Intel Inside, Pat Outside

Intel chief Pat Gelsinger has stepped down after a 40-year-long career, leaving behind a mixed legacy of innovation and challenges. As the company transitions, David Zinsner and Michelle Johnston Holthaus have been appointed interim co-CEOs tasked with leading Intel through an increasingly competitive semiconductor market. 

The future of Intel looks exciting and scary at the same time, and it certainly deserves one last ‘Pat’ on the back! 

Gelsinger’s tenure saw bold initiatives, including the launch of Intel 18A and partnerships like the x86 Ecosystem Advisory Group with AMD, and also struggles to gain traction in the GPU market, where NVIDIA dominates with an 88% share.

Despite setbacks, Intel is not slowing down. With ambitious projects like the AI accelerator Gaudi 3 and its successors Falcon Shores and Jaguar Shores, Intel hopes to reclaim its competitive edge. However, what’s next for the tech giant remains uncertain as the company balances innovation with operational restructuring to meet evolving market demands.

Enjoy the full story here. 

23 Years On, Nothing Beats JSON

It’s been 23 years since Douglas Crockford introduced JSON (JavaScript Object Notation), and it remains the go-to format for human-readable data serialisation. 

Alternatives like XML, YAML, and even recent challengers like Xenon 1.0 have failed to gain traction, and are often criticised for being either overly complex or impractical. JSON’s unmatched simplicity continues to power APIs and data exchanges worldwide. As the tech world evolves, will a new format rise to challenge its legacy? Read the full story here.

X-ing Out the Bluesky Buzz

Bluesky, an alternative to X (formerly Twitter), has rapidly gained users fueled by discontent over Elon Musk’s close ties with President-elect Donald Trump and changes to X’s terms allowing AI training on user content. 

Despite its appeal as an open platform, Bluesky faced backlash when Hugging Face released a dataset of one million public posts without user consent, sparking concerns about privacy and ethical data use. While Bluesky clarified it doesn’t mine user content to train AI, this controversy highlights the broader issues of transparency in AI data practices across social platforms like X, Meta, and LinkedIn. Read on.

India Faces a ‘Weekend Engineer’ Problem

India is positioning itself as a global AI leader, yet a critical paradox remains: while the country boasts a high AI skill penetration rate, its talent depth is being questioned.

Industry leaders lament the rise of “weekend engineers” who claim expertise in generative AI tools like ChatGPT without understanding the underlying principles. With fewer than 2,000 senior AI professionals actively contributing to core R&D, India’s AI ecosystem is heavily service-oriented, focused more on applied solutions than foundational research. 

Though efforts like OLA’s Krutrim and Sarvam models hint at progress, limited data and an underdeveloped ecosystem continue to hold back India’s potential for true AI innovation. Read the full story here.