Alex

There is a tremendous amount of progress happening in World Models. Multiple labs have raised more than $1B. WMs were the star of GTC. They are a real path to embodied AI. So @PimDeWitte & I wrote a comprehensive 19k word overview of World Models. notboring.co/p/world-models

An exceptional dissection of vertical software moats in the AI era

NEWS: Boston Dynamics has just released a new video of its upgraded next-generation humanoid robot called Atlas. • 4 hour battery. Self-swappable for continuous operation • 6 feet 2 inches tall • Weight: 198 lbs • 56 total degrees of freedom • Now fully electric, ditching older hydraulic systems • New lightweight mix of aluminum and titanium components • 110 lbs weight capacity (66 lbs sustained) • Can reach up to 7.5 ft • Constantly evaluates its surroundings and adjusts its posture, balance, and grip in real time • Hands that can reconfigure as needed. Tactile sensors feed data back into the system, helping apply the right amount of force • Brain is powered by Nvidia chips

🚨 WATCH: Ex-Google CEO's BANNED Interview LEAKED: "You Have No Idea What's Coming" Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently made headlines with some controversial comments about AI during an interview conduced at Stanford University. This interview was taken down at his request

Peter Thiel literally gave a 17-minute masterclass on Zero to One blueprint to escape competition and build a monopoly:

At fintech's peak, 25% of venture dollars went into the category. In the second half of 2022, that number dropped to almost zero. And now, fintech is building momentum again as AI makes new software solutions possible. Plaid CEO Zach Perret joined a16z's David Haber and Erik Torenberg to cover the wild story of fintech's ups and downs and where the industry is headed, including: - How fintech startups went mainstream - Why AI has caused a significant increase in financial fraud, and how companies like Plaid are building safeguards - How fintech has solved the "access problem," so that many more people can use excellent financial services products - How Plaid uses big data to deliver financial freedom for consumers 00:00 Introduction 01:10 A recent history of fintech 04:43 VC surge and fintech summer 08:25 Solving the access problem 10:41 Is crypto fintech? 13:51 Plaid's evolution and industry impact 17:26 Consumer behavior and adoption 21:48 Global fintech expansion 27:43 2026 predictions: AI and fraud 40:26 Emerging trends in fintech 43:34 Plaid's anti-fraud and credit innovations @zachperret @dhaber @eriktorenberg @Plaid

This is BEYOND insane: AI compute demand is now growing at over 2 TIMES the rate of Moore’s Law, creating a massive shortage. Just to meet current demand, $500 billion must be invested in data centers PER YEAR until 2030. What does this mean? Let us explain. (a thread)

🪩The one and only @stateofai 2025 is live! 🪩 It’s been a monumental 12 months for AI. Our 8th annual report is the most comprehensive it's ever been, covering what you *need* to know about research, industry, politics, safety and our new usage data. My highlight reel:

ATTN: U.S. POLICYMAKERS

This is fantastic: ChatGPT just shipped the exact memory feature I've always wanted - automatic memory that's scoped to a specific project simonwillison.net/2025/Aug/22/pr…

Meta, Google, and Microsoft all use encryption built by the same 50-person nonprofit. Zero revenue from 2 billion users. The founder uses a fake name. And when the FBI subpoenaed them, they only provided 2 pieces of data. Here's how a non-profit secures the internet🧵

@andruyeung Saw this recently, personally think @PlugandPlayTC is brilliant. Source: cbinsights.com/research/repor…

What are the best accelerator programs for pre-seed / seed stage startups?

@matbogus @dom_peely @kobi_kelemen @Lampadare Congrats Matvey! Awesome project, sad to have missed the e/acc event to see it in person!

This past weekend @dom_peely @kobi_kelemen @Lampadare and won amazing prizes at the e/acc London hackathon. Here's a vid summarising our project: ROss BOb! youtu.be/GCKFOmsX1dI

@pronounced_kyle Great research and fact-checking! Appreciate the breakdown of actuals on the article’s core ‘facts’.

Alright I've got a bone to pick with this WSJ article. I thought it seemed too pessimistic to be true, so I dug in — and I was right. The article is factually inaccurate. -- The article's core "facts": ‣ "Venture-backed companies were awarded less than 1% of the $411 billion Defense Department contracts [last year]." ‣ "Venture capitalists have poured more than $100 billion into U.S. defense-technology startups since 2021." That results in a negative frame: only 1% ($4 billion) of the budget, returning only 4% of invested capital. But: ‣ They link their source for the "$100 billion investment" stat and it is far less than that... their own source says it's ~$20B, not $100B. ‣ Turns out the $100B number includes defense primes like Boeing, Raytheon, etc. (!!!) ‣ That's obviously just a mistake on their part — their argument is that startups are providing a poor return on capital while Boeing & Raytheon get all the contracts... so by including the big guys in the denominator but not the numerator, they're vastly overstating the "lack" of return on capital. ‣ Conclusion: based on their own sources, their core argument is 5x less compelling than the article claims. -- But it gets worse, because the article is also asking you to judge a defense startup by its first 1-3 years of revenue. As anyone in defense tech knows, that is... hard. Defense budgets are planned years in advance. And even if the DoD loves you, they only dedicate so much money to new R&D programs — about 1/2. The other half is for "procurement," which means "buying another unit of something we've already bought." It's even hard to get a true RDT&E contract in 3 years... but still: there's another 2x narrative multiplier for you. -- In the end, we have, based on their own sources: ‣ $20B invested ‣ Addressing a total pie, today, of ~$120B (3% of total RDT&E) ‣ $4B YEARLY revenue, so ~$12B revenue vs. that $20B invested over three years ‣ ...which is up 2x (from $2B yearly revenue) in 2017 Not too shabby. Certainly not alarming enough to claim the Pentagon "isn't betting on defense startups." They are. And they will invest much more in defense startups very soon, if the trends continue.