OpenAI has launched a research preview of Operator, a general-purpose
agent that can control a web browser and independently perform certain
actions


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TLDR

TOGETHER WITH [D-Wave] [4]

TLDR 2025-01-24

QUANTUM COMPUTING IN 2025 IS MUCH MORE PRACTICAL THAN YOU THINK
(SPONSOR) [4]

Think useful quantum computing is years away?

Over 100 organizations are now using D-Wave's powerful quantum
computing platform to tackle their toughest challenges.

Some recent examples of commercial success [5] ¨

* Grocery chain expends 80% less time and effort on creating complex employee schedules.
* Automotive manufacturer builds production schedules 83% faster.
* Mobile network operator improves network performance by 15%.

 Watch the on-demand webinar [5] to explore these examples and
other applications in manufacturing, logistics, finance, supply chain,
and more.

 Learn more about the benefits of D-Wave's quantum computing
technology [4]

¨

BIG TECH & STARTUPS

OPENAI LAUNCHES OPERATOR, AN AI AGENT THAT PERFORMS TASKS
AUTONOMOUSLY (8 MINUTE READ) [6]

OpenAI has launched a research preview of Operator, a general-purpose
AI agent that can control a web browser and independently perform
certain actions. Operator is coming first to US users on ChatGPT Pro
but will roll out to users on its Plus, Team, and Enterprise tiers
eventually. OpenAI plans to integrate Operator into all of its ChatGPT
clients. Operator is powered by a Computer-Using Agent that combines
the vision capabilities of GPT-4o with reasoning abilities from the
company's more advanced models. While Operator can perform many tasks,
it currently cannot handle complex or specialized tasks or interact
with highly customized or non-standard web interfaces.

TIKTOK BAN COULD BE RESOLVED WITHOUT SELLING TO A US COMPANY, SAYS
AMERICAN BOARD MEMBER (2 MINUTE READ) [7]

One of ByteDance's directors has suggested that a compromise deal to
the TikTok ban may be possible. There are a number of alternative
solutions that the company is discussing with the Trump administration
that fall short of selling the company. It isn't clear what form that compromise might take, but it may allow the company to continue to
operate, albeit with a change of control of some kind. ByteDance is
optimistic about the dialogue that is emerging between President Trump
and President Xi.

¨

SCIENCE & FUTURISTIC TECHNOLOGY

FIRST-EVER DATA CENTER ON THE MOON SET TO LAUNCH NEXT MONTH (2 MINUTE
READ) [8]

Lonestar Data Holdings, a Florida-based startup, is set to launch the
first Moon-based data center in February. Dubbed the 'Freedom Data
Center', the information hub will piggyback on an upcoming lunar
lander mission by Intuitive Machines aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
Storing data on the Moon offers unique benefits - it provides
unmatched physical security and protection and is much more
environmentally friendly. The company still needs to overcome enormous technical challenges as deploying a data center on the lunar surface
is complex. Lonestar will maintain a ground-based backup at a
Flexential facility in Tampa.

FDA-APPROVED NASAL SPRAY FOR DEPRESSION IS FIRST OF ITS KIND (4
MINUTE READ) [9]

The FDA has approved a ketamine-based nasal spray for
treatment-resistant depression in the US. The Johnson & Johnson drug,
Spravato, can now be prescribed to adult patients with depression who
have tried at least two antidepressants without adequate improvement
in symptoms, as well as those with major depressive disorder who have
acute thoughts of self-harm or suicide. While it's not clear yet why
the drug works as an antidepressant, studies show that it can
alleviate symptoms of depression as soon as 24 hours after the first
spray, with 22.5% of patients achieving remission after four weeks of treatment. Spravato is the first new medication for major depression
approved by the FDA in decades.

¨

PROGRAMMING, DESIGN & DATA SCIENCE

GOOGLE ROLLING OUT ANDROID 16 BETA 1 FOR PIXEL (4 MINUTE READ) [10]

Android 14 Beta 1 is now rolling out to Pixel devices. The beta is
available as an over-the-air update for those enrolled in the Android
Beta Program. It introduces Live Updates, a new class of notifications
that helps users monitor and quickly access important ongoing
activities. It also adds support for the Advanced Professional Video
codec, designed for high-quality video recording and post production.
Other changes in the beta are detailed in the article.

APPLE ANNOUNCES NEW APP STORE TOOL TO GIVE DEVELOPERS MORE IN-APP
PURCHASE OPTIONS (2 MINUTE READ) [11]

Apple's new Advanced Commerce API offers expanded options for
managing In-App Purchases. It allows eligible App Store business
models to more flexibly manage In-App Purchases within their apps.
Full details of the API should be available soon.

