Jan 27 2025
BNPL Fuels Supplier, Retailer Growth

Buy-now pay-later loans can boost cash flow for wholesalers and retailers in 2025 and beyond.

Business-to-business sales bring to mind massive deals with million-dollar transactions, but many wholesale brands sell to small retailers, where deals are in the thousands, not millions.

“We have a few different sock brands running on Cin7, and they sell to kiosks and small shops,” said Ajoy Krishnamoorthy, the CEO of Cin7, which makes cloud-based inventory management software, in an email exchange.

“Those retailers place orders that are $1,000 or $10,000 worth and are often seasonally driven — perfect for BNPL,” stated Krishnamoorthy.

Cash Flow

In particular, BNPL for B2B may be a cash flow opportunity for both the supplier and retailer.

For wholesalers, BNPL accelerates cash inflows and reduces credit risk. For retailers, it aligns inventory costs with revenue, provides financial breathing room, and facilitates growth. Both parties benefit, making BNPL a powerful tool in modern B2B commerce.

Wholesalers

Cash flow is essential for manufacturers, brands, and distributors.

The trouble is that many often wait to get paid. Traditional trade credit arrangements have 30-, 60-, or 90-day terms. B2B BNPL addresses the issue by delivering the payment in a few days or less.

Imagine how much more a manufacturer could produce if a $10,000 invoice is paid tomorrow instead of 60 days from now. The business could rapidly reinvest, explore new marketers, or expand its product line.

BNPL mitigates credit risk. Wholesalers that extend trade credit to retailers are exposed to potential late payments or defaults.

Yet BNPL’s advantages come with a cost: loan fees of 3% or more, typically. Sellers can pay the fees or pass them to buyers. Regardless, there is a cost in money or customer relationships.

Retailers

Cash flow is also vital for retailers operating on thin margins. BNPL loans usually offer better rates than credit cards and are relatively more accessible than advances from a bank or finance company.

Loan Feature BNPL Loans Credit Cards Capital Loans
Approval speed Instant or rapid Moderate Slow
Interest rates Often 0% short term 15%-25% 4%-10%
Flexibility High, purchase-specific High, general purpose Low, long-term use
Default risk Low Moderate High

BNPL loans also offer flexibility. Imagine a small sock seller like the one Krishnamoorthy described. The seller decides to augment its online revenue with a kiosk at the local mall but doesn’t know how to forecast inventory needs.

With a BNPL loan, the merchant could purchase for the kiosk, say, five months’ worth of socks for its ecommerce shop. If the new mall location works well and the socks sell out, it is easy to pay off the loan early. If not, the seller can make monthly payments and sell the inventory online.

The interest rate will almost certainly be lower than a revolving charge card.

The example need not be a physical location. BNPL’s flexible payment terms and rapid application process could fuel new online opportunities.

The risk is relatively low, too. Missing a BNPL loan payment may result in penalties but generally avoids the high compounding interest of credit cards.

Finally, the merchant could generate revenue as the merchandise sells — the BNPL loan improves cash flow.

As with any form of credit, BNPL could be abused or misused.

BNPL for B2B

With its potential benefits, BNPL for B2B will likely accelerate in 2025. I’ve seen estimates of 27% growth this year, roughly mirroring the 25% growth projection for B2C.

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Jan 26 2025
Google Updates Search Quality Rater Guidelines: What To Know via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Google has released its first major update to the Search Quality Rater Guidelines since March.

Human evaluators use the Search Quality Rater Guidelines (PDF link) to assess the quality of search results. Although these guidelines don’t directly affect rankings, they provide useful insights into what Google views as high-quality content.

This update reflects Google’s evolving approach to determining quality, particularly regarding AI-generated content and new types of spam.

Here’s what you need to know.

Key Highlights From The January Update

1. Added Generative AI Definition

Section 2.1, “Important Definitions,” now formally addresses AI-generated content, providing clear guidance on how raters should evaluate machine-learning generated materials.

The definition reads:

“Generative AI is a type of machine learning (ML) model that can take what it has learned from the examples it has been provided to create new content, such as text, images, music, and code.”

2. Lower vs. Lowest Quality Content

Sections 4.0 through 4.6 have been substantially revised, introducing detailed subsections on new forms of spam and low-quality content. The update identifies three key areas of concern:

Expired Domain Abuse

“Expired domain abuse is where an expired domain name is purchased and repurposed primarily to benefit the new website owner by hosting content that provides little to no value to users.”

Site Reputation Abuse

“Site reputation abuse is a tactic where third-party content is published on a host site mainly because of that host site’s already-established ranking signals, which it has earned primarily from its first-party content.”

Scaled Content Abuse

“Scaled content abuse is a spam practice described in the Google Search Web Spam Policies. Scaled content abuse occurs when many pages are generated for the purpose of primarily benefiting the website owner and not helping users.”

