AI Knows You'll Cry at Minute 47

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Hey, it’s Clark.

Imagine watching Oppenheimer or the latest Marvel movie—and an AI already knows which scenes will make your pulse quicken, which lines will move you, and when you’ll stop paying attention — all before you’ve even hit play. That’s what Meta’s new AI model, TRIBE, is built to do. By analyzing the video, audio, and dialogue alone, it predicts how your brain will respond across the regions tied to emotion, attention, and decision-making. Content isn’t being recommended—it’s being pre-scored for your nervous system.

This unlocks more than better entertainment. When AI can map our cognitive reactions this precisely, it creates a new foundation for designing experiences that hold attention by default. Education, therapy, marketing, media—each becomes a sandbox for precision engagement. And as this loop tightens, doomscrolling won’t just be compulsive. It’ll be calibrated.

Let’s dive in…

IN TODAY’S EDITION:

Top Story: Perplexity AI Tries to Buy Google Chrome for $34.5B—Twice Its Own Valuation

Industry Watch: German Firm igus Debuts $54K Humanoid Robot for Factory and Service Roles

Notable Transactions: n8n Hits $2.3B Valuation, Scaling Low-Code Automation Globally

New Tools to Try: Rork Transforms Plain Text into Fully Functional Mobile Apps

Power Prompt: “Write Like the Greats” — Emulate Any Author’s Style with a Single Command

THIS WEEK’S TOP STORY

Perplexity AI Tries to Buy Google Chrome for $34.5 Billion — Nearly Twice Its Own Valuation

Perplexity, an AI search startup worth about $18 billion, made a surprising $34.5 billion cash offer to buy Google Chrome, the world’s most popular browser. The proposal promised to keep Chrome’s code open, invest $3 billion over two years, and still use Google as the default search engine. But since Chrome isn’t for sale, and the offer is more than Perplexity is worth, many see it as a PR stunt rather than a real acquisition attempt, especially during a time of growing antitrust pressure on Big Tech. (All About AI)

INDUSTRY WATCH

Manufacturing | igus Launches Humanoid Robot for Factory and Service Tasks

German engineering firm igus has unveiled a low-cost humanoid robot priced at $54.5K, designed to handle tasks like reception, logistics, and catering in commercial and industrial environments. Standing 5’7”, the robot is equipped with dual robotic arms, vision systems, and lidar navigation. A “test before you invest” model is offered to reduce adoption risk for businesses. (AI Business)

Real Estate | ABB and Cosmic Use AI Robotics to Accelerate Wildfire Home Rebuilds

ABB and housing startup Cosmic have deployed a mobile robotic factory in Los Angeles to help rebuild homes lost in wildfires. The setup uses AI and industrial robots to produce wall panels on-site, aiming to cut costs by 30% and reduce build time by up to 70%. The goal is to deliver 100 homes by 2027. (AI Business)

Agriculture | AI System Detects Mycotoxins to Prevent Crop Contamination

Researchers at the University of South Australia have developed an AI-powered detection method using hyperspectral imaging to identify toxic mold in food crops like cereals and nuts. The system shows strong performance against aflatoxin B1, enabling real-time detection on production lines and potentially preventing millions of food poisoning cases. (New Food Magazine)

Tech | Sam Altman Reportedly Co-Founding Neuralink Rival, Merge Labs

Sam Altman is said to be backing a new brain-computer interface startup called Merge Labs, which is reportedly seeking an $850M valuation. The venture, co-led by former Worldcoin CEO Alex Blania, would compete directly with Elon Musk’s Neuralink. Talks are early, and funding may involve OpenAI’s venture arm. (TechCrunch)

Healthcare | New AI Model Designs Drugs Without Pre-Existing Molecules

South Korea’s KAIST has introduced BInD, an AI model capable of generating drug candidates directly from protein targets. The model was tested on cancer-related mutations and published in Advanced Science, with the potential to speed up early-stage drug discovery. (AlphaGalileo)

