🤖Baidu To Release Ernie 5.0

☀️Good morning. It's Wednesday, Feb. 12, and we're covering, Temu And Shein U.S. Sales Decline After Trump’s Tariff Move, Baidu To Release Next-Gen AI Model This Year, Trump Insists On U.S. Control Of Gaza In Meeting With Jordan’s King Abdullah, and much more. First time reading? Sign up to get this newsletter: Sign up here. 

We always Listen and respond to questions and feedback, email us at [email protected]

MARKETS

Cryptocurrency Prices by Market Cap

• The global cryptocurrency market cap today is $3.16 Trillion, a 2.47% decrease in the last 24 hours.

• The total crypto market volume over the last 24 hours is $101.05B, which makes a 3.36% increase.

• The total volume in Defi is currently $8.91B, 8.82% of the total crypto market 24-hours.

• The volume of all stablecoins is now $93.98B, which is 93.00% of the total market 24-hour volume.

• Bitcoin’s dominance is currently 60.36%, an increase of 0.26% over the day.

Fed Chair Powell Expresses Concern Over Crypto Debanking

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell acknowledged concerns over "debanking" in the crypto industry during testimony before the Senate Banking Committee. He said he was troubled by reports of banks avoiding crypto-related businesses due to regulatory fears and is reviewing the Fed’s supervision policies. On monetary policy, Powell reiterated that the Fed is in no rush to cut interest rates further, given strong economic and inflation data. This stance has contributed to recent weakness in crypto prices, with Bitcoin falling 2.35% to $95,140.(Read Deeper)

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Temu And Shein U.S. Sales Decline After Trump’s Tariff Move

Temu and Shein have seen a decline in U.S. sales following President Donald Trump’s decision to eliminate a duty exemption on small parcels from China. Shein’s sales fell between 16% and 41%, while Temu saw a drop of up to 32% in the five days after the announcement on Feb. 5. Although the policy change has not yet been implemented, concerns over potential higher costs may be discouraging shoppers.

Takeaway: The “de minimis” rule, which exempts parcels under $800 from tariffs, has allowed both companies to ship goods to U.S. consumers at low prices. Shein is urging suppliers to expand production in Vietnam, while Temu is restructuring its supply chain. The tariff change has already caused disruptions, with the U.S. Postal Service briefly halting packages from China before reversing its decision. (Read Deeper)

Anduril Takes Over Microsoft’s $22B Military AR Headset Program

The U.S. Army is set to transfer control of its troubled Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) project from Microsoft to Anduril, pending final Department of Defense (DoD) approval. Originally awarded to Microsoft in 2018, the $21.9 billion contract aimed to develop augmented reality (AR) headsets for soldiers based on HoloLens technology. However, the project suffered from technical issues and poor user feedback, prompting the Army to reconsider its leadership.

Why It Matters: Anduril, known for its AI-driven defense technology, will now oversee hardware, software, and production, while Microsoft remains the cloud provider. Anduril had already contributed its Lattice AI software, which enhances object detection and tracking in the headsets. The IVAS project, designed to provide thermal imaging, real-time mission data, and tactical mapping, faced scrutiny in a 2022 DoD report, which warned that soldiers were dissatisfied with the system. (Read Deeper)

TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE

Baidu To Release Next-Gen AI Model This Year

Baidu plans to release its next-generation AI model, Ernie 5.0, in the second half of 2025, with significant improvements in multimodal capabilities. This update comes as competition intensifies in China’s AI sector, particularly after the emergence of DeepSeek, a startup that recently impressed users with its cost-efficient AI model. Baidu’s Ernie AI has been integrated into various consumer and business products, with its document creation tool, Wenku, reaching 40 million paying users in 2024.

Takeaway: Baidu CEO Robin Li emphasized the rapid decline in AI costs, stating that foundation model expenses could drop by over 90% in a year, boosting productivity. Being the first major Chinese company to launch a ChatGPT-like chatbot in 2023, Baidu has struggled to maintain its lead against competitors like Alibaba and ByteDance. (Read Deeper)

NASA Plans To Bring Starliner Crew Home In March

NASA has announced plans to bring the two Starliner astronauts, Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita Williams, back to Earth around March 19-20, along with their two space station crewmates, Nick Hague and Alexander Gorbunov. The return date is earlier than previously expected due to a decision to launch the Crew 10 mission on a different Crew Dragon spacecraft as early as March 12.

