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Six bullets of updates

1. 🌐 2024 election: Potential rate changes as the Fed holds steady at 5.25%-5.50%, with impacts from Trump or Harris policies.

2. 👓 Meta updates Ray-Ban smart glasses with AI video reminders, QR code scanning, and more, coming early 2024.

3. 🚀 Are you doing LinkedIn right? Boost your visibility by mastering your SSI score! If it's above 70, you're officially a LinkedIn pro!

4. ⚖️ Caroline Ellison, ex-CEO of Alameda Research, sentenced to 2 years for FTX fraud; pled guilty to $8B theft.

5. 💡 Ephos unveils a groundbreaking chip design based on glass, aiming to revolutionize AI and quantum computing.

6. 🏙️ London, Paris, and Amsterdam lead Europe's VC scene, but only London ranks in the top 10 globally with $99.7B in deals.

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TikTok vs. Google: is Gen Z’s search party over for Google ads?

TikTok is challenging Google’s ad dominance by introducing “TikTok Search Ads Campaign”, allowing brands to target users on its search results page.

With TikTok’s growing role as a search engine, especially among younger users, this new ad feature gives brands more control over how their content appears in searches.

Research shows 57% of TikTok users utilize search, with 23% doing so within 30 seconds of opening the app.

Early tests reveal that combining Search Ads with In-Feed Ads boosts conversion rates by 20%. The feature is now live in the U.S., with global expansion in testing stages.

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Startup Events and Deadlines

1.  From Pitch Deck to Funding | September 30 | Webinar

2. Antler Amsterdam | September 30 | Amsterdam

3. Antler US | October 1 | USA

4. From Pitch Deck to Funding | October 2 | Webinar

5. StartX (Stanford-StartX Fund) | October 10 | USA

6. Crash Course in Financial Modeling | October 10 | Webinar

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We’ve simplified building and scaling global teams

Our free guide outlines the steps, considerations, and resources needed to build a remote-first team with tips from our sales, people, and talent acquisition experts.

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These companies just raised money

1. 💰 WhatFix raises $125M to provide in-app guides to users, enhancing digital transformation after a pandemic boom.

2. 🍽️ Cayena secures a $55M Series B round led by Bicycle Capital to boost its growth in the food supply industry.

3. 🤖 Vsim, founded by Nvidia alums, raises $21.5M for its cutting-edge robotics simulation technology.

4. 🚀 London-based Convergence raises $12M pre-seed to develop AI agents with long-term memory for enhanced productivity.

5. 🌞 Sequoia bets $6.5M on Reflect Orbital to extend solar power with mirror satellites, aiming for launch in 2025.

6. 💉 Moxie raises a preemptive Series B from Lachy Groom and SignalFire to help nurses launch medspas.

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Custom chat, new voices, no Scarlett—OpenAI’s latest update!

OpenAI is rolling out Advanced Voice Mode (AVM) to more ChatGPT Plus and Teams users, with Enterprise and Edu customers receiving it next week.

Additionally, five new voices have been introduced, bringing the total to nine, all inspired by nature. However, the "Sky" voice, removed after a legal threat from Scarlett Johansson, is missing.

Despite these enhancements, video and screen sharing features from the spring update are still absent, with no timeline for release.

AVM now includes Custom Instructions and Memory to personalize user interactions, while improvements have been made in accent recognition and smoother conversations. Read more.

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