Morning Thrust | Weekly Highlights (111th Edition: 27.01.2025)

Welcome to the 111th edition of Morning Thrust,?your?weekly dose?of?highlights?in future tech,?space economy,?sustainability,?smart cities,?supply chain,?logistics and more! In this edition (27.01.2025), we bring you the?most exciting?developments shaping?our world.?Stay informed and?ahead of the curve?with our curated insights.?Let's dive in!

Donald Trump has scrapped Biden's 50% EV sales goal for 2030, freezing $5B in charging funds and challenging California's zero-emission rules. His executive order targets EV tax credits, stricter emissions rules, and subsidies, pushing for a gasoline-friendly policy shift.

President Trump’s executive order renames the U.S. Digital Service as the U.S. DOGE Service, empowering Elon Musk’s advisory group to drive efficiency by restructuring federal agencies and IT systems. Critics argue the plan faces legal hurdles, with lawsuits citing transparency concerns. The DOGE agenda aims to cut waste, modernise networks, and overhaul departments, but sceptics question its ambitious $2 trillion savings target.

Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) faces legal battles for alleged violations of federal transparency laws (FACA). Critics claim DOGE operates in secrecy, excluding key viewpoints while aiming to slash $500 billion in federal spending. Lawsuits demand compliance with transparency and public accountability rules.

ソフトバンク and OpenAI are each investing $19B into Stargate, a $500B project building AI-focused data centres across the U.S., with initial plans for Abilene, Texas. Both firms hold 40% stakes, joined by MGX, while Musk questions its funding, dismissed by Altman as "wrong."

Donald Trump's $500 billion AI project, Stargate, is under fire for its $7 billion backing from UAE royal Sheikh Tahnoun, whose empire is marred by human rights abuses and financial scandals. Critics argue the initiative's reliance on oil money signals a shift away from renewable energy investment, raising ethical and financial concerns, with sceptics like Elon Musk questioning its viability.

Anthropic has secured $1 billion more from Google, boosting its total funding to $14.7 billion. This raises Google’s stake in the AI firm to $3 billion as Anthropic plans major updates, including advanced AI models, voice chat, and a “Virtual Collaborator” for workflows. Valued at $60 billion, Anthropic is also eyeing $2 billion from Lightspeed and others.

The Trump administration is reportedly in talks for 甲骨文 to take over TikTok’s global operations, with ByteDance retaining a minority stake. Lawmakers had earlier mandated TikTok’s Chinese parent to sell or face a U.S. ban. Trump now hints at potential buyers, including Oracle’s Larry Ellison or Elon Musk.

Perplexity AI has revised its bid to merge with TikTok, proposing a structure that could grant the U.S. government up to 50% ownership after a $300M IPO. The bid follows feedback from the Trump administration and ongoing negotiations involving ByteDance and Oracle amid TikTok's looming sale deadline.

Melania Trump unveiled her cryptocurrency, $Melania, joining $Trump in the crypto spotlight. Both coins have surged but face volatility, with $Melania valued at ￡1.7bn. Despite disclaimers against investment use, their popularity has skyrocketed alongside Bitcoin and meme coins like Dogecoin, sparking debate about the Trumps' crypto influence.

Experts predict AGI could arrive within a decade, revolutionising crypto trading by outperforming humans and reshaping markets. Blockchain's decentralisation offers a pathway for ethical AGI development, ensuring transparency and equitable access. The era of AI-driven financial systems looms closer!

Ireland's HTL.tech has built Europe's first 3D-printed social housing project 35% faster than traditional methods, cutting waste and pollution. The groundbreaking Grange Close project highlights the speed and sustainability of 3D-printing in construction, though challenges like skilled labour replacement remain.

Perplexity Assistant, now on Android, combines AI, search, and apps to simplify daily tasks—from booking tables to managing calendars. Despite its potential, early hiccups remain as Perplexity faces legal challenges with publishers. The launch follows their recent Sonar API rollout and $9B valuation milestone.

OpenAI unveils Operator, an AI agent that plans holidays, books restaurants, orders groceries, and more by interacting with websites. Currently exclusive to ChatGPT Pro users in the U.S., it rivals Anthropic’s Claude. A glimpse into AI's race toward human-like task execution.

