Memorandum
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Nvidia Backs Musk’s xAI With $20B Deal

Nvidia Backs Musk’s xAI With $20B Deal

Qualcomm buys Arduino, Anthropic eyes India expansion, and France faces renewed political turmoil after Lecornu’s resignation.

Memorandum
October 08, 2025

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

In today’s edition, we are tackling the following:

💰 Musk’s xAI lands $20B Nvidia-backed chip deal to boost GPU supply.
💻 Qualcomm acquires Arduino to advance robotics and edge computing.
🌏 Anthropic opens India office, partnering with Reliance Industries.
🇫🇷 French PM Lecornu resigns after 27 days in office.
🔬 Nobel Prize in Physics honors quantum computing pioneers.

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TECHNOLOGY

Qualcomm acquires miniature computer maker Arduino (SiliconANGLE) _^More:_^CNBC_^,_{^{Arduino Blog}}_^,_^TechRadar
- Qualcomm acquired Arduino to expand into edge computing and robotics with a thirty-three million developer community.
- Arduino Uno Q debuts as the first collaboration featuring Qualcomm Dragonwing chip running Linux Debian, priced at $44 USD.
- Arduino becomes an independent subsidiary, maintaining an open-source approach with blueprints released under a Creative Commons license.
Jony Ive says pace of change in AI is 'extraordinary' at OpenAI DevDay (CNBC)
_^More:_^TechCrunch_^,_^Engadget_^,_^PYMNTS
- I’ve discussed the AI revolution with Altman during the DevDay closing session after OpenAI's six billion dollar acquisition.
- Palm-sized screenless device faces technical challenges, including privacy issues, potentially delaying the 2026 launch date.
- The device aims to interpret the environment through audio and visual cues using an always-on approach without verbal prompts.
Anthropic plans to open India office, eyes a tie-up with billionaire Ambani (TechCrunch)
_^More:_^Reuters_^,_^Anthropic
- Anthropic CEO Amodei is visiting India to open the Bengaluru office and explore a partnership with Reliance Industries.
- India represents Anthropic's second-largest market, with Claude app downloads increasing forty-eight percent year over year.
- Consumer spending on the Claude app in India surged five hundred seventy-two percent, generating one hundred ninety-five thousand.

BUSINESS

OpenAI Is Good at Deals (Bloomberg)
_^More:_{^{NBC News}}_^,_{^{Tom's Hardware}}_^,_^Qz
- OpenAI announced major chip deals with AMD and Nvidia worth billions, boosting partner valuations significantly.
- AMD shares surged twenty-four percent after the deal announcement, adding sixty-three billion dollars to the market capitalization.
- Critics warn that circular partnerships among AI giants create potential bubble risks for the industry.
NYSE Owner to Invest $2 Billion in Betting Platform Polymarket (Bloomberg)
_^More:_^CNBC_^,_^WSJ
- Intercontinental Exchange invested two billion dollars in Polymarket, valuing the prediction market at eight billion.
- Partnership will distribute Polymarket sentiment data to thousands of financial institutions globally for market analysis.
- Companies plan collaboration on tokenization initiatives as prediction markets gain mainstream institutional acceptance nationwide.
IBM and Anthropic Partner to Advance Enterprise Software Development (IBM Newsroom)
_^More:_^TechCrunch_^,_^Bloomberg_^,_^PYMNTS
- IBM integrates Anthropic's Claude into enterprise software, starting with a new development environment showing gains.
- Early testing with six thousand IBM developers reported average productivity increases of forty-five percent overall.
- Partnership combines Claude's AI capabilities with IBM's enterprise security, governance, and deployment expertise nationwide.

