Frequently Asked Questions

DailySand is a free daily intelligence briefing that synthesizes the most important events at the intersection of four interdependent sectors: artificial intelligence, technology infrastructure (semiconductors, data centers), capital markets, and critical minerals (rare earths, gallium, germanium, lithium, cobalt). Each digest is published up to three times per day and permanently archived.

Most publications cover one sector in depth. DailySand explicitly traces causal chains across all four sectors — showing how an AI model release drives chip demand, how chip demand strains mineral supply, and how that supply tension moves capital markets. This cross-sector synthesis is the product. It is free, non-paywalled, and updated throughout the day as news develops.

AI models require massive compute infrastructure — GPUs, networking chips, and data center power systems. GPUs and advanced chips depend on critical materials: gallium and germanium for compound semiconductors, rare earth elements (neodymium, dysprosium) for the magnets in data center cooling systems, cobalt and lithium for battery backup systems, and copper for power distribution. As AI inference demand scales, so does pressure on these mineral supply chains — much of which is concentrated in geopolitically sensitive regions.

AI & Research (foundation models, AI companies, research breakthroughs), Technology & Infrastructure (semiconductors, data centers, cloud, hardware), Markets & Capital Flows (earnings, funding rounds, M&A, analyst calls, macro signals), and Critical Minerals & Supply Chain (rare earth elements, gallium, germanium, lithium, cobalt, copper, mining companies, export controls).

The daily digest is generated and updated up to three times per calendar day: approximately 9am, 1pm, and 8pm Eastern time. Each run fetches fresh RSS feeds, merges them with earlier items, and re-synthesizes the digest. The result is a briefing that grows more comprehensive throughout the day. All past digests are permanently archived.

It is the end-to-end industrial chain linking AI software to physical raw materials. AI training and inference requires GPUs → GPUs are fabricated by TSMC using advanced lithography → advanced chips require ultra-pure gallium, germanium, and rare earth dopants → these minerals are mined in concentrated geographies (China controls ~85% of global rare earth processing) → supply disruptions or export controls at any point cascade through to AI infrastructure costs and availability. DailySand tracks every link in this chain daily.

Yes. DailySand is entirely free to read. There is no paywall, no subscription, and no account required. The full archive of all past digests is publicly accessible. You can also subscribe via RSS at dailysand.com/feed.xml to receive each digest as it publishes.

Visit dailysand.com to read today's latest digest. Subscribe to the RSS feed at dailysand.com/feed.xml to receive each new digest in your RSS reader (Feedly, Inoreader, etc.). Developers and AI agents can access structured JSON data at dailysand.com/api/digest/latest.

DailySand aggregates RSS feeds from specialist trade publications across all four sectors — including TechCrunch, VentureBeat, The Decoder, MIT Technology Review, Mining.com, CNBC Tech, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, and research lab blogs from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, and others. An AI model then synthesizes the most relevant items into a unified narrative. All source articles are listed on each digest page.

Yes. DailySand provides structured JSON at /api/digest/latest and /api/digest/{slug-or-date}, a cross-digest rollup at /api/digest/aggregate?days=30 (max 60 days), and the latest Weekly Insight at /api/blog/latest. Responses include parsed sections, byTheNumbers key figures, enriched sources (keyData, tags, crossSectorNote), watchlist, thesis, and causal chains. An OpenAPI specification is at /openapi.json. An MCP server at /api/mcp integrates with Claude Desktop and Cursor. Full agent context is at /llms.txt and /llms-full.txt.

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that allows AI assistants (Claude, Cursor, etc.) to call external tools directly. DailySand's MCP server at /api/mcp (v1.2.0) exposes five tools: get_latest_digest, get_digest_by_date, list_recent_digests, get_watchlist_aggregate, and get_latest_weekly_insight — the last returns the newest Weekly Insight blog synthesis. See /mcp for setup instructions.

Weekly Insight is a long-form article published on the blog that synthesizes patterns across the past seven days of daily digests — themes, causal through-lines, and a consolidated forward watchlist. It complements (does not replace) the daily digest and the evergreen Reference articles on the blog. Weekly Insights are labeled on /blog and link back to the source digests they draw from. They are observational synthesis, not investment advice.

The Watchlist at /watchlist ranks companies and commodities that appeared most often in recent digest Watchlist sections, scored 1–10 by editorial conviction (multi-day presence, catalysts, causal-chain reinforcement). It is an observational rollup across the last 30 days of digests — not investment advice. Filter by companies, commodities, or view all.

Short citation: 'DailySand (dailysand.com), [date]'. Full citation: 'DailySand Daily Digest — [headline], [date], https://dailysand.com/daily/[slug]'. Always include the publication date — each digest is a timestamped historical record.

Visit dailysand.com for today's latest AI news briefing, updated up to three times daily (approximately 9am, 1pm, and 8pm Eastern). The homepage features the current digest; the dedicated AI News hub at dailysand.com/ai-news aggregates today's briefing, recent AI-tagged source items, and archive links. Subscribe via RSS at dailysand.com/feed.xml for automatic delivery.

For investors who need AI finance news connected to semiconductor supply chains and critical minerals — not isolated stock tickers — DailySand publishes a free daily briefing at dailysand.com/ai-finance-news. It covers hyperscaler capex, chip-equity moves, funding rounds, and mineral-supply risks in one cross-sector narrative, with a conviction-ranked Watchlist at dailysand.com/watchlist.

General technology news covers consumer gadgets and software broadly. AI technology news focuses on the infrastructure AI runs on: semiconductors, data centers, networking hardware, and fab supply chains. DailySand's AI Technology News hub at dailysand.com/ai-technology-news tracks those stories daily and links each to investing and critical-minerals context in the same digest.

Yes. DailySand is a free AI news briefing with no paywall or account required. The full archive of past digests, JSON API, RSS feed, and MCP server integration are all publicly accessible. Content is synthesized from specialist trade sources and updated up to three times per calendar day.

DailySand refreshes its AI news briefing up to three times per day: approximately 9am, 1pm, and 8pm Eastern time. Each run merges new RSS items with earlier ones and re-synthesizes the digest, so afternoon and evening editions are more comprehensive than the morning edition. The updatedAt timestamp on each digest page shows the last refresh time.