the wheel. Musk insists Tesla’s system is safe, but keeps safety reports heavily redacted.
Saudi Crown Prince goes to Washington, kicking off a billion dollar AI shopping spree. Elon Musk’s xAI and Nvidia inked a deal with the state-backed AI firm Humain to build a massive 500 megawatt AI data center in Saudi Arabia. Then Humain led a $900m round into Hollywood startup Luma AI to launch a 2 gigawatt AI supercluster in the kingdom. This isn’t just another sovereign AI play. Saudi Arabia is strategically buying Silicon Valley’s brightest minds, positioning itself for dominance long after oil runs out.
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The US will share nuclear tech with Saudi Arabia. Washington signed off on a deal allowing American companies like Westinghouse to build nuclear reactors for the Saudis. But there’s one crucial detail missing. Saudi Arabia still hasn’t signed the standard “123 Agreement” that prevents them from enriching uranium, the essential ingredient for nuclear bombs. Non-proliferation experts warn this could trigger a domino effect across the Middle East. Even Israel is nervous. But hey, profits before proliferation.
Physicists are plotting a massive heist on the global banking system. French quantum startup Alice & Bob claims their new “fault-tolerant” quantum computer will crack Bitcoin’s encryption by 2030. CEO Théau Peronnin says their upcoming “Graphene” machine solves quantum computing’s critical error correction problem. Meaning they’re literally building hardware to brute-force every digital wallet on Earth. You basically have five years to cash out before humanity goes back to bartering with seashells.
A North Carolina startup just cured blindness with a 3D-printed cornea. Precise Bio completed the first-ever transplant using lab-grown eye tissue, restoring vision to a legally blind patient. Their cornea, grown from cultured human eye cells, seamlessly mimics natural tissue. Right now, there’s only one donor cornea available for every 70 people who need it. Precise says their method could turn a single donor cornea into hundreds of lab grown transplants, potentially solving the global shortage overnight.
Your tax dollars are turning America’s worst nuclear disaster into a “Clean Energy Center.” The Department of Energy just loaned Constellation Energy $1bn to restart Three Mile Island’s 835 megawatt reactor. Microsoft jumped in, agreeing to buy every megawatt hour produced for the next two decades at around $110 each. Never mind solar or wind would cost less than half. If premium-priced nuclear nostalgia counts as innovation, branding really can fix anything.
fun stats
💰 $53 billion. The total value of Nvidia’s investments in AI firms across 170 deals between 2020 and 2025. The circular deals fueled fears of a market bubble before Nvidia crushed Q3 earnings estimates and everyone cheered.
🦄 4 Months. The time it took for Swedish vibe-coding unicorn Lovable to double its ARR to $200 million. The AI startup credits staying in Europe for its success.
☄️ $1.9 billion. Amount legacy player Adobe shelled out in cash for SEO marketing platform Semrush. The acquisition adds generative AI optimization tools to help marketers grow brand visibility.