Contrary Research Tech Trends Report, a 352 pages report covering all major AI trends & sectors was just released by @Contrary_Res Here are some interesting key findings ​ - Healthcare is now the biggest category for AI spending ​ - U.S. healthcare spending is up ~400% since 1970, yet life expectancy still falls behind other developed countries ​ - Most ChatGPT usage is for practical help, writing, and seeking information (8.5% ask "How to advice") ​ - Top 100 AI startups reach $5M ARR in ~24 months vs 37 months for top 100 SaaS companies ​ - Clifford Chance, one of the largest global law firm cut 10% of its London staff after adopting AI ​ - Autonomous taxis are already cheaper than human drivers (<$0.50/mile vs ~$2.00/mile for ride-sharing) ​ - Drone deliveries are projected to grow 10x from 2024 to 2029, surpassing 50M annually ​ - Trust in media is below 65% across most sources (most trusted channel is The Weather Channel) ​ - 75% of Gen Z think AI partners could fully replace human companionship ​ - 25% of adults (age 18–39) believe AI could replace real-life romantic relationships Thanks @kwharrison13 for sharing

Hopped on a call with more than a dozen of privacy teams so far and I've spotted three things ​ 1. Privacy founders are built different. ​ The minimum standard required to launch privacy project is at least being aware/understand cryptography, able to identify pros and cons of different types of techniques. The purpose of privacy is not just about privacy. It's about utility, usage, and user experience that can blend into existing routine (payments, defi, banking, etc). ​ Even if some projects are considered "privacy wrappers", the understanding required to launch a privacy project is quite high compared to other sectors. ​ Many are cryptographers that have spent years understanding & working on privacy tech + spent time to under their target users and onboard them. ​ Many projects out there are either (i) about to launch their biggest set of products/features or (ii) have just launched an alpha/beta of their privacy products. ​ Privacy tech are about to become practical, usable as part everyday users routine (private transfers, private swap, private defi with decent UX and decent liquidity) ​ 2. Demand for privacy is here. ​ From both retail and institutions, some teams are already working on PoC with major institutions and enterprises. Some are already charging millions in fee for offering privacy/untraceability experience. Some have onboarded lots of builders building unique privacy use cases like private prediction markets, private launchpad, private neobanks, etc) ​ The goal from privacy projects side is to make sure that the cost doesn't get passed onto retail users. Even if they do, the costs are pushed towards being as negligible as the usual gas fee. ​ [Will discuss the different types of demand, users, and adoption a lot more in our upcoming privacy industry report] ​ 3. Privacy founders on Solana + on their own chains are usually very responsive and always-on. ​ Several founders and teams reached out after seeing my privacy posts. I also reached out based on you guys' recommendations. ​ The observation is that the responsive ones (i.e. reply, chat, etc.) are usually those on Solana + those who have their own L1s (outside of EVM). Some only comment under my post. ​ As an observer, my confidence is shifting.

Vitalik latest post ​ - L1 is scaling, rollup-centric roadmap to help scale L1 doesn't make sense - L2s should differentiate themselves by building more specialized L2s - e.g. focus on privacy, specialized apps, non-financial apps like social, identity, ai - or make it very fast & scale it extreme level of TPS (to handle high-volume use cases on gaming, defi, ai) ​ tl;dr -> L2s go build something unique/niche to attract demand ​ Perfect time to double down on privacy, ai, and consumer use cases after all?