A recent Y Combinator keynote outlines a sweeping vision of how artificial intelligence is transforming software. Presenter Andrej Karpathy of AI Tesla and OpenAI introduces a three-phase evolution—Software 1.0 (traditional code), 2.0 (neural network weights), and now 3.0, where large language models (LLMs) are programmed via natural language. “We’re now programming computers in English,” Karpathy noted. He likens LLMs to operating systems—centralized, multi-modal utilities undergoing a 1960s-style time-sharing phase. While highlighting current limitations like hallucinations and prompt injection risks, he urges developers to create “partial autonomy” applications, where LLMs assist but remain supervised via intuitive GUIs. Citing his own apps and experience at Tesla, Karpathy advocates for “Iron Man suit”-style human-AI collaboration. He sees a paradigm shift where everyone becomes a programmer through “vibe coding,” and urges builders to make digital infrastructure legible to machines.
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The 256 Foundation’s new June 2025 newsletter captures the tension between rhetoric and reality in Bitcoin mining’s decentralization push. Highlighting Bitmain’s ironic call to reduce centralization—despite Antpool’s dominance—the newsletter warns that FPPS payout structures entrench centralized control. “Centralized pools will never decentralize Bitcoin mining, full stop,” author Econoalchemist writes. Legal challenges loom large too, with the Samourai Wallet case revealing alleged prosecutorial misconduct, as exculpatory FinCEN evidence was withheld for nearly a year. On the infrastructure side, industry veteran Marshall Long detailed the trade-offs in cooling strategies amid Texas’s punishing climate, stressing that “you just got to pick your poison.” Development continues on free and open tools like Ember One, Libre Board, and Hydra Pool, which has shifted to a Rust-based stratum server. Meanwhile, hashrate hit a record 917 Eh/s in May, as difficulty rose 6.6%, reflecting industry growth despite the legal and structural headwinds.
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An analysis by Josh T. Smith, referencing Chris Gillett’s breakdown of ERCOT’s 2024 system costs, reveals that just 1,200 hours—14% of the year—accounted for half of the Texas grid's expenditures. These extreme price events, including August 20 where the 8 p.m. hour alone cost nearly $218 million, highlight the volatility in an energy-only market. “About one in 20 generators… earned half of their revenues in just 50 hours,” Gillett noted. This scarcity pricing underpins ERCOT’s reliability strategy, supported by the Operating Reserve Demand Curve (ORDC), which dynamically compensates generators during peak stress, avoiding the long-term predictions and complexity of capacity markets. While controversial, the ORDC represents a leaner, real-time alternative that directly incentivizes critical reliability without multi-year forecasting. This system continues to differentiate ERCOT from other U.S. grids, with important implications for investment, system planning, and peak-time resilience.
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The Bitcoin mining industry is mounting a coordinated defense against patent troll Malikie Innovations, which filed lawsuits against Core Scientific and Marathon Digital in May 2025. Malikie claims Bitcoin’s use of elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) infringes on legacy patents originally held by BlackBerry’s Certicom unit. If successful, Malikie could impose a precedent-setting licensing regime on miners, developers, and possibly node operators. The Bitcoin community is mobilizing a full-spectrum response such as invalidity challenges, Inter Partes Review filings, and support from advocacy groups like COPA and the Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund. “If you are a builder of any kind, you are at risk,” warned legal researcher Dan Sanchez, urging crowdsourced prior art contributions. The defense effort mirrors past victories in open source and tech sectors, where organized resistance quashed similar claims. A win could preserve innovation freedom; a loss risks saddling Bitcoin infrastructure with costly legal burdens and chilling decentralized development.
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