Top stories today:

1. GPT-4o launched by OpenAI with near-instant voice, visual communication
2. Higher tariffs on Chinese EVs, semiconductors announced
3. GameStop stock +74% to $9.3B after Redditor guru posts on X
4. Melinda Gates leaving Gates Foundation with $12.5B for her charity
5. Google I/O keynote today at 1 PM ET: AI focus continues

0. Data and calendar

1. GPT-4o launched by OpenAI with near-instant voice, visual communication

OpenAI claims an average 0.3 second response time, from an est. 2-3 seconds previously, even though in our tests GPT-4o had major lags:

• Available for both free and paid users.

• Gradual roll-out starting with Plus and Team users, with Free users have narrower usage limits.

GPT-4o slightly outperforms Claude 3 Opus and GPT-4 Turbo, on par with the unreleased Gemini Ultra

• GPT-4o is faster than all top models except Llama 3 8B.

GPT-4o is 50% cheaper than GPT-4 Turbo, but is still an order of magnitude more expensive than Llama 3

A desktop app was also announced, allowing for easier integration into users’ workflow

• Keyboard shortcut (option + space) instantly takes you to the ChatGPT app.

  • Launch: “soon.”

• OpenAI’s Startup Fund also raised another $5M, according to an SEC filing.

• Our view: while text quality isn’t significantly better than GPT-4 Turbo, clearly OpenAI managed to make significant advances on speed and audio/visual capabilities.

3. Higher tariffs on Chinese EVs, semiconductors, others announced by Biden admin

4. GameStop stock +74% to $9.3B, memecoin 23x’s to $79M market cap, after Redditor guru posts on X after 3 years

GameStop stock is already +39% in the pre-market:

• “Roaring Kitty” Reddit guru that fueled GameStop’s quick rise in 2021 hadn’t posted on X since June 19, 2021.

• Stock was halted multiple times during the day.

• ~$838M lost by short sellers.

• Memecoin GME is #1 most traded in the past 24 hours.

5. Melinda Gates leaving Gates Foundation with $12.5B for her charity

• Bill Gates becomes group’s sole chair.

• Bill is worth $153B and his former wife Melinda $13B.

• Melinda’s Pivotal Ventures, founded in 2015, will be responsible for donating the $12.5B.

6. Google I/O keynote today at 1 PM ET: AI focus continues

• A Google Gemini Ultra release schedule could finally be announced.

  • 90% claimed MMLU, vs. 89% for GPT-4o, 86% for GPT-4 Turbo.

• More integrations with Search and a potential AI-first Pixie gadget are also possibilities.

8. AI funding sums $10.6B in Q1, with 35% coming from Bay Area startups

• 18% in deal count.

9. Interesting videos, posts, and memes

10. Other headlines

AI

• Cruise co-founder raises $150M for AI robot startup Bot Company.

• TikTok testing AI-generated search results.

• Meta exploring earphones with cameras, AI features.

• Anthropic launches Claude AI chatbot in Europe.

• Falcon 2 open weights LLM launched, broadly underperforms vs. GPT-4.

• Microsoft Places: app to help hybrid workers coordinate in-office days.

Tech earnings

• Foxconn’s revenue -9% to $40.9B, guides up.

• Sony’s revenue +14% YoY to $22.4B.

• Tencent’s revenue +6% to $22.0B as WeChat ads rise.

Tech

• Vision Pro expected to launch in China, Germany, others soon.

• Intel nears $11B deal with Apollo to fund Ireland plant.

• Squarespace will go private in $6.9B purchase by Permira.

• Tesla rehires some workers from 500-person Supercharger team.

• iOS 17.5 released, with EU app downloads from website.

Tech & law

• Beijing tells local tech firms to curb NVIDIA spend.

• Rumble again sues Google, claiming $1B in damages.

Biotech

• Rejuvenation Startup Summit 2024 in Berlin: notes from Reason.

• Novo Nordisk plans bond sale to finance new factories.

Business

• Macron: European megabank merger in play to improve region.

• Archegos's Bill Hwang fraud trial kicks off in NY.

• On, Swiss sneaker maker, sees revenue +29% to $560M.

Crypto

• Tornado Cash dev faces <=64-month sentence if found guilty today.

U.S. politics

• Trump +7 in median battleground state of AZ: NYT poll.

• Michael Cohen implicates Trump in payments to Stormy Daniels.

World

• Hamas leader Sinwar oversaw secret police to spy on Palestinians.

• Blinken visits Kyiv as Ukraine forces lose battles in northeast.

• Putin to visit Xi on Thu.

• U.S. gives 120 days for China-linked firm to sell land near base.

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