China’s DeepSeek Freaks Out AI Makers; Apple Still Experimenting with Infrared Cams on AirPods; US Military Trying to ‘Biohack’ Blood-Captain America Complex; Costco, Amazon, & Microsoft Continue DEI Programs

Chinese AI firm DeepSeek has rattled US AI companies, enough that the stock market dropped today. What’s the buzz? Well, TechCrunch.com reports that they have demoed breakthrough models that claim to offer performance of the top US AI models at a fraction of the cost. The company’s mobile app, released in early January, has lately topped the App Store charts across major markets including the U.S., UK, and China, but it hasn’t escaped doubts about whether its claims are true. DeepSeek’s models are open source and incorporate a reasoning feature that articulates its ‘thinking’ before providing responses. If DeepSeek can really deliver performance equal to Chat GPT-4o for a fraction of the computing power, the whole game could change. For example, AI has only gotten a lukewarm reception on smartphones, but if you could do lots more with their small processors and it cost less, that would be quite a turnabout. It’s too soon to see how this plays out, but for one thing, big money people who have dumped billions into AI development and infrastructure may throttle back a bit on the cash infusions. 

Apple is still experimenting with tiny cams on AirPods. No, they aren’t to duplicate what Google Glass had, and famously got wearers dubbed ‘glassholes.’ According to macrumors.com, these would be infrared cams. One thought is while wearing the Vision Pro headset, if a wearer turned their head, the sound source from that direction could be emphasized, for example. Another use would be to enable ‘in-air gesture control.’ allowing interaction with a headset with hand movements. If the tests are successful enough, we could see the AirPods with infrared cams by 2026 or ’27. 

In what seems like it might be a program right out of the comics and movies, DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency…the folks that basically came up with the internet, are now working on modifying red blood cells in interesting ways. Bgr.com says they hope by biohacking human cells, they can find a way to create enhanced military troops. Ok, not quite Captain America, but what they are showing for is developing cells that will help the body fight off diseases. For example, the biohacker cells could theoretically deliver meds to the body after being exposed to parasites…or allow meds to last longer without soldiers having to take them daily. DARPA hopes to be able to extend protection for weeks or months. Another goal is to modify cells to stop hemorrhaging from traumatic wounds. It all sounds like pie in the sky…’till it happens. Hey, we have the internet!

Even as Donald Trump has issued executive orders trying to stop every federal initiative that boosts diversity, equity, and inclusion, several West Coast tech giants are continuing their commitments to DEI. Geekwire.com reports that Costco and Microsoft have been  recognized nationally for retaining a public commitment to workforce diversity, with Costco shareholders on Thursday defeating an anti-DEI proposal by a 98% vote. Meanwhile, Amazon said in December that it was ‘winding down’ some efforts at DEI, but saw other work as ‘important.’ Boeing is reportedly dismantling its DEI team. Meta has also joined the likes of Target and Walmart in cutting back their DEI program. The Trump administration even plans to investigate 9 major companies with regard to their diversity programs. Considering that 80% of the people in power positions in big companies and government are white, it seems misplaced to say the least to call DEI ‘reverse discrimination.’

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.