Today’s Highlights

• AI: Google's Free Gemini Model Overtakes OpenAI on Leaderboards

• Design: Pinterest's Design Foresight: 2025 Trend Predictions

• Science & Tech: Dawn of Sodium-Ion Batteries: A Low-Cost Alternative

• Founding: Being Intellectually Honest As A Founder: Never Be Indifferent To Problems You’re Facing

• Product: Prototyping with AI: Less Reliance on Engineering Teams

• Today’s AI image: Sundar Pichai Predicts…

• Quote for the day: The Wisest Way to Deal With Hardships

AI

Google's Free Gemini Model Overtakes OpenAI on Leaderboards

Google DeepMind’s Gemini-exp-1206 model has snagged the top spot on the Chatbot Arena leaderboard, outshining OpenAI across various benchmarks—all while being entirely free to use.

All You Need To Know

• Marking its first birthday, Gemini has climbed from runner-up to reigning champion on the Chatbot Arena.

• This powerhouse doesn’t just handle text and images like ChatGPT or Claude—it steps it up a notch by processing and interpreting video content.

• Packing a mighty 2-million-token context window, Gemini can crunch through over an hour of video without breaking a sweat.

• Best of all? It's completely free to access via Google AI Studio and the Gemini API, unlike many of its rivals.

Why is this a big deal?

As OpenAI cranks up its premium o1 pricing from $20 to a jaw-dropping $200 a month, Google is playing the hero by offering its top-tier AI gratis.

Sure, the performance margin on the leaderboard may not be massive, but pairing cutting-edge functionality with a price tag of zero bucks is a win for AI accessibility everywhere.

Read More

Also in AI

• Meta’s Leaner Llama 3.3: Competitive Performance with Reduced Costs

• xAI's Aurora Image Generator Debuts: Enriched Photorealistic Image Creation

• Sundar Pichai predicts a slowdown in AI advancements post-2025

• OpenAI explores reinforcement fine-tuning and hints at GPT-4.5 preview features

• SORA 2 Leak Rumours: Improved physics, lighting, and longer clips (up to 15 seconds)

• Apple AI Launch Imminent: Speculated release of new AI-powered features this week

• Tencent’s Hunyuan Video Model: Demonstrations show unprecedented realism, breaking the “uncanny valley”

Design

Pinterest's Design Foresight: 2025 Trend Predictions

Pinterest put out its eagerly anticipated design trend predictions for 2025, offering a glimpse into the creative directions poised to dominate digital spaces, branding, and user experiences.

This year’s forecast blends bold aesthetics, nostalgic influences, and eco-friendly values, presenting unique opportunities for designers and creatives to engage audiences.

Key Design Trends to Watch:

• Rococo Revival: Luxurious and ornate, this trend draws from the elegance of the Rococo era with layered textures, intricate details, and classical typefaces, appealing to brands targeting high-end and event-oriented markets.

• Primary Colours Play: Vibrant, youthful colour palettes and hand-drawn elements bring energy to UI designs, resonating particularly with Gen Z audiences and their love for approachable, playful aesthetics.

• Terra Futura: Sustainability takes centre stage with earthy tones, natural textures, and minimalistic layouts, reflecting eco-conscious values and a growing focus on environmental responsibility.

Branding and Visual Trends:

• Cherry Coded: Deep reds dominate bold, energetic brand identities.

• Castlecore Fantasy: Medieval-inspired storytelling with gothic fonts and regal visuals.

• Moto Boho: Rugged and bohemian aesthetics for edgy, unique branding.

• Aura UX: Mood-based colours and interactive gradients for personalisation.

• Sea Witchery: Oceanic and mysterious themes in dark modes and fluid designs.

Read More

Also in Design

• Jaguar's EV Transformation: Luxury materials, bold innovation over tradition, and a controversial new logo

• Airline Fee Design Practices: Airlines earned $12.4B from seat fees (2018-2023)

• Service Design: More focus on action and impact over advocacy

• Logitech MX Creative Console: A customisable tool for creative workflows

• All-in-One Visual Feedback Tool: Streamlines design feedback, bug tracking, and usability testing

• Jaguar’s New Logo: Minimalist "leaper" cat reflects flat design trends and a shift to EVs

• Stunning depictions of weaponised AI with futuristic FUI concepts

Science & Tech

Dawn of Sodium-Ion Batteries: A Low-Cost Alternative

Sodium-ion batteries, a promising alternative to lithium-ion technology, are gaining traction for their affordability, safety, and reduced reliance on rare metals. Here’s what’s sparking interest:

CATL’s Second-Gen Sodium-Ion Battery:

Launched by the world’s largest battery manufacturer, this battery boasts 200 Wh/kg energy density, a leap from its first-gen 160 Wh/kg model.

