Memorandum
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Silicon Valley Spooks AI Safety Advocates

Silicon Valley Spooks AI Safety Advocates

Opera's AI browser confuses users, Anthropic fights government scrutiny, Trump threatens Colombia tariffs, and a cargo plane crashes in Hong Kong.

Memorandum
October 20, 2025

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

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

💥 Silicon Valley leaders are intimidating AI safety advocates with public allegations.
🌈 Opera's Neon browser combines three separate AI tools into one confusing product.
⚖️ Anthropic competes with OpenAI while confronting government criticism and scrutiny.
💣 Trump threatens increased tariffs on Colombia over escalating drug trade dispute.
✈️ A cargo aircraft skidded off the runway, colliding with a security car.

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TECHNOLOGY

Silicon Valley leaders are intimidating AI safety advocates with public allegations (TechCrunch)
^_More:^_Yahoo!
- Silicon Valley leaders, including David Sacks and OpenAI, questioned the motives and virtue of AI safety advocates publicly.
- AI safety groups say this intimidation mirrors 2024 efforts against California's AI safety bill by venture capital firms.
- Tension grows between responsible AI and commercialization as safety advocates fear retaliation.
Opera's Neon browser combines three separate AI tools into one confusing product (The Verge)
^_More:^{_{The Byte Beam}}^_.
- Opera's Neon is an AI browser featuring three AI tools: Chat, Do, and Make, all integrated into one interface.
- Neon charges $19.90/m, unlike competitors like Google Chrome and Perplexity Comet, entering an increasingly crowded AI browser market.
- Chat assistant handles research queries but provides overly verbose answers, making it difficult for users to extract concise, useful information.
A federal judge permanently blocked NSO Group from targeting WhatsApp users (TechCrunch)
^_More:^_Yahoo!^_,^{_{Al Jazeera}}^_,^_Engadget^_.
- A federal judge granted WhatsApp's request for a permanent injunction blocking NSO Group from targeting the messaging app's users.
- A jury initially ordered NSO Group to pay Meta over $167 million for a 2019 campaign targeting 1,400 WhatsApp users.
- The judge reduced punitive damages to $4 million, citing insufficient evidence that NSO Group's behavior was particularly egregious.

BUSINESS

Anthropic competes with OpenAI while simultaneously confronting U.S. government criticism and scrutiny (CNBC)
- Anthropic is rapidly growing to compete with OpenAI, valued at $500 billion, and partnered with major tech companies.
- U.S. AI czar David Sacks publicly criticized Anthropic this week for pursuing regulatory capture based on fear-mongering.
- The company faces pressure from both competitive market forces and government opposition as it attempts to expand operations.
Trump threatens increased tariffs on Colombia over escalating drug trade dispute (Reuters)
^_More:^_Yahoo!^_,^_Bloomberg^_,^_AP^_.
- Trump announced he would raise tariffs on Colombia and halt all U.S. financial aid.
- U.S. military strikes on drug vessels prompted the escalation, which Colombian President Petro called unjustified and offensive.
- Colombia's foreign ministry vowed to seek international support against Trump's accusations undermining presidential dignity.
Apple's new iPhone outsells the previous model by 14% US and China (Bloomberg)
^_More:^{_{The Business Times}}^_,^_Reuters^_.
- Apple's iPhone 17 series outsold the iPhone 16 range by 14% during its first 10 days in the US and China.
- The standard iPhone 17 model saw significantly higher demand than last year's $799 model in Apple's two largest markets.
- Analysts attribute the surge to improved display quality, increased storage capacity, and the upgraded A19 processor in the new iPhone.

