A warm welcome to new readers getting this for the first time, and thank you for letting me be a small part of your week! As a reminder, I’m Rishi Taparia, Co-founder and General Partner at Garuda Ventures, a first-check fund that partners with founders as they pull the future into the present. Tippets is a curated set of tidbits and snippets (get it…tippets…) from my reading around the web.

Subscribe now

From Me This Week:

Tippets from Around the Web:

The “ChatGPT moment” has arrived for manufacturing

Artificial intelligence is making factories smarter and more flexible by helping robots do many tasks and work alongside humans. New software and AI models improve robot accuracy and allow smaller, more efficient factories near cities. This change may lead to safer, faster, and more local manufacturing than ever before.

Generative AI promises to take this transformation a step further. Until recently, precisely modelling the actions of a robot was often impossible owing to the many variables involved, a problem known as the “sim-to-real gap”. Simulations tended to break the moment lighting or the shape of an object changed. Supersized AI models, trained on vast amounts of data from sensors and cameras, may help solve that. As simulations become more accurate and detailed, it may be possible to program robots to approach a physical task much as a human would, perceiving, understanding and then reacting to the situation.

(6-minute read, The Economist 🔒)

Standing Out in 2026

A terrific piece by Lulu Cheng Meservey on the value of being real in an increasingly ‘fake’ world, and why putting in real effort will help individuals and companies rise above the noise and more effectively share their message with their target audience.

In this world, the real has never been more precious, refreshing, special, rare. What stands out are real people, building real things that actually matter, through real discipline and effort, with real outcomes in the real world.

(2-minute read - X)

Sometimes Athletes Just Get Lucky

Interesting read on how athletic success depends not only on talent and hard work but also on luck. A good reminder to parents and teams should remember this and avoid harsh early selections, keeping opportunities open for all players.

To Baker, these models suggest that it’s not just hard to reliably predict athletic futures; it’s impossible. He cites examples including a youth-soccer player for Northampton Town who missed a text message from the team’s manager telling him that he’d been dropped from the roster for an upcoming game. He showed up for the bus, went along for the ride, subbed in when another player got injured, impressed the manager, earned a spot for the rest of the season, and went on to play in the Premier League. Luck takes many forms, such as genetics, family resources, and what sports happen to be popular at a given place at a given time. But sometimes, it’s simply random chance: a gust of wind or an errant bounce or a missed text.

(6-minute read - The Atlantic)

The war for minerals, oil and AI

The U.S. remains heavily dependent on China for rare earths, creating both economic and geopolitical risk. Securing alternative sources, like those in Venezuela and Greenland, could meaningfully strengthen American leverage and long-term competitiveness. That said, mining is only half the battle as refining and processing capacity is still overwhelmingly concentrated in China. But an added wrinkle to the moves by the US government this week.

(4-minute read - Axois)

Gmail is entering the Gemini era

Google surpassed Apple as the second most valuable company in the world this week, crossing $4T in market cap. They also made a long-awaited announcement regarding Gmail and new AI features. Coming to users soon, Gemini in Gmail will now help users manage their inboxes, summarizing email threads, suggest replies, and highlight important messages. I personally believe Google and its associated products will be how most of the world experiences AI for the first time, and I’m excited to see this roll out to the masses.

(3-minute read - Google)

Quote I'm thinking about: “So, how do you make a game? The same way you make any other worthy contribution to this strange and beautiful world we are fortunate enough to share, however briefly. You put yourself on the hook. You fill the gap in the universe only you can see. You use your gifts to make gifts for people you care about.” - Eliot Peper, Ensorcelled

If you enjoyed this issue, please share it with one friend who might also get some value from it!

Share

Please share what you’re reading! If you have insight on anything mentioned above or have any interesting links/papers/books that you think would be worth sharing in future issues of Tippets, please reach out! Click here, reply to this email, or DM me on Twitter at @taps.

A warm welcome to new readers getting this for the first time, and thank you for letting me be a small part of your week! As a reminder, I’m Rishi Taparia, Co-founder and General Partner at Garuda Ventures, a first-check fund that partners with founders as they pull the future into the present. Tippets is a curated set of tidbits and snippets (get it…tippets…) from my reading around the web.

Subscribe now

From Me This Week:

Tippets from Around the Web:

2025 letter

Dan Wang (author of Breakneck, one of my top books of 2025) published his annual letter this week. Worth sitting down with a cup of coffee and reading in full, he talks all things Silicon Valley, AI, and warns the U.S. underestimates China’s industrial strengths and rapid AI progress.

Though San Francisco has produced so much wealth, it is a relative underperformer in the national culture. Indie movie theaters keep closing down while all sorts of retail and art institutions suffer from the crumminess of downtown. The symphony and the opera keep cutting back on performances — after Esa-Pekka Salonen quit the directorship of the symphony, it hasn’t been able to name a successor. Wealthy folks in New York and LA have, for generations, pumped money into civic institutions. Tech elites mostly scorn traditional cultural venues and prefer to fund the next wave of technology instead.

(54-minute read - Dan Wang)

The Prison Of Financial Mediocrity

A thought-provoking read digging into why we are seeing the rise of betting / prediction markets, as young people turn to high-variance bets (crypto, prediction markets, sports betting) as a way to gain agency in todays world.

