Welcome back to your daily dossier talking AI, robotics, crypto and the future of tech. 👾

In today’s edition we are tackling the following:

🧠 OpenAI’s o3 AI model scores lower on benchmark than the company initially implied.
🤖 Chinese researchers develop smallest amphibious shape-shifting robot.
📈 XRP price coiled for a significant move as key volatility indicator mirrors 2024.
💰 How beehiiv raised $50M to date with Tyler Denk.
🚚 Uber in talks to buy Turkish delivery platform Trendyol Go.

AI

• OpenAI’s o3 AI model scores lower on a benchmark than the company initially implied

  • A discrepancy between first- and third-party benchmark results for OpenAI’s o3 AI model is raising questions about model testing practices.

  • When OpenAI unveiled o3 in December, the company claimed the model could answer just over a fourth of questions on FrontierMath.

  • That score blew the competition away, the next-best model managed to answer only around 2% of FrontierMath problems correctly.

• Italian newspaper gives free rein to AI and admires its irony

  • Artificial intelligence can write a great book review and is good at irony, but it won't replace quality journalism, at the forefront of AI experiment.

  • In what it said was a world first, Il Foglio put out a four-page daily insert for one month that was written entirely by AI and was sold.

  • The trial was a big success and boosted sales, editor Claudio Cerasa said, and will now publish a separate section once a week written by AI.

• Famed AI researcher launches controversial startup to replace all human workers everywhere

  • Mechanize was launched on Thursday via a post on X by its founder, famed AI researcher Tamay Besiroglu.

  • The startup’s goal, Besiroglu wrote, is ‘the full automation of all work’ and ‘the full automation of the economy.’

  • Besiroglu’s AI research institute, Epoch, analyzes the economic impact of AI and produces benchmarks for AI performance.

ROBOTICS

• Chinese researchers develop smallest amphibious shape-shifting robot

  • A Chinese research team has developed the world’s smallest and lightest wireless amphibious robot, capable of transforming.

  • The robot, developed by researchers at Tsinghua University, measures 9 centimeters in length and weighs just 25 grams.

  • The team designed a miniature actuator that allows microrobots to continuously shift shape and ‘lock’ into specific configurations.

• Robots run a half marathon slowly

  • Beijing’s E-Town tech hub hosted what it described as the world’s first humanoid half-marathon on Saturday with 21 competing robots.

  • The winning robot, Tiangong Ultra, was built by research institute X-Humanoid and finished the race in two hours and 40 minutes.

  • Tiangong Ultra needed human assistance to win, specifically a human who ran ahead with a signaling device on his back imitating movements.

• Strawberry-harvesting machines eradicate human labor sparking fear and curiosity across American farms

  • Strawberry-harvesting robots from Osaka Metropolitan University are transforming agriculture by addressing labor shortages.

  • Utilizing lidar technology, these robots create detailed 3D maps for precise navigation in high-bed cultivation fields.

  • Beyond harvesting, these robots have the potential to revolutionize farming by automating crop monitoring, pruning, and irrigation.

CRYPTO

• XRP price coiled for a significant move as key volatility indicator mirrors 2024 patterns

  • XRP and bitcoin's price action resembles a compressed spring, indicating potential for significant movement.

  • The Bollinger bandwidth for both cryptocurrencies is at its lowest level since October 2024, suggesting a buildup of market energy.

  • While tight bands can lead to rallies, they can also precede sell-offs, as seen in October 2022 after FTX's collapse.

• Bitget will roll back trades, compensate users after 'abnormal' VOXEL trading activity

  • Crypto exchange BitGet will roll back trades affecting its perpetual futures market for the VOXEL token, following ‘abnormal’ activity.

  • BitGet said certain accounts ‘potentially engaged in market manipulation,’ triggering the exchange’s risk-control system.

  • A Bitget spokesperson said on X the exchange is still investigating the incident, and will provide an update within 24 hours.

• Trump's official memecoin surges despite massive $320M unlock in thin holiday trading

  • Donald Trump's TRUMP memecoin has gained over 9% in the past 24 hours, following a $320 million token unlock.

  • The token unlock could still lead to a large sell-off, given the token's thin liquidity, with data showing that just $1.3M could move by 2%.

  • There are currently 636,000 TRUMP token holders, with only 12,285 wallets holding more than $1,000 worth of the cryptocurrency.

CONTENT

• How beehiiv raised $50M to date with Tyler Denk

  • Guest post features Tyler Denk, the CEO of beehiiv, who’s going to detail how they raised their $50M to date across four different rounds. 

  • Tyler stressed that they were not actively looking to raise money but took the opportunity because it aligned with their long-term vision.

  • They want to remain independent and focus on building a long-lasting business, not rush toward an acquisition or exit.

• How Zepto became India’s fastest growing startup

  • This episode of Y Combinator introduced Aadit Palicha as the Co-Founder and CEO of Zepto.

  • Zepto is known to be one of the fastest-growing e-commerce and quick commerce companies in India.

  • Aadit shared how Zepto started as a simple WhatsApp group during COVID that solved the pain of unreliable grocery delivery in India.

• Anti-business billionaires: lessons from Steve Jobs, James Dyson, and Yvon Chouinard

  • David Senra, the creator and host of the popular podcast Founders, joins Sam on this episode.

  • He stressed that extreme disagreeableness is a superpower among legendary founders, they refuse to compromise and instead force the world to adjust to their standards.

  • David discussed how self-confidence always comes before evidence in great entrepreneurs.

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• Uber in talks to buy Turkish delivery platform Trendyol Go

  • Uber Technologies Inc. is in discussions to acquire Trendyol Go, a food and grocery delivery service from Turkey’s Trendyol Group.

  • Sources familiar with the negotiations report that the terms of the deal are not yet disclosed, and no final agreement has been reached.

  • Trendyol Group is one of Turkey’s largest ecommerce platforms, operating in retail, logistics, and fintech sectors.

• Synology is tightening restrictions on third-party NAS hard drives

  • Synology is preparing to roll out new restrictions on third-party hard drives in its future network attached storage devices later this year.

  • The changes could make it much harder to use third-party drives in Synology’s devices for typical use cases.

  • The good news is that if you already own a Synology NAS, the company says the change won’t affect you.

• The new Star Wars strategy game launches in 2026

  • Star Wars Zero Company will release sometime in 2026, according to an announcement from Disney and EA. 

  • In Star Wars Zero Company, players will step into the shoes of Hawks, a former Republic officer to command an elite squad of cunning operative.

  • Bit Reactor is leading development on Zero Company alongside Respawn Entertainment and Lucasfilm Games.