Daily TEA- Google’s Cringey Event, Oracle’s AI Pivot, and AI Education Shifts?
Google Pixel Event Fails, Oracle’s OpenAI Deal, Ackman’s AI School, Smart Glasses Launch, Coinbase AI Payments, and more.
Hello, dear TEA-mates, here's what you need to know today, Thursday, August 21, 2025, 10:00 PM EDT.
1. 📱 Google’s Pixel Event Called a ‘Cringefest’ by TechCrunch?
TechCrunch critiques Google’s recent Pixel event on August 20, 2025, labeling it a “cringefest” due to awkward hosting by Jimmy Fallon. Examples of his awkwardness included shouting “I P 6 8! I P 6 8!” to feign excitement about water resistance—a feature since 2018—and a surreal exchange with Fallon keeping it “PG” amid over-the-top color commentary, highlighting a disconnect with the audience and underscoring the need for better customer understanding. Read More: TechCrunch
☕ TEA For Thought: Did Fallon dress in a black shirt to mimic Steve Jobs? LOL. This GOOGLE event clearly taught us one of the most important lessons: do your KYC—Know Your Customers—before doing anything.
2. 🤝 Oracle’s Cloud Business Booms with AI Deals?
Bloomberg highlights Oracle’s resurgence in the AI era, driven by its cloud business, with a landmark deal with OpenAI on August 20, 2025, potentially the largest cloud contract ever. The company’s Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) has secured major clients like TikTok, xAI, and Nvidia, significantly boosting revenue with AI-focused data centers. Despite a negative cash flow from massive investments, OCI’s growth positions Oracle as a key player in the AI infrastructure market. Read More: Bloomberg
☕ TEA For Thought: It’s funny how Larry Ellison turned around after 15 years. Not sure how he feels when what he does now contradicts what he thought 15 years ago. Better now than never.
3. 🎓 Bill Ackman Launches AI-Focused School Rejecting DEI?
MSN reports that Bill Ackman is backing Alpha School, launching a New York City location in September 2025, which uses AI to condense core subjects into two hours daily while avoiding DEI topics. With existing sites in Texas, Florida, and California, and plans for global expansion, the school emphasizes hands-on activities and unconventional “guides,” raising questions about scalability. Read More: MSN
☕ TEA For Thought: Yeah, this is definitely the future. The question is how to scale? How to provide this sort of education across the globe?
4. 👓 Harvard Dropouts Launch AI Smart Glasses?
TechCrunch announces the late 2025 release of “Halo,” AI-powered smart glasses by Harvard dropouts Ardayfio and Nguyen, designed to listen and record every conversation. Building on last year’s Meta Ray-Ban facial-recognition tech, this innovation from dropouts challenges the value of Ivy League degrees as they lead new ventures. Read More: TechCrunch
☕ TEA For Thought: I remember reading through the research done by these two last year when they added facial-recognition capabilities to the Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses—how time flies. Ardayfio and Nguyen dropped out of Harvard to create Halo. Things like this make me wonder the point of Ivy League education when the dropouts start new companies where the ones who finish degrees strive to work for them.
5. 💸 Coinbase Bets on AI-Powered Payments?
Bloomberg reports that Coinbase is leveraging AI and stablecoins in a “Crypto x AI” hackathon held August 20, 2025, in Brooklyn, promoting its x402 protocol for instant microtransactions. Aiming to shift from speculative trading to payment infrastructure, Coinbase faces competition from Stripe, PayPal, and Visa, bolstered by new US stablecoin regulations, though adoption remains uncertain. Read More: Bloomberg
☕ TEA For Thought: Well, this is the future, the combo of AI and Crypto.
TEAHEE Moment
Stay sharp, stay informed. Have a great weekend and see you Monday!
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