🕶️ Open AI's stall: has AI hit the brakes?

Six bullets of updates

1. 🤑 FTX sues Anthony Scaramucci and 22 others to reclaim funds from alleged influence-buying campaign.

2. 🇮🇳 Swiggy's $1.4B IPO tests India's appetite for billion-dollar tech listings as it takes on a $1.1T market.

3. 🛒 Gen Z's top apps: Temu leads with 41.98M downloads, followed by TikTok, Threads, and ChatGPT's rise continues.

4. 🔼 Franchises: Embrace Gen Z values like authenticity, top tech, and sustainability to boost growth and engagement.

5. ✂️ Mozilla lays off 30% of its nonprofit arm, reshaping advocacy and global programs in another round of cuts.

6. 🗞️ Senate’s last chance to pass PRESS Act, protecting journalists' sources; bipartisan support already secured.

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OpenAI responds to slowing AI innovation

OpenAI's upcoming model, Orion, reportedly shows slower improvement than past upgrades, like GPT-3's leap to GPT-4. This signals a potential plateau in AI advancement. To address this, OpenAI has formed a foundations team to explore new ways to enhance its models, including using AI-generated synthetic data and improving models post-training amid a limited supply of new data.

The slowdown highlights challenges in acquiring fresh training data and raises the stakes for AI-driven startups reliant on cutting-edge technology. As AI innovation decelerates, strategic pivots or alternative solutions could become essential. Read more about this!

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Startup Events and Deadlines

1. From Pitch Deck to Funding | November 14 | Webinar

2. Techstars Columbus | November 20 | Columbus

3. Techstars New York City Accelerator | November 20 | New York City

4. Techstars Anywhere Accelerator | November 20 | Remote

5. Techstars San Francisco | November 20 | San Francisco

6. Crash Course in Financial Modeling | November 21 | Webinar

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These companies just raised money

1. 🧠 Bezos, an open AI-backed robotics startup, Physical Intelligence, raised $400M to develop physical artificial intelligence.

2. 🚗 DeepRoute.ai closes $100M Series C1 led by the Chinese automotive manufacturer Great Wall Motor.

3. 🌬️ Upwind, an Israeli cloud cybersecurity startup, is raising $100M at a valuation of $850-900M.

4. 🔊 AmplifyBio picks up $50M investment for Ohio biomanufacturing enablement center (AMEC).

5. 💉 PrognomiQ raises $34M to advance multi-omics early detection test for lung cancer.

6. 🎨 Creative collaboration startup Pibox raises $1.2M funding round to launch its service.

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Martin Casado warns against premature AI laws

Andreessen Horowitz's Martin Casado (the general partner VC) criticizes AI regulations for being more sci-fi than savvy. He argues that lawmakers are crafting rules for hypothetical AI scenarios, missing real risks. Amidst the AI hype, California’s vetoed AI bill, with its infamous “kill switch,” faced backlash for potentially stifling innovation. 

“I think we’re a little bit early before we start to glom [onto] a bunch of regulation to really understand what we’re going to regulate,” he says.

Casado stresses learning from past tech lessons—no need to fix AI with social media band-aids. The call is for smarter, risk-based regulations, leaning on existing frameworks. Read more about Casado’s opinion. 

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The Forbes 30-under-30 curse

This video uncovers the reality behind the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. Often viewed as a success symbol, it has featured over 7,800 names—some of whom haven’t lived up to the hype, with a few even facing legal issues. After weeks of research, we expose the cracks in this so-called elite group. Join us to discover the real story. Subscribe here!

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