WHAT’S INSIDE:

• Top consumer tech news this week, McLaren, Mercedes EVs, Apple + Amazon

• Autonomous Agents for Trips & Trades, Manus 1st General Agent

• Latest food and dining and food technology news

• Arts and culture news, intersection of tech and entertainment

• The latest sports news and sports tech

• Futurism, the latest in future concepts and cutting edge deep tech

• Latest news in wellness and wellbeing tech, biotech, medtech and more

TOP CONSUMER TECH NEWS

Luxury Cars — 1. The $2.1M F1-inspired McLaren W1 hypercar has a 1258hp hybrid V-8 + aerodynamics; all 399 units sold out. | 2. Mercedes previewed its next-gen electric SUV w/ 320+ kW charging, 800V architecture and efficiency heat pump.

Amazon's AI Push — Amazon unveils Alexa+ with advanced generative AI capabilities for complex tasks, aiming to create an interconnected ecosystem of AI-powered devices.

Apple Updates — 1. The new iPad Air with M3 chip and Apple AI features from $599. | 2. A refreshed MacBook Air with M4 chip is also released. | 3. The new Mac Studio with the M3 Ultra chip (32 CPU and 80 GPU cores), 2x M4 Max's performance.

Perplexity AI Phone— Deutsche Telekom is developing a voice-first AI Phone with Perplexity Assistant, featuring cross-app commands and an app with AI features from Google, ElevenLabs voice AI tech .

Meta's AI Assistant — Eyes a standalone AI app coming Q2 2025 with subscription model as Zuckerberg aims to compete with OpenAI.

FEATURE ARTICLE

Autonomous Agents for Trips & Trades

Imagine an AI that plans your entire vacation or manages your stock portfolio—without you lifting a finger. Enter Manus, the invite-only autonomous AI agent from China’s Monica.im, outperforming OpenAI’s agent features, making it possibly the first true hands-free travel and stocks planner.

Unlike chatbots or traditional AI assistants, Manus thinks, decides, and executes tasks independently. No endless searching, no decision fatigue—just results.

Manus isn’t just a smart assistant—it’s a fully autonomous agent capable of browsing, analyzing, and executing multi-step plans. Whether it’s planning a week-long vacation or balancing a high-risk stock portfolio, it operates without constant human intervention, making complex decision-making effortless.

Revolutionizing Travel Planning

Forget spending hours comparing flights, hotels, and attractions. Manus takes a simple command—“Plan me a budget-friendly trip to Mexico”—and delivers a fully booked, optimized itinerary. It finds the best flights, secures ideal stays, books experiences, and even balances your budget. No stress, just seamless travel.

Unlike traditional travel platforms, which rely on filters and recommendations, Manus independently researches and finalizes every detail, factoring in weather, peak seasons, visa requirements, and even last-minute flight changes. Travelers don’t just get suggestions—they get a full, ready-to-go itinerary. While platforms like Google Travel and Expedia incorporate AI, they still rely on user input. AI agent tools like Manus eliminate the guesswork.

With Manus proving that AI can handle every aspect of travel planning and multiple US companies on the verge of releasing AI agents with similar capacity, the industry is moving toward full automation—where travelers simply approve or modify AI-generated trips, rather than building them manually.

AI Meets Wall Street: The Rise of Autonomous Investing

Now to pay for that trip to Mexico, how about some AI agent-powered financial management so you can kick back on the beach without concerns? Stock analysis? Portfolio management? Manus handles it all. It scans earnings reports, tracks market trends, predicts stock performance, and can even make real-time trades—all autonomously. Think of it as a tireless AI hedge fund, maximizing gains without emotional bias.

Unlike traditional trading tools, which require constant human monitoring, Manus identifies trends, analyzes risk, and executes trades in real time. It can process complex data sets, assess market conditions, and rebalance portfolios faster than human investors ever could.

How It Works

• Market Scanning: Manus continuously monitors news sources, economic indicators, and financial reports.

• Predictive Analysis: Using AI-driven pattern recognition, it forecasts stock performance and potential risks.

• Automated Trading: Investors can set risk parameters, and Manus executes trades accordingly.

• Portfolio Optimization: Manus dynamically adjusts investments based on market conditions.

Robo-advisors like Wealthfront and Betterment offer AI-powered investing, but they still require manual oversight. BloombergGPT provides advanced financial analytics, but it doesn’t execute trades. Tesla and other fintech firms are rumored to be developing AI-driven investment models, but none yet operate with full autonomy.

The Future is Automated: What’s Next?

Manus is setting a new standard, pushing AI beyond simple automation into full autonomy. With AI taking over travel planning and financial management, industries that once relied on human decision-making are being redefined.

