Trump Announces US Crypto Reserve, Scale AI Wins Defense Contract, and SpaceX Starship Explodes Midflight

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In this episode of 'Discover Daily', we delve into significant developments across the tech and political landscapes. Former President Donald Trump has announced plans for a U.S. Crypto Strategic Reserve, which includes major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Ripple's XRP, and Cardano's ADA. This move aims to strengthen the U.S. position in the global crypto market and follows Trump's executive order on digital assets. The White House is also set to host its inaugural Crypto Summit, bringing together industry leaders and government officials to discuss the integration of digital assets into the financial system.

Another key story involves Scale AI securing a contract with the U.S. Department of Defense for the Thunderforge AI program. This initiative aims to integrate AI into military operations, focusing on rapid decision-making and strategic planning. Thunderforge leverages cutting-edge AI technologies and partnerships with industry leaders like Microsoft and Anduril. While this project represents a significant shift towards AI-enhanced military engagements, it also raises ethical concerns about reduced human oversight and potential biases in AI systems.

The episode also covers SpaceX's latest setback with its Starship spacecraft, which experienced its second consecutive failure during its eighth test launch. The spacecraft exploded mid-flight due to engine issues, causing significant air traffic disruptions across Florida and the Caribbean. Despite these challenges, SpaceX remains committed to advancing the Starship program for future deep-space missions. The repeated failures raise questions about the broader implications for space exploration and the commercial space industry, particularly regarding NASA's plans to use Starship for lunar missions.

From Perplexity's Discover Feed:

https://www.perplexity.ai/page/trump-announces-us-crypto-rese-NrC8TcmcSpaxMr2UPw2lcg

https://www.perplexity.ai/page/scale-ai-wins-defense-contract-4Rn4xtKETU20DTipPBRQww

https://www.perplexity.ai/page/spacex-starship-explodes-midfl-MbLz.A1wSX2TMN8Wz_XNIw

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Discover Daily, by Perplexity, your
AI-curated digest ofbreakthroughs in tech, science
and culture.
I'm Isaac.
Today we're exploring SpaceX'slatest Starship setback, a story
that's shaking up the spaceindustry and air traffic alike.
But first let's look at whatelse is happening across the

(00:20):
political and tech landscapes.
President Donald Trump hasannounced plans to establish two
distinct cryptocurrencyinitiatives a strategic Bitcoin
reserve specifically for Bitcoinand a US digital asset
stockpile for othercryptocurrencies.
This move has sparked asignificant rally in the crypto
market.

(00:41):
The digital asset stockpilewill include a diverse range of
digital assets beyond Bitcoin,with Trump specifically naming
Solana, ripple's XRP andCardano's ADA as
cryptocurrencies to be included.
This represents a significantshift in government engagement
with the crypto industry.
The announcement followsTrump's January 2025 executive

(01:03):
order on digital assets, whichdirected the presidential
working group to evaluate thepotential creation of a national
digital asset stockpile.
Importantly, both initiativeswill be capitalized using assets
seized through criminal orcivil forfeiture proceedings,
not through new governmentpurchases.
The creation of separateBitcoin and digital asset

(01:25):
repositories demonstrates anuanced recognition of the
crypto ecosystem's potential,with Bitcoin receiving special
status due to its perceivedattributes as the most
decentralized cryptocurrency.
This strategy could potentiallystrengthen the US position in
the global crypto landscape,aligning with Trump's stated

(01:45):
goal of making the US the cryptocapital of the world.
To further solidify the USgovernment's engagement with the
cryptocurrency industry, theWhite House hosted an inaugural
crypto summit bringing togetherprominent figures from the
crypto sector and members of thepresident's Working Group on
digital assets.

