Sonny

Entrepreneur | Humankind | DataStoryteller | Passion for number | 100%Bong |

[CyrilXBT @cyrilXBT]

Anthropic pays $750,000 a year for engineers who can build LLMs from scratch.

Not prompt engineers. Not fine-tuners. Not RAG specialists.

Engineers who understand the architecture well enough to build the thing from zero.

Stanford just put a 2-hour lecture on exactly that on the internet for free.

Scaling laws. Data collection. Architecture design. Post-training alignment.

The theoretical foundation behind every model you use daily taught by the people who research it at one of the best CS programs on earth.

Free. From Stanford. Two hours.

The engineers earning $750,000 at Anthropic understand everything in this lecture.
Most people using AI every day understand none of it.

Watch it tonight.

Full implementation guide in the article below.

[Alok Kumar @Alokkumarzz]

INSTEAD OF WATCHING AN HOUR OF NETFLIX TONIGHT.

This 60-minute Cambridge lecture by Demis Hassabis will teach you more about the future of AI than most people will learn in the next 5 years.

Bookmark it and give it an hour, no matter what.

[Eric Topol @EricTopol]

"The recent explosion of agentic AI suggests the possibility of something similar at the scale of billions of interacting minds, human and non-human alike."
An essay on the Intelligence Explosion @ScienceMagazine
by @profjamesevans @bratton @blaiseaguera
https://t.co/Fl0DP86XWd

[Science Magazine @ScienceMagazine]

As we sleep, our bodies may be quiet and largely immobile—but our brains are highly active.

A special issue summarized recent insights into the basic mechanisms underlying sleep and the many functions our brains perform during it.

Learn more on #WorldSleepDay: https://t.co/lNkpyRpxak

[MIT Sloan School of Management @MITSloan]

In an @mitsmr article on their AI predictions for 2026, Thomas Davenport and Randy Bean say that they expect a level-set year for AI. https://t.co/DCeuQuuUxz

[Syed Ijlal Hussain @sijlalhussain]

🎯 Most AI failures are not caused by weak execution. They start with choosing the wrong AI technique for the problem.

A recent Gartner analysis highlights this clearly.

1️⃣ Strategic impact:
Different AI techniques excel at different problems. Treating GenAI as a universal solution ignores where optimization, simulation, or non-generative ML often create far greater value.

2️⃣ Leadership reality:
Many leaders default to generative models because they are visible and easy to demo, not because they are the best fit for the decision or workflow.

3️⃣ Execution risk:
When techniques are mismatched to use cases, costs rise, complexity compounds, and outcomes disappoint while simpler, more effective approaches are overlooked.

The uncomfortable question leaders can’t avoid:
Are you selecting AI techniques based on problem fit, or on what looks most impressive to stakeholders?

📎 via Gartner: The Gartner Hype Cycle for Artificial Intelligence 2025
🔗 https://t.co/8qIEA10dAe

#AIstrategy #GenAI #Leadership #DigitalTransformation

@corixpartners @Transform_Sec @Corix_JC @ILoveBooks786 @COSTESLionelEr @ramonvidall @RLDI_Lamy @FrRonconi @timo_vi @Nicochan33 @NathaliaLeHen @sulefati7 @TCyberCast @bulbi59 @BulbiT3ch @arigatou163 @ricardo_ik_ahau @9SManagement @sonu_monika @VivMilanoFSL @drsharwood @TalentedLearn @kkruse @BCAgroup @gaillparr @kosa4416 @O_Berard @benishii_ @Alovesublime @bbailey39 @xavierquerat @michaeldacosta @AteeRdc @Tech2Specialist @CilerAyse @MathildaLoco @Idan_sh @WillyRayNick @br2ptrockets @SachaTB @gvalan @JimHarris

[a16z @a16z]

Vertical SaaS is heating up

Charts of the week: https://t.co/Fp7tAJvKMt

[McKinsey & Company @McKinsey]

We’ve been asking whether AI will take jobs. What if the better question is: How can it expand human potential?

Former OpenAI executive Zack Kass offers a bold reframing of the AI debate and explores what advancements could mean for the future of work. https://t.co/LwwIairrEB

[The Atlantic @TheAtlantic]

America isn’t ready for what AI will do to jobs, Josh Tyrangiel reports. For The Atlantic’s March cover story, he spoke with economists, CEO whisperers, and politicians about how the technology will reshape the economy—and test the country’s institutions: https://t.co/KhGNQCr3Fr

[Luiza Jarovsky, PhD @LuizaJarovsky]

🚨 BREAKING: The United States published its FIRST AI Literacy Framework (HINT: it will likely become globally influential):

As expected, it follows the guidelines of America's AI Action Plan, and its main ideas differ from those of the EU AI Act.

Politics aside, it's a document worth reading (together with my analysis!) and considering if you are working on an AI literacy strategy.

👉I'll break it down in my newsletter tomorrow, with additional comments to help you understand and navigate it. To receive it, subscribe below.

[Muhammad Ayan @socialwithaayan]

BREAKING: AI can now do market research like McKinsey (for free).

Here are 12 insane Claude Opus 4.6 prompts that replace $5,000 consultant: (Save for later)

[BookNote @BookNoteApp]

5 books on why we should stop chasing status:

1) How Much Is Enough? by Robert Skidelsky and Edward Skidelsky

[Ewan Morrison @MrEwanMorrison]

Announcement:
Hey folks, the audiobook of my anti-AI novel - For Emma - has come out today.
This book was written to be spoken & the voice actors have done such a beautiful job.
So moving to hear the characters come alive.
Enjoy.
Link below:

[Sabine VanderLinden @SabineVdL]

Agentic AI is moving from theoretical advantage to measurable impact.

