Top stories today:

1. Adam Neumann seeks to buy back WeWork, sending letter
2. Snap's revenue +5% YoY to $1.36B in Q4, slower than Meta, Google
3. Smaug-72B launches as #1 open-source model
4. Spotify reaches 602M MAUs, with 236M paying, still unprofitable

0. Data and calendar

1. Adam Neumann seeks to buy back WeWork, sending threatening legal letter

• Allegedly partnering with Dan Loeb's Third Point hedge fund, who separately said they had “only preliminary conversations” with Neumann.

• WeWork has not been cooperating, according to the letter.

• Deal possibly connected to Flow Global, Neumann's new startup, aiming to be the WeWork of coliving.

• WeWork is under Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and will likely emerge with debtholders taking over the company.

• Neumann's lawyer is Alex Spiro, also Elon Musk's attorney.

2. Snap's revenue +5% YoY to $1.36B in Q4, slower than Meta's (24%), Google ads’ (11%) growth

• Snap+ at $249M ARR in 2023, with 7M subscribers, from 5M in the previous quarter.

Snap stock was -31% after the news

Snap suggested it can, over time, 10x its $30 ARPU to get it aligned with Facebook's

Of course, Meta has an older audience and a better ad-targeting platform:

4. Smaug-72B, fine-tuned version of Alibaba's Qwen, launches as #1 open-source model

Broader LLM rankings are still dominated by proprietary models, namely GPT-4, Gemini, Mistral, and Claude

5. Spotify reaches 602M MAUs, with 236M paying users, +15% YoY — still unprofitable

Revenue was +16% to $3.7B, but operating margin was -2%, as gross margins continue to hover around 25%

It's a tough, low-margin business for music streamers:

• Stock still closed +4%, given the company beat expectations.

6. Interesting videos, posts, and memes

7. Other headlines

AI

• OpenAI adding new watermarks to DALL-E 3 images.

  • Behind-the-scenes on their plan to make AI more democratic.

• Meta will label AI-generated content on Facebook, Instagram.

• LinkedIn Premium uses AI to help users write messages.

• MindStudio: start building AI apps in a single afternoon.*

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Tech

• ESPN, Fox, Warner to launch a combined sports streaming service.

• Douyin CEO resigns, to take leadership role at CapCut.

• visionOS 1.1: better personas, enterprise management, password reset.

• YouTube TV hits 8M subscribers.

• DocuSign to cut 6% of workforce, eliminating ~400 employees.

• Amazon laying off 100s in health division.

• TSMC's Jan. revenue +8% YoY to $6.9B.

• SMIC (China's largest chipmaker) sees revenue +3.5% YoY to $1.7B in Q4.

• Underdog's giving away $1Million Sunday; verify your account to be eligible!*

• BetterHelp: professional online therapy to help you win at work.*

• Masterworks: invest in shares of paintings by Banksy and Picasso.*

• HubSpot: free CRM that the Bay Area Times team uses.*

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Tech & law

• Apple wins lawsuit against AliveCor over heart-monitoring tech.

• WhatsApp to work with other encrypted messaging apps.

• Meta introduces updates to help teens combat sextortion.

• TSMC announces 2nd Japanese plant, raising investment to $20B.

• Taylor Swift joins Elon, sends cease-and-desist to jet tracker on X.

Biotech

• Lilly's revenue +28% to $9.3B in Q4, #9 market cap worldwide.

• Zuzalu: a detailed look at the pro-longevity pop-up city.

• Irina Conboy, George Church unveil new startup Generation Lab.

Business

• Xi replaces head of China's securities regulator.

• Boeing 737 in Alaska Air accident had missing bolts: U.S.

• Household debt +$0.2T in Q4 to $17.5T.

• Elon Musk funding Gina Carano's Disney lawsuit.

• Substack helping creators find advertisers.

Crypto

• MicroStrategy acquires 32K BTC in Q4, now has 190K worth $8B.

• Solana faces 5-hour outage, back up, price unchanged.

• SBF wanted Tom Brady to run in GOP primary.

• Craig Wright denies forging evidence he's Satoshi in London court.

• Metamask now lets users buy cryptos through Robinhood.

• Farcaster reaches 62K DAUs.

• tea Protocol: click to subscribe to tea's newsletter and learn more about how to get rewards for your open-source contributions.*

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U.S. politics

• Trump denied broad immunity by 3-judge panel with Court of Appeals.

  • Won't attend eligibility oral arguments tomorrow at Supreme Court.

• Tucker Carlson confirms Putin interview.

• Israeli aid bill fails in House by 250 × 180 (required 2/3).

• Ukraine, Israel, border bill unlikely as Biden blames Trump.

• Mayorkas impeachment fails in House, 214 × 216.

• Haley loses NV primary to “none of these candidates” option.

• Ronna McDaniel, RNC chair, plans to step down after Trump remarks.

World

• Hamas wants end of war, 100s of prisoners, in exchange for hostages.

• Israel, Hezbollah deal, may be announced in next few weeks by U.S.

• As many as 50 captives, of the remaining 136, likely dead: IDF report.

• Yellen wants to visit China in 2024, U.S. tels Beijing.

• Sheryl Sandberg making Oct. 7 documentary.

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