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👋 Hi friends,
Welcome to the latest edition of Newley’s Notes, a newsletter containing my recent Bloomberg News stories, must-read links on tech and life, and funny dog videos.
Image above: Beach Scene at Sunset (c. 1865–1870), James Hamilton
Here are 10 items worth your time this week:
I’m behind in sharing my recent Bloomberg stories! Here’s what I’ve been up to:
1) 🤖 On Friday I participated in a Live Q&A with my colleagues Annabelle Droulers, Shery Ahn and Saritha Rai on the topic of China, the US, and the race to dominate the future of artificial intelligence. You can listen to a recording here.
2) 🚗 A scoop-let from earlier this month: Uber emailed riders and drivers here in HK to say it’s worried that regulators might cap its service in the city. 🎁 <– Gift link
3) 💻 And a few weeks back, I wrote in our Tech in Depth newsletter about experimenting with a hot new agentic AI service, Manus. What’s agentic AI? Give the piece a read. 🎁 <– Gift link
4) 👉 You may recall our story from April about Microsoft-backed AI startup Builder.ai hiring auditors to investigate inflated sales. Well, the latest, by my colleagues Yazhou Sun and Mark Bergen: Builder.ai Files for Bankruptcy After Creditors Seize Accounts. 🎁 <– Gift link
5) ✍️ And another scoop-let from last month: Meta’s new head for Asia-Pacific is its longtime Southeast Asia exec. 🎁 <– Gift link
6) 🌏 And finally, I wrote a bigger-picture story about how countries across Asia are reining in social media services like TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat. 🎁 <– Gift link
Got all that?
7) 🎥 Meanwhile, in other news: Denis Villeneuve, of “Blade Runner 2049” and “Dune” fame, will direct the next James Bond movie.
8) 📻 D.J. Barry Hansen, aka Dr. Demento, is retiring after 55 years.
9) ✈️ Fun BBC TV clip from 1953: How to travel from London to Tokyo in just 36 hours.
10) 🦴 Dog-related video of the week: “this is so pure.”
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🤗 What’s new with you? Hit reply to send me tips, queries, random comments, and videos of canines soaking up gorgeous sunsets on the beach.
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👊 Fist bump from Hong Kong,
Newley