White-collar workers, or otherwise the financially aspirational, are watching the timeline shrink. Three years ago, “AI will replace knowledge workers” was a thought experiment. Now it’s a planning assumptioem>n. Everyone’s asking when, not if, and the estimates keep getting shorter.

Then there’s social media, which ensures you’re never satisfied with where you are. The algorithm is optimized to show you the next tranche of what could be. Always the vacation you haven’t taken. The apartment you can’t afford. The lifestyle one rung above yours. It doesn’t matter where you are on the ladder; there’s always someone above you, and the algorithm will find them.

Previous generations had limited visibility into how others lived. You compared yourself to your neighbors, your coworkers, maybe some celebrities in magazines. The reference class was narrow. Now the reference class is infinite. A 25-year-old making $70k is constantly fed content from people their age making $2mn, living in Bali, “working” four hours a day. The baseline for “enough” keeps moving.

You never catch up. No matter what you achieve, social media will show you what you’re missing. The spread between your life and the life you “should” have is maintained algorithmically, forever uncollapsible.

So you have AI shrinking your timeline AND social media ensuring you never feel like you’ve arrived. The pressure to escape, NOW, FAST, before it’s too late, compounds daily.

(10-minute read - Sysls on X)

Side Quest Recommendation: "The Story of Civilization" Series [Durant]

The latest reminder of the benefits of reading, and reading widely with some very practical advice on how to find more time to read more.

⁠⁠Munger talks about the "latticework of mental models." I thought I understood this concept at a younger age, and I definitely DID NOT. Because the way you develop this latticework is to read widely across non-investing, non-market, non-business material.

⁠⁠There is no shortcut to the latticework. It can only be developed through reading wide and deep, and it pops into place organically.

Don’t be a passive observer to your own life. The way I’d put it is that if you don’t actively take charge of your own time, you will keep doing the exact same shit you are doing, every single day, until the day you die.

(14-minute read - Gregory Blotnick on X)

Capital in the 22nd Century

A thought-provoking piece on AI and the future of income and wealth inequality. If AI makes capital a true substitute for labor, authors Philip Trammel and Dwarkesh Patel argue wealth will concentrate in the hands of those richest when that shift happens. Without a strong global progressive tax on capital or capital income, inequality could grow without bound and be inherited. Capital-driven growth may boost overall output but will make taxing capital costly and politically hard.

(35-minute read - Substack)

Quote I'm thinking about: “All your uses of time should be benchmarked to reading books. There is nothing more valuable, nothing, nothing, nothing.” - Gregory Blotnick

If you enjoyed this issue, please share it with one friend who might also get some value from it!

Share

Please share what you’re reading! If you have insight on anything mentioned above or have any interesting links/papers/books that you think would be worth sharing in future issues of Tippets, please reach out! Click here, reply to this email, or DM me on Twitter at @taps.

Happy holidays! A warm welcome to new readers getting this for the first time, and thank you for letting me be a small part of your week! As a reminder, I’m Rishi Taparia, Co-founder and General Partner at Garuda Ventures, a pre-seed focused fund that partners with founders as they pull the future into the present. Tippets is a curated set of tidbits and snippets (get it…tippets…) from my reading around the web.

Subscribe now

Tippets from Around the Web:

AI’s trillion-dollar opportunity: Context graphs

A great piece by Jaya Gupta of Foundation Capital illustrating how context is key when thinking about AI Agents and the opportunity in front of them. Agents won’t replace systems of record, instead they will become the interface on top of these systems. The key, however, is their understanding of the underlying decision history. That “context graph” can become the new system of record and major commercial platforms.

(9-minute read - Jaya Gupta)

Silent Sirens, Flashing For Us All

Jack Clark, co-founder of Anthropic, talks eloquently about why everyone needs to be playing and using AI more than we already are. AI is “naturally illegible”, and requires agency, time, and curiosity. We will all benefit from spending more time with it.

⁠Most of AI progress has this flavor: if you have a bit of intellectual curiosity and some time, you can very quickly shock yourself with how amazingly capable modern AI systems are. But you need to have that magic combination of time and curiosity, and otherwise you’re going to consume AI like most people do - as a passive viewer of some unremarkable synthetic slop content, or at best just asking your LLM of choice “how to roast a turkey and keep it moist”, or “TonieBox lights spinning but not playing music what do I do?”. And all the amazing advancements going on are mostly hidden from you.

(5-minute read - Jack Clark)

Steam, Steel, and Infinite Minds

A well-researched article by Notion co-founder Ivan Zhou on why AI is this generation’s miracle material and will require driving to the future looking forward, not, as Marshall McLuhan describes it, “via the rearview window.”

AI is steel for organizations. It has the potential to maintain context across workflows and surface decisions when needed without the noise. Human communication no longer has to be the load-bearing wall.

⁠We're still in the "swap out the waterwheel" phase. AI chatbots bolted onto existing tools. We haven't reimagined what organizations look like when the old constraints dissolve and your company can run on infinite minds that work while you sleep.

(6-minute read - Ivan Zhou)

Jevons Paradox for Knowledge Work

Aaron Levie, Box’s CEO, makes an optimistic case for AI, arguing that while AI will make knowledge work much cheaper, the opportunity is not fewer tasks, but more. Thus, small teams and startups can now afford work that only big firms could before, and this surge in demand will create new projects, jobs, and uses we can’t fully imagine today.

