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Route 66. The name alone evokes nostalgia for a simpler, freer time in American history, when roadies stopped for a hot dog with ketchup, then drove into ocher sunsets suspended over the Mojave desert. Ever since it was built in 1926, the Mother Road has gained mythical status, drawing millions of visitors from around the world yearning for a taste of old Americathe one before the interstate highway system favored speed over experience. For Rhys Martin, who has spent years on the road with his camera, this isn’t what Route 66 is about. Yes, you can travel back in time and get a glimpse of Americana, but the route isn’t fossilized in the past. It’s very much still breathing. “Route 66 is more than just this 1950s sanitized version of American history,” he says. “It’s diverse, it’s evolving, and I like to say that no matter who you are or where you’re from, somewhere on Route 66, you’ll find your reflection.” Martin, who manages the Preserve Route 66 program at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is part of a group of advocates and preservationists who want to change the narrative around Route 66 from one that paints the road as a mirror into the past to one that reflects the present, where many communities still live and people still work. [Screenshot: courtesy of the author] His team’s mission has now culminated in Route 66 Rewind: a browser-based experience that lets users drive across 33 landmarks along the route from their own (virtual) vintage car or motorcycle. You can steer the wheel, pick a radio station, and see how the Midpoint Cafe or the U-Drop Inn looked in previous decades. [Photo: Kansas Historic Route 66 Association] The experience was codeveloped by Google Arts & Culture with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and is part of a larger storytelling hub that lives on the Google Arts & Culture platform. The team turned archival photographs into videos using Googles AI video generator Veo, composed the radio music using music generation model Lyria, and wrote the radio commentary using Gemini. The result is a sim road trip that uses AI in the best possible way: to direct the narrative back to people, and highlight the human experience that continues to shape the route today. [Screenshot: courtesy of the author] Route 66: A corridor of stories Martin first saw the road through the lens of a camera. Growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he’d heard of Route 66, but he knew only the broad strokes. Then one day in 2013, he hopped into his late father’s Mustang and drove to Miami, Oklahoma, to photograph the Coleman Theatrea 1929 vaudeville theater with a facade “so ornate it had no business being in the town of Miami,” he recalls. The surprising discovery had him wondering: What else was on the highway? Martins curiosity led him on a two-year road trip across Route 66 that grew into a decade-long love affair with the people he met along the way. “Eventually I realized it’s a corridor of stories,” he says. One of the biggest misconceptions about Route 66 is that the destinations along its route have faded into ghost towns. The construction of the interstate highway system in the 50s and 60s, followed by the decommissioning of the route in 1985, no doubt stripped many of these towns of their purpose. As travel evolved and car speeds got faster, the need for frequent gas stations and motels diminished. The government divested. People left towns. But not everyone left. In Tulsa, entrepreneurs like Mary Beth Babcock have spent years revitalizing stretches of the road. In 2019, she transformed the historic Pemco gas station into a souvenir shop called Buck Atoms Cosmic Curios, complete with two very on-brand, 20-foot-tall mascots that double as roadside attractions. That same year, Dutch entrepreneur Sebastiaan de Boorder and his wife, Anna Marie Gonzalez, renovated the 1919 Aztec Motel in Seligman, Arizona, which reopened as the Aztec Motel & Creative Space in 2021. “There is so much development still coming to Route 66, and most of it is mom and pops who’ve always dreamed of having a business on Route 66, Martin says. [Photo: Arizona Preservation Foundation] Today, the American dream that once defined Route 66 looks different. Some might say it doesn’t exist at all. But for Martin, it lives on along the Mother Road. “I agree that the American dream doesn’t quite hit like it used to,” he tells me, “but on Route 66, you still find people who have bought into the cliché that Route 66 means freedom, and they are adding their story to this highway that’s now entering its second century.” [Screenshot: courtesy of the author] AI fills the gaps of archival memory Route 66 is now approaching its centennial. Next year, various destinations along the route will burst into caravans and car parades to celebrate the route’s legacy. But for the team behind Route 66 Rewind, the goal isn’t just to celebrate the past but to galvanize the next generation. “Preservation creates,” says Martin, noting that anytime a building is preserved, it activates the connection people had with it while helping young people engage with the conversation. “That’s how you inspire the next generation to add their story to this long history.” [Screenshot: courtesy of the author] With its AI-powered features and fun UX, Route 66 Rewind presented itself as a way to make history exciting for younger people. But when the team sat down to convey said history, they realized they didn’t know how many of these places looked in their heyday, beyond a few archival photographs. AI became a way to fill in what Amit Sood, the founder and director