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

In today’s edition we are tackling the following:

🍟 Do you want lies with that? Trump flips burgers in the battleground.
🎯 Stripe are forking out $1.1B to buy a stablecoin platform
🙅🏻‍♂️ Biden blocking data transfers to Russia, China, more.
🏀 Jump high, run fast, perform well, with secrets from LeBron James’ trainer.
🎰 Betting markets are seeing billions come in for the US election.

TECH

• Hulu and Disney+ no longer support signups using App Store

  • Cutting out any fees that Disney would have needed to pay to Apple for using in-app purchase.

  • Hulu and Disney+ customers can still watch content on Apple devices.

  • Disney+ and Hulu will no longer be eligible for Apple's Video Partner Program going forward.

• Stripe in $1.1B acquisition deal for stablecoin platform Bridge

  • Bridge, which has raised $54 million in funding, was founded by Square and Coinbase alumni Zach Abrams and Sean Yu.

  • SpaceX and Coinbase (COIN) among its customers.

  • The deal is said to advance the cryptocurrency ambitions of Stripe.

• ‘Blade Runner 2049’ Producers Sue Elon Musk Over ‘Robotaxi’ Imagery

  • Claims they denied a request to use images from the movie but that Musk did anyway.

  • Use of AI “a bad-faith and intentionally malicious gambit.”

  • Shades of Scarlett Johansson vs OpenAI.

BUSINESS

• SearchGPT gives brands 4x more referrals vs. Perplexity, Claude

  • According to SEO platform BrightEdge, SearchGPT, in beta, is growing quickly.

  • SearchGPT’s growth rate is 150%, month-over-month, compared to Perplexity and Claude at 22%.

  • SearchGPT launched in July as a temporary prototype.

• Gopuff fires CTO following his June arrest

  • Sree Kotay was charged with drug possession and domestic violence in June.

  • Gopuff were one of Philadelphia’s fastest growing unicorns until demand pulled back due to economic conditions.

  • They have been through waves of layoffs since the pandemic.

• Apple’s AirPods Pro hearing health features are as good as they sound

  • AirPods Pro 2 will soon offer more robust hearing protection and a new hearing aid feature.

  • They mark a watershed moment for hearing health awareness.

  • It seems inevitable that Samsung, Google, and others will follow Apple’s lead.

CONTENT

• How marketplaces win, Lenny’s Podcast

  • Benjamin Lauzier has insights from 15+ years in tech and product leadership.

  • Liquidity, growth levers, quality, supply-demand tactics.

  • Lessons from Lyft, Thumbtack, and other successful marketplaces.

• LeBron James' Trainer, High Performance

  • Mike Mancias is a renowned performance coach and trainer.

  • Famous for peak performance through a combination of physical and mental training.

  • Trained spells out secret to 20 years of NBA dominance.

• Do this to build a $200,000 side hustle, Greg Isenberg

  • John Rush, a serial entrepreneur, on how to build and scale online directories.

  • Using AI and SEO to build and scale.

  • How much can you sell a great online directory for.

WORLD

• Biden proposes new rules for data transfers to adversarial nations

  • Proposal is for China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba.

  • U.S. data brokers are primary targets for the rule.

  • “Countries of concern can buy the data on the open market,” officials say.

• DOD initiative would recruit Silicon Valley’s top technical minds

  • Initial group of CTOs and senior leaders to take up high-ranking positions by September.

  • Protecting cybersecurity, data analytics and ‘other areas.’

  • Shyam Sankar, chief technology officer of data-analytics firm Palantir, “would be first in line to join.”

• Trump and a greasy day on the campaign trail

  • The ex-President worked the fryer in a McDonald’s apron on Sunday afternoon.

  • Pennsylvania is considered a key battleground state for the election.

  • He reportedly canceled an interview due to exhaustion prior.

AND MORE …

• Meta tests facial recognition for spotting ‘celeb-bait’

  • Tests aim to bolster its existing anti-scam measures.

  • Meta claims the feature is not being used for any other purpose than for fighting scam ads.

  • “Promising” results in improving the speed and efficacy.

• The 2024 State of AI Report

  • Nathan Benaich breaks down LLMs, robotics, open-source and more.

  • Will sovereign wealth break into the AI race in a big way.

  • This report is very dense, and well-respected.

• Billions of dollars are pouring into betting on the US election

  • Prediction market, Polymarket, has seen $2B in bets come in for next months election.

  • Polymarket has Trump 64% favourite to win the race.

  • Other pollsters still see Harris slightly in front.