September 13th Newsletter

An action-packed week unfolds with Apple's product launch with AI features on Monday and the Presidential debate on Tuesday, setting the stage for a complex economic landscape. As the November elections approach, investors continue to navigate diverse trends: U.S. households enjoy rising inflation-adjusted incomes, with online grocery prices dropping 3.7% in August. Banks brace for a 9% increase in capital requirements, while Apple and Google face European legal challenges. U.S. inflation moderated to 2.5%, though core CPI holds at 3.2% year-over-year. Wall Street banks implement measures to ease junior bankers' workloads amid deal surges, with JPMorgan limiting hours and Bank of America launching a workload monitoring platform. Meanwhile, Samsung plans to cut up to 30% of jobs in some divisions. These developments continue to paint a turbulent ride as we head to the end of the year.

Top 5 AI highlights

[1] 🍓 OpenAI has introduced its o1 series, comprising o1-preview and o1-mini models for advanced problem-solving across science, healthcare, and technology. While o1-preview demonstrates PhD-level performance in physics and coding, o1-mini provides cost-effective reasoning capabilities. Concurrently, OpenAI is negotiating a substantial funding round: $6.5 billion in equity at a $150 billion valuation, led by Thrive Capital with tech giants participating, plus an additional $5 billion in debt, with bank discussions ongoing. Check it out. Additionally, here is more on o1 from Cognition Labs and an interesting exchange between Sam Altman and Matt Paulson on X.

[2] 🍎Apple's September 2024 Event unveiled AI-driven innovations across its product line. iPhone 16 features the Photonic Engine for enhanced low-light photography and the A18 Pro chip for faster machine learning. Apple Watch Series 10 and Ultra 2 offer AI-enhanced Health Insights, while AirPods 4 introduces Personalized Spatial Audio, tailoring sound to individual ear shapes for immersive listening experiences. More on Apple. Additionally, on Thursday, the U.S. FDA approved Apple’s Hearing Aid feature as the first over-the-counter hearing aid software. Details here.

[3] 🇬🇧 Amazon Web Services commits £8 billion to bolster UK cloud infrastructure, with a focus on AI innovation. This substantial investment occurs against a backdrop of intensifying EU regulatory scrutiny in the tech sector, exemplified by recent multi-billion dollar fines imposed on Apple and Google. More on CNBC.

[4] ⚖️U.S. Circuit Judge Kevin Newsom's experimental use of ChatGPT in legal interpretation marks a significant moment in the intersection of AI and jurisprudence. While the court ultimately relied on precedent, this incident highlights the potential and pitfalls of AI in legal reasoning. See more on Reuters.

[5] 🕵️Meta admitted to scraping public data from Australian users for AI training without providing an opt-out option, unlike in the EU where privacy laws enforce such measures. Under scrutiny, Meta confirmed that public posts since 2007 are included. Australian lawmakers are pushing for stronger privacy protections in upcoming legislative reforms. More on ABC.

Founder’s Corner

“Playbook“ for Early-stage startup sales

What we read and listened to this week

• Musk sets sights on Mars missions within 2 years, while Polaris Dawn Mission breaks new ground and Musk’s wealth is on track for him to become the world's first trillionaire by 2027  (Reuters)(LinkedIn)(FoxBusiness)

• Apple hit with staggering $14.4B tax bill, while Google faces $2.6B antitrust penalty in EU's crackdown on Big Tech (NYTimes)

• DOJ takes aim at Google's alleged ad tech monopoly, claiming it forces publishers into outdated tools and stifles competition (TheVerge)

• Goldman Sachs faces $400M loss in GM credit card exit, while $17B Apple card balances hang in the balance (WSJ)

• Tech giant Oracle plans 800 MW data center powered by trio of small modular nuclear reactors to meet surging AI demand (CNBC)

• Waymo's fleet of 700 cars drives 22M miles, with <1 crash per million, outperforming human drivers significantly (Waymo)

• Amazon has launched Amazon Saver, a new private-label food brand with most items under $5 (Fox)

• Boeing workers go on strike just after midnight on 9/13, rejecting a 25% raise and demanding a 40% raise, in their first walkout since 2008 (LinkedIn)

AI M&A and Fundraising news

September 12:

• Beebop.ai, a power grid orchestration software, raised a $5.4M Seed round.

• Operant AI, a runtime AI application protection platform, raised a $10M Series A round.

• Vind AI: AI for wind project designs, raised a $3.2M Seed round.

September 11:

• Cerrion: Computer vision for production lines, raised a $5M Seed round.

• Connectly: AI to personalize text messages to customers, raised a $20M Series B round.

• Darkhive: Autonomous drones for defense, raised a $21M Series A round.

• Landbase: Agentic AI for Go-to-market strategies, raised a $12.5M Seed round.

• Nostra AI: Conversation optimization software for e-commerce, raised $8.9M.

• Protege: AI training data, raised a $10M Seed round.

• SplxAI: Automated testing for conversational AI apps, raised a $2M Pre-Seed round.

• webAI: AI development platform, raised a $60M Series A round. 

September 10:

• AttoTude: Interconnect technology for AI and data center applications, raised a $29M Series A round.

• CardiaTec: AI-powered drug discovery for heart disease, raised a $6.5M Seed round.

• Forterra: Self-driving technology for defense and commercial industries, raised a $75M Series B round.

• Glean: Enterprise AI knowledge, raised a $260M Series E round.

• Pieces: Clinical GenAI solution, raised a $25M growth round.

• Smartcat: Content translation, raised a $43M Series C round.

• Spare: AI-driven transit solutions, raised a $42M Series C round.

• Spotter: Underwrites creators and offers AI tools, raised $7.4M. 

• Track3D: AI-powered construction monitoring, raised a $4.3M seed round.

September 9:

• AudiencePlus: AI-powered audience insights, raised a $7.28M Seed round.

• Chai Discovery: AI models for molecular structure prediction, raised a $30M Seed round.

• Finally: AI bookkeeping startup, raised $200M including a $50M Series B round.

• PIN AI: Decentralized, on-device AI platform, raised a $10M Pre-Seed round.

• Superluminal Medicines: AI-powered drug discovery, raised a $120M Series A round.

September 8:

• Fastn: AI agents for no-code platform, raised a $2.6M Seed round.

Attached to this email, you’ll find a summary of this week’s highlights and the financial performance of select public companies, providing you with a snapshot of recent market movements.