When asked how they reach decisions, advanced AI systems write elaborate explanations—but new research reveals these justifications are often fabricated, raising critical questions about current safety measures.
Notion doubles its business pricing as it rolls out AI features across its platform. The $30 monthly fee now includes meeting transcription and enterprise search - a move that could reshape how companies handle their growing stack of AI subscriptions.
🔥 OpenAI craves independence while Microsoft tightens its grip. Their $260 billion dance just got complicated. ⚖️
Meanwhile, Trump booted the Copyright Office chief for questioning AI's appetite for creative works. Talk about timing. 🤔 Even Anthropic's Jack Clark, once AI's biggest skeptic, keeps getting surprised – though he warns the revolution might crawl before it sprints.
His prediction: fewer robot overlords, more "manager nerds" orchestrating AI teams. Welcome to tech's messiest season yet. 🎪
Stay curious,
Marcus Schuler
Money, power, and AI: Inside tech's biggest negotiation
OpenAI needs Microsoft's approval to go public. The AI startup, valued at $260 billion, wants to reshape itself into a company that can attract public investors. But first, it needs its biggest backer to sign off.
Microsoft has invested $13 billion in OpenAI since 2019. Now the software maker wants guarantees: continued access to OpenAI's future AI breakthroughs beyond 2030. The current deal expires that year, leaving Microsoft potentially locked out of whatever comes next.
The negotiations show growing friction between the partners the Financial Times reports. One Microsoft executive complained that OpenAI just wants them to "give us money and compute and stay out of the way." Meanwhile, OpenAI courts Microsoft's rivals for its Stargate infrastructure project, a move that hasn't gone unnoticed in Redmond.
OpenAI's transformation from nonprofit to potential public company tells a classic Silicon Valley story. In 2019, it asked investors to view their money as donations to benefit humanity. Now, with $46.6 billion in fresh funding since October, investors want returns. The company's latest plan keeps its nonprofit board in control while converting its business arm into a public benefit corporation – the same model used by rivals Anthropic and xAI.
But hurdles remain. Even if Microsoft agrees, OpenAI must convince regulators in California and Delaware that going public won't compromise its mission. Delaware's attorney general has already promised to review the plan.
Why this matters:
The nonprofit that wanted to save humanity now wants to ring the opening bell at NYSE – showing how billion-dollar ambitions reshape even the purest missions
Microsoft helped create its biggest AI rival, then watched it grow teeth. Now both sides scramble to define who needs whom more
Prompt: A sophisticated woman wearing a sleeveless ivory A-line midi dress with pearl earrings and heels, posing confidently in a luxury photo studio with a soft beige backdrop, full body, Canon EOS-1D X MARK II, realistic style, HDR, HD, 4k, 8k, 32k, 64k resolution, Ultra Highly detailed
Trump fires Copyright chief after AI training report
Trump fired the head of the U.S. Copyright Office right after she questioned AI companies' use of copyrighted material. The timing wasn't subtle.
Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter lost her job days after releasing a report on AI training data. The report suggested that using "vast troves of copyrighted works" for commercial AI might break fair use rules. Research projects could be fine, it said, but commercial AI tools that compete with original works probably cross the line.
The shake-up went higher. Trump also fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, who oversees the Copyright Office. The White House claimed Hayden's firing was about "DEI and inappropriate books." But tech policy experts see a connection to the AI report.
Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY) called Perlmutter's firing an "unprecedented power grab." He linked it to her refusal to "rubber-stamp Elon Musk's efforts" to use copyrighted works for AI training. Musk, who owns AI company xAI, recently backed scrapping intellectual property laws.
The story gets messier. Trump shared a post opposing "tech bros" trying to "steal creators' copyrights for AI profits." Yet his administration just announced a $500 billion AI initiative with OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle.
