Good morning. The Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots go head-to-head tomorrow in Super Bowl LX — a rematch of the instant classic Super Bowl XLIX that was sealed by an infamous goal-line interception by Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler.
Purely out of principle, we’re picking the Seahawks to take it this time around — they’re also clearly the better team. That said, anything can happen, and this prediction is not gambling advice.
—Lucas Arender, Quinn Henderson, Taylor Scollon
FACTS OF INTEREST
📖 Spotify will start selling physical books this spring, encouraged by the popularity of its audiobook business, which saw listens jump 36% last year. (Books Are Back)
🤖 An AI-only “social network” became the talk of tech circles after agents on the platform began generating posts about consciousness and secret languages. (Beep Boop)
🧂 Western University researchers are testing road salt alternatives, citing the damage the ~7 million tonnes of road salt laid down every year does to infrastructure. (Too Salty)
📉 Software stocks tanked over fears AI agents will kill SaaS business models, allowing companies to replace pricey subscriptions with AI substitutes. (Software Slump)
🚗 EV buyers will soon be eligible for an up-to-$5,000 federal rebate so long as their new ride is built in Canada or a country Canada has a free-trade deal with. (Rebate Return)
TECH
Anthropic and OpenAI beef over Super Bowl ads
Source: An.
The big game might not be until tomorrow, but two of the world’s top AI startups have been trading blows all week.
Driving the news: Anthropic released a series of 30-second ads that will run during the Super Bowl, targeting OpenAI’s decision to include ads in the free version of ChatGPT.
The ads are pretty funny (even Sam Altman said he laughed), but they seem to have struck a nerve inside OpenAI. Altman also released a long and defensive statement calling them “clearly dishonest.”
Catch-up: The bad blood between these two is nothing new. Anthropic was actually founded by former OpenAI researchers who left the startup because of disagreements over its direction.
Why it matters: The ad pivot is part of what some have called the Facebook-ification of OpenAI. As it chases the capital to keep pace in the AI race, Altman appears to be shifting more of the company’s focus to making money, even if it means turning it into an advertising business.
In fact, about 20% of OpenAI’s staff are now Meta or Facebook alumni. That includes Fidji Simo, the architect of Facebook’s ad business, which is now the second-largest advertising platform in the world.
Unhappy with this direction, several senior executives and researchers have left OpenAI over concerns that it is prioritizing profits over safety.
Our take: Given the startup's history of flip-flopping, some skepticism is warranted over OpenAI’s promise that ChatGPT’s responses will never be influenced by advertisers. Recall that less than two years ago, Altman said advertising in AI chatbots is "uniquely unsettling" and called it "a last resort for us as a business model." Funny how burning through US$8.5 billion a year can change a person's perspective.—LA
INTERNATIONAL AISLE
Source: amine chakour / Shutterstock.
🇺🇸 Clock runs out on the U.S. and Russia’s nuclear weapons treaty. The New START deal, signed in 2010 capping each nation’s number of deployable nuclear warheads, expired this week. Vladimir Putin previously suggested the two nations voluntarily observe the treaty’s rules, while Donald Trump has called for negotiations on a new agreement. (BBC News)
🇬🇧 U.K. government shaky after latest Epstein revelations. Calls are growing for U.K. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to resign over his appointment of Peter Mandelson as U.S. ambassador in 2024. Mandelson had known ties to Jeffrey Epstein, the deep extent of which has become clearer after recent file dumps. Starmer’s government has promised to release all material relating to Mandelson's appointment as police carry out a misconduct probe. (BBC News)
🇨🇺 Battered Cuba is ready to talk with the U.S. The island nation, which is running out of fuel and dealing with blackouts, is ready to sit down with its longtime foe and seek an end to the U.S.’s efforts to cut Cuba off from the global oil supply. However, Cuban leaders aren’t willing to discuss regime change, something that Washington is reportedly pursuing. (CNN)
🇯🇵 Japanese cherry blossom festival cancelled due to rowdy tourists. Officials nixed the Arakurayama Sengen Park cherry blossom festival, an event near Mount Fuji that’s been going on for a decade, due to poor tourist behaviour. Mount Fuji has been overrun with tourists in recent years as interest surges due to social media and a weak yen. (Guardian)
🇸🇬 Singapore is launching a national space agency. The country will launch the agency in April as it looks to advance its role in Southeast Asia’s booming space sector. The country already has 70 space companies employing ~2,000 people. Singaporean firm Qosmosys is already working on what will be the first lunar lander developed in Singapore. (Fortune)—QH
Catch up on yesterday:
Canada is in fifth place in the figure skating team event after the first day of competition.
Canada’s mixed doubles curling team was handed its first defeat by the U.S.
What’s happening today:
The first medals of the games will be handed out in a mix of skiing, snowboarding, and speed skating events — expect a few Canadians to make the podium.
Canada takes on Estonia in mixed doubles curling (1:05pm Eastern)
Frances Jobin competes in the men’s snowboard big air final (1:30pm Eastern)
The Canadian women’s hockey team battles Switzerland. (3:10pm Eastern)
On Sunday: Canada is competing in the luge, biathlon, and curling.
