SpaceX and OpenAI Exclude Chinese Investors; Chongqing Animal Abuse Protests Intensify; OpenAI Exposes AI-Powered Bot Network

Key Takeaways

1. Pake reaches 50K GitHub stars with new features, demonstrating sustained open-source traction.
2. Levelso revives a 28-year-old map using Fable AI, showcasing AI's potential for legacy content recovery.
3. SpaceX IPO prices at $135/share, and both SpaceX and OpenAI exclude Chinese investors, signaling accelerated capital decoupling.
4. OpenAI exposes a suspected Chinese propaganda bot network using ChatGPT to generate anti-US tech policy content.
5. Massive protests in Chongqing over animal abuse lead to police action and international calls for an anti-cruelty law.
6. Tibo warns founders against selling startups, sharing painful earnout experience and eventual $1M MRR success.

1. Open Source Projects and Product Milestones

1. Pake reaches 50K stars on GitHub with recent updates including Cmd/Ctrl+F search, right-click image/video download, and pnpm 11 fix. — via 1
2. TypingMind ranks #2 on Product Hunt after its launch. — via 1
3. Droid introduces an automated security review feature. — via 1
4. Levelsio plans to switch from Wise Business to Stripe Business Banking due to 10-14 day delays on large transfers. — via 1

2. AI Applications and Misuse

1. Levelsio uses Fable AI to revive a 28-year-old custom map into a web-based Quake 2 game, highlighting AI's ability to recover legacy content. — via 1
2. OpenAI reveals a suspected Chinese bot network using ChatGPT to generate English comments and political cartoons criticizing US tech policy, specifically avoiding Xi Jinping references. The accounts also harass Chinese dissidents. — via 1

3. Capital Markets and Geopolitical Tensions

1. SpaceX IPO prices at $135 per share, and both SpaceX and OpenAI exclude investors from mainland China and Hong Kong. Analysis suggests this marks accelerated US-China capital decoupling, with Anthropic likely to follow. — via 1 2
2. US Secretary of State Rubio announces sanctions on Cuban state-owned oil company CUPET, accusing the regime of using energy for social control and corruption. — via 1

4. Social Issues and Founder Insights

1. Chongqing protests erupt after a man brutally beat a dog at Sam's Club, leading to days of large-scale demonstrations and police clearing the scene. Bloomberg and other international media report the case, renewing calls for China's Anti-Cruelty Animal Law. — via 1 2 3 4 5
2. A teacher in Chengde exposes a school evaluation system with privileged scoring for leaders, rotation of “excellent” ratings, and penalties for colleagues on leave, sparking debate on education fairness. — via 1
3. Tibo advises founders against selling startups, describing earnout as “two years in prison,” loss of product control, and psychological shock from sudden wealth, despite eventually reaching $1M MRR. — via 1