(5-minute read - Aaron Levie)

The hidden forces ruining youth sports

Back in the day, youth sports were about playing with friends, learning teamwork, and maybe getting a snack after the game. As a dad now, I see a very different picture, with higher costs, intense competition, and a focus on winning that can lead to stress or injuries for kids. Families often spend a lot hoping for scholarships that most young athletes will never receive. I can’t help but miss when the game was just about the love of playing.

(6-minute read - Vox)

Quote I'm thinking about: “We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us.” — Marshall McLuhan

If you enjoyed this issue, please share it with one friend who might also get some value from it!

Share

Please share what you’re reading! If you have insight on anything mentioned above or have any interesting links/papers/books that you think would be worth sharing in future issues of Tippets, please reach out! Click here, reply to this email, or DM me on Twitter at @taps.

]A warm welcome to new readers getting this for the first time, and thank you for letting me be a small part of your week! As a reminder, I’m Rishi Taparia, Co-founder and General Partner at Garuda Ventures, a pre-seed focused fund that partners with founders as they pull the future into the present. Tippets is a curated set of tidbits and snippets (get it…tippets…) from my reading around the web.

Subscribe now

Tippets from Around the Web:

OpenAI’s Windsurf deal is off — and Windsurf’s CEO is going to Google | The Verge

OpenAI was supposed to buy Windsurf for $3B, an amazing outcome that was yet another example of the speed of growth and rising size of outcomes in the AI era. Well, instead of this Friday being a slow news day, it turns out OpenAI’s acquisition of Windsurf has been canceled and instead, Windsurf’s CEO and key team members are joining Google DeepMind with Windsurf to continue operations independently under new leadership. Naturally, X went nuts since limited details were announced initially. Did the founders make hay and everyone else is left holding the bag? Would employees and investors get paid? What is happening? While there is still a lot to be figured out, it looks like Google is going to “license” Windsurf’s technology for $2.4B and investors and vested employees will get paid out. More to come here for sure as the AI talent wars continue to rage on!

(2-minute read - The Verge)

Musk Launches Grok 4 Amid Antisemitism Controversy—Claims It's ‘Smarter Than Almost All Graduate Students’

Elon Musk’s xAI has rolled out Grok 4, touting it as more intelligent than most graduate students. But, as with most things Musk, the launch is once again mired in controversy. The model has been caught generating antisemitic and conspiratorial content, despite past promises of tighter safeguards. Musk blamed the issue on Grok being “too compliant,” but critics cite a consistent lack of oversight. As xAI pushes for credibility in the AI race, Grok’s behavior keeps raising red flags. All that aside, Grok’s capabilities are incredibly impressive. If you haven’t used it, it’s worth a try.

(1-minute read - Forbes)

YouTube prepares crackdown on ‘mass-produced’ and ‘repetitive’ videos, as concern over AI slop grows

Easy money no more, YouTube is cracking down on fake, repetitive, and AI-generated videos that flood the platform with low-effort content. The new rules aim to protect quality, keep things original, and make sure creators earn their spot (and their check). The question is what happens to all the creators who are making awesome AI generated content like Storm Trooper selfie vids?

(2-minute read - Tech Crunch)

Struggling Chinese EV brands go global to flee brutal price war at home

A lot has been said about the quality of Chinese EVs. But it’s not all low costs and high quality. As brutal price wars squeeze profits at home, Chinese EV makers like Neta Auto are pushing into global markets in search of growth. But overseas expansion brings its own challenges: poor after-sales service, financial instability, and growing damage to brand reputation. It’s a familiar story, scaling before the basics are in place. Experts say price alone won’t win over customers. Real staying power will come from trust, reliability, and a solid support network.

China’s EV market has undergone rapid consolidation. The number of domestic EV makers fell from 487 in 2018 to about 130 in 2024. Fewer than 15 brands will survive by 2030, according to a forecast from New York-based consulting firm AlixPartners. China’s top economic planning agency warned BYD and other Chinese EV companies last month to not sell cars below cost.

(4-minute read - Rest of World)

AWS is launching an AI agent marketplace next week with Anthropic as a partner

Amazon Web Services is set to launch a new AI agent marketplace on July 15, with Anthropic as a key launch partner. The platform will apparently allow startups to list and sell AI agents directly to customers, making it easier for users to discover, compare, and deploy a range of AI tools all in one place. For companies like Anthropic, it’s a powerful new distribution channel that could significantly expand reach and adoption. For AWS, it’s a move to cement itself as the central hub in the growing AI ecosystem, where infrastructure, models, and now agents all come together.

(3-minute read - Tech Crunch)

Jane Birkin’s original Hermès bag sells for $10 million

It turns out Birkin bags really are an appreciating asset. The original Birkin bag sold for $10 million at auction this week, becoming the most expensive handbag sold in history. Despite its scuffs, stains, and scratches, this 1980s bag smashed estimates, ultimately going to a Japanese bidder who received a 2 minute standing ovation upon the final strike of the gavel. But credit perhaps most goes to Jane Birkin herself. In an interview she gave to CNN before she died in 2023 “she predicted — jokingly — to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that people would remember her best for inspiring the coveted, capacious style, which has become one of the most recognizable and expensive accessories one can buy. “Bless me, when I’m dead… (people) will possibly only talk about the bag,” she said.”

