WSJ: “Two converging forces are driving up the cost of finding a job for many Americans. One is the exploding cottage industry of networking and job-search subscriptions, career-coaching services and artificial-intelligence tools—all capitalizing on job seekers’ frustrations in a stalled hiring market. The other is the growing length of the average job search as companies slow recruiting and leave positions unfilled. It now takes the average worker 24 weeks to find a job after losing one, nearly a month longer than a year ago, according to federal data for July. And the number of long-term unemployed is rising.”
FT: “The way maths is taught is by showing students a problem, demonstrating the method required to solve it and then assigning examples. Weaker students require numerous examples and sometimes end up simply memorising the method without understanding it. The strongest students need only one or two examples to master the concept and apply it to new problems. The ability to conceptualise and generalise distinguishes the best mathematicians. Good mathematicians solve hard problems; great ones find ways to make the hard problems easy. The strengths of AI models lie in their speed and ability to “practise” at extremely high volumes. This means they can solve very difficult problems that bear some resemblance to things they have been shown before but may struggle when given something new. This is particularly a problem for theoretical maths. The number of examples available for training drops as you move towards more advanced problems.”
SaaStr: “What’s happening in venture capital right now. At some level, if you’re not one of the chosen few mega-startups … you’re essentially competing for table scraps. Because the Age of AI has led to not just massive rounds being raised, but those massive dollars going to the fewest companies ever. Per Pitchbook’s latest data: 41% of all venture capital dollars deployed in the U.S. this year have gone to just 10 companies. Read that again. Ten companies. Out of thousands seeking funding…The top three AI companies (OpenAI, xAI, and Anthropic) collectively raised $65 billion—nearly one-third of all venture dollars this year.”
WSJ: “Many in the West admire China for its ability to turbocharge growth through massive feats of infrastructure building, scientific advance and promotion of favored industries. American efforts are often bogged down amid the checks, balances and compromises of pluralistic democracy. In his book, “Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future,” author Dan Wang writes: “China is an engineering state, building big at breakneck speed, in contrast to the United States’ lawyerly society, blocking everything it can, good and bad.””
