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Top stories today: - Caroline Ellison sentenced to 2 years in prison in FTX case
- Google releases new Gemini 1.5 Pro, Gemini 1.5 Flash models
- OpenAI's Advanced Voice Mode updated with new look, voices
- Mark Zuckerberg getting away from politics
- Canva sees monthly users 2.5x from 2022 to 190M
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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). |
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 | All times are ET. |
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1. Caroline Ellison sentenced to 2 years in prison for involvement in FTX scandal |
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| | Today we are highlighting AI talent for your courtesy of our partner, Athyna. If you are looking for the best bespoke tech talent, these stars are ready to work with you—today! Reach out here if we can make an introduction to these talents and get $1,000 discount on behalf of us. | | *Disclaimer: We have equity in Athyna. |
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3. Google releases new Gemini 1.5 Pro, Gemini 1.5 Flash models |
2x faster output and 3x less latency than the versions released in June: |
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Gemini 1.5 Pro is offering a -64% lower price on input tokens and a -76% discount on output tokens |
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Effective from Oct. 1 on prompts <128K tokens. GPT-4o's API costs $5/$15 per 1M input/output tokens. 2,000 RPM for 1.5 Flash and 1,000 RPM for 1.5 Pro are the paid tier rate limits, vs. 1,000 and 360, respectively.
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New Gemini models are touted to deliver a ~20% improvement on some benchmarks |
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OpenAI's o1 and GPT-4o still lead the LLM leaderboards, but the new Gemini 1.5 Pro could surpass GPT-4o soon |
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4. OpenAI's Advanced Voice Mode updated with new look, voices, expanding to paid users |
Advanced Voice Mode has gotten a revamped design, with a blue animated sphere: |
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All ChatGPT Plus and Teams users will get the AVM over the week. May: when OpenAI showcased its Google Assistant and Siri competitor. 5 new voices added: Arbor, Maple, Sol, Spruce, and Vale. Sky, the controversial voice that led to a legal threat to OpenAI, is missing. Custom Instructions, Memory, and improved accents are part of the update.
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5. Mark Zuckerberg getting away from politics after a decade working on his political goals |
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6. Canva sees monthly users 2.5x from 2022 to 190M |
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$26B valuation in 2022, from a peak of $40B in 2021 (-35%). Canva is preparing for an IPO, after engineering a $2.5B secondary sale.
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Canva holds a 4% share of the $15.4B creative software market, where Adobe dominates |
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7. U.S. corporate venture deals -59% YTD vs. 2021 |
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1,385 CVC deals closed in 2024 YTD, on par with last year's 2,172. 2021: 3,373 CVC deals were closed on the hottest years for startups in this cycle.
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Rounds led or co-led by U.S. CVC funds dropped to 383 in 2024 YTD, down from 891 in 2022 and 747 in 2023 |
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Series A and B rounds participated in by U.S. CVC funds dipped to 489 YTD, down from 737 in 2023 and 1,187 in 2022 |
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Series C and beyond rounds participated in by U.S. CVC funds dropped to 190 YTD, from 270 in 2023 and 510 in 2022 |
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Google Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Samsung Next, Salesforce Ventures, and NVIDIA are the top-5 most-active CVCs or companies in the U.S.
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8. Uber CEO vows to take on Amazon in its path to become super-app |
Uber's MAUs in the U.S. and UK are still far away from what Amazon has: |
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Uber Direct, currently works with 3,500 brands, is projected to work with "every single local retailer." Uber, Uber Eats, and Uber Driver will be the 3 super apps by Uber.
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Uber's MAUs crossed 150M in Q2 2024 |
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Uber drivers see mostly dropping hourly earnings despite the company's revenue growth |
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-89% in net hourly driver earnings between 2022-23 in Croatia. +19% YoY growth in Uber's total booking value in Q2 2024. $1.1B in annual operating profits, its first ever.
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9. Interesting videos, posts, and memes |
 | Senator Kyrsten Sinema | All-In Summit 2024 |
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 | Why Human Data is Key to AI: Alexandr Wang from Scale AI |
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 | Why Vlad Tenev and Tudor Achim of Harmonic Think AI Is About to Change Math—and Why It Matters |
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 | What Founder Mode Really Means |
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10. Other headlines |
AI |
Character AI got $2.7B for Google acquihire. OpenAI pitched Biden administration on massive data centers to compete with China. Microsoft unveils Correction, service claimed to fix AI hallucinations. ChatGPT flaw exploited by researcher to plant false memories via injection. Scale AI sales 4x YoY to ~$400M in H1 2024, ~$980M in cash. Gemini Code Assist helps boost 20%–30% productivity gain for companies. Stability AI board gets 'Titanic' director James Cameron. Spotify rolls out AI Playlist in beta in U.S., Canada, Ireland, New Zealand.
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Tech |
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Tech & law |
DOL releases AI, inclusive hiring guidelines to prevent bias in hiring. OpenAI agrees to let authors' reps review training data in copyright cases. CrowdStrike SVP apologizes before Congress over global IT outage. NYC law on sharing food delivery users' data unconstitutional, judge declares. Meta will not immediately join EU's AI Pact ahead of new law.
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Biotech |
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Business |
China cuts 1-year policy rate by record 0.3% to 2.0%. DOJ accuses Visa of monopolizing debit card swipes. Boeing workers on strike not interested in latest contract offer, says union. FBI investigates China-backed VC firm Hone Capital over dealmaking. Sweden's central bank cuts key rate to 3.25%, sees 2 more cuts this year.
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Crypto |
SEC chair Gensler faces bipartisan ire in House over crypto policies. Assetera to offer tokenized assets on Polygon. Binance says it helped India's agency trace $47.6M gaming scam.
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U.S. politics |
Trump's suspected gunman charged with attempted assassination. Trump says he will put 100% tariffs on every car coming across Mexico border. Biden in farewell U.N. address says peace is still possible in Mideast, Ukraine. Trump praises Russia's military record while urging to end Ukraine funding. House committee recommends contempt charge for Blinken. Secret Service mistakes in 1st Trump shooting detailed in bipartisan report. Alex Jones's Infowars to be auctioned off to help pay Sandy Hook families.
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World |
Hezbollah fires 1st missile at Tel Aviv, gets struck down. Lebanon says only U.S. can stop fighting amid Israel-Hezbollah strikes. Zelensky to ask Biden to act quickly to support Kyiv's campaign. China's PLA conducts rare publicized test of intercontinental ballistic missile. Greece, Turkey explore holding talks on maritime zones.
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