In BriefPosted:2:07 PM PST March 4, 2025Image Credits:Ein Noonan/Sportsfile for Web Summit Rio / Getty ImagesAmazon reportedly forms a new agentic AI groupAmazon has formed a new group within AWS dedicated to creating AI agents, systems that help people automate parts of their lives, Reuters reported on Tuesday.In an email to staff seen by Reuters, AWS CEO Matt Garman said agentic AI has the potential to be the next multi-billion business for AWS. A longtime AWS executive who previously led the companys AI and data teams, Swami Sivasubramanian, will reportedly lead the new agentic AI group.Amazon seems to be the latest company to join the tech industrys shift toward AI agents.Last week, Amazon showed off some agentic capabilities that would be coming to Alexa+, an updated version of the companys consumer voice assistant. In demoes, Alexa+ was able to automatically book Ubers, navigate websites, and complete other tasks that humans would usually do themselves.Amazons AWS unit may also be interested in developing enterprise agents, competing with Salesforce and Microsoft to create AI systems that can automate work-related tasks for customers.TopicsAI, AI agents, Amazon, AWS

X is bringing more attention to Communities, a feature that allows X users to connect and engage in discussions around a given topic, similar to how its done on Reddit. Today, tabs to access popular Communities are pinned to the top of the apps homepage alongside your For You feed and other Lists. Now, youll be able to customize these individual timelines by whats Trending, New or Popular, or filter them to show only your posts and replies within the Community.If sorting by popularity, youll now be able to sort popular posts by day, week, month, year or all-time a set of options that mirrors those on Reddit, as well.Image Credits:@Dongwook on X (opens in a new window)Previously, Communities posts could be sorted by Trending, Most Recent, and Most Liked, which offered similar views, but the feature lacked the granularity thats now offered when sorting popular posts by a particular timeframe. Plus, a way to quickly see your own posts and replies wasnt available in the prior version.The changes are initially available to users in the updated iOS app, notes a post from an X engineer announcing the latest version of the Communities tabs feature. The company is still working to bring the new functionality to the web and Android.The product refresh is the latest in Xs broader efforts to revamp the Communities feature to make X more appealing to those who want more focused discussions. Last month, the company more deeply integrated Community posts across X, by making a users Community posts and replies visible to their followers and others on X. To boost adoption, X also made it possible for anyone to reply to a Community post. X Communities arent just meant to be a way to attract more users to X. They could also potentially help the company with its AI efforts by creating topical discussion boards whose data can be shared with companies looking to train their AI models, in addition to helping train models at X owner Elon Musks AI company, xAI.

Italian architect Stefano Boeriand Cino Zucchi, head of Cino Zucchi Architetti, have been temporarily banned from judging architecture competitions. Boeri is barred from serving as a juror for one year, and Zucchi eight months, an Italian judge declared after Boeri and Zucchi were accused of bid-rigging in the competitionfor the European Library of Information and Culture (BEIC) project to be built near Porta Vittoria. This may seem bad, but the pair narrowly avoided house arrest. I am extremely relieved with the decision taken by Judge Iannelli to deny the request for me to be placed under house arrest, Boeri told AN after his sentencing. This decision means that I will be able to continue my work as an architect and also to complete both my duties as President of the Triennale and as a Professor at the Milan Politecnico.Boeri added: I would like to express once again my complete confidence in the judiciary and I look forward to being able to further clarify my position. However, I am unable to hide my considerable concern regarding everything that I have suffered in recent weeks, not to mention the irreversible damage that has and is being done to both my private and professional life. Previously, La Stampa reported Boeri and Zucchi may have colluded with Onsitestudio, the office who won the competition. The accusations had to do with contact made between Boeri, Zucchi, and Pier Paolo Tamburelli, a principal at Baukuh.Allegedly, Tamburelli repeatedly came into contact with commissioners Zucchi and Boeri, according to Italian news coverage, violating terms of the competition agreement. The Milan Prosecutors Office subsequently requested the arrest of Boeri, Zucchi, and Tamburelli.After the charges were made, prosecutors said Boeri, who chaired the competition, and Zucchi should receive house arrest. But the judge determined this would be excessively burdensome, so they were temporarily banned from judging architecture competitions instead.After the court session, Zucchi told Italian press members: I did a good job in the competition, and said he never had contact with any contestants. The case is that of an irony taken seriously and a problem of semantic context, a spokesperson for Cino Zucchi Architetti told AN.AN reached out to Tamburelli for information in relation to his case.

