TLDR 2025-05-29
iOS 26 π±, Tesla xAI merger prediction π€, xAI Telegram deal π°
xAI to pay Telegram $300M to integrate Grok into the chat app (1 minute read)
Telegram and xAI have partnered to integrate Grok into apps available on Telegram's platform for one year. xAI paid $300 million in cash and equity as part of the deal. Telegram will also earn 50% of the revenue from xAI subscriptions purchased through the app. Grok was already available to Telegram's premium users early this year, but it seems the chatbot is now going to be made available to all users.
Apple to Launch iOS 26, macOS 26 in Major Rebrand Tied to Software Redesigns (3 minute read)
The next Apple operating systems will be identified by year rather than version number. The change is aimed at bringing consistency to the company's branding and making things less confusing to customers and developers. The next operating systems will be known as iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, tvOS 26, and visionOS 26. The shift will be announced at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 9.
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Science & Futuristic Technology
A Reaction to Alzheimer's Fraud (4 minute read)
The beta-amyloid protein has been a prime suspect in the pathology of Alzheimer's for many decades. However, there was a period where some papers made a form of amyloid appear to be able to induce disease-like symptoms all by itself in rodent models. Those works turned out not to be reproducible, and there is strong evidence of deliberately faked work in those papers. While those particular papers are fake, they don't discount the decades of legitimate research on the topic.
Researchers Say New Contact Lenses Let You See in the Dark (2 minute read)
Scientists have created contact lenses that allow people to see in the dark with the help of infrared light. The invention could allow colorblind people to see colors again. The contacts don't require an external power source and wearers can perceive multiple infrared wavelengths even with their eyes closed. They aren't yet able to capture fine details, so the scientists are working on a version with more precise spatial resolution and higher sensitivity.
Elon Musk Tried to Block Sam Altman's Big AI Deal in the Middle East (6 minute read)
OpenAI and a group of American technology giants recently won a deal to build one of the world's largest artificial intelligence data centers in Abu Dhabi. While the deal was being made, Elon Musk worked hard to make sure it included his own AI startup, warning the group that the plan had no chance of presidential approval unless xAI was included in the deal. Trump and US officials reviewed the deal terms and decided to move forward. The project, Stargate UAE, was ultimately announced on May 22.
What If We Had Bigger Brains? Imagining Minds Beyond Ours (81 minute read)
As humans, we like to think our minds are somehow at the top of what's possible, but it is now pretty clear this isn't true. Artificial neural networks allow us to get a more systematic sense of what different scales of brains can do. As systems get more complex, they may start using abstractions and higher-order constructs that we are basically blind to.
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