The Race Gets Real

When Deep Pockets Meet Deep Learning

Author

Fatih Taskiran
January 23, 2025 • Reading Time: 8 minutes

Good morning, fearless readers!

Ready for today’s buffet of news and intrigue? Our award-winning Oscar lineup includes 'Emilia Pérez' and a half-trillion-dollar AI showdown that's stirring up billionaire drama. Let’s dive in!

Unpacking the day’s core stories for you:

We're in the middle of another AI arms race—apparently, with half a trillion dollars on the line. On one side, Trump announced "Stargate," a $500 billion project to build data centers and power machine learning. Sam Altman (OpenAI), Larry Ellison (Oracle), and Masayoshi Son (SoftBank) are all in—but Elon Musk says the money's not actually there.

R1’s filtering in action. / Source: Deepseek

Across the pond, DeepSeek claims its R1 "reasoning" model can beat certain OpenAI products. Of course, R1 is also subject to the usual Chinese censorship, refusing to discuss taboo topics. So yes, AI will get bigger, more expensive, and more complicated. Are you feeling behind yet?

Borderline Chaos

The new president wasted no time flexing his immigration muscle. He scrapped a migrant scheduling app, backed up troops at the border, and pushed a big anti-immigration bill. Many asylum seekers who had been waiting (some for over a year) watched their CBP One appointment disappear. While active-duty forces provide logistical support and surveillance, no arrests can be made (unless Trump revives the Insurrection Act).

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If that wasn't enough, lawmakers just passed a law that mandates the detention of unauthorized immigrants charged with crimes like shoplifting and assault. The rules have no funding to enforce them, but defenders say the message is clear: Trump's not messing around. It's official: the border has a new boss.

And the Front-Runner Is…

Let's roll out the red carpet, fire extinguishers and all—this year's Oscar race is lit (quite literally, thanks to those new LA wildfires). With 13 nominations, Emilia Pérez is the new frontrunner, with star Karla Sofa Gascón becoming the first openly trans actress nominated for Best Actress.

'“The Brutalist" and "Wicked" follow with 10 nominations apiece, and Ariana Grande's singing her way to Best Supporting Actress. Timothée Chalamet and Colman Domingo are both contenders for best actor, and Conan O'Brien has big plans for his March 2 show. With LA still reeling from wildfires, these Oscars will be a blockbuster of glam and grit.

Bonus: Here's the full list of Oscar nominations for 2025.

Old But Not Gold

In my life, I've dealt with people who look back rather than forward. While bopping to your adolescent playlist might feel more magical than the latest hits, science says your memory is a glossy highlight reel. We conveniently forget the annoyances, heartbreaks, and just plain awful haircuts that made the "golden era" pretty tough.

We're all guilty of sugarcoating the past but remember: you're probably giving your high school years (and the world) way too much credit. I'm sorry, 'good old days,' but it's time to debunk your myth.

💡 Core Wisdom

❝

Fear of life closes off more opportunities for us than fear of death ever does.

📸 Lens to Life

Photos from Texas and Florida's historic snowfall.

🧮 Core Count: 347,000,000

It's the number of subscribers MrBeast, AKA Jimmy Donaldson, has on YouTube, the internet's most popular content creator.

🗓️ Flashback:

1368 - Zhu Yuanzhang, 40, became the Hongwu Emperor, beginning the Ming Dynasty's rule over China, which lasted for three centuries.

1556 - China's Shaanxi Earthquake, the deadliest ever, kills 830,000.

1950 - The Israeli Knesset declares Jerusalem the capital.

1973 - The Vietnam War officially ended with President Nixon's announcement.

1978 - Sweden became the first country to ban aerosol sprays due to their harmful effect on the ozone layer.

2020 - China locked down Wuhan and its 9 million people in a belated but ultimately successful attempt to control the COVID-19 pandemic.

I'm glad we could get together here. Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow!

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