TLDR 2025-05-23
OpenAI hardware plan leaks π , Claude 4 π€, Stripe's dev velocity π¨βπ»
What Sam Altman Told OpenAI About the Secret Device He's Making With Jony Ive (5 minute read)
OpenAI plans to ship 100 million AI 'companions' that will be capable of being fully aware of users' surroundings and lives. The company aims to create a third core device for people to use on a desk after a computer and mobile device. The device will be unobtrusive and be able to rest in one's pocket or desk. It won't be a phone - one of the design goals is to help wean users from screens.
Anthropic launches Claude 4, its most powerful AI model yet (4 minute read)
Anthropic has launched Claude 4, a new group of artificial intelligence models. The company claims that Claude Opus 4 and Claude Sonnet 4 define a new standard when it comes to AI agents. The models can analyze thousands of data sources, execute long-running tasks, write human-quality content, and perform complex actions. Both models can search the web to complete tasks and alternate between reasoning and tool use.
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Science & Futuristic Technology
Exclusive look at the creation of High NA, ASML's new $400 million chipmaking colossus (13 minute read)
High NA, which stands for high numerical aperture, is the world's most advanced and expensive chipmaking machine. Costing more than $400 million, the machine took ASML nearly a decade to develop. It is made up of four modules that are manufactured around the world and assembled in the Netherlands. Only five of the colossal machines have ever been shipped. This article takes a look at High NA, how ASML plans to deploy the technology, the benefits that High NA provides, how the technology works, the effects that China, tariffs, and US growth will have on the technology, and more. A link to a video showing High NA in action is available at the end of the article.
World's tallest 3D-printed building reaches a height of 100 feet (3 minute read)
The Tor Alva, the world's tallest 3D-printed building, has been completed in Switzerland. The structure, which the creators liken to an 'ornate layered cake', sits at an impressive height of 30 meters. It is located in a village that's currently home to just 11 people. The building took around 900 hours of printing to complete using two construction robots: a 3D printer and a machine used to add steel reinforcement. Pictures of Tor Alva are available in the article.
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Programming, Design & Data Science
AI Engineer World's Fair (Sponsor)
New capabilities for building agents on the Anthropic API (4 minute read)
Anthropic has announced four new capabilities on its API that enable developers to build more powerful AI agents. The code execution tool, MCP connector, Files API, and ability to cache prompts for up to an hour will enable developers to build agents that execute code for advanced data analysis, connect to external systems through MCP servers, store and access files efficiently across sessions, and maintain context for up to 60 minutes without building custom infrastructure. All of the features are now available in public beta on the Anthropic API.
On 1,145 pull requests per day (3 minute read)
Stripe did an average of 1,145 pull requests per day in 2024 while having less than a minute of API unreliability for the entire year. The company is likely in the top 1% in software delivery performance. It has a very demanding but advanced engineering culture with a relentless focus on continuously shipping value for users. Shipping safely at this velocity and scale implies heavy investment in automated tests, deployments, rollbacks, observability, code ownership, and other areas.
Meta is about to start rating more workers as 'below expectations,' internal memo shows (3 minute read)
Meta's managers have been instructed to rank more employees as 'below expectations' in performance ratings. This could set the stage for more performance-based cuts. The review process is set to begin on June 16. Conversations between managers and employees on performance are scheduled for between July and August.
Engineers and AI: ramblings of a small startup founder (9 minute read)
While everyone seems to want to replace software engineers, AI just isn't there yet. Not everyone can just dive into a problem with little context and get started - it takes time to understand the problem and ask relevant questions to determine requirements. There is value in being able to say 'I don't know how to do this', but this is less and less likely to happen now that people are falling back to AI for answers when all else fails. People learn by doing something hard - struggle is part of improvement.
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