Andrew Atwood uses plain language to describe an ADU he designed as an attachment to a small 1910 craftsman-style home in Mount Washington, a historic neighborhood in northeast Los Angeles. Its meant to sort of blend in with the other houses in the area, he told AN, pointing to its pitched roof. But its not meant to be read as one house, because doing that is both expensive and wasteful. So, really, its just like a house built next to another house. Atwood, cofounder of Los Angelesbased firm First Office, shares this philosophy against excess with his client and longtime friend Alex Robinson, a landscape architect who teaches at the University of Southern California. The two worked together on the project, which over time, became a design-build effort, with some decisions made on the spot. Robinson acted as the general contractor, with the goal of completing the addition with the lowest possible amount of material waste, cost, and disruption to the living situation with his cat and wife, the artist Sarah Smiley. The two married while the ADU was under construction.The addition, with its pitched roof, is meant to blend into the neighborhood. (Eric Staudenmaier)The resourceful nature of the addition slowly reveals itself while one is walking its perimeter, along with the diverse updates Robinson made throughout the property. Many of the scraps from the construction of the ADU were used to construct two unfussy structures in the backyarda sauna and a woodshop clad in leftover siding painted black. Cisterns line the site, following the natural slope of the terrain to collect rainwater for later use. Native plants smelling of sage and bubblegum share the backyard with trees bearing lemons, berries, and avocados. Robinson additionally used his passion for landscaping in a 2-acre community plot lower in the canyon, where he placed 150 native plants to rehabilitate the local ecosystem.Awnings and a lattice for vines were added to the siding (Eric Staudenmaier)The ADUs earthy-green horizontal siding is adorned with a couple of awnings and a lattice for vines, all of which can be removed or replaced using simple tools. The irregularly shaped stepping stones beneath its exterior doors are remnants from another part of the property. One set is composed of loose bricks and pavers. The steps were initially a temporary measure during construction, a kind of a joke, said Atwood. But Alex and Sarah grew to like them and were slowly convinced to keep them as the house neared completion.An artists studio with a view (Eric Staudenmaier)Though the vintage details of the original home were largely left as is, the transition into the addition is whisper quiet when one passes through the new butter-yellow entryway that angles off to the right upon arrival. The passage is later announced more prominently by a long bookshelf that Robinson built just a few feet away in his new woodshop, along with pocket doors and other woodworking projects that appear throughout the interior. The couples separate workspaces on the ground floor reveal unmistakable differences in their creative preferences. Smileys is an airy art studio equipped with a slop bucket and a double-hinged door for ventilation. Its regularly flooded with light from a large picture window framing the Angeles National Forest and Mount Baldy in the distance. Robinson likens his own officea narrow, table-lined room roughly onethird the size of Smileysto a ships cabin, with the same unbeatable view of the northern mountain range, where hawks can often be spotted searching for prey. It is already packed with what seems like a lifetimes worth of books, drawings, and stationery.A kitchenette in the ADU (Eric Staudenmaier)The one big splurge in the homes construction, according to Atwood, is the wood from a ponderosa pine used for the stairs and flooring of the upstairs bedroom suite, purchased from Angel City Lumber, a local sawmill that uses only felled trees within Los Angeles County.The bedroom marks the exterior roof pitch with a ceiling beam installed by Robinson, one of the final touches of the design/build process. The bed, of course, faces a large north-facing picture window.Shane Reiner-Roth is a writer and lecturer on architecture and urbanism.Project SpecificationsDesign architect: First OfficeArchitect of record: First Office, Andrew AtwoodColor consultant: Alex SpatzierLandscape architect: Double IrisInterior design: Work + SeaStructural engineer: Nous EngineeringGeneral contractor: Double IrisCladding: James HardieWindows and doors: MarvinFlooring: Forbo, Angel City LumberTiling: Lecesse, Zia TileFixtures: California Faucets

All images courtesy of Fleckled, shared with permissionFleckled Offers 150+ Hand-Printed Letterpress Fonts for Digital DownloadMarch 4, 2025ArtDesignGrace EbertAs AI infiltrates every part of the creative process, those committed to human expression have found innovative ways to make craft and artistry endlessly appealing. Creative director Jason Pattinson is one such person. Hes behind Fleckled, a new online shop of hand-printed letterpress typefaces that have been digitized and are available as high-resolution downloads.Currently, Fleckled contains more than 150 fonts printed on an 1860s-era Columbian press,with more on the way. All are available in either uppercase, lowercase, or numeral sets with additional ornaments and borders across myriad styles. Retaining the signature graininess and warmth of the wood, each also comes in two versions: one with a thicker, more saturated ink and another with a lighter, more distressed feel.The small flaws in the hand-carved wooden blocks are what give letterpress its distinctive character and enduring appeal, Pattinson says. Visible defects, woodgrain, planing