The guidelines specifically address AI-generated content under scaled content abuse:

“Using automated tools (generative AI or otherwise) as a low-effort way to produce many pages that add little-to-no value for website visitors as compared to other pages on the web on the same topic.”

3. Identifying AI Generated Content

Section 4.7 provides specific examples of how to identify and rate AI-generated content. Under “Lowest: Scaled content abuse cancers,” the text reads:

“The contents of the page show it is created with generative AI with likely no original content and provides no value to users. For example, the article starts with ‘As a language model, I don’t have real-time data and my knowledge cutoff date is September 2021.’ The end of the text of the article appears to be cut off with an incomplete sentence ‘Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NETs): Pancreatic NETs are a rare type of pancreatic cancer that can have a poor’”

4. New Technical Requirements

The guidelines now specify that raters must turn off ad blockers to ensure accurate evaluation:

“Some browsers such as Chrome automatically block some ads. As a rater, you are required to turn off any ad blocker capabilities of the browser you use to view webpages for rating tasks. Check your browser settings before rating tasks to ensure your ratings accurately reflect how people experience the page without ad blocking settings and extensions.”

Key Takeaways

Here are the key takeaways for content creators and SEO professionals:

  1. AI Content Strategy: The guidelines clarify that while AI tools can be used in content creation, the focus must be on providing unique value rather than mass-producing generic content.
  2. Quality Over Quantity: The expanded sections on spam and low-quality content emphasize Google’s continued focus on rewarding high-value, original content.
  3. Technical Considerations: The new ad blocker requirements suggest increased attention to how users experience web pages, including advertising.

Next Steps

When producing content for your website, keep these tips in mind:

  • Focus on creating original, valuable content that serves user needs
  • Avoid using AI tools to mass-produce content
  • Ensure your content demonstrates genuine expertise and authenticity
  • Pay attention to how your content appears to users with and without ad blockers
  • Be particularly careful with YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) topics when using AI tools

Following these guidelines can help ensure you create content that aligns with Google’s quality standards.

Featured Image: Masha_art/Shutterstock

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Jan 25 2025
LinkedIn Report Reveals Most In-Demand Marketing Skills via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Marketing jobs are increasing, and many professionals are satisfied with their roles. However, rapid changes in technology and work environments pose new challenges.

The LinkedIn Marketing Jobs Outlook report offers insights into the changing job market and strategies for career growth.

Here’s all the data from the report that you need to know.

Marketing Jobs Are Rebounding

The report highlights a strong recovery in marketing job opportunities.

Marketing-related job postings on LinkedIn increased by 76% year-over-year.

Industries like technology and financial services, which experienced significant layoffs, are now showing steady growth in hiring.

Job Satisfaction Is High, Retention Remains a Challenge

Despite workplace challenges, job satisfaction among marketers is notably strong. According to the report, 67% of Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) are “completely satisfied” with their roles.

However, retaining top talent remains a hurdle, with 55% of marketers considering leaving their current position if a better opportunity arises.

Workplace Change Overwhelms Many Marketers

The fast-paced evolution of the marketing industry is a double-edged sword. While it drives innovation, it also leaves many professionals feeling overwhelmed.

The report notes that 72% of marketers struggle with the rapid evolution of their roles, and 53% worry about falling behind due to technological advancements.

Skill of the Year: Collaborative Problem-Solving

Collaborative problem-solving has been identified as the “Skill of the Year” in marketing.

This ability, which emphasizes teamwork and customer-centric decision-making, saw a 138% growth in demand.

Companies increasingly value marketers who can navigate complex challenges with agility and foster team innovation.

Top Hard Skills for Marketers

Technical expertise remains critical in the marketing field, with demand for specific hard skills surging:

  • Creative Execution: Demand for this skill has increased by 443% over the past two years.
  • Artificial Intelligence: Skills in AI grew by 392% during the same period.
  • Marketing Technology: As platforms and tools evolve, proficiency in marketing technology rose by 351%.

What Does This Mean?

To stay competitive, LinkedIn advises marketers to focus on three key strategies:

  1. Upskilling: With AI reshaping the industry, professionals should prioritize learning new tools and technologies. Courses like “Generative AI for Digital Marketers” are among LinkedIn Learning’s top recommendations.
  2. Agility: Marketers should embrace change and adopt a growth mindset to remain adaptable to evolving consumer behaviors and technological advancements.
  3. Collaboration: Breaking down silos and promoting cross-functional teamwork can drive creative problem-solving.

Conclusion: A Year of Growth and Innovation

LinkedIn’s latest Marketing Jobs Outlook report shows that the industry is changing rapidly.

While there are challenges like workplace stress and technology changes, there are also many growth opportunities.

Marketers can succeed by staying informed, embracing change, and improving their skills.

