TLDR 2025-04-15

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Big Tech & Startups

Apple to Analyze User Data on Devices to Bolster AI Technology (4 minute read)

Apple will start training artificial intelligence models by analyzing data on customers' devices to improve its AI platform. The company currently trains its models using synthetic data, but synthetic information isn't always representative of actual customer data. Customer data will remain on-device and won't be directly used to train AI models. The new system will roll out in an upcoming beta of iOS and iPadOS 18.5 and macOS 15.5.

Meta Fights to Keep Instagram and WhatsApp, as Antitrust Trial Begins (6 minute read)

The FTC's antitrust case against Meta seeks to compel the company to undo its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. Meta allegedly wields an illegal monopoly in social media. The company says that the FTC's case ignores how people use technology today - Meta currently faces stiff competition from YouTube, TikTok, and other video platforms. It plans to demonstrate that competition is alive and well in the social networking industry.

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Science & Futuristic Technology

Google is talking to dolphins using Pixel phones and AI - and the video is delightful (3 minute read)

A new AI model from Google running on Pixel phones is helping researchers better understand the language of dolphins. DolphinGemma was created using dolphin language data collected over 40 years. It was built specifically for Pixel devices. Google plans to share DolphinGemma as an open model this summer. The research may eventually enable us to construct sounds that dolphins might understand.

Scientists Revive Organism Found Buried at Bottom of Ocean (3 minute read)

German researchers have revived algae cells that were dormant for over 7,000 years. Found buried at the bottom of the Baltic Sea imprisoned under layers of sediment, the cells were deprived of oxygen or light for millennia. They showed full function recovery after being revived and started multiplying again with no issues. It is now possible to conduct 'time-jump experiments' into the various stages of Baltic Sea development in the lab.

💻

Programming, Design & Data Science

gh-signoff (GitHub Repo)

gh-signoff is a GitHub command-line extension for local CI. It enables developers to run CI on their own machines and sign off when they pass. Developer machines are super-fast nowadays and chronically underutilized - Cloud CI services are typically slow, expensive, and rented. gh-signoff brings CI back in-house.

The Post-Developer Era (14 minute read)

The job market is currently having a tough time, but this isn't because companies are actually replacing developers with autonomous AI agents. There are macroeconomic factors, layoffs, and other things leaving tons of highly qualified devs out there looking for work. Some companies are operating under the myth that AI will make developers obsolete soon so they're not hiring as aggressively as they otherwise would. However, despite AI evangelists claiming that, any day now, companies won't need human developers to build their products, human developers are still needed.

🎁

Miscellaneous

Rippling is trying to serve Deel's CEO, but bailiffs can't find him (1 minute read)

French bailiffs hired by Rippling were unable to locate Deel's CEO, Alex Bouaziz, during attempts to serve him with papers as part of a lawsuit alleging Deep paid one of its employees to spy on Rippling. Bouaziz is known to be 'highly nomadic' but remains very attached to France, where he has a listed address. Rippling may need to apply to serve him via email.

OpenAI's new GPT-4.1 AI models focus on coding (4 minute read)

OpenAI has launched a new family of models called GPT-4.1 that excels at coding and instruction-following. The models, GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 mini, and GPT-4.1 nano, are available through OpenAI's API but not ChatGPT. They are multimodal and have a 1-million-token context window. GPT-4.1 costs $2 per million input tokens and $8 per million output tokens, GPT-4.1 mini is $0.40/million input tokens and $1.60/million output tokens, and GPT-4.1 nano is $0.10/million input tokens and $0.40/million output tokens.

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Quick Links

Quadratic: Your AI spreadsheet assistant (Sponsor)

Spreadsheets are awesome. AI makes them even better. Chat with your data, chart key metrics with built-in Python, and auto-generate SQL for database queries. Try Quadratic free

Why I support privacy (39 minute read)

Privacy is less needed for people whose life situations are relatively normal, and more needed for people whose life situations deviate from the norm, in any direction - and you never know when you will become someone who needs it.

Some Love For Interoperable Apps (3 minute read)

Interoperable apps enable users to easily explore different experiences or their data, allowing applications to compete on an experience of users' data rather than on owning it.

Access to future AI models in OpenAI's API may require a verified ID (2 minute read)

OpenAI may soon need government ID verification for organizations to access certain models - not all organizations will be eligible for verification.

How I don't use LLMs (12 minute read)

Improving bad writing can be more effort than writing something well, and large language models make too many mistakes to be worth using.

Everything Wrong with MCP (20 minute read)

MCP has rapidly grown into the de-facto standard for integrating third-party data and tools with AI agents, but it has a lot of nuanced vulnerabilities and limitations.

Intel to sell controlling stake in Altera chip business to Silver Lake (2 minute read)

The deal values Altera at $8.75 billion and will make the division operationally independent - Intel will retain a 49% stake in Altera.

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Dan Ni & Stephen Flanders

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