#50: PEBBLE IS BACK WITH A VERY COOL RING

Remember Pebble? They want to build a ring to record messages and we will never going to have to charge it. Also, Gitlab's cofounder jumping into vibecoding and an update from Warner Bros.

I really thank you for following this newsletter. I hope my links are helpful. The holidays are full on.

What I was reading this week

• Repebble recovered the Pebble patents and is delivering the latest watch. Now they’re building a ring you’ll never have to charge. The Pebble dream lives on.

• KiloCode, competing in the AI coding space raised $8m, and it’s backed by the cofounder of Gitlab. I use this tool regularly and I’m a happy investor. The vibecoding wars are heating up and this is exactly the kind of founder backing that moves markets.

• OpenAI released GPT-5.2 family of models. The model wars continue. KiloCode now supports GPT-5.2 with a discount.

• Claude’s Instant Compact feature is really good. I want this as a service for some apps. Quick summaries without losing context.

• New laws that will increase censorship and seem like a gift for Big Tech. Particularly the age verification requirements. EFF has good resources on why this is problematic. Worth watching how this plays out.

• The new Airbus A321XLR will bring very interesting new routes in the future. Aer Lingus already added an 8-hour route to the US. More direct flights to secondary cities.

• Warner Bros and HBO are in play. Paramount is bidding higher. Netflix is the second player. The government will get involved, Trump, his son is involved. This is going to make for a better show than Succession itself. Watch this space.

• Boom Supersonic isn’t just building fast planes anymore. They’re now powering AI data centers with natural gas turbines, plus $300M in new funding. The fast planes is something I expect to enjoy in my lifetime. Also an area where I have invested. Infrastructure plays are where the real returns hide.

• Ecosystem is becoming the next big growth lever. Tech people want to be more outgoing and social now. Balaji calls it the shift back to in-person. After years of remote everything, people are craving real connections again.

• McDonald’s tried an AI-generated commercial and it flopped. Still not there yet for mass market advertising. The uncanny valley is real.

• Reddit is finally testing verification badges. I always felt like some anonymous account on reddit shares the best advice. Will see how verified profiles change that dynamic. At least for AMAs it makes sense. Anybody can do a picture validating with a banana for scale.

• Instagram is letting you pick what shows up in Reels. Finally. Hope it actually works and we can curate our own algorithm instead of just being fed whatever keeps us scrolling.

• This breakdown of why data centers in space make sense is one of the favorite conversations in San Francisco right now. Great first principles thinking.

• The Chronicle just dropped their best new restaurants of 2025. Worth checking out if you’re visiting. Also, Shoji is a bar that turns into a coffee shop with reservations in the morning. Only in San Francisco.