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

In today’s edition we are tackling the following:

🥊 Netflix’s Tyson vs. Paul fight draws 60 million viewers worldwide.
🚀 European space startup raises $160M to rival SpaceX's Dragon missions.
💼 Elon Musk takes Microsoft to court over OpenAI antitrust lawsuit.
🎥 Spotify launches video push to challenge YouTube’s dominance in podcasts.
📉 FTC reports spam call complaints drop by over 50% since 2021.

TECH

• Netflix served the Tyson vs. Paul fight to 60 million households

  • Jake Paul versus Mike Tyson peaked at “65 million concurrent streams” last night according to Most Valuable Promotions.

  • This figure is twice the number that the Christmas Day NFL game stream will likely see this year.

  • Social media was filled with complaints about stream quality as Netflix’s infrastructure struggled to keep up.

• The Exploration Company raises $160M to build Europe’s answer to SpaceX Dragon

  • Only two companies currently provide cargo delivery to and from the International Space Station, and both are based in the United States.

  • The Exploration Company, which operates out of Germany, France, and Italy, is looking to become the third.

  • The $160 million raise will fund development of the Nyx spacecraft, capable of carrying 3,000 kilograms of cargo to and from Earth.

• Elon Musk adds Microsoft to lawsuit against ChatGPT-maker OpenAI

  • Musk, a co-founder of the company, accused it and the tech giant of operating a monopoly in amended legal complaint on Thursday.

  • The lawsuit accuses OpenAI of having transformed from a "tax-exempt charity to a $157B for-profit, market-paralysing gorgon.”

  • An OpenAI spokesperson said Mr Musk's refreshed complaint was "baseless.”

BUSINESS

• TikTok Parent ByteDance’s Valuation Rises to About $300 Billion

  • ByteDance valued itself at nearly $225 billion in a tender offer to employees in October 2023.

  • Investors see Trump victory as a positive with threat of TikTok ban looming in U.S.

  • The valuation came in a recent buyback offer by ByteDance, according to sources.

• Spotify’s CEO on why this new video push is different

  • Spotify CEO Denial Ek thinks the company is ready to rival YouTube as a top destination for video podcasts.

  • The company has been working to increase the video on its platform for over a decade, with 300k videos podcasts today.

  • Ek is hoping the new engagement based payouts can replace and exceed YouTube monetization.

• The FTC says spam call complaints are way down since 2021

  • Regulations targeting spam calls claim complaints have dropped by over 50% since 2021.

  • There were 33,000 fewer unwanted call complaints during the 2024 fiscal year when compared to the year prior.

  • The decline is said to be due to a step up in government efforts to fight telemarketing and phone scams.

CONTENT

• Peter Thiel on the Triumph of the Counter-Elites

  • Thiel joins Bari Weiss to explain why so many of his peers have come around to Trump; why he thinks Kamala lost the election.

  • Why the Trump 2.0 team will be better than last time, with antiestablishment figures who are willing to rethink the system.

  • The border, trade deals, student debt, Israel and foreign policy, the rise of historical revisionism, the blurry line between skepticism and more.

• The Bitcoin Presidency & The Dawn of a New Robber Baron Era

  • Josh Brown joins Scott Galloway and Ed Elson, to identify how the financial landscape could evolve under Trump’s second term.

  • He shares how he thinks hyperscalers, small-caps, and crypto will be impacted and why traditional media may face struggles in the future.

  • Finally, he provides a roadmap for navigating an era where wealth and influence will be paramount.

• Unicorn Founder on Unseen Arbitrages, the Paradox of Wealth + Charlie Munger Wisdom

  • Flexport founder Ryan Petersen joins Shaan Puri to talk about bootstrapping versus raising venture capital.

  • Paul Graham's superpower, data-as-a-service framework, Charlie Munger's worldly wisdom and how to prioritize adventure.

  • Finally; a negotiation masterclass, inside Founders Fund, and the difference between being in a crowd v following a crowd.

WORLD

• Biden to allow Ukraine to use US weapons inside Russia: Reports

  • The move comes as Joe Biden heads into his final months in office, with Donald Trump believed to be more favourable towards Russia.

  • Three sources, told Reuters on Sunday that Ukraine plans to carry out long-range attacks using the weapons in the coming days.

  • The White House has not commented, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the missiles would “speak for themselves.”

• An Israeli strike in Beirut kills Hezbollah’s spokesman, while a strike in Gaza kills at least 30

  • A rare Israeli strike in central Beirut killed the Hezbollah militant group’s chief spokesman on Sunday.

  • While Israeli strike in northern Gaza ’s Beit Lahiya killed at least 30 people, a hospital director there told The Associated Press.

  • The strikes happened as Lebanese officials considered a United States-led cease-fire proposal.

• Xi says he will work with Trump team as he meets Biden in Peru

  • Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to work with the incoming administration of Donald Trump as he held his final talks with Biden.

  • Biden met Xi for about two hours at a hotel where the Chinese leader was staying, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Lima, Peru.

  • “China’s goal of a stable, healthy and sustainable China-U.S. relationship remains unchanged,” following the election, Xi said.

AND MORE…

• A study found that X’s algorithm now loves two things: Republicans and Elon Musk

  • Researchers’ finding suggest X made ‘platform-level’ changes to boost Musk and other conservatives’ posts during election.

  • Musk’s numbers “outpaced general engagement trends observed across the platform.”

  • Recent studies by The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post have seen similar results.

• Polymarket whale loses $3.6 million on Tyson bet after netting $11 million from Trump win

  • A Polymarket whale lost big betting on Mike Tyson to win against Jake Paul, who secured a unanimous decision victory after eight rounds. 

  • The whale lost $3.6 million, but still less than a third of their $11 million winnings from betting on Trump to win the Presidential election. 

  • Paul's odds of victory stood at about 63.5% on Polymarket going into Friday night's bout, while Tyson's chance of victory stood at 29.5%.

• The real reason billion-dollar disasters like Hurricane Helene are growing more common

  • Study shows billion-dollar disasters are increasing, straining economies and stretching disaster response budgets more than before.

  • Global warming intensifies storms, floods, and wildfires, contributing to significant financial losses and damages.

  • Insurers face rising claims, leading to higher premiums and reduced coverage in high-risk zones.