MARKETS

S&P	6,714.59	–0.40%
NASDAQ	22,788.36	–0.67%
Dow	46,602.98	–0.20%
10-Year	4.13%	↓ 0.02 pp
Bitcoin	~ 103,009.35	+1.0%
Gold	~ 4,003.00	+0.6%

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WORLD

National Guard deployment latest and state and cities' lawsuits (CNN)
_^More:_^NPR_^,_{^{Washington Post}}_^,_{^{NBC News}}
- Trump deploys National Guard troops to Chicago and Portland despite legal challenges from states.
- A federal judge twice blocked Portland deployments; Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit challenging Trump's federal authority.
- Trump considers invoking the Insurrection Act if courts continue blocking his military deployments to cities.
Outgoing French PM Lecornu set to start last-ditch talks to end political crisis (Reuters)
_^More:_{^{Al Jazeera}}_^,_^CNN_^,_^Bloomberg
- Lecornu resigned after just twenty-seven days as prime minister, becoming France's shortest-serving PM since 1958.
- Macron tasked the resigning PM with forty-eight hours of emergency talks to find a cross-party compromise solution.
- France faces a deepening crisis with a fragmented parliament unable to pass a budget addressing deficit concerns nationwide.
The mayor in Western Germany is in Critical Condition After Stabbing (Newsweek)
_^More:_{^{Al Jazeera}}_^,_^CNN_^,_{^{Fox News}}
- Iris Stalzer, newly elected mayor of Herdecke, was found with multiple stab wounds outside her home.
- Police are investigating all possibilities, including family connection; no evidence suggests a political motive has been determined.
- Chancellor Merz condemned the attack; the incident follows a concerning trend of violence against German politicians recently.

FUTURISM

Nobel Prize in Physics awarded in Sweden to Clarke, Devoret, and Martinis (Bloomberg)
_^More:_{^{Nobel Prize}}_^,_^CNN_^,_{^{Scientific American}}
- Clarke, Devoret, and Martinis were honored for discovering macroscopic quantum tunneling in electrical circuits during the 1980s.
- Their experiments demonstrated quantum effects on scales large enough to hold, laying the foundation for modern quantum computing.
- Work enabled the development of superconducting qubits now used in commercial quantum computers and advanced technology applications.
Elon Musk preps Tesla's Optimus prime time, big hurdles remain (The Information)
_^More:_^TechCrunch_^,_^Fortune_^,_{^{Interesting Engineering}}
- Tesla reportedly produced only hundreds of Optimus robots versus the thousand-unit target for the year 2025.
- Musk claims Optimus will represent eighty percent of Tesla's future value despite production delays and challenges.
- Supply chain issues, including China's rare earth export restriction,s complicate manufacturing timeline and cost projections.
Google launches its AI vibe-coding app Opal in 15 more countries (TechCrunch)
_^More:_{^{Google Blog}}
- Google expands Opal no-code app builder to fifteen countries, including Canada, India, Japan, and Brazil.
- The tool enables users to create mini web applications using text prompts without writing any code manually.
- Updates include improved debugging, faster app creation speeds, and parallel workflow execution for complex applications.

CONTENT

Is There A Way Sora 2 Can Disrupt Social Media?
- Besties debate whether Sora 2's generative video could upend social platforms by lowering creation costs.
- They weigh content authenticity, recommendation dynamics, and monetization if AI floods feeds with near-infinite video.
- Discussion explores incumbents' defensive moves, regulatory pressure, and opportunities for tools, rights management, and creators.
Opendoor CEO: Building the Amazon for Homes
- Kaz Nejatian outlines building Opendoor as a marketplace, simplifying home transactions from discovery through closing.
- They dissect agent incentives, financing frictions, and lessons from Amazon, eBay, and automotive retail history.
- Conversation covers business model evolution, interest-rate shocks, operational discipline, and ambition during difficult housing cycles.
Every AI Founder Should Be Asking These Questions
- Jordan Fisher frames startup strategy as questions amid accelerating AGI timelines and rapidly commoditizing software.
- He stresses building AI-native teams, trust and safety, agent auditing, and pragmatic defenses around data.
- Talk urges planning beyond the next model, prioritizing necessity, neutrality, and durable value over hype today.
Built for builders, operators, and leaders who need context fast*
- Cut through the hype. Roko’s Basilisk distills the day’s AI breakthroughs, market moves, and workable workflows into a five-minute brief.
- Get one sharp deep dive, fast Quick Hits, and a witty pro tip, plus links that actually matter.
- Join 100k+ readers who start decisions here each morning.

Would you rather guess or measure what actually works?