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

In today’s edition we are tackling the following:

📦 Amazon goes again with $4 billion in new funding for Anthropic.
👀 DOGE is recruiting with Andreessen and Kalanick in the mix.
🐈 Jaguar boss pushed back amidst backlash.
🏩 China are building gamer hotels for Esports.
🍎 How Tim Cook won over Trump, and how other leaders are scrambling.

TECH

• Amazon doubles down on AI startup Anthropic with $4bn investment

  • Amazon’s total investment in the AI company now totals $8bn, with its AWS unit as Anthropic’s cloud provider.

  • Amazon will maintain its position as a minority investor, the company said. Its AWS unit will also be Anthropic’s official cloud provider.

  • Anthropic said last year it had also secured a $500m investment from Alphabet, which promised to invest another $1.5bn over time.

• Marc Andreessen, Travis Kalanick and others involved Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)

  • Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy and interviewing experts from Washington to Silicon Valley for new department.

  • Andreessen is said to be acting as a networker and a recruiter for the duo who have spent the past week between DC and Mar-a-Lago.

  • The Tesla executive and former presidential candidate are planning massive federal cuts.

• Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt discusses the DOJ move to have Google sell off Chrome

  • NPR's Michel Martin spoke with former Google CEO and Chairman Eric Schmidt about the Justice Department's recommendations.

  • "This solution doesn't work, harms consumers and it's just a bad idea," claims Schmidt.

  • He also discussed his new book, Genesis: Artificial Intelligence, Hope, and the Human Spirit.

BUSINESS

• Six Months, Thousands of GPTs and Some Big Unknowns: Inside OpenAI’s Deal With BBVA

  • BBVA in March signed an agreement with OpenAI for 3,000 ChatGPT Enterprises licenses, which began rolling out in May.

  • The bank is evaluating its next steps after seeing early productivity gains from OpenAI’s enterprise tool.

  • “In the next six months, I can tell you that we are going to increase our ChatGPT user base. What comes after—data will tell us,” says BBVA. 

• Sirius XM found liable in New York lawsuit over subscription cancellations

  • New York Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit accuses the company of making it too hard for customers to cancel subscriptions.

  • The judge said Sirius must change its cancellation practices to comply with the law, and pay unspecified damages.

  • Federal Trade Commission rules require businesses to make canceling subscriptions as easy as signing up.

• Jaguar boss defends ‘bold’ rebranding after backlash over video

  • Rawdon Glover says message of promotional clip that featured no cars has been lost in ‘blaze of intolerance’ online.

  • The campaign drew 160M social views but also the ire of enthusiasts who were angered that the 90-year-old brand was ‘going woke.’

  • “If we play in the same way that everybody else does, we’ll just get drowned out. So we shouldn’t turn up like an auto brand,” Glover said.

CONTENT

• DOGE unveils a roadmap, Unlocking GDP Growth, WW3 escalation, Fat cell memory

  • J-Cal, David Sacks, Chamath and Friedberg discuss Elon and Vivek and the Department of Government Efficiency.

  • Also discussed is Javier Milei’s recent podcast with Lex Fridman.

  • And WW3 risk, findings on fat cells having memory and more.

• Vertical AI Agents Could Be 10X Bigger Than SaaS

  • In this episode of the Lightcone Podcast, the hosts consider what effect vertical AI agents will have on incumbent SaaS companies.

  • Also what use cases make the most sense, and how there could be 300 billion dollar companies in this category alone.

  • Y Combinator’s YouTube boasts 1.59M total subscribers.

• The ultimate guide to founder-led sales

  • Jen Abel joins Lenny Rachitsky to discuss how to sell, do early customer discovery, and set up a repeatable sales per-$1M ARR.

  • Jen also shares: why founder-led sales is so crucial early, sales processes, and how to craft effective outreach messages.

  • Also; what three channels work best for outreach, what to say on your first call, how to maintain momentum and more.

WORLD

• Diehard Gamers Are Fueling Demand for Esports Hotels in China

  • With bunkbeds, 24/7 tech support and state-of-the-art consoles, China’s 21,000 esports hotels cater to gamers who prefer to play together.

  • Such lodging is sprouting up across Asia, from Hong Kong to Japan, Malaysia and Singapore, amid a craze that’s captivated casual gamers.

  • China’s ‘lie-flat generation’ are embracing less-demanding lifestyles and focusing on leisure activities with friends.

• Australia drops plans to fine internet platforms up to 5% of revenue for failing to prevent misinformation

  • The bill was part of a regulatory crackdown, as leaders complained foreign tech platforms are overriding the country's sovereignty.

  • "Based on public statements and engagements, it is clear that there is no pathway to legislate this proposal through the Senate," statement says.

  • 80% of Australians want less misinformation in recent polling, minister claims.

• Hundreds More Nazca Lines Emerge in Peru’s Desert

  • With drones and A.I., researchers managed to double the number of mysterious geoglyphs in a matter of months.

  • 303 previously uncharted geoglyphs have been found, almost doubling the number that had been mapped as of 2020.

  • 244 were suggested by the technology, while the other 59 were identified during the fieldwork unaided by A.I.

AND MORE…

• How Tim Cook Cracked the Code on Working With Trump

  • With Trump’s cabinet taking shape executives across business and tech are working to get in the good graces of the new administration.

  • Tim Cook, unlike other leaders has developed a personal relationship with President-elect Donald Trump.

  • Cook would appeal to Trump directly through phone calls and meals, said people familiar with the interactions.

• People are fleeing Elon Musk’s X in droves. What’s happening on Threads and Bluesky?

  • After an election, around 115,000 US users reportedly deleted their accounts on Wednesday alone.

  • Stephen King and Don Lemon have both vowed to quit, as has The Guardian.

  • X competitor Threads had 275m monthly active users as of August compared to Bluesky’s 17m or so today.

• Marathon, others set to keep up BTC buying momentum

  • Marathon Digital plans to keep up its BTC buys amid a rally that has sent the asset’s price to new highs. And they’re not alone, sources say. 

  • Marathon held 27,562 BTC on its balance sheet, as of Oct. 31. Representing 8% of the 331,200 BTC held by MicroStrategy.

  • Tech giant Microsoft has a proposal in front of them to consider diversifying its balance sheet with bitcoin.