Midjourney announces surprise purchase of popular horoscope app Co-Star
THE SO WHAT
An image model company buying a horoscope app is a bet that AI-native entertainment and identity products — not just tools — will be a major distribution and monetization surface. If you’re building in consumer AI, treat belief, ritual, and daily habit as core product primitives, not edge cases.
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Applied AILibrarians are hosting viral ‘Avoiding AI’ workshops for people who are fed up with Big Tech
There is now enough mainstream AI fatigue that “avoidance” classes are oversubscribed—this is a real user segment, not a fringe. Product and policy teams should plan for opt-out demand, local-only modes, and non-AI alternatives in workflows that touch education, government, and consumer trust domains.
Applied AISources: OpenAI and Anthropic quietly lobby Washington regulators to restrict open-source AI models, even as Sam Altman publicly says he supports open source AI
If leading labs are privately pushing to constrain open-source while others push the opposite, the regulatory battlefield is about who owns the margin stack as models commoditize. Operators should assume policy risk around open models will rise and start modeling dual-track strategies: one that leans on open ecosystems, and one that assumes tighter controls and licensing.
Applied AIThe AI jobs apocalypse probably isn’t coming anytime soon
Labor markets are absorbing AI more slowly than the loudest narratives suggest — which buys operators time but not immunity. Use this window to redesign workflows and upskill teams deliberately instead of waiting for a sudden shock that forces rushed change.
Applied AINvidia is pouring $1 billion into South Korea’s AI infrastructure through Naver and SK Group
A $1 billion stake to scale Naver’s data center from 55 MW to 200 MW shows AI capex is regionalizing around national champions. If you operate in Korea or similar markets, expect local cloud and telco partners to become primary AI infra gateways — not just global hyperscalers.