memo: consulting weekly report (#137)

consulting/market-report/2024-13th-dec.md

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+---
+tags:
+  - consulting
+  - market-report
+  - tech-report
+title: "Weekly Consulting Snapshot #1: Gemini 2.0, OpenAI’s Sora, a16z’s Predictions"
+short_title: "#1 Gemini 2.0, OpenAI’s Sora,  a16z’s Predictions"
+date: 2024-12-13
+description:  An exploration of key advancements in AI, quantum computing, and emerging technologies reshaping consulting opportunities.  
+authors:
+  - minh
+---
+
+It’s been a busy week in the world of tech, with some huge announcements shaping the future of AI, quantum computing, and beyond. Here’s a quick rundown of what’s new and exciting.
+
+**In short:** This week gave us a peek at a future where AI doesn’t just answer questions it does things on our behalf. From Google’s advanced AI research and OpenAI’s text-to-video magic to quantum leaps in computing and new startup challenges from YC, the tech world is racing ahead. Keep an eye on these developments; the next big shift could be just around the corner.
+
+### Google’s Gemini 2.0: “Deep Research” for Smarter AI
+Google has just launched **Gemini 2.0**, a powerful upgrade to its AI model. The big focus this time is “Deep Research,” allowing the system to handle advanced web-based fact-finding and create detailed reports. This means AI getting better at reading and understanding the web, helping you get more accurate and thorough answers.
+
+**Google DeepMind** also introduced two new AI projects:
+
+- **Project Astra**: A next-gen AI assistant that can interact with text, images, video, and audio in real-time. It could soon help you with a range of tasks like editing images or summarizing videos just by asking.
+- **Project Mariner**: An AI “browser buddy” designed to automate online tasks, from shopping to travel planning. Think of it as your personal digital concierge, handling tedious tasks while you focus on the fun stuff.
+
+These projects are part of what Google calls the “agentic era,” aiming to create AI that’s more independent and can anticipate user needs. Though still in testing, they hint at a future where AI works smoothly in the background, making our digital lives easier.
+
+### OpenAI’s Sora: Turning Text into Video
+OpenAI introduced [**Sora**](https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/9/24317092/openai-sora-text-to-video-ai-launch), a text-to-video AI tool that can generate short video clips (up to 20 seconds, 1080p) from written prompts. Whether you want to animate a still image, remix a video, or create something totally new, Sora’s got you covered. It’s currently available to ChatGPT Plus and Pro subscribers.
+
+To keep things responsible, OpenAI is including watermarks and metadata to show that the content is AI-generated. They’ve also set restrictions on making super-realistic humans, aiming to prevent misuse. Right now, Sora is available in the U.S. and a few other countries, with plans to expand to Europe and the U.K. soon.
+
+### Google’s Willow: A Quantum Leap Forward
+Google unveiled [**Willow**](https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/9/24317382/google-willow-quantum-computing-chip-breakthrough), a quantum computing chip that’s jaw-droppingly fast. It can do certain computations in under five minutes, a task that would take today’s top supercomputers a mind-boggling 10 septillion years. That’s a huge leap forward.
+
+**Key Features:**
+
+- **More Qubits**: Willow uses 105 qubits, far more than its earlier chip, Sycamore (which had 53).
+- **Better Error Correction**: Quantum computers are sensitive and error-prone, but Willow’s design reduces errors in real time, making it more reliable.
+
+This could change industries like drug discovery, energy solutions, and materials science basically any field that needs massive computing power. Investors are excited, too: Alphabet’s stock got a nice bump after the announcement.
+
+### a16z’s Big Ideas for 2025
+Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) released its big ideas for the tech world in 2025. Here’s a quick taste:
+
+- **American Dynamism**: AI-driven nuclear energy, next-gen hardware-software jobs, and more reusable spacecraft.
+- **Bio + Health**: Biotech tackling big diseases, wearable AI health tech, and AI helping address healthcare staff shortages.
+- **Consumer**: Specialized AI-generated videos, AI memory banks for personal insights, and more personalized AI assistants.
+- **Crypto**: AI-managed crypto wallets, decentralized chatbots, and better ID verification for AI.
+- **Enterprise + Fintech**: AI helping with regulatory compliance, scaling service industries, and redefining user interfaces.
+- **Games**: AI-based storytelling, virtual companions, and private content creation.
+- **Growth-Stage Tech**: Disrupting search engines and using AI for sales automation.
+- **Infrastructure**: Building powerful AI compute facilities and developing advanced AI reasoning models.
+
+### YC’s Requests for Startups – Winter 2025
+Startup accelerator Y Combinator (YC) is looking for new founders to tackle big challenges:
+
+- **Government + Public Safety**: Tools that simplify government processes, use computer vision to reduce crime, or help emergency teams coordinate better.
+- **Manufacturing**: AI-powered robotics to lower costs, automate factories, and inspect industrial equipment more efficiently.
+- **Chips + Engineering**: AI tools to speed up chip design, cut costs, and make engineering simpler and more accessible.
+- **Stablecoins**: Platforms for stablecoin payments, developer tools, and infrastructure for cross-border transactions.
+- **New Jobs**: Tools that help local service providers run their businesses, find new customers, and work more efficiently.
+
+### [Griffain](https://griffain.com/home) - Solana’s AI Agent Platform
+
+Solana’s new AI agent tech lets AI interact directly with the blockchain. These agents can trade tokens, create memecoins, or even respond to tweets. The idea? Let AI handle on-chain actions easily and automatically. Some fun possibilities:
+
+- Making a new memecoin each time a well-known figure tweets.
+- Automatically buying new tokens trending on social media.
+- Checking out tweets and deciding whether it’s a good idea to invest.