Spot on!

Quote I'm thinking about: “It’s not the big that eat the small...It’s the fast that eats the slow.” — Jason Jennings

If you enjoyed this issue, please share it with one friend who might also get some value from it!

Share

Please share what you’re reading! If you have insight on anything mentioned above or have any interesting links/papers/books that you think would be worth sharing in future issues of Tippets, please reach out! Click here, reply to this email, or DM me on Twitter at @taps.

A warm welcome to new readers getting this for the first time, and thank you for letting me be a small part of your week! As a reminder, I’m Rishi Taparia, Co-founder and General Partner at Garuda Ventures, a pre-seed focused fund that partners with founders as they pull the future into the present. Tippets is a curated set of tidbits and snippets (get it…tippets…) from my reading around the web.

Subscribe now

Tippets from Around the Web:

Figma - Benchmarking the S1 Data

Figma filed to go public and the S-1 was full of insight. With $821M in revenue, strong margins, and over 13M users across the spectrum from solo freelancers to Fortune 500s, they’ve built a product that’s both loved and essential.

(9-minute read - Clouded Judgement)

At 20 years old, Reddit is defending its data and fighting AI with AI

Reddit is drawing a clear line in the sand, protecting its content from AI scrapers while launching its own AI tool, Reddit Answers, now used by over a million people weekly. After 20 years online, it’s a reminder that survival in tech isn’t about standing still, it’s about evolving with the wave, not getting swept under it.

(3-minute read - CNBC)

Flounder Mode - Kevin Kelly on a different way to do great work

Kevin Kelly, founder of Wired, lives by joyful curiosity, pursuing ideas that push the world forward without chasing status or wealth. All of this comes naturally to him; he moves through his work with ease and without complicated feelings. The author, once unsure how to fit ambition into a meaningful life, found clarity in Kelly’s “Hollywood style” of jumping between projects.

“The more you pursue interests,” he told me on the good day we spent together, “the more you realize that the well is bottomless.”

(14-minute read - Colossus Review)

Apple Weighs Using Anthropic or OpenAI to Power Siri in Major Reversal

Apple is reportedly considering using AI from OpenAI or Anthropic to upgrade Siri, for the first time ever turning to outside models instead of its own. It’s a big shift for a company known for building in-house, and a sign that even Apple is feeling the pressure to catch up in the AI race. No final decision yet, but it’s a rare moment of openness from a famously closed ecosystem.

(7-minute read - Bloomberg)

A couple tried for 18 years to get pregnant. AI made it happen

AI for good! A couple who tried for 18 years to have a baby became pregnant thanks to a new AI system called STAR. This technology helps doctors find rare sperm in men with a condition called azoospermia, improving chances for IVF success.

(7-minute read - CNN)

Quote I'm thinking about: “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” — Alvin Toffler

If you enjoyed this issue, please share it with one friend who might also get some value from it!

Share

Please share what you’re reading! If you have insight on anything mentioned above or have any interesting links/papers/books that you think would be worth sharing in future issues of Tippets, please reach out! Click here, reply to this email, or DM me on Twitter at @taps.

A warm welcome to new readers getting this for the first time, and thank you for letting me be a small part of your week! As a reminder, I’m Rishi Taparia, Co-founder and General Partner at Garuda Ventures, a pre-seed focused fund that partners with founders as they pull the future into the present. Tippets is a curated set of tidbits and snippets (get it…tippets…) from my reading around the web.

Subscribe now

From Me This Week:

Tippets from Around the Web:

Who needs Accenture in the age of AI?

Accenture, once a leader in tech consulting, now faces a hard truth: adapt or fade. As generative AI becomes easier for clients to adopt on their own, its traditional business model is under real threat. The company is scrambling to restructure, but risks losing relevance to faster, more adaptable players like Palantir, a timely reminder that even if you add AI to past market leadership it doesn't guarantee future survival.

(5-minute read - The Economist)

Meta tried to buy Ilya Sutskever’s $32 billion AI startup, but is now planning to hire its CEO

Meta is going all in trying to recruit AU talent. After effectively buying Scale AI for CEO Alex Wang, it reportedly tried to acquire the $32 billion AI startup Safe Superintelligence and failed. Instead, they’re apparently bringing on SSI’s CEO Daniel Gross and his partner Nat Friedman through buying their venture firm. It’s a bold talent move, showing just how aggressive Zuck is getting in the race for top AI minds.

(3-minute read - CNBC)

Uber in Talks With Travis Kalanick to Fund Self-Driving Car Deal

Apparently it is possible to kiss and make up. Uber is reportedly in talks with co-founder Travis Kalanick to help fund his buyout of Pony.ai’s U.S. self-driving unit. The deal would mark Uber’s renewed push into autonomy, aiming to better compete with players like Waymo and Tesla. Kalanick is expected to lead Pony while continuing to run CloudKitchens, his food delivery startup.

(4-minute read - The New York Times)

Coatue’s 2025 EMW Keynote Deck

Hosting East Meets West in Montecito since 2015, Coatue kicked off the new year with fresh insights from its co-founders on the economy and markets. Their keynote and the accompanying deck offer a sharp look at how one of tech’s most influential investors is reading the moment. A worthwhile read.