MARKETS

S&P	6,724.00	+0.32%
NASDAQ	25,094.00	+0.42%
Dow	46,507.00	+0.27%
10-Year	4.0070%	+0.78%
Bitcoin	$111,253.78	+4.14%
Gold	$4,248.10	+0.83%

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WORLD

China claims economic growth goal remains achievable despite the weakest yearly performance (Bloomberg)
^_More:^_Reuters^_,^{_{The Seattle Times}}^_.
- China reported 4.8% GDP growth in the third quarter, slightly exceeding economists’ forecasts of 4.7% year-over-year expansion.
- The government stated the economy maintains a solid foundation to achieve its full-year target of approximately 5% growth.
- Strong exports partially offset weak domestic spending and investment, but growth remains the slowest recorded in the past year.
A cargo aircraft skidded off the runway, colliding with a security car (AP)
^_More:^_CNN^_,^_Reuters^_,^_BBC^_.
- A Boeing 747 cargo plane skidded off a Hong Kong runway and collided with a security patrol car in the sea.
- The aircraft's four crew members were unharmed, but the two people inside the patrol car were killed in the collision.
- The plane landed from Dubai and skidded left halfway down the runway before crashing into the car outside the fence.
Australia's largest pension fund invests $672M in UK housing platform (Bloomberg)
^_More:^_Reuters^_,^_Yahoo!
- AustralianSuper, Australia's largest pension fund, committed £500 million to launch a UK housing investment platform called UK Living.
- The UK Living platform aims to become one of the country's top five rental home operators within five years.
- The platform will focus on student accommodation, co-living spaces, and rental homes, with an initial investment in Bristol student housing.

FUTURISM

Meta Ray-Ban Display's future presents both amazing and terrifying possibilities ahead (The Verge)
- Meta's $799 Ray-Ban Display glasses feature a tiny screen for maps, texts, and other basic tasks.
- The Neural Band wristband controls the display through gestures like pinching, swiping, and wrist rotation.
- The glasses enable text replies, Instagram viewing, and translation, but early quirks remind users of its first-generation status.
Companies blame AI for job cuts, critics call it an excuse (CNBC)
^_More:^_Yahoo!^_,^{_{Business Insider}}^_.
- Companies across the U.S. and Europe are cutting staff, citing artificial intelligence as the primary reason.
- Critics argue that companies misuse AI as an excuse for tough business decisions instead of admitting deeper operational issues.
- Experts suggest recent layoffs reflect post-pandemic market correction rather than genuine necessity driven by AI adoption.
Nvidia and TSMC produced the first Blackwell chip wafer in Arizona (Reuters)
^_More:^{_{Tom’s Hardware}}^_,^_Axios^_,^_Engadget^_.
- Nvidia and TSMC manufactured the first Blackwell wafer at Fab 21 in Phoenix, Arizona.
- The achievement represents a historic moment for U.S. chip manufacturing and aligns with Trump's reindustrialization vision.
- TSMC's Fab 21 produced one of the world's most complex chips using advanced 4nm-class fabrication.
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CONTENT

Keith Rabois shares bold predictions about America’s economic future and AI-driven growth (a16z)
- Keith Rabois predicts a new U.S. economic boom fueled by AI, productivity, and sovereign technology initiatives.
- He argues AI could raise GDP growth to 5% and help America overcome rising national debt.
- Rabois discusses Trump’s second term, Big Tech’s AI challenges, and the decline of legacy institutions.
Nicole Forsgren explains how to measure AI developer productivity in 2025 (Lenny’s Podcast)
- Nicole Forsgren, creator of DORA and SPACE, shares insights from her new book Frictionless on AI-era productivity.
- She reveals why common productivity metrics mislead leaders and how teams can dramatically accelerate development speed.
- Forsgren outlines AI’s effects on developer flow, cognitive load, and feedback loops for enhanced team performance.
Dan Wang analyzes China and America’s rivalry for global technological dominance (Invest Like The Best)
- Dan Wang discusses China’s rise as an “engineering state” excelling in manufacturing and technological scalability.
- He contrasts China’s execution-driven model with America’s debate-focused “lawyerly society” and its innovation challenges.
- The interview explores U.S.–China tensions, investment risks, and how both nations shape the future of global power.

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