BIG NEWS -Future of Disruptive Tech is being rebranded. We are changing our name to “Next Wave.” So if you see an email in your income from “Next Wave” please don’t be alarmed "(or hit spam).

_{Read Time: 10 Minutes}

Today’s Menu

• Ilya Sutskever Just Challenged the Entire AI Industry's Strategy

• Texas Becomes First U.S. State to Buy Bitcoin

Markets

TODAY IN AI

Ilya Sutskever Just Challenged the Entire AI Industry's Strategy

Safe Superintelligence founder Ilya Sutskever appeared on the Dwarkesh Podcast, arguing that research breakthroughs, not compute, will drive the next wave of AI progress - a direct challenge to the industry's massive scaling investments.

Sutskever said 2020-2025 was the "age of scaling," but we've reached the point where research becomes the differentiating factor for AI breakthroughs. He forecasts 5-20 years until superhuman-like learning AI emerges, adding that the first ASI systems should be built to care about sentient life.

Sutskever revealed that his startup SSI is taking a "different technical approach" to superintelligence, calling it an "age of research" company. He also disclosed SSI was raising at a $32B valuation and declined an acquisition offer from Meta, with his cofounder marking the only departure.

Sutskever has been out of the spotlight since his exit from OpenAI, with SSI quietly working in the shadows - but his words carry massive weight in the AI world. His take on a "return to research" over compute comes at an awkward time, as the majority of the industry continues pouring massive money into scaling infrastructure.

When the godfather of modern AI scaling says scaling is over, either he's wrong or billions in infrastructure investment are misallocated.

TODAY IN CRYPTO

Texas Becomes First U.S. State to Buy Bitcoin

Texas just pulled the trigger on the Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve with a $5 million purchase of BlackRock's IBIT ETF - the first step toward a $10 million allocation and the first Bitcoin buy by any U.S. state.

Senator Charles Schwertner was blunt about the logic: Texas "should have the option of evaluating the best performing asset over the last 10 years."

The position now sits alongside ~$667 million in SPY and ~$34 million in a Janus Henderson fund. A comptroller spokesman called IBIT a "placeholder for the first direct state funds investment" in Bitcoin. The goal is still direct self-custody once legal and custody frameworks are ready.

Texas also bought the dip. Texas Blockchain Council president Lee Bratcher confirmed the purchase went through on November 20th around $87K.

It's not huge in dollar terms, but it's a precedent. One U.S. state has now budgeted for Bitcoin, bought a spot ETF as a regulated entry point, and stated publicly that self-custody is the endgame.

This gives every other state a ready-made playbook for treating Bitcoin as a treasury asset, not just a speculative trade. The first domino just fell.

Want to share The Future of Disruptive Tech with a friend, family member, or coworker? Pass this link along to them.

Thanks for reading!

Until next time,

Damon James