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

In today’s edition, we are tackling the following:

📰 ChatGPT’s responses will now include Washington Post articles.
👁️ xAI’s Grok chatbot can now ‘see’ the world around it.
🐝 Bug-size robots that fly and flip could pollinate futuristic farms’ crops.
⚖️ Meteora faces a lawsuit for allegedly manipulating the token supply of 'M3M3'.
📵 Pinterest is prompting teens to close the app at school.

AI

• ChatGPT’s responses will now include Washington Post articles

  • OpenAI and The Washington Post just announced a new content partnership that will summarize and link to the Post’s original reporting.

  • This is OpenAI’s latest media partnership, with the AI giant inking deals with over 20 news publishers so far.

  • The Washington Post says it will benefit from ChatGPT’s vast audience, with the chatbot now counting more than 500 million users.

• xAI’s Grok chatbot can now ‘see’ the world around it

  • xAI’s Grok chatbot can now answer questions about what’s given your smartphone’s camera.

  • This new feature is similar to real-time vision features available for Google’s Gemini and ChatGPT.

  • Grok Vision is accessible from the Grok app for iOS, but not the Grok Android app just yet.

• Manychat taps $140M to boost its business messaging platform with AI

  • Manychat, which provides a tool for automating conversations, has picked up $140 million in a Series B round led by Summit Partners.

  • The funding is coming on the heels of strong growth for the startup. Manychat today has around 1.5 million customers across 170 countries.

  • Manychat is mostly profitable, as Yan describes it, the company ‘always operates on the edge of being kind of break even.’ 

ROBOTICS

• Bug-size robots that fly and flip could pollinate futuristic farms’ crops

  • Tiny flying robots could perform such useful tasks as pollinating crops inside multilevel warehouses, boosting yields.

  • The latest robo-bug from an MIT lab, inspired by the anatomy of the bee, comes closer to matching nature’s performance than ever before.

  • The new robot also reached an average speed of 35 centimeters per second and was able to perform body rolls and double flips.

• AI teaches robots tasks from a single how-to video

  • Researchers have developed RHyME, an AI-powered system that enables robots to learn complex tasks by watching videos.

  • Traditional robots struggle with unpredictable scenarios, but RHyME allows robots to adapt by drawing on previous video knowledge.

  • This method bridges the gap between human and robotic motion, enabling more flexible and efficient learning through imitation.

• China to host the first ‌embodied Artificial Intelligence robot games ‌in Wuxi

  • China's first ‌Embodied Artificial Intelligence Robot Games‌ will be held from ‌April 24 to 26‌ in Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu Province.

  • The event will feature a multifaceted event, including competitions, exhibitions, carnivals, and thematic conferences.

  • China's humanoid robot manufacturers are set to significantly increase production in 2025.

CRYPTO

• Meteora faces a lawsuit for allegedly manipulating the token supply of the 'M3M3' token

  • Plaintiffs have accused Solana DEX Meteora and its founder of secretly controlling the M3M3 meme coin launch, resulting in $69M losses.

  • The suit claims 150 insider wallets were used to dominate 95% of the token supply within 20 minutes of launch.

  • It follows a similar case tied to LIBRA, another meme coin scandal involving the same defendants and political fallout in Argentina.

• Rep. Velázquez targets Puerto Rico crypto tax loophole with new bill

  • Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez, D-N.Y., introduced the Fair Taxation of Digital Assets in Puerto Rico Act on Tuesday.

  • The bill would make income from cryptocurrency staking, mining, or trading in Puerto Rico subject to federal taxation.

  • It would amend the current law that allows individuals to exempt crypto-based income if they have lived on the island for at least six months.

• Bitcoin tops $93K as Trump's U.S.-China tariff optimism fuels Crypto rally

  • Bitcoin surged past $93,000 on Tuesday afternoon amid optimism over U.S.-China trade relations.

  • President Trump said U.S. tariffs on China will come down substantially, from the current 145%.

  • Despite today's rally, on-chain data suggests underlying market fragility with BTC facing resistance, according to a CryptoQuant report.

CONTENT

• Ads get ignored—unless they’re in Futuristica*

  • 70,000+ tech founders and AI enthusiasts read Futuristica regularly to keep ahead of trends shaping the future of work and innovation.

  • Connect directly with an engaged, forward-thinking audience, influencing tomorrow’s tech landscape.

  • We’ll craft your ad copy for free—join the conversation.

• Quitting your job to start a business? Watch this first

  • In this episode of the TxO Startup Hotline series, Kofi Ampadu of Andreessen Horowitz answers the classic founder dilemma.

  • He walks through the emotional and practical aspects of making that decision, touching on personal passion and business readiness.

  • The conversation explores the tension between the stability of a salary and the uncertainty of entrepreneurship.

• Building a magical AI code editor used by over 1M developers in 4 months

  • Varun Mohan, CEO and co-founder of Windsurf, leads an AI-powered IDE used by over a million developers in just four months.

  • Windsurf left a profitable GPU business to pursue a bigger vision: empowering developers with AI tools.

  • The company defied startup norms by building a massive 80-person sales team early to push B2B growth.

• The dual-use founder: Vets bow building for America

  • a16z’s Matt Shortal hosts a panel with three defense-tech founders—John Doyle, David Tuttle, and Grant Jordan.

  • These founders of Cape, Rune, and Skysafe transitioned from military service to launching startups.

  • The discussion explores how their frontline experience shaped their companies and the defense industry’s evolving needs.

AND MORE…

• Pinterest is prompting teens to close the app at school

  • Pinterest is testing a new pop-up prompt that it will display to minors in the US and Canada during school hours, encouraging them to close the app.

  • “Focus is a beautiful thing,” the prompt says. “Stay in the moment by putting Pinterest down and pausing notifs until the school bell rings.”

  • The pop-up will only appear to minors aged 13 to 17, and only between 8 AM and 3 PM, Monday to Friday.

• Insta360’s new 360-degree action cam lets you replace damaged lenses

  • Insta360 has also upgraded the ability to capture more light will potentially improve the X5’s low-light performance.

  • The X5’s video capabilities max out at 8K/30 fps, even when using that new PureVideo low-light mode.

  • The framerate jumps to 60 fps with the resolution reduced to 5.7K, and can go as high as 120 fps for capturing slow motion video set to 4K. 

• Tesla profits drop 71% on weak sales and anti-Elon Musk sentiment

  • Tesla’s flailing sales figures have put the company closer to the red than it has been in years, according to financial results released Tuesday.

  • The electric automaker reported $409M in net income on $19.3B in revenue after delivering almost 337,000 EVs in the 1st quarter of 2025.

  • The company’s net income reflects a 71% drop from the same quarter last year.