🌊 ChatGPT Downfall Before GTA VI

And the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay goes to…

Roger Goodell! Congratulations to Mr. Goodell, Patrick Mahomes, and the refs on last night’s win and a shot at the Super Bowl. As an unbiased news company, we promise that none of this has to do with the fact that one of the two Maxes is from northern New York and a lifelong Bills fan. We simply have eyes, and it was a FIRST DOWN. Wait… why are the men in suits dragging me down a dark corridor now? Help!

In all seriousness, congrats to all of you Kansas City Chiefs fans. And to the Canadians, Brits, and our other international readers who came for news and have no idea who Mr. Goodell is and why he hurt us, let’s talk about some news.

–Max and Max

KEY STORY

CIA Backs Covid-19 Lab Leak Theory

The CIA released a “low confidence” report finding that the Covid pandemic was more likely caused by a laboratory leak in China than by animal transmission, joining the FBI and DOE in drawing the same conclusion

• The CIA’s report was ordered by the Biden administration and was previously classified, but Trump’s newly confirmed CIA director declassified and released the findings

• CIA director John Ratcliffe stated that “the most likely cause of this pandemic…was because of a lab-related incident in Wuhan,” and promised to continue investigating to increase confidence

Dig Deeper 

• Efforts to gain clarity on the pandemic’s origins have been hindered by China’s unwillingness to cooperate with investigations and authorities

• The US intelligence community remains split, and the CIA’s report maintains that “both research-related and natural origin scenarios of the COVID-19 pandemic remain plausible”

• After the report’s release, the Chinese Embassy stated that China “firmly oppose the politicization and stigmatization of the source of the virus, and once again call on everyone to respect science and stay away from conspiracy theories”

KEY STORY

DeepSeek AI Development

DeepSeek, a small Chinese company, released an AI large language model (LLM) on par with ChatGPT, shocking the AI industry

• DeepSeek’s R1 is a “reasoning” model, which generates step-by-step responses similar to human reasoning. It’s viewed as a rival to OpenAI’s highly sophisticated o1 model released in December

• R1 was allegedly developed on an unprecedented – but unconfirmed – budget of $5.5M, leading US firms to reassess the high costs of training their AI models

• Those costs are Silicon Valley’s main concern: DeepSeek is charging users roughly one-thirtieth of what OpenAI’s o1 model costs to run

Dig Deeper

• Given the dominance of US AI firms and models, China was widely perceived to be on the back foot in AI development

• R1 upends the understanding of Chinese AI capabilities, though much is still unknown about its development process, capabilities, and potential

• Regarding the costs, one AI researcher said that an “experiment that cost more than $300 with o1, cost less than $10 with R1. This is a dramatic difference which will certainly play a role its future adoption”

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KEY STORY

Rubio Orders Foreign Aid Pause

Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered all US foreign aid to be temporarily frozen – with the exception of aid to Israel and Egypt – pending a review

• The order stated that the freeze is intended to “determine whether the foreign assistance policies…are not duplicated, are effective, and are consistent with President Trump's foreign policy”

• The US sent out roughly $70B – about 1% of the US budget – in foreign aid in 2023, making it the largest single donor globally

Dig Deeper

• Rubio – whose confirmation received unanimous support from the Senate – faced backlash from Democrats in the House, who wrote to Rubio requesting the freeze be lifted

• Democrats on the Foreign Affairs-related committees stated that the pause “undermines American leadership and credibility around the world,” arguing that “Foreign assistance is not a handout; it is a strategic investment in our future that is vital for U.S. global leadership and a more resilient world”

KEY STORY

Gender Dysphoria Rates Soar

A new study of medical records in the UK found that the number of children experiencing gender dysphoria increased 50-fold between 2011 and 2021

• The condition has been hotly debated in the UK and US, with tensions emerging over how to address it in children

• This study found that gender dysphoria afflicted one in 60,000 UK children in 2011, compared to one in 1,200 in 2021 today. The condition was two times more prevalent in females than in males

• The study’s authors said the increase is surprising, but overall numbers remain low and that under 5% of minors with the condition received a prescription for puberty-suppressing hormones

Dig Deeper

• Researchers also found that the prevalence of anxiety, depression, and self-harm among those diagnosed with gender dysphoria was on par with young people diagnosed with autism and eating disorders, populations known to experience these issues at a high rate

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

🇺🇸 Pete Hegseth, President Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, was confirmed 51-50 in the Senate on Friday. VP Vance cast the tie-breaking vote

🤝 Hamas and Israel exchanged more hostages and detainees over the weekend, the second such exchange since the ceasefire agreement

🚒 President Trump visited Los Angeles on Friday for a meeting with local, state, and federal officials and a tour of the destruction caused by weeks of devastating fires

🇷🇺 Massive protests have broken out in several Eastern European countries, primarily Serbia and Slovakia, over allegations of government corruption and a shift towards Russia

🇺🇸 President Trump suggested that Arab countries, namely Jordan and Egypt, should take in Palestinians in order to “clean out” Gaza

COMMUNITY
What does Roca Nation think?