of Google Arts & Culture, calls “the gaps of archival memory.” The Google team worked with the National Trust team to collect black-and-white photos and written accounts they could use to prompt AI, cross-referencing each output with experts at the Trust. [Screenshot: courtesy of the author] The resulting videos act as miniature time capsules of a bygone era. In Collinsville, Illinois, you can follow ketchup bottles stream past on a conveyor belt inside the now-defunct Brooks Foods ketchup factory. In Lebanon, Missouri, you can peek inside the now-closed Munger Moss Motel, its iconic neon sign flickering under a 1960s sun. [Screenshot: courtesy of the author] But as Sood points out, these dreamy snapshots inspire you to preserve, too. The hope is that the AI-powered vision of, say, the Threatt Filling Stationthe only Black-owned-and-operated gas station during the Jim Crow erawill pique your interest enough for you to visit the storytelling hub and learn about the craftsmen who are now working to restore the building’s “giraffe-stone” exterior. [Screenshot: courtesy of the author] Next year, Route 66 is likely to be designated a National Historic Trail. The designation, which is being championed by members of both the U.S. House and Senate, could help preserve the historic route, boost tourism, and support local economies ahead of the highway’s centennial celebration. In the meantime, perhaps the AI-powered platform will galvanize tourists both domestically and from abroad to get on the road and see how the myth lives on. “The goal is to keep the car rolling down the street and get more people engaged,” Martin says. “It’s going to be a big party [next year], but that’s definitely not the end. Its the start of the next 100 years.”
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E-Commerce
Rare earths monopoly. Unrivaled manufacturing supply chains. Free AI models that rival, or surpass, its American counterparts. More research papers and more STEM doctorates than anyone else. If you are reading a lot about these topics lately, you know how Chinas decades-long strategy to become the top global superpowerand the greatest threat to U.S. world dominationis coming to fruition. What you may not be aware of is the other crucial part of Beijings plans; its industrial ramp up to dominate the most crucial resource on the planet: the oceans. Chinas pursuit of maritime dominance has shifted from a regional ambition to a global reality, driven by a breakneck speed naval expansion that rivals that of the U.S. during World War II. The Asian country has already produced the worlds largest military fleet by ship count (although Washington still dominates in tonnage thanks to its large aircraft carrier groups). Yet Beijings strategy for controlling the Indo-Pacificand beyondrelies on more than just warships; it increasingly depends on gray zone tactics that blur the line between scientific research and military projection. China is systematically deploying dual-use “civilian” assetsfrom oceanographic survey ships to militarized fishing fleetsto map key strategic waterways and assert sovereignty without firing a shot. This “advancing without attacking” doctrine is now escalating with a new class of megastructures designed to solidify China’s permanent presence in contested waters. While the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) challenges U.S. supremacy with advanced carriers like the Fujian and new nuclear carriers in preparation, Beijing is simultaneously rolling out a parallel infrastructure of floating islands and underwater bases. [Image: China State Shipbuilding Corporation] China says that it is built for the blue economythe idea that the oceans are a huge resource still waiting to be untappedwhich is true. But, oh the wonders! These facilities are engineered with military-grade survivability, effectively functioning as forward-operating bases that extend China’s reach far beyond its shores while maintaining a veneer of civilian legitimacy. The latest entries in this network of assets are deep-sea bases, underwater server farms, and, now, a floating research platform engineered to withstand nuclear blasts. Together, these projects form a connected infrastructure designed for long-term operations, resource extraction, and data processing at sea designed not only to gain scientific and industrial advantages but to expand Beijings footprint in the world’s oceans. First of its kind Lets look at these one by one, starting with the most impressive: Detailed in a research paper published earlier this month in the Chinese Journal of Ship Research, the new Deep-Sea All-Weather Resident Floating Research Facility is a 86,000-ton semi-submersible platform described by its developers as a mobile, self-sustaining artificial island. Contracts with the shipyard that will build itthe China State Shipbuilding Corporationspecify a twin-hull vessel 453 feet long and 279 feet wide, with a main deck rising 148 feet above the waterline, according to the South China Morning Post. It is designed to house 238 people for up to four months without resupply. Its an incredible project with no rival anywhere in the world. According to Yang Deqing and his team at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the facility is built for “all-weather, long-term residency.” Its superstructure contains critical compartments for emergency power, communications, and navigation that are hardened to remain operational after a nuclear explosion. [Image: China State Shipbuilding Corporation] The platform is rated to operate in Sea State 7rough seas with waves between 20 feet and 30 feetand to survive typhoons up to Category 