Top stories today:

1. Rewind rebranding as Limitless AI, announces Pendant release in Aug.
2. X reportedly tells Brazil court it will comply with rulings
3. China GDP +5.3% YoY in Q1, ahead of estimates of 4.8%
4. 269K EVs sold in U.S. in Q1, +3% YoY but -7% QoQ
5. Gemini Ultra cost $191M to train: 2024 AI Index Report

0. Data and calendar

1. Rewind rebranding as Limitless AI, announces Pendant release in Aug.

Their goal is to be a personalized AI that reads and listens to everything you do:

• Initial focus are meetings: preparation, transcriptions, real-notes, and summaries.

• Mac, Windows, web apps already available.

The Pendant and iPhone/Android apps will be available “soon,” hinted at H2

Their 10-min presentation is worth a watch

Our view: this looks like a more useful version of Humane Ai Pin, at 1/7 the price

• Humane’s Ai Pin costs $699 and focuses on the user talking to the device while off-screen, having gathered negative reviews by most testers.

2. X reportedly tells Brazil court it will comply with rulings, even as Elon remains defiant

• According to Reuters, X lawyers wrote that “X Brasil informs that all orders issued by this Supreme Court and the Superior Electoral Court will continue to be fully complied with by X Corp.”

• Moraes previously issued a secret order to X demanding it take down certain accounts linked to the opposition.

On X, Elon publicly accused Brazilian Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes of violating laws

4. China GDP +5.3% YoY in Q1, ahead of estimates of 4.8%, as industrial production, retail sales disappoint

• Industrial production: 4.5% YoY, vs. 6.0% expected, from 7.0% in the previous quarter.

• Retail sales: 3.1%, vs. 5.1%, from 5.5%.

5. 269K EVs sold in U.S. in Q1, +3% YoY but -7% QoQ, as Tesla maintains 51% market share

6. Gemini Ultra cost $191M to train: 2024 AI Index Report

AI is also helping medicine: the number of AI-powered medical devices approved by the FDA jumped to 139

Read more: 2024 AI Index Report.

7. 20K+ sextortion cases reported by service providers in 2023

• At least 27 minors killed themselves due to sextortions since Oct. 2021, according to the FBI.

8. Interesting videos, posts, and memes

9. Other headlines

AI

• Microsoft to invest $1.5B in UAE AI investment firm G42.

• G42 made secret pact with U.S. to divest from China before deal.

• Deepmind CEO: Google to invest $100B+ in AI over time.

• Meta may launch Creator AI, custom chatbots for top influencers.

• Ernie Bot reaches 200M users, from 100M in Dec.: Baidu.

• Adobe may allow 3rd-party AI tools like Sora inside Premiere Pro.

• Acrobat AI assistant released at $5/mo.

• Upstage, Korea-based AI for work, raises $72M Series B.

Tech

• ASML’s sales -22% to 5.29B in Q1, stock -5%.

• a16z closes $7.2B for new funds.

• X may charge new users “small fee” to post, aiming at curbing bots.

• Tesla sees another report that it scrapped cheaper, ~$25K car.

• Meta to launch educational apps, student management for Quest VR.

Tech & law

• TikTok former employees say company worked closely with China parent.

• Threads being shut down in Turkey after order from authorities.

• Zuckerberg won't be personally liable in Meta addiction lawsuits.

Biotech

• Longevity investments hit $3B in 2023.

• Longevity vacations: a detailed report.

Business

• Ticketmaster parent Live Nation may be sued by DOJ.

• Chess GM Firouzja accused of making noises with shoe to distract Nepo.

Crypto

• SBF's relationship with CFTC chair inquired by senators.

• Bored Ape NFT prices -90% from 2022 peak, to ~$30K each.

U.S. politics

• Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan aid vote likely to be split in House.

• Trump's 1st day of criminal trial includes voir dire.

• ‘Rust’ armorer sentenced to 18 months for fatal shooting.

World

• Israel vows response to Iran even with pressure from U.S., Europe.

• China announces continued relations with Iran even after attack.

• Russia's opposition remain divided across Navalnaya, others.

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