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Top stories today:
- Fed cuts rates by 50 bps, in 1st since 2020
- Alibaba launches Qwen2.5 family of open weights AI models
- X changes network provider to restore access in Brazil despite ban
- Meta, Spotify warn EU could lose 10% GDP growth over AI regulations
- Solana unveils Seeker, its 2nd gen. crypto smartphone
0. Data and calendar
All values as of 6 AM ET / 3 AM PT, other than S&P500 and NASDAQ close (4 PM ET / 1 PM PT).
All times are ET.
1. Fed cuts rates by 50 bps, in 1st since 2020, as Powell hints at further 25 bps cuts
11 to 1 was the vote by the FOMC to lower the federal funds rate by 0.50%, with the 1st dissent since 2022.
āWe donāt think weāre behind. You can take this as a sign of our commitment not to get behind,ā Powell said.
Likely no more 50 bps cuts: āI do not think that anyone should look at this and say, āOh, this is the new pace.āā
The FOMCās updated dot plot suggests two more rate cuts in 2024
Markets price in -75 bps of cuts in 2024.
M&A activity is expected to be boosted after this rate cut
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3. Alibaba launches Qwen2.5 family of open weights AI models ranging between 0.5-72B parameters
Qwen2.5-72B outperforms Llama-3.1-70B and Mistral-Large-V2 on certain benchmarks:
Apache 2.0 open license for most models, except the 3B and 72B variants, which have restrictions for companies with more than 100M MAUs.
The Qwen models appear heavily censored, giving errors when asked about sensitive topics about Chinese history
Qwen2.5-3B manages to score above 65 on MMLU with only 3B parameters
Qwen2.5-Coder (1.5Bā32B) is specifically designed for coding and was trained on 5.5T tokens
4. X changes network provider to restore access in Brazil despite ban
X said it expected to be inaccessible in Brazil again shortly, though it continued to āwork with the Brazilian government to return very soon:ā
X is reportedly using Cloudflare to route its traffic in Brazil.
Brazilian regulator Anatel evaluating Xās blocking again.
Earlier this month, Brazil blocked X over an ongoing fight with Elon.
5. Meta, Spotify, others warn EU could lose 10% of GDP growth by falling behind on AI
24+ executives wrote an open letter on Thu., being coordinated by Meta.
Europe may reap fewer AI rewards than other regions, the executives noted.
āEurope has become less competitive and less innovative,ā the letter said.
Apple and Meta have delayed AI rollouts in Europe due to regulations.
6. Solana unveils Seeker, its 2nd gen. crypto smartphone, with better battery, lighter weight design
Token 2049: where Solana unveiled the Seeker.
2025 release, with presales available until Sep. 21.
140K+ presales across 57 countries, with many investors betting the phoneās included tokens will pay for the phone itself.
$450 Early Founder price.
The phone includes dApp Store 2.0 with improved app discoverability.
7. YouTube launches AI for short videos, dedicated place to promote small creators
6-sec AI videos will be generated using Veo.
A new Inspiration tab for AI-led concepts announced.
Auto-dubbing will also leverage AI on the platform.
A new Communities section has been announced with AI tools for creator-fan interactions
YouTube Hype was debuted to help promote creators with 500K subscribers
āHype this videoā will appear to let viewers push a video for the Hype section.
100 videos with the most āHypeā points will hit the leaderboard.
8. UN details āglobal AI governanceā suggestions in new report
Very few countries are participating in global AI governance talks:
The UNās AI advisory body made 7 recommendations for AI governance:
An international scientific panel on AI
Policy dialogue on AI governance
AI standards exchange
Capacity development network
Global fund for AI
Global AI data framework
AI office within the Secretariat
The UN argues for AI standards exchange saying there has been a āproliferationā of AI standards with āno common languageā
9. Software engineer employment shrinking after hitting peak in Oct. 2019
10. Interesting videos, posts, and memes
11. Other headlines
AI
Apple Intelligence will support German, Italian, Korean, others in 2025.
Global AI safety meeting to be convened by U.S. in SF on Nov. 20-21.
T-Mobile partners with OpenAI to bring AI-based customer service.
OpenAI hires former Coursera executive to expand AI use in classrooms.
LinkedIn confirms training AI on user data by default.
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Tech
Microsoft ties up with Anduril to improve army combat goggle system.
Ghost encrypted cybercrime platform dismantled by global police, 51 arrested.
Ampere, an Oracle-backed chipmaker, explores potential sale.
Rocket Lab aborts satellite launch after countdown hits zero.
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Tech & law
Apple to face EU warning on opening up iPhone operating system.
Google offered to sell part of ad tech business, not enough for EU.
U.S. Senate committee questions tech executives about election threats.
Microsoftās acquihire of Inflection wonāt be scrutinized under EU merger rules.
Kids Online Safety Act advances through House committee.
Nintendo, The PokƩmon Company sue Palworld maker Pocketpair.
Biotech
Upstream Bio files for $100M IPO.
Novo Nordisk bets $600M on NanoVationās ex-liver g
Zantacās second cancer trial ends with hung jury.
Carlyle seeking $2.1B market value for Japanās Rigaku in IPO: sources.
FDA scraps adcomm for Applied's rare disease drug.
NIH grants up to $100M yearly for pandemic preparedness network.
Business
Tupperware lenders fight over assets, including brand name.
India eclipsing China in MSCI Global stock gauges to drive foreign flows.
Crypto
Bitget seals āmulti-million dollarā deal with La Liga.
U.S. politics
Iranian hackers sent Trump information to Biden camp: U.S. authorities.
House GOP rejects Speaker Johnsonās funding bill.
Trump drops to 52% odds on Nate Silverās forecast, 46% on Polymarket.
World
Hezbollah walkie-talkies explode in Lebanon in 2nd wave of blasts.
Israel sees ānew phaseā in war with regional Islamist groups after Lebanon blasts.
Saudi Crown Prince wonāt recognize Israel without Palestinian state.
U.S. keeps missile system in Philippines amid rising China tensions.
Indian ammunition enters Ukraine despite protests from Moscow.
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