17, the highest rating on the Chinese scale. Project leader Lin Zhongqin stated that his team is “racing to complete the design and construction, aiming for operational status by 2028.” The vessel will cruise at approximately 17 miles per hour to conduct deep-sea observations and test mining technologies in areas including the South China Sea. But perhaps the most impressive thing after its absurdly large size and its towering dual-hull design is the material they invented to make it capable of withstand a nuclear shock wave without the weight of traditional heavy armor. The engineers designed a “sandwich bulkhead” using a lattice of corrugated metal tubes. These tubes, folded at a precise 21.25-degree angle with walls just 0.02 inches thick, utilize something technically called a “negative Poissons ratio which means that, unlikestandard materials that bulge outward when compressed, this structure contracts inward and densifies, distributing the impact. They claim their simulations showed a 2.4-inch thick panelroughly the width of a smartphoneoutperforming thicker steel plates. Under a simulated nuclear blast pressure of 25.8 psi (177.83 kilopascals), the design reduced maximum structural displacement by 58.53% compared to conventional armor. An underwater space station China is also deploying a James Bond-like underwater base located at a depth of roughly 6,560 feet in the South China Sea, which appears to be the first out of many. According to project leader Yin Jianping, of the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, the project is a “space station in the sea.” Connected to a fiber-optic network, its pressurized modules are designed to host six scientists for up to a month. The base will investigate how to extract methane hydrateto help satisfy the countrys ever-growing energy needsand survey deposits of rare earth elements, cobalt, and nickel. It will be supported by the drilling ship Meng Xiang and a network of uncrewed submersibles that will double as a surveillance system for the country. In parallel, China has deployed its first commercial underwater data center off the coast of Hainan. A 1,433-ton structure submerged 115 feet deep that houses 24 server racks. Project manager Pu Ding points out that they put the entire data cabin in the deep sea because seawater can help cool down the temperature.” The developers claim this passive cooling can save around 90% of the energy typically used for climate control in land-based centers. A similar test unit near Shanghai will draw power from offshore wind farms, and the company that is building this data center estimates that over 95% of its energy will come from renewable sources. The idea is not new. Microsoft tested it and found out that, indeed, it works great. Surprisingly, the Redmond, Washington company is not working on it anymore and will not scale the idea up. Which is both sadbecause of the huge energy waste that current server farms represent, which could be greatly reduced by natural coolingand shocking because the U.S. is in the middle of a worldwide war for AI domination with China. The latter is not leaving a stone unturned to win that war, which is precisely what this new floating megastructure is all about. Beijing is not going to stop at making your iPhones, your rare earth magnets, and building the best AIs using the largest army of STEM doctors in the world. China wants to become the biggest maritime superpower toojust like Spain, Britain, and the U.S. in past centuries. And we are witnessing its overture in real time.
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E-Commerce
Mark Mansons 2016 book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck delivered some hard truths and prescient advice to millions of readers seeking answers. Now hes building an AI-based application to do the same. At that time, Manson says the self-help field was unrealistic, not very evidence basedjust designed to make you feel good, inspiring him to write a book that offered a more skeptical, realistic, and zero bull shit approach to personal growth and self-help. Nearly a decade later, Manson says hes seeing the same pattern in the digital world, with millions turning to generic AI platforms for guidance, only to receive unrealistic, potentially harmful advice. Thats what inspired him to team up with serial tech entrepreneur Raj Singhwho most recently sold his AI hotel concierge service GoMomentto create on-demand life coaching app Purpose, which launches this week. The AI tool offers users life guidance and actionable steps to solve problems, from career to relationships and beyond. It also seeks to challenge, rather than validate users (something many experts have argued many AI platforms do), albeit in a polite, supportive tone. It pairs existing research into cognitive behavioral therapy with data gathered from users upon sign up, and retains conversation history to track patterns over time. According to an internal survey, 41% of early users said the app has been life-changing. We’ve actually had a number of people tell us that they’ve cried while using it, Manson says. We really tried to build this AI to go deep quickly, to not beat around the bush or do any fake pleasantries. Fast Company caught up with the author-turned-tech-founder from Los Angeles to talk about the legacy of The Subtle Art, whether were ready to share our deepest thoughts with an app, and why AI is the perfect tool to deliver personalized coaching at scale. