Top stories today:

1. ByteDance execs believe China will not allow TikTok sale
2. SpaceX’s Startship rocket completes most of 3rd test flight
3. PPI accelerates to 0.6% MoM / 1.6% YoY, above expected
4. Bitcoin retreats to $67K, from record high of $73K
5. Adobe’s revenue +11% to $5.18B in quarter, stock -12%

0. Data and calendar

1. ByteDance execs believe China will not allow TikTok sale

ByteDance is in theory a Cayman company, but most of its executives and revenue (from Douyin) are in China:

• Reports coming after Beijing protested that the U.S. should “stop unreasonably suppressing” TikTok.

• Last year, Beijing said a sale would have to be approved by the government since it would involve exporting technology.

• Meanwhile, China bans most of the U.S. Big Tech platforms: Google, Meta, etc.

2. SpaceX’s Startship rocket completes most of 3rd test flight, but explodes during descent

• SpaceX chose to skip an attempt to re-ignite one of Starship’s Raptor engines, seen as a key milestone for Starship’s future success.

Elon continues to promote the idea that Starship will make humanity multi-planetary

4. PPI accelerates to 0.6% MoM / 1.6% YoY, above expected, pressuring Fed not to cut

Read more: Bloomberg.

5. Bitcoin retreats to $67K, from record high of $73K

6. Adobe’s revenue +11% to $5.18B in quarter, stock -12% due to lower guidance

• Guidance of +9% revenue growth ($5.25B - $5.30B) and $4.35 - $4.40 in non-GAAP EPS, for Q2 FY2024.

7. Most AI models, except Google’s and GitHub’s, are vulnerable to encryption-breaking

• Paper leveraged the token-length side channel, which is unencrypted, to correctly reconstruct AI responses.

• 29% accuracy for responses and 55% accuracy for inferring general topics.

8. Current high schoolers most pessimistic generation since 90s

9. Interesting videos, posts, and memes

10. Other headlines

AI

• Apple buys DarwinAI, adding employees to AI division.

• Copilot Pro launches worldwide with 1-mo free trial.

• Global AI regulations pushed by U.S. at UN.

• Oil drilling boosted by AI.

• HubSpot: download the guide on how to use AI for better results, for free.*

• RAD AI: AI marketing leader, 3X growth, trusted by Hasbro & MGM. Invest in AI today!*

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Tech

• Spotify: iPhone app updates in EU getting held up by Apple.

• Reddit launches new ad format that looks like posts.

• Google I/O 2024 scheduled for May 14, 15.

• Chrome gets real-time URL phishing protection.

• Refund fraud schemes affecting Amazon, others: a look at.

• Incogni: keep your SSN off the dark web.*

• citizenM has 14 tech-ready hotels stateside for the best night's sleep of your life.*

*Sponsored.

Tech & law

• Samsung poised to win $6B from CHIPS Act.

• Beijing urges EV makers to buy local chips.

• PornHub goes down in TX over age-verification law.

• 100Mbps download/20Mbps upload new definition of broadband: FCC.

Biotech

• NASH drug from Madrigal sees 1st FDA approval for disease.

• CAR-T from Bristol gets FDA approval for some blood cancers.

• Zephyr AI, backed by Lilly, raises $111M for precision medicine tech.

• Pi Health, AI for cancer trials, raises $30M.

Crypto

• Craig Wright not Satoshi Nakamoto, UK judge rules.

• El Salvador has $0.4B in BTC, more than previously known.

• Uniswap: making it easier to buy, sell and trade tokens on Ethereum.*

*Sponsored.

U.S. politics

• CIA covert campaign on Chinese social media launched by Trump in 2019.

• Trump docs case judge rejects dismissal effort, but doesn’t set trial date.

• 32-hour workweek pushed by Bernie Sanders.

• No Labels: candidates could be announced in Mar.

World

• Putin expected to win elections this weekend.

• Netanyahu: “ridiculous” Hamas’s calls for full withdrawal, 1K prisoner release.

• Hamas calls for confrontations at Al Aqsa in Israel today.

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