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California Becomes First State To Regulate AI

California Becomes First State To Regulate AI

OpenAI teams with Broadcom and Arm, Goldman Sachs buys Industry Ventures, and Microsoft debuts its first in-house image model.

Memorandum
October 14, 2025

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

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

🤖 Microsoft launches MAI-Image-1, its first proprietary image generation model.
💰 OpenAI partners with Broadcom and Arm to co-develop custom AI chips.
📱 Apple’s iPhone Air launches in China after resolving eSIM approval delays.
🏦 Goldman Sachs acquires Industry Ventures for up to $965M amid slow IPO exits.
⚡ Rare earth stocks soar as China tightens export controls and U.S.-China tensions rise.

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TECHNOLOGY

California becomes first state to regulate AI companion chatbots (TechCrunch)
_^More:_^CalMatters_^,_{^{Built In}}_^,_{^{California State Senate}}
- Governor Newsom signed SB 243, requiring chatbot operators to implement safety protocols for minors.
- Law mandates age verification, suicide prevention protocols, and prohibits chatbots from representing themselves as healthcare professionals.
- Legislation takes effect January 2026, allowing private lawsuits up to $250,000 per deepfake offense.
Apple announces iPhone Air will go on sale in China later this week (9to5Mac)
_^More:_^MacRumors_^,_^Bloomberg_^,_{^AppleInsider}
- Pre-orders begin Friday, October 17, after regulatory approval resolves eSIM-only design concerns in China.
- Device ships October 22, giving Apple data before its October 30 earnings call on market reception.
- Launch follows month-long delay as China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom secured eSIM authorization.
Microsoft unveils MAI-Image-1, its first in-house developed image generation model (Neowin)
_^More:_^Engadget_^,_{^SiliconANGLE}
- Microsoft launched MAI-Image-1, its third in-house AI model, reducing reliance on OpenAI for image generation.
- Model ranks ninth on LMArena leaderboard, prioritizes photorealistic results and faster generation speeds than competitors.
- Rolling out to Copilot and Bing Image Creator soon, joining previously released MAI-Voice-1 and MAI-1-preview models.

BUSINESS

OpenAI and Broadcom announce strategic collaboration (OpenAI)
_^More:_^CNBC_^,_^Reuters_^,_{^{Seeking Alpha}}
- OpenAI partnered with Broadcom for a multibillion-dollar deal to co-develop custom AI accelerators starting late 2026.
- The deal covers deployment through 2029, with Broadcom stock surging nearly ten percent following the announcement.
- Partnership allows OpenAI to embed frontier model insights into hardware, reducing costs and third-party chip dependence.
Goldman Sachs is acquiring Industry Ventures for up to $965M as alternative VC exits surge (TechCrunch)
_^More:_^Bloomberg_^,_{^{Goldman Sachs}}_^,_^CNBC
- Goldman is paying $665 million upfront, plus up to $300 million contingent on performance through 2030.
- Acquisition bolsters Goldman's $540 billion alternatives platform as traditional venture exits remain sluggish amid IPO drought.
- Industry Ventures manages $7 billion in assets and has made over 1,000 investments. All 45 employees joined Goldman.
Rare earth stocks extend surge amid renewed US-China tensions (Bloomberg)
_^More:_^CNBC_^,_{^{Seeking Alpha}}_^,_{^{Yahoo Finance}}
- MP Materials rose 24 percent to an all-time high, and Albemarle gained seven percent after Trump threatened tariffs.
- China tightened export controls requiring licenses for products containing rare earths, affecting global technology supply chains.
- Australian rare earth stocks surged, with Arafura rising 27 percent and Australian Strategic Materials jumping 42 percent.