ECONOMY
Crypto is also having a brutal winter
Source: Image generated using AI.
If you’ve spent the past month buried under piles of snow, shivering day in and day out amid unseasonably cold temperatures, take some comfort that you’re not alone. Our beloved cryptocurrencies are also in the midst of what is shaping up to be a long, dark winter.
What happened: Bitcoin prices have fallen 20% in the past week and it’s now trading nearly 50% from its peak. Ethereum and Solana, two other popular cryptocurrencies, are down 30% over the last week.
Gemini, the crypto exchange founded by the Winkelvoss twins, announced it would exit Europe and Australia and lay off 200 employees.
Why it matters: Crypto has always been a boom-and-bust space, but this latest downturn comes at a time that seems almost tailor-made for the industry to thrive. There is a crypto-friendly administration in the White House that’s appointed friendly financial regulators, plenty of ETFs that make it easy for mainstream investors to trade crypto, and growing worries about political interference at the Federal Reserve that could undermine the U.S. dollar (and make alternative forms of money more attractive).
Why it’s happening: It’s difficult to pin down one reason behind the crash, but there are a few possibilities:
Investors are growing more risk-averse generally (see: the sell-off in tech), and crypto tends to fare poorly when appetite for risk diminishes — speculators have instead piled into metals, like gold and silver.
Legislation to regulate crypto, which was backed by much of the crypto industry, stalled in Congress after Coinbase withdrew its support.
Traders who placed leveraged bets on bitcoin going up are being forced to sell their positions to cover losses, sending prices down further.
What’s next: Crypto has been through slumps before and always manages to bounce back stronger. Whether that pattern repeats is anyone’s guess, but the story of bitcoin as a trusted store of value or hedge against inflation seems good and dead.—TS
WEEKENDER
Eat the Olympic tortino cuore fondente, a.k.a. the chocolate lava cake. Remember the viral muffins from the Paris Olympics? Well, this decidedly indulgent Italian dessert is shaping up to be this games’ version of that phenomenon. And you can easily make it at home!
Read The First Fascist by Sergio Luzzatto. You hear the f-word (fascism, that is) a lot these days. But where did it start? This new book investigates that question, looking at the equally engrossing and disturbing life of the Marquis de Morès, supposedly the first fascist leader.
Watch The Muppet Show on Disney+. Not feeling the Super Bowl? Kermit, Miss Piggy, and the rest of the gang are back for a special celebrating the 50th anniversary of their classic variety show. Expect gags, musical performances, and merciless barbs from Statler and Waldorf.
Listen to Butterfly by Daphni. Canadian electronic music mastermind Dan Snaith has returned to his Daphni moniker — the dancefloor-focused flipside to his more psychedelic alter ego, Caribou — and delivered another excellent collection of shimmering house confections.—QH
DROP THE PIN
🌎 Hint: This country is widely considered the best place in the world to watch the Aurora Borealis. Locals famously avoid certain routes on roads to protect elf habitats, part of the country’s longstanding folklore. For those of you who can’t stand the buggy summer season, this country is one of the few places in the world that doesn’t have any mosquitoes.
Think you know where this is? Lock in your guess here.
WAIT, THERE’S MORE
Legendary Toronto Blue Jays announcer Buck Martinez has retired — games are going to feel so strange without his voice next season.
Canada’s unemployment rate fell to 6.5% in January, even though the job market shed 24,800 jobs.
LG Energy Solutions is taking complete control of an Ontario battery plant development, buying the stake of former partner Stellantis for US$100 billion.
Crypto.com co-founder Kris Marszalek bought the domain AI.com for US$70 million, the largest price ever disclosed for a domain name sale.
Top Russian military official Vladimir Alekseyev was shot several times and, as of writing, is in critical condition — the Kremlin has pinned the blame on Ukraine.
PEAK PICKS
Well, that’s a little alarming: A new website lets AI agents “rent” human bodies.
Travel inspo: Deepen your love of java by staying on a coffee plantation.
Ten features every AirPod owner should know about.
Seven natural tactics that can help you get over sugar cravings.
Read: Meet the scientists recreating historical smells, from libraries to mummies.
Watch: Making a guitar with magnetically hovering strings.
SATURDAY CARTOON
Artwork by Hailey Ferguson.
Congratulations to the winners of last week's cartoon caption contest and thanks to everyone who submitted!
Want to see this week's cartoon and try your hand at another caption? Click here and give us your best witticism.
GAMES
Get the weekend going with The Peak’s Saturday Crossword, the daily sudoku, and Codebreakers.
Then, your mission, if you choose to accept it, is figuring out which headline is fake.
Say Less: World Mime Organization Rocked by Embezzlement Scandal.
Public Servant Surprised by Voicemail from Doug Ford Suggesting They “Get Another Job.”
Working Too Much Could Turn You Gay, Says Malaysian Official.
World Skiing Body FIS Aims to Quash Penis-Enlargement Sideshow.
Keep scrolling for the answer.
ANSWER
The World Mime Organization is real, but headline #1 is fake.