🧐 Today’s Question: Chiefs-Eagles Super Bowl…. thoughts?

Respond to this email with what you think!

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

⚾ Not Playing Ball: An 11-year-old collector turned down the Pittsburgh Pirates' offer of 30 years of home plate season tickets and a softball game at PNC Park in exchange for a one-of-a-kind Paul Skenes rookie card

🌎 No Space for Ads: Astronomers are pushing for countries to ban space advertising visible from Earth, fearing the night sky could soon become the world's biggest billboard

🏎️ Parking Space?: Astronomers briefly mistook Elon Musk's orbiting Tesla Roadster for an asteroid, accidentally registering the car as celestial object "2018 CN41" before realizing the mistake

🤯 Bad Day or Bad Diagnoses?: A new study found that 84% of British doctors are worried that patients are turning everyday struggles into mental disorders

🐖 This Little Piggy Went to Surgery: An Alabama woman has made medical history as the longest-surviving recipient of a pig organ transplant

ROCA WRAP
Monday Morning Madness

The Circle of Money

Saudi Arabia has hired Hollywood composer Hans Zimmer – known for scoring The Lion King, Interstellar, and Dark Knight soundtracks, among many others – to compose the country’s new national anthem. 

Beyond the anthem, Zimmer will create a musical, compose a film soundtrack, and conduct a major concert, according to the Saudi Entertainment Authority.

The projects are part of Saudi Arabia's broader modernization efforts, which include lifting the ban on women driving, reopening cinemas, and developing NEOM, a $500B futuristic city. Despite the cultural makeover, which includes hosting boxing matches and concerts, the kingdom maintains many restrictive policies.

DOGE Making No Cents

The new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has identified the penny as a target for cost-cutting.

Each penny costs 3.7 cents to make, costing taxpayers $179M last year. Production costs have doubled since 2016 due to rising zinc prices, though eliminating it could lead to higher consumer costs through price rounding. Some argue that DOGE should expand its coin hunt: The nickel costs 14 cents to produce, making the penny look like a bargain.

AI vs. Gen Z

A new survey from Hult International Business School found that 37% of employers would rather hire AI robots than Gen Z graduates, with 89% saying they actively avoid hiring recent grads altogether. 

The preference for AI comes as 96% of employers say college isn't preparing students for real jobs, while 43% of recent graduates feel “doomed to fail” because of their degree choice. Employers say Gen Z’s main issues include lack of real-world experience (60%) and poor teamwork (55%), though some analysts argue companies are trying to avoid having to train new workers.

In response to the survey, one prominent HR consultant said, “Of course employers would rather use AI than humans — it's cheaper, doesn't need healthcare or basic human rights, and doesn't take PTO.”

Snow Day, Pay Day

An Indiana pizza driver's half-mile walk through snow for a $2 tip sparked nearly $30,000 in donations after a police officer's viral TikTok.

The officer said he witnessed the pizza driver in an “affluent neighborhood” delivering a $40 order on foot during a road-closing snowstorm. After giving the driver an extra $15 himself, the officer launched a GoFundMe hoping to raise $500 more – instead, the campaign has collected nearly $30,000 from over 1,400 donors.

Liberté, Égalité, Privacy

A French woman has won a landmark case at Europe's top human rights court after being blamed by French courts for her divorce because she stopped having sex with her husband.

The woman cited health issues and difficulties caring for four children as reasons for the lack of intimacy. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that French courts violated her right to privacy by scrutinizing the couple's intimate life.

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

The ratings for last night’s Bills-Chiefs game will come out later today or Tuesday, but we predict an average of 57.1M viewers. Let’s see if we’re close.

More importantly, we hope you had a nice weekend. It was a busy news cycle this weekend. Max F is currently reporting from the border in New Mexico and went to church with cowboys yesterday. We can’t wait to share more with you soon.

–Max and Max