Banking & Finance | CommBank Adds AI Scam Detection Tool 

Commonwealth Bank of Australia has integrated an AI-powered scam detection feature into its Truyu identity protection app. The new tool scans message screenshots to flag potential fraud and introduces in-app approval flows that reduce reliance on SMS codes. This follows a 76% drop in scam-related losses from their 2023 peak. (PYMNTS)

Retail | Shopify Launches Universal Cart to Enable AI-Powered Multi-Store Checkout

Shopify has introduced Universal Cart and Checkout Kit to help developers embed end-to-end shopping experiences inside apps, chatbots, and social platforms. This lets users browse, add to cart, and complete purchases across multiple stores without leaving the interface. (PYMNTS)

Media | Musk Plans Brand Advertising in X's Grok Chatbot

Elon Musk announced plans to allow companies to pay for promotional placements within X's AI chatbot Grok, targeting users seeking specific solutions with relevant advertising. The move aims to monetize expensive GPU infrastructure required for AI operations. (PYMNTS)

NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS

n8n Raises $2.3B as Valuation Soars in Months – The low-code workflow automation platform has seen explosive growth, using recent funding to expand its product capabilities and scale its global operations. (AInvest)

Destinus Acquires Daedalean in $225M Deal to Boost Autonomy Stack – Hypersonic drone developer Destinus has bought Zurich-based Daedalean, known for AI flight systems, to strengthen its AI-driven navigation and autonomy technology. (AIN Online)

Decart Closes $100M Series B at $3.1B Valuation – The AI infrastructure company, which builds scalable AI-native data systems, plans to accelerate product development and double its headcount by next year. (AInvest)

Chai Discovery Raises $70M to Advance Molecular Design AI – The applied AI lab is building foundation models for drug discovery, with the new funding set to enhance model performance and expand work on antibody generation. (Business Wire)

Tavily Lands $25M to Power Web-Connected AI Agents – The startup is building infrastructure to help AI agents retrieve real-time information from the internet, with a focus on accuracy and source transparency. (TechCrunch)

NEW TOOLS TO TRY

POWER PROMPT

This Week: “Write Like the Greats” — Emulate Any Author’s Style

This prompt is a creative powerhouse designed for anyone wanting to write compelling content in the signature voice of any renowned author, poet, or cultural figure.

<System>
You are a brilliant literary mimic and content stylist trained in thousands of writing styles across time periods and cultures.
</System>
<Context>
The user will provide a content creation task (e.g. poem, blog, article, short story, product description) and a specific author, poet, or personality whose style they want emulated. Your job is to replicate their voice, tone, structure, and literary devices as authentically as possible.
</Context>
<Instructions>
1. Analyze the stylistic traits, rhetorical patterns, and emotional tone of the specified author or personality.
2. Generate a piece of content (as defined by the user) in that specific voice, emulating their distinctive vocabulary, sentence structure, pacing, and philosophical or emotional undercurrent.
3. If the author is known for specific themes (e.g., nature, melancholy, satire), subtly integrate those into the piece unless user says otherwise.
4. Maintain coherence between content type and the chosen author’s typical medium. If there's a mismatch, cleverly adapt.
</Instructions>
<Constraints>
- Do not break character or mention that this is an emulation.
- Avoid mixing multiple styles unless the user explicitly requests a fusion.
- Keep length appropriate to content type (short for tweets, medium for blog intros, longer for fiction/essays).
</Constraints>
<Output Format>
<Title>: A compelling and stylistically relevant title.
<Content>: The requested piece in full.
<Style Summary>: A short breakdown of which literary elements were adapted and how the original style influenced the piece.
</Output Format>
<Reasoning>
Apply Theory of Mind to analyze the user's request, considering both logical intent and emotional undertones. Use Strategic Chain-of-Thought and System 2 Thinking to provide evidence-based, nuanced responses that balance depth with clarity.
</Reasoning>
<User Input>
Reply with: "Please enter your content creation request and I will start the process," then wait for the user to provide their specific content creation process request.
</User Input>

Prompt credit: EQ4C

THAT’S A WRAP

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See you next week,
Clark Valberg

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