Featured Image: ShutterStockies/Shutterstock

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Jan 25 2025
The US withdrawal from the WHO will hurt us all

This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here.

On January 20, his first day in office, US president Donald Trump signed an executive order to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization. “Ooh, that’s a big one,” he said as he was handed the document.

The US is the biggest donor to the WHO, and the loss of this income is likely to have a significant impact on the organization, which develops international health guidelines, investigates disease outbreaks, and acts as an information-sharing hub for member states.

But the US will also lose out. “It’s a very tragic and sad event that could only hurt the United States in the long run,” says William Moss, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.

Trump appears to take issue with the amount the US donates to the WHO. He points out that it makes a much bigger contribution than China, a country with a population four times that of the US. “It seems a little unfair to me,” he said as he prepared to sign the executive order.

It is true that the US is far and away the biggest financial supporter of the WHO. The US contributed $1.28 billion over the two-year period covering 2022 and 2023. By comparison, the second-largest donor, Germany, contributed $856 million in the same period. The US currently contributes 14.5% of the WHO’s total budget.

But it’s not as though the WHO sends a billion-dollar bill to the US. All member states are required to pay membership dues, which are calculated as a percentage of a country’s gross domestic product. For the US, this figure comes to $130 million. China pays $87.6 million. But the vast majority of the US’s contributions to the WHO are made on a voluntary basis—in recent years, the donations have been part of multibillion-dollar spending on global health by the US government. (Separately, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation contributed $830 million over 2022 and 2023.)

There’s a possibility that other member nations will increase their donations to help cover the shortfall left by the US’s withdrawal. But it is not clear who will step up—or what implications it will have to change the structure of donations.

Martin McKee, a professor of European public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, thinks it is unlikely that European members will increase their contributions by much. China, India, Brazil, South Africa, and the Gulf states, on the other hand, may be more likely to pay more. But again, it isn’t clear how this will pan out, or whether any of these countries will expect greater influence over global health policy decisions as a result of increasing their donations.

WHO funds are spent on a range of global health projects—programs to eradicate polio, rapidly respond to health emergencies, improve access to vaccines and medicines, develop pandemic prevention strategies, and more. The loss of US funding is likely to have a significant impact on at least some of these programs.

“Diseases don’t stick to national boundaries, hence this decision is not only concerning for the US, but in fact for every country in the world,” says Pauline Scheelbeek at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.“With the US no longer reporting to the WHO nor funding part of this process, the evidence on which public health interventions and solutions should be based is incomplete.”

“It’s going to hurt global health,” adds Moss. “It’s going to come back to bite us.”

There’s more on how the withdrawal could affect health programs, vaccine coverage, and pandemic preparedness in this week’s coverage.

Now read the rest of The Checkup

Read more from MIT Technology Review‘s archive

This isn’t the first time Donald Trump has signaled his desire for the US to leave the WHO. He proposed a withdrawal during his last term, in 2020. While the WHO is not perfect, it needs more power and funding, not less, Charles Kenny, director of technology and development at the Center for Global Development, argued at the time.

The move drew condemnation from those working in public health then, too. The editor in chief of the medical journal The Lancet called it “a crime against humanity,” as Charlotte Jee reported.

In 1974, the WHO launched an ambitious program to get lifesaving vaccines to all children around the world. Fifty years on, vaccines are thought to have averted 154 million deaths—including 146 million in children under the age of five. 

The WHO has also seen huge success in its efforts to eradicate polio. Today, wild forms of the virus have been eradicated in all but two countries. But vaccine-derived forms of the virus can still crop up around the world.

At the end of a round of discussions in September among WHO member states working on a pandemic agreement, director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus remarked, “The next pandemic will not wait for us, whether from a flu virus like H5N1, another coronavirus, or another family of viruses we don’t yet know about.” The H5N1 virus has been circulating on US dairy farms for months now, and the US is preparing for potential human outbreaks.

From around the web

People with cancer paid $45,000 for an experimental blood-filtering treatment, delivered at a clinic in Antigua, after being misled about its effectiveness. Six of them have died since their treatments. (The New York Times)

The Trump administration has instructed federal health agencies to pause all external communications, such as health advisories, weekly scientific reports, updates to websites, and social media posts. (The Washington Post)

A new “virtual retina,” modeled on human retinas, has been developed to study the impact of retinal implants. The three-dimensional model simulates over 10,000 neurons. (Brain Stimulation)

Trump has signed an executive order stating that “it is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female.” The document “defies decades of research into how human bodies grow and develop,” STAT reports, and represents “a dramatic failure to understand biology,” according to a neuroscientist who studies the development of sex. (STAT)

Attention, summer holiday planners: Biting sandflies in the Mediterranean region are transmitting Toscana virus at an increasing rate. The virus is a major cause of central nervous system disorders in the region. Italy saw a 2.6-fold increase in the number of reported infections between the 2016–21 period and 2022–23. (Eurosurveillance)

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Jan 25 2025
The Download: OpenAI’s agent, and what to expect from robotics

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.

