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What’s Appening: Perplexity Comet, Apple US Investment, Majorana 1, Claude Sonnet 3.7
Newsletter
February 25, 2025
APPLE TO INVEST $500 BILLION IN THE US
👀 TLDR
In this week’s What’s Appening, we cover Perplexity AI’s impending launch of a web browser. It’s a crowded market that Google dominates with Chrome, but we’ve been impressed with Perplexity’s AI search engine, its rapid growth, and its ambition. We also have news on Apple making its biggest-ever investment in the United States, Microsoft’s quantum processor, Claude Sonnet 3.7, the 21-year-olds with a $2B startup, and much more!
🎬 Our Top Take
👩💻☄️ Perplexity – “Revolutionary” Comet Browser Will Be Released Soon
Back in 2008, Google decided to release Chrome to capitalize on its growing dominance with its search engine. It was a logical step and one that paid dividends. This week, AI search engine Perplexity announced it would soon be releasing its own browser, Comet. While this is an opportunity to expand its growing user base (100 million search queries per week), it’s also entering a (very) crowded market. Not only has it been historically difficult to make any dent in Google’s dominance, but other AI-focused products, including Dia from The Browser Company, will be entering the market soon. Yet, we like this step from Perplexity: it feels just as logical as Google launching Chrome in 2008. Perplexity, which is now valued at $9B, has had a rocket strapped to its back growth-wise since its founding in 2022. If it truly “reinvents” the browser as it claims it’s doing with Comet, then we are excited to see what it has cooked up. #Comet Read more here.
🗣️ Poll: Would You Consider Switching from Chrome? |
📲 App of the Week: Immersive 360 Worlds: Passage
Despite flagging sales, Apple is far from done with the Vision Pro. Moreover, the future of the device relies on the innovative apps that will be built for it by 3rd party developers. Thus, this week, we are highlighting Immersive 360 Worlds: Passage, which helps you build virtual worlds to act as your workspace. You can either generate your own 3D mixed reality workspace with AI, or use some of the templates provided by artists. Almost instantly, your work desk is transported to a beach or your drab office becomes a funky artist’s studio. The execution isn’t perfect yet, but it at least gives you an idea of what sort of apps could flourish if – and when – the Vision Pro finally finds its feet. Check out Immersive 360 Worlds: Passage here.
🧐 Stat of the Week: $2B
📈📉 Mercor – Thiel Fellows Startup Rockets to $2 Billion Valuation
On the face of it, Mercor, founded in 2023, looks like a clever idea for a startup. It wants to use AI to revolutionize job hiring, matching billions (their words) of people to their true vocations. Mercor has recently been valued at $2B after the latest round of funding. Yet, what is more remarkable, is the three founders are aged just 21. The three men, who went through the Thiel Fellowship program, are among the youngest-ever founders of a unicorn company. #YoungUnicorns Read more here.
🗞️ Other Stories
🍏 Big Spenders. Apple has announced a staggering $500 investment in the US over the next four years in everything from factories to academies. About 20K jobs should be created. Story here. 🧑⚖️ Silent Protest. Around 1,000 UK music artists, including Kate Bush and Damon Albarn, have released a “silent album” to protest new AI copyright laws planned by the government. Details here. 🐝 Claude Buzz. Another week, another new AI model. Yet, Claude Sonnet 3.7 has tech experts and developers buzzing about its real-time and long-pondered responses. Get more on that story here. | 💡Quantum Leap. Big things in quantum computing, with Microsoft taking the lead by unveiling Majorana 1, the world’s first quantum processor powered by topological qubits. More here. 📲 Smart Notifications. A lot of pointless notifications on your phone? Apple Intelligence intends to sort the wheat from the chaff with “Priority Notifications” on the upcoming iOS 18.4. More here. 🍴 Protein Power. AI has been used to design a special type of enzyme that has an appetite to digest plastics. Early days, but it’s a significant breakthrough in the fight to clean up the planet. Story here. |
📍 Meanwhile at 3Advance
This past weekend, Darren and Paul headed to California. Footsteps with Jesus officially launched before Christmas, and we had the chance to catch up with founder Dan McDowell, finally meeting him in person over a pint at the Ould Sod in San Diego. Fun fact: Dan has seen U2 live over 20 times!! That’s more than these three other Irishmen combined. But Patrick (founder of Shift) did one better, having met — and even sang with Bono himself! And to keep the Irish theme alive, the reason for us heading out West in the first place was to meet Shift investors. With St Paddy’s Day around the corner, Shift.irish is going live this weekend!! Bring it on. 🍻 ☘️ |  |
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