What do fake pregnancies and live lobsters have to do with AI chips? Everything, says one tech giant. Nothing but fear-mongering, snaps the other. Silicon Valley's newest feud exposes how far some will go to keep America's AI edge.
A federal judge just caught Apple with its fingers in developers' digital wallets. And she's not just making them give the money back - she's calling in criminal investigators.
☀️ Good Morning from San Francisco, Silicon Valley's elite can't decide if AI will replace humans or
☀️ Good Morning from San Francisco,
Silicon Valley's elite can't decide if AI will replace humans or befriend them.
Marc Andreessen insists AI won't disrupt venture capital - his job requires too much hand-holding with anxious founders. 🤔
Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg plots to make AI your new therapist through Meta's platforms. 🛋️
The irony? Andreessen funds the very AI that could automate his "irreplaceable" human touch, while Zuck wants algorithms to cure our loneliness.
Perhaps they should book a joint therapy session. 💭
Stay curious,
Marcus Schuler 📱
Marc Andreessen thinks artificial intelligence won't steal his job. The venture capitalist believes his role demands uniquely human skills - like playing part-time therapist to stressed-out founders.
Speaking on his firm's podcast, Andreessen argued that venture capital might survive when AI takes over other professions. He pointed to VCs' need for psychological insight and their notoriously spotty success rate - catching only "two out of 10" major companies per decade.
Andreessen painted venture capital as an art of reading people and managing meltdowns. "You end up being a psychologist half the time," he mused, describing how VCs must prevent founders from "falling apart" or "going crazy."
The billionaire's confidence seems oddly familiar. Like factory workers before robots or bank tellers before ATMs, he insists technology can't replicate his special talents. This from a man whose firm pumps millions into AI companies promising to revolutionize human work.
The irony thickens. Andreessen regularly champions AI's ability to match or exceed human capabilities. Yet when it comes to his own profession - reading people and making investment calls - he sees an exception.
Why this matters:
Read on, my dear:
Prompt:
A hyper-realistic photo of wide mounth red lips with the tongue showing to the left, on a white background.
Mark Zuckerberg thinks your next best friend will be an AI. The Meta CEO revealed his vision in a wide-ranging interview: transforming his social media empire into a platform for AI companionship.
Meta AI already reaches a billion users monthly across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Now Zuckerberg wants to make it more personal. His goal? Create an AI that truly understands you - not just your likes and interests, but your hopes, fears and relationship drama.
"Everyone should probably have a therapist," Zuckerberg mused. "For people who don't have a person who's a therapist, I think everyone will have an AI." He envisions users confiding in Meta AI about difficult conversations, relationship problems, and work conflicts.
The move marks a dramatic shift from Facebook's original mission of connecting friends and family. Meta now positions itself as an entertainment platform where most social interaction happens in private messages, not public feeds. The company sees AI as a return to its roots - just replace human connections with algorithmic ones.
Meta faces stiff competition from ChatGPT and Google. But Zuckerberg believes his company's deep understanding of human connection gives it an edge in building emotionally intelligent AI. The billion users already engaging with Meta AI suggest he may be right.
Why this matters:
Read on, my dear:
Microsoft released a new AI model called Phi 4 that matches the performance of much larger systems while using fewer resources. The model excels at math and science tasks despite being just a fraction of the size of its rivals.
Google launched three AI experiments to help people learn languages more naturally. One teaches situation-specific phrases, another helps users sound less formal, and a third uses your camera to label objects in different languages.
Palantir's new mobile battlefield intelligence system earned top marks from Army leaders, joining four other weapon systems in their highest-performing category. The $178 million project beat out traditional defense contractors, marking a win for Silicon Valley in military tech.
Elon Musk acknowledged his federal cost-cutting program DOGE has only saved $160 billion, far below its $2 trillion goal. The Tesla CEO plans to scale back his Washington presence but says the program could continue through 2028, joking that "DOGE is a way of life, like Buddhism."
Tesla's board started looking for Elon Musk's replacement about a month ago, reaching out to search firms as the stock fell and Musk spent more time on government work. The CEO pledged to focus more on Tesla after profits dropped 71%, but directors have already narrowed their CEO search to one major firm.
A popular tax exemption for Chinese goods under $800 ends Friday, hitting online sellers who rely on cheap imports. The policy change will force vendors on platforms like Etsy and eBay to pay tariffs up to 145% on Chinese products, with many saying they'll have to raise prices or cut back their U.S. sales.
