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Top stories today: - Anthropic unveils new Claude 3.5 Sonnet with Computer Use capability
- Stability AI releases Stable Diffusion 3.5 open weights models
- Runway launches new tool to generate AI animations
- Microsoft, OpenAI announce $10M program to bring AI to newsrooms
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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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Listen to our AI-generated podcast summarizing today's newsletter (beware of the few hallucinations): |
| Bay Area Times Daily - Oct. 23, 2024 ► Play Online |
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1. Anthropic releases upgraded Claude 3.5 Sonnet with Computer Use capability |
 | Claude | Computer use for automating operations |
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The new capability lets AI control PCs, move the cursor, click buttons, and type text. Asana, Canva, and DoorDash are among the early testers for Computer Use. Computer Use beta is available on Anthropic's API, Amazon Bedrock, and Vertex AI.
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The upgraded Claude 3.5 Sonnet is touted to offer better coding performance than GPT-4o and Gemini 1.5 Pro |
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Its API cost $3M per 1M input tokens and $15 for output ones, the latter 50% more expensive than GPT-4o |
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Additionally, Anthropic has released Claude 3.5 Haiku to take on GPT-4o mini and Gemini 1.5 Flash |
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Same cost and speed as Claude 3 Haiku, but with even better skills and faster than Claude 3 Opus. $0.25/ 1M input token and $1.25/ 1M output token starting price, vs. GPT-4o mini's $0.15/ 1M input tokens and $0.60/ 1M output tokens. The text-only model will be available later this month, with image input added later.
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2. Stability AI releases Stable Diffusion 3.5 open weights models with quicker image generation |
Stable Diffusion 3.5 Large with 8B parameters outperformed its open rivals in prompt adherence and surpassed most larger models (except FLUX 1) in image quality: |
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Up to 1MP images can be generated using Stable Diffusion 3.5 Large. Stable Diffusion 3.5 Large Turbo comes as a distilled version of Stable Diffusion 3.5 Large. Oct. 29: when Stable Diffusion 3.5 Medium (2.5B) will be released. The medium-size model will be optimized to run on edge devices.
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3. Runway releases Act-One tool to generate AI animations using video, voice inputs |
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Videos recorded from a smartphone can be used to create animated content. Free-to-use tool. Aimed to "transpose an actor's performance into a 3D model suitable for an animation pipeline." Can create "countless different character designs" in "many different styles." "Gradually rolling out to users today and will soon be available to everyone."
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4. Shein revenue growth slows to +23% in H1 as it preps for IPO |
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H1 revenue at $18B. Profits were -70% to $0.4B, a 2% margin. Expected to IPO in London after scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers, who asked the SEC to block a U.S. listing due to Shein's ties to China. Relatedly, in Mexico, Shein is launching a credit card.
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5. Microsoft, OpenAI announce $10M program to deploy AI tools to local newsrooms |
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$2.5M each in direct funding and software credits from OpenAI and Microsoft. The Lenfest Institute for Journalism has also collaborated for the program. 5 local news outlets will get the 1st round of funding. The move follows copyright cases from top news outlets against OpenAI. OpenAI has also been signing licensing deals with several outlets to expand its reach and content access.
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6. U.S. government bond selloff mirrors post-1995 Fed cut |
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+34bps in 2-year yields since the Fed's rate cut on Sep. 18, the same as in 1995. +40bps in 10-year yields since the rate cut, vs. +39bps in 1995. Rising yields "reflect the reduced probability of recession risks," analysts believe.
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7. AI-related seed funding slows, but valuations remain high |
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-43% YoY in AI seed funding deals to 627 in Q3 from 1,095 a year ago. First drop in AI seed funding since ChatGPT's launch in Nov. 2022. $1.5B invested in total in Q3, the same as in Q3 2023.
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8. Investors backing emerging market funds excluding China |
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$10B in net inflows to "ex-China" equity funds in 2024 YTD. Inflows exceed total investments into broader emerging market equity funds. Number of such funds 2x'd to 70 over the last 2 years.
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9. iPhone 11 emerges as Apple's best-selling prepaid device in U.S. |
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2019-24: iPhone 11 topped the prepaid iPhone sales in the U.S. iPhone 11 was often discounted to $50 or even $0 by major prepaid carriers. iPhone 12 promo deals have been growing to replace iPhone 11. New iPhone SE may affect Apple's prepaid strategy in 2025.
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10. Venture debt activity rebounds in Europe |
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€13.2B ($14.2B) in venture debt value recorded in the first 3 quarters of 2024, vs. €13.1B in 2023. 355 deals have been closed so far this year, vs. 937 last year. 2024's venture debt is projected just below 2022, the 3rd-highest on record.
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Late-stage startups captured 33.8% of total debt deals as of Q3, followed by venture growth and early-stage VC at 26.2% |
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11. Interesting videos, posts, and memes |
 | How An AI Bot Became a Crypto Millionaire |
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 | Apple's Craig Federighi Explains Apple Intelligence Delays, Siri's Future and More | WSJ |
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 | Vinod Khosla - founder of Khosla Ventures | In Good Company | Norges Bank Investment Management |
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 | What Is the Actual Value of Going to College? |
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 | Google DeepMind Executive on AlphaFold's Progress |
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12. Other headlines |
AI |
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Tech |
Tesla earnings at 5:30 PM ET expected to show +8% revenue growth, -10% EPS. Elon Musk's PAC spends just 4% of social media ad dollars on X. Apple said to be working on new App Store-like app dedicated to games. ARM to scrap Qualcomm chip design license in feud escalation. Meta bans accounts tracking private jets for Trump, Zuckerberg, Musk. Texas Instruments Q3 revenue -8.4% to $4.15B, Q4 outlook below estimates. Netflix closes AAA game studio even before releasing game.
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Tech & law |
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Biotech |
CD47 inhibitor for atherosclerosis begins Phase 1 clinical trial. FDA clears airway stent covered with human tissue. Dotmatics launches antibody engineering R&D software platform.
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Business |
Undergraduate enrollment +3% YoY, freshman enrollment -5%. Starbucks suspends 2025 guidance after another sales slump. Mubadala eyes mid-market assets amid PE exit dry spell. GM beats estimates on "remarkably" resilient consumer, shares surge.
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Crypto |
MakerDAO considers dropping Sky brand amid community debate. Tether CEO says he expects U.S. will catch up in crypto regulation. River Financial introduces BTC interest on cash deposits.
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U.S. politics |
Harris explicitly backs $15 federal minimum wage. Trump says he'll make interest on car loans tax deductible if domestically built. Bill Gates reportedly backed Harris's campaign with a $50M donation. Russia, Iran, China could stoke post-election violence, say U.S. intel officials. Trump files legal complaint against UK's Labour Party for election interference.
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World |
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