Spotify's Daniel Ek, VWs Burn Gas and Bitcoin season is here

Ramblings in todays newsletter:

With thousands of AI tools available, how do you know which ones are worth your money? Subscribe to Mindstream and get our expert guide comparing 40+ popular AI tools. Discover which free options rival paid versions and when upgrading is essential. Stop overspending on tools you don't need and find the perfect AI stack for your workflow.

Subscribe to Get Your Free Comparison

Global News Rundown for Sept 24 – Oct 1, 2025

If you blinked since last Wednesday, you probably missed a small galaxy’s worth of stories, some serious, some spacey, some just plain odd. Let’s rewind.

⚡ Wheels & Deals in Auto Tech

EV dreams keep bumping into reality. Sila just opened its first U.S. factory for silicon-anode batteries, promising ~50% more juice for your future Tesla or Rivian, assuming the batteries don’t bankrupt the car before you drive it off the lot. Stellantis, meanwhile, killed its electrified Jeep Gladiator plan, proving that some brands would rather stay loud and gassy. And in a surprise twist, Tesla is lobbying the EPA to keep emissions rules tough, while most of Detroit begs for mercy.

🧬 Tech & Health: Faster, Sharper, Stranger

OpenAI splashed $1.1B on Statsig, a product-testing platform, and crowned its founder CTO of Applications. Translation: Expect more rapid-fire features and experiments on your ChatGPT screen. On the medical side, Boston’s WIRED Health festival was basically Comic-Con for doctors: personalized cancer vaccines, CRISPR fixes for genetic hiccups, and ultrasound holography treatments that sound more Star Wars than hospital ward.

🏛️ Politics: The World’s Theater of the Absurd

On the UN stage, China’s premier Li Qiang pitched a reshaped world order while casually jabbing at U.S. “unilateralism.” In Europe, Danish officials warned that drones and cyber-attacks are now as everyday as rainy weather, while Putin quietly summoned 135,000 conscripts.

⚽ Sport, Tech & Odd Physics

Sports got its share of drama. The Giro dell’Emilia bike race barred Israel-Premier Tech over protest-linked security concerns. Florida gave pickleball an AI upgrade, because if you can’t beat your neighbor, at least you can analyze them in 4K. Behind it all, investors are throwing billions into sports tech, betting that fans want smarter stadiums and stats-driven experiences.

On the science-sport fringe, researchers turned spin loss into usable energy (hello, ultra-low-power AI chips). Oh, and TDK gave javelin throws a data-driven glow-up, because spears deserve graphics too.

🌀 Wrap-Up: Humans Being Humans

From cosmic mysteries to street protests, from billion-dollar AI mergers to holographic medicine, the past week was equal parts exhilarating and exhausting. It’s proof that while the universe may be expanding, so too is humanity’s tendency to make things both brilliant and bizarre.

So buckle up: your next EV might run on silicon, your doctor might prescribe holograms, and your Friday night sky might feature not just the Moon but an identity-crisis galaxy waving hello.

Our Money, Our Risk, Real Investment, No Advice

So, Volkswagen has decided to put parts of its EV production on ice. Not because they’ve suddenly fallen back in love with dieselgate nostalgia, but because reality slapped them in the face. Demand for electric cars, especially in Europe, isn’t just slowing, it’s starting to feel like someone pulled the plug.

The official line? “We’re adjusting production to meet market conditions.” Translation: people aren’t buying EVs fast enough, and VW needs cash. Cue the return of good old combustion engines, the very technology EVs were supposed to bury.

Now, let’s zoom out.

For years, we’ve been told that EVs are the cavalry riding in to save the planet. Swap out gasoline for batteries, and voilà, emissions crisis solved. But here’s the inconvenient truth: EVs alone won’t dramatically change the climate equation. Yes, they cut tailpipe emissions. Yes, they’re better than oil guzzlers. But unless we also fix the big three viz. affordability, charging infrastructure, and what actually powers the grid, we’re just moving the problem from the exhaust pipe to the power plant.

VW’s pause highlights something policymakers and climate evangelists don’t like to admit: consumer wallets decide the pace of change, not corporate slogans. When EVs are too expensive, charging is too scarce, and electricity still comes from coal in many regions, the “green revolution” feels more like a luxury product than a climate solution.

