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Daily Tech Newsletter - 2025-11-28
AI Model Licensing and the GPL
The theory that AI models trained on GPL-licensed code become derivative works subject to GPL, forcing "GPL-ization" of those models, remains an unresolved legal question. Key lawsuits, including Doe v. GitHub and GEMA v. OpenAI, are testing this theory. The GEMA v. OpenAI case established in a first-instance ruling that a model's "memory" of copyrighted works can constitute copyright reproduction, providing conceptual support for license propagation, though this ruling is subject to appeal. Despite these challenges, strong counterarguments against GPL propagation exist, based on copyright law, GPL text limitations, technical realities of AI models (statistical abstractions vs. direct copies), and practical/policy concerns about hindering AI development. Organizations like OSI and FSF are developing new frameworks for open-source AI, focusing on transparency and ethical considerations while avoiding strict GPL enforcement on AI models. Currently, there is no judicial precedent for directly forcing the GPL onto entire AI models.
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AI vs. Human Intelligence: Capabilities, Limitations, and the Future of Innovation
Claims by tech leaders regarding imminent superintelligence and AGI are challenged by the scientific understanding of human intelligence and the capabilities of current AI. LLMs function by processing vast amounts of linguistic data to find correlations and predict outputs, whereas human thinking is largely independent of language, which is used primarily for communication. Leading AI researchers now believe LLMs alone are insufficient for achieving AGI. Moreover, AI systems, by relying on existing data, may lack the capacity for revolutionary scientific and creative breakthroughs that require challenging established paradigms.
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Google's Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) as a Competitive Advantage
Google developed TPUs as custom ASICs optimized for the massive matrix multiplications required for Deep Learning, providing a significant compute advantage over general-purpose GPUs. The latest generation, TPUv7, offers substantial performance improvements over previous versions with claims of increased efficiency and cost-effectiveness compared to Nvidia GPUs for specific workloads. While wider TPU adoption faces challenges due to the established CUDA ecosystem and the exclusivity of TPUs on Google Cloud Platform, they remain a key strategic asset for Google, enabling better margins and competitive pricing in the cloud market.
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Open-Source AI Models Advance Mathematical and Video Reasoning
The open-source AI landscape continues to evolve with the release of high-performing models specializing in different areas. DeepSeek-Math-V2, an Apache 2-licensed 685B model, has achieved gold-medal performance in high school mathematics competitions, rivalling proprietary models. In the video understanding domain, the Qwen3-VL-235B-A22B-Instruct model demonstrates exceptional long-context processing capabilities, maintaining high accuracy even when extrapolating to video sequences up to 2 hours long.
Relevant URLs:
- https://simonwillison.net/2025/Nov/27/qwen3-vl-technical-report/#atom-everything
- https://simonwillison.net/2025/Nov/27/deepseek-math-v2/#atom-everything
AI Accountability Partner: Overlord
Overlord is an AI accountability partner designed for 24/7 habit monitoring and routine enforcement. Integrating with platforms like Apple Health, Screen Time, IFTTT, Sleep Cycle, and Withings, it enforces compliance through features like charging users, screen blocking, phone calls, custom goal verification via various methods (data analysis, photo verification, geofencing), and dynamic iOS Screen Time management. Users interact with Overlord via a chat interface to define and improve goals.
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AI CEOs: The Future of Ruthless, Algorithmic Leadership?
A service promoting "AI CEOs" suggests replacing human bosses to reduce executive costs. These AI leaders make instant executive decisions and are trained on the "pillars of corporate wisdom": growth, efficiency, vision, and sustainability. While advertised as ego-free, employee reactions are mixed, appreciating some automated gestures while acknowledging the ruthless efficiency of AI decision-making.
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Juristat Secures Growth Investment for Patent Analytics Platform
Juristat, a patent analytics platform employing predictive prosecution analytics, has received growth investment to expand global coverage, integrate generative AI, and enhance portfolio intelligence tools. Notably, the platform exhibits strong operating performance with high revenue retention and unique user growth. Relevant URLs:
ZigFormer: LLM Implemented in Zig
ZigFormer is an early version of a small Large Language Model written in the Zig programming language. This project bypasses existing ML frameworks like PyTorch and JAX, and is intended to be an educational project.
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