Top stories today:

1. Vision Pro production likely to launch in Feb.
2. Anthropic in talks to raise $0.75B at $18.4B
3. Waymo self-driving led to 78% fewer reported injuries
4. Sony PS5 sales +65% YoY to 22.5B in 2023
5. Global IPOs at $532B YTD in 2023

0. Data and calendar

1. Vision Pro production likely to launch in Feb., production running at full speed for weeks

• Timeline change possible with “last-minute production hiccups or other snags,” according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who on Monday had estimated late Jan. to Feb.

• Device requires custom fitting in-store.

• Apple already plans a cheaper model said to be more comfortable.

2. Anthropic in talks to raise $0.75B at $18.4B, vs. reported $20B - $30B in prior convertible notes

• Round led by Menlo Ventures.

• Google invested $2B and Amazon up to $4B in Oct. and Sep. 2023, both using convertible notes.

• Our view: it is likely rational that Anthropic is valued at 21% of OpenAI's market cap, although we believe that Google (Deepmind) has the greatest potential of overtaking OpenAI's lead, especially with Gemini 2 and its video output capabilities, which are likely to leverage Google's unrivaled YouTube database.

4. Waymo self-driving led to 78% fewer reported injuries vs. human driving

• Our view: these statistics do not take into account the risk of a terrorist attack where all self-driving cars from a certain maker are hacked by a malicious actor and forced to crash, potentially resulting in millions of fatalities.

5. Sony PS5 sales +65% YoY to 22.BM in 2023, ahead of Switch, Xbox

6. Global IPO, equity capital markets transactions at $532B YTD in 2023

2023 repeats 2022's weak performance:

7. Interesting videos, posts, and memes

8. Other headlines

AI

• Apple's AI research could bring 3D avatars, LLMs on iPhones.

• LAION AI image dataset had child abuse photos, being removed.

• Harmonic AI: startup discovery platform to find breakout investments.*

*Sponsored.

Tech

• Vestwell, savings platform for employees, raises $125M at $1B.

• Tesla recall “insufficient”: Consumer Reports.

• The CEO Report: become a better leader by subscribing, 100% free.*

• Synthesis: AI tutor for kids from SpaceX's incubated edtech startup.*

*Sponsored.

Tech & law

• Apple loses attempt to halt Watch sales ban while waiting for ITC appeal.

• FTC proposes ban on targeted ads, push notifications for minors <13.

Biotech

• Unnatural raises $32M to develop larger molecules.

• Inflammaging in inner ear, path to hearing loss.

Business

• Warner, Paramount hold talks about potential merger.

• Micron's revenue +16% to $4.73B in Q1 FY24, guidance of $5.1B - $5.5B.

Crypto

• FTX claims trading above 70% of face value.

• 3AC founders, wife have $1B+ of assets frozen by BVI Court.

• SBF sentencing confirmed for Mar. 28, judge denies delay.

• 69K BTC hacked from Silk Road officially forfeited to government.

U.S. politics

• Raising tariffs on Chinese EVs: Biden admin weighs it.

• Trump asks SCOTUS not to hear immunity question now.

• Giuliani must pay $146M immediately, judge orders.

• Harvard: president's writing “duplicative language,” not misconduct.

World

• Xi warned Biden about taking over Taiwan, potentially peacefully.

• Argentina's Milei unveils reforms to privatize, deregulate.

• Maduro ally swapped for 10 Americans in Venezuelan prisons.

• Hamas rejects hostage release until Israel first implements ceasefire.

• U.S. weighs UN Security Council vote on Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

• Houthis vow more attacks on ships in Red Sea despite U.S. naval force.

• Poland takes state TV news channel off air amid reform.

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