Memorandum
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Meta Recruits Thinking Machines Lab Co-Founder

Meta Recruits Thinking Machines Lab Co-Founder

Musk battles regulators, Vance warns of deeper shutdown cuts, Navan pursues $6.45B IPO amid closure, and Wingtech seeks help after Dutch intervention.

Memorandum
October 13, 2025

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

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

🧠 Thinking Machines Lab co-founder Andrew Tulloch departs to join Meta's team.
⚖️ Elon Musk faces ongoing battles with regulators over his business practices.
⚠️ Vance warns ‘deeper’ cuts for federal workers as shutdown enters 12th day.
💰 Navan advances IPO during shutdown, targeting $6.45B valuation goal.
💡China's Wingtech seeks government help after Dutch intervention at Nexperia.

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TECHNOLOGY

Thinking Machines Lab co-founder Andrew Tulloch departs to join Meta's team (TechCrunch)
^_More:^_WSJ^_,^_Reuters^_,^{_{The Verge}}^_.
- Andrew Tulloch, co-founder of Mira Murati's AI startup Thinking Machines Lab, announced his departure to employees on Friday.
- Meta reportedly offered a compensation package worth up to $1.5 billion over six years to recruit Tulloch from the startup.
- Zuckerberg's aggressive AI recruiting included attempting to acquire Thinking Machines Lab before directly targeting Tulloch with lucrative offers.
Apple discontinues Clips app, removing it from the App Store permanently (MacRumors)
^_More:^_TechCrunch^_,^{_{The Verge}}^_,^{_{Apple Support}}^_.
- Apple removed Clips, its video-editing app, from the App Store and announced it will no longer receive updates or downloads.
- Existing users can continue using Clips and redownload it through their Apple account, but new users cannot obtain it.
- Clips launched in 2017 with features like Memoji and AR support, but received only occasional bug fixes recently.
Elon Musk faces ongoing battles with regulators over his business practices (TechCrunch)
^_More:^_Yahoo!^_,^_Salon^_.
Nevada regulators accuse The Boring Company of nearly 800 violations, including unauthorized digging and dumping untreated water illegally.
California's insurance department penalized Tesla for routinely denying or delaying customer claims despite receiving years of regulatory warnings.
NHTSA investigates Tesla's Full Self-Driving software after reports of vehicles running red lights and crossing into the wrong lanes.

BUSINESS

Vance warns ‘deeper’ cuts for federal workers as shutdown enters 12th day (AP)
^_More:^_PBS^_,^_Fox21^_,^_CBS17^_.
- Vance warned that deeper, painful federal workforce cuts will continue as the government shutdown persists through day 12.
- Over 4,000 federal employees face termination while hundreds of thousands remain furloughed without pay during the stalemate.
- Smithsonian museums, research centers, and the National Zoo closed temporarily on Sunday due to a lack of funding from the shutdown.
Navan advances IPO during government shutdown, targeting $6.45 billion valuation goal (TechCrunch)
^_More:^_Yahoo!^_,^_Reuters^_.
- Navan filed updated IPO documents despite the federal shutdown, using new SEC rules allowing automatic approval within 20 days.
- The travel management company plans to sell 30 million shares priced at $24-$26, potentially raising over $960 million.
- Navan generated $613 million in rolling 12-month revenue with $188 million in losses, backed by Lightspeed and Andreessen Horowitz.
Crypto spent millions defeating Sherrod Brown, plans repeat in 2026 elections (AP)
^_More:^_Yahoo!^_,^_MSN^_,^_Politico^_.
- Crypto interests poured over $40 million into Ohio's Senate race, more than four times their spending in any other contest.
- Senator Tim Scott thanked the crypto industry for defeating Democrat Sherrod Brown, a longtime critic of digital assets legislation.
- Brown's loss to Republican Bernie Moreno sent a clear message: challenge crypto, and the industry will target you.

MARKETS

S&P	6,674.25	+1.20%
NASDAQ	24,798.75	+1.65%
Dow	46,087.00	+0.84%
10-Year	4.0510%	-2.34%
Bitcoin	$115,194.79	+2.99%
Gold	$4,085.60	+2.13%

189,596 founders, investors, and leaders read this.

