Your future is... algorithmically uncertain
Congrats, grad! Your signing bonus is a recurring existential crisis.
This week, we’re talking:
Graduation: that sacred moment when people who haven’t filled out a job application since dial-up tell you how the world works. 🎓🤡
Big AI players are beginning to talk about profitability, but the spreadsheet still says “burn.” 🔥 📉 💸
Americans of all ages are finally agreeing on something: AI is moving too fast, and no one trusts the people building it. 🧠 🚧 🤖
Zuckerberg says TikTok is proof he’s not a monopolist. The FTC isn’t convinced. What will ⚖️ 📱 🧑⚖️
The biggest fight in the Democratic Party isn’t left vs. right. It’s gas pedal vs. brake. 🏗️ 🛑 ⚙️
Phone makers want you to push a button for AI help. Most people push it by accident. 📲 🙄 🤷
Jony Ive and Sam Altman think the future of computing fits in your pocket, watches you all day, and replaces your screen. 👁️ 🧠
My Take:
It's graduation season, which means LinkedIn is flooded with wisdom from people who have zero idea what it's like to start a career in 2025.
Think about it: When did any of us last navigate a job market where AI might eliminate entire industries overnight? When did we graduate into a world where democracy feels this fragile, where wars rage across multiple continents, where the climate is visibly deteriorating right in front of us?
We're all winging it. We're all learning on the job.
The mentors who graduated in the 80s and 90s? They mean well but they walked into a stable America with a booming economy. The ones from the 2000s? Even they didn't have to factor in algorithmic outrage and generative AI reshaping everything.
Your parents' advice about 'just get into tech'? AI is rewriting the entire industry. That stable government job they recommended? Good luck with that.
Career ladders feel quaint when entire industries vanish between coffee breaks.
So here's the thing nobody wants to admit: There is no roadmap for this moment. There is no safe bet when everything is this unsure.
And weirdly? That's the most honest—and freeing—thing anyone can tell you. Fully embracing this radical uncertainty is the first step of a journey that's sure to be choppy, but never boring.
You're going to have to forge your own path. With that in mind, here is what I've got for you:
🔴 Take your work seriously—but don't take yourself too seriously. The moment you think you've got it all figured out is the moment you become irrelevant. Stay humble. Stay curious. Learn fast.
🔴 Take care of yourself. The world's in a dire spot. We need to fix it. But you can't roll your sleeves up if you're wringing your hands. You're not going to be useful to anyone if you're not taking care of your own psychology and conquering your own fear.
🔴 The stakes ARE high—and that means you have a chance to be consequential. You're alive at a time when what you do can genuinely shape the world. Take a shot. If it doesn't go in the goal, take another. Quitting is for punks. Never relent.
Welcome to the most interesting (and terrifying) time to be alive. Now lace up—you've got work to do.
And don't forget, there are many of us who want to do the hard work with you, shoulder to shoulder.
This Week’s Stack:
AI Firms Talk Profitability While Burning Billions 🔥 📉 💸
OpenAI’s CFO says the company’s new structure could pave the way for an IPO—eventually. But the real shift isn’t to profitability—it’s to the appearance of profitability. Anthropic’s $3.5B raise isn’t a sign of discipline—it’s a sign that profitability is nowhere in sight, but the game is too big to sit out. The raise says “growth.” The spreadsheet still says “burn.”
Reuters | Anthropic
Americans Want AI to Slow the Hell Down 🧠 🚧 🤖
77% of Americans say pause the breakthroughs and get it right. Boomers lead the slowdown brigade, but even Gen Z isn’t sold. Add Pew, Gallup, and AIPI polling, and the message is clear: nobody trusts tech CEOs to self-regulate. The public wants guardrails. The market wants growth. It’s not hard to guess who will win.
Axios | Pew | AIPI
Meta’s Antitrust Reckoning ⚖️ 📱 🧑⚖️
Zuckerberg says competition is thriving—just look at TikTok. The FTC says Meta bought Instagram and WhatsApp to kill off its rivals. The six-week trial is over, and the judge’s decision could redefine tech antitrust precedent. If the FTC wins, expect breakups. If Meta wins, expect more M&A hand-wringing. Either way, the era of easy acqui-hiring may be over.
NYT | FTC v. Meta
Democrats Face Off Over the Future of Progressivism 🏗️ 🛑 ⚙️
The “abundance agenda” promises more housing, cleaner energy, and a government that actually works—but it’s also a direct challenge to the activist groups that built modern liberalism: the environmental orgs, tenants’ unions, and legal shops that turned process into power. Their tools—NEPA, permitting rules, local vetoes—once protected vulnerable communities. Now, they often paralyze progress. Moderates say the left is building coalitions that can’t govern; progressives say the center is selling out the base. In San Francisco, the split is already fracturing the party. Nationally, it could define 2028. The left spent 50 years building the brakes. The abundance agenda wants the gas pedal back.
The Atlantic
The AI Button Is a UX Crime 📲 🙄 🤷
Phone makers are stapling AI buttons onto devices that aren’t smart enough to deserve them. Apple, Motorola, Nothing, and OnePlus all want you pressing for “AI” help—but most users say the features add little to no value. The experience isn’t magical—it’s mid. And the real goal? Monetize the button.
Gizmodo | Android Authority
OpenAI Wants to Be Your Third Device 👁️ 🧠
Forget XR goggles. OpenAI and Jony Ive are betting on a pocket-sized, screenless AI companion that sees what you see, hears what you hear, and knows everything about you. Think “Her,” but real—and maybe just as unsettling. Their goal? Ship 100 million units and make this the third device on your desk, after your laptop and phone. Humane tried and flopped. OpenAI has bigger models and more cash on hand. Whether that’s enough is anybody’s guess.
WSJ | Mashable