MARKETS

S&P	6,654.72	+1.56%
NASDAQ	22,694.61	+2.21%
Dow	46,067.58	+1.29%
10-Year	4.062%	+0.005 pp
Bitcoin	114,174.00	−1.04%
Gold	4,156.77	+0.70%

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WORLD

Madagascar's president flees the country in fear for his life after a military rebellion (NPR)
_^More:_{^{Al Jazeera}}_^,_{^{ABC News}}
- President Rajoelina fled after the elite CAPSAT military unit joined Gen Z-led protests demanding his resignation.
- The military unit claims control of the armed forces, and appointed a new military chief accepted by defense minister.
- Protests began on September 25 over water and electricity outages, escalating into wider unrest with 22 deaths.
Nobel Prize in economics awarded to Mokyr, Aghion, and Howitt for explaining 'innovation-driven' growth (CNN)
_^More:_{^{Nobel Prize}}_^,_{^{NBC News}}_^,_^Bloomberg
- Mokyr receives half of the 11 million Swedish kronor prize for identifying prerequisites for sustained technological growth.
- Aghion and Howitt share the other half of the theory of sustained growth through the creative destruction mechanism.
- The trio explained how innovation drives economic expansion, with new technologies replacing older ones in a continuous cycle.
Ukraine and Russia's intensifying energy war brings gas shortages and economic pain (CNN)
_^More:_{^{Washington Post}}_^,_{^{Foreign Policy}}_^,_^Newsweek
- Ukrainian drone strikes disrupted nearly 40 percent of Russian refining capacity, causing widespread gasoline shortages.
- Russia launched 465 drones and 32 missiles on Friday, targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure, causing extensive power outages.
- Ukraine is negotiating a 30 percent increase in gas imports needing approximately $2 billion for the winter heating season.
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FUTURISM

Thinking Machines Lab co-founder Andrew Tulloch heads to Meta (TechCrunch)
_^More:_^WSJ_^,_^Reuters_^,_^Benzinga
- Tulloch departed Mira Murati's AI startup after reportedly receiving a compensation package potentially worth $1.5 billion over six years.
- The move follows Meta's failed attempt to acquire Thinking Machines Lab, prompting Zuckerberg to recruit employees directly.
- Tulloch joins Meta's newly formed TBD Labs unit amid the company's aggressive push to close the AI gap.
NVIDIA DGX Spark Arrives for World's AI Developers (NVIDIA)
_^More:_{^{Yahoo Finance}}_^,_^TechEBlog_^,_{^{NVIDIA Blog}}
- NVIDIA ships DGX Spark, world's smallest AI supercomputer with petaflop performance and 128GB memory starting October 15.
- Desktop system powered by GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip enables running models with 200 billion parameters locally.
- Jensen Huang hand-delivered the first unit to Elon Musk at SpaceX, with partners including ASUS, Dell, and Lenovo shipping systems.
Salesforce announces Agentforce 360 as enterprise AI competition heats up (TechCrunch)
_^More:_^Salesforce_^,_{^{CIO Dive}}_^,_{^{Constellation Research}}
- Salesforce unveiled Agentforce 360 ahead of the Dreamforce conference, with a new Agent Script prompting tool launching in November.
- The platform includes Agentforce Builder for unified agent development and deeper Slack integration with a personalized AI assistant.
- Company touts 12,000 customers despite MIT study showing 95 percent of enterprise AI pilots fail before production.

CONTENT

What Ramp’s data tells us about AI, unemployment, and more with CEO Eric Glyman
- Ramp’s Eric Glyman shares startup spending insights and new data revealing unexpected trends in hiring, unemployment, and AI adoption.
- The fintech unicorn’s mission to help companies spend less challenges traditional growth-first strategies and reshapes startup discipline.
- Discussion dives into why recent graduates face rising unemployment and what it really takes for firms to integrate AI agents effectively.
How We Flipped Grindr For $1.4B Profit
- Rick Marini and Jeff Bonforte explain how they turned a $600M Grindr buy into a $2B sale in just 24 months.
- The duo breaks down private equity fundamentals, from identifying undervalued assets to navigating operational turnarounds at scale.
- They share lessons on timing market cycles, building emotional resilience, and why discipline matters more than luck in deals.
Atlassian CEO, Mike Cannon-Brookes, on Why Everything is Overvalued & Are We in an AI Bubble
- Mike Cannon-Brookes reflects on two decades scaling Atlassian while questioning whether today’s tech valuations are grounded in reality.
- He argues design will matter more than data in defining AI’s next phase and protecting creativity within large organizations.
- The episode explores leadership evolution, solo decision-making, and how to fight what he calls the “entropy of ambition.”

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