💡 Premium Supporter recap + fact-based optimistic news
🤐 After a hundred years: New zipper. 🧬 New gene therapy cures 95 percent of children with "bubble boy" disease. 🐖 Gene-edited pigs resistant to classical swine fever.
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🥳 A thousand thanks (but not to Carl Bildt and Sanna Marin!)
I have very big ambitions for my book, The Fifth Acceleration, and I hope to spread it not only in Sweden but also internationally. That’s definitely not easy —but you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
The first week is crucial for gaining momentum, which is why pre-orders matter so much. I’m very happy and grateful to have sold 1,045 copies even before the official release on Monday! Thank you all!
Tuesday they locked me in the warehouse until I had signed every single one.
However, I also had a goal of topping the nonfiction bestseller list during launch week. Unfortunately, two former prime ministers—Carl Bildt and Sanna Marin—had the poor taste to release their books the same week, so that won’t happen. 😅
😅 Now I’m tired – and bursting with energy
I’m not quite sure how to sum up this week’s book release. The day after, I was completely exhausted — and at the same time, overflowing with energy for the rest of this book’s journey.
Maybe I can describe it like this:
Before the stage program began, I stood in the middle of the crowd, greeting guests and chatting with them. You’re right in the eye of the storm, and while I noticed that many people were there, I didn’t really have time to look around and take it all in.
When I walked from the mingling area to the stage, I saw that the entire large room was filled with people. Of course, it’s always nice when people show up for something you’ve arranged, but this was different. My book — the one I’ve worked so hard on and have such big ambitions for — was the reason we were all gathered there.
I stopped mid-step, took it all in, and smiled so, so wide.
Then it got even better.
Christian von Essen opened with a musical number. Christian was his wonderfully funny, warm, and brilliant self — like only he can be.
We began with the secret guest: Oscar Täckström. Without him, we wouldn’t have been there that evening. He has made a crucial contribution to what we today know as generative AI.
After that, I had the pleasure of talking with SVT’s Alexander Norén, Di Digital’s Ida Hansson Brusewitz, and Loop’s Camilla Bergman.
The evening was topped off by having my entire close family there.
Thank you to everyone who came! I appreciate it immensely!
Thanks also to the taxi driver who patiently waited while I struggled to squeeze that enormous sign into the cab.
📗 Available everywhere books are sold
Since Monday, the book has officially been released and is now available everywhere. Right now, it’s cheapest at Bokus and Adlibris.
It’s also available as an e-book and audiobook—with the AI narrator “Oscar”—on all audiobook platforms. So far only available in Swedish.
Mathias Sundin
The Angry Optimist
💡 Premium Supporter content
📗 Book excerpt: A steam engine for the brain
An excerpt from The Fifth Acceleration: Why AI Is Not the End – but the Beginning of What We Can Become by Mathias Sundin.
💡 Fact-based optimistic news of the week
🧬 New gene therapy cures 95 percent of children with "bubble boy" disease
A single gene therapy using patients' own stem cells has cured 95 percent of treated children with a deadly immune disorder. The treatment uses the patient's own stem cells that are genetically modified to produce the missing enzyme.
🛰️ SpaceX plans data centers in space
SpaceX will build data centers in space using upgraded Starlink satellites. Starlink V3 satellites will have a capacity of 1 Tbps, ten times more than current satellites. SpaceX can launch approximately 60 V3 satellites per Starship rocket starting in the first half of 2026.
🤒 Fewer people are ill with tropical diseases
122 million fewer people needed treatment for tropical diseases in 2023 compared to the previous year. A reduction of 32 percent since 2010. The number of people affected by these diseases decreased from 1.9 billion in 1990 to just over 1 billion in 2021.
🚀 SpaceX breaks multiple records
SpaceX conducted its 135th Falcon 9 launch during 2025, which surpasses the company's total number for all of 2024. The company also set a new record for the fastest turnaround between launches from the same pad in California with two days and 10 hours.
🐖 Gene-edited pigs resistant to classical swine fever
Gene-edited pigs remained healthy when exposed to the deadly classical swine fever virus. The same gene editing may provide resistance to similar viruses that infect cattle and sheep.
🤐 After a hundred years: New zipper that is more flexible and reduces emissions
YKK has developed a zipper without the woven fabric that normally sits on the sides of the teeth. The new zipper weighs less, is more flexible and reduces both material use and emissions. The North Face and other clothing companies have started using the new technology in their products.
🎙️ AI talk or master class?
I'm giving a lot of talks and master classes on AI in several different countries. Happy to come to your organization.
Learn more at mathiassundin.org.
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