PonyWang/iStock via Getty Images When Meta ( META ) started building their Superintelligence team (MSL) in mid-2025, I certainly expected to see faster progress than what we have seen from them so far. I wonder if the Llama 4 fiasco, as well as the backlash for “Vibes” last year, made Meta much more tentative than usual for releasing new products/features. This is making Meta increasingly look lik...
PonyWang/iStock via Getty Images When Meta ( META ) started building their Superintelligence team (MSL) in mid-2025, I certainly expected to see faster progress than what we have seen from them so far. I wonder if the Llama 4 fiasco, as well as the backlash for “Vibes” last year, made Meta much more tentative than usual for releasing new products/features. This is making Meta increasingly look like a laggard in the AI race despite spending commensurate capital on compute and talent compared to other players leading the race. Despite looking like a laggard, Meta also seems to be on a tuck-in acquisition spree every other week these days. Just in March, Meta acquired Moltbook , a social media platform for AI agents, and made a non-exclusive license deal with Dreamer , the startup that helps consumers build AI agents. Since the Dreamer co-founders joined MSL as part of the deal, this is essentially yet another roundabout “acquisition” Silicon Valley invented in the current antitrust environment. The fact that Dreamer raised $56 million at a $500 million valuation back in December 2024 and Dreamer’s CEO was a former CTO of Stripe makes me think Meta may have paid a good premium to get the Dreamer team in MSL. Just last week, Dreamer’s now former CEO demoed the product in this podcast , and it indeed looks quite promising. In fact, while reacting to the acquisition news, Alex Heath mentioned the following in his newsletter: I was recently given a demo of the product by co-founder (and former Stripe CTO) David Singleton. I was so intrigued that I demanded to be added to the beta. I clearly wasn’t the only one who was impressed. With the Manus and Dreamer deals, it appears Meta is getting more serious about agent infrastructure above the model layer. In fact, even if Meta remains a laggard in building a SOTA model for the foreseeable future, their core business continues to offer compelling opportunities to integrate AI on top of the model layer. Even though Meta may seem ...
US president claims Iranian negotiators fear being killed by their own side; Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi says US and Iran ‘signalling a willingness to negotiate’ Iran rejects US ceasefire plan and submits its own amid push for talks Analysis: Trump pitches Iran peace plan but military buildups rarely veer to off-ramp China’s foreign minister has said that a “glimmer of hope” for peace has eme...
US president claims Iranian negotiators fear being killed by their own side; Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi says US and Iran ‘signalling a willingness to negotiate’ Iran rejects US ceasefire plan and submits its own amid push for talks Analysis: Trump pitches Iran peace plan but military buildups rarely veer to off-ramp China’s foreign minister has said that a “glimmer of hope” for peace has emerged due to moves to stop the war in the Middle East, despite Tehran vowing to keep fighting. Wang Yi urged dialogue in separate calls with his Turkish and Egyptian counterparts, suggesting that both Tehran and Washington had shown signals they were willing to return to the negotiating table. Speaking of negotiations now is an admission of defeat. Prolonging this war would only result in further casualties and needless losses, leading to a further spillover of the conflict. Continue reading...
Sin Bi Cheah, CEO of Malaysian‑based Orkim Group, discusses the impact of the Iran war on the shipping industry. The company transports clean petroleum products and liquefied petroleum gas. He speaks with Paul Allen from the sidelines of 'Asia-Pacific Maritime 2026.' (Source: Bloomberg)
Sin Bi Cheah, CEO of Malaysian‑based Orkim Group, discusses the impact of the Iran war on the shipping industry. The company transports clean petroleum products and liquefied petroleum gas. He speaks with Paul Allen from the sidelines of 'Asia-Pacific Maritime 2026.' (Source: Bloomberg)
A Chinese military research team has released what it described as the first publicly available visible light-infrared ship detection data set, a resource that could sharpen maritime target recognition for drones, missiles or surveillance systems operating at night or in environments where radar is degraded or suppressed. The dual-modal ship detection (DMSD) data set contains more than 2,000 paire...
A Chinese military research team has released what it described as the first publicly available visible light-infrared ship detection data set, a resource that could sharpen maritime target recognition for drones, missiles or surveillance systems operating at night or in environments where radar is degraded or suppressed. The dual-modal ship detection (DMSD) data set contains more than 2,000 paired visible and infrared vessel images and nearly 20,000 annotated instances, according to the...
Arm Holdings (ARM) ripped higher after giving investors a new reason to think about the company as more than a chip-design licensor. The stock jumped after Arm unveiled a new AI data-center CPU and said that the product line could add about $15 billion in annual revenue within five years. The ...
Arm Holdings (ARM) ripped higher after giving investors a new reason to think about the company as more than a chip-design licensor. The stock jumped after Arm unveiled a new AI data-center CPU and said that the product line could add about $15 billion in annual revenue within five years. The ...
The South Korean government will conduct an emergency buyback of 5 trillion won ($3.3 billion) in sovereign bonds to stabilize markets amid heightened volatility linked to the Iran war. The buyback will be carried out in two tranches: 2.5 trillion won on March 27 and another 2.5 trillion won on April 1, according to a statement from the finance ministry on Thursday. The specific bonds to be purcha...
The South Korean government will conduct an emergency buyback of 5 trillion won ($3.3 billion) in sovereign bonds to stabilize markets amid heightened volatility linked to the Iran war. The buyback will be carried out in two tranches: 2.5 trillion won on March 27 and another 2.5 trillion won on April 1, according to a statement from the finance ministry on Thursday. The specific bonds to be purchased will be announced separately. In addition, the government plans to redeem outstanding debt using surplus tax revenues under the current supplementary budget, with the scale to be determined later. “This marks the first net redemption of government bonds through a supplementary budget in five years since 2021,” the ministry said. The buyback highlights the scramble by governments worldwide to confront uncertainties from the Iran war, which has fueled a sharp global bond selloff. Korean assets have been particularly vulnerable, given the nation’s heavy reliance on imported oil and the resulting inflation pressures. These dynamics have complicated the policy outlook for the Bank of Korea, with markets now pricing in more than 100 basis points of rate hikes over the next 12 months. South Korea’s bond futures rebounded after the government’s announcement. Ten-year government bond futures gained as much as 49 ticks to 109.31 after falling as much as 35 ticks earlier. Three-year note futures also rose. Korean bonds are set to join FTSE Russell’s World Government Bond Index in April. In preparation, the government on Thursday announced the launch of a “WGBI Fund Inflow Monitoring Team,” headed by the director general of the Treasury Office, to oversee foreign capital inflows. From April through November, authorities will track fund movements and establish an “immediate response system,” holding frequent meetings with relevant agencies to devise measures that facilitate flows. “While the government has often been seen as using excess tax revenue to expand spending, the decision ...
Gulf states are major fertilizer producers, and the war with Iran has triggered a 25% price hike just as struggling U.S. farmers are planting corn. (Image credit: Frank Morris)
Gulf states are major fertilizer producers, and the war with Iran has triggered a 25% price hike just as struggling U.S. farmers are planting corn. (Image credit: Frank Morris)