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- 🏃♂️➡️ FTRD #23 — Robots that run a marathon, EVs that charge in 5 minutes, and tech that now lives behind a paywall
🏃♂️➡️ FTRD #23 — Robots that run a marathon, EVs that charge in 5 minutes, and tech that now lives behind a paywall
This week, we saw technology stretch its legs (literally), batteries gain superpowers, AI knock on your fridge, and Elon Musk’s empire take another hit. But beyond the headlines, a pattern emerges: we’re not just building smarter tools, we’re building systems that charge for access to life itself.
Future Daily
April 21, 2025
🤖 Robots complete a half marathon — slowly, but independently
Two quadruped robots from ETH Zurich completed a full 21 km half marathon without human intervention or battery swaps.
They took over 6 hours, but finished the race entirely on their own — a milestone in autonomous endurance and real-world adaptability.
Not fast. But very real.
🔋 CATL unveils a 1,500 km EV battery and 5-minute charging breakthrough
Battery giant CATL announced three massive innovations:
• EV battery with a 1,500 km range
• 5-minute charge delivering 520 km
• Sodium-ion battery to enter mass production in 2025
Energy infrastructure might finally be catching up to the electric dream.
🏠 Samsung to use AI to predict appliance failures — for paying users only
Samsung announced that its smart appliances will soon use AI to detect anomalies and predict breakdowns before they happen.
But there's a catch: this feature will be locked behind a monthly subscription.
Your fridge might warn you before dying — if your credit card is up to date.
📱 Meta to use AI to detect real user ages on Instagram
Meta will begin using AI to estimate users’ real ages on Instagram, aiming to automatically apply stricter privacy settings for minors.
It’s a move toward platform responsibility — but also another reminder of how much these platforms already know.
🎙️ Netflix might launch video podcast platform to rival YouTube
Netflix is reportedly working on a video podcast service, expanding beyond shows and films into formats dominated by YouTube, TikTok, and Spotify.
Streaming is no longer about cinema. It’s about screen time.
✈️ China sends a Boeing 737 back to the US — citing tariff-related costs
In a twist to US-China trade tensions, China returned a brand-new Boeing 737 before it ever flew.
Rising costs due to new US tariffs made the deal financially unviable — and the jet is now grounded in geopolitics.
🛰️ Palantir defends its AI-powered immigration surveillance
A Palantir executive publicly defended the company’s role in US immigration surveillance programs, reigniting debates over ethics, government AI, and human rights.
When security meets big data, the moral line gets blurry.
📉 Meta internal emails reveal struggle to keep Facebook culturally relevant
Leaked documents show that Meta executives are deeply concerned about Facebook’s fading cultural relevance — especially among Gen Z.
Despite billions of users, the platform seems increasingly... invisible.
🚨 Tesla enters “code red” mode — and Elon Musk faces pressure to step down
Tesla is facing slumping sales, investor doubts, and rising internal pressure.
Sources say the company is in “code red” mode, and some stakeholders are pushing for Elon Musk to step down as CEO.
Innovation is one thing. Consistency, apparently, is another.
💭 Time to reflect
Spoiler alert: if you haven’t watched episode 1 of Black Mirror season 7, “Common People”, you might want to skip this part.
In the episode, a woman suffers a brain-dead accident — but remains “alive” thanks to a streaming platform that transmits her consciousness, in real time, for subscribers.
Her life depends on views, upgrades, and a premium subscription. Her family, desperate, starts monetizing every moment just to keep her online.
It’s framed as a miracle. But it’s actually a trap.
Sounds like fiction. But today, we're already seeing:
• Cars that stop working when payments fail
• AI features locked behind subscriptions
• Home appliances that offer diagnostics — only if you’re a paid user
• Premium tiers that decide how smart your assistant really is
So the question isn't how far technology can go.
It’s who’s in control when it gets there — and what we signed away in the terms of service.
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See you tomorrow,
Gabriel & Matheus
Future Daily
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