AI Benchmarks: Why Useless, Personalized Agents Prevail

Beyond the Leaderboard: The Fallacy of Standardized Benchmarks and the Rise of Self-Centered AI The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence has been accompanied by an equally rapid proliferation of metrics designed to quantify its progress. Leaderboards and standardized benchmarks have become the de facto yardsticks by which the capabilities of large language models (LLMs) are … Read more

Can tap-to-pay save public transportation?

This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on the intersection of transportation and technology, follow Andrew J. Hawkins. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started I vividly remember the first time I … Read more

BTCFi’s Big Problem: 77% of Bitcoin Holders Haven’t Even Tried It, Says Survey

Bitcoin decentralized finance (DeFi), also known as BTCFi, has been touted as the next wave of innovation for the world’s largest cryptocurrency. However, research suggests bitcoin (BTC) holders themselves are barely engaging. Some 77% of bitcoin holders have never tried a BTCFi platform, according to a survey of more than 700 respondents across North America … Read more

How Nepal’s Gen Z Uprising Made the Case for a Decentralized Internet

Nepal experienced a political crisis in early September 2025. It did not start in parliament but with a digital shutdown by the government and street protests. Kathmandu has blocked social media to enforce new national registration laws in which social media giants Facebook, X, LinkedIn, etc., were officially invited to comply with the recent rules … Read more