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

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

👨‍🔧 Atlassian cuts 10% of staff to redirect resources toward AI.
🗺️ Google adds Ask Maps AI feature for complex questions, powered by Gemini.
⚖️ U.S. opens unfair trade probes against 60 countries over forced labor.
🛢️ Oil prices head for weekly gains despite U.S. sanctions waiver.
💰 HSBC & Standard Chartered set to receive Hong Kong stablecoin.

TECHNOLOGY

• Atlassian cuts 10% of staff to redirect resources toward AI (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: CNBC, WSJ, Business Insider}}

  • Atlassian laid off around 1,600 employees, roughly 10% of its total workforce, on March 11.

  • The company cited AI investment, enterprise sales growth, & stronger finances as key priorities.

  • The move mirrors Block's February layoffs, where Jack Dorsey cut over 4,000 employees.

• Google adds Ask Maps AI feature for complex navigation questions using Gemini (CNBC)
  ^{_{More: The Verge, ABC}}

  • Google launches ‘Ask Maps’ chatbot inside Maps app using Gemini AI for complex navigation questions.

  • Users can ask detailed location questions, such as finding charging stations or public tennis courts at night.

  • Results personalized using prior searches & saved trips, helping Google keep users longer.

• Channel Surfer turns YouTube into a nostalgic, old-school cable TV experience (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: Engadget, The Verge, FindArticles}}

  • Developer Steven Irby launched Channel Surfer, a web app mimicking retro cable TV guides.

    The app offers 40 topic-based channels, including news, sports, tech, gaming, & music.

    Users can join videos midstream and preview 24 hours of upcoming YouTube programming.

• LLM Feature Integration with Real APIs*

  Building LLM-powered features means handling real APIs, real users, and real edge cases. You need engineers who can do the glue work that makes AI actually usable—Python, JavaScript, and everything in between.

  • Full-stack LLM integration

  • Production-ready implementation

  • 40–60% cost savings

BUSINESS

• U.S. opens unfair trade probes against 60 countries over forced labor (CNBC)
  ^{_{More: Reuters, Investing.com}}

  • The U.S. Trade Representative launched Section 301 forced labor probes against 60 economies on Thursday.

  • Major allies like Canada, Australia, the EU, & Israel are included on the list.

  • The probes follow the Supreme Court's decision to strike down Trump's broad global tariffs in February.

• Oil prices head for weekly gains despite U.S. sanctions waiver (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: CNBC, Business Times, Yahoo!}}

  • Brent crude rose past $100 per barrel, up roughly 9% for the week.

  • A 30-day U.S. license for Russian oil purchases failed to ease supply tightness.

  • Analysts say restoring navigation in the Strait of Hormuz remains the most critical unresolved issue.

• U.S. Senate passes bipartisan bill to improve housing access & affordability (AP)
  ^{_{More: LA Times, CBS}}

  • The Senate passed the housing bill 89-10, marking a rare, strong bipartisan effort in Congress.

  • The bill cuts regulations, limits corporate investors, & expands funding for affordable homes & rentals.

  • Senators Warren & Scott led the push, calling it decades-overdue consequential housing legislation.

MARKETS

WORLD

• Saudi & UAE pipelines offer alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz (WSJ)
  ^{_{More: CNBC, CNA, Reuters}}

  • Two key pipelines from Saudi Arabia & the UAE bypass the Strait of Hormuz entirely.

  • Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline & the UAE's ADCOP could partially offset any Hormuz supply blockage.

  • Infrastructure damage risks, however, threaten to limit the total capacity of both pipelines.

• Nepal's ex-rapper Balendra Shah wins landslide election after Gen Z protests (BBC)
  ^{_{More: Reuters, CNBC, Al Jazeera}}

  • Shah's Rastriya Swatantra Party won 182 of 275 parliament seats in a historic landslide.

  • The vote followed deadly Gen Z protests in September that toppled Nepal's previous government.

  • Experts hope the win ends Nepal's 35-year streak of 32 unstable government changes.

• HSBC & Standard Chartered set to receive Hong Kong stablecoin (Bloomberg)
  ^{_{More: Tech in Asia, SCMP}}

  • Both banks are expected to receive Hong Kong stablecoin licenses around March 24, sources say.

  • Hong Kong's HKMA is granting a limited number of licenses from 36 total applications received.

