Today’s Highlights

• AI: AGI is not far: Perhaps, next year

• Design: Rumor About Apple’s New Smart Display Inspired by the classic iMac G4

• Science & Tech: Internet on Mars? Of course, a SpaceX idea

• Founding: User Retention Metrics- A way into customers’  heads

• Product: The Reverse Trial Model 

• Today’s AI image: AI won the Grammy: A Possible Universe

• Quote for the day: From the late Queen

AI

AGI is not far: Perhaps, next year

OpenAI’s Sam Altman has now placed a bold bet: Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) by 2025. Yet, as this announcement lands, the industry is swirling with reports of progress slowing down for large language models and scaling challenges.

Here's how it stacks up:

• Chatting with YC founder Gary Tan, Altman casually dropped that the path to AGI is practically laid out and just needs some heavy engineering, not any radical scientific leaps.

• Meanwhile, whispers about a new ‘Orion’ model suggest it’s seeing only marginal gains over GPT-4, notably in coding prowess, making this jump less sky-high than past iterations.

• In response, OpenAI has apparently put together a new “Foundations Team” to tackle core obstacles, especially around the limited supply of premium-quality training data.

• Adding to the chorus, OpenAI researchers Noam Brown and Clive Chan seem fully on board with Altman’s optimism. They believe the ‘o1’ reasoning model could bring fresh scaling possibilities.

Why is this a big deal? Altman’s AGI forecast would move OpenAI up a notch on their AGI scale. His faith in the timeline is unwavering, and with OpenAI now channeling energy into o1, there’s some serious hope the model might crack those scaling ceilings.

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Also in AI

• OpenAI’s slowing down: Upcoming model may not be as exciting

• DeepMind Engineers Share Prompt Tuning Playbook

• AI gets nominated for Grammy: The Beatles' AI-assisted track "Now and Then" earned Grammy nominations

• MIT’s LucidSim for Training Robot Dogs: MIT developed "LucidSim," an AI system that trains robot dogs in virtual environments

• Chip Export Barriers: U.S. Commerce Department restricts TSMC from exporting AI-related chips to China

• xAI Tests Free Version of Grok Chatbot

Design

Rumor About Apple’s New Smart Display Inspired by the classic iMac G4

• New Design Rumours: Fresh reports hint that Apple’s next desktop display might look more like the iconic iMac G4 than the recent M4 iMac. Leaks suggest a nod to the past, possibly using design cues from one of Apple’s most beloved creations.

• Smart Display for the Home: Apple has been cooking up its first smart home display. Initially rumored to resemble a “robot iPad,” the latest leaks from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman point to a compact screen set at an angle on a circular base, much like the iMac G4.

• Old Meets New: The iMac G4, first released in 2002, charmed with its lamp-like look, curved lines, and futuristic feel. Today’s designs may be sleeker and more minimalist, but there's a nostalgic appeal to it.

• Y2K Revival?: With Y2K aesthetics trending, Apple’s throwback move might be just what fans want.

Why is this a big deal?

If Apple goes retro with its smart home display, it could give users a touch of tech nostalgia. Fans of the iMac G4’s timeless design may find a reason to celebrate, with a device that blends the charm of Apple’s history with the tech demands of today.

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Also in Design

• UX Design - Behavioural metrics > Traditional ROI

• AI in Design: Designers must prioritize user orientation and transparency as AI systems become more embedded in products

• Workplace Trends: Cross-functional collaboration, shared principles, and minimised distractions

• Frame0: A wireframing tool with a hand-drawn style for designing interfaces

• GitHub Universe '24 Branding: GitHub’s Universe '24 event branding, created with BUCK, features "Monuments of Progress," blending legacy with innovation

• Collaboration platform Miro is laying off 18% of its workforce (275 employees) due to internal complexity and strategic issues

Science & Tech

Internet on Mars? Of course, a SpaceX idea

• SpaceX’s Vision: SpaceX proposed "Marslink," a Starlink-inspired network to bring internet connectivity to Mars. This concept surfaced during a NASA-led meeting focused on advanced Mars exploration tech.

• NASA’s Goal: NASA is seeking commercial partners, including SpaceX, to develop advanced communication systems for Mars, aiming for data speeds of 4Mbps or more across the 1.5 AU distance from Mars to the Sun.

• How Marslink Works: The Marslink concept involves multiple satellites orbiting Mars, designed to deliver broad coverage and enable data transmission from Martian surface equipment back to Earth. SpaceX’s design reportedly goes beyond NASA’s initial requirements, offering additional capabilities for imaging and planetary monitoring.

• SpaceX’s Plans Align: This proposal fits with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's long-term Mars ambitions and Starlink’s expanding capabilities. Musk has hinted at Mars-focused features in Starlink tech, from hidden Easter eggs to connectivity goals for a future Mars colony.

What’s Next? 

NASA plans to continue discussions with various tech firms on Mars communication systems into next year, all while testing its own laser communication tech that has achieved high data rates over Martian distances.

In short, SpaceX is looking to put the "link" in Marslink, potentially enabling the internet in space—one Martian mile at a time.

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Also in Science & Tech

• The HPV vaccine has shown to be highly effective in preventing cervical cancer

• A new stem cell treatment helped people with damaged corneas see again

• Recent studies have shown that kidney and nerve cells can remember things, just like brain cells do

• The International Space Station has had a continuous leak for the last five years

• A study shows caterpillar fungus may help slow tumour growth

Founding

User Retention Metrics- A way into customers’  heads

Patterns in numbers like Daily Active Users (DAU) , Monthly Active Users (MAU), Churn rate and Session Duration indicate a trend that silently prevails among your users. 

Like a constant rise in churn rate overtime evidently implies that either your product doesn’t offer anything of value at all or it is not valuable anymore to your users, that is, it’s repetitive.

Conversely, steady growth in DAU and MAU often signals healthy engagement, but these metrics must be balanced by examining user retention and activity depth to ensure long-term satisfaction and minimize the risk of user attrition.

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Also in Founding

• Personal Branding: Rather than focusing on building a personal brand early, prioritise delivering quality work

• Why Some IPOs Fail: Key factors for IPO success include profitability, revenue diversification, and market differentiation

• Aligning Founders' Work Styles: Different work styles can create friction between co-founders

• Don’t Plan a lot: Sometimes it’s better to just take the plunge

Product

The Reverse Trial Model 

A combination of Trials and Freemium.

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You give your users access to a version of your product for free, forever. Plus give them access to paid features for free, for a limited trial period. 

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This way, you get more data (both usage and time metrics) from your customers to draw meaningful conclusions. 

• Lemlist, founded by Guillaume Moubeche, went from $1000 in ARR to $28M. Its core offer is to help users send personalized cold outreach emails at scale. One of Lemlist’s best strategic decisions was to adopt the Reverse Trial model to create a buzz about them among users and acquire more data to work with.  

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Today’s AI Image

AI won the Grammy: A Possible Universe

Quote of the Day

From the late Queen

"When life seems hard, the courageous do not lie down and accept defeat; instead, they are all the more determined to struggle for a better future."

Queen Elizabeth II

What we’re working on

🧞Your wish is my command