Welcome to the new edition of Wealt Weekly Roundup.
This week's highlights include how Wealt helps you manage all your startup investments with automatic updates for investments made within the app. On the market front, an OpenAI co-founder joins Anthropic, Groq collaborates with Meta on AI innovations, Microsoft and OpenAI lead further developments in AI, and X faces a significant devaluation under Elon Musk. Also, don't miss this week’s blog post about Why Companies Are Staying Private Longer—long-term growth over public pressures.
Stay informed with Roundup – your guide to finance and tech trends!
Wealt makes it easy to stay on top of all your startup investments, whether you’ve invested through the Wealt app or elsewhere. You can easily add startups manually to your portfolio, giving you a clear and consolidated view of your investments in one place.
Also, if you invest through Wealt, you don’t need to add the investment manually; we automatically add and update it for you. ??
You can also see financial details about your investment:
- Summary (Total invested, IRR, MOIC, Avg. holding period, # of units, Current price)
- Valuation (Market value, estimated profit&loss)
- Information (based on the information that you added during the addition of startup or updated automatically of Wealt investments)
No more bouncing between apps or spreadsheets! Ready to level up your investments?
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket is grounded after its second stage failed to land in the designated area post-Crew-9 mission, marking the third anomaly in three months. While the mission was successful, this setback may delay upcoming critical missions, including the European Space Agency's Hera and NASA's Europa Clipper missions. SpaceX plans to resume launches once the root cause is determined.
Durk Kingma, co-founder of OpenAI, has joined Anthropic, following several former OpenAI team members, including Dario Amodei and John Schulman. This strengthens Anthropic's talent pool amid OpenAI's leadership changes during its transition to a for-profit model. Working remotely from the Netherlands, Kingma expressed excitement about collaborating with former colleagues while OpenAI continues to navigate executive departures, including Chief Research Officer Bob McGrew and CTO Mira Murati.
Last week, Groq announced its partnership with Meta to launch Llama 3.2. This collaboration introduces advanced open-source AI models that enhance developer capabilities through Groq's fast inference technology. It aims to foster innovation in a cost-effective AI ecosystem and provide easy access to tools via the GroqCloud Dev Console.
- ?? OpenAI has successfully raised $6.6 billion in funding from investors, including Microsoft and Nvidia, potentially valuing the company at $157 billion. As it undergoes restructuring and aims for significant revenue growth amidst executive changes, OpenAI aims for significant revenue growth.
- ?? According to Fidelity's recent estimates, Elon Musk’s social media platform X, formerly Twitter, is now valued at $9.4 billion—78.7% less than the $44 billion he paid two years ago.
- ?? Released from US custody, former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) pledged to invest in blockchain, AI, and biotechnology while launching a free educational initiative, Giggle Academy, for students.
- ?? OpenAI has raised $6.6 billion in a record funding round, bringing its valuation to $157 billion and solidifying its position as the world's most well-funded AI startup. The round also signals potential shifts towards a for-profit structure.
- ?? Microsoft faces increased scrutiny from Germany's Federal Cartel Office over its market influence and AI use, particularly its partnership with OpenAI, under a special abuse control regime to foster competition.
- ?? Last week, Caroline Ellison was sentenced to two years in prison for her role in the FTX fraud, having testified against founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who received a 25-year sentence; she admitted to charges including wire fraud and money laundering and faced over $11 billion in forfeiture.
- ?? Microsoft’s AI chief Mustafa Suleyman announced that, despite privacy concerns, AI assistants with long-term memory are expected within a year. The company also introduced new features for its CoPilot AI, including voice functions and a privacy-focused tool called CoPilot Vision.
- ?? Cerebras Systems is pursuing an IPO and competing with Nvidia, Groq, and SambaNova to achieve the fastest generative AI speeds, exceeding 2,000 tokens per second. This emphasizes the importance of rapid inference for real-time applications and enhanced user experiences.
- ???? At OpenAI's DevDay 2024, the company unveiled four new features—Realtime API, Vision Fine-Tuning, Prompt Caching, and Model Distillation—designed to enhance affordability and accessibility for developers and smaller organizations. These features mark a strategic shift toward empowering the developer ecosystem and improving model efficiency. Explore more.
- ?? Maltese businesses are increasingly adopting Revolut. Over the past year, the number of business customers has fivefolded, driven by a record €296 million in monthly B2B transactions.
- ?? The EU has requested additional information from Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube regarding their algorithms for content recommendation as part of its enforcement of the Digital Services Act, focusing on mitigating AI-related risks to mental health and civic discourse.
- ?? OpenAI introduced "Canvas," a new collaborative interface for ChatGPT that enhances writing and coding projects by allowing users to edit directly, receive inline feedback, and manage project versions more effectively.
- ? Meta has started notifying U.K. users that it will use their Facebook and Instagram data for AI training, with a cumbersome and ambiguous opt-out process. This raises concerns about compliance with GDPR and the legality of Meta's "legitimate interest" justification for processing personal data without explicit consent.
- ?? Elon Musk's AI startup, xAI, has moved into OpenAI's former headquarters in San Francisco's Mission District. It hosted an open house after OpenAI's DevDay and primarily operated from Palo Alto despite Musk's plans to shift his companies to Texas.
- ?? Starling Bank was fined ￡29 million ($39 million) by the UK's FCA for inadequate financial crime controls, allowing 54,000 high-risk customers to open accounts. However, it received a 30% reduction for cooperating in addressing the issues.
- ??? Shein is planning European roadshows for its London IPO, pending UK and China regulatory approval, after its U.S. listing faced obstacles.
- ? Lightspeed Venture Partners is raising $7 billion across three new funds, with 40% allocated for an opportunity fund and the rest for growth-stage and early-stage investments, following a trend of large fundraising efforts by peers like Andreessen Horowitz and Insight Partners.
- ?? Klarna is launching its flexible payment options on Adyen’s in-store terminals globally, enabling Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) payments via dynamic QR codes.
Companies stay private longer due to increased access to capital, control over operations, and the ability to focus on long-term growth without the pressures of public market scrutiny. The median age for IPOs has risen from six years in 1980 to eleven years by 2021, as private equity and venture capital funding have surged, allowing startups to secure significant resources without going public. Additionally, regulatory burdens and unpredictable market conditions further incentivize founders to delay IPOs, enabling firms to grow and adapt their business models before entering the public arena.
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With warm regards and enthusiastic spirits,