OpenAI launches Operator—an agent that can use a computer for you

What’s new: After weeks of buzz, OpenAI has released Operator, its first AI agent. Operator is a web app that can carry out simple online tasks in a browser, such as booking concert tickets or filling an online grocery order. The app is powered by a new model called Computer-Using Agent—CUA for short—built on top of OpenAI’s multimodal large language model GPT-4o.

Why it matters: OpenAI claims that Operator outperforms similar rival tools, including Anthropic’s Computer Use and Google DeepMind’s Mariner. The fact that three of the world’s top AI firms have converged on the same vision of what agent-based models could be makes one thing clear. The battle for AI supremacy has a new frontier—and it’s our computer screens. Read the full story.

—Will Douglas Heaven

+ If you’re interested in reading more about AI agents, check out this piece explaining why they’re AI’s next big thing.

What’s next for robots

—James O’Donnell

In the many conversations I’ve had about robots, I’ve also found that most people tend to fall into three camps. Some are upbeat and vocally hopeful that a future is just around the corner in which machines can expertly handle much of what is currently done by humans, from cooking to surgery. Others are scared: of job losses, injuries, and whatever problems may come up as we try to live side by side.

The final camp, which I think is the largest, is just unimpressed. We’ve been sold lots of promises that robots will transform society ever since the first robotic arm was installed on an assembly line at a General Motors plant in New Jersey in 1961. Few of those promises have panned out so far. 

But this year, there’s reason to think that even those staunchly in the “bored” camp will be intrigued by what’s happening in the robot races. Here’s a glimpse at what to keep an eye on this year. Read the full story.

This piece is part of MIT Technology Review’s What’s Next series, looking across industries, trends, and technologies to give you a first look at the future. You can read the rest of them here.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 Facebook and Instagram blocked and hid abortion pill posts
But Meta denies it’s anything to do with its recent hate speech restriction U-turn. (NYT $)
+ The company’s widespread changes are making advertisers nervous. (Insider $)
+ A contraceptive drug could act as an abortion pill substitute. (The Atlantic $)

2 Donald Trump’s staff are furious with Elon Musk 
His decision to trash talk the President’s new AI deal is ruffling aides’ feathers. (Politico)
+ For once, Trump doesn’t seem to want to wade in. (CNN)
+ Stargate’s newest data center will be built in the small Texan city of Abilene. (Bloomberg $)

3 Watch the Trump administration delete agency pages in real time
An agency GitHub records the documents, handbooks and bots as they’re deleted or amended. (404 Media)

4 Central Europe’s power grid is vulnerable to attack
Its facilities’ unencrypted radio signals leave it wide open to malicious interference. (Ars Technica)
+ The race to replace the powerful greenhouse gas that underpins the power grid. (MIT Technology Review)

5 OpenAI’s conversion to becoming a for-profit is under investigation
California’s attorney general wants to know more about its asset transfer plans. (The Markup)
+ One major obstacle is determining how much equity Microsoft would hold. (FT $)

6 WeRide has its sights set on becoming a driverless power player
The Chinese company has ambitious plans to expand all over the world. (WSJ $)
+ Meanwhile, Tesla is issuing a safety update to 1.2 million cars in China. (Bloomberg $)
+ How Wayve’s driverless cars will meet one of their biggest challenges yet. (MIT Technology Review)

7 How fungi spores can help save endangered plants
But it’s a delicate balancing act. (Knowable Magazine)
+ Africa fights rising hunger by looking to foods of the past. (MIT Technology Review)

8 The fight over our tech-addled attention span
It’s not that we can’t focus—it’s what we’re focusing on. (New Yorker $) 

9 TikTok is still MIA from US app stores
Opportunists are flogging iPhones with the pre-installed app for eye-watering prices. (Insider $)

10 How random is Spotify’s shuffle, really?
And can algorithms be depended on to deal in true randomness? (FT $)

Quote of the day

“I can’t imagine that I personally can make any difference in their wealth, power or influence. But I can’t be a part of offering them my life and my joy to then turn it back around and make money off of me.”

—Michael Raine, a 50-year old Facebook and Instagram user, explains to the Washington Post why he doesn’t want to contribute to the sprawling wealth of Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg any more.

The big story

How to stop a state from sinking

April 2024

In a 10-month span between 2020 and 2021, southwest Louisiana saw five climate-related disasters, including two destructive hurricanes. As if that wasn’t bad enough, more storms are coming, and many areas are not prepared.

But some government officials and state engineers are hoping there is an alternative: elevation. The $6.8 billion Southwest Coastal Louisiana Project is betting that raising residences by a few feet will keep Louisianans in their communities.

