If you have ever heard of the Disc of Sabu, it was probably in the same way people hear about cursed manuscripts or impossible Roman concrete: briefly, suspiciously, and usually followed by a sentence that ends with “we don’t really know.”
The Disc of Sabu was discovered in 1936 inside an ancient Egyptian tomb belonging to Prince Sabu, a man whose primary historical achievement appears to be confusing modern experts. The object itself is thin, perfectly symmetrical, carved from brittle stone, and shaped like something that should either spin at high speed or explode on contact with modern academia.
It has three curved blades, precise geometry, and engineering confidence that suggests its creator understood materials, balance, and stress far better than we are comfortable admitting. It looks manufactured. It looks intentional. It looks like it came with instructions that were thrown away during a renovation.
Historians do not know what it was for. Engineers argue it should not physically exist in that form using the tools available at the time. Archaeologists, faced with this impasse, have done what archaeologists do best: they have named it, dated it, photographed it, and then moved on while writing longer footnotes.
The Disc of Sabu is not mysterious because it is magical. It is mysterious because it works too well for something we are supposed to feel superior to. It sits quietly in a museum, refusing to explain itself, while modern civilization builds increasingly complex systems and immediately demands applause.
The Disc of Sabu is a reminder that humans have always built things they barely understood, then surrounded them with authority and hoped no one would ask follow-up questions.
This instinct has aged remarkably well.
STARTING IN EUROPE AGAIN, BECAUSE EUROPE NEVER LEAVES
Europe opened the week by asserting control over the future in the same way it always does: by issuing a framework.
The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is now being enforced under a model so centralized it feels almost ceremonial. The European Commission alone decides who violated what, who gets fined, and how loudly the press release sighs.
National authorities may assist. They may coordinate. They may form subgroups and issue reports with titles like Toward a Shared Understanding of Enforcement Synergies.
They may not punish.
This is regulation as a wildlife preserve. Dangerous predators are carefully observed from Brussels while local rangers are told not to feed them or make eye contact.
The theory is consistency.
The practice is latency.
Entire professions are built inside this gap.
AI DOES NOT FIRE PEOPLE, IT SIMPLIFIES THEM
A curious thing is happening across white-collar Europe.
No one is being replaced outright. Instead, their job is being reduced to a smaller rectangle.
Goldman Sachs’ CEO recently admitted that AI can now produce 95% of an S-1 IPO filing in minutes, a task that once required six people, several weeks, and one junior associate quietly Googling “exit opportunities.”
The remaining 5% still matters.
Which is unfortunate, because the remaining 5% does not employ six people.
AI is not coming for your job.
It is coming for your headcount justification.
This will affect bankers, lawyers, consultants, accountants, designers, architects, engineers, and anyone whose value was previously measured in how long something took rather than whether it worked.
Europe has noticed.
Europe is concerned.
Europe will commission a study.
FRANCE ANNOUNCES €30 MILLION AND A STRAIGHT FACE
President Emmanuel Macron announced that France will invest €30 million in artificial intelligence to help Europe lead the global AI race.
This was said solemnly.
For context, €30 million is approximately:
- The catering budget for a medium-sized EU summit
- One mildly ambitious Paris roundabout
- Roughly two months of electricity for a serious AI data center
China, meanwhile, added 550 gigawatts of power capacity last year alone and plans to add 3.4 terawatts over the next five years.
France announced €30 million.
This is not strategy.
This is symbolic participation.
Part of the funding will also support climate initiatives, because in Europe no announcement is complete without attaching a moral virtue like a ribbon.
Which brings us to energy.
GREEN ENERGY, BUILT ENTIRELY OUT OF OTHER COLORS
Europe continues to describe solar power as “clean,” which is technically true if one ignores how it is made.
Building one gigawatt of solar capacity requires:
- 18.5 tons of silver
- 3,400 tons of polysilicon
- Over 10,000 tons of aluminum
Producing that aluminum consumes nearly 2 million gigajoules of energy, enough to power more than 100,000 households for a year.
Refining the silver alone consumes 4,600 megawatt hours of electricity, roughly the annual usage of 400 American homes.
Solar power is not clean.
It is outsourced dirt.
China understands this and has responded by building everything: coal, gas, oil, nuclear, wind, solar, and batteries, all at once, at scale, without apology.
Europe understands this and has responded by banning plastic straws again, just to be sure.
ENERGY WINS, AND CHINA IS NOT BEING SHY ABOUT IT
China’s National Energy Administration quietly published data showing that since 2021, China has added more power capacity than the United States built in its entire history.
Coal plants are still being approved.
Grid-scale batteries are being deployed faster than anywhere else.
Renewables are added where useful, not where photogenic.
China is not “transitioning.”
China is accumulating.
