Freedrove

⭐ Happy Chinese New Year!

Following the success of the Chinese startup DeepSeek, many are surprised at how quickly China has caught up with the US in AI. However, China’s progress in algorithmic efficiency hasn't come out of nothing. Chinese students have long outperformed others in math and programming at international olympiads 🏆

When it comes to producing outstanding performers in math and science, China's secondary education system is superior to that of the West. It fosters fierce competition among students, a principle borrowed from the highly efficient Soviet model 🎖

In contrast, most Western schools discourage competition, prohibiting public announcements of students' grades and rankings. The rationale is understandable — to protect students from pressure or ridicule. However, such measures also predictably demotivate the best students. Victory and defeat are two sides of the same coin. Eliminate the losers — and you eliminate the winners ☯️

For many students, motivation to excel in high school comes from treating it as a competitive game, striving to rank first against strong opponents. Removing transparency in student performance can make school feel meaningless for ambitious teenagers. It’s not surprising that many gifted kids now find competitive gaming more exciting than academics — at least in video games, they can see how each player ranks 😵

Telling all students they are champions, regardless of performance, may seem kind — until you consider how quickly reality will shatter this illusion after graduation. Reality, unlike well-meaning school policies, does have public grades and rankings — whether in sports, business, science, or technology. AI benchmarks that demonstrate DeepSeek's superiority are one of such public rankings. And more are coming. Unless the US secondary education system undergoes radical reform, China’s growing dominance in technology seems inevitable 🇨🇳

🍌 Access to certain Russian media has been restricted in the EU under DSA/sanctions laws 🇪🇺

🔉 Meanwhile, all Western media Telegram channels remain freely accessible in Russia 🇷🇺

🤔 Who would have thought that in 2025 Russian Telegram users would enjoy more freedom than European? ❓

🔮 As I predicted, 2024 turned out to be a very good year for Telegram. For the first time in its 3-year history of monetization, Telegram became profitable 🏆

📈 This year, the number of Telegram Premium subscribers tripled, exceeding 12 million. Our ad revenue also increased a few times. As a result, Telegram's total revenue in 2024 surpassed $1 billion, and we are closing the year with more than $500 million in cash reserves, not including crypto assets 🪙

🏦 Over the past four years, Telegram has issued about $2 billion in debt. We repaid a meaningful share of it this Fall, taking advantage of favorable prices for the Telegram bonds. But there’s a lot of work ahead 👨‍💻

↗️ Our innovations in monetization this year (⭐️ Stars, 🎁 Gifts, 🪙 Giveaways, 🖥 Mini Apps, 🤝 the Affiliate Platform, 💼 Telegram Business, and 📥 Telegram Gateway…) demonstrate that social media platforms can achieve financial sustainability while staying independent and respecting users' rights.

🎯 The purpose of monetization is to ensure that you, our users, will always remain our #️⃣1️⃣ priority 🫂