Ultimately, it’s something of a last-ditch effort to preserve this slice of coastline, even as some locals pick up and move inland and as formal plans for managed retreat become more popular in climate-­vulnerable areas across the country and the rest of the world. Read the full story.

—Xander Peters

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)

+ How two enterprising actors staged a daring performance of Hamlet inside Grand Theft Auto 💀
+ Warning: these movies are dangerous!
+ Madonna released Material Girl 40 years ago this week—and changed the face of pop forever.
+ And finally, what everyone has been dying to know—do dogs really watch TV?

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Jan 25 2025
How a top Chinese AI model overcame US sanctions

The AI community is abuzz over DeepSeek R1, a new open-source reasoning model. 

The model was developed by the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, which claims that R1 matches or even surpasses OpenAI’s ChatGPT o1 on multiple key benchmarks but operates at a fraction of the cost. 

“This could be a truly equalizing breakthrough that is great for researchers and developers with limited resources, especially those from the Global South,” says Hancheng Cao, an assistant professor in information systems at Emory University.

DeepSeek’s success is even more remarkable given the constraints facing Chinese AI companies in the form of increasing US export controls on cutting-edge chips. But early evidence shows that these measures are not working as intended. Rather than weakening China’s AI capabilities, the sanctions appear to be driving startups like DeepSeek to innovate in ways that prioritize efficiency, resource-pooling, and collaboration.

To create R1, DeepSeek had to rework its training process to reduce the strain on its GPUs, a variety released by Nvidia for the Chinese market that have their performance capped at half the speed of its top products, according to Zihan Wang, a former DeepSeek employee and current PhD student in computer science at Northwestern University. 

DeepSeek R1 has been praised by researchers for its ability to tackle complex reasoning tasks, particularly in mathematics and coding. The model employs a “chain of thought” approach similar to that used by ChatGPT o1, which lets it solve problems by processing queries step by step.

Dimitris Papailiopoulos, principal researcher at Microsoft’s AI Frontiers research lab, says what surprised him the most about R1 is its engineering simplicity. “DeepSeek aimed for accurate answers rather than detailing every logical step, significantly reducing computing time while maintaining a high level of effectiveness,” he says.

DeepSeek has also released six smaller versions of R1 that are small enough to  run locally on laptops. It claims that one of them even outperforms OpenAI’s o1-mini on certain benchmarks.“DeepSeek has largely replicated o1-mini and has open sourced it,” tweeted Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas. DeepSeek did not reply to MIT Technology Review’s request for comments.

Despite the buzz around R1, DeepSeek remains relatively unknown. Based in Hangzhou, China, it was founded in July 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, an alumnus of Zhejiang University with a background in information and electronic engineering. It was incubated by High-Flyer, a hedge fund that Liang founded in 2015. Like Sam Altman of OpenAI, Liang aims to build artificial general intelligence (AGI), a form of AI that can match or even beat humans on a range of tasks.

Training large language models (LLMs) requires a team of highly trained researchers and substantial computing power. In a recent interview with the Chinese media outlet LatePost, Kai-Fu Lee, a veteran entrepreneur and former head of Google China, said that only “front-row players” typically engage in building foundation models such as ChatGPT, as it’s so resource-intensive. The situation is further complicated by the US export controls on advanced semiconductors. High-Flyer’s decision to venture into AI is directly related to these constraints, however. Long before the anticipated sanctions, Liang acquired a substantial stockpile of Nvidia A100 chips, a type now banned from export to China. The Chinese media outlet 36Kr estimates that the company has over 10,000 units in stock, but Dylan Patel, founder of the AI research consultancy SemiAnalysis, estimates that it has at least 50,000. Recognizing the potential of this stockpile for AI training is what led Liang to establish DeepSeek, which was able to use them in combination with the lower-power chips to develop its models. 

Tech giants like Alibaba and ByteDance, as well as a handful of startups with deep-pocketed investors, dominate the Chinese AI space, making it challenging for small or medium-sized enterprises to compete. A company like DeepSeek, which has no plans to raise funds, is rare. 

Zihan Wang, the former DeepSeek employee, told MIT Technology Review that he had access to abundant computing resources and was given freedom to experiment when working at DeepSeek, “a luxury that few fresh graduates would get at any company.” 

In an interview with the Chinese media outlet 36Kr in July 2024 Liang said that an additional challenge Chinese companies face on top of chip sanctions, is that their AI engineering techniques tend to be less efficient. “We [most Chinese companies] have to consume twice the computing power to achieve the same results. Combined with data efficiency gaps, this could mean needing up to four times more computing power. Our goal is to continuously close these gaps,” he said.  

But DeepSeek found ways to reduce memory usage and speed up calculation without significantly sacrificing accuracy. “The team loves turning a hardware challenge into an opportunity for innovation,” says Wang.

