#26033 VW is kicking ###, Perplexity's MacMini Game

The Global Transition to Mobile-First Connectivity

As of early 2026, mobile devices now account for approximately 64% of all global website traffic, maintaining a clear dominance over traditional desktop browsing. This shift is most pronounced in emerging markets like Africa, where mobile traffic share exceeds 79%, highlighting a digital leapfrog effect where entire regions have bypassed wired infrastructure in favor of smartphone-centric economies.

March 18, 1965: The First Spacewalk

On this day in 1965, Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov exited the Voskhod 2 spacecraft to become the first human to walk in space. Floating outside the capsule for 12 minutes and 9 seconds, Leonov proved that humans could survive and work in the vacuum of the cosmos, tethered only by a 5.35-meter lifeline

🚘 VW Finds a Spare Key to China

💽 Perplexity Just Put a Mac Mini in the Cloud and Called It a Computer

🔎 Google and Accel Filter 4,000 Pitch Decks to Find India’s AI "Real Ones"

🎙️ J. W. Marriot. If employees feel disposable, customers will feel the same

If you thought AI was already everywhere, March just proved it can also be your tax consultant and your literal eyes. This week, Meta made waves by acquiring a niche AI social network, while simultaneously rolling out a "neural band" for its smart glasses that lets you "write" on any flat surface, perfect for those of us who miss doodling on cafe tables but want it digitized. Meanwhile, NVIDIA is essentially trying to run the world, partnering with Mira Murati’s mysterious new startup and announcing a project to build AI data centers in space. Not to be outdone, Google launched a beefed-up Gemini model, and Mistral dropped "Mistral Small 4," a 119-billion parameter beast that supposedly reasons better... Oh, and the drama award goes to Britannica and Merriam-Webster, who are suing OpenAI for "memorizing" their content. Apparently, knowing the dictionary by heart is only impressive until a chatbot does it.

We might actually have a shot at a pain-free future that doesn't involve a pharmacy-sized headache. This week, research into "DoriVac", a platform using DNA nanostructures, showed incredible promise for supercharging mRNA vaccines, potentially fixing that pesky waning immunity problem. In a huge win for the "not all news is doom" category, scientists at UCLA discovered that successful root canal treatments can actually improve blood sugar and heart health; so, maybe don't cancel that dentist appointment. Up in the stars, the James Webb Space Telescope sent back images of a "brain-shaped" nebula around a dying star, which is as poetic as it is terrifying. Plus, the UK officially began its "Quantum Leap" by rolling out large-scale quantum computers to help beat diseases, proving the future is arriving.

The geopolitical stage still felt like a high‑stakes thriller this week, just with fewer missiles and more nerves. Instead of open confrontation, the U.S. and Iran circled each other with sanctions, proxy posturing, and ominous statements, leaving diplomats at the UN refreshing their secure chats with Moscow and Beijing rather than hunting for a working hotline. The Gaza file refused to close, with yet another round of shuttle diplomacy and “creative” ceasefire ideas being floated—less “Hamas meets Trump Peace Board” and more “everyone tries to pretend this time the terms will actually stick.”

On the European front, Finland’s President Stubb continued his role as the continent’s designated adult in the room, reiterating that while NATO membership is non‑negotiable, stationing nuclear weapons on Finnish soil in peacetime is very much off the menu—Helsinki stays chill, deterrence stays calibrated. In the background, China’s so‑called “Little Emperors” generation kept quietly reshaping the country’s economic mood music: the only‑children now inheriting assets and expectations are nudging the narrative away from pure grindset toward a more consumer‑driven, “spend smart, enjoy life” model, with policymakers scrambling to keep growth, stability, and lifestyle aspirations in the same frame.

James Webb captures 'Brain' Nebula

This video provides a visual breakdown of the latest astronomical discoveries and tech updates mentioned in the rundown, including the stunning new imagery from the James Webb Space Telescope.

Our Money, Our Risk, Real Investment, No Advice

Between the Middle East conflict entering its second week and central banks playing a high stakes game of "will they or won't they" with interest rates, your portfolio probably felt like it was on a roller coaster designed by a madman.

A $1000 bet on a global basket a week ago would have grown into roughly $1025 by the time the dust settled today. Your American, European, and Indian stocks provided a surprisingly sturdy floor, clawing back from early week jitters as oil prices finally started to behave and tech bulls came out of hibernation. While the S&P 500 and the DAX spent the first half of the week looking like they wanted to hide under the bed, a late rally on March 16th and 17th turned those frowns upside down. Your Bitcoin slice acted like a caffeinated kangaroo on a trampoline, boing-ing from the high $60,000s all the way past $75,000 in a massive short squeeze that left the bears looking for their lunch money. It was not a jackpot, but the mood is one of cautious relief as we realized the world isn't ending just yet.