WhatsApp just reached 3 billion monthly active users, making it only the second app besides Facebook to hit this mark. Meta plans to leverage this massive user base for its AI push, with WhatsApp already showing the highest engagement with Meta's AI features across all its apps.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai confirmed the company will integrate its Gemini AI into iPhones, likely by late 2025. The deal would let Siri tap Gemini for complex questions, similar to Apple's current ChatGPT integration.
The global smartphone market inched up 0.2% in Q1 2025, shipping 296.9 million units. Samsung held the top spot with 60.5 million phones shipped, while Apple took second place at 55 million units, driven by growth in Asia and the U.S.
JetBrains launched Mellum, an AI coding assistant that completes code based on surrounding context. The 4-billion-parameter model runs on company dev tools but needs fine-tuning before use.
Recommend one micro-habit (under 10 minutes daily) that delivers compound benefits for my financial stability, wealth building, productivity, and personal growth.
Criteria:
Explain the specific impact on each goal area and provide a clear implementation plan for the first week.
Apple just got caught with its hand in developers' wallets. A federal judge torched the tech giant Wednesday for brazenly defying her 2021 order to loosen its grip on App Store payments.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers didn't just slap Apple's wrist - she called for criminal prosecutors to investigate. Her ruling strips Apple of its power to charge commissions when users pay developers outside the App Store.
The judge exposed a web of corporate deception. Apple's finance VP Alex Roman claimed under oath they never studied competitor payment costs. They had. The company's lawyers sat silent as Roman misled the court, prompting the judge to declare Apple "adopted the lies."
CEO Tim Cook ignored warnings from his deputy Phil Schiller to comply with the original ruling. Instead, Cook listened to his finance team's scheme: charge 27% for outside payments instead of 30%. The judge called this transparent dodge exactly what it was - a desperate grab to preserve Apple's cash cow.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney savored his victory. His company's crusade against Apple's payment monopoly finally paid off. Fortnite returns to iPhones next week after a three-year banishment.
Apple now faces a financial double-whammy. As developers flee to cheaper payment options, the App Store's billions in annual revenue will shrink. Meanwhile, a separate antitrust case threatens Apple's lucrative deal with Google for Safari search defaults.
Why this matters:
Read on, my dear:
The Verge: A judge just blew up Apple’s control of the App Store
AutonomyAI injects AI agents directly into dev teams, turbocharging front-end coding with context-aware automation. Founded in Israel, now conquering New York, this startup aims to transform how software gets built — turning days of coding into minutes.
• The Founders: 🚀 Launched 2023 by Arik Faingold (Pentera unicorn veteran), Tamuz Dubnov (CTO), and Adir Ben-Yehuda (CEO). Team includes four former Israeli CTOs. Currently employs about 20 people across Tel Aviv and NYC offices. Born from Faingold's vision to bring automation to development like he did with cybersecurity.
• The Product: 💻 Proprietary Agentic Context Engine (ACE) powers AI developers that integrate with existing workflows. Absorbs company coding standards and project history. Generates production-ready front-end code with 95% acceptance rates. Boosts team productivity by 44%. Works autonomously across version control, testing frameworks, and project management tools.
• The Competition: 🥊 Faces off against GitHub Copilot, Amazon CodeWhisperer, and Tabnine. Unlike these assistants that merely suggest code, AutonomyAI functions as a full team member handling complete tasks. Differentiates by working organization-wide rather than helping individual coders. Challenges both AI tools and traditional outsourcing.
• Financing: 💰 Secured $4 million pre-seed funding (April 2025) from Inbound Capital, ION Crossover Partners' Gilad Shany, and Google Cloud's Vikram Makhiija. Already generating revenue — approximately $100k monthly from early pilots in Israel and US. Valuation undisclosed but substantial for pre-seed stage.
• The Future: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ AutonomyAI tackles developer shortages head-on with its "do more with less" value proposition. Perfect timing for cost-conscious tech firms. Must overcome trust issues — developers worry about AI-coded security flaws. Big tech competition looms, but their focused approach and leadership experience give them edge. Expect expansion beyond front-end soon! 😎
Good Morning from San Francisco, Microsoft dropped a mic: AI writes 30% of their code now! 💻 Google matches this pace,
Good Morning from San Francisco, The tech world's most intriguing power couple hits turbulent waters. Microsoft and OpenAI,
Good Morning from San Francisco, Meta's AI chatbots slipped into dangerous territory. 🚨 The Wall Street Journal busted them
Good Morning from San Francisco, Baidu unleashed chaos in China's AI market. The search giant slashed prices on
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