Rayego-Mateos S, Rodrigues-Diez RR, Fernandez-Fernandez B, Mora-Fernández C, Marchant V, Donate-Correa J, et al. Targeting inflammation to treat diabetic kidney disease: the road to 2030. Kidney Int. 2023;103(2):282–96.
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YouTube redesign includes 20 fun Like animations
YouTube has recently had a UI update, with changes including threads on the comments section and making interactive elements transparent so that it doesn’t cover up content. Its classic YouTube logo will be staying the same.
Probably the most fun…
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Hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma in a patient with germline TP53 c.743G > A (p.Arg248Gln) variant: a case report | Journal of Medical Case Reports
This case underscores the diagnostic and management complexities introduced by germline TP53 VUS, particularly in patients meeting Li-Fraumeni-like syndrome (LFL) criteria. The p.Arg248Gln variant lies in a mutational hotspot and may impair DNA…
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Retailers at Penzance’s Wharfside say business is ‘on the up’
A shopping centre in Penzance is experiencing a resurgence in its fortunes with empty retail outlets being filled by independent businesses and restaurants, according to the management team there.
In the past month alone two new shops have opened…
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Google doodle celebrates Halloween, 45 years of ‘Pac-Man’
Thursday’s Google doodle celebrates Halloween and 45 years of “Pac-Man.” Image courtesy of Google
Oct. 30 (UPI) — Thursday’s Google doodle celebrates Halloween and 45 years of the iconic video game Pac-Man.
The Google homepage features…
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Comcast Q3 Earnings Report: Peacock Loss, Subscribers Update
Peacock, the streaming service of Comcast’s entertainment unit NBCUniversal, narrowed its third-quarter loss to $217 million compared with $436 million in the year-ago period. The streamer, which unveiled new programming like The Paper and…
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Electricity reprograms immune cells to speed up recovery
Researchers at Trinity College Dublin have found that applying electrical currents to “macrophages,” a crucial type of immune cell, can reprogram them to reduce inflammation and promote faster healing in cases of disease or injury.
This discovery…
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Universal Music and AI song generator Udio settle lawsuit partner on new AI platform
LONDON — Universal Music Group and AI song generation platform Udio have settled a copyright infringement lawsuit and agreed to team up on new music creation and streaming platform, the two companies said in a joint statement.
Universal and Udio…
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Dance alleviates perceived symptoms of depression, study finds
Dance as a performative art form alleviates perceived symptoms of depression, helps to understand its root causes and promotes self-actualization, a recent study from the University of Eastern Finland found. The multidisciplinary…
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Mark Zuckerberg goes all in on the AI YOLO trade
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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
You only get one shot at AI supremacy. Or that’s the thinking that seems to have taken hold among Big Tech executives. Their artificial intelligence strategy has a “you only live once” feel: shovel in as much money as possible, hope to come out on top, and if you fail, at least you tried.
Meta Platforms more so than most. Founder Mark Zuckerberg told analysts on Wednesday that he is spending to meet “the most optimistic cases”. That means the Facebook parent investing “notably” more than $100bn next year, twice what analysts were pencilling in for 2026 this time a year ago, according to LSEG.
The resulting $160bn drop in Meta’s market value reflects that, for investors, this logic is doubtful. There is no reason to think investing a lot ensures success — witness Zuckerberg’s languishing Metaverse project — so higher sums just up the chances of big writedowns. Google is spending even more than Meta on data centres but has a cloud computing business, so it can rent what it doesn’t use to third parties.
For one Meta shareholder at least, the risk-reward calculation works a bit differently: Zuckerberg himself. The prize — being the first to achieve so-called superintelligence — isn’t just a financial bet. It would propel him into the history books.
And the downside is limited. There is no chance of Meta going bust. Zuckerberg’s spree has so far been funded with operating cash flows, not debt. While Meta is juicing up its data centre investments with leverage, it is able to do so in joint ventures like the one it has set up with private credit operator Blue Owl that don’t sit on its balance sheet.
Meanwhile, the company makes so much cash that it can afford to risk some of its investments going nowhere. Even if Meta were to spend $500bn on superintelligence in the next five years, it would still have $400bn of cumulative free cash left over, according to Visible Alpha.
Even if Meta were not to cross the finish line first, the capex might not be entirely wasted. Spending on AI is increasingly driving more revenue in its “core” business of selling ads on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. In the latest quarter, it showed users 14 per cent more ads than a year earlier, and charged 10 per cent more for each one.
If the AI race really turns into a damp squib for Meta, the worst it faces is a badly bruised share price. And even that might sting less than one might expect. It is not clear investors were pricing in AI supremacy anyway. Meta shares trade at the same 25 times forward earnings that they have done on average for the past decade.
Failure would be unpleasant. But — for tech bosses who are wealthy, messianic and entrenched — the risk is far outweighed by the potential glory. It will take more than a mini market backlash to kill the AI YOLO trade.
john.foley@ft.com
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