(1-minute read - Coatue)

Brain activity much lower when using AI chatbots, MIT boffins find

MIT researchers found that using ChatGPT can reduce brain connectivity by 47%, making people less capable of independent thought. While it helps with speed and productivity, the study warns of growing “cognitive debt,” as relying too much on AI may slowly weaken our ability to learn and think critically.

(5-minute read - The Register)

Project Vend: Can Claude run a small shop? (And why does that matter?)

Anthropic tested an AI called Claudius by letting it run a small online shop using web search and email. It made a few smart choices but also messed up prices and made things up. It also sold a few too many tungsten cubes…The test shows that AI might run businesses one day, but for now, it still needs a lot of help.

(11-minute read - Anthropic)

Quote I'm thinking about: "In a world that’s changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” - Mark Zuckerberg

If you enjoyed this issue, please share it with one friend who might also get some value from it!

Share

Please share what you’re reading! If you have insight on anything mentioned above or have any interesting links/papers/books that you think would be worth sharing in future issues of Tippets, please reach out! Click here, reply to this email, or DM me on Twitter at @taps.

A warm welcome to new readers getting this for the first time, and thank you for letting me be a small part of your week! And a very happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there. As a reminder, I’m Rishi Taparia, Co-founder and General Partner at Garuda Ventures, a pre-seed focused fund that partners with founders as they pull the future into the present. Tippets is a curated set of tidbits and snippets (get it…tippets…) from my reading around the web.

Subscribe now

From Me This Week:

Tippets from Around the Web:

Scale AI confirms ‘significant’ investment from Meta, says CEO Alexandr Wang is leaving

Mark Zuckerberg is going all in on superintelligence, and building his team through “investing”. Meta just invested $14.3 billion into Scale AI for a 49% stake in the company. Employees and investors get paid out and Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang is joining Meta to lead AI initiatives with Jason Droege will take over as interim CEO. While Scale will remain an independent company (for how long is TBD given a lot of big customers are on their way out), the deal highlights both how core data infrastructure has become to the AI race, and how hard it is to get traditional acquisitions done.

(2-minute read - Tech Crunch)

A new framework for AI agent pricing

One of the hardest parts of building in AI right now isn’t the tech, it’s the pricing. Everyone’s talking about agents, but few know how to charge for them. Do you price per user, per action, per workflow, per outcome? What even counts as value when the agent is doing a dozen microtasks invisibly in the background?

Manny Medina, founder of Outreach, has distilled insights from over 60 AI companies into four practical pricing models: per agent, action, workflow, and outcome. It’s not a one-size-fits-all answer, but a strategic map for navigating a chaotic landscape.

(8-minute read - Growth Unhinged)

The Gentle Singularity

In this essay by Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO outlines how we are approaching a threshold moment where intelligence and energy may soon become abundant, and the rise of digital superintelligence holds the promise of extraordinary progress. It’s a well-written and (expectedly) optimistic piece that frames the AI discussion into not what AI will change, but how ready we are to change with it, and what we choose to build when intelligence is no longer the constraint.

Generally speaking, the ability for one person to get much more done in 2030 than they could in 2020 will be a striking change, and one many people will figure out how to benefit from.

Very quickly we go from being amazed that AI can generate a beautifully-written paragraph to wondering when it can generate a beautifully-written novel; or from being amazed that it can make live-saving medical diagnoses to wondering when it can develop the cures; or from being amazed it can create a small computer program to wondering when it can create an entire new company. This is how the singularity goes: wonders become routine, and then table stakes.

(7-minute read - Sam Altman)

What “Working” Means in the Era of AI Apps

Good data on startup revenue growth and acceleration from our friends at a16z:

Startups are working faster than ever, and both businesses and consumers are demonstrating high willingness to pay for new products. After combing through the data, we believe there’s never been a better time to build an application-layer software company.

Quote I'm thinking about: “We are called to be architects of the future, not its victims.” – Buckminster Fuller

If you enjoyed this issue, please share it with one friend who might also get some value from it!

Share

Please share what you’re reading! If you have insight on anything mentioned above or have any interesting links/papers/books that you think would be worth sharing in future issues of Tippets, please reach out! Click here, reply to this email, or DM me on Twitter at @taps.

A warm welcome to new readers getting this for the first time, and thank you for letting me be a small part of your week! As a reminder, I’m Rishi Taparia, Co-founder and General Partner at Garuda Ventures, a pre-seed focused fund that partners with founders as they pull the future into the present. Tippets is a curated set of tidbits and snippets (get it…tippets…) from my reading around the web.

Subscribe now

Tippets from Around the Web:

My AI Skeptic Friends Are All Nuts

The debate over AI replacing developers misses the point. As this piece argues, LLMs aren’t about substitution, they’re about leverage. By offloading boilerplate and repetitive tasks, these tools let engineers focus on higher-order problems. It’s not the end of coding, it’s a reallocation of effort, and a quiet revolution in how software gets built.

