In this issue:

OVERWORLD:
-Babe wake up… The Saudis are back at it.-
-Mini-Stories: OpenAI steals, then plays stupid.-
+ Elon Musk cancels Don Lemons show after interview.-

THE DEPTHS:
-Damn, they’re good: Moscow subways-

“Maybe my fairy tale has a different ending than I dreamed it would.
But that's OK.”
— Kim Kardashian

✦Trend Picks✦

Architecture

Babe wake up… The Saudis are back at it.

Have you ever wanted to… play an 18-hole golf course underneath a triangular monolith monument overlooking the sea by the coastal Gulf of Aqaba as a cluster of golden apartments glisten above you like crystal formations?

Cool, Saudi Arabia’s you covered. For people who have a very certain type of psychosis, a utopian flagship golf community exactly like that is being built. It’s called Gidori, and it’s part of Neom.

In case you didn’t know: Neom is a $1T utopia being built in the 16,000 km Saudi Arabian Desert. It’ll be operating independently from Saudi Arabia’s government - meaning it has its own judicial system and taxes owned by the country’s public investment fund.

Gidori, the Neom golf town, will feature cutting-edge luxury variants of a hotel, apartments, villas, an 18-hole golf course, a beach club, restaurants, spas, and hiking trails

That’s not all: Gidori is part of Neom’s nine other development projects in The Gulf of Aqaba that include:

✦Let’s crack our skull onto the wall of realism.✦

If you’ve got average brain capacity, you’re probably thinking: “Dude, that’s fucking stupid, it’s gonna fuck shit up.”

And you are likely correct. Sadly, they do not hand out prizes to people who predict trillion-dollar environmental suicide operations.

A recent update video for The Line claims that “millions of cubic meters of earth and water are being moved per week.” With just a smidge of environmental intuition, you’d know how unsafe that sounds.

Even though it isn’t finished, experts say that The Line could potentially risk the lives of migratory bird species - as they’ll crash into it and die.

Also… the Saudis don’t have that much cash.

Don’t get it twisted, they’re by no means broke - but their cash levels have fallen by about three quarters to ~$15B, the lowest level since 2020, as spending on giga-projects continues to escalate.

According to the Hustle, experts are saying that completing these projects might require the government to add the ridiculous sum of $270B into the country’s wealth fund by 2030. Baffling.

✦Mini Stories✦

-OpenAI steals, then plays stupid.-
-Elon Musk cancels Don Lemons show after interview.-

🤖 OpenAI is, once again, playing dumb to avoid a lawsuit.
Yesterday, WSJ dropped a 10-minute interview with OpenAI’s CTO, Mira Murati - and it was odd.

WSJ’s Joanna Stern was there to probe Murati about Sora, OpenAI’s video generator. Standard AI questions about future potential, safety concerns, and copyright were asked.

Then, a simple question left Murati in an awkward mess: “What data was used to train Sora?”

Murati hesitated, grimaced, and stuttered, just to say that she “isn’t sure,” and that she isn’t “going to go into the details about the data that was used.”

In case you didn’t know: Data sets used to train AI models come from billions and billions of text, video, and image data that most likely are under copyright law. This is AI development’s greatest threat right now - and it’s why the New York Times is suing them for copyright infringement.

It’s no wonder Murati has to cater to vagueness. One tidbit of information that might hint at infringement could pull the rug under OpenAI’s feet.

Still, it’s shady - OpenAI has grown into one of the most valuable companies in history by ripping the works of millions of authors, artists, directors, and writers. And they’re probably going to get away with it.

Here’s the video, dropping you off exactly at the awkwardness at 4:23 minutes.

🚫 Don Lemon interviews Elon - Elon immediately cancels his show
Last summer, Elon pledged to Don Lemon before all of X: “You will receive our full support. The digital town square is for all.”

It was exciting. Don Lemon was one of many media stars signed to broadcast their content on X. And fittingly, the first episode was going to be an interview with Elon.

Yesterday, all of that build-up was flushed down the toilet.

Lemon claims that after an hour-and-a-half-long interview which was “tense at times”, Musk decided to cancel Lemon’s show. “Apparently, free speech absolutism doesn’t apply when it comes to questions about him from people like me,” Lemon said.

It’s unclear specifically what motivated Elon’s decision, but in a recent X post, he said: “His approach was basically just ‘CNN, but on social media’, which doesn’t work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying.”

The episode is still going to launch on X on the 18th of March, just not in commercial partnership with X.

✦Quick hits✦

• Andrew Tate might be extradited from Romania to face UK law for sexual violence and physical abuse violations.

• Neil Young, veteran rock musician, is returning to Spotify 2 years after his protest against Joe Rogan, who he alleged had spread “fake information about vaccines.”

• Solana’s price reached $160, its highest level since January 2022 off the back of meme coins. Meme tokens such as “jeo boden” and “dogwifhat” are the primary catalysts. Very funny.

• The US House of Representatives passed the TikTok ban bill. Now it’s going to the Senate. A spokesperson for the foreign ministry of China accused the US of Senate “surpressing TikTok,” despite TikTok being banned in China.

• Substack saw an 80% surge in fashion and beauty content from the previous year. This comes as influencers are tired of Instagrams fleeting nature, and are moving to Substack to sling subscriptions to loyal fans who are willing to pay.

• You should buy this: A glorious former Cyprus Embassy in London for £25 million.

• Watch: Space One, a Tokyo-based rocket start up, just launched a rocked - and it exploded

• Read: How to Pick the Perfect Reading Chair

THE DEPTHS

More Architecture

Damn, they’re good: Moscow subways

Moscow has the 2nd busiest subway (after Tokyo) for two reasons: First, Moscow has 13 million residents. Second, it’s so beautiful that people just want to be in there.

Unlike the cold and purely functional design seen in many other cities, Moscow's subways were created with beauty and artistry in mind.

Each station tells a different story, reflecting themes of Soviet ideology, Russian folklore, and significant historical events. The architects and artists of the time poured their talents into making these subterranean spaces feel like palaces for the people.

Opened in 1935, the Moscow Metro was envisioned by Soviet leaders as a symbol of technological advancement and cultural prestige.

This grand vision is evident in the elaborate design of its stations. And elaborate is just what it is: it’s adorned with chandeliers, intricate mosaics, and statues that celebrate the country's history and achievements.

The ambiance is simply elegant and grand.

✦Rapid fire facts.✦

✦ A pretty place to hide from bombs: During WW2, some metro stations were used as bomb shelters during World War II.

✦ Secret tunnels: There are rumors about a secret parallel subway system, known as Metro-2, allegedly built for the use of government and emergency services, stretching even deeper beneath the city than the public metro.

✦ It’s freaking big: The network has rapidly expanded over the years and now boasts over 200 stations, spanning more than 400 kilometers (about 250 miles) of route, making it one of the largest subway systems worldwide.

✦ Sniper precision: All trains on the Moscow Metro are run on a precise schedule, with a minimal interval between trains of just 90 seconds during peak hours.