Overview
Twelve posts shaped today’s feed. Themes: indie builders squaring up to Google, robots walking blind, Grok and xAI flexing scale and usage, Musk promising robot-driven abundance, and politics from El Salvador to California and US media drama.
The big picture
David vs Googliath
Peer Richelsen reacts to Gmail’s new Gemini-powered scheduling feature, calling it “David vs Googliath” as Cal.com squares up to an in-inbox competitor that locks users deeper into Google.
🔗 https://x.com/peer_rich/status/1990008658936410361
Humanoid on rough ground
Brett Adcock shares Figure’s robot walking across uneven terrain using only internal sensors. No cameras, just proprioception and reinforcement learning keeping it upright on grass and debris.
🔗 https://x.com/adcock_brett/status/1990099767435915681
“Photons are all you need”
Mario Nawfal posts an old Musk clip about Tesla’s end-to-end vision system learning what cars, people and signs are purely from video, tying it to Musk’s recent claim that almost all future AI I/O will be photons.
🔗 https://x.com/MarioNawfal/status/1989984284996739271
Codex still hobbled
OpenAI engineer Tibo hints at a coming fix for Codex’s long-standing truncation of large tool outputs, saying there are technical reasons for the current 256-line cut but imagining Codex “unhobbled” once it is solved.
🔗 https://x.com/thsottiaux/status/1989940347494084683
Optimus and “universal high income”
Watcher Guru quotes Elon Musk claiming Tesla’s Optimus robots will end poverty and provide “universal high income for all”, sparking familiar arguments about whether automation without policy can touch inequality.
🔗 https://x.com/WatcherGuru/status/1990059405065552115
Action produces information
Brian Armstrong shares a simple rule from working with strong operators: when unsure, act. Even the wrong move gives data that guides the next step, pushing back against analysis paralysis in startups and trading alike.
🔗 https://x.com/brian_armstrong/status/1990073384022020290
CAF Player of the Year debate
Mr Banks posts the CAF graphic for Hakimi, Salah and Osimhen and asks “Who deserves this?” Replies argue between Hakimi’s trophy haul, Salah’s numbers and Osimhen’s goals.
🔗 https://x.com/Mrbankstips/status/1990149665182929374
Grok 5 at 6 trillion parameters
Michael Dell amplifies Musk’s claim that Grok 5 has 6 trillion parameters and higher “intelligence density”, pointing to a 2026 release window and fuelling another round of scale talk.
🔗 https://x.com/MichaelDell/status/1990191942542745842
xAI leading on OpenRouter
DogeDesigner notes xAI has sat at the top of OpenRouter’s usage charts for nearly three months, with Grok models holding a clear lead over Google, Anthropic and others on that platform.
🔗 https://x.com/cb_doge/status/1989994332896596303
Newsom fire optics
Spencer Pratt digs up the Newsom press office’s January profile picture taken over neighbourhoods scorched by the Palisades Fire and contrasts it with recent snark from the same account about Trump’s “profile pic”.
🔗 https://x.com/spencerpratt/status/1989945537303646694
“Lonely at the top” in San Salvador
Nayib Bukele quotes his 91 percent approval rating and posts “It’s lonely at the top…”, reinforcing the narrative that security gains and Bitcoin bets have broad backing at home despite outside criticism.
🔗 https://x.com/nayibbukele/status/1990208978580861296
Barstool, resumes and receipts
Dave Portnoy corrects Kendra Middleton’s claim that she removed Barstool from her CV by posting a screenshot of her LinkedIn still listing a Barstool “Viceroy” stint, turning her attempt to distance herself from the brand into content.
🔗 https://x.com/stoolpresidente/status/1990226833158057999
Why it matters
AI scale vs indie focus
Gmail’s Gemini scheduling and Grok 5’s 6 trillion parameters show giants leaning into scale and deep integration. Cal.com and OpenRouter usage charts highlight that speed, focus and trust can still carve out strong positions alongside that.
Robots as economic story
Figure’s blind-walking robot and Musk’s Optimus “universal high income” claim keep robotics framed as both an engineering frontier and a macro story about labour, costs and who benefits.
Governance and optics
Bukele’s huge approval ratings, Newsom’s fire-era imagery and CAF’s award shortlist show how numbers, photos and trophies all feed political and reputational narratives far beyond their raw stats.
Culture and receipts
From Portnoy’s LinkedIn screenshot to CAF voting arguments, a lot of today’s feed is about receipts and status: who you worked for, who gets the award, who is on top of the leaderboard.
