FT: “University students have taken to artificial intelligence in the same way that an anxious new driver with a crumpled road map might take to satnav — that is to say, hungrily and understandably. A survey of UK undergraduates by the Higher Education Policy Institute think-tank shows 92 per cent of them are using generative AI in some form this year compared with 66 per cent last year, while 88 per cent have used it in assessments, up from 53 per cent last year. What should universities do? My instinct would be to lean in. Tell your students you will be giving the same essay question to a tool such as ChatGPT. They will be marked on how much better their version is than the machine’s: how much more original, creative, perceptive or accurate. Or give them the AI version and tell them to improve upon it, as well as to identify and correct its hallucinations…Generative AI is a tempting short-cut that can prevent those at university from gaining foundational skills.”
WSJ: “My greatest hope as a fan of the genre is that Amazon makes room in the Bond “universe” for a story like “Andor,” the “Star Wars” spinoff that dared to treat its audience like adults. It discarded galactic battles for a slow-burn thriller about rebellion, surveillance and power. This is the model that MGM Studios should emulate for Bond. Amazon gives it the resources to keep 007 as stylish as ever. But what Bond needs most isn’t money but creative talent willing to take the risk of returning to the heart of the genre: secrets, deception, smoldering tension. The next Bond film or series must prioritize tension over explosions, stakes over CGI.”
Every: “An interesting trend I’m seeing in AI startup business models is paying per outcome instead of per month or year, which is the traditional with SaaS companies. My guess is that it would be unappealing for incumbents—who are used to guaranteed per user revenue—to shift to a performance-based model. Mike [Maples] agrees, saying that counter-positioning—taking advantage of an incumbent’s reluctance to adopt a new model that undermines their existing revenue streams—is a powerful way for startups to compete.”
Indian Express: “What has remarkably changed over the last five years to decade is the way equity culture has struck roots across regions in India, going far beyond the metros, and Tier-I and Tier-II cities. Mutual funds have brought a new set of investors beyond the traditional middle class into the stock markets. It is during the BJP-led NDA rule that India witnessed this secular transition of participation of investors from smaller towns contributing to the assets under management of mutual funds. In other words, equity is a mass product now. The total number of investors registered with the National Stock Exchange has jumped more than five times to almost 22 crore by February 2025. In terms of the extent of geography covered now, one in every five rupee invested in MFs comes from cities beyond the top 110 cities contributing to MF assets.”
Stripe’s Annual Letter: “From 2005 to 2017, independent pizzerias in the United States saw a decline in numbers as the industry franchised. Then that trend in 2017. By 2023, more independent pizzerias in America than in any other year on record. We think the rise of vertical SaaS is at least partly responsible. From a platform like Slice, dedicated specifically to the needs of pizzerias, new businesses can get a logo, website, payment system, ordering system, marketing toolkit, and branded boxes—basically everything else they need to operate their pizza business (except an oven and the perfect sauce). They can remain independent while still benefiting from a franchisee’s economies of scale.” [via Alex Tabarrok]
