Top stories today:

1. Vision Pro expected between end of Jan. and Feb.
2. U.S. bankruptcies +30% YoY as rates rise
3. OpenAI continues to deny GPT 4.5 Turbo rumors
4. U.S. oil output at record 13.3M barrels/day

0. Data and calendar

1. Vision Pro expected between end of Jan. and Feb.

• Vision Pros are now being widely tested by Apple engineers at company buildings and even their homes.

• New AirPods in 2024 to include active noise cancellation in its more expensive version, something today only available for the AirPods Pro.

  • Hearing aid functionality is a major software-based upgrade.

• New AirPods Pro in 2025 to include body-temperature and health tracking.

• iPhone 16 in 2025 to include a “dedicated button for taking video.”

2. U.S. bankruptcies +30% YoY as rates rise

In the EU, bankruptcies are +13% YoY, having risen in most sectors

4. OpenAI continues to deny GPT 4.5 Turbo rumors

Some users have reported a significant increase in quality, and given some prompts, ChatGPT is declaring itself as GPT 4.5 Turbo:

OpenAI employee Will Depue called this a “weird and oddly consistent hallucination”:

• On Thu, Sam Altman denied these rumors too.

5. U.S. oil output at record 13.3M barrels/day, even as drilling rigs at work fall, led by shale, new tech

6. 1st pole-to-pole drive completed by couple in modified EV

Read more: Electrek.

7. Wordle statistics: “slate“ best word to start word game

8. Interesting videos, posts, and memes

9. Other headlines

AI

• OpenAI suspends ByteDance's API account after training use.

• Grimes’s Grok toy trademarked before Elon's Grok AI.

• SenseTime founder Tang Xiao dies, stock -11%.

• Harmonic AI: startup discovery platform to find breakout investments.*

*Sponsored.

Tech

• DocuSign reportedly exploring a sale, stock +12%.

• TikTok asks advertisers to spend 50% - 150% more in 2024.

• Blue Origin could launch unmanned rocket starting Mon 9:30 AM.

• Amazon's effort to challenge Starlink: a look at.

• iOS App Store launches discounted contingent subscriptions.

• Robinhood receives $1.1B in transfers since offering 1% match on Oct. 23.

• MindStudio: join a free webinar & learn to build AI applications with no code.*

*Sponsored.

Tech & law

• China's iPhone ban expands to more agencies, government firms.

• Google develops age-identifying AI ahead of porn crackdown in UK.

• Google to allow users to store location data on device.

• China's Weibo asks bloggers not to post negative content about economy.

• 63% of Google's C$100M/yr payment to Canada media will go to print, digital.

Biotech

• Illumina to divest cancer diagnostic test maker Grail.

• China's mystery pneumonia reportedly stops responding to antibiotics.

• BrainGPT turns thoughts into text on screen.

• GSK's Jemperli extended lifespan of patients with endometrial cancer.

• Novo Foundation commits $265M for respiratory diseases vaccines.

• Twin Health raises $50M for metabolic diseases health tech.

• Aging likely result of antagonistic pleiotropy (i.e. genes that are initially helpful).

Business

• Fed officials give mixed messages about rate cuts.

• NYT journalists form “independence caucus” against advocacy news.

• Ryanair CEO nears €100M bonus if strong performance continues.

• Hollywood studios now again open to selling old shows to Netflix.

Crypto

• FTX estate's plan confirms dollarized claims; 100% recovery possible.

• SEC rejects Coinbase's proposal of tailored rules for crypto.

• Solana's Saga phone sells out after traders buy them for airdropped tokens.

• Polygon stops working on Dogechain project, focused on ZK.

U.S. politics

• Ukraine aid: Senate fails to strike border security deal.

• Giuliani ordered to pay $148M in damages in Georgia defamation case.

• Trump quotes Putin to call Biden “threat to democracy.”

• Haley gains reactions in NH, but Trump still dominates field.

• DeSantis: super PAC's top strategist Jeff Roe resigns.

• Deepfakes: only 3 states have laws about use in political campaigns.

World

• Putin: Russia has no reason or interest to fight with NATO countries.

  • EU to pass 12th sanctions package against Russia.

• Houthis continue to attack ships in Red Sea, as U.S. weights attack.

• Israel pushes back on UK, German, French calls for ceasefire.

  • Defense Secretary Austin lands in Israel.

  • IDF invites journalists for tour of car-wide Hamas tunnel.

  • U.S., PA discuss PA security presence in post-war Gaza.

  • 51% of 18-24's want “Israel to be ended and given to Hamas.”

  • Hostage talks resume, with Mossad chief, Qatari PM meeting.

• Chilean voters reject new constitution, 56% - 44%.

• Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon's trial begins, faces life.

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