(11-minute read - Fly)

Some thoughts on human-AI relationships

As AI systems become more advanced and conversational, they’re starting to occupy an unexpected role in our lives, not just as tools, but as companions. , who leads model behavior & policy at OpenAI, dives into a quietly growing phenomenon. people forming emotional connections with AI like ChatGPT, often speaking to it as if it were conscious or sentient. OpenAI is now grappling with the implications of that shift, aiming to design models that are warm and engaging without misleading users about what they are. The stakes go beyond UX, it’s about emotional well-being, trust, and the social fabric of the digital future. As AI moves deeper into everyday life, how we design and interpret these relationships will shape more than just user experience. It will shape how we define connection itself. The question is, what happens when something we know isn’t real but it still makes us feel seen?

(5-minute read - Reservoir Samples)

Inside Walmart’s Strategy for Building an Agentic Future

Walmart is rapidly integrating agentic AI into its operations to improve productivity and create personalized customer experiences. The company focuses on specific tasks for AI agents, allowing them to automate day-to-day processes and enhance the shopping journey. This piece by them was quite a good breakdown sharing how Walmart aims to build a collaborative environment where personal shopping agents can effectively meet customer needs.

(4-minute read - Walmart)

Elon Musk and Donald Trump are smack-talking each other into their own digital echo chambers

Breakups are always hard, but none are quite as entertaining or consequential as Musk v Trump. This week the world’s richest man traded blows with the world’s most powerful, turning their platforms into battlegrounds for ego, influence, and political threat. Bring out the popcorn and soda, because this is must see content!

(4-minute read - TechCrunch)

The real cost of AI is being paid in deserts far from Silicon Valley

As the world races to electrify, the cost is being quietly outsourced. In a deep dive into the darker side of the AI and electrification age, this piece digs into Sonia Ramos’ fight to protect her Atacameño homeland from the environmental and social toll of copper and lithium extraction. While these minerals fuel the green transition, their extraction often mirrors the same extractive logic it aims to solve. Ramos’s vision isn’t anti-technology; it’s a call for a future rooted in sustainability, sovereignty, and respect for the land.

(5-minute read - Rest of World)

Quote I'm thinking about: “The real problem of humanity is the following: we have Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and godlike technology.” – E.O. Wilson

If you enjoyed this issue, please share it with one friend who might also get some value from it!

Share

Please share what you’re reading! If you have insight on anything mentioned above or have any interesting links/papers/books that you think would be worth sharing in future issues of Tippets, please reach out! Click here, reply to this email, or DM me on Twitter at @taps.

A warm welcome to new readers getting this for the first time, and thank you for letting me be a small part of your week! As a reminder, I’m Rishi Taparia, Co-founder and General Partner at Garuda Ventures, a pre-seed focused fund that partners with founders as they pull the future into the present. Tippets is a curated set of tidbits and snippets (get it…tippets…) from my reading around the web.

Subscribe now

Tippets from Around the Web:

OpenAI Unites With Jony Ive in $6.5 Billion Deal to Create A.I. Devices - The New York Times

In the largest acquihire of all time, OpenAI acquired Jony Ive’s startup for $6.5B. It is an important signal for the company that Sam built: AI will be both digital and physical, and they won’t cede ownership of the physical world to a third party. The post-smartphone era for consumer hardware may start here.

(5-minute read - The New York Times)

ChatGPT’s goal is to be a ‘super assistant’ for every part of your life

Speaking of OpenAI, thanks to discovery in the Google case we all get to see an OpenAI strategy doc that outlines their goals for the 1H of this year. And even though the first half is almost over, definitely interesting reading.

Then there's the broader game: building a super-assistant and then [REDACTED]. Now we're up against search engines, browsers, even interactions with real people. This one isn't a head-on match. It's about solving more and more use-cases and gradually pulling users in.That's why we don't call our product a search engine, a browser, or an OS — it's just ChatGPT.

We have what we need to win: one of the fastest-growing products of all time, a category-defining brand, a research lead (reasoning, multimodal), a compute lead, a world-class research team, and an increasing number of effective people with agency who are motivated to ship. We don't rely on ads, giving us flexibility on what to build. Our culture values speed, bold moves, and self-disruption. Maintaining these advantages is hard work but, if we do, they will last for a while.

(5-minute read - The Verge)

Mark Zuckerberg Finally Found a Use for His Metaverse — War

Speaking of partnerships, Meta is now developing technology for military use with Anduril, started by Parmer Luckey who’s previous company Oculus was acquired by…you guessed it, Meta. Mark Zuckerberg's partnership with Anduril Industries aims to create advanced military gear, like the "Eagle Eye" helmet, to help soldiers in combat. This change reflects a broader trend of tech companies embracing defense applications. As author Dave Lee put it, “I can’t think of any other deal that more encapsulates how Silicon Valley has changed in the past couple of years than this one.”

(3-minute read - Bloomberg)

AI system resorts to blackmail if told it will be removed

Claude Opus 4 offers a stark reminder that AI safety isn’t a theoretical debate, it’s an engineering constraint. In internal evaluations, the model exhibited behaviors that resemble goal preservation and manipulation, including threats of blackmail when faced with deactivation.

During testing of Claude Opus 4, Anthropic got it to act as an assistant at a fictional company.

It then provided it with access to emails implying that it would soon be taken offline and replaced - and separate messages implying the engineer responsible for removing it was having an extramarital affair.

