Top stories today:

1. SEC (mistakenly) says on X Bitcoin ETF approved
2. Rabbit’s R1: $199, no subscription AI device announced
3. Keith Rabois goes back to Khosla Ventures
4. Taiwan war could lead global GDP -10%: model

0. Data and calendar

1. Bitcoin jumps then falls after SEC (mistakenly) says on X ETF approved

It all started with this tweet from SEC's account on X:

SEC Chair Gensler said the tweet was a result of a hack, but Bitcoin's price had already gone up. It went down after Gensler's tweet

• X confirmed the hack, saying the account did not have 2FA enabled.

Valkyrie CEO said he was “95% sure” Bitcoin ETFs would be approved Wed and start trading on Thu

Some ETF providers are promising 0% initial fees, to lure in investors

2. Rabbit’s R1: $199, no subscription AI device announced at CES

In addition to basic apps like Q&A and ride-sharing, you can teach R1 to execute web or app tasks, such as creating an AI image on Midjourney

R1’s 25-min launch keynote clearly was filmed with the iPhone 2007 keynote in mind

• Meanwhile, Humane is laying off 4% of its workforce, before the release of the $699 screenless Ai Pin.

Read more: The Verge.

4. Keith Rabois goes back to Khosla Ventures, from Founders Fund

• Will serve as 1 of 5 managing directors in $3.1B in new capital that Khosla raised across 3 funds: $1.6B for its 8th flagship, $0.5B for seed, and $1B for its 2nd opportunity fund.

• To open Khosla’s Miami office.

• “I learned more about how to build a startup from [Founder Fund’s Peter Thiel] than anyone, and that is still true. Whereas Vinod [Khosla] is probably more of my model as an investor,” Keith Rabois told Forbes.

5. Taiwan war could lead global GDP -10%: Bloomberg model

6. Mobile economy +6% to 533B in 2023, with ads representing 68% of total revenue

• 5 hours per day on the phone: an average Android users.

7. U.S. home prices +0.2% MoM, +5.2% YoY in Nov.: CoreLogic

8. Centenarians expected to 5x in U.S. in 30 years, from 100K to 500K people

9. Citizenship-by-investment programs generate 50%+ of revenue of St. Kitts, Dominica’s governments

And the EU may soon reduce their attractiveness, if they remove access their visa-free access to the border-free Schengen Area:

10. Interesting videos, posts, and memes

11. Other headlines

AI

• TSMC’s revenue +1% YoY to $20.1B in Q4.

• PhotoRoom raising $50M-$60M at $500M-$600M.

• Microsoft releases text-to-video model DragNUWA.

• Quora raises $75M from a16z to focus on Poe.

• OpenAI head of public policy: profile.

Tech

• Vision Pro reviews being “carefully [orchestrated]” by Apple.

  • 16GB of RAM, likely <=1T of storage.

• 4M XR headsets expected to be sold in 2024, from <3M in 2023.

• Google, Samsung team up for Quick Share, easier file sharing on Android.

• Segway announces e-bikes.

• YouTube adds support for RSS uploads.

• Amazon’s Twitch to cut 35% of staff, or ~500 employees.

• Match, Tinder parent, names new CEO after activist Elliott buys stake.

• X announces exclusive shows with Don Lemon, Tulsi Gabbard.

• NASA’s crewed lunar missions delayed to Sep. 2025+.

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

• The CEO Report: become a better leader by subscribing, 100% free.*

• Sidebar: accelerate your career in 2024.*

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Tech & law

• Meta to automatically restrict teen users from harmful content.

• Ohio law limiting kids’ use of social media halted by judge.

Biotech

• Google Deepmind’s Hassabis: we will halve the time taken to find drugs.

Business

• SVB-connected BTFD Fed program set to expire on Mar. 11.

• Boeing CEO: company needs acknowledge “our mistake.”

• Jane Street has $7.3B in net trading revenue for Q1-Q3 2023.

• Saudi Arabia overtakes UAE in startup funding: $1.4B in 2023.

• BlackRock cuts 3% of global workforce.

• Bain #1 best place to work, according to Glassdoor.

• Arrived: learn how to invest as little as $100 in fractional real estate, which has outperformed the S&P500 over the past 20 years.*

*Sponsored.

U.S. politics

• Trump immunity appeal met with skepticism, ruling could come today.

• Spending bill won’t be done in time, Senate Republicans say.

• Austin admitted at ICU last week due to prostate cancer surgery complication.

• Ray Epps, J6 target, sentenced to 1 year of probation.

• Harvard given 2 weeks to produce documents for House panel.

• Melania Trump’s mother dies at 78.

World

• Blinken pressures Israel to work with Palestinian leaders.

• Houthis continue launching missiles on Red Sea commercial ships.

• Ecuador declares “internal armed conflict.”

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