winning onlyfans + the AI-powered revolution
the future is now (?)
Well, hello there.
Tech seems to be the topic on everyone’s minds this week, with China’s new AI bot DeepSeek surpassing the speed, cost, and efficiency of popular models created in the US. Meanwhile, TikTok may potentially be up for grabs (at least 50 percent of it), and two OnlyFans content creators are challenging widespread perceptions of sex work – no pun intended.
You know I wouldn’t only deliver on tech talk, though! Let’s get into everything else that’s in store + a lovely recommendation at the end… as per!
🤳 Tech
Inside Silicon Valley’s DeepSeek freak out – business insider
Move over ChatGPT, there’s a new AI tool in town. DeepSeek is a Chinese company that’s overtaking OpenAI’s once groundbreaking models. The price of Deepseek’s open-source model is 20-40 times cheaper to use, triggering a sudden plunge in US tech stocks. While this is good news for the competitive market, the app appears to censor answers to sensitive questions about China and its government – unless you ask it to replace letters in its answer with numbers?
Who is in the running to buy Tiktok? – euronews
The tech bros are going keyboard to keyboard (omg I’m so tired of them already) over who should buy TikTok to save it from being banned in the US. This comes after Trump proposed a 50-50 partnership between the apps’ Chinese owner ByteDance and an American stakeholder. The wildly successful YouTuber Mr Beast has offered to buy half of the app in an ‘aww alright fine then guys’ kind of way. But because everything is a pissing contest in the tech world (and because TikTok’s mysterious algorithm is extremely coveted) Elon Musk has stepped up as a potential candidate, too. Other potential buyers include Steven Mnuchin, a former US Treasury Secretary, and Bobby Kotick, the former chief executive of the video game publisher Activision.
👠 Style
The ‘Sephora kids’ aren’t going anywhere – vogue business
Gen Z’s youngers are flocking to Sephora in their droves, influenced into spending their monthly allowance by beauty content they see online. Though their purchasing power has yet to be fully realised, they’ve already spent millions (of their parent’s dollars?) on their favourite brands last year, including: Byoma, Bubble Skincare, Drunk Elephant, and Glow Recipe. With growing concerns over the use of overly-aggressive formulas on young skin (one Swedish pharmacy even banned kids from buying ant-ageing products) brands have revealed a fresh strategy: simplifying skincare formulas so they are ‘tween friendly’ while selling products at price that’s accessible to uphold long-term skin health.
Designing fashion in the AI era – glossy
An AI revolution is taking place in fashion design studios, with fashion brands like Gruppo Teddy, Merrell and Puma harnessing AI to bolster creativity and streamline workflows. On top of cutting costs, AI is improving efficiency, speeding up time to market, and enhancing the quality of the final product. Representatives emphasise that AI is being used as a tool rather than a replacement for human designers. Detailed text prompts (outlining fabric types, color palettes, seasonal trends and historical bestsellers) result in hundreds of different designs coming together in minutes. Those working to create our phresh fits describe it as “having an extra set of hands”.
🫦 Culture
‘No, I’m not phoning to say I’m dying!’ – the guardian
Let’s face it, people just don’t talk on the phone like they used to. With texts, Snapchats and voicenotes offering convenient alternatives to real-time phone calls, young people have become not just unaccustomed, but afraid to pick up when the phone rings. This article documents one Gen Zer’s journey to communicate with her peers entirely though phone calls for a week, and uncovers why answering a call has become such an intimidating act. *spoiler, it’s not because Gen Z is ‘anti-social’.
Bonnie Blue, Lily Phillips and the tabloidification of sex work – dazed digital
While Bonnie Blue and Lily Phillips are hardly household names, social media users of all genders will likely have heard of them by now. These two women are challenging the narrative that sex work is always a last resort option for making money, abandoning their middle-class paths to become full-time OnlyFans creators. Both Bonnie and Lily have gone viral for taking on extreme challenges, sleeping with record-breaking numbers of men in a single day. Obviously, tabloids and gossip sites are having a field day with these developments. “UK tabloids want you to be very, very worried about OnlyFans. But would ‘sex challenges’ like these exist, or be profitable, if it wasn’t for those same tabloids?” Modern media has always perpetuated toxic trends and worrying challenges. Those rooted in OnlyFans may be no exception.
💬 Recommendation
I’ve been really interested in learning about the different activities people are engaging in beyond shopping, swiping, scrolling.
My favourite pieces on Substack as of late have been those by writers who seek out moments of joy and relish in them, no matter how fleeting and small.
This piece written by Erica Berry does exactly that.
Thanks for reading and make sure to subscribe for the latest news on Gen Z and youth culture. Also, don’t forget to check out The Gen Zer for a weekly roundup of more trending insights, stories, and discussions.
Until next time,
Hi! I just found your newsletter thanks to the recommendation of Erica Berry’s work. Perhaps my own work treasuring ‘small beauties’ made the algorithm think I’d like to hear about this kind of joy and the other writers who value it—if so, it was right!! Excited to follow along :)