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WORLD

China's Wingtech seeks government help after Dutch intervention at Nexperia subsidiary (Reuters)
^_More:^{_{Financial Times}}^_,^_BBC^_,^{_{South China Morning Post}}^_.
- Dutch authorities intervened at Nexperia due to concerns about the potential transfer of crucial European technology to the Chinese parent Wingtech.
- Wingtech's control over Nexperia will be temporarily restricted, affecting decision-making and operational efficiency under the Dutch order.
- Wingtech said it will consult international law firms for legal remedies and seek support from Chinese government departments.
Qantas says stolen customer data posted online following July cyberattack incident (Bloomberg)
^_More:^_Reuters^_,^_ABC^_,^{_{NY Times}}^_.
- Qantas confirmed that customer data stolen during a July cyber incident has been released online by attackers.
- The breach involved 5.7 million records taken via a third-party platform, mostly containing names, emails, and frequent-flyer details.
- A smaller portion included addresses, birth dates, phone numbers, gender, and meal preferences from affected customers' accounts.
Taiwan sees minimal chip sector impact from China's rare earths export restrictions (Reuters)
^_More:^_Politico^_,^{_{Tom’s Hardware}}^_,^_Bloomberg^_.
- Taiwan's economy ministry said China's expanded rare earths controls won't significantly impact semiconductor manufacturing on the island.
- Rare-earth elements China restricted differ from those of Taiwan's chip production needs, sourced from Europe, the US, and Japan.
- China's export curbs could affect global supply chains for electric vehicles and drones, requiring close monitoring forward.
189,596 founders, investors, and leaders read this*
- Founders and leaders who read Open Source CEO end up with 2.3x the cerebral horsepower of those who don’t.
- 180k+ readers from Google, TikTok, OpenAI, and Deel love our deep-dive business content.
- Subscribe here to see what it’s all about.

FUTURISM

Collaborative robots bring automation to small US factories amid reshoring push (WSJ)
^_More:^{_{The Robot Report}}^_,^_Telegraph^_,^{_{The Philadelphia Inquirer}}^_.
- Smaller, flexible "cobots" are bringing automation to American factories of all sizes, making advanced manufacturing accessible and affordable.
- U.S. manufacturers face persistent labor shortages as skilled workers age out, while China deploys over two million industrial robots.
- Reshoring efforts and AI-driven demand are accelerating robot adoption, with automation potentially quadrupling worker output in factories.
Apple's smart glasses may feature dual modes with in-lens display technology (MacRumors)
^_More:^_CNET^_.
- Apple's second-generation smart glasses may run full visionOS when paired with a Mac, switching to a lightweight interface with iPhone.
- The glasses would compete with Meta Ray-Bans with in-lens displays, though Apple's first version won't include this feature.
- Apple's first smart glasses will have speakers, cameras, voice control, and potential health features, possibly announced in 2026.
Ready or not, enterprises are betting on AI (TechCrunch)
- AI companies secured major enterprise deals this week, including Zendesk's agents and Anthropic's partnerships with IBM and Deloitte.
- Deloitte must refund Australia's government after delivering a report with apparent AI-generated hallucinations, highlighting implementation risks.
- Enterprise deals offer AI companies immediate revenue compared to consumer social networks as longer-term monetization strategies.

CONTENT

Robby Stein discusses Google's AI turnaround, AI Mode, and search innovations
- Robby Stein, VP of Product at Google, oversees AI Overviews, AI Mode, search ranking, and Google Lens products.
- Google's AI products are expanding Search rather than replacing it, developing AI Mode from concept to launch in one year.
- Stein previously led Instagram's consumer products, building Stories, Reels, and Close Friends features used by billions of users.
Hayden Field discusses OpenAI's demo day, app store plans, and expansion
- Hayden Field joins to discuss OpenAI’s demo day, app store plans, and its rapid feature development.
- The hosts explore Sora’s growing popularity and question if OpenAI created a new social network.
- David and Jake cover Intel chips, Alex Cooper’s deal, and Starry internet.
Nick Lane says life is inevitable, but complex cells are rare
- Nick Lane proposes that life began from natural chemistry in deep-sea hydrothermal vents.
- His theory explains core biological mysteries like sex, cell structure, and universal biochemical patterns.
- He believes simple life is common in the universe, but complex cells rarely evolve.

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