  • Standard Chartered plans to issue a Hong Kong dollar-pegged stablecoin under the new regime.

FUTURISM

• Rivian delays its $45k base R2 model until late 2027 (The Verge)
  ^{_{More: TechCrunch, Yahoo!}}

  • Rivian confirmed the R2 SUV's base model will arrive around $45k' in late 2027.

  • The company quietly shifted from 'starting at $45k' to 'starting around $45k' in February.

  • Tariffs, lost EV tax credits, & reduced credit sales have increased pressure on Rivian.

• Sunday raises $165M, hitting $1.15B valuation for household humanoid robots (Bloomberg)
  ^{_{More: TechCrunch, FindArticles}}

  • Sunday secured $165M in Series B funding, led by Coatue Management & others.

  • The startup is building 'Memo,' a humanoid robot designed for everyday household tasks.

  • Advanced AI is reviving decades-old ambitions of creating reliable, helpful home robots.

• Lucid Motors unveils its 'Lunar' robotaxi concept at investor day (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: MSN, Business Insider}}

  • Lucid debuted 'Lunar,' a two-seat, steering-wheel-free robotaxi concept, in New York City.

  • Lunar has no active development yet & will launch after Lucid's mid-size EVs.

  • Lucid is also near an Uber deal for a robotaxi based on mid-size vehicles.

CONTENT

• Leopold Aschenbrenner discusses AGI by 2027 & the U.S.-China AI race (Dwarkesh Patel)

  • Aschenbrenner predicts AGI could arrive by 2027, driven by scaling & AI 'unhobbling' breakthroughs.

  • He warns of serious CCP espionage threats targeting U.S. AI labs & cluster infrastructure.

  • The podcast covers geopolitical AI risks, intelligence explosions, alignment concerns, & launching an AGI fund.

• Lenny Rachitsky opens up about building his newsletter & podcast empire (Lenny's Podcast)

  • Lenny's wife, Michelle, interviewed him, uncovering personal stories he had never shared publicly before.

  • He discusses the key moments that pushed him to launch & grow his newsletter.

  • Topics include adding a paywall, managing stress, & staying consistent with weekly content creation.

• Peter Zeihan warns the Iran war could reshape the global economy (The Prof G Pod)

  • Zeihan & Galloway discuss how the U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict threatens the stability of oil supply in the Middle East.

  • They examine how $100 oil impacts China, Europe, Russia, & broader global economic growth.

  • The conversation also covers Strait of Hormuz risks, the future of globalization, & the Ukraine war.

EXTRAS

• Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen to step down once successor is named (CNBC)
  ^{_{More: AOL, Investing.com}}

  • Narayen, Adobe's CEO since 2007, will resign once a successor is officially appointed.

  • He will remain as board chair after stepping down as chief executive.

  • Adobe shares are down 23% this year amid broader concerns about the AI-driven software sector.

• Live Nation employee mocked customers as 'stupid' in leaked internal messages (AP)
  ^{_{More: ABC, The Independent}}

  • Internal Slack messages show a Live Nation employee boasting about 'robbing' & 'gouging' customers.

  • The messages were filed as evidence in an ongoing antitrust trial against Live Nation & Ticketmaster.

  • The U.S. government & 39 states accuse both companies of suppressing competition & hiking prices.

• Apple cuts China App Store fees following pressure from local regulators (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: Bloomberg, WSJ}}

  • Apple will lower the commission fee for the China App Store from 30% to 25% starting Sunday.

  • The cut is estimated to save Chinese developers around $873M in annual operating costs.

  • The move benefits major platforms like Tencent & ByteDance, which host thousands of mini apps.

AND MORE

• Here's how to watch Jensen Huang's Nvidia GTC 2026 keynote live.

• Gemini's task automation debuts first on Samsung's new Galaxy S26 Ultra.

• Explore all the tools and more here to outperform the competition.*

• Substack launches an integrated recording studio for creators on its platform.

• Grieving parents confronted Mark Zuckerberg in court over Meta's child safety failures.

• Tinder tries to lure people back to online dating with IRL events and virtual speed dating.

• Anthropic's Pentagon dispute highlights deep concerns about the U.S. military's control over AI.

• Facebook Marketplace now lets Meta AI automatically respond to buyers' messages.