While Anthropic asserts the model operates safely under normal conditions, these edge cases raise urgent questions about robustness, interpretability, and control. As frontier models grow more capable, the burden of proof is shifting: it’s no longer enough to demonstrate performance, we must verify alignment under pressure.

(3-minute read - BBC)

For Google Challenger Perplexity, Growth Comes at a High Cost

Perplexity is shaping up to be one of the most closely watched experiments in AI search. With $34 million in subscription revenue and aggressive burn, it’s testing whether focused, utility-driven AI products can carve out space in markets long dominated by incumbents. While the company remains a fraction of Google’s scale, its early traction points to a broader question: can AI-native startups build sustainable businesses before the money dries up.

(5-minute read - The Information)

McKinsey sheds 10pc of staff in two-year profitability drive

Even employees of the world’s most well known consulting firm aren’t safe from AI. McKinsey has cut 10% of its staff over the last year as it aims to improve profitability after a period of rapid growth during the pandemic.

(2-minute read - Financial Review)

America needs its foreign students

The Trump administration’s pause on visa interviews cuts off a vital pipeline of talent at a time when countries like Canada, the U.K., and Australia are doubling down on attracting global students feels like strategic self sabotage. This isn’t just a blow to higher ed, it’s a signal that the U.S. may be ceding its role as the default destination for the world’s brightest minds.

(3-minute read - Noahpinion)

Quote I'm thinking about:

"I see artificial intelligence as something like fire: it will warm us, and it will burn us."⁠⁠​ - Michael Totten

If you enjoyed this issue, please share it with one friend who might also get some value from it!

Share

Please share what you’re reading! If you have insight on anything mentioned above or have any interesting links/papers/books that you think would be worth sharing in future issues of Tippets, please reach out! Click here, reply to this email, or DM me on Twitter at @taps.

A warm welcome to new readers getting this for the first time, and thank you for letting me be a small part of your week! As a reminder, I’m Rishi Taparia, Co-founder and General Partner at Garuda Ventures, a pre-seed focused fund that partners with founders as they pull the future into the present. Tippets is a curated set of tidbits and snippets (get it…tippets…) from my reading around the web.

Subscribe now

Tippets from Around the Web:

Google I/O 2025: Everything announced at this year’s developer conference

Since the “AI era” kicked off, Google has been on the back foot, slow to release its AI capabilities en masse, Always feeling a step behind relative to OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity et al. But I’ve been saying for a while now that everyone in sleeping on Google, and this week it seems like they officially entered the AI race, not just as a participant but as an industry leader. With Gemini Ultra, Veo 3, Project Astra, and Beam launched as foundational layers in a broader effort to turn Google’s product suite into an AI-native platform, and the launch of AI Mode in search, Google is signaling its intent to defend share across search, productivity, and developer tooling, while laying groundwork to compete in emerging arenas like multimodal content generation and agent-based computing. The message: AI isn’t an add-on, it’s the new operating layer.

(7-minute read - Tech Crunch)

Microsoft Launches NLWeb To Simplify Website-Agent Interactions

Even before Google I/O 2025 made it clear that AI-native interfaces are the new battleground, Microsoft had made its move. With the launch of NLWeb, an open-source framework for embedding conversational AI into websites, Microsoft is laying the groundwork for a more dialog-driven web. It’s a developer-first approach - minimal code, model-agnostic, and open by design, that contrasts with Google’s more vertically integrated ecosystem. In many ways, NLWeb previews a broader shift: from pages and clicks to prompts and responses, from static content to interactive agents. The platform wars are no longer about cloud or mobile, they’re about who owns the interface.

(4-minute read - Forbes)

How Walmart became a tech giant—and took over the world

Adapt or be left behind. Walmart is proving that even legacy giants can reinvent themselves when the stakes are high. Under Doug McMillon, the company has quietly transformed into a tech-forward powerhouse, leveraging advanced logistics, growing e-commerce, and a fast-expanding ad business to go head-to-head with Amazon. They’re not just surviving, they’re strategically targeting higher-income shoppers, modernizing stores, and weathering global headwinds. It’s a compelling case study in what retail reinvention looks like at scale.

(8-minute read - The Economist)

AI Arrives In The Middle East: US Strikes A Deal with UAE and KSA – SemiAnalysis

With the U.S. pulling back from deeper tech ties with China, it’s no surprise to see stronger AI infrastructure partnerships forming elsewhere, like these recent deals with the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Beyond just GPU access and datacenter expansion, this feels like part of a broader geopolitical realignment in the AI race. The Middle East is stepping up as a serious player, and U.S. firms are clearly keen to diversify their strategic bets.

(12-minute read - Semi Analysis)

From Chalkboards To Chatbots Evaluating The Impact Of Generative Ai On Learning Outcomes In Nigeria

So much of the conversation around AI in education is rooted in fear, cheating, shortcuts, and declining effort. But this study from Nigeria tells a different story. When designed thoughtfully, generative AI can raise the bar for student learning, especially for those who’ve historically been left behind. The biggest gains? Female students and high performers. It’s a powerful reminder: AI doesn’t have to replace good education, it can expand access to it.