Volkswagen just pulled off a surprise comeback in the world’s most cutthroat car market. After getting bullied by local EV makers for months, VW reclaimed its title as the top-selling brand in China for February. They moved over 128,000 vehicles, nudging past BYD. This wasn't a total EV revolution, though. The win was fueled by a mix of heavy price cuts and the fact that Chinese consumers still have a lingering crush on gas-powered Sagas and Lavidas when the price is right.

My Take: Reports of the German car industry’s death have been slightly exaggerated, or at least postponed. VW basically decided to stop being polite and started throwing cash at the problem. It turns out that when you slash prices deep enough, people will suddenly remember they actually quite like a Golf. Is it a sustainable long-term strategy to buy back your friends? Probably not. But for a company that was looking like a digital dinosaur six months ago, being number one again feels like a very expensive victory lap.

Why It Matters: This proves the "EV or bust" narrative in China has a few speed bumps. Global legacy brands aren't going to roll over and die just because a tech company starts making SUVs. However, the price war is cannibalizing profits. If VW has to bleed margins to keep the crown, the victory is mostly for the ego and the market share stats. Expect local players like BYD to swing back twice as hard next month.

Perplexity is launching "Personal Computer," which isn't hardware you can actually touch. It’s a fleet of Mac Minis sitting in a data center that you access through a browser. The idea is to give their AI agents a dedicated environment to handle complex tasks like coding, data analysis, or deep research without sucking up your local RAM. It’s essentially a remote desktop where the AI does the driving while you watch.

My Take: So we’ve officially come full circle. We spent decades moving away from thin clients and "dumb terminals" only to decide that renting a Mac Mini from a startup is the peak of innovation. It’s clever, sure. Giving an AI agent a sandbox where it can’t accidentally delete your actual tax returns is a solid move. But let’s be real. It’s a glorified remote desktop with a chat box attached. I’m mostly just waiting to see how long it takes for someone to figure out how to run Doom on it using nothing but natural language prompts.

Why It Matters: This moves AI from a text generator to an operator. If Perplexity can prove that cloud based "agentic" computing is faster and safer than running things locally, the "AI PC" marketing push from chipmakers starts to look a lot less relevant. It’s a bet that the future of work isn't about the laptop in your bag, but the virtual Mac you're renting by the hour.

Google and Accel just wrapped up their "AI First" accelerator in India, and the filter was aggressive. They started with 4,000 startups and whittled them down to just five winners. The mission was simple: find founders actually building core tech rather than just slapping a UI over a ChatGPT wrapper. The chosen five are tackling everything from helping blind users navigate the world with wearable tech to automating the tedious bits of clinical trials and credit underwriting. They aren't just using AI to write better emails; they’re trying to solve hardware and heavy data problems.

My Take: It turns out that having a "revolutionary" idea to summarize PDFs isn't enough to impress Google these days. We’ve reached the point in the AI hype cycle where the "wrappers" are finally getting shown the door. It’s actually refreshing to see a massive talent pool like India’s being mined for something deeper than just another productivity bot. Picking five out of 4,000 is a brutal 0.125% acceptance rate, which is basically the venture capital equivalent of The Hunger Games. If these startups can survive a process that picky, they might actually have a shot at surviving the market.

Why It Matters: This signals a shift in where the smart money is going. The "low hanging fruit" era of AI startups is effectively over. Investors are pivoting toward specialized, sector-specific solutions that require actual technical moats. By backing these five, Google is placing a bet that the next generation of essential AI infrastructure will come from India’s engineering heavyweights rather than Silicon Valley’s marketing teams.

This year’s startups selected are:

J.W. Marriott didn’t just build a hotel empire; he essentially invented the "pivot" before it was a Silicon Valley cliché. He started with a single nine-stool A&W root beer stand in 1927, but his "ah-ha" moment came when he realized people were shivering in the Washington D.C. winter—so he added tamiles and chili to the menu, transforming a seasonal drink spot into "The Hot Shoppe." What he did differently was obsess over a philosophy he called "Management by Walking Around," believing that if you take care of the employees, they’ll take care of the customers. He was also a pioneer of the "in-flight meal," noticing travelers at the airport buying snacks to take on planes and deciding he might as well just sell the food directly to the airlines.

IN OTHER NEWS

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Mastercard says it’s acquiring stablecoin startup BVNK in $1.8 billion bet on future of payments

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