TLDR 2025-03-06

Big things are happening in fintech this year. Get ahead of them with Plaid Co-founder and CEO Zach Perret's predictions for 2025. For example, Zach predicts that:

• AI hype will mostly just be hype, and customer impact is still a while away
• Fintech and crypto funding might rise to 2018-2019 levels
• Stablecoins will grow massively, mostly for currency hedging and cross-border payments

You'll also get expert takes on how likely these predictions are to pan out from Plaid President Jen Taylor and Head of Policy John Pitts.

Get the guide → Fintech Predictions: Six trends to know for 2025

Google may soon just tell users what's on the Internet instead of showing them. The company is expanding its AI search features and testing a more substantial change in the form of AI Mode - a version of Google that will only show AI results. Google insists that helping people discover content online remains central to its approach, but AI Mode won't show organic results - it is designed to operate in a conversational way, so users will have to refine their search or ask follow-up questions. The experimental feature is only available for Google One AI Premium subscribers.

Apple's MacBook Air lineup has been upgraded with the M4 chip. There are no major changes to the laptop's physical design, screen specs, keyboard, or ports. The 13-inch M4 MacBook Air will start at $999 and the 15-inch model will cost $1,199. The baseline configurations will come with 16GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and the 8-core version of the M4's GPU. The new MacBook Airs will have a 12-megapixel Center Stage camera and a new color option, Sky Blue.

Robot surgeries account for around 22% of surgeries nowadays. The method offers less bleeding, less time in the hospital, and faster recovery time with less pain. These robots are machines operated by highly trained and experienced surgeons that remotely operate arms that hold tiny surgical instruments. Using robots allows surgeons to comfortably maneuver in places that are otherwise quite restrictive. The technology is not only becoming more widespread, it is also becoming more advanced - it may be possible one day to have robots operating independently.

It was 18,700 days, or 51 years, between the time when the Apollo 17 mission landed on the Moon and when Intuitive Machines' Nova-C Odysseus lander did on February 22, 2024. While Intuitive Machines' lander top toppled over, it still completed most of its scientific experiments. Firefly's Blue Ghost stuck its landing last weekend, making it two landings in slightly more than a year. Intuitive Machines plans to send a second Nova-C lander, Athena, to the Moon this afternoon - if successful, that would be three US landers in 377 days.

Telemetry can tell you more than technical performance. Business observability adds commercial context to your log data, allowing you to extend traditional observability by incorporating business performance as an additional output. Find real world use cases, examples, and an actionable implementation framework in this Datadog eBook.

The Aider CLI Python utility uses an innovative solution to help end users install it in an isolated virtual environment without first needing to teach them what an 'isolated virtual environment' is. It uses the uv Rust binary to install aider-chat, which in turn installs a brand-new standalone copy of Python 3.12 and puts it into uv's own managed directory structure where it shouldn't hurt anything else. There's more to it, and more advanced users may opt for an alternative installation mechanism, but the pattern is a very tasteful way of getting everything working for non-expert Python users with minimal risk of breaking their systems.

Lynx is a family of technologies that empower developers to create truly native UIs for both mobile and web from a single code base. It can deliver vibrant and engaging UIs for large-scale apps with its speedy, versatile rendering engine, performance-driven dual-threaded UI programming, and modern Rust-based tooling. Lynx is designed for diverse use cases and rich interactivity. Examples of UIs made with Lynx are available in the article.

Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian is helping Digg make a comeback. Ohanian and Digg founder Kevin Rose have acquired the platform for an undisclosed sum. The new Digg plans to differentiate itself in the social media market by focusing on AI innovations designed to enhance the user experience and build a human-centered alternative. The platform will prioritize transparency, reward human effort, and foster enriching discussions. It will not just be a Digg or Reddit clone.

Columbia University student Roy Lee managed to land internships at Amazon, Meta, and TikTok using a simple AI program. He had originally planned to get a degree to work in Big Tech, but training for technical interviews killed his passion for the job, which led him to create the program. Columbia University has scheduled a disciplinary hearing for Lee's stunt, but he will not be attending - Lee plans to leave the university, saying that the program he built is proof that the jobs Big Tech are offering are becoming obsolete.

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Apple may be opting to skip the M4 Ultra entirely and refresh the niche chips at a slower cadence.

OpenAI intends to launch several agent products tailored for different applications, with the most expensive rumored agent, which is aimed at supporting 'PhD-level research', priced at $20,000 per month.

Many experts, including those in government, believe that transformational artificial intelligence will be coming in the next two to three years.

The judge will likely want to block OpenAI's non-profit to for-profit conversion if they find that Elon Musk's donation gives him legal standing.

Some people desperately want large language models to be a bigger deal than what they are, but these people seem to be sailing against the winds of evidence.

Blue Origin employees say they are moving to a permanent 50-hour workweek with frequent 12-hour shifts and that badge scanners have been introduced to track employee time.