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Altman Says Meta Couldn’t Poach OpenAI

US-China tech tensions rise as Fed pauses rates, AI startup Anysphere draws big investment, Australia starts EU defense talks, and Amazon plans AI-driven job cuts.

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Memorandum
June 18, 2025

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

In today’s edition we are tackling the following:

💸 Sam Altman says Meta failed to lure OpenAI talent with $100M offers.
📉 Fed will hold rates steady again while waiting for clearer economic outlook.
💰 AI startup Anysphere fields VC offers at over $18B valuation.
🛡️ Australia will start talks on security and defence cooperation with the EU.
🤖 Amazon CEO Jassy says AI will reduce company workforce in coming years.

Stanford StartX company, Future Cardia, is taking on big MedTech.

Future Cardia, a Stanford StartX company backed by Johnson & Johnson's JLABS, has raised $14M to bring smarter cardiac monitoring to market. Their implantable device is already in human use, collecting 60,000+ hours of data.

Now, they’re closing out their raise, and you’ve still got time to get in on the innovation investors are betting on to shake up MedTech.

*This is sponsored content. See our partnership options here.

TECHNOLOGY

  • Sam Altman says Meta failed to lure OpenAI talent with $100M offers

    • Meta offered $100M+ packages to lure OpenAI and DeepMind researchers for its AI team.

    • Sam Altman confirmed offers but said top OpenAI talent stayed, citing stronger mission alignment.

    • Altman criticized Meta’s culture, saying innovation and not money is key to leading in AI.

  • US-China tech fight escalates after Taiwan blacklists Huawei

    • Taiwan blacklists Huawei and SMIC, requiring licenses for sensitive tech exports to Chinese firms.

    • The decision supports U.S. efforts to restrict China’s AI and semiconductor industry advancements.

    • Taiwan's move highlights growing tensions with China and its critical role in global chip supply.

  • Who is really behind the Trump Mobile T1 phone

    • Trump Organization announced a $499 'T1 Phone' claimed to be built in the U.S.

    • Experts doubt domestic manufacturing claims, suggesting it's likely a white-labeled device from a Chinese ODM.

    • Comparable U.S.-assembled phones cost far more, casting skepticism on the Trump T1’s legitimacy and specs.

BUSINESS

  • Fed will hold rates steady again while waiting for clearer economic outlook

    • Federal Reserve likely to keep interest rates steady for fourth consecutive meeting amid economic uncertainty.

    • Policymakers cautious on tariffs' impact but note steady hiring and cooling inflation trends so far.

    • Updated economic projections may show one or two rate cuts this year; decision announced Wednesday.

  • Police shut down Cluely’s party before it even got started

    • Cluely’s CEO Roy Lee promoted a satirical after-party for Y Combinator’s AI Startup School, drawing huge attention.

    • Despite only inviting friends, Lee’s viral tweet led to about 2,000 people lining up outside the venue.

    • Police shut down the event before it started, making it ‘the most legendary party that never happened’.

  • AI startup Anysphere fields VC offers at over $18B valuation

    • Anysphere is in talks for funding that could double its valuation to $18-$20 billion.

    • The startup surpassed $500 million annualized revenue and recently raised $900 million at $9.9 billion valuation.

    • Cursor, Anysphere’s AI code editor, is used daily by over 1 million people and half of Fortune 500.

MARKETS

S&P

5,987.50

+0.04%

NASDAQ

21,748.00

+0.08%

Dow

42,231.00

+0.01%

10-Year

4.3930%

-1.3252%

Bitcoin

$105,197.68

-2.21%

Gold

$3,403.60

-0.10%

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WORLD

  • Australia will start talks on security and defence cooperation with the EU

    • European and Australian leaders agreed to begin negotiations on a Security and Defence Partnership.

    • The partnership will focus on cooperation in defence industry, cyber security, and counter-terrorism efforts.

    • SDP talks are separate from ongoing efforts to finalize an Australia-EU Free Trade Agreement.

  • UK expects better electricity supply buffer for winter season this year

    • Britain’s electricity operator expects sufficient power supply this winter, with the highest forecast margin since 2019/20.

    • Increased battery storage, more gas-fired generation, renewables, and the Greenlink interconnector have boosted available electricity capacity.

    • Some tight supply days may occur, but NESO has backup tools ready; the full winter outlook arrives in October.

  • Chinese herb stock with no revenues rallies massively surpassing lululemon market value

    • Regencell Bioscience shares surged over 280% after a 38-for-1 stock split on Monday.

    • The Hong Kong herbal treatment developer with no revenue has risen more than 59,000% in 2025.

    • Social media users criticized Regencell, calling it the 'Complete Bullsh__ Company Of The Year.'

CONTENT

FUTURISM

  • Amazon CEO Jassy says AI will reduce company workforce in coming years

    • Amazon CEO Andy Jassy expects corporate workforce to shrink as AI tools become widely adopted.

    • Jassy encourages employees to learn AI and improve productivity with smaller, more efficient teams.

    • Amazon is heavily investing in AI products and expanding data centers to meet growing demand.

  • California is making new efforts to regulate its major AI companies again

    • California Governor Newsom vetoed SB 1047 but commissioned experts to propose balanced AI governance.

    • The 52-page California Report on Frontier AI recommends transparency, independent scrutiny, and risk management frameworks.

    • The report highlights AI’s impact on sectors like agriculture, biotech, clean tech, education, finance, medicine, and transportation.

  • AWS custom chip strategy gains traction reducing Nvidia’s dominance in AI market

    • AWS will update its Graviton4 chip to deliver 600 gigabits per second network bandwidth.

    • Amazon aims to lower AI training costs and challenge Nvidia’s expensive GPUs with custom chips.

    • Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 AI uses AWS Trainium2 GPUs powering Project Rainier with over 500,000 chips.

Backing the next big thing in MedTech?

Future Cardia is a Stanford StartX startup taking on the cardiac device giants with an implantable heart monitor. They’ve already logged 60,000+ hours of real data. Backed by J&J’s JLABS, this is your shot to support the underdog before the raise closes.

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*This is sponsored content

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