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Top stories today:1) Google merging Brain with Deepmind into Google Deepmind2) Elon claims success from Starship launch that ended in an explosion3) Humane demos AI-powered wearable at TED talk4) Tiger's $12B 2021 venture capital is down "only" 20% since inception5) VC funding in crypto falls 82% YoY to $1.7B

0. Data and calendar

1. Google merging Brain with Deepmind into Google Deepmind

• CEO: Demis Hassabis, the founder and CEO of Deepind. - WSJ, Google

Our view: this should have been done a long time ago

• It was bizarre that Google had 2 AI teams working in parallel. Probably one more side effect of zero-interest-rate policy (ZIRP).

• Google has the proven talent to compete with OpenAI and others. After all, it was Google who created BERT, Transformers (the T in GPT), and much more.

2. Elon claims success from Starship launch that ended in an explosion

Starship was supposed to descend and land on the Pacific Ocean

Read more: WSJ.

But Starship ended up exploding after its booster failed to separate

Relatedly, Elon's net worth was down $12.6B, his worst day of the year, after Tesla fell 10%

Tesla slightly increased the prices of its cars by $2.5K, after cutting some by up to $34K since the start of 2023

3. Humane demos AI-powered wearable at TED

Read more: Inverse.

Our view: Apple will likely have the advantage here

• Apple is likely already working on this, or similar things.

• Their device will be integrated with all other Apple devices, which will provide a superior user experience.

4. Tiger's $12B 2021 venture capital is down "only" 20% since inception

• Opensea marked -76.2%: this likely means a valuation reduction from $13.3B to $3.2B - The Information

• ByteDance marked -30.3%: this likely means a valuation reduction from $460B to $321B, in December 2022. Since then, ByteDance was traded at $220B. - Bloomberg

Our view: this -20% likely underestimates the actual fall

We like the BVP SaaS P/S multiple as a benchmark of tech valuations, and that ratio fell from 19x at its peak to 6x today, close to a 70% drop:

5. VC funding in crypto falls 82% YoY to $1.7B

• -30% QoQ ($2.4B in Q4 2022).

• Lowest since Q1 2020 ($1.1B)

6. Twitter starts removing legacy checkmarks

It also removed the "state-affiliated" tags from media accounts

But, as expected, some high-profile names are keeping their blue checkmarks, even without paying for them

Read more: The Verge.

7. Martin Shkreli launches Dr. Gupta, a medical doctor chatbot AI

• GuPTa is a play on GPT.

• Based on GPT-4, appears to have been fine-tuned. - Semafor

Our view: how different is this really from just using ChatGPT?

• ChatGPT's answer quality appears to be similarly OK, but worse than a top Google link, which would likely redirect you to a professional website like the CDC or the Cleveland Clinic.

8. Other headlines

Tech

• Apple Reality Pro headset tester was "blown away."

• Stack Overflow to start charging for AI companies to use their data for training.

• Meta expects employee count to grow by 1-2% per year from this point forward.

• TikTok looking for partnerships to transform U.S. app into shopping destination.

• D'Amelio family tried to put together investor group to purchase TikTok, but failed.

• Apple accused of talking to startups and then stealing all their employees.

• Kalshi, where investors bet on real-life events, raising bet limits to attract funds.

Business

• Facebook users can now claim money from $725M Cambridge Analytica settlement.

• Existing home sales -2.4% MoM and -0.9% YoY, worst since 2012.

• Wholefoods planning to cut 100s of corporate jobs, <0.5% of 105,000 staff.

• Yellen: China decoupling would be "disastrous."

• Buzzfeed cutting 15% of its 1,200 staff, including all at its News division.

• Insider to cut 10% of staff, experimenting with ChatGPT.

Crypto

• Tornado Cash developer freed in Holland pending trial.

• Voyager strikes deal with U.S. govt., to proceed with $1B Binance.US sale.

• Do Kwon formally charged in Montenegro with using a fake passport.

• FTX creditors' names shouldn't be made public: former Secret Service agent.

• Brady says he's still in crypto and on a board of one company.

• BlockFi now has until May 15 to find bankruptcy exit plan.

• SEC: advisers must understand crypto products before recommending them.

Politics

• Merrick Garland is likely the official interfering in IRS Hunter Biden investigation.

• GOP debt ceiling bill could have more cuts, if the MAGA wing gets its way (currently, the bill only reduces spending to 2022 levels).

• Biden to announce candidacy next week.

• Hunter Biden could be charged with 3 tax crimes and 1 gun charge.

• Letter saying that Hunter's laptop was Russian disinfo was a CIA operation: ex-CIA chief, according to the NY Post.

• Mike Lindell's firm told to pay $5M in election-fraud challenge.

• $1B NIH investment in long Covid research was a flop, underscoring govt. inefficiency.

• Trump proposes forcing homeless out of streets.

• DeSantis lowers death sentence jury threshold to 8-4, lowest in the country.

• Dem threatens Matt Taibbi with jail time over alleged perjury in testimony.

• Ukraine defended Bakhmut despite U.S. warnings.

• China building cyber weapons to "seize control" of enemy satellites.

• China to hold more intensive military exercises near Taiwan.

9. Interesting tweets, memes, and images

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