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Top stories today:
- xAI confirms raise of $6B at $24B post-money valuation
- China sets up $48B semiconductor investment fund
- Netflix leads in subscribers that stay for 6+ months
- Truth Socialās U.S. mobile DAUs falls to pre-IPO average of <100K
- Poll: 64% say they know their co-workers on personal level
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. xAI confirms raise of $6B at $24B post-money valuation from Valor, a16z, Sequoia, Fidelity, others
100K NVIDIA H100 āgigafactory of computeā planned for the fall of 2025, Elon told investors.
4x larger than Metaās current supercomputer (but not necessarily their 2025 version).
xAI reportedly not using NVIDIAās latest H200 chips.
xAI remains ~1 year behind OpenAI, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and others in the LLM space.
But never bet against Elon. Current LLM technologies are very unlikely to get us to AGI, so new ideas/algorithms will be necessary, making it very possible that Elon or someone else ends up ahead.
2. China sets up $48B semiconductor investment fund
The entire world is now doing industrial policy for semiconductors and AI:
Funding from the central government and state-owned banks and enterprises.
Some Chinese semi stocks initially rose as much as 10%, but closed with little change.
Insight on the economic trends and policies influencing our global economy.
Updates on the latest innovations from companies like Tesla, Microsoft and Nvidia.
Analysis on the high-stakes decisions from all markets.
*Sponsored.
4. Netflix leads in subscribers that stay for 6+ months
Quite low for a company worth $8B:
6. 64% say they know their co-workers on personal level, down from 79% pre-Covid
20% of remote workers are lonely, vs. 17% for on-site.
7. Interesting videos, posts, and memes
8. Other headlines
AI
Apple betting large user base will help it win in AI.
Rapidus plans $32B 2nm fab, including chip packing services.
SoftBank expects continued investments of ~$9B/year in AI companies.
Perplexity, ChatGPT best LLMs: WSJ analysis.
Cara is a fully automated B2B AI SDR.*
Nebius AI: Fight for the best price on your H100 GPU cluster.*
*Sponsored.
Tech
Boeing, NASA prepare for Starliner crewed launch on Sat despite leak.
Dating apps focused on new features for women as users fall.
Signal CEO criticizes Telegram: āleast secure of messaging.ā
Athyna: hire incredible global talent with the same company that Bay Area Times uses!*
*Disclaimer: Bay Area Times is a shareholder in Athyna.
Biotech
Lung cancer patients see longer life with AstraZenecaās Dato-DXd drug.
Alzheimerās: urolithin A improves symptoms in mice.
Business
U.S. stocks to start settling in T+1 days, rather than T+2.
China quant funds see AUM -4% QoQ to $217B in Q1.
Crypto
Mt. Gox transfers $9B BTC as part of repayment plans.
Caitlyn Jenner launches memecoin, currently at $22M market cap.
Trump pledges to support crypto, free Silk Roadās Ross Ulbricht.
Solana validators will receive 100% of priority fees after vote.
Uniswap Wallet App makes it easy to swap crypto on the go.*
*Sponsored.
U.S. politics
Trumpās NY trial sees closing arguments today, deliberations starting Wed.
Deporting āradicalā protestors planned, Trump tells donors.
Libertarian Party nominates Chase Oliver, spurning Trump, RFK Jr.
World
Houthis launch new attacks on 3 ships, 2 U.S. destroyers.
Egyptian soldier opens fire at Israeli soldiers, is shot dead.
Iran should not be pressed over nuclear plans, U.S. tells allies.
British Tories pitch mandatory national service, as they lag in polls.
Ukraine may be authorized by EU to shoot into Russian territory.
Space warfare: U.S. gets ready as China, Russia, N. Korea threatens.
Taiwan receives bipartisan U.S. delegation after Chinaās military drills.
North Korean rocket carrying 2nd spy satellite explodes.
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