Welcome back to your daily memorandum talking tech, business, AI, markets, and more. 🗞️

In today’s edition we are tackling the following:

💰 CoreWeave in talks to buy AI startup Weights & Biases for around $1.7B.
🚘 Tesla sales plunge in Germany reflecting broader slump in Europe.
🗞️ AI now ‘analyzes’ LA Times articles for bias.
⚛️ Dutch startup QuantWare seeks to fast-track quantum computing.
⚠️ Latest Turing Award winners again warn of AI dangers.

TECH

• CoreWeave in talks to buy AI startup Weights & Biases for around $1.7B

  • Nvidia-backed data center company CoreWeave has acquired AI developer platform Weights & Biases for an undisclosed sum.

  • Lukas Biewald, Chris Van Pelt, and Shawn Lewis founded Weights & Biases in 2017 to create tools for developing AI applications.

  • CoreWeave says the acquisition will let it provide cloud services and infrastructure customers with a powerful application development.

• Everything you need to know about the White House crypto summit on Friday

  • The White House is organizing its inaugural crypto summit on March 7, aiming to engage with industry leaders.

  • This initiative replaces the previously planned "Crypto Council," which was dissolved due to internal disagreements and high demand.

  • Confirmed participants include prominent figures such as Michael Saylor and Brian Armstrong, among others.

• UK watchdog says Microsoft-OpenAI deal doesn't qualify for investigation

  • The UK's Competition and Markets Authority has concluded that Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI does not qualify.

  • This decision follows scrutiny after internal conflicts led to the temporary departure and subsequent return of CEO Sam Altman. 

  • A Microsoft spokesperson welcomed the CMA's conclusion, stating that their collaboration with OpenAI promotes innovation, and responsible AI.

BUSINESS

• Tesla sales plunge in Germany, reflecting broader slump in Europe

  • Tesla's vehicle registrations in Germany experienced a significant decline in February 2025, by 76%.

  • This decline contrasts with the overall German electric vehicle market, which saw a 30.8% increase in sales during the same period.

  • Analysts attribute Tesla's sales slump partly to CEO Elon Musk's political engagements, including his support for far-right parties.

• Abercrombie & Fitch shares plunge 15% after star retailer posts weak guidance for year ahead

  • Abercrombie & Fitch has seen blockbuster growth over the last two years, but it’s expecting that pace to moderate more.

  • The company is forecasting fiscal 2025 sales to rise between 3% and 5%, falling short of expectations of 6.8%, according to LSEG.

  • During its holiday quarter, Abercrombie narrowly beat expectations on the top and bottom lines.

• Dollar Tree names Stewart Glendinning as their new CFO

  • Dollar Tree has named Stewart Glendinning as the discount retailer’s next chief financial officer, effective March 30.

  • Dollar Tree on Wednesday said Glendinning joined in January in a senior role focused on transformation initiatives.

  • Before joining Dollar Tree, Glendinning served as chief executive of apparel retailer Express.

CONTENT

• Cybersecured: Vanta’s Zero To One

  • Open Source CEO breaks down the founding story of the industry giant trust management platform, Vanta.

  • Interviews with founder, Christina Cacioppo, the CPO, CRO and two early hire VPs.

  • Open Source CEO has over 100k subscribers and has done similar breakdowns of Deel, PostHog, Attio and more.

• Physics' next paradigm shift in full with Astrophysicist Matt O'Dow

  • Matt O'Dowd discusses his latest research on black holes, quasars, and gravitational lensing.

  • He explains cutting-edge theories about space-time and the potential role of wormholes in physics.

  • He stresses the importance of science education and public engagement, particularly through platforms like PBS Space Time.

• Lessons learned building a $656M company with Alex Beller

  • In this episode, we sit down with Alex Beller, co-founder of Postscript, an SMS marketing platform.

  • Within six months of launching, Postscript reached $1M in annual revenue, growing to 270+ employees serving 18,000+ customers today.

  • Alex implemented a system where all founders would immediately respond to customer chats as a powerful growth strategy.

WORLD

• Dutch startup QuantWare seeks to fast-track quantum computing

  • Founded in 2020, QuantWare is one of these, which claims that the hardware it manufactures already powers quantum computers.

  • Its core offering, VIO, focuses on scaling bottlenecks in quantum processing units.

  • The new funds will be used to scale QuantWare’s Contralto-A, its first QPU for quantum error correction.

• Indonesia debates bigger role for military under Prabowo

  • Indonesia is currently debating a proposal to expand the military's role in civilian affairs under President Prabowo Subianto.

  • The proposed revision of the 2004 Indonesian Armed Forces law would allow active military personnel to occupy senior government positions.

  • Concerns have been raised about the potential erosion of democracy and the lack of transparency due to the military's justice system.

• Romania declares Russian military attache and his deputy persona non grata

  • ​On March 5, 2025, Romania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared the Russian military attaché as persona non grata.

  • This also includes his deputy at the Russian embassy in Bucharest, effectively expelling them from the country.

  • In response to Romania's expulsion of its diplomats, Russia has signaled intentions to retaliate, though no specific measures yet.

AND MORE…

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• Latest Turing Award winners again warn of AI dangers

  • Andrew Barto and Richard Sutton, pioneers in reinforcement learning, have been awarded the 2025 Turing Award.

  • Their work has been instrumental in advancements such as OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's AlphaGo.

  • Their warnings align with broader concerns in the AI community about the risks of unchecked AI development.

• Steve Wozniak criticizes Musk’s DOGE for harsh government layoff approach.

  • In an interview with CNBC, Apple co-founder slammed the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, over mass job cuts.

  • “Just mass firings … it’s not good for a business to run that way,” referring to DOGE’s deep cuts to jobs at several government agencies.

  • Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak also criticized President Donald Trump and Elon Musk over the controversial U.S. treatment of Ukraine.

• AI now ‘analyzes’ LA Times articles for bias

  • The Los Angeles Times has implemented an AI-driven system to label articles that express personal perspectives under a "Voices" tag.

  • This will also provide AI-generated "Insights" summarizing diverse viewpoints.

  • Owner Patrick Soon-Shiong asserts that this initiative supports journalistic integrity by offering readers varied perspectives.