TL;DR — India’s edtech sector faces massive consolidation as valuations crater. Markets eye Iran war fallout while oil hits $103/barrel. Apple’s Liquid Glass design is here to stay despite team departures.
Worth Reading
- Indian edtech startup upGrad plans to acquire rival Unacademy — Unacademy’s $3B valuation cratered to under $500M, signaling brutal correction in India’s edtech bubble
- What Happens if a $40 Trillion Bubble Bursts? — Private credit markets showing serious stress as bankruptcies mount
- The Iran war is a new test of America’s economic superpower — Oil up 43% this month but US economy keeps chugging along
- Horace Dediu on Apple Sitting Out the AI Spending Race — While competitors burn 94% of cash flow on AI infrastructure, Apple sticks to $14B budget
- Harry Styles Parodies MAHA on SNL — “MAHAspital” sketch brilliantly skewers RFK Jr.’s medical pseudoscience
Education & EdTech
The Indian edtech sector is experiencing a brutal reckoning. upGrad’s acquisition of Unacademy represents more than just industry consolidation — it’s a monument to how quickly pandemic-era valuations can evaporate. Unacademy’s fall from a $3.5 billion valuation to under $500 million in just four years tells the story of an entire sector that mistook temporary demand spikes for permanent transformation.
The all-stock deal structure speaks volumes about cash constraints across the sector. When high-growth companies resort to share swaps rather than cash acquisitions, it usually signals that both parties are more desperate than they’d care to admit.
Tech Culture
The AI spending arms race has reached absurd proportions, with Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Meta collectively burning through $650 billion this year — equivalent to “buying the US Navy every year,” as Horace Dediu puts it. Meanwhile, Apple continues its disciplined approach with a modest $14 billion capital budget.
Dediu’s analysis cuts through the hype: while hyperscalers push their free cash flows negative chasing AI dominance, Apple is betting it can achieve competitive AI through partnerships rather than infrastructure. It’s either genius or a massive strategic blunder — and we’ll know which within 18 months.
Travis Kalanick’s return with his “gainfully employed robots” pitch feels like 2016 all over again. The focus on “digitizing the physical world” through food, mining, and transport robotics hits familiar Silicon Valley notes about disrupting traditional industries.
AI & Machine Learning
The AI talent war has created some fascinating dynamics. Companies like Handshake are now recruiting improv actors to train AI models on human emotion and authenticity. There’s something both brilliant and deeply concerning about using human creative skills to make machines more human-like.
Writing in Marcus on AI, Gary Marcus reports that Sam Altman has conceded that scaling alone won’t achieve AGI — major breakthroughs are needed. This represents a significant shift from the “just add more compute” philosophy that has dominated the field.
Fashion & Style
Jake Woolf’s newsletter explores why the best part of clothing isn’t buying it — a timely reminder in an era of relentless consumption. The piece resonates with anyone who’s felt the diminishing returns of acquisition versus the lasting satisfaction of pieces that become part of your identity.
Meanwhile, Blackbird Spyplane documents a month-long experiment wearing only black, revealing how constraints can actually expand creative possibilities. Sometimes limiting your palette forces you to think more carefully about silhouette, texture, and proportion.
Sports & Fitness
At Paris-Nice, Jonas Vingegaard sealed a historic title despite late drama from Lenny Martinez on stage 8. Writing in Daniel Benson’s Cycling Substack, the analyst notes this wasn’t the monumental GC battle anticipated between Vingegaard, Ayuso, and Almeida — instead, it became a demonstration of Visma-Lease a Bike’s tactical superiority.
The Trofeo Alfredo Binda delivered more excitement, with Karlijn Swinkels taking her first WorldTour victory in a sprint finish, showing that UAE Team ADQ’s investment in depth is paying dividends.
Photography
Sony camera deals are flowing in their weekly savings roundup, with significant discounts across the Alpha lineup. More interesting is the discussion around the OM System TG-7 for underwater work — a reminder that sometimes the best camera is the one that survives the conditions you’re shooting in.
The ongoing debate about photo culling efficiency highlights a universal photographer challenge: balancing speed with accuracy when sorting through thousands of frames. The temptation to over-analyze rarely improves results.
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