Archive
The complete INLEVEL9 archive of analysis across technology, economics, and the humanities.
2026
NASA's Artemis II Launches, 53 Years After Apollo
Artemis II has launched toward the Moon, kicking off a look at US-China lunar plans and the rules for using its resources.
AI & TechApple at 50: How Devices and Services Grew Together
I've used Apple products since the iPhone 3GS, and for its 50th anniversary I dug into revenue, active devices, and how ecosystem ties shape customer choice.
BusinessEconomists Are Using AI to Speed Up Research
Economists are using AI to code, clean data, and polish papers—raising real questions about speed versus rigor.
BusinessICML Rejects 497 Papers Over Peer Review Rule Break
ICML caught reviewers breaking an agreed LLM ban using hidden prompts embedded in PDFs, raising questions about accountability.
SocietyarXiv Prepares to Leave Cornell, Stay Free
As arXiv spins off from Cornell into a nonprofit in 2026, its founders must find new ways to fund unrestricted access to millions of papers.
SocietyWashington Post's Cost-Per-Story Score, and Its Blind Spot
The Washington Post now tracks cost per story and reader response scores as management metrics, but what do these numbers leave out?
SocietyInside Apple's US Chip Supply Chain Buildout
A WSJ reporter toured Apple's US chip facilities, revealing a gap between announced investment and actual production capacity.
AI & TechTikTok's $10 Billion Fee to the U.S. Government
Reports say TikTok's US investors agreed to pay Washington $10 billion on top of their equity stake—here's what that fee actually buys.
BusinessAdobe's $150M Settlement Over Cancellation Dark Patterns
The DOJ's Adobe settlement reveals how subscription cancellation friction ties directly to retention metrics.
AI & TechMemory Stocks Fall After Google's TurboQuant Debut
Google's TurboQuant compresses the KV cache stored in GPU HBM, but that's different from cutting overall memory demand.
AI & TechBlock Cuts 4,000 Jobs, Reviving the AI Tax Debate
Jack Dorsey's layoffs and Andrew Yang's push to tax AI raise a hard question: who pays when machines do the work?
SocietyOpenAI Plans to Shut Down Sora After ChatGPT Shopping Revamp
OpenAI is winding down Sora while retooling ChatGPT shopping and courting enterprise clients—here's what that reveals about its priorities.
AI & TechPerplexity's Gross Margin vs. Its Overall Losses
I look at how Perplexity classifies costs, converts free users, and expands features—and why staying power, not just paid conversion, matters most.
BusinessFive Takeaways From China's 15th Five-Year Plan
Beijing's 2026-2030 blueprint ties tech self-reliance and AI adoption to a consumption push, with growth targets set year by year.
BusinessMeta Accused of Targeting Teens' Emotions in Ads
A whistleblower's Senate testimony claims Meta flagged teens' insecure moments for advertisers—so what about adults?
BusinessVirtual Cards Built Just for AI Agents
How much spending power should an AI agent get? Prepaid limits, approvals, and dispute handling are the open questions.
SocietyCan 1,000 Fans Really Pay Your Bills?
Kevin Kelly's famous formula skips the fine print on profit margins, repeat buyers, and new customer flow.
BusinessNvidia GTC 2026: How to Read Its $1 Trillion Pitch
I unpack Nvidia's Groq integration and the token-factory logic behind its infrastructure sales pitch.
AI & TechAsk 70 AI Models the Same Question, Get the Same Answer
Different AI models can converge on strikingly similar ideas—here's what the Artificial Hivemind study found.
AI & TechCould a One-Cent Stamp on Email Kill Spam?
Adding a tiny fee or computational cost to every message might curb spam—here's what an old proposal gets right, and where it stalls.
AI & TechMultitasking Practice Doesn't Erase the Mental Bottleneck
A German study trained people on two tasks for up to 12 days and still found interference at the response-selection stage.
BusinessScaling AI Needs Power Grids, Copper, and Refineries
Software may be easy to build with AI, but running it at scale still depends on electricity, copper, and refining capacity.
BusinessWhy Chinese Firms Are Racing to Install OpenClaw
From install lines to messenger hookups, here's what my Chinese clients are telling me about OpenClaw's sudden rise.
SocietyHow Yakult Delivery Workers Check on Their Neighbors
Japan's Yakult Ladies and Korea's hy delivery workers quietly track elderly customers' well-being during routine drop-offs.
Society