Google has published a paper describing a computational approach that demonstrates a quantum advantage compared to current algorithms
TLDR 2025-10-23
Big Tech & Startups
Google has a useful quantum algorithm that outperforms a supercomputer (14 minute read)
Google has published a paper describing a computational approach that demonstrates a quantum advantage compared to current algorithms. The effort centers around a concept called ‘quantum echoes’, a series of operations on the hardware qubits that make up the machine. Using the approach, Google researchers completed a task using quantum computing that could have been done on classical hardware, demonstrating quantum utility. Google has several quantum algorithms in the pipeline, so more announcements are expected soon.
Meta Cuts 600 Jobs in AI Division (2 minute read)
Meta is cutting about 600 jobs in its AI division, mainly in teams focused on artificial-intelligence products, infrastructure, and long-term AI research. The TBD lab won’t be affected. There will be no changes to the broader Meta Superintelligence Labs structure. Most of the affected employees will have the opportunity to be redeployed to other jobs at Meta.
Science & Futuristic Technology
New Bitcoin Protocol Makes Payments Easier (3 minute read)
Arkade is a new upper-layer network protocol built on the Bitcoin blockchain that enables more user-friendly payments and extended financial use cases. Many view the protocol as the most important Bitcoin protocol rollout since the Lightning Network back in 2018. Arkade mixes the benefits of the Bitcoin network’s inherently decentralized and non-custodial nature with the ease of use and speed of centralized fintech systems. It can be used for a variety of financial use cases, such as lending and trading.
The world needs more spaceports. Oman wants to help (18 minute read)
There are no commercial spaceports in the Middle East or Africa. Oman’s geography makes it a uniquely suitable location in the region for a spaceport. It is aiming to join the small number of countries that possess the facilities to launch objects into space by 2027. If all goes according to plan, the spaceport will launch everything from small suborbital rockets to superheavy behemoths into space.
Programming, Design & Data Science
Scripts I wrote that I use all the time (12 minute read)
This post contains a collection of personal scripts from a developer. The scripts help streamline the developer’s workflow. For example, one script creates shell files, makes them executable, adds some Bash prefixes, and then opens them in an editor, making it quick to create working shell scripts. The scripts span multiple categories, including Clipboard, Internet, Text processing, and Process management.
Engineering Managers Should (Sometimes) Write Code (5 minute read)
Engineering managers should still write code because it helps keep their mental model of software development fresh. Staying completely away from code as a manager means letting your knowledge calcify around how things worked the last time you regularly wrote production code. The key is knowing when it is helpful versus when it becomes a bottleneck. It is fine to brush up on an intern’s feature after they’ve moved on, but becoming the only person who can deploy releases is definitely a problem.
Miscellaneous
AI Workers Are Putting In 100-Hour Workweeks to Win the New Tech Arms Race (9 minute read)
Top AI researchers and executives are regularly working 80 to 100 hours a week. They see their work as critical to a seminal moment in history. Many are motivated by the intense competition with rivals and their own curiosity about model possibilities. Some are now multimillionaires, but they don’t have time to spend their fortunes.
Big companies v. startups (40 minute read)
Big companies and startups are both dysfunctional, just in different ways. Figure out what the relevant trade-offs are and what kind of dysfunction you want to sign up for. It’s more important to have a manager who has your back, a team that works well together, and interesting projects. The difference between types of companies is smaller than the differences between companies of the same type.
Quick Links
Karpathy is wrong. Write that post, build that slide deck! (4 minute read)
Writing is one of the most powerful ways to build understanding because explaining something forces clarity.
Trump Administration in Talks to Take Equity Stakes in Quantum-Computing Firms (5 minute read)
The Trump administration is expanding its interventions in what it sees as critical segments of the economy.
Google porting all internal workloads to Arm, with help from GenAI (4 minute read)
Google’s Axion-powered machines deliver up to 65% better price-performance and can be 60% more energy-efficient than x86 instances.
🍏 The Apple Factory: What Perfect Coordination Feels Like (6 minute read)
Apple’s ecosystem is proof that interoperability is a design choice.
Amazon unveils AI-powered augmented reality glasses for delivery drivers (4 minute read)
Amazon’s AI-powered AR glasses help delivery drivers scan packages, follow turn-by-turn walking directions, and capture proof of delivery.
Tesla Profit Plunges as Musk Turns Focus to ‘Robot Army’ (7 minute read)
Elon Musk has threatened to leave Tesla to pursue AI projects outside the company if a new pay package that could be worth as much as $1 trillion is not approved.