August 08, 2024 | Read Online

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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. Ripple ordered $125M penalty over XRP sales, well below $2B SEC asked

X: Brad Garlinghouse.

Federal judge penalized Ripple Labs for selling XRP to institutional investors.
2020: when the SEC sued the crypto company.
XRP +19% to $0.62 after the ruling.
$1.3B+: Allegedly raised through unregistered securities sales of XRP.

2. Anduril raises $1.5B at $14B to become U.S. next great defense contractor

Scaling manufacturing software Arsenal in plans.
~$500M revenue reported last year.
Founders Fund and Sands Capital co-led the new round.

3. Pipedrive AI: The AI CRM for smarter, faster sales*

Pipedrive.

Pipedrive AI helps 100k+ sales teams save time and boost win-rates phasing out manual processes, and identifying patterns and recommending high-potential deals and priority actions.
Draft quick, compelling, and personalized emails from simple prompts in just a click.
Summarize threads with Al to save valuable time.

Get a 14-day free trial (no credit card required) + take 20% off your first year

*Sponsored.

4. Global VC funding +23% YoY to $23.5B

Crunchbase.

Still much below pre-2022 levels.
$6B raised by healthcare, biotech startups; $5.8B by AI ones.

5. OpenAI to back Opal in $60M funding for GPT-powered devices

Opal's 2 current webcams.

OpenAI's startup fund is said to lead the Series B round.
Founders Fund and Kindred Ventures are also likely to participate.
OpenAI is also an investor in AI hardware startups Figure and 1X Technologies.
Opal is known for its professional-grade webcams.

6. ChatGPT mobile app sees record $28M net revenue in July

Techcrunch, Appfigures.

Largest month in net revenue.
Apple's App Store: 83% of revenue.
+40% MoM in May, after the release of GPT-4o.

7. Interesting videos, posts, and memes

Liquidity Summit Talks: Antonio Gracias and Gavin Baker | E1990

7 Pieces of Advice Entrepreneurs Never Hear. That They Need to Hear.

8. Other headlines

AI

Humane's AI Pin garnered $9M+ in sales, while returns accounted for $1M+.
Intel discussed investment with OpenAI execs in 2017–18.
CA's SB 1047 AI bill faces opposition by tech industry.
Amazon's Audible testing AI-powered audiobook search feature.
Black Sesame, Xiaomi-backed AI chip maker, -35% in HK listing.

Athyna: hire incredible global talent with up to 80% savings vs. U.S. hires.*
Open Source CEO: learn how to be a leader and outperform the competition, with this free newsletter.*

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Tech

NASA weighs returning Boeing astronauts with SpaceX in 2025.
Disney's password sharing crackdown to start in Sep.
Ex-Clubhouse employees launch new social app.
Facebook creators violating standards get training option for first offense.
Instagram making views the primary metric across all formats.

Rippling: maximize HR impact and hire global teams in one unified system.*
Sidebar is a personal board of advisors for the next generation of leaders.*
Pipedrive helps you drive more deals from day one.*
Mercury solves the puzzle of startup finances.*

*Sponsored. Clicking on ad links may share your email with Mercury for remarketing purposes.

Tech earnings

Disney's revenue +4% to $23.2B, theme parks profits -6%.
Shopify's revenue +21% to $2.05B, GMV +22% to $67.2B, stock +22%.
Lyft's revenue +41% to $1.44B, gross bookings +17% to $4.02B.
Robinhood's revenue +40% to $682M, crypto tx. revenue +161% to $81M.

Tech & law

Intel shareholders sue over concealed problems leading to weak results.
Ireland launches proceedings against X over data used for AI training.
UK's regulator warns social media platforms over violent content risks.
Roblox banned in Turkey, after Instagram, over sexual content.

Biotech

Semaglutide: only 9% of seniors take it, vs. 19% for those 50-64.
Abbott, Medtronic connecting CGM sensors with insulin delivery systems.
NeuroTherapia raises $12M for inflammation-targeting Alzheimer's drug.
Alzheimer's: why did we evolve to suffer excess amyloid-B deposition?

Business

Warner Bros. posts -$10B net result after $9.1B noncash impairment.
Zillow replaces CEO Barton with COO Wacksman after Q2 earnings beat.
India's Reliance cuts over 42,000 jobs last financial year.

Crypto

FTX, Alameda ordered to pay $12.7B to creditors by non-bankruptcy judge.
Hong Kong digital bank adds crypto ETFs, plans direct crypto investing.
UK regulator issues over 1K warnings to crypto firms since October.

tea Protocol: click to subscribe to tea's newsletter and learn more about how to get rewards for your open-source contributions.*

*Sponsored.

U.S. politics

Trump will debate Harris "in the pretty near future."
Vance's $4M+ portfolio has startups, stocks; Walz's ~$0.1M+ mostly cash.
Harris, Trump tied on Polymarket's betting markets.
VC group raises $150K for Harris over Zoom call.

World

Ukraine launches rare cross-border attack into Russia.
London on high alert over riots.
Taylor Swift concerts in Austria canceled over terror arrests.

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