Top stories today:

1. TikTok ban bill passed in House by 352 × 65, uncertain in Senate
2. SpaceX to attempt 3rd Starship launch today at 8 AM ET+
3. Figure AI showcases humanoid robot powered by OpenAI
4. Grayscale’s Bitcoin ETF sees $11B of outflows

0. Data and calendar

1. TikTok ban bill passed in House by 352 × 65, but faces challenges in Senate

• No endorsement yet from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

• GOP senator Rand Paul is against the bill.

• TikTok will continue to lobby the Senate, it said internally.

• Billionaire investor Jeff Yass, who owns 7% of TikTok, has donated $46M to the GOP so far in this election cycle.

TikTok’s revenue is estimated at $20B for 2023, with net losses of “several billion dollars”

• ByteDance’s total revenues: $124B (annualized from Q3).

• Net profits: $24B (annualized from Q1).

2. SpaceX to attempt 3rd Starship launch today at 8 AM ET+

• 2 initial launches ended with the rockets exploding.

• NASA is paying SpaceX $4B to turn Starship into a moon lander that can take astronauts.

• “10ish” flight tests are necessary before astronauts can fly.

4. Figure AI showcases humanoid robot powered by OpenAI

Figure’s humanoid can now understand, talk, and take actions based on speech:

• Disclaimer: we’re indirect investors in Figure.

5. Grayscale’s Bitcoin ETF sees $11B of outflows due to higher fees, benefiting BlackRock, Fidelity

• Grayscale charges 1.5% per year, the highest among the top 10.

  • Still has $28B.

• BlackRock charges 0.25%.

• Some Bitcoin ETFs are charging 0% for some time period (e.g. VanEck’s HODL until Mar. 2025 or until $1.5B in AUM).

Memecoins, in parallel, are seeing record volume, as we see another 4-year crypto cycle

6. Immigrants represent majority of PhDs in computer science, engineering

Immigration is projected to be the U.S.'s major cause of population growth, as births drop

7. Jonathan Haidt: end phone-based childhood now

The renowned psychologist is again arguing that phones are connected to the increase in teen mental health problems:

• Haidt’s solutions: no smartphones before high school, no social media before 16, phone-free schools, and more real-world independence.

8. Interesting videos, posts, and memes

9. Other headlines

AI

• Claude 3 Haiku, Anthropic's lightest model, now available.

• Together AI raises $106M at $1.25B, led by Salesforce.

• Cerebras shows WSE-3 chip, pitched as largest chip for gen. AI.

• Amazon launches new AI tools for sellers, including URL-to-product page.

• OpenAI inks licensing deals with 2 European publishers.

• Google DeepMind unveils SIMA, AI agent for human-level video game playing.

• Microsoft Copilot for Security to cost $4 per “security compute unit.”

• Prompts Daily: free newsletter on latest Ai tools, trends, and news.*

• 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

• Foxconn's net income +33% to $1.7B in quarter.

• Stripe in “no rush” to go public, net quarterly revenue ~$1B.

• Vision Pro likely to launch soon in UK, France, Germany, Japan, Korea.

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

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

• Techpresso: get smarter about tech in 5 min.*

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Tech & law

• TSMC plant delayed in U.S., on time in Japan: evidence of regulatory burden.

• Microsoft, Caltech settle Wi-Fi patent case for undisclosed amount.

• EU’s AI Act approved, implementation exp. in 2025+.

Biotech

• Longevity Investors Conference 2024 announced.

• Prenuvo partners with Sollis Health for expanded MRI coverage.

Business

• Lithium Americas getting $2B loan from Energy Dept.

• UK to ban foreign governments from owning British newspapers.

Crypto

• Ethereum hard forks with Dencun upgrade.

• Elon: “Dogecoin to the moon,” Tesla buying payment option “at some point.”

• Microstrategy raising another $500M to buy more BTC.

• Hamas's alleged $165M use of crypto probed by Treasury.

• Bitcoin Fog operator convicted of money laundering, faces 20 years.

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

*Sponsored.

U.S. politics

• Trump sees 3 out of 13 charges dismissed in Georgia election case.

• No Labels co-chair quits as it goes ahead with bipartisan presidential ticket.

• John Paulson potential Trump pick as Treasury Secretary.

• Don Lemon: Elon canceled partnership with X after interview with him.

World

• U.S.’s “nuclear posture” won’t change after Putin's comments.

• Hong Kong survey: only 26% of employers expect headcount increase.

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