Memorandum
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YouTube Brings Google Lens To Shorts

YouTube Brings Google Lens To Shorts

Elon Musk’s self-driving project remains largely unclear, Delaware to evaluate OpenAI’s restructuring plan, and Grammarly secures $1B from General Catalyst.

Memorandum
May 30, 2025

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

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

📹 YouTube will let you search for things you see in Shorts.
🚗 Elon Musk’s self-driving project remains largely unclear even with launch details.
📑 Delaware attorney general hires bank to evaluate OpenAI’s restructuring plan.
💰 Grammarly secures $1B in non-dilutive funding from General Catalyst.
🔧 Elon Musk wants everyone to think he’s leaving politics, focusing on Tesla.

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TECHNOLOGY

YouTube will let you search for things you see in Shorts
- YouTube is bringing Lens to Shorts which will roll out in beta in the coming weeks will let you search for more information.
- This searching of information is based on the animals, plants, and items you spot within a video.
- You’ll be able to use the feature by accessing Shorts from within YouTube’s mobile app.
Delaware attorney general hires bank to evaluate OpenAI’s restructuring plan
- Delaware’s attorney general hires an investment bank to independently evaluate OpenAI’s for-profit conversion plan.
- OpenAI needs state regulatory approval before converting to attract new investment and eventually going public.
- Elon Musk’s $97.4 billion takeover bid may have influenced the valuation of OpenAI’s nonprofit equity.
Elon Musk’s self-driving project remains largely unclear even with launch details
- Tesla plans to launch its robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, possibly on June 12, with 10–20 Model Y vehicles.
- Vehicles will have audio inputs and heavy remote teleoperation; service expected to be invite-only at launch.
- Tesla’s approach lacks transparency and safety proof, unlike Waymo’s established, cautious robotaxi testing methods.

BUSINESS

Grammarly secures $1B in non-dilutive funding from General Catalyst
- Grammarly secures $1 billion in non-dilutive funding from General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund.
- Funds will boost sales and marketing, freeing capital for acquisitions like its recent Coda deal.
- This revenue-based financing avoids equity dilution and supports Grammarly’s AI productivity platform expansion.
Gold falls as traders await US data for clues on tariff impacts
- Gold fell, putting it on track for an almost 2% weekly loss, amid a technical pullback in prices.
- The precious metal fell as much as 0.8% on Friday, as investors awaited the US personal consumption expenditures price index.
- Markets will be assessing the report, which will offer an insight into real consumer spending and wage growth in April.
China’s EV price war intensifies as automakers compete with deeper discounts
- BYD slashes prices on select EV models by nearly 30% to stay competitive.
- China's average car price dropped 19% in two years, reaching about 165,000 yuan.
- EV sales growth in China comes mainly from replacing gas-powered cars, not expanding market size.

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WORLD

South Korean presidential frontrunner proposes revising the constitution on martial law
- Lee Jae-myung proposed on Friday to amend the constitution to make it more difficult to impose martial law.
- Lee and his Democratic Party urged South Koreans to come out to vote to end the political turmoil that has gripped the country.
- Lee said he would seek to revise the constitution to strengthen martial law requirements.
Israel approves 22 new West Bank settlements despite looming international sanctions threat
- Israel approved 22 new West Bank settlements, drawing condemnation from human rights groups and international allies.
- The move escalates tensions with Britain, France, and Canada, which warned of possible sanctions.
- Palestinians and Israeli critics view settlement expansion as undermining hopes for an independent Palestinian state.
Tokyo prices rise sharply, keeping BOJ on track for rate hike
- Tokyo inflation rose 3.6% in May, driven by food prices, pressuring BOJ toward future rate hikes.
- BOJ remains cautious due to U.S. tariff uncertainty and political pressure ahead of Japan’s summer elections.
- The government launched a ¥900 billion stimulus, including rice and utility subsidies, to ease public dissatisfaction.

CONTENT

LMArena’s mission to make AI reliable with Anjney Midha
- LMArena proposes evaluating AI by crowdsourcing user votes instead of relying solely on expert benchmarks.
- The team highlights the importance of subjective, real-time data for accurate and dynamic AI model assessment.
- They discuss building continuous evaluation pipelines, user-personalized leaderboards, and SDKs to test models in real-world conditions.
Patrick McGee on how China captured Apple’s supply chain
- Apple’s deep reliance on China exposes it to serious geopolitical and supply chain risks.
- Tim Cook’s relationships and strategic decisions have tied Apple’s fate closely to Chinese manufacturing.
- Shifting production away from China to India or Mexico faces high cost and complexity.
Nico Rosberg on F1’s booming business
- Nico Rosberg joins The Besties to discuss his F1 career and the traits of top drivers.
- They explore Formula 1's booming business, intense teammate rivalries, and ‘Drive to Survive’s’ global impact.
- Rosberg shares post-F1 ventures, top angel investments, and his transition into a venture capitalist.

FUTURISM

Meta and Anduril partner on military mixed reality headsets pleasing Palmer Luckey
- Anduril and Meta partner to develop extended reality devices for U.S. military soldiers.
- Partnership follows the Army shifting the mixed reality contract from Microsoft to Anduril in 2025.
- Devices use Meta’s AI and Anduril’s software for real-time battlefield intelligence displays.
Apple is rumored to announce the iOS 26 update next month
- Apple plans to tie software version numbers to release years, starting with iOS 26 in 2025.
- Rumors confirmed by AppleInsider say macOS and other platforms will follow this new naming style.
- Apple will announce updates at WWDC 2025 on June 9, revealing the year-ahead branding system.
Perplexity’s new tool can create spreadsheets and other data visuals
- Perplexity launched Labs, a $20/month AI tool for creating reports, spreadsheets, dashboards, and more.
- Labs uses AI to research, analyze, and generate interactive apps, charts, and documents efficiently.
- Available on web and mobile, Labs aims to expand Perplexity’s offerings beyond search functions.

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