Takeaway: Wilmore and Williams have been in orbit for nearly 290 days, far beyond their original one-week mission due to propulsion issues and fuel leaks on the Boeing-built Starliner. NASA deemed it too risky to return them on Starliner, opting instead to bring the spacecraft down remotely and have the astronauts return aboard Crew Dragon. The final schedule remains dependent on upcoming launches and weather conditions. (Read Deeper)

AROUND DE WORLD & POLITICS

Trump Insists On U.S. Control Of Gaza In Meeting With Jordan’s King Abdullah

President Trump reiterated his plan for the U.S. to take control of Gaza during a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah at the White House. The proposal includes relocating Gaza’s two million Palestinian residents to other countries, such as Jordan and Egypt, which have both rejected the idea. Trump suggested withholding aid to these nations unless they complied.

Takeaway: Despite international criticism, Trump insisted on the plan, calling Gaza a potential “diamond” under U.S. control. Jordan and Egypt reaffirmed their opposition, emphasizing that Palestinians should remain on their land. The UN warned that forced displacement would violate international law. Meanwhile, Arab nations are working on an alternative governance proposal for Gaza. (Read Deeper)

EFF Sues Elon Musk And DOGE To Block Access To Federal Employee Data

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and multiple federal employee unions have sued Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to block their access to sensitive federal employee data stored by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The lawsuit also demands that DOGE delete any collected information. Last week, a federal judge blocked DOGE from accessing Treasury Department data and ordered it to destroy any records collected.

Takeaway: The lawsuit follows reports that Musk’s team locked OPM employees out of their own systems, giving DOGE full control over data that includes social security numbers, salaries, home addresses, job histories, and even CIA personnel identities. The EFF argues that OPM violated the Privacy Act of 1974 by granting DOGE unrestricted access without employee consent. EFF warns that DOGE’s access could lead to privacy violations, political pressure, or blackmail, especially given Musk’s ownership of X and past tweets targeting government employees. (Read Deeper)

ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS

Shopify Shuts Down Kanye West’s Swastika T-Shirt Store

Shopify removed Kanye West’s online store after he attempted to sell T-shirts featuring a swastika, which he promoted in a Super Bowl ad. However, Shopify reportedly took down the store due to fraud concerns rather than the Nazi imagery. Meanwhile, Ye has made multiple antisemitic statements on X, openly identifying as a Nazi and praising Adolf Hitler before his account was deleted. Despite shutting down Ye’s store, Shopify has allowed another antisemitic storefront to remain active, selling merchandise glorifying Auschwitz and promoting Holocaust denial. (Read Deeper)

Jude Bellingham’s Late Goal Gives Real Madrid A Dramatic Win Over Man City

Jude Bellingham scored a stoppage-time winner as Real Madrid defeated Manchester City 3-2 in the first leg of their Champions League knockout tie at the Etihad Stadium. Erling Haaland gave City an early lead in the 19th minute, scoring his first-ever goal against Madrid after a VAR review. Kylian Mbappé equalized in the 60th minute, capitalizing on a rebound from a free kick. Haaland restored City's advantage with an 80th-minute penalty, bringing his Champions League tally to 48 goals in 49 matches. (Read Deeper)

PODCAST(WHAT WE ARE LISTENING TO)

• In May 2023, Liang launched DeepSeek, aiming to develop advanced AI models. The company gained international attention in January 2025 with the release of DeepSeek-R1. (Listen)

EXTRA BREVITI

• Uniswap Labs Officially Launches Layer-2 ‘Unichain’. (Read More)

• Founders Fund, the venture firm founded by Peter Thiel, is set to close a new $3 billion growth fund by the end of March. (Read More)

• Foxconn Aims for Collaboration with Nissan, Not Acquisition. ( Read More )

• Franklin Templeton Files for Solana Spot ETF, Expands Crypto Offerings. (Read Deeper)