Today’s Highlights

• AI: Oasis AI Model for Live Game Environments: 100x faster than traditional AI video generation

• Design: Apple’s acquisition of Pixelmator

• Science & Tech: Perplexity’s Election Hub

• Founding: Advice on Building Hit Marketplaces: Coming from the man behind the growth of Grubhub and Pinterest

• Product: “Sophomore Slump” in SaaS: Your second product ought to be great if your first one was

• Creativity: How to Unlock Your Brain’s Potential for Limitless Possibilities

• Today’s AI image: Perplexity’s Election hub in Oasis Gaming Realm

• Quote for the day: Tony Robbins Wisdom

AI

Oasis AI Model for Live Game Environments: 100x faster than traditional AI video generation

AI labs Decart and Etched recently launched Oasis. It is a playable, real-time, open-world AI model that generates entire video games through AI without a traditional game engine.

Features:

• Real-time Gameplay Generation

  • Processes user keyboard input to generate physics, game rules, graphics, etc., in real-time.

  • Supports various in-game actions: moving, jumping, item interaction, block-breaking.

• Foundation Model-Based

  • No game engine is used; Oasis operates solely on a foundation model powered by fast transformer inference.

• Advanced Inference Technology

  • Uses Decart’s inference engine, showcasing the feasibility of real-time AI-generated video.

  • Future plans to support 4K gameplay when Etched's transformer ASIC, Sohu, becomes available.

• Access & Availability

  • Code release with a 500M parameter model for local play.

  • Live playable demo available with a larger checkpoint.

Besides, Oasis features complex mechanics like building, physics, and inventory management, along with diverse environments, objects, and interactive NPCs.

Read more

Also in AI

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• Runway's Improved 3D Control for Creating Videos  

• Join the GenAI webinar for AI insights from Coinbase, Cerebras, and L Catterton on practical applications

• China developed ChatBIT, an AI model for military intelligence, using Meta's Llama model

• Claude's New PDF Feature: analyse both text and visual content within PDFs

Design

Apple’s acquisition of Pixelmator

Apple is acquiring Pixelmator, a well-known photo editing company, pending regulatory approval.

Pixelmator’s POV

• Pixelmator claims to be aligning with the design, usability and performance standards of Apple.

• The company is excited to expand its reach and cater to a wider audience.

• This acquisition aims to broaden Pixelmator’s impact on creative users globally.

Apple’s POV

• This acquisition is a potential signal at Apple’s heed on commonising access to quality creative tools in its devices.

• The strange thing is Apple doesn’t usually declare its acquisitions publicly and this time it has. Can be an attempt at positioning itself as an active creativity promoter as well as supporter.

Pixelmator’s features and products

• Pixelmator Pro: Professional image editing tool designed for easy use.

• Photomator: Advanced photo editor available on Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Vision Pro.

• Features: Includes AI/ML tools like background removal and Super Resolution.

Read More

Also in Design

• GenAI technology in Google Maps, Google Earth, and Waze: Chat-based search, personalized recommendations, and danger alerts

• Meta Quest OS Update: Meta's Quest headset gets a Horizon OS update with new themes, an improved settings menu, and a Travel Mode for easy media viewing on trains

• The Hook Model in Apps like Duolingo: Cue + action + reward + investment

• Psychology in UX Design: Principles of color theory and Gestalt

• Woolmark’s “Wear Wool, Not Waste” Campaign

Science & Tech

Perplexity’s Election Hub

Perplexity has just launched an "election hub" for comprehensive election information, using Democracy Works’ Elections API and real-time data from The Associated Press.

The hub offers users answers to practical voting queries (like polling locations and ID requirements), updates on election results, and insights into candidates' policies and endorsements. Perplexity looks forward to make this an accessible resource for understanding hot election topics.

Why this is a big deal:

While any AI tool requires careful oversight to avoid inaccuracies, it’s encouraging to see AI platforms prioritize reliability by sourcing information from trusted, authoritative databases.

Read More

Also in Science & Tech

• All-New, Enhanced Alexa Experience: Hints of launch of a advanced AI-assistant level Amazon Alexa

• SpaceX Wants to Try Refueling Starship in Space

• A study found that Semaglutide reduced knee pain and improved mobility in arthritis patients through weight loss and anti-inflammatory effects.

• Training robots with techniques similar to language model training

Founding

Advice on Building Hit Marketplaces: Coming from the man behind the growth of Grubhub and Pinterest

Casey Winters, who helped build huge successes like GrubHub and Pinterest grow, highlights the Dos and Don’ts of building a successful marketplace. 

He emphasises the fact that marketplace is not an ordinary business model since here you target two categories of customers at the same time. You alone have to take up both demand and supply generation. 

Given the agentic complexity involved in creating a marketplace platform, it takes more time than usual to achieve the product-market fit. 

What to sell?

Do: Pick a market with abundant suppliers

Choose a market with plenty of suppliers to ensure competitive pricing, diverse product options, and flexibility in sourcing. This abundance helps reduce risks of supply chain disruptions and allows for stronger negotiation power.

Don’t: Attract “conservative” and “rigid”  customers 

Surprisingly, in marketplace business, unlike ordinary businesses, you don’t have to target consumers who like to stick to one brand or supplier.

Acquiring the Early Birds

Do: Set up a scalable acquisition cycle

Create a scalable acquisition cycle by continuously attracting both buyers and sellers to fuel marketplace growth. For instance, Airbnb drives a cycle by incentivizing hosts to list properties, which then draws more travelers, creating a self-reinforcing loop of supply and demand.

Don’t: Cringe at non-scalable tasks

Don’t shy away from non-scalable tasks; they’re often essential for early growth and learning. Personalized outreach or manual problem-solving can build a loyal user base before automation becomes feasible.

Don’t: Go crazy over software

Shitty softwares

Read more

Also in Founding

• Performative Failure: Taking safe risks to look bold and disguise vulnerability 

• The AI Services Boom: how using AI in B2B services helps automate complicated tasks

• Google Ads for B2B SaaS: Google Ads can help your SaaS business grow in the early stages if you plan carefully

• Key SaaS Metrics: retention, sales efficiency, NPS and most importantly adaptability

Product

“Sophomore Slump” in SaaS: Your second product ought to be great if your first one was

You built a game-changing product and introduced it to the market. But was there a deadline for you to launch it? No.

But once you’ve impressed an audience large enough, the clock sort of ticks within your head and you feel utterly pressured about coming up with your next  market-disruptor.  

Here’s why that happens: 

1. The urge to earn more from existing customers by convincing them into buying something new from you that will again “change their life”.

2. You cannot become the market ruler beyond a limit with just one product. Hence, to actually dominate a category, multi-product is the obvious way to go. 

Read more

Creativity

How to Unlock Your Brain’s Potential for Limitless Possibilities

Information is everything. But not only possessing information does wonders for you. It’s only helpful when accessed, connected, applied and productised meaningfully. 

Our brains have a beautiful mechanism of installing, storing, accessing and working with information. A normal human brain when exposed to a new experience, starts printing it in the memory just like downloading new documents. 

But it does not store memory as stand-alone. Rather it attaches every significant memory to a separate piece of information like a story, a rhythm, an image, an aroma or even a feeling.

This means knowledge isn’t stored in  the brain warehouse as distinct units. Instead it’s packed and accessed as a network; a web. 

Read more

Today’s AI Image

Perplexity’s Election Hub in Oasis Gaming Realm

Quote of the Day

Tony Robbins Wisdom

“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible."

Tony Robbins

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