- Will's Weekly Roundup
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- Will's Weekly Roundup
Will's Weekly Roundup is a curated list of tech, business, and startup headlines from last week to kickstart your Monday.
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Business
The business headlines you missed (or need to see again)...
Bird, the e-scooter company, is now worth $6 million after being valued at $2.5 billion in 2019. LINK
59% of Americans say money can buy happiness. LINK
Dubai's $315 million taxi IPO, selling a 25% stake in the city's taxi service, sold out within an hour. LINK
Argentina’s new president wants to adopt the US dollar as the national currency. LINK
Taylor Swift’s average fan makes less than $50,000 but likely spent $1,300 on an Eras Tour ticket. LINK
Europe’s $3.6 billion carbon bill will require vessels entering and leaving EU ports to pay for their carbon pollution starting January 1st. LINK
Honda released a funny-looking scooter. LINK
Bankers might be the next group to unionize, but it won’t be easy because only 1.3% of the financial services sector is unionized (compared to 10% of the total workforce). LINK
Tech
The tech headlines you missed (or need to see again)...
Sam Altman was reinstated as CEO of OpenAI. The reason for his termination last week is still unknown; however, it is rumored that he failed to report to the OpenAI board that one of their models, Q-Star (Q*), was able to reason by itself— a giant leap toward achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI) or a sentient AI. LINK
Scientists 3D printed a robotic hand with human-like bones and tendons. LINK
Cruise CEO and co-founder Kyle Vogt resigned from his position at the GM-owned robotaxi company. LINK
Apple is making it easier to text Android users by adopting the RCS messaging standard alongside iMessage. (This might be the end of green text bubbles). LINK
ChatGPT's voice chat feature is now available to free users on iOS and Android. LINK
SpaceX launched Starship for the second time last Saturday. Here’s a clip of the launch. LINK
Only 13% of US teens have used ChatGPT for schoolwork. LINK
Watchlist
Startups and companies I’m keeping an eye on…
Toku can predict heart conditions by scanning people’s retinas. LINK
AI21 is an Israel-based startup challenging OpenAI in enterprise generative AI. LINK
McLear created a ring that lets you pay at contactless payment systems. LINK
Motatos is a Europe-based online discount supermarket selling food that would otherwise go to waste. LINK
One Word Domains finds brandable one-word domain names for your next startup idea by generating and then searching domain brokers like GoDaddy. LINK
Medmo is a NYC-based medical imaging technology company offering easier and cheaper medical imaging scans. LINK
Workshop is an email builder software that helps create and send beautiful internal emails to employees. LINK
Upway refurbishes and resells electric bikes. LINK
OfferFit is a new marketing A/B testing platform that uses AI-powered personalized strategies to maximize customer engagement. LINK
Privy helps to easily onboard users to web3 with a developer library for wallet authentication. LINK
Outside Interests
Interesting internet finds…
SpaceX had to kidnap a seal to get regulatory approval. LINK
Italy’s largest mafia trial in decades ended with hundreds convicted. LINK
Screen Time doesn't cause any negative cognitive development and well-being issues for children, according to a recent Oxford Study. LINK
The richest 1% emitted as much carbon pollution as the poorest two-thirds of humanity. LINK
Hamas released some hostages from Gaza. LINK
Ottawa's new 'night mayor' will have a budget of $160,000 in 2024 to begin developing the city's nightlife economy and try to shake off the reputation as the town that fun forgot. LINK
Tesla rims are prone to curb rash, but these rim protectors seem to solve the issue. LINK
Elon Musk endorsed a post attacking Jewish communities and accusing them of promoting "dialectical hatred against whites." LINK
Privacy Badger is a Chrome extension that blocks trackers on websites automatically. LINK
This site turns PDFs and notes into quizzes and other customizable study tools. LINK
Instagram now allows anyone to download public Reels. LINK
Visuals
Three visuals worth taking a look at...
OpenAI's unusual corporate structure gave the board complete control.
Most Americans drive alone to work, except in New York and Alaska, where public transportation and walking is more common.
As Christmas approaches, more and more Americans are tuning in to festive holiday music.
Wisdom
Two quotes of wisdom...
"I believe in the future, and to be a good investor, you have to believe in the future." ― Sam Altman
"My favorite day is like when it's raining, and I can just lie on the couch." ― Lloyd Blankfein (ex. Goldman CEO)
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