consulting/market-report/2024-27th-dec.md

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+---
+tags:
+  - consulting
+  - market-report
+  - tech-report
+title: "Weekly Consulting Snapshot #2: AI Talent Wars, OpenAI’s New Models, Hyperliquid’s Rise"  
+short_title: "#2 AI Talent Wars, OpenAI’s New Models, Hyperliquid"
+date: 2024-12-30
+description: Key trends in AI, blockchain, and productivity hacks shaping the consulting space this week.   
+authors:
+  - minh
+---
+
+Hey there, another week brings a fresh mix of tech stories worth talking about. Let’s break it down, keep things chill, and see what’s been happening.
+
+### [AI Talent War](https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/20/24326135/ai-talent-wars-databricks-interview)
+
+The race for top AI talent is getting intense. Databricks recently raised $10 billion, not for some wild project but to ensure their team is well-compensated and motivated. Naveen Rao, their VP of AI, likened hiring elite AI researchers to finding a “LeBron James” rare and transformative. It’s a reminder that while AI dominates the headlines, the real breakthroughs depend on the talent building these systems. For now, the focus is on refining infrastructure rather than chasing AGI.
+
+### [A Work Hack You Didn’t Know You Needed](https://code.dblock.org/2020/09/01/keep-a-changelog-at-work.html)
+
+Here’s a simple productivity tip shared by Daniel Doubrovkine: keeping a personal CHANGELOG at work. It’s essentially a daily log of what you’re working on, written in plain, human-readable language. Turns out, it’s a low-effort way to boost one-on-one meetings, help onboard new team members, and give yourself a snapshot of everything you’ve accomplished. It might not be flashy, but it’s one of those habits that can quietly make a big difference.
+
+### [OpenAI’s Models Get Smarter](https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/20/24326036/openai-o1-o2-o3-reasoning-model-testing)
+
+OpenAI rolled out two new models, o1-preview and o1-mini, designed to improve reasoning. These models are outperforming their predecessors in competitive programming, math, and scientific tasks. What sets them apart is how they take a bit more time to “think” before answering, which leads to sharper problem-solving. It’s another step toward more practical, reliable AI tools that can handle complex reasoning tasks.
+
+### [Ubisoft’s NFT Game Makes a Quiet Entrance](https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/ubisoft-quietly-squeezes-out-another-nft-game-featuring-rayman-blood-dragon-192102438.html?src=rss)
+
+Ubisoft has quietly dropped another NFT-based game featuring Rayman and Blood Dragon elements. Players can own and trade in-game items as NFTs. Compared to their earlier attempts at blockchain gaming, this release seems to have a more subdued rollout. It’s interesting to see how they’re still experimenting in this space, despite mixed reactions to NFTs in gaming.
+
+### [Outdated Cancer Guidelines Are a Problem](https://seangeiger.substack.com/p/why-are-cancer-guidelines-stuck-in)
+
+Cancer treatment guidelines are lagging behind modern research, and it’s a problem. Outdated recommendations can slow down access to better care, which is frustrating when new discoveries are being made all the time. The reasons range from bureaucratic inertia to a lack of streamlined systems for updating standards. It raises a bigger question about whether tech like AI or better data processing can help bridge this gap and bring treatments up to speed faster.
+
+[**AI vs. Humans: A Tough Question**](https://www.theregister.com/2024/12/23/ai_job_replacement_comment/)
+
+Here’s a thought-provoking question from The Register: are you a better value than AI? As AI becomes more efficient at certain tasks, companies are reevaluating the balance between human employees and automated systems. While humans bring creativity and adaptability to the table, it’s clear that the bar for what we offer compared to machines is shifting. It’s worth considering where we stand as AI continues to evolve.
+
+[**ChatGPT Took a Break**](https://www.notion.so/169657c9646d8016a308c8ad928b4ef1?pvs=21)
+
+If you noticed ChatGPT acting up this week, you weren’t alone. OpenAI’s chatbot had an outage, with users reporting server errors. The issue was tied to an upstream provider and was resolved fairly quickly. Just a little hiccup to remind us that even our favorite tools have their off days.
+
+### [Product Highlight: Hyperliquid](https://hyperfoundation.org/)
+
+This week’s standout is Hyperliquid, a decentralized perpetual exchange (DEX) designed to combine the efficiency of centralized exchanges with the transparency of decentralized finance. Built on its proprietary Layer 1 blockchain, Hyperliquid offers high-speed, gas-free transactions and a fully on-chain order book, enabling precise trades and reduced slippage.
+
+Here’s where Hyperliquid stands in numbers:
+
+- Total Value Locked (TVL): $2.168 billion
+- Market Cap: $9.002 billion
+- Token Price: $26.83
+- Fully Diluted Valuation: $26.957 billion
+- 24h Token Volume: $320.92 million
+- Volume (24h): $312.49 million
+- Perpetuals Volume (24h): $3.85 billion
+- Fees (annualized): $62.9 million
+- Revenue (annualized): $62.9 million
+
+Hyperliquid just flipped Solana in 24-hour fees generated. Its market strength, coupled with community-focused features like one-click trading and fair airdrop distribution of its $HYPE token, makes it a noteworthy platform for traders seeking efficiency without sacrificing transparency.
+
+That’s it for this week. Hopefully, something here sparked your interest or gave you something new to think about. If any of these topics caught your eye, let’s discuss them. Until next time.