patterns, and wear effects have been balanced through various levels of inking and pressure to achieve the optimal dense and distressed versions.Pattinson and his team have been working on digitizing letterpress for more than two decades. Hes collaborated with printers and dealers across Italy, Sweden, Germany, Argentina, the U.S., and the U.K., where hes based.Were in discussions with a few retired printers who own some truly remarkable private collections, exploring opportunities to digitise and sublicense their fonts and various assets to expand our online resource, Pattinson told Design Week.As Fleckled grows, it makes the medium more widely available and offers an alternative to AI generation for those who might be interested in the letterpress aesthetic without access to a press. Pattison launched the shop because he wanted to make these timeless assets available toa new generation of creatives. He shares with Colossal, It fills me with a great confidence that in a world being overwhelmed with AI, the design community is resolute in authenticity!Next article

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Love isnt about guesswork and it shouldnt feel like hard work. Here are three key mental shifts to ... [+] stop struggling with love and welcome it into your life with ease.gettyLove is often described as a battlefield, an enigma or something that takes hard work to maintain. And while love does require effort, it doesnt have to feel like a constant uphill climb. In fact, the healthiest relationships often feel like playnot because they lack challenges, but because both partners approach them with the right mindset.If love feels exhausting, you might not need a new partneryou might need a new perspective. Here are three psychological shifts that can transform your love life and make love feel easier.1. Shift From Earning Love To Sharing LoveMany people enter relationships believing that love is something they must earnby being agreeable, attractive, successful or constantly proving their worth. This mindset often stems from childhood experiences where love felt conditionalgiven only when they met expectations or pleased others.However, research on self-determination theory in romantic relationships suggests that healthy, fulfilling love is not a reward for good behaviorits a shared experience built on authenticity, respect for autonomy and mutual investment.When you believe love must be earned, relationships feel like a performance. You may:Overextend yourself to keep your partner happy, even at your own expense.Avoid expressing needs out of fear of being too much.Feel anxious about whether youre doing enough to deserve love.Struggle with boundaries, believing that saying no might make you less lovable.This transactional approach is emotionally exhausting, and creates a sense of defensiveness rather than openness. Self-Determination Theory highlights that optimal relationship functioning is a result of partners feeling free to invest in each other authentically, rather than striving for approval.So, instead of trying to earn love, shift toward sharing love. This means recognizing that love is not a prize to be won but a dynamic, co-created experience. When you embrace this mindset, you:Show up as your authentic self, rather than molding yourself into what you think your partner wants.Recognize your needs, desires and emotions as just as valid as your partners.Give love freelynot out of fear, but because it feels good to do so.Allow yourself to receive love without questioning whether you deserve it.Love feels easy and exciting when you stop treating it as a test and start experiencing it as a giftone that you and your partner co-create with openness, authenticity and mutual care.2. Shift From Mind-Reading To Direct CommunicationMany relationship conflicts stem from the unspoken expectation that a partner should just know what we need, feel or want. When they dont, frustration builds, leading to miscommunication, passive-aggressiveness and resentment. However, research suggests that direct communication is essential for relational stability, while avoiding it creates unnecessary tension.Several factors influence whether people openly express their needs or hold back. For instance, research published in Communications Research found that higher relationship uncertaintywhen partners feel unsure about the relationships status or futuremakes people less likely to communicate directly about irritations.When uncertainty is high, individuals may hesitate to express their concerns, fearing conflict or rejection. Instead, they may bottle up frustrations, expecting their partner to notice and respond intuitively. But this strategy often backfires, leaving partners confused and emotionally disconnected.Conversely, researchers highlight that greater intimacy fosters direct communication. When partners feel emotionally close and secure in their relationship, they are more likely to openly express their needs and frustrations, reducing the likelihood of misunderstandings. This reinforces the idea that instead of assuming a partner should just know, it is far more effective to communicate openly.The study also found that people tend to express irritations more directly when they perceive them as particularly negative. However, waiting until frustrations become overwhelming can lead to high-stress, emotionally charged conversations rather than productive discussions.Additionally, when a partners actions interfere with personal goals, individuals may be more likely to address the issuebut only if they view the interference as significant. This suggests that some partners may communicate only when tensions are high, rather than maintaining