⚡China’s AI race heats up

Good morning, AI enthusiast. China’s AI race just got hotter, Alibaba-backed Moonshot has dropped its second major AI model in four months, directly challenging OpenAI with cheaper, faster “agentic” intelligence.

In today’s AI newsletter:

• Moonshot launches Kimi K2 Thinking model

• Researchers create AI that writes what you’re thinking

• Google finance gets gemini AI for traders

• How to use Kimi K2 to perform multi-step autonomous reasoning

• AI tools & more

AI MODELS

🤖 Moonshot Launches Kimi K2 Thinking Model

Beijing-based Moonshot unveiled Kimi K2 Thinking, a new generative AI model claiming to outperform ChatGPT in task automation and reasoning. The model follows July’s K2 release and underscores China’s rapid progress in building cost-efficient AI systems.

• Trained for just $4.6M, compared to OpenAI’s billion-dollar training costs

• Can autonomously choose 200–300 tools to complete tasks with minimal user input

• Backed by Alibaba, part of China’s broader effort to compete in “agentic AI”

• Comes as Airbnb and other U.S. firms explore Chinese AI models for affordability

• Nvidia’s CEO recently warned the U.S. to “move faster” in the AI race

Despite chip sanctions, China’s AI labs are finding ways to innovate fast and cheap. Moonshot’s new model shows that AI agent capabilities are becoming global, and the next big breakthrough might not come from Silicon Valley.

AI BREAKTHROUGH

🧠 Researchers Create AI That Writes What You’re Thinking

Researchers at NTT Communication Science Laboratories developed a system that uses non-invasive fMRI scans and language models to describe mental images in words, effectively letting AI “read” what’s in your mind.

• The AI maps brain signals to “meaning signatures” derived from thousands of video captions

• A second model generates full sentences based on decoded meanings

• Example: when someone watched a video of a person jumping off a waterfall, the AI wrote, “A person jumps over a deep waterfall on a mountain ridge.”

• The same system worked when participants remembered the scene, not just watched it

• The study, published in Science Advances, could help people with speech impairments regain communication abilities

This “mind-captioning” breakthrough pushes neuroscience and AI closer than ever, showing how language models can decode the brain’s inner world. But it also sparks privacy concerns: if AI can describe what you see or imagine, how far are we from reading thoughts?

AI NEWS

📈 Google Finance Gets Gemini AI for Traders

Google announced new AI upgrades for Google Finance, including a Deep Search tool powered by Gemini and real-time prediction market data. The goal: make financial research faster, smarter, and more transparent.

• Deep Search delivers detailed, cited investment insights using Gemini AI

• Users can view the AI’s “research plan” to follow its reasoning step-by-step

• Early access available via Google Labs, with usage tiers for AI Pro and Ultra subscribers

• Prediction markets from Kalshi and Polymarket now integrated for event-based forecasts

• AI-ified Google Finance rolls out in India this week (English + Hindi support)

Google is turning Finance into a full AI research assistant, blending search, analytics, and market data into one interface. For traders, this could mean fewer browser tabs, faster insights, and a glimpse at how Gemini might soon reshape financial analysis itself.

HOW TO AI

💻 How to use Kimi K2 to perform multi-step autonomous reasoning

Kimi K2 Thinking is China’s newly released open-source AI model that rivals GPT-5 and Claude 4.5 on global reasoning benchmarks. It’s built for deep, autonomous thinking, planning and executing workflows, and managing complex reasoning tasks entirely on its own.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to use Kimi K2 to perform agentic reasoning, execute multi-step workflows, and handle large-context projects, all without external tools or human input.

🧰 Who is This For

• Researchers managing complex, multi-source studies

• Developers automating code generation and debugging workflows

• Analysts conducting large-scale market or data research

• Founders and executives running AI-powered business planning

• Anyone exploring autonomous reasoning and next-generation agent systems

STEP 1: Access the Kimi Workspace

Visit the official KimiAI website and sign up for a free account. Once logged in, you’ll land on the main dashboard. At the center, you’ll see a dark workspace with the text field labeled “Ask Anything…”, this is where you interact with Kimi K2.

STEP 2: Enable Thinking Mode

Just below the input bar, you’ll find toggles for Search and Thinking. Ensure both are turned on, these let Kimi retrieve and reason simultaneously. When “Thinking” is active, the model uses deep contextual reasoning instead of short-form replies.

STEP 3: Start Your First Task

In the prompt box, type a task like:

“Plan a 5-step workflow for analyzing market trends, identifying top competitors, and generating a visual report with actionable insights.”

Kimi will automatically plan the workflow, break it into sub-steps, call internal tools, and deliver a structured output, without requiring follow-up prompts.

STEP 4: Extend Your Workflow

For more advanced usage, attach data files or documents using the paperclip icon beside the prompt bar. Kimi can process PDFs, spreadsheets, or full research papers thanks to its 256K context window, meaning it can read and reason across entire projects at once.

Once you’re done, review the output and export the results directly into your preferred tool or notebook.

Tesla shareholders approve a $1T pay package for Elon Musk that requires him to hit a series of milestones and expand Tesla's market cap to $8.5T over 10 years.

Jensen Huang warns “China is going to win the AI race”, after the US kept a ban on advanced AI chip sales to China, and says the West is held back by “cynicism”.

Sam Altman says OpenAI doesn't want government guarantees for data centers and expects to fund investments with revenues hitting “hundreds of billions by 2030”.

Amazon is testing an AI tool called Kindle Translate that automatically translates books into other languages, for authors that self-publish on the platform.

🎨 Creative OS: Canva’s new AI-powered visual suite

📊 Canvas in Gemini: Make sleek presentations right inside Gemini

🧭 Google Maps: Now has Gemini-powered conversational help

🗺️ Codemaps: Windsurf’s tool to explore and understand codebases

THAT’S IT FOR TODAY

Thanks for making it to the end! I put my heart into every email I send, I hope you are enjoying it. Let me know your thoughts so I can make the next one even better!

See you tomorrow :)

- Dr. Alvaro Cintas