Meta's AI pivot 🤖, ChromeOS Android merger 📱, AWS agentic IDE 👨💻
TLDR 2025-07-15
📱Big Tech & Startups
Meta's New Superintelligence Lab Is Discussing Major A.I. Strategy Changes (3 minute read)
A small group of members in Meta's newly formed superintelligence lab last week discussed the possibility of abandoning the company's most powerful open source AI model, Behemoth, in favor of developing a closed model. Meta has chosen to open source its AI models for years, with executives arguing that it is better for the technology to be public to accelerate AI development and make the technology more accessible to developers. A move to a closed AI model would be a philosophical change as much as a technical one. Meta has been delaying the release of its Behemoth model due to its poor internal performance.
Google exec: ‘We're going to be combining ChromeOS and Android' (2 minute read)
Google plans to combine Android with ChromeOS. Chromebooks can already run many Android apps, and Android has been moving closer to ChromeOS with new features like desktop mode, resizable windows, and improved support for external displays. Bringing the two operating systems together makes sense as it will speed up feature development and improve functionality on tablets.
🚀Science & Futuristic Technology
COVID-19 vaccine technology adapted to develop first mRNA defense against antibiotic-resistant bacteria (4 minute read)
Israeli researchers have created an mRNA-based vaccine against Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes bubonic plague. The researchers hope the technology can be used to combat other lethal bacteria as well. When tested on animal models, the vaccine achieved 100% protection against pneumonic plague. The success of the study paves the way for a whole world of mRNA-based vaccines against other deadly bacteria.
DARPA Sets New Record for Wireless Power Beaming (4 minute read)
The United States' Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recently transferred over 800 watts of power over about 30 seconds with a laser beam across 8.6 kilometers. The estimated power efficiency was around 20%. The team used commercial ready-to-use solar cells placed within a receiver to turn the laser beam into electricity. Laser technologies are more suitable than infrared for building an airborne power relay network due to their high precision, long-range reach, and lighter and smaller equipment required to work.
💻Programming, Design & Data Science
AWS previews Kiro IDE for developers who are over vibe coding (3 minute read)
AWS has introduced a new agentic IDE called Kiro that apparently avoids the pitfalls of vibe coding. It is built around a conversational interface that offers developers the chance to explain what they are trying to build. Kiro then uses generative AI to produce its response, which initially takes the form of a spec, not actual code. Kiro can handle multiple specs created by different teams that all work on different aspects of a project. It can use plugins written for VS Code and Open VSX.
How does a screen work? (24 minute read)
Modern computing isn't possible without digital displays. The technology is underappreciated because most people have no idea how the technology works. This article covers the history of digital displays, how different types of displays work, what pixels are and why we use them, and much more. Understanding how a screen works unlocks a lot of understanding of how color works on digital displays, rasterization, GPUs, and shaders.
🎁Miscellaneous
Meta CEO Zuckerberg says first AI data supercluster will come online in 2026 (2 minute read)
Meta plans to invest hundreds of billions of dollars into artificial intelligence compute infrastructure. It aims to bring its first supercluster online next year. Meta has been on a multibillion-dollar AI hiring spree in recent weeks. CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly grew frustrated with Meta's progress in AI, so he is revamping the company's approach to better compete with rivals like OpenAI and Google.
TikTok owner ByteDance is reportedly building its own mixed reality goggles (2 minute read)
ByteDance is reportedly working on mixed reality goggles designed to layer digital objects over users' view of the real world to compete directly with Meta's upcoming mixed reality products. They will be built by ByteDance's Pico, the creators of the Pico 4 VR headset. Pico will keep the device lightweight by offloading most of the computing work to a puck connected to the goggles over a wire. Current Pico headsets aren't sold in the US, and ByteDance may face pushback over a US release due to its ownership of TikTok.
⚡Quick Links
First look at Gemini Space (2 minute read)
Gemini Space, which shows contextual cards on the lock screen and other places, currently only displays sports and birthday cards, but finance and Daily Hub features are expected in the future.
iPhone 17 May See 'Significant' Dynamic Island Changes (1 minute read)
Apple appears to be committed to making the Dynamic Island more functional and integrated, turning it into a key element of the user experience.
Elon Musk Floats a New Source of Funding for xAI: Tesla (4 minute read)
Tesla shareholders will soon be voting on whether to invest in xAI.
LLM Daydreaming (15 minute read)
Despite their vast knowledge and high benchmark scores, no large language model has made a major breakthrough or unexpected insight - this post discusses a theoretical method for making models more insightful.
Cognition, maker of the AI coding agent Devin, acquires Windsurf (5 minute read)
Google recently hired away Windsurf's CEO, co-founder, and research leaders but left most of the startup's 250-person team behind.
How GLP-1s Are Breaking Life Insurance (7 minute read)
A person purchasing health insurance while on GLP-1 drugs may be assessed at the same level as someone at the same health level who isn't on the drug, but the person on GLP-1 is likely to return to their previous state of health within two years of stopping the medication.