(02:07):
Moving on to our next story,scale AI has secured a
multi-million dollar prototypecontract with the US Department
of Defense for ThunderForge, aflagship artificial intelligence
program aimed at integrating AIagents into military operations
.
Thunderforge will initiallyfocus on the Indo-Pacific
Command and European Command.
The program's primaryobjectives include accelerating

(02:31):
decision-making by rapidlysynthesizing vast amounts of
information, generating multiplecourses of action for military
planners and conductingAI-powered wargaming to
anticipate and respond toevolving threats.
Alexander Wang, scaleai'sfounder and CEO, expressed pride
in leading the initiative,stating that their AI solutions

(02:53):
will quote transform today'smilitary operating process and
modernize American defense.
The contract represents asignificant shift towards
data-driven, ai-enhancedmilitary engagements, addressing
what Defense Innovation Unitprogram lead, bryce Goodman
described as a fundamentalmismatch between the rapid pace
of modern warfare and ourability to respond".

(03:14):
Thunderforge leveragescutting-edge AI technologies
through strategic partnershipswith industry leaders.
The initiative incorporatesMicrosoft's advanced language
model systems and integratesscale AI's innovations into
Anduril's modeling andsimulation frameworks.
These partnerships andtechnologies aim to create a

(03:36):
comprehensive AI ecosystem thatcan rapidly analyze threats,
simulate battle outcomes andassist military leaders in
making informed decisions withunprecedented speed and accuracy
.
But AI's integration intomilitary operations raises some
ethical concerns.
Critics argue that AI-drivendecision-making in warfare could

(03:56):
lead to reduced human oversightand accountability, potentially
increasing the risk ofunintended consequences or
civilian casualties.
There are also concerns aboutthe reliability and bias of AI
systems, especially inhigh-stakes military scenarios
where errors could havecatastrophic results.
Now let's dive into our mainstory of the day.

(04:21):
Spacex's Starship spacecraftexperienced its second
consecutive failure on Friday,march 6, exploding mid-flight
during its eighth test launchand causing significant
disruptions to air trafficacross Florida and the Caribbean
.
The incident occurredapproximately nine minutes after
launch.
Multiple engine shutdowns ledto a loss of attitude control,

(04:43):
causing the vehicle to spin outof control before disintegrating
in a spectacular shower ofdebris over the Caribbean.
This happened shortly after thesuccessful separation and
landing of the super-heavybooster, which was caught by the
Mechazilla launch tower arms.
Spacex described the event as arapid, unscheduled disassembly
during the ascent burn,resulting in a complete loss of

(05:06):
communication with thespacecraft.
The explosion triggeredsignificant air traffic
disruptions across Florida andthe Caribbean.
The Federal AviationAdministration implemented
temporary ground stops atseveral major airports,
including Miami International,fort Lauderdale-Hollywood
International, palm BeachInternational and Orlando

(05:26):
International.
These measures were taken dueto concerns about falling debris
from the disintegratedspacecraft.
Flight delays ranged from 30 to45 minutes at affected airports
, with some flights beingdiverted to ensure passenger
safety.
The incident's impact extendedbeyond Florida, affecting air
traffic as far north asPennsylvania.

(05:47):
Following the explosion, theFAA mandated a thorough
investigation into the incidentto identify the root cause and
ensure public safety.
Spacex has begun analyzingflight data to understand the
failure.
The company remains committedto advancing the Starship
program for future deep spacemissions, despite these setbacks

(06:07):
.
This failure follows a similarincident in January 2025.
This failure follows a similarincident in January 2025.
During that test flight, a firedeveloped just above the

(06:30):
super-heavy first-stage engines,approximatelyllant feed lines,
adjustments to fuel temperaturesand the addition of a nitrogen
purge system to minimize firerisk.
Despite these modifications,the March test flight
encountered similar issues,highlighting the ongoing
challenges in developing thisambitious spacecraft.
As we look ahead, it will becrucial to watch how SpaceX

(06:51):
addresses these recurringproblems and what impact these
setbacks might have on thecompany's ambitious timeline for
Starship's operationaldeployment.
That wraps up today's episode ofDiscover Daily.
Thanks for tuning in.
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(07:14):
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Think of it as deploying apersonal research team through
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(07:37):
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We'll be back here tomorrowwith more stories from the
worlds of tech, science andculture.
Until then, stay curious, thankyou.