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Alex Karp, the CEO of Palantir, is calling himself a progressive — and the timing is hard to miss. Following the Democrats' midterm wins in two thousand twenty six, Karp's political rebranding raises familiar questions about Silicon Valley's relationship with power and which way the wind is blowing.
Shifting to artificial intelligence, LG Research has released its K-Exaone two point five language model API to the public at no cost. It's a notable move in a crowded field, and free access tends to accelerate adoption fast. Whether it challenges the dominant players remains to be seen, but the price point is certainly an opening move worth watching.
And on a story that sits at the edge of technology and the natural world, scientists are actively mapping one of the planet's last truly wild ecosystems. Their goal is to create a living record of biodiversity — not just for conservation, but to help us understand what intact nature once looked like before human activity reshaped so much of it.
Three very different stories, one common thread — humans navigating systems larger than themselves. Keep surfing. Tech Beat out.
