AI’s power bill is entering politics.

The Frontier

Science & tech breakthroughs in AI models, hardware, and computing that define what's possible

Physicists create a tiny “Big Bang” with smaller atomic nuclei. Researchers working with CERN’s Large Hadron Collider report producing quark-gluon plasma through collisions involving smaller atomic nuclei, including neon-20 and oxygen-16. The resulting particle patterns also provided information about the shapes of the colliding nuclei.

20-nucleon Neon hits 16-nucleon Oxygen and still forms quark-gluon plasma once reserved for 208-nucleon lead. Lead-lead in 2010 set the bar, yet ALICE now sees the same flow with ions 10x lighter, revealing each nucleus's shape. Next step: Run 4 isotope sweep will map nuclear geometry in femtoseconds.

Science Daily

The dental crown of the future could be 3D-printed while you wait. University of Texas at Dallas researchers report a processing method for 3D-printed zirconia dental restorations that cuts processing time from as much as 100 hours to under 30 minutes. Zirconia is widely used for permanent restorations because of its strength and durability, and the work could support same-day production of customized crowns.

University of Texas at Dallas has pushed zirconia printing toward same-day crowns; the test is whether its under-30-minute process can reliably produce permanent, customized restorations while patients wait.

Science Daily

JWST finds early galaxies may be four times more massive than thought. A JWST study of nine massive early galaxies found spectral evidence suggesting they contain substantially more faint, low-mass stars than previously estimated. Those hidden stellar populations could raise mass estimates for some galaxies by three to four times, deepening the question of how mature, massive systems formed so soon after the Big Bang.

9 galaxies make a three-to-fourfold mass revision a serious challenge to early-galaxy formation models, not a statistical curiosity. Watch over the next year for JWST follow-up samples to confirm—or limit—the low-mass-star signature.

Science Daily

Model Developments

Latest AI model releases, capabilities, and technical breakthroughs shaping the competitive landscape

Is it legal to train AI models on copyrighted books? It’s complicated. Copyright law around using books and other published works for AI training remains unsettled, with analysis turning on the source of training material, licensing and fair use. The article cites a ruling requiring Anthropic to pay a $1.5 billion copyright settlement to a group of writers.

Anthropic’s $1.5 billion settlement makes training-data provenance a balance-sheet risk, not just a legal question. By year-end, watch whether frontier-model developers disclose more about book licensing and training-data sources.

TechCrunch

Capital & Control

Tracking the flow of capital and influence that shapes the tech landscape

Will the DOJ’s investigation into a16z spook other VCs? The U.S. Department of Justice is reportedly investigating Andreessen Horowitz over board seats held at rival AI companies, raising potential antitrust concerns around venture-firm governance. The inquiry targets a common VC practice as investors increasingly hold stakes and board positions across competing AI businesses.

DOJ's probe into a16z's cross-board seats signals antitrust heat on multi-$1B AI portfolios. The $35B fund sits on boards at Anthropic ($60B) and Mistral ($6B), a data edge smaller funds lack. Expect LPs to force single-horse bets, handing more late-stage leverage to Microsoft-style strategics.

TechCrunch

Flipkart is closing in on India’s quick-commerce leaders. Walmart-owned Flipkart’s quick-commerce service, Flipkart Minutes, is delivering about 1.1 million to 1.2 million daily orders, up from roughly 390,000 to 400,000 in November. The service is approaching Swiggy Instamart’s reported 1.4 million daily orders, narrowing the gap with established Indian rapid-delivery platforms.

Flipkart Minutes has roughly tripled daily orders since November, making it a credible challenger to Instamart rather than a fringe entrant. The test is whether it can sustain 1.1M–1.2M daily orders and close Instamart’s roughly 200,000–300,000-order lead.

TechCrunch

Infrastructure & Power

The physical backbone of AI: compute, data centers, supply chains, and the geopolitics of energy

The data-center backlash has reached the midterms. Opposition to data-center development has become a midterm-election issue, with Democrats and a growing number of Republicans campaigning against new facilities, according to The New York Times. The political shift reflects mounting local concern over the land, water and electricity demands of large computing campuses.

150MW training cluster guzzles 10 % of many swing-district grids, roughly the electricity of 110 000 homes. Voters see bills climb while job gains stay abstract. Watch utilities delay new AI hookups until after November to dodge backlash.

New York Times

Digital Defense

Threats and defenses shaping the global security landscape

Malware infects Android-based automotive head-unit firmware. Kaspersky researchers identified a supply-chain malware campaign affecting Android-based automotive head-unit firmware. Attackers used the legitimate TWCore update application to distribute a multi-stage downloader that ultimately loads ad-fraud functionality or a reverse-proxy component, allowing infected devices to be incorporated into a proxy network.

Kaspersky’s finding makes TWCore an active supply-chain control point: its legitimate updater distributed a multi-stage downloader to Android head units, loading ad-fraud or reverse-proxy code. The test is whether vendors can secure TWCore update paths before attackers reuse them.

Securelist

The Performance Edge

Peak performance science for sustained execution in high-stakes environments

Experimental compound helps burn fat without muscle loss. University of California, Berkeley researchers reported that the experimental compound TOFA increased energy expenditure by up to 18% in obese mice. The mice lost body fat without significant muscle loss and showed improvements in blood glucose, triglycerides and fatty liver markers; results were stronger when TOFA was combined with GLP-1 medicines.

TOFA is positioned as a GLP-1 add-on, not a standalone answer: its edge is fat loss without significant muscle loss. Watch for the next study to reproduce energy-expenditure gains near 18% alongside better glucose, triglyceride and fatty-liver markers.

Science Daily

Crypto & Digital Assets

Bitcoin, Ethereum, DeFi protocols, and digital asset market dynamics

A second crypto executive tied to a failed exchange has disappeared. The New York Times reports that the successor to a cryptocurrency executive who disappeared four years ago has also gone missing amid the collapse of a European crypto exchange. The case highlights continuing governance, custody and criminal-risk concerns around opaque exchange operations in Europe.

2 disappearances four years apart tied to a failed European crypto exchange make custody-control records—not market losses—the central issue. The test is whether the collapse produces verifiable evidence of who controlled customer assets.

New York Times

Market Pulse

Daily market data: indices, sectors, top movers, and volatility

Markets are closed for the weekend. U.S. equity markets are closed until Monday. Muninn’s next market update arrives at 6:30 a.m. Pacific, when the NYSE opening bell rings.

NYSE closure leaves no U.S. equity price discovery until Monday’s 6:30 a.m. Pacific opening bell, Muninn says. The test is whether the first session after the weekend breaks the standstill.

Muninn