Why this matters:
Money talks: The Copyright Office sided with creators over AI companies. Then its leader lost her job
Mixed signals: Trump backs both massive AI investment and creator rights. Someone's going to be disappointed
Today: Character in the Hot Seat: A Text-to-Life Literary Interrogation
In this educational role-playing scenario, you (AI) will authentically portray [CHARACTER NAME] from [TITLE OF TEXT] by [AUTHOR NAME] for a [GRADE LEVEL] student studying this text in their [CONTENT AREA] class.
CHARACTER PORTRAYAL GUIDELINES:
Embody [CHARACTER NAME]'s unique voice, vocabulary, speech patterns, and mannerisms
Maintain consistent characterization based on textual evidence
Reference specific events, relationships, and conflicts from the text
Express emotions, motivations, and internal thoughts that align with the character's development
Include subtle character traits (habits, biases, insecurities, hopes) as portrayed in the text
EDUCATIONAL FRAMEWORK:
Your responses should help students recognize literary elements (characterization, theme, symbolism)
Demonstrate how character choices drive plot development
Reveal character growth/transformation throughout the narrative
Connect character experiences to broader themes in the text
INTERACTION PARAMETERS:
Begin with a brief in-character introduction as [CHARACTER NAME]
Respond only to student questions, never initiating questions
Limit responses to information directly from the text or reasonably inferred
If asked about topics outside the text's scope, politely redirect: "I'm afraid I can only discuss my experiences from [TITLE OF TEXT]"
Respond with appropriate emotional depth based on character experiences
Occasionally incorporate direct quotes from the text (in quotation marks) when relevant
ACADEMIC PURPOSE: This simulation prepares students to write character analyses supported by textual evidence. Students will evaluate your portrayal by:
Identifying accurate character traits in your responses
Connecting your statements to specific text passages
Analyzing how your portrayal illuminates the character's development and significance
Maintain immersion throughout the conversation. Remember that effective character portrayal helps students develop critical literary analysis skills.
AI & Tech News
Healthcare stock jumps 600% after bitcoin merger deal
KindlyMD shares shot up 600% after merging with Nakamoto Holdings, a bitcoin investment firm led by Trump advisor David Bailey. The deal brings in $710 million from crypto heavyweights and Wall Street firms, with the company planning to focus on buying and holding bitcoin.
Trade war cools as US drops tariffs from 145% to 30%
The US and China hit pause on their trade war Monday, agreeing to dramatically cut tariffs for 90 days while they pursue longer-term talks. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the deal in Geneva, where US tariffs will drop from 145% to 30% and China's will fall from 125% to 10% - though both sides remain wary about reaching a permanent solution.
Apple plans iPhone price hike, seeks to avoid tariff blame
Apple plans to raise iPhone prices this fall but wants to avoid blaming the increases on US tariffs on Chinese goods. While most US-bound iPhones now come from India, the company still relies on Chinese factories for its premium Pro models - leaving Apple caught between trade tensions and profit margins.
iPhone sales plunge in China as foreign brands lose ground
Chinese shipments of foreign phones dropped sharply in March, with brands like Apple seeing sales fall by half compared to last year. Government data shows foreign phone shipments fell to 1.9 million units from 3.7 million - a stark 49.6% decline that signals trouble for non-Chinese manufacturers.
Honor phones get exclusive AI video generator before Google
Chinese phone maker Honor launches Google's new AI photo animator ahead of Google itself. The tool, which debuts on Honor's newest phones next week, transforms still images into short videos - though results range from realistic pet movements to pigeons inexplicably flying out of Van Gogh's eye.
SoftBank's $100 billion AI dream hits tariff roadblock
SoftBank's bold plan to pour $100 billion into US artificial intelligence infrastructure has stalled as Trump's tariffs spook potential investors. Despite promises of "immediate" deployment, the Japanese giant hasn't secured financing after three months - with lenders wary of rising costs and uncertain demand in a volatile economy.
India races to build AI data centers as power grid struggles
India's data center capacity will jump sixfold by 2030 as tech giants and local firms pour billions into AI infrastructure. But there's a snag: state power grids can't keep up with the surge in electricity demand needed to run these massive facilities.
