August 15, 2024 | Listen Online | 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. Apple prioritizing tabletop robot with iPad-like display and robotic limb

Concept of Apple's tabletop robot by Canadian artist Anh: PatentlyApple, Pwign.

2026–27 launch likely, featuring actuators to tilt display up and down and spin 360 degrees.
~$1,000 price expected.
2022: when Apple's executives reportedly approved robotic project but have now prioritized.
Codenamed J595, Apple device may sit against Amazon's Echo Show 10 and Meta's discontinued Portal.

This tabletop device may help Apple grow device and broader revenue, which fell in 2023

Bloomberg, company reports.

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3. Apple will 3rd-party apps to use iPhone's NFC chip but at certain charge

Apple.

iOS 18.1 will enable NFC interactions for devs in 7 markets, including U.S.
"Associated fees" involve but details yet to be released.
EU's DMA pushed Apple to open NFC transactions for 3rd parties.
Secure Element APIs will be released to enable new experience.
Car keys, student IDs, and hotel keys, among expected use cases, besides payments.

4. Buffett's Berkshire cuts BofA, Chevron, in addition to already announced Apple

HedgeFollow.

New investments in Ulta Beauty, Heico, were made in Q2.
Bill Ackman added Nike to his portfolio, leading the stock +4% in the pre-market.
Michael Burry added Alibaba but cut his portfolio in half.

5. CPI, core CPI come in at slightly under expected, favoring 25 bps cuts

CPI: 0.15% MoM / 2.9% YoY in July, below 0.2% / 3.0% expected, from -0.1% / 3.0% in the previous month.
Core CPI: 0.17% / 3.0%, vs. 0.2% / 3.0% exp., from -0.1% / 3.0%.

Markets now price in a 63% chance of a 25 bps cut in the Sep. FOMC meeting, from 53% a day prior

6. Eric Schmidt says he "misspoke" when he argued Google lags in AI due to remote work policies

Stanford ECON295/CS323 I 2024 I The Age of AI, Eric Schmidt [REUPLOAD]

Original quote from Stanford talk: "Google decided that work-life balance and going home early and working from home was more important than winning. The reason startups work is because the people work like hell."
Now: "I misspoke about Google and their work hours. I regret my error."

7. AI startup M&A globally +55% YoY to 65 deals in Q2

+15% QoQ vs. Q1, which saw 55 deals:

Crunchbase.

145 startup M&A deals already public this year, suggesting faster pace over 189 closures in 2023.
Q2 saw 2024's largest AI deals, led by NVIDIA buying Run:AI ($700M), Deci AI ($300M).
Big Tech swallowing up good-sized startups emerges as growing trend.

8. Meta shuts down its fake news-tracking tool CrowdTangle ahead of U.S. election

CrowdTangle was used by journalists to monitor trending online posts for misinformation:

CrowdTangle image from Wayback Machine, as the website is offline today.

In Jul., lawmakers asked Mark Zuckerberg to delay the discontinuation for 6 months.
Meta says it's decided to shut down as tool was "hard to maintain."
Replacement: Meta Content Library offered.
News publishers and other commercial groups couldn't use new tool, though.
Lacking compared to CrowdTangle, an analysis from Proof News says about new tool.

9. Apple approves Spotify update to show EU pricing

Spotify app starts showing subscription information to iPhone users in EU but without a link to purchase outside App Store:

The Verge, Spotify.

Spotify opts into "music streaming services entitlement."
Entitlement is unlike complicated new developer terms Apple released last week.
EU devs following new terms need to pay Apple cut for external payment options.
Spotify has been fighting Apple in EU since 2019 over App Store rules.
Relatedly, Tencent is exploring ways with Apple to offer in-app transactions via iOS system.

10. Interesting videos, posts, and memes

Unreasonably Effective AI with Demis Hassabis

The FDA Has Blood on its Hands? | Balaji Srinivasan | TRUTH Podcast #59

Collaborating with The Met to Awaken "Sleeping Beauties" with AI

YouTube video by The Wall Street Journal

Duolingo: How the Free App Rakes in $500M Each Year | WSJ The Economics Of

11. Other headlines

AI

SoftBank shifts AI chip talks to TSMC after Intel couldn't meet demands.
World Labs, startup led by Stanford's Fei-Fei Li, raises $100M at $1B+.
Anthropic makes prompt caching on API available in public beta.
Biden hosts Creator Economy Conference on AI, privacy ahead of election.

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Tech

WeRide set to go public in NY as soon as this week.
Kiteworks, offering secure email & file transfer tools, raises $465M at $1B+.
Telegram brings monthly paid subscriptions to better monetize creators.
Lenovo Q1 revenue +20% to $15.4B, as PC market recovers.
Adyen H1 revenue +24% to $1B, processed volume +45% to $682M.

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Tech & law

Kim Dotcom may be extradited to U.S. after 12-year legal fight.
Epic case: judge says he'll "tear the barriers down" on Google monopoly.
FTC finalizes rule banning fake reviews, including AI-generated ones.
Google says Iranian hacking attacks on US election campaign are wide-ranging.

Biotech

Aging Research & Drug Discovery 2024: a look at.
Pelage raises $14M, initiates Phase 2a hair loss treatment trial.
Metagenomi deprioritizes ALS program after seeing Biogen, Ionis setbacks.
Evotec cuts 400 jobs, exits gene therapy, citing research spending slowdown.

Business

China continues to slow down, with fixed-asset investment at 3.6% YTD.
Cisco cuts 7% jobs, Q4 revenue -10% to $13.64B, net income -45% to $2.2B.
Taiwan set to become $1T economy by 2028.

Crypto

Schumer: crypto bill could happen this year.
ETH proposes "EVM Object Format" programming environment upgrade.
Crypto PAC backs Democrats in Arizona and Michigan.
MetaMask partners with Mastercard, Baanx to roll out Blockchain-based debit card.

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U.S. politics

RFK Jr. tried to meet with Harris, Trump to discuss Cabinet job.
Harris to propose "price gouging" restrictions on food, groceries in Fri. speech.
Trump says inflation, not economy, most important issue.
JD Vance seeks more than 1 debate, after Walz agrees to Oct. 1 one on CBS.
Harris at 57% odds in Nate Silver's forecast, 54% on Polymarket.
George Helmy will be new senator from NJ, replacing Menendez.
Columbia University president abruptly resigns.

World

Ukraine says it has taken more ground, prisoners in Russia advance.
Mpox declared as global health emergency by WHO for second time in 2 years.

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