Rami's Readings #112 - New DeepSeek R1-0528 Model ✨
The latest on AI, LLMs, DeepSeek R1-0528, Pitfalls in Reasoning, Record Labels, TSMC & the UAE, Coffee & Chickpeas, and more.
Welcome to Rami’s Readings #112 - a weekly digest of interesting articles, papers, videos, and X threads from my various sources across the Internet. Expect a list of reads covering AI, technology, business, culture, fashion, travel, and more. Learn about what I do at ramisayar.com/about.
👋🏼 Welcome New Subscribers
Hello! A hearty thank you for subscribing to Rami's Readings! There are quite a few new subscribers this week, thanks to a recommendation from The AI Ethics Brief. I am thrilled to have you on board! In this newsletter, I curate the best papers, tweets, and articles I have read during the week focusing on LLMs, AI, economics, business, and technology news. You can learn more about me on my website.
📈 Top Recent Editions According to Substack
This week’s newsletter is a tad shorter for reasons I’ll be sharing on LinkedIn this Monday. ☺️
🤖 AI Reads
DeepSeek Released R1-0528
Notes: DeepSeek released an update to its R1 model. The original model triggered billions in equity losses (read #95) and forced a rethinking of the “bigger is better” mantra. This new release brings improvements to for JSON output and function calling, critical for agentic applications and reasoning. The model is competitive with OpenAI’s o3 and is still MIT-licensed. HuggingFace.
LLM Function Calls Don't Scale; Code Orchestration Is Simpler, More Effective
Notes: Yes. 😉
When Thinking Fails: The Pitfalls of Reasoning for Instruction-Following in LLMs
Notes: True in humans too.
💼 Business Reads
Record Labels in Talks to License Music to AI Firms Udio, Suno
Notes: Relevant to all copyright holders.
TSMC Evaluates Building Advanced Chip Plant in the UAE
Notes: After Arizona, I didn’t expect the UAE to be the next location. The momentum around AI & technology in the UAE is getting stronger.
Andreessen Horowitz in Deal Talks Valuing Abridge AI at $5.3 Billion
Notes: That is quite the jump in valuation. Wild!
🔀 Other Reads
Introducing Zod 4
Notes: Impressive release! I prefer starting with JSON Schema (critical for structured output in AI apps) before converting to TypeScript, so I am biased towards AJV. But Zod 4’s native TypeScript to JSON Schema conversion is compelling enough to make me rethink my approach. 🤔
How ‘Coffees’ Made With Chickpeas and Barley Compare
Notes: I am willing to give this “coffee bean” a try. I like chicory in coffee already. Has anyone given it a shot?
Signing off from Boston, MA.