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Top stories today: - OpenAI raises $6.6B in largest VC round ever, at $157B
- Crude oil +1% to $70 as markets await Israel's response to Iran
- Amazon launches new Fire HD 8 tablets with 50% more RAM
- WP Engine sues WordPress co-creator Mullenweg, Automattic
- GV, Salesforce lead top U.S. corporate ventures in 2024 so far
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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 the hallucination at the end about Amazon robots): |
| Bay Area Times Daily - Oct. 3, 2024 ► Play Online |
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1. OpenAI raises $6.6B in largest VC round ever, reaching post-money valuation of $157B |
The latest round has 7.9x'd OpenAI's valuation from $20B in 2022: |
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~1.3B: Joshua Kushner's Thrive Capital led the round. Microsoft, NVIDIA, and SoftBank were among the participating investors. The deal topped the $6B raised by Elon Musk's xAI. The funding would help OpenAI "double down our leadership in frontier AI research, increase compute capacity, and continue building tools." Avoid backing rival startups including xAI, OpenAI has asked investors.
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OpenAI is now worth far more than any VC-backed company at the time of their IPO |
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3. Crude oil +1% to $70 as markets await Israel's response to Iran |
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Biden says U.S. would not support Israeli strike on Iran nuclear sites. Nuclear site strikes currently not being planned by Israel: 4 officials. Israel strikes Beirut, continues operations in southern Lebanon. 8 IDF soldiers killed in battles with Hezbollah. China urges UN Security Council to de-escalate Middle East crisis.
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4. Amazon launches new Fire HD 8 tablets with 50% more RAM, new Gen AI features |
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3 models: Fire HD 8 (2024), Fire HD 8 Kids, and Fire HD 8 Kids Pro. $99.99 starting price, but an introductory price of $54.99 until Oct. 9. Up to 13 hours of battery life. New GenAI features include Writing Assist, Webpage Summaries, and Wallpaper Creator. Later this month: The AI features will begin rolling out to "all compatible Fire tablets."
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5. WP Engine sues WordPress co-creator Mullenweg, his company Automattic |
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6. GV, Salesforce lead top U.S. corporate ventures in 2024 YTD |
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28 rounds led or co-led by GV in 2024 until Sep. 13, vs. 23 throughout 2023. $859M total worth of deals led or co-led by GV this year. 14 rounds led or co-led by Salesforce Ventures, vs. 9 in 2023. $240M by Salesforce in rounds led or co-led this year. PayPal Ventures, M12, and Intel are the other 3 top CVC firms in the U.S.
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7. Startup valuations dip as time between funding rounds increases |
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The median valuation for startups raising Series A was 2.8x higher than their seed valuations in Q2 2024, vs 4.9x in 2022. Startups raising Series C saw a 1.6x valuation jump in Q2, vs. 2.5x 2 years ago.
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Rounds are taking longer: Series C rounds are at a median of 822 days, vs. 522 in 2022 |
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8. Global VC deal activity slows for 3rd consecutive quarter |
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7,227 VC deals were closed in Q3, -26% from a year ago. 2,958 deals were closed specifically in the U.S., while 1,648 deals closed in Europe.
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$70.1B worth of VC deals were closed globally in Q3, -23% YoY |
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$242.3B in VC deals were closed globally in 2024 YTD |
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9. VC dealmaking shifting back to startup-friendliness after sharply reversing to favor investors in 2022 |
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Since Q1 2024, VC dealmaking is shifting toward startup-friendliness. 2022: poor market conditions and high demand for capital quickly moved markets to being investor-friendly, after 2 extremely startup-friendly years. 2010-2015: late-stage deals were more investor-friendly than early-stage ones.
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Capital demand has increased significantly relative to its supply |
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10. Tesla deliveries +6.4% YoY to 462.9K in Q3 |
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11. Interesting videos, posts, and memes |
 | The Automation Endgame, VCs Returning Cash, and the OpenAI Wager | E2019 |
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 | Julie Gibson Clark's Longevity Routine |
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 | Bret Taylor: Why Pre-Training is for Morons & Companies Will Build Their Own Software | E1209 |
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12. Other headlines |
AI |
Google working on AI reasoning model similar to OpenAI's o1. NVIDIA, Accenture partner to boost corporate AI adoption. Character.ai abandons making AI models after $2.7B Google deal. Poolside raises $500M led by Bain Capital to build AI coding software. Crescendo, AI contact center startup, raises $50M at $500M valuation. xAI moves into OpenAI's former HQ in Mission, SF. Cancer AI Alliance joins medical, tech expertise to work on next-gen care.
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Tech |
Amazon Prime Video to roll out greater number of ads in 2025. CRV returning $275M out of $500M due to "overvaluation." Kalshi resumes election betting markets, as Interactive Brokers preps launch. iOS 18's new permission system for contact syncing may hurt social apps. Gmail introduces new summary cards on mobile app.
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Tech & law |
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Biotech |
Lilly's weight-loss drug no longer in shortage: FDA. Kailera emerges with $400M for obesity drugs. Ovarian aging delayed in mice study with fibrosis drug pirfenidone. Medicare issues updated rules for second round of drug negotiations. Lilly to invest $4.5B on new facility to scale-up pipeline drug production.
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Business |
143K new jobs in Sep., vs. 124K expected: ADP report. Buffett sells another $338M of BofA stock, slowing down since July.
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Crypto |
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U.S. politics |
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World |
Russia rules out nuclear talks with U.S. given its stance on NATO expansion. CIA expands online recruitment of informants to China, Iran, North Korea.
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