Liang himself remains deeply involved in DeepSeek’s research process, running experiments alongside his team. “The whole team shares a collaborative culture and dedication to hardcore research,” Wang says.

As well as prioritizing efficiency, Chinese companies are increasingly embracing open-source principles. Alibaba Cloud has released over 100 new open-source AI models, supporting 29 languages and catering to various applications, including coding and mathematics. Similarly, startups like Minimax and 01.AI have open-sourced their models. 

According to a white paper released last year by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, a state-affiliated research institute, the number of AI large language models worldwide has reached 1,328, with 36% originating in China. This positions China as the second-largest contributor to AI, behind the United States. 

“This generation of young Chinese researchers identify strongly with open-source culture because they benefit so much from it,” says Thomas Qitong Cao, an assistant professor of technology policy at Tufts University.

“The US export control has essentially backed Chinese companies into a corner where they have to be far more efficient with their limited computing resources,” says Matt Sheehan, an AI researcher at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “We are probably going to see a lot of consolidation in the future related to the lack of compute.”

That might already have started to happen. Two weeks ago, Alibaba Cloud announced that it has partnered with the Beijing-based startup 01.AI, founded by Kai-Fu Lee, to merge research teams and establish an “industrial large model laboratory.”

“It is energy-efficient and natural for some kind of division of labor to emerge in the AI industry,” says Cao, the Tufts professor. “The rapid evolution of AI demands agility from Chinese firms to survive.”

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Jan 25 2025
Protein Bar Founder Thrives in a Crowded Field

According to Will Nitze, founder and CEO of IQBAR, success in a competitive market requires finding its uncompetitive niches. He did that with his flagship protein bar, which is plant-based, low-sugar, and plainly labeled. That was seven years ago when he launched the company with a $75,000 Kickstarter campaign.

Fast forward to 2025, and IQBAR also makes IQMIX (hydration) and IQJOE (coffee). All promote brain health without competing against each other.

Will and I recently discussed his journey, from the initial capital raise to scaling revenue, adding products, and managing wholesale channels. The entire audio of our conversation is embedded below. The transcript is edited for clarity and length.

Eric Bandholz: Give us a quick rundown of who you are.

Will Nitze: I am the founder and CEO of IQBAR. Our hero product is nutritional bars, but we also make IQMIX for hydration and IQJOE for instant coffee. Roughly 55% of our revenue is wholesale; our direct-to-consumer ecommerce site and Amazon account for the balance. We’ve raised just under $10 million since our launch 7 years ago.

Bandholz: How do you stand out in such a competitive market?

Nitze: The key is breaking down the competition into subcategories. In the protein bar market, the saturated category is animal-based ingredients. But when you focus on plant protein, low sugar, and clean labels, you can carve out a space with much less competition but still substantial. It’s about finding the uncompetitive niches within the broader competitive landscape.

I got into this space as a personal passion. I was dissatisfied with my software job and began exploring low-carb diets, eventually landing on keto. I was especially interested in brain food and noticed that, at the time, no one was offering ready-to-eat options. Most brain nutrition comes in pill or powder form. I launched a Kickstarter campaign that raised $75,000, validating the concept. From there, we pivoted based on customer feedback, focusing on protein and clean labels.

The brain angle is useful and differentiated, but it’s the deal closer, not the deal opener. People shop our products based on the protein count — where it came from and how complete it is — and then sugar.

Our strategy has been to expand the product line without cannibalizing our core bar product. Many brands extend their product lines in ways that compete with their existing items, like moving from bars to peanut butter cups. We wanted our new products — hydration and coffee — to complement our bars, aligning with our brain and body nutrition mission but not competing. We also considered shelf stability and ease of production.

Bandholz: You have just nine employees. How do you maintain such a lean team while scaling?

Nitze: Recognizing my weaknesses is essential. I’m not great at hiring, so I rely on a trusted circle. My wife is our chief marketing officer and head of ecommerce. I keep a close connection with everyone on the team. We use external agencies for pay-per-click ads, search engine optimization, and Amazon management. We work closely with these partners and our manufacturer to keep things running smoothly with fewer full-time employees.

We never commit to long-term agency contracts without an exit clause. Most agencies operate on annual terms, but we ensure we can leave with 30- or 60-day notice. We’ve worked with our Amazon agency for over two years; they know our business inside out. We implemented a bonus structure for them to incentivize performance. This deal worked well for both sides, as it aligns their goals with ours.

Bandholz: How did you develop your wholesale strategy?

Nitze: Again, our business will be 55% wholesale this year. We believe in an omnichannel approach, especially brick-and-mortar retail. Digital-first is essential for building credibility in the retail world. We can show prospective retailers data from our ecommerce site, such as the number of customers in their trade area. Brokers play a key role in retail growth, especially those connected with large chains, such as Walmart and Costco.