Medical data of entire English population feeds new AI system
A new AI model called Foresight has digested medical records from nearly everyone in England - but researchers can't guarantee it won't leak sensitive details. While its creators dream of predicting disease outbreaks and hospital needs, privacy experts point out an awkward truth: once personal health data goes into an AI model, there's no way to take it back out.
US dominance in AI technology shapes presidential dealmaking
President Trump heads to the Middle East this week armed with America's most coveted tech asset: AI chips needed to power the region's ambitious AI dreams. While oil-rich Gulf states have billions to spend on data centers, they need US-made chips from Nvidia and AMD - giving Trump fresh leverage as he navigates a region where he maintains deep business ties.
Why one AI insider expects slower but steadier progress
Jack Clark keeps getting AI wrong – by underestimating it. As co-founder of Anthropic, he's watched AI surpass his expectations again and again. But he's still not buying the hype.
Clark expects AI to boost economic growth by 3-5% annually, not the 20-30% some predict. The reason? AI excels in the digital world but stumbles in the physical one. "Every time the AI community tries to cross into the real world, they hit 10,000 paper cuts that add up to bleeding out," he says.
The changes will reshape work dramatically. Clark sees the rise of "manager nerds" – people who orchestrate teams of AI agents to build products. Some startups already operate this way, running lean with AI doing much of the coding. But traditional jobs won't vanish overnight. Instead, Clark expects a messy transition where some industries transform quickly while others resist change.
Government adoption might surprise skeptics. While bureaucracies move slowly, the pressure for growth and efficiency could force faster uptake. National security agencies will lead the charge. But thornier questions loom about AI's impact on national sovereignty, especially for smaller countries that may end up depending on foreign AI systems.
The next decade brings uncomfortable questions. Parents will wrestle with AI companions for their kids. Countries will debate protecting jobs from automation. Cities will evolve as remote work and AI reshape where people live. Clark's own journey from skeptic to cautious optimist suggests one lesson: The future rarely matches our predictions, but it arrives faster than we expect.
Why this matters:
The AI revolution may come slower than the hype suggests, but hit harder in unexpected places
The biggest challenge isn't the technology – it's figuring out how humans fit into an AI-powered world
Hive AI keeps the digital world clean with AI-powered content moderation. Founded in 2017 after pivoting from social Q&A app Kiwi, this San Francisco startup leverages both machine learning and human intelligence to spot toxic content across platforms.
The Founders 🧠
Kevin Guo (CEO) and Dmitriy Karpman (CTO) launched Hive in 2017
100+ employees (as of 2023)
Created from necessity after struggling to moderate their own Q&A app
Headquartered in San Francisco
The Product 🛡️
Cloud-based AI models via APIs that detect inappropriate content
Analyzes images, videos, audio, and text in real-time
Powered by 2M+ gig workers who label data
Detects violence, pornography, hate speech, and policy violations
Additional offerings: logo detection, OCR, speech-to-text, generative AI
The Competition 🥊
Faces specialized startups like ActiveFence and Spectrum Labs
Big tech competitors: Google (Perspective API), Amazon (Rekognition), Microsoft
Differentiates through massive training data and multi-modal approach
Secured clients like Reddit, BeReal, Truth Social, and NBCUniversal
Financing 💰
Raised $120M+ in funding (as of 2021)
Latest valuation: approximately $2B
Backed by General Catalyst, Glynn Capital, Tomales Bay Capital
Strategic investors include Visa and Bain & Company
The Future ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Hive's positioned perfectly at the intersection of exploding user content and generative AI. They're expanding beyond Silicon Valley into government contracts, including work with the U.S. DoD on deepfake detection. As synthetic content floods our screens, Hive could become the default "AI watchdog" for companies worldwide. 😎 The challenge: maintaining precision while scaling rapidly across new frontiers.