This is why Elon Musk has been warning that energy, not chips, will decide the AI race.
You can have the smartest model in the world.
If the lights flicker, it becomes a suggestion.
ELON MUSK TIMESTAMPS REALITY
On a podcast, Elon Musk announced that Earth has 30 months left.
Not metaphorically.
Not emotionally.
Calendar months.
His argument: AI cannot scale on Earth the way it can in space. Solar power in orbit is five times more efficient. There are no neighbors. There is no zoning board.
Shortly after, SpaceX was reported to be working on a Starlink phone that connects directly to satellites. Then SpaceX acquired xAI, merging rockets, satellites, and artificial intelligence into a single narrative arc.
This is no longer vertical integration.
This is genre consolidation.
The phone will not be lost.
It will be absorbed.
CHINA RELEASES SOFTWARE. EUROPE RELEASES STATEMENTS
China also released a desktop automation agent that runs fully locally, offline, and open-source.
It can operate any desktop application, browse the web, manage files, and automate workflows without supervision.
No cloud dependency.
No permissions dance.
No feelings.
At the same time, a Chinese humanoid robot completed 130,000 steps at –47°C, because even winter has been turned into a benchmark.
Hangzhou police are now using exoskeletons to boost endurance, which suggests that “augmentation” has officially left science fiction and entered municipal procurement.
Europe watched carefully.
Europe expressed interest.
Europe will revisit this in Q4.
ANTHROPIC AND THE DANGER OF POLITE CERTAINTY
Anthropic’s CEO warned that 50% of entry-level white-collar jobs could be disrupted within five years.
This was said calmly, with concern, and from behind several layers of safety branding.
Anthropic is not dangerous because it is reckless.
It is dangerous because it believes it is responsible on behalf of everyone else.
It talks about alignment the way past institutions talked about moral hygiene. It centralizes interpretation, authority, and acceptable outcomes inside a small group of very serious people who genuinely believe they are preventing catastrophe.
History is full of these people.
They usually end up inventing paperwork.
MICROSOFT APPOINTS A CZAR, WHICH IS NEVER CASUAL
Microsoft appointed an Engineering Quality Czar.
This implies that something escaped.
At the same time, Microsoft confirmed that it provides BitLocker encryption keys to governments in response to court orders—around 20 per year.
This is framed as compliance.
It feels more like selective transparency.
Signal’s Meredith Whittaker warned that AI agents embedded in operating systems erode end-to-end encryption, which is a polite way of saying your computer has started to listen more actively than advertised.
Edward Snowden has been pointing at this since 2019.
He remains unfashionable.
EUROPE UNPLUGS AMERICA, ONE TOOL AT A TIME
After France, the European Commission confirmed it is piloting Matrix, an open-source communication protocol, as an alternative to Microsoft Teams.
The stated goal is “de-risking” from U.S. platforms.
Translation: we would like a spare parachute that we legally control.
At the same time, France is considering restricting VPNs following its ban on social media for under-15s.
Spain escalated further, announcing:
- Criminal liability for platform executives
- Algorithmic manipulation as a crime
- A hate-and-polarization footprint
- A full social media ban for minors under 16
This is framed as protection.
It feels like locking the windows because the weather is loud.
DATA CENTERS: BIG BOXES, SMALL PATIENCE
Across Europe, resistance to data centers is growing.
They create few jobs.
They consume enormous electricity.
They hum.
Someone finally said this out loud, which caused discomfort.
Canada scrapped its EV mandate.
Sweden’s emissions rose sharply.
Japan announced a $620 billion emergency move to stabilize the yen.
Climate policy is no longer shouting.
It is quietly backing toward the exit.
DOCTRINES, MARKETS, AND SEQUELS NOBODY ASKED FOR
Germany is reportedly discussing nuclear weapons with EU allies.
Panama ruled Chinese port operations unconstitutional, advancing what feels like Monroe Doctrine: Reloaded.
China’s President Xi called for the yuan to become a global reserve currency.
Everyone is speaking loudly.
No one is listening carefully.
MEDICINE CONTINUES TO WORK WITHOUT PERMISSION
Age-reversal therapy received FDA approval for first-in-human trials.
Teeth can now remineralize themselves, restoring most of their original density in days.
Dentists are responding with professionalism.
Very quiet professionalism.
THE DISC STILL DOES NOT CARE
The Disc of Sabu has not changed its position.
It remains an object built with confidence, abandoned without explanation, and immune to interpretation.
Modern civilization is building its own versions at record speed: models we don’t understand, systems we regulate after deployment, futures we announce before powering them.
This is not new.
It is just faster, louder, and connected to satellites.
Do not panic.
Do not rush.
And for the love of God, check where the power is coming from before you promise the future.
Buy a notebook.