Chinese AI firm DeepSeek AI ’s open-source R1 model has the tech world buzzing, outpacing OpenAI on key benchmarks while slashing training costs to $5.6M. Amid U.S. sanctions and debates over innovation, some call it a game-changer for AI, while others question its motives. Meanwhile, its AI assistant tops Apple’s App Store, surpassing ChatGPT.

French AI lab Mistral AI , Europe’s answer to OpenAI , plans an IPO while expanding to Singapore and growing its presence in Europe and the U.S. Backed by $1.14B in funding and valued at $6B, the lab aims to rival AI giants with offerings like Le Chat.

Meta is doubling down on AI, with plans to hit 1.3M GPUs by year-end and spend $60-$80B on data centres and AI teams by 2025—double last year’s CapEx. As rivals like Microsoft and OpenAI ramp up their AI investments, the race to dominate the AI space is heating up!

The UK government is launching a secure digital wallet for storing IDs like driver’s licences and veteran cards, alongside "Chat-UK," an AI chatbot powered by OpenAI for GOV.UK services. With advanced security features and public testing underway, this initiative aims to modernise citizen interactions while addressing AI’s future role.

Reliance, led by Mukesh Ambani, plans a 3GW AI data centre in Jamnagar, India, surpassing Microsoft’s largest in Virginia. Costing up to $30 billion, it will rely on renewable energy and Nvidia’s AI chips. This move cements Reliance’s dominance amidst surging global AI infrastructure investment.

美国卡内基梅隆大学 researchers unveil Power-Over-Skin, a revolutionary technology that uses human tissue to power low-energy devices like smart glasses and health trackers. Still in early stages, this innovation could eliminate the need for batteries in wearables.

Meta is rolling out global integration for WhatsApp with Accounts Center, enabling users to cross-post WhatsApp Statuses to Instagram and Facebook as Stories and log in using a single account. While optional and off by default, WhatsApp’s encryption remains intact. New features like managing avatars and Meta AI stickers are also on the horizon!

2024 saw a staggering 25.6% rise in U.S. startup shutdowns, driven by 2020-21's funding frenzy, high valuations, and unsustainable growth. Enterprise SaaS suffered the most (32% of closures), with pre-seed and seed-stage startups making up 74%. Experts warn 2025 could see even more closures as startups run out of cash and fail to achieve product-market fit.

NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration ’s Pilatus PC-12 is testing ADS-B systems to tackle signal dropouts in urban airspaces, vital for the future of air taxis and drones. Recent flights at Armstrong Flight Research Center simulated urban conditions, pinpointing weak spots in signal coverage to refine safety systems for low-altitude flights.

NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration , European Space Agency - ESA , and JAXA: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency teamed up with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to trial cloud solutions, transforming satellite data transfers. The successful tests pave the way for faster data downlinks, aiming to hit speeds of 500 Mb/s by 2026. A 35m antenna in Australia is set to bolster the initiative, promising near real-time access to space data.

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory proposes a standardised lunar timekeeping system to address the challenges of coordinating operations between Earth and the Moon. This system accounts for relativistic time differences, ensuring precise synchronisation essential for future lunar and Martian missions.

Scientists from NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration , the UK, and Texas call on the UN to include space protection in its Sustainable Development Goals. With satellite numbers soaring and space debris threatening vital systems like navigation and internet, experts warn space is no longer limitless. They advocate for global cooperation to safeguard Earth's orbit for future generations.

China's Tiangong space station achieved a breakthrough by generating oxygen and rocket fuel using artificial photosynthesis, a key step towards sustainable, long-haul space missions. This innovative technology, mimicking plant processes, reduces energy demands and supports plans for a crewed moon landing by 2030.

Scientists are turning lunar dust into life support! Sierra Space’s oxygen-producing machine simulates moon conditions, aiming to power lunar bases and rocket fuel. Innovations like sound-wave tech and regolith-derived bricks promise fewer Earth resupplies and sustainable moon living.

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