The key is to work with retailers who pay quickly. Amazon, for example, pays every two weeks. Beyond that, raising money is crucial. Some people idolize bootstrapping, but raising funds allows you to scale quickly. In the early stages, you need capital to fund inventory, which becomes the backbone of your business. Another key is having a high gross margin, which allows you to reinvest into more inventory. Ultimately, scaling up helps maintain cash flow.

Bandholz: Was it hard finding a manufacturer?

Nitze: It was a challenge. Our first co-packer — the company making the food and packaging and labeling it — was great for small volumes but couldn’t scale. Eventually, we switched to a co-packer that could handle higher volumes. This process was painful, as it meant quality control disruptions. But once we found the right partner, we could scale significantly. Now, we have a co-packer that can manage millions of units annually, and that’s been critical to our growth.

Bandholz: Where can people contact you?

Nitze: Reach me through our website, EatIQBar.com, or LinkedIn.

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Jan 25 2025
Protein Bar Founder Thrives in a Crowded Field

According to Will Nitze, founder and CEO of IQBAR, success in a competitive market requires finding its uncompetitive niches. He did that with his flagship protein bar, which is plant-based, low-sugar, and plainly labeled. That was seven years ago when he launched the company with a $75,000 Kickstarter campaign.

Fast forward to 2025, and IQBAR also makes IQMIX (hydration) and IQJOE (coffee). All promote brain health without competing against each other.

Will and I recently discussed his journey, from the initial capital raise to scaling revenue, adding products, and managing wholesale channels. The entire audio of our conversation is embedded below. The transcript is edited for clarity and length.

Eric Bandholz: Give us a quick rundown of who you are.

Will Nitze: I am the founder and CEO of IQBAR. Our hero product is nutritional bars, but we also make IQMIX for hydration and IQJOE for instant coffee. Roughly 55% of our revenue is wholesale; our direct-to-consumer ecommerce site and Amazon account for the balance. We’ve raised just under $10 million since our launch 7 years ago.

Bandholz: How do you stand out in such a competitive market?

Nitze: The key is breaking down the competition into subcategories. In the protein bar market, the saturated category is animal-based ingredients. But when you focus on plant protein, low sugar, and clean labels, you can carve out a space with much less competition but still substantial. It’s about finding the uncompetitive niches within the broader competitive landscape.

I got into this space as a personal passion. I was dissatisfied with my software job and began exploring low-carb diets, eventually landing on keto. I was especially interested in brain food and noticed that, at the time, no one was offering ready-to-eat options. Most brain nutrition comes in pill or powder form. I launched a Kickstarter campaign that raised $75,000, validating the concept. From there, we pivoted based on customer feedback, focusing on protein and clean labels.

The brain angle is useful and differentiated, but it’s the deal closer, not the deal opener. People shop our products based on the protein count — where it came from and how complete it is — and then sugar.

Our strategy has been to expand the product line without cannibalizing our core bar product. Many brands extend their product lines in ways that compete with their existing items, like moving from bars to peanut butter cups. We wanted our new products — hydration and coffee — to complement our bars, aligning with our brain and body nutrition mission but not competing. We also considered shelf stability and ease of production.

Bandholz: You have just nine employees. How do you maintain such a lean team while scaling?

Nitze: Recognizing my weaknesses is essential. I’m not great at hiring, so I rely on a trusted circle. My wife is our chief marketing officer and head of ecommerce. I keep a close connection with everyone on the team. We use external agencies for pay-per-click ads, search engine optimization, and Amazon management. We work closely with these partners and our manufacturer to keep things running smoothly with fewer full-time employees.

We never commit to long-term agency contracts without an exit clause. Most agencies operate on annual terms, but we ensure we can leave with 30- or 60-day notice. We’ve worked with our Amazon agency for over two years; they know our business inside out. We implemented a bonus structure for them to incentivize performance. This deal worked well for both sides, as it aligns their goals with ours.

Bandholz: How did you develop your wholesale strategy?

Nitze: Again, our business will be 55% wholesale this year. We believe in an omnichannel approach, especially brick-and-mortar retail. Digital-first is essential for building credibility in the retail world. We can show prospective retailers data from our ecommerce site, such as the number of customers in their trade area. Brokers play a key role in retail growth, especially those connected with large chains, such as Walmart and Costco.

The key is to work with retailers who pay quickly. Amazon, for example, pays every two weeks. Beyond that, raising money is crucial. Some people idolize bootstrapping, but raising funds allows you to scale quickly. In the early stages, you need capital to fund inventory, which becomes the backbone of your business. Another key is having a high gross margin, which allows you to reinvest into more inventory. Ultimately, scaling up helps maintain cash flow.

Bandholz: Was it hard finding a manufacturer?

Nitze: It was a challenge. Our first co-packer — the company making the food and packaging and labeling it — was great for small volumes but couldn’t scale. Eventually, we switched to a co-packer that could handle higher volumes. This process was painful, as it meant quality control disruptions. But once we found the right partner, we could scale significantly. Now, we have a co-packer that can manage millions of units annually, and that’s been critical to our growth.

