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

In today’s edition we are tackling the following:

🐶 Robot dogs are patrolling Mar-A-Lago.
🚨 FTX co-founder will narrowly avoid joining SBF in jain.
🔍 Pokemon Go moonlights as an AI model.
🚀 NASA calling on SpaceX and Blue Origin to run moon transports.
💸 Elon’s xAI raises at a $50 billion valuation.

AI

• Nvidia's Data Center Revenue Hits Record High as Results Top Estimates

  • Nvidia reported third-quarter results that beat analysts’ estimates on the top and bottom lines.

  • Q3 revenue nearly double year-over-year to a record $35.08 billion, with net income at $19.31 billion.

  • Shares still fell slightly in extended trading Wednesday as investors may have had higher expectations.

• Elon Musk’s xAI Startup Is Valued at $50 Billion in New Funding Round

  • xAI, has told investors it raised $5 billion in a funding round valuing it at $50 billion—more than twice what it was valued at several months ago.

  • Qatar’s sovereign-wealth fund, Qatar Investment Authority, Valor Equity Partners, Sequoia Capital, a16z are all expected to participate.

  • The financing brings the total amount xAI has raised to $11 billion this year.

• Business spending on AI surged 500% this year to $13.8 billion

  • AI surged 500% hitting $13.8 billion, up from just $2.3 billion in 2023, according to data from Menlo Ventures.

  • OpenAI ceded market share in enterprise AI, declining from 50% to 34%, per the report.

  • Amazon-backed Anthropic doubled its market share from 12% to 24%.

ROBOTICS

• ‘Do not pet’: Why are robot dogs patrolling Mar-A-Lago?

  • Robotic dog named “Spot” made by Boston Dynamics is the latest tool in the arsenal of the US Secret Service.

  • The device has lately been spotted patrolling the perimeter of President-elect Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.

  • They do not have weapons - and each can be controlled remotely or automatically - as long as its route is pre-programmed.

• China overtakes Germany in industrial use of robots

  • Annual report by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) showed China has overtaken Germany in the use of robots in industry.

  • Robot density, is an important indicator for international comparisons of the automation of the manufacturing industry,

  • South Korea is the world leader with 1,012 robots per 10,000 employees, up 5% since 2018, said the IFR.

• Amazon robots struggling to keep up with human workers

  • Autonomous robots are filling up Amazon warehouses, where they're sorting, loading, and unloading packages with impressive efficiency.

  • Still they struggle at ‘targeted picking,’ involving having to search through a container to pluck out an item hidden by other stuff.

  • Even so, Amazon is heavily relying on on robots, with over 750,000 of the machines in use overall, about half of its 1.55 million human workers.

CRYPTO

• MicroStrategy’s bitcoin bet is paying off in more ways than one

  • MicroStrategy’s bitcoin buying has exploded, now holding 1.7% of the asset’s circulating supply.

  • Sen. Lummis has pitched a 1 million BTC target for the government reserve, worth $93.2 billion at current prices.

  • Meaning MicroStrategy could frontrun the US government at size, potentially driving up prices before the reserve buys.

• FTX co-founder Gary Wang receives no prison time following fallout of crypto exchange

  • Gary Wang pleaded guilty in December 2022 to fraud-related charges following the collapse of FTX a month earlier.

  • Judge Lewis Kaplan of New York said he had “never seen something like what happened here” and added that Wang did the “right thing.”

  • Bankman-Fried and Wang first met at a summer math camp during high school and maintained their friendship through college at MIT.

• Trump's team is considering a new White House role focused on crypto policy

  • The Trump team is screening candidates to serve in that role, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

  • It is not clear whether the position would be more similar to a senior staff position at the White House or as a "crypto czar."

  • President-elect Trump strongly embraced crypto during election season this past year.

CONTENT

• Gwern - The Anonymous Writer Who Predicted The Path to AI

  • Gwern, a pseudonymous researcher and writer, joins Dwarkesh Patel to discuss all things AI.

  • Ranging from anonymity, Isaac Newton's theory of progress, the grand theory of intelligence, seeing scaling early, and AGI Timelines.

  • Also discussed; human vs artificial intelligence, AI for hearing impairment, Gwern's intelligence and process and more.

• Anatomy of a Win-Win Acquisition: Synergy, Growth, AI, and the Future of SaaS

  • Spenser Skates and James Evans join Alex Wilhelm to discuss Amplitude's acquisition of Command AI.

  • Plus startup M&A trends, product-led growth, enhancing user experience and managing acquisition risks.

  • And integration, cultural alignment, discussions, deal negotiation and more.

• 3 $1M+ AI startup ideas to build in 2025 (and how to grow them)

  • Arvid Kahl, CEO and Founder of Podscan joins Greg Isenberg to explore a wide range of AI startup ideas and business opportunities.

  • Idea one is AI co-founder, the second is silent refactoring as a service and the third is niche-specific AI-powered content curation.

  • Greg and Arvid’s key takeaway is that AI enables solo founders to tackle bigger problems.

AND MORE…

• Pokemon Go players are actually training a giant AI model

  • Players have been training a large geospatial artificial intelligence, tied into something called the Visual Positioning System (or VPS).

  • The AI will learn about complex three dimensional spaces, in a way that can be used for future augmented reality or even robotic applications.

  • OSINT analyst Elise Thomas claims, there's a decent likelihood that this technology also enters military use at some point.

• Xbox cloud streaming expands beyond Game Pass to games you own

  • Xbox Cloud Gaming now lets Game Pass Ultimate subscribers stream 50 owned games including Baldur's Gate 3.

  • Games available on TVs, smartphones, tablets, and PCs, with Xbox/Windows support coming next year.

  • Project Lapland aims to expand streaming service to thousands of games across Xbox libraries.

• NASA wants SpaceX and Blue Origin to deliver cargo to the moon

  • NASA plans to partner with SpaceX and Blue Origin to develop specialized cargo landers for ambitious Artemis lunar missions.

  • SpaceX's Starship will deliver pressurized rover by 2032, while Blue Origin constructs lunar habitat for 2033.

  • Both companies are enhancing their human landing systems to transport massive 33,000-pound payloads moonward.