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Top stories today:
- GPT-4o launched by OpenAI with near-instant voice, visual communication
- Higher tariffs on Chinese EVs, semiconductors announced
- GameStop stock +74% to $9.3B after Redditor guru posts on X
- Melinda Gates leaving Gates Foundation with $12.5B for her charity
- Google I/O keynote today at 1 PM ET: AI focus continues
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. GPT-4o launched by OpenAI with near-instant voice, visual communication
OpenAI claims an average 0.3 second response time, from an est. 2-3 seconds previously, even though in our tests GPT-4o had major lags:
Available for both free and paid users.
Gradual roll-out starting with Plus and Team users, with Free users have narrower usage limits.
GPT-4o slightly outperforms Claude 3 Opus and GPT-4 Turbo, on par with the unreleased Gemini Ultra
GPT-4o is faster than all top models except Llama 3 8B.
GPT-4o is 50% cheaper than GPT-4 Turbo, but is still an order of magnitude more expensive than Llama 3
A desktop app was also announced, allowing for easier integration into usersā workflow
Keyboard shortcut (option + space) instantly takes you to the ChatGPT app.
Launch: āsoon.ā
OpenAIās Startup Fund also raised another $5M, according to an SEC filing.
Our view: while text quality isnāt significantly better than GPT-4 Turbo, clearly OpenAI managed to make significant advances on speed and audio/visual capabilities.
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3. Higher tariffs on Chinese EVs, semiconductors, others announced by Biden admin
4. GameStop stock +74% to $9.3B, memecoin 23xās to $79M market cap, after Redditor guru posts on X after 3 years
GameStop stock is already +39% in the pre-market:
āRoaring Kittyā Reddit guru that fueled GameStopās quick rise in 2021 hadnāt posted on X since June 19, 2021.
Stock was halted multiple times during the day.
~$838M lost by short sellers.
Memecoin GME is #1 most traded in the past 24 hours.
5. Melinda Gates leaving Gates Foundation with $12.5B for her charity
Bill is worth $153B and his former wife Melinda $13B.
Melindaās Pivotal Ventures, founded in 2015, will be responsible for donating the $12.5B.
6. Google I/O keynote today at 1 PM ET: AI focus continues
A Google Gemini Ultra release schedule could finally be announced.
90% claimed MMLU, vs. 89% for GPT-4o, 86% for GPT-4 Turbo.
More integrations with Search and a potential AI-first Pixie gadget are also possibilities.
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8. AI funding sums $10.6B in Q1, with 35% coming from Bay Area startups
18% in deal count.
9. Interesting videos, posts, and memes
10. Other headlines
AI
Cruise co-founder raises $150M for AI robot startup Bot Company.
TikTok testing AI-generated search results.
Meta exploring earphones with cameras, AI features.
Anthropic launches Claude AI chatbot in Europe.
Falcon 2 open weights LLM launched, broadly underperforms vs. GPT-4.
Microsoft Places: app to help hybrid workers coordinate in-office days.
*Sponsored.
Tech earnings
Foxconnās revenue -9% to $40.9B, guides up.
Sonyās revenue +14% YoY to $22.4B.
Tencentās revenue +6% to $22.0B as WeChat ads rise.
Tech
Vision Pro expected to launch in China, Germany, others soon.
Intel nears $11B deal with Apollo to fund Ireland plant.
Squarespace will go private in $6.9B purchase by Permira.
Tesla rehires some workers from 500-person Supercharger team.
iOS 17.5 released, with EU app downloads from website.
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Tech & law
Biotech
Rejuvenation Startup Summit 2024 in Berlin: notes from Reason.
Novo Nordisk plans bond sale to finance new factories.
Business
Macron: European megabank merger in play to improve region.
Archegos's Bill Hwang fraud trial kicks off in NY.
On, Swiss sneaker maker, sees revenue +29% to $560M.
Crypto
Tornado Cash dev faces <=64-month sentence if found guilty today.
U.S. politics
Trump +7 in median battleground state of AZ: NYT poll.
Michael Cohen implicates Trump in payments to Stormy Daniels.
World
Hamas leader Sinwar oversaw secret police to spy on Palestinians.
Blinken visits Kyiv as Ukraine forces lose battles in northeast.
Putin to visit Xi on Thu.
U.S. gives 120 days for China-linked firm to sell land near base.
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