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Were you surprised by the success of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck? The scope of the success caught me off guard. My pie-in-the-sky dream at the time was a million copies, so the fact that its exceeded that so drastically has been a pleasant surprise. Why do you think it was such a hit? When I got started in this industry in the early 2010s, self-help was very touchy-feely, very woo-woo. It was, in my opinion, unrealistic, not very evidence basedjust designed to make you feel good. It felt like there was a deep hunger, especially among millennials, for a skeptical, realistic, zero-bullshit approach to personal growth and self-help. That was the inspiration. Coincidentally a lot of the cultural observations at the timelike about social media and distraction and chronically comparing ourselves to othershave aged really well. I think I identified early on the world we were heading toward. How has your life changed since? Financial security is probably the single biggest change, and thats great, but being a very successful author is weird in that the book is the celebrity, not me. Im not getting recognized on the street or anything. Its just a bunch of numbers on emails that youre like wow, thats a large number. Then you go back to your same apartment and hang out with your same friends. Why transition from author to tech cofounder? When my career started to blow up, there were opportunities to do seminars and start a coaching business, but I didnt really want to charge somebody $5,000 to spend a weekend in a hotel ballroom with me. Ive been obsessed with this question of, how can we help more people? Like, what does a better version of this industry look like? One of the problems I identified well before ChatGPT came out is that the stuff that actually works doesnt scale, and the stuff that scales doesnt work. My book was read by millions of people, but a book has to talk in broad principles, and the reader needs to connect the dots for themselves. It might move the needle for some people, but not much. What really works is working with an excellent coach or therapist, which is extremely personalized and requires a major investment of time and energy, so it doesnt scale. Then ChatGPT came out, and I heard people were asking it big life questions. I tried it myself, and it does okay in terms of some questions, but not others. It felt like there was an opportunity for a properly trained AI to scale that personalization. How did you meet your cofounder? At a poker game. After ChatGPT came out, I was meeting with AI companies, but they didnt really get it. And then I sat down next to Raj Singh at a poker game just as he was finishing a sabbatical in 2023, and was independently thinking about doing something with AI and mental health. We started chatting, and it turns out we were thinking about the same question. What is Purpose all about? What makes it different from generic AI platforms? Purpose is a personalized AI mentor designed to help you find clarity and direction in your life as soon as possible. One of the biggest issues I see with using ChatGPT for life questions is that its default approach is to validate you. If you complain about your ex-girlfriends, ChatGPT will tell you theyre terrible, and youre a great guy, so just pick yourself up and itll be okay when what you might actually need to hear is like, hey dude, you might be the problem. The goal with Purpose is to build an AI that will challenge your assumptions, poke holes in some of your beliefs, point out blind spots, and help you reconsider how you see your own approach. The app does take a positive tone, though. Theres a fine line between flattery and positivity, and its something were trying to calibrate all the time. It changes based on the user, the context, the issue. Part of our onboarding experience is designed to get an early read of the users personality traits. The AI speaks to people differently based on how agreeable they are. Some people want very direct advice, others want it to be a bit more encouraging and positive, and its something were working on fine tuning all the time. The entire field of psychology is already in all these LLMs. The value is finding that calibration. ChatGPT is poorly calibrated for it, partly because of the sycophancy, partly because of the lack of personalization, partly because of the poor memory. Were trying to fix those things. Are people open to receiving that advice from a bot? When you’re talking to a humaneven a trusted person, like a therapistit’s almost impossible to not worry what that person thinks about you. With AI, I dont care. I dont feel shame: I just say what I feel. And what Ive also found is that when it gives me harsh feedback, I dont feel that social anxiety thats attached to criticism or negative feedback from a person. What about privacy and security concerns? Trust is by far the most important thing in this space. We are building Purpose with all the highest security and privacy regulations, like HIAA and GDPR. Conversations are anonymized on each device, so even if somebody puts a gun to my head or Rajs, we cant share your conversations, because we dont have any way to identify individual users. Its also entirely self-fundedwhich is something Raj and I feel very strongly aboutto keep the proper incentives in place and not jeopardize the goal and mission of the product. Whats next for you personally? I am going to be strongly involved in Purposes product design, but I do feel like its probably time to write another book. Its been about five years, and I need to get back on that horse. Did Purpose suggest that? Not specifically. But it probably would have if I asked.
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E-Commerce
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