September 16, 2024 | Listen Online | Read Online

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0. Data and calendar

All values as of 6 AM ET / 3 AM PT, other than S&P500 and NASDAQ close (4 PM ET / 1 PM PT).

All times are ET.

1. OpenAI's $150B valuation reportedly hinges on restructuring corporate model

$6.5B funding could be finalized in 2 weeks.
Valuation renegotiation could be needed if restructuring is unsuccessful.
Turning non-profit to a for-profit also reportedly discussed with lawyers.
OpenAI capped returns at 100x the investment for investors previously.

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3. SpaceX's Polaris Dawn crew returns home safely after historic spacewalk

X: SpaceX.

3:37 AM on Sun.: the capsule landed off Florida's coast with four astronauts.
The world's first commercial spacewalk was conducted by the mission last week.
The mission took humans to the highest altitude in the half century.
Jared Isaacman collaborated with Elon's SpaceX for the mission.

Isaacman was accompanied by former Air Force pilot Scott "Kidd" Poteet and SpaceX engineers Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis

X: Elon Musk.

4. Larry Ellison says he, Elon begged NVIDIA CEO for AI GPUs at dinner

X: The Transcript.

"Please take our money; no, take more of it," he said.
NVIDIA GPUs-powered Oracle's Zettascale AI recently announced.
131,072 Blackwell GPUs fuels the supercluster vs. 100,000 H100 GPUs in Elon's Memphis.

5. S&P 500 Index has bounced back, but not due to Big Tech

-5%: the Magnificent7 tech stocks since the S&P 500 peaked on Jul. 16, vs. +11% real estate and utilities:

Bloomberg.

Non-tech sectors gaining focus amid fears of sputtering economic growth.
AI spending partially led to selloffs in Big Tech stocks.

Mag 7 profits were +36% in Q2, slowing down vs. Q1, as profitability in other sectors accelerates

Bloomberg.

6. iPhone 16 first-weekend pre-order sales -12.7% (vs. iPhone 15) to 37M units

X: Ming-Chi Kuo.

Lower demand for the iPhone 16 Pro is cited as a factor limiting pre-order sales.
Apple Intelligence's delay also reduced interest in the iPhone 16 series.
iPhone 16 Pro delivery times are much shorter than the 15 Pro series.

7. Trump is safe after 2nd assassination attempt amid election campaign, with suspect held

Truth Social: Donald J. Trump.

Rayan Wesley Routh, 58, detained in connection with the incident.
Suspect was spotted hiding with an AK-47-style rifle at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
He fled the scene but was later captured.

Trump's betting odds remained stable at 49% following the attack

Polymarket.

8. Acquisitions at depressed valuations are trending among U.S. unicorn startups

0.56x median valuation increase at exit for unicorns in 2024, down from 1.46x in 2021:

PitchBook.

Discount M&A deals are increasingly being disclosed without price.
Acquihire-style deals are emerging in the AI space as the competition grown.

9. Fei-Fei Li raises $230M for AI startup World Labs to build "large world models"

X: Fei Fei Li.

World Labs plans to generate user-controllable 3D spaces.
Artists, designers, and developers among its target audience.
a16z, NEA, and Radical Ventures co-led the round.
Li co-founded the startup with Ben Mildenhall, Justin Johnson, and Christoph Lassner.

10. MrBeast's 36-page leaked doc reveals virality strategy

How to Succeed in MrBeast Production.

CTR, average view duration, and average view percentage are some of his most important metrics.
However, the title and thumbnail set the virality of the content.
Reengagement is used to retain viewership.
"I want money spent to be shown on camera ideally."

11. Interesting videos, posts, and memes

Peter Thiel | All-In Summit 2024

Marc Benioff | All-In Summit 2024

Relationship Advice of the Investor Sort with Meghan Reynolds of Altimeter | E2008

Cursor AI tutorial for beginners

YouTube video by The Wall Street Journal

How Driver Assist Knows When to Brake, Park and Steer | WSJ Tech Behind

12. Other headlines

AI

g1 AI: using Llama 3.1 to create o1-like reasoning chains.
CoreWeave in talks for share sale at $23B valuation, up from $19B in May.
Groq ties up with Aramco to build data center in Saudi Arabia by 2024.
BHP warns AI growth will worsen copper shortfall.

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Tech

Trump says not selling DJT shares after lockup ends on Sep. 25.
Intel qualifies for $3.5B federal grants to make semiconductors for military.
Insight Partners closing in on $10B+ new fund.
LG said to pick banks for $1.5B public listing of Indian unit.

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Tech & law

TikTok v. Garland: oral arguments to be heard by Court of Appeals today.
EU break-up order to Google unlikely for now: sources.
Brazil's Supreme Court withdraws $3.3M from Elon-linked accounts to pay fines.
French European Commissioner Thierry Breton stepping down over rift.
23andMe settles data breach lawsuit for $30M.

Biotech

Nordic's vaccine for mpox cleared by WHO.
FDA advisers unconvinced by Intercept's liver disease drug benefits, safety.
Eli Lilly's eczema drug receives FDA approval.
Viome raises $25M through internal Series D round.
Walgreens agreed to pay $106.8M to settle prescription billing fraud charges.

Business

Shogun wins record 18 Emmys; Hacks, Baby Reindeer also win big.
DirecTV, Dish in talks to merge again: source.
Boeing strike could drag on, risking junk rating for bonds.
Air Canada averts strike by striking last-minute deal with pilots' union.
Axel Springer and KKR reportedly reached fundamental deal in summer.

Crypto

Sam Bankman-Fried appeals fraud conviction, requests new trial.
MicroStrategy stock +8% after BTC holdings added to reach $14.6B.
Bit2Me gets license in Argentina as virtual asset service provider.

U.S. politics

Harris to join Oprah to rally support in livestream event on Thu.
Trump says he hates Taylor Swift after she endorses Kamala Harris.

World

Taliban begins enforcing new draconian laws.
Mexico's sweeping judicial overhaul takes effect.
Philippine vessel departs disputed reef in South China Sea.

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