NEWS YOU CAN’T MISS

DeepSeek v3 Punches Above Its Weight

DeepSeek, a Chinese AI company backed by the hedge fund High-Flyer, is making waves with its latest innovation: DeepSeek V3, an open-source language model.

The LLM has managed to rival major players like OpenAI and Meta with a budget of just $5.5 million—a stark contrast to what tech giants typically spend (OpenAI reportedly spent over $100 million training GPT-4).

What makes DeepSeek V3 so special:

• The company developed it in just two months using Nvidia H800 GPUs, training it on 14.8 trillion tokens with 671 billion parameters.

• Its massive 128,000-token context window allows it to handle complex, lengthy conversations, a feature highly sought after in modern AI systems.

• V3 uses advanced techniques like balanced computation and multi-token prediction to boost speed and accuracy while still maintaining cost efficiency.

Still, V3 is not perfect—it faces occasional identity errors (confuses itself with GPT-4), challenges with sensitive topics, and ethical concerns about its training data.

Bottom line: DeepSeek V3 is a bold move from a small company, proving innovation isn’t just for tech giants. It looks like the US’ chip sanctions are forcing China to innovate even smarter and develop techniques that enable highly competitive models without massive resources.

The Next Oreo You Eat May Be AI-Generated 🍪

Mondelez International, the company behind Oreos and Chips Ahoy, is using AI to transform how it creates and launches new snacks. The company's AI tool, developed in 2019, is helping get products to market up to 5 times faster than traditional methods.

Here's what's cooking:

• The AI helps food scientists create recipes by specifying desired characteristics for flavor, aroma, and appearance.

• It even considers practical factors like ingredient costs, environmental impact, and nutritional profiles.

• Unlike ChatGPT-style generative AI, this tool uses machine learning to improve its performance over time by analyzing patterns in recipe data.

• It's already been used to develop 70 different products, including the Gluten Free Golden Oreo.

While humans are still handling the important stage of taste-testing, AI has dramatically streamlined the development process.

"The consumer wants the product to taste like X. We're not stopping iterating until it tastes like X," says Kevin Wallenstein from Mondelez's R&D team.

The tech seems to be working - Mondelez saw sales jump 5.4% last quarter despite inflation and tough market conditions. It looks like the future of snacking is getting smarter - and tastier - by the byte! 🤖

Ps. now if only AI could whip up a guilt-free Oreo with all the flavor and none of the sugar—my taste buds (and my diet) would be forever grateful!

WOMAN IN TECH

Meet Dr. Elina Berglund, Co-founder and CEO of Natural Cycles

Celebrating this week's Woman in Tech 🥳: Meet Dr. Elina Berglund, a particle physicist who was part of the CERN team that discovered the Higgs Boson particle — one of the most significant breakthroughs in Physics in the 21st century.

Dr. Berglund is also co-founder and CEO of Natural Cycles, the world's first FDA-cleared birth control app, which raised $55M in 2024 to advance its mission of ‘digital contraception’.

Born in Sweden, Dr. Berglund earned her MS in Engineering Physics from Lund Institute of Technology (2008) and her PhD in Elementary Particle Physics from the University of Geneva (2011).

Her career trajectory:

• 2008 -2012: Worked as a CERN particle physicist, contributing to the ATLAS project and the Higgs Boson discovery.

• 2013: Co-founded Natural Cycles, and developed an algorithm for natural contraception.

• 2014: Launched the Natural Cycles app, using temperature and menstruation data to calculate fertility windows.

The app is certified for contraceptive use in the US, Europe, Australia, and Singapore. With over 4 million users worldwide, its compatible with wearables such as Oura ring, Apple and Samsung Watch and recognized as the first "wearable birth control".

The company recently launched NC° Postpartum, a new feature supporting moms in their recovery after childbirth.

Berglund's work in tech and women's health earned her a spot on Forbes' Top 50 Women in Tech (2018) and the Women in Tech Foundation's Entrepreneurial Award (2015).

Her journey shows why we need women in tech—to create inclusive, impactful solutions. From groundbreaking physics to empowering women’s health, Dr. Berglund is an inspiration.

Ps. Dr. Berglund was her own first customer—she used Natural Cycles to successfully plan both of her pregnancies.

Netflix’s AI: Improving Your Experience or Manipulating You?

Netflix is dominating the streaming wars, outpacing competitors like Disney by using AI to predict what users want to watch and keep them coming back for more. It analyzes viewer data to deliver highly personalized content recommendations, ensuring increased user engagement.

For example, each of you reading this newsletter may see a different poster for Stranger Things, uniquely tailored to match your favorite genres and preferences.

While some applaud Netflix for making it easy to find personalized content, others say they feel manipulated—what do you think?