Does that mean EVs don’t matter? Not at all. They’re a necessary step. But VW’s decision underlines a bigger point: the future isn’t just about what we drive, it’s about the entire ecosystem we plug into. Until clean energy and infrastructure catch up, automakers will continue to juggle between idealism and survival.

So, while VW is telling us “we’re still committed to an electric future,” what they really mean is: “We’ll get there… but not if it bankrupts us first.”

And honestly? That’s not a betrayal of the green dream. That’s business. The climate clock may be ticking, but car companies still run on quarterly earnings.

People's Republic of China established

In Beijing, with most of the Chinese mainland held by the communist People's Liberation Army, its dynamic leader, Mao Zedong, proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China on this day in 1949.

OpenAI just dropped a big one: you can now buy stuff directly inside ChatGPT. Thanks to something called Instant Checkout, powered by the new Agentic Commerce Protocol (built with Stripe), ChatGPT can not only help you pick out that perfect pair of running shoes but also check you out, without you leaving the chat. For now, it’s live with U.S. Etsy sellers, with Shopify giants like Glossier and SKIMS coming.

Why it matters?

This isn’t just shopping; it’s agentic commerce, AI acting as your personal buyer, but still keeping merchants in control of payments and fulfillment. For users, it’s one-click convenience. For businesses, it’s a chance to sell to hundreds of millions without surrendering customer relationships.

My take: This could either become the Amazon moment for AI, making ChatGPT your all-in-one shopping buddy, or a reminder that impulse buys are now literally one prompt away. Either way, wallets beware.

But before you bet the house, remember: Bitcoin doesn’t follow calendars, it follows chaos. The pattern looks nice, but as every trader learns the hard way, past Octobers don’t pay this October’s rent.

So yeah, “Uptober” might be coming or it might just ghost us like your flaky friend who always says, “On my way.”

My take: If you’re in Bitcoin, October could be a thriller, but don’t forget, horror season comes right after Halloween

Daniel Ek isn’t here to sell you on “happy founder life.” His mantra? Forget chasing happiness, it’s overrated. Instead, chase impact, because impact actually sticks. Running Spotify for nearly two decades, he’s learned that leadership is less about flashy genius and more about managing your own energy like a pro athlete. Burnout founders don’t build empires.

Ek admits the Spotify story has been one long evolution: the scrappy hacker phase is gone, now it’s about trust, delegation, and surviving as the adult in a room full of skeptics. He’s blunt about criticism too, you can’t lead at scale without being roasted daily, so you either grow thicker skin or get out of the kitchen.

Data, he says, is great for telling you what is happening, but it’s terrible at telling you what should happen. That’s where taste comes in, and without taste, you’re just another company addicted to dashboards. Spotify bet on taste, and in the process changed how the world listens to music.

His long game? Build a company that doesn’t need him. Less empire-of-one, more legacy of patience, focus, and doing fewer things but doing them obsessively well.

China has made significant strides in the field of factory automation, surpassing both the United States and other countries around the globe. According to a recent report, China installed nearly 300,000 new industrial robots last year alone.

Cloudflare just launched AI Index, a tool that lets website owners create AI-friendly search indexes for their content, complete with APIs, crawl controls, and monetization options. AI platforms can subscribe to real-time updates and pay fairly for access. The big play: content creators get control and cash, AI builders get cleaner data, and Cloudflare positions itself as the broker of a “fairer” web.

China’s New EV Export Permits, Reality Check Coming in 2026 🚗⚠️

So, big change alert: starting January 1, 2026, Chinese automakers will need special export permits to ship electric vehicles overseas. That’s coming from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, aiming to “promote the healthy development” of China’s EV trade. This brings EVs in line with gasoline cars and hybrids, which already need permits.

I just found: Lunacy - Free Graphic Design Software for Desktop

A group of flamingos is called a “flamboyance”— and honestly, that perfectly matches their dramatic pink style. 🦩

The Mimimum Viable Product Team: Amod, Damian, Vlad and Ferdinand read your emails and comments daily.

For each referral you drive, you will unlock rewards when you hit milestones. If you recommend 10 of your friends we will send you a personalised cups of your choice from this shop for free: https://muenedesign.etsy.com