AI & ML

• Coca-Cola struck a five-year deal with Microsoft to start using the tech giant’s cloud and generative AI tools.

• Wendy’s is already using AI to take orders at its drive-thrus.

• Anduril was selected to build an AI fighter jet for the U.S. Air Force. 

• Apple quietly released a family of small, open-source LLMs designed to run efficiently on devices like iPhones and Macs. 

• China found a way to acquire Nvidia AI hardware via resellers, despite a U.S. ban on their sales to the country.  

• Snowflake launched “Arctic” open LLMs that they claim are more efficient than Meta’s Llama 3.

• Meta finally rolled out multimodal AI capabilities for its smart glasses.

• SoftBank will invest $1B by 2025 to bolster its computing facilities in preparation for development of its own generative AI.

Deal Flow

• Blackstone will buy franchiser Tropical Smoothie Cafe for $2B. 

• Labcorp will acquire medical genetics company Invitae out of bankruptcy for $239M.

• Devin, the coding assistant maker reportedly raises $175M at $2B. 

• Perplexity raised $63M at a $1.04B valuation, reportedly exploring a new $250M+ raise at $2.5-3B.

Other Headlines

• Red Lobster seeks a buyer as it looks to avoid filing for bankruptcy.

• Goldman is shutting down its automated-investing business after clinching a deal with $45B digital investment-advisory firm Betterment. 

• Amazon announced a $9.99 monthly grocery delivery option for Prime members.

• Tesla will lay off 14,000 people.

• Goldman is in talks with private lenders to help Beyond Meat with its financial situation.

• The FCC has voted to restore ‘net neutrality’ rules that prevent internet providers like AT&T and Verizon from favoring some websites and applications over others. 

• Amazon ended its drone program in CA, but plans to start deliveries in AZ later this year.

• Chipotle raised prices 6 times since 2021 but the stock is up 59% in the last 12 months.

• Tier 1 multi-stage funds will likely have buyout funds in the next 2-5 years. 

• It took Zipline 10 years to complete 1 million autonomous drone deliveries.

• Amazon has so many e-delivery vehicles that it’s the largest private EV charging provider in the U.S. 

• Most internet access will actually be AI agents doing tasks for humans, not humans surfing the internet themselves. 

• There’s a 42TB AI training data set based on a sampling of the entire web with duplicate information removed.

• Y Combinator's winter 2024 startup batch consisted of 70% AI companies and 99% of all companies had at least 1 technical co-founder.

• Palantir is essentially a consulting business with 80-90% gross margin.

Double lets you modify popular index funds to create custom portfolios.

Skyports designs, builds, owns, and operates networks of vertiports.

Owlstone Medical makes a breathalyzer for detecting diseases.

Epirus makes a counter-UAS/drone system that uses targeted microwaves. 

Terminal Industries is using AI to make logistic yards more efficient.

OddsView is the Bloomberg Terminal for sports betting.

Wispr is developing a wearable AI neural interface.

Unlearn is making clinical trials faster with smaller patient pools and AI human software replicas.

Sorted is using computer vision and lasers to identify, differentiate, and pinpoint valuable recyclable materials on conveyor belts. 

Charge Robotics is automating the installation and maintenance of large solar farms.

Find more companies on this week’s watchlist here.

• Billions in dirty money is flying under the radar at world’s busiest airports. WSJ

• How Crumbl built a cookie company that brings in $1B/year. YOUTUBE

• Why software is eating the world by Marc Andreessen. A16Z

• The story of how modern GPS came to be. BLOG

• Are we breaking the economy through algorithms? YOUTUBE

• Do software companies actually have good margins? SUBSTACK

• Consumer is back. What’s getting funded now. YC PODCAST

• McKinsey is under criminal probe over OxyContin-related consulting.

• Taylor Swift's new album streamed a record 300M times in its 1st day on Spotify. 

• U.S. total fertility rate dropped to a record-low 1.617 in 2023 - below the 2.1 replacement level.

• A portable dog water bottle that doesn’t leak is trending on Kickstarter.

• Drake posted "Taylor Made Freestyle," a new diss track aimed at Kendrick Lamar.

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