TLDR 2025-07-03

Delve ran 4 ads across 2 TLDR newsletters and brought in 66 leads, with a meaningful chunk from enterprise. The result: $1M in attributed pipeline and a 52x ROI.

This case study breaks down their strategy, results, and example ads.

Read the Delve case study.

The iPhone Fold is on schedule for a potential launch in the second half of next year. It reportedly reached a realistic prototyping stage sometime last month. If everything stays on track, the prototype could complete testing by the end of 2025. It will then move on to other testing stages to confirm the design is practical to manufacture before moving on to the Engineering Verification Test stage.

Palmer Luckey and a group of tech billionaires have founded a new crypto-focused US bank called Erebor. The bank will focus on providing capital for technology startups, AI ventures, defense and manufacturing industries, and cryptocurrency endeavors, as well as for individuals looking to invest in these spaces. It has applied for a national bank charter and is pushing for a digital-only model. Erebor will differentiate itself by doing business with entities and customers that are not as well served by traditional financial institutions, particularly those with insufficient access to credit.

Advances in AI are fueling a new wave of virtual creators on YouTube like Bloo, a fully virtual personality powered by artificial intelligence with a massive following of 2.5 million subscribers and more than 700 million views. Bloo has already generated more than seven figures in revenue, according to its creator. Everything else on Bloo's channel is handled by AI technology from ElevenLabs, OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic. The rise in AI-generated content has led to growing criticism from users who say it's harder to find meaningful or original material.

Researchers have developed a form of gene therapy that can successfully restore hearing in toddlers and young adults born with OTOF-related deafness, a condition caused by mutations in the OTOF gene. People with this condition have healthy hearing structures in their inner ear, but one crucial gene isn't working properly - fixing the faulty gene restores hearing. The researchers used a virus as a delivery system to carry a working copy of the OTOF gene directly to the inner ear's hearing cells, restoring hearing sometimes to near-normal levels.

Continuous AI is the concept of integrating AI tooling automatically into existing development flows. This doesn't include tooling that purports to write and test entire changes for developers. Continuous AI can add a surprising amount of value. This article discusses some ways in which to integrate AI to perform automated checks, organizational tasks, and help with other parts of the software engineering process.

Ruby on Rails has embraced open source principles since its debut in 2004, giving developers freedom, flexibility, and a strong community-driven direction. Rails thrived because anyone could contribute, companies invested in it while keeping it free, and its modular design allowed endless customization. The project proved that open source software can compete with and often surpass commercial alternatives. This article looks at why Rails' choice of using the MIT License was revolutionary, how Rails inspired a generation of frameworks, and why Rails is so good for open source projects.

Several CEOs have publicly stated their views on how AI will replace workers over the coming years. Automation software, AI, and robots are being rolled out to make operations as lean as possible. Few roles will be unchanged by AI. While it is unclear how much work will be reshaped by AI, past technological revolutions have shown that new jobs often emerge.

Microsoft plans to cut another 9,000 workers, less than 4% of the tech giant's global workforce, in its latest round of layoffs. The cuts to staff will span levels, geographies, tenure, and teams. Companies across many sectors have been reducing their workforces while looking to boost productivity. The increasing use of artificial intelligence may eliminate the need for certain roles.

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Tesla's global vehicle sales fell 13.5% in the second quarter compared to a year ago.

Apple's latest user-interface redesign makes the company look like it's just making things up as it goes.

The Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) extension, part of the open source Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL, encrypts all database files on disk, ensuring sensitive information remains secure even if storage is compromised.

A US district judge has suggested that OpenAI's user agreement specifies that its data can be retained as part of legal processes.

Tesla is now offering paid rides in a handful of Model Y robotaxis in Austin, Texas - in a limited area with invite-only customers and a 'safety monitor' in each vehicle.

Soham Parekh moonlighted at several different companies simultaneously - recruiters report that he did great in interviews.