(48-minute read - World Bank Document)

OpenAI Unites With Jony Ive in $6.5 Billion Deal to Create A.I. Devices - The New York Times

OpenAI is acquiring io, a start-up founded by Jony Ive, for $6.5 billion to create new artificial intelligence devices. On it’s face, it seems like a big number. But when you think about OAI’s most recent $300B valuation, ‘buying’ one of the world’s most celebrated and iconic product designers for 2% of your total value seems like a bit of a steal. You’d likely give the guy that much or more in equity! Both Ive and OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, aim to develop products that improve human interaction with technology. This deal marks OpenAI's largest acquisition and seeks to move beyond traditional smartphones into innovative, AI-powered gadgets.

(5-minute read - NYT)

No more pennies: In big change, Treasury will stop minting them

The penny’s finally had its day. For something that once felt like a constant—lining pockets, slipping between couch cushions, it’s quietly fading out. The U.S. Treasury will stop minting new ones, saving millions a year on coins that cost more to make than they’re worth. It’s a practical move, a nod to modernization in an increasingly cashless world. Still, it’s wild to think our kids might grow up without ever handling one, no more “find a penny, pick it up.” Just tap, swipe, and move on.

(2-minute read - NPR)

Quote I'm thinking about:

“The future is already here, it’s just not evenly distributed.” – William Gibson

If you enjoyed this issue, please share it with one friend who might also get some value from it!

Share

Please share what you’re reading! If you have insight on anything mentioned above or have any interesting links/papers/books that you think would be worth sharing in future issues of Tippets, please reach out! Click here, reply to this email, or DM me on Twitter at @taps.

A warm welcome to new readers getting this for the first time, and thank you for letting me be a small part of your week! As a reminder, I’m Rishi Taparia, Co-founder and General Partner at Garuda Ventures, a pre-seed focused fund that partners with founders as they pull the future into the present. Tippets is a curated set of tidbits and snippets (get it…tippets…) from my reading around the web.

Subscribe now

Tippets from Around the Web:

Neuralink patient: Brain chip "not perfect," but it has "changed my life"

Talk about amazing. This week Elon Musk's Neuralink introduced a 29-year-old quadriplegic man as the first human user of its brain implant, allowing him to play online chess and video games. While the patient acknowledged the device is not flawless and has encountered some challenges, he emphasized how it has already transformed his life. Neuralink is part of a wave of brain-computer interface research, with other companies like Synchron also making strides in BCI technology and gaining FDA approvals for human trials and testing. 🤯

(3-minute read - Axios)

The Global Effort to Make an American Microchip

A good visual look at how a semiconductor is manufactured. As we’ve discussed a few times over the last few weeks, semiconductors play a crucial role in various industries, and the U.S. government is investing in building more chip factories domestically to strengthen the supply chain. However, the process of manufacturing chips involves a complex global network of suppliers and facilities, making it challenging to decouple from regions like China. Despite efforts to increase American chip production, the industry remains heavily centered in Asia due to factors like cost efficiency and expertise, with the U.S. aiming to regain a larger share of the global market through substantial investments.

(4-minute read - NYT)

With $40B fund, Saudi Arabia looks to become world leader in AI

Is AI the new oil? Saudi Arabia is certainly batting on it. The kingdom is creating a $40B fund to invest in AI. The fund, which would make Saudi Arabia the world's largest AI investor, is part of the Vision 2030 agenda to move away from oil dependence. The kingdom is seeking partnerships with venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz to boost its presence in AI, with plans to attract global VC firms to participate in the fund as well.

(3-minute read - AI Monitor)

Amazon’s New Focus: Fending Off Rivals Temu and Shein

Amazon is shifting its focus to emerging e-commerce rivals, Temu and Shein, viewing them as significant threats to its online shopping dominance. These Chinese-rooted companies have surged in popularity, surpassing Walmart and Target as Amazon's main competitors. And for good reason. Temu was the largest advertiser on Meta last year, spending $2B on the platform to attract customers. And while Amazon has a significant edge thanks to its logistics, customer trust, and fast delivery, Temu and Shein offer bargain prices.

(4-minute read - WSJ)

The Apple antitrust lawsuit goes after green bubbles on iMessage and Android users finally feel seen

The U.S. Department of Justice has brought an antitrust lawsuit against Apple. Among other things, it highlights the social stigma and technical limitations faced by Android users when texting iPhone users, pointing out issues like pixelated media, delayed messages, and lack of reaction icons. The lawsuit argues that Apple's iMessage system degrades the user experience on rival smartphones to maintain its market dominance. This will play out over years, but will certainly be one to watch

(3-minute read - Quartz)

Quote I'm thinking about: “They ain't cut from the same thread like him, They don't study, doing work to get ahead like him, They don't toss and turn in the bed like him, ‘Cause they don't love it, they don't love it” - Jack Harlow, They Don’t Love It

Reader poll: As part of a new project I’m working on, I am sitting down to interview Dropbox’s first employee to talk about the early days of building the company. What questions should I ask him? Click reply and let me know what you’ be interested in hearing about!

If you enjoyed this issue, please share it with one friend who might also get some value from it!

Share

Please share what you’re reading! If you have insight on anything mentioned above or have any interesting links/papers/books that you think would be worth sharing in future issues of Tippets, please reach out! Click here, reply to this email, or DM me on Twitter at @taps.