• For Travelers: AI-powered bookings will become standard, and airlines, hotels, and tour operators will need to adapt to AI-driven purchases.

• For Investors: Autonomous AI investing will challenge traditional brokerage firms, forcing them to integrate similar automation to stay competitive.

With OpenAI, Google, Tesla, and major fintech firms in the race, AI-driven automation is the future. The real question isn’t if AI will take over these industries—it’s how quickly.

FOOD AND DRINK

AI Food Printer — New AI-powered 3D printer creates customized food layer-by-layer with integrated cooking capabilities, offering safe and efficient production for restaurants and healthcare.

Fat Tuesday Food — Missing Mardi Gras? Try New Orleans cuisine in NYC with Filé Gumbo Bar's customizable gumbo, Strange Delight's oysters, and Bananas' Asian-fusion NOLA dishes.

The Gallery LA — Theme park veterans created this immersive dining experience in downtown LA, with a projection-mapped dining room and fantastical city-themed bar.

Dylan's Bourbon — Bob Dylan released a limited 'Bootleg Volume VI' bourbon (5,000 bottles) finished in cigar barrels, following the vermouth-finished Volume V.

Pharrell x Moët — Pharrell launched a limited-edition champagne collection with detachable bow designs in blue, red, and gold bottles.

Baijiu Battery — UESTC researchers transform liquor waste into sustainable sodium-ion battery material, achieving breakthrough in energy storage efficiency.

ARTS & CULTURE

“Your AI Phone Will Be Inside You” — Futurist and author Ray Kurzweil, at MWC 2025 predicted AGI by 2029, full AI-human integration by 2030s. He also discussed his new book "When We Merge With AI”.

Christie's AI Art Auction — despite an open letter from ~6,500 artists, the auction generated over $700,000, with the top artwork fetching $277,200.

The Electric State — A Russo brothers' Netflix film starring Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt follows a teen and robot searching for her brother in a dystopian world; premieres March 14.

Amazon's 007 — Will Amazon MGM’s control of James Bond turn out like Marvel or Star Wars? History suggests we shouldn’t be too optimistic. | Podcast.

Oscar Highlights — Mikey Madison wins Best Actress for "Anora", Adrien Brody best actor for “The Brutalist”; Halle Berry recreates iconic 2003 kiss and more.

SPORTS DESK

Neural Nitro — IndyCar company Chip Ganassi Racing partners with OpenAI for AI-powered racing analytics including tools that’ll boost the team’s efficiency.

TGL Golf Finals — Tiger Woods & McIlroy's Virtual Golf league concludes with LA Golf Club vs. NY Golf Club in a 15-hole playoff format on Mar 4, ESPN to broadcast.

Apple Baseball — Friday Night Baseball returns Mar 28 with a 2024 World Series docuseries and Vision Pro content; features Orioles-Jays, Mets-Astros openers.

NFL Rule Changes — The NFL considers changes including virtual first down measures, banning 'Tush Push', overtime adjustments, and expanded replay review for the 2025 season.

Umpire Wearable — NHL Officials will wear Apple Watches with a custom app for game info and haptic alerts, enhancing on-ice awareness.

FUTURISM

Space Structures — DARPA seeks input on 1,600-foot bio-mechanical space structures, plans April workshop on minimal-intervention construction methods.

Graphene Roads — The UK tests graphene-enhanced road surfaces by Universal Matter and Tarmac, promising fewer potholes, lower maintenance costs.

Woolly Mouse — Colossal Biosciences created gene-edited mice with mammoth-like traits. Experts debate if it’s a big step toward mammoth revival.

Space Data Centers — Companies plan lunar data storage and orbital facilities to reduce environmental impact, enhance security.

Shape-Shifting Robots — New mini robots can switch between fluid and solid states, self-heal, and form complex shapes using polarized light guidance.

WELLBEING TECH

Protein Discovery — Osaka University identifies AP2A1 protein that can reverse cellular aging and promote rejuvenation, offering potential longevity treatments.

Hormone Therapy Study — Research shows menopausal hormone therapy benefits and risks vary by age, with women over 60 facing increased health concerns despite symptom relief potential.

RFK Medicare Reform — A Quality-based compensation system is proposed for Medicare to improve chronic illness care, shifting focus from procedure volume to patient outcomes.

Digital Detox Effects — A 72-hour smartphone restriction study reveals addiction-like brain activity changes, impacting dopamine and serotonin levels.

Global Obesity Forecast — Projections show 50% of adults and 33% of children worldwide will be overweight by 2050, with significant increases on lower-incomes.

Huawei Health Tech — The Watch D2 introduces medical-grade blood pressure monitoring, setting new standards for health-tracking wearables with potential for industry-wide adoption.