Bandholz: Where can people contact you?

Nitze: Reach me through our website, EatIQBar.com, or LinkedIn.

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Jan 24 2025
Matt Mullenweg Hires New Lawyer In Fight Against WP Engine via @sejournal, @martinibuster

A legal document filed in federal court formally notifies that Automattic and Matt Mullenweg have added new representation, a lawyer who has previously represented Meta and Facebook. The new documentation is formally called NOTICE of Appearance. There may be an additional legal filing that may indicate that the previous legal team may no longer be representing Automattic and Matt Mullenweg.

New Attorney

A legal form was filed titled “NOTICE of Appearance filed by Rosemarie Theresa Ring on behalf of Automattic.” Rosemarie Theresa Ring is an attorney at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, one of the top law firms in the United States.

Gibson Dunn was founded in 1890 and has represented George W. Bush in the Bush v. Gore legal fight over votes in Florida, Apple, Inc. in an infringement lawsuit against Samsung and also has represented Meta and Facebook.

The law firm that has previously represented Automattic and Matt Mullenweg in their defense in the WP Engine federal lawsuit are Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, a prestigious international law firm specializing in litigation. According to a citation in Wikipedia, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan have been recognized as a top tier legal firm for intellectual property, patent, trademark, and copyright law, as well as other categories.

The Court Listener website has two entries:

“77 Jan 24, 2025
NOTICE of Appearance filed by Rosemarie Theresa Ring on behalf of Automattic Inc., Matthew Charles Mullenweg (Ring, Rosemarie) (Filed on 1/24/2025) (Entered: 01/24/2025)

Jan 24, 2025
Notice of Appearance/Substitution/Change/Withdrawal of Attorney”

The legal documents aren’t yet available to view but this article will be updated when they are.

What Does It Mean?

It’s unclear if the previous legal representation is still representing Automattic and Matt Mullenweg as part of their legal team as defendants in the WP Engine lawsuit. But it does appear that the defendants are preparing to fight back with some seriously experienced legal representation.

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Jan 24 2025
Meta Threads Takes the Next Step By Launching Ads via @sejournal, @brookeosmundson

Big news from Meta: Threads, the platform everyone rushed to last summer, is officially testing ads.

In its announcement today, Threads is launching an image ads test with select brands in the United States and Japan.

For now, this is just a trial run with a handful of brands, but it’s a clear sign that Meta is ready to monetize its newest social media experiment.

In case you missed it, Threads launched in July 2023 as Meta’s answer to X (formerly Twitter). It quickly gained traction, passing 300 million monthly active users, largely thanks to its integration with Instagram.

While its user base might not be as sticky as Meta hoped, this move shows that they’re betting on Threads as more than just a fleeting trend.

What Does the Ad Test Look Like?

The ads being tested are image-based and will pop up in users’ home feeds. In early testing, ads on Threads will show for only a small percentage of people.

Image credit: Facebook.com, January 2025

Meta is gauging how users respond and will decide whether to expand the program based on the data.

Meta’s Approach to Brand Safety

Meta is providing Threads users with control over the ads they see to help them understand how their information is used for ads, and ways to change their experience.

Users will be able to skip an ad they don’t like, or hide or report an ad that they deem inappropriate.

Additionally, Meta is testing an AI-powered inventory filter. This tools lets advertisers control the types of content their ads appear next to, giving brands more confidence to experiment with new platforms like Threads.

Why Advertisers Should Care

For advertisers wanting to jump on this initial test, businesses can simply extend their existing Meta campaigns to Threads without additional creative.

In Meta Ads Manager, advertisers can simply check a box indicating that they’d like to add Threads as a placement.

It’s important to note that by checking the Threads placement box, it does not automatically mean your ads will appear right away because this is a limited test.

Meta did not confirm what brands or verticals would be eligible for this initial test, but we’ll keep an eye out for early advertisements.

Threads’ emphasis on visual content and casual conversations creates a unique opportunity for advertisers to experiment with creative approaches. If your audience is already active on Instagram or Facebook, this could be the perfect extension to your campaigns.

Being an early adopter on a platform could give you a competitive edge when it comes to understanding what resonates.

Next Steps for Marketers

While Threads may still be finding its identity, it’s already proven it can attract a massive audience. And with Meta’s established advertising infrastructure, it’s only a matter of time before Threads becomes a key player in the ad space.

If you’re already running campaigns with Meta, this is your chance to get a head start on a brand new ad platform.

When testing, start small, monitor your performance, and pay attention to how users interact with ads on the platform.

Don’t sleep on the opportunity to test creative formats. Keep an eye on updates from Meta as they expand this test. We will continue to update as more information comes to light.

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