Mass production is set for 2027, promising more range for EVs.

US National Labs’ $50M Initiative:

Seven labs, led by Argonne National Laboratory, are pooling efforts to match sodium-ion performance with today’s iron phosphate lithium-ion batteries.

Advantages Over Lithium-Ion:

• Wider Availability: Sodium is abundant in seawater and table salt, sidestepping the geopolitical and ethical issues tied to lithium, cobalt, and nickel.

• Enhanced Safety: Sodium-ion batteries have a lower fire risk and better performance in freezing temperatures (down to -40°F).

• Cost-Effective Production: Manufacturing processes are similar to lithium-ion, allowing for straightforward factory transitions.

Challenges to Overcome:

• Lower Energy Density: Sodium-ion batteries lag behind lithium-ion counterparts, offering fewer miles per charge.

• Market Readiness: Currently, sodium-ion tech is largely limited to Chinese markets, with limited global adoption.

In a rapidly evolving energy landscape, sodium-ion batteries are poised to be a fast-growing contender, offering eco-friendly, cost-effective solutions for sustainable power.

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Also in Science & Tech

• 5G-Enabled Macs: Apple is developing a custom-built 5G chip for release in 2025

• AI Model Comparison Tool: Artificial Analysis helps developers compare AI models for language, image, video, and speech processing

• AI-powered brain scans outperform doctors in identifying stroke onset

• Researchers discover a chemical in tick saliva that helps them anchor to hosts

• Engineers create a biodegradable alternative to microbeads used in beauty products

Founding

Being Intellectually Honest As A Founder: Never Be Indifferent To Problems You’re Facing

“We often believe in what we want to believe rather than what is true.”

An ordinary human tendency that equally (and sometimes exceedingly) applies to founders. Most of the time, they only address the good part of truth and avoid attending to the itchy part. 

Yes, entrepreneurs need to be optimistic. But messed-up things happen when it’s blind optimism. So here’s

How to Maintain Intellectual Honesty?

1. A Wise Co-founder As Your Mirror: Select someone who challenges your thinking and occasionally provides you necessary reality checks when you yourself don’t suffice in recognising them. 

2. Weigh Up Your Founder-Market Fit: For the founder part (the “you” part), assess how enthusiastic you are about solving the problem. Then ask yourself if you’re uniquely qualified to solve it. 

   To measure your alignment with the market, see if the clientele you are currently catering to actually faces the exact same problem to a burning degree that possibly only your innovation can solve it. 

3. Draw Explicit Feedback from Peers: Present ideas to fellow founders, but ask them to rank or compare ideas to elicit honest feedback.

Read more

Also in Founding

• Identify target customer segments based on use cases, not demographics

• DirectAI, a computer vision startup, closed after struggling to scale niche solutions despite innovative tech

• Sales Commission Planning: Incentivise sales teams to focus on high-value, long-term customers, not just deal closures

• Landing Page Optimisation: Design principles and understanding visitor psychology can increase conversions by up to 5x

Product

Prototyping with AI: Less Reliance on Engineering Teams 

Launching a great product requires repetitive experimentation with ideas, designs and styles and multiple pre-launch tests. In one word - prototyping. Extensive, highly effective prototyping. 

Until now, building prototypes was one heck of a cost bomb. With rapid emergence of AI facilities, now it’s possible to build 100 versions of a product before you end up with the one best market-ready model. 

AI Tools You Can Leverage: A Brief Guide

• Replit Agent: Robust for backend deployment (e.g., bots, scheduled jobs). It offers UI rendering for debugging. And for rapid iterations, it also provides an integrated hosting environment.

• Vercel v0: An ideal tool for rapid frontend prototyping. Clean UI generation using shadcn components and optimal features for designer collabs. 

• Cursor: Seamless for developers used to VS Code with powerful reference commands (@web, @codebase).

• Windsurf: Strong planning capabilities integrating human feedback at affordable prices.

Which tool for What type of product? 

Frontend-heavy projects? Use Vercel v0. 

Backend set-ups? Go for Replit Agent.

Full-stack? Combine tools and play around.

Start small, iterate rapidly and scale thoughtfully.

Read more

Today’s AI Image

Sundar Pichai Predicts…

Quote of the Day

The Wisest Way To Deal With Hardships

"The best way out is always through."

Robert Frost

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