Issue #65

AI writes UAE laws, academics flee America, TikTok causes pistachio shortage, and more. 

News from April 17 - April 24, 2025

Cheat App Raises Millions

The startup Cluely raised $5.3 million in seed funding for its software, which helps people “cheat” during job interviews, exams and sales calls. 

The 21-year-old co-founders Chungin “Roy” Lee and Neel Shanmugam dropped out of Columbia University after being suspended for designing the same tool, initially aimed at helping software engineers cheat during job interviews. Lee claimed he used the tool to get an internship at Amazon. 

Cluely website: “The world will call it cheating. But so was the calculator. So was spellcheck. So was Google.” Since its release, Cluely posted an ad that shows Lee using the tool to impress an older woman on a date. CEO Lee said they’ve already generated $3 million in annual recurring revenue. Columbia University declined to comment. 

Source

Gold Soars While Dollar Dives

Gold reached its highest value in history when the dollar plunged after Donald Trump attacked the chair of the Federal Reserve. 

Trump recently launched several public attacks on Jerome Powell, whom he appointed, calling him “Mr. Too Late” and threatening to fire him for failing to lower interest rates. This sparked fear among investors, sending the dollar to a three-year low, a 97.923 valuation against major currencies. Gold is now valued at $3,500 an ounce, its highest valuation in history, although analysts believe it could rise to $4,000. 

The S&P 500 faced its sharpest one-day decline of the year. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.55%, and the Dow Jones 2.5%, close to its worst April since 1932. Donald Trump: “There can be a slowing of the economy unless Mr. Too Late, a major loser, lowers interest rates, NOW.” 

Source

Academics Flee America

There’s been a spike in US academics applying for jobs at British universities. 

Job search site Indeed noted a 2.4% increase in US academic applications for UK posts, and the UK’s Home Office data showed a 26% rise in US nationals applying for British citizenship since last year. This comes after Trump announced billions of cuts in research grants and a freeze on Harvard’s $2.2 billion funding after the university refused to scrap its DEI initiatives. 

One survey of 1,600 US scientists found that 75% were considering leaving the US. Richard White, a University of Oxford oncology professor:  “Back in the U.S., the U.K. is now considered the stable place to do scientific research. If people have this sense that things could be more stable elsewhere, that’s where they’ll go.” 

Source

Bulletin Board

• Google Challenged in Court. A US judge ruled that Google has an illegal advertising monopoly because it decides what adverts can be displayed and where. This is part of the US Department of Justice’s campaign against the tech giant, which, along with 17 US states, sued Google with the hopes of breaking it up. The US will now move on to a ‘remedies’ phase, which could see parts of the company sold. This follows Google’s first antitrust case last year when a judge ruled the tech giant has a monopoly on online search. Google says it will contest the decision. Source
• TikTok Causes Pistachio Shortage. After going viral on TikTok in late 2023, worldwide consumption of pistachio-filled Dubai Chocolate has caused a shortage of pistachio kernels. Prices have risen from $7.65 to $10.30 a pound of pistachio kernels, causing some stores to ration the popular chocolate bars. This comes after a poor harvest in the US, the world’s main pistachio exporter. Supplies in the US have fallen by 20% since February last year. Giles Hacking of nut trader CG Hacking: “There wasn’t much in supply, so when Dubai chocolate comes along, and [chocolatiers] are buying up all the kernels they get their hands on... that leaves the rest of the world short.” Source
• DHL Stops US Deliveries. DHL announced it would stop business-to-customer shipments to the US of over $800 following the imposition of tougher checks at US customs. Previously, packages of up to $2,500 could enter the US with little paperwork, but the White House introduced lower thresholds alongside tariffs, causing a backlog in customs clearances. The White House is expected to lower the threshold further. The White House: “Many shippers based in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) hide illicit substances and conceal the true contents of shipments sent to the United States through deceptive shipping practices.” Source
• AI Writes UAE Laws. The UAE will become the first country to use AI in drafting legislation. Last week, the UAE cabinet approved the creation of the new Office of Regulatory Intelligence, which will use AI to create legislation based on public data. They believe it will speed up the legislative process by 70%. Researchers voiced concerns. Oxford University researcher Vincent Straub: “AI still has a tendency to make up answers, to be unstable and unreliable.” This comes after the UAE became the first country to appoint an AI minister. Source
• ChatGPT Hallucinates More. An internal report by OpenAI found that its latest models hallucinate more than their predecessors. OpenAI’s new o3 and o4 ‘reasoning’ models hallucinate in response to 33% of questions on the company’s in-house benchmark for calculating a model’s accuracy. OpenAI report: “More research is needed to understand the cause of this result.” This comes after the AI industry started developing ‘reasoning’ AI models last year after attempts to improve traditional AI models failed. Source

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