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Top stories today:
- Meta acquires Manus in AI push, deal said to be valued at $2B+
- NVIDIA takes $5B stake in Intel under Sep. agreement
- Kioxia tops global stocks with 540% YTD surge on AI memory demand
- Kraken, AI power platform, valued at $8.65B in Octopus spin-out move
0. 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.
Listen to our AI-generated podcast summarizing todayās newsletter (beware of hallucinations):
1. Meta acquires Manus in AI push, deal said to be valued at $2B+
Manus hit a $125M annual revenue run rate in Dec.:
Meta reportedly approached Manus during its recent fundraising at a $2B valuation.
Manus CEO Xiao Hong will report to Meta COO Javier Olivan.
Meta will continue to operate and sell Manusā service, the company said in a statement.
Meta will also integrate Manus agents into its consumer and business products, the company noted.
Manus will no longer have any Chinese ownership or operations in China after the deal, Meta said.
Aug.: Benchmark criticized for backing Manus despite its China ties.
Metaās Chief AI officer Alexandr Wang welcomed the Manus team.
2. NVIDIA takes $5B stake in Intel under Sep. agreement
NVIDIA shares were slightly changed in pre-market trading on Tue.:
NVIDIA bought 214.7M+ Intel shares in a private placement at the price set in Sep.
Sep.: NVIDIA agreed to pay $23.28/Intel share.
Early Dec.: U.S. antitrust agencies cleared NVIDIAās Intel investment.
Intel shares were little changed.
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Discover the future of hiring beyond borders.
*Disclaimer: We have equity in Athyna.