consistent, proactive communication.Heres what you can do to ease the process for yourself and your partner.State your needs clearly. Rather than expecting your partner to guess your feelings, you could say, for instance, Ive been feeling overwhelmed with housework. Could we split tasks differently?Clarify instead of assuming. Instead of thinking, Theyre ignoring me on purpose, you can ask, You seem distracted today. Is everything okay?Communicate before tensions escalate. Dont wait until frustrations build upaddress small concerns early, so they dont turn into major conflicts later.When both partners drop the guessing game and prioritize clarity, love becomes easier, more secure and far less stressful. Instead of feeling like youre walking on eggshells, you create a relationship where honesty and openness become the norm.3. Shift From Winning To UnderstandingConflict is a natural part of any relationship, but how you approach it determines whether it strengthens your connection or erodes it. Many couples fall into the trap of treating disagreements as battles to be won, believing that proving a point will restore balance.However, a 2016 study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology shows that its not conflict itself that harms relationshipsits the feeling of not being understood that inflicts the most damage.A win-or-lose mentality in conflict looks like:Arguing to prove a point rather than to find a resolution.Interrupting or shutting down your partners perspective instead of trying to listen.Keeping score of past mistakes as ammunition instead of addressing the present issue.Feeling defensive instead of receptive to what your partner is saying.This dynamic creates tension, resentment and emotional distance. Even if you win an argument, you risk making your partner feel unheard, dismissed or defeated. And in a healthy relationship, if one person loses, both people lose. Feeling understood can actually buffer against conflicts negative effects, reinforcing emotional security and connection.Remember, understanding doesnt mean agreeing with everything your partner saysit means respecting their perspective and prioritizing connection over control. Heres what this shift looks like in practice:Listen to understand, not just to respond. Instead of thinking about your counter argument while your partner speaks, focus on truly hearing them. Try reflecting back what theyre saying: So what Im hearing is that you feel overwhelmed when I dismiss your concerns. Is that right?Acknowledge their perspective, even if you disagree. Validation doesnt mean surrender. Saying, I can see why you feel that way, doesnt mean youre wrongit means you care about their emotions.Reframe the conflict. Instead of viewing conflict as me vs. you, view it as us vs. the problem. This creates a team mentality rather than an adversarial one.Love becomes easier when disagreements no longer feel like threats but instead become moments of deeper connection.Has your relationship felt more exhausting or exciting lately? Take the science-backed Relationship Satisfaction Scale to find out.

ChatGPT's new Research toolNurPhoto via Getty ImagesDiscussions about Deep Seeks impact on Nvidia is everywhere. Yesterday, I heard an investor on CNBCs "Fast Money" program pontificate that Deep Seek and its disruptive technology mean that Nobody needs an Nvidia H100 anymore, much less a Blackwell. I struggle to square that with Jensen Huangs claim that the inference task will require 100 times more compute power, which could overwhelm any potential reduction in training systems. The financial center of AI gravity is shifting towards inference. (Nvidia is a client of Cambrian-AI Research.) Immediately I started writing a blog. But then wondered, how well could AIs new reasoning capabilities research this assertion?So, I presented the query to ChatGPTs new Deep Research tool to both learn more about the controversial topic, and to see just how well the new reasoning capabilities could do the job (and put me out of one!).Heres my query: "I would like some help writing a research report about the controversy surrounding DeepSeek and its impact on Nvidia and other semiconductor providers. Specifically, I watched a Smart Money episode yesterday where the talking head surmised that "nobody needs an H100" anymore, much less a Blackwell. But Jensen Huang claims the inference of reasoning models, the future of conversational AI, requires 100 times the compute power of a simple ChatGPT search. Can you outline the cases, the growth of inference vs training, and perhaps provide some forecasts? Focus on high-level, with a few financial details as support. Focus on Nvidia, but include AMD and the Cloud providers ASICs which cannot (yet) run reasoning models well. Dont focus on Deep seek, but rather the general market disruption over a 1-3 year timeframe."Let Her (Him?) Rip!After OpenAI Deep Research read 42 sources and thought for 6 minutes, it produced a well-laid-out report, covering 13 pages and 4720 words, which I have posted on my website to avoid using AI to write a piece for Forbes:Cambrian AI ResearchCambrian AI Research Papers - Cambrian AI ResearchIt is frankly really good and much more complete than anything this blogger could produce. What about the cost? If you assume it took an 8 GPU cluster to answer the query (normal for ChatGPT), the experiment cost about $2 ($1.992) to run. A normal ChatGPT response is widely estimated to cost about $.01, so the query I posed cost about 200 times more than a simple inference. Once again, Jensen is right.Deep Seek Impact On NvidiaThe CNBC talking head knows a lot more about investing (theoretically) than AI and industry trends. While some may refute Deep Seeks claims of the number and type of GPUs used to create V3 and the reasoning chatbot R1, it will lower the cost of training and reasoning inference. We should see every foundation model builder adopt it or something like it. TuanChe Limited, Microsoft Azure, and Perplexity already have added Deep Seek R1.However, the six minutes ChatGPT required to create the report, and the outstanding content it produced, validate Jensen Huangs assertion and the value of reasoning models. Now it will become a matter of how the math balances out with the (reduced cost of training + the increased number of trained models) offset by the increase in computation needed to produce thoughtful answers. I have no idea how that exactly plays out, but Id bet my house that the number of compute cycles overall will increase by one or two orders of magnitude.Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang delivers a keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las ... [+] Vegas, Nevada on January 6, 2025.AFP via Getty ImagesSo, How Good Was ChatGPT?In short, it was amazing. The bot produced a report that includes:Training vs. Inference: Diverging Compute Demands in Conversational AIThe Shift to Inference: From One-Time Training to Everyday AI ServicesNobody Needs an H100 Anymore? The Push for Cheaper InferenceNVIDIAs Blackwell Generation: Upping the Ante for Training and InferenceCloud Providers ASICs: Google and Amazon Bet on In-House SiliconOutlook: Inference Growth, Market Forecasts, and Financial ImplicationsEach section was insightful and objective and I did not detect any errors. If I were younger, Id be looking for another job. Again, check it out on my website.In Summary, What Did We Learn?I learned that my intuition and experienced viewpoints on this controvery are the same as ChatGPT, for better or worse. Devons paradox aside, using these models (inference) will drive significantly more compute demand; perhaps significantly more than any reduction in training, as AI inference will become (or already is) the main growth driver of comnpute demand. The financial center of AI gravity is shifting towards inference. The next 13 years will likely redefine market share in accelerated computing more than any time in the last decade.I also learned that ChatGPT Deep Research can be an excellent research tool, the likes of which can help analysts learn more about topics and test hypotheses. Or it could replace us!

A hot potato: In a recent interview, Matt Mullenweg commented on the future of Automattic. Facing calls for him to step down, he said he would not resign. Mullenweg even doubled down, saying that when he retires, he will find a successor who shares his values and would run the company as he would. Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of WordPress and CEO of Automattic, has called out WP Engine for benefiting from WordPress's open-source model without contributing enough to the project. WP Engine, built on WordPress, argues it's fully compliant with the GPL, which permits commercial use without requiring financial contributions.During an interview with Lenny's Podcast, Mullenweg reinforced his stance that open-source projects thrive when those who profit from them reinvest in their development. He also briefly discussed the future of WordPress and Automattic, emphasizing his preference for strong, centralized leadership rather than decision-making by committee."If or when I'm gone, I don't want to pass it to a committee," Mullenweg said. "I want to pass it to someone else who could have a role similar to mine, and really sort of try to be a steward."He also expressed the belief that CEOs should be deeply invested in their companies, ideally holding majority voting control. He compared his role to that of a mayor overseeing a city, emphasizing the need for a leader to be personally and directly involved in guiding the organization."There ultimately is a check and balance on [stewardship] because, again, the community could leave they could fork the software, people could change" he explained. "[The role is] a lot more like being a mayor than a CEO." // Related StoriesHis remarks come amid growing criticism of his handling of the WP Engine dispute. Some have accused Mullenweg of using undue influence to pressure WP Engine into paying for its use of WordPress, actions that critics argue contradict the spirit of free and open-source software (FOSS). WP Engine has maintained that it has no legal obligation to support WordPress financially and that any contributions to open-source projects should be voluntary rather than coerced. It contends that Mullenweg is doing more to hurt FOSS development.The fallout has led to a class-action lawsuit against Automattic over accusations of unfair business practices around WordPress governance. There's also an online petition calling for Mullenweg's resignation, though it's unclear how much support it's actually getting. Even with all this pressure, Mullenweg has made it clear he's not stepping down.Industry experts are split on this. Some say WP Engine benefits from WordPress without giving back, which could hurt the platform's future. Others think Mullenweg is pushing too hard for payments that the GPL doesn't require. From a legal standpoint, WP Engine isn't doing anything wrong, but the debate goes beyond legality. It's about whether companies profiting from open-source software owe it to the community to contribute.Mullenweg isn't budging, and WP Engine isn't backing down, leaving both sides locked in a standoff. It's unclear whether legal action or community pressure will tip the scales, but the debate raises a bigger question: What do companies that profit from open-source software owe the projects they rely on?