Reading List

The most recent articles from a list of feeds I subscribe to.

Airbnb hires Meta executive Ahmad Al-Dahle, who led the generative AI and Llama team after working at Apple, as its CTO, as it aims to add more AI to its app (Natalie Lung/Bloomberg)

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Polymarket is hosting a growing number of contracts tied to military conflicts, including China invading Taiwan; possible US strikes in Iran has $18M+ in trades (Denitsa Tsekova/Bloomberg)

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Sources: McKinsey pilots an overhaul in how it recruits its next generation, asking candidates to use its AI tool Lilli to analyze a case study during a test (Financial Times)

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Alpaca, which builds software to let companies offer stocks, ETFs, and other financial instruments, raised a $150M Series D led by Drive at a $1.15B valuation (Ben Weiss/Fortune)

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Sources: Chinese chip designer Montage, a Shanghai-listed company valued at $22B, plans a Hong Kong IPO that could raise $900M+, backed by Alibaba and JPMorgan (Dave Sebastian/Bloomberg)

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Sources: Chinese authorities told domestic companies to stop using cybersecurity software made by ~12 US and Israeli companies due to national security concerns (Reuters)

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How Ireland, an early data center winner, missed out on much of the current AI boom, hampered by creaking infrastructure and a strained electricity grid (Bloomberg)

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Ahead of WEF 2026, the IMF urges governments to step up support for young workers displaced by AI, arguing candidates could use AI "rather than compete with it" (Delphine Strauss/Financial Times)

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China's market regulator says it is investigating Trip.com, the country's largest online travel agency, over alleged antitrust conduct, without offering details (Bloomberg)

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US Big Tech companies have been on an energy-related hiring spree; Workforce.AI says Microsoft has hired 570+ people with energy-related expertise since 2022 (Tasmin Lockwood/CNBC)

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UK satellite company Open Cosmos wins a highly contested Ka-band spectrum license, used for high-speed internet, beating companies backed by Peter Thiel (Josh Gabert-Doyon/Financial Times)

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In South Korea's competition to develop an indigenous AI model, three of the five finalists used foreign open-source code, which they argue is practical (Jiyoung Sohn/Wall Street Journal)

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Highlights from IEDM 2025: 3D NAND is suddenly relevant again, interconnect metals beyond copper are emerging, 2D materials that could replace silicon, and more (SemiAnalysis)

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The UK government drops plans for mandatory digital IDs to work in the country, marking a reversal from when the UK first announced the policy in September 2025 (BBC)

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An interview with IMG President Adam Kelly on streaming platforms' increasing share of sports media rights, live sports as an antidote to AI content, and more (Josh Noble/Financial Times)

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Q&A with Reid Hoffman on wanting Silicon Valley to speak out against the Trump administration, AI regulation, the role of AI in art and creativity, and more (Katie Drummond/Wired)

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Analysis: DeepSeek's hedge fund parent High-Flyer posted 56.6% average returns across its quant funds in 2025, boosting potential cash available for DeepSeek (Bloomberg)

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India lacks specific policies or zoning regulations for overseeing quick commerce dark stores, which are projected to hit 5,000 to 5,500 by FY2026 end, per HSBC (The Economic Times)

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Elon Musk says Tesla will stop selling FSD after February 14 and will offer it only as a monthly subscription; FSD is already available for $99 per month (Danny Lee/Bloomberg)

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WithCoverage, which replaces traditional insurance brokers with its AI-based flat-fee risk management model, raised a $42M Series B led by Sequoia and Khosla (Ryan Lawler/Axios)

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