Rami's Readings #124 - MIT's GenAI Report
The latest on AI, LLMs, MIT GenAI Report, DeepSeek-V3.1, a16z, AI Winter, and more.
Welcome to Rami’s Readings #124 - 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 recommendations from The AI Ethics Brief, Global Fintech Insider, and The VC Corner. 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
Vacation Notice: I’ll be on holiday from August 25 to September 21, 2025. You may receive a few surprise newsletters during this time, but I won’t be following my regular publishing schedule. As mentioned in recent editions, this will be the last scheduled newsletter until after September 21.
🤖 AI Reads
An MIT Report That 95% of AI Pilots Fail Spooked Investors
Note: The stock market seems to be skittish with the extremely frothy “AI” company valuations. It seems any report e.g. Sam Altman saying we’re in a bubble, MIT NANDA, etc. (credible or not) is cause for investors to sell. It also doesn’t help that Mary Meeker (from Morgan Stanley & Internet Trends Report fame) recently reported most AI startups are just burning cash despite enormous revenue in her newly revived Trends reports for AI.
The MIT NANDA report went viral with so many responses to it. From my experience, the report is directionally correct: most companies are struggling to capture value from Generative AI not because of the technology itself, but because of organizational culture, structure, and leadership.
DeepSeek-V3.1
Notes: DeepSeek released a new model, but it is a minor improvement over previous versions.
Building a16z’s Personal AI Workstation
Notes: Not sure why a16z is building desktops now, but here we are. 😕
Exclusive: Databricks to Buy Sequoia-Backed Tecton in AI Agent Push
Notes: I’ve never used Tecton, but this makes sense. Another Databricks announcement related to real-time ML.
💼 Business Reads
Is the AI Winter Finally Upon Us?
Notes: In my view, not yet. We’re simply entering an era where engineering effort, rather than model training, will be the primary driver of AI innovation at scale.
Sorry, New York. The Era of the Big City May Be Over.
Notes: Nahhh!
That’s it for today! This edition is a bit shorter than usual as I get ready for vacation. As mentioned at the top, this will be the last regularly scheduled newsletter until after September 21. See you soon! Signing off from Redmond, WA.