Apple's Regulatory Risks and Rivian's EV Turnaround Plan | Bloomberg Technology

Apple and EU Regulations

• Apple's iPhone confidence is rising, with a 10% shipment boost planned, but regulatory risks in the EU, such as opening up its wallet and mobile technology, pose challenges.
• Apple avoided EU fines by making concessions, but the App Store revenue from the EU only accounts for 7% of sales, so the financial impact may be limited.

Tech Stocks and Partnerships

• Google (Alphabet) and HubSpot stocks are down, with Google down 2% and HubSpot down 0.8%.
• Stellantis, an automaker, has partnered with a Chinese company to access the Chinese market and compete with local EV makers.
• LEAPMOTOR is allowed to build and sell cars in Stellantis' network.

EV Industry Developments

• Lucid Motors, an EV maker, is considering raising more money in the future to support its vision of becoming a major player in the industry.
• The Biden administration is allocating funds to convert assembly plants in eight states to support EV manufacturing.
• RIVIAN, an EV maker, is targeting the "anti-Tesla" crowd by focusing on car enthusiasts interested in EVs rather than autonomous vehicles or futuristic technologies.
• RIVIAN's initial audience was former Tesla fans who were disappointed with Tesla's direction.
• RIVIAN's success highlights Tesla's mistakes, such as the controversial design of the Cybertruck.
• RIVIAN is facing challenges in ramping up production and needs to develop more affordable EVs to meet the needs of a broader market.
• RIVIAN is in negotiations with the Biden administration for funding under the Inflation Reduction Act but may face difficulties due to its stance on unions.

AI and Technology Advancements

• Fireworks AI, a lightning-fast inference platform, has raised $52 million in funding.
• Fireworks provides a fast and cost-efficient search engine with proprietary technology.
• It addresses the challenge of low latency and cost-effectiveness for applications requiring responsive experiences.
• Customers range from startups to Fortune 500 companies, using Fireworks for creative ideas, new products, and productivity enhancement.
• Fireworks has notable investors, including NVIDIA, AMD, and MongoDB, and plans to expand its offerings, integrate with the latest NVIDIA technology, and partner with MongoDB.
• The future of AI systems lies in compound AI systems that can orchestrate multiple single models with different modalities and AI tools.
• Building on an application specifically in the inference domain is different from training large language models, as it focuses on scalability, reliability, and cost-effectiveness.
• The volume of calls made on foundation models is expected to increase exponentially as more enterprises adopt generative AI, leading to a decline in compute costs.

Venture Capital and Funding Strategies

• Companies need to manage capital intensity by both raising revenue and managing capital, as relying solely on capital markets is not sustainable.
• Venture capital firms are exploring continuation funds to allow investors to take stakes in their portfolio companies.
• Companies are staying private for longer, and LightSpeed wants to support them while providing liquidity to investors.
• LightSpeed's solution is to create continuation vehicles where the underlying LP base may change, providing liquidity to LPs who want it while allowing others to roll over.

Stock Market and Company Updates

• New Street Research believes NVIDIA is fully priced at current levels, but individual movers like TSMC saw a decline of almost 3.5% despite hitting a new record as a $1 trillion company.
• Netflix earnings are coming up, and Citi is cautious ahead of the numbers.
• Tesla's 11-day running streak continues with a 0.5% increase.

Brain Implant Developments

• Neuralink plans to implant their device in a second human patient in about a week and have devices in a few more patients by the end of the year.
• To mitigate issues faced during the first patient's implant, Neuralink will uncurl the device more with the curvature of the skull and place the threads in a more targeted way in the brain tissue.
• Elon Musk believes that implanting AI in humans will give them superhuman powers and help fight against malevolent AI.
• Synchron, a competitor in the brain implant space, is partnering with OpenAI to help paralyzed patients communicate using GPT-4 technology.
• Synchron's focus is on short-term, practical applications to help patients with medical needs, rather than the long-term vision of fighting AI.

Tesla's Robotaxi Delay and Challenges

• Tesla has delayed its Robotaxi Day event from August 8 to October, citing a desire for more prototypes and a redesign of the vehicle.
• The delay has caused uncertainty among investors, leading to a significant drop in Tesla's stock price.
• Tesla's original plan involved using existing vehicles for its Robotaxi fleet, but the company has shifted towards developing a purpose-built Robotaxi.
• The academic approach to self-driving often involves the use of LiDAR and radar, while Tesla relies solely on a vision-based platform.
• There is internal tension within Tesla regarding the Robotaxi strategy, with some employees skeptical about its feasibility.

Global VC Dealmaking Trends

• Global inflation, interest rates, and macro uncertainty have caused a decline in global VC dealmaking, but the U.S. has seen an increase in deal activity on a quarterly basis.
• U.S. companies that have not raised funds since 2021 or early 2022 are returning to the market, contributing to the increase in the number of companies raising capital.
• There is a significant amount of dry powder in the U.S. VC market, with $295 billion available for investment, driving equity deals and inflating the number of companies raising funds.
• Approximately 22% of VC deals in the U.S. are related to AI, with 50% of deal value also attributed to AI companies.
• The U.S. VC deal value for Q2 2023 is $55.6 billion, with $15 billion coming from two large deals, CoreWeave and Ask AI, which may inflate the overall value.
• High-quality companies are driving the current VC market, with their valuations boosted by previous fundraising rounds at high valuations.

Political and Crypto Developments

• President Biden is facing criticism from Hollywood figures such as Ari Emanuel, Abigail Disney, and George Clooney, who believe he should drop his re-election bid due to his declining popularity.
• Donald Trump will speak at Bitcoin 2024, highlighting his embrace of the crypto industry, which could potentially change the regulatory approach to cryptocurrencies if he becomes president.
• Republican lawmakers in Congress may take a different approach to crypto regulation compared to the current Democratic administration, potentially diluting the influence of anti-crypto members of Congress.
• Vivek Ramaswamy, Elon Musk, and Donald Trump share a common interest in cryptocurrencies.