My chats this past year with SAS uncovered five core principles now driving ROI and competitive edge:

1️⃣ From Insight to Action: The goal is no longer analysis. It's automated, real-time decisions. Execution velocity is the new metric.

2️⃣ The Trust Threshold: Adoption hinges on explainability. Without transparent governance and audit trails, even the most powerful models stay stuck in pilot mode.

3️⃣ The Synthetic Data Multiplier: Synthetic data isn't just for testing. It's for scaling intelligence, de-risking deployment, and training on high-stakes, low-frequency events.

4️⃣ The Partnership Paradigm: The most effective models blend AI's scale with human judgment. Human-in-the-loop is the optimal balance for managing risk and opportunity.

5️⃣ The Autonomy Advantage: Leaders are already deploying. Their focus: how fast can we operationalize responsibly?

Agentic AI will reshape the competitive landscape. The question is who deploys it with confidence.

As you plan for 2026, which of these 5 principles will have the greatest impact on your strategy?

https://t.co/R5rEVAJcQ5

[QuerySurge @QuerySurge]

QuerySurge’s new AI-powered technology provides a radical shift in ETL testing by automatically converting data mappings into data validation & ETL tests - simplifying & speeding up the process.

[Demis Hassabis @demishassabis]

‘The Thinking Game’ documentary has just passed 200M views on YouTube in just 4 weeks! 🤯Perfect holiday viewing if you’re interested in a behind-the-scenes look at how an AGI lab works, or what goes into making a Nobel Prize winning project like AlphaFold happen.🧬🚀

[SynCronus @syncronus]

I predict 2026 will be a year of revelation in 'Reality Simulation' in the Saturn Cronus Time Loop which is closing the gap when Singularity theory reaches a crescendo

Dec 2025: Are we living in a simulation? This experiment could tell us The idea that we might be living in a simulated reality has worried us for centuries. Now physicists have found some tantalising clues – and devised an experiment that might reveal the truth
https://t.co/3qj3OIraEb

Dec 2025: Gravity May Be Key Evidence That Our Universe Is a Simulation, Groundbreaking New Research Suggests
https://t.co/3qj3OIraEb

[MIT Sloan Management Review @mitsmr]

Generative AI tools can make developers up to 55% more productive, but rapid deployment creates dangerous technical debt. To avoid costly system failures, organizations must establish clear guidelines, make technical debt management a priority, and train developers to use AI responsibly. https://t.co/HYJ2Gqxmpq

[Ali Max Erturk @erturklab]

This year’s ~50-book stack has been a mix of medicine, mindset, creativity, and building things that actually last. Thanks to the authors who sharpened my thinking:

• Super Agers — Eric Topol @EricTopol
A grounded, hopeful look at what “healthy aging” can realistically mean when you separate biology from buzzwords. It’s rigorous, practical, and surprisingly motivating. Personal highlight: I met Eric at Scripps and got a signed copy with a personalized message 🤩

• The Diary of a CEO — Steven Bartlett @StevenBartlett
A blunt, high-signal set of lessons on business, ambition, relationships, and self-mastery. It’s the kind of book that pushes you to raise your standards while staying honest about the inner cost of building.

• Into the Magic Shop — James R. Doty @jamesrdotymd
A deeply human story about how attention and compassion can be trained, and how inner discipline quietly changes the way you lead and live. It makes mindfulness feel like strength, not sentiment.

• The Almanack of Naval Ravikant — Eric Jorgenson @EricJorgenson
Clear principles on wealth and happiness without the usual noise. It’s a reminder that leverage, calm, and long-term thinking often beat speed and busyness.

• This Is Going to Hurt — Adam Kay @amateuradam
Brilliantly funny and brutally honest. It shows the emotional price of frontline medicine and the invisible service carried by people who keep showing up.

• Captivate — Vanessa Van Edwards @vvanedwards
Practical tools for presence, trust, and communication that feel usable immediately. A reminder that connection isn’t luck, it’s a skill.

• Shoe Dog — Phil Knight
A raw founder story that tells the truth about the long middle: doubt, persistence, and the grind behind every “overnight success.” It restores realism to ambition.

• The Parasite Mind — Gad Saad @GadSaad
Even when I don’t agree with some of the framing and some of his takes on topics like feminism and democracy, it’s still a useful stress test for my own thinking. Reading outside your bubble is mental resistance training, if you do it honestly.

On my “always worth reading again” list (some I’ve read 5 times 🙈):

• Outlive — Peter Attia @PeterAttiaMD + Bill Gifford @billgifford
• Project Hail Mary — Andy Weir @andyweirauthor
• Sapiens — Yuval Noah Harari @harari_yuval
• Atlas of the Heart — Brené Brown @BreneBrown
• Pitch Anything — Oren Klaff @orenklaff
• Culture by Design — David J. Friedman @DJFCulture
• Building a StoryBrand — Donald Miller @donaldmiller
• Atomic Habits — James Clear @JamesClear

As I map out next year’s reading, I’d love to hear what books you’d put on the list. 🦉📚✨

And I wish you all happy holidays.

[Ramnandan Krishnamurthy @ramkris]

love the love this article is getting!

it clearly defines context graphs as the missing abstraction –– the line between prompt-level copilots and truly agentic systems that capture decision traces and become systems of record

Appreciate the mention @JayaGup10 @ashugarg

Maximor is building the system of record for finance decisions @maximor_ai