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- xAI in talks to raise $3B-$4B at $18B valuation
xAI in talks to raise $3B-$4B at $18B valuation
Bay Area Times
April 12, 2024
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Top stories today:
- xAI in talks to raise $3B-$4B at $18B valuation
- ChatGPT nears all-time high usage of May 2023
- Taiwan’s #1 export partner becomes U.S., as China exports fall
- Amazon CEO: “sad story” state of regulatory hurdles
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 in talks to raise $3B-$4B at $18B valuation
#3 decacorn in generative AI by valuation and total funding:
Jan.: $1B funding at an estimated much lower valuation.
~$0 in revenues.
Grok 1 and 1.5 significantly underperform the top models like GPT-4, Claude, and Gemini.
But Elon should never be discounted.
Meanwhile, at OpenAI, 2 researchers linked to Ilya Sutskever have been fired for alleged leaking.
2. ChatGPT nears all-time high usage of May 2023, as Gemini, others grow faster
1.77B global visits in March, vs. 1.81B in May 2023:
Non-U.S. traffic is close to 90% of total, notably.
ChatGPT was +13% MoM, vs. +37% for Gemini (to 0.43B), +161% for Claude
Gemini is cementing its place as #2, as Claude could soon jump to #3
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4. Taiwan’s largest export partner becomes U.S. in Mar., as China exports fall
South Korea had the same switch in Dec. 2023
In China, exports were -7.5% YoY in March, imports -1.9%, much lower than the expected -1.9% / +1.1%
5. Amazon CEO: “sad story” state of regulatory hurdles
“We’re consuming a lot of time and taxpayers’ money with what we’re doing right now, and I think a lot of it is outside the bounds of the law.”
Jassy also wrote in Amazon’s letter to shareholders that generative AI “may be the largest technology transformation since the cloud”
Read more: WSJ.
6. Interesting videos, posts, and memes
7. Other headlines
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Tech
M4 Macs, AI-optimized, to launch in late 2024, early 2025, stock +4%.
Spotify may launch tool for easy remixing of songs.
Apple will allow used parts for repair, starting with iPhone 15 lineup.
DuckDuckGo launches $10/mo privacy bundle with VPN.
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Tech & law
Elon to meet Argentina’s Milei at Tesla factory in TX this morning.
Biotech
Weight loss with no muscle mass Phase 2 trial launched by Biophytis.
Founders Longevity Forum event series announced.
Business
PPI at 0.2% / 2.1%, lower than expected, as core is in line.
Crypto
SBF appeals fraud conviction, as expected.
Bipartisan stablecoin bill pitched to Senate Majority Leader.
Solend sees higher deposits after departure of rival MarginFi co-founder.
Avi Eisenberg may testify in Mango Markets trial.
U.S. politics
Ukraine aid being negotiated by Speaker Johnson, White House.
$7B student debt canceled by White House, now $153B in total.
319 Chinese companies now on export blacklist, record.
OJ Simpson dies at 76 from cancer.
Trump leverages VP intrigue for support in GOP.
World
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