Read our Deep Dive: The Current State of AI
Caught My Eye…
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The U.S. economy grew at a 2.3% rate in Q4 2024, slowing from 3.1% growth in Q3. This growth was driven by consumer spending (which makes up 70% of U.S. GDP) but was partly offset by businesses reducing their spending on new equipment, facilities, and technology. The Federal Reserve on Wednesday kept the federal funds rate steady between 4.25-4.50%, with Powell emphasizing that they’re “in no hurry” to cut rates. On prices, inflation remains above the Fed’s 2% target – consumer prices rose 2.3% in Q4 2024, higher than Q3’s 1.5%. Looking at the full year though, inflation showed improvement, decreasing from 3.8% in 2023 to 2.5% in 2024. Powell noted that the U.S. labor market remained healthy with unemployment steady at 4.1%, though he also commented that companies have slowed down their hiring. Powell’s overall tone on Wednesday was one of cautious optimism – with annual GDP growth at 2.8% and inflation falling to 2.5% from 3.8%, he sees the economy in a “good place” but wants to see more consistent progress on bringing inflation down before making any changes to the federal funds rate.
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Uniswap, which handles $80 billion in monthly cryptocurrency trading volume, introduced programmable trading rules called “hooks” in its v4 release. These programmable trading rules allow users to customize how their trading pools work. What is a trading pool? A trading pool is essentially a shared pot of two types of assets (e.g. dollars and euros) that lets people exchange one for the other. Previously, these pools had fixed rules: users would deposit equal amounts of both assets, and when others traded using the pool, a small fee would automatically go to those who provided the initial funds. The v4 upgrade makes these pools much more customizable. Users can now program rules to change fees based on trading volume, time of day, market conditions, and so on. The upgrade also gives traditional financial institutions the ability to add compliance features and risk management tools they require for DeFi. Why does this matter? There’s been hesitation from traditional financial institutions to embrace DeFi due to the lack of controls they’re accustomed to in conventional markets. These programmable hooks could bridge this gap by allowing them to create trading pools that comply with their regulatory requirements and risk management needs. For example, if new cryptocurrency regulations emerge, institutions could program their pools to automatically enforce these rules – making DeFi more accessible to regulated entities while maintaining its automated, efficient nature.
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The FDA approved suzetrigine (brand name Journavx), the first new pain medication with a novel mechanism in over 20 years, marking a breakthrough in non-opioid painkillers. The drug works by blocking specific pathways in nerve cells that use sodium ions to transmit pain signals to the brain. These pathways, called sodium channels, act like gates that open and close to let sodium flow through nerve cells, which is how pain signals travel through the body. While older drugs like lidocaine blocked all sodium channels throughout the body, suzetrigine specifically targets just one type (called NaV1.8) that is primarily found in pain-sensing nerve cells. This selective targeting allows it to provide powerful pain relief without affecting other parts of the body, avoiding the side effects and addiction risks associated with opioids. In clinical trials, patients reported pain relief without the grogginess or nausea typically experienced with opioids. The approval represents an alternative to opioid prescriptions for acute pain management – particularly important as doctors seek effective painkillers that don’t carry risks of dependency or overdose. Previous attempts to develop such non-opioid painkillers have largely failed, with many drugs either proving ineffective or causing unwanted side effects.
Other Reading…
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White House States that New Jersey Drone Sightings Were FAA-Authorized Research Flights (White House)
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Interview with Deepseek Founder Liang Wenfeng (The China Academy)
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ChatGPT Subscribers Tripled to 15.5 Million in 2024 (The Information)
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Apple Scraps Work on Mac-Connected Augmented Reality Glasses (Bloomberg)
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How a Health Department Led by RFK Jr. Could Throw the Advertising Industry into Turmoil (Sherwood)
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LA Times Owner Slammed for Cutting RFK Jr. Criticism From Writer’s Op-Ed (Yahoo! News)
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Forbes Lays Off Around 5% of Staff (Adweek)
On X…