Hi! Here’s your latest tech & business update:
🤖 12,000 Robots Headed Our Way
🇺🇸 US Startups Want to Ban Chinese AI
📱 iPhone 17 Air Design
📰 + Quick News You Should Know About
📚 + Content for Your Leisure Time
🛠️ + Tool That I Recommend
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🤖 12,000 Robots Headed Our Way
What’s Happening: Figure has announced BotQ, a new California-based facility that produces humanoid robots. The factory's initial production line aims to manufacture up to 12,000 units annually, with expansion plans.
The company has also developed advanced software systems to support large-scale production. Notably, Figure plans to integrate its robots into the manufacturing process to assist in building additional robots, enhancing automation over time.
The Context: Figure is one of the few hardwired startups backed by OpenAI. Last year, the partners announced a deal to “develop next-generation AI models for humanoid robots.” That's when Figure raised $675M and received a $2.6B valuation.
With each passing month, Figure gets closer to “OpenAI by Humanoid World” status. I think we should follow this project more closely.
🇺🇸 US Startups Want to Ban Chinese AI
What’s Happening: OpenAI has requested that the U.S. government ban DeepSeek due to security and privacy concerns. In a 15-page letter to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy on March 13, Chris Lehane, OpenAI's Vice President of Global Affairs, noted that while the U.S. currently leads in AI development, DeepSeek's rapid progress suggests this advantage is diminishing.
Lehane argued that deploying DeepSeek in critical infrastructure could pose security risks, alleging manipulation by the Chinese government. He also accused DeepSeek of intellectual property theft and warned its users of privacy risks.
The Context: A few days earlier, Anthropic founder Dario Amodei urged the US government to fight Chinese companies that want to steal the secrets of AI companies. Speaking at a Council on Foreign Relations event, he said that a few lines of code that hide the algorithm's secret could be worth $100 million.
It's a little sad to see statements like this from a major player towards open-source projects. If the government agrees to OpenAI's proposals, it will give U.S. startups an advantage and, at the same time, hurt competition.
📱iPhone 17 Air Design
What's Happening: Tipster Sonny Dickson has published some dummies for the next iPhone lineup. Judging by the images, this year, Apple will redesign smartphones, changing the shape of the camera unit. Starting in 2025, a model with the prefix “Air” will join the iPhone series. It will be the thinnest smartphone ever released by the company (about 5.5mm) and won't have any ports.
The Context: These dummies are often provided to third-party case makers to prepare them for next year's phones. And while the appearance may differ in details, the leak shows the size difference between the rumored iPhone 17 Air and the rest of Apple's upcoming phones.
The iPhone 17 series is expected to be released in September this year.
For me, adding an “Air” model to the iPhone 17 lineup seems rather odd (and silly). When we're talking about Macs and iPads, the desire to make the device as thin as possible seems justified. However, the thickness of a smartphone is clearly not a deal maker in 2025. Am I wrong?
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📰 Quick News You Should Know About
Joby and Virgin Atlantic will launch an air taxi service in the UK.
The British airline company has agreed on a partnership with a California-based startup. The partners will use Joby's five-seat eVTOLs and Virgin Atlantic's infrastructure.
Virgin Atlantic also says customers will be able to get from Manchester Airport to Leeds in 15 minutes or from Heathrow Airport to Canary Wharf in 8 minutes.
Sounds nice, right?
Woz says Tesla ‘is the worst in the world’ at improving its technology
Apple's co-founder believes Tesla's user interface fails. Although Steve Wozniak was one of Tesla's early fans, he became disillusioned with the automaker and Elon Musk after a series of software changes destroyed the driving experience.
Scopely and Niantic have struck the largest video game M&A deal in years
The Pokemon Go developer is leaving the gaming business. Once the $3.5B deal is finalized, the related assets will go to Scopely, an American video game developer and publisher.
I discussed why this is important in an earlier installment of The Context Loop.
Bloomberg: Apple plans to bring live translation to AirPods
According to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, The feature, which will let us translate conversations in real-time, will be “tied” to the forthcoming iOS 19, Gurman says. A similar thing was implemented by Google a few years ago in the Pixel Buds.
Google Assitant is moving to “Google's Graveyard”
Speaking of Google. The company has confirmed that it will replace its digital assistant on Android smartphones with Gemini later this year. Later, Google Assistant will no longer be available on most mobile devices or in app stores.
Seeing another Google product on the Graveyard.
📚 Content for Your Leisure Time
If you don't have enough AI, a new selection from TechCrunch is a great way to remedy the situation. And seriously, YC's new Demo Days are a good way to get a handle on the top trends among startups.
A funny story and a good reminder that maybe we rely too often on digital tools and, sometimes, it's worth working on our own.
Anthropic's research about how different professions use generative models.
🛠️ My Favorite Extension: Pocket
Dispatchability has never been my strong point (and frankly, it's a disaster for someone who has to handle a lot of fresh content). And the primary tool that keeps me from going crazy is Pocket, developed by Mozilla Corporation.
It is one of the oldest bookmarking services that allows you to save web pages. Over the past few years, because I have used it regularly, it has become a complete library of all the essential information I need on the web. Pocket allows to save articles, videos, and other web content to view later.
And it's great for those who want to organize and store information.
In addition, Pocket offers curated selections on various topics and provides tips and advice. Incorporating this app into your daily routine will help you optimize your content consumption and learning. Definitely recommend giving it a try.
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