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Published 14.07.2025.09.00.MON
Grok Goes Galactic, Perplexity Browses, and Bitcoin Blasts Past $118K
Hey everyone, Ritik here! The last few days felt like a tech-news supernova: xAI dropped Grok 4 Heavy, Perplexity turned its AI into a full-blown browser, OpenAI tapped the brakes on its first open-weight model, Tesla finally planted a showroom in Mumbai, and Bitcoin rocketed to an eye-watering $118K. I’ve brewed the strongest coffee I own, devoured the release notes, and condensed the noise into five must-know stories you can read before your latte cools.
1. xAI Unleashes Grok 4 and the “Heavy” Super-Model
“From 200K GPUs to your phone.”
What’s Happening: Grok 4 is here, and xAI claims it’s now the most intelligent closed model on Earth. Built on Colossus—Elon Musk’s 200,000-GPU super-computer—the new model combines scaled next-token pre-training with an order-of-magnitude-larger reinforcement-learning run that teaches Grok to wield built-in tools (Python interpreter, real-time web search, deep X semantic queries) without human hand-holding. Grok 4 tops ARC-AGI V2 at 15.9%, nearly doubling Claude Opus 4, and its “Heavy” variant becomes the first model to cross 50% on Humanity’s Last Exam while hitting 96.7% on HMMT-style math. A 256K context window, multimodal vision, and live camera input power a revamped voice mode that sees what you see and answers instantly. Grok 4 is rolling out to SuperGrok, new “Heavy” tier users, Premium+ subscribers, and via API with SOC 2, GDPR, and CCPA compliance. xAI vows to keep scaling RL and multimodality, promising smarter, faster, more tool-savvy models in future releases.
Why It Matters to You: If you build or buy AI, Grok 4’s API offers frontier-grade reasoning, live data retrieval, and huge context—meaning richer chatbots, deeper analytics, and fewer hallucinations for everything from coding helpers to financial research.
Why It Matters to the World: By leapfrogging benchmarks, xAI intensifies the arms race against OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic, pushing compute demand, energy consumption, and safety debates to new extremes while redefining “state of the art” every few months.
2. Perplexity Launches Comet– An AI-Native Web Browser
“Search, shop, and schedule without leaving the tab.”
What’s Happening: Perplexity has unveiled Comet, a Chromium-based browser that bakes its AI answer engine and agentic assistant into every browsing session. Available first to $200/mo Perplexity Max subscribers (wider invite rollout later), Comet sets Perplexity as the default search, summarizes pages, auto-books hotels, buys products, sends emails, and even schedules meetings—all from a sidebar chat. Built-in agent skills mimic Gemini’s Chrome features but claim a “single seamless interaction” flow tuned for longer research tasks. Comet can import Chrome extensions and bookmarks in one click and runs on Windows and macOS, with mobile versions hinted for future releases. CEO Aravind Srinivas says owning a browser is “the best way to build agents” and positions Comet to siphon users from Google, especially if antitrust rulings force Chrome divestitures. Perplexity also teases future privacy controls and deeper workspace features.
Why It Matters to You: Early adopters get an all-in-one AI workspace that can draft emails, refill carts, and digest 20 tabs—saving hours of context switching and subscription stacking if you live in Chrome today.
Why It Matters to the World: If Comet sticks, the browser market—long dominated by Google—could fracture, accelerating competition over AI-first interfaces, search royalties, and data-privacy norms across every desktop.
3. OpenAI Postpones Its First Open-Weight Model
“Great power, more safety paperwork.”
What’s Happening: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced the lab is delaying its hotly awaited open-source model—already pushed back once—to run “additional safety tests on high-risk areas.” Unlike GPT-5, this model’s weights will be freely downloadable, giving developers local control and bypassing API latency or censor filters. VP of research Aidan Clark says the model’s capabilities match or exceed OpenAI’s o-series, but releasing immutable weights heightens misuse risk. The decision lands as Moonshot AI unveils Kimi K2, a trillion-parameter open model outperforming GPT-4.1 on some coding tasks, while xAI publicizes Grok 4 Heavy. Altman hints at an “unexpected” breakthrough inside the model but offers no new timeline.
Why It Matters to You: Open-weight access means cheaper self-hosted chatbots and offline privacy, but the delay forces dev teams to keep using paid APIs or inferior open models a bit longer—plan your roadmap accordingly.
Why It Matters to the World: OpenAI’s caution underscores the tension between openness and security; releasing powerful weights could democratize innovation or supercharge disinformation, making governance questions more urgent than ever.
4. Tesla Finally Plants Its Flag in India
“Namaste, Model Y.”
What’s Happening: After years of on-again, off-again talks, Tesla secured a trade certificate from Mumbai’s Andheri RTO, clearing legal hurdles to import, display, test, and sell EVs. A flagship showroom opens July 15 at Bandra Kurla Complex, backed by a nearby Sakinaka service hub. Initial deliveries—likely Model Y—could start in August, though each vehicle faces a steep 70% import duty until local assembly materializes. Tesla’s India-specific X account teased “Coming soon” with a Mumbai skyline. The move aligns with India’s eased localization rules for foreign EV makers and follows Tesla’s Saudi expansion. Analysts predict rollouts in Delhi, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad next, alongside long-term factory negotiations.
Why It Matters to You: Indian buyers finally get Tesla tech—autopilot, Supercharger network, brand cachet—but should brace for premium pricing and limited service coverage until the company scales locally.
Why It Matters to the World: India, the world’s third-largest auto market, is pivotal for global EV adoption; Tesla’s entry pressures domestic rivals (Tata, Mahindra) and global incumbents to accelerate electrification in a price-sensitive, infrastructure-starved arena.
5. Bitcoin Smashes $118K—Second ATH in 24 Hours
“Crypto winter? More like supernova.”
What’s Happening: Bitcoin blasted past Thursday’s $113.8K record, peaking at $118.9K on Friday, fueled by institutional inflows and pro-crypto rhetoric from U.S. presidential frontrunner Donald Trump. The rally follows a spring rebound from April’s $76K dip and last summer’s $49K trough. Traders eye $150K as a potential “FOMO ignition” level. Drivers include ETF accumulation, hedge-fund positioning ahead of the August halving anniversary, and renewed narratives around Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset—underscored by Trump’s March executive order to establish a national Bitcoin reserve. Volatility remains: 5% intraday swings persist, and leverage ratios on major exchanges hover near 2021 highs.
Why It Matters to You: Portfolio holders enjoy fresh gains, but extreme volatility and over-leveraged markets demand disciplined risk management; dollar-cost averaging and secure custody beat chasing parabolic candles.
Why It Matters to the World: Another Bitcoin all-time high nudges mainstream finance further into crypto, influencing central-bank policy debates, energy-consumption controversies, and the geopolitical chessboard of digital-asset reserves.
My Creative Conclusion
From Grok’s GPU-fueled brainpower to Comet’s AI-native browsing, tech keeps sprinting toward a future where software thinks, shops, and even reasons for us—if regulators, safety teams, and electricity grids can keep up. Tesla’s India push proves EV dreams still crave new roads, while Bitcoin’s moonshot reminds us markets remain delightfully irrational. Stay curious, guard your private keys, and keep an eye on those GPU clusters—because next week’s “state of the art” might already be training on a 2 a.m. night-shift server somewhere.
— Ritik Sharma Founder, RSN (Ritik Sharma Newsletter)