Walmart Buys Vizio

Plus: Musk claims Neuralink patient doing OK

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Cash Nut
February 21, 2024

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In Today’s Edition 

  • Disney Star Turned Space Tech CEO

  • Musk claims Neuralink patient doing OK with implant, can move mouse with brain

  • JPMorgan Chase is cashing in on Messi mania in Miami

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🚀Startups Nuts

Former Disney Channel star turned MIT PhD graduate Bridgit Mendler secured $6.3 million from major VC investors like Founders Fund and Andreessen Horowitz for her space satellite startup Northwood Space. Northwood Space aims to build satellite ground stations designed for mass production and customer flexibility, with a vision of creating a data highway between Earth and space.

Other News

  • Recogni, an AI chip company, raised $102 million

  • Kairos Aerospace, a methane leak detection startup, raised $52 million

  • Rasa, a conversational AI platform, raised $30 million

  • Tuum, a core banking tech startup, raised $27 million

🏭Business Nuts 

  • Walmart bought TV-maker Vizio for $2.3 billion. The deal gives Walmart the ability to sell ads through streaming services on Vizio TVs, in addition to in physical stores and on its website. Walmart thinks its treasure trove of shopper data will be especially appealing to advertisers as it further transforms from a big-box retailer into a media company. 

  • JPMorgan Chase is cashing in on Messi mania in Miami. The bank announced it inked a two-year deal for the naming rights to Inter Miami FC’s stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The deal gives JPMorgan its first stadium in pro soccer, following the Chase Center for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors and Chase Field for MLB’s Arizona Diamondbacks

  • Masayoshi Son's SoftBank Group Corp. is launching Izanagi, a $100 billion chip venture aimed at competing with Nvidia and focusing on AI application

  • FuboTV files $1B lawsuit seeking to block sports-streaming venture between Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Fox, alleging it violates antitrust law

  • Ford Motor Co. slashes price of 2023 Mustang Mach-E by up to $8,100; company reports US sales fell 51% in January after the Mach-E became ineligible for a federal tax credit

📱Tech Nuts

Elon Musk says that the first human to be implanted with Neuralink's brain chip has made a full recovery with no ill effects. The patient is reportedly able to move a mouse around a computer screen by just thinking. Neuralink is working on getting as many button presses on the mouse as possible from thinking. The company has been criticized for releasing information through Musk as he has a huge financial stake in the outcome.

Other News

  • MetaMask saw a 55% increase in active users in the past four months, from 19 million in September to over 30 million in January - comparable to the record numbers the wallet hit in 2022.

  • Apple is supposedly getting very close to launching its rumored ring wearable. The company has consistently released smart ring-related patents for several years. A patent from November details a system that lets users control their smartphones and other devices through the use of an external band on the ring.

  • Mark Zuckerberg says that Meta's finger-tracking neural wristband will ship as a product in the next few years. The wristband uses a technique called electromyography to sense the neural electrical signals passing through users' wrists, potentially providing zero or even negative latency and perfect accuracy, even in poor lighting condition.

🎁Miscellaneous

The Vision Pro and OpenAI's Sora launched in the same month. At the same time, Groq is showing that real-time inferencing may be more attainable than previously thought. TSMC is pushing to 2nm chips and Intel is making a credible bid to join them. While we are not yet at an iPhone moment when it comes to virtual reality, a lot of the pieces are now in sight. The technology still needs a lot more work, but the path from here is almost clear.

💡What else are we reading and seeing?

😎Fun Fact

YouTube was the most-watched streaming option over the past 12 months, accounting for 8.6% of streaming usage in the U.S. in January.

🐦Joke of the Day

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