👋 Good morning. And good news: Spring might actually be near. The first grizzly bear emerged from his den in Yellowstone National Park, a sign that winter is finally waning. Bears live off their stored fat reserves for energy during the winter and emerge from their dens each spring to start feasting (males emerge in early March, while females and their cubs will come out to say hi in April and May). The bear’s first snack: a bull bison carcass. Punxsutawney Phil could never.
STARTING UP
Can data centers go offshore?
❌ The problem: AI data centers require massive amounts of electricity, cooling, and physical space — and the AI boom is turning up the pressure.
💡 The pitch: San Francisco-based Aikido Technologies wants to house data centers inside floating offshore wind platforms. Its AO60DC platform pairs a large floating wind turbine with up to 10-12 MW of computing capacity, built directly into the platform, and battery storage for when the wind dies out. The ocean acts as a natural heat sink, with seawater helping to cool servers.
🚀 The outlook: Aikido plans to test a 100-kilowatt prototype off Norway this year, with a larger 15-18 MW version built for UK waters by 2028. If successful — and there are plenty of challenges — the approach could offer a way to power and cool AI infrastructure without stressing existing land-based grids.
NEWS FLASH
-
Attention, Wordle fans: Josh Wardle — who sold Wordle to The New York Times for a low-seven-figure sum — is back with a new game called Parseword. Much like Wordle, players can try to solve one tricky wordplay puzzle per day.
-
Cash for cruelty: Memvid, a startup working to improve AI’s memory, is hiring a “professional AI bully” to be mean to chatbots about how frustrating it is when they forget info and require repetition. The role pays $800 for an eight-hour shift.
-
Who needs a pen when you have a ring that can take notes? Sandbar, which just raised a $23m Series A, plans to ship its smart ring to market this year. Users can activate a mic to record, then chat about their notes with an AI assistant via an app.
-
Is nothing sacred? Twenty competitors in the 2026 Camel Beauty Show Festival in Oman have been disqualified over cosmetic procedures that included botox and hump and lip filler. This has been an ongoing problem in the camel pageant industry, where prizes can be in the multimillions.
FROM OUR FRIENDS AT MINDSTREAM
Great news for your bedhead…
… You can now send a better version of yourself to that Zoom meeting.
The company is rolling out AI-powered avatars later this month to stand in for users who don’t want to be on camera.
And the avatars don’t just look like you — they can capture facial expressions, lip movements, and eye movements for an eerily accurate digital twin.
THE BIG IDEA
A shocking way to wake up
Alarm clocks used to be simple. You set them to make a loud noise at a specific time. That’s it.
But while many of us just use our phones these days, modern clocks offer a bevy of features — e.g., charging stations, lights that mimic sunrise, etc.
And then there are some that punish you.
Like how?
In a variety of alarming ways, including siphoning from your bank account and issuing a 300-volt jolt.
Michelle Rodriguez, a regular user of the Pavlok Shock Clock, told The Wall Street Journal that the device, which she wears on her wrist, gives her a shock that rates a “six or seven on the pain scale” each morning.
The company crowdfunded a decade ago on Indiegogo, and has since released multiple iterations, its latest retailing for ~$175.
Another app, Nuj, makes users who fail to meet morning goals pay a fee. Some, like Alarmy, will simply not stop making noise until users complete a series of morning tasks.
Why would anyone want this?
Some people are heavy sleepers — Rodriguez adopted the shock device after snoozing through a meeting — or need an extra oomph to wake up on time or establish a new, earlier routine.
You may know someone who has left their alarm clock a short distance from their bed so they have to get up to shut it off — and for those people, there are alarms with wheels or propellers that literally make you chase them.
But is any of this the ideal way to wake up? Actually, no.
- Loud, sudden noises release adrenaline, leading to a spike in blood pressure, which can activate the “fight or flight” response — so not very chill.
- One study found that people who use harsh alarm tones reported greater grogginess in the morning than those who used melodic ones.
- Another found that people who wake up naturally are more likely to feel well-rested and fully wake up faster than those who don’t.
Experts instead suggest waking up with sunrise clocks, which use gradual light to rouse us naturally and often result in improved mood, wakefulness, and less sleep inertia.
Other startups in the gentle waking space include:
- OneClock, a minimalist, low-tech alarm with a curated selection of music designed to reduce reliance on screens.
- Loftie is one of the buzzier companies, offering a clock with a two-phase alarm (gentle, then louder) and a sunrise lamp.
But if that fails, well… there’s always the shock.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Pickleball is booming… and some business-minded builders have taken note. Like the entrepreneur who built a $10m pickleball brand solo.
NEWSWORTHY NUMBER
How much revenue YouTube generated in 2025, based on estimates from financial research firm MoffettNathanson, making it the largest media company in the world.
It beat out The Walt Disney Co., whose media business pulled in $60.9B last year, on the strength of its dual distribution of both pay-TV and user-generated content, per The Hollywood Reporter, which analysts say may have the House of Mouse and other competitors playing catch-up with the new king of media for years to come.
The power of homemade cat videos, ladies and gentlemen.
AROUND THE WEB
📅 On this day: In 1894, Coca-Cola was sold in glass bottles for the first time. It was previously only available as a fountain drink.
💻 That’s cool: Explore the Computer History Museum’s online collections.
🎟️ Last call: We’d love to see you at SXSW. The Hustle is co-hosting a secret garden party this Saturday. Consider yourself invited.
🧠 Game: Guess the noun.
🐈 Aww: A peaceful slumber.
SHOWER THOUGHT
If driverless cars become ubiquitous, there will have only been a handful of human generations who knew how to drive a car. SOURCE
Today's email was brought to you by Juliet Bennett Rylah and Singdhi Sokpo.
Editing by: Sara "Rise and shine" Friedman.
Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.
Working on something big?
We've got a whole library of business-building resources for you.
Subscribe to our other newsletters
Grow your business: Starter Story | Stay up-to-date on AI: Mindstream
Expert insights: Marketing Against the Grain | Sell better: The Science of Scaling