¨

MISCELLANEOUS

'STARGATE' SQUARES SOME AI CIRCLES (11 MINUTE READ) [12]

The Stargate Project, spearheaded by OpenAI, is an ambitious project
that aims to invest $500 billion over the next four years into
building out AI infrastructure for the US. While the announcement of
the project is an early win for the Trump administration, looking
below the surface yields a lot of questions. It appears that
previously announced deals and projects will be roped into this new
initiative. Stargate will provide a lot of positive media for all of
the companies involved while making a lot of money for some partners.

META'S GENAI ORG IN PANIC MODE (1 MINUTE READ) [13]

Meta engineers are frantically trying to dissect DeepSeek's models
and copy everything they can learn from it. Its management is worried
about justifying the massive cost of the company's GenAI organization, especially when every single leader is making more than what it cost
to train DeepSeek V3 - and there are dozens of such 'leaders'.
DeepSeek V3, trained with a $5.5 million budget, is already ahead of
Llama 4 in benchmarks. DeepSeek R1 made things even scarier for the
Meta.

¨

QUICK LINKS

HOW SHUTDOWN BAY AREA TECH COMPANIES DITCH THEIR FANCY GEAR FAST (7
MINUTE READ) [14]

Companies like Silicon Valley Disposition auction off assets from
dead companies.

WE TRIED OPENAI'S NEW AGENT - HERE'S WHAT WE FOUND (13 MINUTE READ)
[15]

OpenAI's Operator can autonomously perform actions for users like
shopping for airline tickets, making restaurant reservations, buying
flowers, and more.

BUNSTER (GITHUB REPO) [16]

Bunster transforms shell scripts into efficient, standalone binaries
while ensuring performance, portability, and robustness.

WAY MORE GAME MAKERS ARE WORKING ON PC TITLES THAN EVER, SURVEY SAYS
(3 MINUTE READ) [17]

Four out of five game developers are currently working on a project
for the PC, up from 66% of developers a year ago.

EVEN SOME OF THE BEST AI CAN'T BEAT THIS NEW BENCHMARK (1 MINUTE
READ) [18]

Every publicly available flagship AI system scored below 11% on
Humanity's Last Exam, a benchmark that includes thousands of
crowdsourced questions in multiple formats.

WHY AMAZON IS STRUGGLING TO CRACK ARGENTINA (8 MINUTE READ) [19]

Custom duties and fees delay deliveries and make items significantly
more expensive.

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Thanks for reading,
Dan Ni [24] & Stephen Flanders [25]

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[4] https://www.dwavequantum.com/?utm_source=tldr&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=quantum-realized
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[6] https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/23/openai-launches-operator-an-ai-agent-that-performs-tasks-autonomously/?utm_source=tldrnewsletter
[7] https://9to5mac.com/2025/01/23/tiktok-ban-could-be-resolved-without-selling-to-a-us-company-says-american-board-member/?utm_source=tldrnewsletter
[8] https://www.techspot.com/news/106470-first-ever-data-center-moon-set-launch-next.html?utm_source=tldrnewsletter
[9] https://www.sciencealert.com/fda-approved-nasal-spray-for-depression-is-first-of-its-kind?utm_source=tldrnewsletter
[10] https://9to5google.com/2025/01/23/android-16-beta-1-pixel/?utm_source=tldrnewsletter
[11] https://9to5mac.com/2025/01/23/apple-announces-new-app-store-tool-to-give-developers-more-in-app-purchase-options/?utm_source=tldrnewsletter
[12] https://spyglass.org/project-stargate-agi-openai/?utm_source=tldrnewsletter
[13] https://www.teamblind.com/post/Meta-genai-org-in-panic-mode-KccnF41n?utm_source=tldrnewsletter
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[15] https://every.to/chain-of-thought/we-tried-openai-s-new-agent-here-s-what-we-found?utm_source=tldrnewsletter
[16] https://github.com/yassinebenaid/bunster?utm_source=tldrnewsletter
[17] https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/01/way-more-game-makers-are-working-on-pc-titles-than-ever-survey-says/?utm_source=tldrnewsletter
[18] https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/23/even-some-of-the-best-ai-cant-beat-this-new-benchmark/?utm_source=tldrnewsletter
[19] https://restofworld.org/2025/amazon-argentina-shipping-mercado-libre/?utm_source=tldrnewsletter
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