$32B and still no product & more (April 14, 2025)

David Pawlan
Co-Founder

Hey friends,
Startups with no product are now worth $32B. Microsoft wants to remember everything you do. And ChatGPT is turning people into anime characters... and action figures.
2025 is wild. Let’s break it down.
🚨 THE BIG MONEY + MODEL DROPS
💰 Ilya's $32B Superintelligence Bet
Safe Superintelligence Inc. (SSI), co-founded by former OpenAI scientist Ilya Sutskever, just raised $2B at a $32B valuation — with no product and no roadmap, just a mission: build “safe superintelligence.”

- Investors include Alphabet, Nvidia, a16z, and Greenoaks
- Valuation is up 6x since September 2024
- Still no launch, just vibes and a mountain metaphor
📢Model Drop Madness
OpenAI is reportedly launching GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 Mini, GPT-4.1 Nano, o4-Mini, and the full o3 model set this week. Also coming soon: an autonomous software engineering agent (A-SWE) to help with bug fixes and documentation.
- Safety testing windows for models have been cut drastically
- API access will require government-issued ID for orgs — one per 90 days
- GPT-5 still on the horizon
🧑⚖️ The OpenAI Legal Saga
12 former OpenAI employees just filed an amicus brief in support of Elon Musk’s lawsuit, calling the company's for-profit pivot a betrayal of its original mission.

- Altman called “a person of low integrity” by a former colleague
- Trial is scheduled for Spring 2026
- OpenAI insists the nonprofit is still intact (technically)
🌍 AI HITS THE MAINSTREAM
🎨ChatGPT’s Ghibli Glow-Up
OpenAI’s image gen feature is the new viral toy. Millions of people are turning selfies into Studio Ghibli-style artwork — and now action figures.
- 1M new users per hour during peak
- India is now ChatGPT’s fastest-growing market
- Sam Altman’s cricket avatar may have sparked the trend
🖥️ Microsoft’s “Recall” = Your Computer Never Forgets
New feature rolling out to Copilot+ PCs will log everything you do, so you can “search your past.”
- Strictly opt-in — for now
- Still captures sensitive info, say early testers
- Feels like Black Mirror... but with bullet points
⚕️ WHERE AI ACTUALLY DELIVERS
🩺Diagnosing TB with a Smartphone
Swiss researchers created ULTR-AI, a TB-detection system that reads lung ultrasounds through a smartphone. It’s outperforming human experts by a solid margin.

- 93% sensitivity, 81% specificity
- Works in real time, even in remote clinics
- Beats the pants off traditional diagnostics in low-resource settings
⚡ QUICK HITS
- Grok-3 mini tops reasoning benchmarks, even beating GPT-4.5 on OTIS Mock AIME
- YouTube’s Music Assistant will generate instrumental tracks based on prompts
- Google’s Veo 2 video model creates 8-second cinematic clips for $0.35/sec
- Meta’s AI lab is reportedly in decline, though Yann LeCun says “it’s a new beginning”
- A high schooler used AI to identify 1.5M unknown objects in space (casual)
🧰 TOOLS TO TRY
- Voicenotes – Turn brain dumps into insights and follow-ups
- SimplAI – Build no-code agentic AI apps for the enterprise
- Lindy – Automate lead research + email drafting
- Lovable – Prompt → working app prototype
- HeyBoss – AI-powered website builder (no templates required)
✍️ PROMPT OF THE DAY
Write a Cold Outreach Email That Doesn’t Suck
Prompt:
Act as a B2B copywriter. I’m selling [product] to [audience] who struggle with [pain point]. Make the tone curious + personal. Include: 2 subject lines, a fun opener, a clear CTA (like “Worth a quick chat?”), and a clever pop culture reference if it fits. Optional: recent social proof or name drop.
TL;DR WRAP-UP
- SSI is now worth $32B with zero product in sight
- OpenAI’s new models drop this week, and their safety review process is shrinking
- ChatGPT’s anime moment is driving insane user growth
- Microsoft wants your memory, and it’s calling it a feature
- AI is quietly revolutionizing medicine, one smartphone at a time
- New tools keep shipping, making it easier to build without code
That’s all for now. Back soon with more breakthroughs, beef, and billion-dollar bets.
Stay weird,
—David ☕
P.S. If I get turned into an action figure, I want a tiny MacBook, a hoodie, and a reusable cold brew cup.
Ready to Build with AI?
Turn these insights into reality. Let our expert team help you implement AI solutions tailored to your business needs.
Start Your AI Project