Wednesday, July 30, 2025

Microsoft OpenAI negotiations 🤝, SpaceX Starship v2 🚀, StackOverflow dev survey 👨‍💻

Microsoft and OpenAI are in advanced talks over an agreement that would remove a major obstacle to OpenAI's efforts to become a for-profit enterprise ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 

TLDR

Together With WorkOS

TLDR 2025-07-30

The MCP Authorization Problem, Solved with OAuth (Sponsor)

Model Context Protocol (MCP) is becoming a standard for connecting tools to LLMs. But how do you securely authorize MCP servers?

OAuth now provides the answer, with five complementary specs for delegation, token exchange, and scoped access.

The WorkOS advantage:

Implement MCP Auth with WorkOS →

📱

Big Tech & Startups

Microsoft Nears OpenAI Agreement for Ongoing Tech Access (8 minute read)

Microsoft and OpenAI are in advanced talks over an agreement that would remove a major obstacle to OpenAI's efforts to become a for-profit enterprise. The new terms would let Microsoft use OpenAI's latest technology even if the startup decides it has reached its goal of building artificial general intelligence. The deal has still not been finalized and could change.
SpaceX unveils new version of Mars-bound starship (2 minute read)

A new iteration of SpaceX's Starship, V2, has been moved to Starbase in Texas for preflight testing. V3 is expected to launch by the end of this year. The Starship project is the only privately owned, fully reusable super heavy-lift launch vehicle under active development. If successful, the spacecraft could drastically reduce the cost of launching payloads to orbit and enable ambitious missions such as NASA's Artemis lunar program and the eventual establishment of a human colony on Mars.
🚀

Science & Futuristic Technology

Over-the-Air Lasers Aim to Solve the Internet's "Middle Mile" (7 minute read)

Startup Taara has a simple alternative to fiber-optic cables for crossing cities and tough terrain: free-space optical lasers. Its technology can reliably deliver 20-gigabit-per-second bandwidth across distances up to 20 kilometers. The company is planning to create a smaller version that can point, track, send, and receive signals at tens of gigabits per second indoors at 60 meters, as well as outdoors at 1 kilometer. Its biggest challenge is weather, but the technology will usually work as long as the other side is visible.
A Pill for Sleep Apnea Could Be on the Horizon (6 minute read)

Apnimed achieved positive results for its first oral pill for treating sleep apnea in a Phase 3 clinical trial. The pill is taken just before bedtime to help keep a person's airway open. It could be a game-changer for those with sleep apnea - the current treatment involves putting on a face mask connected to a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine, which keeps airways open by forcing air into them. The machines are effective, but they are noisy and can be uncomfortable, so many end up abandoning them, leaving them feeling exhausted, irritable, and unfocused during the day.
💻

Programming, Design & Data Science

✍️ How to diagram your cloud architecture: advice from AWS solution architects (Sponsor)

A good architecture diagram is worth a thousand docs. This best practices guide, co-authored by two AWS solution architects, covers:

  • General principles for diagramming cloud resources.
  • Keeping cloud diagrams up-to-date.
  • Tips, tutorials, and examples.

Download free from Datadog

The 2025 Developer Survey (Website)

Stack Overflow's 2025 Developer Survey received over 49,000 responses from 177 countries across 62 questions focused on 314 different technologies. The survey provides a snapshot into the needs of the global developer community with a focus on the tools and technologies they use or want to learn more about. Topics covered include cloud platforms, AI agents, large language models, AI tools, and job satisfaction.
Context Engineering for Agents (12 minute read)

Context engineering is the art and science of providing agents with just the right amount of information at each step of a task. It involves providing the right instructions, knowledge, and tools to optimize output while reducing token use. There are four common approaches to context engineering: writing context (saving it outside the context window to help an agent perform a task), selecting context (pulling it into the context window to help an agent perform a task), compressing context (retaining only the tokens required to perform a task), and isolating context (splitting it up to help an agent perform a task). Understanding and using these patterns is a central part of building effective agents.
🎁

Miscellaneous

OpenAI Hiring Engineers to Build the 'World's Most Innovative Mobile Devices' (3 minute read)

OpenAI is looking for a hardware systems product designer, a hardware system design electrical engineer, and a wireless/inductive charging electrical engineer. It appears that the company is hiring for the io device, which probably has a camera, a small screen, and a mic. The company has reportedly denied that it will design anything that can be worn. Links to the job descriptions are available in the article.
AI Is Wrecking an Already Fragile Job Market for College Graduates (15 minute read)

A growing number of employers think that AI can do the work of a 22-year-old college graduate - some companies have stopped requesting entry-level staff. As companies hire and train fewer young people, they may also be shrinking the pool of workers that will be ready to take on more responsibility in five to 10 years. Companies will have to rethink how to develop the next generation of talent.

Quick Links

Has this startup finally cracked AR/VR for work? (Sponsor)

Immersed has 1.4M users with power users spending 40-60 hours weekly in VR. $71M projected revenue, Google/Qualcomm backing. 8% investor discount ends today (July 30)! Invest in Immersed
China greenlights autonomous ride-hailing service in all first-tier cities (4 minute read)

Baidu and Pony.ai can now operate their fully autonomous ride-hailing services and charge for robotaxi rides in about 300 square miles of downtown Shanghai.
ChatGPT's new Study Mode is designed to help you learn, not just give answers (3 minute read)

OpenAI's Study Mode is designed to ask guiding questions, pause for periodic knowledge checks, and personalize feedback to make sure the user understands before moving on.
Meta is stepping into the future by allowing candidates to use AI in coding tests soon (2 minute read)

The company is currently in the experimentation phase and is looking for volunteers to participate in mock interviews to further shape and refine the interview experience.
Apple just released new AirPods Pro 2, AirPods 4 beta firmware (1 minute read)

The AirPods beta firmware includes early access to features like automatic pausing when users fall asleep, studio-quality audio recording, camera remote, automatic switching for CarPlay, and enhanced voice quality on calls.
Elon Musk sets expectations for Tesla's AI6 deal with Samsung (3 minute read)

Elon Musk will personally walk the lines of Samsung's upcoming facility to ensure that the production of AI6 chips goes according to Tesla's requirements.
On the Edge of Competence (4 minute read)

Creating a clear circle of competence - the zone where you know you are fluent - allows you to make faster and smarter decisions, avoid overconfidence traps, grow in ways that truly matter to your organization, and scale your impact through teaching and collaboration.

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Thanks for reading,
Dan Ni & Stephen Flanders


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